Every Road Trip Is Educational!

So Becki and I were on our way back to school yesterday...little did we know that we would be seeing first hand a landmark mentioned in class! So pictured is the Delaware Water Gap! This was the best I could snap through the window of a moving car, but this is one of the bridges across the Delaware Water Gap that was pictured in George Inness' painting "Delaware Water Gap." We got excited and our two friends in the car thought we were crazy, but we didn't care. So next time you're on a road trip, keep your eyes open for a chance to say "Hey! I learned about that in Nature and Culture!"

The solution to overpopulation?

Just ran across this item.


Apparently every U.S. citizen could fit into an area the size of New Hampshire if we all wanted to live at the population density found in Brooklyn, NY. As the graphic says, the rest of the U.S. could be our greenbelt, and "we'd all be neighbors."

You can click on the graphic to enlarge.

See it Really is NEVER too late

I just came across a great website seems like interview with Cronon & others speaking about..well...Chicago, of course among other places. But anyone interested should check it out. Seems there is great stuff in there- I'll have to revisit at a later date! PBS

Random?

I don't know if anyone maybe skipped over this in the The Trouble with Bambi reading, but I'd like to draw attention to its hilarity. I just reread the article while studying...

"...actor Kiefer Sutherland told Playboy that Bambi was the first film he ever saw and, he said, 'it's still the film with which I compare everything.... It taught me about—I guess on a broad scale—sexuality. I was in love with Thumper's girlfriend from the time I was seven until I was ten. She's got all that eye shadow on and she's looking real good.'"

The article then continues with Bambi's impact on American culture. Random?

It's never too late!

Its never to late... to have a review session. Yep, the 2006 class had a twitter-pattered review session. Don't be an obligatory puny student! Any one who wants to review, speak up!
Don't be a Sponge Bob!!

Molly Maguires and Sherlock Holmes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Valley_of_Fear
This is the link to the description of the last Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear. The clip from Molly Maguires that we watched in class today reminded me of this story, and the article mentions that the story is loosely based of the Molly Maguires happenings.
Of particular interest in the start of the story is the way the coal mining districts are portrayed. Though I do not remember the exact words or description, the author paints a picture of utmost gloom, misery and tyranny. It is clear that he wants to convey what a horrifying place the mining district was...

Man versus Wild: the Starrucca Viaduct

text from the Catskill Archive, originally from—"Between the Ocean and the Lakes--The Story of the ERIE"—by Edward Harold Mott--1899:

"The Starrucca Viaduct was at the time it was built the greatest work of railroad bridge masonry in the United States, and is to-day a conspicuous example of that branch of engineering science, even among the stupendous feats of modern bridge construction. The viaduct is 1,200 feet long, 110 feet high, and has eighteen arches with spans of fifty feet each. It was wisely constructed for a double track, and was made thirty feet wide on top. The cost of the structure was $320,000, the most expensive railroad bridge in the world at that time."

Illustration circa 1848.

George Inness--the Complete Works

The works of George Inness are found online at http://www.georgeinness.org/ . Scans of 199 of his paintings can be found there. Inness made his home for many years in Montclair, New Jersey, and many of his paintings can still be seen there at the Montclair Art Museum.

Pompton Junction

Native American Reverence

Flute music and Drum beats

-Ali

Brought Back By Popular Neglect

Just for the record Shepard Krech does refer back to the Crying Indian at the end of his book. In the last paragraph of his epilogue he refers to a second advertisement about the original advertisement that was brought back "by Popular Neglect". It kind of makes me wonder about the first one, what if they used a Crying Cowboy? Would things have changed? Would Keep America Beautiful want it brought back "by Popular demand" instead?

-peace

Aborigines debate nuclear plan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8546690.stm

Nothing new under the sun...

- Aiden

Oscars, Dave Chappelle, and Indians

This video is very interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUacU0I4yU

I had no idea this happened, a friend showed me recently. Anyways, I thought that this was a good example of how before the idea of the "Noble Savage" became popular, there was just the image of the "Savage".

Also, this video shows what Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefoot were talking about in the savage depiction of Indians in films from around that time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJFi7SRH7Q

You should watch these videos--pretty good stuff.

And for a laugh, check out Dave Chappelle's comedic sketch on Indians today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Teq8-3Xitxc

The first minute and a half are the best.

All relevant, I hope, and all found while procrastinating for the Ecological Indian paper....

Nature's Metropolis...

I was reading the Prologue this afternoon and the conversation on the relation between the "City' and 'Country' with regards to literature really struck a chord. It reminded me particularly of "The Great Gatsby" and the contrast between the pastoral midwest and the disconnected old money/new money New York. I just thought I would share. I'm starting to realize that you really can connect everything to 'Nature and Culture'.