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Spent the last couple of days in Vegas. I don’t gamble and it’s not my favorite place. And whatever happens in Vegas follows you everywhere. Sorry if that’s a buzz kill for anyone, but there it is. The lights are amazing. And there are so many of them. The sounds of distraction are as blatant as anywhere on the planet and everyone at the gambling tables has either got way too much money for their own good or are chasing the idea that if they win the next game they’re going to suddenly reach some sort of nirvana that’s been evading them elsewhere. That MAY be an oversimplification, but only slight, I think. And this isn’t to criticize anyone who DOES gamble. We all have our distractions as we all have our forms of self-medication. It isn’t that I want to rain on anyone’s parade either. The friend I was there to meet looked like he was having a genuinely good time. I even had a good time watching him at the craps table. It was late Wednesday and nobody seemed to be throwing anything that was going to make anyone any richer and since, as I said, I don’t gamble and I was there and I felt like I was in a scene from Las Vegas - The Movie! I offered to throw the dice for him. He agreed and after a couple of pretty good throws - or so I was told; I had no idea what any of this meant just that no one seemed particularly impressed with my skills - I rolled the dice for the third or fourth time and watched as one of them hit the other end of the table and flew off. This is not an unusual occurrence as it turns out, just one you don’t see in films. Why, I don’t know. It was pretty funny. But I digress.
As I looked around the casino I had one of my not infrequent experiences of feeling like an anthropologist on a foreign planet observing the funny little natives engaging in a strange ritual. Some of the very pretty dealers, dressed up in Santa suits designed by Hugh Hefner whose tables were empty, looked like if someone didn’t walk up and start playing soon they were going to start taking it personally. But far and away the best feature of this particular hotel - The Hard Rock - is the acoustics. Imagine this: You’re sitting at the bar and suddenly out of nowhere comes the voice of, not the person you’re speaking with but, someone from some other location. Only it sounds like they’re right next to you. They actually designed the place so that you could listen in on other peoples’ conversations from the other side of the bar. I suppose, you can never have too many distractions in a casino in Vegas on Christmas.
I do hope none of this sounds judgmental. As I said, we’re all in this thing together - whatever you want to call this thing. And so long as no one’s stepping on anyone else’s joy, as my friend James says, have at it. But after spending a few hours at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and contemplating spending the night I decided my time would be better spent leaving.
Jack Hunter Cohen is a filmmaker and writer in Los Angeles
On my way to the original MyPoP the other morning to drink a coffee, I saw some horses with riders, from the nearby regular horseriding ranch. They were crossing the road, and heading into the bushes, from where they found a track down to the beach to amble back to the ranch.
Further along the road I have also seen a sign showing a “horse head” and I took no notice, but this sign is not about the regular horse-ranch ?? (and I wondered?) I drank my coffee and afterwards decided to scoot on the road that I thought would be next to the horse trail.
After a few hundred meters on the tarmac road..I came to a “soft sand” road and I saw another signboard with “horse head” and word “INTRA” ?.
Usually I dont scoot on soft sand coz the wheels on my current scooter are small and thin and not designed for “offroad”. I decided to have a look anyway, and slowly scooted another few hundred meters on the soft sand.
I came to a “horse riding place”..and went in to ask…”what is this place?”
A couple of young women were riding, and working with horses in a closed area, and I learned from them..
briefly, that this is a place where horses are trained.. to accept *”handicapped riders”.. and “handicapped people” are taught to sit on and ride the horses.
They suggested that I speak to Anita who is in charge. At an eye-opening chat with Anita and her husband Giora I learned something about INTRA. (Please visit this website http://www.intra.org.il/ ) and MUST watch this incredible video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J4F7fXLGtI )
As soon as I heard that they use volunteers, I immediately became one. I am a “fixer, cleaner, do whatever” man.. and I go there often. Here, I learned that the word “*handicapped people” is regularly widely misused, and many people who are mentally or physically challenged, are NOT “handicapped”.
This “horse riding place” on top of the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea has become a second My PoP. This time it is “My Place of Patience”.
While I do some chores or just sit around, I have watched the trainers training the horses, and after a session, they groom and take care of the horses.. and their chores are ongoing and never-ending.. and they love what they do ! I have watched as these patient persons teach a rider..oh so many “things”.. about the saddle and other equipment, how to sit and hold the reins..how to do some grooming. This teaching, and the learning, are also ongoing and never-ending.
Hats off to this incredible place, and as a side comment..I’m very happy that no smoking is allowed close to the horses. A smoking area is to one side..and that will be a pleasure for me to tell smokers to “move along”!
I will be relating to you from here, and from time to time will tell about new things that I see and things that I’m told. So watch this space.
On my way back home I stopped at a tiny kiosk where Ofer makes felafel in a pita bread..and another delicacy made with boiled eggs also in a pita. I say its the best in Israel..certainly the cleanest kitchen I’ve seen, all 3 meters x 3 meters square, and he has the necessary pots n pans n stove n fridge that he needs, and always a customer or two eating at the counter, which is across the road from the sea. I put up 1 finger on each hand and he knows I want 1 of each..to take away..and while I was waiting, I sat at the little table..
staring into space and thinking back…
I looked at my scooter helmet on the saddle…and thought back to when I was 18 years old and living in Johannesburg.. and 55 years ago when I had my first Vespa scooter. NO helmets were necessary in those days, and the scooter also came with a spare wheel, and life was so different then.
I used to park the scooter on the sidewalk, outside the building where I lived, and night after night NO one ever interfered with the scooter. I often scooted to The Dolls House and collect takeaway hamburgers and toasted cheese sandwiches. I dont remember ever feeling unsafe while scooting all over the places IN and outside the city.
One day my friend Bob who also had a Vespa was involved in an accident, and a photo appeared in the newspaper with caption “scooter and wheelbarrow in accident” ! Bob said he didn’t see the wheelbarrow, and the pusher of the wheelbarrow said he didn’t see the scooter.. no serious damage..the matter was settled on the street..out of court.
Another memory flashed back.. I belonged to the Vespa Scooter Club which had about 40 members, and we often went for outings in a group..maybe 20 scooters, and many of us carried a passenger, so perhaps 30 people on an outing..(usually one every month). I was club captain for one month which was a marvellous idea, so 12 captains in a year..who chose a route, and arranged with a restaurant or picnic place, that a group would be coming, and we always were welcome at these places.
I’ll never forget when Dawn invited us to her home at the end of an outing..and about 20 people queued outside the one only toilet in her small apartment. In the tiny lounge 6 or 8 drank a coffee or colddrink, then moved outside so the next 6 or 8 could come in for their drink. I remember most drivers seemed to drive more carefully in those days, and many smiled and waved as they passed the scooters.
My packet was ready, and I realise that since I began scooting here in Israel, I have asked perhaps twenty riders of 2 wheelers, to ride with me a while, and as yet none have. About 12 other riders have suggested to ride with me sometime.. but, NEVER yet have I had another rider to do a ride with me.
I still ride alone. Perhaps if I had company on some trips then I wouldn’t have seen what I’ve seen, and probably wouldn’t have met some of the great characters that I’ve met along the way(s).
Please dear reader.. dont forget to visit the two websites I mentioned earlier.
Louis the Scooterer is a retired South African living in Netanya, Israel.
We are The Methane Army. We are billions of molecules of stinky atmosphere warming gas and we are putting on our boots and getting ready to come through the door and whip your ass.
Actually we’ve been doing this from time to time over millions of years, since well before you messy humans evolved. Oops, sorry to use the E word you religious numbskulls. Where was I? Oh yes,.. the Methane Cycle. No it’s it’s not my new mountain bike.
