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U.S. soldiers amuse themselves by tormenting Iraqi children (beats the usual practice of sodomising them at Abu Ghraib, I suppose...
The N-Word.
Some light amusement before the end-times. Suffice to say, I don't want Lindsey Lohan writing my epitaph...
| "I am lucky enough to of been able to work with Robert Altman amongst the other greats on a film that I can genuinely say created a turning point in my career," she began, less than certainly. "He was the closest thing to my father and grandfather that I really do believe I've had in several years... He left us with a legend that all of us have the ability to do." A little lower down, she fell into improv philosophy, apparently riffing on the notion that life is too short to waste: "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourselves' (12st book) - everytime there's a triumph in the world a million souls hafta be trampled on. - altman Its true. But treasure each triumph as they come." And she signed off, "Be adequite. Lindsay Lohan." |
2006 November 28, Tuesday
Via energybulletin.net, an amazing series of photos of people transporting heavy loads without cars...
A long and grim account of the mayhem in Iraq. Typical librul propaganda. Why can't they report the good news from Iraq? Haven't we painted a couple of schools this month?
Bush voters are more likely to be mentally ill. Seriously, they had to do a study to find this out?
Speaking of the mentally ill ...
2006 November 27, Monday
One of the most difficult aspects of my recent move was the disposal of years worth of electronic junk (old computers, monitors, etc.) - all collected in a previous life. It's now illegal to dump these items in a landfill; given that law, you'd imagine that the city (Pasadena) would have made some allowance for a pickup of electronic waste. As it turned out, such events occur once or twice a year. Whoopdy, F*cking-Doo. This did me no good.
Most disposal programs require that the electronics be DRIVEN to a disposal area - (I have no car, assholes); and then only on specific days, and only with specific amounts. B*stards. As it turned out, I was lucky enough to have friends who took the collection from me, to take it for disposal (hopefully the LA recycle program won't just ship them to the Third World).
I now face the challenge of keeping a six year old 500mhz P3 running as long as possible, simply to keep it out of a dump in Africa.
Quirky, and brilliant: The Despotism of the Image
| The ideal suburb features an unbroken expanse of manicured grass dotted with little neoclassical monuments, all slightly different yet all essentially the same. This is the essential décor of a cemetery: the house is in fact a family crypt. Not surprisingly, the final destination of the death-car is the death-house. All other functions of the death-house, save one, are superfluous, since people can, and do, eat, sleep, and have sex in their cars. As cars grow larger and commutes become longer, more and more of the living is done inside the car, with the sepulchral dwelling only used to unwrap fast food, keep beer cold, and fall asleep in front of the television set. |
2006 November 26, Sunday
Finally some quiet time. I'm surfing the web from work, as it's going to be a while before my PC arrives from L.A. (the perils of moving to another country I guess). Here's hoping the ancient hard drive survives the rigors of transit...
Walt Disney = Evil Bastard. 'Tis shocked that I am, shocked.
Via boingboing.net, an old-folks-home for superheroes...
In the 1950s, Admiral Rickover (father of the nuclear submarine) gave this prescient address on the future of fossil fuels and human population growth.
The message is "don't have a girlfriend", unless her name is Mad Maxine: Head for the hills - the new survivalists
Amazing info on the insane energy behind the fishing industry:
| Fossil fuels are the major energy inputs to the world’s fishing industry. In the year 2000, 50 billion litres of fuel, mostly diesel, were burned to land a little more than 80 million metric tons of marine fish and invertebrates – this amounted to 1.2% of global oil consumption...The energy content of the fuel is about 12.5 times the protein energy content of the catch. |
| "Never burn a penny candle looking for a halfpenny." |
2006 November 25, Saturday
I'm still settling in to my new home in Canada; I'm staying in a B&B with a friendly family. I'll be living there until the new year, when the studio moves to the opposite side of town. I'm living out of suitcases, which is no fun. I'm updating the site as best I can from work, without my PC, which has my familiar software. Anyhow, here's a collection of photos of my new abode. I hope you find it interesting. It's quite a contrast from L.A. People always wonder how I'm adapting to the small town atmosphere, forgetting that I spent my first 20 years in an Irish town about the same size as this.
2006 November 22, Wednesday
I arrived in New Brunswick on Saturday evening, around midnight. Moncton airport is tiny, which I like. Smaller airports are friendlier places in general. Taxi service was sporadic, and I was left waiting at the taxi rank for almost 20 minutes. Cold. The security guard saw me standing there and immediately offered to drive me to the hotel. Thanks Ivan!
