Coverwall

Moore, who stumbled across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by accident, looks more like a sailor than a scientist, and his language is as salty as his thick head of curly hair. Unlike other researchers, used to the measured talk of scientific conferences, Moore cuts to the heart of the matter. “All this bullshit about going out there and scooping this stuff up—you can’t scoop this stuff up!” he says. “No way in hell you’re going to get that out of there—it’s just not feasible! The idea that there’s this ‘convergence zone’ in the gyre, and the plastic waste all goes there—well, if it’s all going there, it’s coming from other places and screwing up those parts of the ocean too. If the input is constant, then that just makes the whole ocean fucked up.” … [Read more...] about An Ocean of Plastic

Undeterred, Obama and Salazar appeared together at Andrews Air Force Base on March 31st to introduce the plan. The stagecraft was pure Rove in its technicolor militaristic patriotism. The president’s podium was set up in front of the cockpit of an F-18, flanked by a massive American flag. “We are not here to do what is easy,” Salazar declared. “We are here to do what is right.” He insisted that his reforms at MMS were working: “We are making decisions based on sound information and sound science.” The president, for his part, praised Salazar as “one of the finest secretaries of Interior we’ve ever had” and stressed that his administration had studied the drilling plan for more than a year. “This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly,” he said. Two days later, he issued an even more sweeping assurance. “It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills,” the … [Read more...] about The Spill, The Scandal and the President

“We were fairly brave, and would put anything on a record that amused us one way or another,” says Gilmour. “But in some of those moments we were floundering about, and didn’t have our forward momentum very clear, and inspiration might have been a bit thin on the ground at times. Moving on from our ‘Psychedelic Breakfast’ moments – which is great in its way, but I’d never want to listen to it really – to something more concrete like ‘Echoes’ was much more satisfying.” 1971’s “Echoes” was Floyd’s most successful long-form piece before Dark Side, a 23-minute tune that works from start to finish. Adds Waters, ” ‘Echoes’ was the closest precursor in terms of construction and the musicality of it. The other thing that I’d point to is ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ which in a musical sense was similar. It had a number of movements, it had a fast bit and a slow bit. … [Read more...] about Pink Floyd: Journey to the Dark Side