Saturday funnies

I want this ad to start running in in-flight magazines. Thanks to the kids at Livejournal for these.

Great source for outdoor showers

If the reports I get from Site Meter are as accurate as I think they are, there's a lot of interest out there in outdoor showers.  "Outdoor Shower" was my number one search term this week.Woo-hoo!  Thank you Google!

So I have been thinking about outdoor showers again and I stumbled upon an Arizona-based website the other day called Calazzo, and these people have to make the sharpest outdoor showers I've ever seen. With the emphasis on make. I spoke with Ser at Calazzo earlier in the week and I learned that they manufacture everything that's on their site. In addition to outdoor showers, they make some really great teak and steel furniture and they have some gorgeous fire pits. Check out their site, really.

Their offerings are well-made from teak and stainless steel and are available in a large number of configurations. You can buy one with a single supply line (a hose) for summertime use in a temperate climate, or you can buy a dual-supply version to use more permanently in warmer climes. So they're gorgeous, flexible and really reasonably priced. So what's not to love?

This is the Pila free-standing with a dual (that's hot and cold) water supply. The Pila free-standing comes with a single teak base, the extra teak tiles shown in the photo are available for purchase separately.

Here's the same Pila, and you can see the single teak base that comes with the shower.

This is the Pila with an optional footwash. I love the foot wash showers that we have at the beaches here. They make driving home after a sunset walk on the beach a less-messy experience, and it would be great to be able to do something similar at home.

Here's a close-up of the Pila shower head. This is a similar style as some more extravagantly-priced Italian and German shower heads I can think of.

Here's a close up of their teak handles. Using teak and stainless in an outdoor shower makes a lot of sense and for that reason alone, you owe it to yourself to check out Calazzo's site if you're considering an outdoor shower for yourself.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

The Jobsite Theater is performing David Harrower's disturbingly moving Blackbird at the Shimberg Playhouse at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. The show premiered locally last night and runs through the 28th.

I saw this play during its initial US run in New York a year-and-a-half ago and I'm thrilled to see it making the rounds of the regional theaters. Man, to see it is to experience the power of a playwright's words to manipulate an audience, that's for sure. Over the course of two hours, a repulsive character becomes sympathetic and his victim becomes a despoiler. It's a masterpiece. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, get thee to the Shimburg.

Here are the details.

Immer besser

That's German for "Forever better." Boy, I'll say.

At KBIS in Chicago last April, the German appliance manufacturer Miele offered those of us in the trade a sneak peak at their new line of dishwashers. They are pretty cool and they will begin appearing on the consumer market between now and Christmas.

Most notable is the G2002 La Perla series of dishwashers. Through this series of appliances, Miele has raised the bar quite a bit when it comes to efficiency. The La Perla senses the the temperature in the room and adjusts the temperatures inside the appliance in response to the ambient temperature. That may seem like overkill, but get this, when La Perla is going through its drying cycle, it opens its own door automaticall

y and it uses the air in the room to finish drying the dishes rather than running its heaters to do the job. Pretty slick. The La Perla also uses less water and less electricity than other Miele models and if that weren't enough, La Perla is also quieter.

I have no idea what the retail price tag on these things will be but they won't come cheap. But all is not lost though. Every time Miele raises the bar like this, every other dishwasher manufacturer out there clamors to catch up. Look for similar innovations in less expensive models and brands in the coming months.

What gives with the "Pickens Plan?"

I saw this video as an ad on TV Sunday night and it's an intriguing idea. Intriguing yes, but I'm not quite sure I trust this "Pickens Plan" or its backers. I believe that the US has to replace gasoline with every fiber of my being. Eight years of an administration that's allowed this country to be run by the interests of the gasoline producers of the world have made that abundantly clear. At the same time, I get it that a replacement for gasoline isn't going to come unless someone can make money off of the transition to and final replacement with whatever comes next. But who is T. Boone Pickens and what are his interests in all of this? His role as a shadowy figure in the Swiftboating of John Kerry give me pause to say the least. Is CNG the stepping stone to hydrogen he's claiming it to be? Or is CNG another dead end? Comb through their website and give it a think through. I'm genuinely on the fence. Think about it and leave a comment.