Curbing Global Warming - By Making Baking Soda?

OK, it's not about the Dresden Files, but I couldn't believe this when I read it! Could something so comparatively simple actually help clean up one of the country's leading sources of pollution??

According to Joe David Jones, founder and CEO of Skyonic, it can!

Mr. Jones has created a process he calls SkyMine that, according to CNet News:

"...captures 90 percent of the carbon dioxide coming out
of smoke stacks and mixes it with sodium hydroxide to make sodium
bicarbonate, or baking soda."

That's right - baking soda. The same stuff we put in our refrigerators to soak up odors. The same stuff we use as scouring powder and to de-doggify the pups. The same stuff that is now being added to laundry detergents, deodorants, and toothpaste - THAT baking soda!

Plus, SkyMine's solution creates usable products and, according to Jones,

"...also removes 97 percent of the heavy metals, as well as most of the sulfur and nitrogen compounds..."

and

"...the byproducts of the different reactions--chlorine, baking soda, hydrogen (a byproduct from making the sodium hydroxide that gets
mixed with the carbon dioxide), and chlorine--can be sold to industrial
users."

Even better: All this is done using the waste heat from the factory - no additional energy needs to be used!

Besides, did you know that the food-grade baking soda we use today is mined?? This created baking soda is cleaner than the baking soda we buy today and NO mining - which saves energy and prevents land destruction!

SkyMine is being tested on a small scale right now, but Skyonic hopes to install and test a large scale version in 2009. If this proves successful, maybe we can at least stop adding to the mess we've already made of the environment and maybe even start to reverse some of the damage.

TGIF!!!

Well, it's finally here: Friday, November 16th!!!

I have to say that I was disappointed, though not surprised, that I didn’t get to see Harry, Bob, and Murphy back on TV last Friday, 11/9. The first TDF View-In was successful, and gave us an idea of what to expect for this week, but I was really looking forward to seeing the Dresden Files on the tube, you know?

And yes, I still have a TV with a tube, so the old slang still works for me. By the time I’ll be able to get one of the nifty, huge, flatscreen HD TV’s, holographic TV’s will have been invented. :D

I’m excited about tonight, and a little nervous...

We have such busy lives, most of us, that finding time to sit still for an hour on someone else’s schedule is very difficult. But while TiVo may, DVR won't make any contribution to tonight’s TDF View-In. Fans will have to be at their computers in person and logged on and watching the show in order to make a contribution to this protest/celebration. I hope tons of fans are informed and motivated enough to stay in for a while on this Friday night to support the series.

I guess we’ll all find out in 2 hours and 30 minutes…

Dresden Files Wins Award!!

The winners of the 4th Annual TV DVD Awards were announced Monday night, November 12th:

As reported in TV Guide: More than 160 studio submissions released between Sept. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2007 were divided into 16 categories. A panel of judges consisting of top DVD critics and journalists selected four finalists in each category with the winners decided by consumer votes.

This ‘blue –ribbon’ panel of judges picked our very own Dresden Files to be one of the four choices in the Best One-Season Wonder category!!

And it WON!!! - * Best One-Season Wonder: The Dresden Files, Lionsgate

Thank you to the judges for their excellent taste in entertainment and to the fans and viewers for the same and for voting for the best series released this year – the Dresden Files!!!

What excellent taste in entertainment the judges have!!

Take a minute and send a postcard or card/letter to Lionsgate and congratulate them on having produced such an excellent series!!

Thanks to captain_average for sharing this excellent news!!

Round 2: Full-Scale Dresden Files View-In - Nov. 16th!!

Full-scale TDF View-In – November 16th!!

Sit-In: A form of peaceful protest where protesters sit in an appropriate place and refuse to move.

As we know, Sci-Fi's posted schedule was incorrect and the Dresden Files did NOT air on November 9th, but the View-In was a big success with 252 comments posted in 1-1/2 hours!!!

On November 16th, as supported by all the media TV schedules, the Sci-Fi Channel is finally airing the first repeat of the Dresden Files since the end of Season 1 - it's time to form our own full-scale peaceful protest of the Dresden Files' non-renewal!

