Classical Music on Madison Avenue

During the Christmas advertising period, one car ad was set to a, well, bizarre version of an advertising favorite, "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It's really a simple piece, with a simple 2/4 rhythm. The beginning (the usual part used in ads) has pizzicato strings, a celesta and a bass clarinet. So, what did the ad agency do? They had it scored for rock in 4/4 time with an even simpler arrangement. In other words, they trashed it. Were they thinking that the original was too simple for its listeners? How low can they go?

On to this month. I enjoyed Subway's 30 second rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, with buttons exploding in sync with the cannon. I know, I'd rather hear the full piece, but with 30 seconds available, I thought Subway did a good job. I also saw a candy ad featuring "Jupiter" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets". I thought the choice was odd, but, still, the music was great.

Would You Like to Buy "eeeee" from fffffffffffff.com?

This is what Google Ads is offering as I write. I guess Google is not perfect after all. ;-)

Vegawatt: The Most Efficient Way to Convert Waste Vegetable Oil to Energy

Owl Power Company manufactures the Vegawatt, a machine that converts restaurants' waste vegetable oil to energy. It consists of a diesel engine that drives a generator to produce electricity and a system to extract heat to produce hot water for use at the restaurant. It is optimized for restaurants with 3-5 deep fat fryers The great beauty of this machine is that it turns a waste product into a valuable resource. It typically takes about two years for an American installation to pay for itself. Moreover, the power is carbon-neutral.

So, if you have a restaurant with deep fat fryers, you should buy a unit (or more, I'm not sure how it would work at a large facility). Your investment will pay for itself quickly and continue to reduce your utility bills and increase your profits. It won't eliminate your need for external, but will reduce it noticeably.

I think it would be great if large chains bought these. The lower-end ones like McDonalds are doing well during this recession, so they have the cash to buy these. As production ramps up, their prices should fall, making them even more profitable to use.

Flywheel LRT Power Storage

As I pointed out before, DDOT has no plan to avoid using overhead lines to power streetcars. I have blogged about onboard vehicular power storage, namely supercapacitors and batteries. I engaged in some dialogue about this on Greater Greater Washington. I have done a little research and found yet another method to store power: flywheel power storage. An English company, Parry People Movers Ltd., has been doing work on this. They even have implemented a diesel prototype. Its partner, JPM Parry & Associates claims to be designing a 220-passenger light rail vehicle, in a multiyear effort. While electrical power is a possible source, neither website has information about how long a vehicle could run on it.

A possible compromise position for DC streetcars is to use electrical power storage with charging umbrellas and a diesel or turbine engine. This is an engineering task. DDOT does have engineers, doesn't it?

"UNVOTED BALLOT MUST BE RETURNED"

For years, I have been subjected to push polls by mail and by phone. The phone polls have been both automated and human. I blogged about Tysons Tomorrow's idiotic push poll. However, I have never been threatened by a push poll. Well, technically, I still haven't. The Heritage Foundation mailed my wife, "Mr. Coleman" (she has a rare, foreign name, rare in her native country), a standard mail push poll. Every question is loaded and it claims that the results will be tabulated and sent to the Congress. (Yeah, right!) Like all paper push polls of this type, they want money. However, on the outside of the envelope, it has lots of inane instructions, concluded by the title of this post. (Make me!) Even though I am sympathetic to Heritage's agenda (I even interviewed for a job there), I do not believe that the ends justify the means. Heritage should do what it does best - be a think tank. Don't send out push polls that only diminish your credibility. If you do conduct a poll, do it using surveying best practices.

I'm wondering, have they panicked (unnecessarily) about the Democrats' recent victory? Some perspective is needed: this was just one of dozens of American elections. Things can change rapidly in 2 or 4 years and bring the Republicans back to power. The past election is not the Revolution of 1800 or the 1860 or 1932 elections. All of these had unusually powerful effects on American politics.

Democrats Finally Exploit Bug in D.C.'s At-Large Voting Scheme

Because D.C. is a one-party town, the Congress created two at-large City Council seats with the intent of creating at least one minority party member. Every voter gets two votes. The catch is that each party can only nominate one candidate. For years, this worked, as a Republican won the second seat. However, in the last election, a Democrat running as an Independent won. Thus, the City Council will be completely Democratic come January. This completely defeats the intent of this voting rule.

The big question is what took the Democrats so long? They could have always designated an independent as the second Democratic candidate.

The next big question is how to fix it? Two methods come to mind. The first is the Japanese method for multimember districts: give voters only one vote. The problem is that doesn't work for the same reason. The Democrats can nominate two candidates, divide D.C. into two halves and instruct voters in each half to vote for that half's candidate. Thus, the Democrats can hold the two cities. The other alternative is for each party to designate an at-large candidate. Then, the two parties receiving the highest number of votes for all other council seats receive one vote each. In a city dominated by one party, this will have the desired effect of placing a minority party member on the City Council. If the city becomes politically competitive, the effect is a wash, as the balance between the two parties will not be affected.

Anacostia Light Rail: A Solution in Search of a Problem

DDOT initially conceived the Anacostia light rail as a starter system for a network of light rail lines throughout DC. Anacostia was chosen to be first as it would be connected to the rail yard and be relatively inexpensive to build. This was contingent on obtaining CSX's right-of-way to build a (relatively) high-speed connection through Anacostia between the Anacostia and Minnesota Ave. stations. The deal fell through, so DDOT is now reduced to trying to build a light rail line in Anacostia to, well, perhaps show that it can be done. As Greater Greater Washington has pointed out, the latest incarnation will continue an all-too-short (and low speed) distance on Anacostia's streets and maybe will be extended to the 11th St. Bridge. After that, there is simply no plan.

DDOT also assumed away the problem of the ban on overhead wires. Not every light rail line can go on abandoned railroad tracks. In fact, one of the illustrations shows overhead lines on a street. Let's face it, the overhead line ban is not going away. Moreover, given improvements in power storage technology, it may be possible to avoid them completely by having quick charges from short overhead lines integrated into stations.

So, DDOT has to go back to the drawing board. First, it has to find a way to get the CSX right-of-way. Eminent domain is a possibility that hasn't been tried. This may be difficult, as railroads are generally accorded strong property rights. You can't do a lot of things to railroads that you can do to other properties. Still, the line is abandoned, which is the argument that DC will have to use. Second, DC has to solve the overhead wire problem. By doing so, it can reduce construction costs and set an example for other cities to emulate. The Anacostia LRT can be used as a test bed.