The Last Winter

After the eco-fashion show sponsored in part by Living Green, I quickly hopped on over to the Nuart where the last show of 'The Last Winter' was showing. They had a special showing of 'Metropolis' with a dj spinning tunes to accompany the movie afterwards, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stick around for that. Maybe next time.


'The Last Winter' is dubbed as an ecological horror flick. Think global warming, oil drilling, lots of ice and permafrost, toxic gas, naked men, crows, and sex and you will have the basic gist of the movie. I'm not one to be freaked out or scared when I watch horror films. This one is probably the scariest movie this year to date that I've seen, not because of the grotesque imagery or the sawing of body parts, but because it sticks so close to and echoes alot of our deepest fears. You see men with various intents, thrown together, and while some can see the writing on the wall, most choose to ignore it, thus dooming everyone. I also liked it when they likened oil drillers to 'grave-robbers' where all the ancient fossils of dead organisms were being excavated for pure profit and gain, without any regard to the environment.

Now I have a new fave genre: the ecological thriller. This Sunday the 30th @ 5pm and 7:30pm the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica they're showing a couple of movies which I hope to see. The 5pm show is 'Winners and Losers', a documentary about globalization and the effects on some individuals. The 7:30pm show is another eco-thriller, 'The Cloud', based on an award-winning novel written by Gudrun Pausewang, which illustrates the affects of a breakdown of a nuclear power plant. Both films are German.


Check out more of the American Cinemateque/Aero theatre offerings here.


Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA

What the World Eats

The Skirball Cultural Center hosts a wide variety of events, readings, and lectures, and art exhibitions. I've been seeing some posters around town, particularly on Wilshire Boulevard, on the new 'Noah's Ark' exhibition cum playground-esque sort of thing, where families and kids can play in and around, participate in activities, and look at the many different representations of animals, all made from recycled materials and everyday objects, I might add.

The other talk on October 9th @ 7:30pm, which sounded interesting, is titled 'Hungry Planet: What the world eats with Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio'.

Photographers Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio visited 30 families in 24
countries on a quest to explore the personal and political nature of food and
nutrition. In this slide-illustrated talk, view their spectacular photographs of
each family with a week's worth of food purchases. These portraits offer telling
commentary on the concept of nourishment and the effects of conflict, poverty
and globalization.

It would be interesting to find out what people in other countries eat...I'm expecting to find alot of home prepared foods and not alot of processed stuff, unlike, uh, us Americanos. But maybe our influence and habits have proliferated in far countries we'd least likely expect...hm..

Admission to 'Noah's Ark' is $10 for general admission, and seniors & full time students get a discount. It's only $5 for kids. The Hungry Planet show is $10 general admission. Buy tickets online.

Skirball Cultural Center

2701 North Sepulveda Blvd.,

Los Angeles, CA 90049

Phone: (310) 440-4500

Alot of trash

[check out the collage at Orion Magazine]

For 365 days, Tim Gaudreau took meticulous photographs of everything he threw away, after which, he ended up becoming more aware of what he was throwing away, thus limiting his consumption quite a bit. One can either opt to call the cat obsessive-compulsive or a shrewd documentarian; its clear that at the very end, when one is confronted with an entire chronicle of waste they have generated, it serves to make one look hard at one's own pattern of consumption.

I'm sure that if I took similar pictures of my trash, I would be equally astounded at my own behavior. I already am somewhat disgusted but I don't have the pics to prove it. It's strange, to say the least, when I see treats or toys touted as 'eco-friendly', but they're in a 24-pack and individually packaged and wrapped in plastic. To 'preserve freshness' I suppose. I find it interesting how the cups and/or cup sleeves of the Starbucks say that they're made of '10% post consumer waste' and how this exemplifies their commitment to be a part of the solution of saving the environment. Why they aren't made of more than a mere 10% I don't know. It may also lead people to get the wrong idea about ways to go more eco and give some a false sense of eco security, a certain 'smug' which an entire South Park episode was based on-why not bring your own mug to the coffee shop?

Enemies!

Some random quotes about enemies. I think it's definitely healthy to have at least one enemy, or two, or a whole grip of them. If you don't, go forth and foster them, not for the sake of course of merely having one, but for reasons linked to being human and having a brain. Beside it being character building, it really is a blessing in disguise, and in some respect, a measure of one's success, given your enemies are so not because of some moral reprehensibilities.

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. -JFK

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.-Winston Churchill

Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.-Antisthenes

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends-Baltazar Gracian

You can observe what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you- Eric Hoffer

A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies-Oscar Wilde

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous'. And God granted it.-Voltaire

Courtesy of the Quotations Page.

Use and be used

My current home desk or office situation leaves me with the vague impression of something more to be desired, as in a new desk, with like, drawers and stuff. I currently have just a table from Ikea, with a rinky-dink drawer set stuffed underneath, practically bursting from all the schtuff I've managed to fill it with, very little of which, I might add, I've managed to need or use within the last year or so.

