sketchgrrl

Vote for Us and Come to Our Celebration Party When We Win!

Please vote 10 stars for our two-minute audio pitch in an entrepreneurial start-ups contest!

If we win you will be invited to a big Sarasota, Florida party in our new cafe!

Judges will choose the winner from the entries that have the most stars and the most votes.

If you would like to vote for us every day, that would be awesome!

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/7v4mdl

Don't Miss An Inspiring, Tree Saving Program on WSLR Radio at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26

Tune in to Truly Sustainable Sarasota on FM radio station WSLR, 96.5 at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 26 (or listen live online at http://wslr.org/listen-live/). That's when host Vicki Chelf will interview Turner Tree and Landscape of Bradenton's CEO Darrell Turner about how his company saves beautiful, mature trees. They dig them up from construction sites, then replant and care for them--for years, if necessary--and then replant them at the original site when the construction is completed.  Truly sustainable and truly inspiring!  If you miss the live broadcast, you can listen to a podcast of it here.

An Open Letter To FL Governor Charlie Cri

Following is a letter a friend of mine wrote to Florida's Governor Charlie Crist. This is a letter that needs to be circulated widely; I invite you to blog about it and e-mail it around:

Dear Governor,

I have lived in Sarasota for most of my life. I have eked out an existence working and having a few low end rentals on the side. This was a rough yet rewarding existence helping those folks who were down. Renting to the poor I have never been able to get first, last and security. People do not have it. Especially today. Now there is no work to be had in this town translating to a real shortage of tenants. The current batch are all so far behind I am facing having to evict three. I have not had to do an eviction in ten or more years. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that it will now cost me OVER FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH to evict. That is if I do all the work myself and go through all the hoops myself and make sure not to cross one i or dot one t or it starts all over again from the beginning. All this in my free time. Even if the tenants do not fight leaving - because they cannot afford to go anywhere - I will be out several months rent and the huge repair costs to rehab three units. It is coming down to leaving the tenants in place and giving the property to the bank. I have worked my whole life for this. Shame on you and your ilk. Your approval rating with me just dropped its last ten points to zero. I am also letting everyone I know about this your alternate form of taxation. Shame on you.

Vincent Dessberg
BellaGlass.com

The Hypocrisy of the Sarasota, FL Chamber of Commerce

Following is a letter that a friend of mine sent to the Sarasota, Florida Chamber of Commerce (and by the way, his decorative glass items are gorgeous):


Dear Sarasota Chamber,

I have been a Chamber member for almost a year and I am not planning to renew my membership. The reason is that I no longer believe that the Chamber's mission is to promote Sarasota and its businesses and not just to keep my dollars flowing to the Chamber itself. The one idea I felt important enough to suggest which I sent via email months ago, did not even warrant an auto-responder saying thanks or no thanks or even kiss my ass. Way to show support of Members and Sarasota businesses! Sadly the same can be said about a couple of commissioners.

On the morning of September 22, I got to talk to a very nice lady who was calling Chamber members to let them know that their Chamber once again wants more money. This time, to place an ad on the ad display racks in the Chamber lobby. In chatting with the lady, I found out that she was calling from Charlotte and she told me that a lot of Floridians have settled there recently. As my current business is not succeeding here in Sarasota, perhaps I could land a position with the Sarasota Chamber while living in Charlotte. Charlotte would be great, and I would not even mind phone work. Though, I am guessing that phone work, according to the Chamber website, is not "work compatible with our community standards." Otherwise, why would the Chamber have outsourced it to Charlotte when many Sarasotans are eagerly looking for work?

Also please let me know when the display racks and display rack management contracts are coming up for renewal as I would be in Charlotte already and thus could bid on them.

Sincerely,
Vincent

Vincent Dessberg
BellaGlass.com

Rock Drummers Are Top Jocks

Research study says that rock drummers have the stamina of top athletes. Rockers as jocks, anyone?

