Leave it to Audi’s marketing division to come up with a green commercial that also manages to insult anyone using alternative transportation.

Ride the bus? You suck. Ride a bike? You suck harder. Ride a Segway through a busy city walkway? Ok, they have a point there.

Oh yea, and for anyone using a biodiesel vehicle, prepare to get passed by some smug asshole in a diesel Audi. There, don’t you feel better about their environmental message? Check it out below:

H/T Chris Baskind

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi have scooped up a $10 million horse ranch way outside Los Angeles in Westlake Village, California. The pair have long expressed interest in one day retiring from the hustle and bustle and just enjoying the simple life. “It’s our dream that we’ll end up in a sweet country town on a farm,” Portia said back in March. “I love horses and riding and love animals and Ellen loves animals. It would be lovely for us. It’s what we’re going to do when we’re not working anymore.”

The 26-acre ranch, which was used as the quarantine site for foreign horses during the 2000 Olympics, features numerous residences including a single story, 10-room Spanish hacienda style main house that measures 6,329 square feet and includes 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.

According to ShelterPop, back in 2005, Ellen gave Portia a gray gelding named Jones and Portia gave Ellen a quarter horse named Puff, both of which are probably now housed in the deluxe stable complex of their new ranch. We’ve no doubt that this ranch is a dream retreat for the couple — though we wouldn’t be surprised if this latest purchase is just a stepping stone to even bigger things down the road. According to Berg Properties, Ellen “has bought and sold more southern California properties in the last 10 years than virtually any other Hollywood celebrity.” Who knew?

Satellite view of the property available here.

This is probably the largest off-grid home I’ve ever heard of — and it can all be yours for a cool $11 million.

Larry Hagman, star of such shows as Dallas and I Dream of Genie, is looking to downsize from his current 43-acre spread to something a bit more manageable in the L.A. area. The 78-year-old has long been a advocate of the renewable energy scene; way before it was the “hip” thing to do. “We’ve got to do something before we get into an apocalyptic situation,” he told people at a conference in 2007. “People just don’t understand that when the end of affordable energy comes, it’s going to be chaos. What do we do to prevent that?”

To that end, Hagman took his nine-bedroom, 14 1/2 -bathroom Mediterranean-style estate off-grid in 2003, causing his annual electric bill to plummet from $37,000 to $13. From the LA Times,

Sitting behind iron gates, the 18,000-square-foot main house has an open floor plan with walls of sliding glass doors, painted murals, an indoor grotto-style spa and a retractable roof over a 40-foot saltwater lap pool in the grand room, which has accommodated parties of up to 200 people. Glass walls on three sides provide unobstructed views from the bed in the master suite. There are Channel Island, mountain and valley vistas. The compound includes a two-bedroom guesthouse, a separate office, an outside pool connected by streams to two ponds, a private helipad and more than 200 avocado trees.

Incredible, right? To take a look at the listing jump here — or hit the gallery below for more images.

How’s that for a Friday headline?

We talk plenty about animals skins here on the razz, but honestly, this is one that I never imagined would be news.

Apparently, some auto outfit in Russia named Dartz came up with the idea of creating a bank vault on wheels — essentially the world’s most tricked-out, opulent, four-ton SUV. As Wired explains, some of the options include gold-plated window surrounds, gauges encrusted with diamonds and rubies, and an exhaust system made from tungsten. Oh yea, and the option for whale-penis leather seats.

Once the green scene got wind of such an accessory, the condemnation rang out from all corners; prompting the company to backtrack on the bizarre option. A press release with the title “ARMORED CAR WITHOUT PENIS. LET’S SAVE THE WHALES.” was sent out — and, in my opinion, instantly became the most hilarious press headline ever.  In verbatim, here’s a bit from the release:

One month ago DARTZ presented uberluxury armored car with whale penis interior – PROMBRON’ (ex.RussoBaltique), lot of people name this car as DARTZ.KOMBAT. As the world’s resonance was very huge and DARTZ got lot of angry e-mails from Greenpeace, WWF and also Pamela Anderson, DARTZ make strong decision to stop their plans regarding such interior.

We just looking for most expensive products for this car – and that’s why we choosed whale penis leathure when we checked it is most of most. After wave of protest we realised our mistake and make a decision not to use natural leathure at all. We will focus on world most advanced nanotechnologies to achieve interior highest quality using artificial materials which also was never used for cars. We want to tell our hello to all whales: “Our Sea Brothers! We all know that earth are stand on three whales - we will keep You live! We don’t Earth fall down to Ocean!”

