Hello Friends, welcome to Friday Food for Thought. Every Friday I’ll help start your weekend by sharing four people, thoughts, or things that are on my mind this week. These may be books or movies, podcast suggestions, interesting people I follow on social media, music, products, or, well, anything. You may find interesting creativity boosts here, some conversation starters, or just a small dose of entertainment. Click here for my previous post. Feel free to share this with friends, or offer suggestions via the comments. Let’s begin!
1) Dogs of Many Countries:
A recent trip to Costa Rica has me thinking about stray dogs. We encountered numerous strays in parts of the country. Of course, we have many strays in the U.S., but they are often removed from sight in animal shelters. Despite the best of intentions, many dogs that go to county animal shelters end up being killed for lack of space. So while they have short-term shelter and safety, their long-term prospects are often not good. We didn’t see much effort to remove strays from the streets in Costa Rica, putting them in short-term danger from traffic or lack of food, but we also saw local businesses and residents providing food and water to whatever strays passed by their door. I’ve owned and fostered rescue dogs for 25 years, and I can’t say I’m wild about either system, but it still has me thinking about all those animals that we’ve domesticated and which are our responsibility, whether we live up to it or not.
2) Tubi or Not Tubi:
I love movies but I’ve grown weary from the multitude of streaming services we’re expected to subscribe to. I increasingly rely on free services like Tubi. Yes, there are commercials, but they are not excessive, and Tubi offers a surprisingly good catalog of films. Innerspace (1987), Office Space (1999), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Malcolm X (1992), and Predestination (2014) are only a few of the movies currently available.
3) Dump the GLGE:
How quickly is your grass lawn destroying the world? Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment (GLGE) is responsible for about 4% of VOC emissions and 12% of CO emissions. Besides my previous suggestion of replacing turf grass with native plants, when it comes to the remaining grass I use a Ryobi battery-powered edger. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s much quieter than a gas-powered edger and eliminates the climate-killing fossil fuel emissions. Beyond simply edging, a small yard can easily be covered with the Ryobi edger about as quickly as with a lawn mower, though Ryobi offers battery-powered mowers also.
4) Don’t Be Cruel:
I’m all shook up that, based on early reviews, the new Elvis Presley biopic Elvis doesn’t appear to live up to the trailers, despite a powerful performance by Austin Butler. (The Washington Post compared it to “being in a washing machine for 2½ hours.”) Maybe it should be no surprise that an individual as troubled, complex, and dynamic as Presley is too difficult to capture in a single film. This is still a good opportunity to revisit Presley at his best, with the double-album On Stage: Legacy Edition. A compilation of songs performed at the International Hotel (today the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino) in Las Vegas in August, 1969, Presley was in peak form, rumored to have rehearsed with weights on his wrists and ankles to give him more energy during actual performances. The band and backing vocal groups are world class musicians and the On Stage tracks are a welcome return to rock and roll after Presley’s increasingly uncomfortable film career. Give On Stage a listen, then if you still want Presley’s life story, you can read Peter Guralnick’s definitive two-volume biography Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love.
That’s all for this week. Have a good weekend!
This post contains NO affiliate links. All suggestions are based on my own personal experience, your experience may vary. Nothing herein is intended to serve as medical, legal, financial, or any other advice for which you should consult professionals and not some random guy on the Internet.
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