Posted by Dave on February 28, 2010
As I metaphorically dug this last week, flipping participles and pretense skyward over my head and up to the sunny surface of my thoughts (and out of the maddening depths of confusion) the revelation suddenly dawned on me while seated and flying with Southwest somewhere over the eastern half of Utah.
I will call upon someone with a modicum of professional talent in Salt Lake City to make the prototype of “One True Pants.” Yes, the pair of pants that all others will one day bend the knee towards and acknowledge as king. How could I expect this pair of pants to be found wondering the savannas of retail America? No, the one true pants has yet to be woven together in the womb of its father’s mind. Too far? Yeah, I don’t even understand myself anymore.
Recently though, I found more helpful insight from Eric VandenBerg, the founder of the Hemp Barn. What will really blow your mind about a place called the Hemp Barn is not that it is primarily an earth-friendly upholstery store, or that it was founded by a young, non-hippy male, but that it is based in Salt Lake City. I know. Miracles never cease. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on January 30, 2010
The quest continues. Yes, I am wearing my hemp pants as I type, but my hunger for answers has not been satisfied. Why are nice, hemp pants (other than meditation pants for the mamby-pamby metro-sexual type) so hard to find? Is it possible that they don’t exist, or exist only like world peace and low fat cream?
Well, I have unearthed a hidden realm where hemp clothing abounds. Well, it is more of an unincorporated settlement than a realm, and by “abounds” I mean exists. But that is good news! WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on January 19, 2010
U Car Share, a division of U-haul, has arrived in Salt Lake City. I know, I know. I hate U-haul. Talk about a company with horrible working conditions and nightmarish service. But try to put all that aside. Rather than pump more black smoke from poorly maintained moving vans, U-haul is trying its hand at appealing to the student, the office jockey and the granola urbanite.
U Car Share provides another alternative, alongside riding a bike or taking a bus, to individual car ownership. This sort of thing has been going on for years in romantic locals such as McMinnville, Berkeley, Portland and Madison. But, alas, I have never lived in any of those places. I do, however, live in Salt Lake City. Thus I should be thrilled to have access to car sharing. Yeah! Woohoo. Yep. Hizzaa. Woopty doo. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on January 9, 2010
In my last blog I chided hippies and granolas for not having the business sense to provide the world (or at least me) with a swell pair of hemp pants 34X34. Finally I found my savior, well within the bosom of hippie-womping hicks and sensible country folk, Orvis Clothing.
Orvis is the only clothing store with a website that sells hemp pants in size 34×34 for men. I know. A powerful statement made by a man wearing cannabis crafted clothing, but true. Nowhere else could I find my coveted pants. Orvis had two colors to chose from in 3 different inseams and several waist sizes. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on December 21, 2009
How can all we progressive, earth-friendly do-gooders ever expect anything we believe in
to happen if none of us can learn how to leverage free market economies? If all granolas are either anti-social, self-righteous and/or too touchy-feely (interpret flakey) to run a business, how the hell am I supposed to find a good pair of hemp cargo pants that fit me?
If I can’t find a good pair of hemp cargo pants that fit me, how am I supposed to rant to strangers on the bus about how evil cotton is? If I can’t rant then how will I devise the next clever and rankling debate point to slay the slovenly, money-grubbing, truth-ignoring participants of our downward-spiraling global economy? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on November 22, 2009
Good new desert dwellers. Although Utah is the second driest state in the U.S. (Nevada being the first) we don’t let that get us down. We still have the second highest use of water per capita. Nothing beats back the summer heat like a tall glass of cold water while you wash your car in the driveway at the same time your automated, leaky irrigation system waters your Kentucky Bluegrass lawn during the middle of the day. Ahhh, refreshing. And as long as there is an increasing amount of snow in the mountains every winter ad infinitum, we won’t ever get our comeupens. No comeupens, you here me!
St. George is located in the driest county in Utah and it has the highest per capita water consumption rate for an desert city in the U.S. at 335 gallons per person per day. Yeahaw! Now, I realize that it is of dire importance to all of us to keep those golf greens in St. George green, but explain that to a land that just can’t support such water usage. But what to do?
Over 100 years ago water in Utah became a for-profit commodity. Along with that came government subsidies historically around 50%. All of this means that Utah has some of the cheapest water prices in the country, and this in the second driest state in the Union. Common sense? or a disaster waiting to happen? or a disaster in progress?
