A collection of random thoughts and ramblings on all kinds of Very Important Subjects from climate change to windsurfing, diving to music, gadgets and other cool things I've picked up on my trek around the web.
So you think you're frozen back in the Old Dart* what with your snow and that? That's nothing! Check out this cool clip where 200 people froze themselves in time at exactly the same moment for five minutes in New York's Grand Central Station.
* The Old Dart: An Aussie reference to Britain (I'd never heard of it either), the origin of which is a corruption of "dirt", as in the old dirt, meaning the old country.
Last night I went to see Fool's Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. I haven't been feeling too well lately and Toby was away in Brisbane, so when a friend said she was going to see it and invited me along I decided that rather than stay at home on my own feeling sorry for myself and watching crap TV, I would go. This film has had terrible reviews. Awful. I didn't read any of them before I went but I did watch the trailer. I thought it looked worth the $8.50 on cheap-arse Tuesday.
Seriously though, what do these critics expect? Matthew "shirt-off" McConaughey, Kate "rom-com" Hudson and a movie (clearly in the "chick flick" genre) about treasure hunters. I was expecting nothing but pure unadulterated cheesy entertainment and escapism. And that's exactly what I got. Was it predictable? Yes. Was it believable? Not in the slightest. Were the actors convincing? Not really. Did any of that matter? Absolutely not.
So here's the thing: Dumb-blonde action-man Matthew and bookish-but-outdoorsy Kate are married but about to get divorced because Kate is sick of Matt getting into debt for his obsession with treasure hunting. Turns out though that he's not particularly good at finding treasure without Kate because he's stupid and she's clever. So, when he finds a clue she agrees to have one last look around, using her millionaire employer, Donald Sutherland's equipment. There's a bit more to it than that. Obviously you have to have the obligatory bad-guy and the mentor-turned-rival, token gays and some other bits and pieces not really worth mentioning. The basic gist is there is action, a bit of violence, wonderful scenery (the highlight for me, especially the underwater stuff) and Matthew McConaughey looking hot with no shirt on and being all tough and brave.
Matthew McConaughy: Hot
Kate Hudson: Gorgeous
Alexis whatsherface: Cute and annoying
Donald Sutherland: Donald Sutherland. 'Nuff said; he's totally wasted in this film. What is he even doing here?
Ray Winstone: Hmm... I do like Ray but I prefer him as a cheeky east-end likely lad. I didn't find his American accent particularly convincing but who cares?
Acting: Not great, but who cares?
Direction: Was there any?
Script: Pretty bad, a bit cheesy.
Laughs: a few, mainly of the slap-stick variety rather than the intellectual witty sort.
Cinematography: lovely.; beautiful underwater scenes which made me want to jump right on a plane to some remote island on the Great Barrier Reef and don a BCD and scuba tank.
Action: yes. Oh... the best bit which made me hold my breath and feel a bit sick was when Kate was stuck in a blow-hole. That chick has balls.
Would I recommend it? As long as you're not expecting anything too deep, yes, go see it. It's fun. Would I see it again? Probably not. Maybe in a few years I'll watch it on DVD. Would I have gone to see it if I'd known what I know now about it? Absolutely. It was perfect for my mind-set. Pure escapism. Is it good? Define good.
Some people think Matthew McConaughey looks like Toby. Well, I don't know about that but he is hot (have I mentioned that?) and obviously I think Toby is a bit of alright. Well, one scene in particular made me laugh as he was wandering around in baggy knee-length shorts, a bad t-shirt and no shoes. That is so Toby. And maybe Kate's character reminds me a bit of myself; quite happy reading books and writing and being all intellectual but can't really say no to a bit of adventure as long as there's a hot, strong and brave man to look after her. So perhaps for me, the escapism was all the better because I could actually imagine Toby and I one day cruising around the Carribean (or Great Barrier Reef) hunting for treasure together. One can dream. Just so long as I don't get stuck in a blow-hole.
I stumbled across this film clip this morning on a blog called We The Change. I thought it was pretty cool and that it should be shared. Unfortunately it seems the film-makers are still raising funds to finish the movie so I don't know when it's likely to be released.
If you have some spare cash lying around and you're in the business of supporting independent film-makers then you can make a donation at The International Documentary Association website. Visit the film's website at The Shift Movie.
