The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."

Watch Ken Burn's six-episode documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, every night this week on your PBS station: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/

These are some of "my" national parks that I have already visited (at least once) . . . .

This is What Happens When You Have a Melting Pot

The Stew Gets Darker!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Reform Madness - White Minority
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

You Can Help Hummingbirds by . . .

Making Your Backyard a Hummingbird Restaurant

The life of a hummingbird consists of a relentless search for food. In areas settled by humans, the flowers that hummingbirds have evolved to hunt down and suck dry often disappear.

The good news is that the lost natural food sources can be easily replaced by planting the right plants and providing sugar water* in hummingbird feeders.

Including Some Good Hummingbird Plants in Your Landscape

	Bee Balm Monarda didyma This perennial blooms in midsummer and grows about three feet tall. There are many varieties of colors and sizes available at nurseries. The variety Jakob Kline is resistant to powdery mildew.
	Cardinal Flower Lobelia cardinalis A red spike of flowers arises from the basal leaves of this perennial in late summer. This plant tolerates some shade and prefers a moist soil.
	Trumpet Creeper Campsis radicans A tall, vigorous vine, the large flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. The pictured variety has yellow flowers but most often they have red flowers.
	Coral Honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens This well-behaved vine flowers profusely in April and May and then sporadically throughout the summer. With the return of cooler weather in the fall, it flowers heavily again. The pictured variety has yellow flowers but they are usually pinkish-red.
	Columbine Aquilegia canadensis This perennial blooms from April to June and grows about one foot high. It tolerates some shade and likes to grow amid rocks.

*Making Safe Hummingbird Food

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

1. Mix 1 part sugar with 4 parts water and bring to a boil to kill any bacteria or mold present.
2. Cool and fill feeder.
3. Extra sugar water may be stored in a refrigerator.
4. Red dye should not be added.

Be Environmentally Responsible. Save Water.

You don't have to understand Portuguese to understand this message from a Brazilian nonprofit environmental group about saving water by . . .
well, watch the video.

(If you MUST know what the kids are saying, here's the translation: "Pee in the shower! We want everyone to do it! Men! Women! Children! Brazilians! Or not! Nobles! Commoners! Musicians! Sports stars! People half-human, half-monster. Twilight creatures! Brazilian legends. Greek legends. Good people. Not so good people. Art geniuses. Science geniuses Circus performers. Lovers! People from other planets! Movie stars!")

Apparently King Kong doesn't have to restrict his environmental activism to the shower!

Made in America

Made in America

Shared via AddThis

Playing For Change

If we can sing in harmony, we can live in harmony!



Since April when I first experienced Playing For Change (PFC), I've been trying to figure out how to share the love with you here on my blog. This little "Gydget" gives you access to some of my favorite videos. I would recommend "Stand by Me," "One Love," "War/No More Trouble," "Don't Worry," and "Chanda Mama." If you like what you hear -- and I can't imagine you won't -- I encourage you to support the concept and the artists by buying the CD/DVD "Songs Around The World."

What's Your NPR Name?

I'm Martia SanCarlos thanks to Liana and Eric, who seem to have invented this game. . . .

"Eric and I recently discovered a shared fascination with the slew of impossibly named NPR hosts we listen to every day: Renee Montagne, Steve Inskeep, Corey Flintoff, Korva Coleman, Kai Ryssdal, Dina Temple-Raston.In fact, we’ve often wondered what it would be like to be one of them. A Nina Totenberg or a Renita Jablonski. A David Kestenbaum or a Lakshmi Singh. Even (on our most ambitious days) a Cherry Glaser or a Sylvia Poggioli.

So finally, after years of Fresh Air sign-off ambitions, we came up with a system for creating our own NPR Names. Here’s how it works: You take your middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then you add on the smallest foreign town you’ve ever visited.

So I’m Liarna Kassel. And Eric is Jeric Bath. I even have a new nickname for my little brother in Dylsan Rosarita."