I've read lots about hydrogen fuel cells and cars powered by them. Although hydrogen fuel cell technology represents a change in the degree of our dependence on fossil fuels, I'm pretty disgusted by a few of that technology's attributes:

1) Most hydrogen fuel cells use fossil fuels to operate.
Natural gas is the most commonly used fuel for hydrogen fuel cells, although methane is also used in some models. I suppose it is outlandish to hope for a complete break from our dependence on fossil fuels, but I believe that the major energy companies have an important stake in seeing that this technology doesn't cut them out entirely. For some odd reason, natural gas, and sometimes gasoline is used for the production of hydrogen. The hydrogen fuel cell itself only exhausts water vapor or liquid, but the extraction/production of hydrogen from water for most fuel cells requires a fossil fuel.

2) Present hydrogen fuel cell technology would require fueling stations for fuel distribution.
Although the Honda Motors Company has designed a natural gas powered home fuel station for its CRX Hydrogen Fuel Cell car, most hydrogen fuel cells would still rely on a "gas" station to supply hydrogen.
I consider gas stations the most inefficient delivery system possible; When I am low on gas, I have to travel to a gas station, wait in line (burning fuel all the while), refuel, and then resume travel to my destination. I am sick of gas stations -they are the "pusher" of our fossil fuel addictions and would like to continue this role through the hydrogen fuel cell "revolution".

3) Since the 1970s, hydrogen fuel cell technology has been 10-20 years off. A Honda Motors spokesperson has stated that Honda expects to mass produce cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells in 2018.... hmmm that's ten years from now, isn't it?

Okay, so enough on the hydrogen fuel cell technology! Today while surfing, I came across this snippet of video news posted by Reuters: H2O Water Powered Car.

The real story isn't the vehicle, but the fuel system itself. The vehicle is an existing Japanese Car (note the less than spacious size). This car employs a Genepax "water energy system". Our neighbors in Japan have invented a Fuel Cell that needs only water and air, eliminating the need for a hydrogen reformer and high-pressure hydrogen tank. Moreover, the MEA requires no special catalysts, and the required amount of rare metals such as platinum is almost the same as that of existing systems, Genepax said.
This system does employ a battery to power a water pump at start-up -after that, this power station is self sufficient as long it is supplied with water.

This new technology isn't just for cars, it is being developed for home power stations, and other uses. Presently the cost of a 320 watt power station is about ¥2,000,000 (US$18,522), it can be reduced to ¥500,000 (US $4645) or lower if Genepax succeeds in mass production.  The company believes that its fuel cell system can compete with residential solar cell systems if the cost can be reduced to this level.

More information can be found at Genepax's website and a glowing review of this technology may be read at the TechOn website.

These are exciting times!

Kevin

Yesterday I read with some excitement about Honda's new hydrogen fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity.
This is of course one of those wonderful no-emissions vehicles that the press and automotive makers have been speculating would be the next step for American motorists, and the liberation from our addiction to foreign oil.
At first blush, I was pretty excited in reading about this car. One of the things that has bothered me about hydrogen fuel cell technology was the fact that we would still be chained to buying fuel from "gas" stations. I don't entertain any hatred for the big oil companies (although low cost to consumers has never been part of their mission statements, and that is annoying). The Honda FCX counters that inefficient addiction to fuel stations by pioneering the "Home Energy Station IV". This is a natural gas powered unit which sits outside one's house and produces enough Hydrogen to power both the car and the home’s energy needs at around 50% of the normal cost, and with a 30% reduction in emissions.  Way cool, right?  Ehhhh, NO.

Today I read more on this revolutionary concept, and learned a few more facts about Honda's "effort" to bring a hydrogen fuel cell automobile to the masses. According to an editorial on MSN Autos, you won't be able to buy this car from a Honda Dealership any time soon. Quoting the article here, "Honda has selected roughly 100 Americans — including celebrities Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Harris — who will be allowed to pay $600 a month to lease an FCX Clarity for three years, and then return the car to the manufacturer." This lease arrangement is quite reminiscent of General Motors' EV1 electric car rollout in the California market in the late 90s.

MSN Auto states that "since experts peg the cost of building a single fuel-cell car at $500,000 to $1 million, automakers aren’t about to roll out thousands of these babies at once.", and that "Ben Knight, Honda’s U.S. research-and-development chief, estimates that Honda is targeting the year 2018 to bring affordable fuel-cell cars to dealers.".  Okay! So at the present moment, hydrogen fuel technology is about ten years off... hmm, and it's been about ten to twenty years off for at least the last twenty years. This is just a very expensive, and very targeted advertising campaign by the Honda Motor

Thankfully, hydrogen fuel cells aren't the only means of more efficient, and environmentally "friendlier" cars. Although there are electric cars on the market at the high end of the price spectrum (like Tesla Motors' 2009 Tesla Roadster which may be reserved for $109,000), the real star of the low/no emissions market is the German automaker Loremo AG's "Loremo."

