beating the drums

Pathetic. I'm starting another post with "recently on an NPR interview....."

Well, recently on an NPR interview, I heard about the new Cirque du Soleil show, Love, and about how Giles Martin remixed the Beatles' songs for it. It was a fascinating interview, and I mentioned it to my wife that day. Well, wouldn't you know it, she bought me the CD for Valentine's Day (I really don't deserve such an awesome woman). It's fantastic. Awesome to hear some of the mixes, etc. that Giles came up with.

Looks like an awesome show, too. Next time I'm in Vegas....

--Og

burrito geek

I had a wonderful burrito for lunch. I went to Alberto's. They rock. For $3.25, you can get a big chile verde burrito that'll fill your tummy. Much good for Og. And why is it that a half block away people are thronging to Taco Bell, whose food only resembles Mexican food in that it is frequently wrapped in a tortilla? Personally, I think that Taco Bell is about the worst thing that could ever happen to Mexican food. It's amazing to see that they even have any business. They really aren't cheaper than the authentic places, and they certainly aren't better, so what is it? How does Taco Bell stay in business?

--Og

save the cave

Ok. I'm not an activist. However, listening to a story about fluorescent light bulbs on NPR yesterday motivated me to put up an environment related post. Personally, though I will never stop being a fan of dinosaurs, I think that all of us are becoming more environmentally conscious. So, I thought I should post a few things that we can all do to help. I must say, I'm not doing everything on the list. However, it is motivation. Pick something. Do it. Feel good.

• Change a bulb. Easy, right? You probably have a burned out bulb that you've been meaning to get to anyways. I first started doing this on porch bulbs that would burn out every month. Once I changed to CFL's, I haven't had to change them again (over 2 years now). The lazy cave geek in me loves this one.
• Grow a garden. Every year, we dig up thousands of acres of land to plop our homes on. We are digging up farmland and planting houses. Thus, each year, we have less farmland and more people who need to eat food. A garden is a much more efficient use of whatever tiny plot of farmland you have than a bunch of grass. It uses your water more efficiently. If you compost, you can cut down on the solid wastes you send to the landfill, etc. Not to mention the fact that the mere act of wallowing around in your own soil will inspire you to want to preserve and protect it.
• Get a plug-in hybrid or an Electric Vehicle. Ok, Og have problem here. Og still have dinosaur. Dinosaur is paid for. If dinosaur go away, it fill junkyard with tons of steel. I mentioned that I like dinosaurs. I also do NOT like to buy new vehicles. Hey, waste is waste and I also feel that the current batch of hybrids are going to have all sorts of maintenance problems down the road (maybe this is just superstition), so I think that plug-in hybrids and pure electrics are actually a better option. Not that they eliminate emissions (can you say 'Coal-fired power plants?'), but they give our nation options and a possibility of exploring new power sources. Now, please don't take my criticism of current hybrid technology as a criticism of people driving hybrids. If you are driving one now, Good job. You may proceed to the bonus round--especially since plug-ins and pure electrics are not widely available (although if you want to really be cool, check out a tesla)
  
• Build an EV. This is perfect for Og. Og loves dinosaurs. Og loves projects (though rarely finishes one). maybe Og should start small like this ATV. If you are a sport-compact guy, truck guy, lowrider or rodder, what better way to make a unique ride than to make it Electric (and possibly throw up a solar panel to charge it) and let people know that even cave geeks care. You can tailor them for speed or for efficiency and get what you need out of them. If you are considering rebuilding the engine on your car, you should take a look at a conversion kit. Range is still a problem on these, but someday someone will build more powerful and economical batteries.
  
• Encourage your city and/or HOA to keep the environment in mind when they set up their covenants/ordinances. For example, my HOA has a ban on solar panels. How dumb is that? Granted, they aren't beautiful, but seriously how gorgeous are your shingles?
  
• Roll your own. Generate some electricity. Hook it to something. If you look, there are a lot of places that will sell solar panels (sam's, harbor freight, etc.). Get one. Learn how to make electricity. Even if all you charge the first time is an RC car or a cell phone, it's a start. Who knows, you might get excited and want to do the whole-house system.
• Easy on the household cleaners. Seriously, I find that most of what needs to be cleaned in my house can be done with water, vinegar and/or baking soda. In fact, the more I use these cleaners, the more I realize how lame the cleaners you buy really are. I'm not saying you can't keep a jug of AcidBlast 3,000 around for emergency purposes, but try the vinegar and soda(Og also loves the fact that they are really cheap). If you like it, throw out the expensive ones (oops, just clogged the landfills again)--or just don't buy them anymore and let them gradually dry into a nasty crud that you can use for your kids' science experiments. There has to be some way to make a volcano out of that stuff.....
  
• Tread Lightly.
  
• Learn. The more we all know on the topic, the better off we all are. Here are a couple more articles that are related:
• http://www.syrinx.net/article/environment/ten_things_we_have_done_to_help_the_environment
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16840020/site/newsweek/
• http://newmexico.earth911.org/master.asp
• and many more. Go google something.
  

I don't think that any one of us is currently perfect in this area, and I doubt that we ever will be, but hey, every little bit helps--or at least hurts less. Anyone who's eaten Taco Bell bean burritos on a road trip knows that even a small reduction of emissions can be a lifesaver.

--Og

A new blog has begun

This is not my first blog. As bad as this one will be, rest assured, the others are worse. One thing that I've been struck with as I read my own blogs as compared to reading the blogs of others is this--my blogs are mad rantings, but the good ones I see have a theme.

So, I began the quest for a theme. I thought "I'll just write about stuff that I like." Of course, then I realized that that's pretty much what is wrong with my other blogs. As I mulled over things that I am interested in and within those interests, the other things that I like/dislike about them, I was also wondering what to call this new 'themed' blog.

I have one called stik.man. The name came from some pictures that my son and I had messed around with and we combined the stick man figure with the internet/computer theme. So, I toyed with some other names, still attempting to find one that fit me as well as having a visual appeal to me.

Throughout this process, I kept having the same recurring realization that there is no consistency in my interests. I love doing things with computers, yet whenever I tell someone that I'm a computer programmer and they say "I wish I knew more about computers," my answer is generally "No you don't." I think that many of us Geek-tards of the modern age yearn for the unplugged analog life, though we can't pry our cold clammy hands off of our keyboards.

So, in the midst of all of this wondering about who I am and why I am not only interested in shell scripting and rss feeds, but also interested in cooking over an open fire and building my own log cabin, it dawned on me. I'm a cave geek. Give me a fire, some berries to paint my cave walls with, and a high-speed connection.

--Og