Category Archives: art and humor

Not Syriana. In Grist, David Roberts eloquently nominates the film , extolling its rough edges, stressing what it is not (not adolescent, not a paranoid conspiracy theory, not stupid). He admits: When I first heard about the "oil movie," I figured it would be about oil the same way so much is about oil theseContinue reading “Enviro Movie of the Year”

Another end of the year wrap-up…my best books, in SF Station.

"For the Fire Fighters," from Barbara Medaille. Seen at the Turtle Bay Museum near the Glass Bridge in Redding:

One moment on Hwy 1…forever.

This blog hopes to try and bridge the vast gap that exists between the fact-based world of science and the sensation-based world of popular entertainment, but–frighteningly–these worlds are beginning to converge. Yesterday from Nature came news that the Gulf Stream has weakened thirty percent in the last fifty years, suggesting the possibility of an iceContinue reading ““Sensational Information””

The Weather Where We Are: the Arctic (from this fall’s issue of Granta, by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, who often visits the far North)        The Arctic is an unbelievable region of the earth: strikingly beautiful if you like gigantic skies, enormous landforms, tiny flowers, amazing colors, strange light effects. It’s also aContinue reading “Icemelt”

Last week Joseph Arrieta of The Left Coaster posted an essay about the disappearance of the steelhead in California and how, sadly, the salmon will likely be the next to vanish from our state. The post was so warmly, charmingly written that it made it possible to read about the actions of the "criminal freaksContinue reading “The Dream of Co-Existence”

Tom Toles, an editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, has a fascinating feature in which he publishes sketches of work he doesn’t finish and put into syndication. Given Toles’ brilliance, and the fact that he is the editorial cartoonist most interested in science and environmental issues, these sketches sometimes turn out to be quite wonderfulContinue reading “Toles vs. Toles”

My good friend and hiking/writing pal Cary Odes, seen below sampling the currants at Secret Camp, was inspired by the controversy around Intelligent Design, and came up with the following: God, to “scientist” in a heavenly setting: GOD                       Why did you not fight harder to make my gloryContinue reading “And God Said to the Scientist…”

"With its endless supply of photographs and video clips, the media has become an intermediary with nearly unlimited control over our relationship with the environment. After the Valdez spill, images of suffocating otters broadcast on 60 Minutes moved millions of consumers to boycott Exxon. The tale of global warming is told through meditative shots ofContinue reading “Our Newfound Connection with Nature”