Buy new? Ha! Since I live in an apartment, if I ever decided to move I figure it's best to be able to not buy an entirely new desk, but maybe find someone giving away an old one. Figured it was worth a shot. That way, I can find a used desk, condition not important, with the qualification that it has some drawers, and in the event I ever decided to move, can then give it away to someone else who then is also in dire need of a desk, granted that I haven't developed by then an unhealthy attachment to that particular desk.

You can look on Craigslist in their free section. Among some of the items people are giving away? Free toilet anyone? I can see that being incorporated in some sort of art project. As well as being used for other stuff. Eww. I didn't find anyone giving away any desks there, although I'll prolly check back occasionally. As long as you're patient and don't NEED anything right away, there are a plethora of sites and people willing to give away stuff.

There's also FreeCycle, a social network with local chapters, where you can both look for and give away stuff you don't want. I've posted that I wanted a desk with drawers. Let's see if/when/how soon I can get one. Another issue is when I find one, how to bring it home. I think I'll try to fig that one when and if I actually DO find something.

Malibu Organic & Eco Fest

On Saturday, October 6th, the Malibu Chamber of Commerce is hosting their first annual 'Wallflower: Organic & Eco Fest', highlighting green businesses, an eco-fashion show, and in general focusing on a community-centered approach to educate/enlighten/entertain various festival goers on what I hope to be a sunny, breezy afternoon.

View J-Punk's map

Taken in (See more photos here)

Some of the highlights include: green speakers on green living (Ed Begley Jr. amongst them), green building, entertainment and music powered in part by solar, and over 200+ eco vendors. The music line-up is both eclectic and interesting, for example, the Stephani Valadez ensemble which is an interesting mish-mash of N.African, Middle Eastern, and Spanish songs, and DJ Jah Z, which on the website says that it is 'eclectic listening music for the eco-mindset'. I'm not sure what sort of music this will be tho but...

Zero Impact Malibu will donate 10% of proceeds from booth sales to the Malibu Park Legacy Project, which actively tries to reduce pollution impacts, among other things.

Wallflower Organic & Eco Festival
October 6th, Saturday
10am-6pm
at the Malibu Legacy Park
Freeee!

Fun with Scholarly Conjectures

If you have a bit o' free time, or if you know what you will be doing on October 14th @4pm, check out the Getty Museum's scholarly series on various subtopics under the umbrella topic of Change. Change will be the overall motif of the 2007-8 Getty Institute Scholar Year Program. Whether it will help YOU to decide if change is good or otherwise is indeterminable; whether it will get your ass out of work early for some extra-curricular activities on hump day is up to you.



[photo courtesy of the Getty, La terre n'est pas précisément ronde, photomechanical print in L'Illustration, vol. 133, no. 3439 (January 23, 1909), p. 67]

Kicking off the whole shindig is 'Identity Theft in the Ancient Mediterranean World' on October 4th @ 8pm in the Getty Villa. Then next is Angus Fletcher on 'Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer: Reflections on Change' on October 14th. Since everything that IS is concievably not immune to change, I can certainly imagine that a wide variety o' topics can and will certainly be covered at the Getty during this 'scholarly year'. Work? Bah!

Here's a blurby bit on the October 14th talk:

In this lecture, Angus Fletcher highlights the relationship between philosopher and artist as a prelude to considering various fundamental ideas of change in three domains: the natural world, the world of the arts, and the world of thought. These forms of life are always changing their apparent shapes and dimensions, as time passes in nature and in human affairs. Fletcher advances a theory of change that focuses any and all understandings of cultural development. He suggests major conceptual issues for theories of change, illuminating scenes from the drama of Western intellectual life.

Amen. I know what I'll be doing then. And yes I'm a nerd. Make sure to make reservations, either by enrolling online on their website here, or calling their hotline at (310) 440-7300. Beats fighting traffic!

Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, Ca

Parking is $8. The lectures are free, as they should be.

Poo-Poo Paper

Paper from elephant poo? Yea, that's right. Mr. Ellie Pooh, a company who derives its sources from sustainable, 100% recycled poo, makes things like notebooks, stationary, greeting cards, and frames. I guess you can send a card to that special someone to let them know what you really think of them.



[photo courtesy of Mr. Ellie Pooh]

Without getting into too much of the nasty details, the wild elephant dung in Sri Lanka is collected, sun-dried, disinfected with a certain naturally-occuring plant, and then made into paper. Since the elephants eat all sorts of woodsy, shrubbery items, the wood pulp is converted inside the elephant to paper quality stuff.

How they found out they could make paper out of this is anyone's guess. Some things though I'd rather leave a mystery...and appreciate the end prod.

The good thing is? They ship and they have a wide variety of, uh, products to choose from. I looked for something to order but it didn't say what sort of ink they used and what they used to tint their paper with...although I'm somewhat sure its ok...

Fun. Here's the website.

Mr. Ellie Pooh

*update-- I emailed them about how they color their paper. All their paper is colored with 'natural salt dyes' and made without harsh chemicals, i.e., bleaches, that sort of thing.

Million Trees LA

Been seeing alot of 'Million Trees LA' banners around town and wanted to get the details and then relay it to other folk.