You see we are trapped by cool temperatures in the soil beneath your wetlands, lakes and oceans. but as you pump more and more carbon dioxide into the air with your silly cars made by General Motors who are so stupid they cannot even line up a steering wheel with a driver’s seat, we see our opportunity to come out and play.
As far as warming the planet is concerned, we are twenty four times times as effective as carbon dioxide. And it’s not the cows and sheep that you keep prisoner that will push us out the door, and push you over the edge, we are already here in the billions, waiting to bubble up and cook you ’til you dry up and disappear.
Yes the atmosphere will kill a few of us, but there are enough of us to tip the balance, so unless you find a way to cool down Earth, and fast, we will be out and you will be gone.
Before your industrial age, we were 7 parts per billion in the atmosphere, and now we are 1700 parts per billion, and rising. And we are much better than carbon dioxide at keeping in that people-cooking solar radiation and heating up the planet. Sure there is “OH”, not a magazine by Oprah, but a hydroxyl free radical that can destroy us in the atmosphere, but you know what, we are going to win.
So enjoy it while you can humans. We’ve seen your kind come and go before, and before you know it, your crust will be recycled and all traces of you will be melted clean in the mantle.
Major Pong is very tiny, so he enlisted the help of Jeffrey the Barak to write this fine article for the-vu.
Continue touring in all directions around the Sea of Galilee”
At the end of that previous excellent day…we checked in to KareDeshe Youth Hostel.. north of Tiberias..nice and tired and our rooms were great and comfy and a good night sleep zzzzzzz…
Up early..lets get to water edge , at end of grass and playground. Just in time to watch the pink sun ray, then the first touch on top of the mountain and then on the water as a gold carpet. Do you get to see such a sunrise that often? not likely. Then to breakfast, and they already know to set a table for me at the window to see out, at the beautiful gardens and lawns and the peaceful Sea of Galilee. And to look at the food, and colorful paintings on the walls. A large variety of cheeses, creams, herrings, salads, eggs, yogurts, breads and more..and we are able to take-away some for later. All the staff in dining room make the usual fuss about “The man who scoots all around Israel”.
Often there are many groups of university students or school groups as well as tourists from all over the world, and I always make a new friend at breakfast table and in the gardens.
And breakfast time is usually a hubbub of planning, choosing and eating, chatting, and “lets go.”
Eaten enough? Let US go..our first stop about 200 meters away is an archeological dig and looks fantastic in early morning sunlight..take a few pics and read the history while I tell you..where we will be going..
and NOW I have changed my mind (again) and we will drive past a few important places.. and will head straight into Tiberias and visit the home of the richest Jewish woman in history. I visited DONA GRACIA, and drank tea in the home of the richest Jewish woman in history. A quick lead up to how this came about:
On my first scooter-visit to Tiberias, some years ago, I knew nothing about the place and I needed some maps from the Info Center. I found the Youth hostel in the center of Tiberias, where I would stay for a couple of nights, and after dropping off my stuff, I began scooting around. I asked the first person I saw “where is the Info Center?” He told me “up the road, around the corner in a building called Dona Gracia Hotel”.That wasn’t the (tourist) Info. that I wanted, BUT it was INFO. Mainly for traveling to other countries, and it was on the top floor of the hotel. The entire floor is a new, very large area for many travel agents, where each agency had a desk and a couple of phones and a computer and a couple of chairs, and it had just opened that morning, and was a busy hive of activity! The very busy man in charge of this “move-in” made time to explain to me about this communal travel-agent set-up, and he gave me a cup of coffee and some brochures and answered a couple of my questions. Then, he needed to carry on organizing.
On my way out, in the lobby that was undergoing renovations, I asked at the reception and was told “this is a hotel”…I noticed some people sitting in a very plush area having refreshments while listening to a pianist. MY assumption at that moment was, “its expensive”…and I left. I found the tourist info and received maps and brochures to last a lifetime. As the years flew by, I visited Tiberias several times and often scooted past the hotel..without giving it a second glance.
On a recent visit to that area, and staying over at Kare Deshe Youth Hostel…the receptionist asked me “have you visited the museum inside the Dona Gracia Hotel”? I hadn’t, so immediately I scooted the few kilometers to the hotel, and was told at reception, that the “English tour is at 10-00 a.m. tomorrow morning”. After breakfast I returned and I was given a tour..never to be forgotten.
And NOW this story begins…
What a surprise when I returned, the manager remembered me from those years ago, and welcomed me. First a coffee and some time remembering our first meeting..and he listened to my travel stories. He organised an “English tour,” and I was taken on a personal guided tour with many explanations. Through some of the rooms and dining room with this incredible dining table and 26 chairs and furniture and ornaments from when Dona Gracia lived in the building.
Among the many features is the display of dolls, exquisitely dressed in clothing of the time and also many posters on the walls with stories in English. After the guided tour, I slowly strolled through the entire museum, and spent a few excellent hours reading the posters. I was invited to sit in the plush lounge, and drank tea and ate cookies while listening to the pianist and then I was taken into a showroom and “fitted out ” in an outfit of the time.
(yes this pic is of me..the musician.)
When larger groups visit, many visitors are dressed up in these exquisite costumes and a marvelous, merry time is had by all..while parading around the lounges and enjoying free tea and coffee and cookies. There is much to see and many questions to ask. And staff members will gladly give explanations and answers. A never-to-forget experience. (A side comment from me: I mentioned this wonderful experience to 2 crotchety men from Tel Aviv who I vaguely knew..and later they told me that they “saw everything” in a visit of less than one hour??… Oh Boy!
I could provide many more personal descriptions, but I suggest you visit the website: http://www.donagracia.com/DonaGracia/DonaHouse/english/malon_sipur.htm# And when you are in Tiberias…this is “a must-visit” and remember to wear comfortable walking shoes and don’t forget your camera.
So we have relaxed away the whole morning and now lets go to our next serious visit.. so while we drive there I’ll fill you in
Okay..I know we all had too many cookies at Dona Gracia, and what an experience ? NOW we’re gonna shoot past a few places of interest without even a glance and we get to Kibbuts Ginossar.
When I first began my scootering, I often asked the people that I occasionally “had a coffee with”, about some info on places and things ?..and I received from a “Mr Know-it-All / MR KNOW-NOTHING”… that “GINNOSAR”…is an expensive hotel with an expensive restaurant and everything expensive..so thats how the information entered my head..and stayed there.
One day while scootering in the Tiberias area I saw a tiny sign “Ginnosar —>” and I rode into the complex. After a couple of hundred meters I saw the hotel building on the right side, with beautiful lawns and pool and gardens..and a large car park with many buses and all sorts of vehicles, and many people sitting on the lawns around the pool. Directly in front of me, another big modern building that “at a glance” I thought would be a “new” hotel.
So I remembered, “its expensive, why waste time?”.. and began the ride out. I thought again, “what the hell ?, I’m here..let me have a look”..and I made the BEST U-TURN ever. The big new building is the Yigal Alon Museum (Man in the Galilee), and at reception I was welcomed and given brochures.
The most pleasant lady invited me to sit in the cafeteria and drink a coffee while explaining to me how best to wander through the museum, and watch the videos and see exhibits and photos and art exhibitions..and never-ending things of interest, with many written explanations on posters, as well as beautiful views through large picture-windows. I spent several valuable hours wandering around in a sequence, and my eyes opened wider at every turn, with the marvelous exhibits always in air-conditioned areas and with places to sit. The bonus at the end of my long walk around, was being shown the “Jesus boat ” exhibit in this specially built and temperature-controlled hall with many pictures and videos about the discovery http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/galilee-jesus-boat.htm
While having another coffee and snack, I noticed a large group of soldiers who had come to visit this important museum. I visited the large well-stocked gift shop, and I knew that every future trip I would pop in for a visit. The gardens and walkways outside have many sculptures and beautiful views of the Lake Kinerret On the way out I stopped at the hotel and had a lovely chat with the receptionist, who also sat with me in the delightful coffee shop and told me some “things”; that the hotel is usually fully booked every Friday for Israelis who leave home for a one-night weekend. Also tourists from all around the world spend some days in the beautiful surroundings..(so much for the wrong comment from “Mr. Know-nothing”).
