babble home

rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics

Topic Closed  Topic Closed


  
FAQ | Forum Home

This topic has been transferred to this forum: the sniffer.  
next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » archived babble   » rabble podcast network   » thesniffer

   
Author Topic: thesniffer
audra trower williams
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2

posted 16 October 2005 03:26 PM      Profile for audra trower williams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Cathi and Nora stick their noses in some unusual places to find out what the future holds. You'll love it, you'll hate it, but mostly it will scare the pants off you. Spotting the newest trends, and where they're taking us, to keep you tuned in and on top.
From: And I'm a look you in the eye for every bar of the chorus | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 16 October 2005 06:00 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
This is one of my favorite podcasts - I listen to it every day on the way to work. It's short (between 5 and 10 minutes long - usually closer to 5), and it's so neat. They tell you all about future trends (often funny, sometimes freaky, sometimes neat, and sometimes scary), which can be anything from new technology to new social trends.

I'm a big fan.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 17 October 2005 09:09 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Welcome Babblers!

thesniffer is totally jazzed and thrilled about becoming a member of the RPN. We'd like to hear your questions, comments, observations and criticisms (not really, but we thought we should say that). We're especially interested in any new places we should be sniffing. Are there any stories you'd like us track down?

Nora and Cathi

[ 17 October 2005: Message edited by: MondoBondo ]


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 17 October 2005 10:03 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Welcome to the rpn Cathi and Nora. Great to have you here. I have a, what Nora calls "Refrainspotting" item for you. I've started to hear the phrase "tastes like ass" a lot, as in. "Man, this coffee tastes like ass". I think it's a derivative of "tastes like sh*t" but it's well, an odd derivative. Have you heard it too.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
globetrotter
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5406

posted 17 October 2005 11:32 PM      Profile for globetrotter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Cathi and Nora,

I loved your episode on Peak Oil - it's as though you stole the words right our of my brain or something! I can't wait to hear more.


From: canada | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 18 October 2005 08:55 AM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Wayne,

I have noticed the "tastes like ass", um, phenomenon (can we call it a phenomenon?) and also the really odd, but curiously evocative insult "you're an ass-hat". Anyone else heard that?

Sarah, thanks for the Peak Oil props. You should see Cathi's face when she gets really freaked out about something.


From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 18 October 2005 09:07 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hee Nora, "asshat" is actually a favorite funny insult on babble. And "ass clown" and "assboat" have made an appearance as well.

My favorite is "assboat" personally.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Willowdale Wizard
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3674

posted 18 October 2005 09:11 AM      Profile for Willowdale Wizard   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
when is rabble going to try buscasting?
From: england (hometown of toronto) | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 18 October 2005 10:54 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
It's funny, WW - I have often thought it would be fun to channel my occasional fits of TTC rage into either a blog or a podcast or a zine or something. I usually think about it whenever I'm on a crowded subway car in the morning, listening to one of my favorite podcasts that play listener rants, and I'm thinking, "I should call up his comment line and leave a rant about this IMPOSSIBLY STUPID person who keeps bashing everyone around him with his knapsack, or that idiot who keeps blocking half the doorway with his body and his newspaper when there's room inside the car," etc.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Reality. Bites.
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6718

posted 18 October 2005 11:15 AM      Profile for Reality. Bites.        Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Wayne MacPhail:
I've started to hear the phrase "tastes like ass" a lot, as in. "Man, this coffee tastes like ass". I think it's a derivative of "tastes like sh*t" but it's well, an odd derivative. Have you heard it too.

The first time I noticed "like ass" used where "like shit" would seem more logical was on Survivor II, taped in fall 2000.

The purist in me feels compelled to point out that an ass doesn't have any inherent smell or taste, it only picks that up from what is on it, while shit always smells (and presumably tastes) like shit.

It's also cruel to dogs. Whenever my dog hears someone say something tastes like ass he thinks he's finally found a human of discerning taste with interesting hobbies he can relate to.


