go gore go

finally saw last night the film made about al gore's "slide show" (his words - mine would be "elaborate power point presentation"). i was surprised to see that many people in the theatre, given that it's been out for awhile and oh yeah, is sobering.

even a quasi-activist would find the material a bit rudimentary, though a few highlighted facts made me gasp. he does a good job of translating the complexities of global warming into pithy lessons. and it's all true (smarty pantses were quick to check facts). the deliberate skirting of partisanship, i suppose i get that. personal glimpses into gore's frustration with lack of political response to global warming were peppered throughout, but the film avoids naming - in any concise way - reasons for that resistance. too Provocative or Wing-nutty, perhaps, for a distinguished gentleman to use words like "greed" or "capitalism" in an attempt to compel mainstream america. that bugs me.

don't get me wrong. the film is good. it won a prize. and for activists, i suppose the film reminds us of the possibility of public awareness, the potential of public engagement. if every viewer does even one of the uber-simple actions suggested during the end credits, then gore has added a significant wave to the movement. and so go gore go.
























my own movement (the 'forward' one, that is) continues. haven't had a chance to dive into the latest assignment from my life coach: to write as many goals for myself as years i've been alive. it's not easy. for inspiration, i wandered over to 43 things and even signed up for an account. the first thing i entered was "stop wishing" and apparently i'm the only one who wants to (all this means is that none of the tens of thousands of other members are able to tell me how they succeeded in doing that. drat.) so then i entered "go back to cuba" and behold, 'comrade' wants that as well! he also wants to organize an anti-fascist festival in newcastle, so i love him. but he can't spell, so maybe not so much love. strong like.