since when was i ever an activist?

i'm sorry i'm not posting something cute. yay! duke energy is going to kill us all! (also i plagiarized the hell out of this, but don't tell them that.) this is all for naught...



YOUR INQUIRY:


I recently found out that Duke Energy is trying to build a new coal power plant in Charlotte, NC.
Power plants are a major source of air pollution, with coal-fired power plants spewing 59% of total U.S. sulfur dioxide pollution and 18% of total nitrogen oxides every year. Burning fossil fuels such as coal releases carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution, making energy use the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S. and the world. Coal-fired power plants and the pollution they release every day are a major threat to human health and our environment.
I would urge you to search for other ways to increase your energy output as a company -- renewable methods!
And if there is any doubt, just watch "An Inconvenient Truth" if you haven't already. http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Don't add to the worlds problems -- work to solve them! I urge you. Please contact me at [info removed to protect the innocent] or at [my phone number - call me!]. My roommate and I share our Duke Energy bill, although it is in his name [StrayDog].

Sincerely,
Sarah


OUR RESPONSE:

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for your e-mail and your interest in the Cliffside project. Duke
Energy provides safe, reliable and affordable electricity to 2.3 million
customers in the Carolinas. By 2026, in North Carolina alone, the population is
expected to increase by more than 30 percent to nearly 10 million people. The
Cliffside Modernization Project will help meet our growing region’s need for
electric power.

Duke Energy uses a variety of fuels to produce electricity – coal, nuclear,
natural gas and renewables, including hydroelectric power. Coal continues to
serve our region and our nation well, as our most plentiful and secure fuel for
power generation. The new 800-megawatt unit at Cliffside will use that valuable
natural resource in a way that is significantly cleaner and much more efficient
than in the past.

The project also involves retiring four older, less-efficient units at
Cliffside. The new unit is expected to generate more than twice the electricity
of the existing plant – but only one-seventh of the sulfur dioxide, one-third
of the nitrogen oxide and one-half of the mercury. In recognition of those
environmental improvements, the Cliffside project has qualified for a
substantial federal tax incentive of $62.5 million.

In addition, we have pledged to invest 1 percent of our revenues in the
Carolinas each year in energy efficiency programs (assuming appropriate
regulatory approval) – and to retire up to 800 megawatts of older,
less-efficient generation for every megawatt those programs save based on
overall system reliability. At the same time, we are actively seeking to add
more renewable energy to our portfolio.

To meet our region’s growing demand, the reality is that we need to conserve
energy and find ways to use it more efficiently. We need to modernize
Cliffside. We need to retire older, less-efficient generation. We need more
renewable energy. By using all of these resources, Duke Energy can continue to
provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity as our region prospers and
grows.

Best regards,

Web Support Team



SARAH'S RESPONSE:

Dear Web Support Team:

I think Duke Energy should be doing more to combat the alarming effect that coal-burning has on our surroundings. Is your organization aware of the NC Public Radio show "The State of Things" -- they had a story regarding your company that aired last week on Tuesday (http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0205a08.mp3). They have brought up some issues that I should think your company would be very interested in responding to.

Please inform Jim Rogers that I, Sarah [LAST NAME], would like to formally protest the building of the new Cliffside coal power plant. I would appreciate a confirmation that this message has reached Mr. Rogers.

Thank you for your consideration in this important matter.

Sincerely,
Sarah
[my address!]

Should I Have a Public Access TV Show

Remember that episode of Seinfeld where they wait forever for a table at a Chinese restaurant? Or that episode of Friends where everyone finds out about Monica and Chandler having sex? Or even the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa decides to become a vegetarian?

I'd want my public access show to be a bunch of regular people re-enacting these episodes. Verbatim. No one is trying to be bad on purpose. Everything just happens to be amateur-ish because it's being produced by amateurs.

That would be my show.

Psst ...

... the new Trampdance! password is "pantyhose."




Am I running this joke into the ground? The joke that my old apartment is actually a speakeasy? No. I don't think so. I think the sheer ludicrousness of the suggestion warrants much, much more mockery than is being doled out.




So, just so everyone knows, the Trampdance! password is no longer "jellyfish," but is now "pantyhose."

Upcoming Trampdance! Calender

Monday, Feb. 11: Lady's Night
Tuesday, Feb. 12: PBR and Whiskey shots for $3
Wednesday, Feb 13: Open Mic Night
Thursday, Feb 14: Valentine's Day Speed Dating
Friday, Feb 15: DJ MC Jaxwell
Saturday, Feb 16: Dance Marathon feat. BFF
Sunday, Feb 17: Karaoke

108 Sue Ann Court, Apt. B
Carrboro, NC 27510

trampdance@gmail.com

828.508.5285

Remember Graham St. Salon?

Apparently that happens in Philly, too, only it's called the Weekly Review.

Here's a, er, taste of what PhillySalon has to offer.



That and the EXACT SAME PEOPLE. At least they look the same.

Dead Weight

Hey! I chose to name this "Adventures in Frienship!™" over "Adventures in Friend and the Occasional Other Friend!™" for a reason.

I'm going to throw out some select contributor invites and see if we can get some fresh, succulent, juicy USDA-approved meat in here.

Brimming with Sassback

Man I am so full of sass, and I have many targets at which to sass all over.

There are those involved in a lease debacle, yes, debacle, which has resulted in me being on two leases for the time being.

There is parking in Center City, which doesn't actually exist for less than $45 an hour.

There is my constant craving to buy things at IKEA and American Apparel. Both evil, evil places!

Sass sass sassy sassback. Aunt Sassy-back.

That word doesn't mean anything to me anymore.

Still, thank, thank god I'm in Philadelphia. This place is much more mentally salubrious for me. Carrboro had the stench of death all over it. It was like being quarantined amongst the reanimated corpses of your dead loved ones.

But yay Philly!! <333

The War at Home, aka Brett Gets Sassy

Remember those Trampdance! flyers that I made a while back? Ya know, those cute little flyers, that I thought were funny because I was making advertisements that didn't actually advertise anything, that I thought were funny because I was just using my friends images to promote the abstract concept of "Trampdance!"? The flyers that had an e-mail address, phone number and hours that meant nothing but to make it seem like an actual advertisement? The flyers that weren't actually posted about town but only in my online picture albums to display my ingenious artwork?

Our most popular Trampdance! flyer

Well it seems one, all, or some combination of our new readers† (if not, a different former neighbor, which would surprise me very much), readers so dedicated to this blog that they went so far back as my first entry about bed-sharing and found the corresponding article in the Independent Weekly, readers intrigued enough by this blog to meticulously search through my flickr albums, and readers dedicated enough to this blog to scour the Internet and miraculously find this YouTube video of us friends hanging out as evidence that I was, and I quote, "running an informal nightclub called Trampdance."†† This evidence was then handed over to the respective authorities (the landlords), along with frequent noise complaints, to illustrate that a secret hotspot of Carrboro's happening nightlife scene has been running right under the landlords' noses, out of 108 Sue Ann Court, Apartment B.

I've even been told the flyers are making my former neighbors feel threatened and need to be taken down ... huh. Though I guess this is coming from people who think that parking in an actual parking spot that happens to be eight feet outside their window constitutes something that is threatening. I guess some people are just threatened easier than others. It's not like I pelted them with bagels or anything.

Wow. Now I really wish I had been running an illicit speakeasy out of my tiny apartment. I would be quite impressed with myself. Now I've got an idea for my new apartment! Anyone see the hot new pics of my new place in Philly on Facebook? Totally could be turned into a speakeasy. Just some hidden liquor cabinet and a secret password and viola! Speakeasy city! Er, speakeasy apartment ... !

So what do you think? Are the flyers threatening? Should they be taken down off my blog, Facebook and flickr accounts? Are they promoting the secret nightclub at 108 Sue Ann Court, Apartment B well enough?, because we really need to get more patrons if we're going to get out of the red soon.

Feedback appreciated!

†Again, hi Emily McKendry-Smith, Anne K. Hunter and Kayo Suzuki!!

††These words were relayed by a third party and in no way indicate that they were verbatim what our new readers have said.

DISCLAIMER: No parts of this blog entry are meant to be a threat of any kind, physical, mental, emotional or otherwise, to any other party. Any interpretations otherwise will be regarded as daft, persecution complex-y, and totally, totally lame.

(Yeah, I don't know why the font size and styles change on their own all the time. I blame Blogger).

Adventures in Friendship!™?

More like Adventures in Philadelphia!™

I have moved! To guess where?

Yeah ... Phila .. delphia.

It's great!

So much has been going on, here in Philly and back in Carrboro even in my wake. Updates will come once I have more than twenty seconds.

Until then, my love ...

(Hi Anne, Kayo and Emily! Everyone welcome our new readers!!)

i made this for a friend...

John Neil Davidson's induction to the Brasstown Brigade, January 14 2007 from Forrest O. on Vimeo.