If you're here to read my take on the SMarts London Social Media Un-Conference, scroll down. Sorry, but a more pressing issue has come up: Art!
And this blog will be at the top to-morrow, I'll move it, and it may grow. So, if you come tomorrow for my little follow-up to today's SMarts post, get ready to scroll again.
I don't know how anyone can get up in front of an audience and say that by the end of the week they have nothing more to share on the Net. This morning I checked where my hits are coming from, I put out a tweat and checked the Twitter feeds to which I subscribe.
I found the following tweat: hunniebunnie Put a snazzy new flash ellemusic player with my song "Let You In" on http://bit.ly/1LZ05I Come listen! :)
If that address doesn't work once removed from its Twitter home, and I bet it doesn't, try the following link: ellemusic on MySpace
Elle is a talented London woman who is now living in Scandinavia. How I discovered her site, I really don't know. But it is just such an eclectic site with a strong patina of "art" washed over it that even though I could not care less for fashion, I visit there now and then.
Elle is not just a good writer, photographer and graphics artist, she is also a musician. I believe she had a group in her teens in London. James Reaney might know Elle. He seems to know everyone even remotely connected to the arts in London (Ontario).
At the SMarts Conference the last event was a panel discussion on free art. Does giving away artistic creations on the Net, or worst having them simply ripped off, help or hurt the artist? There were two women and two men on the panel, all with both feet placed firmly in the world of art.
The speakers all had strong positions and presented them well but the one I liked best was the feisty one - an artist named Olenka. She saw the problem very clearly, unfortunately the world does not see what she sees. Olenka was not swayed. Taking stuff for free, stuff not offered, is theft. Period! And those taking the art are thieves.
Olenka said, "Lot's of people are making money on social media and it's off our backs - you people are patsies!" Olenka is out to change the world, to change the world's perception of what it means to take stuff for free from the Net - stuff that was never meant to be free. (I would add that if the artist gives the stuff away because they feel pressured, that is a digital world mugging. "Hands up. Hand over your zeros and ones, now!")
I like it.
Elle is sharing. Fine. But we must find a way to reward our artists. They civilize our world. Without artists, it's back to the caves - but if your cave is in the south of France it won't be so bad. The cave walls there are covered with incredible art.
Please send me an e-mail and let me know how to get in touch with you and I'll see if I can find someone interested in your story but not interested in you. No name attached to story. I'd like to take a crack at helping you.
My e-mail is londondailyphoto1@hotmail.com ---- Note the number 1 after photo.
I love coffee. Rich, almost thick coffee, with a small whack of sugar and smoothing splash of milk — sometimes even half and half. But what truly makes a cup of coffee, for me, is something that is only dipped, temporarily into the cup, and that's my wife's biscotti.
Dried cherries, oven toasted hazelnuts and a little lemon zest all combine to make these just about perfect.
A good cup of coffee, a crisp biscotti ready for dipping, and my morning London Free Press, the perfect way to start a day.
If you'd like to try making my wife's biscotti you'll need:
4 cups (1 l) all-purpose flour 2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder 1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt Grated lemon zest from 1 lemon 1 cup (250 ml) sliced hazelnuts lightly toasted in the oven or in a dry frying pan 4 large eggs 1 1/2 cups (225 ml) granulated sugar 1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract - use the real stuff and not vanillin 1 cup (250 ml) dried cherries
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C)
2. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder,salt, lemon zest and hazelnuts.
4. Using a KitchenAid stand mixer, beat eggs until fluffy and a light coloured.
5. Slowly beat in sugar, then oil, lemon juice and vanilla.
6. Slowly add flour mixture and stir until dry mixture is nearly absorbed.
7. Finally, stir in dried cherries.
8. With water-moistened hands divide dough in half and form each into a loaf about 15 inches (38 cm) long and 4 inches (10 cm) wide on a baking sheet. Keep loaves at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
9. Bake from 35 to 40 minutes or until small cracks are visible and tops are golden.
10. Slice loaves onto a large cutting board and cut crosswise into 1/2 inch (1 1/4 cm) thick slices. If the knife blade becomes sticky, wipe with a damp cloth.
11. Stand slices upright and about 1/2 inch (1 1/4 cm) apart on baking pan.
12. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until biscotti are dry to the touch.
13. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet sitting on a rack.
14. When completely cool, store in airtight containers.
This should make about four dozen biscotti. This is enough for more than three weeks if you share them with your partner and you both show proper restraint.
Most reports don't go into detail about the other work being done by the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre. Their work is absolutely amazing. If you are really interested, click on the link to my DJ article.
Oh, and if you've got the time, check out London Daily Photo. I'm rather happy with the picture and writing. If you have even more time, there is new photo tip at Rockin' On: Photography.
I have posted one of my best news reports; It looks at the danger presently posed to the Great Lakes by an invasion of Asian carp made possible by creative human ineptitude.
It's November and it's cold in Canada. Oh, it will get colder but let's not quibble; it's cold.
I don't drive my Morgan too often in the winter but I do drive it. I'm not very mechanical. Pulling plugs and filling cylinders with oil seems harder than just driving the old car for 45 minutes every four weeks.
If you don't run an engine regularly, the cylinders can rust. I know this is true but we don't want to go there . . . well, maybe we do. That incident, as embarrassing as it was, is at the core of this post.
You see, my Morgan was vandalized years ago. And to make a long story short, I was forced to store the car for years. Finally, I found someone to fix the car. I loaded it on a flat bed and had it trucked to Bolton, Ontario.
When the mechanic pulled the head, he discovered the pistons were rusted to the cylinders. "Didn't you put oil in the cylinders," he asked. "Of course," I replied. "I did that before putting it into storage."
"That was years ago! Heavens, man! Haven't you heard of gravity? Over time the oil seeps down to the bottom of the engine leaving the cylinder metal exposed." He then took a power chisel and broke up the pistons and chipped the cylinder sleeves from the engine.
Lot's of other stuff was equally damaged from doing nothing. I began to think my old car was a lot like a person. If you want rusty arteries, just sit and do nothing. Do nothing and it will come, meaning deterioration.
It took my mechanic three years of off-again-on-again work to put my Morgan back on the road. When I had some cash, the work was on. When I didn't, the work was off. There were a lot of offs.
But, in the end, it was fixed. My wife and I drove it to San Francisco in 2005 for the Morgans Over America tour. We saw the Grand Canyon. We spent a night in Hannibal, Missouri, made famous by Mark Twain. We took the Chi-Cheemaun car ferry from the largest, freshwater island in the world to Tobermory at the tip of the scenic Bruce in Ontario. And when we got to Toronto the car died. It needed a new cam shaft.
You know what's coming: I loaded it on a flat bed and had it trucked to Bolton.
Fixed again, my wife and I drove it to Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Niagara Falls, Detroit — they loved it in Detroit — hey, it is Motown. And then the other day, out for a late fall run, gotta keep that rust at bay, I felt my heel slip. I thought there was a lose piece of paper, or maybe a leaf, under my foot. I reached down and felt something warm, like blood, but slippery. I looked at my fingers. Oil! My engine's life blood! A quick glance at the oil gauge confirmed that I had no pressure. Zero. I immediately shut the engine off.
I just got off the phone to the mechanic. He says that I have horseshoes where the sun don't shine, or something to that effect. The engine is fine. A hose carrying oil to the one-shot lubrication system (don't ask) broke. I shut the engine down in time. No damage.
So, what's the point of all of this? Why is this blog titled "It was a green car?" If you're thinking it's because of all the money, the green, that the little car has devoured, you're wrong.
Here's the scoop — the Environmental Rating for Vehicles (ERV) has been calculated for the Morgan roadster by Cardiff University and a new Morgan 4/4 rates almost 7 per cent higher than a Toyota Prius Hybrid!
If I asked you to name a car that was designed and built around the principle of weight reduction, you might not think of a sports car but you should have. My Morgan doesn't tip the scales at even 2000 lbs., and yet it can mosey down highway 401 and hold its own against the turbulence caused by even the largest trucks. Size does matter and small is better. And what you do with that small size is important, too.
According to the Cardiff University report, "despite the traditional styling of Morgan cars, they can out-compete most . . . modern competitors in terms of environmental performance." And, as I said, they're no slouches on the highway either. (Ah, but twisty, narrow, back country roads, like those snaking up and down the Niagara escarpment, on those roads from hell Morgans find heaven.)
So, how does a car earn a good ERV rating?
- low weight
- good use of materials
- low emissions
- durability
- a green manufacturing system
- a forward looking approach
Many new Morgans tip the scales at only 50 kg more than The Smart Car. Morgans use lots of steel, sometimes aluminum, and even wood in their construction — think recyclables. New Morgans use state-of-the-art engines from manufacturers like BMW.
Now, your might think that durability was the weak spot in the Morgan green armour. If you did, you're wrong. Morgans are durable. I bought mine in December of 1968 and yet among Morgan owners, I'm a bit of a newbie. One fellow, I know, bought his Morgan in 1956! The factory encourages this by supplying parts for up to 50 years after a car was produced. And don't discount the emotional attachment owners have for their Morgans; Morgan owners are as durable as their cars — although I, personally, have never needed a flatbed. I have needed an ambulance, though.
Around 60 -70 million cars are produced every year with the numbers climbing constantly. This is clearly unsustainable. If car making is to survive, all manufacturers will have to move towards to a business model closer to that of Morgan and other low volume producers than that of General Motors. (Hey, Morgan has been in business for a hundred years and, unlike GM, is still standing on its own two feet — uh, four, four wheels.)
Lastly, if you believe a car company famous for deviating little from a 1930s design is hardly a forward thinking company then you're wrong again. Morgan has announced the LIFECar, designed to prove a car can be lean, green and still fun, is going into production. And then there is the all electric Morgan based on the original three-wheel Morgan design with roots going back to the early years of the last century.
Finally, why do I say my Morgan "was" green in the past tense? Internal combustion engines have come a long way since 1968. By today's standards my 4-cylinder was a polluter. I'm afraid its days of making claims to being green have passed.
I don't know how long my Page Rank will remain at three but three is amazing. I never thought that I would have a page rank on parr with Elle and Brian. Sonny Drysdale has earned a rating of four with his very entertaining blog.
This blog has been more successful than I ever imagined and for that I must say thank you. It would not be possible to do so much if it were not for you, the regular readers or occasional visitors.
