Awesome

A 30-something DC lawyer named “Jack” announces last June on his blog, Adventures in Voluntary Simplicity, that he’s decided to ditch his $300K+ a year job with a firm and “stop living a life of excess, materialism, and unnecessary stress in order to gain something much more valuable: unencumbered, simple happiness.”

Then, on Oct. 27, he does something really fantastic. See for yourself.

Dude, you rock.

Obama-Rama

Love this post from the Heavy Metal Librarian. I shall say no more.

Knowing Who Your Friends Are

I was amused (but not overly surprised) by this NY Times article about a Facebook user’s attempt to meet his “friends”–actually meet them face-to-face, that is. It would seem “virtual” friendship will only go so far.

A Couple of Dystonia Fundraisers

First, I’d like to let people know about a fundraising bike ride for dystonia being put on by Beka Serdans, a nurse whose life has been severely affected by the disorder. You can read more about Beka, her experiences with dystonia and her work to find a cure here, at the Web site for the Bike4Beka ride. The event will be held Oct. 29, 2008, so it’s coming up fast. Please consider lending your support to this cause.

Second (and in a bit of blatant self-promotion ), I’d like to announce my own efforts toward raising awareness of and funds for research on dystonia. My event is a motorcycle ride.

The ride (a poker run) will start and end at the Old Glory Harley-Davidson dealership in Laurel, MD. It’s scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2009, and it’ll cost $30 to register as a rider. The first 100 ride registrants will get a free T-shirt and all registrants can enjoy free food and musical entertainment, as well as a chance at the $250 prize for the poker hand winner, door prizes and a 50-50 raffle after the ride. You also have the option of attending the post-ride party only, at a reduced price. Please watch this space or check my Web site, as more information about how to register for the ride will be available soon. If you have any questions or would like to donate or become a sponsor, please feel free to email me and put “Dystonia Ride” in the subject line.

Thanks!

ADDENDUM: Please note that my event is for all bikes, not just Harleys. In fact, all two- to four-wheeled motor vehicles can participate.

The Case for Funding Mass Transit

The case? I don’t even have to make it–this Salon article makes it for me.

It’s clear that mass transit ridership is going up and it’s equally clear that provisions for that ridership are sorely lacking. I’ve seen it with my own eyes in the Baltimore-Washington area. Even seen recognition of the need for more pedestrian-friendly land planning and better public transit in recent plans to redevelop the outlying planned community of Columbia, MD. I’ve read about it in the news, in articles about how the cross-county road (the Intercounty Connector) they’ve been wanting to build for the last 20 or 30 years is getting funded, but a cross-county Metro or light rail “Purple Line” is not.

And now the current financial crisis is making matters even worse.

Now more than ever, money simply must go into these transit systems. We have to become wiser in our personal motor vehicle usage and less dependent on them.

I strongly encourage everyone to support public transportation–by using it, speaking out in favor of it, writing your local, state and federal political representatives about it. Blog about it, write letters to the editor–do what you can to make it clear to those in power that this issue will not go away. Public transportation is an essential service and those charged with deciding what gets funded and what doesn’t need to take a close look at the critical problems with our public transit systems and develop creative solutions.

Too Funny

I’m not sure what I love most about this video.

The techno-pop set . . . the dancers . . . the bad dubbing–all great stuff. Plus the smoking while singing thing and his off-hand delivery. Especially the way he looks like he’s kind of forgotten what he’s doing there toward the end.

(Thanks to Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.)

Way Too Similar

Check it out.

There’s nothing more to say, really.

Podcars, Tiny Cars and the League of Conservation Voters

It’s being touted as the next big step in transportation: the podcar–or PRT, for personal rapid transit–is a car on rails that carries two to 10 passengers. Ithaca, NY, is looking to build a podcar system and proponents are saying other cities should consider it, too.

Opponents say creating a podcar system in most places would be too expensive and complex to be feasible. In one critic’s words, “In the city, if you have that much demand, you could build these guideways and afford the millions it would take, but you wouldn’t have capacity. In the suburbs, you would have capacity, but the demand would be so thin you couldn’t possibly pay for those guideways, elevated stations, control systems and everything else.”

I wonder. If podcar systems came into vogue, one assumes that suburbs would be built around them, the way they now tend to be built around major roadways. Perhaps existing suburbs could be retrofitted around podcar systems. It’s a nice thought–one that would require time, planning and the expenditure of money. But we need to do something about our current transportation systems. And, you have to admit, those podcars look pretty cool–very “wave of the future” stuff.

Meanwhile, if you like small cars (and I do), Toyota has come up with a really tiny car. It’s called the iQ and it’s Toyota’s smallest, most fuel-efficient non-hybrid model.

According to the article, “Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota’s chief engineer of the car, said the iQ is the first car to show off Toyota’s new space-saving design concepts, which will appear in new Toyota models in the years ahead.

“‘When it comes to cars, traditionally, big has always meant good. The iQ radically dispels that notion,’ he said.”

The car will hit the Japanese market on Nov. 20 and be introduced in Europe next year. Toyota is still thinking about whether to bring it to the U.S. market, but the car would have to meet stricter safety standards first, the article says. Right now, the car has nine (count ‘em, nine) airbags, but it would need still more design changes to meet U.S. federal requirements.

Small is good. I hope Toyota can make the changes and start selling that cute little car in the states.

Finally, the League of Conservation Voters has issued its 2008 National Environmental Scorecard, which “for 30 years has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate Congressional members on conservation and energy issues” (or so says the league press release, anyway).

Getting Ready for a Green Halloween

It would seem that the people at Grist are quite psyched on the subject of Halloween. They’ve run a column on how to celebrate Halloween in an eco-friendly way and provided suggestions for eco-themed costumes.

I realize the costume suggestions are a bit tongue-in-cheek, but to suggest going as a Prius owner by dressing in “clean, tasteful clothing and walk[ing] around with contented air, holding Prius key casually at chin level”? You could dislocate your tongue with that one.

If I Were McCain . . .

. . . I’d be putting some distance between myself and these people . . .

Not to mention these people . . .

(Video from Fafblog)

Folks like that will get you singing songs like this.

Oy. A hard day’s night, indeed.

(Thanks to Moonrat at Editorial Ass)