hugging a tree (insert joke here)

as you may or may not have heard, daryl hannah is off to jail on a civil disobedience charge.

text from: http://www.courier-journal.com/ written by angie fenton:

Daryl Hannah and 16 other protestors were arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles South Central Urban Garden after protesting its closure.The 45-year-old actress was sitting 40 feet above ground in a walnut tree when police forcibly removed her from the 14-acre fruit and veggie garden slated for demolition. The urban farm, which provides food for hundreds of families, most of whom are Hispanic immigrants, is to be turned into an industrial space. “I’m not thrilled about (being in jail), but I felt it was important to sustain my commitment,” Hannah told People on Wednesday.

now, i totally understand it's easy (a little too easy actually) to make a joke about daryl hannah and the situation, but i think that it's important to actually recognize the importance of what daryl did - and that's something your not reading about. daryl took a stand for something she believed in. that's the core of what it means to be an american i think. taking a stand and honoring your value system. we should honor people willing to take a stand. even the famous.

text from: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/ (no byline provided):

Actress Hannah, 45, said of her arrest: “I’m not thrilled about it, but I felt it was important to sustain my commitment.“I spent the last 23 days down at the South Central farm, which is the largest urban farm in the nation and provides food for hundreds of families." “The subsistence farmers are from one of the poorest communities." “This farm should be a model for sustainable urban agriculture. It needs to be replicated, not eradicated.” She said she had got involved after filming the garden for her website blog, when she “fell in love with it and the farmers”.

the destruction of the urban farm she was protesting is believed to be the largest urban farm in the country and doesn't currently cost (the city or the taxpayers) anything to run. it's completely self-sustaining. how many things in our country can we say that about these days? what purpose does bulldozing a garden/farm for an industrial complex serve? does l.a. need yet another industrial complex. the city is riddled with them. and south centrapositivelys positivly overrun with them (i should know, my company's l.a. warehouse/sales office is in south central) - one bloody boring industrial building after another with virtually no green space to be had. cities need green space. and inner cities really need them.

"the garden was an example of what should be done in cities all over the united states" - dennis kucinich

so where was i (i get so distracted when i'm on my soapbox)? oh yea, instead of making fun of a celebrity who get's arrested for their convictions - why not celebrate them. the country would be much stronger if more people took a stand for what they believed in.

music heard during the writing of this post:

will the circle be unbroken / the neville brothers
get up i feel like being a sex machine, pts. 1 & 2 / james brown
zoo station / u2
bring me some water (acoustic) / melissa ethridge

play in the sunshine (live in paris) / prince

detonation boulevard / sisters of mercy

el capitalismo foraneo / gotan project