by cg on September 29, 2007
Our Potter Valley-based cousins, the Rockels and the Eddies were down for dinner this evening, so we went out to Mike’s Cafe (and enjoyed every moment). John an d Julie joined us from Oakland to make the family scene complete. John amused the younger set by showing funny cat videos on YouTube.
We took a table for 10 at Mike’s Cafe, just in time for a jazz trio to show up. Mike’s food and wine was very good and family-friendly. A very pleasant evening….
by cg on September 29, 2007
The front page of The New York Times has an AFP photo that sums up an intersection of issues and technologies that are going to drive the world’s affairs in the months and years to come, IMHO.
The photo shows Somalis, displaced by fighting that is in part caused by the migration of populations displaced by a drop in already-marginal water supplies, gathered around a U.N. food distribution operation. The accompanying article points out that food distribution to the world’s poorest will shrink greatly this year because of sharply higher food prices.
The rise in corn and soybean prices is being driven in part by the ethanol-production craze in the U.S., while climate-change driven drought – another water issue – has caused wheat prices to rise. Water shortages and the unintended consequences of ethanol production from food crops is causing a tragedy that could lead to greater world instability. China, the U.S. and the U.N. are already locking horns over events in Africa.
Technology alone can’t solve this issue, but the least we can do is try to move technologies that can help – like celulosic ethanol production and better water management technology – from the lab to the field. If you figured in the cost of massive population displacement, celulosic ethanol’s higher cost vs. corn might well be offset. So-called ‘Translational Technology,’ moving from lab to production, should be a focus for Green Tech investors…
by cg on September 27, 2007
First Blush has an almost painterly photo of water gushing from a Stanford culvert this morning. Which gets us to the topic of water, which was a really big deal at the AlwaysOn Going Green conference in Davis last week.
Water is already in short supply in many parts of the world, and climate change has the potential to disrupt it even more, affecting large populations. I captured some of my thoughts about same in a not-quite 3-minute podcast, the first produced with the lashed together analog World HQ home audio studio (seen above). We need to find a way to keep the audio pieces hooked up for more rapid set up… maybe a new cheesy crate…?
by cg on September 26, 2007
So, we’re off to UCSF shortly to do additional physical training with Osher Center physical therapist Heidi Engel this morning. I’ve been doing a strength workout that Heidi has prescribed and continuously fine-tuned for some 2 months now, and it has been one of the positives in my therapy.
I’ve definitely become stronger, can get out of a chair much more easily, can get my shoes and socks on (!) more easily et al. thanks to the improved strength. My neuro-oncologists have noted the improvement, and are pleased. It’s the one part of the ‘integrative’ medicine program that just seems to be working great.
I don’t want to overstate the case: I’m still on steroids (though ramping them down steadily), and the steroids tear down the muscles I build up. 2 months of these exercises without the steroids would have produced a stronger and fitter person by far. But there’s progress. So I’ll be back on the N Judah, at least once a week for the time being… I plan to keep my eyes peeled for B&W pix to add to the portfolio…Â
by cg on September 25, 2007
Our Macintosh G4 Cube was among the most beloved, and longest-working of all our Macs. It came home in 2000, almost as soon as it hit the local Mac dealer, and sat in the family room in one role or another until this year’s major overhaul of gulker.com World HQ.
2 weeks ago, we started a second daily workout on a stationary bike. Riding a stationary bike is, um, well, very boring, so I try to take a newspaper or other material to read. As it happened Monday, everything I wanted to read was on CNET, so I printed a bunch of stuff out.
While that kept us busy on the bike, I realized that printing 20 sheets of online news a day was not a particularly ‘green’ practice. The Cube, since its retirement, has been sitting in the same spare bedroom as the bike, so, putting 1 and 1 together, it didn’t take long to pull together the pieces, plug them in and fire up the Cube. An old shoe rack holds the monitor in just the right place, and a fresh Firefox install takes care of a browser.
Firefox on the Cube has Google Sync installed, so we can pick articles we want to read while working at World HQ, and then just sync them over to the Cube’s browser for the workout. Mouse and keyboard are a bit tricky: I may need a trackball to make this all work a bit better. Voila… a green solution that also recycles a computer…
by cg on September 24, 2007
Annie Liebovitz‘ very fine book ‘A Photographer’s Life’ arrived last Christmas. At the time, recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, I was very interested in her documentation of partner Susan Sontag’s death, hoping it would help me with the task of dealing with and visualizing my own shortened mortality horizon. I thumbed through the Sontag pages, then put the book up on a shelf as I set off to go back to work at Adobe with high hopes and spirit and feeling an oncological kinship with Elizabeth Edwards and Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter.
Now, 3 weeks out of Adobe, I’m trying to bring a richness back into my new life. One of the many things I’m trying to do is bring fine photography and writing into my daily routine. So I’ve put Annie’s book on my bedstand, and now, morning and night I spend a few minutes flipping pages and enjoying her wonderful images, no matter how busy the day will be or has been. I will go forth on the N Judah Wednesday, much inspired and hoping to pick up that project where it left off last winter…
Yesterday was particularly chaotic – big family visit, and our gardener and his crew were here getting the patio ready for new sod – lots going on.
