I love the World

Here's an early Earth Day present. It's a short music video made by the Discovery Channel. I hope you all have a wonderful Earth Day and remember to give our planet a little love every day, but especially next Tuesday for Earth Day.

My favorite parts are when Bear Grylls says "I love arachnids" while holding a large tarantula and when Stephen Hawking says "Boom-dee-ah-da". Enjoy!

YouTube Video:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

Original AOL Video:

URL: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/discovery-channel-i-love-the-world/3462397172

Are things still "bitter"?

I'm still paying attention to the Democratic primary, but honestly I'm growing weary of this childish back-and-forth stuff. I've been complaining about it from the start, as have many others, but it's still going on. Do people actually pay attention to the "nuh-uh" "uh-huh" arguments politicians throw around?

It would seem that they might because here we go again.... Clinton has some more negative campaigning for us to digest. And Obama has a response.

Clinton Ad:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZO4ktKHfRQ

Obama response Ad:

URL: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1506007134

INDY Poll Results: Which super-power would you want?

- Flight
- Invisibility
- Regeneration
- Super-strength »» 33% (1 vote)
- Telepathy
- Telekinesis »» 33% (1 vote)
- Teleportation »» 33% (1 vote)

Total votes: 3

INDY Poll: Which super-power would you want?

Sorry for missing the usual update schedule. Here's a fun poll to fill in the remaining time until Friday!

INDY Poll: Which super-power would you want?

- Flight
- Invisibility
- Regeneration
- Super-strength
- Telepathy
- Telekinesis
- Teleportation

INDY Poll Results: When do you ride your bicycle during the year?

- Year-round! "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night..." »» 20% (1 vote)
- As often as I can, except in inclement weather conditions. »» 20% (1 vote)
- When I feel like it in good weather. (Commuting or for sport.) »» 0% (0 votes)
- On the weekends for recreation or sport. »» 40% (2 votes)
- I hardly ever have the chance, but I enjoy it. »» 20% (1 vote)
- I don't enjoy riding. / I never ride. »» 0% (0 votes)

Total votes: 5

Eek! I forgot to make a new poll! I've got a new one coming today. Not too many votes for this past one. Oh well.

Fort Collins has been Street Viewed

Yipee! It appears that Fort Collins has finally been given Google Street Views in Google Maps. I've been looking forward to the addition of our fine city to Google Street View ever since the feature was first introduced.

Here's a description of Google Street View from the Wikipedia article on that subject:

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps introduced in 2007 that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level.

So, jump on over to Google Maps and check out Fort Collins, CO! (The location I've linked is atop Horsetooth Reservoir - quite a beautiful view from there.)

Obama on Climate Change

Barack Obama brought his focus upon climate change in a recent town hall meeting in Pennsylvania. Obama did not side-step the issue at all when asked the question: "if elected president would [he] consider tapping Gore for his Cabinet to address global warming".

I would. Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He's somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I'm already consulting with him in terms of these issues, but climate change is real. It is something we have to deal with now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now.

I has been the trend in this race for candidates to side-step environmental issues, as they seem to polarize the populace so quickly. It would appear that Barack Obama does not think that the issue of climate change is something we can afford to ignore any longer (as a country and as a species).

It's 3AM again

Apparently, there are certain decisions which must be made by phone in the wee hours of morning in Washington DC. At least that's appears to be the trend for Hillary Clinton. Today, she released another 3AM ad. This time focusing on the economy, and attacking John McCain.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XpaK-cGO9U

You remember the first 3AM ad, which suggested that Obama couldn't handle an international crisis. (A suggestion which later flew right back into Clinton's face.) (Reference: "Comparing Clinton, Obama 3AM Ads") On top of that, the actress who was shown in the original 3AM ad came forward to take a stand against the "politics of fear that Senator Clinton uses to drum up votes". (Reference: "Girl from 3AM ad backs Obama")

Earth Hour Commentary

As I had hoped, the time spent in recognition of Earth Hour last night was very relaxing. Because my family and I are very energy conscious (e.g. all gadgets are unplugged when not in-use, etc.), the conversion to Earth Hour simply consisted of turning off the lights of the room we were in and lighting the candles we had around our condo.

So, beginning at 20:00 (8pm) MDT, we sat together in the soothing darkness. Toward the end of the hour, my daughter was nearly asleep so we put her to bed. My wife and I decided to just leave things as they were and spend the remainder of our evening enjoying the candle-lit darkness.

There was something deeply revitalizing in that darkness; a sort of connecting meditative state which brought our focus back to the human part of our relationship. We now plan to decrescendo in our sunless hours more consistently.

Earth Hour

In only 2 hours' time Earth Hour will arrive in the Mountain timezone. Today, people (even entire cities) all over the world - in the spirit of conservation and environmental awareness - have been shutting off their power between 20:00 (8pm) and 21:00 (9pm) local time.

Here's an excerpt from the official Earth Hour website:

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

I'm looking forward to what I'm sure will be a very peaceful evening with my family.