Dark secrets behind today’s trends. Part One

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By Oxi Singh

Warning, you have been tricked into doing and buying things that are not in your best interest.

sknyjSkinny Jeans.

These make your feet look big. Smaller looking feet, in proportion to your legs, are more desirable. Skinny jeans aside, any pants, trousers, suits that have narrow foot openings, that do not extend over the entire instep and reach the creases of the toes, make you look like Bigfoot. Of course if you try to buy anything other than the above in any man’s clothing store in 2009, then you are limited to boot legs jeans, or gangster pants.

Low slung pants, trousers or shorts.

Some shorts are so long, they are essentially long pants that are too short. The crotches are so low, you cannot take a full size stride. Basically, this Hip-Hop inspired look makes you look like you are 80% torso and 20% leg. It is ugly, silly, impractical, unflattering and may even get you shot. Get that crotch up where it belongs and get leggy.

Rap.

Yes I know, criticizing Rap makes me a racist, blah blah blah. Well fuck you. Rap is crap and nothing else is true. Forget that nonsense about it being valid poetic commentary on today’s society. It is rubbish, plain and simple. The vocalists have no talent. The backing music is simplified to the point where a flea would get bored. The drums are a button on a mixing desk, and there’s not an ounce of musicianship anywhere in sight. If you purchased a rap recording, you are a sucker. If you recorded or performed one, you are a thief and guilty of stealing intelligence from your fellow human beings. If you are African American and you are into rap, you are pissing on the graves of your jazz ancestors, the intellectual heroes of the 20th Century.

Vitamins and food supplements.

Waste of money, ineffective and no substitute for good fresh healthy food. Take them all to the toxic waste dump, write of the thousands of dollars you wasted and enjoy some healthy fresh real food.

Feel free to attack me via the comments.
Love from Oxi.

Oxi Singh is the non de plume for a certain angry chef in Torrance, CA

The Ancient History Of Blinds

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By Thomas Pretty

blinds2Blinds are prevalent throughout the modern world, used in the commercial world extensively and present in many homes. They are a practical and elegant form of window covering that gives the user ultimate control over the light being let into their interior; as such they also provide high levels of privacy. Blinds are available in a range of different styles from horizontal venetians to fabric roman shades and roller blinds that effectively block all light coming into a room. But where have blinds come from? What is the history of this variety of window covering?

Forms of blinds are evident in many civilizations throughout the evolution of the world. It is understandable that the more modern varieties do not resemble these early blinds in form, but in function the similarities are startling. Desert civilisations are believed to have used wetted cloth to cover their windows. Fundamentally these kept out the fierce heat of the desert sun; the reason they were wetted was in order to cool the warm air being passed into the home and to keep the sand out. Essentially this method of window covering acts much like the air conditioning units we use today.

blinds1The use of blinds in desert civilizations was eventually passed onto one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known; Ancient Egypt. As with many items in this civilization reeds were used in manufacture. Reeds were laid in to mats and then hung over windows. These reed mats could be raised and lowered when necessary and resemble the modern roller blinds used today, it is even possible to pick up reed window coverings today, standing testament to practicality of this type of blind.

It was not just the ancient Egyptians however that were using a type of blind for window coverings. As with many inventions attributed to the western world the ancient Chinese can lay claim to some of the earliest blind varieties. In China instead of reeds an equally prevalent natural material was used in the manufacturing of blinds, bamboo. These window covering were controlled in much the same way as their reed counterparts and in many parts of Asia are still used today. Bamboo has also become an increasing popular material in interior design during modern times.

blinds3The Romans also developed a form of window covering that differed somewhat from reed and bamboo varieties. Roman shades, popular today in many homes are constructed using fabric and organised into overlapping slats, today they epitomise Mediterranean styling and are still frequently used in many countries across southern Europe.

This article has only touched upon the history of blinds and has predominantly focused on their development in ancient times. Today this heritage is plain to see with all of the varieties discussed above still available to the buyer today, naturally material and manufacturing processes have evolved with the times but modern variants fundamentally carry out the same purpose as their ancient ancestors.

Thomas Pretty is an expert in the field of interior design and studies the use of blinds in some ancient civilizations.

Scooterer Stories part seventeen, Tiberias, Rama and a Druze Wedding.

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By Louis the Scooterer

Readers, a reminder. These “travel chapters” are written in a manner that could describe me and 3 passengers in a rented car, OR show me on my scooter, and a couple of other scooter riders scooting with me. Your imagination is tested. (I must also mention that many thousands of my great pictures were deleted in error, by a technician while servicing my computer, a serious great loss to me.

We’ve arrived and settled in to our accommodation at Poriya Hostel http://www.iyha.org.il/eng/Index.asp?CategoryID=64&ArticleID=46 spectacular views over Sea of Galilee, and lovely and peaceful, especially in the wooden cabins.
Also other rooms with great views, and even some cheap small rooms with a small window, but the same facilities to make visitors comfortable. Here we do not need to go looking for the sunrise, many places have been built have benches and chairs to watch.

Breakfast is one later than other hostels and we pack our stuff into the car. Then take a walk to end of the hostel grounds and a short hike on the Switzerland forest, passing cows and other animals grazing. Look to see some of the memorials, and viewsites, and take pictures.

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A little later, I will pick you up in the car and we take a drive up to the neighbourhood of Poriya, seeing views of the Kinerret on the one side, and the valleys on the other side. The Switzerland forest is designed for families to enjoy picnics, and tables and benches are laid on with enough parking under the trees and no parking at all on the narrow road.

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Digressing for a few minutes.

THE FIRST time I came to this area through Tiberias Illit (upper Tiberias) (http://www.israelimages.com/see_image_details.php?idi=10238 ) I was on my scooter, and the road construction was well under way. It seemed there was no supervision, and quickly I was in this muddy quagmire, withno signs anywhere that work was in progress and also no person visible. From a distance this mess looked like gravel road, but when on, I realised it was muddy mess and difficult to manouvre, but lucky my scooter had thick “offroad tyres”, and I was able to stay on, skidding uncomfortably. Lucky for me a truck trundled past slowly and I was able to ride in those tyre tracks the last couple of hundred meters to the end.

On a later trip, all the roads were finished with excellent sidewalks, parking bays and paving and benches and trees and flowers. This became a beautiful Boulevard as it is now, and has many lovely lanes joining the lower and higher roads. All roads in these neighbourhoods are built on terraces with sidewalks and viewsites, and I even found a tiny pizza place. Alumot Junction, is close to where my favourite filling station and coffeeshop and giftshop was, under a previous owner. A quick visit into Alumot Kibbutz and recieved some brochures about bed and breakfast accommodation . A climb to top of the spiral steps tower, is a must, and has spectacular views.

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On my first visit in this area, I came upon in the middle of nowhere, a giant car dealership, with many exotic cars and all types of jeeps and minibuses for sale. and beautiful coffeeshop attached to filling-station

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After some driving around we get to the bottom sea level road, and another short drive into Kibbuts Kinerret, for a quick visit to the “dates and honey shop” on the kibbuts. Here we buy some real sweet stuff and move on. There are a couple of important museums in kibbuts Kinerret, to see another time, perhaps.

On the sea road towards Tiberias, we pass luxury hotels on both sides, and beaches and restaurants on the lake Kinneret. Here we can enjoy a quick snack overlooking at the sea. Carrying on and we pass some tombs of important Rabbis, also an ancient cemetery, and the current cemetery as well. A point-of-interest here is, there is a shooting range tucked into a corner of the hill, next to Rabbi’s tombs.

We’ll take a side road through industrial area to leave the city Tiberias, and head for a short scenic drive, to see a couple of magnificent viewsites from Mt. Arbel. Take some pics and get back on the road, now #77 heading west. After a few kilometers drive we find ‘South Africa Forest’ and we’ll make some time to plant a few trees.

An important army museum is close by, and we will visit this Golani Brigade. Next to that, we will take coffee and a hamburger at the busy hamburger joint. Then hit the road at Golani junction #65.

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There are many and varied small places, all with many interesting stories, but, we will head through Rama and on to Pekiin.

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We arrive at the beautiful friendly Pekiin Hostel, and met by the manager. Our plan is to stay over for at least 2 nites.

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A good short drive around this fascinating ancient place, as well as much walking through and around, we’ll have dinner at restaurant at the ancient square at the well in centre of Pekiin and then a good nite sleep.

I must tell you about RAMA, a little story I wrote a few years earlier.

The Druze Wedding at Rama.

On one beautiful day with nothing special planned, on scooter. I was riding to PEKIIN, (from Rd 85,) and the narrow winding-mountain road up to RAMA was heavy with traffic of all-sorts of vehicles, which had come to a stand-still. Compact, Cab Driver, Bus, Low Rider, Road Trip, so, I overtook a couple of hundred vehicles until I was in the front, and seeing this long line of men, in single-file Rave Rave Rave Rave Rave Rave doing a dance to loud music and singing, with music from big speakers mounted on a jeep ?, and being guided by a man with a loud-hailer.