And on that note, may you all sleep better this evening knowing that whale-penis leather is not an option for your vehicle. Thanks again Pamela and Co.!

via Wired

We knew South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were into weaving green themes into story lines, but who knew they were also into doing it with their own homes?

The duo recently opened up their Colorado getaway retreat to Steamboat Today and offered readers a look at where they like to unwind with their families. While the home is clearly massive, it was built by a firm, Trilogy Partners, specializing in sustainable construction and features a variety of green themes we’re happy to see included. Highlights include exterior siding and interior flooring of reclaimed wood, recycled carpeting, high-efficiency boiler systems, energy-efficient insulation and in-floor, and radiant heating that can be shut off in unoccupied zones. The beams supporting the ceilings were reclaimed from a railroad trestle that once spanned the Great Salt Lake.

Unfortunately, as this home probably sits vacant most of the time, its arguably a waste of resources. How much goes into heating and lighting a vacant home? Vacation retreats, especially as large as this one, should not be labeled as green beyond the nature of their construction. After that, they’re yet another excess that’s not helping to reign in human impact on the planet.

On the plus side, Trey and Matt used the same builders for their home in Hawaii, so at least they’re consistent in building green. More pics available over at Steamboat Today.

Back in September of 2008, Daryl Hannah mentioned that she was planning on taking the iconic Trans Am her character from the movie Kill Bill drove and turning into an all-electric vehicle. She did have some reservations about the conversion, however. “Because it’s a heavier car, it’s not going to get as long a range,” she said.

Looks like Hannah decided to wait and instead focus on using the gasoline engine she already had. The actress told MNN that the Kill Bill Trans Am has been converted to run on 100% pure alcohol (or ethanol). This would make it the second car in her garage running on an alternative fuel after her “badass” biodiesel El Camino.

What’s next for Hannah’s growing fleet of eco cars? According to MNN, as soon as they’re available, she has her heart set on an all-electric Phoenix truck.

Leonardo DiCaprio took his Inception co-star Ellen Page to check out the penthouse in Los Angeles’ Evo South condos recently.

Seems like Leo’s in the market for some new digs and took his friend along to check out the space, reportedly worth about $2.1 million.

According to the New York Daily News, the loft-style condos are built with sustainable materials and eco-conscious construction techniques. “He was interacting with current residents and seemed very interested in the building’s eco-friendly and green design elements,” says the insider.

And, in case there’s any confusion, the Daily News also quotes the title of the duo’s film as Oliver’s Arrow,  the fake working title of Inception. The photo above is from the film’s recent teaser.

As Luke mentioned yesterday, Madonna is currently in Malawi for the groundbreaking of her new Academy for Girls school. We’ve been following her efforts to bring a school to the Southern African country ever since she announced the ambitious plans back in May of last year. Today, the 51-year-old planted a Moringa tree, also known as the “miracle tree” for its cure of many diseases, at the construction site of the new academy for girls at Chinkhota village. Joining her was President Bingu wa Mutharika and many hundreds of kids from the various orphanages she supports. To learn more about her work in Malawi, visit her Raising Malawi site here.

Back in August of 2007, we shed the smallest of tears for Yoko Ono after she publicly urged automakers to “make hybrid cars as comfortable as a Bentley”. We felt awful for her — and the millions of happy hybrid-owners who are oblivious to the uncomfortable and spartan interiors of their vehicles.

Thanks to a report on Autobloggreen this morning, Yoko now has reason to hope for the future. Apparently, Bentley may be considering offering a hybrid version of their insanely-priced luxury vehicles. Their 2009 models average about 9 mpg in the city and 14-17 mpg on the highway — so any movement toward a hybrid model would certainly save Yoko some fuel costs — and potentially keep the whining to a minimum.

Full article over at ABG here.

Sea Shepherd’s sleek, dark, new apprentice has arrived — and the force is strong with this one. And by force, I mean the two 540 horsepower Cummins Mercruiser biodiesel-fueled engines on-board capable of running circles around the Japanese whaling ships.

And so it begins: Earthrace, one of the fastest powerboats on the planet, has been given a full Sea Shepherd makeover. From additional kevlar skin body armor to undetectable very hard to detect broadband radar, nightvision systems, Iridium openport comms, and a new paint job that actually scatters radar signals and provides additional stealth. If Earthrace was badass before, it’s now firmly somewhere in the ninth circle of hell giving Satan a hard time.

Sea Shepherd’s Operation Waltzing Matilda against the Japanese whaling fleet begins this December. More pics of the new Earthrace below: