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rattlebrain.com

12/9/04 Can't Get There from Here
7/29/04 Political Speechmaking  
7/26/04 Words of Praise
6/22/04 Hygene and its Discontents
6/21/04 Summer Solstice -- Financial Fog
1/16/04 No Free Speech at Any Price
1/11/04 New Year's Notes, Cows and Bikes
11/18/03 Pull the Bull
10/20/03 Gardening Delights
8/26/03 Of Elves, Otters and SUVs
8/17/03 Great News on the Population Front
8/8/03 Energy Distribution in Iraq
5/14/03 Taxing Issues
4/20/03 Keeping Santa Cruz Weird
1/28/03 When the "A-Ha!" Moment Scares the Crap Out of You
11/10/02 Elfin Visions
11/2/02 Invisible Demons
5/15/02 Liquid Fuel from Sunlight, Seawater and Fresh Air

1/11/04

New Year's Notes, Cows and Bikes

Can't say I'm expecting the first few months of this year to bring many blog entries. I just have time for a few quick notions now.

First, 2004 is the year everything changes. Whether for good or ill is not yet decided, but rest assured, there will be big changes this year. If we all can muster up just a bit more effort, we can start moving the way we want to move, instead of the way we've been moving.. I can feel it in the air.

Second, I must say that I'm not at all surprised (and having a twinge of that smug, told-you-so glee) about the whole Mad Cow thing. I know, I know, it's a terrible tragedy them having to kill all those poor critters just 'cause the cattle barons weren't willing to pay for reasonable precautions years ago. What people who still eat commercially raised and slaughtered animals fail to realize is that the meat they're eating is so far from natural, things like this were just bound to come up. Cows aren't adapted for eating other cows, but that's what the cattle industry feeds them to keep profits up. So read the now free copy of Mad Cow USA by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, and be very, very afraid. My philosophy is -- if you don't think you could have killed and prepped it yourself, you probably shouldn't be eating it. And even then...

Third, I've been looking into getting a newer, better commuter bike or electric bike, and I gotta tell ya', there are some great new models out there. I haven't had a chance to test-ride one, or even see one in person, but I'm utterly smitten with the Revive. No really, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's almost like somebody actually had several neurons firing simultaneously! You gotta check it out. Now, I'm really lazy, and there are enough hills between me and where I want to go that I'm thinking I'd be happier with an electric. The Veloci electric scooter looks like fun, though I'd rather do some pedaling. I had an interesting talk with the guy at Electric Sierra in Santa Cruz, who had some nice looking electrified recumbents (especially the trike).

Of course, I'm way bummed about the mistaken decision to ban bicycles in Shanghai - a huge leap backward instead of leapfrogging forward into the coming decade of sweet, awesome, intelligent bicycles. Wasn't it Einstein who said "The future is on a bicycle" (well, I can't find verification, but I'm sure I saw it on a T-shirt or bumper sticker someplace)? Einstein claims to have thought up the theory of relativity while on a bike. And H.G. Wells said, "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race," and "Cycle tracks will abound in utopia." At least, it's great to know that some people were thinking ahead.

I now have a more interactive space at my Xanga blog. I will work on adding each entry here to that site, and provide a link from each one here to each one there for now. Xanga will include more brief notes and personal ramblings. I still welcome your comments via e-mail (with your permission, I will post them). E-mail me at: apegrrl@ 
rattlebrain.com

or post a comment on my Xanga site

please feel free to spread these memes, but be nice and give credit where credit is due - refer people back here to the apegrrl This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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