Well, as long as history includes the last 72 hours:

Two days ago we visited the National Archaeological Museum here in Athens. Quite a nice collection of Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean artifacts, as well as Geometric, Classical and Roman-era Greek stuff. The only detriment we noted was that a) the museum smelled like they allowed smokers in there about a week ago and they haven't aired it out in about 35 years; and b) the docents were asses. Long story on that one, but I'll save it for later. Suffice it to say that if they have a "don't video this statue" sign, then don't even point your camera at it, even when it's not recording. On a side note, I never understood why some statues shouldn't be taped. Flash photography I understand - video, I do not. I mean, I would even entertain the idea of purchasing a book of some sort in the museum shop. The only one they had that was of any quality cost 100 euro, and weighed about 10 kilos. Anyway.

We visited Cape Sounion yesterday. Awesome sight, and the drive was nice too: beachfront almost all the way. There at the Cape is the Temple of Poseidon, strategically placed 190m above the waters of the Aegean Sea. Didn't quite get to stay until sunset, but we got some nice pics anyway. And we looked for Byron's named carved into one of the columns, but couldn't see it. I did spot a few that were dated as early as 1813. Graffiti seems to be prevelant no matter the era.

Today we visited Epidaurus and Mycenae. Not a great day for travel because the weather has turned chilly and overcast. However, the bright spot is that on overcast days, photo color is more true. Anyway, Mycenae was particularly interesting for me because I studied that culture and period in college. It was pretty damn cool walking amidst walls that were built in 1400BCE - and even touching the walls! Epidaurus was ok, but because the rest of our travel group got cold we only spent about 30 minutes there. I did take some cool video of the "acoustically perfect" amphitheatre there. I'll say this. It's probably not acoustically perfect, but it's acoustically interesting.

Anyway, tomorrow it's on to Delphi, and then Monday we're headed home! Here's some pics:
1. Here we have gold funerary mask, excavated by Schliemann in Mycenae. He thought it was Agamemnon, but it's apparently some unknown dude who died 300 years before Aggy.
2. The Cyclopean walls of Mycenae. These blocks are pretty large and hefty.
3. The amphitheatre at Epidaurus. Steph's about halfway up. I, being a man, went all the way to the top. :)
4. A picture of the Corinth Canal. I did forget to mention we went there too. BTW, there's a stand on the roadside where you can get good leather there.
5. The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.








We've had a fine couple of days. Strolling around Athens, always keeping an eye out for the Acropolis. Yesterday we got up late (3pm!) and went to Lykavitos Hill and surveyed the land until sunset. Then, it was off to Plaka to find someplace for dinner. Lately we've been haunting this place we call the Watermelon, because the name in Greek looks like that word. Anyway, today we are going to the National Archaeological Museum. Tomorrow we'll tool around for a bit then head off to Cape Sounion to check out the Temple of Poseidon. Saturday is Epidaurus/Mycenae; Sunday is Delphi. Monday - back home. I'm hoping to get some more authentic Greek food at some point...By the way, Steph has actually eaten some Greek food which is quite a step forward from the box Mac & Cheese of late. See ya soon!

Pix from top:
St. George's l'il pocket church, atop Lykavitos Hill.
Greek military in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Greek military-types removing the flag at sundown from Lykavitos Hill.















Here's a view from our hotel room balcony. Ignore the Weeble Wobble - it's a long story. Anyway, you can peep the Acropolis in the background!

Well, we made it to Athens! The flight was uneventful, and as usual I got about 2 hours of sleep. Local time is 7 hours ahead of EST, so I called Mom & Dad at 6am for a nice wake-up. :) Our hotel room has a view of the Acropolis, which is pretty darn cool. Maybe more later - internet access ain't cheap around here... so we are in the room and going to take showers etc and then hit the town!


Our new band logo! Sweeeeet!

Here are two pumpkins I carved for Halloween this year. The first is a skellyton with a bat. Not a bad carving job for my first detailed carving. The second is a ghost in front of a tombstone. It was kinda difficult to carve this guy because the punkin was about 14" tall, and 9" wide. Basically, tall and skinny - with a 2" rind. So detail carving was a bit of a challenge. Not bad for my second detailed carving.

Tools used:
1 plastic scoop spoon
1 coping saw blade in a plastic handle
1 awl (for marking my template).

(note: if you want to see larger pix, check my photo gallery - link on the right!)

Why? Well, I've been busy. Two gigs a week plus travel, then there the whole vacation thing next week. I haven't even had time to get excited about going to Greece.