MillionTreesLA is a non-profit enviro-sustainability initiative, whose aim is to plant a million or so trees over the next several years, working closely with a wide variety of environmental and community based organizations to achieve that goal. You can get involved by either joining a local community group or contacting MTLA directly to see where their next planting is. They're also giving out free trees through LADWP, and in particular, are recommending the drought-resistant and native species types. You can sign up here if you want to get some cool shade cover for your pad. All you have to do to get a free tree or trees is to take an online workshop so that you know how to properly care for a tree, and the best area to plant it.

I wish I could plant a tree in my backyard...only I live in an apartment and I don't have a backyard. If I ask my landlord, I'm not sure how'd he respond if I ask him if I can plant a tree on his property. I'll ask anyway, wtf.

Here are some projected stats & benefits derived from the initiative:

-can save up to $10 mil in energy costs in LA. Planting 4 trees can save you up to 30% on summer cooling costs.
-can remove up to 2.24 million pounds of air pollutants annually in LA, and save $23 mil a year on air-pollution clean up costs.
-can capture almost 2 billion gallons of stormwater per year, which decreases both polluted stormwater and hill runoff.

One item I didn't really understand was that '40,000 trees planted in commercial parking lots and along commercial corridor streets can induce shoppers to spend 12% more for goods and services'. Whether this is because people are drawn to shop in places where there is more greenery, essentially spending the same amount of moolah they would've spent somewhere else, OR because greenery makes people buy more shit, is not clear. Could be both. People have weird reasons for buying crap, so the mere presence of more trees could incite people to buy more. Hey, there are people who spend their entire lives studying why people buy what they do...its a bit scary, really.

If you want to buy less crap, then go to this website (www.buylesscrap.org) and donate your money directly to charitable causes, instead of buying a GAP (red) shirt. I have no problem buying a product who gives a portion of the proceeds to a charitable organization IF I'm going to buy something anyway, say a bar of soap or a shopping bag. But if I don't need a GAP shirt (good God how I don't need one) then I don't see the point of buying a shirt just to have another shirt which you probably won't wear, just because they say they give a portion to charity. The shirts are ugly anyway. That's why, if you're going to green, let's say, your home furnishings, its not necessary to replace all your furniture with sustainably made ones for the sake of having eco furniture, if your current ones are in good shape and not too beat up.

Keeping America Beautiful, one corporate sponsorship at a time

Did I mention that I can't stand Keep America Beautiful and its various green-washing and corporate handholding tactics?

[photo from Rachael Adkin on Flickr]

At one point (or maybe even now) they lobbied against efforts and initiatives to increase in-store beverage recycling efforts. Part of their (crummy) argument was that it would be burdensome for the consumer to lug their water and soda bottles to the store for the pennies they would recieve for the recyclables. Truth is, any and all recycling methods, used in conjunction, actually helps to encourage people to recycle more. And since people are going to the store anyway, doesn't it make sense to just bring your recyclables to the store where you purchased it from?

A better way is reduce or have an alternative method to drink stuff from. Like not drinking bottled water and limiting or eliminating single serving non-biodegradable disposables. From now on, I'm not going to either buy any more water bottles or buy single serving plastic beverage containers.

Back to KAB. Part of their corporate sponsors include: Anheuser-Busch, Philip-Morris, Clorox Company, PepsiCo, Wrigley Jr. Co, Coca-Cola Co, Sherwin-Williams, Office Depot, Dow Chemical, etc. etc. You get the point. You can see their entire list here. Why is Whole Foods there?

Organics and fair trade tees

A recent study by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) found and reported the following in its report "White Gold: The true cost of cotton":

[photo courtesy of Don_Gato on Flickr]

-it takes 500 gallons of water to produce one cotton T-shirt
-considered the world's dirtiest crop, responsible for over $2B worth of pesticide use every
year
-the US or the US cotton industry cannot influence international policy or the policy of its trade partners
-unregulated use of pesticides on crops and forced labor of women and children is not uncommon in countries like Uzbekistan
-Uzbekistan is the world's second largest exporter of cotton to countries like Europe, China

Today's consumers are well aware of the reasons for buying organic cotton tees, but its difficult to know exactly where the cotton came from and under what labor conditions the cotton was made. Even American Apparel, who uses organic cotton in its lines, does not source all of its organic cotton from the US, which means that the source of the cotton must be under strict scrutiny. The problem is that since there is such a high premium today for organic cotton, this means that not only is there is a greater potential for fraud but cotton growers may be tempted to try to claim the organic status for the sake of commanding that higher price point. Since USDA organic standards do not include fair trade certification, then consumers might be deluded into thinking that the product they purchase has met rigorous standards in most areas. But because of the various steps taken to convert pure cotton into a t-shirt, the fact that its organic is only one part of what it means to be eco- and people- friendly.

The Organic Consumers Association is currently lobbying for a label that certifies something as being both organic & fair trade.

I totally admire those that want to buy and purchase and WEAR eco & fair trade stuff. I feel guilty that I have alot of old clothes which aren't certifiable eco or fair trade, but since I have alot of clothes, why do I need more? The current solution for me? Not to buy more shit. Or borrow from a friend.