I also noticed many vehicles just standing and waiting to go down. I asked a young woman standing next to the front car, what did she think this ceremony is? and she thought it could be a wedding. That was immediately confirmed a few seconds later, when we both saw the bride walking a few meters behind the dancing men. So, the men danced or marched to the music, a few steps forward, then turn to their left, then right-turn and holding the shoulder of the man in front, and again a few steps forward, and one-by-one these men turned into a narrow lane leading to a large building that was out of our view.

Behind the last dancing manRave came the Bride, in white, and her attendants, and all the women and children attending: Son & Mother, 9 To 5, Daughter & Mother, Mom And Baby, followed the men down the narrow lane. A lot of people attending, so the procedure took a lot of Alarm Clock minutes, then back-to-normal.

I was the first vehicle to go, and I rode many kilometers on the winding mountain road, before the first car came up behind me. Someone was directing the hundreds of vehicles, allowing a few up, then a few down. One of these cars flagged me to stop, and the young woman I spoke to, and her father, told me what they knew about the wedding ceremony. We swopped phone numbers and carried on our journeys.

A short while later, when I arrived at the Youth Hostel in Pekiin, I related to the young man at reception what I had seen, and he told me I had seen a “RARE EVENT” the “traditional” DRUZE wedding procession, dancing and music, TO the “marriage-ceremony”, and although he lives in Pekiin, he had seen that procession ONLY once. He also gave me much other information about many interesting places, and he took me in his car for a guided tour. A FEW more visits are in planning. Find PEKIIN on the Internet. A most amazing place to visit.

Please feel free to email me louisdrinkingt@013.net

Bells, Gargoyles, and University

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by H.E. Whitney, Jr.

University Archaisms: Campus Bells, Gargoyles, and Reflections on the University’s Purpose

welcometoflorida1The central campus bell at my university clangs promptly at 8am (beginning of the school/work day), noon (lunchtime), and 5pm (end of the work day, although classes still begin and last long after that hour). A different campus bell that is off in the distance softly chimes each hour and each half hour between those three all-important hours.

I have often wondered whether the university really needs a campus bell to mark specific times during the day since virtually everyone on campus—professor and student alike–has access to time through cellular devices.  (I would perhaps, in a less sober state, argue that the cell phone is probably even more ubiquitous than time itself.)  Moreover, the campus bell’s marking of time appears somewhat superfluous when we consider that the human body has its own internal chronometer (e.g., the lunch hour stomach roar or morning caffeine withdrawal) to direct our actions.

Perhaps the real reason for the campus bell is not simply to signal specific times throughout the day but to provide a rather sentimental image of the university’s religious past. Obviously, most listeners would think of a church when hearing the campus bell. But would this perception be valid for universities or colleges that have had no historical affiliation with any particular religious congregation or sect? This image would be particularly ironic for an institution dedicated to the pursuit of truth when there is nothing in its history to signify an affiliation with a religious past. While my institution does have such an affiliation in its history with religion (the university originally began as a seminary), other universities that make prodigious use of campus bells–universities whose origins or history have had no religious roots whatsoever—seem to be promoting a false image of themselves and their history.

464541gargoylefountain0Gargoyles populate my university’s campus (probably more prominently than students) and some of them are built into the sidewalk to serve as barricades for limiting vehicle access to walkways. One of the original uses of gargoyles during the age of Gothic architecture was to serve as water conduits on building tops. So there is some awkwardness in seeing gargoyles springing from the pavement instead of howling or spewing water from the roofs of campus buildings.

Additionally, one of the important uses of the gargoyle during the age of Gothic architecture was to scare off evil spirits. Yet I seriously doubt universities that adorn their landscapes or buildings with gargoyles wish to be even seen as postulating the existence of spiritual realms since we are so far along now in the age of force, gravity, and quarks. (Ironic, isn’t it, that science has perhaps enabled us to discard outmoded occult powers and entities for its own!)

The archaisms of the campus bell and the gargoyle raise several questions. Should we think of the university as a monastic institution? If we do, then such a thought would seem to suggest that the university was a secluded, regimented sort of place where the study of scripture and the striving for the religious ideal were dominant goals. We certainly don’t have anything close to that anymore in academia: modern universities in America have for the most part become skill factories and groupings of social networks geared to prepare students for the work life instead of for the next life. In many universities that have dominant business and/or technical programs, students in those programs will probably have taken little or no classes in religion or the human disciplines for the matter.

In light of business world criticisms of the humanities disciplines, should we be concerned that universities now want to limit the exposure of their students to the human disciplines by requiring undergraduates take a bare minimum of “mandatory” or “required” classes that involve writing and/or critical thinking?

It is one thing to make writing a “requirement”: advertising any class as a requirement generally frightens the student into taking the class. And when they finally take the class (sometimes after much delay), they put little effort into it (sometimes only barely passing).

It’s another thing to make such subjects appealing as pleasures for their own sake. Universities need to show students how writing well can not only enhance their lives materially (obviously no employer wants to hire someone who can’t put together a sentence) but also provide a genuine source of intellectual pleasure. This would also be true of critical thinking which teaches students not only how to detect fallacious reasoning but to craft valid, sound arguments. The problem is that the all too familiar routines and character of modern life–with its churning, whirring, push button, bleeping, pop up, point and click efficiency–often resists critical thinking and literariness. Modernity, with its obsession with technological domination and instant satisfaction, has perhaps relegated the very idea of intellectual pleasure to the dustbin of archaisms.

I guess this is just a midday mental meandering. Or a tea-time rambling: depending on what time your internal chronometer tells you it is.

H.E. Whitney, Jr. is a PhD student in history at Florida State University. H.E’s fields of study are the history of science, intellectual history, and technology and culture. H.E. is originally from Suffolk, Virginia but has called California, Ohio, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Florida home at some point. H.E. has taught philosophy and graphic design/multimedia studies at the college level and enjoy creating digital art when not pontificating on scientific, cultural, or historical matters

Discovering Single-Serve Coffee, Keurig versus Tassimo

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By Jeffrey the Barak

sscompLet me start this tale with the bottom line, I prefer the Keurig. Okay, now that’s out of the way, I’ll take it from the top.

I feel like I’m on vacation, making good coffee with a single push of a button, and letting the hard work of earlier times fade into memory.

Until a month ago I was at the tail end of an obsession lasting for decades, the obsession of making espresso based drinks at home. Normally, I would be the only one drinking these concoctions, and yet, at the end I had an array of equipment worth $1,400 and still, I could produce a lousy drink if I wasn’t careful.

So one day, while out of town, I drank a cup of regular joe, and it wasn’t half bad. In fact I liked it. Upon returning home and getting some fresh milk for my latte and going through the usual grinding, wiping, cleaning, tamping, more wiping, warming, wiping, pulling, wiping, steaming, wiping etc etc. a seed in my mind began to grow. Do I really need to spend all this time every day as a full time cleaner, just to drink a few cups of coffee?

As I was cleaning the coffee ground stains out of my grout lines with bleach one day, I considered getting a coffee pot, or a French press, or a glass cone or some kind of system that would quickly and easily make a good cup of coffee, but I wanted more. I wanted to remove stale grounds and mess and even the challenge keeping milk fresh from the equation. Enter the concept of single serve coffee.

Now years ago, during my espresso equipment escalation, I had a super automatic espresso machine, which in theory would make a drink with one button push. But behind that push was a lot of hidden cleaning work and I have to say the drinks were pretty awful. So it was with some skepticism that I first turned my attention to the Bosch Tassimo and the Keurig systems.

Since the Tassimo offered the option of pseudo cappuccinos, lattes and espressos, I began with that system. I found it to be a brilliantly clever system, but the only drink varieties that were not pretty darned awful, were the brewed coffee varieties from venture partners Starbucks and Seattle’s Best. And even these were nothing to get excited about, despite their very high cost per cup. The milk drinks, lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos etc., were practically undrinkable to me, mainly due to to the Ultra-Heat-Treated milk, as were the Gevalia brand T-Discs, which were almost as bad as instant coffee.

Enter the Keurig B60. It had me at cup one. Paired with the Tully’s French and other bold blends, it was heaven in a mug right from the start. Similar as the systems may be in concept, the drink quality is very different. To put it simply, one system makes generally poor coffee and the other makes great coffee.

Also, over the course of the experiment, I trained myself to enjoy dry-powder fat-free Coffee Mate creamer in place of milk, because milk is only fresh for a short while, and with the long shelf life of the T-Discs and K-Cups, the Coffee-Mate made a lot of sense. If I was to take a trip, not only would I miss my Keurig, I’d also be able to return home and immediately be able to have a fresh cup, without shopping for milk.

As I said at the beginning, I chose the Keurig over the Tassimo. But nothing is perfect, so here are my four small criticisms of the Keurig B60.

  1. It is too tall to fit under my upper cabinets and be able to be opened to drop in a K-Cup. For this, I blame my kitchen design, not the Keurig.
  2. Compared to the Tassimo, it takes a couple of minutes to warm up and makes a sound like an electric tea kettle as it does so. The Tassimo was immediately ready as soon as the switch was flipped. However, I can program the Keurig to switch on shortly before I stumble downstairs in the morning, so I have a workaround for the slower morning start.
  3. The Keurig is also a bit noisier than the Tassimo, but still quieter than lots of things, including a grinder, a vibration pump espresso machine, a working steam wand etc . I would not call it a loud device by any standard.
  4. The water reservoir of the Keurig is a little tricky to hold onto with one hand when filling at the faucet, but then there is always a jug.

Keurig is owned by Green Mountain Coffee, and the more I look at the way they do business, the more impressed I am. The only thing I am a little uncomfortable with, is the fact that they successfully sued Kraft, the maker of the Tassimo, for seventeen million dollars, for copyright infringement with regard to the similarity of the Tassimo T-Disc system to the Keurig K-Cup system. Apparently, the court thought Keurig were right about it, but then what came before both systems? The pod. Now what if Illy sues Keurig, saying the plastic K-Cup is similar to a paper pod? Having had a Tassimo and a Keurig, I think they are very different in how they do things and I am surprised that the law suit was successful. But I wasn’t in that courtroom so maybe there was evidence of direct infringement.

Anyway, who cares about law when there’s good coffee around. And with the Keurig system, there is a lot of good coffee. Every K-Cup I have tried, is far better than even the best of the best T-Discs. And that is the bottom line. I think the Tassimo may even be a better machine than a Keurig in many ways, but if the drink is not fantastic, what’s the point? As long as you don’t use the silly travel mug button and bitterly over extract the dose of coffee in a K-Cup that was designed to make a smaller cup of coffee, you cannot go wrong with a Keurig.

You can’t keep me away from MyPoP

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By Louis the Scooterer

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You can’t keep me away from MyPoP, coz I wont allow a beautiful place..on the beach, to just go away..even if some smokers spoils it.

Only in reality I havent been able to go for a couple of weeks as I had a tiny fall-off from my scooter and have been stuck indoors for quite a few days..the scooter is unscratched ..but I grazed my knee which is real painful, and I guess I will need to do little walking until that smaller than 2inch diameter scrape heals somewhat. I even cancelled my free birthday breakfast at MyPoP..will have to wait another year.

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There are times when smokers are minimal and the wind in my favour as was the other day..a beaut of a day the beginning of summer type day..lots of people on the beach.. which is always kept clean and lots of people in the open air restaurant.. already quite a few bikini clad bodies looking for the sun..

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and the service from pretty waitresses remains good so I was able to sit n stare at the Med Sea.. and think back a bit… about earlier days as well.. when I was a young fellow in Johannesburg..

A specific series of thoughts came into my mind about some of the buildings in the “downtown Jhb” where I had visited many entertainment venues as well as having done glass replacements and fitted mirrors in many of the buildings..and some of these places had discos and lounges and had parties every night for unattached people looking for company..and some of these places also in popular Hillbrow and Berea adjoining downtown Jhb on north side… were magic..great views from some of the balconies..

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you saw down the main street at the traffic and everyone coming or going was in my vision… many great hours and many great meals and coffee and cake as well..Benny often played the piano in lounge of popular Cafe Zurich.

The spotlessly clean General Hospital was a few corners away in most beautifully kept gardens.

Recently I was sent pictures of what some of these building look like now..depressing the way things turned out and so many buildings turned into squatter camps ??

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so I wont dwell on that, while surely is lovely to watch the waves and the sea in front of me.

I remembered having owned beautiful cars and some were convertibles,< flavia1xxjpg >< paris4667jpg > and in mid 1950′s and 1960′s I could park my convertible anyplace, as well as my scooter and I knew it would not be interfered with…even parked my convertible one evening outside the City Hall in Johannesburg, and went to watch a concert..and the traffic officer in charge said he would keep an eye on it.. turned out to be Gerhardt who was in the citizen-force with me (several years earlier)..and I never recognised him with his new full thick mustache and his smart uniform.

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Unfortunately that easy going lifestyle changed over the years and currently I wouldn’t attempt to own any smart looking car..even the drab looking cars have a short life in Johburg.. as for the radio thieves..they are everywhere. Always plenty to write about those “olden days”..

The bus to town was one corner up from where I lived..and the tram to town was 2 corners down the road. After starting to work at an early age..”taken from school” by an uncle who gave me a good job in a timber yard / hardware store business, and after a short while I bought a bicycle and cycled to work..didnt matter if it was raining..my best route was on flat roads and was a pleasant 20 minute ride.
Never was a great deal of traffic and every ride was okay..until the day a guy in his Jeep station wagon, rode into me from the back..virtually destroying the bike..lucky I was not really hurt..he apologised and loaded the bike into his jeep and took it to the local bicycle shop close to where I worked, and he told the man to repair it..and he promptly vanished..

At the end of the second day the bike guy called me and said the frame is too badly damaged and not worth repairing and I should get a new bicycle ..but the guy with the jeep refused to pay…anything.

SO, a few days later, my father..a not big guy, and one of his poker playing friends ..a not small guy..paid the Jeep guy a quick visit.. and the jeep guy paid the full amount for the new bike which even had a few gears..but I knew that my “cycling to work” days were almost over..so back to the tram to go to work and back to the bus to come home…

until the day I walked past the used car dealer that recently opened a few blocks “up the road” and saw that re-built 2 seater car on an MG chassis, which after a short while became mine…and funny enough even a whole bunch of new girls became my passenger..suddenly I was a lot more popular than before ??..and memories came flooding back.. and all the waitresses of today, are exactly like the girls of those way back times…

so right now i sit and patiently wait for the scrape to heal.. so I can get-going again.

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please email me louisdrinkingt@013.net

Cleaning and taking care of your Diamond

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By Ghostevyta Kamu

diamondCaring for a diamond takes more than occasional cleanings. Diamonds are forever, but they can be damaged if you are not careful. By learning how to properly care for your diamond, you will ensure that your diamond is indeed forever.

First, you should take your diamond jewelry to a jeweler once a year. Have him check the mountings and prongs that hold your diamond in place. Have him make any needed repairs. This will prevent your diamond from falling out of its setting and becoming lost.

Diamond jewelry that is not being worn, or diamonds that are loose should be stored in a fabric lined jewel case, or in a jewelry box where it can be kept separate from other jewelry. Each piece should have its own compartment. This will keep diamonds from becoming scratched, and it will also keep your diamond from scratching other jewelry as well.

Remove your diamond jewelry when doing physical work. Diamonds can be chipped and scratched easily. Also avoid allowing your diamond to come into contact with bleach or other household cleansers this can damage or change the color of the settings and mountings, and it may even irreversibly change the color of the diamond!

Through our day to day, movements our diamonds get smudged and soiled. Even when we are not wearing them, they collect dust. Lotions, soaps, our natural skin oils, can cause film and grime on diamonds and inhibit their brilliance.

Want to keep that Brilliance and Shine? Diamonds require cleaning so that maximum amounts of light can refract fiery brilliance. Remember that all it takes is a few minutes and a little care to keep that diamond as fiery as the day you first saw it.

You can use a small soft brush such as an eyebrow or lip stick brush and soap and water to clean your jewelry. Simply make a bowl of warm sudsy water with a mild detergent and place your pieces in the mixture. Then brush the diamonds with the soft bristles of the brush while they are in the suds. You will need to make certain that you rinse them clear of the suds after cleaning them. You can use a small kitchen strainer such as a tea strainer to contain them while rinsing under warm water. Use a lint free cloth, or a jewelry polish cloth to pat them dry.

If your diamonds are in need of a stronger cleansing, you may want to soak them for 30 minutes in a solution of half and half water and ammonia. Once they have soaked for 30 minutes, remove them and gently brush the mountings with a small brush. Then replace the pieces to the solution and swish them around in the mixture before removing them to rinse and pat dry.

If you find your self too busy to be mixing soaps and ammonias, many department stores sell liquid jewelry cleaners. Most are kits, with everything you need included. You need to read the labels to determine the one that is right for your diamonds and other jewelry. Read the complete directions and follow all the precautions.

And if you find yourself more the high-tech type”, even in your diamond cleaning routine, there are multiple ultrasonic cleansers on the market. These machines use high-frequency to create a cleaning motion. All machines are not the same, so please read the instructions before using.

Only you can choose the cleaning method right for you. But, it is essential to keep your jewelry clean to keep it brilliant and sparkling. Between cleaning, try not to touch your clean diamonds with your fingers or handle your jewelry by its edges. This will help maintain its shine and brilliance for longer periods.

More Information : http://diamonds-jewelry.net, http://discounts-stores.net, http://kampanye-damai-pemilu-indonesia-2009.com

Ghostevyta Kamu writes from Medan, Indonesia.

Time for a computing rant

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By Jeffrey the Barak

I should begin by stating that today is April 8th, 2009. This is important whenever writing about technology, or as in this case, ranting about technology, because by the time you read this, things may well have changed.

I am not a computer journalist, I don’t take advertising revenue from Microsoft or Apple or Norton, and I am no programmer. But I do use computers and I know what I like and do not like.

So this rant is partly an observation, partly a wish list, and partly about 1973 Buick Electra converted to run on battery power. (More on that later).

babbage_difference_engine_sRanting about computers, the big kind.

I wrestled with Windows from early 3.0 until late in the XP era, before I became so busy with actual work that I decided it was high time to stop messing around with dialog boxes and virus scans and abandon Microsoft so I could get some bloody work done.

