The Upside Down Tomato (plant) Project

My wife and I always have this debate about garden space every year. She's not a huge tomato fan, but I am, and so I always want to plant more plants than we really have garden space for. I've got a big yard, so I could plow up another corner of it for tomato plants, but that sounds like a lot more work than I'm willing to put up with-Plus, I'm sure I'd be the one that would end up weeding the "extra" plot.

So, while watching late-night television one night, they had a commercial for an upside down tomato plant. It was some sort of a cone shaped deal ("act now, and we'll throw in an additional-insert product name here-for free!) and it didn't trip my trigger, but it sure got me thinking.

That following week, I did some scrounging around in the garage and shed, and I found what I think is the perfect upside down tomato planter. It's a simple 2.5 gallon bucket with a metal handle. I drilled some small holes in the side and bottom for water drainage and then cut out about a 1.25" hole in the center of the bottom for the tomato plant to fit through. In thinking about the future plant's weight, I decided that the system needed a membrane of some sort that the root system would fit through, so I used a scrap piece of foam underlay for a recently installed laminate floor. I cut this in a small square, just slightly bigger (probably 3" square) than the hole that was cut in the bottom of the bucket, and cut an X shaped slit in the membrane.

Next, I had to find a tomato plant, so went out and purchased one that had a good start on it and carefully transplanted it to the bucket. To do this, you have to remove some of the soil backed around the root system and then shove what remains up through the hole in the bottom of the bucket, then take the membrane, and push the plant through the membrane to a hight that seems like the right depth for planting. Now, while someone holds the bucket and the plant, you fill the bucket with potting soil (or good planting dirt) and poof, you are done.

Now you need to hang the bucket somewhere. First thing I tried was a shepherds hook plant hanger. That worked great for awhile, but we had a huge storm about a week and a half into first effort, and the shepherds hook fell over and damaged the stem of the tomato plant. I thought for about 5 days after the storm that the plant was going to make it, but alas, no good. So, undaunted, had my wife go and find me another tomato plant and I started over.

It was the end of the good tomato's at the various shops, so ended up with 3 really scraggy tomato plants that looked like they were on their last legs. They had some green in them, so I thought we'd give it a try. Not knowing which of the plants (if any) were going to survive, however, we planted them all in the same bucket. I didn't have anything other than the shepherds hook free to hang them on, so I used the shepherds hook at the end of the cloths line and tied it with wire to the metal pole. It's not going down this time.



The results have been slow in coming, put two weeks after the planting or so, we have a nice tomato bush growing out of the bottom of the bucket. It has a long ways to go to catch up with my two other plants that were planted quite some time ago, but it looks like the plant will bear fruit at some point. We have our first blossom now, so the rest is a waiting game. I've got a vision for next year if the current system works, that will expand on the upside down tomato theme even further.

Music the Amie Street Way

The following editorial comment was submitted to Amie Street (http://amiestreet.com), January 1, 2008. I've also included some of my favorite Amie Street picks (samples only) linked to the Amie Street player below the editorial. Enjoy... And open an Amie Street account soon:

As we get ready for 2008, it seems appropriate to look back on the state of music in 2007, the shifting music purchase paradigm, and the role that Amie Street has played in the revolutionizing, both for the seller and the consumer, the music industry as we know it.

I've always searched for new and different music. For as long as I can remember, even growing up in a back-woods town in Nebraska, I've looked to discover new music. My interests are broad, so music doesn't have to be a particular genre, it just has to be good. In those early days, 1969 to 1979 or so, it was scouring the dial for an FM radio station that would play more than the "hits." That was a lot easier to find then than now. When FM gave way to MTV, MTV was radical and new. There are many groups who can thank MTV for their start; groups such as REM and U2 made the air waves, because they made the MTV circuit first. In the mid 80's, I subscribed to CD Review, a Wayne Green publication that came with a CD as part of the sub every month. When CD Review seemed poised for the cutting room floor, I came across CMJ New Music Monthly in the early 90's and was introduced to many a group from the pages of the magazine and the CD that was included with each issue. CMJ is still something that I receive every month, but it's looking like the next renewal cycle, I'll just let it expire. Why? The answer is Amie Street.

