You profess a concern for the ethical treament of animals. You even buy ‘cage free’ eggs at the supermarket. A twinge of guilt strikes you when you look down at your black leather shoes. Am I on the money?

If so, I absolutely dare you to pick up this film and watch it. No, Netflix doesn’t stock it. Neither does Amazon. You’ll have to get it directly from Joaquin Phoenix and his buddies at I SAW EARTHLINGS.COM.

Will you lose your appetite? Assuredly. Will you feel tremendous heapings of guilt. Oh yes. Both of these are massive understatements. And knowing this, you will never, ever, ever purchase this movie. You’ve already stated your concern. . .you know that ’somewhere’ bad things are done to animals, but that ’somewhere’ is nowhere near you and you’ve never supported it. You also know damned well that you’re kidding yourself and you don’t want to know any better. This doesn’t make you a bad person, only willfully ignorant. Slippery slope.

Get this movie. If you do, and don’t find it absolutely invaluable, I will personally refund your purchase price. I’m dead serious.

Song ‘o the Day is something of a shocker. Remember 4 Non Blondes? Yeah, well. Here they are doing the Carpenters’ “Bless the Beasts & the Children.” Rock on. [audio:beasts.mp3]

[tags]animal welfare, earthlings, joaquin phoenix, shaun monson, vegetarian[/tags]

It’s very short and VERY powerful.

You can view it here: MOVIE

(ignore the image. it has nothing to do with anything other than, well, an old man and a possum.)

At last, a bit more info on Leo D’s new project, ‘The 11th Hour’. I’ve high hopes that this film can pick up where Gore’s film let down. . err. . . left off. In interviewing dozens of noted thinkers, the film seems to be ready to deliver on the “What can we do?” topic as well as well and truly get to the root causes of our current climate change predicament. Gore was nifty with the Power Point, but he left out pretty much every significant detail and refused to implicate his former paymasters. It’s almost time for another “why the hell do the Dems get all this ‘green’ credit when they continue to do so damned little” rant, but I’m going to table it . . . for now.

Here’s the link to the new site. Scant on info, but it looks like there is more to come. Oh, my main man Lester Brown was interviewed for the film, but he doesn’t show up on the bio list yet. Leo - are you reading this? I’m certain you ar, so will you do me a quick favor and get Les’ profile up? Thanks! We should grab dinner again at Papalote’s - I can’t believe those tofu burritos! Wearing that silver El Santo mask for anonymity was genius, man!

I’m dedicating today’s song to Leo. He seems to be the real deal.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s ‘The Lion Lair’ [audio:lion.mp3]

[tags]leonardo-dicaprio, 11th-hour, al-gore, lester-brown, papalote, tofu-burrito[/tags]

[qt:http://www.escapefromsuburbia.com/trailer/TrailerHIGH.mov 500 375]

Tap the play button already!

Here are some folks who are trying to spread the word via a new documentary, though without Al Gore’s name recognition. Check out the ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA SITE for more information and to support what they’re trying to do. Heck, if you’re going to go apeshit over Gore’s film, you really should pay attention to the “little people” as well. They just may have more to say than you’d think. From the site’s home page:

“Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The END of SUBURBIA explored the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet enters the age of Peak Oil.

In ESCAPE From SUBURBIA director Greg Greene once again takes us “through the looking glass” on a journey of discovery – a sobering yet vital and ultimately positive exploration of what the second half of the Oil Age has in store for us.

Through personal stories and interviews we examine how declining world oil production has already begun to affect modern life in North America. Expert scientific opinion is balanced with “on the street” portraits from an emerging global movement of citizen’s groups who are confronting the challenges of Peak Oil in extraordinary ways.

The clock is ticking. ESCAPE From SUBURBIA asks the tough questions: Are we approaching Peak Oil now? What are the controversies surrounding our future energy options? Why are a growing number of specialists and citizens skeptical of these options? What are ordinary people across North America doing in their own communities to prepare for Peak Oil? And what will YOU do as energy prices skyrocket and the Oil Age draws to a close?”