My solution was to switch to Mac. Now I’m not one of these guys who says Apples are perfect and all other fruits are rubbish, because that is an exaggeration, but I will say that I no longer work for the computer. The computer now works for me.

I remain open-minded about where computing may go in the future, but as people who have downgraded to “netbooks” will tell you, there is a future in online application use and assuming being connected continues to become more ubiquitous, that may be our direction.

Ranting about computers, the small kind.

I got into palm-top or handheld computing in the 1990s with a Palm III and dabbled in Windows tablets and then gave it all up when my eyesight deteriorated, only to jump back in when my wife bought me the first iPhone.

I still find Internet use to be a pain in the eye on the iPhone, but I think that on one’s palm is the best place to work in many situations.

But I always wanted to fill the gap between a notebook / laptop computer and a handheld device such as a smart phone. My first attempt at doing so was to buy an Acer tablet computer, but I found the operating system, the hardware and the screen to be very close to completely unusable. It was slow enough to make you scream, awkward to use, and hard to see in almost any light, but only for an hour then the batteries ran down.

I held out hope for Palm’s “Folio Mobile Companion” invention in 2007 only to see them backtrack and cancel the release. And rumors continue to abound about Apple’s plans for something bigger than an iPhone and smaller than a Macbook, with an alternative operating system.

And this is the key, and why the tablet failed for me, something roughly the same size and weight might succeed if it does not try to be a computer. That is: no Windows, no OS X, no full blown Linux, but something more like the iPhone operating system. We have to recognize that a small whatever-you-call-it is not a computer. This is why tablets were awful and also why these new “netbooks” don’t really work well with the Windows OS installed. They come with XP because it’s only about $25 now, but it’s not right for a little ten inch thing.

People who run simple Linux shells to get them online to do stuff get much more satisfaction from their netbooks, without the squinting. It was the same when Palm had two versions of the Trio smart phone, one with Windows Mobile, the big seller, and one with the last version of the Palm OS. The Windows one was terrible because you really need a big screen to work well in Windows. The Palm OS one was less terrible. The little tiny keyboard was never as efficient as Graffiti, if you took the time to learn Graffiti.

The iPhone reminded me that even someone with bad eyes and big fingers can still work in the hand if the OS and also the input method are clever enough, (they are). And as long as there’s an Internet connection, then there is room for a lightweight device that is larger than a pocketable mobile telephone.

Another thing netbooks have done is throw the escalation of processing power and application complication into reverse. This has coincided with the end of the megapixel arms race in digital cameras, and the end of the economic boom, that never should have been a boom in the first place, due to it’s source in hype and debt.

If applications can be usable over the wi-fi, then they will be better if they are less complicated, not more so, so this new small way of thinking can potentially move Microsoft’s fortunes into the hands of Google, Yahoo! etc. Anyone who develops good web-based applications.

Revolutions still to come in display and input technology will add strength to this movement. The tortoise may beat the hare in computing.

So about that electric Buick Electra, oh sorry, I’m out of time.

Scooterer Stories, Part Sixteen – Around the Sea of Galilee

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“Round and around the Sea of Galilee we go”!

Good morning all. Don’t leave anything behind. We ain’t comin’ back to Kare Deshe.

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Route decided… lets go.. early start..have packed breakfast..lets go watch sunrise from Syrian plateau ?? On the way I will let you walk for a few minutes on the newly made pavement, passed the pink Greek Church

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and I’ll pick you up at Capernaum gate

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Gamla will not be open so early but from a high view we watch the sunrise in the east.. and in the west we see the colors sunrays on the cliffs inside . Gamla, and if we are lucky we may see some eagles flying..

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We will make a quick visit to a special friend at his home on a moshav..I’ll tell you a little about that.

Way back on one of my first trips staying at KD I heard about a “mountain-bike event”, and tried to get some info.. I didn’t manage to get any start-times, routes, finish line and places the bikes would be at. By chance the next morning, on my very early morning scoot, looking for sunrise I saw a small bright green cardboard sign on a pole with a sketch of a bicycle ..that sign slightly reopened my interest in the event.

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I learned the event begins and ends at a venue ON one of many beaches on west side at Kinerret..so I followed the sign and soon found a man with a van with a trailer-full of mountain bikes that he rents on the beaches…he was not connected to any event, but did point me to where he thought the cyclists would be.

After some time n scootin’ around and asking several people I still could not get proper information, so I decided I will simply ride around and maybe by fluke I would get to see some of the bikes.

WHAT a weird coincidence ..as I scooted slowly, on the main road, I noticed on my right, several bikes heading down the track and close to me at the side of the road ..behind a fence, they were waiting permission to “cross the road”…

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and I noticed a man had stopped the traffic to let the cyclists get to the other side. Not a busy road at that time, so I pulled up next to this fellow and asked him “is this the mountainbike event”? ..he looked at me on my scooter, and his reply was “I know you” !…

what ! you know me ? huh !

We spoke a while and he told me where the event ends with a ride on the water edge

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to a beach..some kms. down the road..there was no problem, and I was allowed to follow the cycles, exept there were some big water pipes and concrete drains that I could not cross..easy for the cyclists

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..they simply lifted their bike and walked across the pipe. My scooter couldnt get across these pipes so I began the ride back to the road (about 15 minutes) then back to find the end of the event ??..but there are several beaches, and at each beach there were some mountain-bike happenings with barbeques and picnics, and many people, and I could not find him.

A relative of Albert’s, (known to me) had told him casually some years earlier that “one day” Lou will relocate to Israel..and who knows..maybe we will meet.

Another mutual friend visited Albert once and I would say everyone forgot about ..until he stopped me to allow the cycles to cross the road. A couple of his teenage sons were riding bikes and Albert’s job was to see they cross the road safely.

Albert had also seen a picture of me on my scooter in an insert magazine (more than a year earlier).. that is in every Friday Jerusalem Post..and he kept the article which included my fone number.

Eventually we connected and I visited at his home on Givat Yoav..a lovely moshav dealing mainly in dairy, and also has entertainment for visitors

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and his taking me around to every interesting spot on the moshav with full explanations.. and nearby places as well.

I have visited several times with scooter, and in rain season in rented car..and when Albert has reason to be in Netanya..we meet..and always talk about that incredible meeting.

So now we have to leave after our quickvisit and head on beautiful scenic road towards the Kinerret, where many places on the beach entice us. Some are simple beaches with trees and benches and tables where people will always be picnicking..and also luxury Kibbutz Hotels that draw visitors from everywhere in the world.

We will take a short walk along the waters edge a while at

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and take a cold drink from the kiosk. We will also drink a coffee in luxury, at HA’ON Kibbuts and walk about in the gardens..maybe we will be able to see their ostrich farm.

Then make a quick visit to the date factory/shop at Kinerret kibbuts..to buy dates and honey and other delicacies..(you remember we visited the baptism site the other day?)..this factory shop is just up the road.)

We will take a ride into Tiberias and see some ancient sites at the waterfront and see the movie about “Galilee Experience”, and take a bite at one of the restaurants  in the center of Tiberias.

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Then another quick visit, this time to Dona Gracia Hotel but only a quick walk-about coz you aleady know all about that place…(earlier chapter). We will drive past Mayouhas Youth Hostel where I have stayed a few times…no easy parking so we wont visit.

I”ll show you 3 hotel buildings that were abandoned

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and other sites as well.. and stop a while at ADI viewpoint to take pics

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We then head to Tiberias Illit (upper Tiberias) and find our way into to Switzerland Forest,

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a beautiful drive with breathtaking views

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and many lovely spots to sit around and picnic..

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( no kiosks or stalls here).. and then at south end of this drive, we will find our hostel at Poriya…for a one night stay.

Please feel free to email me louisdrinkingt@013.net

Winecycling

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By Jill Russell

Winecycling – Prosser entrepreneur finds treasures “Après Vin”

After the grapes are crushed and the wine is fermented, what’s left is a sloppy goop of grape skins, seeds and bio-waste. But, you know what they say- one man’s trash, is another man’s treasure. Dr. Eric Leber, chemist and Prosser, Washington’s newest wine country entrepreneur, has been taking the bio-waste from local wineries, and turning it into over 50 products made from grape seed oil.

While teaching organic chemistry at Heritage University, Leber has been able to use this little seed to create things like wood stain, ink, even corks. But six years ago after founding his company, Après Vin- French for “after the wine,” his primer focus has been creating the ultimate line of culinary cooking oil.

“In less than two years, the company has gone from a tiny little enterprise, to a larger one, but it still has a long way to grow,” said Leber. “It’s still just beginning, but it’s starting to catch on. Thank God for the internet.”

Everything about the company is infused with the spirit of Washington’s wine country. Almost all of the grape bio-waste comes directly from in-state wineries and the products are produced locally by Prosser’s FruitSmart Company.

Although FruitSmart is an organically certified company, products by Après Vin are not because they are not produced with organic grapes. Leber says organic grapes are difficult to come by, due to shortages of local organic vineyards.

Certified or not, this has not seemed to be a problem for the growing company. The flavor-infused cooking oils have found a strong niche market with the culinary crowds and specialty foods shops. No order is too strange or outlandish for Leber, who says Chef Frank Magaña of Picazo 7 Seventeen restaurant and wine bar in downtown Prosser regularly orders vanilla chardonnay grape seed oil.