Conserv?

Filled up at Conserv Fuel in Brentwood today. I know, I know, dependence on oil is something that eventually I should work on limiting, but since my work requires me to be pretty mobile, until I get a more energy efficient car or what not, I'm stuck, for the moment at least, to getting gas. And I figure...why not support Conserv instead of Exxon Mobil who has a huge lobby?

So I decided that I'm going to get my fuel here from now on. Granted, they only have 1 station, but I'm sure that'll change and they'll eventually have 2...or 3. The original company that owned Conserv had over 200 gas stations, under USA Gasoline. They sold USA Gasoline to some major company for over $200 million, but just decided to keep this one for themselves. They sell biodiesel, and yes, regular gas, and will be soon selling bioethanol (aka ethanol). My idea of filling up here is that since I'm going to have to fill up anyway, at least for now, shouldn't I fill up here instead of at Mobil? It's almost as if I'm choosing between the lesser of the two evils, but I think it positive to support those industries who in turn also support alternative fuel sources. That's my take. I know it's not the best option.

I'm considering getting a bicycle. If anyone is selling theirs, let me know. Preferably a woman's bike, I hate that bar in the middle on men's bikes. I don't know how men deal with that bar being there, I can't even stand it.

Conserv Fuel
11699 San Vicente Blvd
Brentwood, CA

Western Foodservice Expo Recap

Went to the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo on Saturday. Was kind of a disappointment comparing it to previous years' expos. This was was heckuva lot smaller for whatever reason, and less giving out samples. I heard some of the exhibitors grumbling how the venue would sell them bags of ice for $40! Before you could arrive hungry and leave totally stuffed. This time, whether it was due to the fact that there was not alot of nibblets to go around or that I no longer though deep fried mini corn dogs were palatable, I still left a bit hungry...but drunk hungry. Not a good combo.

I attended a seminar/mini panel discussion on the organic, local and sustainable food movement and how to incorporate these principles into your business or restaurant. On the panel was Laura Avery, from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, Michael Cimuristi, executive chef of Providence, Andrew Hunter of Wolfgang Express, and Anita Widmayer, director of Kaiser food & nutrition. The turnout was disappointing, like the expo, but alot of people who seemed genuinely interested in getting to know more about the movement were present. Essentially, the mood and tone of the discussion was that local and organic is good and a step in the right direction, but there are some difficulties in either implementation or cost involved and how these can be overcome.

I didn't really feel like eating alot of hydrogenated-infused samples, and prepackaged nuked stuff so I ended up eating either alot of fruit or drinking alot booze, none of which was organic or anything else, unfortunately. I did have some sushi, which was made by a machine. Wasn't that bad. Nope, Sara Lee ain't for me!




Among the endless rows of booths, DowAgro (wtf?) were present, showcasing their new omega-9 trans-fat free cooking oils. For some reason, I can't wrap my head around the concept of Dow making good and healthy cooking oil. Seems like a virtual and physical impossibility. I don't think I had any of what they were brewing or cooking up. The spokesperson for DowAgro seemed a little too eager to handle my questions & objections, as if he was playing defense in a hockey match.



I spied Aardvark straws among the riff raff, whose straws are totally biodegradable and made out of paper! I asked them whether they were made out of recycled paper, but they said they weren't. Nonetheless, it's a much better option than using the traditional plastic straws, which aren't biodegradable & made from petroleum. Whether it's even better than corn-starch straws, I don't know. It would seem better, just by virtue that the energy needed to make a paper straw is less than that of a corn derived straw, because of the processing involved to convert corn a polymer, whereas paper is just paper. I used it the other day and it was interesting....I didn't realize how slippery straws were until I used the paper alternatives. It's sorta like drinking through a pixie stick...just kind of weird and wet. But cool anyways.

The highlight for me definitely had to be the tofu/soy mexican food. It doesn't look like anything remotely appetizing in the picture but was delish. I must've hung around that table like 20 minutes, eating soy chicken and beef and soy tacos. They sell the stuff at Whole Foods, and for the life of me, I didn't remember their name- I was so busy munching and chowing down. Their soy chicken stuff, well, tastes like chicken, even down to the smell and texture, and their soy beef, well, ditto that too. I'm hooked. I'm kind of curious though....I'm not a fan of super processed stuff. I wonder what they do to these things to make them look, smell, and taste like meat but not derived from any meat ingredients at all?

Okra and Tomaters

I've been seeing alot of okra at the local farmer's markets lately. Figured I'd post this recipe, all vegan & vegetarian friendly, using mostly ingredients found at your local markets. Yummy, healthy, and overall, just darn good for you!

On another note, I unofficially enlisted as a volunteer at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market on Saturday, as sort of a official admin/guest relations gal to greet happy shiny market-goers. If they accept me, then I should be there this Saturday from 8am-11am.

Cajun-style Okra
[recipe courtesy of Pacific Coast Farmer's Market Assn]



Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped fine
2 pounds fresh okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 medium tomatoes, chopped fine



Cooking Instructions:
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper, and cook about two to three minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add okra and sprinkle with cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Stir-fry for another two to three minutes.Stir in tomatoes and reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook until okra has softened, about five to seven minutes.

