The Wall Street Journal visits some Colorado residents who are turning their yards into mini-farms.

My thumb is far from green and I can barely keep a cactus alive, but I can’t think of a more environmentally friendly way to use your yard and eliminate the costs of fertilizer and maintenance associated with keeping your lawn in golf course shape. Of course running a small farm takes another cost: Lots of time.

Among such challenges these urban farmers face are squirrels and mud trampled into the house (buy a roomba,) and also neighbors who would prefer to see green grass rather than dirt and radishes. The video doesn’t mention one major factor that could put the kibosh on these green thumbs: pesky HOAs, covenants, and their leaders who are bent on controlling every microscopic aspect of your community. However laws are being examined which would prohibit HOAs to restrict elements of “green” living - such as drying your clothes on a clothesline - and hopefully great ideas like this.

Screw keeping up with the Joneses. I’d love to see more of these!

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Today’s commentary from the Sunday Palm Beach Post story “Elderly Man Drives onto Runway” found via the Consumerist. That’s basically the entire story: Old guy accidentally drives through a gate and into airport property.

Police do not believe Friday’s security breach was terrorism related. “It’s a possibility that this guy lost his way or was disoriented.” They quickly added, “But until they finish interviewing him, we won’t know for sure.

Ya think? Is that really necessary to reference terrorism JUST because this particular occurrence of wacky elderly driving mishaps happened at an airport?

A Consumerist reader comments: Can we PLEASE stop throwing the T-word around whenever anyone does anything remotely odd? And I agree. Throwing around “terrorism” for the slightest of security infractions dilutes was real terror is and was in our country.

Also the report says he “drove onto runway 9.” Really? Maybe. Hell i wasn’t there. But I do know that large airports have little two lane roads that run the perimeters for maintenance. You don’t just drive onto airport property and straight onto a runway.

Maybe I’m wrong, but more plausible is that he ran the gate and turned onto one of these perimeter roads - which are actually roads. Its a much more believable error. I’d dare speculate he probably wasn’t even a on a taxi way much less a runway, and not barreling headlong into an MD-11 like the bus on Speed.

This is just another article about elderly drivers. There’s zero terrorism danger. There’s no wish to plant fear and no ill-intention towards the U.S., it’s people, our government, or aviation infrastructure. This story has as much to do with terrorism as an elderly person driving through a window of an “Old Country Buffet.”

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Happy Earth Day.  The smart car Center in Denver has been open since late February, and I recently got a chance to take a spin in one thanks to a friend at work who just purchased one.  (Ok his wife did, but its his turn to show it off.)

The “Smart” of Smart Car is an acronym taken from “Swatch Mercedes ART” - as the original project was originated by the Swatch company.  I’ve admired these on the streets of Europe and have seen a few out in California the past year.  Now they’re an occasional sight around Denver thanks to this new dealership.

Unfortunately this elegantly compact beauty still sparks stereotypical comments of too small, too unsafe, and effeminate. (But similar emasculating insults are lofted at guys who show off expensive cars too.)  Most myths are dispelled after experiencing a test ride.   The seats sit quite high - higher than most compacts actually.   The interior width space appears deceiving due to the front to rear bumper measurements, but inside its quite comfortable.   The entire car is built around a reinforced steel shell.  As described in blogs.cars.com “it’s like being encased in a walnut shell.”   And I sometimes do need the jaws of life when opening walnuts.

At 47 miles per gallon and a prices ranging from $11,000 to $16,000 I have a feeling these guys will become more common on our streets.  The photos are of the Cabriolet, which is the highest end model and features dual automatic/manual transmission with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, heated seats, and a tinted sunroof.  An ample cargo compartment is found in the bag, big enough to store golf clubs and other bulky gear.  (Ski rack still required though.)

The smart center Denver is at 2855 South Broadway in Englewood, just south of Yale.   And since its Earth Day go ahead and read up on their ecology.  

I’m a true fan.   I love the gas mileage, clean design, and small footprint.   Here’s a clip from a Boston TV station which shows the interior and a test drive:  

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Remember a year ago on April 12th when I lamented that is was still snowing in our fine state?  Today is, (hopefully our last,) snowy wet day for THIS spring.   Here’s interstate 70 at Georgetown, west of Denver.

Earlier this week the story “Death by Blogging” made the rounds of almost every newspaper, blog, and water cooler in the country.  The original New York Times article by Matt Richtel studies mostly free lance bloggers who maintain 24/7 schedules to be first in publishing a new story or hot rumer.  I instantly thought “ok, this sounds like an article written with the headline first, and the story to match it.”  Similar to “Driving while on cell phone equal to drunk driving.”

This story is nothing more than made up sensationalism.  A scary techy headline about the dangers of our modern culture.  Its overstating the obvious to say a high pressure job takes a toll on your health and personal life, but there’s no such thing as “dropping dead from blogging.”  Slate Magazine’s Timothy Noah agrees, and in this rebuttal examines this made up story and trend.

From Noah’s April 7 article:

Richtel strongly implies that bloggers drop dead because they work in their apartments or houses all day and never get out. Never mind that Russell Shaw, a 60-year-old tech blogger who provides 50 percent of Richtel’s evidence that blogging kills, died while reporting on-scene at a conference 3,000 miles from his home and that “it’s not clear what role stress played in his death.” We never learn any circumstances surrounding the death of Marc Orchant, the 50-year-old tech blogger who provides Richtel’s remaining evidentiary 50 percent, and Malik, the blogger who survived, disappears entirely from the story after his cameo appearance in the above-mentioned to-be-sure graf.

More news of interest…

I posted earlier this week on the Fort Collins Bike Library Bike sharing program.  MSNBC has an article about the popularity of bike sharing programs in the U.S.

I have no idea who this guy is, but his blog “Denver Bike Paths” is full of photos and recent info on our local trails.  Check out his info if you’re recreationally biking Denver soon.

There’s nothing wrong with the MD-80.  Except that you can’t get on one today.   Cranky Flier lays out the details and reasons for the MD-80 groundings. Hopefully this wiring issue will solve this coffee maker problem too. 

I follow airline and travel news but living far from Delta territory this one completely escaped me.  So if you’ve been living in a cave too check out Katherine Lee, aka “Deltalina,” the well spoken and attractive face of the new Delta Air Lines safety video. Stylish and well done, but at 4.5 minutes long can they show it before the plane taxis to the runway? Check out the “sparkle” at 4:01.

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And of course what’s an article about biking in Amsterdam without a few videos to share with my fellow cycling geeks at Bike Forums. This first video is traveling along Haarlemmerweg (or the S103,) from the Sloterdijk Station west of Amsterdam into the city center.

The second: In the narrow streets of The Jordaan, a neighborhood just west of the city center and home to the Westerkerk (church) and the Ann Frank House.

More videos:

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BBC’s Justin Web discusses how those abroad view the current U.S. elections.  Will the bright future promised by Obama be stamped out by Huckabee’s evangelical base (and theocratic rule?)  Justin’s blog.

Interstate 70 pops up again.  For those unfamiliar - The 75 mile stretch between Denver and Summit County suffers the same problem as I-15 from SoCal to Vegas:  numbing congestion for countless miles during weekend recreation traffic.    And it’s not limited to the ski season.  Drive back to the city any Sunday afternoon and you’ll be bumper to bumper for miles.  I rarely even go skiing on weekends anymore due to traffic and crowds; rather I drive up Sunday, stay overnight and ski all day Monday.  Options from a high speed (high elevation) train, banning semi trucks on weekends, congestion pricing, and freeway widening (which Idaho Springs will fight to the end,) have all been optioned.  The present solution?  Ski weekdays, or drive to Jackson Hole.

Rocky Mountain News discussion.

Reader and contributor M.P. sent me the scoop on L.A.’s new medical marijuana automatic dispensaries.   From Gizmodo and KCBS.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) my diabetes isn’t so crippling that I need to frequent this machine, but I think it’s a great option for those wishing to partake.  No complaints here…

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Featured on the Consumerist, SF Gate’s Mark Morford dreams about a world where these people might one-day might wake from their zombie like comas.  Perhaps Mark is THE ONE.  SF Gate Article.

I don’t even know what Kohl’s is. I’m guessing some sort of mass-crap superstore, like Best Buy or Target or T.J. Maxx or a weird amalgam of all of those and it doesn’t really matter because last Friday they opened at 4 a.m. for the mad rush of Black Friday shoppers, because if there’s one thing you want to do when your body is groggy and sleep tugs at your heart and your dreams have turned vacant and sad, it’s grope cheap waffle makers before sunrise.

CNN Explores “Eco Travel Lies” and whether “Green Travel” really is green.

Antarctica’s most detailed map ever thanks to satellite Landsat 7.  Check out the stunning video.

I’ve been reading the blog of Lindsay Beyerstein - a freelance journalist based in New York.   She’s astute, keen views, and has an interesting photostream.   I hope I run into her having coffee in N.Y. someday.

