Southwestern Research Station, AZ
Stubbing It Out
I have seen countless cigarette butts littered on the street or on the beach, and it wouldn’t surprise me if many of the individuals who liter them are those who otherwise act in an environmentally responsible manner. So when I stumbled on this NYTimes article from a few years ago it made me wonder how people’s actions differ between perceived forms of trash.
“Littering is one of my pet peeves, and I always told my kids they’d be in big trouble if I catch them doing it,” said Ms. Scott, a 43-year-old financial executive, as she sat outside an office tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on a recent sunny afternoon. “I see people throw stuff out their car windows, and I cringe.”
Yet she confesses that she routinely discards cigarette butts on the sidewalk. For her and countless other American smokers, cigarette butts are an exception to the no-littering rule. “Aren’t cigarettes biodegradable?” Continue reading
Deaccession, De-Weasled
Several contributors to Raxa Collective have family living in Greece. There is nothing to be said here about that country’s economic and political woes that has not already been said better elsewhere, so no insult is intended to Greeks by making reference to the woes of another location. Detroit, an American city facing economic woes comparable, when scaled to the municipal level, of Greece, is considering the sale of art it owns to raise what may be billions of dollars worth of needed cash. Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for the New Yorker, has posted a brief observation about it, the latter portion excerpted below. Out of this mess comes an observation worthy of comment considering Raxa Collective’s mission:
…Art works have migrated throughout history. Unless destroyed, they are always somewhere. It’s best when they are on public display, but if they have special value their sojourns in private hands are likely temporary. At any rate, they are hardly altered by inhabiting one building rather than another. Continue reading
Icelandic Cartography: 1585
A 1585 copy of Islandia, by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598)
One of my favorite things about the Rare & Manuscripts Collection in the basement of Cornell’s Kroch Library is that I can request to look at documents like this one, over four-hundred years old, and nobody comes and says, “Excuse me, but you’re a bit young to be doing that, aren’t you?” Granted, this old map was in a picture frame, so relatively speaking I wasn’t handling as preciously fragile a document as most of our other pieces from the 16th century are (the type that require white cloth gloves), but I still felt a lot of responsibility as I cautiously Continue reading
Gangaikondacholapuram Temple – Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Dedicated to Lord Shive, Gangaikondacholapuram Temple was built by Chola Emperor Rajendra Ist between 1012 to 1044. The structure is a replica of the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur and was built in commemoration of Rajendra’s victory through the kingdoms of northern India to reach the Ganges. Continue reading
Bravo, WWF & Odnoklassniki!
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) come ashore at a gravel beach on Arakamchechen Island in the Bering Sea, Chukotka, Russia. Photograph: Jenny E Ross/Corbis
Thanks to Guardian’s coverage of this excellent, innovative campaign:
The 148m users of the Russian social network service Odnoklassniki are being targeted by a World Wildlife Fund for Nature campaign that uses ‘404’ error pages to raise awareness of species on the verge extinction.
Bird of the Day: Masked Flowerpiercer (Yanacocha Reserve, Ecuador)
Urban Muse
It does not matter whether you are a farmer, a geneticist, or whatever you do with your time: you will almost certainly be affected in important, unexpected ways after time spent in Paris. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Peripatetic Mass Transit
Mattancherry
Ochirakkali – Temple Festival
Photo credits: Renjith
Ochira, located in the Kollam district of Kerala, is famous for the Parabrahma Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Ochirakkali is a mock fight enacted between groups of men dressed as warriors on the battlefield, commemorating the historic battle fought between the Kayamkulam and Chempakasseri soldiers. Continue reading
The Pastoral Muse
Goats on the hillside in Vermont. Photo by Anne Buchanan
It has been some time since we first found an article in this publication, which we have continued following. There is at least one emerging pattern to explain why we keep going back: every article has an image that transports us, that makes us want to go see the who, what and where of the description:
…Jennifer and her husband Melvin work Polymeadows Farm, a small goat dairy farm and dairy plant in Vermont. They are currently milking about 120 goats. During kidding season, twice a year, the newborns spend their first night in a barrel of hay in the kitchen. This is important during Vermont winters, but also in summer, so that Jennifer knows the kids are healthy before they go out and join the rest. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: White-throated Kingfisher
Thekkady, Kerala
A Wonder of the World
A view of the Taj Mahal beneath the cloudy skies
Throughout my life I have had the privilege of frequently traveling and visiting new countries. However, I had not yet had the pleasure of seeing any of the deemed “Seven Wonders of the World.” A week ago, I was finally able to change that when I took a trip to Agra and visited the Taj Mahal with my father. Continue reading
Kitchen Collaboration
Kitchen Confidential juggled with foodies’ fascinations in new and unusual ways, and since then reality television seems to be the appropriate new home for that side show. Oddly, it began in 1999 with an article in the New Yorker. So it is only fitting that the magazine has been balancing those dynamics with the work of less celebrity-oriented writers ever since. None better than Bill Buford, who gets out there, and in there, like a citizen scientist for the story (though he is not shy of carny, either). Here what catches my attention is the collaboration, but plenty on the ethos of an artisan, the farm as the garden of eden, and last but not least the role of food in heritage and heritage in food (click the image above to go to the article):
Two years ago, during the summer of 2011, Daniel Boulud, the New York-based French chef, told me he had been thinking about a project that we might do together. We were both in France at the time. I was living in Lyons—I had moved there in order to learn French cooking—and Boulud was visiting his family in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, a nearby village on a wooded ridge in the open countryside. Continue reading
Sunflower- Helianthus annuus
Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor
The Sunflower is an annual plant and its name is derived from the image and shape of the flower, which depicts the Sun. Sunflowers are also an important source of food. It’s oil is valued as a healthy vegetable oil, making it a popular agricultural crop in south India. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Plumbeous Pigeon (Los Cedros Reserve, Ecuador)
Upcycling Mattanchery
Getting greener on the transportation front is partly about reducing use of fossil fuel, partly about reducing the noise and particulates generated by motorized vehicles, and partly just the fun of alternative methods of getting around. Sometimes pedicabs are simple visions, other times elaborate hipsterisms. The image above links to just one of the several companies peddling practical person-powered vehicles, now ubiquitous world-wide… Continue reading
Crossing the Border: From Kerala to Tamil Nadu
Grapes ready for harvest
The first thing that I noticed about Tamil Nadu was the juxtaposition to the Kerala landscape to which I am now accustomed. Unlike the mountainous western Kerala, where during monsoon rain is plentiful and direct sunlight a rarity, just across the border in Tamil Nadu the land is flat, and during monsoon the air is dry and the sun shining. It is a shockingly fast transition that you can see as soon as you are at the base of the mountains. I knew this part of Tamil Nadu was flat, but I thought it would all be made up of lush green farm land, but instead what I encountered resembled central Texas, dry and rocky. In fact, it made me feel quite at home.
After seeing the landscape it was not surprising to hear from a local organic farmer, that most of the water in Tamil Nadu comes from the Periyar River in Kerala via the Mullaperiyar Dam. The farm boasted many types of fruits, including grapes and pomegranates. It was well worth the trip to see a farm in action and to see how and where some of the local fruits are grown. Continue reading
Complications Of Kayaktivism
What makes a great New Yorker Talk of the Town piece?
Small surprises.
Quirks.
Unexpected perspective.
At the outset in this case our hearts are immediately with the folks daring the harbor on kayaks, but our brains are (gulp) subsequently with the residents against the kayakers. All within a few hundred words:
…Last year, in her capacity as a co-chair of the New York City Water Trail Association, Brous began collating the complaints of other paddlers that the myriad ferryboats using the river routinely failed to toot their horns before pulling away from the dock, in defiance of maritime law, specifically Inland Navigation Rule 34. The kayakers feared that a ferry might run one of them down. Brous wrote to various entities with some waterfront sway and eventually found herself sending periodic e-mails to the Coast Guard, detailing instances of law-flouting ferries. Nothing changed. The ferries ferried hornlessly…
Karkidakam – Ramayana Masam
Reciting the Holy Book of Ramayana
Karkidakam is the last month in the Malayalam calendar, which this year falls between 17th July and 16th August on the Western calendar. Historically the southwest monsoon is bringing chilling torrential rain during this period. In Kerala every observant Hindu family recites the Holy Book of Ramayana in homes and temples during this time, making Karkidakam popularly known as Ramayana Masam.
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