Mom with an Edge
I stumbled on this blog by Googling the words “camp stove.” Go figure. But kirby cracks me up.
$225 Bolt-On Device Boosts Jeep Wrangler Gas Mileage 60%
Love my Jeep, hate the gas mileage. That’s why I was thrilled to find this Giant Sedona DX on Craigslist for just $225. (Thanks Mark, if you happen to read this, I’m stoked about this bike!) One thing that’s always kept me from bike commuting and saving the environment single-handed is the fact that I…
A Cleaner Rush than Smoking Crack
Every now and then an idea comes along that is so bad that you are powerless to do anything besides see it through to the end. For me one such idea came when my friend John and I wondered if we could go rafting on the Santa Ana River after the spring rains, when the…
Bike (by the skin of your teeth) to Work
Drew Simmons of Wicked Outdoorsy makes an interesting point about Bike-to-Work week. Many of our urban bikeways are so poorly designed that people will feel lucky they survived the trek at all. I live in Ventura, a slow-growth community with a population of 106,000 some-odd people (some odder than others) but I fear cycling here.…
Why Can’t We Just Be Reasonable Here?
Al Gore’s media critique, Assault on Reason, excerpted in Time, lays a healthy dose of blame for our society’s apparent inability to exercise reason at the foot of television. Clearly, at least to some degree, the “consent of the governed” was becoming a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder. To the extent that…
Tuvan Throat Singing
Now here is something to listen to while you’re camping in your yurt.
Yet More Buzz on Bees
Sharon Labchuck provides some anecdotal evidence that organic bees are not suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder. This news goes along with reports that wild Africanized “killer bees” are also avoiding the syndrome.
Santa Barbara Conference on Sustainability
Treehugger notes that just up the coast at UC Santa Barbara will be the 6th Annual UC, CSU, CCC Sustainability Conference, bringing together representatives from ten University of California campuses, twenty Cal State campuses and another ten community colleges. The program is designed ways to implement environmentally sustainable pracitices in large institutions, looking at things…
Phantom Buzz
Ever feel your cell phone vibrate…even when the phone is nowhere near your person? I’ve had this sensation once or twice a week for years now, a faint buzzing on my hip where I carry my cell phone. Before that it was a buzzing in my pocket (when I stashed my smaller phone in my…
When Plants Attack
After reading about cougar attacks and grizzly bear maulings I found myself completely unprepared for another kind of terror on the trails–the terrible flesh-eating Manzanita of Matilija Canyon. I was hiking through the thicket minding my own business when one of these vicious trees took a wicked 2-1/2″ bite out of my forearm. Interestingly enough…
Trail Notes: Matilija Canyon Hike
Summary: A hike up one of the most scenic canyons with year-round running streams. The first two miles are an easy walk on even surface with two easy water crossings. After two miles the trail becomes increasingly difficult to follow, with lots of boulder hopping and scrambling beneath overhanging branches. Numerous pools and a double…
Step of Faith
This weekend we went to Lake Hughes for a two day church retreat and I had the opportunity to try my hand at top-roped rock climbing. As you can see from this headless pic of my backside this activity isn’t one of my stronger suits. But it turned out to be a powerful application of…
Sticky Situation
How to keep your GPS suction cup stuck to your windshield (MeFi)
Death Beach
I found this dead harbor seal pup at the foot of a makeshift cross at Surfer’s Knoll in Ventura yesterday. Dead seals are fairly common on these beaches, particularly this time of year when algae blooms produce high levels of domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can kill sea mammals. Several groups are working to locate…
$1.75 Anti-Terrorist Device
Available at Bernie DeKoven’s Deep Fun store.