Since we fans are scattered across the country and the world, our only option for a Sit-In is a virtual one,

SO once again:

ALL Dresden Files fans are invited, encouraged, and requested to converge on the scifi.com/Dresden Forum on November 16th at 6:45 PM ET for a full-scale Dresden Files View-In!

NOTE: For new scifi.com forum users, it's a good idea to create an account a few days early so you'll be able to post.

We may not have Nielsen boxes, but Sci-Fi is paid for ads posted on their website, and therefore keeps track of the 'traffic' the site receives. So let's show them the power of the Dresden Files fans and the magic of Harry & Bob!!

This View-In we'll actually get to watch the episode while we laugh and have fun, trade comment posts with fellow fans, and most importantly show the Sci-Fi Channel execs and the media, by the SHEER NUMBER of us logged on and posting, that the Dresden Files IS loved & supported by a HUGE fanbase and will continue to be so during Season 2+!!!

I hope to 'see' an even LARGER crowd this Friday - and get this: Sci-Fi is airing commercials!!!

November 9th Dresden Files View-In Results

The Sci-Fi Channel's website has had the Dresden Files scheduled for November 9th and 16th since October, so we trusted them to know what they were going to show on their own station.

But it didn't happen. Sci-Fi did NOT air the Dresden Files on November 9th.

But that's OK because the View-In went on as planned and was GREAT!!

In 1-1/2 hours attendees posted over 252 messages!! Spectacular numbers for a forum that has been averaging about 8 posts per day since we abandoned it after finding out about the non-renewal!

AWESOME folks!!! Meet us all back there next week - November 16 for another TDF View-In!!!

Dresden Files View-In - November 9th, 6:45 pm ET!!

TDF View-In – November 9th!!

Sit-In: A form of peaceful protest where protesters sit in an appropriate place and refuse to move.

On November 9th, the Sci-Fi Channel is airing the first repeats of the Dresden Files since the end of Season 1 – this is our opportunity to form our own peaceful protest of the Dresden Files’ non-renewal!

Since we’re scattered across the country and the world, we can’t hold a Sit-In in one location – unless we do it VIRTUALLY!!

SO:

ALL Dresden Files fans are hereby invited/encouraged/requested to converge on the Dresden Forum on scifi.com on Nov. 9th at 6:45 PM ET for a Dresden Files View-In!

Sci-Fi Channel is paid by companies advertising on their website, and therefore keeps track of the ‘traffic’ the site receives. So let’s show them the power of the Dresden Files fans and the magic of Harry & Bob!!

We’ll watch the episode, laugh and have fun, trade comment posts with fellow fans, and most importantly – show the Sci-Fi Channel execs and the media, by the SHEER NUMBER of us logged on and posting, that the Dresden Files IS loved & supported by a HUGE fanbase and will continue to be so during Season 2+!!!

I hope to ‘see’ everyone there – and tell your friends & family!

Paul Blackthorne - Harry or Terrence

Paul Blackthorne as Terrence on ABC's Big Shots (Thursdays, 10 pm ET).

I'm very rarely home to catch this show as it airs, but I always catch it the next day on ABC's website. I apologize to fans of the series, but I don't care for the show or really pay much attention to the stories. I just watch to see Paul breathe life into his character!

The last episode is another example of his talent: with all of 30 seconds actual on-screen time, he still made me feel sorry for him & his up-coming heartbreak!

THAT'S talent! His performance just emphasizes how underutilized his skill is in this series!! He deserves to be back on his own series bringing Harry Dresden to life! Harry is believable as a person with faults and realistic problems like money issues and bills. He fights his darker inclinations, as we all must do, and tries his best to be a decent human being - which some of us could try a little harder to do.

That's why we're still fighting to get the Dresden Files back on - because it's quality television with a little bit of moral conscience without being preachy, with acting of such quality that we can connect with the characters, and all wrapped up in a different premise that sets it apart from all the current grinding clones that make up the majority of TV these days. Why should we settle for mediocrity when there's something so much better?!

THIS is Paul Blackthorne as Harry Dresden on the Dresden Files.

Bring back a series MUCH more worth watching. MUCH more real. Bring back the Dresden Files with Paul Blackthorne!