Now Appearing in an Extended Engagement! Join Dave Robison as he takes you into his world and his daily life of reviving a stand-up comedy career. Prepare for side trips exploring Public Relations, marketing and business ethics. Enjoy some frequent detours describing his observations on life. Read the exploits of this self-proclaimed Renaissance-man and blooming blogger as you go
On The Road With Dave.
About Me
Name: Dave Robison
Location: Mobile, Alabama, United States
From Mobile, Alabama comes Dave Robison, a confessed Internet-aholic, middle-aged-married-man, who's generally a nice guy--he just has one or two issues.
Stand-Up Comedy by Dave Robison is available for corporate events, college campuses, and nightclubs.
Since its inception, "On The Road With Dave" has recognized each April 22nd for the celebration of Earth Day.
In the Arthur C. Clarke novel-based movie, 2010 is the year we make contact with alien life forms. Clarke was way ahead of his time with his predictions for space travel. We have lagged way behind with Clarke's predictions.
Unfortunately, Planet Earth and its inhabitants are still alone in the known Universe, and contact with intelligent life forms from other galaxies may never become a reality.
But if that day is to come, then celebration of each Earth Day becomes more important each year that passes. If Earth is to survive to that day we make contact with a distant cousin from the Betelgeuse system, then we still have to be vigilant in the care of our own Terran earth/space ship. It has to be more than recycling paper, using fluorescent lightbulbs, driving electric cars and the occasional use of a solar panel on top of an emergency sign on the side of the road. We need to embrace new technologies in conjunction with finding "green" options for cleaning our toilets. We need to begin work on changing the way we develop rather than debating the validity of climate change. We need to save the rainforests and animals on the brink of extinction while we also save our way of living by advancing medical innovation at lower costs. And while we make contact with each other with Instant Messaging, 3G Smartphones, text messages, and our trusty Netbooks; we still need to take the time to contact each other face-to-face and sometimes have our bare feet make contact with green grass.
We have a long way to go. On this Earth Day 2010; take the time to think and realize that our planet is still our only home. No extraterrestrial super-being is likely to make us wiser and more evolved to save our Earth. That responsibility still belongs to us; not just on Earth Day, but every day. Our planet still hangs alone in the Universe, but we can still care for it together.
This image is the authentic Earth Day Flag.It features what is known as the "Big Blue Marble" on a field of blue. Legally, the image or flag can not be copyrighted. It's free to be used by anyone, with no repercussions. Which is why I'm using it in the space here.
Much like the real Earth we live on, anyone is free to use their space here as they please. But here, we do suffer repercussions for the mistakes and misuse that we might commit.
You don't have to buy in to any side of any debate involving environmentalism or any kind of potential climate change, you just have to treat your environment as has always been taught--"Love Your Neighbor"; "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You".
Your actions have repercussions, consequences and yes, even rewards. Treat your fellow man with respect; and actions that affect our environment fall into place. If you go through life with a banner going before you like that, then the flying of the above banner on one day out of the year seems inconsequential.
READ MORE OF MY THOUGHTS ON PAST EARTH DAYS: LABEL EARTH DAY
You'll probably see a few images of Earth from space today. It's a typical way the media reminds us of "Earth Day" being celebrated today.
"Talk radio" would have us to believe that celebrating Earth Day is silly and meaningless--that recognizing we have a Climate Crisis is a hoax forced on the American people to make them feel guilty at being successful and prosperous.
Maybe so.
Maybe, the Earth's climate is cyclical. It heats up, it cools down; all with no influence from mankind, our machines, our carbon footprint. And maybe, buying a fluorescent bulb or properly inflating our tires won't make a "hill of beans" difference for our environment.
But maybe, taking an interest in our actions and how they might affect, not only the Earth, but also the people around us could be a good thing.
Maybe, in our quest to provide solutions to pollution, greenhouse gases, our dependence on oil-based energy and products, we can develop technology and ideology that will further push us past current prosperity.
Today, I chose, not a picture of Earth from space, but a photo of our galaxy, The Milky Way, from Earth.
The Earth is a mere speck in that galaxy and we have the power to insure that "speck" survives until one day we are able to reach beyond our own blue sphere and touch further worlds in our galaxy.
"It was the only color we could see in the universe. ... "We're living on a tiny little dust mote in left field on a rather insignificant galaxy. And basically this is it for humans. It strikes me that it's a shame that we're squabbling over oil and borders."
Towards the end of the 20th Century, major book seller lists were topped by titles pertaining to our environment. Earth Day celebrations were popular and the media covered "green" news. We were encouraged to "Reduce, Recycle, Re-Use" and GM was touting the first commercially available full electric automobile. While shopping at the local supermarket, "Paper or Plastic" was the automatic question asked by cashiers and if you chose plastic; you were just plain weird.
(I always chose paper, just for your information)
Being "green" was the hip, trendy thing to be.
Now Earth Day 2006 is upon us, and I noticed little in the news that led up to today; other than stories about the ever increasing gasoline prices and how we are reducing our gasoline usage not because of environmental factors but because of financial concerns. (Our local CBS affiliate just ran a story on a woman who pawned her wedding ring to fill up her gas tank)
Earth Day should not be part of a "hip trend", it should be a constant reminder to us to care for our fragile planet. We should not be just "environmental" for a short time while fuel costs rise. We need to implement long-term change to our habits that endanger this small blue marble in the Solar System.
Do you need something to make you even consider making "green living" a way in your own life?
If you are lucky enough to live in one of the selected cities, go see "An Inconvenient Truth", a new film by Davis Guggenheim and former Vice-President Al Gore.
I wanted to do the typical cool blog thing today and upload a neat photo of the Earth from one of the Apollo space missions and say something clever like,
"One system we can't afford to screw up"
Well that didn't happen, I tried to capture a couple of photos, but had some trouble with Hello. So anyway, Happy 35th Earth Day!
Of course, this isn't considered by some to be the proper Earth Day. That was last month during the Spring Equinox.
But today is the Earth Day that gets all the publicity.
I'm sure you have noticed a couple of environmental friendly websites in my "Links I Like" sidebar.
But here's a few more in case today has you feeling "green".
His new Book is about Green Companies and more and is entitled, What Matters Most.
I'll leave you with a quote from the Guide to Doing Good's prologue,
"The shape of the future is in our hands. It is our responsibility, for it can be no one else's. The world won't be destroyed tomorrow, but it can be made better today. Step by step, one by one, find the actions that suit you best, try them out, tell your friends, and things will change. They always have in the past, and no matter what anyone says, you and I do have the power to begin to make the world a better place."
That almost parallels what I have been saying during the SYSTEMS series, too.
