In the Ojai Valley News, friend Marianne Ratliffe digs deep into the story of how fracking is coming to Ventura County in particular and the state of California in general, and uncovers a world of new information on the latest. Terrific story. Here's the punchline, I think: California is the fourth-largest oil-producing state in theContinue reading “Ojai Valley News: CA shale oil 3/5ths of Prudhoe Bay”
Category Archives: local heroes
Rickshaw Run: the ultimate journey-not-destination
Nick Anderman, a near-relative — my daughter's boyfriend — is with three other friends adventuring through India in a fundraising race via underpowered ricksaw, which, as this writer for the Atlantic points out this month, is pretty much the ultimate journey-not-destination. Nick and his pals are avoiding the big cities because they're impossible to cross in aContinue reading “Rickshaw Run: the ultimate journey-not-destination”
The Fair Barbarians: The “New Woman” Climbers of 1900
In Nature's Altars: Mountains, Gender, and American Environmentalism,Susan Shrepfer reveals how in the early 20th century the mountains became a sanctuary for what was briefly known as "The New Woman." Unfettered from womanly duties and heavy skirts, these women found a freedom distinct from their urban sisters, the flappers, and arguably more meaningful. Writes Schrepfer:Continue reading “The Fair Barbarians: The “New Woman” Climbers of 1900″
John Lennon sends a postcard
A touching remembrance and review of a book of letters and postcards from John Lennon sends me out looking for a postcard by the much-loved writer and wit, and sure enough, right away: Here one is, complete with a fascinating story. Also notable this year: the debut of a John Lennon emoticon: ((ºjº))
Marlon Brando ambles insolently onstage: Paglia
Camille Paglia describes a familiar scene, and makes it new: Marlon Brando, carrying a “red-stained package” from the butcher and sporting blue-denim work clothes as the lordly, proletarian Stanley Kowalski, ambles insolently onstage at the opening of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire. “Bellowing” for his adoring yet tart-tongued wife, Stanley is the strutting maleContinue reading “Marlon Brando ambles insolently onstage: Paglia”
Bear vs. people: How can we avoid killings?
Reporting in the Wall Street Journal implicitly challenges the endangered species narrative of wildlife* by bringing up the important fact that across vast regions in these United States, the forest has recovered from utter devastation at the hands of 19th-century Americans. With the forest has recovered a host of iconic species in vast numbers, includingContinue reading “Bear vs. people: How can we avoid killings?”
Cheever: Life is for some an exquisite privilege
Today is, Allen Gurganus reminds us, John Cheever's 100th birthday. In celebration, here's the last couple of graphs from his story The Lowboy, which is about how some people turn life into a battle over stupid possessions. No one (in my experience) has ever dramatized this all-too-common meanness so eloquently: At some point — perhapsContinue reading “Cheever: Life is for some an exquisite privilege”
Edward Abbey: A place to make a grown man weep
Even a curmudgeon on the subject of Internet video must admit it’s a good thing that a filmmaker had Edward Abbey show him around the Arches National Park, where Abbey was a park ranger…back in l956. Essay by Edward Abbey “I Loved it…I Loved it All” from Ned Judge on Vimeo.
John Muir, meet RuPaul. RuPaul, meet…
You have to know hiking/backpacking is surging in popularity when TV stars take it up. From the fluffy Saturday section in the Los Angeles Times, a charming interview with the famous drag queen/unway artist RuPaul: How has your life changed since you picked it up? I feel great throughout the day because I've gotten so muchContinue reading “John Muir, meet RuPaul. RuPaul, meet…”
Bob Dylan: He’s back and he’s electric — again
Once upon a time in rock and roll, a great rock star, set off by something called Johnny Rotten. wondered out loud in song if rock and roll demanded a fiery, perhaps suicidal finale. Neil Young set off a storm with the idea, on Rust Never Sleeps, one of his greatest albums, and among hisContinue reading “Bob Dylan: He’s back and he’s electric — again”
Kit Stolz 