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It’s been awhile. I’ve been washing a lot of dishes and thus been absent. The festival is up and running and we just finished the poster for it today so I figured I’d post it so you could all preview(if I even have any readers left). You can read all about the festival at the website provided on the flyer. Adios for now mis amigos.
….for the record I have no idea why it isn’t showing up. It should be…I’ll try and fix it later.
Well the first annual UNCW Environmental Film Festival is shoring up pretty nicely. The date is now official, the weekend of April 18,19th. It’ll be a Friday night, and all day Saturday event. We’re going to have sponors from local places like Tidal Creek Co-op and the local biodiesel guys. All that’s really left to do is get the films lined up and figure out how we are going to do everything…so basically there’s a ton left to do. But I can officially say that I am the director of the first annual UNCW Environmental Film Festival…and that’s not too shabby for a dishwasher.
I’m so sorry you and the folks in your overly priced gated community must hear gunshots fired in the morning. What a travesty. God forbid anyone upset you and your fellow residents behind that huge wall. Maybe if they built the wall a few meters higher the sound wouldn’t travel into your high priced, gated heaven : )
Landfall woman irked by duck hunters
Sound of gunfire bothers residents, but hunters not out of line
By Veronica Gonzalez
Staff Writer
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.comDuck hunters are putting Janice Alexander in a fowl mood.
Her 6 a.m. alarm is the sound of gunshots fired from around Howe Creek behind her Landfall home.
She’s not the only one complaining.
Alexander is one of about a dozen Landfall residents who have contacted authorities, dismayed about duck hunters waking them up in the early morning hours nearly every day since about Jan. 1.
But Wilmington police said Wednesday they can’t do anything about Howe Creek hunters because that area is out of the city’s jurisdiction.
And the county can’t do anything either unless a hunter poses a threat to a person or property.
The main difference is that hunting isn’t allowed within the city limits, while it is allowed in the county.
So Landfall residents are wondering what they can do to make the hunters cease fire, so to speak.
“I don’t think they ought to be allowed to shoot this close to homes,” Alexander said.
Duck hunting season, which has been on and off since October, ends next week.
“Thank God we only have a few more days to go,” Alexander said.
Gil DuBois, who is affiliated with the Wilmington chapter of Ducks Unlimited, said he hasn’t heard the complaints.
But he said it’s not surprising that people can hear gunshots that clearly.
“In the wintertime, noise travels further because all the leaves are off the trees,” said DuBois, who hunts only in remote areas.
“There’s a lot of things you can hear in the wintertime that you can’t hear in the summertime.”
He said ducks are up and down the Intracoastal Waterway just about anywhere there’s water. They’re migrating from north to south to places where water hasn’t frozen.
They have stopped here because “ducks are only going to fly so far and expend so much energy,” he said.
Hunters are taking advantage.
But unless hunters are in Bradley, Shinn or Hewlett’s Creek, city police can’t penalize them for discharging a firearm.
Creeks outside the city’s jurisdiction are Howe Creek as well as Whiskey Creek. Those are in the county’s jurisdiction, but it’s up to county law enforcement to judge if someone is being unsafe with a firearm, said New Hanover County Manager Bruce Shell, who added this is the first time he’s heard such complaints since he has been in his position.
He said he spoke with a resident who was going to explore approaching the county about a change in the county’s ordinance.
“We could make the ordinance more restrictive,” Shell said. “There is teeth in the ordinance. It may not be as restrictive as some folks would like.”
The penalty for discharging a firearm in the city limits is a $500 fine or 30 days in jail, said Wilmington police Lt. Jeff Allsbrook, who added he didn’t remember receiving phone calls about this issue either.
The penalty for discharging a firearm in the county is $500.
Fines or no fines, Alexander just wants to resume her peaceful way of life in the home where she has lived for two years.
Blue herons perch on a tree in the marshland behind her two-story home near where the Intracoastal Waterway and Howe Creek converge. Egrets, geese, swans, seagulls and ducks roam the land and rule the air, so she also is concerned about the bird sanctuaries near her home.
The sound of gunshots shatter the silence, scare the birds and make them scatter, she said.
Hunters have no place there, Alexander said.
“Why should their pleasure encroach on anybody else’s pleasure, peace or tranquility every morning?” she asked.
Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com
…just as a side not apparently a nice, plump lady was on the local news this morning from “Landfill” wearing a fur coat complaining that a bullet might hit there house. Uggghhh….
Well it’s about that time, time for a new tattoo. I’m going to get a spiral design on my left inside forearm that matches the placement and basic design of the sun cross I have on my right forearm. You can research the meaning behind the spiral for yourself, it’s old and it’s meaning varies, I’ve got my reasons and meanings. The picture isn’t of the new tattoo, but just what it will most likely look like.
The roll of the surf crashes
inward like the pendulum on a clock
The seconds slow to minutes
Minutes slow to thoughts
Each wave brings me one step closer
To the end or a new beginning
I roll my eyes back out to sea
and wonder if life’s a contest or if I should just let things be
Like the shells in the surf we all get pushed
By forces seen and unseen
Instead of trying to fight the wave
Surf that sonofabitch in!
…That’s all I got for now.
I wont be going out and getting crazy like most people I know. I have to work in the morning and frankly don’t see the point. As a friend of mine from work said, “Tonight’s amateur night.” So I’ll stay off the roads far from the cops and drunks and read a little bit and go to bed. Hope everyone makes the best out of this new year. Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. - Sean
Tonight under a westwardly falling sun, I sank my feet into the cold waters of the Atlantic. If I was an electrical current I could have traveled all the way to Africa through the same water. I walked slowly along the beach in the cool, winter air of the coast. Taking time to notice things like patterns in the sand and children playing down the beach, backlit by that big flashlight in the sky. It was good to slow down, if only momentarily. Life has been steamrolling by lately, and although I’ve done my best to enjoy it, it’s always refreshing to sink your toes into the sand, or dirt and remember that this is how God created it. I don’t need a church; a day outside under the elements is enough of a chapel for me, roofless or not. I still amaze myself that I can find more religion and peace in the gliding of a pelican or crashing of waves than I do in any book or song of faith. I guess for me the sounds of the ocean hitting our continental shelf is enough. As I stood there alone on the shore, I thought of the water and land as being two lovers in constant struggle for the sheets. Neither one giving in, just re-shifting, and looking for a new angle to get a better grip. It’s something the ocean teaches well. Change is constant. The Buddhists might have it right when they say suffering is in attachment. Because in the end what we become attached to is never the same 2 days from now. We must learn to flow with the change instead of fight the current, because we’ll lose if we do. So like all things in life, we must learn to take what we can and always be grateful. It’s one of life’s lessons I’ve been getting a hold of lately for some reason or another, maybe the timing is right, I don’t know. So tonight, as I watched the seagulls waddle by and the pelicans glide past, I thought not of what I will be doing in two months, but rather, why does God create such beauty, only to take it away every night? Though, I guess if he never took it away, the sunset would never appear and the stars would never shine.
Where have I been? I’ve been around, work mostly. What haven’t I been doing? Blogging…thank god. I’ve actually been really busy and when I’m home I don’t watch the news…it’s horribly depressing. Instead I’ve been reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends. Is this to say I don’t care about writing about environmental issues? No, of course not. However my car recently broke down so I’d been riding my bike into work everyday which is like russian roulette with the traffic in this city. I have a new car now, a 2000, Ford Taurus. Not really as good on gas, but a very nice car for the money. Thankfully not driving anywhere for over a week has me in that mode where I don’t feel like driving all over when I’m bored. Instead I drive only when I need to and I’m trying to baby this new car because it has to last me. The film festival is getting underway and I’ve got some of the Environmental Studies department on board now. It’ll probably take place in April because March I’ll be working on a film with Scott Coady to raise 500,000 for The Davis Phinney Foundation. So that’s where I’ve been and continue to be for a little while. I’ll try to get some more posts up, but I haven’t had anything to say, peak oil is still here, global warming and species loss is still happening. It’s time people educated themselves.
