Stinkweed grow weed in phish food

An Albany-based company has created a program that encourages upstate
New York farmers to grow today’s biofuel du jour, a pesky weed known
as Thlaspi arvense but more commonly referred to as pennycress or
stinkweed. Despite the experiments your college roommate conducted in
his ’89 Subru Loyale, this is believed to be the first time a car has
been powered by a weed. We imagine that a certain stations.

What makes stinkweed different than the plethora of other world-
saving, game-changing biofuels that came before it (anyone remember ,
“I’ve been trying to get rid of these things for 30 years. Now you
want me to plant them?'”

Stinkweed can grow almost anywhere, it’s as tough as an old Volvo and
it has the potential for high per-acre yields. It’s that kind of
cockroach-like durability that makes stinkweed so attractive to
scientists searching for a stable, hardy source of fuel.

The folks at say stinkweed is an ideal biodiesel feedstock because its
seeds yield 36 percent oil when crushed. They should know: After all,
they work for Biodiesel Magazine. John Fox, president of Innovation
Fuels, says the company is testing the plant and its seeds and so far
things look good, even if they smell bad. “We’re really pleased with
the oil,” Fox said, adding that stinkweed oil has excellent cold-flow
properties.

It could be an exciting development for biodiesel, which has seen
production go through the roof alongside gas prices. Production has
climbed from 25 million gallons in 2004 to 500 million gallons last
year, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

Still, there’s one major hurdle before pennycress supplants (pun
intended) other biofuels: Although it grows like a weed, it isn’t
domesticated enough to be planted as a crop. Main photo by .

You say that growing this weed wont affect world food, but if this
becomes a popular fuel, then don’t you think farmers will grow this
instead of corn/soybeans?

It could be a viable replacement crop for tobacco farmers. RE: the
van: Why would someone paint a Mercedes logo on the side of a VW? Were
they high or just stupid? With hippies it could be either or both.

Skud: It would grow in the winter, allowing the spring/summer season
for soybeans and corn. joeg: it’s a peace sign, proving your hippie
point…

I R not a botanist but is it not a bad idea to promote the widespread
cultivation of invasive species? Or is this an invasive species by
virtue of being hard to kill? I’m not sure of the distinction.

I saw a bunch of articles on TreeHugger bout some Georgian guys trying
to make Kudzu a biofuel. On one hand it sounds great when you consider
that maybe people will go out and tear down existing kudzu for fuel
but, on the other hand, won’t people start growing it?

@Brian It’s not a peace sign…a peace sign has a center line that
dissects the circle from top to bottom and two half lines that run
from the center of the long line and connect to the side of the circle
at about 4 and 8 o’ clock. Who’s the hippie now?

The Nadir: I think the difference is that there is a huge demand for
fuel… I’m sure this isn’t the actual definition but a “weed” by
nature is something that’s totally unuseful and just stops other
things from growing. I do believe it’s no longer a bother when you’re
actually trying to grow the weed. Also, there’s cash incentive to grow
it so I’m sure it won’t just spread out of control or anything, they’d
want to harvest all of it.

Biofuels have a great future and bode a propitious prospect for
eliminating our dependence on, and addiction to, petroleum.

The industry is in its infancy, but is making great strides. Using
corn as a feedstock creates as many issues as it solves. But using
weeds like pennycress or kudzu holds great promise. New issues? Yes.
Manageble? Yes!

One day this feller from Washington come by And he spied us and he
turned white as a sheet And he dug and he burned And he burned and he
dug And he killed all our cute little weeds Then he drove away We just
smiled and waved Sittin’ there on that sack of seeds

Glad to hear it! Our current brand of agriculture is in trouble. We’ve
bred and culled the crops we eat, over the centuries, to the point
that their gene pool is virtually nil. Know what that means? Our crops
can’t adapt to changes worth shit.

Why are weeds so hardy compared to, say, corn? We do all we can to
eradicate them…but we’ve so far failed. The adage about “that which
doesn’t kill you” certainly applies to plants. All that survive are
the weeds that had mutated to fit the new agricide-heavy environment,
say. That means this stinkweed will be doing well, as global warming
slowly starts to bake more and more of our food crops. I don’t know
how we’ll cope with this problem as far as our edible plants go
(vertical farms anyone?), but…if we turn stinkweed into a viable
ethanol source, I’ll be feeling a lot more confident about it.

The problem with weeds is they grow uncontrolably when they are
thought of as a weed. But try to deliberately cultivate weeds and they
refuse to grow. . The question is not so much that one can get 36%
yield from the seed, but what is the yield of seeds per acre?

