Fresh Loaf

The Department of Energy awarded the University of Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology, partnered with other research labs and universities, a cool $125 million over a period of five years for the development of one of three bioenergy research centers.

Says Alan Darvill, head of UGA’s team:

This research, which uses biotechnology approaches to reduce the high cost of processing plants into biofuels, has the potential to make ethanol a significant replacement for fossil fuels for this country’s future energy needs.

Read more.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman explained the center’s mission to the Associated Press:

These centers will provide the transformational science needed for bioenergy breakthroughs to advance President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012, and assist in reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years.

Read more.

The center will be based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the University of Tennessee.

Bookmark It

Neil Hamburger, America’s No. 1 funnyman, will hit the Drunken Unicorn this Saturday, June 23.

“He’s in the tradition of others like Andy Kaufman, where it’s half performance art and half comedy,” says comedian Pete McBrayer of Hamburger’s conceptual take on stand-up. McBrayer is set to open for him at Athens’ Tasty World June 25. “[Hamburger] thrives on getting a reaction out of the audience. He tells a lot of off-color humor, but it’s all very carefully designed. He especially plays the role of a bad nightclub comedian.”

Hence the gross comb-over and the grosser stage presence.

“I think because he has such an extensive music background, he has fun making a little fun at stand-up comedians, kind of underlining a certain cheesiness of what it even means to be a stand-up comedian,” McBrayer concludes.

Also performing is magician/DJ Dr. El Suavo. For the curious, only el legitimately translates to anything in Spanish. The doctor specializes in sleazy Vegas-styled magic tricks and also plays a theremin.

9 p.m. Sat., June 23. Tickets $8 in advance.

Bookmark It