A few days ago we, being my friends and I, went on a hike to a nearby cave and filmed our experience. We like to call it our Cloverfield wanna-be movie. So I was documenting a lot of the trip. I now know why the camera in Cloverfield is so shaky. It’s hard to hold a camera still and hike, let alone walk, at the same time. Jordan and Kurtis decided that they were going to spelunking into this thing. I didn’t find the idea very smart, though I did go inside a small crawl-space to get some footage of the inside…
The price of food is on the rise. As a story and charts from the Wall Street Journal show, rice (prices up a whopping 134 percent), wheat, corn, and soy are all above a 60 percent increase over the last 52 weeks.
Cargill, a large international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services, saw a Chevron-like return in their last quarter with $1.03B in revenue. When I read the CEO’s comments in the WSJ, I couldn’t help but ask myself if large corporate farms control supply driving prices to their favor. While he says that they’re “doing an exceptional job,” my thought is this is an answer to shareholders, not the rest of the world who require the commodities Cargill, ADM, and others provide.
Cargill’s chairman and CEO, Greg Page, said earlier this month [April 2008] that “the dimensions of change in global agriculture are striking” and that the Minneapolis company is doing “an exceptional job measuring and assessing price risk.” He said world grain stocks are at their lowest level in 35 years. (emphasis added)
I’m amazed at how far behind we are in coming to a solution of our own energy crisis. As Americans, we are the most energy sucking people on the planet–far outpacing any other group.
“According to the Department of Energy’s most recent data on greenhouse gas emissions, in 2006 the U.S. emitted 5.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, or just under 20 tons per capita.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
While we probably think of our cars first, a real issue is our homes. The “always on” appliances and devices that are taking power even when we “don’t” use them.
“You can forget refrigerators, microwaves, clothes dryers and flat screen TVs. Even a house tricked out with all the latest high-efficiency EnergyStar appliances and compact fluorescent lights won’t come close. The same daunting energy math applies to the industrial, commercial and transportation sectors as well. The clear implication is that we shall have to replace virtually the entire fossil fuel electricity infrastructure over the next four decades with CO2-free sources – a multitrillion dollar proposition, if it can be done at all.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
Are cars are truly a big issue. But the proposed targets for 2050 are going to take huge changes.
“Right now our cars and trucks consume about 180 billion gallons of motor fuel. To meet the 2050 target, we shall have to limit consumption of gasoline to about 31 billion gallons, unless a genuine carbon-neutral liquid fuel can be produced. (Ethanol isn’t it.) To show how unrealistic this is, if the entire nation drove nothing but Toyota Priuses in 2050, we’d still overshoot the transportation emissions target by 40%.”
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934459094348617.html
I’ve really got to take a deep look into what is happening in the entrepreneurial community to see if there is an opportunity for a marketing person.
Our family took our 2008 Spring Break in Oahu, Hawaii. We had a blast in Paradise. Everything was colorful and beautiful. The time change made it easier to awake earlier (although now it’s even harder to get to bed early). There were many things to do for free. All the people were friendly. The weather was consistent from day to day, something that was not lost on Triumph the Insult Dog. Bridget commented that it was the best vacation that she has ever been on. I must say, it might be difficult to select a different vacation destination next year. Click Here, or on the picture below, to view our vacation photo collection on flickr.
The Animated C02 Map video is from an article on Dot Earth, a blog of the New York Times. The Vulcan Project has done research over several years of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. They have animated the emissions at various times throughout the day. They have a video on You Tube that shows their research work. It’s pretty cool and gives you an idea of how much emissions are produced in high population areas. Click Here to view the article and watch the video.
Bridget just finished a long three months of play practices and, finally, play performances of Robin Hood. She was chosen to be a Merry Maid, part of Maid Marion’s entourage. All the girls were very serious about their costumes and, most importantly, their hair and make-up.
Bridget found that the sponge curlers worked the best for the curls that she wanted. She totally reminds me of my mom when it comes to hair and make-up…genetics are strong in that area! She wanted to wear curlers in her hair all day at school (other girls did). I guess it’s cool to do that these days. Can you imagine doing that when I was in school (1970’s and early 1980’s)? We would have been mocked for the rest of our lives…literally the “rest of our lives.”
The footage of the dance is not the best. I probably should have stood to the side of the gym when taking it. And I really can’t wait for the “official” DVD by Impressive Video since we just barely received our Nutcracker DVD from “December.” The play will be long forgotten by July.
Update: At around 1:35 a.m., an alarm went off in the street below our hotel room in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii. It was very loud. Brad and I immediately awoke from a dream state. The alarm lasted for about 10 minutes. I even went into the room where the children were sleeping and looked out the window. Not one of them awoke the entire time, even 15-year-old Dallen. They slept through the entire ruckus.
This news story is very disturbing for parents. I am going to do a fire alarm test while my children are sleeping. If they do not wake up, I will be looking for voice alarms. We leave the older ones to babysit Abby at least once a week, and sometimes don’t return home until after midnight when “everyone” has been asleep for a few hours.
Funny. I’ve seen pictures of my Dad wearing the same looking hat in 1963-64 on his mission to the New England States. I’ve even run across a few more skinny ties recently.
Reminds me of another David Bowie song, Fashion.
There’s a brand new dance but I don’t know its name
That people from bad homes do again and again
It’s big and it’s bland full of tension and fear
They do it over there but we don’t do it here
Fashion! Turn to the left
Fashion! Turn to the right
Oooh, fashion!
We are the goon squad and we’re coming to town
Beep-beep
Beep-beep
Listen to me - don’t listen to me
Talk to me - don’t talk to me
Dance with me - don’t dance with me, no
Beep-beep
Remember when I was so hyped up over the future of biodiesel? Well, lately my exuberance has been waning as I have been reading and hearing about the environmental consequences of growing crops for biofuels. After reading this week’s cover article in Time magazine called “The Clean Energy Myth,” my excitement over biofuels has all but disappeared.
Following are some quotes from the article (by all means, read the entire article here):
“The grain it takes to fill an SUV with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves.”
“The basic problem with most biofuels is amazingly simple, given that researchers have ignored it until now: using land to grow fuel leads to the destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands that store enormous amounts of carbon.”
“Indonesia has bulldozed and burned so much wilderness to grow palm oil trees for biodiesel that its ranking among the world’s top carbon emitters has surged from 21st to third…”
“Deforestation accounts for 20% of all current carbon emissions.”
Remember when I was so hyped up over the future of biodiesel? Well, lately my exuberance has been waning as I have been reading and hearing about the environmental consequences of growing crops for biofuels. After reading this week’s cover article in Time magazine called “The Clean Energy Myth,” my excitement over biofuels has all but disappeared.