Empty Bay – Space Coast, Ghost Coast?

2010.01.10, Sunday in Birding, Technology, Travel | Leave a comment

A couple of years ago, I traveled to Florida’s Space Coast and visited the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, FL. I had a great time. The area was even more interesting than I had expected, and my expectations were more developed than those a kid might have on a family outing to the Space Coast today. The names Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach were spoken in my house 5 days a week for 5 years. They came through the TV soaked in the comedy and magic of I Dream of Jeannie. In addition, the glamor of the place was also enhanced by the very real successes of the folks who lived there during my childhood. I was privileged to watch Neil Armstrong and the others walking on the moon through live TV broadcasts.

So, I had an idea of what Cocoa Beach would look like. It doesn’t look like that of course. It actually looks like a smaller, tamer version of Myrtle Beach, SC, but since I grew up vacationing at Myrtle Beach I adjusted to that very quickly. The images of my childhood, though, paled in comparison to my adult interests that were fully engaged by the close-up tour I took at the Kennedy Space Center and the excellent time I had birding the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I was as happy to see the threatened Florida Scrub Jay from no less than 10 feet away as I was to walk around the enormous carcass of a Saturn V rocket lying on its side. [Flickr photos]

This reminiscing was sparked by an article I read this morning on Tampa Bay’s 10Connects.com titled: “Economically, Space Coast better off than when Apollo program ended.” The reference is to the unemployment the area is expected to suffer with the ending of the Shuttle Program this year and into early 2011. The overall impact on Brevard Co. will not be as great as it was when Apollo ended, although it will come on top of an already depressed economy in general. Real Estate prices might drop even further.

After I read the article the thought struck me — man, it would be a good time to get a beach house in Brevard Co. or even just take a birding vacation there in 2011 for Spring Migration. Eventually, there will another boom when the next manned-space flight program cranks ups, whether that will be aiming at the moon, at Mars, or at the asteroids in between, and prices and crowds will grow again.

Birthday at Roatan and Belize’s Barrier Reef

2010.01.4, Monday in Birding, Blogging, Natural History, Travel | Leave a comment

Three years ago I learned of a Caribbean island called Roatan by following news about hurricane Felix. That was 2007 and the entry was called: Discovery by Hurricane. That brief post is one of the most visited on this blog, probably because of folks searching for Roatan as a cruise destination. Well, I’ll be actually visiting Roatan myself in a couple of weeks. My partner is taking me on a Caribbean cruise for my birthday this month.

I’ve never been on a cruise before, but I know that I love being on boats and the open water. The cruise is with Norwegian Cruise Lines and runs from Miami to Isla Roatan, Belize City, Coasta Maya, Mexico, and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. In addition to the cruise he booked two snorkeling excurisions one in Belize and one in the Bahamas.

It’s hard to say what I’m looking forward to the most — being out in the Caribbean on a ship or snorkeling the Belize Barrier Reef. As I mentioned in my 2007 blog entry, that reef is the world’s second largest. Since I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef once, this will be an excellent experience to add to that.

I’ve been studying a field guide for Belize since I learned we would be going. If my photos turn out well I’ll post them to my Flickr account where I have currently pictures from our Jan. 2009 trip to Ecuador.

I’m also looking forward to birding while in the Caribbean. From the map of our route it looks like we will be passing near the Cuban coast on the way out from Miami and back. There might be some good pelagic birding opportunities and I’m considering taking our birding scope and tripod to see shearwaters, petrels, tropic- and frigatebirds, etc.

This trip is an excellent present and a great, although belated, follow-up to that blog post from 2007.

Biting the Bullet – NaNoWriMo

2009.10.31, Saturday in Books, Literary, NaNoWriMo | Leave a comment

Well, starting tonight at midnight I am going to participate in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I’ve thought about it in the past but have finally screwed up enough courage to make a fool of myself on (virtual) paper. As I understand it, the goal is quantity and not quality and, more specifically, a work of 50,000 words. Writing so much is such a short time forces the writer to steamroll over his/her inner censor.

Friends and acquaintances who’ve done NaNoWriMo have said it can be an intense experience and a real challenge of will to slog through it. The average word count per day is 1,667. Maybe it is crazy for me to take this on in November, the beginning of busiest retail season of the year; nevertheless, I’m going to try.

Originally, I planned to modify the rules and write 2 short stories rather than one novel. I even had two vague story ideas. Twenty-five thousand words is too much for a short story though — more like a novella or even ‘novelette’, and wrapping up one story then immediately launching a new one seems like an onerous thing to do under pressure. In the last week one of those ideas stuck in my head and has engaged me enough to commit to this one story and go for the full novel.

Wish me luck.

Recycling is picking up in Philadelphia

2009.08.31, Monday in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Rodrigo Muzell reports on a potential deal between Philadelphia and the non-profit RecycleBank that would establish an awards/incentive system for residents: “With recycling up 46%…” However, the real news-worthy information in his article is the improved rate of recycling since the city went to a ’single stream’ system, which does not require residents to separate glass, metal, and paper. Since June 2008 the diversion rate, the percent of waste diverted from landfills to recycling, jumped from 8.4% to 12.4%, according to Muzell’s report. Overall there was a 46% increase in recycling in the city.

Thanks goes to Muzell for updating us on the successes of Philadelphia’s (still new) efforts at serious recycling. The one non-useful piece in his article is the comparison between Philadelphia and Germany, which he says has diversion rates up to 99%. Since 1991 Germany has had an ordinance that requires manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling their own packaging materials so a comparison between Philadelphia and Germany is not very meaningful. Even a city of our size does not have the market leverage to accomplish what Germany has.

It would be more enlightening to see how our city stacks up against other US cities and communities. That would be closer to an apples-to-apples comparison, and I suspect that we would not yet rank very high even in that group. The really good news is that our mayor is serious about improvements and an incentive program, such as the one Muzell reports on, might add to the momemtum we’re building toward being a much more environmentally responsible community.

Creative Genius – In or Out

2009.08.15, Saturday in Books, Other Favorites, Video | Leave a comment

Although I’ve not (yet) read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, I am currently reading The Last American Man by her. It was a National Book Award Finalist selection and profiles Eustace Conway, a committed and genuine ‘backwoods man’ living in a teepee in the mountains where I myself grew up. Because I’m enjoying the writing so much, I decided to google Elizabeth Gilbert and I discovered this truely outstanding video of her TED presentation that I want to keep for myself and share:

First 100 Feet for Green

2009.06.19, Friday in At Home in Philadelphia | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

PennsLanding

One of Philadelphia’s greatest assets is it’s Delaware River waterfront. It is a real shame that the city does not seem to know how to use it. The Penn’s Landing amphitheater and festival area were steps in the right direction but they come across as rather half-hearted, neglected, and now out-dated. During Mayor Street’s administration there were plans for a retail mall, an outlet-type mall no less, which fell through — luckily. The festival area was even closed for several years and the cultural celebrations which took place there each summer were re-located to a pier further north then to a huge, ugly parking lot at Broad and Washington.

That nightmare seems to be over and Penn’s Landing is now being used again by Philadelphians for summer fun. Even the fountains have been filled with water – such extravagance! But, seriously, Philadelphia should be ashamed that it has squandered this potentially awesome space.

Now it seems something sensible has happened which could lead to environmentally responsible and asthetically appealing development. Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Jeff Shields reports that the Philadelphia City Council passed a bill to require 100-foot setback from the river for green space. Developers, of course, are ticked off and claim it will hinder development. Well, what has passed for development/plans for development over the last 20 years has sucked. Now, any future plans must respect the uniqueness of the waterfront and its value in the civic life of the city. This is one little ground rule, but an essential beginning, in responsible, world-class civic space development for the city of Philadelphia.

Sprouting everywhere like mushrooms – Trash Compactors

2009.05.25, Monday in At Home in Philadelphia, Technology | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Rittenhouse Square Trash Muncher

Rittenhouse Square Trash Muncher

Last July I blogged about a small test the city of Philadelphia was running with 3 solar-powered trash compactors ( Solar-powered Trashcan Test ). Cool idea, I thought, but I did not hear anything else about them. Then over the last three weeks I’ve started seeing them everywhere. Even better — they are now paired up with recycling bins. Clearly, I missed this article on May 1 on Philly.com: Hot idea: Solar-powered trash crushers. There will be 500 of these “Big Bellies”, as they are called, distributed around Center City. 210 will be paired with recycling bins (see picture above).

This is great news for a city that has long been plagued by litter. I’ve come to realize that most (okay, many) Philadelphians will use a waste basket. In truth, the 700 wire baskets with plastic liners that are being replaced were really a  main part of the litter problem. Those baskets were often overflowing, and since they had no tops the wind would often pluck light stuff out of them and spread it down the streets. Sometimes a strong gust would completely lift the liner out of the mesh basket and dump everything out. Yet now, nothing will escape the ‘big bellies’ once they have a hold of it, and compactors offer a lot of advantages for a cash-strapped city hoping to clean up its act:

The compactors require fewer collections, which saves the city on fuel for sanitation vehicles and frees up workers for other tasks, officials said.

They also hold up to 200 gallons of trash, compared with the 55-gallon capacity of a regular wire trash basket.

Because of that capacity they require five weekly collections, compared with the 19 for a regular trash basket. That means only eight workers will be assigned to collect litter baskets, compared with the current 33, said Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson. (Philly.com)

The presence of the recycle bins in high traffic areas, like Rittenhouse Square, will also serve to remind and encourage folks to do just that — recycle. It is easier to do when it is made so convenient.

Former Mayor (and current PA Governor) Ed Rendell made huge strides in rejuvenating Philadelphia. I moved to the city the year before he was elected and I saw the progress first-hand. Now, current Mayor Michael Nutter seems ready to take it to the next level.

See also:
Philly Brings on the Big Bellies
Philadelphia Begins Rollout…
Solar Trash Compactor Firm BigBelly Raises $3.2 M

Watch Hubble Repairs on NASA TV

2009.05.16, Saturday in Natural History, Video | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

285px-Shuttle_Patch.svg.png
Follow the arduous and dangerous repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope on NASA TV. It is not Hulu and not Star Trek, but it is real and you get the added plus of seeing Earth passing underneath the hard-working astronauts. Do you get a view like this from your office window?

Preparing to go where no two shuttles have gone before

2009.05.9, Saturday in Natural History, Technology | Leave a comment

285px-Shuttle_Patch.svg.png

NBC News space analyst James Oberg’s article: NASA set for dramatic shuttle rescue is a clear and interesting report on what plans NASA has for rescuing the crew of STS-125/Atlantis should Atlantis be damaged during its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The article appeared the same day that the new Star Trek movie premiered and I think that the synchronicity of the two is worth noting. The reality of real and present space flight is much grittier and limited than flight in the future fiction of Star Trek, yet the human willingess to accept danger and reach out from our planet to take a place in the heavens beyond it is comparable. In our enthusiasm to witness the emotion and drama of movies like Star Trek let’s just not forget that there is plenty of drama surrounding our real-life, present-day forays into space. Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

The Franklin Institute’s Red Tail

2009.04.18, Saturday in At Home in Philadelphia, Birding, Natural History, Video | Tags: , , | 3 comments

(Photo copyrighted by Derek Ram 2007, GNU Free Documentation Lic., posted to Wikipedia)

Two red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) set up housekeeping on the side of Philadelphia’s science museum – The Franklin Institute. Staff members have installed a web cam so that anyone can follow the pair’s efforts to raise their three, very recently hatched, chicks. There is no artificial lighting so you’ll need to watch during daylight hours (Eastern Daylight Time).

Also recently hatched are three bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) chicks in Sidney, British Columbia. This nest can be seen on the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, a site for streaming wildlife cams.

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