Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Zenn Car or Tesla Roadster
I'm sure there are more electric cars out there but I recently mentioned the Zenn Car and Tesla Motors Roadster. Because I've wanted to downsize since last year, and should have done it then, I've been looking at cars. My Saturn Ion 3 does get pretty good mileage: 600 km to a 50 litre tank, or about 30 mi/gallon. That's highway driving. But I don't need the space and therefore could improve on the mileage with a smaller vehicle.
Well, an electric car would be ideal, right? When I looked at the Tesla Roadster http://www.teslamotors.com/, with its 220 miles to a charge, its ability to accelerate, its green aspects, I thought yes! The catch: you have to place an order and it could take a year to get your car. The cost is $109,000, which makes it a toy for the environmentally conscious elite only. It's only available in the US. Still, if some of the jetsetting rich folk think beyond what they can spend on frivolities, then that's a start. And as we know, many rock and movie stars can be role models (just look at Paris!), so let's hope they lead by green examples.
On the other end is the Zenn car http://www.zenncars.com/ made in Canada. It's classified as a NEV (neighbourhood electric vehicle). That's part of the catch; it only goes up to about 25 miles an hour/40 km. Even in Vancouver, should I be puttering about at 40 km, I'm going to make a lot of irate drives in the 50 km zones where everyone goes 60 km. But it's cheap at $15, 995 USD. Available in many states, Zenn is looking at starting in Montreal for Canada. It's taken awhile to get through the Canadian red tape even if it is a Canadian made car. But for delivery vehicles and people who just move about the city from work to the store to home, it's a cheaper alternative.
I can't buy the Roadster because it's expensive and only avaialable in the US. I can't buy the Zenn because its goes too slow (and I drive on the highway to get to work) and it's only available in the US. I can't buy a Prius or any other electric hybrid car because they're too expensive.
Now, I had even more incentive to get a smaller car because of the BC government's impending carbon tax, to make people choose greener alternatives. I've already grumbled about how this would work better if we actually had real alternatives. I should have sold my car six months ago when I first decided to downgrade. I've looked at the Honda Fit, the Toyota Yaris and the Nissan Versa. All are viable as smaller cars, all are similar though one is better at pick-up, one at trunk space, one at turning radius.
My catch? I still owe payments on my Saturn Ion 3. Although it's been reliable and good on gas mileage, everyone is scared to buy cars (let alone trucks) right now. I can't sell it for what it's worth, which means I can't buy a smaller, more energy efficient car. So the government has me where it hurts with their extra tax on the already taxed gas. And soon, it will be cheaper to take the bus, but it's still cheaper for me to drive.
Anyone want to buy a good car?
Well, an electric car would be ideal, right? When I looked at the Tesla Roadster http://www.teslamotors.com/, with its 220 miles to a charge, its ability to accelerate, its green aspects, I thought yes! The catch: you have to place an order and it could take a year to get your car. The cost is $109,000, which makes it a toy for the environmentally conscious elite only. It's only available in the US. Still, if some of the jetsetting rich folk think beyond what they can spend on frivolities, then that's a start. And as we know, many rock and movie stars can be role models (just look at Paris!), so let's hope they lead by green examples.
On the other end is the Zenn car http://www.zenncars.com/ made in Canada. It's classified as a NEV (neighbourhood electric vehicle). That's part of the catch; it only goes up to about 25 miles an hour/40 km. Even in Vancouver, should I be puttering about at 40 km, I'm going to make a lot of irate drives in the 50 km zones where everyone goes 60 km. But it's cheap at $15, 995 USD. Available in many states, Zenn is looking at starting in Montreal for Canada. It's taken awhile to get through the Canadian red tape even if it is a Canadian made car. But for delivery vehicles and people who just move about the city from work to the store to home, it's a cheaper alternative.
I can't buy the Roadster because it's expensive and only avaialable in the US. I can't buy the Zenn because its goes too slow (and I drive on the highway to get to work) and it's only available in the US. I can't buy a Prius or any other electric hybrid car because they're too expensive.