Eh well, hopefully it'll hit on Sunday. When we're packing. Right before the flight.

:)

The force rises within Yoda....

Xray

So Derrick, Tony, Chris and myself went down to Macon last night to see Widespread Panic (awesome show, btw). While driving back to ATL, somebody who shall remain nameless (Derrick) had to pee really bad. We bypassed one exit off of I-75 because it only had one gas station listed on the sign. We figured our chances were poor at 2AM with only one gas station. So, we opted for the next exit. Unfortunately, it had only one gas station, which was 1.1 miles from the highway. "What the hell," we said and forged on through the darkness. Let it be said that the area between Atlanta and Macon is not too dissimilar from the area in North Georgia where Deliverance was filmed. It turns out there is a state park off of this road, which means it's pretty much deserted. We passed a lone deer on the way in. So we pull up to the gas station which is closed. It's basically a wooden clapboard shack, with a nice sign advertising their copious amounts of bait and tackle wares for sale. To our astonishment, the restroom was open and lit, so we stopped off and recycled the refreshments we consumed earlier. One of us stood watch, naturally, for fear that local would stop by for a midnight romp wit' dem city boys. We did not get any boiled peanuts either.

One cool thing about leaving San Fran is the promise of a fresh seafood dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Here's the view from our table. Ah, there's nothing like the stench of diesel and halibut!

Here I am, crossing the Golden Gate again. This seems to be getting Old Hat. Speaking of which, I wonder why people always refer to something that is worn out and crappy as "old hat". I have a few old hats and they are actually just now getting to be broken in.

Drool 2.

Drool.

Picture of some flowers taken by my walking path this morning.

Morning Walk

The hotel gym was packed this morning so I decided to do my laps around the hotel area. The problem: it's 50 degrees and I have shorts and a T-shirt. But the area around the hotel is pretty cool - tall hills, marshy lowlands and canals. I had no idea. There's even a big ol' boat sitting out here!

I just bought this phone a few weeks ago for use in San Francisco, specifically because my Sprint phone gets zero reception in the client office where I am. I don't even carry this phone around normally. And, wouldn't you know it, when I take it out of my bag after arriving in my hotel room, the screen is busted. This really blows. Luckily, it's a very cheap phone and easily replaceable. And, I didn't even pay for it to begin with. :)

You might've read in an earlier post about my new series in Bathroom Wall Graffiti, the first post of which was from Northside Tavern. Well, here's a shot of the band that was playing that night. Your typical old-skool blues band. The lead dude played off/on slide on a 60's Gibson acoustic while the bassist played an original Silvertone - Yep, just like yours pop, except his still had the "Silvertone" plastic logo on the headstock. :) He complained that it was hard to keep it in tune.

The band wasn't that bad, just not much variety in their selections. Mostly I-IV-V blues in major scales. I think it was their first time with the drummer as he didn't know a lot of their turn arounds and exits, but he did well enough. They also featured an accompanying trombone which was a welcome twist. All in all, a good night.

What you're looking at here is a 1952 Gibson Les Paul, Gold top. Not a player's guitar, but a collector's. It's worth probably somewhere around $15-18,000, and it includes the original case. I got to play it just a bit, but not amplified. This guitar belongs to Bill (arm pictured) who is a coworker. He was loitering around my cube the other day waiting to talk to the dude in the cube opposite mine. I said just have a seat in my lobby, there are magazines to read. Incidentally I just remodeled my cube "Office Space"-style by removing a half wall that blocked a window. I have a conference room in my cube now. :)

Anyway, Bill perused my mags, one of which was Vintage Guitar. Bill mentioned that he had an old Les Paul, and I must've started drooling as he said he'd bring it in to show. He did, and I'm showing you now. Bill got this when he was seven from his father's bud who played in a band. Man, that's a lucky sumbitch right thar...

This will be the first in my series of posts about strange crap I see on bathroom walls. This was from Northside Tavern, a well-established (read as "really old") blues joint in Atlanta proper. The bathroom smells like wet cinder blocks, and was painted a lovely shade of green.

This little gem says:
Plumberman vs. Tyrannosaurus Bob
Fight till the death, or till the first hint of a free lunch.
I like tacos, myself. One time I ate a live badger taco. It really tasted awful and it was chewing on my tonsils the whole time.

You can't really fake this stuff.

I was in Staples the other day picking up some paper condoms (you know, sheet protectors) and saw these. Of course there's a picture of a woman on the front of the package, and all you see is "Lubricant Sheets" and you're thinking, "will these work with my rubber sheets?"

