View Full Version : PBS National Park series
Tennessee Viking
09-02-2009, 23:04
PBS will be hosting a six part series of the National Parks on Sept 27
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks
Lots of downloadable content
I've heard it's awesome, can't wait.
I'm a BIG fan of backcountry backpacking in the National Parks. I've been watching the series already on PBS when I'm near a TV and not actually out there hiking these parks. I guess the series has started already in some areas of the country.
It airs beginning tonight!
Click on the links to read a July 14, 2008 press release (http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20080714_nationalparks.html) or check your local listings (http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/tv-schedules/).
Tipi Walter
09-27-2009, 13:57
I tuned in yesterday(Saturday)to public radio and heard Bob Edwards interview Burns and another guy producing the NPS segments. I'm most interested in the public access issues and the NPS expert had some weird things to say about overcrowding and traffic in the parks. He mentioned how Zion NP once was so bad they had to shut off the roads to tourons and use mass transit.
I hope they really get into this subject in detail on the series cuz everyone knows how bad the traffic is in the Smokies and the noise pollution from the screaming motorcycles on 441, etc.
I'm most interested in the public access issues and the NPS expert had some weird things to say about overcrowding and traffic in the parks.
such as ...
Got a link to the interview?
Tipi Walter
09-27-2009, 14:17
such as ...
Got a link to the interview?
Check out:
http://podcast.com/show/32910/Bob-Edwards-Weekend/
Hit the first one. I tried to download it on dial-up and saw it would take 1 hour and 35 minutes to do so.:mad:
Anyway, the producer mentioned something about overcrowding and access and how it's great to see a democracy dealing with it, etc. Seemed like he wanted both wilderness and wild places while at the same time encouraging unlimited rolling access. I need to hear it again.
Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between sarcasm and cluelessness. It would probably help to hear it spoken.
Nasty Dog Virus
09-27-2009, 22:13
Fantastic! I can't wait for the next episode. Burns is a fantastic film maker and story teller. I great historian and now conservationist...
RedneckRye
09-27-2009, 22:21
Just watched the first episode, mostly focused on Yosemite and Yellowstone (the first 2 national parks), and on John Muir.
Spectacular stuff.
Wish my schedule for the next 5 days allowed me to see them all.
Maybe it is time to look into a DVR or even the old school technology of a VCR.
MikenSalem
09-27-2009, 22:44
Panasonic has a DVR/HD, works awesome for the over the air digital signal. You can put it on the Hard drive (HD) or straight to DVD or transfer what you liked from the HD to DVD. Got it at Sams Club.
The parks footage has me wanting to go even worse than before.
Bulldawg
09-27-2009, 23:00
I heard a man say something right at the 20 minute or so mark. Can someone tell me if this is someone else's quote or what? It was something about not having to go into a church or cathedral, but climb to the mountain top to see God as he really exists in the world. Really deep.
freefall
09-28-2009, 00:10
All I can say is WOW! Fantastic first episode.
Eagerly awaiting the next five!
I tuned in yesterday(Saturday)to public radio and heard Bob Edwards interview Burns and another guy producing the NPS segments. I'm most interested in the public access issues and the NPS expert had some weird things to say about overcrowding and traffic in the parks. He mentioned how Zion NP once was so bad they had to shut off the roads to tourons and use mass transit.
I hope they really get into this subject in detail on the series cuz everyone knows how bad the traffic is in the Smokies and the noise pollution from the screaming motorcycles on 441, etc.
Not gonna happen. Zion & Bryce are dead end roads while 441 cuts through GSMNP, same as Going to the Sun road does at Glacier NP.
You & I both know that very few tourons hike more than 1 mile off the roads.
MintakaCat
09-28-2009, 07:06
I hope they really get into this subject in detail on the series cuz everyone knows how bad the traffic is in the Smokies and the noise pollution from the screaming motorcycles on 441, etc.
It would help if some of those folks riding those motorcycles would get off of them and do a little hiking. I mean the size of some of those folks is unreal, no wonder those motorcycles are "screaming."
To me, each year the number of overweight people on those things seems to grow. Really a sad sight seeing them go up and down through the GSMNP.
Tipi Walter
09-28-2009, 07:17
It would help if some of those folks riding those motorcycles would get off of them and do a little hiking. I mean the size of some of those folks is unreal, no wonder those motorcycles are "screaming."
To me, each year the number of overweight people on those things seems to grow. Really a sad sight seeing them go up and down through the GSMNP.
I'd be happy if they just had decent mufflers.
Pedaling Fool
09-28-2009, 07:25
I tried to watch it, but as is typical with PBS programs they inject too much of a poetic slant to their shows. I hate poetry. All I want to hear are the boring facts.
freefall
09-28-2009, 08:13
I tried to watch it, but as is typical with PBS programs they inject too much of a poetic slant to their shows. I hate poetry. All I want to hear are the boring facts.
Exactly why I loved it! I can glean facts from their poetic delivery but it's hard to inject poetry into a seminar by, say, Isaac Asimov.
MikenSalem
09-28-2009, 09:39
Anybody record epi#1 I need a copy DVD if possible.
double d
09-28-2009, 09:41
Very well made program on our national parks, leave it to PBS to make quality tv programs as well (thank God). Ken Burns is truly in love with history and America, what a very talented guy he is.
jeepcj258
09-28-2009, 09:53
First one was great, will try to catch the next one.
chknfngrs
09-28-2009, 10:22
Poetry hates YOU!!
RedneckRye
09-28-2009, 10:42
DVD set is available thru pbs.org
$80 with free shipping if pre-ordered before Oct 6th
http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=3473255&cp=2132577.1412587&sr=1&origkw=national+parks&parentPage=family
TP makes a point, but as someone else said, closing the road he would like to see closed isn't likely to happen. What are the alternatives and are they politically realistic?
I'd rather see him pursue a serious discussion of the alternatives, rather than repeatedly raise the issue which is unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.
I watched the 1st episode and enjoyed it. In many ways, it wasn't new information to me, but it was worth watching.
I've enjoyed Ken Burns's previous work, but I was more moved so far by his Lewis and Clark effort. I am a big TR fan, so tonight might serve to get me more exicited and change my overall impression.
If you have enjoyed it so far, don't let my 1st impression discourage you. There are 5 more episodes, I intend to watch them all and I haven't formulated an overall opinion.
With respect to TR and an exibit in Pennsylvania now showing, someone can expect a PM.
whitelightning
09-28-2009, 14:57
For those that missed last night's episode, you can view them online.
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watch-video/#872
Just an option for those that don't have a DVR.
humunuku
09-28-2009, 18:13
I tuned in yesterday(Saturday)to public radio and heard Bob Edwards interview Burns and another guy producing the NPS segments. I'm most interested in the public access issues and the NPS expert had some weird things to say about overcrowding and traffic in the parks. He mentioned how Zion NP once was so bad they had to shut off the roads to tourons and use mass transit.
I hope they really get into this subject in detail on the series cuz everyone knows how bad the traffic is in the Smokies and the noise pollution from the screaming motorcycles on 441, etc.
They did a great job at Zion...probably the best run park i've seen, everyone must take the shuttle in the park...its so nice to have zero traffic and zero mechanical noise. Shuttles run from outside in sprindale into the park, no need for a car once you get there. Its the way it should be.
MikenSalem
09-28-2009, 22:24
The greatest common attribute of those pioneer’s who wished to save nature for posterity was they sought God in lonely places and found Him.
They also considered that connection important enough to share. They knew that handiwork made by Gods hands is sacred, so great that nether the beauty nor the connection should be lost. How could you look at His work and not see the witness to Him. Even if we Christians were to be silenced the rocks would cry out as witness.
Today there are still those who find no greater connection than that between man and God and they wish to share that with others. That grand love that saved nature for your enjoyment today is the same love many scorn because it leaves them uncomfortable when someone shares their love for God with them. If we Christians didn’t know, what we know, we wouldn’t be so adamant in the revelation.
The creation is only the witness but you are the companion which causes the desire for that connection. To know life is not vain nor fleeting but eternal and that there exists a way to regain your companionship. Hike on!
Jayboflavin04
09-28-2009, 22:43
I just got done watching an episode. Where in the hell would we be without John Muir, and Teddy Roosevelt. The face of America would be very concrete.
squirrel bait
09-29-2009, 10:08
Thanks WhiteLightning.
Tipi Walter
09-29-2009, 12:32
They did a great job at Zion...probably the best run park i've seen, everyone must take the shuttle in the park...its so nice to have zero traffic and zero mechanical noise. Shuttles run from outside in sprindale into the park, no need for a car once you get there. Its the way it should be.
