TV water
Posted on | May 17, 2010 | 1 Comment
You may have heard of the illusory quality of paper water. Well, for fantasy value, the rights system that allocates Western water far beyond the volume of actual H2O has been briefly and deliriously topped. Last night on the ABC show “Brothers & Sisters,” a network TV family discovered water (in an aquifer!).
Admitting to having watched it is embarrassing. This show puts most right wing vanilla treacle in the savory category. But it’s always interesting to see California’s water supply on TV. “You’ve heard about California’s water problems!” cried the babbling idiot characters. “We’re rich!”
I can’t wait to see how they develop the water. They’d have a hit if next season Stewart Resnick showed up. Casting would be a no-brainer: Larry Hagman.
PS: If you have a TV, don’t watch this crap. It’s evil. Instead, watch Treme on HBO, set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Now there’s a show that knows water and humanity.
The week that was, 5/9-15/2010
Posted on | May 16, 2010 | 1 Comment
Image source: NASA. Click on the Maryland blue crab for an Earth Observatory article about habitat loss, water quality problems and the state of the fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay. Or click on the President's executive order, or hyper link to the plan summary (right), to read about last week's unveiling of a 15-year-long restoration program for America's largest estuary
“The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure.” — Barack Obama, Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, Executive Order, May 12, 2010
The plan is both ambitious and vague … –– “Obama administration announces Chesapeake Bay strategy,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, May 13, 2010
This time … the EPA is legally obligated to achieve the goals established in the settlement. —“Chesapeake Bay settlement has EPA agreeing to enforce pollution reduction goals,” Washington Post, May 12, 2010
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation settled its suit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency last week in advance of the announcement of the Obama administration's restoration program. Click on the marchers to read about the guarantees on action that satisfied the foundation
Callie Angell
Posted on | May 14, 2010 | 7 Comments
I don’t know if I remember rightly that Callie’s cat was called Clara back in the 1970s, when Callie and I were closest, but I do know that Clara had an unusual meow.
“What’s your favorite kind of computer?” Callie would ask.
“Wang,” Clara would say.
The news of Callie’s death by suicide has brought much comment about her dedication to avant garde film, Warhol in particular, the most beautiful by Jim Hoberman in the Village Voice. But the Callie I knew had a life outside of screening rooms.
This born New Yorker loved a small lake and family lakehouse just outside the city. There were snapping turtles, which she would watch snare unaware birds. Sitting on the porch on humid evenings was never dull. Lightning storms could cast freakish bolts that would come in through the porch and zizzle through the house until they raced out of a door. When rabies infected the local racoons, her letter bearing a description of the animals emerging froth-mouthed from the woods was terrifying and beautiful.
Click here to keep reading
The Dry Garden: Watered to death?
Posted on | May 14, 2010 | No Comments
Nobody wants to live in the house with the fallen tree, squashed sedan and news truck out front. Nobody wants to learn the definition of what arborists call the “wind sail effect” after “tree failure.”
Click here to keep reading The Dry Garden in the Los Angeles Times.
Better red than dead
Posted on | May 13, 2010 | No Comments
Nano update: Ed Osann explains at the NRDC Switchboard how the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s conservation program on Tuesday escaped cutting or even cancellation by a board seeking immediate economies. Via Aquafornia.
Tags: chance of rain > Emily Green > Metropolitan Water District of Southern California > rebates
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