Category Archives: art and humor

Maybe this will motivate people on climate change

From Tom Toles of course: No, Toles is not making up the news, though his timeline/headline is a bit off. Chocolate really will become more difficult to grow in some areas where it's taken for granted now, according to a study reported by Climatewire/Scientific American: Climate change could melt chocolate production.  

Section e of the Pacific Crest Trail: Worried Man

This past week I completed Section E of the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes for about 112 miles from Agua Dulce (north of Los Angeles) to an exit off Hwy 58 (north of Mojave). Man is it a tough section. Here's my fave picture. After hiking for approximately twelve miles with approximately 1-2 liters ofContinue reading “Section e of the Pacific Crest Trail: Worried Man”

Have compassion for everyone you meet: Williams’s

On an election night sure to plunge us into yet more political discord and disputation, tonight might be a good night to mention the record of the year, sez here, Lucinda Williams' Where the Spirit Meets the Bone. The record begins with Williams'  musical version of a poem by a man who happens to beContinue reading “Have compassion for everyone you meet: Williams’s”

Nature in a can: Tenn Williams and Thom Pynchon

In Night of the Iguana, a play first performed in 1961, but evolved out of a short story over a period of about fifteen years, Tennessee Williams expressed anger at our species for ruining our planet.   In the movie of 1962, starring Richard Burton as a disgraced priest, his character, at the end ofContinue reading “Nature in a can: Tenn Williams and Thom Pynchon”

Eliza Gilkyson: I’m so worried about everything

Eliza Gilkyson is a folk singer, an unexpectedly good guitar player, and a wit. For years she's been writing about nuclear war, environmental and economic collapse, and has had the nerve to issue whole records on these themes (notably the excellent song "The Party's Over").  But she also writes songs about herself, of course, andContinue reading “Eliza Gilkyson: I’m so worried about everything”

Female spiders like males who can dance, sing better

From Science Friday, perhaps the most purely enjoyable science story of the year to date, about the Dance of the Peacock Spider.   Seems we've been seeing many examples of species showing traits we think of as human lately. Using tools, like crows, or mourning the dead, like elephants, or having local dialects in languages, likeContinue reading “Female spiders like males who can dance, sing better”

Neil Young: Meet Stephen Harper (of Canada)

Early this year Neil Young toured Canada as part of anti tar-sands effort, allying himself with the First Nations groups who accuse Canada of ruining their ancestral lands. This prompted an angry response from Stephen Harper, the climate change denying and oil promoting Prime Minister. And a cute cartoon… What rock star action in theContinue reading “Neil Young: Meet Stephen Harper (of Canada)”