Ghostland Observatory

Ghostland Observatory
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I witnessed Ghostland Observatory at At the Venue in SLC (sorry At the Venue is the place's name).

The Templar cape was well-chosen. The crowd went chaotic at the end and joined the pair on stage.

Great show. I have no idea how in the hell the singer sings the way he does, night after night and is still spot on. You have to listen to him to understand the energy he puts into it. It is like a super-amped falsetto with range. They certainly engaged the crowd.

Boom--boom--boom. Grind.

I haven't been writing enough about my musical adventures lately. Perhaps a sea-change is in order for this old blog. The Justice thema has been quite effective, but now that summer is in the offing, I feel the need to be hedonistic: now maybe it is bump-and-groove time.

Six months might be the length that one (meaning I) can extend a blog thema, anyway.

Don't want to get stale now, do we? (Meaning me.)

Half time speculation, or What in the name of all that is holy?*

The Jazz score 77 points in a half?

Are we looking at a return to their early-season massive scoring streak?

This bodes well, my droogies.

Now if they can just contain Golden State and Yeltsin (Don Nelson), I would be much happier. Allowing 64 points is not good, even if you are scoring fools.

* (Bill Lambier)

Friends, Utahns, and Countrymen...

Heyo...some immediate action needed, dear Utah readers. Take a gander at the email I received from Jessica at HEAL Utah:

Dear [Theorris],

Your State Senator, [Sen. X], will be voting on Renewable Energy Provisions (SB 173) this Friday during a committee meeting. This bill sets a target for 25% of our energy in Utah to come from renewable sources by 2025. Can you please contact Sen. Fife and urge him to vote for SB 173?

Below is a sample message you can use, and here is Sen. [X's contact info [find it yourself at the Utah State Senate site.]

Make sure to say you are his constituent and to vote “Yes on SB 173, Renewable Energy Provisions.” Here is a sample message/e-mail note:

Subject: From Constituent: Vote Yes on SB 173, Renewable Energy Provisions

Body: Dear Sen. X,

As your constituent, I ask that you please vote “yes” on SB 173, Renewable Energy Provisions. I believe this is the bill Utah needs to develop the clean energy resources we have in our state. SB 173 creates a market for renewable energy to attract the clean energy jobs and investment now flowing into other western states. Renewable energy is already economical to conventional sources and this bill would protect ratepayers should it ever prove to be too costly.

Sincerely,
Your name

Thanks again for contacting your state senator. For more information about the bill, visit our website: http://www.healutah.org/files/RealMcCoy.pdf. Feel free to contact me with any questions or if you get back a response.

Jessica Kendrick
Field Organizer
HEAL Utah
801-355-5055

Here is what I wrote (and despite the rhetorical flourishes, I really do believe it):

Dear Senator [X],

As your constituent, I ask that you please vote "yes" on SB 173, Renewable Energy Provisions and to encourage your fellow State Senators to join you. This is the bill Utah needs to develop clean energy resources. SB 173 creates a market for renewable energy, attracting clean energy jobs and investment now flowing into other western states. Renewable energy is already more economical than conventional sources, and this bill would protect ratepayers in the unlikely event that renewable energy ever prove to be too costly.

Support of renewable energy is a means of ensuring that we will be able to pass on to future generations a livable and sustainable world. Ultimately, it is up to us all to ensure that our progeny, both distant and immediate will be able to live in the Utah that wise-minded people like my ancestors (pioneers of 1847) left. In their brief respite on Earth, they planned a community that was sustainable and passed it on to their children. I fear that the road we travel down now is ignoring their essential wisdom and common sense about how to live in a place like Utah and flourish, for the sake of "convenience" and, I hate to say, greed.

Senator Fife, I am a proud Utahn, the scion of pioneer stock, and I feel SB 173 is essential to our future.

Sincerely,

[Theorris Boonasty]
[The Wilhelmn]
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, The Universe 84109
gardnecl@gmail.com

Get on this, readers:

Earlier this month, the Utah Radiation Control Board was the first state agency to take a stand against EnergySolutions’ plan to import 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy. Now you can make your voice heard, too.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is taking public comments starting today on EnergySolutions’ request to import nuclear waste from Italy’s defunct reactors. Help us send a message to the NRC that importing another country’s nuclear waste sets a bad precedent for Utah and the U.S. to become the world’s nuclear waste dump and endangers our health, safety, and security.

You can email your comments through our web-form here: http://www.healutah.org/energysolutions/ItalianWasteComments

You can also mail your comments to:
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications

The federal government has been at Utah’s door in the recent past, asking for our approval to let nuclear waste or nuclear fallout into our state. But thousands of Utahns turned back Private Fuel Storage’s nuclear waste plan for Skull Valley and thousands more stopped Divine Strake.

Now we need to speak out again for the health and safety of our state. Please submit your comment today. Thank you!

Here is a sample comment you can use:

Dear Office of the Secretary,

I’m writing to urge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny EnergySolutions’ request to import 20,000 tons of Italian nuclear waste into the U.S. It is my understanding that this single request is many times larger than previous import licenses granted by the Commission and would therefore represent a serious departure in this country’s policies for handling nuclear waste.

Granting this request would set a dangerous precedent for the U.S. to become the world’s nuclear waste repository at a time when our own low-level waste disposal capacity remains uncertain. Filling up our domestic resources for low-level waste disposal with another country’s nuclear waste will put considerable pressure on existing U.S. disposal sites to expand and create a need for new sites to open up. The emergence of new and larger low-level nuclear waste sites due to foreign waste disposal constitutes an unreasonable risk to public health and safety. Having to safeguard these sites from terrorist attacks or other acts of intrusion will put considerable strain on our national defense and security. Furthermore, the transportation of this waste into our ports and through our cities and towns presents an unacceptable risk to our health, safety, and security.

EnergySolutions states in its application that “the sources of this material are not fully known” and that some of the waste may be above allowable contamination for processing and disposal in Utah. The Commission should not agree to allow this import when the nature and hazards of this material remain unclear.

Because of the concerns stated above, I strongly urge the Commission to reject the application submitted by EnergySolutions. Thank you.



John Urgo
HEAL Utah, Outreach Director
68 S. Main St, Suite 400
SLC, UT 84101
(801) 355-5055

9 Straight!

9 Straight!
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Three point fest tonight. Rock on. A comment was made that "we won't see that happening again for a long time from a Jerry Sloan team" by, I think, Jeff Hornacek. Despite his experience with Sloan, I certainly hope that is not the case. It has been nice watching the Jazz develop the long bomb game, along with a strong inside presence over the last 2 years. Sloan has been unfairly categorized as a inside game guy. Perhaps he's changing in his old age. Perhaps he can develop a full-court sense. Perhaps he skillfully works with the players he has on hand. I think that is the case. With Okur, Korver, Kirilenko, Miles, and Williams as potential long ballers, I think he is set. Given that Okur has suddenly ramped up his inside game, I think we're golden.

Round 3* in the finals, here WE (as in the Jazz) come! Now if the Jazz pull of a Conference win, oh my.

*Parker's out. Marbury won't get in the groove for the playoffs. The Jazz will be lucky if the first round in the playoffs is either New Orleans or San Antonio. They will be cruisin' to the third round if that's the case.

Pulling together

It is good to see that the Jazz are finally pulling it together again: Salt Lake Tribune - Jazz: Ill-timed technical ruinous for Spurs. Despite the Spurs onslaught at the opening of the fourth, the Jazz held true. Only a month ago they were still folding whenever even remotely pressed by their opponent. Good to see they're getting some defensive gumption back.