The religulous release film telluride festival

Deal was done via subsidiary Granada9/30/08 3:27pm Event to be held
April 7-8 in Paris9/30/08 1:54pm “Blind Pig” enters Tiger Awards
race9/30/08 6:45am ‘Changeling,’ ‘Palermo Shooting’ on slate9/29/08
11:34am ‘Assembly, ‘Atonement’ take home top awards9/28/08 11:27pm

There’s a lot of pressure on Toronto to show the way ahead for the
film business, particularly the indies.
With a plethora of available titles — and many that are deemed quite
commercial — the festival could be the place where distributors start
filling out their 2009 slates. At least that’s what is driving the
hopes of sales agents. Buyers, on the other hand, continue to have
doubts that Toronto will be able to offer more than what the year’s
other festivals provided when it comes to marketable titles.

Distribution vet Mark Urman, who is in the midst of segueing from
ThinkFilm to Senator this month, says he anticipates more of the same
in Toronto. “I expect this year to be typical: Highly vaunted films
will disappoint, films that are below the radar will pop, and several
films will find homes a few weeks after the event, once expectations
and prices settle down,” he says, noting his focus in Toronto will be
on “transition.”

“There appear to be fewer buyers this year, and I think films that are
marginal or merely ‘interesting’ will be less in demand than in the
past,” Urman adds. “But, this is pretty much it until Sundance, so I’m
sure we’ll all be paying close attention, and several worthwhile
titles will emerge.”

Most every buyer or seller agrees it’s strange days for the indies,
with several distribs being shuttered (WIP, Picturehouse) or scaled
back (Par Vantage) recently.

Optimistically, though, sales agent John Sloss says he’s bringing a
crew of 20 employees. “We’re taking over an entire youth hostel,” he
jokes. He says it’s not that costly to fly over from New York to
Toronto, and adds that he secretly wishes Harvey Weinstein will make
an appearance at the fest to get things revved up on the acquisitions
front. “I miss him and his energy is lacking in the marketplace.”

But exiting Picturehouse topper Bob Berney predicts it’ll be tough for
sellers to incite bidding wars. “Buyers are going to be smart. They’re
looking at the market conditions and how much P&A; they want to
devote; they’ll have to limit the number of films they want to spend
the time on to release. That could be a trend for Toronto and beyond.”

Regardless of the loss of several indie buyers, sales agents note the
shuttered companies picked up few titles and that new shingles — such
as CBS Films and Vivendi — as well as the distribs ramping up VOD
options could be better homes for the types of midlevel films that
studios won’t take on and are too big for boutique indies.

In terms of fest titles in general, new TIFF co-topper Cameron Bailey
says he is impressed with the lighter fare in the lineup this year.
“One thing that’s a real pleasure to see is how much gratifying comedy
is coming out of the U.S. film sector,” he says, pointing to “Zack and
Miri Make a Porno,” “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “Religulous”
and “Burn After Reading.” “Over the last few years, we’ve seen a major
shift in American cinema responding to the political and the world
situation. This year it’s clear that there’s a turn toward comedy.”

Still, unspooling in Toronto are titles such as “The Hurt Locker,” an
Iraq-set suspense pic centered around a bomb-diffusing specialists.
It’s also one of the bigger titles with U.S. rights available. And
Lionsgate/Roadside has soldiers’ homecoming tale “The Lucky Ones”
showing at the fest.

And, as usual, there are a number of titles gunning for early awards
consideration, such as Vantage’s “The Duchess” and Warner/Fox’s
“Slumdog Millionaire.” Toronto’s friendly, film-savvy auds can help
marketing mavens gauge what’s working and what’s not. They’re also
handy when it comes to goosing sales for the films without
distribution. The coming days will tell.

‘Che’ gets second act at NY Film Fest The makers of “Che” are hoping
the New York Film Festival will provide a fresh opportunity for an
iconic Argentine revolutionary to find new life on American shores.

Bumpy road for Asian film financing Asian film financing is in a
fog. For all its recent marching around, it is difficult to tell
whether it is moving forwards, backwards or simply around in circles.

Sitges fest boosted by rise in genre biz In its 41st edition,
Europe’s largest genre movie event, the Sitges Intl. Film Festival,
shows no signs of age.

An intriguing docu about the intense history of a working-class barrio
in the south of Madrid, “Night Flowers” is a fine study of both a
particular community and the wider history of which it’s a part.