The kibbutz is situated on the Kinerret (Sea of Galilee) and the water laps right up to the lawns. I have been lucky to see the high water after good rains, and also the low water period when the water would end a few hundred meters out. I scooted through the kibbutz and as usual there were always some people to answer my questions as they go about their lives. I “found” the reservations office; a small kibbutz-style house made into a few offices and staffed by kibbutz members, casually dressed and without pomp-and-ceremony, invited me to drink tea while they prepared a variety of brochures for me.
There is also a popular restaurant close to the filling station at the main entrance..and some industries in the “industrial area” of the Ginnosar kibbutz. As always, have comfortable walking shoes and camera at the ready. I have, to date, visited several times and am always welcomed as “the man with the scooter is here”! And there are new art exhibitions …and for me…never a moment of boredom.
Okay we’re here, at the museum, and have had our intro at reception.. so take your time wandering around at your own speed and we have several hours, so no hurry to “be on the bus in 20 minutes”. And after that few excellent and tiring hours we return to Kare Deshe and have something to eat in the cafeteria and soon to sleep zzzzzzzzzz (be prepared for the next day from early morn to another few places…)
Please feel free to email me louisdrinkingt@013.net
Louis the Scootereris 69 years old and it sounds like he’s just getting started.
I have a water colored memory of a particular summer day when I was eight or nine years old. It was probably very hot and I must have spent the morning swimming and fighting and playing with my younger sister. On a typical day lunch might be followed by an afternoon of errands with Mom- my hair damp and smelling of chlorine, the air conditioned car a cool refuge from the oppressive, baking heat. This day was not typical. Lunch was followed by a bath, fresh, damp hair was neatly combed and we were chauffeured by Mom (for this was to become her major, practical function in my life) across town to the home of an elderly lady named Flossie McCoy. She was the organist at our church and although I did not know her well, I knew that sometimes the music she played before and after services brought a strange feeling to my gut.
We walked from the cool of Mother’s car through the heat of the afternoon into Ms. Flossie’s serene and welcoming home. We were probably offered a glass of water – perhaps iced tea or lemonade. Mother and Sister settled comfortably into a sofa, Flossie into her familiar hard-backed chair and I, with only slight trepidation, took my place on the smooth, black lacquered bench that felt good on my sun-drenched legs.
“This is a piano,” began Ms. Flossie. “It has eighty-eight keys, fifty-two white and thirty-six black.” My large, hazel eyes probably became even bigger at this point and I began to feel that strange feeling in my gut. I still didn’t know what this feeling was all about. It was an intense pang of yearning, excitement, possibility, fear – a dense composite of thoughts and feelings that moved around inside me like a swarm of bees. I knew what a piano was – we had one at home and I had often pounded out discordant rhythms with passionate abandon, or meticulously picked out simple, familiar tunes. I also knew that some people had the magical ability to draw forth real music from the piano and some of that music made my gut feel strange.
“Right in front of you heart is a key we call ‘middle-C’”. My heart. “It is a home- a safe place and a point of references with a world of possibilities on either side. Is home. “Let’s begin by placing the thumb of your right hand on ‘middle-C’. Your thumb is one and the other four fingers are two, three, four and five. That is all you need to create music.” I was intrigued. Flossie began calling out finger numbers, I began to play, and my Mother sat on the sofa and beamed at my crude rendition of the holiday standard “Jingle Bells”. I was concentrating so hard that when I was through I had no idea what I had just played. Mother commented that it made her think of cold winter days, and what a nice thought that was on a hot summer day. Flossie laughed in agreement, and I became impatient because I still didn’t know what I had played.
“Tell me the numbers again,” I demanded. I needed to know what I was playing. I needed to recognize it and at the same time be cognizant of what I was doing. I wanted the ability to create the music independently without the numeric prompting of my teacher. I was less than five minutes into my first piano lesson and already filled with an intense desire that I had always possessed but had just accessed. I was beginning to understand what the strange sensation in my gut was all about. This was perhaps the first cathartic moment of my young life. I knew that I was given a gift- the chance to learn something that would make me feel special and whole. Although I did not know it at the time, I had just stepped on the path that led toward my future.
Gregory Nuber moved to NYC in July of 1992 from Arizona State University where he was pursuing his MFA in Modern Dance. He immediately began studying on scholarship at the David Howard Dance Center and soon landed his first professional contract with Michael Mao Dance. Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre (now RIOULT (re-you) and finally the world-renown Mark Morris Dance Group. Gregory also played Lord Capulet in Frances Patrele’s full length Romeo and Juliet and danced in the pick-up companies Matthew Nash Music and Dance and Jonathan Appels. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, Mr. Nuber has performed professionally in regional productions of West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and Cinderella.
Today one of the young student dancers I rehearsal direct in a Nutcracker production came up to me and pointed to her right foot. A bad blister had bled through her tights and through her pointe shoe. She looked up at me with wide eyes and a well-trained ballet-school smile and asked if it was okay if she did the run-thru on flat. I said yes, the other ballet mistress said no. She kept the shoes on. During the run through, I heard, “Smile, girls, it’s Nutcracker not a tragedy!” shouted at the dancers. I looked at Susan’s foot. Her shoe was red with blood. She was smiling.
This is complicated. There are times when I think a dancer does need to perform despite bleeding blisters and such. When the curtain is going up and there is no understudy, for example. On the other hand, if this were foreign policy rather than ballet I’d say it was utterly inhumane.
I think ballet is beautiful. The ancient Chinese bound women’s feet because they thought small feet were beautiful. What did those women think? My ballet students are willing to put up with real physical and psychological pain in pursuit of beauty. Is it worth it? Is there an alternative way to get to the beauty without the torture? Are we willing to break with tradition to investigate what that way might be?
In a recent dinner conversation with Cynthia Gregory, she mentioned that during her performing career she was very protective of her body. For example, she would let whoever was running the rehearsal know that she could only do one full-out one through. This was not laziness, but a guarded attention to what her instrument could handle. She had no major injuries during her remarkable career.
Sometimes dancers abuse this principle. “I have to mark this run thru because the floor is slippery” (when it isn’t), “I can’t do the lifts today because my back is bad” (when it isn’t). Directors are sometimes right to be skeptical of dancers claiming physical excuses not to perform full out.
But then there is Susan with her bleeding feet at a rehearsal when it won’t make or break the show if she does the run thru on pointe or not. Given enough longevity, professional dancers learn how to make this call for themselves: yes, I can do this and it won’t injure me and it’s necessary vs. no, this would actually injure me and/or isn’t really necessary. But what are we teaching our dance students?
“Smile, girls, smile!” Right. Maybe that needs some rethinking.
Leda Meredith is the author of “Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch” (Heliotrope Books 2008). She is the winner of the 2007-2008 Teaching Excellence Award from Adelphi University. For more, go to www.ledameredith.com
Photo: Leda Meredith and Jonathan Riseling in Francis Patrelle’s “Macbeth”, Photo Credit: Eduardo Patino
Before you go to work today remember to fill the fuel tank with water and add a bit of salt. Check the charge on the battery and you’re ready to go.Stop at the flower shop on the corner, you know, where the gas station used to be, and pick up a bouquet for the office.
Sound too good to be true…well, it could be just around the corner.
