Between a late-night dinner with a friend and finally watching Thursday's taped episode of Lost, I caught about five minutes of last night's Grammy Awards show (the five minutes of Brad Paisley singing "I'd like to check you for ticks ..." -- a strangely compelling song). But I was pleased this morning to see that the Grammys celebrated their 50th anniversary by going green for the first time.
By partnering with the NRDC and others, the Recording Academy was able to:
- Do a comprehensive energy audit and prepare an energy efficiency plan;
- Use renewable energy to power the STAPLES Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center;
- Offset carbon emissions from the pre-telecast and arrivals (not sure if this includes all of the limo traffic);
- Use "ecologically superior paper" for event materials;
- Provide flex-fuel and hybrid vehicles for presenters and staff;
- Recycle event waste; and
- Provide organic and "environmentally friendly" food (does this mean local?)
Additionally (and probably without realizing it), the awards show also "greened" one of its performances -- that of multiple-award winner Amy Winehouse, who sang via satellite from London. (Hey, visa veto aside -- that's one less plane ride.) Below, a video of her performance:
Climate Citizen: Mary Stuart Masterson
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Sam Wells Posted 2:14 pm
11 Feb 2008
And to compare that mess to the best new jazz singer in years is ludicrous. She is rougher than Kirsty MacCol and yet Amy reminds me of some black legends from the 50's and 60's as well. In fact, when I figured out she was a young white chick with tatts from England I liked to splooge in surprise. Personal problems, John Coltrane had smack problems, let the music rock.
Just so you know, even a small stage with a ten-piece band if like 8 dedicated 110 volt electric lines, never mind the lights, cameras, and house electrical demands. As a part-time rodie I learned a little about that, like clean power and why isolated power prevents feedback and grounding. It's massive, man, just a massive blow of power and energy. At least one dedicated power line goes to just the sound board, which doubles the numbers of wires to over several hundred sometimes.
Yet we have this cute idea we can save energy by doing ... what did you say, "clean paper" or something? Huh? They plugged directly into some windmills? Wow I have to get out of the house more often! -sammie
Onward through the fog
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Delay And Deny Posted 4:02 pm
11 Feb 2008
Hey, Amy, can you and Sheryl Crow Mellencamp 'splain this to us:
Nation's 'Icebox' hits record 40 below zero
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/02/11/minnesota.cold.a ...
The temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, fell to a record 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."
It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't even get his car trunk lid to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery. By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 -- below zero.
"This is about as cold as it gets, this is bad. There's no wind -- it's just cold," said McDougall, 48, a worker at The Fisherman, a convenience store and gas station in the town on the Canadian border. "People just don't go out, unless you have to go to work."
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