Nutter

There's little doubt that Gerald Donovan (@gerald_d to many) is special - whether that's not quite right in the  head special or another kind of special is something the jury's out on. If you want proof in the pudding, the above video was taken on an abortive trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa to get the shots he needed for the Burj Dubai Pinnacle Panorama wot I have previously posted about.

Finding himself at the top of the world's tallest tower, some 860 metres up at the end of an 60-metre tube that's 1.5 metres in diameter when a sandstorm blows in, he of course straps on a helmet camera and proceeds to hoon about poking his head around the place as the wind buffets the whole structure.

Anybody normal wouldn't have been up there at all, but I would submit if a reasonable man had succumbed to a head-fit and gone up to find those conditions, he would have nipped down for a coffee and almond croissant at the Armani or something.

Anyway, you can read more about the whole thing over at The Daily Mail, which leapt at the chance to play with the pano again. By the way, in case you're wondering what a piece of coverage on the Mail Online website is worth, you can start at 100,000 views in 24 hours.

I'm thinking of doing a stunt competition for a client whereby people have to devise ways to scare our Gerald. I mean, I'd hate to have to cure his hiccups...

The Burj Khalifa Pinnacle Panorama

Gerald Donovan's stunning 360 degree interactive panorama of Dubai taken from the top of the Burj Khalifa. I'm doing something I rarely/never do in mixing business with pleasure, as we worked together on the campaign to release this image to a select number of major international media outlets.

I do recommend a visit (it's linked here) - and particularly if you're able to go there from a tablet or smartphone. The fun of ducking, weaving and bobbing around a room like a lunatic as you fly through the sky 828 metres above Dubai is inestimable.

The image is being hosted by HIPA - His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid's International Photography Award. Promoters of all things photographic, they have been highly supportive throughout the whole process, from conception to sharing.

Being 'on the inside' of this one was almost unbearable. Mr D and I are both children at heart and so keeping a lid on this was totally alien to the geek in both of us which just wanted to share the fun. More so for Gerald - he's the one wot climbed the last 200 metres above the upper limit of the Burj's 10 metre per second lifts (the 160th floor) and then stood in the small 1.5 metre circular pit at the pinnacle of the world's tallest tower and snapped tens of shots to be stitched painstakingly together into this amazing interactive/experiential image/thing.

He earnestly assures me the whole experience brought no sense of vertigo whatsoever. I still don't believe him.

Official. I Sympathise With Gulf News

Image via Wikipedia

In reporting the recent 'incident' at Dubai's Burj Khalifa today, Gulf News appears to have gone as far as it felt it could. In the face of unhelpful and possibly even mendacious statements made on behalf of the tower's developer and management company, Emaar, the newspaper has managed to collate a number of eyewitness reports of something having taken place that went way beyond the 'routine maintenance' that we are being expected to believe has closed the observation deck on the tower.

The official statement, quoted by Gulf News is: "Due to unexpected high traffic, the observation deck experience at the Burj Khalifa, At the Top, has been temporarily closed for maintenance and upgrade. Technical issues with the power supply are being worked on by the main and sub-contractors and the public will be informed upon completion."

Gulf News reports eyewitnesses as hearing a 'really loud noise and what looked like smoke or dust coming out from one of the elevator doors' and paramedics being called to the scene. That's hardly the stuff of 'maintenance and upgrade' is it?

Once again, I suspect we are about to see an attempt at obfuscation result in widespread media coverage - the eyewitness reports are stacking up and now social media interest is also perking up quite nicely. GN's story was enough to raise some very real question marks - and now people are going to start looking for answers. They're not going to have to look very far, either.