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BLinks: these pieces may catch your attention too

12/23/08 Here's a humorous shot of irony. After listening to the end of an NPR series called "Moxie," about people who are grinning-and-bearing the effects of the current reccession, the commentor found out that she was being laid-off. Here are links to the series and the commentator's impressive blog-site

12/01/08 If you did a double-take the other night when you saw two Venuses in the night sky, here's an article to clarify on the Christian Science Monitor. The image from the article of a crescent moon and two stars, look like a flag for a new religion! My daughter, Selu, says it looks like a smiley face leaning to the side -- not a bad symbol for a flag, as long as its not a sarcastic smile! :)

12/01/08 Random dream (you can't click to get there, but here's my best description): Rather than think of the Hebrews and their famous stories (i.e., the Bible as geographically, historically, and ethnically specific, think of them as representative of the human story at any time. The same could be true for any sacred stories, but the Judeo-Christian-Islamic stories are the with which I am most familiar. The story of Exodus worked for African-Americans who were enslaved in the American South. The Hebrews' plight and flight from the heartless Egyptian powers.

12/01/08 A song for the season: "Simple Gifts," the traditional Shaker hymn and melody underscoring Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring. The Shakers took the Christian motto, "turn the other cheek" to an extreme! first verse: 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis a the gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down where you ought to be; and when we've found ourselves in the place just right, it will be in the valley of love an delight
chorus: When true simplicity if gained, to bow and to bend we shan't (shall not) be ashamed. To turn, to turn will be our delight | 'til by turning, turning, we come round right."
I felt ashamed that my family doesn't know many Christmas carols by heart to sing together, besides jingle bells, rudolph-the-red-nosed reindeer, and Silent Night, so this year we are making a concerted effort to build a repertoire of a few good songs. The kids have almost learned Simple Gifts on their instruments (mandolin, fiddle, and dulcimer too). We may post a video of our rendition on youtube over the holidays! Brian Eno' contribution to NPR's series, "This I Believe" inspires my attempt to realize the power of singing (in harmony) with my family.

11/30/08 a walk with Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson, author of The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies (npr audio) Wilson makes some classic comments about the interconnectedness of life. I've never heard of Wilson, but he's the famous accessible professor behind hits like Disney's, "A Bugs Life" and more.

11/21/08 Blue is the new Green (a NYTimes article about the increasing application of greywater systems in current architecture)

01/18/08 Sir Edmund Hillary through the eyes of Frand Dford

11/27/07 Katuah: Bioregional Attitude in the Southern Appalachians -- an interview with David Wheeler (Katuah Journal founding editor) by Cathy Holt

11/27/07 Gainesville Georgia water treatment facility receives a national award from the Environmental Protection Division. Here's the link to the EPD article. And here's more on the next generation UV treatment technology the Flatwater Plant that impresses the EPD so much.

11/25/07 Elvin and Luther in 1986

11/05/07 How are people in North Georgia banding together in attempt to save the Hemlock trees? Here's an article in the Gainesville Times that includes an audio clip from one of the bands performing at the third annual HemlockFest in Dahlonega, GA.

11/04/07 Waterboading is nothing new. For centuries it has been justified and condemned by societies around the world. (an NPR article)

10/22/07 Industrial Chemical make their way into human bodies, especially children's bodies. For reasons researchers are still in pursuit, children are getting exposed to and are absorbing more industrial chemicals during a few few years than parents have absorbed in their whole lives. (a cnn article).

10/22/07 Got time to think?! Some people made some time in Camden Maine in this intriguing piece on how people may be thinking about some of the issues of the 21st century.

10/10/07 How have the Japanese responded to the quality control challenges of Chinese produced goods? Why is the FDA studying the Japanese response?

10/08/07 A children's picture book, called Motainai Grandma is being used in Japanese schools to teach children not to waste anything in order to reduce global warming. Grandma says, "Motainai" ("its such a waste not to use it!")

10/07/07 Is the Appendix an important repository of useful bacteria for your body? Possibly

09/09/07 Sly and the Family in Spain for a summer encore

09/07/07 Bill Monroe for breakfast -- a timeless show from 1964

09/01/07 Los Lobos (08/30/07) for the last of summer barbecue.

08/28/07 Want to know how to change the world on a country road across Asia? Here's an impressive project that has had proven success for the last 5 years or more: Journey to Forever

08/27/07 Ravaging Appalachia? Well, people have to make a living somehow . . . Here's an update on the status of the practice of mountaintop mining where mountains are literally bulldozed away to get to the coal beneath.

08/26/07 Sincerity personified? The anti-diva queen? No matter what your persuasion, Joan Baez's July 2007 concert in Germany is motherly love with an edge.

08/24/07 We need more cows acting like kangaroos. Imagine it . . . cows hopping around the field. There are more benefits to a cowgaroo than you might think though as this CSMonitor piece on the significance of methane gas and digestion will reveal.

08/24/07 A succinct CSMonitor piece on Global Warming in Local Contexts sheds light on a few of the current debates. "Regional or local conditions can change, even reverse, expectations based solely on world studies."

08/24/07 A NYTimes piece on Outward Bound for war veterans really shows the power of healing on the trails and mountains. Great overview of the history of Outward Bound and current movment to put some of its tenets into our public schools too. Outward Bound!

08/09/07 Kris Kistopherson in Ireland 07/28/2007-- reality check.

08/08/07 Great ecological piece on NPR's classic series "This I Believe," by a young college student who was tragically murdered two days later. Her view of the life as one, from the soil to people is classic too. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12444698
Click here to listen as you go to the page link above. Rest in Peace Michelle!

08/08/07 There are more ways to roast and eat corn than even this delicious article goes into. In Japan, ears are roasted and basted with soysauce and then the kernels are often plucked off of the cobb as they are eaten.