That kind of thing won't happen at Los Angeles International Airport, btw.
Next morning I met Gene and Tara, the top cats of Fatkat Animation in Miramichi (a very small town, population ~20,000. Drove through many miles of trees and countryside to reach Miramichi after a couple of hours. Took photos. Will post them soon.
I'm staying in a Bed and Breakfast with a great couple - they're opening an Irish pub here in a few weeks. House was built in 1860.
The hardest thing now is not having my stuff (computers, books, etc.), and not being able to make my own dinner. I'm hoping to find my own place sometime in January. The studio moves to the other side of town in Jan/Feb, so there's no point in hauling my possessions twice.
Yesterday the first few snowflakes fell, then melted. They're the first I've seen in about 15 years. A week ago, before I arrived, they had a freakish summer day of about 20C. Global warming, anyone?
Thanks to all the angels who helped make the move as relatively painless as it was. It's emotionally gruelling to chuck out most of the things you've collected over 15 years...not to mention leavng behind the garden and plants...a LOT of work that is probably going to be destroyed by the new tenants and/or neglect. Oh well.
2006 November 17, Friday
Right now (8.49 am PST) I'm packing up the last boxes for the Canada move; sifting through 10 years' worth of possessions is a very strange experience; in my case it's pretty emotional. I don't know how soon I'll be able to update, hopefully sometime early next week - Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. I'll be very glad when this is over.
Time for another shot of brandy.
2006 November 15, Wednesday
Well, I have no choice but to nominate CANADIAN CITIZEN Lance Stengler as IDLEWORM READER OF THE YEAR for his generous donation of a Canon Powershot S200 digital camera to yours truly. Lance read a previous comment that I wanted to buy a camera to record my trip to New Brunswick, and offered to donate his.
His generosity puts the rest of you freeloaders to SHAME.
BTW, I'm also looking for a laptop, and a flatpanel LCD tv (preferably a Sharp Aquos model). I wouldn't say no to a few solar panels, a geodesic greenhouse, and a Kalashnikov AK-47...
After some teething problems, your technically inept webmaster finally got the gizmo to work. Now we can all enjoy images such as this:
Stay tuned for more photos of my trip into the Canadian wilderness - sometime by the middle of next week.
2006 November 14, Tuesday
Personal update: My move to Canada occurs on Saturday - so I'm run off my feet trying to get my stuff boxed or dumped or sold. I don't have much time for updates. My computer will end up in a packing unit, and I won't get it back until sometime next week. I don't know if I'll be able to get set up with internet access quickly or not. Hopefully I'll be able to update the site from work; they're cool people, and I don't think they'll mind if I use their PC for personal stuff for a few minutes.
Having grown up in a small Irish town (population ~10,000), emigrating to Los Angeles (population 10,000,000,000,000), I now find myself moving to a small Canadian town (population 20,000), largely inhabited by Irish immigrants. There's a potato famine graveyard nearby, apparently.
2006 November 6, Monday
The Simpsons halloween special meets Iraq! Whether it was censored or not, the subtext wasn't exactly sublte.
A well needed trip down memory lane by Robert Fisk:
| So America's one-time ally has been sentenced to death for war crimes he committed when he was Washington's best friend in the Arab world. America knew all about his atrocities and even supplied the gas - along with the British, of course - yet there we were yesterday declaring it to be, in the White House's words, another "great day for Iraq". That's what Tony Blair announced when Saddam Hussein was pulled from his hole in the ground on 13 December 2003. And now we're going to string him up, and it's another great day. |
One question lefties ask is: "At what point should I flee the country?" How about when they have the right to prevent you leaving, i.e. January 14th, 2007.
| The Department of Homeland Security proposed new rules back in July that would fundamentally undermine the right of American citizens to travel abroad. Public carriers--airlines, cruise lines, even fishing boats--will be required to submit the names of all passengers to Homeland Security prior to departure and to obtain permission from Homeland Security to board those passengers. These new rules will take effect January 14, 2007. |
The Exile makes a bold prediction, and I hope they're right:
| THIS COMING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2006, THE REPUBLICANS WILL KEEP CONTROL OF BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS. |
BTW, if they do have the 'nads to "tweak" the results, I'm reasonably sure what the cover story will be:
| Reduced voter turnout at the mid-terms meant that Democrat voters stayed at home, whereas Republicans held their noses and voted for the party of "values", in spite of recent scandal. |
I need to try one of these interesting "KANDLE HEETERs". 250F from a candle might make life easier once I'm in Canada...
