chocolateland

A few weeks ago a bunch of us took a roadtrip to Hershey PA for a friend's suprise birthday party.










Here's the group of culprits (you'll see more of them in a later post, no doubt).
















While there we of course had to stop by Chocolate World. The centerpiece (besides being able to buy oodles of chocolate) was this freakish Disney-like ride that takes you through simulated farmland and chocolate factory.


Singing cows are scary.

























The boys in the cart ahead of us. They can't contain their excitement.







The air is scented with chocolate the entire time and Kisses are handed out at the end. Despite their best efforts at brainwashing, I couldn't resist some commentary. But when I noted that the chocolate industry is closely tied to slavery in Africa, all I got were dirty looks. Hmm.



(someday i'll get the hang of this new blog formatting. their wysiwyg is not quite accurate.)

Behind on the blogs.

A few weeks ago I did a quick trip to Sacramento for work. I didn't have time to see much, but I thought it was funny seeing palm trees and these orange trees there. Also shown is a shot of Lake Tahoe, which is always fun to fly over.

Children of Men

This weekend I saw the new movie "Children of Men." The setting is a very-near and all-too-real future where humans have trashed the environment, civilation has begun to collapse, and humans have become infertile. It isn't uplifting, but it is very thought provoking and I recommend seeing it. Plus it stars the talented Julianne Moore.

The movie intelligently dabbles in several pressing issues: illegal immigration, environmental degradation, poverty, martial law, and homeland security. Expect to be disturbed by what it presents (hinted at in the trailer below).

From Yahoo Movies: A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended into chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute martial law. The warden's ability to keep order is threatened when a woman finds that she is pregnant with what would be the first child born in 27 years.

Here is the trailer.

Power your home with solar.

Have you long wondered why there isn't a national policy to put solar panels on the roof of every house and building in the country? Most likely this is a result of energy companies' involvement in politics and the weak politicians who are more worried about their own campaigns rather than what is best for our nation. At least we can thank the forward-thinking state of California for moving in this direction.

There are few negatives people can say about solar power, and if they object they are being shortsighted. Current solar panels might be more expensive and less efficient than dirty energy sources, but as with any new source it will become cheaper and more efficient when demand and research increase. The benefits are too numerous to detail here, but if we want to be forward-thinking, how about national security? The U.S. has the money to produce cheap, effecient solar panels. Imagine putting them on the roofs of rural houses in Africa, China, and Brazil, thereby permanently raising the quality of life for people around the world.

In any case, I saw some interesting ideas from Citizenre Corporation. According to their website, they handle the purchasing, installation, and maintenance of solar panel arrays on your house. There appear to be no hefty payments, just rental fees that are incorporated into your monthly energy bill that is based on your current energy uses.

This looks to be an easy and effective option for increasing renewable energy use at home. If you have additional information about this company and its products, please let me know.