The Loremo stands for "Low Resistance Mobile". This car is an ultra light, diesel powered vehicle that sidesteps current practices in using a 2 ton vehicle to transport a 180 pound person.  This amazing car has many limitations, such as cramped quarters (it seats only 2 adults, and with almost shoulder to shoulder accommodations), low headroom, low acceleration (the ultra light diesel engine will be powered by only 2 pistons and does 0-60 in 16 seconds) and very limited cargo space. It also sports a very unusual single door, which is the front cab section of the car. Rewarding drivers who can abide by these limitations is an astonishing fuel efficiency, and a very savory sticker price.

The Loremo will debut in Europe, in 2009 for 15,000 Euros (U.S. $22,000), and enjoys the incredible average fuel efficiency of 130 to 150 miles per gallon!  Loremo AG plans to release the Loremo in the United States market in 2010, and will release a special GT model for the American Market that sports a 3 piston engine enabling it to go from 0-60 miles per hour in roughly 10 seconds. Also in the works are hybrid, and electric versions.

Aside from fantastic fuel efficiency, this car will have high tech amenities such as an onboard PC that's controlled by a 12 inch touch screen. The touch screen will offer information on fuel efficiency, navigation, Internet access, and of course e-mail access.

This amazing piece of German engineering is just the answer for our current energy cost crisis, and is also a great interim vehicle on the way to what I hope will be a no-vehicle-emissions future.

Finally, for those unwary consumers who demand snake oil, there are many Internet fly-by-night operations that will sell information and hardware that enables the end user (also known as the sucker) to easily and cheaply convert their cars and trucks into HHO Vehicles. These sites promise fuel efficiency improvements of between 40 and 50%! All this is made  possible by converting your car to run on gasoline and plain household tap water! This promising and "proven" technology is so revolutionary, and so simple that after you have converted your car, you'll want to share it with your friends, neighbors and family. Anyone that goes for this sort of thing probably went for the "build a hovercraft out of a plain vacuum cleaner" plans that were advertised in the back of comic books in the late 60s and early 70s.
On the site linked above, there is ample anecdotal evidence (from unspecified sources) that attest to the grand simplicity of this exciting new technology.

With all of this technology on the burner, the future will never be the same...

Longwindedly yours,

Kevin

Alright, I wasn't meditating on the cosmic mysteries of my, or any other porch. Tonight I was sitting on my porch, unwinding from a brisk day at the headstone shop by playing my Banjo. I've learned from playing musical instruments that a body can actually enter a meditative state by playing an instrument -you just sit there, fingerpick an open chord, and let your fingers do the wandering instead of your mind. If you just sit there, and play with the instrument a while, with no song in mind, no musical destination, just pretty notes, soon you feel your body loosening up, and if you're lucky, you'll actually get an endorphin rush as you play, and listen to the music. 

Tonight was more special than other nights. I played an open G chord, and moved my finger up and down the D string striking harmonious notes. I was playing a syncopated roll, and really started to feel good when I noticed a squirrel 12 feet away from me, eating rose hips from my garden, and watching me. Ordinarily when people are around, squirrels get scarce, but tonight this squirrel stayed within eyeshot, and grooved with me.

I've read that animals are attracted to people in a meditative state; I've actually read an account of a Yogi coming out of a meditation to a shock -a cobra had sidled up to within 5 feet of him, and was just taking in the vibes. It's a special thing when you can unplug from the oscillating thought generator that is the mind -I don't often consciously do that. On occasion at work, I sit down on my break, and fingerpick an open D chord. I play outside on a terrace that overlooks a neighboring kindergarten, and sometimes children tune in as I am playing. I walk away from these encounters feeling charged, and also feeling like I made a connection. For me there is nothing like it.

Kevin

Bo Diddley was an early Rock m' Roll Musician. He was in his 30s at the time of his "discovery" by Chess records. The Chess brothers saw that Rock 'n Roll was selling lots of records, and put blues veteran Willie Dixon to work finding a place for him in the Chess stable of artists.

Bo Diddley was an average guitar player, although he did have a great voice. What really set him apart from other Rock 'n Roll artists of the time was his rhythmic hook, that is known as the Bo Diddley sound. This hypnotic rhythm and his songs that spoke to the youth of the day influenced countless artists to come, including The Yardbirds, John Cippolina of the Quick Silver Messenger Service, and especially George Thoroughgood whose band the Delaware Destroyers' covers of seminal Bo Diddley songs such as "Who Do You Love" introduced a new generation to the Bo Diddley sound.

