THE WEEKENDER :) CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT

THE BEST FUTURE BUSINESS?

      A few years ago I was at an international broadcast and communications trade show and forum when CNN founder Ted Turner said something that floored me.  He was asked if he was just getting started what would he invest in?  Television, computers, the Internet, wireless, telephony, or  what?

      Without a moment's hesitation he said "Water."

      I've seen "war game" strategies and table top drills where

wars are fought over water and where civil authorities train to maintain order when water supplies are sparse.  

     I told an inventor friend I wish I could develop a system that could produce water.  "Can't be done" he said.  That may be true, but what a boon for human kind.  

     In the meantime here is something absolutely beautiful,

calming and celebratory about water.  This is a stunning 

piece about some of the freshest water in the world, just about 3 1/2 hours from where I sit typing this.

     Take a few minutes this weekend to watch this.  It is majestic and ultimately, important.

See you down the trail.  

THE WEEKENDER :) A CHUCKLE & A WONDER

NOT THE LIKE THE OLD DAYS

Nothing too heavy since this is a weekend, but

things in the media have changed and gotten very silly.

Jon Stewart's Daily Show often shows how

there is a parrot like mindlessness to what is

said on TV.  Suffice it to say, before huge cutbacks

and before people with seniority were let go because

their pay checks were what they were, it 

didn't used to happen.  You know, the good old days.

Enough!  Just click on this and "enjoy(?)" the

vapid.

By the way despite the disclaimer

at the beginning-it is simply laziness,

  and not editing the copy that was sent to the

smaller news stations rather than some kind of control issue that led to "pushing the envelope."

NOW FOR ANOTHER KIND OF SHILL,

BUT WHAT WONDER

See you down the trail.

MAGNIFICENT YOSEMITE

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

        My friend Maura is planning a California jaunt for her Irish cousins and I've been helping with logistics.  Yosemite is a center piece of their visit.

       In 1851 an ongoing battle between gold miners and the native inhabitants, American Indians, reached a point where the famous Mariposa Battalion was sent in.  Probably from the moment the Battalion saw the place, word about it's beauty began to spread.

          On June 30, 1864 President Abraham Lincoln set aside a grove of sequoias in the valley.  That marked the creation of the first state park in the US.  Naturalist John Muir, who explored this wilderness, campaigned for federal park status.  It took 26 years and in 1890 Yosemite became a national park.

       Two rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne flow through the park.  There are 196 miles of road and 800 miles of trails. 

        The waterfalls are a signature, always spectacular, and even more so after a winter with lots of snow.

 Do you see the sprite or spirit dancing out of this falls in this frame?

      The land is described as "colossal."  Indeed it is.  It ranges from 2,000 feet to 13,000 and most of it is true wilderness.

I wish every American could see Yosemite.  It is more than sheer beauty,

it is an attitude and sense of being.  We have made repeated visits and will 

continue to do so.


THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE DRAMA PLAYING OUT AT YOSEMITE AS THEY TRY TO BLAST AWAY 17 FEET OF SNOW BLOCKING THE FAMED TIOGA PASS. LINK HERE FOR A GREAT PIECE BY MIKE ANTON IN THE LA TIMES.

See you down the trail.