“Flash of Genius” stars Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham sit down with
Variety at the Telluride Film Festival. ; Director Paul Schrader and
“Adam Resurrected” star Jeff Goldblum chat with Anne Thompson in
Telluride. ; Anne Thompson sits down with “Slumdog Millionaire”
director Danny Boyle at the Telluride Film Festival. ; A view from the
scenic Rocky Mountains in Telluride, Colorado. ; “Happy Go Lucky”
director Mike Leigh speaks to Anne Thompson at the Telluride Film
Festival. ; happy go lucky; telluride film festival; interview; Mike
Leigh; variety; Sony execs Tom Bernard and Michael Barker talk to
Variety at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival. ; sony; michael barker;
telluride film festival; video; variety; tom bernard; “Firaaq”
director and renown Indian actress Nandita Das talks to Mike Jones at
the Telluride Film Festival. ; Salman Rushdie; Firaaq director Nandita
Das; interview; actress; video; variety; ‘Walt With Bashir’ director
Ari Folman sits down with Mike Jones at the Telluride Film Festival. ;
‘Waltz With Bashir’ director Ari Folman; video; variety; Producer Ron
Colby and “Pirate for the Sea” star Paul Watson talk to Variety about
their new anti-whaling documentary. ; Anne Thompson meets some fellow
Telluride enthusiasts in Colorado. ; Anne Thompson; telluride 2008
film festival; variety; ‘Hunger’ director Steve McQueen talks to
Variety at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival.; telluride film festival;
hunger director Steve Mcqueen; video; variety; Director David Fincher
speaks at an outdoor Q&A; at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival in
Colorado. ; panel; zodiac; telluride film festival 2008 david fincher;
Brad Pitt; Benjamin Button; variety;

The tim brown nfl up receivers pass

More often than not I prefer watching college football over
professional football because each game means so much more. But after
watching the Rutgers football team’s season opening loss at the paws
of the Fresno State Bulldogs, I couldn’t help but become downright
perturbed by a pass interference call against Fresno State on a long
toss from Mike Teel toward the end zone to Tim Brown. Brown, who had a
good two or three steps on the cornerback, appeared ready to make an
easy touchdown catch that would have broken the scoreless tie and
possibly given the Scarlet Knights a shift in momentum going into the
half. Instead, the Knights were escorted 15 yards up the field and
granted another go. Sadly, that second go at it did not prove fruitful
and the Knights headed into the locker room embroiled in a scoreless
tie after numerous missed opportunities. An offense that was expected
to be as potent as last year’s 33 points-per-game team was left
deflated.College football’s interpretation and enforcement of
defensive pass interference is asinine in comparison to the NFL’s
spot-of-the-ball version and desperately needs to be changed.It has
affected teams all over the country with high power potential, but
lowbrow opponents understanding that if they cannot keep up, they can
just hold receivers down.As was the case on Nov. 18, 2006 when an
undefeated and seventh ranked Rutgers traveled to Ohio to take on the
unranked and uncouth Cincinnati Bearcats.Throughout the game
quarterback Mike Teel was looking deep down the sidelines and threw
pretty passes which looked in line to connect with his plethora of
speedy receivers. But the Bearcats corners under the realization that
they were being consistently beaten up the field and would continue to
be, decided that it would be more beneficial to their team to pull
down, trip up, turn around, and pretty much maul the RU receivers
instead of giving up big plays.Think about it. The cost-benefit ratio
is this: Pass interference penalties according to NCAA rules is a
15-yard penalty from the line of scrimmage and a do over down.

Bob Franks, a former assemblyman and now the president of the Health
Care Institute of New Jersey, on the urgent need to improve education,
specifically in regards to reading.

The reference india australia series

Australia’s touring party to India is the most vulnerable squad they
have sent away for a Test series since assuming the title of world
champions in 1995, according to former captain Ian Chappell.

The Australians have only four players in their lineup who have played
Tests in India before, while India have retained their bevy of ageing
stars in Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and captain Anil
Kumble.

“In my time of watching, playing and commentating I’ve only seen a
couple of poor Australian sides and the 2008 version isn’t one,”
Chappell wrote in the Hindustan Times.

“However, since Australia defeated the West Indies in 1995 to become
unofficial world champions, they’ve never looked this vulnerable.

Chappell said it was a sign of weakness that the Australians have
consistently made reference to their ranking as the world’s No.1 Test
playing nation, something that did not happen anywhere near as much
when the team was a stronger one.

“When Australia was head and shoulders above other teams and had a
plethora of superstars, there was no such reference,” he said.

“They didn’t need to make mention of their superiority then, as their
consistently brilliant play was ample confirmation.

“This constant reference sounds like some mantra that has been dreamed
up by a PR or marketing man.

“Any cricketer who is intimidated by the glimpse of an opposition cap
or the constant repeating of a slogan is playing in the wrong grade.”

Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar, meanwhile, has declared that
Australia and India are playing each other too often under the current
reciprocal agreement between the two countries.

The Australians have played India in Tests or limited overs games
either at home or away virtually every year since 2003, when Cricket
Australia and the Board of Control for Cricket in India set in motion
a program designed to cash in on the success of the epic 2001 series.

“But for the fact it was such an enthralling series last time around,
it made little sense for the two teams to be confronting each other so
soon and in the same year,” Gavaskar wrote in the Times of India.

“The ideal space between series is the one between Australia and
England for the Ashes, as it allows the teams to regroup.”