
A Blue Collar Slob’s Introduction to the Rare Oakland Manzanita [video] - montalbano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tpWrX-XlBQ
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whyenot
I never would have expected to see a Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't videos
posted here. He has a whole series of videos. The language can be a little
rough, but the videos are filled with interesting and accurate botanical
information.

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montalbano
Indeed, I wasn't sure whether to submit. But given Hacker News' purview of
_anything that gratifies one 's intellectual curiosity_ I felt strongly that
it fitted in.

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davidw
Something kind of off the beaten path is _way_ better than a lot of things.
It's interesting and informative and isn't trying to make a point in some
controversy.

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jcims
This is the same guy that rescued the coyote pup a while back. I can't find
the full video on his channel any more, but did find an 'archival copy':

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02m_oByCJ8A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02m_oByCJ8A)

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DubiousPusher
I'm always a fan of the bringing together of the sophisticated and the
profane. Thanks for sharing.

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monkeycantype
This sounds like something I'm going to like. My uncle, who once taught
ancient greek at johns hopkins, explained to me the ancient greek
understanding of sacred and profane was that profane was the normal
relationship with reality, and what was outside of that was sacred. The
example he gave was that in order to be executed, prisoners first had to be
made sacred, so that killing them wasn't a transgression.

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ethn
You would love Eliade’s The Sacred and Profane.

This also is a good prerequisite to understand Girard’s work.

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rendall
I'm ashamed to admit I was put off at first by the heavy Chicago accent, but
holy shit this was interesting and informative, and the fellow knows his
botany.

I liked, subscribed, and "hit that bell" as the youtubers say these days.

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MisterTea
> I'm ashamed to admit I was put off at first by the heavy Chicago accent,

As someone with a thick NYC accent it's gratifying to see someone else with a
rough appearance and thick accent dish out some knowledge. I only watched the
video for a few min and already I see tattoos and hear cursing. Most people
would probably write this man off as unintelligent and of low class. I myself
have had to mask my accent in some situations as I've been told it makes me
sound "common". (fuck you) And although I don't have any tattoos, I know
plenty of people who look down on them. I worked for a guy who forced
employees with visible arm tattoos to wear long sleeve shirts. It's amazing
how many so-called progressive people still espouse classist bigitroy.

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MisterTea
Oh, hmmm, appears I'm being modded down in response to a perceived attack on
the GP, rendall. Wasn't my intent. The fuck you was a kind of "people who
think like that can get fucked" and so was the classist remark. Nothing was
directed towards rendall.

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musclecrab
Tony Santoro's my dude! I like to think if I had a cranky botanist uncle from
Chicago this would be him.

I remember, probably the first of his videos I stumbled across on YouTube. The
botany knowledge and quips gave me chuckles, then for the end piece, a call
for donations: "so if you wanna make a donation, my venmo is 'societyishell'".

damn near killed me. the subscribe button was clicked.

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davidw
I love that vegetation and landscape - the oaks and madrones, and higher up,
pines, with lots of grassy meadows. It starts in southern Oregon and extends
south in fits and starts.

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overcast
Been watching this dude since the beginning, he's like the Andrew Dice Clay of
Botany. Knows his shit for sure.

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aloer
turn on the generated subtitles. Impressive how well it picks up all these
botany terms

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inamberclad
Love this guy - I don't think most people realize how extraordinarily rich the
natural life is in the Bay Area. I went on a tour of a restored part of the
marshes and it was incredible - Ospreys and Seals in the South Bay!

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chrisweekly
Tangent: all you tree-loving readers should pick up Richard Powers's latest,
"The Overstory: A Novel". It's beautifully written (deservedly won the 2019
Pulitzer), and is all about trees.

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01100011
If you're into CA natives, a good resource of videos, albeit low quality and
requiring Flash, can be found at
[http://naturebytesvideo.com/](http://naturebytesvideo.com/)

Also, [https://www.laspilitas.com/](https://www.laspilitas.com/) is a great
resource as well as a nursery providing CA native plants.

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zer00eyz
Seeing this here just clued me in to why I love this channel so much.

There has always been a "cultural" association that inteliect has to be
complete. That to be educated is to be well spoken. The fact that there is the
inherit counter point between knowledge and delivery makes it entrancing.

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wahern
The accent is a bit of a shtick. In a short news piece from a Chicago TV
station his accent is much more subdued. Not surprising as I've never heard
someone with that thick of a Chicago accent outside an SNL skit.

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rwnspace
Wouldn't you adapt your speaking tone and accent to the context? I did the one
time I went on TV.

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rectangletangle
I like how he points out the texture of the bark. It's extremely smooth, and
cool to the touch.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctostaphylos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctostaphylos)

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rootw0rm
interesting. I have manzanitas all over my property up here in Anza, CA. Their
bark isn't smooth though. It's rough and it peels off in thin papery strips
everywhere.

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enahs-sf
I stumbled across a beautiful grove of these manzanitas once up by pinehurst
where Alameda county meets Contra Costa. They are a beautiful species and do
look rather alien compared to the rest of the flora around.

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tbeutel
Love it. Thanks for posting!

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amos19870630
Love the videos, I am now a subscriber.

