Speaking of attacks on Gotham…tonight's thunderstorm. From NYC photographer Inga Sarda-Sorenson. Meanwhile, a new study from James Anderson and associates at Harvard unexpectedly finds that this sort of huge thunderstorm could damage the ozone layer, allowing more ultraviolet light to reach the earth. From the Christian Science Monitor: The study by Dr. Anderson's team isContinue reading “Monster threatens NYC…and ozone layer”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Batman and the way we fear now: Ross Douthut
Batman 3, or, officially, The Dark Knight Rises, is actually a lot like the other big superhero movie of 2012, The Avengers. Both stories feature a team of superheroes battling an overwhelming menace attacking Gotham/New York, with the usual betrayal, trickery, and power struggles, and (without giving it away) almost exactly the same plot twistContinue reading “Batman and the way we fear now: Ross Douthut”
Naked Hiking Day on the Appalachian Trail
Chris Nottoli, with whom I hiked for a week on the AT in April, is still at it, has passed the thousnad-mile mark, found a band of fellow thru-hikers, and appropriately celebrated Naked Hiking Day a month ago. To see his charming posts from the trail go to Walk It Off, Nottoli.
Sleeping outdoors: John Fowles and Mary Oliver
From John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman: For one terrible moment he thought he had stumbled on a corpse. But it was a woman asleep. She had chosen the strangest position, a broad, sloping fedge of grass some five feet beneath the level of the plateau, and which hid her from the vew of anyContinue reading “Sleeping outdoors: John Fowles and Mary Oliver”
Amber waves of grain…in Ventura County?
A fun story I wrote for the Star about two young farmers determined to turn back agricultural time in California. Amber waves of grain have not been seen much in Ventura County for more than a century, but this year, two young farmers in Ojai set out to turn back the clock, planting wheat, a cropContinue reading “Amber waves of grain…in Ventura County?”
Seeing global warming: The New Yorker
The New Yorker's captivating Blown Covers blog offers a contest for images of global warming, with many of their best to date, including this old fav: The record-breaking heat wave that has hit the Midwest and much of the nation this spring and summer, the huge fires in Colorado this year and in Texas lastContinue reading “Seeing global warming: The New Yorker”
Poets and the planet — the connection
From a new set of prints by Evan Robertson: They can't help it. ("Maybe I'm too sensitive, or else I'm getting soft" — Dylan) h/t: Jacket Copy
The Escalator: How to manipulate the global temps record
Spectacular gif from John Cook of Skeptical Science, illustrating how climate change deniers take a steady rise in global surface temps and manipulate the trend away. From NOAA datasets: Seems to work a little better if opened in a new tab, though. Click above, please.
Woody Guthrie: the raw, sexy American spirit
Nice piece from Randy Lewis on a new collection of Woody Guthrie material from the Smithsonian, released on his 100th birthday (today). Makes a strong argument that Woody's radicalism began in L.A., where he wrote one of his first and greatest folk songs ("Deportee"). Also includes a wonderful quote from John Steinbeck, who in aContinue reading “Woody Guthrie: the raw, sexy American spirit”
John Clare: Peasant poet (of environmental loss)
Surely one of the most interesting of all environmental columnists is George Monbiot of The Guardian, who this week penned a luminous tribute to the great "peasant poet" John Claire. Clare found great success in his youth, but saw his beloved coutryside divvied up by enclosure and, argues Monbiot, it drove Clare crazy. Into theContinue reading “John Clare: Peasant poet (of environmental loss)”
Kit Stolz 