DVD Time

Did the late night run on discounted DVDs at Blockbuster tonight.  Here are the picks.  First the 4 for 20 selections.

Munich
Mission Impossible III
An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning
All the Kings Men

Quite a bit of controversy wound up with that collection.  I've already seen Al Gore's effort but wanted an archive copy.  After watching it a friend (and my then boss) asked me what I thought of it.  I said I thought Gore tried to tone it down from what the reality was to keep folks from just giving up.

On the bubble this time was Thank You for Smoking which was part of the first iteration but got bounced by Spielberg's Munich.

Also paid full price for the two-disc set of the made-for-tv series Children of Dune.  I had the earlier Dune made-for-tv DVDs and enjoyed them and wanted to complete the set.  Seems like I missed some of the Children series when it first showed on television so that provided extra motivation for the purchase.

Two other CDs I received this week were Classic Power Plant Electricity Films and Seeing the Forest for the Trees.  The first showed up by accident as I'd cancelled my original Amazon.com order for the DVD.  That didn't stop me from watching it as it was not sealed and the e-mails I'd gotten implied not to worry about it.  Probably the best and most professional film in the collection was one by The Christophers, a Christian non-profit organization, called Atomic Energy as a Force for Good (Part 1) (Part 2) [free video streams or downloads with these last two links] where we found that developing the atom was what God really wants. Lots of familar acting faces from that era for those of us who used to watch Westerns on the telly.

Library Laka Foundation; Video Documenties on Other Subjects

"ATOMIC ENERGY AS FORCE FOR GOOD (Prod: The Christophers).
'Drama showing the reactions of citizens of a small town to the construction of a nuclear energy plant in their community, and their acceptance of the peaceful aspects of atomic energy' (due to miraculous cure). Starring Paul Kelly.(2 parts) (27 min./English/1955)"

Seeing the Forest for the Trees is a DVD that was part of the TexasLegacy.org project where many an activist and historical character got recognized.  I friend of mine who worked on this documentary project sent me the DVD.  There's also a RealPlayer stream of it for those interested.

Texas Legacy Project: Conservation Archive and Documentary: Video

"Char Miller, a San Antonio environmental historian, chronicles the interwoven history of watershed and forest protection in the U.S."

DVD Time

Did the late night run on discounted DVDs at Blockbuster tonight.  Here are the picks.  First the 4 for 20 selections.

Munich
Mission Impossible III
An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning
All the Kings Men

Quite a bit of controversy wound up with that collection.  I've already seen Al Gore's effort but wanted an archive copy.  After watching it a friend (and my then boss) asked me what I thought of it.  I said I thought Gore tried to tone it down from what the reality was to keep folks from just giving up.

On the bubble this time was Thank You for Smoking which was part of the first iteration but got bounced by Spielberg's Munich.

Also paid full price for the two-disc set of the made-for-tv series Children of Dune.  I had the earlier Dune made-for-tv DVDs and enjoyed them and wanted to complete the set.  Seems like I missed some of the Children series when it first showed on television so that provided extra motivation for the purchase.

Two other CDs I received this week were Classic Power Plant Electricity Films and Seeing the Forest for the Trees.  The first showed up by accident as I'd cancelled my original Amazon.com order for the DVD.  That didn't stop me from watching it as it was not sealed and the e-mails I'd gotten implied not to worry about it.  Probably the best and most professional film in the collection was one by The Christophers, a Christian non-profit organization, called Atomic Energy as a Force for Good (Part 1) (Part 2) [free video streams or downloads with these last two links] where we found that developing the atom was what God really wants. Lots of familar acting faces from that era for those of us who used to watch Westerns on the telly.

Library Laka Foundation; Video Documenties on Other Subjects

"ATOMIC ENERGY AS FORCE FOR GOOD (Prod: The Christophers).
'Drama showing the reactions of citizens of a small town to the construction of a nuclear energy plant in their community, and their acceptance of the peaceful aspects of atomic energy' (due to miraculous cure). Starring Paul Kelly.(2 parts) (27 min./English/1955)"

Seeing the Forest for the Trees is a DVD that was part of the TexasLegacy.org project where many an activist and historical character got recognized.  I friend of mine who worked on this documentary project sent me the DVD.  There's also a RealPlayer stream of it for those interested.

Texas Legacy Project: Conservation Archive and Documentary: Video

"Char Miller, a San Antonio environmental historian, chronicles the interwoven history of watershed and forest protection in the U.S."

It's Bats Not Birds Sez US Nat. Research Council

The good news and the bad news. The good news is that bird kills with turbines aren't turning out to be that big of a deal. The bad news is that bat kills from turbine strikes is higher than previously thought. 

My guess is that when they get by the "patchy" part, that the bat problem will be a lot like the bird problem.  It will be very site specific.  Don't build turbines where bats frequent the site, especially those of species prone to bonking blades, and there will be little problem.  Again, this is just a wild guess on my part.

Also the reporter's comment that wind turbine blades are "slow moving" is somewhat misleading here.  While a large rotor turns slowly, especially compared to smaller turbines, the blade tip is going typically around 70-80 meters/second (157-179 mph, 252-288 kph). That can take just about any little flying critter out.

Bats take a Battering at Wind Farms - New Scientist

"Although the evidence is patchy, the council warns that wind farms might eventually have an impact on bat populations in the US. Two species - the hoary bat and the eastern red bat - suffer most, accounting for over 60 per cent of the 2500 kills recorded."

"Bats are relatively long lived and produce small numbers of offspring, so communities may find it hard to recover if turbines cause many deaths. On the plus side, the NRC finds that the threat to birds does not appear to be serious."

It's Bats Not Birds Sez US Nat. Research Council

The good news and the bad news. The good news is that bird kills with turbines aren't turning out to be that big of a deal. The bad news is that bat kills from turbine strikes is higher than previously thought. 

My guess is that when they get by the "patchy" part, that the bat problem will be a lot like the bird problem.  It will be very site specific.  Don't build turbines where bats frequent the site, especially those of species prone to bonking blades, and there will be little problem.  Again, this is just a wild guess on my part.

Also the reporter's comment that wind turbine blades are "slow moving" is somewhat misleading here.  While a large rotor turns slowly, especially compared to smaller turbines, the blade tip is going typically around 70-80 meters/second (157-179 mph, 252-288 kph). That can take just about any little flying critter out.

Bats take a Battering at Wind Farms - New Scientist

"Although the evidence is patchy, the council warns that wind farms might eventually have an impact on bat populations in the US. Two species - the hoary bat and the eastern red bat - suffer most, accounting for over 60 per cent of the 2500 kills recorded."

"Bats are relatively long lived and produce small numbers of offspring, so communities may find it hard to recover if turbines cause many deaths. On the plus side, the NRC finds that the threat to birds does not appear to be serious."