Serves You Right
I've always had a bit of a penchant (unfounded?) for hating the southwest "boom," going back to the founding of Las Vegas (no, I wasn't around to despise it then, but throughout my life, it's never impressed me).
One thing that we use to distinguish ourselves from non-humans is the ability to alter our environment (sometimes drastically) to make it more hospitable. We often seem to take pride in how effeciently we do so. In this case, we made the desert bloom throughout the American Southwest. Quite an achievement, really. LA, LV, Reno, Scottsdale, Phoenix, etc., etc., the list goes on; none of these places would be able to flourish as budding and massive metropoli over the years on their own merits. They lacked the molecule of life. No, not Scotch (they didn't have that either), water. But we fixed it.
Of course, anyone with half a brain can tell you we are not nearly as effective in land transformation as we try to convince ourselves. Watering the desert has been problematic for decades, and it looks like it may actually catch up with us in the near future (via GoBLOG). [I say "us"...but you know who I'm talking about.]
There's a reason inhospitable areas don't sustain large populations (hint: it's because they can't). Certainly, if you were to go through all the trouble of altering the hydrologic regime of an entire region, and taking on all of the implications that go with it, planning future sustainability through curbing development seems prudent. Maybe that's just me.
Sometimes regulators do need to take responsibility. It's a strange concept, I know, but it would be tragic if their constituents suffered because they lost sight of the long-term. I suppose that's the same old story. Of course, it's easy to preach from this soap box living in the (relative) northeast, where water and infrastructure are both plentiful.
Perhaps it's just another scare, but let's hope somebody important at least takes note. Sustainability isn't just about looking out for our great-great-great-grandchildren. And as much fun as it is to hear people who don't belong there fighting over a resource that shouldn't be there either, I sure hope they make it work. I can't imagine the prospect of redistributing Hollywood across the rest of the country being a good thing for anyone.
On another note, Taylor & Vadney's perpetually decreasing materials stocks contained no hair or fur whatsoever. Did manage to improvise a fluffy white fur pattern out of the deteriorating scraps I still have...that's good enough for me, and kinda what it's all about anyway. I won't embarass myself by posting any pictures, but I will reccommend trying your own wire dubbing (slash-improvised hair hackle) loop I've been reading so much about. Excellent solution for making use of falling-apart-pelts.
One thing that we use to distinguish ourselves from non-humans is the ability to alter our environment (sometimes drastically) to make it more hospitable. We often seem to take pride in how effeciently we do so. In this case, we made the desert bloom throughout the American Southwest. Quite an achievement, really. LA, LV, Reno, Scottsdale, Phoenix, etc., etc., the list goes on; none of these places would be able to flourish as budding and massive metropoli over the years on their own merits. They lacked the molecule of life. No, not Scotch (they didn't have that either), water. But we fixed it.
Of course, anyone with half a brain can tell you we are not nearly as effective in land transformation as we try to convince ourselves. Watering the desert has been problematic for decades, and it looks like it may actually catch up with us in the near future (via GoBLOG). [I say "us"...but you know who I'm talking about.]
There's a reason inhospitable areas don't sustain large populations (hint: it's because they can't). Certainly, if you were to go through all the trouble of altering the hydrologic regime of an entire region, and taking on all of the implications that go with it, planning future sustainability through curbing development seems prudent. Maybe that's just me.
Sometimes regulators do need to take responsibility. It's a strange concept, I know, but it would be tragic if their constituents suffered because they lost sight of the long-term. I suppose that's the same old story. Of course, it's easy to preach from this soap box living in the (relative) northeast, where water and infrastructure are both plentiful.
Perhaps it's just another scare, but let's hope somebody important at least takes note. Sustainability isn't just about looking out for our great-great-great-grandchildren. And as much fun as it is to hear people who don't belong there fighting over a resource that shouldn't be there either, I sure hope they make it work. I can't imagine the prospect of redistributing Hollywood across the rest of the country being a good thing for anyone.
On another note, Taylor & Vadney's perpetually decreasing materials stocks contained no hair or fur whatsoever. Did manage to improvise a fluffy white fur pattern out of the deteriorating scraps I still have...that's good enough for me, and kinda what it's all about anyway. I won't embarass myself by posting any pictures, but I will reccommend trying your own wire dubbing (slash-improvised hair hackle) loop I've been reading so much about. Excellent solution for making use of falling-apart-pelts.
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