We've Burnt Dead Dinosaurs for 100 Years

I had too much coffee in the morning, so on yesterday's trip to Bellingham, I was ready to use the very first Washington State DOT Rest Stop on I-5 South. I had seen these two devices during the last trip as well. Yesterday, I snapped a picture of the two, electric charging stations. Of course, I needed to find out more about them.

Electric vehicles have long been an interest. In fact when I bought my present ride, oh so many years ago, I sort of thought that my next purchase just might plug in. Little did I know how slowly the technology would develop. I still think this has a lot to do with the premium which must be paid to enter the club. It must make economic sense as much as an emotional one for a society to make such a major transition.


Click this static image to visit the plugshare.com site.

Of course, things are a-changing, and eventually, I hope, a-charging! I had to look up to see about level 3 quick charges. At 20-30 minutes for a charge, people may be willing to modify their travel behaviours. If I could charge up while having lunch for example, I might be able to live with an all electric vehicle. Of course the infrastructure must be robust.

Out here on the upper part of the left coast, pursuing these options make sense. The weather is relatively mild and a vast amount of hydro-electricity is produced. Cars on a "smart grid" actually add to the potential energy of the region. If my car knew that I did not require a full charge until my morning commute, it'd be able to share its store of juice while my neighbour was cooking dinner. Welcome to the inevitable future.

Find out more by visiting www.westcoastgreenhighway.com.

Personal Quote #52

"Wow. Chicken tastes just like dinosaur!"

Dennis Sylvester Hurd (1959- )

The George C. Page Museum, The La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles - 2007

Irony: Burning Them to Visit Their Fossils

My original goal for the truck was to have it last ten years. I figured that $US 1,000 per year was a reasonable cost for transportation eqipment. Well, 2006 has come and gone and I'm still lumbering around in my Ford Ranger. I have enough cash on hand to go and buy any new, replacement vehicle that I want. Yet, I cannot justify the expense as, at the moment, my truck has a measly 79,000 miles on it. Although it would be nice to have that fleeting new car smell, it simply doesn't seem necessary at this time.

The truck used to travel. In 2001, Jay and I took a seven-week, camping road trip. We left Vancouver and didn't turn around until after hitting Cape Spear, Newfoundland. In the past few years, we've not taken any substantial road trips. I like the feeling when pushing out in the morning with at least 400 miles of tar to cover. Maybe we can take several weeks this summer just to slide up the Canadian Rockies and visit Northern British Columbia. We could easily travel 3,000 miles and hardly leave our own province.

On the 2001 cross-Canadia trip, I'm standing helpless 'neath a menacing dinosaur in Drumheller, Alberta. It's in the Canadian badlands and is considered the dinosaur capital of the world.

Included: A Roller Coaster Ride

Alas, yesterday, I saw no goose named Gertrude!

Yesterday afternoon we did go to see the 3D showing of the new Journey to the Center of the Earth. The plot was not outstanding but it was a wise move for them to take it out of the Jules Verne era. There was more than a faint didactic mention of praise for the act of reading; that's something not common in a summer movie.

I'm taking the time here not to showcase the movie but the technology. This isn't the 3-D of your parents ... or depending on your age, the 3-D movie experience of your grandparents! I imagine the extra $3 over standard tickets was something to do with the polarized glasses a viewer can take when leaving. Those specs were not much larger than my present prescription lenses but they fit over my own and did not interfere with the show.

The movie, of course, had typical 3-D shots. Who couldn't appreciate the effect of dinosaur drool splashing down on them? Yet, I was quite happy just seeing the closeups of the characters. It is so much more immersive when it feels like you could actually reach out and grab a person's head; not that I'd suggest that in real life unless you know them quite well!

I just had to look up the technology behind Real D. It's interesting to see the whole process is digital. It's probably the 72 frames per second which prevented me from leaving the cinema with a traditional 3-D headache. The company seem positioned to increase its presence in the marketplace. Working with Disney is a plus for them.

Now, I'm ready to watch see something like this at home on the flat panel. We'd all put up with having to adorn glasses if it meant a journey into the third dimension.

Being Centered

I love this movie. Although it's exactly my age, it must've often shown on TV when I was a kid. I am so thankful for DVD technology and the fact so much old stock now shines brightly in original, movie-theatre format. Many old films have been remixed to take advantage of Dolby Digital 5.1 too.


Can you guess which movie this scene is from? A group of four men, a woman, and a goose are in a gigantic mushroom forest. Look closely and you will spot the face of a dinosaur-sized lizard lurking in a back cave. After not too long, the humans take a saucer to the surface. I'll post the answer tomorrow . . .