Chasing the Moon

I am not at the J-O-B this week, so MrB encouraged me to try and get out to watch the Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse. Earlier in the evening we had walked outside, and the moon was shining bright in a clear sky.

I happened to wake up at the right time, so I walked outside in my PJs with an added sweater for modesty, because it really wasn't cold - 66°. Gorgeous night. Couldn't see a thing from the front of the house, so I went in the back... and peeking through a tree I could see the red glow. This was a leafy tree though, and really blocked the view, so I started walking. Realizing that I couldn't possibly walk far enough for a clear view, I walked back home and got in the car. Drove and drove around the empty suburban streets trying to find it again. There was another nutcase moon-chaser out there... parking in the wrong spots and walking around with his headlights off. (I think this definitely qualifies us as lunatics.) I drove around for a solid hour, miles and miles, frequently stopping the car to get out for a look and trying not to trigger anyone's security cameras. Couldn't see a damned thing in any direction. Our streets change direction a lot so I couldn't always tell which direction I should look... but saw nothing at all in any direction.

I probably should have just tried a gaze out of an upstairs window and let it go at that.

Holidays in Austin - Part 2

Continuing on...
MrB has been salivating over the idea of getting an all-electric car. I admire him for this, and I don't hate the idea, in fact I like it. I'm am just not an early adopter and feel like a hybrid might be more for me. I like for a lot of the kinks to be worked out by other poor souls before I add something that pricey and important to my toy box. Yes, I know... electric cars are not a brand-new invention, but we have not had a variety of choices of non-prototypes before. The Nissan LEAF has been on a 23 city debut tour of test-drives, and we got to drive it on Saturday. It's a perfectly nice little car. I like the size of it. It doesn't go real fast, but it's designed for the commuter (people like us) who drive less than 100 miles a day. Actually, the deal-breaker for me personally with the LEAF was my own fault. Part of the display panel that's behind the steering wheel was too close to my eyes. I wear glasses for distance vision (like for driving) but don't need them at all up close - so I couldn't really focus on that panel with getting bifocals. So GO LEAF but I will wait for a Honda or something else.

Saturday evening we decided to go and see The Tourist, despite a whole lot of bad reviews. My four word film review for it would be "safe for movie date" or maybe "she's pretty, he's pretty." We didn't hate it but thought it missed the opportunity to be funny. It's been nominated for a Golden Globe as a comedy, but believe me, it isn't funny, and it looks like the GG noms might be more than a little tainted this time.

I will end this post here because I need to rest my eyes a little before the big eclipse happens! Something tells me I am going to snooze through it... it's highly likely.

Our hot little sister

In the morning when I'm headed to work, Venus has been a stunningly bright object in the sky. This morning, even though I was running a little late, I stopped the car and took some pictures with my cheesy little camera. I know it's Venus because I looked it up, and as it turns out, this is the brightest Venus we will see until July of 2012. Actually, Saturday morning is supposed to be the brightest shine of all.

When I saw this sight and wanted to share it, it made me laugh, thinking about good old Mike Shannon and the funny stuff he'd say while doing the color commentary during the St. Louis Cardinals games. Once he was remarking on the big full moon over the stadium in New York, saying "I wish you folks back in St. Louis could see this moon."

Well, if you can manage to get up before dawn for the next couple of days, you can see this Venus yourself.

Here We Live

A scan from an old children's book published in the early 1920s called "The Story of Mankind" by Hendrik Van Loon (link goes to the list of digitized versions at archive.org).

The scene of our history is laid upon a little planet, lost in the vastness of the universe.

This charming illustration was made before Pluto was discovered had its brief run as a full-fledged fellow planet.

I love the illustrations in this book that is sitting here on the desk. It's loaded with wonderful ink map illustrations in the vein of Tolkien's Middle Earth maps. This telling of human history begins with evolution from sea life and continues through the author's present day of 1921, and this is the 2nd printing that includes an extra WWI chapter, After Seven Years. [wiki]

Tour de Fat

Saturday was one of our favorite annual events. It’s the touring circus-y celebration with the themes of cycling and beer put on by New Belgium Brewing Co., called Tour de Fat (think Fat Tire Beer). They bring bands, acrobats, beer and more (it's all free except the beer), but it’s very participant-oriented. Costumes are strongly encouraged, with costumed people and bikes being the fun part of the parade. Below was one of the coolest local parade bikes (and the original meanings of "bicycle" and "bike" will be suspended here, because all these contraptions have varying numbers of wheels, but all vehicles are non-motorized).

The weather was perfect! Sunny and about 75-80°.