The actual production is a huge undertaking. Wine pumice is collected from the wineries, separated, dried, and cold pressed with a European presses. It takes about 3,000 pounds of grapes- enough for 300 gallons of wine, to produce the 75 pounds of dried grape seeds needed to make just one gallon of grape seed oil.

Leber explained although not a winemaker by trade, a passion for the industry has been in his family for over 50 years. In 1956, Leber’s father, Ralph, teamed up with his brother and professors of Washington State University, to create ‘Associated Vintners,’ the first premium winery in the state. Later, his father’s company would become Columbia Winery, which continues to function today in Woodinville, Washington.

In July 2008, Ralph Leber, was inducted into the 2008 Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame. This annual function is organized and hosted by Prosser’s Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center.

Leber says by virtue of his father’s activities, he became aware of the industry, and used that knowledge during his time teaching at Heritage University. Upon receiving a grant by the Economic Development Administration, as part of the federal government’s Department of Commerce, Leber and his students began to examine the possibly of recovering value from agricultural waste. The group started with orchards, transitioned to dairy feed lots, and then found themselves at Apex Washington Hill’s Richmond Winery, which at the time was located in the old Dairy gold plant in Sunnyside.

“Pretty quickly, we discovered that there is still a lot of value in the bi-products from winemaking,” said Leber.

Over the next several years, the team successfully concluded that there were over 50 potential commercial uses that can be harvested from the grape bio-waste. Some of the most impressive discoveries include: writing ink, soap, a natural wood and shoe polish, and a chardonnay bio-fuel- which he has kept in a small glass wine bottle for over 6 years.

“It’s still amazing, that after six years, it’s still fresh,” says Leber. “I don’t think that gasoline or diesel fuel would look that good after six years.’

Grape Skin Paper

Grape Skin Paper

Besides heating homes and powering cars, there has been numerous health benefits associated with grape seed oil. Varietal grape seed oils are a rich source of healthful polyunsaturated oils, antioxidants, and other photochemical. Leber explained the oil also contains essential fatty acids, such as Linolenic (LNA) and Linoleic (LA) acids, which provide contribute to cellular function and vitality. Additionally, grape seed oil has a particularly high level or heart-healthy polyunsaturated fats and half the saturated fat of olive oil- Rachael Ray, eat your heart out!

Currently, Leber focuses full time on running the business, but has promised that once his business becomes profitable, he will create a scholarship for Heritage University students to continue researching sustainable uses for winery bio-waste. He also stays connected to academia by giving lectures about sustainable winemaking. Meanwhile, he explained the newest classes of innovators have continued the research his former students began years ago. Leber explains it’s been incredible to watch the growth of winemaking in Washington over the past 50 years. Despite a shaky economy, Wine County continues to blossom, keeping Leber knee-deep in bio-waste and challenging him to ponder new uses “Après Vin.”

Après Vin products can be purchased at www.apresvin.com.

Jill Russell is a Journalist/blogger at www.recordbulletin.com. Her blog can be found at: http://readjillsblog.blogspot.com/

Renaming MyPop to POSSS, and recalling Banias

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By Louis the Scooterer

Oh well.. I love being a quitter (like when I quit smoking !) but I hate being a “loser” as I am NOW with smokers all around.. and them winning, and by choice I need to leave a place.

Today.. this beautiful beginning-of-summer-morning..first cup of coffee at the square where the smokers were in the millions..even though there was a pleasant breeze.. I left when it became unbearable. I then scooted to coffee at Mypop which I now call POSSS (place of smelly stinking smokers)..as the other millions of smokers come there.

I get the impression that the owners / partners supply free cigarettes ? coz the place has become very popular, and remains a beautiful place. but, when many people are there, they have lost ME.. (who cares..no one gives a damn?)

Anyway this morn I even saw the owners smoking inside the restaurant !!.. thats bad news (for me), and my decision is to reduce my visits at mypop and go ONLY when they open in the morning, and when I can be the first one there.

Surely I will miss seeing the bikini beauties, and other people that I previously exchanged chats with.. but as I watched 3 newcomers sit at the next table 1 meter from me..all 3 began smoking.. then 2 others arrived and sat at another table 3 meters from me and both began smoking.. (and I refuse to take pics of smokers, any more.).. that means that the 5 newcomers were all smoking.. that means 100% newcomers were smoking ?? and while I breathed-in and swollowed their stinky smelly smells..I wondered at which place will I be happy.

I thought about my visit to such a place ..BANIAS.. and I relate here about that visit to that most beautiful place…

There are 2 main roads to the only Ski Site in Israel way up north, on top of Mount Hermon. The more popular route, takes you past the foot of Mt. Hermon where the source of Hermon Stream flows, at a mysterious place called BANIAS. I had visited Banias several times by scooter and in a rented car, and because I knew I couldn’t walk much, I usually stood at the entrance gate to this awesome place, received brochures and maps with walking routes.. and stared in wonderment what was directly in front of me.

The gigantic arched entrances into the mountain caves, waterfalls, running water, ancient workings and remnants of buildings, and knowing that much walking is required. But my old knee wouldnt allow..so I sat on the saddle or in the rentcar for a few minutes, took a picture or two, and then moved along to elsewhere. Well..this is my story about a proper visit, a couple of years later, after receiving a TKR (Total Knee Replacement). Now at this time, I am able to walk some distances, painfree (perhaps with some stiffness), and started doing what I hadn’t done for so many years.

I climbed up steps and walked on broken rocks and on beautiful grass lawns and next to the flowing waters in many areas in this incredible place, walking along the fast flowing very narrow streams and up and down rock steps and on muddy sand over little bridges through narrow tunnels. This was a new experience for a more than 70 year old scooterer..this trip was on my scooter. One of the excellent sites on internet is http://www.jafi.org.il/education/noar/sites/banias.htm. It was marvellous seeing many groups of children visiting this place, as well as many tour buses arriving with tourists from all around the world. There are also places with many tables and benches under trees for picnicking, or taking a rest.

There are several different routes to follow, and I chose what looked like the “easiest and shortest” (purple route). (Not to kid myself)..this was a long and most interesting winding route which comes upon a longtime-disused hydro-electric plant, and cellars and ancient flour mills and other buildings that need time to explore, and I walked crossed a Roman Bridge… and need to know where to make the left-turn at the correct spot…(to follow the purple arrows). I even came across a tiny kiosk run by an old Druze man, and I jumped back in time at least 100 years seeing this spot..and “chatting” with this “picturesque chap”.. and eating what he makes..a thin bread filled with goat cheese, with a cool drink, or his special blend of tea.


The streams flow non stop, and in wonderment I stand at many spots and take my hat off to those who designed these places for hikers and children and even older ones like me. I passed through underground tunnels to archaeological diggings, found plaques with English translations about what stands at a particular spot…and always found a place to sit in the shade.

Later I met with tourists from USA and another group from Nigeria. Many groups of Christians travel in buses with their church leaders and guides..and my take on that is, unfortunately the time they spent at this magic place, is far too short to really explore. I casually joined one of these groups and listened to a well informed guide telling about some of the spots where they stop..take pics..listen to a quick story..and move along.

After taking a coffee at the kiosk, and being very satisfied with my (new knee) achievement..and pleasantly tired..I chatted with tourists and staff, and listened to their stories. I then scooted along a couple of kms..down the road.. to the BANIAS FALLS.. and stood at the viewsite, and with my binoculars I could see many hikers of all ages, climbing up the pathways to eventually arrive at the Roman Bridge (where I was earlier).

I learned that at the spot where I was standing, there are 100 steps to the bottom to see the falls… and my decision was “those 100 steps down and up again” ??.will be for another time…and I waved goodbye to the couple who began the climb down.

Did I mention not to forget camera and wear comfortable walking shoes.. SO..dear reader spend a few minutes (google to Banias) and start planning your visit. Feel free to email me louisdrinkingt@013.net

Los Angeles, what are we standing on?

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By Jeffrey the Barak

Geologists would say that the Los Angeles Basin is like a huge bowl of sand

The geologic center for the Los Angeles Basin is the place where the Los Angeles River and the river known as Rio Hondo merge in South Gate. At this central point, sand, silt, clay and other river sediments are the deepest. Actually in excess of 30,000 feet of sediment separate the surface here from the bedrock below. This is the height of the highest mountains in the Himalayas!

Surrounding this enormous bowl of sand are mountains, namely the San Gabriel Mountains, the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Ana Mountains and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Just like today’s Santa Catalina Island, the P.V. peninsula was once an island offshore.

Geology can only be studied on vast time scales. Today’s Los Angeles Basin was once underwater. Fifteen million years ago a shallow sea covered today’s L.A. The mountains surrounding it, which are still here, were slowly spiraling around the sea as the Pacific tectonic plate ground it’s way Northward past the North American plate.

As the mountains slowly circled the sea, the Earth’s crust below twisted, stretched and cracked enough to allow molten lava to reach the surface. This newer crust began collapsing as it stretched thin, and eventually it formed a deep bowl of rock, above which sediments from not only the local rivers of the time, but also the sea itself, began to gradually give us our giant bowl of sand.

