Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Long form


Since it seems I am unable to update here with any sort of frequency, I offer the die-hard readership a compelling handful of items to be enjoyed at your leisure, starting with 16 minutes of absolutely sublime acappella performance from the Beatles' Abbey Road album that is much closer to opera than rock.



Next, dig this seven riveting minutes excerpted from the film DamNation and thusly described:

When the Glen Canyon Dam was approved in April 1956, a group of archeologists and river runners set out to document more than 250 culturally significant sites and 125 side canyons that would be flooded by the project. One of those river runners was Katie Lee, a folk singer and Hollywood starlet turned activist. As she describes, "We would go around a corner, and spread out before us would be this incredible site ... Everything was in the right position; everything was perfect."

Ms. Lee was so taken by the proceedings, she shed her clothing to bask in the canyon. Pretty risque stuff for the puritanical 1950's, so you'll want to visit the link to see that, but do so at the risk of your blood boiling over on account of our incessant and ill-advised efforts to force Mother Nature to do our bidding.

Lastly, in November 2014, Cleveland's own Michael Heaton penned a column about military pagentry at sporting events, which was prophetic to say the least, particularly in light of the Uncle Sam/NFL payola scandal at hand.

When I watch these sporting events I feel like I'm also being pressured to clap and hoot and howl about this never-ending state of war that has become a major economic engine of our national economy. It feels like nationalism. And that feels a little bit mindless, and scary.

To be sure, it's much more like nationalism than he could have guessed. Scary, indeed.

Well then, dear readers, I am back to my frenetic life. Until next time--

Love, Erin


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8 comments:

Joe said...

The Glen Canyon dam figures prominently in Abbey's novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang" . A book I found hilarious in high school and sad when I read it again a few years ago.

Anonymous said...

A sure sign of "The End Times" will be when Joe tells us he joined Earth First.

RJ

Joe said...

My very first Boy Scout patch was a SOAR award (Save Our American Resources).

Despite your preconceived notions most people are not in favor of polluted air or toxic waste in the waterways.



Anonymous said...

@Joe-no one sane or sentient could disagree with that sentiment, which makes the behavior of corporations and their proxies in the political classes all the more infuriating.


MR

Erin O'Brien said...

So what regulations make sense?

U. Duh. No one stands up and says, I support filthy air and water! But when we say carbon tax or fuel efficiency mandate or (gasp) solar and wind incentives, y'all get red-faced and spittle-flecked.

Remember the OUTRAGE over Bush's phase out of incandescent bulbs (when Obama was in office)? Well, we see what happened there.

So go on, Joe, how do you propose we mind the environment?

Anonymous said...

Do the Boy Scouts offer a merit badge in enviroanarchy?

RJ

Anonymous said...

Ponder this headline:

"Cavs throttle Bulls, advance to East final."

RJ

Anonymous said...

Greetings. More today (5/19)via the AP on the Colorado River watershed. Lake Mead and Lake Powell are now well below 50% of their capacity.

MR