(originally posted on Byte-Sized Oct. 5, 2009)

Michael Moore is very good at what he does. Doesn’t mean that I agree with him completely, but it also doesn’t mean that I don’t. There are just some truths you can’t fake.

His newest effort to open America’s eyes is ‘Capitalism: A Love Story,’ an artistic rant on the evils inherent in the economic system that is capitalism. With his typical Michael Moore antics (calling for a citizen’s arrest through a bullhorn at the HQ of Goldman Sachs, which he then drapes in ‘Crime Scene’ tape) and soft-handed documentary-y propaganda on the real faces of how the system has failed, Moore is convincing and conniving at once.

The film opens with a heavy-handed comparison of the current state of the United States versus ancient Rome. Pitting ancient gladiatorial fights against Ultimate Fighting Championships is a bit of a stretch, considering the gladiators were mostly slaves forced to fight to the death against angry animals (thank you, Russell Crowe). But, overall, the effect is the same, as it sets the tone for a few hours full of home-video revelations, quirky clips of yipping dogs and interesting, semi-celebrity interviews.

First up is Wallace Shawn, our favorite ‘Inconceivable!’ bad guy in ‘The Princess Bride.’ The actor is also a very educated man in the ways of economy and history, so his appearance is as much star-backed as fact-based, but that still didn’t lessen my yearning to watch him lisp out what a bad blunder it would be to go against a Sicilian … when *death* is on the line!

However, all joking aside, ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ gave me a stomach ache: A presidential address from the 1940s that proposed a second Bill of Rights for the Constitution promising free health care, adequate wage and housing, and a secure pension for every American. When questioning whether a utopia such as this could ever come to pass, the viewer was pointed toward Europe, where the administration’s officers had gone to help after WW2. ‘See, that could have been America right now,’ Moore points out in not so many words, allowing the stark truth of what could have passed wash over a melancholy audience.

Moving on, Moore enlightens the audience to a startling, though unrelated, occurrence: Companies often take out ‘Dead Peasant’ insurance policies against employees whose deaths would make them a lot of money. He lambastes the Wall Street Journal, catching an exec on camera saying, ‘Capitalism is more important than democracy.’ Ouch.

Funny moments amidst all the turmoil helped lighten the mood, but couldn’t dispel it completely. It was like having a theatre curtain drawn back to reveal a group of bureaucratic CEOs and politicians laughing at you and waving a fat bailout check in your face. Real funny, huh?

Overall, scenes of consumer greed compounded by algorithms of the ‘gambling’ trading floor on top of false information made for an uncomfortable night at the movies.

But, a ray of hope shines through the clouds – Moore makes sure we all know about the people standing up to the greed and corruption. And, that’s where the heart of this film really lies: in the truth that we can stop this. Inspiring stories of regular people beating out mortgage companies trying to foreclose on their homes, the recent Hyatt employees standing up for their rights against being outsourced, senators yelling truths on the floor of Congress. Right on!

Do I agree with Michael Moore? Tough call. Do I think his films are convincing? Sure, they’re supposed to be. Does ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ make me want to scream out loud at what America has let happen? Absolutely.

Because, there are some truths that you can’t fake. Go see this movie and decide for yourself.

Captivate’s Q & A: After last week’s pre-screening of the film, I sat down briefly with Michael Moore and asked him some question from Captivate viewers:

Why did you make this film?

‘I made it as an organizing tool. Hopefully, when people come to see it, they’ll laugh, they’ll cry, they’ll get pissed off, and maybe they’ll actually think. We’ve come down a slippery slope, but as far as I’m concerned, [the American people are] still in charge. We have 99% of the vote.’

If you hate capitalism so much, why are you making money off of it from this movie?

‘I learned from Hollywood to get my money up front, so I don’t make any from ticket sales. But, like all movies, this is a participatory activity. I’m not going to answer that question … I’m a filmmaker. That’s my craft.’

How do you feel about the recent passing of a health-care bill without a public option?

‘There *will* be a public option – I refuse to accept anything else! That’s the bare minimum that we should expect as Americans! C’mon, liberals -- we’re not a bunch of wimps! We need to let people know it’s the wealthy that are doing this to the people losing their homes and their healthcare!’

If you don’t like the way America is, why do you stay?

‘I refuse to live in a country like this, and I’m not leaving.’

