Category Archives: Features – Video

The Watering Hole: April 16 — Finding Oregon

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From the video caption:

Finding Oregon is the compilation of six months of timelapse photography across the state of Oregon, punctuated by a 1600 mile road trip in September. We’ve filmed the Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, the Southwestern Coast, the Alvord Desert, Leslie Gulch, Blue Mountains, Crater Lake, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Deschutes River, and more. We’re proud to have touched all four corners of the state; however Oregon is the kind of place that the more you see, the more places there are to still discover.

Any questions about why I love Oregon so much?  I love everything about Oregon — except camping in the snow.  That’s just nutso.  ;)

This is our daily open thread — What places do you love?

Watering Hole: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 – Wealth Reality

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The wealth distribution in this nation is appalling.  This is why it is becoming more difficult to make ends meet.  Are you feeling the pain?

Thom Hartman wrote a book in which one chapter explores “What is Enough”.  He presents different perspectives on being ‘rich’ and being ‘poor’.

While they number fewer than one percent of all humans on the planet, the result of a relentless 5-millenium genocide by our worldwide Younger Culture, there are still people alive on Earth who are members of Older Cultures that predate the Mesopotamian city-states. There are also people whose Older Culture ways have only been so recently taken from them-such as many Native American tribes-that while they may no longer live the Older Culture way, they remember it.

In these Older Cultures, the concept of “more is better” is unknown. They would consider “greed is good” to be the statement of an insane person. One person eating near another who is hungry is an obscene act.

The ‘Older Cultures’ regard wealth not as goods and services.  Instead, their view of wealth is security.

In Older Cultures, the goal of the entire community is to get every person in the community to the “enough point.” Once that is reached and ensured, people are free to pursue their own personal interests and bliss. The shaman explores trance states, the potter makes more elegant pots, the storyteller spins new yarns, and parents play with and teach their children how to live successfully.

Contrast that to the quest by people like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers.  For them, there is never enough money in their bank accounts.  They don’t own enough ‘things’ so they keep striving for more and more.  If they lost everything today, they would have nothing because money doesn’t buy true friendship.  Who really likes a greedy person?  No one.

Ghandi said, “There is enough for everyone’s needs but not enough for everyone’s greed.”

(cross posted at Pennsylvaniaforchange.wordpress.com)

This is our Open Thread.  So what do you think?  Speak Up!

This is My Body, Not Yours

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Transcript:

This is my body.
I do what I want with it.
This is my body.
I make my own choices.
This is my body.
I use it as a canvas, tattoo it, decorate it, and pierce it.
I take medicine if I want to and only undergo medical procedures I choose.
I eat what I want, exercise for my health, and wear what I like.
I fall in love with whomever, fuck/sleep with whomever and marry whomever I choose.
I decide when and how to become a mother.
This is my body, not yours

These decisions have nothing to do with you. If I’m not hurting you or stopping you from pursuing your inherent right to happiness, it’s none of your business. This is my body, not yours.

Almost one in eight women in the United States will have breast cancer, the most invasive cancer for women worldwide. If I am black or white, rich or poor, married or single, gay or straight, formally educated or not, I have the right to be screened for this killer of women, whether I go to my doctor or rely on the services of clinics like those run by Planned Parenthood. Your desire to stop the funding of abortions has nothing to do with my right to defend myself against cancer. This is my body, not yours.

If I choose to have sex, I have the right to birth control and to be spared your demeaning insults you’d never want leveled against your daughter or mother. My pursuit of orgasm is neither unnatural nor dangerous nor scary nor an infringement of your religious liberty. My sexual activity is for my benefit, not your pleasure. And it’s never my fault if you rape me. I am done being excluded from decisions about my sexual and reproductive health. This is my body, not yours.

I determine who or what goes inside of my vagina and when. I make all decisions regarding my pregnancy. I will access prenatal care whether or not you agree with the choices made resulting from that care. I have the right to an abortion without facing intimidation, harassment, burdensome parental consent laws, or prejudicial taxes. If I decide to have an abortion, I will not undergo unnecessary, invasive medical procedures for the purposes of your moralizing and personal edification. I’m entitled to all health information from my doctor. And allowing myself to be penetrated once doesn’t assume your right to do it again on your own prerogative, for your own reasons. This is my body, not yours.

It is time for you to accept that I am fully aware, capable, and accountable for myself. I don’t need a hero or saving because I’m not in distress. I’m not defined by my need of a man or partner, but I have the right to be made happy by one, in a safe and supportive relationship. I’m not defined by my weight, hair, make up, skin color, or breast size. I do not exist to be your play toy. I won’t wait my turn nor be quiet nor heed you. I know my physical and mental strength and I do not fear you. I’m beautiful, despite what you think, with or without your approval. This is my body, not yours.

This is my body.
I’m through with legislators telling me what to do with it.
This is my body.
Keep your salacious, aggressive, sexist insults to yourself. I’m not listening.
This is my body.
I have the right to marry my partner, woman or man.
To equal pay
To health care
To education
To divorce
To safety
To protection of the law
To respect and dignity
To complete equality
This is my body, not yours.

Do not be afraid of a world in which women know themselves, their voice, and their power. That world has arrived.

————

Don’t like it?  We aren’t asking you if you like it; we’re telling you how things are.

Sunday Roast: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

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On this day in history, December 23, 1954, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was released.

