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March 23, 2007
Don't Shoot the Messenger
| I received this link from my friend local artist Gregg Payne. He also sent it to Anthony Watts and some others. There was no message in the email so the point he was trying to make in sending us this could have been almost anything. He could have been saying "hey, you global warming nays ayers, pull your head out before it's too late!" Or he could have been saying "have you noticed the environmental lobby marketing pieces are starting to use the same music as major car manufacturers?" He might even be implying that Carl Sagan is finally cool, even though only me and 15 other Chicoans enjoyed Cosmos. Personally, Sagan's comments about the ability to "ask skeptical questions" at the end of this clip struck me as something everybody should consider. But even though I can't fully decipher the odd mind of the artist I think he sent this to us to give us a different message. We only have one planet and it carries everything we value, or have valued, or will value. That's a message I can buy into. It's not Al Gore's church of the upcoming apocalypse. It's more BEC's Clean Creeks, USA; and less BEC's anti-highway 149. This is a message I heard as a kid. An owl with a funny hat and a memorable tag-line said it. It's also a good piece of film work, as far as messaging goes. I don't think many people would disagree with the sentiment expressed in the clip. So I thought I'd post it here. |
Posted by Lon at March 23, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
I invited Gregg to send it to me after a telephone conversation I had yesterday with him. I didn't know he sent it anywhere else, but I'm glad he did.
I agree that we can all be better stewards of our only home, as this clip demonstrates. Certainly we've made some great strides since the green movement started in the 60's.
But at the same time you can't simply mandate change. Time and again, governmental attempts at legislating social change fall short or are ignored completely (prohibition for example).
My favorite quote from Sagan is this: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof".
Posted by: Anthony at March 22, 2007 02:25 PM
I'm glad you posted, as otherwise I wouldn't have noticed I'd spelled Sagan's name wrong.
Sagan is cool. He's even had a search engine "kind-of" named after him.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 22, 2007 02:45 PM
"If we are not allowed to ask skeptical questions.
To interrogate those who tell us something is true.
To be skeptical of those in authority.
Then we're up for grabs."
This was my favorite quote. I thought it went well with the video.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at March 22, 2007 07:57 PM