Now, I had even more incentive to get a smaller car because of the BC government's impending carbon tax, to make people choose greener alternatives. I've already grumbled about how this would work better if we actually had real alternatives. I should have sold my car six months ago when I first decided to downgrade. I've looked at the Honda Fit, the Toyota Yaris and the Nissan Versa. All are viable as smaller cars, all are similar though one is better at pick-up, one at trunk space, one at turning radius.
My catch? I still owe payments on my Saturn Ion 3. Although it's been reliable and good on gas mileage, everyone is scared to buy cars (let alone trucks) right now. I can't sell it for what it's worth, which means I can't buy a smaller, more energy efficient car. So the government has me where it hurts with their extra tax on the already taxed gas. And soon, it will be cheaper to take the bus, but it's still cheaper for me to drive.
Anyone want to buy a good car?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Writing News
It seems there has been a contest listed on Craigslist that list the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) as sponsoring it. You pay a $10 contest entry and then the winning stories and honourable mentions will be published by a big publisher.
This is a fraudulent contest and SFWA has already issued statements that they have not sponsored that. Someone is hoping to make some money on collecting entry fees but having no legitimate contest.
Writer beware. Do not send anything if you see this contest listed.
This is a fraudulent contest and SFWA has already issued statements that they have not sponsored that. Someone is hoping to make some money on collecting entry fees but having no legitimate contest.
Writer beware. Do not send anything if you see this contest listed.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Dream States
I had the oddest dream last night that mixed different parts of my life. In real life, last night, I gave Daralyn and Miranda a ride home. They're students at the naturopathic college where I work.
So then I dreamt: Miranda, Daralyn and I were at a writing convention. We were in a hotel room and getting ready for bed, three beds. As we settled in two other women I didn't know burst in and, because we'd answered the door, one took my bed and the other took one of the other's beds. A fourth woman had just joined us before that and was going to share the larger bed. The larger intruding woman took that bed.
I took my pillow and was trying to find my sheets or duvet but couldn't. It turns out there was a fourth bed but it had four TVs hanging over it so low that if you were laying in the bed your nose would probably touch them. Since that wasn't usable I went to the adjoining room where two Japanese girls were going in. Two people were already sleeping in there but on small kitchen style tables. Various bits of fabric were draped over the tables.
I heard that one was Martel, this Chicago writer on a list that I'm on. In real life, it turns out that Martel is a woman but I've never met her or seen a picture of her. In my dream it was a guy with wild red hair, and superhero size muscled arms. He had a tiny Pomeranian sized saber tooth tiger and gave me a hug when I said I was on Twilight Tales also.
At that point I realized the two women who had come in had been rude and that there was no reason they should take our beds and I went back into the room, told them there was etiquette and rules and that they couldn't just take our beds when we'd already picked them.
Then I was in Europe, I think, sitting beside a large gargoyle outside a building. I was looking at small sculptures that were butter molds and presses when Friz, Jordan and I think, Rick, three other students from the college walked by. We said hi and hugged each other. And that was the dream in all its weirdness
So then I dreamt: Miranda, Daralyn and I were at a writing convention. We were in a hotel room and getting ready for bed, three beds. As we settled in two other women I didn't know burst in and, because we'd answered the door, one took my bed and the other took one of the other's beds. A fourth woman had just joined us before that and was going to share the larger bed. The larger intruding woman took that bed.
I took my pillow and was trying to find my sheets or duvet but couldn't. It turns out there was a fourth bed but it had four TVs hanging over it so low that if you were laying in the bed your nose would probably touch them. Since that wasn't usable I went to the adjoining room where two Japanese girls were going in. Two people were already sleeping in there but on small kitchen style tables. Various bits of fabric were draped over the tables.
I heard that one was Martel, this Chicago writer on a list that I'm on. In real life, it turns out that Martel is a woman but I've never met her or seen a picture of her. In my dream it was a guy with wild red hair, and superhero size muscled arms. He had a tiny Pomeranian sized saber tooth tiger and gave me a hug when I said I was on Twilight Tales also.
At that point I realized the two women who had come in had been rude and that there was no reason they should take our beds and I went back into the room, told them there was etiquette and rules and that they couldn't just take our beds when we'd already picked them.
