Discussing the history of the wooden utility pole, Stilgoe notes that other nations erected steel poles or buried utility lines under ground, "but not so in the United States, land of cheap timber, vast distances, and an easygoing willingness to accept the poles that warp and twist and finally rot." He observes that utility companies' worries about line breaks and loose electricity cause them to deforest city streets and prune everything under the long-distance, high-tension electric lines. And then these open electric line right-of-ways serve as corridors for wildlife to move between one range and the next.
Ryder and Rosa's project has the feeling of the beginning of explorations, when everything seems strange and its logic escapes you. There is alluring mystery in their scenes, glimpses of a hidden world, a sense of America seen from backstage. But I'm spoiled by Stilgoe. I wish they hadn't just stuck to making observations, but also dug in deeper.
Read Greg Cook's blog at gregcookland.com/journal.
Related:
The making of the Roots-versus-Antibalas Sound Clash, Review: Department of Eagles, Review: ''Backstage Pass'' at the PMA, More 
- The making of the Roots-versus-Antibalas Sound Clash
We're not previewing the Red Bull Sound Clash just because the buzz-beverage overlords supply Phoenix headquarters with enough voltage to paralyze a petting zoo.
- Review: Department of Eagles
At the Brattle Theatre Sunday, Fred Nicolaus, guitarist from the Brooklyn-based duo Department of Eagles, announced that they'd play a song from their little-known 2003 debut album, The Whitey on the Moon UK LP . "It's not very good," he warned.
- Review: ''Backstage Pass'' at the PMA
The half-century chronology covered by the Portland Museum of Art's latest exhibition, "Backstage Pass," reveals in photographic portraiture a story of music that is a euphemism for the ultimate creative act. Like sex, rock-and-roll is about surrender to the present moment.
- The bulletproof cred of M.O.P.
In their decade and a half as thug-rap ambassadors, Brooklyn's Mash Out Posse have made some moves that lesser outfits might have caught shit for.
- Not messing about
The pale modernism of Lane's living room, plush but sterile, is being slowly strewn with stuff: barely bitten apples, playing cards, a bright yellow spice.
- Review: Dashah | Rap Burglar 2.5
Dashah is the sort of artist who inspires wack rappers to retire early.
- Noir film
Fatalism and depression are consequences of life, not goals. Cheer up and don't let this dust-to-dust business slow you down.
- Review: Everlasting Moments
You wonder how this effort — Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick in its original Swedisagh title — failed to get even a nomination for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
- Boston exposures
Photographer Nicholas Nixon of Brookline first burst onto the scene in the show "New Topographics."
- King Wilkie | King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers
Today, "risk" is less popular than George W. Bush, but this former Virginia band — now in NYC — are rolling the dice hard.
- Au Revoir Simone | Still Night, Still Light
On the surface, Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone are a publicist's dream.
- Less
Topics:
Museum And Gallery
, Culture and Lifestyle, Brooklyn, History, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Brooklyn, History, Photography, Virginia, Art History, Cultural History, Frank Gohlke, Alexandria, Clark University, Less