Yeah, keep dreaming. These are for lubing your shredder, you pervert.

No, it's not either of my Hondas, although you'd be correct in assuming that. Honda has designed a concept vehicle that is dog-friendly. Linky to photos posted on my photo album, which incidentally I haven't released to the world yet. :)

From the news article:
Honda Motor Co. has designed a car that's friendly for dogs — part of the Japanese automaker's ongoing effort to create vehicles that are easy to use and comfortable to ride in. The W.O.W. Concept, which stands for "wonderful openhearted wagon," shown to reporters recently, is an exhibition model with no plans for commercial sale that will be exhibited at the Tokyo auto show later this month. A special crate for dogs in the glove apartment allows owners to interact with their pets while driving. A bigger crate pops up from the floor in the back seat area and can be folded back into the floor when it's not needed. For even bigger dogs, just buckle them up with a special seat belt to the floor.

The big danger for pets riding along in cars is that they get thrown out during a crash. About a fifth of Japanese households have a dog, and demand is growing for cars that cater to man's best friend, according to Honda. The W.O.W comes with removable, washable, rollout flooring and has wide sliding doors to keep dogs happy. "We created this vehicle from the point of view of a dog, but it turned out to be a gentler vehicle for the elderly, children and other family members," said Honda designer Katsuhito Nakamura.

Ok, somewhere in the subject line there should be a comma, but I digress... You've no doubt seen the packing pellets made of corn starch that dissolve in water. Enter: Plantic! It's similar to the corn starch pellets but more, well, like plastic. It's also more like corn in that you can eat it. But it's also more like chitlins - you can eat them, but why would you?

The article:
FEATURE: The fantastic disappearing plastic, just add water(Kyodo)
Every day thousands of people around the world finish off a tray of biscuits or chocolates, and as they throw away the empty packet -- a symbol of the calories consumed --a wave of guilt engulfs them.

If this sounds like you, you are not alone -- and that is the problem. Because while you are mourning your expanding waistline, how often do you spare a thought for the Earth's "waste line?"

Plastic will survive forever in landfill, or, if it is burnt, as it is in Japan, it can release toxic and carcinogenic particles into the atmosphere.

But a small Australian company called Plantic says it has a solution -- just add water and the problem will disappear in front of your eyes.

Plantic markets plastic trays made from plants.

The patented formula comprises 90 percent corn starch and a number of other organic materials, including water, fatty acid and oil.

Starch-based plastics are not a new concept, says Plantic's business development manager Mark Fink, but Plantic is different.

"If I do this," he says pouring water on the product, "and count to three it starts to disappear, which is exciting."

Holes start appearing in the plastic biscuit tray.

"It's not dissolving, it's dispersing," says Fink, who compares the end product to the starchy substance left over when you cook rice.

But if you think a disappearing plastic is hard to swallow, have you ever tried eating normal plastic? Because you can eat Plantic.

"If it (Plantic) is eaten - and I eat a lot of it in front of plastics people -- then it's not harmful," says Fink.

"But we don't produce it as a food product, so for that reason we don't eat it in public and we prefer not to promote it as an edible material," he says.

Plantic conforms to the European Standard of biodegradability and its manufacturers are confident it will pass the strict Japanese test when the company makes a move into the Japanese market within the next year.

When placed on the compost heap, Plantic will disappear within three months -- releasing water into the soil and carbon dioxide into the air.

"When you can see that it can actually go away and get recycled into the environment and go back to where it came from -- you know it came from corn -- people can understand that and I think that's what makes this a good product to work with," says Fink.

And of course companies understand the good publicity that such a message brings.

"Every big company in the world has an annual report, and on the fifth or sixth page of every annual report, (is a section) about 'what a wonderful company we are to the environment,'" Fink says.

"But I imagine it's very hard to find stories to write about because in the end most companies aren't focused on the environment, and for that reason we do get a good hearing from senior management," he says.

A disappearing, environmentally friendly plastic may be enough to attract media attention, but it is not the real "wow factor" for companies, however.

The real surprise is its price, and that is where Plantic is ahead of all competition, according to Greg Lonergan, professor of biotechnology at Swinburne University in Melbourne.

Lonergan was involved in the development of the Plantic plastic and he heads a biotechnology group that tests the biodegradability of plastics.

"It's probably the first of the biodegradable (plastics) to get itself truly price competitive and I think that's quite an achievement really," Lonergan says.

Fink too is realistic about the reasons for the success of the product.

