Train of Thought

Rice paddy art, after Hokusai, which I’ll readily admit has a most tenuous connection to the subject matter of this post.

This:
Several factors are contributing to the steep rice in prices. Rising affluence in India and China has increased demand. At the same time, drought and other bad weather have reduced output in Australia and elsewhere. Many rice farmers are turning to more lucrative cash crops, reducing the amount of land devoted to the grain. And urbanization and industrialization have cut into the land devoted to rice cultivation.
Which came from an article in today’s NYT: High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest

Reminded me of this:
But it’s true. We are running out of farmland and some people, like finance guru James Cramer in his recent column for New York magazine urging readers to invest in farm supply equipment, are suggesting — only a little facetiously — that housing developments may need to be razed to clear the way for more farmland.
from an excellent article by Allison Arieff about urban farming, Cows Grazing in the Rumpus Room.

Bats Perish, and No One Knows Why. (God we are seriously fucked, aren’t we?)

Which took me on a brief, mournful tangent of thoughts about the dying bats* and the missing bees.** After that mental detour (detailed below) I resumed thoughts of urban gardening, which got me to thinking about parking lots all covered with daisies:

(Nothing but) Flowers by The Talking Heads. Damn, that David Byrne is a handsome man.

And from there I went back to this, for reasons that I am not even going to get into:

Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band. Hairstyles were different back then.

* Sub-tangent to the bat tangent: I bought some of Katz Coffee’s incredibly delicious Bat City Blend beans when I was in Bat City (aka Austin, TX) itself. If their web site were working I’d buy more in a second, because it’s just that good and besides, what about the bats? A portion of the proceeds benefits Bat Conservation International, which organized a bat watching trip to the Zambia that my friend Antony Van Couvering went on several years ago.

* Sub-tangent to the bees tangent: Yes that is another seemingly useless domain that I own. Speaking of which, the NY Post has a not-to-be-missed photo gallery of hookers made famous by Eliot Spitzer. Just what you expect from the Post, nonstop class!