Film Series: The End of Suburbia

The EON film series presents

What: a film about oil
When: TOMORROW, Tuesday 10/14 at 8 pm
Where: PAC 002

CAKE

(This is John McCrea, the lead singer of Cake. After one concert, I managed to catch him out back and somhow spluttered, of all questions, "do you like Kurt Vonnegut?" Why I asked that, I don't know. For the record, he said yes).

Cake has been my favorite band for a hugely long time. Once, in high school, I drove three hours and went through the giant pain that was booking a hotel room as a minor (it involved some calls from my mom) because I wanted to see them so badly. My favorite game is "guess the Cake song" (mostly because I get it right pretty much every time). Needless to say, I'm obsessed.
Part of the reason I keep coming back to Cake is that not only is their music amazing, but they are a band that actively cares about things. A glance at their news page quickly reveals that issues like big oil, global warming, and Washington politics are important to them. They definitely have strong opinions and aren't bashful about being upfront about them, but they're not just talk...they actually do things, like encourage concert-goers to carpool, give away trees at concerts, and install solar panels on their studio. Here's a video about their solar panel installation:

Pretty cool, yeah? I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs (predictably, it's impossible for me to choose just one). Enjoy!

Google's commitment to the environment

I knew Google was green or whatever, but hadn't looked into what that actually means until very recently. Here are some highlights:

1. RechargeIT: Google has been keeping track of how many MPG its fleet of hybrids and electric cars get and publishing the results. One goal is to demonstrate how plug-in hybrids work. Here's an excellent video on just that.
2. Solar Panels: the campus in Mountain View sports a 1.6 megawatt solar panel installation, apparently one of the largest corporate installations in the US (see here).

Links:
Google's green initiatives
Google.org (Google's philanthropic arm)

EDIT: This week, at the National Clean Energy Summit, Google announced its plans to finance research into EDS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems). It's touted as a reliable, consistent, global energy source (as compared to wind, which is intermittent and available in fewer places). Anyway, here's a Dot Earth post on the subject.

Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee

(image via Treehugger)

This August, TLC is showing reruns of the Planet Green (Discovery Channel's eco-network) show Battleground Earth, in which Ludacris and Tommy Lee "battle against the toxic forces destroying Mother Earth as they travel across the country on a 10-episode tour." Here is a not so glowing review of the show, but maybe it'll be one of those so bad I have to keep watching it shows. In any case, it airs every Thursday at 8 and 11 pm on TLC. According to Ecorazzi, Planet Green has said that the show is supposed to be entertaining and not preachy. I'm interested to see if this is an effective way of involving people who usually don't care, or if it trivializes/waters down the issues too much. I'd like to check out other shows on Planet Green, like Stuff Happens (which stars Bill Nye, because seriously, who doesn't have a soft spot for that guy??)

Links:
TLC's Battleground Earth airing schedule
Planet Green Website

WALL-E

I was going to do a post on bananas (don't worry, it'll happen), but I saw WALL-E tonight and had to share. Let's just say I cried...multiple times*, both because it was adorable/touching and dealt with ecological themes. Basically, people consume and throw away so much stuff that Earth becomes uninhabitable and they have to escape in a spaceship. They're only supposed to be gone for five years while the mega-company that controls everything is cleaning everything up. Of course, they can't, and the spaceship remains in exile for 700 years. All the people on the ship are sedentary, glued to phones or TVs, and don't interact face to face. Being 700 years removed from Earth, they have no idea what farming or dancing are. Without ruining the whole thing, I'll just say that a lot of things I think about constantly were in this movie. If you have the chance, definitely go see it.


*probably not typical.

"Bones" on compost

Last night I had some free time and nothing to do (ahhh, it felt so wonderful), so I decided to watch Bones (a CSI-type show on Fox). Much to my amusement, the episode last night was about a murder involving compost. Needless to say, it was excellent.

Most interesting to me, though, were the stereotypes perpetuated by the show. If TV shows reflect as well as shape culture, maybe this show is a good example of how some people perceive what it is to be "green" (and by some people I mean skeptics/non-believers). David Boreanaz's character (Booth), is decidedly anti-green. Other characters (like Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, from whom the show takes its name) advocate environmentally-friendly practices but don't really do a good job arguing for them. Characters also say painfully ignorant things about the environment. Booth and Bones have a conversation in the car in which Booth actually says something to the effect of "if pesticides are so bad why do we put them on our food?" as an argument for them, to which Bones responds with some weak objections before citing a study about alligators in pesticide-contaminated waters having tiny testicles. The main suspects in the case are chilled out organic farmer types who go on yoga retreats and drink a lot of tea.

Before ruining it any further, I'll just say that I enjoyed the episode. You can, too, because the episode is online and there's also a synopsis on the show website.

Feet to the Fire!!

Here's the schedule of events:

Sky Stage
12noon-12:30pm Electric Junkyard Gamelan
12:45-1:15pm Tom Callinan
1:30-2pm Middletown High School Jazz Ensemble
2:15-2:45pm Mixashawn
3-3:30pm Noah Baerman Trio
3:45-4:15pm Sirius Coyote
4:30-5pm Toussaint Liberator

Earth Stage
12:15-12:45pm Geoff Kaufman
12:45-1pm Independent Day School Poetry--Poems for Two Voices
1-1:30pm Adam Tinkle
1:30-1:45pm Independent Day School Poetry--Poems for Two Voices
1:45-2:15pm Mattabesset Pickers Collective
2:15-2:30pm Independent Day School Poetry--Poems for Two Voices
2:50-3:15pm Poetry Readings by Stephanie Elliot and Colin Haskins
3:30-4pm Being Collective
4:15-4:50pm Collective Implosions

Water Stage
12:30-1:30pm "RJ" and the On-the-Spot Jug Band
2-2:20pm The BX Is Burning (Green Street Arts Center and Oddfellows Playhouse)
2:30-3:30pm ARTFARM's Circus for a Fragile Planet
3:45-4pm Kalimba Liberian Dance and Drum (CANCELLED)

Vendor/Exhibitor Tent
1:15-1:30pm Middletuners
2-2:15pm Middletuners

Video Tent
12noon-5pm Video Exhibition

There will also be a sculpture garden (which features installation works by local artists as well as Wesleyan students!) Also, there will be yummy food...and a GIANT inflatable Earth (I'm pumped about that).

The festival is taking place at Veterans Memorial Park. Where's that, you ask? The google answer:
Hmm, hopefully you can tell that the park is really close and you can totally walk. If that's not your thing, though, there will be a shuttle service and a group biking to the festival:

• Transportation Alternatives Middletown will lead a family bicycle ride to the Festival, starting at Union Park (South Green) at 11:30 am.

• Shuttle buses will be making stops at the following locations throughout the Festival:
• Green St. Arts Center (51 Green Street, Middletown, CT 06457)
• Wesleyan University Admission Office parking Lot (Lot E)
• Main Street between the police station and Amici’s restaurant (100 Riverview Ctr, Middletown CT 06457). (Entrance to Riverview parking deck on Court St.)
  

The festival will happen rain or shine! See the website for more information/fun times.

Art and Environment (again!)

miwa koizumi, plastic water bottles, 2005
installation view at sawaguzo at Redux
(see number 3 below)

Sorry for the extreme lack of posts lately, but school's winding down, blah blah blah. Anyway, in honor of this week's Feet to the Fire Festival (happening this coming Saturday, May 10), I wanted to post a few different examples of "environmental art":

1. Here is a Dot Earth post about poetry and photography; the post also links to some paintings about biodiversity and cartoons about global warming.
2. Here's a link to Chris Jordan's photographs. I've been meaning to post about his work for a while, as per requests by various people (specifically ones named Jacob). Anyway, his work is great because it allows you to see the part and the whole at the same time. It helps you to better understand statistics (usually huge numbers) that can be hard to relate to. I actually went to a workshop (a Tuesday Lab with Eiko) on understanding numbers and statistics using art, and the thing I came away with is that you really need to come up with a way to personalize numbers and experience them bodily. Eiko's example was that at a 9-11 memorial, they read all the names of those who died (something like 3000 names) and it took 2 or 3 hours (I can't remember which). Then, every time she encountered a similar statistic, she was able to divide that number by 3000 and figure out how many hours it would take to recite the names. Anyway, I think an understanding numbers and other abstract concepts (which often go along with discussions of climate change and sustainability) is important, and art can help facilitate that understanding.
3. Here's a link to a post about Miwa Koizumi, an NYC-based artist who makes jellyfish and other sea creatures out of plastic bottles (she calls them PETs). The post is from the blog for the student forum I co-led this semester about Environmental Artwork. I would encourage you to check it out if you're interested in ways artists have engaged with the concepts of nature, environment, and sustainability. I'm hoping to continue contributing to the blog, but hey, obviously I'm not that great at updating.
4. If you're not too swamped with finals (or are staying around for Senior Week and have some free time...?) I strongly encourage you to check out Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art. I went last weekend and it was really great. It's at the Joseloff Gallery at the University of Hartford. The exhibition will be up until June 10. Also, fun fact: the exhibition announcement doubles as a pot for starter seeds...like, you can fold it up and grow some stuff in it. Free Soil's F.R.U.I.T. project is on display; it's an urban education campaign of sorts. Using fruit wrappers that explain where foods come from, "for Beyond Green, Free Soil will use oranges as a vehicle to explore the complex relationships that make up the worlds Food Systems." (that's from their website). My other favorite piece was a video by Allora & Calzadilla, called "Under Discussion." You can find it here. In it, a man rides a table with a motor affixed to it through various bays/other watery areas near Puerto Rico. The other video shown was of a man riding a motorcycle with a trumpet attached to the exhaust pipe. Though the situations sound somewhat ridiculous now that I've typed them, they're really lovely to watch. Both take the viewer on a journey through the Puerto Rican landscape and highlight (subtly) different aspects of the place. Anyway, I hope you get a chance to check it out.
   

Wind Power Commercial

Ben sent the listserve a link to this great ad for wind power. I did not understand at all that the main guy is a personification of wind until the end of the commercial, but yeah, it's pretty clever.

Bottled Water Film Contest

From an email sent to the listserve:
Food & Water Watch recently launched a student video contest, where college students are invited to make and submit videos about the bottled water issue. The winning film maker will be awarded $1,500, and their video will be posted on the FWW website for all to see. The contest should be a fun way to build some buzz around the issue and hopefully generate some cool new videos, plus we've got some great judges deciding the winner, including Alec Baldwin (actor), and Joseph Bastianich (food and wine guru). More info here.

FOCUS THE NATION + party!

FOCUS THE NATION is finally happening!

Brought to you by EON, the Environmental Studies Program, Long Lane Farm, the Sustainability Advisory Committee, and the Feet to the Fire Project, Focus the Nation is a teach-in day about climate change solutions. The day includes many amazing things like discussions in classes, a keynote speaker, a bunch of panels on the different facets of climate change (such as policy responses, corporate and institutional responses, and social justice) as well as a circus. Yes, a circus.

What: Focus the Nation
When: Thursday, January 31st,
Where: see the nifty schedule for all the day's events

Okay, the other thing I wanted to say is that we're having a PARTY PARTY PARTY (called Hot Spot) at Psi U on Friday (which would be February 1st). Here comes my cheesy line that I'm really proud of: climate change is real...and while not all locations on earth will experience warming, I guarantee that temperatures in Psi U are going to be on the rise this Friday (it actually does get hot in there sometimes, right?). Tickets go on sale TOMORROW in Usdan and will be available for cheaper outside of Focus the Nation events.

The lineup:
10:00 DJ HARRISON SCHAAF
11:30 THE EBB AND THE FLOW
12:30 THE KINKY SPIGOTS

Tickets are:
$ 2 for FTN event attendees
$3 in advance
$4 at the door

Proceeds go to Oxfam America and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice! Fun fact (kindof): Chris McCandless donated all his savings to Oxfam before he went on his adventure...into the wild. Alllllrighty.

What: Hot Spot Partay
Where: Psi U
When: 10 pm on Friday, Feb. 1st
Entry Fee: $2-$4

Art+Environment

Check it ouuuuuut:

From the CFA website:
Festival 2008
Saturday, May 10, 12-5pm
Veteran’s Park: Located just off Newfield Street (Route 3)
Middletown, CT
Free admission

Copresented by Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Environmental Studies Program, the Jonah Center for Earth and Art and the City of Middletown

Feet to the Fire will assemble a diverse array of artists (you), scientists and other thinkers to address the environmental challenges that face us today on a global scale and in our own communities. Enjoy performances, art and music by campus and regional artists, while learning about the impact of climate change on our world. Award-winning choreographer Ann Carlson will premiere a new site-specific work commissioned by the Festival. The Festival also features interactive displays and exhibits on energy conservation and sustainability by environmental scientists and a farmer’s market with local organic food vendors.

If you're interested, download the artist submission form. You can also go to the CFA website and get it from there (you have to scroll down about halfway to find the blurb).

Student Forum
There's also a student forum related to the festival. It's called Environmental Art: Artistic Responses to Global and Local Environmental Issues. It'll basically be a study of visual and movement-based artworks relating to the environment (including earthworks and more socially conscious projects), along with whatever the people in the class want to study. The end project is a piece for the festival that you get credit for...! Email me (aprovo@wes) for more info.