You may refuse to believe — or just ignore — the facts about global climate change. But that won’t change the fact that the world is changing, in ways that will affect all of us, sooner or later. (And the way we’re tracking, it’s going to be sooner.)
The Amazon, the planet’s air conditioner, is on the fritz.
Here’s the good news: if you’ve got $7 to spare, you can help save the planet.
You can install this gadget (Home Depot has one too) in about five minutes (it goes in between the pipe and the shower head). Push the button and the water flow slows to a trickle — but maintains your current water temperature — so you’re not wasting gallons of water while you’re shampooing, lathering up, shaving, etc. Push the button again and the regular flow resumes so you can rinse off. Easy-peasy.
It’s not as dramatic as this:
But it’s just as effective.
For a mere $7, you could easily save about 10 gallons of water every time you shower. You won’t just be saving water, you’ll be saving the planet. I’ll drink to that!
Matthew Perry’s passing prompted the piece, but Dan’s thoughts could — and do — apply to anyone with a modicum of fame.
To achieve lasting self-esteem and a feeling of belonging in the world, we need a more intimate connectionwith others than fan worship can provide.
The post is well worth reading. Even if you’re not “famous” by the usual standards, this thought rings true:
I began to realize the most valuable things in life are not wealth and fame but relationships and community. I started paying more attention to the 3-dimensional people in my life than the number of followers on my social media accounts and have found it a much more satisfying use of my energy.
Nailed it! Who needs the A-list when we’ve got 3-D friends?
This may come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (singular), but I’m not exactly a font of knowledge about the Middle East. In fact, my knowledge wouldn’t even fill a thimble.
This also may come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (still singular… tell a friend about this blog), but I DO know how to read. And I’ve been trying to expand my knowledge of the Middle East conflict, and its history. (I’ve upgraded from thimble to shot glass… and now I need a shot to calm my nerves.)
I found this piece by David Klion and this one from Suzanne Schneider to be quite enlightening. Klion talks about the current Israeli-Palestinian situation and its parallels with 9/11, when America’s blind thirst for “vengeance” led to more senseless suffering.
Suzanne Schneider’s essay is extremely powerful – especially the final two paragraphs:
Nicholas Kristof’s headline from Saturday’s New York Times sums it up:
This probably won’t come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (still singular… c’mon, just use the “share” link), but I really like music. And I keep replaying a song in my head – a track called “Background Noise” from Irish folk singer Luka Bloom that came out in 1994. Luka was writing about “The Troubles” in Ireland, but the sentiment is universal – and sadly just as applicable today:
You hear the cries of the different sides The bullet hits again Take a look in anybody’s eyes Our tears are all the same Our tears are all the same…
What the hell do I know – Crying out for love What the hell can I do – Crying out for love When every single child needs To hear the voice of love We all need a new speech – The words of love
More heat emergencies. More wildfires. The hottest ocean temps in recorded history. It can be easy to despair about the state of the world that we all share. Or give up hope completely.
But a recent New York Times article gave cause — causes actually — for optimism, and I’ll take all the good news I can get.
Sorry about the paywall thing… FWIW, cheapskates like me avoid it by using a free day pass from the public library. The Cincinnati Library one is here.
Here are a few choice excerpts:
Coal: it’s only for bad kids’ Christmas stockings.
Bob Dylan was right – the answer is blowin’ in the wind!
Without a doubt, we’re still in a crisis. The planet is in peril. But the winds of change are blowing, and we might be seeing the dawn of a new day (and capturing those solar rays in the process). Go Team Earth!
This is the story of a Prince, a Pope and a young woman.
Sinéad O’Connor was 23 when her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got rocketed up the charts, mostly based on the strength of her cover of Prince’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
She didn’t just cover Prince’s song… she made it her own.
Sinéad was just 25 when she appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed Bob Marley’s “War.” She didn’t just cover Marley’s tune, she made it her own… by changing the lyrics to reference child abuse. Oh, and as we all know, she did so while tearing up a photo of the Pope.
For doing so, she was “cancelled” before cancel culture was even a thing.
