NYC observed Valentine’s Day – which is also not so coincidentally National Condom (Awareness) Day – earlier this week by releasing its own brand of condoms:

… The [NYC] Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) also announced that it has been distributing 1 million condoms per month (more than 9 million condoms in total) to community and social service organizations through a web-based Free Condom Initiative [Requires Flash] that began in June 2005. The DOHMH is currently developing a condom with unique packaging, to be released in coming months.
– “Bring Your Own Condom“, Press Release

If only they were available in my neighborhood.

The NYC Condom Web site includes a link for “Individuals Get Some.” Yes, I are an individual, and yes, I too want to “get some,” as the kids say. The link provides a complete list of all of the locations where DOHMH is distributing these condoms, which can also be filtered by Borough and/or Zip Code. However, there are no locations for either of the Zip Codes – neither 11218 nor 11226 – which service my neighborhood.

Lest you think it’s just the luck of the draw, there are several Zip Codes in Brooklyn with multiple locations. 11211, for example, has 13 locations, every one of which is a bar or a “lounge,” including Pete’s Candy Store, where Jay Bakker‘s Revolution Church NYC meets. (On my wish list for my birthday, one of their “Religion Kills” t-shirts.) Other Brooklyn locations include parlors, hair salons, clothing stores, pizzerias, restaurants, dry cleaners, and, oh yeah, Department of Health offices.

I’m feeling dissed.

We’ve got all those and more on the commercial strip of Courtelyou Road, serving both Zip Codes 11218 and 11226. So, come on, business owners, step up and demand to “get some” from DOHMH. Your neighbors and community will thank you. And it couldn’t hurt business, neither.

Links:

• American Social Health Association (ASHA)
• NYC Condom [requires Flash]

This lecture by Dr. David Bonter of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is hosted by Martin Viette Nurseries in East Norwich, Long Island, New York.

Drawing up on the knowledge of 14,000 people participating in Project Feeder Watch, this presentation will help you understand the biology and survival strategies of our favorite birds of winter. Learn how to attract colorful birds to your yard and discover the food and feeder preferences of New York’s Top 20 most common feeder birds. Finally, learn how you can contribute to science by watching the birds in your own backyard.

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through early April. FeederWatch helps scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in partnership with the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and Canadian Nature Federation.

via Birding News Feed.

My parents walking towards the Japanese Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in November of 2005.

At the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens, New York. From left to right: Dad, little Xris, my maternal grandmother, and Mom.

Doesn’t my Dad look like one of the Men in Black? Were neckties ever really that skinny?!

Just wanted to thank all of you who’ve been concerned about my absence from the blogosphere. This is a quick note to let you all know I am fine, and hope to resume again soon.

This week, I’m experiencing technical difficulties due to my fumbled attempt to add a new computer to our home network. When I have the time to resolve that, I should be again swamping all of you with voluminous posts and numerous photos.

Peace – Xris

• December 5, Experts Worry Warmer Earth Will Slash Farm Yields
• December 2, Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea
• November 30, Supreme Court Hears First Global Warming Case
• November 30, Humans’ love for rare objects could cause conservation efforts to backfire and force species disappearance
• November 24, Taking Wheat to its Wild Side Boosts Nutrients
• November 21, Earthwatch: Business Must Adapt to Realities of Earth’s Ecosystems
• November 18, Cow Power
• November 16, Rare Indian Bamboo Bloom Brings Rats, Threatens Crops
• November 14, Climate Change Pushing Bird Species to Oblivion
• November 14, World’s Forests are Making a Comeback, via PlanetArk
• November 10, Making Growth Greener a Tall Task for Economists

This Saturday and Sunday, as well as next weekend.

via Science & the City.

Tips from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Newsletter for reducing the amount of waste we generate during the holiday season.

• When shopping, bring your own reusable tote bag rather than accepting a separate bag for each purchase.
• Choose products that are minimally packaged.
• Give experiences, not stuff.
• Give of yourself.
• Give a gift that keeps giving.
• Donate old things to charity.
• Recycle cardboard and boxes.
• Don’t use wrapping paper.

And many more. Including, of course:

Compost your kitchen food scraps from holiday dinners and parties. Remember, in yard waste composting, compost fruit and vegetable wastes not meat or grease. [In other words, no animal products.]

Some communities recycle Christmas trees, chipping and mulching them for compost or landscaping materials. Trees must be free of tinsel, decorations, nails, tacks or any other foreign materials. Check with your town office to see if a tree recycling programs exists in your area. You can use branches as mulch under acid-loving bushes and shrubs, such as rhododendrons or evergreens.

New York City has a city-wide Christmas tree recycling program. Trees are usually picked up the first couple of weekends in January.

Booming commercial construction is sparking demand for ornamental trees, leading to a 44 percent increase in the price of a pear tree, which helped push the price for buying all the items in the “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” up 3.1 percent in 2006, according to a recent study.

The satirical study, put out every year by PNC Wealth Management [Warning: Link has irritating music!], said rising labor costs led to an increase in the price of skilled labor, including the nine ladies dancing, 10 lords-a-leaping, 11 pipers piping, and 12 drummers drumming.

– ‘Twelve days of Christmas’ gets pricier, CNN

For Internet-savvy True Loves, PNC Wealth Management calculates the cost of The Twelve Days gifts purchased on the Web. This year, the trends identified in the traditional index are repeated in the Internet version, with overall growth of 3.4 percent, compared to 3.1 in the traditional index. Wages are up, with the Drummers earning almost 100 percent more when purchased on the Internet in 2006 compared with an Internet purchase in 2005. And, as with the traditional Christmas Price Index, bird prices are even or, in some cases, down a bit from 2005 levels. In general, Internet prices are higher than their non-Internet counterparts because of shipping costs.

– The True Cost of the 12 Days of Christmas…

Today was opening day of Prospect Park in Lights, an installation of over a half-million LED lights at four entrances to Prospect Park. The Pergola is one of the four. It’s the southeast entrance of the park, at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Parkside Avenue.

See the lights at Park Circle.

Or the piggy-roll composter, or the roll-the-piggy composter, or …

You can watch the video.

Guess where you “feed” it your kitchen scraps. And from where you extract the compost.

I really don’t want one. Really.

And no, I don’t know why it’s green.

via Scientific American.