Blame the Chef for oversize portions?  No way.

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and I’ve haven’t posted anything remotely intelligent or interesting since last Thursday’s critique of Dubya informing me that I could now fly like superman from Miami to Newark. Keep in touch though. By this weekend I plan to have a review up of Watercourse Foods, the vegetarian restaurant on 17th Street. I’m also ecstatic about my new insulin pump and constant glucose meter, which I’ve been using for a few days now. That’s right, although I’ve only mentioned it in one post (where I told a kid he shouldn’t get a dog,) I’m a type 1 diabetic and rely on insulin to keep me alive. No it’s not quite as dramatic as the movies. In fact its just a boring part of everyday life so hence rarely gets mention. Plus the ghetto tree is far more fascinating right? Anyway I have an incredibly cool new little gadget which in essence acts as an artificial pancreas! It’s even more impressive than the Roomba. I’ll post on that this weekend. If I may hype my old post related to type 1 diabetes and diabetes management - I honestly feel that this is probably one of my best posts ever. However no matter how experienced you are on a certain topic and how logically you present it - if you tell a little boy he shouldn’t get a dog, nothing else really matters beyond that. You just can’t tell a kid he shouldn’t get a dog.

So until my stunning revelations on those two topics check out:

Farmersonly.com – online dating for farmers

Another Bike Blog with cool photos, editorials, and cycling advocacy

Denver is the nation’s “Drunkest City” — that is if you take frivolous special interest magazines at face value and don’t bother questioning how exactly those results are created. Or perhaps local TV news and newspapers work in cahoots with stupid magazines to write non-issues in order to create a one minute hastily edited non-story.

Meanwhile here’s one of my favorite tracks: Flashdance by Deep Dish. You can watch this video over and over on your iPhone come 6am Friday morning as you get revved up to barrel into JC Penney, Kohl’s, Best Buy, and TJ Maxx for their Black Friday Doorbusters sales. Ugh, I can’t believe “Doorbusters” is actually a word.

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Time to clean off the internet kitchen table.  When I find something interesting, or an article I’d like to comment on I usually bookmark it, then read similar or opposing articles and eventually post it with some thoughts. 

Occasionally more interesting things come along, and said links sit in my in-box as the days pass by.  Here are recent things I never got around to posting:

This CBC News feature came to attention during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit and speaking engagement in New York.  Watch this video and go underground to a local Tehran bar and meet members of Iran’s homosexual community. But according to Ahmadinejad these people do not exist.  Even though I’m sitting comfortably in the U.S., albiet a country teeming with quasi religious political organizations attempting to squash gay rights, and the shrill screams of extremists like Fred Phelps gasping for press - it’s still hard to imagine places like this exist in our world. The people in this piece are fighting for the simplest of human rights: To have their individual private lives be respected. They’re risking their lives by going public, and only asking that people recognize that they exist. This story is an example of why I will not vote for anyone swayed by religious action committees. Hey why doesn’t Fred Phelps move here? Here is part 2 and part 3.  Extremely compelling.

And a few other loose ends:

We hear a lot of bad stuff about the way food manufacturers market to kids.  If they aren’t hyping glucose filled cereal they’re teaching kids how to manipulate their parents into purchasing unnecessary products. Skippy peanut butter, (which I consume daily at 10am with a banana,) has a really cool site for kids which educates them on our National Parks!  You can train to become a Junior Ranger, learn about the landscape and geography, and play photo hunt games.  You can also enter your Skippy UPC codes, which donates 10 cents to our National Parks.

GoLoco is a car sharing problem similar to the Craigslist ride share boards, only more colorful and organized.

The Rocky Mountain News examines detachable chairlifts.  Summary?  They’re faster.

This article from the Guardian examines the car versus pedestrian mindset.  Preachy but a good read.

Here’s a guy that wants to sell you his own personal six-pack as system. 

Live ghost hunting in Memphis via these webcams.  Is there one at Graceland?

No more paper boarding passes…  That was news in 2002, but can we use our cell phones as boarding passes?

This trailer park in St. Petersburg Florida is sex-offender central!

There.  I think that’s all of them.   Now I can start fresh.

James Van Dellen

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I like this video. I have no idea what language some of the graphics and text are in, but Robbie Rivera’s “Your Mistake” featuring Marnie is the perfect mix of the driving/thumping club beats I like, and the video is sexy in a futuristic Bourne Identity way, especially for a train geek like myself. Anyone recognize the locations in this track? Pun intended.

