Flex – robot sculpture by *adoptabot on deviantART
Published October 4, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
closing thoughts on ken burns’ national parks
Published October 3, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentApplause and appreciation for Ken Burns’s most recent work. Once
again, he has selected a topic for exploration in the dual purpose of
shedding light on the topic itself, but perhaps more importantly to
tell the broader American story using topic as guiding framework.
presented by several of the people who were interviewed throughout the
series–recollections of how the opportunity to experience the
National Parks at an early age made such indelible and formative
imprintations that would inform and guide the trajectory of their
lives. The parks represent not nature alone, but our history. While matters
of economics, race, class, and of sometimes tumultuous change may not
leap readily to mind on a surface view of the National Parks, they
figure prominently in their story and were addressed thoughtfully. Our
nation’s history and our natural resource inheritance are undeniably
and inextricably linked. Good stuff. Very, very good stuff.
http://www.tonic.com/article/2009-ig-nobel-awards/
So I watched the near-entirety of the live webcast of the geeked-out
zaniness that is the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony as preparation for a
brief science news article for Tonic.com.
An extraordinarily silly affair, and perhaps a bit heavier on the
musical theater numbers that I would have otherwise preferred, but the
sight of half of a brassiere being wrapped around Paul Krugman’s
Nobel-winning, econo-pundit mug was well worth sitting through all of
the warblings of sometimes questionable tonality.
Anyhow, just caught word from Tonic’s head of content that for a short
spell earlier today, my piece (linked above) was the Sci / Tech
featured article at Google news. I’m pretty sure that that’s a first
for one of my pieces. Am enjoying, accordingly, a brief “yay for me”
moment.
National Parks, Episode 3 and 4. Brief Musings.
Published September 30, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTo repeat myself, I’m continuing to enjoy this film very much.
I’m struck by a couple things this evening as I mull over tonight andlast night’s episodes. First relates to the Great Smokies. I was truly taken aback to learn
of the outpouring of small dollar, out of not-in-the-least deep pocket
donations from local citizens in support of the land purchases that
would be
requisite for realizing the park. This was unfolding in a poor rural
area. Civic responsibility and local pride saw folks who had so little
dig deep in support of setting up a permanently established public
park. The second stems from the quote from Robert Sterling Yard, observing
that within the confines of the park boundaries, and arising from the
sharing of experiencing the setting, that “all are Americans” who
visit and enjoy the parks. The establishment of these reserves
provided the physical space within which social class would, at least
a little, fade. The affordability and increased ubiquity of the automobile put access
to these sites within the reach of the average folk. It wasn’t lost on me that the environs of Acadia National Park, in my
native state of Maine, had been the exclusive province of the
hyper-wealthy old money types. The parks, within a few short decades of their genesis, gave space and
cause for something that felt and looked worthy of the notion of
democracy.
Second night into the series, and I am feeling a mix of wonder and
gratitude. It is just so very, very good.
Johnson fellow? Wow, is he ever a sympathetic character. He speaks so
lyrically, based both on what appears to be encyclopedic knowledge and
unbridled passion, about the parks. Of why and how they came to be,
what they continue to mean, who they reveal we who seek them out to
be. Two: It’s significant to be reminded that “environmentalism” at its
very roots is borne out of a tension between preservation and
conservation. Critics of environmentalism have been keen to cast us as
a monolithic lot. Environmentalism has never been anything of the
sort. The tension between preservation for its own sake (forged in a
very singular moral kiln) and conservation (having and eating the
cake, if you will) has been part and parcel of environmentalism since
before the word “environmentalism” had even been coined. I appreciated
that reminder. So far, really, a very lovely piece of work. The visuals are about as
good as I’ve ever known television to cough up, and the content so far
has been fluid and compelling. Parting thought: the damming of the Hetch Hetchy basically killed John
Muir. I already knew that, but have to say that the presentation of
how the last few years of Muir’s life unfolded was informative, and
deeply moving.
I’m a fan of Ken Burns, and I’m an environmentalist. My expectations
and hopes for his newest project had both been running high. My gut
check take: first installment suggests neither were misplaced.
Opening, introductory sequence–ran about a half hour–was beautifully
shot and edited; the tonal content of the narration matched.