How I found Amie Street in the first place, I'm not even sure. A music blog may have pointed me there or someone may have told me about it. All I know is that since discovering Amie Street almost a year ago, I've purchased a great number of excellent MP3's-most as complete CD sets. There are broad ranges of music to choose from, so it fits my eclectic tastes nicely, and the pricing model allows great music to excel and mediocre music to languish. Combining Amie Street with Facebook's Fantasy Record label (editors note: Fantasy Record Label no longer exists), allows me to introduce music to my friends, too, while hopefully promoting an artist or two that needs the exposure. Amie Street's artist payment policy is generous, unlike major labels who keep a large percentage for marketing, packaging, inventory, add infinitum.

There is great reason to hope that 2008 will continue to provide musicians a new home while providing bargain basement pricing for music hungry consumers such as myself. Here's to you, Amie Street! I raise my glass and toast a successful 2007 and wish artists, consumers and staff alike, a very happy and successful 2008.

Recent Amie Street Favorites:
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Is it 'Faith' or 'Religious Crack?'

The time was September 12, 1960, and then presidential hopeful, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was making a speech at the Rice Hotel in Huston, TX, that would set the stage clarifying the separation of church and state as it applied to a Catholic parishioner-himself. Today, in a speech decidedly opposite leaning, Mitt Romney told a gathering at the George (H.W.) Bush presidential library that heralded the melding of church and state as necessary and inseparable. As we approach the 2008 election, I think we need to ponder on the wisdom of the former, rather than the insanity of the latter.

Kennedy started his famous speech with this paragraph:

"While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight, I want to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election; the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers 90 miles off the coast of Florida--the humiliating treatment of our President and Vice President by those who no longer respect our power--the hungry children I saw in West Virginia, the old people who cannot pay their doctor bills, the families forced to give up their farms--an America with too many slums, with too few schools, and too late to the moon and outer space."

This historical perspective, gives us a glimpse-albeit harsh-at the progress or rather lack of progress with issues that still haunt us today. Yes, We've been to the moon and the spread of Communism is mostly abated. The cold war is over. There are still hungry children, homeless adults and children, elderly and others that cannot afford the spiraling cost of our inept and over-bloated health care system. Families are still forced to give up their farms, and fewer and fewer farm children choose the family profession to come back to when they leave for college. America still has too many slums, and the gap between the richest Americans and the poorest ones widens daily. We still have problems that reach well beyond the issue of Religion.

Mitt Romney, having not nearly as good a speech writer as Kennedy, took a full five paragraphs to come to the point. Since the first paragraph is essentially a nod to the former president, in attendance at the speech, I've included paragraphs 2 - 5 here:

"Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat Fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It is now my generation's turn. How we respond to today's challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.

America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we are troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.

Over the last year, we have embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America's greatness: our religious liberty. I will also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my Presidency, if I were elected.

There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adams’ words: 'We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people."

As with any political speech, there are elements of truth. Certain, elements of radical Islam have targeted America, we are in fact troubled at home by government overspending and there is no question that we are addicted to the prostitute "foreign oil" and need a 12 step program. It's odd that our botching of the arrogantly conceived Iraq war, has either caused or fanned the flames of the first two-the threat of radical Islam and government overspending-and was plotted, planned, schemed and executed by our current Republican president and his then minions in both houses of congress.

It is also true that our fore-fathers saw the wisdom of protecting religious freedoms and I'm sure that John Adams words as quoted by Romney are correct. That does not, however, mean that religion or more appropriately, faith, is any less personal a matter than to lend credence to the fundamentalist cries for their brand of politics, their brand of religious freedom.

Over the past few years we've seen a push by fundamentalist Christians to forward their faith into the politics of America. George W. Bush was a candidate, largely picked by fundamentalist Christians, and just look at what a disaster that choice was! He wears his religion on his sleeve alright; That hasn't stopped him from incorrectly assessing the threat of a sovereign nation, Iraq, while allowing the perpetrator of one of the largest, most successful, peace-time terrorist attacks, Osama Bin Laden, to escape through Afghanistan. He's twisted the truth and out-right lied about the events leading up to the Iraq war, and he did so while holding his bible. In the process, men and innocent Iraqis have died. While the one perpetrator we know is guilty, continues to live.

