Tuesday, April 01, 2008

We all know electricity is made up of flowing electrons. Spin a rotor inside a magnetic field and electrons take off at light speed down a convenient wire. At the other end of the wire, they run the clock in your microwave oven, and then return home to roost. What you may not have known is that not all electrons are created equal.

Imagine an electron created in a French nuclear reactor. Besides being French (including the charming accent, wearing a beret (male electrons) or short skirts and fishnet stockings (female electrons) and favoring mayonnaise on freedom fries instead of catchup) ... they are radioactive. In fact, they glow in the dark which is what makes light bulbs so popular.

Or imagine electrons fired out of a giant pasta generator in Italy; where male and female electrons are sent down the same wire at the same time (you know, AC/DC). Knowing the fiery Italian culture as I do, it’s not surprising that when the male and female electrons arrive at the oven in the neighborhood pizza joint, they often create more heat than light. The confrontations are vastly entertaining which explains the popularity of pizza.

Well I could go on, but thankfully I won’t.

Last fall I toured Hoover Dam and got to see firsthand electricity being made. The first photo below was taken inside the dam and you can almost hear the electrons sizzling like electric arcs around Frankenstein’s monster. What you may not realize is that American electrons are an endangered species.

First, in America there is a move afoot to bring down the dams, which store the water, that flows through the turbines, which spin the rotors, which incite the electrons to take off at light speed (oh, wait, this is where I came in) ... And second, in many places the water level of the lakes behind the dams is dropping precipitously. Witness Lake Mead, backed up behind Hoover Dam, which some say will be dry within a few years. Photo two shows how much the water level has already dropped.

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Now Hoover Dam and Lake Mead are quite near to Las Vegas, Nevada. If ever there were a city in dire need of free electrons (both male and female) in large numbers, it’s Las Vegas. Since the demise of mechanical slots, you can’t go anywhere without bumping into crowds of electrons. Day or night. You’d think they never slept! So I say, lets band together to save Las Vegas. Lets organize. Have mass rallies. Spin up alternate energy sources ... wind, solar, nuclear, what have you. I hope it’s not too late.

BTW: Both these photos were taken w/ my iPhone. Not bad for a 2 MP camera with a fixed lens, huh? TGFP: Thank God (or at least Adobe) for Photoshop!

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Politics
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Friday, February 22, 2008

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If you live in the Pacific Northwest in February, the only “flower power” available is at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. And for me, the “power flower” of the show is the orchid. It’s why I go.

I could go to stroll around the convention center for 3 hours at an average pace of 0.5 mph due to the crowds. I could go to look at the gardens created by fantastic garden designers and set up indoors for the show. I could also go to see funky garden art, or peruse four thousand twenty-two different varieties of Sunflower seeds. Nope, I go for the orchids.

But I’m ecumenical, I’ll even look at the occasional rose.

After the show, we walked over to Palomino and had a nice dinner. The two photos below are of a Seattle building and the restaurant lobby.

See more >>> Garden Show Photos

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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Sunday, February 03, 2008

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In early December I traveled on business to Croatia. 6 days on the ground in Split, Zagreb and on the Island of Vis. Weather was good. People were warm and friendly. Food was good. Infrastructure all worked. Is this a great country or what?

The purpose of my trip was to explore setting up a study-abroad program on Vis. I met with many many folks there, singly and in groups. It was the dynamics of the groups that I found interesting. They were “excited” about building something new and extending their economy beyond tourist season. But at the same time, the meetings felt “dangerous” and had the feel of a secret underground group planning a sort of revolution. These were just people, entrepreneurs all, planning a commercial activity where they weren’t asking permission from government. No funding request. No interference. It was a heady experience to see them break the bonds of their former communist history and plan something that felt daring. I enjoyed it immensely!

And here are three of my favorite photos of Vis Town, Komiza town, and Split.

Check out all the photos and color commentary at Digital Quixote

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Casual Travel
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Monday, January 21, 2008

In September we went to Iceland. Why? I have a good friend who grew up there and the stories he tells convince me it’s beautiful. Additionally, I belong to a photographers’ forum where there are a number of Icelanders. Their photos are fantastic. Plus I’ve never been there. And lets face it, at cocktail parties, who gets the greater wow factor: someone who just returned from Oakland; or someone who just returned from Iceland?  Not that there’s anything wrong with Oakland mind you, it’s just a place holder. Feel free to fill in the destination of your choice.

Here are a few more teaser images. But feel free to visit my full site, Digital Quixote, click on New and then on Iceland, for the whole story.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Casual Travel
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

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A friend of mine and I took a short trip this week to McMinnville, Oregon to see a piece of aviation history; Howard Hughes’ H-4 Flying Boat nicknamed “The Spruce Goose.” It’s on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum along with many other historically interesting aircraft. It is the largest wooden aircraft in the world and big by any standard. 3 meters shorter than a Boeing 747, 17 meters wider than an Airbus A-380. It was built of wood because the government contract which funded it specified no materials critical to the war effort (i.e. metal) could be used in its construction. It was to replace shipping as a way to move men and material to Europe during WWII and avoid the threat of U-Boat sinkings. It was flown only once, on November 2, 1947 by Hughes himself. The war and therefore the purpose for the aircraft ended. It was never commercialized. Here are three more pictures of it.

The aviation museum also houses a bunch of interesting flying machines. Below is a P-38 Lightning and the interior of the Mercury-10 Space Capsule.

On our way back, we stopped at the Tillamook Air Museum housed in, you guessed it, Tillamook, Oregon. Frankly, the museum is a disappointment after Evergreen. The most interesting thing is the building itself. It was originally constructed as a hanger for Squadron ZP-33’s 8 K-Class blimps. These blimps, used in anti-submarine warfare, were each 251 feet long and all 8 fit inside the enormous hanger at the same time. The hanger itself is over 1,000 feet long, almost 200 feet high, and almost 3oo feet wide. Big enough to play 6 NFL Football games, at the same time, but sadly no extra room for paying fans. Below are photos of the hangar itself, an A-26 Invader and a vintage MiG.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Planes
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