Above is a poem / song variation of the Peacok and the Bower bird. I have a series of song variations of the same theme. I was inspired to write this yesterday.
Below are some quick jots of my short-sighted experience of the Bren masters group projects.
I am experiencing a bit of mental interference here trying to finish Geo 2. I just went to presentations of Bren group projects in downtown Santa Barbara. Some swank hotel by the ocean. It is impressive how Bren is very well networked with agencies outside the university. It is also amazing how applied and practical Bren is oriented. I found out the only two people in the camera crew were Dave Panitz and Ben Botkin. I told Dave that I had my own equipment. I could have even volunteered. I don’t even know whether he even READS my emails. Geeze. I saw 1.5 fisheries talks and 1 eco-labeling Greenopia talk. Everyone practices. Everyone wore suits and ties, which kind of defeated the purpose of everything. I am wearing my usual beat-up vest and blue shorts. I feel guilty for it because “it’s the same old clothes,” but then I couldn’t return this dxm $70-vest, the most expensive piece of clothing I have, and I am going to beat the shxt out of it, and get my $70-bucks worth. The powerpoint slides were very organized and presentable, but very corporate. Everything is very formal and corporate. The presentations were “objective” but I’m just thinking… well I’m trying to do this rock crab film. Assuming that I just sat here watching this show—appropriate for these given audiences, but how am I going to take this information and make it a riot act. Science. Statistics. Models. Numbers, Mumbo-jumbo. Objective to me means unemotional. Trying to parameterize the multi-dimensionality of humanity through numbers. No emotion. Sucks. Well I guess that’s what the point is. Is science science? Or science has fallen in the habit of stamping everything with numbers and fancy verbage, and voila…. It’s objective, unemotional, and computer-dependent. Therefore it’s science. The pitfall of eco-labeling and Greentopia is that this eco-labeling caters to affluent people—particularly educated women. Maria Gordon made the point: how are we gonna get the guy on the street in the middle of the city to care about the environment? Ha! Randy Olson tactic of Sizzle. Brilliant. The pitfall of the integrated management of commercial and recreational fisheries is that the idea is brilliant—networking across fisheries with different value systems—but the question of “Where did the data come from?’ and “How was it collected?” Properties of the data set remained largely vague to me, and they were all economic models… which is all on the verge of science, science fiction, and voodoo representations of reality. Shoot me for saying that. I talked to BJ quickly and then I left in the rain. Could have stayed for hors d’oevres. Didn’t want to. Michael Hanrahan was there. Didn’t have a chance to talk to him.
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