New Morning, New Year.

Woke up a little after 5AM from a drip-drop in my bedroom. I put a towel under the leak and since I would not be able to sleep with the dripping sound I got up and made tea. Now the sun is about to rise on a new day and indeed a new year. Many thanks for your New Year’s greetings and may 02007 be a good year for you and for all of us.

I know I am going to enjoy writing 02007 (0+2+0+0+7=9)…

The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996 (The Long Now Foundation uses five digit dates, the extra zero is to solve the deca-millennium bug which will come into effect in about 8,000 years) to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide counterpoint to today’s “faster/cheaper” mind set and promote “slower/better” thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years. The term was coined by one of our founding board members, Brian Eno. When Brian first moved to New York City he found that in New York here and now meant this room and this five minutes, as opposed to the larger here and longer now that he was used to in England. We have since adopted the term as the title of our foundation as we are trying to stretch out what people consider as now.

You can also read this article on the Long Now Foundation.

Ice mass snaps free from Canada’s Arctic

Ice mass snaps free from Canada’s Arctic – Yahoo! News
A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said Thursday, citing climate change as a “major” reason for the event. The Ayles Ice Shelf — all 41 square miles of it — broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic. Scientists discovered the event by using satellite imagery. Within one hour of breaking free, the shelf had formed as a new ice island, leaving a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake.

Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, traveled to the newly formed ice island and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years,” Vincent said. “We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.”

Thanks Salma

We received more than a foot of snow last night. Sadly some people are still clueless about global warming. What happens when you throw a bunch of ice-cubes into a bowl of water? The water gets colder. When 41 square miles of ice break off and melt in the ocean, what happens? Weather patterns change! It will colder before it gets warmer, allowing some folks to go on pretending that there is no Global Warming. There will be no time to gloat as we will all have to work together to turn this ship around. This global warming trend might end up accelerating faster even than the change from CDs to downloads – my Higher Octave royalty statements already show more downloads than CD sales… – how is that for a strange mental tangent…

Here it is still snowing. Quite beautiful, actually. A thick blanket of snow. Quiet. Might have to cancel tomorrow night at GIG if it doesn’t let up and melt… no way my car will make it through this much snow and I hear from others that the streets in town are treacherous.

Update: We now have received two feet of snow. Must purchase a better snow shovel. Back is hurting. But, never complain about moisture in any form when you live in a desert…

Even more snow. Record snowfall in Santa Fe. Nobody is to drive on the streets. I-25 closed from Albuquerque to Denver. You couldn’t leave Santa Fe if you wanted to…

Christmas Dinner

Dinner Salad
Beautiful feast with friends yesterday. This was the beginning of the salad… we added lettuce later, but I had to take a photo of these rich colors!

Monday Morning Snow

On Saturday it was still much too warm – I walked around town in a shirt – and now it started snowing. We are supposed to get 4-8 inches today/tonight.

PS: No storm in the evening, no snow and the little bit from the morning quickly melted. Went to a friend’s house where we watched Dustin Brunson’s Kham/Tibet slideshow of about 450 photos. The slideshow was utterly amazing and beautiful. Suggested he should get a Flickr account to let more people see his photographs. Will keep you posted.

Winter is coming

And that means candles… a room always feels warmer with a few candles burning. I remember my cold Boston loft – 3,750 sq.ft. of space and no heat from Friday evening until Monday morning. Candles helped. You should consider using beeswax candles – they actually improve the air, rather than making it worse and you can get them here: Santa Fe Beeswax Candle Company

Chargers

How to finance your monthly coffee or yearly TerraPass: Tip #10 | Home energy use, Chargers, Appliances, Energy conservation & technologies
Are you plugged in? If you have ever left rechargers or unused appliances plugged into the electrical outlet, you may be in for a bit of a shock. The U.S. Department of Energy tells us that not only do appliances continue to draw electricity while the products are turned off, but in the average home nearly 75% of all electricty used to power electronics is consumed by products that are switched off.

A tip from Ideal Bite
Use power strips to turn off TVs and stereos. You’ll save the energy equivalent of a 100-watt light bulb that is always on.

With stereo or TV or computers one should use a power strip with surge suppressor anyway – I use this brand. In my studio I also use their UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies).