this story pushed me over the edge
Sunday, May 14, 2006, 11:48 AM - General, Food
Last year I was listening to Earth Watch Radio , and this story is what pushed me over the edge to eating more organic veges. I finally moved my butt to find it, so I could share. The link at the bottom of the page, it is also interesting for more information.


A Helpful But Hazardous Harvest
Scientists clean up chemicals like PCBs with help from vegetables like pumpkins and zucchini.
By Richard Hoops

Earthwatch Radio
Some toxic chemicals that were taken out of production during the 1970s are extremely persistent and still linger in the environment. In North America, some places are still tainted by the pesticide DDT and industrial chemicals known as PCBs. Scientists are testing plants to see if they can clean up these places, and they say pumpkins and zucchini do the job pretty well.

Ken Reimer is an environmental scientist at the Royal Military College of Canada. Reimer is testing different kinds of plants as tools for cleaning up contaminated soil. He says pumpkins and zucchini are exceptionally good at dislodging chemicals that are bonded to soil particles. The plants pull the chemicals out of the soil and absorb them into their tissue. Over a period of time, they might be able to clean up some contaminated sites and make them safe to be used again.

Reimer says this use of vegetables is still experimental. But he says it's drawing attention from people who envision new uses for land that is now off limits.

"We've had a lot of interest from developers who are looking at buying brownfield sites -- former industrial sites that aren't being used right now -- and they're looking at long-term development, perhaps 10 or 15 years into the future. And so if they had a means of relatively passive remediation that may take that period of time but is not very labor intensive, not very cost intensive, this is ideal."

Reimer says this kind of garden variety clean-up would still require precautions to protect people and wildlife. The plants would need to be fenced off to keep anybody or anything from wandering away with zucchini and pumpkins that might be ripening into industrial-strength hazardous waste.

Script for Monday, October 03, 2005

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donuts and cage beds
Friday, May 12, 2006, 08:25 PM - General


Someone just did a donut right under my window while playing loud douf douf music, as you can see from the photo, doing a donut here while it is full of cars double parked (including on the footpath), kids, animals and prostitutes... it really isn't an appropriate place to do that. (I sound old!) I thought they hit someone from the thud as they stopped.

Why was the BBC world service so depressing today, and yesterday. The highlight being the the report on "cage beds" still being used in asylums in Eastern Europe and how a 30 year old woman died in one recently because she ate her own faeces, (even though they are supposedly banned and not in use because people are generally left with no food, no water, no release). Revolting.

I spoke to the woman who runs the gallery down the road who has my work in it this afternoon, she has her own work in the gallery at the moment, it is really beautiful... they are having a signing tonight with Alain Buyse and another artist. Even though I know them, I am too scared to go alone. I don't want to answer any more questions about what I do for money at the moment.

I have already eaten two dinners: one at 6:30pm (to make up for the lunch I didn't eat) and second dinner at 7:30pm. I also put some strawberries in the freezer at 6:30 that I shall take out in about half an hour, and will blend with soymilk and a little maple syrup...


oh, such an exciting life!
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a bit of sunshine
Tuesday, May 9, 2006, 09:23 PM - General, Relationships, Work (The Man)


So I thought I might add a little bit of Sydney sunshine from when we were there. This was taken
off the side of a boat, this is my man under the water, swimming just off Lady Jane's Beach (yes, the nudist beach)... nothing against nudists, but some of them do some strange stuff while prancing up and down the beach...

ANYWAY, I digress.
I drove, caught the métro and walked for a total of 3.5 hours today. It really wasn't nice, considering 2.45 hours of that was actually driving. AND considering I am not paid to drive to teach some bugger English.
Plus, to make it worse, I was horrified with the smoggy looking sky as I drove back to work to give them back their stinking car. It rained all day yeterday! How could it still look that bad!?
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sketchels
Sunday, May 7, 2006, 10:06 PM - General, Vegan/Vegetarian, Art/Design, Illustration
So an update on that cake... man it was good!
No photos as camera went to Egypt, that camera has been more places than I... perhaps.

I was searching for whales on the internet to make sure I was actually drawing my whale generally right for a stylised whale, and decided to google myself (that being benconservato)... kind of scary the trail you leave by using the same name everywhere. Ohhhh! I am scared...

Did find out something interesting though... those sketchels that I "donated" to Jeremyville in 2004 are finally on the internet to buy.




I get no money from it, so don't be impulsed to buy on my account. Not unless you want an original artwork, made by me over many days during the winter of 2003/2004 (that, as I recall, you can take out of the bag anyway if you so desired), and a satchel all for $150USD. The money was going to a cause, and I forget what it was now. I am into contributing again, if I am cool enough... never sure.
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sunday of many seasons
Sunday, May 7, 2006, 06:37 PM - General, Art/Design
So, today, I dropped my cousin Amy at the train station for the 10am train to Paris, and then drove to the other international train station and put my man on a 10:20am train to Charles de Gaulle (as he is going to a conference in Egypt this week, and I wasn't invited)... and it rained and rained.
I went to the market to buy some veges in the least amount of packaging and supporting smaller sellers (not supermarkets)... ate potatoes, which, for some reason at the moment always makes me feel dead sick, read some more of Bliss by Peter Carey, as I haven't read it for a long time, and I am in the process of re-reading books to see if I have the same perspective. It is an interesting exercise actually.

Slept.

The sun came out and I went for a walk with all the rest of the bored looking Frogs... with their prams, and now plan to make the chocolate bomb pudding cake from the ppk and eat it all... or most, alone, once my silken tofu thaws.

Oh, I have also started my illustration friday illustration (which is fat). Nice updated site at illustration Friday by the way, you should help them out and donate, when their button works...) Actually I am trying to do two things at the same time with it. I was asked before I went to Australia if I would participate in something for Greenpeace Italy called Whaleless so he is a fat little whale... which I need to let dry between stages, and I multi-task and forget that it doesn't need that much time. I had another look at the whaleless site and feel a bit intimidated now, but I'll get over it.
AND! I have done a bit more work on my glossary, which I have said SHALL BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THE WEEK!

I promise.
If not I can be converged on by pirates.
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