On Thursday, March 18, 2013, Anna Sturrock from the University of California, Santa Cruz presented a Science Bytes lecture (including a live fish dissection!) on tracking fish.  While I love watching nature documentaries like Planet Earth (ahhhh David Attenborough's voice...), I had never really given any thought to how we track animals, especially fish. I hadn't questioned the science behind the media. 

Well thanks to Anna Sturrock's boisterous (the neighbors even knocked on the ceiling urging us to keep quiet because we were having so much) presentation, I started really questioning the methods by which we know what we know about the natural world. And in that questioning, I was amazed and inspired by the developments and shifts in thinking about tracking. 

First, I am not a scientist, I took no notes (in fact I was working behind the counter as the presentation was occurring), and I am one who would rather deal in truth rather than facts. So please take all of my comments with a grain of salt. And if something doesn't add up, well, please leave a comment and correct me. My ego isn't so big it can't take a hit every now and again. 

What struck me the most about tracking of fish was the huge room for error in our knowledge base. Tracking originally started with eyesight. Scientists go out into the world, count, map, and track on that map. This led to huge gaps in our understanding of fish migration as our eyes are imperfect, the frequency  with which we can observe is limited by time, and the depth or murkiness of water limits sight. These gaps create bias, which then informs understand. This loop can create great misunderstandings of our natural world and these misunderstandings start to influence policy. (Anna didn't mention this; it is something that struck me in reflection.)

Modes of tracking fish evolved over time and became more nuanced. These modes of tracking morphed from eyesight to putting tags on fish to satellite tags. With each new mode, more information was learned and our understanding of migration patterns deepened. Suddenly, scientists were able to understand that migration is dynamic and changing. What seemed so simple simply because our eyesight is limited became something complex. 

Still, the policies used to "govern" nature have not shifted with this new understanding, with this emergent complexity. 

To me, this seems analogous to our current reality. (Again, not something Anna mentioned, but something that strikes me as I write and reflect.) We are living in a time of incredible polarization. And in that polarization we are not letting new information help shape our understanding. We are stuck still only observing with our eyes. 

Now, I know this has little to do with the actual lecture. (You can check out Anna's slideshow below for more on that.) It does, however, play into why I do what I do, and specifically underscores what 14 Black Poppies is all about: building dynamic understanding that evolves and rooting that understanding in personal interactions. 

I would never have come to this realization without the aid of Anna's lecture. I have thought long and hard about what 14 Black Poppies does. Most of the time, I say "we produce community, arts, and wellness cultural events", and that is a fact. But the truth runs much deeper. 14 Black Poppies is dynamic and evolving. It is something that helps us see the talents in our neighbors. 


And I am incredibly lucky to have had Anna share her talents with the audience in attendance, which included me. I am glad to count Anna as my neighbor. 

Last night, AC & the Vega and Viola Booth Group took over Progressive Grounds for Bring the Magic. It truly was a magical evening of stories, tears, and whales. Yup, you read that correctly: whales. 

Louis Vega made a whole bunch of origami whales in psychedelic colors and handed them out during AC & the Vegas performance. As I looked out over the audience, everyone had a whale on their finger during their second song, and they danced in its beat.  

Viola Booth Group brought tears to everyone's as as she sang her encore song a capella and in French. While I had no idea what she was singing about, the emotion swelled from her voice and even made her stop momentarily so she could compose herself. I haven't experienced a moment that raw in quite a while. 

Thanks to working with the talented Mike Santos, the evening was captured in stunning black and white photography. Take a look at the photos below and feel the magic. 

by Ramona Soto

Ever hear of several huge islands of plastic garbage in the ocean? How did they get there and why are they a concern? What's the story about getting charged for bags in grocery stores now, and why do we need to put up with biodegradable take-out containers that melt before you get them home with your dinner?


These were some of the questions Susan Mashiyama wanted us to consider this past Thursday at our last Science Bytes of the season.    She promised to not only discuss the global epidemic of accumulating plastic and how it may threaten our health, but—encouragingly—what concrete steps we can take to help.  

Being a musician as well as a scientist, Susan segued into her presentation about the oceans and the water cycle by playing her original composition “Dawn at the Lakes” on a Celtic harp (http://bit.ly/14FRE5m).  It’s a beautiful piece, inspired by images of light and water, and it eased us into a difficult discussion.  

We began by watching a short video of Captain Charles Moore, who, one day in 1997, found himself sailing through the midst of a seemingly endless “island of plastic” in the middle of the Pacific (http://bit.ly/5Is8u).  It’s been estimated that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch alone (there are others) is at least twice the size of Texas.  Moore’s experiences with this disheartening reality made a deep impression on him, and he is now devoted to calling attention to the problem and helping stop it at its source.  

Susan presented three major problems associated with plastic in our environment: 1) Living things are strongly affected by small amounts of toxins; 2) Natural cycles, such as the water cycle, are highly impacted by these toxins; and 3) Over time, toxins tend to accumulate in organisms and biomagnify up the food chain.  

The statistics are harsh and depressing. In the United States alone, we use over 2 million plastic beverage bottles every 5 minutes.  Under 5% of plastics are recycled.  The effects of plastics on aquatic animals are well documented: fish have stomachs full of small and large plastic pieces; animals are caught in plastic rings; birds mistakenly feed their babies bottle caps.  The problem gets even worse as plastics break down. Toxins stick to plastic for a long time (think oil on Tupperware) and are released into the environment even more efficiently as the plastic breaks up into tiny pieces.  

It’s easy to be completely discouraged and give up.  What can we possibly do to counteract such a seemingly insurmountable problem?  

Susan assures us we can do a lot.  Simply increasing public awareness can begin to make a huge difference in people’s attitudes and actions.  Enacting legislation (that plastic bag ban, for example) can be very effective.  Consumer pressure is a powerful tool; companies will listen. (Remember the tuna boycott after dolphins were found trapped in tuna nets?  The tuna fish industry had said that it was an unfixable problem; new nets would be prohibitively expensive.  However, after tuna sales plummeted, suddenly everyone decided dolphin-friendly nets weren’t such a bad idea.)

And even though ocean cleanup has been deemed “impossible,” Susan advocates supporting innovative efforts to do just that.  She reminded us that recently a 19-year-old Dutch engineering student made the news with his plan for large-scale cleanup of even the tiniest pieces of plastic debris.  More information, including a video of him explaining his invention and his plan, is found here: http://bit.ly/187d76E.

A lively question and answer session followed Susan’s talk, with thought-provoking questions about the role of plastics in disease and the role of oil companies in the proliferation of cheap plastics.  But we were left with a decidedly positive outlook and the realization that when humans are pushed up against a wall, they often come up with absolutely brilliant solutions.  And we can all be a part of that.

It's almost here!! AC & the Vega and Viola Booth Group take to the Progressive Grounds stage THIS SUNDAY at 7PM. And I can't wait!

I am thrilled to be hosting these two talented bands as part of our closing to the 14 Black Poppies Spring 2013 Season. I met Anne Carol Mitchell when AC & the Vega performed as part of OutLook Theater Project's Reviving Spirits in December 2012. The evening was a magical one filled with looped soundscapes and lyrical inspiration. 

Now, AC & the Vega take center stage along with Viola Booth Group for an evening of FREE LIVE MUSIC.

This is our THIRD to last event of the Spring 2013 Season. And it is NOT TO BE MISSED. As an added incentive to attend (but really why do you need an added incentive? I mean this event is going to be fantabulous!), I am throwing a HUGE HOUSE PARTY in June. Attending one of our final events is the ONLY WAY TO RECEIVE AN INVITE.  

Still not sure about AC & the Vega or Viola Booth Group? Well....check em out ahead of time by listening below! Anne Carol Mitchell, Louis Vega, and Viola Booth all took to the Mutiny Radio airwaves on Sunday, April 21st as part of Latenite Bubbles with Bernadette. Listen to an interview with them as well as two songs below. You can check out the whole podcast here.