What to say, but Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Here's a thirty minute long kick to the crotch from Matt Simmons...
Were I to stay in California, I'd definitely buy me some Wetpots (aka "ollas"). Buy them here...
More on Peak Grain. There's more here.
Beautiful and eerie film, shot in 1908 in Moscow. All those people walking around had quite a future ahead of them: WW1, revolution, Spanish Flu, Civil war, Stalin, WW2, famine, Hitler, more Stalin, the Cold war, economic collapse and Putin. Just as well they had no idea. I can't say the same for us.
Airport screeners are so busy looking for bottles of water that they're failing to find real weapons!
Is Bush a closet fag?
Five ways to make a difference. It's not really enough, but it's a start...
Stop drinking bottled water...
I once dreamt of being buried in a lego pyramid. I'm not the only one!
I'm super-duper busy (with free-lance work and preparing for the Canadian trip), so updates may be spotty. It'll depend on how tired/over-worked/drunk I am. I beg yer patience!
Joe Bageant on the unfolding real estate disaster:
| It's no wonder we can sustain our magical thinking until the very last minute of undeniable truth. We get lots of support in our delusion. Commuting to work I recently heard NPR's marketplace reporter tell listeners, "It's not necessarily a collapse, it's more of an impasse, a stalemate. Neither sellers nor buyers are budging from their original positions. Things will eventually loosen up." Sometimes a car radio can be an instrument of torture for the driver. So, if you saw a red faced old man pounding the steering wheel and cussing, it was probably me. |
2006 November 2, Thursday
Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048. Don't worry: the American Republican party (and their right-wing lackies in England and Australia) will tell us it's all an evil liberal lie.
Go back to sleep children. Everything is all right. Sleeeeeeeep...
Haha! This is funny:
Accelerating Loss of Ocean Species Threatens Human Well-Being.
The headline is framed in reverse. It should read:
"Human Well-Being Threatens Ocean Species".
It's this narcissistic "how will this affect us" mentality that's placed you humans knee deep in your own shit - and the tsunami of cluelessness continues:
| "Like, OMYGOD, I read that by 2048 we won't be able to have Sushi anymore, coz, like, all the fish will be dead. Major bummer." |
In any event, I'm going to be fine. Soon, the mothership will return to pick me up. I'll file my report on Mankind, which will look like this:
| SPECIES: HOMO SAPIENS PROGNOSIS: EXTINCTION WITHIN 100 YEARS RECOMMENDATION: QUARANTINE SOLAR SYSTEM |
I'm so homesick, I could Snargle.
Saving Electricity
update: When I linked to "saving electricity" last night I didn't elaborate, as I had 1.5 bottles of red wine gurgling through my veins. It was as much as I could do to provide a one line link. I've spent some time on the site, and it's a real goldmine of tips and information on just what a watt is, and how to reduce your monthly kilowatt usage.
The webmaster is aware of peak oil and the rest, and lives on 150kw hours a month. It's hard for me to gauge my personal energy usage, as I've been sharing accomodation with various people over the years - my usage was 1006kwh for August and September (my room-mate was here for the first two weeks, then moved out). I haven't used A/C, air dry clothes, unplug devices when unused, don't use the dishwasher, occasionally use solar oven, etc., and my daily KWH average is a mindboggling 15kwh a day. I don't get it.
. I've been reducing my footprint, though my big culprits are TV, computer (ahem), and THE FRIDGE. Not to mention that my landlord's house is an energy sink - I'm convinced that there's a massive phantom load somewhere around here, sucking down energy like Dick Cheney.
Anyhow, Mr. Electricity gets some funny emails, such as this one:
| We have fluorescent lights in our building hallways that use two tubes. A neighbor insists that if we just use one of the bulbs we would save electricity. However, I once read that the fixture will continue to draw the same amount of electricity regardless of whether you are just using one bulb. Who is right? |
I'm amazed at all the bizarre misconceptions people come up with. It seems like there's no end to it. Examples include: The idea that it takes more energy to turn on lights or computers than to keep them running.Look through this site and you will see that the number of times I've confirmed any crazy idea like this is zero. To answer your question specifically, no, one bulb does not use as much energy as two. One bulb uses one bulb's worth of energy, and two bulbs uses two bulbs' worth of energy. |
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