Parks on TV

On April 10 PBS stations around the US are airing a special called 10 Parks that Changed America. Watch the preview here.

Olmsted on TV

It is a great time for landscape architecture on TV for those in the NYC area.

Tonight (or tomorrow morning) at 1am, PBS 13 will be re-airing the Susan Sarandon narrated Great Museums episode on the High Line. Later tomorrow (Thursday) morning, PBS 13 is re-airing the 1 hour documentary, Olmsted and America's Urban Parks.

Then, on June 20th PBS everywhere will be airing a new special, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America, which emphasizes his central role in shaping America and its identity.

Get some popcorn or set the DVR (or both).

Some Reading Days TV

PBS is running a repeat showing tonight of Secrets of the Dead: The Lost Gardens of Babylon tonight. It is a great mix of history and landscapes.

More landscape architects on TV

Tonight there will be one more (fake) landscape architect on TV.  Rob Schneider starts as "Rob" in the new sitcom, "Rob".  Rob is a landscape architect with mild-OCD, but his mom displays the classic stereotyped understanding of landscape architecture saying, “I just wish sometimes you people wouldn’t use a leaf blower; it’s so noisy.”  Not sure that low-brow comedy was the type of publicity that the ASLA was looking for, but the reviews suggest that it might not last too long.

DVR Alert!

Tonight at 9pm NJN viewers will get to see the story of Atlantic Crossing.

Blue Ridge Parkway documentary

For those in the NY area, you'll want to set your DVRs to record this weekend's showing The Blue Ridge Parkway: A Long and Winding Road.  It looks like it might really probe more into the land owners who lost their land so the road could be built.  It will show at 9pm on Saturday (Jan 8th) on WLIW.  Just another example of ow TV can help you learn.  (h/t Puk)

The Fountainhead reviewed

TV Worth Watching just published a review of the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. It presents it in a fairly standard review of its watchability to a non-design audience: "It's all here: unapologetic personal gain, artistic passion, romance and selfless sacrifice... hot off the drawing board in the drafting room."

And there are plenty of political and philosophical reviews online about this as a metaphor for life.  But what I couldn't find easily is a designer's critique of how this ego-driven approach doesn't work today, especially in collaborative and participatory settings.  There must be plenty, but where?  I trust my readers will let me know.

GPS for kids

PBS' Dragonfly recently ran an episode in which kids compared GPS with a compass and map.

Reality TV show

Check out the new reality TV show where teams of landscape architects compete to design a town in Michigan.

The evolving role of public research universities

Rutgers University President McCormick will appear in a 30 minute interview this Saturday on PBS' The Open Mind. He will discuss "the evolving role of public research universities and the challenges they face in the 21st century" on this show which will first ar locally on Channel 13 at noon.

Green: The New Red, White and Blue?

Since I haven't seen it, I don't know how seriously I can recommend this, but it does sound intriguing...
"Green: The New Red, White and Blue," a documentary featuring Tom Friedman¹s reporting on green technology, premiers on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, April 21 at 9 p.m. EDT.