The NY Times has good taste
If you’re a harmony-blog reader, you had to grin when you opened The New York Times and saw the photo, along with the first line: “Nature is so in.”
The EPA Loves Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson — yes, the singer — was recently honored by the E.P.A. for his foundation’s environmental work.
Art Writing: Connections Brilliant and Absurd
Critic Jonathan Jones asks why doesn’t the public like painter Ellsworth Kelly. “Then they walk quickly… through the Kelly room, ignoring the flat, coloured objects on the wall… Perhaps it is “chromophobia”, fear of colour, which surprisingly enough has something to do with Islamophobia.” (He goes on to explain that “Abstract art is an Islamic […]
Eye Doctors and Art
Two pieces of news about eye doctors helping the world of art: 1) An eye surgeon might be called upon to remove tiny shards of glass that were embedded by careless thieves when they stole The Scream
Sharjah Biennial: Art, Ecology, and the Politics of Change
The current Biennial in Sharjah, UAE, is subtitled “Art, Ecology, and the Politics of Change.” One featured artist, Tea Mäkipää (bad-ass name, no?) created Ten Commandments for the 21st Century. Her piece involved going from Germany to the UAE by ground, in accord with her first commandment, “Do not fly.”
“Great Grom Video” from Surfrider
Eleven year old Cobi Emery made this green-surfing video, shown at surfrider.org. Incredible, huh? When I was eleven, I stepped on a disposable camera, which then broke.
Panda Poop into Paper?
From Inhabitat.com: “Researchers at the Giant Panda Breeding Base in Chengdu, China are preparing to … turn tons of panda poop into paper. Bing Bing, Ya Guang, Qing Zi and the other thirty-seven pandas at the center produce roughly 2 tons of high-fibre bamboo poop a day! Liao Jun, a researcher at the center believes […]
Kircher Society / Climate Change Poll
Who doesn’t love the infamous Kircher Society? Here, they advance the notion of a 19th C. contraption called the Superiorvator. In more serious news, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs went to 17 nations to conduct a poll on global warming, asking respondents to answer various questions about its urgency.
Second Surfing Attempt: The Surfing Lesson
Paul and I split a surfing lesson taught by this awesome chick named “Sticks” (or “Styx?”) who works out of the Frog Pad. She had us standing up in white water (and I think Paul caught a green wave or two). It was really fun. But her best piece of advice came when we were […]
Artist Xavier Cortada Makes Climate Change Visual
Recalling Lee Hirsch’s previous “Clock for Global Warming” idea, artist Xavier Cortada turns climate change concerns into art. And, his pieces are set in Antarctica. Cortada’s work is currently on show at the Kunsthaus Miami.
Why Doctors and Nurses Should Surf
Just came across a book here on why doctors and nurses should surf. It’s not the book depicted in the image above, although that book is also about a surfing nurse.
Shutdown Day
Could you live for a day without your computer? It’s about 10 hours to World Shutdown Day. They have a countdown clock on their website: www.shutdownday.org. My computer actually BROKE this past weekend, and I experienced “Involuntary Shutdown Weekend.” It was excruciating, but allowed me to get about four pages further in Swann’s Way.
Old Time Music with Indie Rock Twist
My friend Sam Amidon recently released an incredible album which is a mash-up of old-time folk music and indie rock. The title of the album is “But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted.” He has a few free tracks available on his website. Sam has traveled through Appalachia studying fiddle tunes that have been passed down in […]
Conservapedia
Conservapedia: a conservative alternative to Wikipedia. Here’s what it says about kangaroos: “According to creation science, after the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark passengers migrated to Australia. There is debate whether this migration happened over land … or if they rafted on mats of vegetation torn up by the receding flood waters.”
Global Warming: Now in the Real Estate Section
The New York Times Real Estate Section discusses global warming … and flooding.
Are Wind Turbines Ugly?
From designobserver.com: What is beauty? Or, On the Aesthetics of Wind Farms. A philosopher’s essay on wind farms.
Armory Show & Sustainable Furniture
At the lounge of the Armory Show in New York this last weekend, Vivavi showcased some of their sustainable furniture designs in the lounge. They had these lounge chairs made of liana vines; the vines are often ecologically destructive and can “suppress tree growth.”
Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth just won for best documentary! In Nosara, at John’s suggestion, I rented An Inconvenient Truth from the Frog Pad, and watched it on my laptop, in my room, before going to sleep. Those of you who’ve seen it can imagine what an intense experience that was. The next day, John had said, […]
Greendimes
So John’s earlier post about Greendimes led me their great blog. In one amusing entry, the Greendimes staff blogs about what they do when what they do when their boss is away. What do they do? They have a contest. They see which among them dreams up the best socially-conscious outfit they would wear to […]
La Luna
On my second evening in Nosara, a bunch of “Harmonizers” went over to La Luna: one of the few restaurants in Nosara right on the waterfront. Apparently, it was built before regulations prevented direct waterfront development. We were a funny sight: a centipede of people stumbling around in the dark, except for Paul, who sped […]
Fever Charts
From the Sierra Club: several charts based on the National Climatic Data Center’s findings that 2006’s average U.S. temperature was the warmest on record! The map breaks their findings down by state, so you can see which states had the worst “fever” last year. Seriousness aside, notice that the big climate change loser last year […]
Dennis
Today’s featured Harmony staff is Dennis. He’s originally from Limon, Costa Rica, and has worked at the Harmony Hotel for a while now – even pre-John and Susan. He says that the hotel has seen many great changes in the past couple of years. I asked if he likes to surf. “No,” he said. He […]
Strange Smoke
I was digging through my photos from Nosara and found this one, taken from the plane. It looks like smoke columns billowing out of the middle of forest land. Does any one have any idea what this is? A forest fire? A factory hidden under the canopy of trees? That looks like an awful lot […]
Presidents’ Day Part II
In honor of Presidents’ Day, Treehugger asks readers: Which US president has been the best conservationist? You can even vote in their online poll.