A new technology that burns salt water as fuel discovered by John Kanzius could revolutionize the transportation and electrical generating industry. Burning oil, gas and coal could become the technology of the past. John Kanzius discovered that if he took the radio frequency transmitter being used as a non invasive treatment for cancer and focused it at a test tube of salt water… the salt water would burst into flame and burn with a fire so hot it melted the test tube. Of course, he was trying to desalinate sea water, not burn it up and melt the tube, but that is serendipity, mother of all great discoveries…
No, this is not a joke…it is true…tried and tested by independent researchers all over the world…it is true.
Salt water… bursts into flame…3000 degree flame…. melts test tube…
Go ahead, read it again and let it sink in…It took me several times to get my brain wrapped around the idea. How,you say,how is this possible? Like all great discoveries it seems so simple once you know the answer…Why didn’t I think of that?…as you smack yourself on the forehead with the palm of your hand.
Ok.. this is how it works…ahhh…why it works… whatever… On a molecular level salt water is formed of atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, sodium and chlorine. The radio waves of a certain frequency disrupt the bonds between those molecules liberating the hydrogen as free gas which burns hotly in the presence of the oxygen…over 3000 degrees…that is a lot of heat… Oh yes, ahem…no carbon footprint… Isn’t that clever?
US Department of Energy and Department of Defense officials were scheduled to meet with scientists on September 10, 2007 to discuss the discovery and the possibility of research funding. Rustum Roy, Ph.D., a founding member of Penn State University’s Materials Research Institute, and expert in water structure leads the team.
Is it possible we can replace oil with salt water? This may have been something that you never knew about and never expected but it may be here soon.
Go figure…
This article from Jeremy Baldwin was syndicated through newezinearticles.com
Well the story about the women walkers is something like this. A large factory from way down south, sends women workers from all departments in a couple of buses to spend a couple of nights and a few days at a beautiful hotel, where they are pampered in the spa and do early morning exercises, and some swim and a few pop into the gym. Then they go walking at their pace to many places in Netanya.
The majority speak no English and I really didn’t have much communication with the guides..
And as I settled down in my favourite chair at my favourite table at MyPoP, I began being bothered by my number one problem. That is breathing the smoke and smells of smokers, and when I looked around, couldnt believe my eyes..almost everyone there were smoking. The sporting people who ride bicycles and the surfers and the fisherman and the swimmers and the joggers and the walkers. Yes I couldnt believe it but my camera doesn’t lie, and some pics are telling the full story.Even the mother breastfeeding her baby was a smoker.
Oh well, I don’t smoke.
A few of my friends that don’t smoke:
Some of the animal visitors and birds and horses, and the rare “other person”. Oh hell I dont really want to leave this place, but maybe even the wind changing direction and bringing the smoke to me will be the decider. I felt that perhaps the partners / owners and all the staff are smokers, and that maybe they invited so many smokers to come and enjoy these beautiful surroundings. I wonder!
And guess what ? When I came back to the square to find a friend, there they were again. So many smokers, and I refused to take more pics, but one that caught my eye was this old chap with a long full white beard who always stands at the door of his office..smoking..this time I saw him flicking away a half smoked cigarette..and on the sidewalk, in front of his office, were more than 20 cigarette butts.
Bye for now, and please ..between cigarettes.. will you email me at
louisdrinkingt@013.net
The Greater Los Angeles Auto-Show, Green Car Ride and Drive Event, November 20th 2008.
Participating Vehicles
Audi A7 TDI (clean diesel)
BMW 335d (diesel)
Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell
Chrysler Aspen (hybrid)
Dodge Ram 3500 (biodiesel)
Ford Fusion Hybrid
Honda FCX Clarity (fuel cell)
Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC SUV (diesel)
Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTEC clean (diesel)
Mercury Mariner (hybrid)
Mini E (electric)
Mitsubishi i-MiEV (electric)
Nissan X-Trail FCV (fuel cel)
Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid
Smart fortwo
Volvo C30
VW Jetta TDI (diesel)
VW Touareg TDI (diesel)
I decided not to focus on any of the diesels and clean diesels, because it’s still diesel and it still stinks, even if you use much less these days and less smoke makes it out the end of the tailpipe.
Bio diesel has such a large eco-footprint that it’s barely worth pursuing. It does not help the environment whatsoever with it’s current method of growth, harvesting and distribution.
The hybrids use less fuel than similar non-hybrids, but the additional cost on the price tag requires a lot of high mileage driving to recover the cost, and you still need to burn gas in order to use them.
Small and light cars such as the Smart Fortwo, and the four seater Volvo C30 are normal cars, they just save money and the environment by being small. They are not the giant enormous cars that most Americans are convinced they need to transport one little person two miles down the road.
Fuel cell cars would be great if the hydrogen was not produced by dirty sources and delivered by dirty tanker trucks. But they are, so they are not so far in any position where they can be said to making the Earth any greener. It’s coal for goodness sake!
So that just leave all-electric. Again, most electricity is generated by the burning of coal so it’s tempting to rule these out as well, but with more wind and solar power coming online, then electric cars get greener all the time. The batteries are not exactly eco-friendly when they reach their end, but electric cars are still undeniably cleaner than combustion vehicles.
Mitsubishi and BMW have presented two real, in-production, practically non-prototype, definitely non-concept cars which are true all-electric cars.
Mitsubishi has their i-MiEV, a small car with four doors and room for four inside, and BMW has an all-electric version of their very successful Mini, except this one is a two seater.
The iMiEV has an onboard charger so you can plug into your normal home’s outlets, or into a quick charger, a few of which can be found in most cities. The car uses very efficient electric motor and high energy density lithium-ion batteries. It’s as simple as that and it’s ready to go, with more than enough range for most people who drive each day and return home each evening.
The BMW mini with it’s single passenger seat is clearly a bit less practical, but nevertheless, it’s fabulous and more fun than most two-seaters that are stinking around wasting fuel for no good reason.
These two very real cars are almost here now and setting the stage for our inevitable path to all-electric cars. All this other stuff, bio-diesel, clean diesel, normal diesel, hydrogen, gasoline hybrids, etc. is just a diversion. We have to head towards the electric light at the end of the smoky tunnel.
Of course there are others. To name a few there are:
Tesla Motors Electric Roadster (A Lotus Elan based two seater)
BYD (China) E6 Electric Car
Miles XS500 (retro-ugly small electric sedan)
Subaru R1e
Tango (George Clooney has one of these dragster-fast single-seaters that resemble giant work-boots)
Wrightspeed X1 (insanely fast street legal electric racing car)
So how do these two electric cars at the L.A. Auto Show event feel? How do they drive?
The BMW Mini E
The BMW Mini E has a very impressive driving range of “up to 150″ miles. It accelerates very quickly, going from 0 to 62 MPH in 8.5 seconds, and in such a way that gives you the kick right at zero, no delay as with combustion engined cars.
The Mini’s top speed is 95 MPH and it;s lithium ion batteries can be recharged from any standard power outlet. However the specially installed wall box v=can fully recharge the car from dead to full in 2.5 hours.
Releasing the “gas pedal”, which of course is no such thing, causes dynamic deceleration, meaning the slowing of the vehicle charges the batteries by using the motor as a generator.
But here is the catch, at least for now. Much like the old GM EV1 immortalized in the film “Who killed the electric car”, the minis will initially only be available on a one year lease with an extension option, and in three of the fifty United States only.
The driving experience in normal slow traffic conditions is much the same as that in the standard BMW mini, except you don’t hear an engine or an exhaust note or feel the rumble of a combustion engine. It is of course extremely quiet, the only obvious sound being that of suspension, wind, etc. The main difference in feel is when you take your right foot of the go pedal and sense the regenerative braking effect that helps give this car it’s impressive range.
