A quick heads-up for our Ontario (Canada) readers (or anyone else who feels like making a trip to Toronto). We received notification that there are still tickets available for David Suzuki’s upcoming talk at Royal St. George’s College.
Here are the details:
David Suzuki: Solutions are in Our Nature
Monday, October 29th
Doors open at 6:30pm, Lecture begins at 7pm
Tickets are $25 (General Admission)
Book signing to follow lecture - Books available for sale
Tickets can be purchased at www.rsgc.on.ca
For general inquiries, contact 416-533-6724 ext. 270
On a more serious note (as compared to my Blog Action Day post, that is) - I just wanted to let everyone know about an upcoming CNN documentary called “Planet in Peril”, which will be airing next Tuesday and Wednesday (October 23 and 24). Above is a 24 minute exerpt from the documentary and it is sobering to say the least. You’ll learn about the illegal animal trade in Thailand and toxic water pollution in China.
Here is an overview of the documentary as a whole:
Planet in Peril uses first-hand investigative reporting to provide a better understanding of the environment’s present state. Bringing viewers the stories behind the statistics, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin will focus on four main issues that threaten the planet and its inhabitants: climate change, deforestation, species loss and overpopulation. Planet in Peril, filmed across four continents and 13 countries, airs over two nights on CNN/U.S. on Tuesday, Oct. 23, and Wednesday, Oct. 24, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (ET/PT) and globally on CNN International.
[EDIT]: For whatever reason I’m not able to embed the video in the blog. I’ll be honest, this sort of thing REALLY irks me! How are we supposed to get the message out when companies are so protective of their work?
Anyway - I still HIGHLY recommend you check out the video - access it here: Planet In Peril
It’s funny - I felt really guilty about leaving it so late, yet as I discovered today literally THOUSANDS of blogs have jumped on board in the last few days alone! The total blog count was between 11,000 and 12,000 when I signed up, but the current (and final?) tally is 15,861! Pretty impressive!
It was almost looking as though a poor internet connection was going to rain on my Blog Action Day parade today - but thankfully everything seems to be back to normal! How frustrating (and ironic) would that have been?? After all my procrastinating I can’t even take action on blog action day!!! LoL
The topic this year is of course “the environment” - certainly a fitting choice given the increasing focus on climate change (and other environmental concerns) these days.
It’s funny - I think a lot of people would assume that it would be incredibly easy to come up with a blog post for the occasion given the fact that this in an environmental blog! I personally think it is more challenging!
I’ve been trying desperately to come up with some sort of creative, interesting post - but alas I’ve got nuthin! Well, ‘nuthin’ more than this rambling dialogue, that is!
It’s probably for the best - trying too hard to come up with the ‘ultimate’ blog post never works anyway. I think it’s better to just be my usual, goofy self!
Looking around the green blogosphere, it seems that some of my friends were equally unsure about what they should write about. Chris Baskind of Lighter Footstep and EcoTumble put it this way: “We talk about environmentally related themes all the time, which makes picking a topic for Blog Action Day a bit more problematic.”
So true…well, except for the part about writing environmental posts all the time! lol Things have been pretty quiet here at EcoSherpa for the last little while! Hopefully this flurry of posts the last couple days will help me get back into the swing of things!
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg’s Blog Action Day (I almost wrote it in acronym form until I realized it was “BAD” - lol) post on the Green Options blog focused on highlighting some of the interesting posts from the non-green blogoshere - cool idea!
I thought perhaps that the ‘green giant’ of eco-blogs, Treehugger, might come up with something really captivating and inspiring for the occasion - but alas, they simply wrote a short post announcing the event.
Oh well - I guess today is more an opportunity for the non-green blogs to step up and share their thoughts on the environment. All the eco-blogs can then pick up the slack for the remainder of the year!
On that note, I think I will leave you with a little song …
Anyone who has read this blog on a regular basis will know that I’m a BIG fan of Canadian artist & environmentalist Franke James.
I now consider her one of my close online ‘eco-friends’ and feel honoured that she has EcoSherpa in her RSS reader (yes - this is a test! haha ) - especially given our sluggish posting schedule in recent months.
I love Franke’s ‘visual essays’, and always write a post whenever a new one is released. Well, she hasn’t released a new essay, but Franke has created a fantastic animated version of her “Green Winter: Will Global Warming be Good for Canada?” piece.
Reading the essays (and looking at the drawings) is a lot of fun, but actually hearing the author read it - not to mention seeing everything in motion - takes it to an entirely new level!
I highly recommend you check out the presentation >>HERE<< (and make sure your sound is on).
Franke created the animated version so that she could effectively present the essay to a group of highschool students - sounds like a great strategy to me (in this era of YouTube and limited attention spans)!
I also highly recommend checking out Franke's latest blog post: Six Tools to Make Climate Change Art which provides a detailed look at her full presentation (the animated video was used at the beginning to capture the students’ attention). Very interesting stuff!
I am indeed the ultimate master of procrastination!
I first heard about Blog Action Day back in the middle of August. I planned to join and to write about it here right away - didn’t happen. Rather ironic, given the name of the event, don’t you think?
I watched as more and more people made mention of it, yet for whatever reason I still did not take the time to write a post about it.
Oh, and did I mention the fact that this year’s topic is “The Environment”?
Anyway, for whatever reason today I decided I had better sign up and get something posted here! Only a few days to go!
Just in case anyone is not familiar with Blog Action Day, here is some info from the site:
On October 15th - Blog Action Day, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind.
In its inaugural year, Blog Action Day will be co-ordinating bloggers to tackle the issue of the environment.
What Each Blogger Will Do
Bloggers can participate on Blog Action Day in one of two ways:
1. Publish a post on their blog which relates to an issue of their own choice pertaining to the environment.
For example: A blog about money might write about how to save around the home by using environmentally friendly ideas. Similarly a blog about politics might examine what weight environmental policy holds in the political arena.
Posts do not need to have any specific agenda, they simply need to relate to the larger issue in whatever way suits the blogger and readership. Our aim is not to promote one particular viewpoint, only to push the issue to the table for discussion.
2. Commit to donating their day’s advertising earnings to an environmental charity of their choice. There is a list of “official” Blog Action Day charities on the site, however bloggers are also free to choose an alternate environmental charity to donate to if they wish.
So there you have it! If you have a blog and have not yet signed up, there is still time!
Now I just need to make sure I don’t procrastinate when it comes to writing my Blog Action Post on the 15th! Haha!
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