It has been a strange last week or so. It started last week with my car and computer both shitting the bed on nearly the same day. I was so mad, frustrated and exasperated. I became pretty bummed out because I have a lot of money invested in those and I use them both a lot. I went home after nearly fixing my car and turned on the news and saw some young Iraqi boy who had only one leg and part of an arm from a bomb. For some reason or another that hit me square in the face. It led me to thinking about the Mexicans I work with who left everything they ever knew to come to America to make a better life. Most of them are my age and I tried to imagine myself being them. The closest thing I can even relate to was switching schools which at that age would have scared me immensely. I realized I was being a spoiled little brat about the whole situation. I was lucky enough to have a car and a $2500 laptop and I was being pissy because some things went wrong. Since then I’ve made it a point of trying to make the best of each day no matter how bad I perceive it to have gone. I was sitting in my room wondering that if I didn’t wake up in the morning, would I be happy with the last day I spent on Earth? It’s really cliche, but so true. The only moment we have is now, and we should be thankful for every breath we are given. I don’t know why it took a car and computer to make me realize that…but I guess the vehicle through which the message was delivered is really unimportant in the scheme of things. I went for a run tonight and went into my daily meditation mode like I usually do when I run. I was really happy, and there are plenty of things to be unhappy about right now. The way I see it though, is if the good outweighs the bad, you can’t really complain, because someone somewhere has it worse than you. So I’ll leave you with this: Let us all rise up and be thankful, For if we didn’t learn a lot at least we learned a little. And If we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick. And if we got sick at least we didn’t die.
I know it’s hard to take yourself out of the moment, but if people could do that and step back and look at the larger picture, life would seem much more a gift than a day in and day out grind.
I’m trying to figure things out, like the film festival, my career and why some little Mexican girl is so damn cute. I’ll post again when I want to remind myself of how F’ed up the world is. (For you Justin).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_sc/conservation_birds
Disclaimer: this is an angry post with no much substance. I just haven’t read or watched the news for a few days and looked online through it today to catch up and saw this shit. I’m sure a lot of really shitty stuff goes on, but that rape case and this teddy bear bullshit is fucking insane and if there is a hell which I doubt in the Judeo-Christian sense, I hope they fucking burn in it.
Fuck Islam. I mean it, fuck it. How retarded are these sandy assed bastards? I know Christianity was not much better a few hundred years ago, but you know what? We grew the fuck out of it. Islam needs to stop living in fucking 500A.D. I mean with that Saudi rape case and this shit, it pains me to drive a car and support these numbskull douchebags that call themselves Muslims.
Well last night I posted some videos from youtube, but apparently they don’t work this morning so I’m going to just leave the links instead….Ryan Adams…one great fucking musician.
video 1
video 2
video 3
video 4
video 5
Sometimes you gotta cherish the simple things in life. Like today, I worked my typical workday pullin’ double duty(cook/dishwasher) at the restaurant for 8 bucks an hour – splendid. Those aren’t the things I’m talking about though. I was going to go to the gym and lift after work today, but I decided against it seeing the hoards of people there when I went by. I ran instead. I used to run all the time, and be pretty good at it, my best is a 12 minute two mile, keep in mind I weigh 225lbs. That was at least a year ago and since I was in Alaska for two weeks my running has been near non-existent. I lift at least three times a week though – after all it’s about looking cool, not being healthy(sarc). Tonight I went out for my first run in almost 4 months, just an easy two miler to get me back into the swing of things. I borrowed my roomy’s I-pod and hit the road. The weather was perfect, a crisp 40 degrees and road was free of college kids zipping in and out of their parking spaces since they are all still on Thanksgiving break. I love the feeling of cold air stinging the throat. I started cramping up in places I didn’t know a crap could form – it was much needed pain, a cleansing one. Maybe that’s what I like about running, after you’re done and come off runners high, you feel brand new – clean. Lifting is much the same, but lacks a little something. Maybe it’s that with running you have to push yourself through the pain, and lifting doesn’t involve so much. Either way I need both, that constant day in, day out test of physicality and mental fortitude. If not for being able to run or lift, than knowing that I can pull myself out of bed at 5 or 6am to do it. That in itself is satisfying. Like all things though, get caught up in it and if I don’t get my 3 miler in, my day is ruined. I need to take a lesson from that and apply it to all areas of life. It’s all or nothing - I hate comprising. Sometimes though, I guess you gotta just settle for a quick 1 mile jog and get on with the day. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to doing that, I know I’ll never like it.
