February 29, 2008 by Julie.

Savannah: We didn’t do much of any environmental note except for our regular daily homework, and a lunch stop at the infamous Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room, where the banquet is SO worth the standing line…and there is always a line. Also, unless you come in a big group, you will be sitting with folks you haven’t met before, which makes for some interesting conversations. In our case, an nice friendly discussion about what’s going on environmentally across the nation suddenly became one man’s soapbox about those g**damn immigrants who need to be sent back to Mexico, and how are we talking about that issue. Which sent me into a red-faced emotional headplace producing only a shaky, “Well, that’s not really the issue…” and “…aren’t we a nation of immigrants?…” at which point the man across from me barked, “My people did it LEGALLY!!” And so, with Ben’s hand squeezing my leg, I focused squarely on what was left of my meal, for the REST of the meal (which was impossible not to enjoy as it was the blueberry cobbler which is to die for, however distracted I was) while Ben and Mark swayed the conversation in more thoughtful ways…

Before we left Savannah, we took a nice walk through the historic old town, Ben several times gave his standard stamps of approval, “I really like this town,” and, “I think I could live here.” We stopped at an antiques store that had Ben waxing poetic about building furniture from uncut wood, and we hit my favorite store, the Goodwill! I got a pair of pyjama pants for $2.50. Because I and the child are not fitting into my pants very well anymore and I have to get used to sleeping with clothes on whenever all 3 of us share a room together. Compromise.

We drove though miles and miles of pine forests on our way through Georgia, along Interstate 15 to Athens, some forests still dense, some selectively cleared and some completely razed, with heaping dead piles of trees awaiting a burn, as they are now considered trash. I will never understand that complete waste of energy. We passed signs saying, “500 acres for sale, $4000 per acre,” and I wondered how soon developers would turn all these woods into another sterile suburbia …just what Georgia needs… but it’s progress, they say…

Posted in Travelog, Issues, Julie | 3 Comments »

February 28, 2008 by Julie.

Florida is a bit different from most other states… a bit jungle: alligators, crocodiles, manatees and a bit bird paradise: great and snowy egrets, blue herons, kingfishers, anhingas and the crazy big pink birds…flamingoes and spoonbills… Ben is in love with Spanish moss and oranges. Mark and I love the sea air…

In the morning Ben and I got up leisurely from our bed in Orlando, ate breakfast, and took a walk…Where else would we get to watch a snowy egret stalk the neighborhood, eat a lizard out of someone’s bushes, and then take off flying through the trees and over the houses…this gigantic, perfect, snow white bird so at home in a regular neighborhood? So very cool. But the mosquitos are as big as the ones in Alaska -one is still stuck to the inside of my car window, by my crusty blood.

Our next stop: Jacksonville. We took off a little later than we had planned, which was the cause of some minor consternation in the car but, whatever, Ben got his bird shots in at Cape Canaveral and Mark got his phone calls in to some Atlanta contacts, and we got to our hosts pretty close to the time we hoped to arrive, and all in one piece. Almost immediately we set out for Ruby Tuesday’s, which has become our default eatery in the South, as they have organic greens in their pretty decent salad bar…

From Jax we day-tripped out to the Timucuan Ecological Preserve - actually quite large, it is the only National Park which includes federal, state and privately owned land, and which has disconnected pieces all around the area. We arrived at the Kingsley Plantation, and were met in the parking lot by Ranger Dan Tardona, who explained that Barbara, our pointperson, had come down with the flu and so he’d be taking her place. We followed him to the edge of the waterway… looked down on a whole shore of oysters (which can’t be eaten bc of the pollution in the river)…and filmed as he relayed the importance of helping people feel connected to natural places so that they feel a sense of stewardship with them and so that they care to conserve.

The whole time were all attacked by swarms of no-see-ums. Throughout the interview Dan was a pro, only twice calmly brushing one of the little stinging creeps from the corner of his eye or out of his ear. The boys, however, were dancing around like clowns and i was squinting and brushing my face pretty much the whole time. Thank goodness the 3 of us weren’t really on camera. We were invited to stick around for the dancing but, frankly, the bugs had worn out our welcome. And it’s WINTER. “You should be here in the summer with the yellow flies,” Dan said. Now I remember why my mother was sort of ready to leave Florida.

Our amazing hosts took over our laundry while we were gone, fed us supper when we returned, and even treated us to a movie after!! Oh what a rare treat! (Thank you, Bonnie & Gleycia!!) We watched the film, “Michael Clayton,” with George Clooney, with no preconceived notions, and really liked it. Nice to relax and watch someone else’s work for a change. Even if it did have an environmental bent.