I loved this movie when I was a kid, but I enjoyed Jules Verne’s book even more.  During the giant squid attack scene, I remember thinking that on the interior shots, it looked like the squid was waving.  Well, I was only about ten when I read the book and then saw the movie. :D

I was also crazy for that old show in the 60s, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

This is our daily open thread — What was your favorite childhood  movie?

The Watering Hole: December 21 — Fifty Shades of Takei

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NSFW, especially if you work with humorless and/or uptight people.  :)

George Takei has a bit of fun with his trademark “Oh Myy,” while reading selected passages of Fifty Shades of Grey.  

This is our daily open thread — Remember kids, it’s okay to be Takei!

Watering Hole: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 – A Drug Free World Is A Fantasy

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The “War on Drugs” is a complete failure.

This video is 58+ minutes so you may want to watch it when you have the time.

Some highlights from the video:

  • The illegal drug business is a $320 billion dollar industry.
  • The US has less than 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated poplution.
  • George H.W. Bush stated that if you use drugs, “you will be punished”.
  • The War on Drugs has created a mass prison-industrial complex.
  • Population of US prisoners:
    • 1970 = 330,000
    • 2012 = 2.3 million
    • More than any other country in the world.
    • Drugs are prevalent in prisons.
  • Governments try to stifle demand by advertising which has failed because:
    • People that use drugs like drugs.
    • People can see through the hypocrisy of legal alcohol/cigarettes/drugs vs. illegal drugs.
  • There are approximately 230 million world wide drugs users of which 90% are unproblematic.
  • President Carter went to Congress and requested to have drugs decriminalized.
  • 1979 – 10 states started the process to decriminalize (ME, NY, OH, NC, MS, MN, CO, OR, CA, AK).
  • Reagan put a stop to decriminalization and Nancy Reagan’s role in government was her anti-drug campaign of “Just Say No.”
  • 2009 – 1.6 million people were arrested and 1.3 million of those arrests were just for drugs with 1/2 of those arrests just for marijuana.
  • If drugs were legalized and regulated in the US, it would add $76 billion to the US economy.

At the 37 minute mark in the film, a world wide discussion begins on solutions to the “War on Drugs”.

Sign the petition here.

This is our Open Thread and reflects my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of other members of The Zoo.  Now it is your turn to Speak Up!

The Watering Hole: December 7 — Star Talk

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I could listen to Alan Rickman speak for the rest of my life, and I think it’s safe to say most of the ladies women of the Zoo would concur.  Rawr…

I enjoy my nerdy geeks, but this clip is a bit nerdy geek heavy, and Alan Rickman light.  Boo.  I almost used my standard Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves tactic of fast-forwarding through everything that isn’t Alan Rickman or Morgan Freeman, but I resisted.  :)  Anyhoo, I love Alan all the more, because he can talk and think about things other than his latest film.  Who’s with me on this one?

HT to someone on the Zoo who posted this clip in comments earlier this week — sorry I don’t remember who!

This is our daily open thread — How is it Friday again…?

The Watering Hole: November 30 — The Little Woman

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I’m cleaning house today, and I’ve decided I need to get myself one of these housewives.  Afterall, she goes through her woman’s work chores in a cute dress, perfect hair, and heels.  Such class!  Much cuter than my socks, jammies, and tangled ponytail.

I think the narrator is so clever, pretending he’s in admiration of the strong, competent little ladies, while dribbling his patronizing prattling pablum.

Ahhhh, the “good old days.”

This is our daily open thread — Death to dust bunnies!!

The Watering Hole: November 2 — The Most Astounding Fact…

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The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth — the atoms that make up the human body — are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core, under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars, the high mass ones among them, went unstable in their later years.  They collapsed and then exploded, scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy.  Guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas clouds that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems, stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky, and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but, perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity; that’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you.  That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive…

I know I’ve posted this before, but lately it’s been running through my brain, so y’all get to enjoy it again!

I find Dr Tyson’s words to be astonishingly beautiful.  Especially since they apply to all of us on this planet:  Democrats, Republicans, the rich, the poor, old, young, Tea Partiers, Occupiers, atheists, the faithful, flat-earthers, the enlightened, flora, fauna, and the Earth itself.

No matter our circumstances in life, or how our brains are wired, we are all made of the same stuff — “carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself” — the guts of exploded stars.

The Universe is in all of us, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

This is our daily open thread — We’re all in this together.

The Watering Hole: October 19 — Dedicated to Mitt Romney

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“He doesn’t know when he’s winning. He doesn’t know when he’s losing. He has no sort of sensory apparatus whatsoever.”

Last night, while we were discussing the sad comedic ability of Mitt Romney at the Al Smith Dinner, despite having reasonably good material, our friend Pete reminded me of this excellent Monty Python sketch — Upper Class Twit of the Year.

Is this perfect, or what!?  Thanks, Pete!

This is our daily open thread — Laugh at will & smoke ‘em you got ‘em

The Watering Hole: September 21 — Happy Friday!

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Timelapse Montage, by Mike Flores

I totally spaced doing my Friday post, and it’s almost midnight, so here’s a cool video!

I’m off to help my dad’s wife with a ginormous yard sale, for which she’s going to owe me a ginormous bottle of wine.  I’ll see ya for music night!

This is our daily open thread — TGIF!!

The Watering Hole: September 7 — We take care of our own

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Did you see the President’s speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President?  Did you, huh huh?  It was fantastic!

No going all complaisant now, we still all need to make sure we get into that voting booth and VOTE.  And we need to do all we can to help our friends and neighbors get to their polling places — no matter who they’re planning on voting for.

This is our daily open thread — Happy happy Friday!!!