October 2005 Archives

just wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween tonight...cheers

Lisa & Aruna

Heng and I recently descended into Chaco Canyon in the arid northwest corner of New Mexico where we camped and visited the impressive ruins of the Anasazi Indians. For over half a millennium, these communities had prospered and expanded in size, and therefore in complexity, sophistication, and interdependence. But in the process, they seem to have failed to foresee the seeds of their own destruction.

To learn what took place in Chaco Canyon and the warning this presents our global society, click on the link Continue reading "Chaco Canyon" immediately below (or simply scroll down if there is no link) .

How can I compete with my father's exposition on Easter Island? I'm nowhere near as eloquent. So, I'm just going to tell you about my BBQ ribs that I made on Sunday.

They were the sweetest ever so far! After a good hour marinade in a vacuum sealed bag with hickory smoke sauce, I wrapped the pork ribs in aluminum foil. I cooked them on the propane grill for about an hour and a half. Unfortunately it was a half hour too long, and they got a little charred. After the hour and a half, I took them out of the ribs and gave them a quick 5 minute roast directly on the grill. In the future I think I will just grill in aluminum foil for an hour, and then char them for five minutes directly on the grill.

The result? Sweet, succulent hickory smoked bbq ribs that fell off the bone! It's almost restaurant style! I'm contemplating making them again this weekend when Panya and Rachelle visit. But that's only if they're in the mood for meat.

Where are we heading?

Easter Island was a small remote island paradise in the South Pacific, discovered by a group of Polynesians about a millennium ago and probably best known for the numerous mysterious massive stone statues dotting the countryside. Over the centuries, these people flourished and developed a sophisticated, well-organized society. But at the same time, they failed to recognize their role in the gradual destruction of their natural environment and, eventually, in their own demise.

We, as inhabitants of "Island Earth", now seem to be following perilously close to the footsteps of the Easter Islanders. And the question looms before us: Are we also so distracted by our day-to-day concerns that we will fail to avoid the same miserable fate that befell the Easter Islanders?

To learn what happened to the Easter Islanders and the implications this has for our global society — and your future — click Continue reading "Easter Island" immediately below (or simply scroll down if there is no link).

To work! On Tuesday I started biking to work. It's awesome. Now that we live much closer to work it's making my daily commute that much nicer. I'm not saving that much in gas, maybe a gallon or two a week, five miles roundtrip, but that's six or seven whole bucks a week saved. That's $312 a year. Nice. I hope I will be able to register my car to be an occasional driver instead of everyday. Geico should be able to lower my rates even more! It takes me about 10 minutes to get to Tippett.

On Thursday we swarm, which is basically evening biking on the trails here in the East Bay. Some really fun dirt trails around here. Not as fun as Vancouver or Maryland, primarily because there's almost no singletrack! Fireroads suck, which encompasses most of the trails here in the East Bay. Over in Marin and South Bay (San Jose, Palo Alto) there are more singletrack trails.

I'm so glad that we're that much closer. Here's my bike route. I don't really go down San Pablo Ave., which is a two lane divided highway. I go down 9th street which is west of San Pablo. There's a nice trail underneath the BART tracks that I took last night which was quite nice.