the sixth late friday night eclectic buffet

wow. friday night’s here again and for us here in ontario it’s the beginning of a long weekend because the government of our province has deemed this monday family day in recognition of the fact that in the course of driving the economy of this country along on the backs of millions of mums and dads, the family has been pushed to the side. so, here’s a day, a chance, a window of opportunity for families to spend time with each other. or so the thinking goes.

tonight i’m going to share the usual wide range of interests that power the golden fish blog starting with a chocolate-powered vehicle. what?! says you, (the admitted chocoholic just out of cocoa-rehab) what? how can anyone countenance the use of the product of the sacred bean for such an unholy purpose? well, even though it puts our dark demon to a strange use, it’s for good and not evil is all i can counter with.
in case you forget, here's a pic of the good stuff . . . .


it seems these two guys pictured below have long wanted to show that a vehicle could move about the african continent using biofuels. most people i know would not include chocolate on the biofuel list but these boys are decidedly non conformist and more power to them.

the lads have tricked out a ford iveco to run on chocolate scraps rather than do the sensible thing like run it on switch grass, pig dung, or old french fry oil. inside the cargo truck are two toyota landcruisers also powered by fuel that began life as chocolate, all in a bid to raise awareness of green fuels.

the 7250km trip across the sahara should take about three weeks.

the pair will take a small processing unit with them to convert waste oil products into fuel, which they will then donate to an african charity, along with the truck. they are taking 2,000 litres of bio-diesel made from 4,000kg of chocolate misshapes, the equivalent of 80,000 chocolate bars, to fuel their adventure. the fuel is made from cocoa butter, which has been extracted from the waste chocolate.

the pair will then cross the length of the country to mauritania. from there they will cross the desert until they reach the legendary city of timbuktu, in the west african country of mali.

to find out more then visit their sweet website.

moving vehicles around using chocolate seems simple enough but how about moving blocks weighing a ton, or moving farm buildings - on your own. my buddy peterborough dave, currently basking in the artificial warmth of "boogie beach", sent me this story link:

moving on and into the future becoming present. the big question . . . well you know, as i get older i realize that there are millions and billions and maybe kazillions of big questions waiting to be asked and answered but the one i'd like answered is . . . what do the truly smart big thinkers see as the must-be-dones? well, here's an answer. in the view of a whole pile of clever minds from all walks of life, the top fourteen engineering must-be-dones are:

make solar energy affordable
provide energy from fusion
develop carbon sequestration methods
manage the nitrogen cycle
provide access to clean water
restore and improve urban infrastructure
advance health informatics
engineer better medicines
reverse-engineer the brain
prevent nuclear terror
secure cyberspace
enhance virtual reality
advance personalized learning
engineer the tools for scientific discovery

many of those make the golden fish list but some of them like the "restore and improve urban infrastructure" one stick out like the proverbial green thumb (with the emphasis on green) 'cause there should be something in there about making the urban incursion into the natural world much much more seamless. for example. take a look at the lighthouse. this is the united kingdom’s first ever net zero carbon home. what is really exciting about it is that not only is it made with the most sustainable materials, but it's also designed to encourage and shape a more sustainable lifestyle for its occupants. the design shows that a carbon-free house can be significant if the responsibility is not only on the materials and the design, but also on the lifestyles of the homeowners themselves.


finally. for your musical edification and amazement this evening, i give you the vienna vegetable orchestra. no, seriously. these musicians all play vegetables! i shared this with my class today and they got to listen to the music first and then they told me what they believed the instruments were and then i showed them this video. it was a cool and rare sight to see 12 year old kids who've seen it all sitting with their jaws hanging down. have a look and prepare to be astonished.