Boobs and Bicycles

[photo from Days of Our Lives]
>>>I can't believe Sami and Lucas got married! And I can't believe how long its been since I've watched Days Of Our Lives.... not that I really miss it anyway. But on the filming of Sami's & Lucas's wedding, nearly everything was greenified, from the organic munchies from Ford's Filling Station to the replantable floral arrangements, the place settings and wedding cake made from organic ingredients. Carly Rooney, editor-in-chief of the Knot, gave some green wedding tips. I suppose if I wanted a green wedding I need to find someone to get married TO I suppose. Darn.


>>>It must be a sign. Or just my membership expiring. My AAA roadside assistance membership just came up for renewal. Time to switch to the BetterWorldClub! The first self-proclaimed 'environmentally friendly auto club', they offer discounts for hybrids and electric cars, eco-travel services, and the first 'auto' club to offer bicycle roadside assistance. In case your bike (or you) run out of gas. They also donate 1% of revenues to environ-cleanup and advocacy. Cheers.


>>>Came across a post by Siel that referenced a recent article in the LA Times about boob jobs and the link to suicide. Its probably not likely that in those cases, the boob job getting lead to suicides, but probably most likely that women who felt the desire to get fake titties were trying to compensate for their perceived shortcomings up top but realized that going under the knife actually made it worse. I've felt some urges to get it done myself, I won't lie. I had an epiphany and finally decided this weekend not to contemplate it further. It was an interesting coincidence and remarkable timing that Siel had brought it up though.


>>>Technology rendering some cliches obsolete & outdated? Maybe. It's now ok to judge a book by its cover. But people still do jump on bandwagons. Article from the Economist here.

AIGA Downtown Shopping Event...Go Local!

Shop and support local designers at this one day event in downtown LA.

The American Institute for Graphic Arts, aka AIGA is having a one-day marketplace event for only $10. All, if not most, of the designers are home-grown LAers who want to peddle their wares for decent prices. Who says christmas shopping can't be done in the summer?






Check out Tatico's line of 100% organic cotton baby tees (that's tees for baby) with cute little sayings.



[photo from Tatico]



You can mingle and listen to the sounds of DJ Droog on the turntables. Get two free drinks at the bar. Fill up on yummy's from Mama's Hot Tamales and other local LA downtownish food (like those bacon wrapped hot dogs that we all know about). They'll be raffling off an iphone as well. I wonder who'll be the lucky bugger to get that one.

After, poke on over to the Fashion District & Santee street. Who knows. You might find something.


SUN 12 Aug 2007 1 to 5pm
Santee Village Courtyard
716 South Los Angeles St.
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Green is the new Black

These days, new restaurants are opening up all over the place, promising and delivering farmer's market, local, sustainable, and seasonal produce and other items. Fraiche was one, Abode another. It's getting more and more difficult to distinguish between those establishments promoting eco because of a passion and a striving for sustainability as opposed to it just being trendy and just reciting eco-lines. Abode walks the line. It talks the talk...does it walk the walk? Hm...

[photo from EaterLA]

Recently, Leslie from the LA Times, in her article here pointed out how the manager approached her and pointed out how the decor was sustainable, from the recycled wood taken from other restaurants to the LEATHER chairs & sofas. Not only that, chef Crenn's mantra and philosophy has been "Sourcing all of her produce from local farmers, fishers and ranchers who use sustainable practices". I suppose New Zealand, Vietnam and Spain all count as local then.

Now it's great that they're striving for eco-bility, and that's all fine and dandy....but just be consistent! Having organic & local produce is GREAT, don't get me wrong, but if you're serving it alongside some seared foie gras topped with farmer's market cherries, something is not right there. (Yes, they do serve foie gras!) Yes, it's wonderful that the produce that they use does not have pesticides and is non-GMO and the beef is free-range, local, all that...but what good is organic free range force-fed and unnaturally fattened duck liver?

I might check this place out. Or not.

Abode Restaurant
1541 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica

West LA obon festival

Went to the West LA Buddhist Temple Obon Festival last weekend. Didn't post till now. Go fig.

All not very eco BUT good to go and support nonetheless. Had some chirashi rice, spring rolls, and chinese chicken salad.









Ahhh....I remember the good(?) ol' days when the parents used to dress me up in traditional japanese garb and make me wear lipstick in scorching hot summer heat. Good times. I'll have to remember to continue the tradish with my kids....if I had to suffer, damnit my kids should too!

Got a pic of these two kiddies. Too cute.







Taiko drummers. Good stuff.

Auto Recycler

Part of my job involves going out to see various types of businesses. This one is interesting: auto recycler, they buy cars, take out various parts of the cars and stow them away in their warehouse, anything from front passenger doors to other things, and people come to them, looking for specific parts.

Here are some pics. You can see the Lexus SUV in the back.

