Typically detailed, thoughtful John Fleck piece on water consumption in California…and Palm Springs. A new report compiled by California’s Department of Water Resources (pdf) puts the Desert Water Agency’s consumption at 736 gallons per person per day. Here in Albuquerque, we’re at 150. Compare that to, say, Sydney, Australia, which is down to 83. TheContinue reading “Palm Springs outstrips CA’s water use by 500 gllns a day”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
The Disruptors: The plastic invasion of your body
Think this is the most complex story I've ever tried to report, and one of the biggest. Hope to stay on it. From the VC Reporter: A revolutionary change overtook America beginning in the l960s, and it’s one that had nothing to do with the usual suspects — long hair, war, sex or rock and roll.Continue reading “The Disruptors: The plastic invasion of your body”
Killer heat wave breaks Dust Bowl-era records
It's "folly" to blame the killer heat wave blanketing the eastern United States under misery on global warming, says climate change denier Anthony Watts, because, after all, the entire globe isn't suffering a heat wave. No, seriously: The is weather, not climate. It is caused by a persistent blocking high pressure pattern. In a day orContinue reading “Killer heat wave breaks Dust Bowl-era records”
Van Gogh: Harmonizing brutal extremes
An extraordinary exhibit appearing at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art this summer includes a strong Van Gogh still life, painted in Paris in 1887, reproduced here, called Lilacs. Given all the technology, it's actually not too bad a copy, via the Santa Barbara Independent. But even better than the painting might be the curator's note.Continue reading “Van Gogh: Harmonizing brutal extremes”
End of the world as we know it: Sierra register edition
A great story from the Los Angeles Times about the disappearance of registers atop Sierran peaks. Here's the first few graphs: For generations, the book survived in a metal box on California's rooftop — a small khaki-colored volume whose pages held a story of ephemeral encounters with an enduring place. The summit register on 13,765-footContinue reading “End of the world as we know it: Sierra register edition”
Off to Savage River
In Denali National Park. The Dall sheep on Primrose River turned out to be fascinating (and fascinated with us) but now, a year or so later, I don't have an image of them on this 'puter to show off.
The egoist and the altruist: Javier Marias
The Threepenny Review has fallen in love with the Spanish writer Javier Marias. Every issue for the last year has included an essay of his; this summer's issue begins with his startling piece on egoists. Here's his conclusion. Note that he seems to consider all writers to be egoists: …the great virtue and advantage ofContinue reading “The egoist and the altruist: Javier Marias”
Waking up to nature with the French
With the Parisian artist Chéri Hérouard: Oh, those French. So comfortable not only with their bodies, but with leaves, dampness, bugs…there's a sexiness, surely, in that acceptance. Via Kate Beaton and metafilter, while I'm off in Denali.
Massive heat wave linked to Colorado fires heading east
At what point do we start to notice that our new climate isn't improved? Massive heat wave moving East: Washington Post
Mark Morris: “No more rape!”
In a dance review yesterday, Claudia La Rocco in the inevitable New York Times tells a shocking story that apparently is well-known in the dance world, but certainly is new to moi. To wit: I was reminded of a destined-to-become-infamous incident from 1984, when the choreographer Mark Morris rose from the audience during a performance of TwylaContinue reading “Mark Morris: “No more rape!””
Kit Stolz 