taking the saab story out for another spin around the digital block
Published January 29, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: general motors, saab, spyker, tonic.com
Still, I’m waxing impertinent, and have decided to take this one out for another spin, and for three reasons:
1) I like the story itself of Saab being diverted from what had been an all-but-certain destiny for the car history scrap heap;
2) I was pleased with how my treatment of the matter unfolded; and
3) As I realized only after it went live to the Tonic.com site, this article marks number 400 that I’ve done. One one hand it hardly seems possible, but on the other, I have taken on kind of a bluish pallor owing to how much time my schnozz is pressed against the computer screen these past few months.
Unaltered Saab 96 photo courtesy of underwhelmer via flickr; edited versions of same by yours truly.

Shaken to the core
Published January 13, 2010 Uncategorized 1 CommentTags: earthquake, Eric Francis, Haiti, Haiti Lumiere de Demain, Jan. 13 2010 earthquake, Louis Elneus, tonic.com, USGS
A shallow (geologically-speaking) quake of 7.0 located under land is going to wreak havoc. If that land happens to be heavily populated and urbanized, it’s bound to be disaterous.
And if the urban area in question is characterized by some of the most dire, crushing poverty to be found anywhere in the western hemisphere, the sorrow becomes nearly too much to wrap a mind around.
Yesterday’s temblor was situated just 10 miles away from the capital city of Port au Prince and its population of two million. With such densely settled humanity in a region characterized by inexpensive and structurally substandard building methods, what we’re seeing unfold is tough to grasp and promises to get grimmer still.
I’m not religious in the least, but a strong spiritual streak runs through to my core, which explains why I find the following quote, taken from an article written by KC Baker for Tonic.com (the site for whom I contribute science news items), so resonant and compelling:
I’m additionally compelled to make note of a nice bit of in-the-room elephant identification by the most excellent astrologer Eric Francis, who observes:
I wonder how it’s possible that humanitarian aid for the Sumatra quake was just $7 billion USD, whereas the AIG bailout was more like $180 billion.”
I’m not yet sure precisely what I can or will do. Watching and reading the immediate aftermath rapidly unfold, I’m feeling shaken to the core. Regardless of any divine force that may or may not be at play, clearly we are presented with a test of our collective heart and values. I hope that somehow I’m able to rise to this occasion.
I hope that we all are.
Image of event shake map by US Geological Survey via Wikimedia Commons
funky crib notes podcast 2: water plus bacteria plus fat grooves
Published December 24, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentPhilly does stormwater management the right way. Bacteria go batshat crazy in solitary confinement. Featuring the tracks "Big Bronzy Shooter" by Zero1, "DeepInHouse1" by c-sar, and "Let's Go Outside" by St. Adam.
there’s no place laaah muh … muh… buh whaaa hoo zuh nnn nn nuh
Published December 20, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Commentfunky crib notes podcast 1: free association, free tunes, free learning
Published December 18, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentSome introductory notes and housekeeping. Thoughts on the very impressive and generous Salman Khan. A tip of the hat to deep space and all the cool stuff we're finding of late. Featured tracks: "Vectra" by jpfm band, "One Night in BCN" by Mr. K, and "White Gummie Bear" by DJ Lucian, all courtesy of Jamendo.com
Penny Experiment, 78 of 100
Published December 16, 2009 Uncategorized 2 CommentsTags: 78, Penny Experiment
Seriously. I’m just delighted and impressed with Jeffrey Strain’s Penny Experiment, and I am proud as hell that I’m able to participate in it.
His concept is to leverage a single found penny into something bigger. Among the conceptual tricks up his sleeve to transform one cent into real change is his call out for artists to create original, postcard-sized art to donate for sale to raise funds (got yer crayons handy? there may be a few numbers left! run don’t walk!). Jeff’s goal for the project is to generate food bank donations and purchases.
Clever, creative, heartfelt, and other-oriented. Really great stuff.
the penny experiment — TERRIBLY excited about this
Published December 16, 2009 Uncategorized 1 Commentnow THIS is cool:
I’m looking for artists that would be willing to donate a bit of their time and talent for the penny experiment project. What I’m hoping to find is 100 different artists who will each create one postcard size piece of art that incorporates a number of their choosing (between 1 and 100) and a penny. In return, the artist will get (if desired) a bio on this website under the image of their artwork, a link to their own website and the knowledge that they helped out a lot of people in need during these difficult economic times.
The size of the art should be somewhere between 3 inches x 5 inches and 5 inches x 8 inches (a small to large postcard) on postcard type material incorporating both a real penny and the number that you choose. The style, color scheme, etc is completely up to you.
The art will be sold with 100% of the money going to purchase food for food banks. If this sounds like something in which you would like to participate, please contact me with five (5) numbers in order of preference that you would like to use for your art (you will only use one of these numbers, but this will allow me to assign one if some have already been taken). Please also feel free to contact me or leave a comment with any questions that you may have.
I will be submitting a piece. I asked for any ol' number, and have been assigned "78,." which is a totally kickass number. I'm excited about the possibilities for it. Many thanks to Julienne, who put this on my radar screen. Terribly cool concept. Delighted to be participating.