From: Gone for good | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
audra trower williams
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2

posted 18 October 2005 12:17 PM      Profile for audra trower williams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The Sniffer.
From: And I'm a look you in the eye for every bar of the chorus | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Crippled_Newsie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7024

posted 18 October 2005 12:20 PM      Profile for Crippled_Newsie     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Wayne MacPhail:
I've started to hear the phrase "tastes like ass" a lot, as in. "Man, this coffee tastes like ass". I think it's a derivative of "tastes like sh*t" but it's well, an odd derivative.

I always ask whether the speaker has tasted alot of asses, so as to know what he/she is talking about. Makes some str8 people squirm like crazy.


From: It's all about the thumpa thumpa. | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 18 October 2005 04:56 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Tastes like ass? I live at Church and Wellesely. I've been hearing tastes like ass for the last 10 years of my life.

Sarah, thanks for the nice words about Peak Oil. It's my total favourite thing to obsess about. Much more interesting than freaking about bird flu. If we all get the bird flu, pfffft, it's curtains. But no oil, now that's when things'll get really twisted.

There are a lot of possible alternatives out there. I hope to get into them in future podcasts if only Nora will let me talk about something other than women peeing standing up.

And Nora, you should see *your* face when you're talking about the shopping culture. Maybe we should have a camera up and running.

Nah, on second thought I don't think so.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 18 October 2005 04:58 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Oh yeah, MondoBondo is me, Cathi Bond.
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
deBeauxOs
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10099

posted 18 October 2005 05:28 PM      Profile for deBeauxOs     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
posted by MondoBondo:
Oh yeah, MondoBondo is me, Cathi Bond.
Welcome, new babbler.

Map of M4Y 1B2, CA

It would appear from the map that you live in a garret, above "Buddies in Bad Times"

[ 18 October 2005: Message edited by: deBeauxOs ]


From: missing in action | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 18 October 2005 05:32 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Bird flu? Oh, NOW I get it. Man, I figured everyone was getting all messed up about Evian flu. And I thought, "Who gives a crap? Like most people can afford designer bottled water." Boy, do I feel dumb. Now I can go back to sweating about Peak Oil of Olay, or whatever.

[ 18 October 2005: Message edited by: Wayne MacPhail ]


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Raos
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5702

posted 18 October 2005 06:10 PM      Profile for Raos     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Wow, this was my first introduct to thensiffer, and Teenage Kicks made me laugh my ass off! It was fantastic.
From: Sweet home Alaberta | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 19 October 2005 01:06 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey man that's sweet. Glad you liked it.

Now who was asking about the location of my digs? Right now indeed I can see Buddies in Bad Times.

Does anyone ever go there? I went to see Judith Thompson's adaptation of Hedda Gabler this summber. ON the celebrity sighting side it was great. I was sitting right beside Michael Ondaatje (ohmygawd ohmygawd) and the playwright herself was sitting directly in front of me. ON the adaptation side, I think I like her original stuff better.

Nora and I are frequently bellyaching about adaptations. I guess I should be happy it's Ibsen and not Grease the opera.

Cath


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 19 October 2005 01:41 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Or, worse, Grease by Ibsen.

SANDY: I'm hopelessly devoted to you!

DANNY: Everything is hopeless. What is hope but dust in a cup, the last dregs of a poor vintage, the dream of a fool lost in the cold grey dawn.

SANDY: You're right. I see now what a sham happiness is! Happiness ha! Grief is the word.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 19 October 2005 01:57 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey, Cathi and Nora, check this out. I heard this a couple of days ago on Earthwatch Radio (I think I was telling you about this podcast, Cathi - it's 5 days a week and about two minutes long per episode).

Anyhow, this one is about peak oil, and they've played an opinion by some scientist who apparently disagrees with the current popular prognosis:

Click here to listen - it's two minutes long, approx., and will open your media player directly.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 19 October 2005 02:34 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Thanks Michelle. I listened to the clip. The scientist is right, we have been remarkably inventive when it comes to energy extraction.

Unfortunately, we've also been remarkable profligate with the energy we've extracted, so much so that we've probably run out of time and resources to come up with the new technology he speaks of. Some folks feel that we've passed the peak (or will in the next five years).

That means the economy will begin to stagnate and the resources that can devoted to cheap tar sands extraction will be competing with the resources needed to feed suburbanites stranded in zero-resource ghettos.

And, anyway, coming up with new ways to get oil from tar sands is like being inventive about compost bin licking techniques. If you have to get that imaginative to eat, you should be paying attention to the state of your diet.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 19 October 2005 02:38 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Oh, I completely agree with you. In fact, I was pretty shocked when I was listening to that podcast and had to listen to it again to see if I'd heard right, since that podcast is normally very environmentally-conscious and pro-conservation, from what I've heard. And when I was listening to it, I'll admit it - I was thinking, "I have to send this clip to Cathi and Nora!"

I wonder how many e-mails they've gotten about it?


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
WingNut
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1292

posted 19 October 2005 02:44 PM      Profile for WingNut   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Many if not most North Americans heat their homes with natural gas. It can cost up to 1000 cubic feet of natural gas and three barrels of water to extract one barrel of oil from the tar sands. Are we stupid or what?
From: Out There | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
paxamillion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2836

posted 19 October 2005 04:02 PM      Profile for paxamillion   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Today was my first time listening. I was really impressed with the warmth, the interplay and the humour. Adding it to my podcast receiver now.
From: the process of recovery | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 19 October 2005 04:34 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey thanks for the clip Michelle. I have heard this same theory from many other sources during my research and I think that it's true. The question is, how long will it take to run the sands dry? Did you hear about that Governor of Utah calling us the Saudi Arabia of the north?

I was talking to my cousin about this. He's an engineer and works for the government developing alternate energies. A lot around biomass which is really incredible. He was quite pragmatic about the whole thing. Essentially, and I paraphrase "We're just going to have to learn to live more like Europeans." Meaning gas will be twice to three times as expensive and no more frolicking around the farmhouse in my tee and boxers in the dead of winter. Drat! Actually I hate being cold but it sounds like Chinese silk long johns will be de rigeur in the future.

I've got a lot more to say about this topic. Some positive stuff as well as some worrisome. Or at the very least thought provoking. Maybe Nora and I should revisit it next week or the following week. What do you all think? Nora?


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 19 October 2005 05:17 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I've got my students at Mohawk College working on a five-part podcast series on Peak Oil. Not sure if it will be rpn quality or not. But, if so, it could be good brain fodder too. Will keep you posted. One issue I've read about regarding biomass fuel. In the absence of petroleum-based fertilizer and petroleum-based pesticides, will there be enough biomass to fuel our consumption? Well, enough without turning over shrinking farm land to corn. And I, for one, don't want to be shivering in my longjohns eating Niblets.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 19 October 2005 05:35 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey Wayne,

What about this? Since India is bound to become a huge energy sucker with their growing economy and middle class, what if they operate their cars on ethanol from sugar cane? India produces I think 60 percent of the world's sugar and it's meant to be a very clean burning fuel.

Can you heat a home on ethanol?

I dunno. So much to learn, so little time before niblets in the dark.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 19 October 2005 05:48 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I'd love to talk about peak oil more. The guy in the clip is right about the resourcefulness of oil extraction techniques, but we're still using more and more energy to *get* that energy, and I'm not confident our extraction techniques themselves are going to continue to get that much more efficient. The problem with ethanol is that it's not efficient to have huge factory farms raising corn or sugar cane to make fuel (though there has been some progress in using waste straw). btw, did anyone see that news squib about methanol batteries? Harness the power of gassy cows!
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 19 October 2005 06:14 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I believe those batteries are marketed by Durasmell.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 19 October 2005 08:11 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hee. Don't go giving all your show ideas away here first!

Yeah, I wouldn't mind hearing peak oil revisited on your show, you two, if you have more to say about it. When I was listening to that earthwatch episode for the first time, I thought, "I want Cathi and Nora to rip this apart!"