Labels: Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore, review

(Originally posted on Byte-Sized Sept. 11, 2009)

Labels: Boston Derby Dames, Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, Roller derby, Whip It

(originally posted on Green Among Gray Aug. 26, 2009)


So the whole group of us are juiced. We’re not sure what else to expect. Would a cast member show up? The producers? Johnny Cupcakes!? We’re all inspecting the boards for clues, plying the poor clerks for info, and bumming access to their computers so we could check the BasketWeaving website. Just generally amped up.


It’s that simple.

So have fun with the game, fellow Losties. If you happen to live near one of the places in the ARG, I highly suggest you show, and show early.

Season 6 begins in January.

We now return to regular programming.

Labels: Johnny Cupcakes Lost, Lost ARG, Lost skateboard

(Originally posted on Green Among Gray April 1, 2009)

Indulge me for a moment as I get to Al Gore by way of Kirsten Dunst.

There are some actresses who are merely average-looking in the context of Hollywood beauty, but would be downright staggering in everyday context. If you happened upon Kirsten Dunst at your friend’s pool party, for example. Onscreen, she’s merely so-so; in your buddy’s backyard, she’s the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen and everyone flocks to her.

Al Gore is the intellectual equivalent.

Think of what you know about Al Gore (at least this was what I thought of him): a bit of a blowhard, a buffoon in some respects; self-important, seems to talk expertly about stuff on which he’s not really an expert, ‘invented the internet,’ blah, blah. And he just so happens to be coming out with a new book. A mind as middling as Dunst’s beauty, right?

Well, I just met Al Gore at a pool party (actually at the Wang Theatre in Boston for the ‘Minds That Move the World’ series, and I didn’t meet him per se – OK, so the metaphor’s a bit of a stretch) and he was riveting.

Gore was a maestro, leading the audience exactly where he wanted to take us as he spoke on the environment. He was incredibly well-informed, speaking intelligently on everything, from capitalism's beginning to the first scientists to sound the alarm about global warming, using metaphors and imagery very effectively. For example, he tied his environmental slant into the economy and terrorism, saying, “The common thread is this ridiculous and absurd overdependence on carbon-based fuel. The solutions to the climate crisis are the same things we ought to be doing to solve the economic crisis and the security crisis,” concluding that all we have to do to unravel it all is pull that carbon thread.

Gore made his most pointed statement – that the U.S. should rely 100% on renewable energy within 10 years – by evoking Kennedy and his 1961 pledge to send a man to the moon within 10 years, a notion that, apparently, was scoffed at at the time. (Of course, the impossible-to-meet 10-year deadline was met with two years to spare.) Then Gore took the story a step further, cleverly soliciting the aid of college-age kids (a key group if his goal is to be achieved) by recounting how the average age of NASA controllers for the Apollo 11 mission was 26 – making them 18 when JFK first issued his lunar challenge.

And Gore is funny. From the outset, he grabbed our attention – though never seeming to pander – with jokes, self-deprecation, and even a dead-on Bill Clinton impersonation. He kicked the talk off by taking us back to the “Day After” – November 28, 2000 – recounting a shell-shocked drive from his home to his farm and a funny thing that happened at a Shoney’s along the way, and the media wackiness that resulted from stopping there (if you do actually see him at a pool party, ask him about it; it’s good).

Gore seemed affable, intelligent, fair-minded, thoughtful – exactly what you don't think a politician is. Has he always been like this? Was my previous impression – formed by 30-second soundbites and TV news bits over the past 10 years or so – accurate at all, and it’s been his exit from the political stage that has allowed him to flower into what I saw Monday night in Boston? Or has he always been this and I just didn’t see it? Probably a bit of both I guess.

Gore is not only knowledgeable on the subject matter but in the subtleties of public speaking. He’s mastered the movements that hold an audience's attention, the variations in tenor and volume. One example: He moved across the stage the whole night, until the end of his talk, when he planted himself, in an unobtrusive (imperceptible, really, unless you're looking for those types of speaker nuances, which I do ever since Emerson) way directly center stage and let his voice fall to a hush. He brought the audience to their bated-breath seat edges, controlling them, as he delivered his conclusion: this is not just words, just a performance; this is “straight from my heart,” and he prays that what he says goes straight to ours. And goshdangit it did. Whether or not the naysayers prove to be right and all this climate change concern is a bunch of hooey, I believe Al Gore knows there is a problem and is sincerely trying to fix it, and it makes me want to too.

And that brings us to the point the night started to turn sour. Boston Globe reporter Susan Miliigan came on to be the “Q” half of Gore’s sit-down Q+A. She started out OK, if a little nervous, but as the interview continued she seemed unprepared, and in comparison to Gore, downright incompetent, stumbling through questions and leading him into a discussion on the future of newspapers in the digital age. An important subject, to be sure, but not what the night was supposed to be about. (Gore's prognosis, by the way, was dire, predicting, "though I hope I'm wrong," that papers will die out completely, to be taken over by some Web variation). The crowd grew tiresome of the aside that became the topic and actually started leaving in small clusters. Then, abruptly, the lights came up, and before we had a chance to digest what was happening, we found ourselves giving a standing O to Gore as he waved his way stage left.

It was an anticlimatic end to a pretty amazing evening. As we filed out, all the talk was on how annoying the interviewer was instead of on how we were all going to change the world. Unfortunate, but it ultimately didn’t ruin the experience. I’m left more enthused than ever to try to help the environment in some way, and wondering whether Gore would ever consider running again.

Labels: Al Gore Boston, Al Gore speaker series

(Originally posted on Green Among Gray March 18, 2009)

UPDATE 3/20/09:

Albert Burchsted, a field biologist recently retired from the College of Staten Island, part of the City University of New York, was kind enough to relay some wonderful information for New Yorkers who may be interested in visiting vernal pools.

Anyone who can make their way to Staten Island apparently has a bounty of possible pools to investigate. Dr. Burchsted explains:

Along Manor Road south of Brielle and north of the intersection with Rockland Ave.: There is one vernal pool on the west side of the road just after the Jewish Community Center and across from the Pouch Boy Scout Camp. It can be seen on the satellite image of maps.google almost directly across from the Camp entrance.

At the N/W corner of Rockland Ave and Manor Road: Follow the blue trail north into the woods about 500 feet for a little pond at the junction of the first trail to the west.


On the south side of Rockland Ave near the Greenbelt Nature Center between Ashworth Ave. and Brielle Ave. (seen on maps.google).


Two fishless glacial ponds that usually remain filled except for severe drought summers are found along the greenbelt trail at the end of Helena Road off Todt Hill Rd. about 1/4 mile south of Helena Rd (called Whitlock and Cliffwood) almost directly off the Cliffwood terminus.


There is one that forms near Parking Lot #2 along the South Loop Road on the College of Staten Island campus in Willowbrook, 2800 Victory Blvd.


A permanent, fishless pond enlarges each spring on the south side of Victory Blvd. by the traffic light entering Willowbrook Park (across from Morani Street) - this one is great for spring peepers (which should be calling right now) and is surrounded by marsh marigolds at the end of April (barely seen under the V of Victory Blvd and with a marshy area to the south). There are various ponds that form in depressions in the woods to the south of the archery fields in Willowbrook park. I have found wood frogs and spring peepers in them.


The book Secret Places of Staten Island by Bruce Kershner should list many more. There are only a few species of salamander left on SI. Ed Johnson at the Staten Island Museum can give you a checklist and more information of where you might find them.

Spring officially arrives this week. Celebrate by heading down to your nearest vernal pool and reveling in the glorious natural display that unfolds every year. Don't know what a vernal pool is? Read on (originally posted April 2008):

These shallow pools form in ground depressions in forested areas or meadows in early spring and are a great way to observe life-cycles of smaller animals such as frogs and salamanders.

Pools in the Midwest and East, often formed by snowmelt, typically have different characteristics than those in the West, but at any vernal pool you’re likely to see a variety of amphibians, from the spotted salamander to the Western spadefoot toad.

The best vernal pool shows come at night, when all the critters are active – and when you’ll get to hear these guys, a sound guaranteed to take you back to being a kid.

The beauty of vernal pools is that they are often so small you can find them in relatively compact places. However, finding them is half the adventure – they’re tough to pinpoint, since those most familiar with the pools like to keep them pristine and often won’t give precise locations. But here’s some info to get you headed in the right direction:

New York City: Matthew Brown, Supervisor of the Soil and Water Lab at Central Park Conservancy, hints that the Azalea Pond area in the Central Park Ramble might be a good place to start. Outside Manhattan, Queens' Cunningham Park and Staten Island’s Long Pond Park Preserve promise vernal pools.

