Yes my friends, spelling does matter! A short clip from the classic Looney Tunes archives demonstrating the nexus of water and energy, Speedy Gonzales-style. Here, literacy-challenged Benny the Cat tries to help his friend George cool off, but his reading skills spell more trouble. Made me laugh like a little kid!
After just one season as head football coach at the University of Tennessee, the not-well-loved Lane Kiffin cut town for California to become the new head coach of the USC Trojans. Now, it’s backlash time! People around these parts hold a mighty tough grudge and don’t take kindly to a snub against their hometown or their home team.
Knoxville attorney Drew McElroy is raising a stink by spearheading what he sees as a fitting honor to the departed and disgraced coach. He has filed paperwork with the Knoxville City Council’s Public Properties and Facilities Naming Committee to rename a wastewater treatment plant the “Lane Kiffin Sewage Center.”
From a story on news.cincinnaticom,
McElroy said after driving down Neyland Drive and seeing all the history, it hit him. Renaming the Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant would be the best way to let Kiffin know he understands why the coach left.
“It dawned on me – Lane Kiffin told us that he hoped the fans would understand. I thought ‘Well, naming the wastewater plant for him would let him know, I think very clearly, we do understand,’” McElroy, an off-and-on season ticket holder said. “We want to memorialize his stay here, and I think this would be doing it appropriately.”
McElroy personally financed the $262 application fee. He doesn’t think the entire facility needs to be renamed – just a part of it. In fact, he stated that just a cesspool at the facility would be enough to satisfy him. We’ll all have to wait and see, though; the committee meets only a few times per year, and it is not certain when they’ll take up this issue.
Personally? Neat idea, but what an insult to the dedicated and hardworking staff of the Kuwahee Wastewater Treatment Plant! They’ve got to hold their heads up around town, after all!
To no one’s surprise,
Calls to the University of Southern California’s Athletic Department requesting comment from the former Volunteer coach were not returned Tuesday.
Both the University of Tennessee and the Knoxville Utilities Board had no official comment on the proposed name change.
Photo: mediaroom.rwu.edu
Wrapped up in a big red bow for a unique photo op, this new water tower was a “gift” from Roger Williams University to the town of Bristol, Rhode Island. (Wow! That’s the first time I’ve seen the words “university” and “gift” used together when it DID NOT involve my checkbook!) From thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com:
In 2008, Roger Williams University was adding new buildings to its Bristol, R.I., campus when, in the course of construction, it ran into a problem: low water pressure.
“We could have brought in pressure booster pumps to campus,” said Roy J. Nirschel, the university’s president. “But in that case, the town of Bristol would still have been affected.”
Instead, the university donated $1 million to the town to finance a new water tower.
Neat-o, but the article also points out that there are timely reasons why these sorts of “gifts” may become more common, and involve factors beyond pure altruism:
The subject is particularly relevant in the wake of Pittsburgh’s debate over a proposed tuition tax, intended to extract from students “fair share”contributions for city services and infrastructure upkeep. The tax was dropped after colleges and universities agreed to voluntarily increase their contributions to the city.
I can’t wait to see a nice bronze plaque commemorating a new sewer pipeline! Just imagine…refined signage honoring the donors and marking…the UNLV Intake Pipe #3!?
Regular visitors here know that we often get our jollies by ridiculing bottled water. Our barbs, though, are directed at those who regularly use the product though they have easy access to clean, plentiful tap water… you know the type, the clueless, wasteful track-suited, cell-talking types we see loading up on cases of the stuff at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.
The truth is I am actually thankful for bottled water. In times of emergency or in thousands of poor and polluted areas of the world, I am grateful that people sometimes have this option, because people are more important than plastic. The speed at which bottled water can be mobilized and transported to a disaster zone eases suffering and saves lives.
Via Simminch on Flickr:
Haitian citizens receive water from air crewmen from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9 assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage near Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aaron Shelley/Released)
Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division stack supplies Jan. 16 that will be delivered to the forward operating bases within the city of Port-au-Prince. No room was spared in the aircraft as they packed them with troops and supplies.
Read more about water challenges in the hardest-hit areas of Haiti (including some first-person accounts) at globalvoicesonline.org. See this post on waterfortheages.org for information on water-focused relief organizations.
Water and electronica fans, today is your lucky day! Thanks to @canadianwater on Twitter (led by Water Canada editor and Renaissance woman Kerry Freek) for pointing us to this terrific track.
Pit Er Pat is an L.A.-based duo (Butchy Fuego and Fay Davis-Jeffers) who use vocals, guitar, synthesizer, drums, MPC, melodica, conga, cuica, and heaven knows what else to produce their arty-modern sound.
This track, premiered on Stereogum, was part of an song collection they wrote specifically for a European tour that has morphed into the about-to-be-released album The Flexible Entertainer.
Lyrics (My own transcription, so no guarantees!)
Drip drip drip, drop drop,
Drip drip drip, drop drop,
Tic a tic a tock you ask alot
Tic a tic a tock go ask a God
Tic a tic a tock ask a clock
tic toc it’ll make your body stopI’ll tell you what it is to me
You show me what it is to be greedy
Do we have to wait and see
Or will you give up what’s free?Drip drip drip, drop drop
Drip drip drip, drop drop
Tic a tic a tock you ask alot
Tic a tic a tock go ask a clock
tic toc it’ll make your body stopI can see you dressed up for (?)
But me I’m not goin’ go easy?
I’ve seen your snake in the grass
clock says you’re not going to last
Play the track
[audio:http://thirstyinsuburbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/pit-er-pat-water.mp3]Download Water – Pit Er Pat
Low-fi 64kbps file for sampling.
Like it? Support the people who make music. Buy The Flexible Entertainer here (Released 1/26/10)
(Note: that’s not a typo!) A tweet this week from World Toilet Day (@worldtoiletday) sought some group-think ideas on toilet reuse. Not toilet-to-tap recycled water, but actual toilets!
And yes, I did have a suggestion: head-snapping, thought-provoking public artwork similar to this too-odd-to-describe installation in China! So, get ready, Toronto, and visionary Canadian artists, please step forward!
Photos are via www.halohalo.ph, self-described as “The Funniest Filipino Blog.” They live up to their description with this hysterical commentary on the sculpture:
Thousand of toilet sculpture in China. I’m not surprise when i saw this sculpture because everybody knows that Chinese people are goon on this.
How did I miss this Halloween treat?
Scottish Water advises folks to “Be afraid, be very afraid” as they take us deep into the sewer to observe with our own eyes what it looks like when fats are dumped down the drain. Go ahead and “see what’s lurking in a Highland sewer.”
Please note, may not be suitable for squeamish viewers! (This is exactly the sort of thing that motivated the Thames Singing Sewermen to break into song!)
I spotted this terrific water fountain in downtown Boulder, Colorado on Pearl Street. It was donated by the Communication Arts department of University of Colorado. While it offers some great food for thought, I’ve delved deeper into the hydration of frogs. According to wiki.answers.com,
A characteristic of all amphibians is permeable skin. They do have the ability to absorb water through their skin. It is called cutaneous absorption. It is very uncommon to observe frogs drinking water orally. Their primary means of hydrating is by absorbing water, rather than drinking it.
In the unlikey event that local citizens forget, a public sculpture was erected in Taebaek, Kangwon-Do, South Korea, as a reminder of the hardship and pain of drought and water shortages and the continuing need to conserve. From BaboMike on Flickr is this photo of the Taebaek Water Monument, which was
“…erected earlier this year as a reminder of last winters drought. We were on strict water rationing for a few months, allowed only 1 or 2 hours of water per day. The monument is created out of old plastic water bottles.”
Water Monument, Taebaek, Kangwon-Do, South Korea
Detail: Water Monument, Taebaek, Kangwon-Do, South Korea
From the stimulus program 75 years past…this WPA Poster (Water Supply #4) was created for the Federal Art Project series on the history of civic services in New York City…in 1936, when “an average of 930,000,000 gallons is consumed daily.” By the artist Vera Bock (see other works by this artist here.)
Via American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov and stored at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C