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 21 October 2005 04:59 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
The video iPod is okay, but, interestingly, it doesn't make me want to go out and buy an new iPod (like the nano did). So, on one level, that's good. It just means the video iPod is a natural extension of the iPod line with the video as a tech extra. On the other, it won't be generating a lot of repeat sales for Apple, which it needs right now until the Intel boxes hit the streets in June.

I'm not a TV or music vid watcher, so I'm probably a lousy sample for this product.

On the "laser keyboard". That's a piece of futuretech vapourware that has been floating around for about five years kids. I'll believe it when I see it in a commercial product. The fact that it hasn't gotten out of the lab yet suggests that its not really ready for prime time. The site you pointed to reads like a "oh crap, we need venture capital" puff job (to be polite).


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 21 October 2005 05:20 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
While I concede that the VKB has a way to go before becoming a Best Buy Christmas stocking stuffer, I firmly believe this is an important step. Unless our oil situation turns us all into housebound farmers, we will continue to want to be more and more mobile don't you think? (Great article in rabble on peak oil btw)

Isn't that the whole point of the mobile revoltion? (Well maybe it's just to make money but we've been brainwashed into believing in tech to go.)

This is a piece of technology that actually could perform a much needed *function.* Those litte keyboards totally suck. The VKB could go anywhere, even offices and be of great help to folks who've got Carpal Tunnel etc.

Ergonomically they could be fantastic. And if the app grew into a screen it would fabulous in a world where space is shrinking.

And remember friends, don't stamp on the nose of thesniffer. We just go forth and sniff. We never said everyone would like the smell.

Cathi


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sharon
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4090

posted 21 October 2005 06:00 PM      Profile for Sharon     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
I've got my students at Mohawk College working on a five-part podcast series on Peak Oil.

Wayne -- and others -- our lead story on rabble.ca today is about a recent conference in England on oil and life after oil.


From: Halifax, Nova Scotia | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 22 October 2005 02:05 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Good story Sharon. Thank you. I'm hoping we can launch a "Living Locally" podcast to help folks get ready for the oil-starved days ahead.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 22 October 2005 02:26 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
What's neat is up at my farm a lot of farmers are applying for new zoning to their property to allow for retail sales area. It's very kewl and we buy all of our meat and eggs from the lady down the road. It's all organic and way cheaper than what you'd get at any supermarket.

There's also something really sexy about buying local.

PS What's also interesting is that some of the local powerbrokers are trying to stop it. I wonder if they've got Sobey or Foodland stock.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 23 October 2005 09:19 AM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Cathi wrote:

quote:
There's also something really sexy about buying local.

I see. Perhaps you're buying the orgasmic produce by mistake.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 23 October 2005 11:11 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Wayne MacPhail:
Good story Sharon. Thank you. I'm hoping we can launch a "Living Locally" podcast to help folks get ready for the oil-starved days ahead.

I would love to hear that. My mother was just asking me yesterday, "Have you heard of the "local diet" thing that's happening? Where you try to restrict your diet to only food that is produced within 100 km of your home?" I kind of laughed, because I've been reading about that sort of thing for a few years now, due to my participation on babble, and thus learning a lot from the internet about slow food, the organics movement, and the push by environmentalists and lefty-types to eat locally as much as possible. And of course, "living locally" is an extension of that.

Cathi, I noticed in Prince Edward County that a few of the places that used to just have little roadside stands have now got you-name-it tourist trap stores on their land, from which they sell not only produce, but other resale items like pottery, maple syrup, etc. Which kind of makes my reaction to your post mixed. I love the idea of farmers selling their produce on their own property for less, especially organic farmers. However, a couple of the places I visited on my travels around PEC were obnoxiously commercial now, to the point where there is a lot of shopfront and not a lot of produce, if you know what I mean.

This one place we went to used to be a really amazing place to buy produce, and they still have lots of great apples. But they've turned it into a total tourist trap, with a store full of overpriced country crap and delicacies (like maple syrup, cheese, etc.) that cost more than they would in a grocery store. I don't have a problem with them making a go of it, of course, but I think that it's sad when you get some places going from what you describe in your post, Cathi (the "farmer's market" on your own farm kind of set-up), to just another tourist trap trying to sell the country to the cityslickersonvacation type of consumer, taking a ride into the country in their SUV.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 23 October 2005 04:30 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Ever since Cathi moved out to the country, she tries to shoehorn 'sexy farmer' stories into thesniffer!
I'd love a 'living locally' podcast or blog, actually. I have a relationship with a farmer (that's a *professional* relationship, Cathi). A bunch of us give him money at the beginning of the season to fund his expenditures and he delivers to our homes biweekly. I just stumbled on what he was doing, though; it would be great if there were a database or some kind of systematic way to hook people offering localized alternative services with those who are interested.

From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 26 October 2005 04:17 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey Sniffer Fans, here's a cool way to show us where you hang out. Become an rpn pushpin pal.

http://www.frappr.com/rabblepodcastnetwork

It's a new Google Maps application that lets us collectively build a pushpin map that shows how far rpn love has spread.

Join us.

See ya,
Wayne


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 26 October 2005 08:29 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Wayne, do you still write poetry?

Curious Cathi


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 27 October 2005 07:02 AM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Not for a very long time.

After my "There once was a girl from Utretch" verse won first prize in the CBC Literary Awards, I felt I had reached my zenith.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 27 October 2005 07:31 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Oh lord.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 27 October 2005 12:03 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Speaking of farm sexy. I'm off to talk to some alternative energy farming folks about whether or not they're happy with their solar panels. Plus the return of the woodstove. Anybody out there have one or the solar panels? And are you happy with them? I'm especially intrigued by the outdoor woodstove that acts as a boiler.

Later

Cath


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 27 October 2005 12:23 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey, you know what I saw in Kingston when I was there the other weekend? Parking meters that looked like they had solar panels on top of them. Pretty cool, huh? Solar-powered parking meters!

I was right. They ARE solar-powered.

[ 27 October 2005: Message edited by: Michelle ]


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Crippled_Newsie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7024

posted 27 October 2005 12:25 PM      Profile for Crippled_Newsie     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
Pretty cool, huh? Solar-powered parking meters

Ah. Never mind. Your link clarifies.

[ 27 October 2005: Message edited by: Tape_342 ]


From: It's all about the thumpa thumpa. | Registered: Oct 2004  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 27 October 2005 02:01 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Re: solar. Did people see that Globe and Mail article the other day about the guy who retrofitted his house with solar and how long it will take him to get back his investment? (Albeit not factoring peak oil price hikes). I have to admit I was a bit startled by the cost/benefit, at least economically. The benefits of solar hot water heaters looked stronger, tho'...

There does seem to be a lot of attention now on making batteries that are more powerful and energy efficient, which makes sense with all our portable devices. Anyone know of anything interesting on greener batteries? Cathi ought to be interested in the story below, given recent thesniffer episodes...urine-powered batteries!
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/dn7850


From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 27 October 2005 02:36 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Solar power doesn't have a great net energy ratio (amount of energy out relative to energy put into creation/extraction). And, right now, as I understand it, lead/acid batteries - which require ph level checks, wear out etc. - are still the best storage medium, because solar panels are collectors, not storage units.

Plus, of course, they can't replace the non-energy aspects of oil. I mean, it's tough to make a pair of Sans-a-belt slacks from a sunbeam.

Okay, really, it's impossible.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 27 October 2005 03:00 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
You say that like suspenders are a bad thing!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 30 October 2005 03:47 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
So on my energy adventures I saw this outdoor woodstove, which boils water and sends the hot air under the ground and through the existing ductwork in the house, the barn AND the hot tub. You can burn anything in one of those suckers. I saw one I could have crawled into. In fact I did. THought it would be good tape.

When I got out there were some cows and horses in the pasture. I wasn't wearing my prescription glasses, but I thought I saw a dead horse near the stove. I almost said "Hey what's that?" But my spidey sense I could potentially end up after the horse. We all remember the wood chipper in Fargo.

Later my uncle said the farmer was probably going to pitch it in and burn it. ewwwwwww.....

I can still see that horse is my mind's eye.