Then I was in Europe, I think, sitting beside a large gargoyle outside a building. I was looking at small sculptures that were butter molds and presses when Friz, Jordan and I think, Rick, three other students from the college walked by. We said hi and hugged each other. And that was the dream in all its weirdness
Friday, June 6, 2008
Suffering the Effects of Gas...Prices
Alas, today I had to put gas into the car. $25 for a quarter of a tank at $1.42 a litre. For those of you in the US, there are 3.8 litres to the US gallon (different from the imperial gallon) but roughly you can multiply it by four for a price of $5.68 a gallon. It's still cheaper to gas up in the US, when I can, but I can't afford to drive as far.
So, gas prices, definitely causing us discomfort but these days we hear, oh the price of food is going up because of gas prices. Airline tickets--gas prices. Clothing--gas prices. Gas prices--gas prices. Yes, the price of gas is going up because of the price of gas. Or gas prices are going up because of volcanoes, tsunamis, rain, broken fingernails or war somewhere. I wonder how much George Bush can be blamed for gas prices?
The moment that our lovely provincial government mentioned that they would be doing a carbon tax on gas as of July 1, the price went up by a couple of cents (back in April). Let's not forget that gas is already taxed federally and provincially and more if you live in large urban centers--36.3% as of 2006 for Vancouver. Oh and there is tax on the tax. (You'll have to read my earlier rant, "Carbon Tax: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" to see why I think it's hugely flawed--the least amount of work the gov't can do toward environmentalism.)
Let's go back ten years or more. I remember a time when the price of gas stayed the same for months on end and would only change by a cent. In BC, less than ten years ago Arco started to come into the province. Gas went down to an unprecedented .29 cents a litre. You could gas up for $15. It began a gas war because of Arco's low prices. Do they even exist anymore? At that point in time prices would drop or rise but stay that way for a week.
Somehow everything sped up exponentially. It became a daily thing to see prices change by .10 cents a litre and it still happens. So, tell me, great gas corporations, are your prices changing on the hour because of every geographic upheaval, drop of rain or hurled insult somewhere in the world? Does this somehow affect the reserves? According to these poor beleaguered gas companies, which I'm sure are losing money, yes, every little earthquake, every insurrection causes gas prices to change instantaneously.
Wow, we are so volatile. I notice that those world crises are at their lowest late at night and mid day but that they affect gas prices most when we are going to or coming from work and always on the weekend when you may be driving at any particular time. Gosh, our world is like a bunch of festering sores just constantly popping.
There have been calls for investigations into the price of gas and the fluctuation of such. I have yet to hear that there was such an investigation or the results. We're at the mercy of the gas companies who will only switch wholeheartedly to hybrid or other clean energy cars when they can no longer suck the last drop of oil from the earth and likewise suck us dry. Just look at how little advertising has ever gone into a hybrid car and how they are more expensive than any gas guzzler. Oh, and if you check far enough some gas and car companies are often jointely owned or have shares in each other. Can we say collusion?
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Rebellion Baby
Or is that rebellion, baby! Actually, no, it's rebellion baby. That's what I was. My brother was recently in town and commented on a little tactic I had at the age of two. I don't remember it but he still laughs about it.
It seems when my mother would put me to bed I would rebel with a fit where I'd tear off my pajamas, toss them in the hallway and then lay down upon them...and fall asleep. Maybe that's why I don't where pajamas today. But I do remember being slightly older, around four or five years of age, and I would slowly, accidentally, slide out of bed on the covers, because that way I wasn't going to bed, darn it! No way! It didn't seem to matter to my child's mind that I would fall asleep on the sheets on the floor and inevitably wake up in the morning in my bed.
What a rebel I was. I hated going to bed. I hated missing out on things. One evening, some adult cousins from Lac La Biche, Doreen and Ted, showed up at the house. It was past my bedtime and I was in bed but not asleep. I heard them come in and wanted to see them but there was no way I could just trounce upstairs without getting in deep doodoo.
I was, on one level, very honest. I didn't tend to lie. I couldn't fake being sick, like my brother believes he did and faked himself into an appendectomy at a young age. But I had a devious plan. I could swallow air and at other times, burp on will. This time I just kept swallowing the air and not burping it out until my tummy hurt. Aha! Now I could go upstairs and say, "My tummy hurts."
My mother must have been wise to my ways. She said something about it being suspect and gave me a glass of warm water, which succeeded in freeing my trapped burps. But I got what I wanted. I got to see Doreen and Ted before being sent back to bed.
I was a classic bookworm, often staying up late at night, reading, with the flashlight under the sheets. I'm still a late night person, often going to bed at 2:00, which means I usually don't get enough sleep during the week. And I still sleep in till 10:00 am if I can.
As to rebellion, well, I wanted to learn to play drums as a kid, not because I had any affinity but because it's what girls didn't do. Instead, when my mother denied me, I hit the art/drawing route, much better suited to my temperament. And my mother learned that if she wanted me to do something she got a lot farther if she asked instead of telling me what to do.
It seems when my mother would put me to bed I would rebel with a fit where I'd tear off my pajamas, toss them in the hallway and then lay down upon them...and fall asleep. Maybe that's why I don't where pajamas today. But I do remember being slightly older, around four or five years of age, and I would slowly, accidentally, slide out of bed on the covers, because that way I wasn't going to bed, darn it! No way! It didn't seem to matter to my child's mind that I would fall asleep on the sheets on the floor and inevitably wake up in the morning in my bed.
What a rebel I was. I hated going to bed. I hated missing out on things. One evening, some adult cousins from Lac La Biche, Doreen and Ted, showed up at the house. It was past my bedtime and I was in bed but not asleep. I heard them come in and wanted to see them but there was no way I could just trounce upstairs without getting in deep doodoo.
I was, on one level, very honest. I didn't tend to lie. I couldn't fake being sick, like my brother believes he did and faked himself into an appendectomy at a young age. But I had a devious plan. I could swallow air and at other times, burp on will. This time I just kept swallowing the air and not burping it out until my tummy hurt. Aha! Now I could go upstairs and say, "My tummy hurts."
My mother must have been wise to my ways. She said something about it being suspect and gave me a glass of warm water, which succeeded in freeing my trapped burps. But I got what I wanted. I got to see Doreen and Ted before being sent back to bed.
I was a classic bookworm, often staying up late at night, reading, with the flashlight under the sheets. I'm still a late night person, often going to bed at 2:00, which means I usually don't get enough sleep during the week. And I still sleep in till 10:00 am if I can.
As to rebellion, well, I wanted to learn to play drums as a kid, not because I had any affinity but because it's what girls didn't do. Instead, when my mother denied me, I hit the art/drawing route, much better suited to my temperament. And my mother learned that if she wanted me to do something she got a lot farther if she asked instead of telling me what to do.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Worlds of What If: Story Ideas & Oz
I recently wrote a story about Dorothy, ten years after Oz, where she still lives in Kansas. It involves the shoes showing up suddenly in her closet. It's barely fantastical, might be called literary.
I sent it to a speculative fiction magazine where it was rejected. The comment was that the protagnonist didn't do enough and, what about the other 15 Oz books and what they covered that people knew so well. I can live with criticism and comments on what doesn't work but I didn't find the comment about the Oz books helpful nor true to the whole genre of speculative writing.
Worlds of what-if includes looking at something and saying, what if it did this instead of this? What if Snow White had actually enslaved the dwarfs to work for her and they were brainwashed? What if the Germans had won WWII? What if magic did exist and it caused a worldwide class system? There are a thousand examples of where someone takes a pre-existing concept or event and changes it.
Fairy tales have long been in the realm of public domain and many have been rewritten and retold in varying ways. The most popular example would be anything that Disney has touched, to the extent that some people think that the Disney version is the one and only. But fairy tales have a long tradition of orginally being oral tales that were eventually written down by the Grimm brothers and others. Once they hit print, they didn't change and adapt with the times as much, but they did still change. Writers still took those ideas and played with them.
L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz was written in 1900 and published in 1901. It's been around long enough that it is now in our memories. When I decided to write the story I actually had to go read the book, because like many people, I was more familiar with the movie. I didn't read the other 13 books (not 15). Though they were popular it was that original adventure that caught so many people's imaginations.
