Ian, Ian, Ian. When are you coming to Martinez so we can brain storm about what to do next? How about a Public Awareness campaign for the entire state of Georgia?
Love the pantry stocking. Love the snowball fight. Love the ducks in V. I was just sorry I didn’t get to see your beaver break the ice though, because I was curious how you’d pull it off.
Enjoy all of Ian’s brilliant (now fifteen year old) artistry. That’s his dad playing the banjo and we SO need him at our beaver festival. Look for “beaver creek” on youtube. Apparently just because every episode has been nominated for a national scholastic award he isn’t taking a break. Keep them coming Ian, we love you!
Our juvenile Otter made the front page of the Gazette today. If you’re planning on taking your valentine for some romantic otter watching, this Worth A Dam video might help.
Juvenile otter standing on flow device: Photo Lory Bruno
Do you remember wayyyyyyy back in the seminal November meeting when we all gathered at the High School Performance Art building to make the wacky suggestion that Martinez keep its beavers? We had to march down to the microphone when our name was called and there was this slight dark young man who was actually filming the whole thing and checked the mic from time to time? That was Don Bernier, a documentary filmaker who had already started a project about Urban Wildlife, and won an award from HSUS in the process. Don just heard about the beavers on the news, and wanted to see if the story belonged in his larger project. It turned out that beavers would dominate his project, and he was in Martinez filming everything from the beaver festival to the very first meeting of Worth A Dam. He even had two friends filming the night of the April meeting when Mary Tappe wandered down the aisles with her white cardboard beaver displays.
Well, he’s in the stage of the project where you go around and tell people how cool it is and hope you get a buyer. He sent me a copy of the trailer a while back, but its finally online for you to see. Check out how charming Martinez looks on the big screen! This first interview was filmed in my living room, complete with those umbrella things that refract light and a wired microphone through my shirt. At the time it was a very unusual experience. Hmm.
I am very grateful to whatever thoughtful videographer placed this on youtube. It is footage of a beaver swimming from a viewing platform underwater at the Lincoln Park Zoo. (Apparently they can tolerate trapped beavers, just not free ones.) You see, there’s been some controversy about how beaver feet move underwater. Some artists show them moving together, like a kangaroo, instead of alternating, like we walk. See for yourself:
