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Young still voice of change
Rocker Neil Young pushing benefits of electric cars
By APWICHITA, KAN. — Neil Young, the rocker who provided some of the soundtrack to Vietnam-era protests, is trying to change the world again — with his car.
Young has teamed up with Johnathan Goodwin, a Wichita mechanic who has developed a national reputation for re-engineering the power units of big cars to get more horsepower but use less fuel.
The two are looking to convert Young’s 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible to operate on an electric battery. Ultimately, they said, they want the Continental to provide a model for the world’s first affordable mass-produced electric-powered automobile.
“Johnathan and this car are going to make history,” Young told The Wichita Eagle. “We’re going to change the world; we’re going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum.”
Young has poured about US$120,000 so far into the project, Goodwin said.
What’s more, the prototype power system worked during a 19-kilometre test drive of the car last week — albeit with a few glitches.
“She was awesome,” Young said of the battery-operated car. “Her acceleration was incredible, she moved with hardly a sound”
The drive almost ended in disaster when Goodwin, who controls acceleration with a knob in the back seat, twisted it the wrong way while approaching an entrance ramp and the vehicle lurched toward the rear of another car. Young, in the passenger seat, was able to hit the brakes in time.
“Still needs work,” said Goodwin, 37.
Young, 62, said he came across taped interviews of Goodwin eight months ago on the Internet, including a segment for the MTV show Pimp My Ride. Goodwin’s clientele includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had Goodwin work on his Hummer.
Young said he set out wanting his car to be able to use biodiesel, but later asked Goodwin whether they could instead power it with batteries and use it as a template to make electric cars more mainstream.
“The technology to make a practical and affordable electric cars has been around for a long time,” Goodwin said. “There are all sorts of ways to work out how to make it work on a national scale.”
For Young, the project may complete a mission he set for himself with his music.
“You know, I thought long ago you could change the world by writing songs,” he said. “But you can’t change the world by writing songs. But we could change it with this car.”
Wear your seatbelt, Neil!
Almost went with “You’re Gonna Need that Pure Religion”…but,
I’m pulling the lever for “Satisfied Mind”
Brewery president: Canning operation lost; beer supply not affected
F.X. Matt Brewing Company President Nicholas Matt has just concluded a press conference with reporters to discuss last night’s fire that destroyed their canning operation.
“I would like to start by thanking the community for what we all feel has been a tremendous outreach,” Matt said. “An outreach from people who drink our beer, from government officials, from other businesses offering to help, friends, and of course our employees who have been tremendous in this whole thing, worked extra hours, done whatever they could to help. It’s been really terrific and I want to thank everybody for that.”
Among the issues he discussed was the need to outsource their canning capabilities in the immediate future.
“We’ll get it packaged one way or another,” Matt said. “I can assure you.”
He also said that they do not expect any shortage in their beer supply because no beer was lost in the fire and the kegging operations have not been affected. But, Matt added, “If there are shortages, you can find draft beer, and you can do us all a favor by insisting that our draft beer be available wherever you go to bars and restaurants.”
– – Utica O-D, 5/30/08
A business contact of mine in Utica says there’s a run on the supermarkets now for Utica Club and Saranac. Something tells me that the Matt family won’t waste time rebuilding. They should have ample political support for the effort. Will try to hoist a U.C. or two for you this weekend, Ray!
http://www.uticaod.com/breaking/x1829912919/Fire-reported-at-FX-Matts-Brewery
Too bad. This little beat-up city didn’t need this. Here’s hoping the rebuilding is swift.
I did hear back from K. the Wizard. He’s swamped with work at the moment, but thought he could address the matter of setting up a poll(s) next week.
I think there’s some way to create a poll that tabulates votes. Of course, as “THE MODERATOR,” I have no freakin’ idea how to do that! 😉
I’ll try e-mailing the mysterious web wizard (not IJ) who pulls the strings here…Mudcrutch – “Mudcrutch”
It took 30+ years for this Tom Petty-led group to release its “debut”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/arts/music/20ligh.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=music
Grab your favorite beverage, set out on the porch, put this album on, & gaze at the stars 8)
I can imagine Lu’s cover of “Orphan of the Storm” (track 3)
A safe Memorial Day weekend to all
Remember the men & women who have served and who now serveReactions to Neil’s “Archives” project…
http://www.thrasherswheat.org/wheatfield.html
A while ago, Neil said:
“Y’know, I don’t give a sh*t whether anybody BUYS it or not. I just wanna do it. And there may only be two hundred copies, signed by me. But it’s gonna f*ckin’ exist. When it’s done, people can do whatever the f*ck they want, make any f*ckin’ order they want out of it. But they’re gonna have the whole f*ckin’ thing to choose from. They’re not gonna get part of it. Everything – the good, the bad, the ugly.
“So you know the difference. Some of it is good, some of it is crap that wasn’t released – there’s a reason. Take a look, see what it is. That’s what a f*ckin’ archive is about, not ‘Here’s Neil Young in all his wonderfulness -the great, phenomenal f*cking wonderfulness.’ That’s not what I want.
“I want people to know how f*ckin’ terrible I was. How scared I was and how great I was. The real picture – that’s what I’m looking for. Not a product. And I think that’s what the die-hard fans want – the whole f*ckin’ thing.”
Last week, Neil said:
“Ten Blu-Ray disks doesn’t lend itself to P2P. They [the fans] are going to do that anyway – people are going to copy all this music. We don’t have to deal with that. All we’re doing is supplying the mother-lode, trying to give them quality, whether they want it or not. You can degrade it as far as you want, we just don’t want our name on it.
“It’s up to the masses to distribute it however they want. The laws don’t matter at that point. People sharing music in their bedrooms is the new radio.”
“Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea. ”
– – Robert Rauschenberg (R.I.P.)“The best stories are never completely told.”
– AnonymousThought I had the New Yorker issue that the Buford story appeared in – driving myself batty trying to locate it. 😡 The memory is foggy, but I thought I came away more intrigued by Lu & her music after reading it.