A Book Store That Gives All Its Books Away for Free

How wonderful, a book store named Book Thing whose mission is to give away all of its books for free, to people who want them.  They're in the Baltimore area.  This is an idea that ought to be everywhere!

Spike Lee Is making a Film about Life Story of Physics Professor Ronald Mallett

Professor Mallett's story is a fascinating one.
He became a physicist to invent a time machine so he could travel back in time to save the life of his father, who died of a heart attack at the age of 33.
He has made great strides in advancing theories in physics and now Spike Lee is making a feature film based on Mallett's memoir, Time Traveler:


You can see Professor Mallett talk about some of his work here:

Mike Bloomberg is a Hero, Passionate About Preventive Health

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg Launches Worldwide Non-Smoking Plan

Fascinating New Yorker Article "Darwin's Surprise"

Michael Specter's fascinating article on paleoviruses in the Dec. 3, 2007 issue of The New Yorker gave me ideas and provoked many questions as I read it. The article explains that paleoviruses are:

extinct viruses that reside within us, carrying a record that goes back millions of years.

[How can scientists know these viruses go back millions of years? I'm not challenging the statement, just wondering how they discovered that.]

As the article says, it turns out that scientists are now able to bring dead viruses back to life.

So one of my thoughts is: If they can do that, will scientists eventually be able to use that technology to bring dead people back to life?

Another sentence in the article says:

Eggs cannot eliminate waste.

Wouldn't that mean, then, that when we humans eat eggs, we are ingesting waste material?

The article says:

Cell fusion is a fundamental characteristic of the mammalian placenta but also, it turns out, of endogenous retroviruses. In fact, the protein syncytin, which causes placental cells to fuse together, employs the exact mechanism that enables retroviruses to latch on to the cells they infect.

Hmmm, that would make an awesome basis for a sci-fi movie!

And when Specter quotes the evolutionary geneticist Harmit Malik as saying:

"We have been in an evolutionary arms race with viruses for at least one million years. There is genetic conflict everywhere."

Well, wow--that would make an awesome educational video game, with characters based on those tiny biological elements that are in conflict.

The article goes on to say:

The AIDS virus has one gene, called "vif," that does nothing but block a protein whose sole job it is to stop the virus from making copies of itself.

So that makes me wonder why scientists have not been able to disable vif.

The article refers to Michael Emerman, a virologist at The Hutchinson Center's Human Biology and Basic Science Division, and his research with the H.I.V. virus and an endogenous retrovirus with the acronym PtERV that prevents chimpanzees from getting sick from AIDS:

What he found astonished him. No matter how many times he repeated the test, the results never varied. "In every case, the protein blocked either PtERV or H.I.V. But it never protected the cells from both viruses," Emerman said.

To me, that sounds like the uncertainty principle in physics, in which scientists can know either the direction a sub-atomic particle is moving in, or the speed the particle is traveling at, but never both. Since I'm not a scientist, I'm wondering if there is some connection between that concept in quantum physics and the results Emerman got.

"Viruses are accumulating and becoming more decrepit with every passing million years."

Well, I'm thinking: That would make one great T-shirt!

Finally, the article says that specific mutations seem to protect certain people against the H.I.V. virus:

There are people, though, whose genes instruct them to build defective receptors. Those with two copies of that defect, one from each parent, are resistant to H.I.V. infection no matter how often they are exposed to the virus.

So my question is: Are there any scientists working on ways to implant those genes into people who would benefit from them?

Spread the Word! Sarasota for Dennis Kucinich

There's a new group called Sarasota for Dennis Kucinich. Dennis is the best candidate for so many reasons. Please spread the word about this new group. The intention is to get Dennis more media coverage and to lift him to the top.

Original Prints for Incredible Value

I just discovered a site called tinyshowcase.com, an online gallery of original prints selling for only $20 apiece. I can't wait to look through the gallery. It sure makes me want to get back into making art again!

Car Sharing, An Idea Whose Time Has Come!