It was a peculiar feeling walking through piles and piles of parts in various stages of usability. It seemed like a graveyard for cars, and not old ones, but new ones 2000 or later. It's more like a retirement home though. I'm sure their final resting place is somewhere else.

I wonder the trek these cars made to eventually find themselves here and then eventually taken apart? Who owned them?

Mencken Quotes

If you haven't guessed already, I'll fess up now. I have a huge hard-on for old guys. Especially dead old guys. That being said, here are some snippets from one very venerable dude.

[image from Wikipedia]


-The truth that survives is the lie that it is pleasantest to believe.

-Criticism is prejudice made plausible.

-It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of gods. If such a board actually exists it operates precisely like the board of a corporation that is losing money.

-The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animals.

from lhup.edu.

Future....corn need not apply

Newest publication and report put out by the Food & Water Watch, the Network for New Energy Choices, and the Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment holds that yes, corn ethanol is not all that. You can see the report and download it here. I dunno whether this will harken an immediate change in terms of ethanol consumption and production, given certain subsidies and what not, but it does mark another step towards us becoming more conscious of alternatives ill-touted as better alternatives to petroleum.

[photo courtesy of Nicktripp]

Here are some of the report's findings:

-Not all biofuels are equal. Corn – now used to produce 95 percent of U.S. ethanol and the only commercially viable ethanol feedstock prepared to capitalize on refinery subsidies in the Farm Bill – is the least sustainable biofuel feedstock of all raw materials commonly used.
-The capacity of corn ethanol to offset U.S. fossil fuel use is extremely limited. Dedicating the entire U.S. corn crop to ethanol production would only offset 15 percent of gasoline demand. Conversely, modest increases in auto fuel efficiency standards of even one mile per gallon for all cars and light trucks, such as those passed by the Senate last month could cut petroleum consumption by more than all
alternative fuels and replacement fuels combined.
-Corn ethanol is the wrong biofuel for combating global warming. The most favorable estimates show that corn ethanol could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent to 28 percent, while cellulosic ethanol is estimated to offer a reduction of 87 percent compared to gasoline.
-Ethanol is not the solution to revitalizing rural America. While higher commodity prices and cooperatively owned ethanol refineries could be a boon to independent farmers, unregulated ethanol industry growth will further concentrate agribusiness, threatening the livelihood of rural communities - from Oil & Gas Online

Good Neighbors

It's always nice when businesses, specifically restaurants, are singled out and given recognition for their community service or philanthropic efforts. Its definitely not easy to commingle the desire to maximize profit with bigger-picture endeavors, either community work or eco-consciousness. The California Restaurant Association today announced the 2007 winners of the 'National Restaurant Neighbor Award and Cornerstone Humanitarian Award' whom are recognized for their community outreach efforts, above and beyond the norm. The California winners of the Restaurant Neighbor Award are Sorensen's Resort and Cafe in Hope Valley, Mary's Pizza Shack in Sonoma and Mimi's Café in Tustin. The winner of the California Cornerstone Humanitarian Award is Dorothy L. Walker of Wellington's Pub & Restaurant in Turlock. They will be up for the national awards in September.

Whether they're going eco is another thing. But at least they're doing something, which is more than what can be said for most restaurants out there currently. Definitely a step in the right direction.

Sustainable Sips Cocktail Class

On Tuesday the 24th, Natalie of the Liquid Muse is holding a Sustainable Sips Cocktail Class, featuring ways to mix and match your fave organic drinks. Some of the mixers and drinks she's featuring include: Square One Organic Vodka, Bonterra Bio-Dynamic Wine, and Fever Tree All-Natural Mixers.


For a fee, you can sip these drinks and eat some appetizers @ the X Bar, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, in Century City.

It starts at 6:30pm and runs about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Water Quality in LA

After ruminating over SF government's ban on bottled water it got me to wondering-- how safe exactly is our tap water? Could I drink like a fish and manage to make out? Is drinking beer safer than water?



On my mad hunt for what exactly was in our tap water, I found some interesting factoids. Turns out everything, including the kitchen sink may be in our water supply. Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) anyone? How about Tetrachloroethylene [PCE], Arsenic (with maybe even some old lace thrown in), and Uranium? You can see their most recent annual water quality report here.

The LADWP is slowly phasing out use of chlorine for disinfection purposes and starting to use chloramines instead. Exactly when the change will be implemented is not clear, because for sure there also may be trace elements of chlorine left even after they completely stop using it. The significance of the change is due to the fact that chlorine, when mixed with certain naturally occuring organic substances in water, can lead to the creation of TTHMs and HAA5, or disinfection-by-products, which are suspected of causing cancer. 'The current Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for TTHMs, a possible carcinogen, and HAA5 is 80 and 60 micrograms per liter (µg/L), respectively'. I checked to see where my zip area would fare in the mix. Given all this info is accurate and actually reflects whats in my water then it looks like for my area, there are TTHM and HAA5 levels of 59 and 61, respectively.