I'd much rather have a president who recognizes the separate nature of his "faith" and have that faith guide his actual activities, than to have a president who touts his "religion" and then avoid faiths guidance at all costs. What Romney promises is more of the same. The final statement in the paragraphs above seals this issue:

"Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people."

No, Mr. Romney, our constitution was made for all Americans, whether they choose to be religious or not. Romney's views, however, are not unlike those of other Republican candidates who have promised to let their religious convictions, rather than their faith, guide them.

When it gets right down to it we are talking on one hand about a drug; "Religious Crack," which is represented by the rabid believer who listens only to his religious leader, whether the leader is the Pope, Pat Robertson or Louis Farrakhan; and on the other hand about "faith;" the ability of a thinking man to absorb the thoughts and feelings of others, the teachings of his god and the words and deeds of people he admires, allowing these to guide his conscience in all things. Frankly, I'd much rather have a leader who is a thinker than one who is a drug addict.

Tough issues still face our nation. We need a leader who is tough enough to face these challenges, has faith enough to guide him morally in his duties and decisions and is wise enough to make choices that work for all Americans.

You can read John F. Kennedy's original speech about religion here: JFK Speech

You can read the full context of Mitt Romney's speech here: Romney Speech

AmieStreet: Music on the Move

I've tried a number of different music delivery agents over the years. In the early 80's, I purchased a subscription to Wayne Green's, long gone CD Review magazine, which included as part of the sub, a complete CD. In the early 90's, I started purchasing CMJ New Music Monthly, a magazine and CD which I still get today, but which has lost the luster it once had. If memory serves, 9/11 disrupted the publication and delivery mechanism for this magazine, based in New York City, and it has never fully recovered in my view. Awhile back, I started an account on Amie Street (http://amiestreet.com) and since then I haven't looked back.

Amie Street has a great model for both the consumer and the publisher of music. It allows musicians to upload their songs (individual songs, EP's or long play CD's) as mp3 tracks. Amie Street keeps the first $5 of each songs profit, for bandwidth, storage and other fees, then the artist receives %70 of any future revenue on the song. Songs go up in value as they are purchased and downloaded, and as recommendations come in from people who have listened to the tracks.

Consumers of Amie Street music receive equal benefits. All music starts out as FREE and then moves upwards as it is purchased and downloaded. Recommendations from fans increase the value of the posting as more people are likely to purchase and download the music based on reviews that others provide.

This model provides a true supply and demand cost model that allows the cream to rise to the top, while music that is less stellar or not quite as accessible, languishes towards the bottom. Amie Street editors also provide their own input into music that is currently hosted on the site providing another boost for artists and another opinion for potential purchasers.

If you haven't yet tried Amie Street, I highly recommend that you do. Recent hooks into social networking sites, such as Facebook.com's Fantasy Record Label application, provide yet another avenue for consumers and musicians alike.

Is there still a chance for the chewy political center?

A person has to wonder, given the latest "benefits" of the carefully orchestrated group meetings surrounding senator Clinton's campaign, if the nation is slowly warming to the chewy center of the democratic party. We can't continue down the road of Rove/Bush, carefully orchestrating the crowds to serve our own agenda. This is a failed and flawed political policy, and one that deserves a sound trouncing-whether the party is Democrat or Republican.

So the polls show that Democrats are a lot more disgusted and troubled by the use of these tactics by Clinton than I'm sure she would have hoped. A solid lead in the polls is now tightening and 2nd place challenger Barack Obama seems poised to gain much of the lost percentiles. And why not? Barack may not have the experience of Clinton in some respects, but he exudes a quality that has been missing far too long in this country and in the political scene, a mannerism of calm, a pragmatic application of warmth and even handedness. Would we, should we, even consider replacing the corporate behemoth of Bush with yet another corporate behemoth in Clinton? I say no.

You can be tempted to deal it to the Republicans as they have dealt unto us for the last 7 years, but what does that gain the country? Not one thing. That is what we are buying into if we allow our hearts and votes to be lured into the Clinton camp. We can go for revenge, and likely lose the battle altogether; Or we can go for the center, where 90% of America is anyway, and try to bring this country back together through inclusion. I believe that this is the type of president that Barack Obama would be, and I believe that his soft-spoken yet firm nature will allow him to win against any of the Republican front-runners.

Unfortunately, the Republican hopefuls are shaping up to be more of the same-all cut out of some corporate or moral institutional model, that would give us another four years, minimum, of separatist hell in our nation. We can't afford more of the same. There is too much at stake.

Americans have an opportunity to end the extremist views of one party and replace them with either more extremism on the opposite poll, or moderation that heals. My vote is to heal the nation and bring Republicans and Democrats back together as they were meant to be. There is a soft and chewy political center, and he is Barack Obama.

Budget Bull

The right is so wrong when it comes to claims made over the last couple of years regarding the budget deficit and the value of bonehead Bush's tax cuts. They claim over and over again that the tax cuts worked perfectly to reduce the deficit, but the reality is that if you factor in war expenses, which have been tacked on outside of the budget process as earmarks; the entire amount of which has been borrowed from foreign governments, then the real "deficit" is climbing at an unprecedented rate.

When comparing budget deficits from last year to this year, the deficit has indeed been reduced by 48 billion. However, when you factor in the long-term costs, alternative minimum tax changes, and other costs that will hit in the future, the real story is more evident. (see "War Costs Extend Budget Deficit Gap")

War costs for this year alone are expected to top 600 billion-all borrowed and passed down to future generations as debt that must be paid. If this is good fiscal policy, then I've just sold some great swamp-land in Florida and made a small fortune!

One More Time... With Feeling!

Once again, Nebraskan's may have the "opportunity" to pick a qualified, strong and independent candidate for public office--If they can get past their stodgy, Republican only, belief system that is. Thanks in large part to a grass-roots ground swell, Scott Kleeb is being asked to throw his hat into the Nebraska Senate race. There is no better person for the job.

Mike Nellis, a University of Omaha student, has been instrumental in two projects designed to generate interest in Scott's potential candidacy. The first is on a social networking site known as Facebook (www.facebook.com), where Mike has created a group called "Draft Scott Kleeb for Senate." (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5887468340) Second is a more traditional, web based front, that launched today at 10:30 AM, (http://DraftKleeb.com). Mike has tied the two together through postings and links on both sites.

Scott Kleeb and I have carried on a dialog of sorts since his failed congressional run in 2006. He has continued to show his strong grasp of both Nebraska and national issues throughout this dialog. His understanding of things like farm bills far out weighs my own citified knowledge. We also spoke of the balancing act between alternative fuels and water utilization in the state. Whether he is talking to a Democrat or Republican, Scott has always been inclusive. He understands that the politics of polarization does nothing but alienate the electorate. There were hundreds of "Republicans for Kleeb" signs out there in 2006, and he managed an almost unprecedented result, in the strongly Republican 3rd District, of gaining more than 40% of the electorate.

What we don't need in Nebraska is more of Mike Johanns. When he left the Governorship to be Bush's Agricultural Secretary, it was "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." We also don't need more of Jon Bruning. Both of these individuals are nothing more than party figure heads who buy into the polarizing techniques used by Bush and his cronies to alienate, rather than bring together, those with differing views. When Bob Kerrey was governor of the state, he used his strong and independent nature to include differing view points. He left office as one of our most popular governors ever. Scott Kleeb is just that sort of character, centrist, independent and inclusive. Add to this his knowledge of both Nebraska and National issues, and he is a hands down winner over the competition for US Senate.

You can make a difference and bring centrist, independently thinking, Nebraska representation by supporting a Scott Kleeb bid for Senate. For more information visit:


http://draftkleeb.com

or

http://scottkleeb.com

Or simply join the discussions on Facebook.