Thanks, and I'd be happy to go for a beer with you. Drop me a note when you get your plans finalized.
Sorry about that Deckard, not sure why it didn't quote properly. I'm still a rookie. It was such a good post I had to steal it.
One of my best friends started a jazz festival at the village where he lives, north of Nelson on the lake in BC. He still has his accent, although he's lived there for 20+ years. Has a Canadian wife and is a Canadian citizen. When I came up for this http://www.kaslojazzfest.com/main.html in '94, I think, he was still considered, "the guy from Texas," although a well-loved guy from Texas, lol! Beautiful place. edit: Yes, this is a shameless plug for my friend's jazz festival, although there is a limit on the # of tickets sold. It's on a public park at the bottom of a mountain that's at the head of a small bay. The village is on a peninsula that sticks out into the lake. There are indian hieroglyphics on the side of the mountains across the lake, where they plunge into the water. Not sure how the indians did it. From a canoe, I guess. The stage floats just off the beach to keep everything eco-friendly. If anyone thinks it's worth checking out, and it is, make reservations in advance for both lodging and tickets, 'cause they are limited. The festival is Jazz, etc., because it has other types of music, like blues and music from Latin countries. (think Cuba and Brazil) Be warned, Conservatives... the area is crawling with Liberals! No worries, they're friendly ones. (man, I can't believe how many misspelled words I had to fix!) It's related to the topic because it would be a great place to forget the Iraq War. Keep D&D Civil!!
It just dawned on my why wizardball is POed with me. I bet it has something to do with this comment of mine. Although wizardball writes as though he’s a native English speaker he’s from Sherbrooke Quebec which is about 95% French speaking, meaning that French will be their first language. So my apologies if I offended you WB. I was making fun of the fact that our American neighbours have issues with the French these days. I wasn’t making fun of the French language. I learned it in school like we all do and I liked it. I’ve forgotten a lot but I was in Quebec City at Christmas this year and I’m still able to get by. Half my family is fluently bilingual and we were born and raised in Western Canada. So again, my apologies. I was just polking fun at our American neighbours. It wasn’t my intent to slight the French language or people.
I don't believe the alternatives will become viable until the current powerholders in terms of transportation energy can figure out how to remain dominant in the field. Meaning: There will be no alternative energy until the oil companies can find an alternative energy that they will hold the same power over.
One other issue is that there really are no alternatives to oil with regard to "bang for the buck" or other, utilitarian, purposes like plastics. Alternative energy sources are a LONG way off before they are viable and we will still depend on oil for so much other stuff (pesticides, fertilizer, plastic, etc....) There are other things that serve those puposes but not nearly as well as oil does. The problem with the theory that there will be no alternatives to oil until oil companies exploit them is that it assumes that there can be no other companies that bring the technology to market. And if you think our government is controlled by oil companies that are stifiling development of alternative souces of fuel, why can't another country's government develop them? The first country that can find an alternative energy source and completely replaces oil will be the country that wins. It will be the envy of every other nation on earth.
Grizzled.... sorry. i am not from Sherbrooke.....sherbrooke represents a place downtown Montreal which is where i was at when i created this account....and french is also my second language ...i'm actually from Toronto... which is why you can see me calling calgary a hick town.
Ah, that makes sense then. It’s the jealously and envy rearing it’s head again, right? You’re tired of Toronto being continually ridiculed by Canadians so you’re lashing back. For our American friends, there’s a similar thing going on in Canada as there is in the US where eastern cities that were once the most important are being surpassed by western cities, and let’s just say that they’re not dealing with it very well. Toronto is dealing with it the worst, though, as in order to try to maintain their sense of superiority they’ve become a wannabe American city, culturally following all the latest trends in Rochester and other prestigious American cites. If you tell one of this breed of Torontonian that their city reminds you of New York in any way then their lives will be fulfilled. While the rest of Canada is experiencing an explosion of cultural creativity in music, sports, the arts, Toronto is grovelling for NFL football. If it weren’t so funny it would be sad.
Is Sherbrooke a neighborhood or just a street? I've stayed in the Chateau Versailles a number of times when I've been to Montreal for business. I believes that's in or near Sherbrooke. I love this hotel and they have the best croissant I've ever tasted.
Deckard: I haven’t been right to Trail for quite some time. It’s off the Crowsnest Highway so it’s actually off the beaten path a bit. It’s a gorgeous place though. Back to the topic, here’s Wired’s take on the Athabasca Oil Sands. http://wired-vig.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/oil.html I don’t think this negates rhester’s point, btw, I think it’s just another layer over top. Conventional oil is declining and the oil sands will pick up some of the slack but they won’t last forever either. I do think however that western society could decrease our use of petrochemicals quite dramatically in a short period of time with the right government intervention to encourage existing trends. SmartCars are currently becoming quite popular here and if that trend could be fostered then the consumption of gasoline by automobiles could be cut in half. Cities could encourage this trend by making special parking spots available in good places for these and similar cars and charging half the rate since the car takes up half the space. They could be allowed in car pool lanes. Also, cars this size are more adaptable to alternative fuels and electric power. Trucks, buses and trains and other fleet vehicles could be switched to other alternative fuels more easily. Ethanol or fuel cells can be implemented more easily and sooner if they implemented in fleets that fuel up at one place and which have a group of dedicated mechanics who would understand them. There could be tax incentives for this and by getting these vehicles on the road the technology would be advance more quickly. On the home front changes in regulation could allow individual home owners to generate their own electricity and sell excess to the grid. This would advance the use of small scale wind and solar power and create a market for these technologies which would drive further technological advances. There are a lot viable alternative energy sources on the horizon and a few changes in policy and trends could make a big difference in petrochemical consumption IMO.
Sherbrooke is a popular street in downtown Montreal.....St.Laurent is the other major street downtown (if you like to drink you have been there )..you've probably been to both places.......that's basically where everything is happening...and Chateau Versailles happens to be on Sherbrooke so i guess you don't remember much from your trips....probably spent too much of your time at St. Laurent
