Author: wbtd

Scholar and activist, working on anthropology, ecology and Buddhism. Long-term research in ethnobiology of Asian mountain communities and culturally signficant landscapes (e.g. sacred sites, protected areas) and anthropogenic bidoversity (biocultural diversity). Visiting fellow at University of Hamburg.

  • Stan Freberg to the (sardonic) rescue

    In my youngest daughter’s school they celebrated the visit of Green Santa, who was into Repair Reuse Recycle sort of prezzies. I like that. Stan Freberg, 50 years ago, took...

    By Fomenting

  • 2L architecture: no people here, just capitalists.

    ‘No unions, no building codes, no gravity’. Thus spake an architect about why they preferred designing virtual buildings to real ones. It was part of part of an interview about...

    By Uncategorized

  • One day later

    Now that life has been rather stable for a while—we’ve been living in the same house for four years, Eleanor’s in school, and we haven’t had to negotiate burning barricades...

    By Uncategorized

  • The ant jātaka

    Once the Buddha was born as an ant. Unlike the other ants he was a rich copper colour, with strong legs and sensitive antennae. It was late spring, and he...

    By animals, Buddhism

  • Were they eaten or did they cook?

    Wonderful, wonderful evidence of the antiquity of human-bat inter-relations in an Australian Aboriginal Bradhsaw painting from at least 17.5Kbp. It doesn’t really matter whether they were eaten to extinction in...

    By Uncategorized