| APRIL 2010 |
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Screen out: Turn off the TV and see what happens
IN TELEVISION’S EARLIEST days, when the world was free of reality TV and game shows, soap operas and sitcoms, there were many who thought that the medium wouldn’t be able to compete with radio. Today, the average American home has its TV on for a staggering eight hours a day.
Anne O'Connor |
Second Life
LAST YEAR I encountered the new generation of computer groups in a fascinating site called Second Life. Things have progressed beyond mere typed words on the screen. Now we are issued avatars, or little computer figures we can move across the screen, using the up/down and left/right keys. Dialogue is mostly typed, but increasingly can be done via computer microphones.
John Sime |
In praise of green spaces
I REMEMBER WHEN I first moved to the Pacific Northwest, I was captivated by the sheer amount of natural space that was at my disposal. In every direction from my home in Olympia, there was a state or national forest within a half hour, not to mention the many state parks and unnamed county forests.
Mitch Hopkins |
Josh Brown
DESPITE APPEARANCES, JOSH BROWN’S work is serious business, something he prepared for with a degree in exercise science from Central College in Pella, Iowa. The 26-year-old started working at the Wellness Center shortly after his graduation in 2006.
Marilyn Leys |
Hot water happiness
Q: We are planning to replace our old water heater; what are our options?
David Romary |
Spring is prime time bird season
IT’S SPRING! THERE are no better words for a birder.
The calendar says spring started on March 20. In my heart, spring starts when I see my first red-winged blackbird. How about you?
Dan Peak |
Women and men redefining roles
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER Pat? You know, the inscrutably androgynous office grunt from Saturday Night Live? Well for those of you who don’t remember, Pat was funny because you couldn’t tell whether she was a man or a woman, which caused an uncomfortable and ultimately humorous tension for the viewer. No one knew how to treat Pat because she couldn’t be identified as a man or a woman.
Matthew Voz |
A vote for TV-free life
IT’S PROBABLY IMPORTANT to say in this issue that I don’t own a television and don’t watch TV. That my kids have pretty serious limits on how long they can listen, even, to books on tape. That I can list on both hands the movies that my kids have seen in their lives. That I have watched fewer than a handful in the past year ¬myself.
Anne O'Connor |
Sun and sap herald the end of winter
IT’S EARLY FEBRUARY. I spend the bulk of my days inside doing office work, but I can see the wet road through the windows, and I know the sun is higher in the sky, finally putting out some heat. My colleagues tell me that it feels good out there, but the air still has a bite to it.
Doreen O'Donnell |
Poet: Edward Schultz
LOCAL POET EDWARD Schultz has spent the past six years bringing poets from around the region to read. With the funding help of a local sponsor, Schultz has drawn the likes of David Rhodes, author of Driftless; John Lehman, founder of the national poetry magazine Rosebud; and Wisconsin poet laureate Marilyn Taylor. Schultz also hosts a writing group and has spent a lot of time encouraging local writers. |
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