What I love about Burns’ approach to documentary film making is that
he treats subject not so much as subject, but as prism. As metaphor. I
remember hearing from a few fellow fans of jazz music that they were
disappointed by what they saw (in “Jazz”) as glaring omissions of important
artists in the development of the art form.
It’s not an invalid point, but it is one that totally misses the point of how and why Ken Burns
does what he does. Jazz, baseball, the National Parks, these are
mirrors. These are topics of discussion and exploration, and of
reflection, as opening them up and seeing what makes them tick speaks
about who we are.
What has me excited to watch this one unfold over the course of the
week is his having introduced some very heavy, very timely themes
head-on right out of the gate.
We’ve tonight heard about the tension between private interests and
those advocating for the public good that characterized to very
genesis of our national parks. We were reminded that America’s natural
heritage is perhaps the most salient attribute that helped distinguish
us from more established, more polished European nations to whom we
still felt inferior in the mid 19th Century. And that in Europe, by
the way, the most alluring landscapes were most likely to be in the
hands of the aristocracy.
And the framing of these preserves in explicit terms of public good,
of wealth in common, of ensuring public ownership and access as
inherently good and just, well, it has me thinking in light of the
times we’re in that Mr. Burns is being deliberately provocative. And
if that *is* what he’s up to, I bow humbly in his direction.
I couldn’t help but interpret several moments of content from the
narration, as well as from some of the interviews, that the statements
he’s making in this film are deliberately and thoughtfully crafted to
be received, and to be heard, now.
I’m sure the movie will hold up well over time, and I’m well aware
that this was many years in the works, but something just tells me
that there’s been some fine-tuning of content and tone for this to be
seen now.
Plus, I appreciated being reminded that John Muir spent several years
living / writing in Oakland.
Oh, my, whould you just *look* at the time?
My last entry, itself the first in awhile, was in early June, and here we are on the threshhold of September. Fruit flies like bananas.
My overriding purpose in setting up shop here a year ago was to provide an outlet for my need to write–not anything in particular, but just to have a go-to place to make it happen.
Since then, to my continued surprise, delight, and good fortune, a twice a month contract writing assignment developed into a far more robust requirement for submissions twice a DAY. I’ve neither felt the need for any additional writing outlet, nor, really, have I had the time to seek one out.
That’s not to say I’m keen to pull the plug on IESE, but I will need to give some thought for the ways in which I can keep it going. The science news writing at Tonic continues to be very rewarding, and, yes, time consuming, but it does not by any means exhaust all topics of potential interest to me.
With luck, my current musings will uncover a nice mental map for how I can toss stuff up here more often than I have of late while I’ve been acclimating to my new duties.
my garageband clip salads continue along a strange trejectory.
but you’d never know that from the title, which happens to be “corn show.”
A weekly digest
Published June 13, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: environment, science, tonic news, writing
I’m hopeful that my stepped up freelance duties at Tonic won’t completely quash my independent musings here, although, one week into the expanded twice-a-day mode, in place of my previous twice-a-month role, I discern the possibility.
Anyhow, I am pleased with the new role, hope that I am doing and will do justice to it all, and look forward to moving (with luck quickly) through the adjustment phase into comfort zone. With that, here are synopsis links to my first batch of articles.
Leave it to rocket scientists to crank the concept of crash test dummy up a few notches.
While it may have required the advent of humankind to bring The Three Stooges into being, laughter may have been the best medicine long before it was fashionable to be bipedal.
For the serious winemaker, a description of finished product reading “notes of black currant and apricot, a grassy nose, and a hint of ladybug taint“ would ideally be avoided.
It turns out that processed junk foods aren’t just bad for human health. Quoth the raven: You done eating that?
At the bottom of the world lies a time capsule of pre-human conditions on planet Earth. We’re inching ever closer to being able to access this trove, but a cautious approach is required.
A hybrid version of the American chestnut tree may reclaim the prominence it had long held in eastern forests that ran from the southeast states northward into New England and bring key environmental benefits.
A novel design approach frees the offshore wind turbine from the seabed and allows for capturing the resource where the turbines are out of the way and where the winds are stronger too. Could this innovation blow things wide open in offshore wind farming?
Singing for sex is not just for rock stars. The females of a water strider species is found to retract a protective shield and permit mating only after the male cranks the tunes for her.