Bat!!Muscles look good in fishnet!

MrB dressed as Santa... sort of, anyway. Loved his costume but he took it off after the parade (too warm). I was dressed as Batman's crazy Texas aunt who got left out of the will.
One of the contraptions New Belgium brought. Spin yourself around and try not to fall off. They also bring a collection of weirdly-designed and challenging bikes that you can attempt to ride. They are fun, even though some (most) require more skill than I have. The kids don't have much trouble though. I enjoyed the ones made from office chairs. comfy.
Acrobats taking advantage of some audience volunteers.
Stilts.
This is like a 3-way telephone, but it was (maybe unintentionally) equipped with 3-way "smell-o-vision."
Squirm-Burpee Circus bike in front with Austin-based "buggy" bike in back.
New-Orleans-style car funeral precedes the giveaway of a bike to someone who wants to trade their car for it. I think most of the cars traded are probably clunkers, but a nice thing for the environment if everybody could do that, yes?

The price is right - again

I love this kind of shopping. When it's bulk trash day we (and lots of other people) like to cruise around and look for who-knows-what. Two years ago our next door neighbor threw away this very rustic hobbity (that's a word, right?) looking garden bench. I embarrassed myself by transporting the very heavy bench from the sidewalk into our backyard... scraping metal over our concrete driveway (and leaving a scrape-trail too). Well, if I hadn't taken it, someone else would have, and it's been very nice having it in the yard - that is, until it rotted.

Well, no worries. We went out and found this perfectly good wooden bench and matching tea cart (or whatever you'd call it). There was also a table and 4 chairs that would NOT fit in our little car. We were hauling it into the backyard just as someone pulled up and took our old microwave and pair of blown-out speakers we'd put on the sidewalk.

The wood is definitely weathered, but it will be kept out of the sun and rain now (the metal bistro from the porch will replace the hobbity bench outside). I will probably paint it in time. MrB wanted it painted "eggplant." I told him that color is also called "aubergine," (aubergine being French for eggplant) so that was his word for the weekend. Aubergine, aubergine, aubergine... everything that's a little bit purple is pointed at, and proclaimed to be "aubergine."

So here's to recycling... purple paint, and learning a new word every day.

David Bowie honored with spider

[LINK] It's large with reddish-blond hair, named Heteropoda davidbowie, and endangered. Read more about it at the link.

This is my "not another big damn close-up spider picture" version. If you want to see all the hairs and eyeballs, click here.

Water rights and wrongs

Here we are in the middle of one of the worst droughts in history. In Central Austin we are up to 59 days this year that were over 100°, and no relief in sight (this week: 100°-103° predicted for highs every day), none promised until El Niño hits this Fall. The average is about 12 days a year at 100° or higher. Some other counties have over 70 days over 100. Lake levels are also approaching or matching record lows. People who rely on wells for their water supply are finding themselves running very low, or going dry altogether. Crops have been hit hard and animals have nothing to eat. This drought started sometime last year, and you can see by this map that we are in a situation here.

Drought monitor


Effective on Monday, the 24th, we will be on Stage 2 water restrictions from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), upgraded from Stage 1, with higher numbers meaning more restrictions.

* Outdoor irrigation is prohibited except on assigned days at designated times (see once-per-week schedule)
* Golf fairway irrigation is limited to assigned days before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.
* Golf tee and green irrigation is limited to every other day
* Vehicle washing is limited to designated days and times, with a hand-held bucket or a positive shut-off nozzle on a hose*
* A person may not conduct or participate in a charity car wash
* The use of outdoor ornamental fountains is prohibited except to provide aeration for aquatic life
* A person may not fill, refill, or add water to an indoor fountain
* No automatic fill valves are allowed for pools or ponds
* Washing of sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, patios or other paved surfaces is prohibited*
* A restaurant may not serve water to a customer unless requested by the customer

*Exceptions are made for washing necessary to protect public health, safety or welfare

This is why it’s so hard to understand how some people can be so oblivious to the situation, so above giving a shit about what they must obviously think is not their problem. The Statesman periodically publishes the residential properties and owners with the highest water usage. The latest winner/loser is Vignette founder Neil Webber, who used 1.74 million gallons in six months. He has been using more water in one month than most Austin households use in a whole year.

Another property in the top 10 is a house which has been empty for years, and for sale for a few months. For June and July it used a total of 347,500. The owner justifies it with the water needs of new landscaping. Others making the list include U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R) and UT professor and former CIA Deputy Director Bobby Ray Inman. The June & July top 10 lists are between ~130,000 and 316,000 gallons a month, with the average residential usage being 9,000-12,000 gals. They all have a laundry list of excuses and apologies, sometimes blaming a leak (which doesn’t wash, no pun intended, as a well-intentioned millionaire could probably get that repaired as soon as they became aware of it), but usually just blaming it on the demands of plants.

This kind of water usage is basically legal as long as you pay your bill. Stage 2 brings with it some fines for water-use violations, but I really doubt that people who pay water bills in the thousands of dollars will care much about being hit with a $500 fine.

Our drought in the news

MSNBC
CBS
Local newspaper
Google

Has it come to this?

Yes, you can call it "pee-cycling." [LINK]

Yes, it has some definite usefulness in certain situations... I only hope to not be in those situations.

Should the sight of something like this encourage you to conserve water in areas where drought is becoming a larger problem all the time?

{yup}

Earth will be fine, it's everything living here that I worry about

Cartoon by TAB

Good band name?

After the steaming pile from the last post, looks like this blog is developing a theme. It's not. This post has nothing in particular to do with McCain's campaign.

Found at Treehugger, where you can read more about the construction and function of the box, including the location of the Willy Flap.

Buy yours at the Brown Corporation.

Yes, really. They even have a Shit Box blog.

Starbucks won't be missed here

...mostly because hardly any of them are going away in Austin. They are closing 600 stores, and in a town where a missing Starbucks would be likely to nurture a local coffee house, they are closing only 2 locations.
HuffPo has published the entire list, and this is what I found:

6403 S CONGRESS AND ACADEMY (1007 S CONGRESS AUSTIN TX)

OK, this one, if unprofitable, is kind of surprising. It's located within an apartment or condo complex, so you would think it would have a built-in customer base.

14121 MOPAC and SLAUGHTER (5000 W SLAUGHTER AUSTIN TX)

This is way down in a suburban wasteland where they are ripping out trees as fast as they can and replacing them with chain businesses that look the same as they do everywhere - stuff like Walgreens, ugly fast-food places, banks, etc. There is a picture of it on this page, and says it just opened April 2008 - so BOOOOOO on Starbucks for opening a new facility just to almost immediately close it down. That sucks!

There is another Starbucks about a mile away from that one, and I don't object to it so much because it's kind of famous for being green. The rooftop is a landscape of native Texas grasses and plants which help to filter runoff so that fewer pollutants will run into ground water, also they collect rainfall for irrigation. Read more about it here and here. It's part of a new development near us, and I hated to see that whole shopping complex go in, but at least they have not made it ugly. It's a good area for parking and walking around (or getting there on a bike), and it's mostly local businesses (except for the Starbucks with the plants on the roof). What a contrast it is from the other ugly crap just down the road that they are cutting down perfectly good trees for.

Missing Starbucks? Support local businesses! We love Ruta Maya, Flipnotics, Bouldin Creek, Jo's Coffee, Spider House, Whole Foods, Central Market, Pacha, Mozart's, and there are plenty more we haven't even visited yet. All have their own personalities.

Tags: Austin - coffee - Starbucks

Depp's star power

The star in this case being our Sun. My adopted actor, Johnny Depp, made the eco-news by deciding to purchase a solar-hydrogen energy system for his house on the island that he purchased a few years back. [LINK ecorazzi] He was inspired to buy a Caribbean island after his friend Marlon Brando bought a Tahitian one. Inventor Mike Strizki created the nation’s first solar-hydrogen house in New Jersey, and expects Depp's costs to run between $250,000-$500,000. More on Strizki here.

Depp calls his piece of land "Fuck Off Island*," and it looks like the sentiment applies not only to the papparazzi who want to snap pictures of his kids, but to the electrical power grid as well. Shine on, Johnny Depp.


*and might refer to just doing pretty much whatever the hell you want to do on your own damn island.

Quote of the day, week, century maybe?

We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet.

-- Nobel Laureate and Former Vice-President Al Gore

[source]

An "earthy" event this evening

Sierra Club gathering of activists, City Council members, and YOU. Here's all the Austin info, maps, phone numbers, whatever you need. Everywhere else, click here to find the event in your town.

Austin Area Lightbulbs to Leadership Party

WHO: Sierra Club, Austin City Council Members and Austin activists, featuring a teleconference with Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, Green for All Leader Van Jones, and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire

WHAT: Light bulbs to Leadership party at Austin City Hall. A call to action for a green economy and global warming solutions

WHEN: Thursday, July 17, 5:30-7:00 PM

WHERE: Austin City Hall, City Council Chambers
301 W. 2nd St., Austin, TX

Free parking in City Hall garage and light appetizers available

(yes, I noticed that they are serving "light" appetizers. Not sure if the pun was intended.)

