I don’t know what to say

OK, I ran across this photo on the Internet while researching the Going Green phenomenon.

I have several comments and questions -

WHY?

Is this dog still alive? Do you remember reading about Buddy Ebson, who became terribly sick during the beginning of filming of “Wizard of Oz”? That silver makeup they lathered him up with to look like the Tin Man forced him to withdraw from the project.  And remember when the movie “Goldfinger” hit the theaters, and the famous movie poster of the woman painted gold? There were about a zillion rumors flying around that she had died because every pore of her body was clogged with paint, causing her skin to cease “breathing”.

What is that woman in the photo doing? Is she the proud owner of the dog? The colorist admiring her work? Is she taking a final look before being carted away in handcuffs for animal abuse?

I had a dog back in the early 80’s who slid her belly through some mud (deep brown) to cool off, caught a squirrel and killed it, getting (red) blood all over her snout and head, then rolled, on her back,  in some fresh cow manure (green). She was quite a site, I wish I had a picture of her. At least these colors washed off of her quickly. I’m thinking this poor poodle looked like that for a good month, at least.

Are dogs color blind? Dogs do have some color vision but not as much as humans. Dogs have a particular form of colorblindness called deuteranopia. They can see gray, violet blue, and colors in the yellow-green genre. do you think this dog is conscious of the silliness of all this green largese? Self esteem issues??

gilmark

Going Green – farmers

Recently I was listening to a radio report about a conference on farming and the associated costs of fuel in relation to getting goods to market. Unfortunately I joined in near the tail end of the report, and missed a lot of it.

There was the usual discussion about buying vegetables locally, or at least, regionally, to cut down on the amount of fuel needed to move the goods. Also discussed was what it actually costs to move raw materials to manufacturing plants and getting finished products to market. A few people were interviewed, then a couple of men who were identified as paper executives (the Weyerhauser, International Paper, Georgia Pacific type of paper executives – i.e., the companies deforesting the earth wherever and whenever they get a chance) were discussing replanting forests that had been harvested for the lumber. It was the basic, company press release information that we’ve heard a thousand times.

Then, this gem, as these gents were trying to justify their connection to the conference – “We’re farmers too; we just plant trees.”

Hop on the bandwagon, boys, anything to go green.

Going Green

Let’s just all jump on the green bandwagon. Please tell me when it stops; I want off already.

I don’t mind one bit our country’s current fascination with ecologically responsible actions. What I do mind is when corporations feel compelled to tout their ecologically responsible actions. First and foremost in this shameless act of self-righteousness is Waste Management, always mentioned (in the past) as one of the biggest polluters on the planet. Now their trucks are adorned with a “Think Green” logo, and their website has a new slogan, “Think Green. Think Waste Management”. They even have a page for “Environmental Stewardship”. I might add that “Think Green” is a registered trademark of theirs. They were smart enough, and well ahead of the curve on this one, to snap up the domain name “www.ThinkGreen.com”. Good for them. I’m still skeptical.

This past week I’ve seen advertisements for Macy’s, Windex (still blue), a golf course (!), and a corporate conglomerate’s headquarters, all going green. Good for them.

I’m waiting for the inevitable – selling the rights to use Kermit the Frog as some corporate shill. Gosh I hope that doesn’t happen. Kermit’s been around since 1955, and in 1996, he gave a commencement speech at Southampton College in which he emphasized his environmentalist side. Kermit’s been a responsible puppet for decades.

“It’s Not Easy Being Green”, lyrics by Joe Rapposo

It’s not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold…
or something much more colorful like that.

It’s not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ord’nary things.
And people tend to pass you over ’cause you’re
not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
or stars in the sky.

But green’s the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,
or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
Wonder, I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!
And I think it’s what I want to be.

So where is this all leading? Well, we will be seeing more of Ed Begley, Jr. who has been living the ‘green’ life for quite some time. Which direction would Ed would go after Spinal Tap? Green is the answer. I think aliens will be making another huge comeback; they’ve always been green.

Target is probably kicking themselves for using a red logo. Just imagine, a couple years from now, bowing to the ‘green’ pressure -

Imagine the Blue Man Group, Smiley Face, and the St. Louis Cardinals -

Going Green will be subject to revisit and revision and revulsion as time marches on.

gilmark