About to Blowfly

After about nine months of planning we are finally ready to begin recording the marcroinvertebrate rap battle.  I can't wait!  I hope to have the final product up by the middle of next month!

More Unicorns?

The reception for the Rainy Day Brush-Off Artistic Rain Barrel Campaign was last week.  This lucky guy got to meet the artist behind this wonderful barrel.  Did I mention she is also a Hard Knox Rollergirl? +10 points.

Unicorn Jar

Thanks to the Rainy Day Brush-Off I am now the proud owner of these two rain barrels :)
So whimsical!

Un-Sync

Somewhat Remarkable Hip-Hop Conflicts of Water Quality!

The rap battle is really coming together! With the music being done, our rappers Katie and Erin stop by to practice their lip-syncing in front of the green screen. Hilarity ensues.

Stay tuned as we count down to the rap battle release!

International Biscuit Festival

In what other city can I find out about a festival and within a few hours be Mr. International Biscuit Festival 2012?  I don't think there is any place like Knoxville.

This weekend my musical outlet, Mystery Mammal, collaborated with my water quality AmeriCorps partner in crime Kelsey Hensley to bring the citizens of Knoxville Yoko Carbo and the Biscuit Submarine.  We were proud to accept the Golden Biscuit Award considering it took us the same amount of time to write and produce a song as it does to make a batch of biscuits.

I love this city.

The Mr. and Mrs. Biscuit Pageant. 
Photo from Knoxville Urban Guy stuckinsideofknoxville.com

Yoko Carbo and the Biscuit Submarine.

Best trophy ever.

Biscuit tweeted!

AmeriAlumni

The first meeting of Knoxville AmeriCorps Alums is tonight!  I am excited! 

SRHHCoWQ - Lyrics!

The water quality rap battles are coming together! Stay tuned for the live action video of Somewhat Remarkable Hip-Hop Conflicts of Water Quality!

 Until then...let me drop some dope enviro-rhymes on you with this vid.

#3,387

The first 500 flew by.
I reached 1,500 by Halloween.
By the time November came I was halfway through at around 2,000.
The start of the fourth quadrant was marked by number 2,500.
By 3000 I was certain I was nearing the end.

And now here I am.  #3,387 marks the very end of my stormwater inlet mapping.

Originally charged with having the first quadrant of Farragut mapped by the end of my corps year, I have officially finished mapping the entirety of the Town.  That's right.  All four quadrants.  Frankly I think I blew through it so quickly mostly because of how much I enjoy the experience of GIS Mapping.  There's something kind of zen and adventurous about visiting my little storm drain friends be them on Kingston Pike or in secret hidey-holes around town. 

#3,387 turned out not to be a storm drain at all but a different kind of stormwater inlet.  A curb-cut.  I found this guy to be a particularly good fit to end on.  This drainage enters directly into Turkey Creek - which is where all these drainages end up eventually.  Often less directly than this however.

It has been an adventure my dear inlets.  I am sure we will have time together again before I leave, but if we don't, know that I enjoyed what time we had!

Ready, Set, Auction!

The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived.  This year's Rainy Day Brush-Off artistic rain barrels have been painted, clear coated, voted on, and being put up for auction.  It is exciting stuff folks!  Personally, I am gunning for the unicorn barrel.  Here's to hoping it'll be under a downspout of my own sometime soon.

In order to get a little hype going I've been seen on CTV Knoxville talking a bit about the RDBO.  I also made these videos just in case someone doesn't really get the whole rainwater harvesting thing.

Smart.

#iamsold

WaterFest

WaterFest is a annual event held at Ijams Nature Center focused on water quality and conservation education to area schoolchildren.  The 1,500+ kids go from station to station learning about the power and importance of water while having some fun along the way.  My station?  A water magic show.  I played the part of Will Freeze - a bumbling intern with butterfingers and only a couple of cool tricks up his sleeve.

Chessa, Dr. Vapor, sets up our water magic show.

Dr. Vapor and Will Freeze.

Bubbles!

The water-balloon slingshot game.

Setting up our next trick.

Dr. Vapor talks science but keeps her tricks a secret in the end.

Catch Rain and Catch Eyes

The annual Rainy Day Brush-Off is in full swing and I have been doing my part to help market and add a little whimsy to the shebang. For one, I am pretty proud of the business cards I put together for the event.

The reveal of the barrels at Ironwood studio was a blast.  We have so many great entries this year. This was probably one of my favorite events to attend in this AmeriCorps year.  Friends, fun, food, art.  Love it.

Stick this guy in the back of an X-Wing Fighter and he'll increase your thermal clip capacity by 40% while also reducing run-off.

A 'Through the Looking Glass' themed barrel.

Whimsy?  If I didn't know better I might think I had painted this one.

I see what you did there....

The food was yum.

An artist describes his work - Photo by Jason Scott.

We had an excellent turnout - Photo by Jason Scott.

EarthFest - The Creature Feature

It feels like I have been waiting forever to post about EarthFest!  Unfortunately my work computer hasn't felt up to letting me use blogger these last couple of weeks so I have had to delay it until now.

The summary of EarthFest 2012?  It was awesome.

Whimsical characters abounded, hundreds participated in the educational scavenger hunt, and a lot of people left that day knowing a little more about being good stewards of the environment.  What more could one ask for?  All in all it was a blast to participate.  It was very fulfilling to see the whimsical characters come to life just as though they hopped off of the EarthFest Blog and into real life.

The Trash Bag Monster- a huge hit with the kids.

Franklin Fossil talks to some scavenger hunters - Photo by Jason Scott.

Franklin Fossil, Grace (as herself), Big K, and Mother Earth.

Latch <3's Kelly Crayfish.

Big K the water quality kangaroo draws whimsical images for the scavenger players.

I'll take a unicorn please.

Alice Aster stamps a EF scavenger passport.

The Trash Monster and his Wrangler talk to a group of participants.

Kelly Crayfish helps a scavenger player complete her passport.

Lath the Tick shares a scavenger clue.

AmeriCorps - Get Things Done.  Make Whimsy Happen.