Coal Plants and Bettie Page
Apr. 24th, 2008 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
webfarmerYesterday was one filled with compulsive postings, new software installs (always a joy) and regularly checking out the radar map to see if I was going to have to use my Volvo or E-Zip bike for the trip downtown for local version of the worldwide phenomenon called Green Drinks. Unfortunately the weather radar wasn't as predictive as I'd liked it to be so I was off, unnecessarily, with the Volvo and umbrella.
The trip down Normal Street was uneventful even though it was in the rush hour part of the day. Even got a 90 minute parking spot not far from the gathering location, Lazlo's downtown. Only needed an hour to be good with the city powers. 50 cents there.
Turns out that R., the main organizer of the Green Drinks, was the only other GDer around at the moment. I was a little surprised as usually there's quite a herd of GDers that show up. I'm assuming there was an alternative event going on. Someone mentioned some water expert giving a presentation around he same time and that might have been it. Two bucks for a diet Coke. At any rate R. and I got to know each other a bit better before the rest of the folks - about a dozen total - started to show up. Turns out he lives not far from my hometown so we compared notes on that neighborhood.
Other evening highlights included meeting a nice young couple who worked at the University. One was an assistant architecture professor and the other worked at the Kruger Collection at UN-L which is a specialty museum on miniature furniture and decorative arts. The museum has an on-line gallery for those interested in such things.
Both of these folks lived in Omaha and commuted to Lincoln and I had some interesting discussions about Omaha's development (past, present and future) and the joys of commuting a couple hours a day (not very many). I also got to tell a bunch of personal stories which is always great fun for me. I love an audience which is part of the reason I blog here. The good professor and I also discussed my coming to talk about wind energy and architecture at one of his classes which might be fun to do. There's increasing interest in including some kind of wind energy capture system on buildings and, as regular readers of this blog would know, it's a bit on the controversial side.
Also met a couple of other interesting folks. One an engineering-architect type who looked real familiar (and vice versa) but we couldn't quite pin down the firm connection. Many mutual friends. Also a local permaculture entrepreneur joined the discussion and along with R. we had a nice chat about my new electric bike and electric bikes in general. Some of them were also considering making the move to electric transportation.
The final person I was lucky to meet was a person who worked in the natural resources field came in a very unofficial capacity. Water issues (and the lack thereof in particular) are radioactive in the state at the moment (and probably for the foreseeable future) and many of the professionals are at variance with the politicians. Recently the top water person in the state organizational hierarchy chose to quit her position because she realized trying to do anything rational given the current administration was all but impossible.
What degree of political horror show our current governor and his administration are generating seems only not to be fully unfolding. He just vetoed a electronic components recycling bill even though with the switch to digital television the landfills are likely to be severely impacted. Especially in rural areas where recycling such things, even if you want to, is difficult. More backwardness at work.
Probably the most animated part of the discussion was over how fast coal plants would close in the state, if ever. R. asked me to make a prediction and I refused to do so. I only noted that here would be a lot more wind, there would be cap and trade at the federal level that would be a factor, that storage technologies would make intermittent sources a lot more desirable and that coal sources in Wyoming would most likely be trying to screw us financially at every turn.
A similar outbreak of warm discussion came from the topic some love to hate: ethanol and in particular corn ethanol. I did my best to take the less pessimistic view that the current less than desirable situation was a "bridge" phase that would transition into something more sustainable, that biofuels would be a part of the liquid fuel mix and that plugin hybrids and vehicle-to-grid transportation would help the supply of biofuels for transportation match up better to demand.
And then it was off for a quick dinner before heading home. Unfortunately, all my regular favorite places were closed and so I settled for a drop in at the local Wendy's where too much non-local and unsustainable food was consumed (albeit not at the highest end of the food chain).
Not having done enough damage I then went to Blockbuster to see if I could score a decent 4 for $20 trick. I didn't do too bad. "The Notorious Bettie Page", "The Queen", "The Brothers Grimm" and "Beowulf & Grendel". Only the last item was an iffy for me. A day or two before I scored a five dollar copy of Buster Keaton in "The General" (one of my favorites) and "Steamboat Bill, Jr.". A box of chocolate covered almonds completed my nefarious consumerist and saturated fat laden activity for the night.
Got home and still had time to watch "The Notorious Bettie Page" before it was lights out. Gretchen Moll did a fantastic job of presenting Bettie Page. The pinup queen from Tennessee didn't have the most glamorous of lives, especially considering what a huge icon she has since become, but it was interestingly presented none the less. They shot the NYC footage in black and white in a very noir style (almost too much at times) but when they moved to Miami Beach shoots they switched to color and in particular the amped up color ala 50s Technicolor.
A not bad ending to an otherwise completely mundane day.
The trip down Normal Street was uneventful even though it was in the rush hour part of the day. Even got a 90 minute parking spot not far from the gathering location, Lazlo's downtown. Only needed an hour to be good with the city powers. 50 cents there.
Turns out that R., the main organizer of the Green Drinks, was the only other GDer around at the moment. I was a little surprised as usually there's quite a herd of GDers that show up. I'm assuming there was an alternative event going on. Someone mentioned some water expert giving a presentation around he same time and that might have been it. Two bucks for a diet Coke. At any rate R. and I got to know each other a bit better before the rest of the folks - about a dozen total - started to show up. Turns out he lives not far from my hometown so we compared notes on that neighborhood.
Other evening highlights included meeting a nice young couple who worked at the University. One was an assistant architecture professor and the other worked at the Kruger Collection at UN-L which is a specialty museum on miniature furniture and decorative arts. The museum has an on-line gallery for those interested in such things.
Both of these folks lived in Omaha and commuted to Lincoln and I had some interesting discussions about Omaha's development (past, present and future) and the joys of commuting a couple hours a day (not very many). I also got to tell a bunch of personal stories which is always great fun for me. I love an audience which is part of the reason I blog here. The good professor and I also discussed my coming to talk about wind energy and architecture at one of his classes which might be fun to do. There's increasing interest in including some kind of wind energy capture system on buildings and, as regular readers of this blog would know, it's a bit on the controversial side.
Also met a couple of other interesting folks. One an engineering-architect type who looked real familiar (and vice versa) but we couldn't quite pin down the firm connection. Many mutual friends. Also a local permaculture entrepreneur joined the discussion and along with R. we had a nice chat about my new electric bike and electric bikes in general. Some of them were also considering making the move to electric transportation.
The final person I was lucky to meet was a person who worked in the natural resources field came in a very unofficial capacity. Water issues (and the lack thereof in particular) are radioactive in the state at the moment (and probably for the foreseeable future) and many of the professionals are at variance with the politicians. Recently the top water person in the state organizational hierarchy chose to quit her position because she realized trying to do anything rational given the current administration was all but impossible.
What degree of political horror show our current governor and his administration are generating seems only not to be fully unfolding. He just vetoed a electronic components recycling bill even though with the switch to digital television the landfills are likely to be severely impacted. Especially in rural areas where recycling such things, even if you want to, is difficult. More backwardness at work.
Probably the most animated part of the discussion was over how fast coal plants would close in the state, if ever. R. asked me to make a prediction and I refused to do so. I only noted that here would be a lot more wind, there would be cap and trade at the federal level that would be a factor, that storage technologies would make intermittent sources a lot more desirable and that coal sources in Wyoming would most likely be trying to screw us financially at every turn.
A similar outbreak of warm discussion came from the topic some love to hate: ethanol and in particular corn ethanol. I did my best to take the less pessimistic view that the current less than desirable situation was a "bridge" phase that would transition into something more sustainable, that biofuels would be a part of the liquid fuel mix and that plugin hybrids and vehicle-to-grid transportation would help the supply of biofuels for transportation match up better to demand.
And then it was off for a quick dinner before heading home. Unfortunately, all my regular favorite places were closed and so I settled for a drop in at the local Wendy's where too much non-local and unsustainable food was consumed (albeit not at the highest end of the food chain).
Not having done enough damage I then went to Blockbuster to see if I could score a decent 4 for $20 trick. I didn't do too bad. "The Notorious Bettie Page", "The Queen", "The Brothers Grimm" and "Beowulf & Grendel". Only the last item was an iffy for me. A day or two before I scored a five dollar copy of Buster Keaton in "The General" (one of my favorites) and "Steamboat Bill, Jr.". A box of chocolate covered almonds completed my nefarious consumerist and saturated fat laden activity for the night.
Got home and still had time to watch "The Notorious Bettie Page" before it was lights out. Gretchen Moll did a fantastic job of presenting Bettie Page. The pinup queen from Tennessee didn't have the most glamorous of lives, especially considering what a huge icon she has since become, but it was interestingly presented none the less. They shot the NYC footage in black and white in a very noir style (almost too much at times) but when they moved to Miami Beach shoots they switched to color and in particular the amped up color ala 50s Technicolor.
A not bad ending to an otherwise completely mundane day.