The biggest difference visually comes when you look over your shoulder. Instead of the familiar rear seat of the Mini and Mini Cooper, there is a black box between you and the trunk space. As I said earlier, this is a fun car to drive, and let’s not forget it’s main points, no engine, no exhaust, no gas tank, no emissions.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV
A good looking small car with plenty of room for two in the back, but nevertheless unconventional looking, as it can be since there is no engine. The rear end does look a bit odd, but there’s no reason it should look like a car with an engine.
There are about 30 or so of these running around Tokyo. But as the promotional video shows, at least one has been driven around in the Los Angeles area and it may well be the same on on the floor at the Auto Show today.
Again this car rests it’s hopes on lithium ion batteries. They are clearly the most promising rechargeables on the automotive landscape this year, and the i MiEV has 22 of them at the bottom of the car.
A good car to compare this to is the Mitsubishi i Turbo, which has a three-cylinder gasoline combustion engine. But the i MiEV’s direct-drive, no-tranmission electric motor will take it from 0-60 MPH in just under 9 seconds and the top speed is around 82 MPH.
But there are two driving modes, Sport and Eco. The latter takes away the racy performance, but increases the range. Even in Eco mode, it’s not a slow car and it’s still faster than the tiny cars on the road. Mitsubishi say the range is “up to 100 miles”. It may or may not achievable, but considering that Chevrolet is asking for billions of taxpayer dollars to be so gracious as to give us an expensive Chevy Volt with a pathetic “up to 40 mile range”, I say hats off to our patriotic friends at Mitsubishi. They are America’s friends, not the lunatics and national saboteurs over at General Motors.
However, with real-world range of around 60 miles, (using climate control and enjoying the occasional burst of gratifying speed), and a full recharge that takes 14 hours on a normal domestic outlet or about an hour on the wall mount, this car may not have enough energy capacity to be considered as your one and only daily driver. But it’s getting there and Mitsubishi have done a fine job using todays latest technology.
The i MiEV is not exactly here yet. It may be generally available to anyone in Japan in about a year in late 2009.
Is it time yet?
The consumer looking for an electric car in 2008 and 2009 might be best advised to wait, and in the meantime, lighten up on that right foot and drive in such a way as to conserve fuel. Eventually, range will improve and more electricity will be coming from non-polluting sources such as wind, and less from coal. Then we will be able to watch as more and more cars go all-elecric.
I really really really want this to be real. Really.
Inventor Bill Wright is about to present an “e-car” to congress that could turn the car world on it’s head. It has the unfortunate name of XP-Car, but we sincerely hope that it will not be anything like Windows XP.
Details of the concept can be seen at the web site myxpcar.com, but here is a copy of their amazing summary of features:
“Not just another electric car, a dramatic new type of ground transportation. Designed to beat all of the production models of GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and all other traditionals. As a matter of fact, we have challenged all of them to a contest! In a head-to-head with EVERY regular and electric car in production, our technology is
More likely to save your life and protect you, and your family, from injury by a factor of ten over the competitors.
Able to look exactly like a “regular car”.. or not, depending on customer inclination.
Able to provide America, or any country, with 100% ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and JOBS!
Able to return investors money sooner because of a lower factory cost and a lower BOM, by many times, than our competitors.
Fueled, in part, by water and energy you can make at home.
Able to survive a 30 MPH crash without damage.
Faster per dollar.
Longer range by many times, (ie: it can drive across the U.S. without turning off the motor)
More durable. Even the most extreme body repair work, which it may never need, can be completed in under an hour.
Shippable to dealers on more types of carriers with more cars per crate than competitors.
Lower cost than any other electric car for the features.
More efficient.
Able to be supported by dealers with very simple repair and showroom facilities.
Faster and lower cost to road certify.
Able to be buiilt in lower cost factories with 70% less floorspace and manufacturing equipment which mean lower cost, higher quality cars for our customers.
Fueled by quick, hot-swap, cassettes.
Less toxic than the EMF battery/power system poisoning and/or gasoline carcinogens you may get from competing systems.
More sustainable.
Less taxing to the grid and able to operate entirely off the grid in one mode.
Easier to maintain by many times because of dramatically less parts to go wrong.
Less likely to have mechanical failures by many times because of dramatically less parts to go wrong.
Sound wild? This is actually run-of-the mill technology that industry has used for over 20 years but that our competiitors have not been brave enough to use. We have deployed hundreds of millions of dollars of real world tested materials to bring you a green, sustainable, safe, ultimate transportation machine! Think this is vaporware? Put your-money-where-your-mouth-is and bet us $50,000.00 (Escrow account at Bank of America) on each merit you dispute. We will match you.”
If that sounds amazing, here is their low-budget fantasy YouTube video for the concept:
Stinking cigars and running out of fuel = not a good start.. but it gets better….
The other morning…After having an early coffee at the square, and being chased away by the smoke from a guy smoking the stinkiest cigar I’ve ever smelled..pheeew.. he was sitting 2 cafes away !
SO… I was on my way to MyPoP, but I didnt get there. My scooter ran out of fuel, but lucky for me it was only a few hundred meters from my spare “bottle of petrol”, so I took a slow walk to my apt. but t’was hot and no crazy driver offered me a ride.and I admit I did not feel safe on the sidewalk. I feel safe sitting here at the keyboard…writing this.
Here I wanna draw your attention to the fact that I see so many SUVs wherever I go, (why do they have block capitals)(we dont refer to a SEDAN or a TWO-DOOR COUPE). I don’t scoot to a busy road to stand around and count cars and take pics, or arrange carposes for my camera.These suv’s are just everywhere and I believe they give birth to other suv’s, and multiply.
I need to get this off-my-chest so I have brought here another story I wrote recently about SUVs, where I mentioned at an earlier time, that I may have seen 1 SUV in a few hundred vehicles..NOW I am seeing 3, maybe even 4 suv’s in every 10 vehicles (yes 30 to 40% of vehicles are suvs.), so dear reader, be a little patient and read on.
The story.
On the street where I live.. AND EVERYWHERE IN ISRAEL. I won’t mention the names of these vehicles as I have no favourites, but I know which one I would like to own ?
When I first arrived in my new city end of 1999, I saw a rare 4 x 4 jeep type station wagon..and that always driven by a male..I secretly wished I could own one and I believed the SUV was driven by an expert driver.
“A couple of years later”……The 2 farmers that I met on my scootering travels invited me at different times to ride with them as they showed me around..they did not know each other, and the one farm was in desert in the far south..and the other in the hills in the north. Both showed skill the way they handled their vehicles..the ride in the north was on a rainy day with water running on the road (sand track) and he negotiated the mud and rocks with great skill and I secretly wished I could own one.
So, I began noticing these jeep-type 4 x 4 vehicles, and as I began seeing the quantities that I saw in the city, the more I realised how wrong I was in assuming that the mostly male suv drivers were good drivers. They were mostly BAD drivers, doing all the wrong things that bad drivers do in all kinds of vehicles here in Israel…the usual ???
SO we jump to the present time.. NOW NOVEMBER 2008
I now see hundreds of these smart, very big 4×4 jeep-type family-size mini-buses every day, on every road in the city, and in the quiet neighborhoods where I scoot along singing my song..and on every major highway and all other roads as well, and MANY of them are driven by very bad drivers. I notice too, that many are driven by females, some of whom cannot see over the steering wheel..and these high powered (SUVs) are being used mainly “to go to the supermarket” and “to take the children to school”..and maybe the rare occasion will be used at the farm, or in the mountains or the desert roads. (A very important NOTE.. I do not wait for women drivers to pass me “they come into my view” more so, than men do.)
This disturbs me a great deal, as so many of these (big and high) vehicles are driven at speed through the quiet narrow streets, and clearly most drivers of both genders have NOT sufficient skills at being in charge of such a powerful vehicle. On (one) short scoot of 6 minutes and less than 3 kilometers..I saw 7 such vehicles, and on return a couple of hours later on the same road..I saw ten..also there were 3 in the parking lot of the place I was at.
