Wordless Wednesday: Winter Sunset

Wordless Wednesday: Fall in the Flint Hills

Rooster and I enjoyed a breathtaking sunset after our nightly run. God is a fantastic painter!

The leaves are changing colors!

Blame the Flint Hills wind for a blurry photo

Hard to see the different colors of the prairie but they are beautiful in person

Winter wheat is peppered across the land

This windmill now serves as a photo prop instead of its original purpose

My Old Soul Music Bucket List

If you've been a long-time reader on Buzzard's Beat this post will make perfect sense and not surprise you in the least. My love of witty, meaningful lyrics, mellow harmonies and true musical talent (not T-Swift or Luke Bryan) comes up in blog posts a lot.

I constantly tell my friends and family I was born in the wrong decade. I think I should have been a late 60's early -70's baby. That's when real music was happening. I am positive I am not the only person who feels this way - many of my friends are also classic country junkies, although not many (only one that I can think of) adore classic rock as much as I do. Although I do enjoy Texas country and some current mainstream country, (think Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum) my heart lies with the classics. For example, I cannot count the miles I traveled on the way to rodeos with this guy's tunes blaring out of the truck speakers:

Bob Seger - photo credit

George Jones passed away a little over a week ago and I'm still struggling with being mopey about it. I feel like a part of my soul has been taken from me. The generation of artists that Jones represents still believed in real lyrical genius, harmony and not caving to radio pressure *I'm looking at you Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Dustin Lynch (seriously, She Cranks My Tractor????) and Kip Moore - tsk tsk*

George Jones - photo credit

The passing of George really opened my eyes to the fact that a generation of musicians who were the soundtrack to my childhood, adolescence and adult life are not only fading away from the spotlight but are also passing on to the next life. It's depressing and makes me want to rewind my life - I'm nostalgic. I can't help it. I have watched the video of Vince Gill and Patty Loveless singing "Go Rest High on That Mountain" at The Possum's funeral more times than I care to count and I think the only time we've ever seen Alan Jackson remove his hat while singing was during his rendition of "He Stopped Loving Her Today." The entire situation is heartwrenching.

The King - George Strait

So, one of my new goals in life is to see the following artists on tour before contemporary radio chokes them out of society and they're forgotten forever by the enthusiastic audience of Top 40 country.

In no particular order of preference:
-- The Eagles - Oct. 2013
-- Bob Seger
-- Garth Brooks
-- Journey - July 2014
-- Merle Haggard
-- George Strait - January 2014
-- Sammy Kershaw
-- Steve Miller Band - July 2014
-- Lynyrd Skynyrd
-- Doug Stone
-- Willie Nelson
-- Reba McEntire
-- Kansas - September 2013, August 2014

-- Alan Jackson

-- Vince Gill
-- Billy Joel
-- Boston - August 2014



Had I written this list a few months ago (that's how long I've had this blog post on the brain), I would have had George Jones' name on it - I'm even more saddened by the fact I was going to get to see him at the Ohio State Fair in August this year.

Willie Nelson - photo credit

What are your favorite bands? Have I forgotten to put someone important on the list? I'm sure I'll add names to it - my lists tend to grow over time.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

 

The Importance of GMO's and Writing Letters to the Editor

image from here

Usually, I jam out to 106.9 Country Legends on the radio in my truck but in the mornings, on my way to work, I listen to the highly syndicated Kidd Kraddick in the Morning Show. Every week or so they have a segment titled "Consumer Watch" and they talk about a few topics that consumers should be interested in - previous topics include cigarettes, a cell-phone in the car law etc. One morning the topic was GMO's (genetically modified organisms) -- this was around the time of Prop 37 in California -- and I developed a stomach ache listening to the false information they were saying. They were basically giving their opinions but not backing them up with any fact and it was so frustrating.

So I did what any active advocate would do and I wrote them a letter.  I have never heard back from them and if they addressed my concern during another Consumer Watch segment, I missed it. But here is my letter, because I believe that everyone should fully understand the capabilities that GMO provides us with in terms of food production and also the importance they play in the world's hunger problems.

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I have been listening to the Kidd Kraddick show for some time now and I am always laughing and truly enjoy the show. I donate to Kidd’s Kids and have signed up for Friends with Benefits – in short, I’m a big fan.

However, every time you guys have a consumer watch I get so frustrated with your analysis of anything to do with food that I have to change the station. The latest incident happened just this morning when you were discussing Prop 37 in California and how, if passed, all genetically modified food (GM) would need to be labeled. You are right, this would be a huge hindrance to food production companies, would increase every family’s grocery bill and would put negative connotation on most food products at the grocery store.

What you failed to do was provide actual facts regarding GMO food.  Genetically modified organisms revolutionized food production and agriculture in the 60’s and 70’s. Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his contributions to the “green revolution” which had a tremendous impact on food production in underdeveloped countries in Asia and Latin America. The green revolution (and Mr. Borlaug’s work) was focused on the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains like wheat and aiding farmers in better management and use of technological advancements. Without the work of Mr. Borlaug and other scientists of the green revolution, over a billion people would have starved. 

Genetically modified doesn’t necessarily mean that the product was radiated or anything like that, it could be as simple as cross breeding or using a gene mutation in a strain of corn to make the plant more productive. For example, some variations of papayas have been genetically modified to resist the ringspot virus – this was done by developing a breed that is resistant to them. Hawaii, a big producer of papaya, almost had their industry devastated by the virus however, since the new genetics were discovered, their industry is successful. It’s important to point out that there is still no method of production other than the genetically engineered papayas that is resistant to the virus. Organic papayas (which are ridiculously expensive, like every other kind of organic food), are not resistant to the virus. Other GM foods are soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, sugar beets and squash. GMO versions of tomatoes, potatoes and rice have been created and approved by the government but aren’t commercially available yet. 

Modifying plants allows farmers to be more productive which is essential with a population that is growing exponentially. If we don’t accept and employ technology like GMO’s, it’s going to be pretty dang impossible to feed 9 billion people in 2050.

Regarding obesity – I can’t believe that you guys just blamed the obesity epidemic on genetically modified food. Americans are overwhelmingly overweight because we have become increasingly lazy and restaurants have increased their portion sizes dramatically. The fast food industry is booming – it’s easier (and often, cheaper) to buy a meal off the dollar menu than it is to buy fresh food or whole grains. America is one of the few countries in the world where it is more expensive to buy fresh food than it is to buy processed food. Add into the mix that low-income families can buy more food if they buy Cheetos and Pepsi than they can if they buy juice and apples and you can see why so many Americans are overweight. 

Hundreds of thousands of folks listen to your show every day – you have the opportunity to set the record straight on controversial issues like this and hopefully you will be more responsible with the facts you are representing. It would be nice if as much research went into Consumer Watch and food issues as does the Showbiz Top 5.

Thank you for reading and please keep up the hilarious antics.

Respectfully,

Brandi

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So that's my letter. Again, I've never gotten a reply but hopefully they are aware of the influence they have and will take steps to make sure that future broadcasts are more fact filled rather than flashy and entertaining. Fear sells but isn't always the truth.

Have any of you ever written a similar letter to the editor? Did you get a reply? My only other experience has been this and it's been a rollercoaster ride since then.

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~