[Sixstrings]

All of Burns films are pretty good, but I have to admit they literally put me to sleep.. I've never managed to watch the whole Civil War series, and didn't even try with "Baseball" or that one on Jazz he did. They're all good, though.. I just fall asleep watching them.

So I gave his latest a try.. and I think he got this one right. Great historical detail and depth, pretty cinematography, and at 6 episodes it isn't too long. And, I didn't fall asleep watching it.

I did notice that all of Burns' sponsors are the usual corporate badguys we all love to hate (AIG, Bank of America, GM). I find that sort of disturbing, that PBS is so beholden to this group.. it means they're even less independent than commercial TV.

But, evil sponsors aside, one can't consume just Doom all the time.. "The National Parks" is a feel-good series worth watching, and I learned quite a bit from it.

Our national parks are gorgeous places, and are dirt-cheap to visit. After watching the series, I really want to get out to Yosemite:

Wow, does it get any more gorgeous than that?

PBS has aired the last episode, but I'm sure they'll be repeating it again and again. I looked up the webstie, and it appears you can watch the whole thing online:

http://video.pbs.org/program/1072181584

[hironegro]

Have any of them been explored for fossil fuels?

[frankthetank]

I watched about 75% of the 6 episodes and i thought they were pretty good. A lot of neat stories in there. I want to go to the Grand Canyon now. I think that would be #1 on my list. I thought a little too much Yellowstone/Yosemite in this program.


I've always viewed the Rockerfellers as "evil" but after seeing all them money they put into buying land for the park system, i no longer hold that view. I thought it was cool that they put up a front company (posing as cattle ranchers) buying up all the land around the Tetons in WY. You don't see Bill Gates or Warren Buffet doing that? Also kudos to Muir. That guy also ranks highly in my book. Sounds like his dad was one mean sob, but jr ended up doing very well for himself.

Oh..and those Alaskans are a bunch of nut jobs. Burning Carter in effigy??? wtf? People are just stupid.

[hillsidedigger]

One way to postpone a doom scenario would be to preserve an adequate portion of the natural world.

Most peoples and nations that have ever existed cared to preserve none of it if there was a profit to be exchanged for.

So, late in the game, one country decided to undertake a pitifully poor effort to preserve part of the natural world. That's nice, I really like my visits to national parks and other wild places but the Palin's of the world are intent on liquidating it all and in the end, they will win and all will lose.

Take heart, all is not lost for this world was designed to be ephemeral.

[Jotapay]

I saw most of one of the episodes the other night. I really like Ken Burn's docs. I've seen most of them. Watch the one about Mark Twain. It's on Netflix. It's very interesting (he is one of my favorite American writers).

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')
Our national parks are gorgeous places, and are dirt-cheap to visit. After watching the series, I really want to get out to Yosemite:

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'I') saw most of one of the episodes the other night. I really like Ken Burn's docs. I've seen most of them. Watch the one about Mark Twain. It's on Netflix. It's very interesting (he is one of my favorite American writers).

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('timmac', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')
Our national parks are gorgeous places, and are dirt-cheap to visit. After watching the series, I really want to get out to Yosemite:

[SILENTTODD]

I loved every installment of Burns 'Civil War'; but of course I had two ancestors that fought on the Union side. One of them spent a year at the Andersonville prisoner of war camp (see photo above). If you don't know anything about that, look it up in your Funk and Wagnall.

[dinopello]

I saw most of episode 5 last night. I can tell it would be something i like to watch.

I wonder how the Libertarians on the board feel about Federal National Parks. I tried to ask Ron Paul about it but he wouldn't take the question.

[AgentR]

Mostly liberatarian of right wing bent here...

Having been to several, as well as having spent enough days in essentially unimproved designated wilderness areas; my thoughts are that the National Parks are like Zoos for mountains. There is a level of civilization and control involved such that people see the object, and assume that they are experiencing "nature" but are really not getting more exposure than they would on TV but with a bit of "scent-o-vision" tacked on.

Not that Zoos are bad; they are good educational and conservation tools; but they aren't the real deal either. No plant eating mammal should ever stand there looking at a 200 pound predator with stereoscopic vision as if nothing interesting was approaching. That happens in Zoos, and it happens in National Parks. No excursion into the bush should be bound by timetables, reservations, and itineraries; thats for hotels and fine restaurants.

Wilderness should not be safe.

Thats my qualitative thought on it. Against the philosophy of libertarian principles, its kinda murky, does the government have a right to own land? If it does, then the lands held in the NP/NF/BLM systems is mostly reasonable stuff that has no other suitable owner. If the land were auctioned, or just deeded out, would the owners be able to afford their tax assessments anyway? In fact, a good many homes and such were established on these lands, and after much stubbornness, the people living there decided that it was just too stupid for words, and either left or died. About the only radical thought I have about the federal land thing is that they should pay regular property taxes just like everyone else; get rid of the special considerations, grants, etc, and just pay.

[SFDukie]

Re Yosemite, May and Sept/Oct are great times to visit-weather is often excellent in the early fall before the weather systems start dropping rain/snow (typically in late Oct or early Nov). The parts of YNP which bear the vast brunt of tourist numbers are the Yosemite Valley and Tuolome meadows-one can achieve solitude and excellent views by taking trails to the valley rim from CA hwy 120. 120 closes with the first significant snowfall until labor day or so...
Hetch Hetchy is a part of the park which is uncrowded and is worth a visit.