"I sell these to our customers in a competitive market -- they could choose plastic or they could choose Plantic," he says. "And although they are responsible environmental citizens, for them price is important. They won't decrease their bottom line significantly to change to this material."

Only 10 grams of corn kernels are needed to make a standard 10 gram biscuit tray and this is good news for Plantic because they do not need to worry about the rise of oil prices as do manufacturers of standard petrochemical-based plastics.

"The long-term pricing of petrochemical (plastics) is slowly increasing over time -- it's a finite resource -- the long-term pricing of crops, starch, is always decreasing," Fink says. "So we think, as time goes on, this is a more sustainable business practice as well as a more sustainable environmental material."

Plantic was developed in the mid-1990s during a seven-year research study into sustainable packaging by the Cooperative Research Centre in Australia. The study was funded by private companies, government departments and several Australian universities.

At the end of the program, a decision was made to commercialize the technology and the publicly listed company Plantic was established.

The company, which comprises 35 people, 10 of whom are technical staff, is based in Melbourne and began operations in 2002 with only four staff members, including Fink.

Since the multinational confectionary company Cadbury-Schweppes first began using a Plantic chocolate tray in 2003, more than 10 companies within Australia have also signed up.

And Fink says eight of the top 10 confectionary companies in the world are trialing the product.

Within the next few months, several European companies are also expected to publicly launch their Plantic packaging, which includes confectionary, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals packaging.

"For a small Australian company, we have a very strong customer base and interactions with some very impressive companies, and (are) being taken very seriously by them," says Fink.

Other starch-based plastics on the market include a plastic bag called Mater-Bi produced by the Italian company Novamont SpA, and plastic bottles and food packaging products made from polylactic acid, developed by the privately owned Cargill Dow LLC in the United States.

The products are both biodegradable, although they are not direct competition for Plantic, Fink says, as each is focused on a different product area, with PLA and Mater-Bi able to resist water more easily.

These plastics need to be composted in an industrial setting and Lonergan also estimates they are from two to three times more expensive than their non-biodegradable alternatives.

But Plantic obviously has its own drawback -- its greatest strength is also its weakness.

"We're developing a more water-resistant version of the tray," says Fink, who admits a tray that disappears in water is good for publicity, but has limited uses.

It is the "Catch-22" for biodegradable plastics, Lonergan says, because to be biodegradable these plastics need to take up water --unlike standard plastics, which repel water -- but they also need to be able to hold water out long enough to have a usable shelf life.

Fink is confident a more water-resistant Plantic product will be available within the year, and it is not the science that is the problem, rather it is creating a cost-competitive product.

Plantic is also in the process of creating a thin-film, like a plastic confectionary wrapper, that will allow companies to use Plantic for their internal and external packaging.

Such products are sure to further boost their production, which has more than doubled in the last year.

And now Plantic has its eyes on the potentially lucrative Japanese market.

It took the opportunity to meet Japanese business leaders in July at the Aichi World Expo where it participated in an Australian government-led trade mission.

"To go to Japan is a big exercise," says Fink, adding, "We have to do it properly, we're doing our research."

Japan, with its environmentally conscious outlook and attraction to all things novel was an obvious market from the start, but Fink says: "For us, Japan is also a very different place and so we have a lot to learn."

He believes Plantic will be seen in Japanese stores within the year, once Plantic has worked out the regulatory requirements and finalized their business strategy.

"It's coming to an exciting time," says an optimistic Fink, "And I'm going to be busy."

For now the small Australian company Plantic is a pioneer in its field, but Fink welcomes the day when it will just be part of the norm and not the exception.

"I'm looking forward to the day when there is enough biomaterial of different sorts in the market that we start competing with another biomaterial," he says. "Because that means the world has changed enough that sustainable plastics are a common thing. That hasn't happened yet, but it will happen."

Ok, so I finally broke down and bought an XM radio, the Roady2. I had been against XM for a while now, seeing as how I have an iPod and get commercial-free music all the time. And, my range of music interests bell curve from the mid-60s and pretty much drop off at about 1981, with a minor swelling in the 90s.

Well, my commute to work is about 15 minutes, whereas Steph's is 35 - so I thought it would be good for her, since she loves new music. The best part is, our pal Davis already has XM, and we just added the receiver to his setup for an extra $7 a month. So, we split the difference and save $2 a month. I know, but that's $24 a year! That's like a case and a half of beer!

Anyway so far XM is pretty darn cool - especially the fact that it has uncensored comedy on channel 150 from Carlin, Pryor, Foxx and others... It's nifty.

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