Inside Chris’s Head

One of the things about having season tickets for a theatre company is that you end up attending performances that you would otherwise have skipped. The latest play at San Jose Rep, called “Tranced” would have been such a play for me.

Nationally recognized psychologist and playwright, Robert Clyman, takes you on an electrifying ride. Philip is a highly respected psychiatrist famous for using a form of hypnosis called “trancing” to help his patients uncover suppressed memories. When he trances Azmera, an African grad student, he unexpectedly learns of a secret that could have profound consequences for thousands in an African village. Enlisting the aid of an ambitious reporter with connections to the Director of African Affairs, Philip is pulled into a suspenseful vortex of moral deliberation, truth and the powerful art of persuasion.

I was not that excited when I read this description, but playwright Robert Clyman’s characters enchanted me from the very first lines of dialog. The plot took a number of unexpected turns but by that point I wanted to follow these characters to find out where the story would end. I would recommend “Tranced” for both for Clyman’s writing and the fine performances of the San Jose Rep cast.

Popularity: 25% [?]

How close is California to a blackout today? Not close. How can you tell? If you go to The California ISO website then you can get a graph of the power being generated in the state and the power being used. When the red line crosses the green line… bad things happen.

Popularity: 5% [?]

There are 15 places in the state of California where you can currently go if you bought one of those hydrogen fuel cell based cars that we are told are the future. There are 9 more fueling stations planned and 65 fuel cell cars according to California Fuel Cell Partnership . Monday Gov. Schwarzenegger tried to significantly increase those numbers. According to the Mercury News :

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will advocate that California invest $54 million in public money to help build a network of up to 100 hydrogen fueling stations statewide within five years, according to new details of his “Hydrogen Highway” plan.

Schwarzenegger in April 2004 called for up to 200 stations 20 miles apart on major freeways. But experts working on the plan concluded it would be best to group stations first where most people live, Lloyd said. As a result, the document sets a goal of 250 stations statewide linking north and south in Phase 2, which he said could occur by 2015.

“My general response is two words: Wildly premature. What’s the rush?” said Joseph Romm, a former assistant energy secretary in the Clinton administration and author of “The Hype About Hydrogen.”

“These vehicles are so far from being ready for prime time that you may be building equipment that is obsolete.”

For example, most hydrogen vehicles have a range of only about 150 miles between fill-ups, compared with up to 450 miles for typical gasoline cars. Also, hydrogen is produced by separating it from water with electricity or from natural gas with heat. Unless the energy to make it comes from renewable sources, like wind or solar rather than coal, it could produce more pollution and greenhouse gases than simply converting America’s auto fleet to hybrid gas-electric vehicles, Romm said.

I guess now would be a bad time to ask about my flying car then too.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I was pleased to see that San Jose, CA is again rated as the safest big city in America. Pleased because that is where I call home.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The “San Francisco Fringe Festival ” will be held in San Francisco this weekend. Isn’t that redundant?

Popularity: 5% [?]