08/15/2008
08/01/2008
Urban farming takes off
Maybe I'm a little strange but I've often wondered, while driving past vacant lots or large, grassy traffic islands, why someone doesn't start a community vegetable garden there. I reasoned that it must be due to (in the case of traffic islands) the danger of people getting run over, or unscrupulous (and lazy) characters stealing produce from the vine, etc.
So I was very pleased to read this article in TIME about actual examples of urban farming, from the conversion of former paved parking lots in Brooklyn to utilizing the tops of buildings in Boston, to vertical "farmscrapers" in cities. Just think of all the building roofs in Manhattan that could be sprouting vegetables and flowers for their inhabitants and/or for the needy!
As the article points out, this idea addresses a number of issues affecting us today--food costs, food safety and pesticide concerns, obesity/poor diets, the ozone... What's not to like?
TIME article: Inner-City Farms
07/29/2008
Incredible aerial view of tornado's path
This high-res, zoomable aerial photo by Flight Landata of the recent New Hampshire tornado's path gives you a very good idea of what kind of localized destruction a tornado causes. Click on any part of the photo to zoom in and scroll. Alternate link to photo here.
07/24/2008
Oh those Kiwis...
From the UK Telegraph:
The parents of a New Zealand girl named Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii have been ordered to change her name because it risks making her the target of abuse and ridicule.
A judge ruled that the nine-year-old girl, who is the subject of a custody fight, should be placed in the guardianship of the court until she is renamed.
A lawyer acting for the girl claimed she was so embarrassed by her name that she had kept it from her friends, insisting she should be known as "K" instead. She also feared that if it became public she would be mocked and teased.
The lawyer claimed the girl fully understood the absurdity of her name, unlike her parents who had not considered the implications when they named her.
Justice Robert Murfitt said the name clearly presented a social hurdle for the child.
"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said.
He also voiced concern over other names given to New Zealand children, such as Violence, Midnight Chardonnay and Number 16 Bus Shelter.
A set of twins was named Benson and Hedges, after the cigarette brand and some children had been named after six-cylinder Ford cars. There has even been a case of a child being named after the entire All Blacks side.
"Recently, for the first time in my experience as a Family Court judge, the name of a child described in text language has emerged," Mr Murfitt said.
In that case, a girl was named O.crnia, but in negotiations with the mother over a parenting order, the name was adjusted to Oceania.
New Zealand officials said they did have the power to block outlandish names.
Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages, told the New Zealand Herald that the law did not allow names that would cause offence to a reasonable person, that are more than 100 characters or that include titles, military ranks, punctuation or numerals.
Names rejected by the office include Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit.
Mr Clarke said officials attempted talk to parents who proposed unusual names and convince them about the potential for embarrassment.
"Often when we explain the situation to parents we can agree on an acceptable name to register," he told the paper.
07/15/2008
07/14/2008
Great Cover Versions, Part VI
The brilliant k.d. lang covers her fellow Canadian Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush." So much less whiny! (Sorry, Neil)
07/09/2008
10 Things to Like About $4 Gas
TIME article: 10 Things to Like About $4 Gas
Proof that every cloud has a silver lining, if you look hard enough.
(Note: Where I live in the NYC Metro area, gas is more like $5 a gallon) And I would add #11: Gas at $5 a gallon is still a whole lot cheaper than gas in Western Europe!
07/08/2008
There Will Be Blood
I wasn't expecting to like this movie, especially as it is 2.5 hours long and my attention span is best described as non-committal--but I was wrong. Daniel Day-Lewis's performance as an enigmatic misanthrope had me mesmerized the whole way through. Darkly funny, tragic, and powerful.
07/05/2008
Lawn chair balloon flight redux!
I love this guy. Just for the idea of tying balloons to his lawn chair to float up into the sky. And I love that he remembers to bring a giant mug of coffee along for the flight.
This is his third attempt to get from Oregon to Idaho. I'll be rooting for him again!
"He's crazy," said his wife, Susan. "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."
CNN: Adventurer flies on lawn chair lifted by 150 balloons
07/03/2008
Update: Human-powered gyms and dance clubs!
Browsing Slate today, I came upon a link to an article describing a human-powered gym, just as I'd wondered about in my previous post. The energy produced by people working out is converted into lighting for the gym. (I still think powering fans would be also a good idea) Excess energy is stored in a battery. There's also one being developed in Seattle.
Then there's the Sustainable Dance Club, which generates electricity from the movements of dancing people. How cool is that?
And here's more on human-powered devices from the Wall Street Journal.
(OK, so the original article I was looking at in Slate was entitled "Harnessing the Untapped Power of Breast Motion." Uh-huh. It was a long article, and my eyes started to glaze over, but it did serve the purpose of leading me to the discoveries above.)
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