The displaced Kiwi

Thanks likeCOOL <link>

Clever. Maybe the aim is to get more men supermarket shopping. Although it does say, ““Does it feel good? Continue to one of our retailers.”

via I believe in advertising <link>

Today Google Reader delivered me a stream of compelling content in a quasi-logical thread. First it was “I will possess your heart” by Death Cab for Cutie. It’s worth the eight minutes, 30 seconds. I would have liked to have been on that shoot - talk about travel.

Then it was a great picture of evolutionary graffitti. Here’s the link for the full glory. It’s worth the eight minute scroll to the right. (I tried to thumbnail but failed. Will try again later, so images may appear).

And finally it all came together in an almost eight minute video of graffitti by Blu (http://www.blublu.org/). These guys are very clever. Look out for the tongue grabbing paper off the wall towards the end.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

via Neatorama <link>

Browse around and you’ll find a book staircase, a book bath and a book chair.

“Only Greentech Can Save U.S. Economy, Says Über-Investor” is Wired’s story which contains the compelling statement that, “Gas will go to $10 a gallon”.

It starts like this…

“The U.S. financial system is in a mess. The global marketplace is in the same disarray … What the hell is going on? Can we get out of this mess, and how? And will our children be living in caves?”

New Yorker staff writer Nick Paumgarten posed those distressingly pertinent questions to Michael Novogratz, president of the Fortress Investment Group and the 317th-richest person in America, yesterday at the New Yorker Stories From the Near Future conference…

and then…

“…As the price of oil goes up, there’s got to be a green revolution. I think of what will be the next driver of the American economy, and it’s green energy. That’s a huge growth opportunity. It’s not about the pollution. It’s about the energy. Gas will go to $10 a gallon,” he said.

Full story here <link>

Separately, but on a related theme; the NYT reports that not only are higher gas/petrol prices in the US encouraging people to buy smaller cars - my previous post about the Obama and the gas tax holiday covered this <link> - it is also driving people on to public transport.

“With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.” And it’s stretching the capacity of the commuter systems. Full story here <link>

Will they cope at $10? We live in interesting times.

PS: Oil hit $126 a barrel on Friday <link>

Not only did this chocolate bar make me laugh but the website is very cool.

http://www.bloomsberry.com/

Oh yes. There is just a small irony in me posting a chocolate bar having written about the world food price crisis on more than one occasion.

And oh yes #2. It’s a New Zealand company.

via ffffound!

Option 1: A Mediterranean diet and regular activity

Research on the bone health of one of the oldest persons in the world, who recently died at the age of 114, reveals that there were no genetic modifications which could have contributed to this longevity. The research team, directed by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona professor Adolfo Díez Pérez, pointed out a healthy lifestyle, a Mediterranean diet, a temperate climate and regular physical activity as the reasons for his excellent health. <link>

Option 2: LSD.

Chemist Albert Hoffman, who created LSD in 1938, has died in Switzerland at age 102. Mr. Hofmann first produced LSD in 1938 while researching the medicinal uses of a crop fungus. He accidentally ingested some of the drug and said later: “Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror”. <link>

Wired reported it <link>.

“David Alpert, a political organizer whose day job is product manager at Google, recently established a new web site named Gastaxscam.com.”

Here’s an excerpt.

“We are SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, the wife of the former United States head of state, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, and also SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, friend and associate of current head of state PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH. We got your contact through business inquiries as we were searching for contacts of a citizen who can help save our and our family’s political careers since our country has been frustrating us.”

It’s very clever.  Well done Mr Alpert.

On a related note the NY Times is reporting that the gas tax battle was a gift to Obama. <link>

“The fight, which dominated the final days before the North Carolina and Indiana contests, gave him an opening to talk about the economy with working-class voters and helped Obama at least temporarily bury the controversy about his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.”

Perhaps. Clearly being able to talk about something else was of real benefit to Obama, but there is no evidence that more working-class voters backed him in either primary.  

Having collated and posted articles that variously blame the falling dollar for the increase in the price of food and the price of oil, this article from the New York Times could be a first positive sign. <link> 

“After six years of stumbling against the euro, the dollar may be showing signs of getting back on its feet.

“Two weeks ago, the dollar hit a new low of $1.60 for the euro amid expectations of lower interest rates in the United States and possibly higher rates in Europe….

“Since then, the dollar has strengthened — it closed at $1.55 Tuesday — and some economists say that even if it creeps down slightly, the dangers of a precipitous fall, at least against the euro, have subsided.”

Sounds like good news. That is until you get to the end where in typical economist manner there is a dissenting view.

“Mr. Feldstein said that as a result, he projects that the dollar may still have further to decline because, although the trade balance has narrowed recently, it is a long way from disappearing. “I think the dollar has substantially further to fall,” he said.”

All I know is that the dollar seems to have appreciated against the pound in the past few days and from my reading that seems to be a good thing.