Shangri-La and Xanadu

Two perfect seeming places I want to visit

Abu Dhabi has started to build what it says is the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste car-free city.

Masdar City will cost $22bn (£11.3bn), take eight years to build and be home to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses.

The city will be mostly powered by solar energy and residents will move in travel pods running on magnetic tracks.

The city will make use of traditional Gulf architecture to create low-energy buildings, with natural air conditioning from wind towers.

Water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant, Masdar says. The city will need a quarter of the power required for a similar sized community, while its water needs will be 60% lower.

The city forms part of an ambitious plan to develop clean energy technologies.

In January, the government of Abu Dhabi announced a $15bn five-year initiative to develop clean energy technologies, calling it "the most ambitious sustainability project ever launched by a government".

As part of the plan, Abu Dhabi will become home to the world's largest hydrogen power plant.

The money is being channelled through the Masdar Initiative, a company established to develop and commercialise clean energy technologies, and Abu Dhabi hopes it will lead to international joint ventures involving much more money.

Abu Dhabi will invest $4bn of equity in the project and borrow some of the rest, Masdar said.

"We are creating an array of financial vehicles to finance the $22bn development," Masdar chief executive officer Sultan al-Jaber told Reuters news agency.

"We will monetise all carbon emission reductions... Such innovative financing has never been applied to the scale of an entire city."

Of course all of the money used to pay for this oasis in the desert will have come from oil revenues, but let's not worry about that part.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
-Coleridge

and in a less scary part of the world with a lot of fun things converging
Feeling singer Dan Gillespie revealed to us that singer Sophie Ellis Bexter is to start up a gay themed 80s club in London, inspired by David Bowie.
Gillespie, spilt the beans on the plans of the wife of his bassist, Richard Jones saying 28-year-old is in talks with the owners of the late Rebel Rebel gay night club.

80s? Sophie? Bowie? Buggers? Brits? I am totally there.
And I am really all about this club just as long as they promise to play this song.
For at least one straight hour. Each and Every night.

It's murder on the dancefloor
But you better not kill the groove
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down
Oh, I know I know I know I know I know I know
About your kind
And so and so and so and so and so
I'll have to play
If you think you're getting away
I will prove you wrong
I'll take you all the way
Boy, just come along
Hear me when I say
Hey, It's murder on the dancefloor
But you better not kill the groove
Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey It's murder on the dancefloor
But you better not steal the moves
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down
Oh I know I know I know I know I know I know
There maybe others
And so and so and so and so and so and so
You'll just have to pray
If you think you're getting away
I will prove you wrong
I'll take you all the way
Stay another song
I'll blow you all away
Hey, It's murder on the dancefloor
But you better not kill the groove
Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey Murder on the dancefloor
But you better not steal the moves
DJ, gonna turn this house around somehow
Murder on the dancefloor
But you better not kill the groove
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Murder on the dancefloor
But you better not steal the moves
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down

(I LOVE THIS SONG)
Sophie Ellis-Bexter Murder on The Dance Floor [download]
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down

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Lies Movies Taught Me

Girls, if you’re ever frustrated and thinking about just marrying your BGF (best gay friend), you shouldn’t do it, apparently.

At least according to this advice columnnist

Q. I am a single mother of a 3-year-old boy, the result of an unplanned pregnancy. His father is a mess and not much a part of his life. A divorce is in the works.

Recently, a very close friend of mine who is a gay man has decided to enlist in the military. He has proposed a solution to both of our dilemmas by asking that we marry.
He is a wonderful man who loves my son like his own. We get along tremendously well and have been friends for 10 years. He would be my perfect match were he not homosexual.

To my surprise, I am considering his proposal. I am so exhausted from the last four years that the idea of having a second pair of hands, plus income and love for my son, is infinitely appealing. I also understand and respect his fears about being “discovered” by the military.

I consider myself to be a moral, intellectual and law-abiding individual, and I am having a difficult time separating my need for help from what is sensible and realistic. I am 28 years old and aware that I have so much more time to find a good mate. Can you help me sort this out?

A. When you are emotionally exhausted and have been burned often, it’s hard to see any potential for the future. So it’s tempting to throw in the towel and take the safe route.

Marriage to your gay friend is an entirely safe option, or at least appears to be. There’s no possibility of risk and rejection because there is no investment. You are not investing love, romance or sexual feelings, so you figure you aren’t vulnerable.

While I certainly can sympathize, I think that if you avoid risk, you avoid gain. It would be sad for you, at age 28, to shut the door on any potential for finding love. I think it would be a mistake to marry your friend.

On his end, there are many gay and unmarried men in the military, where they “don’t ask, don’t tell.” It is not imperative that your friend be married to join the military. So you don’t need to do this for his sake.

This seems to be about somebody providing a safety net for you. But it sounds as though he already does this. He is a male role model and an important part of your life and your son’s. You don’t need him to be your husband in order for him to continue in this role.

If you want to marry him for financial help, it is likely this will cause disputes in the future. Couples argue more about money than anything else. And these are couples who love each other and are building a life together. You two, even though you are extremely fond of each other, don’t have such a connection. There’s a great likelihood you will at some point start arguing about money, and one of you will become really resentful.
Not only that, but by marrying you are announcing to the world that you are unavailable. So you are closing the door on having a future sexual partner, and so is your friend. He won’t be in the military forever. When he finishes there, he might want to find love with a man. So you are harming chances for both of you to find what you really want.

Children aren’t dumb. As your son grows up, he will perceive the situation and know you aren’t a real couple. So think about the example you are sending to your son. Do you want him to grow up and have a romance-free relationship of his own?

You are young and have plenty of time ahead of you. It’s premature at age 28 to decide that hope is dead in the arena of love. Love is something that everyone is entitled to try for.

If you really want your friend around, he can move in like an uncle or a roommate. People have relatives and friends sharing their living quarters all the time. But I see no advantage to living a lie.

Though it is unfortunate you have such a difficult time with your ex-husband, this does not mean you are destined to forgo love forever. If you feel really hopeless, I advise you to seek therapy to see whether you are somehow attracted only to men who can never be right for you.

Dr. Gail’s Bottom Line: Marrying a gay friend, who seems to offer many advantages, will close you off to real romance in the future and is unlikely to turn out well.

But hasn’t she seen The Next Best Thing
Or
The Object of My Affection


Such arrangements always work!

This columnist seems really old fashioned too- who says it would be living a lie? I mean they do love each other, even if not in love, and there are tonnes of couples who don't even have that. Plus it's not like if she meets someone she's actually interested in that she can't just say "hey, yeah I'm married but my husband is gay and so we can do whatever."
And plus there's that new fangled divorce thing-always an option.

Hmm, I should be an advice columnist- I feel I'd be amazing

(Note: I actually haven’t seen those movies either, but I assume that’s what those films taught
Note 2: that little mermaid is Hayden Panetierre-aww...and I really want to see the whole thing now. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston have to be the cutest couple ever)

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