Seriously, it’s a joke. I was going to write an elaborate post about how we get wrapped up in all these “sales” and material things. Let’s face it…when you look forward to wait in line for hours at hours a nocturnal animal would shake its head at, you have yourself a problem. OOOOHHHH….9000inch LCD tv for 8 billion dollars…half off denim jeans…$600 laptops…I never have nor never will participate in that awful phenomena. I love how Thanksgiving(which no one really things much about anyway besides NFL, drinking and food) quickly turns into spending a shit-ton of money on the next great consumer holiday…X-Mas.
well it’s almost midnight and I’m half a bottle into the whiskey…so here it goes. My friend who moved to a town north of Wilmington called me to check the local newspaper of that town. Apparently the huge development they’re planning on putting in there which includes a 200 boat slip marina and two 15 story condo buildings is going to get a big fat no for the Florida located developer. Huge victory. Shiiiiitt….maybe the Bills will go on to make the playoffs and the movie I’m waiting on will be shot afterall. If nothing else, this is one for the good guys…Will Stout(the developer) can go somewhere else, because in the end he doesn’t care about the city, he cares about the profit.
another article from a UNCW professor about the environmental devastation all this “economic growth” is having on our local ecosystem…or lack there of. Here’s a reader’s response to that article, and I might add it’s the typical attitude down here. Notice when the writer says the trees are “unsuitable” and the formerly tree laden landscapes are transformed into something “attractive.” Attractive my ass. That attitude is what bothers me greatly about living in this area. It’s a lost cause. The mere thought of staying here and fighting for a few trees that are slated to be cleared for a new condo/apt building is a hopeless dream. The people here don’t care, and the bureaucrats certainly don’t. It’s all about profit. Using the land for the highest profit, not the highest good. For all the good people can do, it amazes me in this day and age we still have the potential to do so much harm without even wincing. It seems to me that a people that consider themselves so “advanced” socially and technologically would be able to live in harmony with fellow residents of the Earth and the Earth itself. Let’s see where this great idea of capitalism takes us in the next hundred years.
…Rip Ali-gator. 1998-2007
She suffered an injury as a puppy, and had the ball of her hip removed. However, she went on to live a full, and happy life. She is survived by her brothers Moose and Cordell, and her sisters, Shadow and Sadie. She loved playing with the puppies, and sitting watching the leaves change, as she did this year. She also loved playing in the woods, hunting varmits, climbing the hill behind her house, even as her legs were giving out she’d still struggle to the top. I know she is up in doggy heaven with all the kitchens and couches she can possibly have to dirty up. It might be cold and wet outside, but in doggy heaven she can lay her big ass wherever the hell she wants. We’ll miss you Ali. Shadow might have just lost a happy pouch today…
Man, I lied, I didn’t post anything worthwhile. These last few days have been pretty uneventful. Last night the Buffalo Bills got blown out after I got done reading the news about numerous horrific deaths. Today, I go to Walmart, see some 8 year old girl rolling herself through the store because her legs never formed right. I come home and my best friend calls me to tell me that they had to put his dog down after I get done reading about some girl in Saudi Arabia getting lashed and jail time for being gang raped at gunpoint. If that isn’t a reason to ride a bike I don’t know what. Shits gotta turn around…just been some “Bummy” vibes going around these last couple days, can’t explain it, but then again it really isn’t that bad. I didn’t see that 8 year old girl complaining.
I know I’ve been really lazy lately with this blog. It’ just that nothing noteworthy has happened, and you can only write about all the bad things going wrong in the world for so long without taking a much needed break. I promise though, by Sunday I will have something up, and it won’t just be a youtube video or linked article.
I know I’ve been an asshole for not posting something worthy myself lately. I’ve been shortcutting by linking articles I want you all to read. Oh well, it’s all the same I guess, as long as you are doing my reading assignments you will be somewhat prepared. Here’s another one.
Here’s a link to a presentation about the development that’s going in up in New Bern, NC. My buddy just moved there and got a job with the paper. It’s a great little town, a ton of history- the birthplace of Pepsi. I love it because it’s a small town with a friendly feel and holds true to the architecture of old instead of tearing everything down and putting up plastic cookie cutter developments…that is until this development….here’s the link the video….and here’s the link to the story. It’s obvious in a case like this that a small, historic town will be ruined by the blight of condo’s and yachts on the waterfront. Yes, the land it’s being built on is an old lumber yard…but considering the look and feel of the city it’s just a travesty. New Bern is one of the towns down here I actually like for it’s small town, friendly atmosphere. Just wait until they “increase their tax base” and bring a bunch of high rollers in who don’t give a damn about what the city was or is going to be…it’s all about profit…
Apparently the Daily Show did an episdoe awhile back in 2000 when they covered my hometown region. I don’t remember it, but apparently as you will see they did. The video loads awfully slow, or at least did for me and I almost didn’t post it because it’s practically not worth the time or trouble if you aren’t from where I’m from…anyway there it is.
One more great read from Orion Magazine, which seems to just churn out these though provoking and insightful essays and articles. This one is one condo building on the waterfront. I live in a condo, near the water…hmmmm…..
Well, I’ve been considering this for awhile, but I think now is a good a time as ever. My eating habits are pretty poor considering I eat only about once a day and usually it’s not very healthy. So I’ve decided to eat locally…sort of. Being inspired by a local blog I’m going to try to eat as much local food as possible. Living at the ocean it should be pretty easy. I’ve got an abundant food source full of fish to the east of me, and to the west and north I’ve got plenty of farms(south is Myrtle Beach). Of course it might be impossible to only eat local food because it’s the end of the growing season and I haven’t canned any food for the winter months around here. Trace from the blog mentioned that he goes “dumpster diving” and finds some really good stuff. So I think between eating fish, dumpster diving for discarded but still good food and buying meat out of the expiring bin at the store I should be able to make a good little change. This is much better than eating beef and chicken slaughtered hundreds or thousands of miles away and shipped to Wilmington to fatten the fat. I’d rather eat things that will be thrown out and wasted or eat something I either kill or grow myself. My pumpkins this year were and utter failure. It seemed every time a little pumpkin would start to grow on the vine something would eat it. I never did catch the culprit but I think it was the birds I attract with the bird feeder. I doubt the cockroaches have enough ambition to take on a fresh pumpkin. So it begins, my quest for independence and the salvation of unwanted food.
Today on the local talk radio show a man called in preaching about our need to be energy independent and the fact that we need to get off mid-east oil. That got me thinking all day about this. The caller made some points about how we could do this easily by just getting more oil from the oil shale in the Rockies, drilling in ANWR and off the coast on the seabed. I’ve been having an internal dialogue with myself all day about what it means to be energy independent and how to get there. First and foremost you have to start at the beginning. Oil - we get most of our imported oil from Canada and then Saudi Arabia. After that it goes Mexico, Nigeria, Venezuela and sharply drops by half with Algeria, Iraq and so on. The “middle eastern oil” we talk about is Saudi oil. The supposedly fund terrorist organizations with the money they make from exports to our countries along with others. So, to the everyday American it would make perfect sense to not buy their oil. That obviously won’t happen, just look what happened in the 70’s with the oil embargo. I don’t think we have to worry about Canada anytime soon and Mexico isn’t exactly a threat nationally. So we’re left with importing oil to feed the insatiable and ridiculous need for growth to prop up our failing system. People like the caller feel that the government owes it to us to keep this oil coming(cheaply) so that we can continue our unintelligent and short-sided living styles. The answer is very simple to me. I know with peak oil and the consumption of resources going so fast we’ll run out in the next hundred or so years that we need to plan ahead. Not by some governmental program, but independently and locally. I have a friend who makes his own bio-diesel, I know others that ride their bike to work, or drive a smaller car. Nothing spectacular, just simple changes, which also happen to be healthy ones. It’s as easy as buying local organic food that didn’t have to travel as far. Start canning local vegetables for the coming winter months and eat seasonally with meat. Hell, even better, grow your own vegetables and animals for food. Most importantly and I stress this part…brew your own beer. I recently grabbed a book on brewing beer and plan to turn my bathroom into a makeshift brewery. These ever so simple changes make an impact when millions of people are doing them. You’ve got to live with the land and not off it. A perfect example is the Southeast where I live. We’re in a drought. Atlanta has 3 months of drinking water left and people don’t seem to be doing much about it. It makes sense that when you crowd and area with too many people, plant alien vegetation that requires more water than the ecosystem is used to, and consume water to keep your housing tract lawns so “evergreen” that you might start running into problems. Without rain 3 months from now the people there will have no recourse except the government to fly in water or have it directed from somewhere else. People don’t plan ahead; they keep living their lives as comfortable as possible with no thought to the consequences that might occur by consuming too much and not paying attention to the natural world around them.
Then we have this whole oil shale debacle. Oil Shale is essential sedimentary rock that contains stuff called kerogen that when heated is released as an oil like substance that can be used similarly. Now what is the problem with this you ask? Essentially, the same as coal mining. Open pit mines and damaging the aquifers are a huge risk. The companies are trying to heat the rock in the ground and basically suck off the good stuff. The only problem with this is keeping it from seeping into other parts of the ground. Solution: ice walls. Yah, baby put an ice wall around a hot area, great idea. All joking aside, they might be able to get somewhere with it if they can every figure out how to do it in a manner that’s economical for the companies. But for ice, you need water, and last I heard the west wasn’t so big on that resource. However, with a good chunk of it on public land in Colorado(Green river formation) I doubt the companies would have to worry about environmental issues. Especially, if oil prices keep going up. People want their “shiny things” and the Earth be damned if it gets in the way. Then you have tar sands, which is similar in the fact that you get oily stuff from the ground mixed in with a bunch of rock and dirt. Canada is really the one with the large-scale production of this stuff and it faces similar environmental hazards, along with the obvious problems of open pit mining.
My favorite coal. Being from the Allegheny Mountains I feel a closer connection with this issues. Although in Northern, PA/Southern NY where I live(It’s right on the border), I don’t have to worry about this. My friends south of me do however. Coal is one of those industries that seem to be synonymous with Americana. I group it right in there with the steel industry and logging…those old time industries that really built America up to what it has become. Now we’ve outgrown the need for that kind of industry because there’s too much demand and we can get it cheaper by importing. Let alone if we were to completely isolate ourselves at the current rate of consumption we’d have nothing left within a couple years. It’d be economic and environmental disaster - the end of America. Coal is going to make a comeback. With peak oil and prices rising, coal will be coming back with a vengeance. And isn’t it good to know that there’s plenty of it out west which just so happens to be where a lot of the production will come from. Isn’t it also nice to know that not only will western states get to deal with oil shale, but also coal mining…what a paradise. Of course back east I’m sure we’ll still rape and pillage the land. Strip mine, and then when we’re done seal in the poison waters into a couple retention ponds and put a public golf course on top of the old mine(you know set it back to the original condition that it was in before mining). It’s going to be a clusterfuck ladies and gentlemen, I swear on my mother’s grave(oops she isn’t dead yet).
Ok I lied, coal isn’t my favorite, ANWR is. Maybe because I’ve visited Alaska and heard both sides, read a few books on it and had a nice conversation with people that study the caribou herds. The simple man’s argument would be something like this, “Man, who cares about middle eastern oil, we got loads up it up in dat der ANWR but the liberals don’t want us to drill there because they’re concerned about some dumb Alaskan deer.” I shit you not that’s what I hear 90% of the time. The smart mans argument would go something like this, “I know there are environmental hazards by drilling for oil in ANWR, but with the current state of world affairs I think it would be the best option as long as environmental hazards are taken into account and prevented.” Now here’s what I think…ANWR. The controversy comes from drilling in the 1002 area, which is the coastal plain of ANWR. This also just so happens to be the calving ground for the 120,000 strong porcupine caribou herd, along with nesting grounds for many birds. This is in fact an environmentally sensitive area because for thousands of years the caribou have been coming here every year to give birth. The biologist we spoke to said that he believed it would have a negative impact on the caribou because they are so wary of loud noises or things they might have reason to be skittish with. This is the main reason that ramps were put in on the pipeline and that it was elevated so that the caribous could cross. However, according to the biologist, many times they don’t. On the flip side he said they’ve been known to use roads to cover greater distances, so it’s a two-sided coin. According to him any good scientist will say they don’t know the long-term effects of drilling on the coastal plain, however that is only because they need verifiable evidence and data to support a claim that it would be harmful. But it seems rather commonsense that it would be. The other issue with drilling is that its pollution rate is really bad. There are spills, leaks and fumes spewed into the ground and air all the time. Just west, ok really far west(It’s Alaska, huge state) you have the National Petroleum Reserve. Up until 1999 it was pretty much off limits until our good friend under Babbit the Secretary of The Interior under Clinton leased a good portion of the northeastern section. The rest was left as environmentally sensitive areas until the Bush years, which all together eliminated that. So the question we have to ask ourselves in the end isn’t whether we want to save caribou, but rather if we’re will to sacrifice everything to gain a little something. If you are at all interested in learning more about ANWR I encourage you to read Jonathan Waterman’s book, “Where The Mountains Are Nameless.” I’ll leave you with a quote from the book which has a tour bus drive talking about Deadhorse, AK near the oil fields…”Twenty-five years ago this was all a wasteland…now look at it. It’s a modern industrial complex.” So it goes…
I was going to write a big long blog about how Jesus is no different than Zarathustra, Muhammed, Buddha..etc. By that I mean virgin births that go way back to many different belief systems, including some “pagan” ones that Christianity has stolen dates from (ie. Christmas/Easter). I’ll sum it up and get my point out of the way. I don’t think some dead Jew was the son of God. We are all sons and daughters of god, whatever “God” may be. The whole gist of the post was going to be how I’ve never been able to comprehend the worship of one man from a patriarchal Jewish society who’s been dead for 2000 years. In that I can’t fathom worshipping any other man, especially when the historical facts don’t point in their favor. If Jesus is the son of God, I am too. He might have been a much better person than me, but that was his journey, and this is mine. However, I think if you took the New Testament by itself you’d have an entirely different and better religion, if there is such a thing. Be that as it may, I will now focus on fact that not having the change of four seasons really throws my internal clock off.
In Wilmington, NC which happens to be located on the eastern coast, the leaves don’t turn any shades of aspen yellow, or brilliant orange before they fall to the ground. This area seems to just fade from summer to winter without any acknowledgement between the two. Mostly longleaf pine, the eastern seaboard doesn’t lend itself very well to a beautiful autumn from the get go. It just amazes me how attached I am to the changing of seasons. It doesn’t seem natural for me to go from summer to winter without the autumn, full of changing leaves, the crisp air and morning frost along with a slew of fresh cider and donuts from the mill down the road. Instead I’m dealing with a drought and 80 degree weather at the end of October. I hate it. If I could be anywhere for two weeks out of the year it’d be home in the Allegany mountains when the leaves are changing. Maybe not for sheer beauty, although I do rank it up there with what I’ve seen in my short life, but because I’m so attached to the memories and the vibe of the place. Fall brings back memories of playing football, putting away the shorts for the jeans, walking in the woods and most importantly the reminder that we are part of something greater than ourselves. Nature’s wonder and beauty are playing out right in front of our eyes while the earth starts tilting away from the sun and the trees prepare for the long winter. There’s something magical about that time of year. Maybe it has something to do with Halloween and the spiritual activity of the place awakening. Or maybe, the area has a spirit of its own which I’ve grown so fond of. It’s not something you can appreciate until you leave. The part of North Carolina I live in now is devoid of any type of “magic,” instead its full of condos and traffic. Maybe it’s all the negativity from the people that’s in the air. Or maybe this place doesn’t embrace the people like the land does back home because of what they’re doing to it. I know I speak of the land like a living being, and that’s because it is. This time of year it’s exhaling, and preparing for a long sleep until it’s time to awake and push life back to the surface toward the returning sun. I walk outside on a Thursday evening and I hear kids who drive Volvo’s and BMW’s screaming about how drunk they are. I should be in a small village or in a cabin where instead of pushing nature aside you can embrace it. That’s what fall is for me, a time to embrace the waning moments warm weather and a myriad of colors before the onset of a usually harsh and unforgiving winter. Wilmington, North Carolina doesn’t know the first thing about that. Instead they’ll have Halloween costume parties at bars and see who can dress the sluttiest and win the $100 prize. I doubt anyone even thinks about the origins of Halloween, actually I know they don’t. There is no reverence for the natural world here. If it doesn’t pertain to the sandy shores of the beach then you might as well forget about it. Give me a gallon of fresh pressed apple cider, an Edward Abbey book and a day in forest behind my Grandmother’s old farm any day over the “luxurious lifestyle” of the beach. Anyway – to compensate I’ve made 4 loaves of pumpkin bread which I would post pictures of if I had my camera’s usb cord. The cider in the fridge is hard even though it was pasteurized and I have three store bough pumpkins with two growing on the vine on the backporch. So, all in all I guess it’s not that bad, I just picked one shithole of a city to call home.
WARNING: DON’T WATCH IF YOU FEEL AT ALL UNEASY WITH SEEING A COW SLAUGHTERED. WAIT, ON SECOND THOUGHT, WATCH IT. YOU SHOULD FEEL UNEASY WHEN WATCHING AN ANIMAL GET BUTCHERED. We as a society have gotten so far away from the act of killing and harvesting our own food we forget that beef and other meat actually has to come from an animal which is alive. I don’t like watching this, or many other videos I see online. However, I force myself too because I know that if I eat meat I am responsible for this activity. Not to mention one should never get too comfortable and become blind to the world’s problems. I’ve seen videos of executions online among others. They are absolutely horrific. But you know, it is happening. People are dying, and to pretend like it isn’t and stay in a nice little bubble is completely irresponsible. That goes out especially to you war mongers(even moreso to those who support the war and won’t go fight it even though they are able bodied). People die in war and you should have to watch it. Then and only then do you realize the cost. That goes the same for a burger. It’s tasty alright, but when you watch the conditions and suffering and animal is put through to make a big mac, is it worth it? I’m certainly not innocent of this, I eat meat. I also know how it’s done and watch the slaughter. It’s not so much that one should stop eating meat or write off all war, but rather be accountable and knowledgeable about the processes and actions that it takes to get there. Blood is blood, animal or human animal.
Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission–to be of service to them whenever they require it… If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
– Saint Francis of Assisi(See I’m not a total asshole when it comes to religion)
News Article…. Off the fucking cliff we go…
A recent article in the local Wilmington paper made note of a tour of local houses that were utilizing “green” building. One of the houses mentioned was built by a local builder who used pines from new growth forest for wood, built “high performance” windows to make use of the breezes and has his home partially powered by solar. This is great, right? Well ya, until you consider the fact that this home is over 9,000 sq. feet. Apparently, sustainability now comes in the form of homes built within a huge development which are ironically named things like “Brunswick Forest.” Brunswick Forest is almost 5,000 acres of cleared forest to make room for all the new homes. Golly gee wiz! that sounds like an environmentalist dream. If you believe the website(and I sure do!) then you can too enjoy the lovely landscape that’s been “enhanced by nature’s hand.” I’m not even going to make a smart ass remark about that quote, it’s stupidity should be blatant enough. Back to builder Senior and his 9,000sq. foot home. I don’t mean to knock the guy for using some environmentally sound practices, however, if you aim is to be environmentally sound your best bet is to just not build a 9,000 sq. foot on the intracoastal waterway where there’s already been enough damage. It’s like hitting someone over the head so you can take them to the hospital all for the outcome of looking like your taking care of them. There are a few good instances of green building in this article, like Dan Brawley head of the local film festival Cucaloris has done. Recycled materials on the cheap, that’s the way to go. Everyone is obsessed with buying new, when really you can get the same quality with alot more character just by scrounging around for some used material. I guess I am just flabbergasted that abomination built in those developments can be seen as anything close to green. I suppose I’d rather see revitalization of the downtown area than the destruction of an already perfect Pine Savannah or pocosin habitat.
Step one: Destroy the local ecosystem through land clearing.
Step two: Build unsustainable homes and plant foreign vegetation for landscaping sake.
Step three: Throw up two solar panels and buy a prius.
Step four: Declare you’re environmental savior status.
All sarcasm aside, I think it is a good thing that “green building” is a growing trend. But it’s inevitably flawed. Growth itself cancels out any good done by solar power or recycled materials, especially if you live in a future slum like “Marsh Oaks” or “Brunswick Forest.” We need to focus on reducing consumption and reusing old materials, homes, cars. But as long as society covets things like new cars, large homes, Paris Hilton, and shiny things, we are doomed to fail not only as a nation, but also as a species of this planet.