International Year of astonomy

Okay .. I am a geek ... yes I said it a GEEK.

I know, I know .. most of you already know this, but for some of you that might not have known me for years it might not have quite sunk in yet. I admit it and am almost proud of the fact that I love geeky things. For years I would spend countless hours outdoors with my scope taking photographs of the night sky (all before i got married and had kids of course)

So this is officially the international year of astronomy and I wanted to help spread the word to all of those out there that might not be aware. I am a believer of understanding our place in this vast universe, and how everything surrounding us works in ever so intricate ways. I feel that the sheer beauty of astronomical event, celestrial bodies, and vast nebulae are unrivaled amongst anything in nature.

Yes, I have even been brought to tears, full blow tears peering through my telescope at the sheer awe and beauty of things like the rings of Saturn. For those of you who have never actually witnessed these things first hand, this is your year. Get out to a local astronomy club, I guarantee people will be willing to allow you to use the scope and see these things first hand yourself. This is something I feel everyone should experience once in their lifetime.

Please take some time and read through some of these sites, find events near you, get outside and stare up at the wonders that lay above us each night. Take your friends, your family, your loved ones and enjoy the night sky.

http://www.astronomy2009.org/

http://toronto.rasc.ca/content/TorontoAstroFestival09.shtml

Okay ... here we go ... rant time.

I have a problem, a small problem with how some auto manufacturers are presenting, wait ... falsely presenting the next generation of automobiles. Not only do I have a problem with how the manufactures are presenting this, but I have an even larger problem with how eagerly and blindly the general populous is accepting these new truths. What am I talking about... Interested yet ?? Today’s rant is about the electric car.

Enter GM (General Motors) and the newly appointed “Volt”. This vehicle is slated for release in 2010, and has been highly touted as the “solution” to the petroleum propelled vehicles that have dominated the markets for the past 100 years or more. This car will run off 100 % electric power, no gasoline or diesel, just electricity. Sounds great right? The solution to all our oil problems plaguing the world right?

The other day I was on the train, listening to people talk about the new car and the advertisement they had recently seen. These two individuals seem so assured, so positive, so enamoured with the concept of this car that it was to end the world dependency on oil. That we were finally going to have a “zero carbon footprint” automobile available for purchase and we could all be part of the solution. I bit my tongue for a while during the conversation, but then finally gave in and had to discuss with them.

First I had to ask, where did you hear the term “zero carbon footprint”? It was so outlandish t me that I had to explain what this term meant, and how falsely misleading this was. First off I asked where this electricity comes from. And then proceeded to explain how our power consumption nationally breaks down. Over 1/3 of the power in our country is from fossil fuels... the very thing that the automobile was supposed to avoid right?

Nuclear FleetGenerating Capacity: 6,606 MWStations: 32007 Output: 44.2 TWh
Currently Generating:
6216 MW

Hydroelectric FleetGenerating Capacity: 6,972 MWStations: 642007 Output: 31.9 TWh
Currently Generating:
4754 MW

Fossil-Fuelled FleetGenerating Capacity: 8,577 MWStations: 52007 Output: 29.0 TWh
Currently Generating:
3080 MW

Next consider all the other non renewable sources that are in the automobile, rubber, plastics, chemicals, paints. Or how about all the infrastructure that is used to either store or transport the electricity to your home? Where am I going with all of this rant? It is simple; I truly wish that the auto manufactures would stay clear of terms like “zero carbon footprint” when this is so false. There is a HUGE carbon footprint for the vehicle, and all the power used by the driver.

Please do not take this rant to mean that I am against electric cars like the volt, rather the opposite; I fell they are a great step forward. I do wish however that the marketing guru’s would figure out another way to sell the products rather than using “buzz words” to fool the consumer sheep into making a noble choice.

~ Hocky night in canada~

Sorry about the lack of posting over the last few days ... but something more meaningful will have to wait until tomorrow.

I am heading to the Toronto Mapleleafs game this eve, and wont have time to post
:-)

Come on back tomorrow, I will have something worth while ... promise

Humans and Music

How is it no matter what human culture you study in any period of time have music as a central part of their being? Evolution of tribal rituals, chants, drums sessions ... all the way to modern day rock or techno for that matter. Music is a singularity we all share in some form as humans.

Take for example my sons smile when he learned how to clap his hands and find simple rhythms in his nursery rhymes. I believe this searching of pleasing patterns is something that is a gift from within. Something we are all born with, and some learn to externalize it better than others becoming musicians.

I wish more people would treat others in their lives as we do amateur musicians. We never scorn them for missing a note, or perhaps hitting one incorrectly. We rather encourage them to try again, seek out improvement from the last passing. Why is it we cannot do the same in our day to day lives? If someone makes a mistake, encourage them to try again and improve upon the last attempt? So, as we’d forgive the amateur musician and encourage their growth, we should forgive our fellow humans’ actions.

We all hit wrong notes ... we are only human

The polar bear experience

First off let me welcome everyone to the year 2009. I hope it is as great as you want, and can make it

Since returning to Canada from my time in Texas, I have been known to complain or even periodically bitch about the extreme cold here in Canada. This comes as a shock to people who remember me as a ski instructor who would spend days outdoors in the -30 weather teaching.
Well since my time in the south, man do I ever miss the south sometimes, my blood had thinned and I am unable to adjust back to the colder climate. So what is one to do? How does one overcome this? I decided to take an extremist approach to the matter and take a plunge. What type of plunge you might ask … the polar bear plunge.





While most of you were sleeping off new year’s hangovers, or relaxing under your down filled covers, I got up early, and silently headed out for a dip in lake Ontario with hundreds of other “crazy” individuals. I did not tell anyone I was doing it, not family, not friends. This was intentional as I did not want to hear any negativity that might convince me otherwise from doing this.

The polar bears club get up each new year’s morning, head down to the icy waters of lake Ontario, and that it right, take off their clothing run into the water, and dance around frantically trying to pretend that it is not cold. They get pledges to raise money for a charity of choice; this year was a clean water fund for Rwanda.

http://www.polarbeardip.ca/

The experience … well let’s just say I will never do it again. I neither found it exhilarating nor refreshing as people had described. Simply cold, bitterly bone chilling cold. Too look on the bright side however; I did achieve two greater goals by doing this. One, helped out a good cause and got a new year’s resolution out of the way early this year. Two, now the mornings do not seem quite as cold and I am better prepared to fight the cold Canadian winter months.

Edit -- blog just hit 200 visits :) thanks for reading