Next day our hosts made us breakfast again!! and we set off warm and fuzzy for Georgia, but stopping first to speak with the director for St. John’s Riverkeepers, Jimmy Orth. The boys interviewed Jimmy about how the water shortages have affected the river as well as the continued impending development requiring every more water to be drained. Jimmy said that an important aspect of St, John’s is how slowly it flows, making it much more difficult to clean up when pollutants run into it. Development all over Florida is booming and developers don’t seem to care much about what happens when they pull several hundred million gallons extra out of a river that is already having a hard time keeping up with demand.

I stayed apart and visited with Jimmy’s lovely wife, Genora, and delicious new baby, Eli! Hooray! She filled me in on which cloth diapers actually don’t leak and gave me links to a few green baby websites that I can’t wait to check out…

And we finally got to meet our good friend Joanelle Mulrain, who singlehandedly hooked us up with at least half of our interviews for Florida, by email alone. Joanelle is one of the whirlwinds who makes our job humanly possible. Thank you, Joanelle.

So. Water wars? As Jimmy Orth’s Riverkeeper shirt says, “Whiskey’s for Drinking. Water’s for fighting over.” –Mark Twain.
We’ll be keeping an eye out to see what happens with water in the Southern states, and we’ll be sure to ask Georgians what they think about who should be watering their lawns…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 2 Comments »

February 25, 2008 by Julie.

I think i may have mentioned I used to live in Florida, but we must have stayed home alot when I was growing up bc I don’t remember seeing the kinds of wildlife we have been seeing in the preserves the last few days. For instance, I had no idea there was such a bird as an Anhinga, or that their entire body drops below the surface of the water when they swim so that only their long skinny neck sticks out, like a little wet feathered Lochness…(This one is stretching her wings…)

We spoke with former schoolteacher, Connie Washburn of Friends of the Everglades, who gave us some history of the wetlands, as well as of the attempts at restoration and preservation. She explained that this ecosystem is like no other on Earth, due partly to its being a peninsula. Very many migrating birds also use it as a stopping place on their long routes. The Everglades Restoration is the very biggest of its kind and the eyes of the world are watching - all the more reason, she says, to really do it right. Connie believes in the importance of teaching children to respect the environment when they are young (see: Young Friends of the Everglades) and of getting citizens involved and caring about their communities in order to protect them. She gave us her blessing, sent us off with directions to the Everglades and some oranges from her backyard trees, and even lt us donate our week’s worth of COMPOST into her backyard compost pile. (Thanks, Connie!!)

Since we were worried about not being able to film in Everglades National Park without a permit, we entered the Everglades through Big Loop Road. We rolled past some old people fishing a slimy looking dark pond inhabited by 3 young alligators. One lady flung her little redbelly fish up onto the bank and the young gator who had been following her progress came right up onshore to steal it from her! YIKES. Those old folks just poked that gator with their fishing rods till it hissed and eventually went back in the pond. I was somewhat relieved to move on.

One magical bridge held many birds on either side and many birdwatchers, who respectfully quiet and spoke only in whispers so as not to disturb the animals in their protected habitat. What a privilege. One birder, an environmental geologist, was interested in what we were doing there, so the boys picked his brain while I learned from his wife the names of some of the birds we were seeing - that’s where I learned about the Anhinga - wonderful! Alas, feeling the road calling, we reluctantly got back in the car and set off for Orlando, where we were greeted warmly by our next hosts, Terry and Albert. I settled in for bed while Ben and Mark hashed out text for the Oregon video, which Ben finally was able to finish, God love him, and Mark was able to deploy. Woohoo!

The next morning we woke to rain, which seemed crap luck since both our scheduled interviews that day were outside but, as we drove to meet Jim Thomas at his office, the sky cleared, and we headed to Lake Apopka’s Oakland Nature Preserve, 128 of acres of reclaimed farmland restored to forested wetlands. As you can see from the picture, it is greener than green and incredibly LUSH. They have a few problems with invasives (like Taro from Hawaii) which appeared when hurricanes knocked down the old canopy of maples, but the Park has had terrific success transforming basically sterile farmland, and the community shows its appreciation by sponsoring continued progress. Jim says that there is no end to the work, and we believe him. Just when you think you can rest, there is the next battle. But, what are you going to do? Not fight it? Not Jim…

And not Jim Peterson either, who took us around to the North side of Lake Apopka to show us the intake pumps which suck water from the Lake to be filtered trough a mechanical system and returned. He compared a sample of water from near the intake pipes with water coming out of the filtration system. Both were greenish but only the unfiltered water was foggy. This fat gator makes his home near where the clear water pours out from huge pipes.

