Bio Fuels

By Matt Stroud and Joseph L. Flatley from THE VERGE

In every direction, Jersey barriers: heavy concrete walls used for deflecting cars and, in this case, slowing down human mobs. Just shy of three feet tall and chipped uneven from having been hauled back and forth to various worksites over the years, they’re now being used to establish a perimeter, within which one might choose to legally go and protest the Republican National Convention. In contrast to the rest of the city, which has been swept clean and done up in red, white, and blue in anticipation of the cash influx this event is supposed to provide, the lot we’re in now is a dusty, hot, and muggy mess, a good twenty minutes’ march from anyone of importance. There is no shade, and we’re feeling it — but not nearly as much as the sixty cops in riot gear who just marched into the box. There are also a half dozen protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church. Their signs bear legends like: “Too Late To Pray,” “Ye are of your father the devil,” and of course “God Hates Fags.” One sign features a picture of an Anonymous / Guy Fawkes mask in crosshairs.

We are in a tucked-away industrial expanse, sweating our asses off, while a couple hundred Anarchist and Occupy protesters dance provocatively and scream at the “God Hates Fags” creeps, to no real effect. This is definitely not the tightly scripted and “on message” Republican National Convention that we expected when we flew to Tampa.

Frenchmen to French Broad
This starts off with a bike ride through the French Quarter. Then NOmadjik Media Bus travels from Frenchmen st. New Orleans to the French Broad river Hot Springs North Carolina. In route I stop off in Tuscaloosa Alabama with donated supplies for the tornado disaster zone. I hook up with John Wathen who gives the run down on the enviro-friendly tactics he's pushing to use in Hurricane Creek, which happens to have been 1 of the most bio diverse areas on the planet. If you're looking for a volunteer opportunity why not help him ensure that it remains 1 of the most bio diverse areas on the planet? There are photos of what this area USE TO LOOK LIKE & Mo'Fo' @ www.hurricane-creek.org From: FluxRostrum Views: 501 11 ratings Time: 14:20 More in Travel & Events

Filtering Waste Veggie Oil in NOLA
Time lapse photos of 2 afternoons worth of heating, filtering and pumping about a 100 gallons of waste veggie oil. I'm fueling up to head into the Alabama Tornado Zone in a couple days and then on to the March on Blair Mountain. marchonblairmountain.org Thanks to the Frenchmen St Deli & Mardi Gras Zone for their lovely fuel. There are plenty of detailed guides available on line that will tell you exactly how to run WVO in your diesel engine. This is video is a reminder for you to look at them. From: FluxRostrum Views: 1072 11 ratings Time: 05:39 More in Film & Animation

Veggie bus alternative energy workshop and radical art mobile space at the the Anti-COP Anti-Cap encampment. Cop 16 Cancun

for more Cop 16 coverage see Planet Save FAIL!

messaging

Collecting Oil

200 watts of solar

hot inside

best festival viewing stand

@ Pasaden Doo Dah Parade

The Salton Sea

down da bayou

@ The Bayou post Hurricane Ike with Everybodies Kitchen

@ Pine Ridge Reservation

@ RNC 2008 - Police Looking for Corpses

MORE PHOTOS HERE

The waste veggie oil powered NOmadjik Media Bus heads to New Orleans stopping at BP stations along the way for some free therapy.
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http://seizebp.org
http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com
http://plaqueminesparish.com

The bus that limped into Austin a couple months ago is now embarking on the the long limp ... for lack of a better word... home.  Seems like every destination becomes the symbolic "home" that I never really reach.

I fixed the leak with a combination of patching material and have a back up plan if the patches break.  I also did a 2 hour local test drive to make sure everything was working.  I'll be stoopping frequently to check for leaks and let my baby rest.

Anyone in the Waco, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville areas that want to hook up let me know.  This will be a fairly slow drive...  I'm pushing my luck enough just pulling out of the driveway.

wish me luck.

There's a hole in the coolant hose that heats the the veggie oil. It is in that impossible place to get at where the hose in hose (oil line running inside the coolant line) goes through the firewall (not a computer term). I'm surprised that the unprotected sharp piece of metal pressed tightly up against it had not cut a hole in it sooner.

This morning I was awoken by the police (again) while parked in the RV side of a Flying J parking lot. They "mildly" threatened to arrest me or fine me 1,000 dollars an ounce for the coolant that leaked out over night. I was able to convince them to give me an hour to fix it and leave... that i knew where the hole was and was capable of fixing it ( I did know, but I am not capable of fixing it in an hour ) I've blown about 80 unexpected bucks on coolant, stop leak and "special" rescue tape. There is no way to fix the hole without removing the entire veggie fuel line and coolant heat system. It will take a lot of time.

I was told by a flying J employee to just move it back to the big rig lot and work on it there, that way when the cops came back I'd be gone. I did that but within an hour an unmarked car with a uniformed cop cruised by.

As I rolled around under the bus frantically trying to put tape on wet hose with one hand (because that's all that would fit it the space) a trucker pulls up next to me hops out and leans down to warn me of the swarm of bees he saw behind my bus... I thanked him even though those bees and the ones I was laying on were all dead from the coolant that covered my entire body as well.

There's a hole in the coolant hose that heats the the veggie oil. It is in that impossible place to get at where the hose in hose (oil line running inside the coolant line) goes through the firewall (not a computer term). I'm surprised that the unprotected sharp piece of metal pressed tightly up against it had not cut a hole in it sooner.

This morning I was awoken by the police (again) while parked in the RV side of a Flying J parking lot. They "mildly" threatened to arrest me or fine me 1,000 dollars an ounce for the coolant that leaked out over night. I was able to convince them to give me an hour to fix it and leave... that i knew where the hole was and was capable of fixing it ( I did know, but I am not capable of fixing it in an hour ) I've blown about 80 unexpected bucks on coolant, stop leak and "special" rescue tape. There is no way to fix the hole without removing the entire veggie fuel line and coolant heat system. It will take a lot of time.

I was told by a flying J employee to just move it back to the big rig lot and work on it there, that way when the cops came back I'd be gone. I did that but within an hour an unmarked car with a uniformed cop cruised by.

As I rolled around under the bus frantically trying to put tape on wet hose with one hand (because that's all that would fit it the space) a trucker pulls up next to me hops out and leans down to warn me of the swarm of bees he saw behind my bus... I thanked him even though those bees and the ones I was laying on were all dead from the coolant that covered my entire body as well.

I cut an extra piece of hose and tried to cover the hole and protect the hose from the sharp metal it had been rubbing against for 25,000 miles. I called in for reinforcements from my Texas comrades, ideas for where i could limp the bus to for safety.. Thank you all, just knowing someone was helping me think it through was quite comforting. Also, Much thanks to Topher who I bugged 'til the wee hours last night trying to find a solution. You Topher, are my "real" favorite veggie mechanic; the title of this post however is a reference that that other guy will only get.

Long story long... Bus not fixed. bus not in Austin. maybe bus in Austin tonight. Bus limping into Austin for the 3rd fucking time. I'm able to drive about 10-15 miles on each radiator fill up of water. Must drive real slow on the highway while assholes honk angerly at me every minute or 2. I'm almost within range of a AAA tow job but those of you who have followed my saga will know that I can probably drive there in 10 mile spurts faster than they will come tow me.

I don't know what "normal life" is; but I know that this is NOT normal or joyous and that has become the norm for bus travel and I'm sick-n-fuckin' tired of it.

90% home . . . 90% over it.