Please God, let the Smokies learn from atop holy Mt Zion! I'm trying to imagine the Smokies with zero traffic and zero mechanical noise. Praise Buddha! Shuttles . . . no car once you get there . . . What are we waiting for and who's in charge??
The greatest common attribute of those pioneer’s who wished to save nature for posterity was they sought God in lonely places and found Him.
They also considered that connection important enough to share. They knew that handiwork made by Gods hands is sacred, so great that nether the beauty nor the connection should be lost. How could you look at His work and not see the witness to Him. Even if we Christians were to be silenced the rocks would cry out as witness.
Today there are still those who find no greater connection than that between man and God and they wish to share that with others. That grand love that saved nature for your enjoyment today is the same love many scorn because it leaves them uncomfortable when someone shares their love for God with them. If we Christians didn’t know, what we know, we wouldn’t be so adamant in the revelation.
The creation is only the witness but you are the companion which causes the desire for that connection. To know life is not vain nor fleeting but eternal and that there exists a way to regain your companionship. Hike on!
This reminds me of Lakota medicine man Matthew King who gave a speech about Indian spirituality. He held up an eagle feather and said, "God is Nature, Nature is God." That's enough for me.
When I visited Bryce and Zion a couple of years ago, I got lucky. I drove through there and was able to stop wherever and whenever I wanted and hike around and drive to the next spot I wanted to see. As far as I know, they use the transit system during the tourist season. So its best to go during the off season.
MikenSalem
09-29-2009, 22:09
The west end of Zion is open to traffic as well as all of Brice, Arches and the Grand Canyon. I didn't care for the busses in east Zion I couldn't see, I let my kids have the window seats. I suppose you could walk if you like sucking bus smog. I'd like to go back and spend a month in each one...
Bulldawg
09-29-2009, 22:32
I heard a man say something right at the 20 minute or so mark in the first episode. Can someone tell me if this is someone else's quote or what? It was something about not having to go into a church or cathedral, but climb to the mountain top to see God as he really exists in the world. Really deep.
Bump............................
I heard a man say something right at the 20 minute or so mark. Can someone tell me if this is someone else's quote or what? It was something about not having to go into a church or cathedral, but climb to the mountain top to see God as he really exists in the world. Really deep.
I remember that and I found the segment at:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1258704633
The Scripture Of Nature (1851-1890) at 1:33:40 "Eden"
It's Walter Cronan, an historian, commenting on the relationship between Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendentalist writings and the experience of getting back to nature. The segments focusing on John Muir in this episode and the next are great. My favorite part so far is the accounts of the times Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir spent together. Good stuff.
Blue Jay
10-01-2009, 11:09
I expected it to be good and it is soooo much better.
Johnny Thunder
10-01-2009, 11:14
I've noticed two things about this most recent Burns Documentary.
First, he seems to enjoy qualifying the experiences of individuals by providing extraneous background information. Examples:
"The half-Indian son of a fur trapper"
or
"A one-armed Civil War veteran."
It's just strange.
Also, when he launches into a backstory you often know exactly how it's going to end (even before it starts in the first place). For example:
Last night they were talking about the stamp passport books some park visitors received. Then they showed this former rock climber/ Artificial Intelligence grad student who became a photographer because he just loved the parks so very much. Wouldn't you guess it...15 minutes later...he's taken photos in every park AND he has the passport book to prove it.
Johnny T.
PS. "Gerky" is a funny last name.
Blue Jay
10-01-2009, 11:44
I've noticed two things about this most recent Burns Documentary.
First, he seems to enjoy qualifying the experiences of individuals by providing extraneous background information. Examples:
"The half-Indian son of a fur trapper"
or
"A one-armed Civil War veteran."
It's just strange.
Also, when he launches into a backstory you often know exactly how it's going to end (even before it starts in the first place). For example:
Last night they were talking about the stamp passport books some park visitors received. Then they showed this former rock climber/ Artificial Intelligence grad student who became a photographer because he just loved the parks so very much. Wouldn't you guess it...15 minutes later...he's taken photos in every park AND he has the passport book to prove it.
Johnny T.
PS. "Gerky" is a funny last name.
I noticed the exact same thing and I believe he's doing it on purpose. It reminded me somehow of the old style of writing such as used by Muir, Melville, Conrad, and Faulkner, but not overtly. I loved the name Gerky and their Buicks, very homey (no not like homey don't play that).
Bulldawg
10-01-2009, 12:20
I remember that and I found the segment at:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1258704633
The Scripture Of Nature (1851-1890) at 1:33:40 "Eden"
It's Walter Cronan, an historian, commenting on the relationship between Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendentalist writings and the experience of getting back to nature. The segments focusing on John Muir in this episode and the next are great. My favorite part so far is the accounts of the times Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir spent together. Good stuff.
OK, here is it, the quote I was looking for
"If you want to know God at first hand, it's not to enter a cathedral, it's not to open a book, it's to climb to the mountain top, and on the mountain top, there you will see God as God truly is in the world."
BSF-Hiker
10-01-2009, 13:13
If you've missed any of the episodes, the East Tn Public Television is having a "special weekend marathon on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 1:30 to 8 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 4 from 2 to 8 p.m."
http://www.etptv.org/?id=216
The final episode airs tonight. What I like most about what I've seen is how it serves to illustrate what we might do for the A.T. here.
I was disappointed with the first episode. Not sure why. I loved the Civil War series and enjoy Ken Burns in general. But after having spent a LOT of my adult life around Yellowstone and some decent time in Yosemite, the imagery left me feeling flat. Nothing like the real thing I suppose.
I also teach land management as part of a course for Belmont University and knew much of the information presented in the series, so maybe I wasn't so caught up in the narration.
But I've got the whole mini-series on DVR and I'm looking for things to pick up when Theodore Roosevelt gets going from the Bully Pulpit.
Blue Jay
10-02-2009, 19:35
I also teach land management as part of a course for Belmont University and knew much of the information presented in the series, so maybe I wasn't so caught up in the narration.
I knew alot of it also, but I think having actors read the words of the people responsible for these amazing gifts somehow made it more real for me. I also knew that the existence of national (and of course state) parks was and is entirely due to political efforts. Politics to public land is like heat and light to the sun or hydrogen and oxygen to water. The most basic part of the AT cannot be discussed here.
TJ aka Teej
10-03-2009, 18:57
http://www.mpbn.net/Television/LocalTelevisionPrograms/MaineWatch/tabid/477/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3470/ItemId/9119/Default.aspx
Maine's Public TV did a few excellent pre-Burns stories on the NPs in Maine.
MATC's Dave Field is featured.
lazy river road
10-03-2009, 19:30
it is a great program im really enjoying the footage and the history
humunuku
10-05-2009, 12:36
http://www.mpbn.net/Television/LocalTelevisionPrograms/MaineWatch/tabid/477/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3470/ItemId/9119/Default.aspx
Maine's Public TV did a few excellent pre-Burns stories on the NPs in Maine.
MATC's Dave Field is featured.
East TN PBS did a good one on the smokies also
brian039
10-05-2009, 21:12
I was dissapointed with this series, of course I had huge expectations because I loved the Civil War and WW2 series by Ken Burns. There was way too much focus on the politics of the National Parks and the conservationists and not on the National Parks themselves.
The National Parks are about politics. Without politics there would be no parks.
Blue Jay
10-06-2009, 17:14
I was dissapointed with this series, of course I had huge expectations because I loved the Civil War and WW2 series by Ken Burns. There was way too much focus on the politics of the National Parks and the conservationists and not on the National Parks themselves.
This is exactly the problem, no one wants the politics. If it was up to people like you, there would be no National Parks. Politics could have stopped the Civil War, but everyone wanted to fight not talk. On the bad side, you have a choice politics or war. On the positive side you have politics or nothing good happens. The easy road is rarely the best road. Politics created the AT and it's not the easy road, the road is (which was also caused by politics).
The National Parks are about politics. Without politics there would be no parks.
Very, very true. The same is true for most state parks and preserves, at least in Maine. Over the past half century that I've been observing public land acquisitions in Maine, every addition has involved sometimes bitter political, legal, philosophical, and economic debate.
The political divides are enormous. Once when I was testifying on a Legislative bill to fund a land acquisition bond issue, a member of the committee observed that if he had his way, we would be selling the existng public lands, not buying more.
Weary
MintakaCat
10-16-2009, 22:19
By the way, I found the DVD set on Amazon for $62.23, which included the shipping. Much cheaper than the PBS web site.