WESTERN Water Quality Area

Zip Code	THMs (Trihalomethanes)		HAA5 (Haloacetic acid)
	Average	Range	Average	Range
90008	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90016	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90022	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90025	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90034	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90035	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90036	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90045	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90048	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90049	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90056	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90062	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90064	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90066	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90069	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90075	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90077	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90094	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90210	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90211	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90225	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90227	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90228	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90229	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90230	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90232	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90250	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90272	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90291	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90292	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90293	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90301	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90302	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90303	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90304	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90305	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90402	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90403	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90404	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90405	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133
90504	59	34 – 111	61	24 – 133

Oh well, maybe I'll just HAVE to stick by my Fat Tire, after all. What a shame...

Project by Project Benefit

Checked out & helped out this year's Project by Project 10th annual Food & Wine Benefit. PBP is a non-profit volunteer based national organization composed of social entrepreneurs who partner up with and assist under-served non-profits, help them with fundraising, public awareness, marketing, and other aspects of their organization to help them get the proper infrastructure in order to enable them to become independent and self-sufficient organizations.

I had heard about it from someone I met a short while ago, and last year's event was a site of a Top Chef challenge. It piqued my curiosity, and I love food and wine so I figured it would be a good opportunity to learn more about the organization and get some good eats. Various restaurants donated their food and time to showcase some of their delicacies. Among those representin' were Wilshire restaurant, recently recognized by Santa Monica and awarded the Sustainable Quality Award for their sustainable practices (using a variety of organic produce, seasonal ingredients, & Farmer's market produce & goods). I didn't get to eat too much food, but I had to try their dessert, which was a mango sorbet with fresh peaches and poppyseed cake. It was good. I haven't been to the restaurant yet but it is definitely on my 'must go to eat' list.

A side note, Eco Limo was also awarded a Sustainable Quality Award this year. I called them once to see how much it would cost for a trip to the airport. Granted, they use hybrids and various vehicles which are either electric or bio-diesel fueled and what not and are a member of TerraPass, but from West LA to LAX would have cost me around $80+, whereas a regular airport shuttle would've cost me only $20. I think if the price differential hadn't been so significant I would've considered eco limo, but I think a $60 difference is a bit....much. I don't know how many people will be willing to pay that sort of money where other cheaper alternatives are readily available. Also, if I'm carpooling with 5 other people going to the airport in a traditional shuttle service, what's the difference in impact if I'm being shuttled alone in a car that's a hybrid? I'm not sure but I almost want to say its more efficient & almost better (gasp!) to go the carpooling/shuttle route. I admire their business model though.

Going back to the event. Part of my humbling job included throwing away plates & food that had accumulated on tables after patrons had finished, throwing out the trash, stuff like that. Since the portions were quite small you would imagine that people would finish what they had, but the entire night I was throwing away plates and plates of food that people had taken one little nibble of, and then promptly thrown away. I was a little saddened, if not disgusted, at how people waste so much food without taking into account how hard some of those chefs had worked. It also makes me look at myself and my own practices, which I do admit, have not been perfect.

Random Quotes

I have to apologize for my immediate lack of pictures, the cable internet for my desktop has gone kaput for the moment and so I can't load any pictures. Please bear with me for a moment until I figure it out.

This space also serves as a memory box for me, so that I can keep and catalogue a list of things I have considered or wish to consider, so that at a later point in time I can look back and then further reconsider what I have already considered. Make sense?

Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite concious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.
--Socrates

Philosophy, like medicine, has plenty of drugs, few good remedies, and hardly any specific cures. --Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort

Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself. --H. L. Mencken

How very paltry and limited the normal human intellect is, and how little lucidity there is in the human consciousness, may be judged from the fact that, despite the ephemeral brevity of human life, the uncertainty of our existence and the countless enigmas which press upon us from all sides, everyone does not continually and ceaselessly philosophize, but that only the rarest of exceptions do. --Arthur Schopenhauer

Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits. --William James

Unintelligible answers to insoluble problems. --Henry B. Adams

The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men. --Bertrand Russell

I have to confess that I had gambled on my soul and lost it with heroic insouciance and lightness of touch. The soul is so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes such a nuisance, that I felt no more emotion on losing it than if, on a stroll, I had mislaid my visiting card. --Charles Baudelaire

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil- not the strength to choose between the two.
--John Cheever

-courtesy of www.mindpleasures.com.

Exporting Harm

photo courtesy of BAN.

Our carefree and easy culture in regards to the replacement and disposability of all of our current electronic has-beens is astounding. As of the date of the summary findings on the Basel Action Network, 50%-80% of the current E-waste is being exported to other developing countries such as India and China, who can little afford to ensure good methods to properly dispose of e-waste in manner that is not harmful to its own citizenry and their environs.

'Exporting Harm' and 'Digital Dump' are two documentaries highlighting the 'horrors of the high-tech revolution'. It illustrates that our current methods of consumption have horrendous repercussions all over the world due to various corporate mentalities and our own ignorance. Combine corporate machinations to maximize profits by encouraging and making it easy for consumers of new products to buy and replace instead of fixing, add our own desires to constantly have the new and latest products (do I really NEED an iphone if I have a sufficiently workable celly?), and we have the existence of various reasons that converge and lead to ill effects. The daily absence of the consequences of what we do only serve to not put these issues at the forefronts of our current collective consciousness.

