Things I've seen Lately

Just a few interesting videos I've watched online recently.

Zeitgeist - www.zeitgeistmovie.com - An interesting critical look at our culture and some of the big events that have happened to us. Worth the time to watch it... very anti Bush/American Capitolism.

The Power of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil - www.powerofcommunity.org - A well done documentary about how Cuba reformed its agriculture and transportation after the collapse of the USSR and it's oil trade. Cuba as a model for post peak oil global collapse. Here's a BitTorrent link for it.

Invisible Children, Sunday, The story of a displaced child - www.invisiblechildren.com - A really good documentary about the Ugandan war and the displaced peoples. Very inspiring and humbling. Here's a BitTorrent link to it.

If you need help with BitTorret lemme know. Hope this inspires and provokes!

Terry

We went in search of a cliff to climb, and before we left we decided it was going to be an adventure. The guide book had a map, but it didn't give road names, and was published ten years ago... and the description mentioned 1980... It turned out we were right about the adventure part, though not in the way we expected.

Terry met us on the road, it had to be fate. Terry was fishing, checking the road culverts for trout. Terry lives up on Genesee Lake in his tent, foraging for much of his food. Terry has had the same lenses in his glasses for forty years. When we asked Terry where the crag might be, he said "I'm coming with you," and he showed us. Terry showed us more than the way to our climb. Terry showed us some things he likes to eat: the bulbs certain flowers, leaves of others. He drinks water from the streams, out of a mason jar. Terry is surrounded by soap operas, people buying up and selling land, local disputes. Terry has a degree in Marine Engineering, and has traveled and worked here and there. Terry knows how to get around to most places... by canoe. Terry showed us more than a path to get somewhere, he showed us how he gets places, how he sees the world. He showed us how to enjoy life, how it is to walk away. He has more courage than most people... Terry has more honour than most people too... He has tried his hand at the straight road, but has found it to be nicer off the road entirely. In my eyes Terry is on his way to walking away... letting go of this cultures necessities and values... it made me happy to meet Terry and for him to share this with us...

it made me sad too, because it must be lonely. We talked about how it must be, and how we would manage if we tried. We all agreed it would be harder to do it with a lover than a friend, because you can tell a friend to 'fuck off' and it won't mean the same thing... it would be hardest to do it alone. Terry liked to talk, and we loved to listen. Terry is my idol... but maybe he is also the other side of my mirror... I see me in Terry, i hear me in his stories... i want to be Terry, but I know I wouldn't do it right...

thanks for the adventure Terry... we'll cherish the day! And we'll be back to go climbing again some day... and someday when we're ready we'll visit...

disheartened

i get disheartened lots lately, mostly when i think about the hurdles our culture needs to get over to stop this environmental catastrophe that's going on. this is where i stand lately...

our society's reliance on fossil fuels will soon reach a point of economical un-sustainability; peak oil. leading up to that food prices will skyrocket causing food shortages and starvation for much of the world. dependance on oil for nearly every facet of life will in turn cause the economy to fall into a recession whereby the transportation and manufacturing sectors will collapse leaving many jobless... basically things will be really hard, society will put a huge pressure on governments for support... support they might be able to manage...

personally i think all that needs to happen... people need to die... i don't mean to be inhuman but we are just another animal, one that has outgrown it's environmental capacity, and just like any other animal, some of us die until we are back to a manageable level...

hopefully people will embrace local community based initiatives to these initial food shortages, through urban farming, organic farming, alternative energies... but more importantly, people will need to change the way they live drastically... technology can't save us...

i value sustainability, change not growth, local communities, the idea of permaculture (interconnected systems)... i value friends and family... i value the lessons that nature can teach us... everyday i learn something new from the world...

i am disheartened by the way people carry on with there lives, as if all this is taboo and there isn't anything to do. the ignorance is what bothers me the most; most people have no idea... we have become so detached from the ground we walk on, fallen into a life of irrational values, slaves to the culture... some days i want to walk away... other days i wish this could truly last forever... but mostly i want to stick around and try to help somehow... my guilt would consume me and my conscience would overwhelm me otherwise.

i get scared too... afraid that maybe the worst theorists are right... that chaos might ensue, or world states will enforce martial law and all that crap... afraid that anything i do would be wasted... afraid that i wont be able to do anything... looking up at the mountain,
bigger than any mountain ever, i'm afraid i won't be able to climb it...

but i know i wont be truly happy unless i try... so right now i feel like i'm packing my bag, getting ready to start climbing... making sure i have the right tools, maps, gear...

where are you on the mountain?

manifesto

there is no long winded explanation for why, we all know something is wrong...

change is coming, our social conscience is shifting in values, our generations will see a great evolution in the way we live, and think...

I for one want to be in on it, and this is part of my outlet, and inlet...

here I want to think and express, research and expand on ideas, receive feedback and share it all with whoever cares...