Utah has been growing in population consistently for many years, and yet somewhere in the neighborhood of 87% of our water goes to agriculture. Farmers are important to our state, no doubt. But the crops that we grow, and the manner that we grow them in this state have to change.
The Utah Rivers Council promotes raising our conservation goal by 5% up to a 30% increase total. While realistic, this goal doesn’t strike me as sufficient. The Council has also been promoting practical steps like the “rip your strip” initiative. Water Wise Utah is promoting the use of an on-line water calculator. Utah needs much more severe legislation, using a creative combination of carrots and sticks, and a smarter, better educated public. But ultimately, Utahans simply haven’t cared enough about their precious water resources while living in a desert.
Good new desert dwellers. Although Utah is the second driest state in the U.S. (Nevada
Wyoming's Red Desert by Sam Cox
being the first) we don’t let that get us down. We still have the second highest use of water per capita. Nothing beats back the summer heat like a tall glass of cold water while you wash your car in the driveway at the same time your automated, leaky irrigation system waters your Kentucky Bluegrass lawn during the middle of the day. Ahhh, refreshing. And as long as there is an increasing amount of snow in the mountains every winter ad infinitum, we won’t ever get our comeuppance. No comeuppance, you here me! WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on June 22, 2009
I can see the headline now: California disintigrates into oblivion after massive calamity of natural disasters. L.A. Lakers to blame.
You know you are thinking it. Will God judge all of California because of the haughty arrogance of Kobe Bryant? Should he? Well, in my opinion, yes. Through watching the Lakers banish all on-comers this year it has become apparent to me that they have filled up the totality of evils to be ecologically smitten by an earth loving God. It is too much for Nature to bear up.
A sustainable planet simply cannot continue on with the L.A. Lakers in their current incarnation. They are draining the rest of the planet of necessary natural resources such as the will to live. There is nothing more vital right now to the survival of mankind as we know it than the will to act. How, I ask you. How? How can mankind have the will to act immediately and decisively after watching a single L.A. Laker/ Kobe Bryant play-off victory? (Much less a gaggle of them.) And in the midst of a global recession at that?
What did we elect President Obama for if it was not to intervene in such travesties? After his much talk about reforming the college football bowl debacle I had hope that he would understand the significance of sustainable sports in the U.S. He does not, and he will not. Now I fear it is too late. We can only ask that God allow us to not make the same mistake again.
Posted by Dave on June 17, 2009
What should our relationship with the dirt under our feet be? Physically, emotionally, spiritually and legally? Legally? Yeah, why not? That is exactly what the country of Ecuador has asked and answered in a new constitution they have drawn up between the land and the people that live on it. Yep. Nature in Ecuador now has rights of its own. I know, I know. It is bad enough, right, that there tree huggers. Now there are dirt and ground huggers too.
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a U.S.-based nonprofit, teamed up with the Ecuadorian government to bring to life this “earth-shaking” and “ground defending” legal document. They have yet to see how, or if, it will work (it was only put into place in Sept. of 2008), but it is kind of mind-blowing to think about. How would the very fabric of our daily lives shift if the ground we walked, worked and lived on had actual, legally binding rights? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on June 13, 2009
Their can be glory in death. It is true. But Lord, not in a prolonged, asthma induced suffocation due to a humanly inhabitable planet. But never fear! 350 is here! Bill McKibben is still alive and kicking, and while he ain’t no Leonidas, he along with alot of others have started up 350.org. The movement and the number are based on the report put forward by the NASA climatologist guy (James Hansen) in 2007 that said that if we don’t reduce the amount of CO2 we are pumping into the atmosphere to below 350 parts per million and pronto we will be screwed (meaning human life could meet some rather sucky hurdles of death). WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on June 6, 2009
Although bland at first glance, hemp’s most important role may very well end up as a part of our diet. Hemp is a monster when it comes to proteins and essential fatty acids (EFA’s). These two things are the reason we should all be growing hemp in our backyard gardens. (Note to DEA: I don’t have hemp in my backyard garden. I don’t even garden, or have a yard. I promise.)
Many may disagree about whether the earth is in the midst of a food crisis or overall shortage. If we all played nice, mabye everyone could have enough (fat chance). We do know that in the U.S. we are losing farms, farmers and farm land. But, there is much less disagreement that we suffer globally from a food distribution crisis. Certainly portions of the earth surface lack sufficient food stuffs to feed the people that live there. And seeing how lack of vital resources like food can cause mayhem and destruction of life that ultimately reaches even us lazy Americans on our couches, we should probably care that others lack food. Enter hemp, stage right.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