SO..many of the crazy drivers here in Israel do ALL the wrong things..but its a fact that more female drivers than males, come into my vision while I scoot around, and now I have become more nervous than ever.
NOTE PLEASE,that in 8 1/2 years I have scooted all around ISRAEL, and have travelled more than 100,000 kilometers (yes ..one hundred thousand) on scooters (now on my 9th), plus a few more thousands of kms. in a rented car for one month during the rain season. SO.. my observations have some merit and are not aimed only at female drivers. I reckon that the accident rate will jump out of control unless these thousands of SUV drivers are forced to have driving tests for skill, and made aware of what power they have while behind the wheel..merrily smoking and talking on the celfone while they speed to the supermarket.
Many hundreds have small children as the passengers while they make u-turns without looking, and enter the traffic flow without looking, and open the drivers door without looking. Oops they do look in the mirror when they flick their hair into place, and what they do really well is honk the horn very loud and very often, and for no apparent reason !
I have mentioned in several writings, and letters to the press, and many “talkbacks” in newspaper articles about accidents and bad drivers that many female drivers (more so than males) have an obsession “to get in front of a two-wheeler…no matter what”.
This very dangerous action has NOT changed, and in fact has gotten worse, especially on a particularly dangerous curve on the narrow road, through a quiet neighbourhood..that I scoot on daily. Many seem to see this as a wide straight beautiful road that is inviting them to put their foot on the accelerator and GO.. OVERTAKE, and get in front…NOW ! !
I mentioned this to a lady driver who parks her SUV in the basement parking where I live, and when I asked her to explain why so many women drivers of ALL types of vehicles need to overtake to get in front..she said she did not do that..her answer really frightened me when she added “Maybe they dont see you! !” (I usually wear a white top when riding my bright red scooter so as to make myself “more visible”?)
Another lady I know piped up with “they can see your broad shoulders and back, maybe they want to see what you look like” ! Another woman who also rides a 2-wheeler said I should not allow them space to pass..but thats not a good plan when they sit 1 meter behind on my tail. My friend with the giant monster Harley says they dont try to get in front of him ! maybe I should borrow his Harley
My other “friend” who rides a police motorbike with blue lights also says they dont try to push in front of him. SO..usually my stories have some humor, but I find nothing funny in this very serious ongoing saga and of course most of these monster SUVs are fashionably black, which is slightly more frightening than other colors.
Oh well, it seems as though I will never have one..as it is fact that one of these high powered 4×4 jeep-type family-size mini-buses costs the same as 46 (yes fourty six) scooters of the type I have currently…maybe 30 scooters I could buy a lower price (badly used) SUV. They have exotic names like Tuareg, Cheyenne, Savanna, Uplander, Sorrento, Tucson, Rodeo, Liana, Trailblazer etc. and my guess is that every motor manufacturer on the planet makes a top notch SUV, especially designed and modified and raring to “go to the supermarket”? I even know one woman who drives her suv less than 400 meters to the gym, so that she can exersise by walking on the treadmill.
I have seen thousands of all types of vehicles with only one red brakelight working..and have also seen several of these brand-new 4×4 SUV’s that has only one red brakelight working. Since most of these drivers will speed merrily along with their eyes half open and not looking where they drive, and they will not be “hanging up their keys” and retiring from driving..perhaps I should modify my scooter and do my main travelling from “under my blanket”. I want to stop counting suvs so eff the soovs, and I wanna start looking at the scenery or beautiful women, like before.
On the way home I saw about 70 women, all shapes and sizes, all ages, on a walking tour of the cliffs and interest points near to where I live…thats another story, and thanks for reading, and please email to louisdrinkingt@013.net
In the United States, not long after several “bailouts” of financial institutions, we are being warned and prepared for a similar round of bailouts, this time with the auto-industry as the beneficiary.
Do General Motors, Ford and Chrysler deserve to be saved by a government bailout?
What would be the consequences of letting them cease operations and closing their doors?
If the government offered to save them, but set terms dictating what they should and should not manufacture, is that too much government control for private industry, or does the government simply become the car maker
These are difficult questions to answer with yes or no.
It is all too easy for us to say “it serves them right” and pointing out that Toyotas have been chosen over Buicks because people think they are better, and it’s their own hard-earned money that Americans use to buy a car. But there are two sides to every coin. The number of businesses that depend on the big three to exist and prosper is considerable, and many American jobs are at stake, with not many vacancies at the factories that make so-called foreign cars on American soil.
Is the tradition of mass producing cars in the U.S. too valuable to turn our back on? Should we let the market forces give the big three what they deserve for failing to successfully compete? Let’s look over the borders and see. Canada and Mexico do not make Canadian or Mexican cars, they only have foreign cars, and like the Americans between them, they have foreign car makers operating their manufacturing within the countries of Canada and Mexico. So Canada and Mexico do not have to worry about bailing anyone out, and they can get all the cars they want! Fords, Nissans, you name it! If our own big three go away, there will be no shortage of cars, trucks or buses to buy in the United States
We all have our own experiences. I was always a lover of American iron and always bought American until it just became so obvious that they were simply inferior. Then for years I only experienced American cars if I rented them when traveling, and they were always beyond terrible and their designers always seemed to be having a cruel joke at my expense. But something happened. Around 2006, those Chevrolet rentals were no longer quite so terrible. Still not as good as Volkswagens or Hondas, but not quite so incredibly badly designed. So there is hope for GM, and Fords and Chryslers were always okay even at the worst of times. In other words, today’s American cars are not as terrible as we may imagine.
We have to be careful to examine the arguments appropriately. We cannot just blame the U.S. auto makers for being stupid for promoting S.U.Vs, because we were never forced to buy these thinly disguised, dangerous and dirty, old-fashioned trucks, and the foreign car makers also offered S.U.Vs to be used on the streets in place of normal smaller cars. And there is no evidence that medium sized American cars use more fuel than the same size Japanese, Korean or German cars. And we cannot beat up the big three for their bad designs, because design is a matter of personal taste. Away from the coasts, in middle America, people think Saturns and Mercurys look just fine. They simply do not see the same questionable aesthetic features that Californians or New Yorkers might notice in the very same, named-for-the-planets, plastichrome-adorned American cars.
If the argument is about pollution or using less gasoline, then we must remember that American cars are subject to the same laws, and are no dirtier and no more thirsty. Yes, some of the American hybrids use more fuel per mile than some non-hybrid imports with smaller engines and one battery, but at least they tried. If we want to legislate that car makers should only be selling clean and efficient vehicles, then the same laws will affect Pontiac and Audi and Kia alike.
So where is this argument going? It’s hard to say, because I’m a rambling old fart. So let’s get back to the three original questions and my personal answers.
Q: Do the big three deserve to be bailed out?
A: Only if it would cost Americans more money to let them fail. If not, then no bailout, bye-bye..
Q: What would be the consequences of letting them cease operations and closing their doors?
A: We would have to buy “foreign” cars, but those foreign cars would likely be made in America by Americans, who were members of the American Trades Union, and the car’s badge may say Hyundai or Subaru.
Q: If the government offered to save them, but set terms dictating what they should and should not manufacture, is that too much government control for private industry, or does the government simply become the car maker?
A: It’s not the American way to tell someone what they can and cannot do in business. We lost AMC and many other car makers such as Studebaker, Kaiser etc., so why not these three?
Conclusion. If Canada and Mexico can have all the cars they want but have no National brands, then so could we, and the big-three are asking for billions on top of the twenty-five billion dollars we have recently given them. It may be throwing money away to try to save them, and it may not make any difference, because they are not showing much promise of doing anything differently.