Small microorganisms also poured in and as they lived, died and settled in vast numbers, they slowly began to change under pressure to become today’s oil and gas deposits.

About 5 million years ago, the stretching of the crust stopped. As the bowl shrank, it continued to be filled with sediment and at the same same time, seismic activity started raising the level of the ground. The former ocean floor became the future backyards of the San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills etc. As the sea floor became dry land, rivers such as today’s Los Angeles, Rio Honda, Ballona Creek, and countless others which are no longer visible from the city’s surface, meandered and flooded and cut and diverted and merged and separated over and over again.

It is this sediment that we call our ground today. There are fossils of sea creatures in the soil of our backyards. There are winding boulevards built over old rivers and streams, and when the earthquakes come, the sandy bowl always throws us surprises, with one block shaking itself to pieces right beside another block that barely moves.

It is this giant wobbly sandpit that contains our skyscraper foundations, our subways, and our utilities infrastructure. It is upon this sediment that we build our million dollar wood framed houses. In geologic time, it is but a moment since the first human set foot in the basin, and it will be just another moment before all traces of our stay here will have been buried or washed away.

And eventually, the continental plate upon which we rest, will be subducted and recycled in the magma. And as if that wasn’t enough, the Sun will one day swell to take back the Earth, then long after that, will die itself and our atoms will potentially spark a new life somewhere else in the unimaginably long distant future.

Jeffrey the Barak has lived in L.A. for more than twenty years. It has hardly moved during this time.

The hazards of imagining countries

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By Jeffrey the Barak

Nomadic tribes move independently of each other and occasionally come together to interact through trade, war, sport, cultural exchange, intermarriage, murder etc.

In the dense jungles of South America and Africa and Asia, the boundaries formed by geographical features such as ridges and valleys are all it takes to keep two nomadic cultures apart in language and traditions, until they either form non-nomadic civilizations or continue to roam independently of their neighbors. Then there is fate. One tribe may come into contact with, and survive contact with, outsiders and end up with new lifestyles and technology such as outboard motors and clothing, whereas their immediate neighbors may escape detection for decades afterwards.

Tribes evolve into societies and eventually countries. We have seen it in today’s Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and surrounding areas and due to the fact that so many people have been exposed to the Old Testament of the Bible, and therefore have some awareness of nations and ethnic groups of the last two or three thousand years, it is easy to see how more modern politics and assumed differences can evolve into borders drawn on the map.

If just one or two things had happened differently in history, the map of the Middle-East might be totally different, because in all that famous history, recorded in the world’s best selling loosely-historical book, there were only a few hundred or a couple of thousand people involved in most of those old conflicts.

If you have a chance to find a map of the region that is now Afghanistan and Pakistan, a map made in the early or mid 19th century, you will see numerous regions defined by the make-up of the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and their leaders of those days.

Today in the United Nations, you will never see little signs naming Tribes of the Turkmens, Buhara, Pamir, Darwaz, Roshan, Shignan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Khulm. Chitral, Maimana, Herat, Kafiristan, Dir, Kohistan, Svat, Buner, Shinaki, Punjab and more.

But these were names of regions, if not countries, on the maps of the day. Most are now either part of Pakistan or Afghanistan. The people of these regions are not necessarily Afghanis or Pakistanis, but the modern map tells them that’s what they are.

There are seven main ethnic groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and many more obscure groups, some extremely small and hardly known to this day.

And a failure to understand who these people are, who they were, where they came from and where they live now, means that occupying armies really do not have any clear idea who they are defending or who they are trying to kill.

Add the complication of different religions, most of which are opposing or slightly differing views from within the Islamic umbrella, and the complications deepen.

Shift West a few miles and look at Iraq. Like Pakistan, it is a modern country created not very long ago by outsiders. (The British, if you want to name names). Until the start of the current war, it held it’s violence and hate simmering below the surface, united by the common fear of their evil national dictator. But how many of those who voted to approve the invasion of Iraq had even a glimmer of understanding about the basic differences between the various peoples in the region? How many even knew anything about Sunni’s Shi’ites and Kurds, as they stood on the floor of the House and painted a picture of Iraqis cheering for parading American liberators marching triumphantly into Baghdad a few weeks after the Air Force blew it to bits for the good of the people.

Perhaps it is too late to swap the Iraq on the map for numerous ethnic regions, and too late to swap the Pakistan and Afghanistan of today into the little countries and regions that existed before. But on the other hand, perhaps these people can never be unified into countries. The very model of a country may not be applicable to people such as these. They remain tribal and separate, in culture and language.

Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, all examples of relatively new countries, each with their own set of problems. Without ever understanding much about the people within, outside military forces jump in to help, and end up killing or displacing thousands and thousands of people either directly or indirectly

Surely a little research would be advisable?

Scooterer Stories, Part Fifteen – Bridges over the Jordan

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By Louis the Scooterer

Okay early up, sunrise seen, breakfast eaten.. lets go find some bridges that River Jordan flows under…in this area.

Remember we stopped at Arik bridge which is on the main road, where the Jordan flows into the north end of Kinerret (Sea of Galilee).. where many people stop and walk across to the other side..often seeing kayaks and canoes on the water? Now we go the same place and a couple of hundred meters from that Arik bridge is another old wooden bridge across the Jordan.. I have never seen people here altho’ its a beautiful spot..and definitely warrants a few minutes drive on the back road to get there.

We get into Jordan Park http://www.weekend.co.il/maslulim/ramatg/p_yarden/indexE.htm where many bridges cross the Jordan and also many walkers bridges have been built.

In the summertime this is a hive ..thousands of campers and holidaymakers and the place is packed, and hot and muggy and everyone just love what they are doing.

I was lucky to drive there on a cold wintry day and the places were deserted, and I met a man in charge of kyak rentals camping complex, who invited me to sit and drink coffee with him, and chat, as he is alone for many days. He took me around and explained a few things about the place, and led me to a notice board which showed the height of the Jordan River when in flood a few years earlier.

Many small “walkers bridges” have been built and in some places the Jordan River has been diverted into narrow streams and is less than 15 inches wide..yes 15″…nevertheless it IS the River Jordan and the Ole-Man river..just goes flowing along.

I’ve previously told about the bridges at Naharayiim and the story about Aunties bridge. Now we will take a short drive to the ruined Aunties bridge, but there is really nothing to see other than broken concrete.

Anyway its worth a short climb over the the rocks to see the Jordan flowing peacefully like a little stream.
Note..the Aunties Bridge may have looked similar to the one in the picture below when seen from high up as it was a simple concrete bridge through the water.

A few of the other bridges are very imposing and well built as is the Green Bridge,

and the twin (one-way) wooden bridges seen below

which are known as Jacobs Daughters Bridges..one of which had been (recently) totally rebuilt for two-way traffic, and now looks like any regular bridge.. with metal handrails and a very narrow sidewalk..
and the other has been closed,

and will remain as a tourist sightseeing attraction.

While on my “finding Jordan river bridges” mission..

there was always “another one” to find and cross..and the last one I found and crossed is an ordinary concrete bridge..leading to a moshav Khulata.

On one trip with scooter I arrived at a point from where I could see a long straight gravelroad with the river on left, and I wondered if that will take me to a “Jordan River bridge” as it was not marked on my maps..then I had a flat tyre and luckily had a tin of foam that inflated the tyre to allow riding for several kilometers to a pump.

I took the long gravel road and found the final bridge, a simple concrete bridge without any name or descriptions… which I crossed and have since returned several times. That first time, I then crossed a very small bridge at a gate and carried on riding on another straight road on the other side of the river… and to my surprise I took a turning that took me via the back road.. and I scootered into the Khula Nature Reserve.
On that occasion I was made welcome by the security and other people who worked at the visitors center…many making a fuss about the scooterman coming in the wrong route.

On another occasion in a rentcar I took the same roads and on entering the reserve I was followed by security who told me I should not be on that road, as the small gate should have been locked..?? and I was escorted to the main entrance gate, to leave the car in the main car-park.

There are no entrance fees into the Khula Reserve but no private vehicles are allowed inside the reserve, as many visitors hire tricycles and walk on all the tar roads as well as all the side roads to the bird fields.

So I believe I found every bridge that crosses the river… and with exception to the 3 border crossings, I have crossed and walked over every bridge..even all the walking bridges inside the Jordan Park.

Unfortunately, not everyone respects the ole’ man River Jordan, and some places are full of garbage..even a supermarket trolley, and very often there are build-ups of branches and small bushes that are washed away in storms or big winds.

One of these bridges is so nondescript.. a simple sort of concrete wall fence..covered with overgrown shrubbery,

and I actually couldnt recognise it as a bridge..I was lucky to see a tiny sign about 12 inches square nailed to a tree, faded word reading…”Shalma” (name of that bridge).

Okay, lets break away from bridges and take a drive to HULA RESERVE. Lots to see and do, and after watching a movie about the place, we will not hurry. http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=422020

There are many activities and pedalcars and golfcarts can be hired to ride only on paved roads, and I suggest we go on tractor ride into the bird areas..tractor pulls a closed trailer with seats and gets us close to almost touch the various birds.