Click play below the blank screen above to check the trailer.

As for the musical selection, I’m going with the obvious choice, David Bowie’s “Buddha of Suburbia”: [audio:Buddha.mp3]

I guess this isn’t much of a surprise.

Congratulations to the amazing Laurie David for making this film happen.

I can’t wait for THE SEQUEL - where Gore talks about what we can DO about climate change. My confidential sources tell me that the new film, tentatively titled, “Plan B 2.0″ will feature Gore relating the contents of Lester Brown’s recent publication. I’m very excited, as Brown’s agenda/plan (I’ve read the book version) is formidable and represents our very best hope to make significant strides toward a sustainable future.

And, because they’re oh so hot right now, this posts musical accent is The Police’s “Truth Hits Everybody”: .

[tags]inconvenient-truth, laurie-david, al-gore, lester-brown, the-police[/tags]

I have to admit that I’m quite late on the draw. “Blue Vinyl” movie has been out for about five years now, winning Sundance awards and earning mountains of critical praise, but I’ve only now gotten around to giving it a go. I’m sorry I waited so long! Dubbed the green building movement’s “first cult film,” it’s like Roger and Me (the comparisons are inevitable), only far, far more important. Here’s a great article about the film from Healthy Building News.

Certainly, you’ve heard that PVC is bad news, that even casual contact with the ubiquitous material may cause health problems, especially in children. What I didn’t know was exactly how bad this and other vinyl-based materials are, nor how long the vinyl industry has been working feverishly to cover this up. Directors Judith Helfland and Dan Gold effectively provide hard data and a riveting history in a package that seems more or less like lightweight entertainment.

I know, a movie about vinyl doesn’t sound like a good time. That’s why I waited so long. Big mistake. This week, your mission is to trust a stranger (me), rent this film and buy Bobby Conn’s new recording (see below). If I steer you wrong, contact me and I will make it right somehow.

Here’s the Netflix link: BLUE VINYL

The film’s website BLUE VINYL.ORG links to some great resources that provide information on better home building (thanks again, “Garreth”!)

Finally, here’s a song that makes my heart just sing (thanks, Ali). I know that, you too will just LOVE it!
Little Fuzzy Pups

My god, what a great movie. Made in 1972, set in an outer space future, full of emotional content with a powerful and profound ecological statement/warning, Silent Running is close to a perfect film. Oh, and it’s a sci-fi film, and given that some mistake me for a nerd, this is the icing on the cake.

Set in the not-so-distant future, our anti-hero, Freeman Lowell (a name right out of a Heinlein novel) is the caretaker of a number of massive outer space arboretums. They orbit Saturn, growing crops and trees in an effort to re-seed the surface of an post-eco-catastrophe Earth. When orders come from Earth to nuke the arboretums, Freeman goes a bit off the deep end in an effort to save the only plant life left in our solar system.

Forget my description, just try the movie. You’ll be grateful you did. . .if only for the Joan Baez songs.

The importance of Silent Running is that it is very much a Hollywood response to Rachel Carson’s seminal book, Silent Spring. Given how stridently many within Hollywood are now arguing for immediate environmental reforms and legislation, this film serves in it’s own way as parent to this effort and even foreshadows An Inconvenient Truth in the way that only science fiction can. If only we paid more attention to sci-fi . . . it really does predict the future: Robots! Laser beams! Environmental ruin!

Trivia: The film is featured in Episode 306 of Six Feet Under (”Making Love Work”) (Admission - I’ve never seen Six Feet Under or Sopranos or Weeds or Everyone Loves Raymond . . . but I hear they’re solid shows. I did, however, get a chance to see an episode of Meerkat Manor when I was on vacation - two thumbs up!)

[tags]bruce-dern, silent-running, freeman-lowell, six-feet-under, climate-change, meerkat-manor, sci-fi, hollywood[/tags]