Whose bright idea is this anyway?

[*sigh*] About all I can say about this article is that it's all fine and dandy if the government (and Wal Mart ... again, sigh) wants to ban incandescent light bulbs, but I will never convert to CFLs, so I'm going to have to spend even more money on LCD light bulbs (which I was actually planning on doing one day somewhat soon anyway).

I'm just tired of all the uber-positive hype about CFLs; because, no, they're not as bright as advocates say they are; and yes, they do cast a different color (unnatural) light than incandescents; and yes, they flicker and buzz/hum and can affect one's eyesight (like they do mine); and yes, they are more expensive, break more easily, and contain toxic mercury (and I'm sure everyone who buys one will take it to the proper recycling center when it dies). They also don't last as long as manufacturers declare (five-year bulbs last about one year in actuality because of the abuse thy take when switched on and off), and you can't use a dimmer switch with them unless you pay a lot more for special CFLs.

Ok, sure they do save a rather significant amount of power over time, which of course is a good thing (but so is walking or bicycling instead of driving vehicles!).

Anyway, the result may be like that 1996 "Shower Head" episode of Seinfeld, where Newman, Kramer, and Jerry buy black market Yugoslavian shower heads for their apartments after their superintendent installed low-flow shower heads. [Or perhaps it's time to start hoarding incandescent bulbs?]

Acting corny

For the 2007 season, I grew Stowell's (a.k.a Stowell's Evergreen), which is/was a fine corn and all, but perhaps as a friend of mine said, it is one of those heirloom corns that you'd better already have the water boiling before you even pick it. I only grew about 200 stalks of it, so it wasn't too much of a waste of space or time.

So, I of course would pick it a few hours before I cooked and ate it, and wasn't very impressed by its taste. I did save some of the seed (about a quart canning jar's worth), however, just in case I feel compelled to plant it again next year. I also saved a sack of it for chicken feed, as I'm getting a few Dominiques for 2008. Much of the corn was eaten up by worms at the last minute, just before I picked it (it's my own fault really, as I didn't take the necessary precautions).

I may bring it into the twentieth century with corn, however, and plant either Hasting's Prolific or something similar (as a sweet corn) ... but I also may go the other way and plant either Tuscarora (a.k.a Iroquios) White or Gourdseed, both at least eighteenth-century corns (and probably earlier).

By the way, if anyone knows where to obtain some Hasting's Prolific seed, please let me know; I may need to write Don Hastings (no, not the actor; the guy whose grandfather originated the corn type, and who is the writer of several modern gardening books) and ask him about it.