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Morning walk was a chilly one at 44°. Some clouds came through on Friday, and while I don’t believe it rained, at 7000' elevation the local mountain peaks are snowcapped. #rivertao
I found this video while exploring a video site called PeerTube. Somehow I think @jsonbecker will appreciate it.
Back “home” again. If you want to see what I’ve been up to since last Sunday, check out my baseball blog. #rivertao
Notes from the Aisle Seat Episode 4.09 - The “Arizona” Edition" has been released. Click the link to listen. #rivertao
The Desert Fathers believed that the wilderness had been created as supremely valuable in the eyes of God precisely because it had no value to anyone….The desert was created simply to be itself, not to be transformed by humans into something else. So too the mountains and the sea. The desert is therefore the logical dwelling place for anyone who seeks to be nothing but themselves.
-Thomas Merton
One aspect of the desert that’s so different to me is how exposed you feel. Looking for a shady, quiet place to sit and have a picnic lunch is damn near impossible, even in city parks. #rivertao
Really difficult for me to fathom why anyone would allow the new Alexa+ devices into the privacy of their homes. They’re gigantic new personal-information-sucking devices. Why would anyone allow Amazon to scrape up all that personal data? Please go back and read your Jaron Lanier. #rivertao
Last Interview done - Newberry & Verch. Time to put it the podcast together after a little lunch. #rivertao
Had to record my narration for the podcast twice because of a 60-cycle hum that came through. Otherwise just waiting on tomorrow’s interview to put it all together. #rivertao
Carl Sagan:
I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline; unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true — we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites, lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.
Back in the saddle today with the podcast. Edited two interviews. Tomorrow I’ll be writing and recording the script and looking for ancillary material. Vacation’s over on that front. #rivertao
Out sightseeing in the Catalina Mountains east of Tucson. Drove the Catalina Highway. 2200’ to 8000’ elevation change. From 73 degrees to 46 degrees and back. Wild ride. #rivertao
Just came back from seeing Captain America: Brave New World. I have…thoughts. But first I have to get over the shellshock.
Went to a community theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing last night. Mostly weak performances, but some interesting takes on and edits of the script. Not all bad, but not terribly good. I wish community theatre could be better in this country.