Saturday 31 May 2014

Car Sharing, Field Trips, and Rick Rolling


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With each Green Drinks, I feel more and more like we're really arriving at a critical mass of engaged members, and last Wednesday was no exception.  We had a great discussion that went on until 10 pm, and there was the feeling it could have gone longer.  Here are some highlights:

Did you know that several local people are trying to start a car-sharing co-op? It's true--CarShare NL.  We were visited by team members, Sharon and Scott.  I've long thought St. John's is a perfect fit for a car-sharing program.  So do like their facebook page to engage and learn more.

And we've got two solid plans for field trips:

This Wednesday (June 4th) at 2:30 pm we're going on a tour of Robin Hood Bay recycling facility.  Contact Corinna to go.  Click here and scroll down to see her post.

On July 19th at 8 am we're going to the Tree of Life, an intentional community in St. Mary's.  (Pending the Tree of Life's approval.  They had provided me a list of available dates, including the 19th, but they have yet to confirm our choice.)  Some of us will spend the night; some will return before night fall.  You must RSVP if you intend to come; overnight visitors are limited to 10.  And everyone must review their handbook.  One key point--no drinking or drugs there (including black tar heroine). 

As great as last Wednesday was, it wasn't perfect.  For the second consecutive time, an unscheduled pub quiz occurred, providing a less-than-ideal environment for our otherwise scintillating conversation.  Perhaps the low point was when the quiz started playing music videos, including Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."  That's right--we got Rick Rolled!  (I do believe that's a historic first for a Green Drinks chapter anywhere.)  What's Rick Rolling, you ask?  Enjoy the following Star Wars clip for a sense of it.



As much as I've loved Bitters as our home base, I'm unhappy with the impromptu nature of these conflicts.  I'm going to contact the manager to get his assistance on this matter.

Monday 26 May 2014

Green Drinks this Wednesday!

Last reminder--Green Drinks this Wednesday at 7 at Bitters!


In March, I encouraged Green Drinkers to join a couple of advisory committees in the city.  Well I'm pleased to announce that at least one followed up and got accepted!  So congratulations to Corinna.  I'm sure she'll make a valuable contribution.

Also, in my last post, I posited that Green Drinkers liked seeing images of metal bands in these posts.  Well, the reaction to the Stryper post did not support that hypothesis.  Nevertheless, here's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" as promised.


Thursday 22 May 2014

You like this, don't you?

Just a friendly reminder--Green Drinks is next Wednesday at 7 pm at Bitters!  We're going to talk about going to the Tree of Life and touring the recycling centre, among other things.

Stryper, thumbs up for Green Drinks . . . and the environment!
Now about this title.  Every time I make one of these posts, facebook will show me how many people look at it.  Usually it's a dozen or so.  But recall that two weeks ago, I wrote a post that included an image of Spinal Tap.  To my great surprise, I found that over night more than a hundred people had viewed that post (see below).  There aren't even a hundred people liking Green Drinks!  That tells me something--Green Drinks loves silly metal bands.  Well, who am I to deny you?  (And you're welcome.)  Next time, it's Hedwig and the Angry Inch!
A tale of two posts:  Maybe if the Fracking Awareness Network (top) donned the spandex, they'd get Spinal-Tap numbers.
And now a video that begs the question, "Why aren't we doing this here?"






Thursday 15 May 2014

At it again . . .

We're meeting again in two weeks, on Wednesday May 28th  at 7 pm at Bitters, of course.

Photo by Gary Kean for the Western Star
We won't be the only environmentalists in Newfoundland getting active.  This morning the Fracking Awareness Network called for an independent review of proposed fracking.  Here's the article, "Provincial network calls for independent review of fracking impacts." And apropos of that, here's the latest le Show that starts off with a "What the Frack?" segment; it's great news . . . if you like earthquakes! 

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Springing to life

Did I say we shouldn't have to deal with snow in May?  Ah, er, well, we shouldn't.  But no one asked me.  Hopefully we won't though, as we meet for Green Drinks on May 28th, 7 pm, at Bitters.

But with winter in retreat, Green Drinks has a number activities on the docket for these warm(er) months.  I've been in touch with the good people at the Tree of Life about our taking a field trip there.  The Tree of Life is an intentional, sustainable community near St. Mary's.  Also, we're going to try to tour the Robin Hood Bay recycling facility.  There will be a Sustainable Canada Dialogue visioning workshop in St. John's in the fall, hosted by our own award-winning sociologist, Mark Stoddart. I'm looking forward to all of these.  They should be great opportunities to engage the community.

Now, let's talk about Harry Shearer.  Whether you know it or not, you probably know of him.  Either through his playing this guy:
Harry Shearer (left), playing the bassist of "Spinal Tap" (and inspiring future sociologists)
or voicing this guy:


But for years, I've been listening to his radio show/podcast "le Show," which is an eponymous mix of news, music and satire.  Several of the show's segments, like "What the Frack?" and "News of the Warm," track the quotidian, often-missed environmental news.  So do check it out.