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From the Onion News Network

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I was e-mailed the link to Clark and Michael this morning.  Michael Cera is the 19 year old actor who played “George Michael” on Arrested Development.  If you haven’t seen Arrested Development put it in your Netflix que already.  The subtle humor, weighted references, and physical comedy are top notch.  And of course it’s been said over and over this show deserved to continue much longer than the three seasons it aired on FOX.

Michael Cera and Clark Duke have created a series of webisodes documenting their fictitious life of pitching projects and attempting to climb the ladder of Hollywood.  They play the part of many people I’ve met while living in L.A. for five years:  Overly confident screenwriters who are certain their scripts and “projects” merit the highest of attention.  Between meetings with agents they engage in the most mundane of daily activities.  I love the scenes set at the laundromat.

There are 10 episodes so far.  I love the “Perfect Strangers” type opening.  Clark Duke’s cocky attitude combined with Michael Cera’s nervous adolescent appearance and hilarious facial mannerisms make these two a hilarious comedic duo.

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Cory Andrews inquires about serving in the military, and is told to “go back to Africa” Nice to know our country’s recruiters aren’t desperate enough for Iraq volunteers to subdue their racism. Not only is the unnamed recruiter a bigot and homophobe, but a complete moron as well. Who’s dumb enough to bait an internet/media savvy 20something into throwing digs about their race and sexual orientation? At ANY job insulting a potential client in the worse way, (through TRACKABLE e-mail), will certainly get you fired. Oh wait, the recruiter wasn’t fired yet, only placed on leave. Nice.

I certainly hope the recruiters never make it to the front lines, and stick to the strip mall store fronts where they belong. A better video is found on CNN.com

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I don’t know what’s more amusing:  The fact that a savvy, smart woman who’s also a businessperson is presented as something incredibly unique and inimitable, or that they just HAD to balance out her “powerful woman” persona with a shot of her putting on makeup.

I like the stuffy curmudgeon seated next to her.  And apparently the flight attendants actually used the French flag as a uniform?  You’ve come a long way baby.

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My dream has come to fruition.  Who wants to see this with me?  Check out the preview!  Warm liquid goo phase beginning…

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Pizza Hut’s blatant advertising in schools. I ate plenty of pizza as a kid, but I agree with Susan Linn that such disguised, (or not so disguised), promotions should be passed on.  Just because a corporation offers something great to schools doesn’t mean that they have to, or should accept it. 

Participating teachers set a monthly reading goal for each student; those who meet the goal get a certificate they can redeem at Pizza Hut for a free Personal Pan Pizza. Families often accompany the winners, turning the event into a celebration that can boost business for the restaurant.

Book It, which reaches about 22 million children a year, “epitomizes everything that’s wrong with corporate-sponsored programs in school,” said Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

“In the name of education, it promotes junk food consumption to a captive audience … and undermines parents by positioning family visits to Pizza Hut as an integral component of raising literate children,” Linn said.

This week, Linn’s organization called on parents to end their schools’ participation in the long-standing program.

Though some activists have previously questioned Book It, Linn said Friday that only after the recent upsurge of concern over child obesity and junk food did her group feel it could make headway with a formal protest campaign. She said many schools are trying to reduce students’ access to soda, and contended that Book It should face similar scrutiny.

Ann Coulter faggots it up.  I had a hunch, but I’m now convinced that Ann Coulter doesn’t mean anything she says. She’s an actress who’s mastered the art of being a right wing shock jock. I don’t believe she thinks 9/11 widows are greedy, and I don’t believe she thinks Edwards is gay.

When she needs attention she simply says the most offensive thing out there. Why she’s even given the press is beyond me. 

She’s playing the part of the ignorantly bigoted Trudy Wiegel from Reno 9/11, but Ann is blissfully AWARE of her venomous words, which zeros out any subtle humor at all. From Ann:

“I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I - so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards,” Ann Coulter told GOP activists attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

From Thrilling Wonder, (some of these photos need to be run by Snopes),  Photos of the Yungas Highway in Bolivia, considered the most dangerous road in the world.  I won’t ever complain about our potholes again.

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“Is Anna Nicole Smith still dead”? What a brilliant quip. The YouTube comments boohoo this quip as a cruel joke. But it’s not. This deliciously crass jab is at the coverage of Anna’s death, not her death itself. Like most networks CNN filled the afternoon with wall to wall coverage when no new information is available. Proving again it’s necessary to constantly “cover” nothing for fear of viewers tuning out. Jack is dry enough to frisbee right over an average person’s head, but the astute mind sees the irony.

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