Plastic, garbage, pollution

2210: The Collapse is a National Geographic show. Quite startling as they posit what will happen to, for example, L.A., when they run out of potable water. There are lessons here.

We've been watching a show about the end of the world. I remember teaching Ancient Civilizations to my gr. 5's. It was very interesting. Drought, running out of trees (the Mayas), escalating warfare; there are many reasons for the collapse of these ancient  civilizations.

The Maya cut down the forest to produce plaster to decorate temples. Flash flooding, which meant soil erosion and drastic conditions led to disease and malnutrition. With an expanding population and diminishing resources, fighting began.
Warfare a symptom, not a cause of deprivation, they tell us.

But garbage concerns me. Taking a walk up towards Ian Millar's place, I spotted 16 deer feeding on recently exposed grass. I also spotted much garbage, including beer cans, bottles, plastics, on the side of the road.

Oprah's green episode for Earth Day (2009) started with sad footage and a description of a giant island of trash -- "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch". Horrible what we are doing.


What I found interesting was thinking about what they will conclude about us when archeologists uncover the crap we leave around.

What do our toys say about us?

Giant neighbourhoods, like this one in BBQhaven, with swimming pools holding enough water for a family in an undeveloped country for a year.

Then there are the toys we make out of plastic.

These I came across these plastic toys in a catalogue.

I couldn't stop laughing. I cannot imagine who might be the target audience for this one!

I have hopes that the next generation will make a difference.

Racing Granddads

Racing Grannies

Fighting granddads

I spotted this video on Kay's blog. It interests me, as my kids run their car on cooking oil. A converted Jetta, it also runs on diesel when necessary.
These are things that are possible.

Shout Out to a flash mob

I met a new creation. Flash mob.
I do not know how long this video will be up. But it was the 24th season of Oprah. They put together a flash mob. I would love to be part of something like this. The energy and the spirit of it all.

You notice that someone illegally posted the video and Harpo caught up with them. Another lesson in copyright violations.
Oprah's Kickoff Party Dance

It's the flash mob that took over Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Watch 21,000 of Oprah's biggest fans perform one of the biggest dances in the world to the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling."

You can watch the video on Oprah.com, where it is rightfully placed.
The video was only up less than a week before they were caught!

magazines for 50-somethings

I love my magazines. After years staying home raising kids, and reading all I could, but in short snippets, I am addicted. I have begun to eschew such magazines as People, Hollywood, with their bizarre notions of beauty, gives me way too much pressure to be someone I am not. I am a creature with hormonal imbalances, stress and menopausal issues that have reshaped my body. I am surprised that some, like The Enquirer, still exist. If people need to read short stories, there are many Canadian story writers who create beautiful, poignant works.

Oprah, one woman with whom I identified until she shrunk, died her (age 50+) hair, grew it long like the young folks, and faked 40, has left me cold. She will do a marvelous item on Spirituality, and finding your inner self, then feature ads to help you slice, dice and erase your outer reflections of inner beauty. The experiences that have shaped you have given you character, depth and breadth, unseen in those with size 2 bodies and brains. They have sculpted my features and given me an outer reflection of the things I have learned in 52 years.

This is my late mother, in her 50s. She worked from age 15 to 66, because she had to.
I want a realistic role model. Not one that looks 20 years younger than her age, and has worked harder on her body than her mind. More magazine featured such on their front cover. Did it ever offend me! I am not renewing my subscription. Oprah's ads for wrinkle creams, Botox and other makeover tools, really bother me. Every time I pick up a magazine I find pressure to slim down, shape up, eat bettter, eat less meat, avoid red meat, work out more, run a marathon, colour my hair, improve my skin, have more (and better) sex, buy a cookbook to be a better cook, or eat out more. Too much pressure for me. I accept myself as I am. I do that for those around me, I expect the same in return.

I think what I like best about Zoomer magazine is that they are unafraid of showing people with gray hair and wrinkles! There are real stories about people who look like me: natural! They look their best, but are not photoshopped into an unrealistic images of themselves. I loved that Dove commercial. If only we knew! I want to campaign for real beauty. It is all we have left.