However, this morning while flipping through the channels, I came across Ann Curry from the Today show interviewing a woman. The way they were talking, I assumed that this woman had lost her job because of the economy and they were going to discuss steps she was taking to get her career back. A few seconds later, I realized that they were talking again about Lindsay Lohan. Gag! They went on and on (and on) about how poor Lindsay is trying to regain her Hollywood cred as an actress. I flipped away quickly, but then a thought entered my mind (right after “Who cares about a spoiled rotten little Hollywood starlet who can’t handle the demands of being famous?”).
My thought was: Does Hollywood affect agriculture? I think that it’s pretty obvious the reverse is true: Agriculture affects Hollywood. We saw that when even the movie industry took a hit during the food crisis in ’07 because people were choosing to eat versus going to the movies. That hit was temporary and really wasn’t felt so much by such an opulent industry, but the realism of the hit had many producers a little antsy. Also, Hollywood always likes to use rural living (or any other topic) to sell movies (Field of Dreams is a favorite of mine) So, like any other curious person, I googled 'Hollywood's affect on agriculture'. Boy oh boy! Hollywood is OBSESSED with saving the planet, which I think is an interest of farmers as well since it is their livelihood. Thus, my curiosity birthed a non-typical Daily Roundup.
I came across an article written recently mostly about climate change worldwide. But what caught my attention mostly was its finger-pointing at the green house effect. Thanks, Al Gore, for hyping up the warming climate. Hollywood not only affected agriculture by this non-scientifically backed claim, but also changed the world. This article led me to surf for about an hour finding other articles.
The “I can’t believe they actually have a website for this” award of the day went to Grinning Planet where they are apparently saving the planet one joke at a time. Their list of environmental movies got my attention. The most interesting movie that I’d like to see is a 2008 documentary called “A Farm for the Future” that was presented on BBC regarding the belief that oil is at its peak and then explores solutions for “fuel/farming/food” issues. However, my favorite movie title was “Shooting Vegetarians”. I would never endorse such an action and since this is a tree-hugger website, I imagine this is not a comedy, but the title made me laugh nonetheless.
Then, I stumbled across a blog called ribbonfarm.com. According to the site, “The name ribbonfarm refers to the ribbon farms of 18th century Detroit — strips of lands 2-3 miles long, each with 2-300 yards along the Detroit river waterfront — that the then governor invented to resolve water disputes. I (the blogger) thought it was a great metaphor for a blog trying to get its thin slice of attention from the great river of eyeballs that is the Web.” I read a particular two month old blog that I thought would be of interest to some RR readers regarding his view of how globalization cannot replace the cultures and subcultures we currently have. It’s a little long-winded (no, I didn’t write it-haha), but it had some interesting points. My favorite point was the thought that we can’t really claim ourselves as global citizens. We are unique in the relationships we form and the geographical location. I laughed at one comment to the blog (from a Latte-drinker in DC) where they said they were disappointed in the realization that they had more in common with a card-carrying NRA member in Oklahoma than they did with a Latte-drinker in Paris, even though they wished the opposite were true. That comment is kind of profound when you think about all the hulabalu of people wanting all red states to succeed from the nation and form their own country.
Finally, not to disappoint, I’d like to leave you with a link to a hot topic in RR: WATER! I was taught at such an early age that water is such a precious commodity, but also one we don’t often think about. However, there are people who are. This link shows a recent small breakthrough in water conservation. I love it when people use technology and find small, but simple and inexpensive ways to work towards accomplishing a goal!
So, in conclusion, Hollywood changed farming, extreme environmentalists like wacky movies, there is hope for the fellow man as long as he's your neighbor, and a cell phone app is going to solve the water crisis. Okay, maybe not, but read and decide for yourself.
Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment