neonvincent

This video didn't talk enough about the movie for me to use it in Celebrating 30 years of 'Jurassic Park'.

I shared this video at the Coffee Party Facebook page as a partner post about Braver Angels. I decided not to wait until the end of the month, but it will also be part of the monthly linkspam.

I posted two entries in a row, Vox on America's dying malls as failed third spaces and Toys R Us closing down and Kmart may follow, that used videos from the Dead Mall Series on YouTube. Here is the creator, Dan Bell Inside America's dead shopping malls.


Welcome to a documentarian of collapse and decline.

I completely missed reposting any of my posts from Crazy Eddie's Motie News for March on the Nablopomo theme of Whether. Bad dog, no biscuits. I'll get around to organizing and posting linkspams from last month eventually. In the meantime, I'll resume my regular weekly summaries of the Nablopomo posts for April. This month, the theme is poetry. Here's what I wrote on April Fools Day.

From Nablopomo on BlogHer:

So what is the NaBloPoMo theme of the month?
POEM
In honour of National Poetry Month in April, we've made the theme POEM -- which can go in a multitude of directions. First and foremost, you can try your hand at writing some poetry. We'll be presenting a few fixed forms as well as prompts for free forms. Make a personal goal to write a haiku-a-day, write an entire post in rhymed couplets, or argue the merits of Pinterest... in sestina form.

We'll be writing about our reactions to poems -- which poems have come up at important moments in your life? Which poems do you return to again and again? Which poems have changed your mood, given you comfort, or made you want to be a poet yourself?

We'll spend the month looking at reflections of poetry in nature and social situations. And we'll be featuring YOUR poetry weekly. So get your poem on.

When I first read the theme and description, I considered not participating, as I'm not big on poetry. I especially had a hard time squaring the theme with a blog about sustainability, science, and politics, although "poetry in nature" might work. Then I realized that there were some forms of poetry that I liked, limericks and song verses. Most limericks wouldn't be fit for a family blog, but I can always find a good song for my posts. So, I'm participating again this month.

The songs that I've featured so far are:

• "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby in Nablopomo for April: Poem
• "Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas in March was a heat wave for Detroit and other cities
• "(Nothing but) Flowers" by The Talking Heads and performed by David Byrne and Thomas Dolby in Post 500: (Nothing but) Flowers at TED
• "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley and performed by CNN anchor Robin Meade in Olbermann on Letterman with bonus Dirty Laundry
• "Let the Good Times Roll" by The Cars in Auto sales up and that's no April Fools
• "Ignoreland" by R.E.M. in Rachel Maddow: Michigan is now Ignoreland
• "Why" from the album "Mystery to Me" by Fleetwood Mac in The first year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News: Part 3 of several

There will be more next week, as I already have another post up.

Happy reading and happy listening!

Local politics -- schools, zoning, council elections -- hit us where we live. So why don't more of us actually get involved? Is it apathy? Dave Meslin says no. He identifies 7 barriers that keep us from taking part in our communities, even when we truly care.

This is the YouTube version of a video that has been posted to the main page and by Annabel Park to hers. Watch to see how intentional exclusion keeps participation in local government down. Then think about how to improve participation in local govenment.

Crossposted to coffeepartyusa  on both Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.