Asking, what if this happened to Dorothy is a valid question. But perhaps I'm just an angry rejected author. Well, I have given examples of other what-ifs, but let's look at two that I just found this week. Yesterday, I was listening to CBC Radio's Wiretap http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/index.html There were two stories: What if the Penguin and Mary Poppins met on a blind date? And what if Barney accidentally killed Dino in Bedrock? Hmm, if I was the editor that rejected my story because I didn't consider the other 13 books, then I could also say but Mary Poppins never met the Penguin. What about all those other Batman comics. Or, but Dino never died and what about all those other Flintstones cartoons?
Okay, well, those are closer to the point I'm making but not about Oz. Then I came across the following article this weekend in the Dec. 2007 issue of Wired.
Tin Man--SciFi Chanel's three-part reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, premiering Dec. 2, blends steampunk and Buffy. Heroine DG (Zooey Deschanel) battles the evil Sorceress (Kathleen Robertson) to free the oppressed residents of The O.Z. The Tin Man (Neal McDonough) is a more-dreamy-than-tinny ex-cop resistance fighter, and the Scarecrow (Alan Cumming) is a victim of grand theft brain. Cheesy? Absolutely. But it's also clever and wonderfully geeky.
Steampunk and Buffy? The Tin Man is an ex-cop? Oh my goodness! But...but.... I think my point is made that it's valid to take a character, a time, a place and ask what if? It's valid to not slavishly follow what has been written but to take some elements and fly off into the worlds of imagination. As to my story, well, I'll continue to send it out and see what the editors think.
I sent it to a speculative fiction magazine where it was rejected. The comment was that the protagnonist didn't do enough and, what about the other 15 Oz books and what they covered that people knew so well. I can live with criticism and comments on what doesn't work but I didn't find the comment about the Oz books helpful nor true to the whole genre of speculative writing.
Worlds of what-if includes looking at something and saying, what if it did this instead of this? What if Snow White had actually enslaved the dwarfs to work for her and they were brainwashed? What if the Germans had won WWII? What if magic did exist and it caused a worldwide class system? There are a thousand examples of where someone takes a pre-existing concept or event and changes it.
Fairy tales have long been in the realm of public domain and many have been rewritten and retold in varying ways. The most popular example would be anything that Disney has touched, to the extent that some people think that the Disney version is the one and only. But fairy tales have a long tradition of orginally being oral tales that were eventually written down by the Grimm brothers and others. Once they hit print, they didn't change and adapt with the times as much, but they did still change. Writers still took those ideas and played with them.
L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz was written in 1900 and published in 1901. It's been around long enough that it is now in our memories. When I decided to write the story I actually had to go read the book, because like many people, I was more familiar with the movie. I didn't read the other 13 books (not 15). Though they were popular it was that original adventure that caught so many people's imaginations.
Asking, what if this happened to Dorothy is a valid question. But perhaps I'm just an angry rejected author. Well, I have given examples of other what-ifs, but let's look at two that I just found this week. Yesterday, I was listening to CBC Radio's Wiretap http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/index.html There were two stories: What if the Penguin and Mary Poppins met on a blind date? And what if Barney accidentally killed Dino in Bedrock? Hmm, if I was the editor that rejected my story because I didn't consider the other 13 books, then I could also say but Mary Poppins never met the Penguin. What about all those other Batman comics. Or, but Dino never died and what about all those other Flintstones cartoons?
Okay, well, those are closer to the point I'm making but not about Oz. Then I came across the following article this weekend in the Dec. 2007 issue of Wired.
Tin Man--SciFi Chanel's three-part reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, premiering Dec. 2, blends steampunk and Buffy. Heroine DG (Zooey Deschanel) battles the evil Sorceress (Kathleen Robertson) to free the oppressed residents of The O.Z. The Tin Man (Neal McDonough) is a more-dreamy-than-tinny ex-cop resistance fighter, and the Scarecrow (Alan Cumming) is a victim of grand theft brain. Cheesy? Absolutely. But it's also clever and wonderfully geeky.
Steampunk and Buffy? The Tin Man is an ex-cop? Oh my goodness! But...but.... I think my point is made that it's valid to take a character, a time, a place and ask what if? It's valid to not slavishly follow what has been written but to take some elements and fly off into the worlds of imagination. As to my story, well, I'll continue to send it out and see what the editors think.
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