Dont forget your binoculars and cameras.

By the way..there are also several unimpressive bridges that cross the man made canals, when the Jordan River was diverted..to become the nature reserve that we see today.

During certain seasons there are hundreds of thousands of birds on the ground..everyone pecking at something on the earth..and surely every bird has enough to eat. Occasionally a few thousand will take off and fly around in a big circle above us..then land and carry on pecking.

I have also spent time in a birdwatching “building” where expert birdwatching guides and rangers will answer questions about what can be seen through the openings. Saturday is always busy and I was “clever” to return another day when I was given VIP treatment without large crowds..and every facility will be open and available. I was the only passenger on the bus that takes you around the complex and the driver answered all my questions and gave much advice, and suggestions.

After a tiring but very satisfying few hours we have a snack n coffee at cafetaria, and head back in the dark to spend our final night at Kare Deshe.
Please leave a comment, or email louisdrinkingt@013.net

The 007 Standard

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By Jeffrey the Barak.

An appreciative look at the Seiko SKX007

It is common for men who collect affordable watches to have between one and several Seiko SKX007 diver’s watches in their collection. It has become a standard classic watch against which others are measured. Perhaps only the Rolex Submariner shares this role in being such a universal standard to which other watches are compared.

The 007 is a big watch, with a diameter of 42.5 mm excluding the crown. (The Rolex above has a case diameter of 40mm but the photos are not to scale). Even with the oversize trend bringing us wrist clocks of 50 mm and beyond, no one would ever say that 42.5 mm was not a big watch by any standard.

The Seiko SKX007 uses the most common movement found in many different Seiko and Seiko 5 watches in this price range, the 7S26. It is a reasonably accurate automatic self-winder with quick set day and date and no hacking feature. But this article is not about the movement. There are already several online reviews to be found that take a more detailed and technical look at this icon. Rather I am writing about the SKX007 as the staple of any collection, and hopefully about it’s general style.

Men’s watches today have settled into a few pigeonholes, with the largest category being that of the diver’s watch. Depth ratings vary but the 200 meter rating of the 007 places it in the most common group.

Most owners of this widely owned watch would never be caught scuba diving to the rated limit of 200 meters below the surface of the sea, or even snorkeling at half a meter, or in some cases they would never be seen wet, but the solid, strong weight and feel of a diver and the undeniable usefulness of the time elapsed rotation bezel make the divers watch the ideal tool for life on dry land also. After all, you can time all your cooking and parking and then clean your watch with water.

The 007 is a reasonably big, but not too big, plain vanilla, middle of the road diver that has evolved from older popular Seikos like the cushion cased 6309. It tells you the date and the day, although if it happens to be around midnight you never be too sure of the wheels have jumped to the next day or date yet, or you may see them not quite reaching the dial’s window. The time displayed is usually pretty close to accurate, or more often a tiny bit fast than a little slow. But this is no quartz and such things are to be expected from a real watchmaker’s movement.

My first Seiko was a different diver. No date, no steel (well maybe inside the movement, but the case and bracelet were Titanium). That was an SKX403 and one day in 2003 a burglar dropped by the house and took it away.

Not long after that day I was in downtown L.A. with a small clip of twenties and a shopping list that read “watch” Two watches caught my eye and made it to the short list that day. The SKX007 and the SKX781 Orange Monster. I bought the Monster and wore it for five years. But by the end of that five year Monster period, I was buying and selling other watches with enough frequency that I came to the realization that I was a flipping crazy collector.

So after some delay, in 2008 I finally and belatedly got myself an SKX007. I chose a Jubilee bracelet as it’s mount because I liked the way the small shiny center links complimented the bezel grip. I really admired the watch and imagined it was all I needed. I considered making it my one and only. But for the 007, the timing was bad, because it came into my life during one of those mood swings that occasionally confounds collectors. I am constantly torn between wanting to own every watch I like, and being a one watch minimalist.

Shortly after receiving my new 007 I also acquired my favorite watch, a Japan market Seiko Prospex SBCB009 Solar Titanium Scuba. Visually, a direct descendant of my SKX403 that was stolen in 2003. This watch sent me to eBay to sell everything else, including my 007 which was really in 99% new condition at the time. There was one thing about the 007 that I didn’t like. The minute hand. Something about that shiny edged arrow shape just bugged me and when it was time to cull, the 007 was gone, along with all my others save for the Solar.

But over time as the collection started to pull itself back together after a brief one-watch Nirvana, I felt the need to consider another 007. At a Poor Man’s Watch Forum Get-Together (PMWG GTG) in Orange County California, I saw a few nicely modified watches based on either the 007 or the 6309 or 7002.

By this time I had become an enthusiast of modified watches, and was enjoying a great SNK809 mod, so after much back and forth, I commissioned a 007 with a yellow dial. But I made an error of judgement with that one. The hands should have been blacker. Alas I could not easily see the time, mainly due to the wrong choice of hands, so within a few days, I had it for sale. Without pausing to breathe I then commissioned another one. This time with the standard, unmodified dial, but with a red plongeur hand set.

The 007 is a very common platform for the watch modifiers. The widely used 7S26 movement will take a wide variety of modified dials and hands, and with replacement bezel inserts and various case finishes, you can have thousands of varieties of this watch, which comes only one way from the factory.

Of course this means the modifiers have piles of 007 dials sitting around that have been removed from 007’s during the modification process. Having come across a picture of a 007 dial shoehorned into a non-diver, I unexpectedly realized something. The original dial is great! It does not have steel edged applied dot markers like the Seiko SKX031 (Submariner style), but rather just delicious blobs of luminous white on a flat black background. Paired with the cartoonish red and white of the custom plongeur hand set, this dial makes the 007 a visual riot of clear precise time comprehension. A blend of Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse and Jacques Cousteau.

In fact I’ll say that the original hands of the 007 do not do it’s intensely dotty dial justice. The shiny edges of the original hands distract the eye from those crazy white dots floating on their sea of inky black.

So my new 007 mod, a riotous conglomeration of brushed steel, matte black, luminous white, and red paint, would be quite at home in a cartoon and it is certainly at home on my wrist.

I have experienced the oversize craze, enjoyed it and moved through it. I now know my ideal case diameter is somewhere around 39 mm, but for a good design exceptions are made. And it’s worth going back up to 42.5 mm again in order to enjoy the standard classic diver that is the 007.

Jeffrey the Barak spends too much time thinking about watches and is the publisher of the-vu

They are not cross dressers, they are sport enthusiasts.

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By Jeffrey the Barak

For years I have noticed many young men walking around in brightly colored nylon mini dresses. I should explain that my eyesight is not great and that I have never watched any sport involving teams of men playing with balls.

Well it turns out these are not dresses at all. They are vests, otherwise known as singlets or tank tops or A-Shirts, and they are derived from the uniforms worn by basketball players.

What I was observing was these tank tops being worn by people of smaller size. In other words the shirts were far too big for them and worn over matching nylon shorts, also very baggy in design, to the extent you cannot easily see there are two legs, and they appear as pleated nylon skirts.

The resulting appearance was therefore that of a man wearing a large, sleeveless, nylon, knee-length dress.

So now I know why they don’t also wear makeup and high heels with their dresses. They have no idea they even look like men in dresses.

(Photos blurred to simulate silly old fart’s eyesight)

Scooterer Stories, Part Fourteen – Furthest point North

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By Louis the Scooterer

Well we had another good night sleep at Kare Deshe… okay so after watching sunrise and eat breakfast,
we make a quick getaway..quick stop to take pics at ruins close by and head directly for the snow

Another quick stop at Arik Bridge over the River Jordan (old wooden bridge).. and a fairly long drive for a quick stop at Saar Falls to take pics. We won’t have coffee here but I just wanna pop in to say hi to Benny..he is the young fellow who served me a coffee way back on the day the restaurant opened, and he suggested I look into TKR. Benny thanks for that advice. I have had a (total knee replacement) for some time now, and sure walk better than on the day we met..when I could hardly walk the few meters from the car to the door.

From here .. only one major stop on the way. At Newe Ativ.. a tiny village (moshav) that could be in Switzerland..many chalet style buildings and everything geared towards skiing . ( Neve Ativ actually controls the ski site as well). Then while there, we’ll find somewhere to drink coffee and ask about the place..(and I can tell you quickly about my previous visits).

Almost every home is geared for bed n breakfast accomodation, and a few (family) hotels are also operating, ( and looks and feels as if we are in Switzerland or Austria !..) We take the coffee in the dining lounge at a small hotel while the manager, a young Druze fellow gave many explanations about Druze people and customs..elaborating on his sister’s upcoming wedding.

Freezing cold and bright sunshine…Lets move ..and we join a long line of traffic including many buses to the ski site..winding scenic road with much snow all around. We get in at the main entrance and leave our car in the giant parking lot,

and board a shuttle bus to the ski site..excitement mounts as we get closer…then a walk of a few hundred meters to the main area where coffeeshops, eateries and ski and equipment hire, and all sorts of action that happens at a ski site.

As Louis the scooterer, I wrote a story, telling about my first visit to Mt Hermon ski site..and later visits too, and what a contrast of visits they have been.