Heliophobia

It's easy to see why people have always worshipped the sun. First of all -- there it is, big as hell, infinitely more powerful and arguably hotter (and it's hard to argue over the physical characteristics of mythological places) -- so nobody can question the sun's existence or the power it has over life itself. Now with climate change undeniably happening, whether you think people are causing it or that the sun is merely getting hotter on its own, we have to deal with it as citizens of this particular solar system.

OK, that really went "out there" and got a little philosophical, but to get closer to home and the issues affecting you as you walk out the door, what about sunscreen? Do you use it? Back in the "Coppertone" days, we'd put on that stuff that was like a thick butter, and it smelled soooo good, but was only about an SPF #2 or something. Oh yes, you'd get a tan, and that oily stuff was probably good for the skin. Most people these days use products with at least an SPF of 15, and that's generally very effective at keeping away a tan. SPF is a confusing thing, though. SPF 30 is not twice as protective as SPF 15.

Now here is a study conducted on a whole range of sunscreens with some surprising conclusions, at least for me. You tend to think that the health brands would just automatically be safer. Uh-uh. They tested hundreds of products for effectiveness and safety. There are chemicals in these products that can harm you, and others that simply break down and don't work. They've got a grid with HAZARDOUS weighed against EFFECTIVE, and some of the worst products are as you might guess: some Coppertones, Walgreens, Gillette, etc, but there's also some Rachel Perry, Aveeno, and so on. And some of these products contains nanoparticles. That's an area where I am really not comfortable. Nope. And... it's worth pointing out that lots and lots of products that you put on your body contain sunscreen, like makeup (even face powder), lotion and shampoo.

I used to keep sunscreen on all the time. Nobody wants skin cancer, and I have a little spot on my nose that I have to watch out for. Then I wound up with osteopenia, which is the bone condition you get right before osteoporosis. Testing showed that I was losing Vitamin D (who knows why? I don't think the doctor was even certain, so now I take a prescription form of it, and I also pretty much gave up the sunscreen when my exposure is limited to in and out of the car (and haven't you heard the alarm bells sounded over even those small amounts of sun exposure?) because sunscreen... wouldn't you know it... also blocks the vitamin D you get from sunshine. Anyway, here it is a few years later and the ostopenia is gone. My bones are now considered normal for my age. Ta-da!!

This recent article brings up a lot of good points too, there's risk no matter what, and we all have to weigh these out for ourselves.

As the second article points out, clothing is protective and doesn't leech chemicals into your bloodstream. Hats with brims are good, sleeves (if you can stand them) work, and shade is a wonderful thing. Umbrellas (parasols) are designed for that (umbra = shade (Greek), parasol = shield sun [Latin, French, Italian roots]), so they should be brought back in style for sunny days. Don't wait for the designer, just do it yourself.

Have fun in the sun or out of it.
And don't forget your hat.
;-)

Seattle has a sense of humor

They named their trolley "S.L.U.T."

(something tells me this might change)

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Planning on traveling for vacation and want to be as green as possible? The Sierra Club has a quiz on travel methods called "How Green Is My Getaway?"

I scored 80%. Now all I need is the getaway. We can't afford to travel, and besides it would require medically-savvy pet sitters that I trust -- so that's another thing that doesn't exist along with vacation funds. I need to do something about this underemployed situation of mine.

Lexus washed the "green" right off

[LINK] Can't blame Paul for this one. His spokesperson said that Paul would be horrified about Lexus sending him his gift Lexus Hybrid from Japan to Britain via plane. The carbon footprint of flying it is 100 times greater than sending it by ship, and according to Mike Rigby, director of CO2balance.com, the impact of sending it by airplane is the same as driving the car around the world six times. The car has low emissions, but its 21 MPG isn't that great... not that Mr. McCartney will have any trouble paying the UK carbon offset fees. No troubles like the characters in the cartoon.

Arbor Day

Have you hugged a tree today?

Arbor Day was established in 1872, and is all about the planting and preserving of trees. The date for Arbor Day varies by state, and you can look up your state at the Arbor Day links below. Texans love their trees. They are precious. SHADE is a precious commodity in this hot, sunny place. True enough, plenty of trees are lost for development, but in some cases if there is a really large and beloved tree, they will attempt to move it rather than cut it down. The pics below represent a common site. Your tree is more important than your fence, so people regularly make adjustments like this for their trees.

ArborDay.org
Arbor-Day.net