All Quiet on the Western Front?

I think it's a bit of a truism that when a blog "goes quiet" it usually means that someone's real life is getting busy or there are big changes afoot that the blogger isn't comfortable talking about... Well, that's true here. As my two regular readers probably know, I've spent the eighteen months wandering in the desert (Moses' got nuthin' on me). I've been casting about trying to find new work and slowly consuming my savings. I made a heavy investment in ignoring reality too.

It's coming down to the nub now though, and I've made a couple of decisions. First, get a bloody job! Helping out friends and picking up random computer consulting work isn't paying the bills and neither is modeling. Like anyone following an acting "career" it's time for me to get a job as a waiter. Second, stop paying this damn mortgage! I'm going to list my house as soon as I can get it prepped and rent until my life settles down again. I'm sad about this decision as I love my neighbourhood and have been very comfortable in my house. This house also represents my last connection to a woman with whom I thought I was starting a new life when I bought it. (Insert frowny smiley face here.)

Turning back to frivolities, the Formula One season started last weekend but Brian and I are carefully avoiding automotive web sites and news until we can get together tomorrow to watch the tape. No spoiler e-mails please! I gave a presentation on swimming at my triathlon club's seminar last night and a woman from Montreal was itching to fill me in on the race.

This evening I caught the film Sharkwater with my friend Adrian. The film has great photography and a compelling environmental message. I always get a bit cautious when a radical advocacy group like the Sea Shepard Society is part of the message though. There's usually too little balance and too much radical action. The film also ended up being as much about the director's somewhat narcissistic experience as it was about the foolish over-exploitation of the sea. The question I left the theatre with was this: "why do so many idiotic Asian superstitions and traditional 'treatments' end up driving species to extinction?"

Listening to: One More Astronaut by I Mother Earth from Scenery and Fish.

The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind

In recent weeks our Conservative government has awakened to the fact that the Canadian public considers climate change a serious issue that will affect their voting intentions. Now, having abandoned Canada's commitments to the Kyoto Accord, shown an disgraceful disinterest in international discussions and had their grand environmental plan literally laughed out of existence they are trying to paint themselves green. (Here's a preview: same plan, new words.)

Too bad letters from Mr. Harper are surfacing calling the Kyoto Accord a "socialist scheme" and praising the "essential to life" qualities of carbon dioxide. What an idiot! Or a panderer.

Looks like Mr. Harper's principled positions aren't so tightly held after all, just like his promise of a less divisive Parliament. Yes, that's what he promised, along with "accountability and transparency". Double oops. In fact the Conservative leopard is changing it's spots so fast that even a Liberal would blush. But they're still spots, and calling them green doesn't make 'em green...

Gah!

I watched two good TV shows this evening, the recent "Monday" episode of Studio 60 and the new "One Day, One Room" episode of House. I know Studio 60 is catching flak from the critics, but what I like about both shows is their meshing of serious issues and complex relationships with great comic dialog. A line from House resonated with me: "Life is a series of rooms, who we get stuck with in them makes up our lives". I think that's screenwriter-speak for "we are defined by our experiences and how we deal with them" which is true, true, true.

I saw another film yesterday while giving plasma and platelets; Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Kind of a detective novel comedy with snappy dialog and wild plot twists. Not to be taken seriously, but with very entertaining performances by Michelle Monaghan, Val Kilmer and especially Robert Downey Jr. Great fun!

Listening to: New Slang by The Shins from Oh, Inverted World.

The Truth, Convenient or Not

I have to comment further on the film An Inconvenient Truth, which I saw last night. I'm a geologist by training and I can say that there has been no scientific doubt about the reality of man-made global warming or its consequences for decades. The "doubters" know this in their hearts too, but they are more interested in squeezing out short-term profits. Their dissembling and misdirection has confused the public.

If you have any doubts about the truth of global warming, go see this movie. As documentaries go it's pretty average, but the facts are presented in a cogent and powerful way. It's also a pretty good advert for Apple's Keynote presentation software (God save us from more cluttered and opaque PowerPoint presentations!).

So what can we do? Two things:

1. Work towards a personal goal of "zero" CO2 emissions. You'll never get there, but there's always choices to make and habits to change. For example, minimise your driving (and don't buy a f***ing SUV) and don't turn your home into a refrigerator for the summer.
2. Support politicians in your jurisdiction that acknowledge and are willing to act against global warming. And hold them accountable when they get elected!
   

Al Gore lists two countries that have not signed the Kyoto Accord: George W. Bush's America and John Howard's Australia. Since then Canada has joined this shameful list as Stephen Harper's Conservative government has abandoned the Accord (after all, their power base is Alberta's oil economy). Frankly, the legacy of these "leaders" will a thick coating of spittle on their tombstones.

Listening to: Red Skies by The Fixx from One Thing Leads to Another.

Oscar the Grouch

Time to exhale a bit of stale air...

First, Canadian politics. Stephen Harper's Conservatives have been busy manouvering and scheming since getting into office. They came in promising "open government" and fiscal responsibility. Instead they have gone out of their way to restrict public scrutiny, buy favour from interest groups, play divisive political games and enact bad self-serving tax policy. Thanks for playing!

Next, environmental issues. The above-mentioned Conservatives have been busy cancelling environmental initiatives put in place by the Liberals. What's replacing them? Nothing. Thanks for playing! Today I also came across a blog whose American author couldn't understand the fuss about drilling for oil is sensitive areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I had to get my two cents in:

Isn't it nice to still hear crickets? You have to get a few miles out of town though, don't you.

How 'bout this: if the ANWR is exploited and proves to have the anticipated oil reserves it will only provide a few short year's extension for the SUV lifestyle. Then the oil companies will be looking for the next fragile place to convert into stock options.

The "miniscule 2,000 acre area" you think is needed doesn't exist in isolation any more than a ten foot length of your favorite freeway does.

To follow your analogy a step further, you and your family are going to be naked and out of work regardless of whether you "save Bambi". The real decision is this: do we change our pattern before we kill all the Bambi's.

I'm a geologist by the way.

There, that felt better...

Listening to: Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore by Sloan from Action Pact.