In a post-Spotlight world, when we know much more about the child abuse being committed by members of the clergy, and about the coverups by the higher-ups, I hope people can better understand the motives of Ms. O’Connor. She wasn’t just protesting clergy abuse either, but child abuse in general. It was something she had firsthand experience with.
The photo itself had hung on the bedroom wall of O’Connor’s mother, who O’Connor later said had physically and sexually abused her as a child.
At 14, Sinéad was sent to live at one of the infamous Magdelene Laundries in Ireland.
“We were girls in there, not women, just children really. And the girls in there cried every day. It was a prison. We didn’t see our families, we were locked in, cut off from life, deprived of a normal childhood. We were told we were there because we were bad people. Some of the girls had been raped at home and not believed.”
Nine years after she tore up his photo, Pope John Paul II sent an email apology to the victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and other clergy in Australia and the surrounding region, acknowledging the scandal for the first time in his papacy.
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said in an 18-page letter that he was “truly sorry” for the abuse suffered by victims at the hands of Catholic priests in Ireland, O’Connor’s home country.
Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, we can see Sinéad’s protest as a clarion call… and we can see Sinéad as more prophet than pariah.
In a tribute to O’Connor following her death, Irish comedian and actress Aisling Bea wrote on Instagram that “everything she stood up for and against then, including racism in the music industry, has been proved to have been needed and right…She was the original truth sayer who wouldn’t go easy into the night.”
A tiny radio station that went off the air nearly 20 years ago, and shut down online in 2010, is “having a moment” as they say. It’s garnering all sorts of “ink” (as they used to call publicity) for rounding up more than 30 DJs who worked at the station to present a 40th anniversary of the signature “Modern Rock 500” countdown of the top modern rock/indie/alternative songs from their massive library o’ tunes. And author Robin James just released a new book (The Future of Rock & Roll: 97X and the Fight for True Independence) that chronicles the history of the station and why its independent spirit still matters today.
The press parade started back in March, when the press release for the Modern Rock 500 came out.
Steven Rosen (who wrote the definitive article about 97X back in 1985 for the Cincinnati Enquirer) came full circle when he highlighted Robin’s new book in CityBeat in April.
On May 8th, Robin James, my podcasting pal Dave Tellmann and I appeared on the local NPR affiliate’s “Cincinnati Edition” program to talk about the book, the station, and the revived Modern Rock 500.
On May 11th, Robin did a book event at The Mercantile Library – co-hosted by Dave and yours truly. That gig was sold out… and an absolute blast!
Robin James was interviewed by Jason Cohen in the June issue of Cincinnati Magazine. (Editor John Fox is a longtime friend of the station – he used to appear on the air when he was editor of Everybody’s News and later Cincinnati CityBeat.)
The press coverage is nice… but honestly, this means more to us than anything else:
We’ve been able to reconnect with a small-but-mighty community through music. And that’s more precious than all the “ink” (or gold) in the world.
“From WOXY I learned it is important to support your local scene. If you care about independence, being creative and really having the ability for both yourself and for other people to innovate and do things that are new and different, then you would care about the story and example of WOXY.”
Robin James in the Journal News article by Don Thrasher linked above
If you’d like to tune in for yourself and find out what all the fuss is about, you can do so today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (the Dolly Parton shift) on Inhailer Radio, and then again over the Memorial Day Weekend at that same spot on your internet radio dial!
Damian on Lost in a Cave: “Spend some time with his answers to fans’ questions on his Red Hand Files. You’ll enjoy it.” May 10, 19:25
impossibly4332b32374 on Lost in a Cave: “BTW, this is Chuck Wiggins…I guess I’m now known as impossibly4332b32374. That moniker has gone with me to a few…” May 10, 15:19
impossibly4332b32374 on Lost in a Cave: “I can resonate with that definition of prayer. I need to dig into him more. I’d love to hear how…” May 10, 15:18
LK on And they’re off!: “I feel this! I did the half with my son (mostly walking/cheating). It will rain as one of the happiest…” May 8, 06:47
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