Ely Transition City - First public meeting!

It's late and I'm sleepy, so this will be a short post.

Just to say we had our first ETC meeting, 15 of us in the ever excellent Portal Cafe. We watched 'The Power of Community' (my second time, it really is an inspiring film), talked and retired to the pub.

Another meeting in a fortnight, I'm writing a leaflet for the upcoming Green Bookfair in the cathedral...it's all go.

Now, to bed!

Too, too much...

Listen up boyo!

Climbing two days in a row is not a good idea. Yesterday I was bushed, today slightly better. I need a days rest in-between climbing, at my age the body takes longer to recover.

If I really want to climb at this rate then I need to start running or something to build up my stamina. Also, late nights and a few drinks before a climbing day does not help in the slightest. Please take note.

Harry had a great climb and achieved his first ever graded climb - a cool 4a! Well done monkey boy.

Wild Youth

Sadly the title of this post ain't referring to me, sigh...but hey, this is going to be a jolly post with no mention of Peak Oil (dah!)

A weekend of climbing, hurrah! The Monkey Boy and I are heading up to the Castle this morning for a couple of hours of wall stuff. Then we're off to a kids/parents party, staying the night finally at Sam & Anna's.

Sunday sees me popping off to Mile End to start my three week bouldering course, which I'm hoping will finally get me over my grade 4 plateau.

Have to stop soon, Monkey Boy wants to get on to play games.

Just to leave off on the right cheerful note, here is a video clip of Generation X playing 'Wild Youth' in 1977, fab.

Ether

Oil hit $140 a barrel for the first time today, with warnings it could reach $170 later this year...golly!

Interesting to contrast that to the post on today's Peak Oil Debunked (don't be put off by the title, it is a dig at Doomers, whom the blog critiques) which presents a series of graphs showing a decline in oil consumption in countries such as Japan, German, Italy and Sweden.

So what is going on here? If consumption falls then surely prices should follow? At least that's what I learnt in my economics classes at university (when I wasn't snoozing that is).

Strange times indeed.

I was thinking about the London Olympic games today and started laughing, such a stupid waste of resources, such a stupid waste of time, old Nero has nothing on Gordon and the Mayor.

Peak Oil activities

I've so many thoughts, ideas, questions and feelings I want to get down on the subject of oil-depletion, peak oil, the post-carbon world...call it what you will.

I'm trying to see how I can group my posts under headings, which will hopefully help to clarify things.

Here's my working list of Peak Oil activities (POA):

• budget - work out what we have, what we spend, where we can cut-back, where we can save
• growing food - starting with the back garden, moving on to the allotment (when we get one), a spot of guerilla gardening and even the balcony at work. All using permaculture design techniques.
  
• activism - mainly focused (for now) on Transition Town (city!) status for Ely
• theory - applying Ken Wilber's Integral AQAL approach to all this
• psychological / spiritual development
• physical health
• clear understanding of the facts, theories, options
  
• more, more, more, there must be more but that's it for now, dinner is calling!
  

Practical responses to Peak Oil - An Integral approach

This doesn't exist yet (as far as I can see). I guess it is my big project...the integral AQAL framework is perfect for this complex area.

Expect more...

Harry Black - monkey boy!

Check out this video clip of Harry Black, my six and a half year old son, on the wall at Kelsey Kerridge.



The boy is going to go far! I love the somersault at the end...

Boulder boy!

Just got back from an excellent session with George at the Castle. First off, I arrived to discover I had won the May 'Boulder Ladder' competition, best male improver! The prize was a £50 voucher to spend at the Urban Rock shop, I bought a harness and a caribiner.

Then George and I did some top-roping. I was a tad nervous at first as I hadn't used ropes since my initial climbing course last October. However, after a few goes it all came back to me and we had a great time trying out various routes.

Peak Oil moving up the agenda?

(Note: this post has also been published on the Ely Sustainable City blog)

Good to see that EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs acknowledging the existence of Peak Oil in his blog. His latest post is worth reading for an insight into some of the thinking taking place in Brussels.

While you're there, take a look at the comments further down the page. One response is from a Doomer, which is interesting only to demonstrate the ridiculous knots these people can tie themselves in. A more considered, and critical, response, is from Euan Mearns, editor of the excellent Oil Drum (Europe).

Also good to discover the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO). I had no idea such a group existed in UK politics!

They have a useful website with MP3s of talks, including one by Rob Hopkins on Transition Towns, well worth downloading from the site. There is also a link to an online petition urging the government to re-evaluate their position on an imminent peak in global oil production.

So...good to see Peak Oil slowly making its way into the mainstream.

Train like Sonnie Trotter

Gosh, this is impressive, note taken!



Comment on You Tube by 'Iluluu':

"One session per week is ok for intermediate climbers. Rest 5 minutes or more, to find yourself ready for the next Campus set.

For endurance is good to do 5 sets of 3 minutes non stop climbing with 1 minute rest between sets.

Train in a way: Day 1 Power (campus, boulders, etc), D2 Endurance, D3 Rest, D4 Power, D5 Endurance, D6 and D7 Rest."