Over this weekend, I had the pleasure of reading this great article on The Guardian. It addressed something that has been on my mind for a while, and I was glad to see it gaining some traction.
I've noticed when discussing environmental issues, especially with middle-aged Americans, they love to bring up the rising human population, which of course is happening most rapidly in the developing world. It's the only environmental problem that Americans aren't contributing to much at this point. So, it's not surprising that it's a popular topic.
It's also the environmental problem that we can do almost nothing about (ethically, at least). So, talk all you want, feign concern-- but there's no solution to be found here. And people who are genuinely concerned about the earth need to focus on real solutions.
And the real solution is related to a population crisis-- it's just not the human population.
It's true that there are a lot of people, but there are way more animals farmed to feed us-- and their population is growing twice as fast as ours. Everything that goes into raising and feeding these animals uses more land and water and produces more greenhouse gases than anything else humans are doing.
Instead of trying to somehow reduce or slow the human population, wouldn't it make sense to phase out the majority of these animals that are necessary and even harmful to human health?
Too much meat is not healthy for anyone, and the inefficient way it's produced actually means way less food for people to eat.
If we had a much smaller human population, we could have meat in our diet and it would be sustainable. But the fact is, these two population problems are related-- so many people means that we can't eat the way that Americans eat for much longer. We can't solve the first part of that problem, but we do have control over the second part.
The population of agricultural animals depends entirely on the consumer demand for meat. If less meat is demanded, fewer animals will be bred. If enough individuals make this choice, land could eventually be diverted away from feed crops and grazing to grow food for people (some land could even be returned to wildlife).
This is a choice that any person can make, any time. And it does a lot more good than complaining about population booms in Asia and Africa.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
A Scathing Review of Sarah Michelson's Tournamento
I'm a part of this organization at my college where we go to local art and music events in the cities. So far, I've been to three events: two dance performances at the Walker, and a Sybarite5 Concert.
Two of these were very enjoyable. The first one though is the one I want to talk about.
Sarah Michelson's Tournamento was a torturous experience. It had no redeeming qualities.
Okay, before I get too excited about this, here's what it was:
Not dance, first of all.
It was, however, a tournament. Four teams competed in some invented game that only the players and judges understood. So, to the audience, the entire two hours were dancers jumping around the stage and yelling out letters and numbers. Oh, and Michelson herself screaming "Let's Play!" at intervals, startling the audience. The game might have had some elements of battleship or chess-- who knows.
Any messages the performance might have been trying to make became clear within five minutes: This is what sports are like to people who don't understand them. Or, this is how arbitrary and pointless sports are. Or, how arbitrary and pointless art is. Or, maybe, how inaccessible art can be (let's hope it was the last one). But whatever the message-- it went on for two hours.
Past the one hour mark, my boredom ended and I actually became crazy enough to start to understand what I was seeing unfold on stage. It became interesting-- and that made me hate it even more.
This performance is basically impossible to explain to anyone who didn't have to experience it themselves. There is no way to capture my agony in words.
Once I had my freedom, all I wanted was to find a particularly scathing of review of this so I could find some closure. (I thought I saw an art critic taking notes.) All I could find though was one review that concluded that Tournamento wasn't for the audience. Which, well, is bullshit.
Even if it wasn't for the audience it would have been nice to be included, instead of alienated and tortured. I can't watch sports anymore without being triggered.
And I'm only slightly exaggerating.
Two of these were very enjoyable. The first one though is the one I want to talk about.
Sarah Michelson's Tournamento was a torturous experience. It had no redeeming qualities.
Okay, before I get too excited about this, here's what it was:
Not dance, first of all.
It was, however, a tournament. Four teams competed in some invented game that only the players and judges understood. So, to the audience, the entire two hours were dancers jumping around the stage and yelling out letters and numbers. Oh, and Michelson herself screaming "Let's Play!" at intervals, startling the audience. The game might have had some elements of battleship or chess-- who knows.
Any messages the performance might have been trying to make became clear within five minutes: This is what sports are like to people who don't understand them. Or, this is how arbitrary and pointless sports are. Or, how arbitrary and pointless art is. Or, maybe, how inaccessible art can be (let's hope it was the last one). But whatever the message-- it went on for two hours.
Past the one hour mark, my boredom ended and I actually became crazy enough to start to understand what I was seeing unfold on stage. It became interesting-- and that made me hate it even more.
This performance is basically impossible to explain to anyone who didn't have to experience it themselves. There is no way to capture my agony in words.
Once I had my freedom, all I wanted was to find a particularly scathing of review of this so I could find some closure. (I thought I saw an art critic taking notes.) All I could find though was one review that concluded that Tournamento wasn't for the audience. Which, well, is bullshit.
Even if it wasn't for the audience it would have been nice to be included, instead of alienated and tortured. I can't watch sports anymore without being triggered.
And I'm only slightly exaggerating.