Decades ago, when I lived in NYC without a car, I thought: Wouldn't it be cool if cities owned lots of cars that they allowed residents to drive from point to point whenever they needed one?

I saw something on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight that made my dream come true! In many cities, private companies are providing car sharing service, which is fabulous for the environment and for people who don't have cars.

http://www.carsharing.net

A Resource Every Town Should Have

A South Florida musician and writer named Laura Sue (also known as the Silver Nightingale) posted the following letter to an e-group and I love what she says, so I'm posting her letter below. I think resources like the one she mentions ought to spring up in every town!

She writes:

I wanted to let you all know about a great new non-profit I just
discovered called Trash to Treasure. It's a Creative Re-Use Center, in
other words, they collect donations of a wide range of clean, re-usable
materials (called "clean scrap") which can be repurposed for artistic
and educational uses. Great place for artists, art teachers, families
etc.!

All those things you feel guilty throwing out - the cardboard from pads
of paper, foam from the boxes computers come in, egg cartons, the
cardboard roll from paper towels and TP, plastic cups and straws from
Starbucks, fabric/wire/wood scraps, CD jewel cases and a whole host of
other things - can be used to make art projects with kids and such.
Businesses can donate stuff like out of date stationery, paper boxes,
etc. and cut down on their disposal costs. I just visited their
warehouse for the first time (conveniently located near I-95 and
Commercial Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale) and was really impressed by the
array of materials they have available. Re-use helps everyone by
cutting down on waste, trash disposal fees, demand for raw materials,
energy consumption and more.

I am so enthusiastic about Trash to Treasure I want the world to know
about them, and thought there would be some folks on this list who
would be interested in T2T, as writers and creative people are often
artists as well! For those of you who have not managed to go completely
paperless, they have shelves full of binders for all your wonderful
musings (and computer printouts)! Lots of other great stuff too!

I also thought some of you might like to write a story about T2T, or
even volunteer to help them with some press releases and PR.

I am joining T2T, and look forward to picking up some cool stuff there,
but honestly I'm more excited about having a place to donate a lot of
things I'd otherwise be throwing away or cluttering up my house with.
And you do not have to be a member to donate materials or money. Of
course members are also needed - Normally $60 a year but $45 now until
August 31 - members can visit 12 times a year and take as much as they
want. What a deal! : )

If you know any art teachers, please pass this info along!

If you want to get involved or get more info:
http://www.trash2treasurefl.org/
954/623-0603

All the best,
Laura Sue

* Flute Fusion * from The Silver Nightingale
http://www.SilverNightingale.com

Unbelievable Rube Goldberg Contraption

I don't know if this is real (click on headline for link) but the video makes it look real.
Am I too gullible?

Amazing Kinetic Sculpture

Theo Jansen's kinetic sculpture is amazing! It's kind of like a wind-powered robot. It's not designed to look human, and is far too wide to resemble a human, but the way it moves is oddly human-like. Here's more about the sculptor and his work.

A Duckling With Interspecies Compassion

Have you seen this short video of a baby duck feeding carp?

It's hard to see the duck at first because it blends in with the background. The duck is in the center of the frame, slightly toward the right. I had no idea that one species would feed another in a direct way (I mean other than being the food for a larger animal). Is this behavior unusual?

This baby duck has more intelligence and compassion than some humans.

Former Canadian Defense Minister Says Alien Technology Can Save the World From Global Warming

Former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer is calling on world goverments to use the technology derived from crashed UFOs to stop global warming.

I think this is a great idea, although people switching to a vegan diet would have a larger effect on stopping global warming than switching to hybrid cars.

Eat Future Fruit and Catapult into the Future

There's a new sci-fi TV show being developed by the Jim Henson Production Company that has as a plot element something called "future fruit." Eat it and be projected into the future. Since I like both raw fruit and time travel, this show sounds very interesting!

Spiritual Aptitude Test

Here's a very interesting spiritual aptitude test.

I found it on the website of Todd Murphy, who was recently on the Coast to Coast AM radio show, which has fascinating guests.