(That story)

My first visit to the ski site was on a HOT summer day, and I didn’t know what to expect.

I scootered through the village Majdal e Shams way up north (close to border with Syria), then to the ski site, up the scenic road, and far below in the valley I saw cattle “drinking” from a dry-looking, round, muddy “water” place, and the whole area was dry and similar to the desert.

I rode through the deserted entrance and passed the empty very large car-park, and after a short scenic ride, arrived at the ski-site. I was the only person there, besides some maintenance workers who are there every day, doing a whole lot of different work. I was very happy when the ski chairs started and I was allowed to go up to the highest point.(Note..I never had a camera at that visit) I was the only person on the system that has 175 chairs all 2 seaters, and I saw only stones and BIG rocks and shrubs and uneven mountainside beneath me (all dry).

At the top, a few engineers were doing some electrical installations and invited me to eat lunch with them. They explained a whole lot of interesting facts to me. I walked around, and as all the facilities were shut, after a while, I took the chairlift down. A few people were going up, so we shouted “helloooo.. and where are you from?” “Germany… and have a nice day.” Then they were gone, and I was at the bottom. A quick coffee and thank you to some office staff and I was on my way, knowing that I’d be back.

So my next visit was when there was plenty of snow on Mt Hermon and in a rented car. I saw the full water hole, far down in the valley, now many meters wide and full of water, and the nearby hills had some snow (certainly no “desert look” this time). Hundreds of vehicles and buses were arriving, and after paying at the entrance, I was guided to park the car in the giant car-park nearby, then to go in shuttle-buses to the ski-site; a quick and very neat operation, I must admit.

This time there were thousands of people hustling and bustling and slipping and sliding everywhere and queuing in long lines for the many things to do at a ski place. It was marvelous to watch many people enjoying themselves, and I was lucky to find a short queue at one cafeteria to get coffee (and I wasn’t so clever by leaving my camera in the car).

I had a few casual chats and a few laughs with total strangers, and I was told this snow was the best in a long time, but the queue at chairlift was too long. Long lines were everywhere, so I left, having decided to return again the following week.

One week later… while on my way to the ski site on a lovely rainy day, I was told at the petrol-station near Tiberias, that the roads to the ski-site were closed, and at this time the heavy rain had also set in. So, another visit, another time.

So now comes the most recent, highly successful visit in perfect weather, nice and early, blue and white sky, and not many cars in the giant car park. This time (with camera in hand), I walked to all the favorite spots where many visitors with many cameras take many pictures. I also spoke to many “professional-looking” skiers, who unashamedly told me that they were there for the first time in borrowed ski-outfits, and that were waiting for their first ski-lesson.

All the amenities were rapidly getting long lines waiting to hire boots and skis and ski clothes and all very exciting. I had done some skiing years earlier, but a problem knee this day prevented me from that. I took a lovely fresh ride up on the two-seater chair lift, and after a few minutes was at the highest point, mainly for the more experienced skiers.

There are breathtaking views. Still, the coffee shop and restaurant were inviting and I had great satisfaction watching people of all sizes and shapes, even many men with full beards also giving skiing a go, then I took the chair lift down.

The queues were getting longer and the place buzzed with excitement. An assortment of big vehicles that move the snow were around, as well as many tough looking fellows who wear skiing outfits and know what they are doing.

After some more visits to several coffee places and a lovely snack served by a pretty girl, then sitting relaxing in the sun on the sundeck and taking a few more pictures, I guess that successful visit was worthwhile.

When you decide to visit, don’t forget to ask for some excellent colorful brochures, and in the large cafeteria ask for a “paper place-mat” that has cartoon drawings of the full scene.

When I left, and the snow got thinner on the hills and the air warmed up as I traveled away, I again had the feeling that I would return.

OKAY all of you , go and do your thing and we will meet at the snowman in 4 hours.. Oh, so you all have sore bums..from skiing ! oh well, next time it will be easier. Get comfortable while we take the shuttle to the parking and find our car.

A short drive back into Majdal e shams and a quick coffee at coffeeshop next to the filling station, where the owner told us about the difference between a village and town status..sure was interesting.

We will take the back road out for a longish drive..and I think this short-cut will get us to the main road..Hey whats that sign ? did anybody see it ..Naah !..lemme reverse.. the sign says ” Witch and milkmaid” pointing up..lets take a look.. we follow the few signs and drive into a small fenced area and see what looks like a restaurant..lets go look..when we found the back parking lot we see it is a restaurant…lets go see..okay..WOW what a surprise,

A lovely warm place, and looking thru picture windows at the fantastic views down in front of us…I suggested we have a hot home-made vegetable soup with brown bread..and that warms us quickly.

We learn there are 18 homes on this small moshav http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_(Israel) and many of the wooden houses are for rent for holiday..take a look at www.witch.co.il (although only Hebrew) still play around on all the words to see some pictures and the incredible views.

Then we need to move to get to Kuneitra before sunset to be able to see something of that mysterious place..an entire village stands empty and no movement within. A large United Nations complex below us does not permit casual visitors.

The chap inside the small food kiosk spoke no English so I suggest google to Kuneitra and choose a story to read also see a quick explanation at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/kuneitra.html

The sun sets quickly and early, and on the drive to Kare Deshe we can discuss the next trip..perhaps find a number of bridges that the Jordan River flows under, and at least one that the river runs over the bridge..and to find the “Aunties Bridge”.. where a few older ladies who did charitable volunteering were drowned in a flood,(they were known as “the aunties”) and the bridge was washed away and never rebuilt.

Soon the roads will be very busy, many vehicles heading home or for entertainment places..and we arrive back at our hostel..NO running around this night..all our backsides need a rest.

Feel free to email louisdrinkingt@013.net

FootBikeUSA

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By Jeffrey the Barak

Racing scooters are still an extremely rare sight in the United States, and most lifelong cycling enthusiasts who see a Footbike or Kickbike on the road are seeing one for the first time.

But in Europe, it is not too unusual to see dozens of scooters competing in a road race. Footbike USA is trying to introduce Americans to the same healthy pleasures.

They are not the first to bring the world’s fastest human powered scooters to the USA, and we reviewed a Kickbike on the-vu years ago in the article “Human Powered Scooters”, but Footbike have the energy and drive to have a real shot at changing America’s choice on the bike paths around the country.

The Footbike website at http://www.footbikeusa.com contains all the information you need to know about life without saddles and chains and pedals.

But the Footbike is also being noticed by physical therapists such as Andrea Avruskin PT, DPT, ATC, LAT, (www.avruskinpt.com), who has written an extensive paper on the physical benefits of scootering.

In her study she points out some of the adverse health effects of bicycle riding. Yes, bikes can be ridden safely and they are a more efficient mode of conveyance, but you can also hurt yourself by cycling the wrong way. Not to say you cannot hurt yourself on a Footbike. In fact I have experienced that myself after a careless and ill-planned ride in 2008.

But the good therapist has some good points to make about the Footbike. She says “The Footbike™ is an excellent tool for rehabilitation, training and conditioning. It challenges lower body strength, power, endurance and balance, as well as trunk and upper body stability and endurance. It is suitable for non-athletic people and athletes who are healthy, recovering from injuries, or preventing injuries”.

Ms Avruskin’s paper shows the results of studies on joint impact stress, range of joint motion, posture, and analysis of the standing and propelling legs. Personally I think that If I had learned of her study last year, I would not have sidelined myself last fall.

But back to the Footbike. If you enjoy cycling, skating, skateboarding but feel like you have not really found what you are looking for, then take a clue from the Europeans and check out the world of scooters (http://FootBikeUSA.com). You won’t be sorry, and a Footbike will be an addition to your propulsion collection that will hook you for life.

Time to get off the seat and stand up!

Before you celebrate new year….

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Just a reminder that even though we all love our hours, minutes, seconds, months, weeks and centuries, none of them are real.

One year is real, but it does not necessarily start on January 1st. It’s just one whole orbit around the sun.

One day is real, but it does not necessarily start at midnight.
It’s just one revolution of the planet.

Everything else is imagined, no matter how much time we spend measuring with our watches and calendars.

So celebrate new year, but remember you could just as well do it on any other date, most appropriately on March 21st or September 21st at an equinox.

Christmas in Las Vegas and Why I Don’t Gamble

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By Jack Hunter Cohen

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

Ranch therapy in paradise

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By Louis the Scooterer

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.

The Methane Army is coming to get you.

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By Major Pong

People of Earth,

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.

Scooterer Stories, Part Thirteen – Galilee

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By Louis the Scooterer

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 Scooterer is 69 years old and it sounds like he’s just getting started.

First Glimmer

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By Gregory Nuber

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.

Is Ballet Humane?

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By Leda Meredith

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

Burning Salt Water For Fuel, Is It Possible?

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By Jeremy Baldwin

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

Louis gets smoked out. A nation of black lungs.

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By Louis the Scooterer

I don’t want to..BUT, Maybe move away from MyPoP

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

Green Cars at the 2008 Greater L.A. Auto Show

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By Jeffrey the Barak

Are any of these cars truly green?

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 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.

An inflatable, all-electric car?

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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:

SUV invasion at MyPop

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By Louis the Scooterer

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