It is significant but not all that surprising that the US is on the list of countries who have failed to ratify any of the four international toxic treaty agreements, along with Russia.

The Basel Action Network has compiled a list of e-waste recyclers who have passed their rigorous standards and criteria for being responsible e-stewards. You can check out who qualifies here, and also see if your local e-waste recycler is part of the program. If they are not, ask them why.

Clean Air Car Show & Film Fest

San Gabriel Valley's first Clean Air Car Show & Film Festival is on Sunday, July 22, an all day affair. They will be screening 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'Who Killed the Electric Car', and will be showcasing a variety of next-gen vehicles.

There should be a bunch of good healthy eats, exhibits, and mini-seminars. Admission is free.

The Rialto

1023 Fair Oaks Avenue
South Pasadena, California 91030
11am-6pm

FOR INFO: (626) 403-7380
FREE parking in the Mission Oaks Parking Lot off Mission Street, behind Wells Fargo Bank at El Centro Street and Fair Oaks Avenue and in the City lot at Hope Street and Mound Avenue. FREE shuttle from the Metro Gold Line Mission Station!

While you're there, check out the Norton Simon museum. I plan to browse and explore some of the shops around the mini-stretch of Mission Street, West of Fair Oaks in Pasadena.

Herzog the the Rescue

I'm a big fan of Vietnam movies and Werner Herzog. That being said, I had to see Rescue Dawn, which is based on a true story of Dieter Dengler, a Navy pilot who became a VC POW for several months, eventually escaping his captors and living to tell the tale. This cat has more than 9 lives and its amazing to hear him tell the different things he went through- he has an impeccable memory.

'Little Dieter Needs to Fly', which was filmed by Herzog, is a documentary about Dengler in the present day, with him reliving his experiences as a prisoner. Rescue Dawn is putting the same doc into an actual movie with all the bells and whistles and with Christian Bale. Both are equally great.

Try to check out one or both when you get a chance.

The Idols of Environmentalism

Photo courtesy of Orion Magazine, art by Robert and Shana Parkeharrison.

Ran across an interesting article by Curtis White originally published in the May/June 2007 edition of the Orion, entitled 'The Idols of Environmentalism', part 1 of 2 part series, the other being 'The Ecology of Work'.

Some blurbs:

"THE LESSONS OF OUR IDOLS come to this: you cannot defeat something that you imagine to be an external threat to you when it is in fact internal to you, when its life is your life. And even if it were external to you, you cannot defeat an enemy by thinking in the terms it chooses, and by doing only those things that not only don’t harm it but with which it is perfectly comfortable. The truth is, our idols are actually a great convenience to us. It is convenient that we can imagine a power beyond us because that means we don’t have to spend much time examining our own lives. And it is very convenient that we can hand the hard work of resistance over to scientists, our designated national problem solvers."

"Rather than taking the risk of challenging the roles money and work play in all of our lives by actually taking the responsibility for reordering our lives, the most prominent strategy of environmentalists seems to be to “give back” to nature through the bequests, the annuities, the Working Assets credit cards and long distance telephone schemes, and the socially responsible mutual funds advertised in Sierra and proliferating across the environmental movement. Such giving may make us feel better, but it will never be enough. Face it, we all have a bit of the robber baron turned philanthropist in us. We’re willing to be generous in order to “save the world” but not before we’ve insured our own survival in the reigning system. It’s not even clear that this philanthropy is a pure expression of generosity since the bequest and annuity programs are carefully measured to provide attractive tax benefits and appealing rates of return."

Blue Velvet

Checked out Blue Velvet and ate my way to the poor house. No, not really... Nice place overlooking the LA skyline with the pool in plain view, and situated in a cool loft/live/work/shag space called The Flat, which I hear is pretty popular with the type of crowd that likes to party till no end and run around half naked at night, keeping the neighbors up till 3am.

When I got there, it was light. When I left, it was completely dark. The service was slow. I'm not complaining (who, me?) because the food was fairly good. Their menu features a variety of organic & farmers market ingredients. Pictured here is the starter, called 'Crispy Sweetbreads'. I imagined getting thin crispy little sweetened breads. What the hell do I know? There was nothing crispy nor sweet about it, although it was delicious. It had some spinach and ravioli bits, along with some tiny mushrooms. I wanted to lick the plate but had to restrain myself. It will probably be the first and last time I will have this dish however, because when I googled what this concoction was, this sweetbread thing turned out to be something less desirable, organic or not. Next time, if I don't know, I will DEFINITELY ask.

Next I had the 'Barramundi', a fish dish in a pool of crayfish bisque. It wasn't bad- the fish skin was slightly crispy and the fish tender, and went well with the fennel and bisque. Might go again, maybe, but I wasn't blown away. But the view was worth it. I asked whether or not the
rooftop veggie garden was completed, and they said that they are still working on it. When it's up then I'll want to check it out. They take reservations but when I went it wasn't crowded at all.

Blue Velvet
750 Garland Ave
Los Angeles, CA
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