We were rushing late for our next interviewee - environmental author and documentarian, Bill Belleview - but he is also a filmmaker and was understanding. (Thank you, Bill!) He showed us land which is being preserved - sinkholes with dogfennel, which he and Ben ate, and a great trail going back into a pine forest. He told us about the black bears who live there and pointed out an eagle’s nest. We shared thoughts and worries about overdevelopment, water running out, whether or not humanity is acting fast enough to halt or reverse the loss of land, of ecosystems, of our atmosphere, our water, our food…On our way back to the car, it started sprinkling. We said our goodbyes, Jim handed us a huge sack of oranges from his backyard (sensing a trend here?) and the moment we were all safe within Rachel Carson’s doors, the sky opened up with a downpour. (Thank you, Rain, for waiting.)

We finish this leg with a trek out onto Cape Canaveral where Ben got a fabulous shot of a Great Blue Heron swallowing a snake…and I got a nice shot of a fisherman in his waders…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

February 22, 2008 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We’re back! During the last couple of weeks each one of us managed to get knocked around by the flu or a serious cold or both. We used up our cloth hankies like they were paper! We made garbage by purchasing a bottle of chewable vitamin C tablets! We slept more than we’ve slept in months! We wondered why we couldn’t just detach our aching, stuffy heads and replace them with new ones! Perhaps it was a sign. Perhaps we had run ourselves ragged. Perhaps there’s just something in the air here in the South. Whatever the cause of our suffering, the video schedule suffered along with us – but now we’re all happily back to health with a brand new YERTpod!

This week we take a close look at Oregon. For those of you familiar with Vermont, we think you’ll find that Oregon is like Vermont except wetter, warmer, and with fewer secessionists. And, dare we say, better public transportation?

We explored public transportation in Portland and Eugene, and we’re now convinced that Oregonians are literally moving the right way – moving towards efficient transport that, in turn, moves them around sustainably. It’s all very moving.

Whenever we arrive in a city that’s doing all the right green things—bike paths, speedy public transportation, beautiful public spaces, and pervasive recycling—we begin to look for one thing: the 20 year city plan. Back in the 1970’s Portland had an opportunity to expand its highway system along its riverfront. Instead it chose the road less traveled— in fact, the road not traveled at all. Rather than build another monstrous road, the people of Portland elected to create more urban open space, light rail, an urban boundary, and legislation to help fund and build a comprehensive network of bicycle paths in and around the Portland area. According to TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch "someone was smart a long time ago, and we’re reaping the benefits."

Not to be outdone by its big brother to the north, the city of Eugene recently borrowed a page from Curitiba, Brazil’s acclaimed urban planning handbook and took a quantum leap forward in its public transportation by building the United States‘ first Bus Rapid Transit (EmX) system that runs on specially designed diesel-electric hybrid buses with dedicated right of way. Somewhere a city planner is cheering in Portuguese.

Meanwhile, we’re cheering the city planners in Oregon.

Cheeriously,

Ben, Julie, and Mark (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

P.S. And now for Breadcrumbs! If you want to learn more about the topics in this video, check out these resources:

1. EmX. Essentially, the coolest bus system we’ve seen all year, handily explained by Andy Vobora, Marketing and Communications Director at the Lane Transit District. That said, we haven’t been to Curitaba, Brazil, and you can compare the two for yourself– there is an interesting film about the brilliant public transportation system (busses included) created in South America, and we highly recommend that you watch the trailer here.

2. Bicycle Transportation Alliance. According to their website, the BTA is "working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and SW Washington." We spoke to Executive Director Scott Bricker at the BTA about all things bikes – possibly the most efficient form of transportation! By the way, he’s not the only Scott Bricker leading bicycle advocacy for a major American city – check this out. What are the odds?

3. TriMet. This is a municipal corporation responsible for most of the public transporation in Portland’s metro area. We spoke to Mary Fetsch, Communications Director for TriMet, and you can find all sorts of cool facts about this organization here. Facts like this one: "TriMet carries more people than any other U.S. transit system its size."

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Posted in Video, Ben, Mark | 3 Comments »

February 19, 2008 by Julie.

Arkansas. Friendly friendly people!!!
I come from Kentucky so I can say that both our states have a undeserved reputation for marrying cousins and low IQ’s. And, while we did see quite a dazzling array of trailer park “neighborhoods” with an amazing lot of CRAP in the yards, what really stood out in Arkansas was the friendliness of the people, the natural beauty of some as-yet unspoiled land, and a very real human interest in health and happiness that could easily be translated into a kind of environmental awareness…

A few days before we arrived, a tornado ripped through a tiny town called Appleton, leaving one man dead and quite a few trailer homes demolished. We stopped and talked to one of the neighbors, who said that he didn’t understand why there are now so many tornadoes in January, and that no one was prepared. It was pretty easy to see the path that the tornado took from the downed trees…we are of course wondering if this might be directly connected to global climate change…

We have found, in every state so far, pockets of healthy activism thriving within a sometimes slower general populace. In Arkansas, we supped with St. James Episcopal Church in Eureka Springs and entertained lively conversations about sustainability amidst terrific chow, the boys ate with the kids at the Arkansas Sustainability Network in Little Rock, and we made friends with some wonderful waiters at a Japanese restaurant (like burgeoning rock star, Johnny Rocket) as well as the fantastically forward-thinking couple, Orlo and Mary Stitt.

We entered Arkansas planning to cover farming/hunting but our last-minute connection couldn’t afford our lack of time. We had also hoped to talk to the people at Wal-Mart Corporation’s HQ in Fayetteville, as Mark had met some at the Al Gore Climate Training Program last spring, and they had seemed more than enthusiastic to share Wal-Mart’s “greenness” with the public. But, even with a few weeks lead time, and several different contacts, no Wal-Mart representative ever agreed to talk with us.

We did, however, really enjoy our interview with Orlo Stitt of Stitt Energy. He toured us through his entire neighborhood, which he designed, with every house oriented true south and making use of both passive and active solar, and the most efficient design/ materials. He even shook us down a few persimmons from the trees…which were yummy…and I saved some seeds I would really love to plant someday…i hope they are in my coat pocket still?

Everyone in Arkansas told us we would be crazy to miss Eureka Springs so off we went. On the way to Eureka was a stunning little church set back in the woods on a hill called ThornCrown Chapel (designed by architect E. Fay Jones). Not normally open this time of year, the chapel was being visited by a young couple looking for a place to have their wedding, so we were fortunate to be allowed in to have a quick look around. It was pretty beautiful.

We spent enough time in Eureka to enjoy a nice dinner at St James and to listen to wonderfully wise Dale Caldwell. We also had several delicious meals at an eclectic and delicious little eatery called Local Flavor Cafe. Though we didn’t note anything particularly environmental about Eureka itself, the people, like most of the people we encountered in Arkansas, were sweet as pie. And they care. Which is the best place to start. Next stop: better education.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 2 Comments »

February 19, 2008 by Julie.

One connection we had in Florida was this dude who is the voice of Captain Planet, an animated series starring this eco superhero who is constantly saving the Earth. Environmentally, that is. Apparently the actor has moved to France. But that’s ok because yesterday we met up with a buddy of his who transforms into a real live superhero, Earthman, donning a giant globe and visiting communities all over Florida spreading environmental awareness through word, song and design. (He has a great website which features him rapping all about what’s happening and what we need to do…) We followed Earthman to the beachfront in Hollywood, FL, where he shared some of his thoughts with us and interacted with several passersby.

We got words from a very sage Mitch, and from a wonderfully happy Chinese woman named Emma who told us that, at age 82, she no longer needs to shake hands, only hug. She also hugs trees regularly and recommended that we all do the same, making sure to ask beforehand to borrow some of the tree’s energy, in case the tree is sleeping. I totally went and hugged Emma’s favorite tree and, I must say, I felt completely hugged back. I never felt better about hugging a tree. Palms are so nice.

Emma also told me that she met Cary Grant in the 60’s when she was hugely pregnant and that, when she protested that she was too fat to take a picture with him, he said, “Women are most beautiful when they’re pregnant.” She said that, looking back on the picture of her huge pregnant self next to such a strapping handsome man, she inwardly thanked him for being such a beautiful liar.

Alright so the beaches down here are gorgeous, and the weather tremendous. It’s no wonder that my Dad always complained about moving away and no wonder that so many people are still moving here, despite its being over-developed in very many places. The population is exploding in Florida, and Florida is starting to see the effects. In the next few days, we are going to be talking to Friends of the Everglades and to the St John’s Riverkeepers about how population, among other things, is affecting what’s left of Florida’s undeveloped land and waterways, and wildlife sanctuaries.

In the meantime, and speaking of population increase, baby girl is finally making herself felt in the belly and I smile every time. little squirrel. even if I am a little fat. Here’s my pregnant lady shadow at the beach…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

February 17, 2008 by Julie.

So, yesterday, we left our little Motel 6 and ate fat American food at Denny’s. We made a miniscule sensation with the wait staff who came over to hear about what we were doing. We didn’t collect much garbage (one toothpick) but we certainly didn’t collect any organic or local food points either. None, in fact. (sorry, baby. and planet.)

Ben had heard that the canals near Ft Myers were interesting and was determined to talk to someone about them so we drove around and found a public park with people out enjoying the sun. An older couple who was taking pictures (well, it IS Florida) invited us to come to their house on the canals, where they’ve lived for 20-some years, so we filmed them in their backyard, and I got a nice picture of her sheets hanging on the clothesline. They also let us pick tangerines off of their their tree! The boys filmed another neighbor but it was kind of a bust as the other neighbor apparently wasn’t concerned about anything environmental, especially in Florida. I guess some people move South to be oblivious.

Back in the car and onto Miami, traffic was HELL, and we moved like carbon-emitting tortoises on the highway. I was still waiting to hear back from any of the numerous emails and phone calls I made to U Miami oceanographers or Friends of the Everglades…then we learned that it is “Boat Show Weekend” in Miami and President’s Day holiday on Monday. To be honest, we didn’t pay much attention to holidays when planning this trip. Plus, I have never thought of President’s Day as a holiday. Is it a holiday?

We made it to our homestay on Miami Beach, finally, chatted with our new friend, and slept well. I slept well. The boys were up working into the wee hours, like they do, and babygirl and i said Good night. Now, today, Ben will continue editing Oregon, Mark will continue with the Website and I will continue checking my inbox for anyone interested in talking to us on camera. Our host told me not to be offended, that Miamians are not super fast at getting back to people…kind of like we are on Island time. I can be patient…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

February 16, 2008 by Julie.

Ben is…guess what…editing again, this time it is the Oregon videopod.
Mark is…i think…outside making a phone call.
I am sitting on the bed nearest the bathroom as I am the one who always needs it most and in the middle of the night.

We are on our way to Miami, hopefully to talk to some oceanographers about Florida’s particular environmental challenges. We have several calls and emails out and now we wait to hear back. Maybe if we don’t hear anything by tomorrow I will go to the beach, lol.

We just spent the last 2 dys in Tampa with the nicest folks! - It took us all a bit of time to figure out how we even got connected, as people we know generously send out emails when we are looking for a place to stay, and I had assumed these guys were friends of my friend…but they actually were another friend removed, even. Regardless, it was uncanny how lined up we all were in our thinking - even down to having read the exact same books and feeling very similarly about the presidential candidates. It was refreshing and wonderful and we were so glad that we got to meet and hang out with them.

They had lived in Oregon for 28 yrs so they definitely had something to compare Florida to, environmentally, but they also said that there has been much change in Florida in the last 7 yrs, enough to make them feel hopeful that Floridians are getting on the green bandwagon, too.

We spoke to Christine, of Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, who said that there is a little less garbage on the beach clean up days than the previous year. After we left her, we stopped at a tiny beach along the Causeway to watch the sun set for Valentines, but Ben and I did not walk 10 ft and we were picking up trash. We only walked i think 50 paces and then returned to Mark with our arms FULL of garbage and debris, from water bottles to McDonalds cups to plastic bags to pieces of rope to a huge piece of styrofoam as big as a car bumper. And there was so much more but we had to go back bc our arms were full.

Aaack! Happy Valentines Day!

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

February 6, 2008 by Ben.

Ahhh…Mississippi. It seems strangely appropriate to be in the most obese state in the nation on Fat Tuesday AND Super Tuesday for what can only be described as - Super Fat Tuesday. Unfortunately, for our little YERT krewe here, today was best characterized as Super Sick Tuesday. Both Mark and Julie are laid up in bed with fevers and coughs and all manner of nastiness. Somehow I have avoided the bug - maybe I hadn’t been breathing in that Louisiana air quite as deeply this past week (I knew there was a good reason I’d been putting off exercising). So, we have spent the last two days recouping and regrouping at the Best Western in Biloxi - that is, Mark has been hibernating, Julie has been blogging and coughing, and I have been editing and making food runs…and I’m still waiting to see a part of Mississippi that isn’t the inside of this hotel room or the inside of the Ruby Tuesday’s down the street.

