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Semi? He thought they said Demi

Two months ago, we mocked Ashton Kutcher for buying a behemoth, 10-mile-per-gallon (on a good day) International CXT, or commercial extreme truck.

Now, Kutcher's mocking himself. "My semi? It's the most idiotic thing I've ever purchased," he's quoted as saying in, ahem, In Touch Weekly. (I was flipping through it in line at the co-op, OK?)

ContactMusic.com reports that he may auction the beast off.

"It's a weird boy's dream," he said by way of explaining his stupidity. "Growing up in Iowa, all these kids in my school who had money would go out and buy these Toyota pickup trucks and put these huge wheels on them, and I would go, 'Oh man, I've got to have one of those.'

"So when I saw this truck in the newspaper, I knew I had to have it ... Then I got it, and I was like, 'Son of a bitch, I should have looked at it first.' I didn't realize it was that big."

For those of you not in Iowa or Tennessee

Last week, I posted my review of Sky Blue, a Korean anime film that touches upon some enviro issues. As I mentioned in my post, it is playing in limited release, with many showings already passed ... which means that many of you won't get to see it in theaters.

For those who are interested, and can't wait until it comes out on DVD, VHS or television, you can watch the first 8 minutes of Sky Blue on ifilm.com. (And all of you anime freaks out there, you can also watch clips of Steamboy.)

If you do watch the preview, which provides the backstory of the film, imagine that we humans continue to ignore the threat of climate change and that this is our future. Chilling.

Jeepers Creepers

Hordes of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts, and their respective four-wheel-driving monsters, have descended -- or rather off-roaded -- into the red rocks of Moab, Colo., for the 39th annual Jeep Safari.

The event began with a few Jeep drivers looking for a good time and has become an event complete with vendors, parades, and, of course, a whole lot of four-wheelin' fun. Some 20,000 to 30,000 off-roadies were in Moab this weekend, part of the week-long festivities that now overshadow mountain-biking and marathon-running weekends in terms of financial boons for the red rock area. No word yet on how the rocks feel about it.

An open letter to Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes

Dear Andy Rooney:

I enjoyed your commentary last night on 60 Minutes, titled "Put Brakes On Gas Prices". I applaud your campaign "to get every driver to use 20 percent less gas this year than last year."

You went on to point out how we Americans make unnecessary trips and exotic vacation plans that result in consumption of enormous amounts of gasoline. You even suggested that "newspapers print 'Don't Travel' sections with articles about how interesting it is not to go anywhere."

But you failed to mention hybrid cars! Here in Gristmill, readers are touting the benefits of driving a hybrid vehicle -- the primary one being less gas consumption.

Andy, Andy, why the omission?

Species essentialism

As one-time student of philosophy, I'm always happy to see it pop up in my non-academic life. So thanks to Jon Christensen for pointing to this short essay about species in Philosophy Today.

But I found it somewhat befuddling. The question on hand is, "what exactly is a species?" Geneticist Massimo Pigliucci says this:

Praying attention to herbicides

A group of ruralites near Eugene, Ore., have begun a five-week series of prayer circles in front of timber company offices.

Organizer Lynn Bowers said the group resorted to prayer circles after calls and letters to the timber companies got no response.

"No one willingly does harm," Bowers said, clasping hands in a circle of eight friends in front of Transition Management Inc.'s offices near Valley River Center in Eugene. "I pray that these timber guys' hearts are open so they understand the harm they are doing."

Although the timber companies say the herbicides are necessary to keep invasive species -- like scotch broom and blackberry -- from overgrowing, Bowers argues that the chemicals are too risky for forest and human health. She says their group will pick a different company to pray by each Friday until Earth Day, because "we need a miracle to change this situation." Amen?

Girl, You Trippin’!

Cameron, Arnold lead brigade of celeb eco-spokesfolk What formative experiences led to movie star and galactic hottie Cameron Diaz’s commitment to the environment? “Nothing, dude. Life! Life!” We couldn’t have said it better. Or hotter. Diaz will be bringing her commitment to a new MTV series called Trippin’, debuting tonight, in which she travels around […]

Bog Bites Man

Everglades restoration stagnating after five years Restoration of the Florida Everglades is, well, a bit bogged down, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers internal memo. Written by Everglades project manager Gary Hardesty, the memo was addressed to Army Corps colleagues preparing to write a five-year update on the 30-year restoration plans. Hardesty noted […]

Ban of the Cave Bug

High court to decide whether to hear challenge to Endangered Species Act The fate of the Endangered Species Act may rest in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, if they decide in coming weeks to hear a case from a Texas man hoping to remove development restrictions on his land. Revoking the ESA protection […]

Oil Together Now

Bipartisan coalition presses Bush to get behind oil-use reduction Lambasting U.S. oil addiction: It’s not just for America-hating radical homosexual vegetarian Schiavo-killing eco-terrorists anymore! A growing bipartisan coalition is arguing that U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a serious national security threat. Today, a letter signed by 26 former national-security officials from both Republican and […]