Festival Palomino 2015
Back in September, I went to Festival Palomino at Canterbury Park. This post might seem very untimely, but this week turns out to be a bit of a revival of that festival for me-- I'm seeing two of the bands again this week. I see Shakey Graves at First Ave tomorrow, and I just bought a ticket to see The Lowest Pair in Duluth on Sunday. So, here's a very belated review.
The music festival was put together by the headliner, Trampled by Turtles, and they are the reason I bought tickets way back in June. But since then, I started listening to some of the other bands in preparation and I love quite a few of them.
The first band to play was the Lowest Pair. Their sound was definitely the folkiest of the day. They are a duo who play guitar and banjo and sing beautiful, blue-grassy harmonies.
The crowd was small for the set, since they were first up, which meant I was right up to the stage. Can't wait to see them again on Sunday!
The next performer was Lydia Loveless. She had more of a rock-country vibe, but I went to the merch tent during her set, so I didn't see all of it.
After that, back at the main stage, was Calexico. They are a big group from New Mexico with a fun southwestern flair. They got the crowd engaged, and were very fun to watch.
Next up, Laura Marling. Although I like quite a few of her songs, she didn't play any I recognized so I can't say I totally enjoyed her set.
The next performer made up for it though: Shakey Graves is mostly a one-man act and he is incredible to watch live.
He is a fantastic guitar player, and watching him mess around on stage was one of the funnest parts of the day. He encouraged some audience participation during his best-known song, Dearly Departed, and the crowd was more than willing to comply.
After that, was Benjamin Booker. I was not familiar with his music before the festival-- and I'm still not. All I can tell you is that it was incredibly loud-- I went to eat dinner during his set.
Father John Misty was up next. He was fun to watch, but at times very over the top.
As the sun set, Dr. Dog gave the penultimate performance of the day. The crowd was really into this band-- and I saw why. I didn't know a lot of their music before, but I enjoyed the set.
Trampled By Turtles took the stage last, and you could tell immediately that this was the band most people came for. The crowd was wild and knew every song.
I like to describe this band as: a bunch of pudgy middle-aged men abusing stringed instruments. They are glorious to watch. The instruments include: mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle, acoustic bass, and cello. For the live show, a couple songs were supplemented with three additional violinists. To close the night, they brought out a bagpipe troupe which perfectly complemented the end of Alone.
The festival was 8 hours of straight music. The side-by-side stages meant that never more than a few minutes went silent between acts. My feet and back were killing me by the end of the night, but I was full of energy.
I expected the bands to be more folky, but the festival is really an Americana festival. It's a great variety of music for a great value. When Festival Palomino returns for a third year next fall, I hope to as well.
The music festival was put together by the headliner, Trampled by Turtles, and they are the reason I bought tickets way back in June. But since then, I started listening to some of the other bands in preparation and I love quite a few of them.
The first band to play was the Lowest Pair. Their sound was definitely the folkiest of the day. They are a duo who play guitar and banjo and sing beautiful, blue-grassy harmonies.
The crowd was small for the set, since they were first up, which meant I was right up to the stage. Can't wait to see them again on Sunday!
The next performer was Lydia Loveless. She had more of a rock-country vibe, but I went to the merch tent during her set, so I didn't see all of it.
After that, back at the main stage, was Calexico. They are a big group from New Mexico with a fun southwestern flair. They got the crowd engaged, and were very fun to watch.
Next up, Laura Marling. Although I like quite a few of her songs, she didn't play any I recognized so I can't say I totally enjoyed her set.
The next performer made up for it though: Shakey Graves is mostly a one-man act and he is incredible to watch live.
He is a fantastic guitar player, and watching him mess around on stage was one of the funnest parts of the day. He encouraged some audience participation during his best-known song, Dearly Departed, and the crowd was more than willing to comply.
After that, was Benjamin Booker. I was not familiar with his music before the festival-- and I'm still not. All I can tell you is that it was incredibly loud-- I went to eat dinner during his set.
Father John Misty was up next. He was fun to watch, but at times very over the top.
As the sun set, Dr. Dog gave the penultimate performance of the day. The crowd was really into this band-- and I saw why. I didn't know a lot of their music before, but I enjoyed the set.
Trampled By Turtles took the stage last, and you could tell immediately that this was the band most people came for. The crowd was wild and knew every song.
I like to describe this band as: a bunch of pudgy middle-aged men abusing stringed instruments. They are glorious to watch. The instruments include: mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle, acoustic bass, and cello. For the live show, a couple songs were supplemented with three additional violinists. To close the night, they brought out a bagpipe troupe which perfectly complemented the end of Alone.
The festival was 8 hours of straight music. The side-by-side stages meant that never more than a few minutes went silent between acts. My feet and back were killing me by the end of the night, but I was full of energy.
I expected the bands to be more folky, but the festival is really an Americana festival. It's a great variety of music for a great value. When Festival Palomino returns for a third year next fall, I hope to as well.
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