Or maybe it was just a pile of dirt that looked like a horse? Yeah...That's it.....


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 09 November 2005 11:18 AM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I've spent some time in Second Life. I'm with Nora, man I just don't get it. It's not exactly holodeck/idoru stuff. More like jerky (in both senses of the word) fan boy weirdness.

Maybe I'm too much of an introvert to get it, but hanging out in a polygonal world were everyone moves like Parkinson's patients lodged in Jello isn't my idea of fun.


From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 09 November 2005 12:02 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Yah!

But there are people out there, many more than we think, who are establishing alternate, second identities that are perhaps making their lives more fulfilling than the *real* ones. Second life does need some work, and yeah I wouldn't hang out there and try on clothes, but I'd be willing to bet that these virtual spaces will become the dating palaces of the future. And then maybe folks will go out and meet in the real world. Or maybe they'll put on haptic gloves and go into the kinky Second Life sex chamber.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 09 November 2005 12:24 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I know I'm always going on about our denial of the physical, but this strikes me as the strange thing about online worlds, not the mental connections--meeting other people and so on--but how quickly and easily we seem to want to give up on the pleasures of being physically in a place, in our bodies, for the stunted impersonation of physicality we get online.
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 09 November 2005 01:54 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I know there are lots of folks interested in alternative identities, but I'd rather be known as Wayne, not Hrothan the Eldest, Twelfth Troll Lord of Farnthane.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 09 November 2005 06:59 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Ah pish! I'm sick of my body and my messed up knee. I'd rather be a 15 year old boy called Enoch
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 09 November 2005 07:27 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hey, I just heard the show tonight on the way home from work. And I got thinking, gee, that doesn't sound all that different from, I don't know, joining a virtual community on a discussion board and...

*blush*


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 09 November 2005 08:35 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I know what you mean about the relationship to communities on discussion boards, and I think you're right about that; it's just the faux physicality thing that gets me....although, no one told me I could be Hrothon The Elder! Oooh la laaaa!
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Wayne MacPhail
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 119

posted 09 November 2005 09:41 PM      Profile for Wayne MacPhail   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
That's Hrothan the Eldest! Hrothon the Elder! Ha and ha again! He is but a vain pretender to my might. Oft have we gone sinew on sinew, iron to iron in the Circle of Contest, and always have I HROTHAN, bested him. Many seasons have I hated his vile name, and soon I shall deliver him todengift, the mortal poison of Shindran, the Snake of Deat ... oh, crap sorry, did I type that outloud? ... boy, that's embarrassing. Wayne here. Ah, good comment Nora. Shit.
From: Hamilton | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 11 November 2005 03:03 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I just read about the neatest potential Bluetooth app. A luggage tag that beeps your cellphone when your bag is coming down the chute at the airport. How cool is that?
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 11 November 2005 03:38 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Mucho cool - until someone steals your luggage for the bluetooth tag!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 11 November 2005 04:57 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Yeah but what if it also has the same smart technology like those phones that Nora tracked down that know if they're being stolen. If you don't have the password your luggage starts screaming! "Thief! Thief!" "Cathi save me! Save me!"
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 11 November 2005 06:49 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Okay, THAT would be cool. You'd just better hope you never forget the password yourself, though!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 12 November 2005 04:42 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
This is in regards to Nora's post about solar. I just did a column for CBC on the dollars and cents of solar for regular citizens. To put 12 panels on a house costs $14,500 and that would provide 25-30 percent of your electricity needs. That's pretty much the standard package. Most companies also recommend that you have a battery plus grid tie in. That way even when your batteries run down, after about 5 days, you go straight to the grid.

Right now in Ontario it takes about 25 years for the investment to pay off. That said, most solar panels are guaranteed for 40 years, and will actually likely do 50.

BC, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and NB all pay people for the juice they generate. In this case if you were selling your solar all summer, it would pay for itself a lot sooner. It's a great cottage industry and going gangbusters in Germany and Japan.

I think solar is a terrific local energy augmentation, like wind. Just imagine if you will, every home in Canada with solar panels. We'd all be part of the energy equation and save a crapload of money as well.

I get so sick of the Henny Pennys running around "We're all fucked. We're all fucked!" If everyone took that energy and put up even a single solar panel on their roof they might feel better. To give you an idea of what one panel would power. Six compact fluorescent lightbulbs. I think that's pretty impressive. If you were energy efficient, that one panel would handle all of your lighting needs.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
scott
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 637

posted 12 November 2005 05:01 PM      Profile for scott   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by MondoBondo:
BC, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and NB all pay people for the juice they generate. In this case if you were selling your solar all summer, it would pay for itself a lot sooner. It's a great cottage industry and going gangbusters in Germany and Japan.

Where I live solar-electric is less viable (narrow valleys=shade, lattitude, rain) but micro hydro is big. Apparently one homestead nearby in a choice spot makes a living from the excess power they sell.


From: Kootenays BC | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 12 November 2005 05:55 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I hope you don't mind me sounding stupid, but is micro hydro when you harnass the juice from your own waterways? If so, it's something that's really getting popular up near my farm. Those farmers are real innovaters. They can't afford things to get more expensive and they can't afford black outs. If the cows have to get milked....You get the picture. Does micro hydro contribute a fair bit of local power?
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 12 November 2005 06:56 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I have a question for you, Cathi. What are the solar panels made out of? (I'm honestly asking, here.) Because one of the things that concerns me is, how many solar panels would there have to be in order to live off the grid? (Not that this is necessarily a goal of everyone, I'm just thinking in terms of sustainable energy ideals.) And I wonder what kind of pollution might go into the making of them, and what kind of non-renewable resources might be used in their making.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 12 November 2005 09:59 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hmmmmm. Good questions. From what I learned they're made primarily from silicon chips encased in an aluminum frame. There's a black plastic conductor on the back of the panel that feed the DC into a line that runs into the house and is converted at an inverter near the hydro box into AC DC. Quite an elegantly simple technology.

As far as living solely off solar. Please anyone jump in and correct me as I'm no expert, but solar panels are really a secondary source of power. I think that in Ontario at least, we simply don't have enough sun to power an entire home year round. And if you think of how many you'd need and the cost....If 12 panels, roughly 36 inches by 24 inches (that need to optiminally (spelling sorry) be situated on the south side of a house) generate 30 percent of the power you'd need, well I don't know if you'd really have the roof top real estate you'd require.

Yeah you could place them out in the yard and then have the power lines trenched into your home, but it really isn't practical. Then there's the simple matter of heat. The expert I spoke with, who lives in a solar home, doesn't heat with solar. If he could he would. He's the president of Solarus. Leonard Allen. A very kewl dude who is SO into living off the grid and being self sufficient.

That said, as a complimentary system they're great. I'm going to look into the practicality of them for the rooftop of the co-op I live in part time in Toronto.

Hope that helps muddy the waters.


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
scott
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 637

posted 13 November 2005 12:34 AM      Profile for scott   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by MondoBondo:
[...]is micro hydro when you harnass the juice from your own waterways?

It usually means small "run of river" (no dams) setups. Micro Hydro

You can't do it just anywhere - you have to be at an appropriate site, but if you are, it's the way to go. Unlike solar, micro hydro usually produces the most power in the winter when you need more power.

quote:
Does micro hydro contribute a fair bit of local power?

Not really. It was mostly used just to power remote homesteads off the grid. When it became possible to sell excess power TO the grid there was a bit of a boom in new systems but they are mostly small and don't amount to a large proportion of the supply.

There are some community based proposals which may allow some more power to be sold and more community independance.


From: Kootenays BC | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 15 November 2005 11:17 AM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Thanks for the info. It's interesting how many of these renewables are primarily ideal for local or personal application rather than mammoth. Maybe we'll all be our own power generators.
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 02 December 2005 11:46 AM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hello.....Where the sam hill is everybody?
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
scott
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 637

posted 02 December 2005 01:40 PM      Profile for scott   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by MondoBondo:
Hello.....Where the sam hill is everybody?

Somewhere else I guess...

On the podcasts you ask listeners to e-mail with comments. Why do you do that? Why not ask them to post here?


From: Kootenays BC | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 03 December 2005 01:43 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
I never really thought about it. It just seems easier to say "email us at [email protected]" I'll have to ask Nora and see what she thinks. Maybe we'd get more mail. Although then y'all would get to read the hate mail.
From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 04 December 2005 11:03 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
We can help defend your honour!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 05 December 2005 09:28 AM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Hmm. Just habit, I guess. Cathi and I are recording tonight, so we'll encourage people to post at babble instead! (My honour needs defending)....
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 06 December 2005 12:40 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Now I'd like some feedback from y'all. Just finished doing some mixing and I'm wondering if thesniffer is getting too serious?

I can honestly say that Cranky George did get under my skin a bit. (I also know that I've got no business letting this sort of thing bug me, but at the CBC there are people who protect you from this sort of thing and here the emails just pop up on your home computer making you feel somewhat vulnerable.)

So back to my content question. What do you think? Too serious or just fine?


Curious in Cowtown


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 06 December 2005 12:47 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
No way. I love it the way it is! (I think I might be an episode or two behind, because I have a bit of catch-up to do with all my podcasts lately.) But I haven't noticed anything that seemed too serious. I think you have a good mix of serious and joking around.

Darn, I was listening to an episode yesterday on the way home from work, and I thought of something I was going to mention in this thread, and now I've completely forgotten it! Oh well.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 07 December 2005 10:44 AM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
That's good. Funny how a body can get to picking at itself. I just got something pushed to me about a Litebook. It's like those lightboxes that the SAD people cart around. I know about these things because my partner has the box as well, but the winter blues are starting to appear at our place. Any suggestions in addition to the extra Vitamin D, the lightbox and Cod Liver Oil? We're currently helping float these companies and I'm not sure they do all that much good.

Mondo


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
scott
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 637

posted 07 December 2005 01:24 PM      Profile for scott   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by MondoBondo:
Any suggestions in addition to the extra Vitamin D, the lightbox and Cod Liver Oil? We're currently helping float these companies and I'm not sure they do all that much good.

I don’t think that there is any doubt that light is good for you and that the quality of light that we receive affects us in ways that we probably don’t fully understand yet. I used to work 12 hour night shifts at a boring job. The only time I saw the sun in the winter was during my 7am drive home. I found that even after being up
all night if I didn’t hit the sack in a dark room within about an hour I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Basically it seemed that the more light that I was exposed the more wakeful I got.

Whether or not the light boxes etc. can actually deliver the goods or not is another matter.


From: Kootenays BC | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
MondoBondo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10611

posted 07 December 2005 06:18 PM      Profile for MondoBondo     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
Sounds like that movie with Al Pacino Insomnia. Have you seen it? Robin Williams is brilliant as a psychopath. THis would be a good one for anybody living in the far north.

Completely different inquiry. Does anybody know how late you can plan winter wheat? I was out walking in the fields and it looks like there are new depressions in the earth from the way the new snow has fallen. But I can't imagine anything germinating when it's this cold.

I know that when you plant grass in the fall, you want at least 5 nights of 10 degree temp minimum. Any smart farmers out there?


From: Ayr | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Nora
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10674

posted 07 December 2005 07:53 PM      Profile for Nora   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post
When I lived in Winnipeg, we got plenty of sunshine in the Winter, and it sure made a difference to my state of mind. Even though it was COLD, man...but I wonder if that's really something you can reproduce with a light box. Surely it's more than just UV rays, it's the way you feel emotionally when you get up in the morning and there's sun streaming in (or, ok, in the case of winter, several hours after you wake up, there's sun streaming in....)
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

   Open Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca

rabble home - no place like it news for the rest of us -- features, links, commentaries rabble-rousers -- by and for the community about us rubble -- search rabble archives
join the rabble columnists -- the best in the left babble -- have your say! auntie.com -- advice for activists what's up -- events across Canada in cahoots -- spotlighting our partners