Neptune

I went to a concert with Amy on Saturday night. In addition to the rare treat of being on a date, we also had the great pleasure of listening to Jim Malcolm, one of the finest Celtic singers in the world. He's the lead singer of the Scottish band Old Blind Dogs, but this was a solo performance of (mostly) his own material. I really enjoy Celtic music of all varieties, but the Scottish songs and instrumentals are my favorite. The lyrical content tends towards battles and drinking, which is why it was all the more arresting when Jim performed his song "Neptune." The lyrics were inspired by an impromptu voyage on a commercial fishing vessel (a long story, but it involved unhealthy amounts of whisky on the island of Barra) in the Outer Hebrides. Here are the lyrics, and as you read, try to picture them coming from a big Scotsman, and perhaps you'll see why these words made more of an impact than if they had come from a more stereotypical long-haired dangly-earing flowing-skirt female singer:

Neptune, I think I'm in love with the sea
How do I woo you and make you love me
I'm drenched by your passion
Enthralled by your anger
Becalmed by your beauty
How do I make you love me?
But when he spoke, it was a plea not a roar
If you want my love, then go and tell them all:

Don't oil my beaches, don't slaughter my whales
Don't cross me with diesel, cross me with sail
Give me some time to heal up my wounds
Give me more poison and I will die soon.


Neptune I don't understand what you fear
Here round my island the waters are clear
I live from your riches, your birds and your fishes
I never would choke you, what do you need from me here?
But then he spoke of all the change caused by me
Your damage seems small, but let me recall
That in your grandfather's day there ran salmon
You could walk on their backs
Now what's left of great shoals
Those that slip through the cracks
Now the salmon's in cages, gorged on fishmeal
Sucked from some other sea by cruel profiteers, so...

Don't oil my beaches, don't slaughter my whales
Don't cross me with diesel, cross me with sail
Give me some time to heal up my wounds
Give me more poison and I will die soon.

Not Quite Ecotopia Yet

Amy and I took our son Liam to Gasworks Park to fly his kite. The sun was shining, loads of people were out, and we had a great time. Then he wanted to throw some rocks into the water, and we saw this sign. It made me sad. At least he can't read yet. Sigh.

Sustainable Energy Talk

There's a great talk coming up and I would encourage anyone interested in sustainable building, climate change, and local economies to attend.

International Sustainable Solutions and Greg Nickels are sponsoring a lecture by Svend Auken, the former Danish Minister for Energy and Environment. He is largely responsible for putting Denmark on the path towards sustainable energy independence, and I think he will have a lot of great insights to share.

The event will take place March 18, 2005, 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Meany Hall, University of Washington. Tickets are $7 if you buy before March 11, after that they are $10.

Hope to see you there!

SBFC Report is DONE!

The Northwest Team finished up work in early January and we submitted our report to Dave Janis of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington about three weeks ago. I'm pretty happy with the finished product and I think we made some good recommendations. I had fun with the graphics too, it's pretty fun playing around with City infrastructure (even if it is only in InDesign).

Dave is going to synthesize the reports from all six teams and present Councilmember Richard Conlin with recommendations from across the city. I'm looking forward to seeing the report and I hope that Richard is not too distracted by his reelection campaign to keep things moving on bicycle transportation planning.

I posted a PDF of the NW Team report here. Thanks to my teammates Ron Lindsay and Mike O'Brien for working so hard on this project.