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July 29, 2008
Export the sky
Bldgblog reports on a scheme to establish a chain of Chinese air bars. I expect there will be a booming market for breathable air once this fascist Olympic farce is done with.
Cultural air archaeology.
Air harvesters – the preferred summer job for backpackers in 2050AD – are sent out to capture the sky in vast balloons. Air farms. The balloons are then kept in quarantine at international airports where stunned customs workers, earning minimum wage, look up at bulbous forms swaying inside hangars in semi-darkness.
The balloons are labeled: Singapore, Marrakech, São Paulo.
In other good news from the People's Republic: The words "mystery" and "fatal hemorrhagic disease" go together like "contagious" and "international air travel". I gather internet access could also be better.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at July 29, 2008 06:44 AM
Comments
Years ago there was a series of stories in Analog magazine about an American of Chinese descent who discovered how to ship packages via Galactic Post.
Reasoning that most races don't solve their pollution problem but rather adapt to it, he concluded that there would be a market for especially strong examples of polluted air, rather like that for grandes crus in the wine business. He therefore sent his sons to highly polluted places with air compressors, there to fill pressure cylinders which would later be used to fill aerosol cans which would be offered for sale to alien customers.
He grows incredibly wealthy doing that, with his best seller being "Pico and Sepulveda, July 17th, 1966", IIRC. If he is still in business, it looks like "Peking, during the Olympics" may be a breakout product.
Regards,
Ric
Posted by: Ric Locke ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ghostofaflea.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 29, 2008 04:50 PM
I love the idea of air not only with a pedigree but a vintage. For example, I would be very curious to sample Hampstead Heath '64.
Posted by: Ghost of a flea at July 29, 2008 04:58 PM
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