Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The dark green choices are not supposed to be easy
Mick ... Your poem about meeting Michele reminded me just how irresistible u always were. Like the nuns foretold in Grammar School .... Our Lady will watch over uuuu .... Q? do u think they were referring to Michele?? ...must be so… ‘cause u sure seem blessed!
ps If u go Uptown for the Parade tomorrow—ask Jeter where my 20 bucks from our last game of Euchre is? lol
richie
ps ROCKER JOAN JETT IS ASPORTS NUT AND VEGAN ... ALSO ONLY 1 0F 2 FEMALES IN ROLLING STONES TOP100 ROCK GUITARISTS .. LOOK FOR BIG TIME MOVIE IN 2010—STORY OF THE RUNAWAYS ... starring TWILIGHT STAR & DAKOTAH FANING
http://myspace.com/richiedeadhead blogs/musictrivia
http://rrxsrocks.com my kidz x-masshows/cd /posters
Posted by RICHIE from st james city, FL on 11/25 at 09:15 AMThanks, Rich. We once saw Joan Jett perform a New York Liberty WNBA game.
Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria on 11/25 at 10:23 AMBy definition, your “tree-hugging” does not and would not have “everything” and would most likely be thrilled with, say, a year’s pass to a state park or a used gift or perhaps just a song or poem. The goal isn’t to replace consumerism with green consumerism. The goal is, well, to change our culture from the ground up.
Love this part of the article.
I always find holidays depressing as they are usually saturated with either consumerism or ideology. Christmas was the worst growing up. Once I got to 16 or so I just found the whole shopping ritual to pull at my soul in painful ways.
The shopping had become tied to the tradition in that if you didn’t do it, you were letting down your friends and family etc. It’s a capitalist’s dream, a cultural tradition of buying their products.
My favourite days in the UK were valentines and Halloween. Surprisingly, when I was in elementary school these were still in their traditional forms and largely untouched by American Consumerism.
Valentines day was strictly for people who did not have partners. Young people, and students, would send anonymous cards, dropped secretly into their lockers or whatever, proclaiming that someone loved them. Then we all asked if you got a card and who you thought it was from. That was the whole thing.
Halloween was the night of ghosts and you had to stay in, repeat trick and treating did not exist and you were not supposed to go out. The idea of the Halloween party was to stay in and do something. You dressed only as Halloween related things (no supermans or whatever) and played traditional games and told stories.
I don’t even now when or how it happened, but one year - boom - trick or treating and a candy industry boom came along, and on Valentines you had to buy chocolates for your partner and go somewhere.
Posted by Andy from shanghai on 11/25 at 10:59 AMWhere did that second boom come from? funny
Posted by Andy from shanghai on 11/25 at 11:01 AMThanks, Andy. We could a few more booms around here. When’s your music event?
Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria on 11/25 at 01:22 PMGreat poem. I voted for the article. Saw Ed on TV the other night. I agree, but just want to add that war and also the manufacture of all of the killing military equipment has a very big impact on the environment. Right here, in my tiny quiet village, there are now Pentagon contracts to build the new and improved vehicles that will be used to escalate the AfPakIraq war. There NEVER was any plan to pull out and end the war/occupation.
Hi richie, Andy, Mickey, and all....
The prez just ‘pardoned’ the turkey. Now he should pardon the rest of the planet instead of continuing the bombing that WE started in 1991.
Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts on 11/25 at 01:54 PMGreat poem about you ‘n’ Michele, MZ.
Andy’s also spot on about holidays. I’m passing on Dead Bird Day and will head to the national (sic) forest to hike some, rain or not. That’s my dark green choice, for tomorrow anyway.
Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW on 11/25 at 01:59 PMThanks, Zen and RMJ. If I participate tomorrow in any way, it’s a time to say thanks to my Expendable comrades for another year of friendship and solidarity.
Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria on 11/25 at 02:01 PMTouching poem, Mickey. Thanks for sharing how you kids met. Imagine if you had called in sick that day. Your life would be completely different.
And I agree with Andy that the best part of the article was “The goal isn’t to replace consumerism with green consumerism. The goal is, well, to change our culture from the ground up.” I’m weary of the green whitewashing. Or are they calling it greenwashing? Well, whatever, I’m tired of it all the same.
Posted by Charles from Jersey City on 11/25 at 03:41 PMBelieve it or not, Charles, I hadn’t ever really considered that (the sick day thought experiment).
Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria on 11/25 at 04:16 PMThis guy I went to high school with worked at the WTC. He was running late the morning of 9/11 but decided to stop and shave anyway, even though it meant missing his usual train. By the time he made it to work, the buildings were already on fire so he stayed outside and never went up. Every single person he worked with died. He was the only surviving member of his company. That one decision to shave saved his life.
So incredible how one small decision can change the entire course of our lives. You could have been sick, had a day off, been out to lunch, and you never would have met your wife. But you did and your life is so much richer for it.
Posted by Charles from Jersey City on 11/25 at 11:10 PMI am fascinated by that idea and have been ever since a read a book of Daoism for the first time.
Important to differentiate between the early philosophy (that I like) and the later religion.
They thought we were an inseparable part of a single life system, or swirling cosmos and that you navigate the myriad decisions by just following your nose as you knew what to do naturally.
However, that was around 400 BC and as China was united into a mega kingdom, their themes start to alter and you have stories of the balance being way out and there are Daoist heroes who fight evil to restore the balance.
Basically, they saw the civilisation of empire as controlling our ability to live in a natural way.
They were all about “not doing” (ie happening naturally) and the new civilisation was all about “doing”.
I went way off from Charles’ point there but after writing this I think the early Daoists were the proto-eco warriors.
Posted by Andy from shanghai on 11/26 at 01:23 AMThanks for that, Charles and Andy...much appreciated.
I just put up a new post but once again, I’m expecting a bunch of Planet Green article to go live so I may be adding links.
See you all there…
Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria on 11/26 at 07:35 AM
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