Bo Diddley expressed bitterness in his later years at not being properly compensated for his artistic work. It is an unfortunate fact of history that until at least the 1960s, Black artists were paid a one time fee for making records, whereas their white counterparts were paid royalties for their work.  Pat Boone continues to collect royalties every time one of his 1950s pop recordings is played on an Oldies station -Bo saw no such compensation. Bo was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of fame in 1999, received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, and even got his own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. He once commented to a reporter that this recognition didn't pay his bills.

 
Bo Diddley playing his signature song and first hit, Bo Diddley  Live in 1966

I had an opportunity to see Bo Diddley in 1999, and was sorely disappointed by his performance. He played very few of his classic hits, and spent literally 15 minutes of his 45 minute set (in the middle of it) trying to change a battery in his trademark cigar box guitar. It appeared to me that he suffered from stage fright, and wasn't interested in connecting with the audience. Maybe I just saw him on a bad night. I have to admit that he was very influential, and I love some of his early Chess recordings, especially the teen love song "Mona".

Bo Diddley's influence cannot be questioned -he was a highly original musician who knew how to throw a good hook, and make people dance.  For many he is held in the same regard as Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly as one of the Fathers of Rock and Roll.  For me, he wasn't a Rock 'n Roll master, but he was certainly one of the first.

Kevin

I've been blogging to some degree on Windows Live Spaces since December of 2004.
One of the biggest frustrations in my blogging has been the evil tendency of Windows Live Spaces to swallow whole blogs that I have painstakingly written. On average, I spend about 40 minutes writing and tweaking each blog post that I make. Several times I have been frustrated when a blog is lost to the ether- whether by me accidentally navigating away from the page before a blog is posted, by Internet Explorer locking up, or maybe it was gremlins that killed my post. I would usually throw my hands up in despair when a blog got swallowed, and wouldn't bother trying to rewrite and repost it.

Another frustration in blogging on Windows live spaces has been placing and tweaking photographs that I embed in my blogs.

All of these problems have been answered for by Microsoft, by the release of the new (to me) Windows Live Writer. This gorgeous tool enables a blogger to compose blogs on their local machine, free of navigation errors, browser crashes and the like. It also allows the user to tweak the hell out of a blog before ever posting it. Yes people, for Windows Live Spaces blogging, this is the promised land (did I mention that it's free??).

You can get your copy of the Windows Live Writer by clicking this link. I highly recommend it... now if I can find some way to deal with this itchy itchy rash....

Kevin

For those who have not followed this story, Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have come to an accord regarding the Hobbit Films. Peter Jackson will not direct, however he will produce the movies.

Scheduled are 2 movies, the first based on J.R.R. Tolkein's 'The Hobbit', and the second based on Tolkein's "The Silmarillion" which will bridge the story of the Hobbit through to the Lord of the Rings.

On May 25th, the Times Online reported that Sir Ian McKellon will return to play Gandalf the Grey, Viggo Mortenson will return to play Aragorn, Andy Serkis will return to play Gollum, and Sir Ian Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins is expected to narrate.

According to producer Peter Jackson, “2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post production follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released December 2011, and F2 (film two) released December 2012.”

I loved Peter Jackson's adaptation of the Lord of the Rings movies, and I'm excited that construction of the sets for the Hobbit films will soon begin in New Zealand. If these movies are of the same caliber of the LOTR adaptations, I will again be forced to brave the long lines at the Cinerama, and see them on the big screen. The only bummer here is that we have to wait 3½ years from now to see the first film!

Kevin

Pope John Paul II was a charismatic Pope. As the leader of the Catholic Church worldwide, he reached out to many groups, and sought to find common ground with those outside his faith. Pope Benedict his successor to the office of Pope is cut from a different cloth.

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger)was part of the group that hammered out the Vatican II reforms in the early 1960s that changed the face of the Catholic Church, ushering in changes such as the switch from Masses being conducted in Latin to "the vernacular" (local languages). As a reformer he helped to institute many changes that made the Catholic Church more approachable to it's congregations.

In 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope by the Papal Conclave. He was long the right hand man of Pope John Paul II, and even Time Magazine reported beforehand that Vatican sources believed he would be chosen as the next Pope.

As an ex-Catholic, I know little of Pope Benedict's internal work in the Church of Rome. I view him with the perspective of an outsider, and took little note of him until I heard in the national news of a lecture he gave at the University of Regensburg, in Germany on Sept. 12, 2005. In this lecture he addressed the Islamic faith saying "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.^"

These were divisive, and judgmental words, and although the Pope later apologized for any offense he caused by his statement, I was shocked that the leader of the Church of Rome would issue such criticism, and so pointedly toward the Muslims. He drove his point home, but demonstrated that that home had no tolerance for Muslims. At the time I reflected on the history of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Catholic Church itself worked to "spread by the sword the faith".  This statement by the Pope galvanized in my mind the notion that this was no great spiritual leader, but a partisan seeking to divide.

Pope  Benedict also alienated protestants when in June 2007 he approved the "Dominus lesus" which restated the Catholic Church's position that because of their perceived lack of bishops in the historic episcopate, Protestant faith communities "are not true Churches," as contrasted with Orthodox communities, which have bishops in the apostolic line and are therefore are considered true, if deficient, Churches.

Today, I read an article on MSNBC which reported that the Vatican announced that it will excommunicate all Female Priests. The decision to make this statement reflects in my mind just more division from the Church of Rome. I think it's ludicrous that the Vatican even feels any need to issue such a verdict when it is already known that the Catholic Church does not recognize female priests. This would be like the Church of Latter Day Saints deciding to excommunicate the members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (who are a breakaway group with no real ties to the Mormon Church).

One of the central goals of Pope Benedict is to attack the "secularization" of society, and to bring about a return to traditional Church doctrines. I believe that the waning influence of the Catholic Church is in part because it as a body refuses to evolve with human understanding. Elements of the Catholic Church are stuck on ideas of what "should" and "shouldn't" be, and are turning a blind eye to the cancers that consume it, such as the Priest sexual abuse scandals. I believe that the Church does not need to condone doctrines that it disagrees with, but at the same time, I believe that greater strength and unity would come from affirming and encouraging tolerance, understanding, and compassion for others.

The Catholic Church will probably be around for centuries to come, but I believe that it's relevance to people and society will continue to wane -especially as long as it is led by divisive figures.

Kevin

On Thursday May 24th 1883, at 2:00 pm, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to traffic.  It was the world's largest suspension bridge, a full 50 percent longer than any other suspension bridge in existence at the time. It took the builders 13 years, and a cost of 27 lives to bring the project to completion. This was a massive undertaking. The bridge that spanned over the East river linking Manhattan island to Brooklyn required the use of the most cutting edge technology of the day, and claimed the life of the master civil engineer, and German immigrant, John Augustus Roebling who designed it.

That it is still standing one and one quarter centuries after it's opening is a testament to the vision of Mr. Roebling. The bridge's looming gothic towers, graceful steel suspension lines, and durable construction are a grand expression of the American character in the 19th century.

The construction of the bridge saw many setbacks. The first was the tragic death of John Roebling. While surveying for the bridge project, his foot was crushed by a ferry against a pylon; just a few weeks later he died of lockjaw. The actual construction of the bridge was directed by his son, Washington Roebling.

The erection of the great towers required the use of "Caissons". These were submarine chambers, that were fed compressed air, enabling workers to bore through the layers of mud and silt, drilling down until they hit the solid bedrock at the base of the river. "Caisson Disease" (now known as decompression sickness, or "the bends") was an affliction suffered by many of the men who drilled into the mud. Washington Roebling himself suffered from Caisson Disease. He was partially paralyzed, and withdrew from active participation, relying on his wife Emily Warren Roebling, to communicate his directions to the engineers on the work site.

In the construction of the Manhattan support tower, the digging was stopped when the bedrock was determined to be 30 feet deeper than anticipated. Washington Roebling estimated that boring through to the bedrock would cost of 80 more lives, and instead decided to build the Manhattan tower supported by sand alone.

The best tribute to the Brooklyn Bridge was written by John Roebling in a report to the New York Bridge Company:

"The contemplated work, when constructed in accordance with my design, will not only  be the greatest bridge in existence, but it will be the great engineering work of the Continent and of the age. Its most conspicuous feature - the great towers - will serve as landmarks to the adjoining cities, and they will be entitled to be ranked as national monuments. As a great work of art, and a successful specimen of advanced bridge engineering, the structure will forever testify to the energy, enterprise, and wealth of that community which shall secure its erection."

It is sad that John Roebling didn't live to see even the first construction of his bridge. Nonetheless, as he stated, the Brooklyn Bridge stands as a great engineering work of the Continent, and of the age.

Happy Birthday old Girl!

Kevin

A few weeks ago I was shocked (but in a good way) that Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry issued an executive order requiring that all girls between 11 and 12 years of age in Texas be innoculated against the HPV virus. The Human Papilloma Virus has been linked as a causal for Cervical Cancer in women. HPV is a generally asymptomatic sexually transmitted infection that about half of Americans contract. It's even more common among women; scientists estimate that 80 percent or more have had HPV by age 50.  Last summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that girls be vaccinated, starting at age 12.