Auto bailout

If the government is going to be giving money to the auto industry, the American auto industry should have to shape up a little bit in my opinion. I am more supportive of giving money to automakers than all the banks we bailed out. At least the auto industry produces a real product. Those bankers were speculating on futures and not even dealing with any real product it seems like. The American auto industry is a huge part of or country. It helps feed the economy, when it is working, it gives jobs to lots of people, and in a way it is symbolic. My dad has been driving Ford cars for years. It is hard to imagine an America with out people driving Ford cars. So, I think in the end they should help out the American auto industry, but there should be terms that force them to become competitive again.

Purg

Man it is nice to hear that both our local ski areas, Wolf Creek and Purgatory, are both open! I am a complete skiing junkie and have had it on the brain for some time now. All we need is a little more snow. With any luck there really is snow in the forecast next week. A little powder skiing would be a nice way to unwind after a long semester.

Edward Abbey Project

I just completed a presentation yesterday in my Southwest Literature class on Edward Abbey. One of the great American writers of the southwest. I you have never had a chance to read any of his stuff, I would highly recommend Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang to anyone. In total I think he wrote around 22 books, but those are his most famous publications. If you've ever spent any time in the Southwest, the imagery in Desert Solitaire is excellent. I have spent a good amount of time in various parts of Utah and every time I pick up this book and just flip to a page, it brings me right back there. Describing how incredibly hot it is, how dry it is, how quickly you get incredibly thirsty, and almost seeing the heat waves coming off the rock in the middle of the day. The sun so high you cannot find shade anywhere during the day. Pretty cool place if you ever get a chance to check it out. This is a video I included in my presentation.

Cool Picture

On the topic of Edward Abbey, I though I'd put up a copy of a cool picture my friend Andrew took while we were camping in Utah two years ago. It was the perfect book to read while we were camping not too far south of where the book takes place. I'd highly recomend it.

Future of the newspaper

It is hard to deny that the newpaper industry is going through a transitional period right now. This was brought on by both the rapid advancement in technology and the change in readership. No to mention many publicatins are taking a hit right now in the midst of our economic turmoil. For instance, long standing newspaper the Rocky Mountain News is currently up for sale. If nobody purchases it it will just cease to exist. That's strange to me as I always remember my dad reading the Rocky Mountain News when I was growing up. It is a changing world that we are forced to adapt with, or perish. The media industry is no different. The market for online media is becoming stronger everyday. Our old friend the newspaper is beginning to follow suit. Many daily news readers, especially the younger generation, are turning to the net for their news these days. It has it's advantages. You can read news that it updated throughout the day, you can get what news you want when you want it, and it is free (for the most part) and easy. This new availability of choices allows you to skip what you don't care about and move on to what you're interested in. Is this really a good thing though? The newspaper has been good to our culture. It created a common base of knowledge in our culture because everyone was reading the same stuff. The availability of choices now seems like it is fragmenting the consumers into smaller groups who are interested it the same things. The possibilities are many for the online media. However, is it going to fill the shoes being left by the slow demise of the newspaper? My generation is going to be the ones to find out.

Voting Day

I has always been an interesting experience going to vote ever since I have been of age. I don't know about anyone else but I had followed the campaign pretty much from begining to end. It is always sort of a relief when you drop that ballot into the box. I was thinking " wow another presidential election is finally over." This was a long and intracite election. A beauty of a campaign by the Obama camp if you ask me. I voted using the standard paper ballot because I still don't trust those computerized voting machines. I've got hard evidence to show who I want elected to office. Once Obama is innaugerated he is going to have to get busy right from the start. Best of luck to him.

Halloween Zombie March

The "Zombie March" last night down Main St. Durango was quite the spectacle. Quite the dispaly of power in numbers. Except for the various unlucky few the we witnessed being arrested. I suppose it is only to be expected that there's going to be some turmoil at an event such as that. There was an impressive showing of people that found out about the event by word of mouth mostly. Though there was an article in the Durango Herald. For the most part I was impressed with how smooth everything went considering how rowdy the present crowd seemed to be. All things considered it was a pretty cool thing to witness and be a part of. Not every Halloween is quite that exciting.