Today I had my chance. Around 1:30, having just finished putting together the latest Bag Monster video, I was commissioned by Julie, who has recently taken the mantle of “sickest YERT member” from Mark, to go on a food run for something “soupish”. Mark, whose fever has finally dipped below 100 in the last day or so, ventured out with me for some grub and a side of fresh air. As we walked out of the hotel we were greeted with, among other things, 40mph gusts of unseasonably warm fog and a giant parade of floats with people flinging pounds of flying plastic necklaces. Driving was not an option. Apparently our little Best Western sits nicely in the path of one of the largest Mardi Gras parades on the Gulf Coast. Too bad none of us felt like partying.

After wading through the masses and dodging flying necklaces for half an hour, we finally managed to hunt down the only open food option in town - Waffle House. Happy Super Fat Tuesday! I got some soup for Julie (which took me twenty minutes to deliver to her and another twenty to return) and then enjoyed slightly suspicious eggs and hashbrowns as Mark polished off his chicken noodle soup. We left Waffle House not long after they had started charging the throngs of increasingly inebriated revelers a dollar to use the bathroom - we could see where this was headed and were eager to get back to the relative sanity of our respective rooms.

As I fought my way through a sea of delirious revelers and witnessed the tons (literally tons) of brightly painted beads being gleefully flung through the air into the thousands of outstretched arms, I couldn’t help but see it for the giant redistribution of plastic detritus that it really was. For how long would any of these people keep their beads? A day? A week? A year? A decade? And then what? Undoubtedly into some landfill somewhere for most of eternity. Or better yet, the ocean where it kills all sorts of sea life - that would be a “sea” of plastic becoming a literal sea of plastic. And what was in the paint on these beads that, in most cases, had been fabricated in China and shipped over here? Surely not lead. Right? I could only hope as I saw a small child struggling to carry a neck full of beads that weighed more than she did. It was a truly surreal experience. I’m all for celebrating life and the spirit of Mardi Gras, especially here in an area that’s been so devastated by hurricanes (and, more specifically, am totally in love with much of New Orleans at this point - it truly is the soul of our country), but throwing around thousands of pounds of pointless plastic in a beer-induced frenzy from atop enormous floats tethered to giant diesel big rigs - that’s a petroleum party, not a celebration of life. Sometimes, it certainly seems like we’ve got a long road ahead of us before we even begin to sniff anything like a sustainable existence. Which brings me to the weather.

Oh the weather. I spent most of this evening watching Anderson Cooper covering Super Tuesday on CNN and then flipping over to Jim Cantore covering Tornado Tuesday on the Weather Channel, beside himself with disbelief at the army of warm weather destruction marching as far north as the Ohio river valley in the dead of winter. It’s weirdly funny and alarming to see such a respected weather man with his proverbial jaw on the floor. Thankfully we are slightly south of the “action” down here in Biloxi, but northern parts of Mississippi are getting hammered. February 5th. Tornadoes. Tennessee. Kentucky. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Julie’s mom says when she was a child 50 years ago they used to ice skate all winter long on the ponds near her house in Louisville. Now they have to worry about tornadoes in February. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong. This planet is changing…rapidly. And don’t even get me started about Arkansas. This is the second rash of tornadoes they’ve had in as many months - we were in the area when they got hit in early January. Winter tornadoes ALL winter? DUDE! Excuse me but WTF!?!? I grew up in Kansas and I know from tornadoes. You’re not even supposed to have to think about that stuff until April.

So here we are in America’s Super Fattest state, Mississippi, on Super Fat Tornado Tuesday returning from Mississippi’s petroleum party outside to watch more global warming-induced natural disasters hit Mississippi and wondering all the time if this state (and the rest of the country) will ever elect a president who can really help us deal with all of it. Hmmm. Here’s hoping this country starts connecting the dots.

Posted in Travelog, Issues, Ben | 2 Comments »

February 5, 2008 by Ben.

(NEW ORLEANS, LA) **This just in** — Several unconfirmed reports lead us to believe that the Bag Monster has been busy in the Big Easy, making friends and trash during the Mardi Gras festivities. Please send any updates or additional reports to team@yert.com, and watch this latest video collecting some of the recent sightings, here:

Diligently,

Julie, Ben, and Mark (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

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Posted in Video | 2 Comments »