2005-09-15

A German inventor says he's found a way to make cheap diesel fuel out of dead cats.

Dr Christian Koch, 55, from Kleinhartmannsdorf, said his method uses old tyres, weeds and animal cadavers.

They are heated up to 300 Celsius to filter out hydrocarbon which is then turned into diesel by a catalytic converter.

He said the resulting "high quality bio-diesel" costs just 15 pence per litre.

Koch said the cadaver of a fully grown cat can produce 2.5 litres of fuel - meaning around 20 cats are needed for a full tank.

He said: "I tank my car with my own diesel mixture and have driven it for 105,000 miles without any problems."

Annelise Krauss of the Dresden Animal Protection Association blasted Koch's new diesel though, saying: "This is as bad as experimenting on animals."

Story here. I've expressed my reservations about biodiesel in the past, and I don't know that this is going to be any better. 15 pence per liter sounds good, but that would be $1.04 per gallon (assuming it's UK pence we're talking about). And then you have to ship it, and the greedy oil companies (who refuse to work for free, the bastards) would have their take, and then add taxes onto it. So, I don't think dead cats are going to be the breakthrough that ends our dependence on foreign oil.

On the other hand, I could gas up the car with dead cats. Which, come on, you have to admit that's pretty cool.

Here's more from my series of new music:

The Ponys

• Where They're From: Chicago
• The Album I Listened To: Laced with Romance
• Who They Sound Like: any of about 1000 punk bands.
• What I Thought: Yesterday I said that you have to give credit to The Go! Team, despite the fact that they're awful, because they don't sound like anyone else, and at least they're trying new things.

  The Ponys are like The Go! Team, only without the trying new things bit.

  They're also going for that super-Lo-Fi sound. Even with headphones on, it sounds like it's coming from the basement. They use so much reverb and distortion they don't so much have melodies as a smear of sound. If the sound quality were any higher, though, it would be easier to make out the music, such as it is. So I think the listening experience is enhanced by the low quality.

  The experience would be enhanced further if they had tried for "No-Fi", and just not recorded anything at all.

  If there's anything that distinguishes them all the other bands, it's the singer. I tried very hard to put my finger on what he sounds like, and finally it came to me: he sounds like what Robert Smith would sound like if he'd had a stroke.

  The lyrics may be the most enlightening words ever set to music. However, the world will never know, since the singer slurs all the words together, to the point they're completely unintelligable. Lord knows I couldn't make them out.

  I also mentioned yesterday that there's nothing wrong with being from England, and it's nice to hear people sing like it. Well, there's also nothing wrong with being from Chicago, so I don't know why he feels it necessary to try to sound like he's from Leeds. Although it could be the after-effects of the stroke.

• You Might Like Them If: you're one of those people who mistakes "loud" for "good". I used to be one of those people, so I understand. And they play with lots of energy. People will probably like them, and they won't have to trick themselves, either.
• Highlights: "Chemical Imbalance" started out strong, but then the singing started.
• More info: http://www.theponys.com

The Magic Numbers

• Where They're From: Ealing, London, England
• The Album I Listened To: The Magic Numbers
• Who They Sound Like: some kind of 60's pop band. The Byrds, maybe.
• What I Thought: If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought these guys were Canadians. I don't know if you've noticed this, but the Canadians make music that Americans stopped making for some reason or another.

  Name an American power pop band since Starship. The closest we had is that song "No Rain". Whereas the Canadians have bands like Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain. Okay, that last one isn't exactly power pop, but still.

  Anyway, that's the subject of a much longer discussion that has nothing to do with The Magic Numbers. Maybe I'll share it sometime.

  So that's the broad genre these people belong in. Power pop. Although more pop than power.

  As I mentioned above, it sounds like more uptempo 60's pop. Something akin to the Beach Boys, although not nearly that ambitious. The effect is helped by the fact that the singer sounds an awful lot like Cat Stevens. Everyone sounds polished. It sounds like they started playing less recently than last month.

  The songs are catchy, pleasant, and decent, though far from great. My biggest problem with it: it's inoffensive. Like way too inoffensive. The only reason this isn't Top 40 music is because, well, I'm not sure why not. I mean, it's Top 40 style music, I just don't know why it isn't selling appropriately. Just part of the capricious nature of the business, I guess.

  Or maybe this is Top 40 music, and it's all over the radio, and everyone's wondering why I'm writing about these people.

  In conclusion, I decided someone could probably get into them, although I'm not that person. Although if anyone thinks they might want to give these people a try, I think it might be worth waiting until their second album. I suspect they'll get a better handle on what they're trying to do between now and then.

• You Might Like Them If: you like the aforementioned Canadian power pop. If you like the Barenaked Ladies, you might like these guys.
• Highlights: They make a nice counter-point when English folks start talking about how fat Americans are. "Yes, Americans are fat. It's too bad we can't all have svelt English physiques, like, oh, I don't know, The Magic Numbers."
• More info: http://www.themagicnumbers.net