Boston: The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife says there are seven vernal pools in Boston. Many of the city’s Urban Wilds, such as the 90-acre Allandale Woods, would appear to be viable vernal pool locations, as would Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, just six miles from downtown, and Boston Nature Center in Mattapan.

Chicago: The guys at the Chicago Herpetological Society would sooner pass up a face-to-face encounter with a Fijian iguana than divulge vernal-pool locations. But they are chock full of species info and their members post some truly gorgeous photos. Also, the Chicago Wilderness Consortium offers plenty of facts about Chicago-area wildlife and indicates that vernal pools can be found at their Gompers Park Wetland.

So all you need now are your mudding boots, a flashlight, and a sense of adventure – a healthy sense of adventure that is – don’t wander around unsafe places at night and don’t trespass on private property. Report back with your findings!

Labels: Albert Burchsted, Staten Island vernal pools, vernal pools

Doesn’t matter where you call home – from the heart of the city to the farthest-out exburb – birds flock (literally, ha!) to where you are. This makes it incredibly easy to observe them, which makes it incredibly easy for anyone to participate in a scientific study. “What scientific study?” you ask? We’ll get to the “what.” But first, the “why.”


As in, “why is it important to study birds?”

Other than because it’s just really cool (seriously, it is), a good reason to watch birds is because their habits can be predictors for larger events. It’s through analyzing data collected by regular citizens like you and me that Audubon was able to link birds’ ranges to climate change.

Their data show that over the last 40 years, 58% of the 305 bird species found in North America in winter have shifted their ranges northward, by an average of 35 miles. Audubon concludes that global warming is “by far the most probable explanation” for "this kind of spectacular movement across such a wide range of birds.”

And they make it easy, with help from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, for anyone to make a significant contribution to important discoveries like this. All you have to do is take part in one of their seasonal bird counts. I wonder if one is coming up anytime soon?

Well, lookee here! The Great Backyard Bird Count runs Feb. 13-16. To participate in the 12th annual event, all you have to do is keep track of the birds you see on any or all of those days, then enter them into the GBBC site. If you’re brand new to birding, these folks make it easy by providing a list of birds likely to be seen in your area.

For as little as 15 minutes of your time, you get to participate in a very valuable study; you get to become a scientist!

I spoke with Patricia Leonard of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to get some more insight into the event. Leonard says it’s “ridiculously easy” to get involved: “There's no fee, no registration. However, it would be a good idea to check out the web site ahead of time to familiarize oneself with what we're looking for and how to submit your bird checklist. There's also ID help on the site, including an online bird guide with pictures, sounds, and range information for 600 species of North American birds.”

And how does it work, exactly? First, I’d suggest the coziest chair you can wrangle outside, a thermos of whatever pleases you, a set of binoculars and a notepad and pen. Or, if you have a nice view through a window – say if you’re high atop a Captivate-enabled tower – you don’t even have to venture outdoors.

Leonard provides the details: “You can watch for as little as 15 minutes or for much longer. What you need to do is keep track of the highest number of each species you see at any one time (to prevent counting the same bird more than once). For example, if you're watching for 20 minutes and see 5 cardinals together, then 8 cardinals together, then 3 – the number you report in the end is eight: the highest number you saw together at once.”

Leonard also goes into the benefits (besides a relaxing day bonding with nature, along with the satisfaction of knowing you’re contributing to humankind’s understanding of the world) of participating: “After you've entered your first checklist there is an online survey you can take if you want to (but you don't have to). For completing the survey, you'll get a free month of access to the Birds of North America Online database – 18,000 web pages of information about North American breeding birds. You'll get a username and password to get that. We have a photo contest, a page for kids, and lots of great prizes we'll give away in a drawing from among the names of all GBBC participants – feeders, seed, software, and other ‘birdy’ items.”

So there really should be nothing stopping you. And if you’re a jaded urbanite, thinking, “yeah, actually putting a number to all those pigeons sounds like a load of fun,” consider this: There are plenty of cool species to be found in even the most overdeveloped cities.

“There are many other kinds of birds living [in the city] if you really look,” Leonard explains. “Some examples: American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, House Finch, Mallard (in park ponds), Peregrine Falcon (they sometimes nest on tall buildings or underneath bridges), and the American Crow. In fact we have an entire citizen-science project devoted to city birds called Celebrate Urban Birds!”

Get all the info you need at birdcount.org. And if you participate, let us know about it by commenting below.

Labels: birds and climate change, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Great Backyard Bird Count, Pat Leonard