LOVE

Every year for the last decade or so, I have attended the IAFE convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a booking convention for Fairs and Expos. If you have a county or state fair... someone from your town is probably at this convention. Generally the convention is held at the Paris Hotel (a really nice hotel by the way) in December. I really enjoy the convention and Vegas this time of year. At the convention I get to meet lots of new people and catch up with friends I don't get to see through-out the year, but probably my favorite thing is seeing Las Vegas shows. Wow! The shows in Vegas can be sooooo amazing. The quality is astounding... shows I've seen and loved in the past include... The BLUE MAN GROUP, CARROT TOP, GEORGE CARLIN, CHICAGO, MAC KING, FITZ OF LAUGHTER, LANCE BURTON, SECOND CITY, STEVE WYRICK and PENN & TELLER. But I finally got to see The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil last week. Man o' man was that a terrific show! First of all, they start with some of the best pop music ever made (The Beatles), but it's been remixed to give it a new flavor. I was unsure if I'd like the new mix (I don't think you should mess with perfection) but I was quickly converted when I heard the new mix from the most awesome surround sound system I've ever witnessed. Then add to that the "dreamscape" style show that Cirque is able to create full of non-literal images and color, and skill, and it was one of the funnest theatrical evenings I've ever spent. Between my smiles, I sang along to almost the entire show. The show also reminded me of something... all you need is... love. Steve :)

Plarn Purse

Today I was at the IAFE convention in Las Vegas and met Caroline Craig from the Topsfield County Fair, MA. She showed me the most marvelous purse. It's made of plastic shopping bags, but it's not REcycled. It's REused. She formed the bags into yarn... which apparently is called PLARN. Get it? The words Plastic and Yarn are conjugated or contracted or co-joined or something... anyway. She found the pattern on a marvelous web site that shares exactly what you need to know to make these bad boys. www.myrecycledbags.com is the site. It's full of great info and the best part... it's free. If you're into DIY. Try it. :)

Wind

Good news! My web sites www.stevetrash.com and www.concretedream.com are now 100% Wind-Powered. FatCow - my web site hosts - buy 100% powered by wind energy to offset the energy used for their servers, data centers, and offices. So now their machines are fully eco-friendly. This energy is purchased from Community Energy. Very good idea... the wind is harnessed to make electricity for green magic shows. I like it! Steve :)

NEW Green Jobs Czar Announcement

It's official. I - Steve Trash - am running for the advisory position of Green Jobs Czar. Van Jones - the last adviser got booted about a month ago. I know what you're saying. "Hey Steve... you're not a political guy. It's why we love you". I know. I know, but hear me out. I'm NOT very political, but I AM the right guy to be the adviser to President Obama on Green Jobs. Here's why. I've been a small business owner for over 25 years. I know what it's like to make payroll. I know what it's like to borrow money to invest in my company (Concrete Dream Inc.). I know what it's like to take a risk on myself and my business. I know business, BUT I also know green. I've been a green entertainer most of my life. I live in an earthbirmed energy efficient home (thermal mass concrete filled walls, on demand "gas" water heater, south facing windows to capture the suns energy in the winter). My wife and I compost in a clawfoot bathtub in my rural "Frog Pond" back yard. We recycle like crazy and most important of all. I get it. I get that it takes both a healthy economy and a healthy environment to make the world work. So please take a moment to VOTE for me at www.votetrash.com. Thanks and remember. There is no red, nor blue... only green. Steve Trash - Rockin' Eco Hero :)

Run Stevie Run

I'm officially running. Big green news coming on Monday Oct. 12th, 2009! Please check back.

Ernie Kovacs is my Hero

I've always loved surreal humor. I loved Steve Martin's hilarious take on a oblivious rank amateur showbiz pro with his silly rabbit ears and arrow through his head. I loved Steven Wrights' slow delivery and wildly cosmically accurate comedy observations, but my favorite has always been ERNIE KOVACS. Whenever I'm writing comedy... I try to channel Ernie. I love that guy. Sharp and hilarious. Steve Trash :)

What is Green?

Lets face it. These days, everyone seems to be trying to go green. From Mega Big Corporate boardrooms to Planet Green Network bedrooms everyone seems to be talking about “going green”. Green choices are everywhere. We’ve got green this, green that… green green green green green.

But what does all this “green stuff” actually mean? Glad you asked!

Here’s a basic law of nature. Everything in nature is connected. Consequently economics (what people choose to drive, wear, eat, work at, play at, or entertain themselves at) has an effect on the environment. Economics and ecology can’t be separated.

But, the people of our dear planet only recently got the memo about this whole “economics/ecology thing”, so lately we’ve been trying to whip ourselves back into shape. The idea of trying to re-align the economic things we do with the ecological world, is what we call “being green”.

So what exactly does “being green” mean for us exactly?

At first glance, being green seems very complicated, confusing and frustrating. The questions become endless. Must I drive a wimpy little electric car instead of my sexy SUV? Should I feel guilty if my printer paper isn’t bleach free, or should I go completely paper free? And if it’s so free why is it so darned expensive?

At its core, being green is simple. It boils down to this question. Are we working WITH or AGAINST Mother Nature? Of course, Mother Nature is simply an anthropomorphication (and I’m not sure that’s even a real word) of all the principles of nature that govern the biological world. Here are two ways Mother Nature works.

1. Everything in nature is BALANCED. Oxygen that allows animals (including us people types) to breath is generated by plants. They, in turn, absorb the Carbon Dioxide we exhale… so nothing gets out of balance.

2. There is NO WASTE in nature. Zip. Zero. Nada. All water on the planet is reused in a very sexy, elegant and closed system. The same water that was used in Julius Caesars day… is the same water that’s being used today. It’s constantly being recycled by Mother Nature.

So you may be saying… hey Steve thanks for the fifth grade science lesson, but how does this help me get green?

Because Mother Nature creates no waste and everything remains in balance… it’s the perfect template for us to design our economies and our personal actions around.

So our best test for “is it green” is to ask ourselves are we WITH or AGAINST Mother Nature.

Simple huh?