Potpourri: Ride the Drive, Pondamonium, Ale Asylum, Smart Meters

It's been a busy few weeks for us and for the neighborhood, too. I wanted to catch up on a few things:

• By all accounts, Ride the Drive Northside was a big success. It got Northsiders out and about in a more human-scaled way and drew attention to our side of town. Kudos to all the volunteers and City of Madison staff who made this event happen!
• The Mallards' inaugural Pondamonium festival was more of a mixed bag. While the poor weather didn't seem to dampen enthusiasm for headliners Garbage and The Flaming Lips, the earlier acts weren't a huge draw. I appreciate how punctual organizers were about their 10:30 p.m. permit ending time, but the show was still too loud, too late for a weeknight in a residential neighborhood. (Doesn't that sound like such an old man thing to say?) Move it to Friday or Saturday next year.
• Word from the Ale Asylum guys at the Great Taste of the Midwest is that the tap room at their new location should be open by mid-September, with brewing operations to follow a week or two later. They have to be out of the Kinsman Boulevard location by October 1, when new brewpub Karben4 takes over their old location (and equipment!). Ale Asylum is part of a flurry of new development on the airport land along International Lane and Anderson Street. Credit goes to Supv. Paul Rusk and Dane County here...too bad the City of Madison isn't nearly as aggressive with Northside development.
• Finally, a fun fact for the anti-smart meter crowd: It's too late, the UN tricked MG&E into giving you cancer years ago! The utility teamed up with Big Meter powerhouse Itron to install a "drive by" system, where our meters are read wirelessly by trucks that drive by our houses every month. That project was finished in 2003(!) with the full blessing and support of the Public Service Commission. More recently, MG&E won a stimulus grant to pilot a full-on cellular smart grid with all the bells and whistles we've heard so much about. Food for thought for those who expect the PSC to ride in on a white horse and save them from the Water Utility...