Motion Picture

Sometimes its good to take a retrospective look at the previous handful of years; not necessarily just to re-live the past, but to organize thoughts and experiences into a cohesive whole and perhaps even to grant the potential future more clarity. With this thought in mind, the collective consciousness of 'Bent Hanger Productions' (Nate, Sadie, and I) which has been dormant for a couple years now, is once again at work! Our newest project titled 'The Ride' is in full production on my humble little macbook. I am editing this current film mostly because I have the software to do it, but that said, I couldn't do so without the media content and creative visions of Nate and Sadie too. In this way the project truly is rounded and balanced. I think I'll create a specific page for our film post it this week.

A World Record was Broken Today

Statistic: Number of automobiles per 1000 people

United States 800
United Kingdom 418.46
Japan 560.23
Netherlands 426.83
China 9



Today we broke a world record, the price of oil per barrel reached $99.29 a price many industry pundits and economists predicted would never happen. Currently the United States uses the vast majority of the world's oil resources. We demand this privilege as a birthright. However, within three years we will be surpassed by China as not only the leading consumer of oil, but the leading producer of C02. China is putting 20,000 new vehicles on the road every day, a number which is increasing exponentially as the country's wealth expands. If China were to reach a statistical average of 100 vehicles per 1000 people, only 1/8 the American average, they would need to add over 150,000,000 new vehicles to their road-ways. This is not unrealistic given their economic potential and lack of concern for their environmental impact. People think $3 a gallon gas is bad now? I predict within 5 years gas will exceed $10 a gallon; a reasonable guess considering that within this time frame China alone will have added 50-100 million new vehicles to the roads (dependent upon their rate of growth). I'm not even considering India and Russia, the other two emerging super powers.

Environmentally this will prove a disaster. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will increase exponentially while at the same time deforestation, an ugly necessity of automobile infrastructure (and coincidentally the only anti-body against CO2 build-up), will also increase.

Politically this will prove hazardous too. The Middle East contains the Earth's largest reserves of raw oil and ironically also contains the planets most volatile and bloody religion. Western thirst for oil has never meshed well with ancient judeo-islamic fanaticism, yet the conflict will only grow more bitter as humans demand petroleum in greater and greater amounts.

I find it ironic that the fate of the human experiment will be determined almost completely by the ramifications of our transportation choices. I wonder how many civilization throughout the cosmos have evolved over billions of years only to snuff themselves out mere decades after they create technologically driven societies. Will we humans in our incredible lack of foresight do the same?

Daytime in Beijing, China and that isn't rain or fog you are seeing...

Fly Me Away

You RODE your bike to work today in this WIND?

Not only was it fun, but I got to take a different route in. As I rode over the small walking bridges which span a good section of the bay the ocean waves were nearly closing the 10-15 foot distance between the bridge and the water level. Every once in a while a gust would hit me directly and suck all the air from my lungs, it was pretty cool, much more so than sitting at a stale desk.

Finding a Stride

The grey season has taken Bellingham. Now, as I leave for work, most mornings till the spring will greet me with either rain or thick and soupy fog. To be honest I enjoy both; separate or together. The fog offers an air of mystery and hides some of the uglier sights on my commute. The rain is refreshing and for me a type of audible therapy. I could listen to rain drops fall on leaves and puddles all day and not grow tired. In addition to the welcome noise, the rain also serves as a deterrent; it keeps most of the walkers off the multi use trails, especially the old women with their toy dogs who seem to lack any peripheral vision.

The local bookstore called me the other day announcing my order had finally arrived. Excitedly, I walked down to the store the next day and purchased my book, "The Varieties of Scientific Experience" an edited version of Carl Sagan's famous Gifford Lectures he gave in Scotland in 1985. Sagan took this opportunity to detail his views on the conflict between religion and science, the need for critical thinking and the democratic virtues of the scientific method in lecture form, to a packed audience. I've read a few chapters so far and find it hard to put the book down; I've yet to find anyone who can instill such a sense of awe and wonder in his audience as Carl Sagan could. The way he deals with his subjects is incredible; ever respectful of individuals, he still possessed the ability to sharply cut through ideas and lead his questioners, in a Socraticlly inspired way, to a greater understanding of the subject at hand. I'm sure this book will end up at near the top of my favorite books list once I'm finished.