It's Been a Long, Long, Long Time

Howdy! Long time, no speak. You really should call me more often. Lots of things have happened, so let's catch up. I'm gonna go get some coffee and muse on the fact that The Beatles first album, "Please Please Me," is now officially 50 years old. If there's anything that you want, just call on me and I'll send it along...

Please Please Me at the half-century mark

Hear that?

Shhh...listen closely. Do you hear that? It's the sound of crickets chirping away in the blogosphere.

Let's make some noise, Mr. Carr, shall we?

Google Energy: Google Can Now Buy and Sell Electricity

Google Energy: Google Can Now Buy and Sell Electricity: "

Google’s ever-expanding empire has added another branch: subsidiary Google Energy has been granted an order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to buy and sell energy at market rates.

Does this mean Google is set to become your power company? Not yet — instead, Google wants more control over the high energy costs of its many data centers, and also aims to become carbon neutral. A Google spokesperson told CNET: “Right now, we can’t buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets. We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits.”

There’s the possibility, however, that Google might become an energy provider. The same spokesperson said to CNET in January: “We don’t have any concrete plans. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio.”

[via Switched]

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Reviews: Google

Tags: electricity, Google, google energy, power

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Google Looks to Reinvent Solar Power

Google's Custom Solar Technology Will Reduce Costs by 60% : TreeHugger

"Just like everybody else, Google's disappointed by the industry's lack of innovation so they've decided just to do it themselves."

Want to learn more? Google it, and help pay for it.

Phil Collins reveals he will never drum again due to spine injury

Oh Dear God in Heaven, why, oh why, could you not have stricken Phil with a vocal cord injury instead? I don't think I've ever read anything as recently chilling as this line: "But don't worry, I can still sing."

Now, Phil deserves his props as a drummer. In early Genesis, he was absolutely amazing and had an intuitive grasp of complex time signatures. He rocked. He drank lots. He sang backup to Peter Gabriel and ironically wore overalls on stage.

Now, sadly, it's all "Buster" soundtracks for the lot of us.

Read the painful, spine-numbing details here.

'Welcome Home' for the 'Original' Police Line-up

The iconic trio of The Police -- Sting, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers -- could not be more famous. But very few remember the name of Henry Padovani, the band's original guitarist. As recounted in Summers' memoir, "One Train Later," among other places, Sting and Stewart ditched Padovani in favor of Andy while the group was still in its infancy. Padovani's Police tenure survived in just two tracks: the single "Fallout" and "Nothing Achieving," which later appeared on the group's Message in a Box career-spanning set.

But Padovani never went completely away. As a performer and executive, the Corsican guitarist has stayed around the music world. In 2006, he recorded a solo album, À croire que c'était pour la vie. The track "Welcome Home" features Sting on bass and Stewart on drums -- making it the first recording of the original Police line-up in three decades.

"Welcome Home," along with other tracks, can be heard on Padovani's MySpace page. How does it sound? Drop a comment here.

Padovani also joined The Police for a guest moment in the lights at the close of their 2007 reunion tour.

Next To You w/ Henry Padovani Police Live Paris 2007 1st row

Clunkers / Cash = Green

Environmentalists were mixed on cash-for-clunkers (costs more energy to make a fuel-efficient car than to drive a less-efficient one around), but these numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation (via the Sierra Club) are something:

-- The average fuel efficiency of trade-ins was 15.8 mpg.
-- The average fuel efficiency of new vehicles purchased was 25.4 mpg.
-- 83 percent of the trade-ins were trucks.
-- 60 percent of the new vehicles purchased were cars.