trip to Silverstone for LeMans series

Sat, August 11 2009
personal photos
Can anybody tell me what this is? I was just lucky to be walking by. Seems to be Corvette-based.
LeMans car after scrutineering on Saturday
LeMans car after scrutineering
Classic car race, Saturday
Won by Bobby Rahal

-Cosine67~~~

houses full of stuff destroy the environment

Modern humans are so intelligent that they can make houses which completely separate us from the wild,so much so, that a bug is seen as an invader.
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Update: In a Hallowe'en story to scare people, the BBC has been saying that the average house has 30 bugs. Run for the hills! It seems that many Brits have arachnophobia. If they were poisonous, so would I, but most aren't. In Oz, they ARE a problem.
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But, houses are actually destroying the environment in so many ways and I don't mean just the wasting of wood, glass, cement and man-made materials.

1. House price increases lead to the destruction of more of the environment.

So, you want to live in a city, say London. You need to find a house and the closer you get to the center of town, the more expensive the houses get.

So, what do you do? Go to a brand new housing development 2 hours from your work, built on greenspace. That might be within your budget. So, high prices force builders and homeowners to tear up greenspace. We force government to extend roads, rails, public utilities (sorry, privatised utilities) into the wilderness.

2. Mortgages worsen destruction of the environment

The ease with which people can get mortgages encourages them to ask for much more money than they should. They want just enough rope not to hang themselves. So, they buy a much bigger house than they really need, wasting materials and paying a 100% premium, in interest, risking bankruptcy, and requiring them to work more.

3. Consumerism destroy more of the environment

Our consumerism means we keep more junk than our houses can hold, so, we get bigger houses than we really need, just to store our stuff.
[pic d4all.com, George Carlin, A place for my stuff. Saw his live show for this album.]



[pic utvols.com, Steve Martin, The Jerk. "I just need my chair, and my..."]

UPDATE:

When I try to explain my belief in keeping a house uncluttered, I bullshit people and tell them I feng shuei my house. It gets a laugh, but I have my hoarding tendencies for certain things. I hang on to stuff to recycle it at the right place, even if it takes some planning. I also keep lots of newspaper clippings. I buy used books and videos etc., but some people are nuts about stuff...worthless stuff.

Along comes a show to solve this problem for lots of real hoarders. It's called "Gutted" and its on the Home channel in the UK. I saw it advertised on another channel, and because this is Britain, it's not actually on the Home channel. At least, not on my freeview access to the Home channel.

Anyway, I just wanted to watch people 'see the light' and get over the shock of losing their 'stuff'. I truly feel that our materialism is basically a psychological ILLNESS.

Secondly, it's wasteful in ways we can only begin to imagine. Think about all the things that go into motion when your purchase creates the need for a replacement for the thing you bought. From raw materials to the factory, to the box, to the transport (usually from China), to the store, to the bag, to the car you used to go shopping, to the place to put your stuff. Nutso!

Thirdly, most of it is not necessary for survival, but it could push you into bankruptcy, or other lesser financial problems. So, think! Do you need a certain thing to survive, or not? Everything else is secondary.

Fourthly, stuff and distance cut us off from other people. We all need community and communication but folks nowadays are much happier in their place with their stuff.

Businesspeople love logistics. They sort out how to source materials and take a product through the stages of production and delivery. They think nothing of filling a ship in China and using fossil fuels to ship their junk over to us. To hell with 'em. Who needs their junk?

Globalisation is a much bigger issue, but rich folk knew that they could get much richer by making stuff in Asia and using cheap fuel and shipping services to move their products over to us, the hungry consumers. Meanwhile, they lied to us about the fact that they would be taking our manfucturing jobs the likes of which would never return. So, after 3 decades of this stuff, we're into a cycle of crises, heavily in debt, buying crap while Asia is basking in the glow of globalised capitalism. Great! By not buying, you'll be sending your own little message to the globalisers. Hi, globalisers! Screw you, pals 'o mine! Bye, now!

If you NEED something, buy it from a manufacturer nearest to your house. It's hard, but not impossible. Buy local, as they say.

e.g. Do you really need for your wine to be imported from Australia? I know it only costs 1 dollar a bottle for transport, but I only buy European plonk, when I'm not drinking beer. I can't understand why it's necessary for us to have Aussie grapejuice. We have so much choice, even without Aussie wine. I wish I knew the name of the French winemaker who has started shipping its bottles to the UK by sailboat. Anybody know?

-Cosine67~~~

unlabelled pics from fotosearch.com

checkitout:

the home of Gutted: www.lovehome.co.uk