Category — random weirdness

Well, this is a little too close for comfort: apparently there was a brush fire early this morning near the Getty Center that closed the 405 for a few hours and burned 100 acres.  Luckily,  there weren’t any injuries or damage to property, and firefighters eventually put the fire out, but it is still scary that the fire was so close.   The fire hopefully will serve as a reminder that even people who live in the city need to be prepared for wild fire emergencies.

I couldn’t find any word on how the fire started, so in the interest of added safety, I will just remind everyone to use caution even when doing seemingly harmless things like cooking on the backyard grill.  All it takes is one little spark in windy, dry weather like we have been having to set off a wild fire.

This is definately one of the more interesting ideas I have stumbled upon: PlantBot!  The “bot” basically crawls around looking for the best sunlight for the plant, which is great for apartment dwellers who need to move their plants around to sunny locations frequently.  I am totally fascinated by PlantBot and would love to get one, but I have no idea if/where they are sold.  I am also curious as to whether or not PlantBot freaks animals out, so if anyone has eny experience with PlantBot, please let me know. 

Well, it looks like campers in Northern Georgia can sleep tight in their family tents this Labor Day, secure in the knowledge that there will be no late-night harrassment from bands of wild Sasquatch hell bent on wreaking havoc. Early reporters on today’s news conference in Palo Alto about the “Bigfoot” discovery were less than impressed with the “evidence” presented: scientists have not yet been assembled to study the creature’s body, which was also absent at the press conference, and the only “proof” shown at the conference was some more photos. The guy telling the story about finding Bigfoot does seem pretty sincere, though, so I am having a hard time deciding what to believe.

Here’s some video from the Bigfoot press conference, so you can judge for yourself:

Save the date: this Friday, August 15th, 2008 from 12 noon to 1 pm Pacific time.

That’s when two hunters plan to reveal the dead body of a Bigfoot they discovered in the Georgia wilderness at a press conference in Palo Alto, CA. I thought I knew just about all there was to know about Sasquatch investigations, but I have just discovered that there is a whole Georgian Bigfoot history that I knew nothing about. So if the press conference Friday turns out to be legitimate and not another Sasquatch hoax, this Bigfoot discovery may feel like a sort of victory for the people of Georgia.

Here’s a photo of the alleged Bigfoot:

I am a little skeptical (and I’m not the only one), but I am still curious about the press conference. I hope it’s not just a publicity stunt!

I just wanted to take a second to thank my guest blogger Safiyyah Lanier for the recent post on Outdoor Urbanite. You’ll be seeing more of her work, and maybe a few more guest bloggers in the future, since there is so much great outdoor information out there and it is difficult for just one Urbanite to keep up!

Thanks again for the great posts!

Terri

Want to bring a reminder of your favorite boulder field indoors and have comfortable furniture? Then check out Livingstones! These giant “stones” are actually soft cushions, chairs and couches in organic shapes that are both comfortable and really, really cool. Livingstones can also be used as outdoor furniture, but I recommend not putting them too close to actual boulders to avoid any painful mistakes.

They are only available at a few US retailers, and I have no idea how much they cost, but that is not going to stop me from adding them to my wish list and dreaming of the day when I might have some Livingstones to call my own.

This little number caught my eye on Gizmodo the other day, and since this is turning into “Bike Week” on my blog, I might as well stay with the theme.

I love this bike in theory. It solves the problem of having to put your bike on that crazy bike rack on the front of the bus, and also removes the need to leave your bike locked and unattended, because you can just take it with you when it is in backpack form. Those are both great things. But, as it has already been pointed out, the bike will be made of plastic. I can understand that this would allow for cheaper manufacturing and lighter weight bikes, but I’d prefer to spend a little more for a titanium frame that wouldn’t collapse or melt if exposed to too much sunlight.

However, the innovative thinking behind this design is definitely a move in the right direction. It would be great if more designers are inspired by this folding bike to create environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Apparently there is now a theory that over-use of GPS navigation will make people eventually lose their natural sense of direction. While I’d love to try to dispute that, there are unfortunately already far too many stories about people doing really dumb things in the name of GPS, and it seems like the trend will continue as the technology improves.

Some examples of what over-reliance on GPS can cause:

Faith in GPS sends Mercedes downstream when the driver listens to GPS instead of signs warning of danger.

GPS cause accident in France when an elderly man made an “immediate U-turn” on a highway due to a GPS prompt.

Man follows GPS straight into a train and his car gets smashed. He’s lucky he wasn’t still in the car.

A British Village Requests Removal From GPS Maps after too many trucks caused accidents in the town’s narrow streets.

I wonder if there is any information about which GPS units are the most problematic, or if this problem is just something that affects GPS systems in general. It seems like it’s fine to use GPS as a helper in your travels, but don’t rely on it as an authority.

Here’s a really exciting innovation: a washing machine that only needs one cup of water to wash clothes. The Xeros washing machine uses a cup of water and about 44 lbs. of plastic chips to wash and almost completely dry laundry. Who knows if it will really work for home use, or how well it will work, but it’s still a really interesting idea for water conservation.

More info on the one-cup washing machine:

Yahoo! News: Washing Machine Uses One Cup Of Water

DVICE: New washing machine uses a single cup of water to clean clothes

The Daily Mail: Spin dry: The washing machine that needs just one cup of water

It seems like Mother’s Day just finished, and already time to shop for Father’s Day! I had thought about some golf gifts like ball sets or a golf trunk organizer (pictured above), but I want to do something a little more unusual this year. I am considering something like The Weather Channel Wireless Forecast Station because he really loves The Weather Channel.

Some other ideas I am tossing around:

• Baseball game tickets
• Polarized sunglasses
• A portable fishfinder

Any other suggestions or ideas would be warmly welcomed!