I am exploding with blog. I sense that my absence of late has dissuaded some of my loyal readers, all four of you, from checking in everyday. I even suspect that I maight have lost two or three of you leaving me with perhaps just one. Who may or may not be myself. Is it sad that I'm the only reader of my blog? It is. Don't cry for me Blogarrhea, the truth is I never left you.
I believe that I am much more agreeable to bombarding you (me) with ideas and ridiculousness when I listen to NPR all day. So many enraging things.
One enraging thing: the subject of Zoos.
There are some activists trying to get Elephants out of all zoos in America. You might think that I, as a sappy liberal animal hugger, would think that Elephants should be released from zoos to roam the urban landscape and eat the detritus of our daily lives. Okay, if we were to do that I would be for it. Nothing like living amongst beasts, but I am not actually for ridding zoos of these noble creatures (noble, pants-less creatures). Before you sacrifice me to your buddhist vegan granola god, let me explain. The activists' hearts are surely in the right place, they have watched and observed and fallen in love with elephants. They have seen the behavior of the pachyderm and called it good. They are probably proponents of world wide ivory bans and natural preserves. All these are good things, with one error as I see it. How did they come to love the elephants? THEY SAW THEM IN ZOOS! Because of zoos, people have come to appreciate the wonder of exotic creatures all over the world. And these same people have gone on to fight the good preservation fight to protect the species that are qoing extinct. With the exemption probably of some native African elephant lovers, and the very rich that went on Safari while young, people are exposed to these animals up close in zoos, and only in that way, not on tv or in pictures, can a person gain appreciation for them. When they were imprisoned in small cages with cement walls it was a necessary evil, but those days are gone. Most of the big zoos in America are beatifully landcaped places, built entirely around the animal's comfort. Is it the same as the wild? No, of course not. But the wild wouldn't have been fought for as passionately as it has been if it weren't for zoos.
Plus the word zoo is remarkable for its silly sound.
Speaking of silly sounds, to my friends from New York and Easter-Coasters in general, the state "Oregon" is pronounced Or-e-GEn, not Or-e-GONE.
These are random things that have little to do with the daily workings of our lives in New York, but do have much to do with the thoughts I personally am having while living here. We had an interesting weekend, my next installment will describe some highlights from a very interesting couple of days.
Posted by ian at March 13, 2006 06:01 PMso, i read 'zoos' and didn't understand it as the plural of 'zoo' when i first looked at it.
i must have read it really fast, so the word made absolutely no sense to me. so before proceeding with the rest of the blog entry, i stopped there and mulled this new, unfamiliar word. then i thought, "maybe ian has something to say on Zoroastrianism."
then, to my dismay, i realized i am a very strange knucklehead, and won't be learning the quickest route to the nearest fire temple.
Posted by: brandi the arab at March 13, 2006 02:40 PM
Actually, I think it's Or-E-Gun.
Agree on the zoo thing & skipping back one blog, loved the snow pupil even though he should be melting from your heat wave.
Speaking of heat waves...are we headed for the end of the world with all this crazy weather? How would you explain it? Is it global warming, evil do-ers attacking us with weather machines, or maybe aliens trying to wipe us out so they can take over our planet? I think this deserves some of you blog time.
Posted by: Anza at March 13, 2006 08:07 PM