Usually, when a Stirling engine makes the headlines, it’s April Fool’s Day. Not this time, although once again it is so far only talk and no engine.
In 1816 Robert Stirling obtained a patent for his Stirling engine, which (very) basically uses the temperature difference outside and inside a closed cylinder to move the piston up and down and therefore act as an engine.
Stirling engines have been successfully used for this and that since 1816, but with the fossil fuel problems of today, they are enjoying more consideration than usual.
Enter one Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway. The Segway is quite remarkable, but due to the enormous anticipation that preceded it’s launch and the high price tag, it has always been widely regarded as a disappointing anticlimax, hardly worth adapting.
But here comes Dean again, in November 2008, with a plan to put a Stirling engine in a car. This time, it will not be used to power the car, but instead it will be placed in the trunk to power auxiliaries such as heating, air-conditioning and electrical accessories on a battery-driven sub-compact that uses parts and tooling from the old Think car that was mothballed in 2000.
Remember this is a Stirling engine, and it burns nothing and emits nothing.
But since the Stirling can be used to help charge the batteries, then under the right circumstances, this car could conceivably be a free energy machine requiring just a small input of energy, such as from a temperature difference caused by sunshine, to get it started in the production of more energy.
Dean Kamen himself is not touting the car as anything particularly amazing, but he cleverly states, “If we can demonstrate the utility of the Stirling engine by putting it in a car … it will leave me with an engine that I can use to supply electricity to the world.”
I say forget the car, put a black water pipe on a sunny roof and add a Stirling engine to run a generator to power a home. Then your car can be any plug-in electric, and the source of the power will have been hours old, or day-old sunshine.
Whatever happens, the Stirling engine might eventually have it’s long overdue day in the sun as an integral part of a pollution-free energy system.
MyPoP here I come, and as I leave my driveway I see the giant advertising boards for the new highrise
being built next door being offloaded and stacked against the old broken down metal wall
Oh dear…then the usual hair-raising couple of kms to MyPoP with never a moment without a bad driver near me .. that is.. either in front of me or behind me or coming toward me..BUT in this instance she drove out of her driveway into the traffic without a second glance.
Lucky for me that I “second glance” for every driver in my vision so I’m glad to say I’m still alive and arrived safely..to sit and watch the sea and drink a quiet coffee.
A few times I have met young folk who are hikers and walkers, who walk across Israel on a specially made route called “Israel Track”… that begins in the far north and winds across mountain trails and tracks and some places have proper tar roads built (but not for vehicles.)
I have scooted several kilometers at different places on the Israel Track, and have even walked a few kms at a few places. The young people carry all provisions and everything they need in heavy backpacks and go.
Mostly they take a few days to do the full trip. But more will do the trip in short portions and take whatever time it takes. Also older people will do a short section every weekend and after a few weeks they may complete the track.
A very lovely idea and in certain areas there are places to light fires for barbeque and playgrounds for young children…and many kms are through beautiful countryside next to a river or in the valleys or a rough track in the mountains or in the desert.
The several hikerwalkers that I have chatted all told me interesting stories and most carry maps and follow the colored tiny flags painted on rocks and poles and special posts. Soon I will venture to do a longer walk at a section that I have not seen before.
One young chap told me about the “Israel Track Angels”..certain families who live on or very near the track and have a separate room or outside veranda, will invite hikers to “stay-over”..and provide a small fridge with milk and cheeses, and kettle, coffee tea etc.
Often they travel hike in small groups with understanding that if one needs to slow down..then the others must continue…and then the straggler can stop the hike and wait for a bus somewhere ..or call a family member or friend to collect.
A few days ago, one young fellow hiking alone after a disagreement popped into the supermarket up the road where I was shopping ..we spoke for a few minutes ..then he froze..he couldnt find his celphone..and halfheartedly “unpacked” part of his backpackbag, pulled out some stuff and was preparing to walk back about 8 kms where he last used the phone.. I begged (instructed) him to calm down and empty everything and sure enough he found the fone which had tucked itself inside the plastic cover of his big diary..(he then called me “the Israel Track Supermarket Angel).
(I was first told about this track about 40 years ago when I was friendly with a young Johannesburg fellow (Eric) who made aliya and did the track..and when he visited S.A. later he described casually his experiences…at that time it had no meaning for me at all.)
Each person I speak about it tell me of their experiences…including the 3 seniors all in their eighties who do a few kms each Saturday..taken to a spot and fetched a few hours later a bit down the track.
So on the ride home I only dodged out of harms way, at least 10 times and near my apt a female driver in a new SUV did not stop at stop sign and almost ran me down..this time I have a picture on my computer and also the entrance gate where she parks “her horrible hateful dark color big ugly SUV”..(watch this space !)
And outside my building some of the signs were in place.
Please feel free to email me louisdrinkingt@013.net
How would you like to spread Napalm on your face while releasing questionable propellants into the ozone layer, and then put a stack of eternal plastic into a landfill?
Doesn’t sound like something you’d want to do does it? And yet if you use aerosol shaving gel, it contains the very same naptha and palm oil as Napalm, that cruel and unusual weapon used in the flame throwers of wars past. This is palm oil that comes from plantations that are gobbling up the habitats of endangered orangutans.
And this convenient chemical cocktail is being helped out of the pressurized, plastic lined can by a propellant gas, which in many countries still contains ozone-eating CFC compounds.
The 2, 3, 4 or 5.5 tiny blades on your razor cartridge are surrounded by, and packed and wrapped in, ounces and ounces of disposable plastic also.
Surely this is not necessary? Of course it’s not!
Just ask your father or perhaps your grandfather. A good shaving brush and some shaving soap can give you a better lather than anything in an aerosol can, for a fraction of the price, and with zero waste. And used properly, a double-edged safety razor, made entirely of steel will give you a close enough shave without irritation or cuts, and that razor blade contains no plastic. It’s all steel. While most come in a plastic box complete with a disposal slot in the back, you can easily find them individually wrapped in paper and then packed into a paper box of 100. Zero plastic.
So if you think you are going green but still use Edge gel and a Fusion razor, think again Mister. It’s time to get into responsible shaving, while saving the planet, and also saving my friends the orangutans, (who never shave).
A handful of sparkling stardust from the glamour of old Hollywood fell on an obscure corner of South West London this week with the solution of an enduring mystery of the film actor Errol Flynn`s early life in the district.
Flynn was the biggest star in Hollywood in the late 1930s and early 1940s, achieving fame through films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Sea Hawk, which made him the heroic swashbuckling buccaneer of Hollywood`s golden age. However, 10 years before his arrival in Hollywood he had been Leslie Flynn, a wayward 14 year old from the other side of the world in Australia who had shipped over to London with his father dragging him along to the capital on some business that he had to conduct there, wondering what he was to do with the boy who found himself being transported from the exotic surroundings of his childhood years on the shore of Tasmania, with the roar of the sea where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet coming off of the South Pole, to board in a small shambolic boys` private school in the Putney district, which he described as drab, grey and grim looking. It has been known for a number of years since the publication of his autobiography My Wicked Wicked Ways, shortly before his early death from exhaustion in 1959, that the silver screen star had spent a part of his youth in a school in the locality which he called ‘South-West London College’, but its actual location was obscured by his siting it ‘off Putney Common`, with the vague location as ‘somewhere between Putney & Hammersmith.’
The puzzle as to its location has defied writers and historians studying the screen actor`s origins before he tore a blaze across the Hollywood firmament, leading some to speculate as to whether it existed at all as Flynn described it, but it has now been solved by a dusty half-forgotten old trade directory from the mid 1920s stored at the Wandsworth Borough Archive on Lavender Hill during research into the star`s early years. In the frail pages of an obscure small business circular called the ‘Wandsworth Directory 1925’, listed in between ‘Sanitary Engineers’ and ‘Servants` Registry Offices’ under ‘Scholastic’ was found an entry for ‘South West London College (Mr. E.H. Burbidge, Principal), No. 99-101 Castelnau’, confirming the veracity of Flynn`s account and locating the long gone school amidst a line of regency villas on the road leading up on to Hammersmith Bridge.
Although expressing no other feelings in retrospect than the misery of his time at the school which he said were two of the most dismal years of his life, he devoted several pages of his autobiography to provide a carefully drawn portrait of it, describing how its cheerlessness was indicated by window-ledges lined with empty flowerpots and matched by the meagre fare at meal times, and how the boys were crammed into the dormitories for want of space. He also left vivid portraits of the staff such as the Headmaster, Mr. Burbidge: … old, fat and terrifying and glaring at you like a toad; and another teacher who had: sloppy clothes and a kipper-footed gait and spent most of his time stalking the school`s better looking boys (who were in turn anxious to stay one step ahead of him) with an ominous intent and a lecherous smile, who would leave the school`s employment under a cloud after having shown an unhealthy interest in the boys in the school`s cricket team for reasons other than cricket. Flynn further described parading from Barnes across the bleak wasteland of Barnes Common into Putney and through its streets as the boys went off to church each Sunday in a 2 by 2 column, creating a colourful sight in their uniforms of striped trousers and blazer, with straw boaters for the Summer months being replaced with top hats in the Winter; and also the subsequent loneliness that he experienced in a strange place far from home when finding himself discarded by his parents and left in the school alone with all of the other boys having departed for the holidays, and he found himself with nothing to do but wander around its empty class-rooms; and how this abandonment and the resentment that it caused would mark his character in his future passage through the world.
He left the school after 2 years in 1925, and headed back to Australia and a subsequent meteoric future that awaited him of fame and wealth at the summit of Hollywood before he would burn out in a self-destructive pursuance of sensual excess; but the building, which today makes two private houses, that encompassed South West London College remains with its own memory of its role in the life of one of cinema`s icons.
The travels of Louis the Scooterer, a retired former South African who has found an unusual way of getting to know Israel.
Part Twelve - “A little north, a little west, a little east…then a lot north”…then sunset, then night time.
After leaving hydro electric plant we are back on main road going north pass industrial areas and a couple of kibbutsim which we won’t visit now.
As we see the south end of Lake Kinerret (Sea of Galilee) for the first time in front of us… I notice a tourist INFO office in a shopping complex, and make my way to that..while all my passengers ran to different restaurants and kiosks to buy something to eat..I collected a handful of interesting brochures and deciding immediately that we will go first to Moshav Kinerret on opposite direction to our main plan.
We will pass several important kibbutzim on our left side and several venues on the water edge, and arrive at the bridge where Kinerret flows again south as Jordan River,..and make our way to the area known as Yardenit, on the Jordan River..
supposedly for a coffebreak and relax on the quiet river edge in beautiful surroundings..with high trees and ducks in the water and birds all around.
But wait..hey..wow ..theres action in front of us as many worshippers dressed in white robes are making their way down a series of steps to enter the water preparing to be baptised..in the Jordan River..this is incredible luck for us to find this event as we arrived…
After reading the various posters about the place, and watching the ceremony and each participant being dunked in the water ..while onlookers and worshippers sing hymns and pray together with the various religious leaders among them..
and many pics are taken by everybody including me..
After a while and a coffee on the large terrace we make a quick visit into the “tourist shop” crammed with thousands of religious objects and ornaments and watch as tourists select and then wait in line at the cashier counter..to pay..
I guess we could call the place “a religious artifacts supermarket”.
Time to leave ..lets go before the buses start pulling out and clogging the narrow road back to the bridge….(many things to see and places to visit in the immediate areas on future travels…like the date plantations and driedfruit minimarket for tourists just up the road.)
Continue to the west up route 98, a lovely scenic drive with neighbouring Jordan on the other side of the fence, we get to Khamat Gader and condense our stay, to enjoy some swims in the various hot and cold water swimming pools and some relaxing in the sun..
http://www.hamat-gader.com/hamatVirtGalleries.php?linkOrder=41 (or google to other sites)
then maybe a coffee n snack and take a walk to see the crocodile farm.. and then move out. It would be very easy to spend a couple of days relaxing in this incredible place.
On to the uphill winding scenic road we make several short stops to see views and take pics..(Hamat Gader now way down below us !)..then on top of the plateau the road straightens out and we begin to see glimpses of Lake Kinerret, and when we drive into Kibbuts Mevo Khama..we are in for a unique experience.
On my very first scooter visit here I met Elaine who works in the office at plastic factory..
and when she and the security were satisfied that I was a scooterer visiting everywhere, she invited me to drink tea with her and some staff at the large plastic factory on the kibbuts.. then… she pointed me to go to the back of the kibbutz, to find a special spot on a metal platform, from where the entire Kinneret can be seen
Surely a unique experience from that unique spot..thanks Elaine…and as luck would have it that was a perfect haze free day..thanks again…and for the plastic gifts.
A quick stop a bit further and another view from Shalom observation point viewsite..in Kfar Kharuv, a place that caters for b/b and every Friday will be full to capacity.. and empties out late Saturday until the following Friday.
Through to Afik kibbuts..here I met a young woman working in reception, where on the wall is large photo of Afik holiday cottages. While doing her time in the army.. she was a leader at Sar-El, so we had much to talk about..she sent me to a viewsite that is also magic..sighting the hills n valleys bordering Afik..every old building and monument has interesting stories and I guess a one night stayover will be many hours of adventure with someone from the kibbutz able to tell about the places.
Then down the road to a winery at Eliad,
where we were invited to view the current art exhibition and taste wines.
(I had visited on previous occasions, once having been invited to a tour of the winery and lunch with a few other important guests…that was a marvellous invite, where again I felt embarrassed, as me and my scooter were discussed more than the wines and grapes. I have been back a couple of times to chat and take lunch with the owners and workers.
More quick decisions as to which route to take next.. and I decide to go to Gamla..(I can envisage that we will be in these Kinerret areas for several upcoming chapters) and will try not to backtrack where we have already visited.
It is not possible to stop at every kibbuts and industrial area on our route to Gamla..(altho I have done that on my scooter..scooted in and around and often do not see another person to ask ..Often I have done those rides on a Saturday when many areas are seemingly deserted.)
On one occasion I scooted into a kibbuts Avnei Eytan and rode around. I saw a summer-holiday-camp that had been closed after the season..sleeps a few hundred people in Red Indian style tepees ..but the guard spoke no English..so no explanations. And at the same time, a little further on, I came to hot-houses where flowers and fruit are grown, and the man in charge showed me around and althoogh he spoke no English ..we communicated ?
Drive into Gamla Nature Reserve and receive brochures and learn something about the place..
visit http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3373998,00.html ( or google to other sites)
A happening way back when Romans attacked the city built on a hill..the remaining fighters would commit suicide rather than being taken prisoners into slavery (similar to Masada). There are some great drives, and walks to see the vultures and eagles building nests on the high cliffs and rangers to give info..at the viewing stations built across the way from the nests…then there is the waterfall that must be seen while we are here,
and after a break and snack at kiosk..time to move along.
So after watching incredible sunset, with Tiberias in the background and the Kinerret in front… and as dusk falls and we can no longer see anything we drive to the north end of Kinerret to Kare Deshe Youth Hostel to sleep over, and look forward to a marvellous breakfast.
(unplanned at this time.. we will be staying several nights, as our base for trips to far north and areas adjacent.)… so watch this space… and please connect with me at email louisdrinkingt@013.net
Louis the Scootereris 69 years old and it sounds like he’s just getting started.
