Happy Birthday, Gary Snyder

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival was held in Nevada City, California where Gary Snyder described the role of the writer in preserving Earth:

Practice of the Wild, a film about Snyder that features vintage footage and a current and in depth conversation between he and fellow poet and novelist Jim Harrison, will be one of this year’s festival features.

From Garrison Keilor's Writer's Almanac:

Most of the Beats were city kids, and they found Snyder fascinating because he grew up in the woods of Washington and Oregon, was interested in nature, and had worked as a logger, a seaman, and a fire lookout.

Consumerism seems so perversely banal on Mother's Day. How Coca Cola, Archer Daniels Midland, and News Corpse have fattened themselves and us on sugar water is patently offensive and criminal. Drilling for the petroleum to make containers that end up in landfills is malicious and hateful.

Advertising is a gateway drug; it should be subject to increased taxation.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a "sensational" spring runoff. The Missoulian sez:

"This is going to be a year unlike (any) one we have seen in quite some time," Gina Loss told the Great Falls Tribune. "This will not be a business-as-usual runoff year. If you live close to water, be prepared. The later we go into the spring, the quicker it can happen." She said a sudden warming spell could create a real threat. Forecasters said another storm is heading for the state with up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains starting Sunday. Adding to the concern, she said, is that the ground is already saturated.

The entire state of New Mexico is under a red flag warning.