I first saw this video on Google but it isn't very good quality so I'd recommend viewing the YouTube one. It's an amazing story which brought tears to my eyes and a shiver down my spine. A must-see for horse lovers.
We went to see Al Gore's film An Inconvient Truth last night and it was excellent. I fully recommend it to anyone and will be pestering everyone I know to see it.
For those that aren't aware, it's basically Al Gore presenting a slide show on climate change. This is something he studied at college and has spent most of his political life trying to raise awareness of. When he lost the presidential elections back in 2000 he decided to travel the world presenting his slide show and educating people on the causes, consequences and prevention of climate change as well as a bit of the science and history behind it. The movie is his way of reaching even more people (and hopefully cutting down on his international air travel).
For those that don't know that much about climate change, the movie is very informative. There wasn't a lot in it that I didn't already know from reading books and websites but the movie is much more engaging than a book. The fact that everything he talks about is accompanied by photographs, cartoons, graphs or charts makes it more interesting, more visual and easier to take in. And just so that you're not sitting there with your eyes glazing over thinking "what's he talking about again?", there are personal moments of tragedy and revelation which contributed to Gore's passion for the subject. The movie is aimed at the American public but is very relevant to everyone else too.
The thing is, whether we like it or not, climate change IS happening. I know I've said before that I don't want to use this blog to preach, mainly because I don't want to put people off coming here and reading it, but at the end of the day it's vitally important that everyone understands as much as they can about this subject. Throughout history change has occurred because the people, the general population, have wanted it, have fought for it and have put pressure on those organisations that can actually do something about it. Politicians won't make the changes unless we want them to. Energy companies, airlines, car manufacturers won't make the changes unless we pressure them to. Every purchasing decision we make has a direct influence on climate change in some way. It is up to every single one of us to make all the small changes we can, which will ultimately contribute to a big change, and which will hopefully lessen the consequences of climate change and give us the ability to deal with it when it does happen.
When you do see the film, be sure to stay right to the end as some interesting and useful snippets of advice come up during the credits. This is the important bit as this is what empowers you to actually help the situation. Here is a youtube.com trailer of the movie:
Interestingly, whilst I was writing this post Toby's brother called to say that the environment minister was being interviewed on Sunrise, Australia's top morning TV show. He was talking about the film and about the issue of climate change. I missed the interview but tuned in in time to hear the presenter give a couple of shocking statistics and to promise to revisit the topic over the next few months. This is brilliant and this means the issue is being brought to the masses. Bring it on!
Tip for the top: Get involved in your energy company's green energy scheme. This is a very easy thing to do but can have a massive overall effect. Toby and I purchase 1000kw of renewable energy per quarter from Energex, which is about how much electricity we use. In effect, this means that all of our energy comes from renewable resources, hardly any of it comes from dirty polluting coal. Most of our renewable energy comes from bio-mass which is a controversial source of renewable energy as some say it isn't actually renewable. Basically, rubbish in landfill gives off methane, which is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2. Instead of letting this energy into the atmosphere, the energy companies convert it into electricity, thus helping the climate in two ways; firstly by preventing the release of that methane, and secondly by replacing (or, more accurately, reducing) the need to burn CO2 producing coal. The energy companies generally get their renewable energy from a number of sources and each scheme will place more emphasis on different types of resources. We pay a little bit extra each bill for the privelege of placing the renewable energy onto the grid, which I personally think is a bit ridiculous: it's like we're being taxed for using clean energy instead of the other way round. But, it's really not a lot of money when you consider the total cost of your bill and I think it's worth it for peace of mind.
Attention all teachers! My second tip for the top today is a request for all teachers to do everything they can to either get their students to see this movie if they're old enough or, for the younger ones, to find some alternative way of educating them on climate change and the small things they can do to help. I know that children can have a massive influence on their parents and can help to educate them, and the principles they learn at school will stay with them for life. I will always remember "Waste not, want not" and to this day can't leave food on my plate. My Grandpa gave up smoking after my Dad came home and told him about the photographs of a tar-filled lung he'd seen at school that day. I remember pestering my parents to choose free-range eggs and showing them pictures of chickens crammed into tiny cages. Children make a difference and they're the next generation, the generation that's really going to have to deal with this crisis, so let's do everything we can to prepare and educate them.
