I guess this would be too easy for us?

A musing on an alternative source of energy from an unlikely place -- an article on tracking training in Borneo, wherein the author (Michael Yon) is talking to a Nepalese Gurkha:

During breaks from tracking training – I was sweating like crazy in the jungle heat – I asked many questions about Afghanistan and Nepal, and he talked about a simple way to make many of the Afghans lives easier. Most Afghans don’t even have electricity. When he was about fifteen years-old, his dad installed a “Gobar Gas” (methane) generator next to the house in Nepal. The generator is simple: the owner just collects human and animal waste, and through a fantastically simple process, the contraption creates methane, which is then used for lighting, cooking, heating in the winter. It also creates excellent fertilizer, all while improving sanitation. What’s the catch? None that I’ve heard of. He said that his dad made the first Gobar Gas system in his village, and today it would costs maybe $300 total investment. Between their own toilet and four cows, they create enough methane to cook, heat and light the house. More than two decades after his dad made it, the thing is still working and doesn’t cost a single rupee to operate. When the other villagers saw it work, hundreds of Gobar Gas systems popped up around the village. I’ve seen these systems in use in Nepal, and photographed one about five years ago. It worked like a charm. But this Nepalese man, a British soldier, never saw a Gobar Gas system in Afghanistan, but he is certain that the idea would take hold in the villages. My guess is that the only real disadvantage is that the idea is incredibly effective, simple and cheap, and so we probably wouldn’t want to get involved.

This paragraph is toward the end of the article. For the full thing, read
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/quick-email-from-borneo-island-ii.htm

Bonus link: Build your own five-cow generator!
http://www.mothercow.org/oxen/gobar-gas-methane.html

(and hack back to the homepage for more wacky cow stuff)

A surfeit of amaryllis seeds

090427_02hippeastrum
Originally uploaded by lb_philly.

At 8:30 this morning the seedpod on the left was open about as much as the one on the right in this photo, taken a little afternoon. By a few minutes ago (that would be 4 pm), it had opened enough that a gentle shake sent some seeds flying.

I have, by my count, 63 viable seeds from this first pod. There are two more to come. I can't possibly start almost 200 seeds. Would anybody like some? If so, send an LJ mail with your space time coordinates.

Here's dad:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lblanchard/465077731/in/set-72157600037669293/

And here's mom:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lblanchard/3362373271/in/set-72157600037669293/

Air Force One Flyby of Goldman Sachs Tower

Because I'll want to find this later....