Maybe there's hope for us yet ...

Occasionally, I do see something that gives me reason to believe that we are not lost as a civilization yet:



(via Common Dreams and civil eats)

Going Green Update -- Food Co-ops

Today was our introduction into the world of food co-ops. I had been at one of my clients this week and she gave me a bag of peaches and mentioned that they had gotten them in their basket of fruits and vegetables that she picked up every two weeks at Bountiful Baskets, a Phoenix-area co-op:

This is a grass roots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative ... As a group, we purchase items at deep discounts. Items are then distributed evenly among participants ...

$15 every two weeks (paid ahead of time so that no more than purchased is ordered), bring your own basket or reusable bags, and pick up at several designated locations around the Valley during a specified time, in our case 7:45 am Saturday morning at a local elementary school. For a little more, you can get a basket of organic fruits and vegetables or even artisan bread.

The concept is cool because it cuts out all the crap that has absolutely nothing to do with food: advertising, processing, a storefront, displays. Participants are asked to volunteer occasionally. Everything is very fresh, as they are buying it at the same places that the local grocery stores and restaurants buy.

For the $15, I got two laundry baskets full of fruits and vegetables. Evidently a lot of people are catching on to the idea, as there were about 200 families picking up at this location, and this is only one of about 50 sites in the valley.

If you are looking for a co-op in your area, check out this site: LocalHarvest

The Strand

Perhaps biting off a bit more than we could chew, we started off early this morning intent on biking all the way from the house in Manhattan Beach to the Santa Monica Pier ... a distance of about 13 miles one way. I had hauled Alex's and my bikes out with us in the trunk and Michelle borrowed her aunt's new beach bike.

The bike path along the ocean is called The Strand and extends 22 miles total from north of Santa Monica south to Torrance. It's very scenic, going right along the beach, and passes through Manhattan Beach, Venice Beach and Santa Monica. The weather was great, with a lot of eye candy, and freaks galore.

On the way up, just the other side of Venice, we stopped for a bite to eat:


... continued on up to the pier in Santa Monica:


... walked the boardwalk in Venice (ground zero for freaky people):


... and checked out a few organic clothing shops that I had researched ahead of time, Natural High Lifestyle in Santa Monica, which was so-so (a little foofy and expensive), and Arbor in Venice, which was a lot better and where I picked up a t-shirt.

All-in-all, it was a worthy way of spending a Friday. Nobody got too tired and we all got over 25 miles of riding in. Pretty impressive for the little one especially.

Weekend

Felt crappy this weekend, nursing some kind of creeping crud (allergies or cold) but we still ventured out. Saturday it was the Phoenix Public Market, a local farmer's market. We hadn't been to it before, but most of the other farmer's markets shut down during the summer, which is unfortunate since the weather here is conducive to growing fruits and vegetables year-round.

It was very nice. It starts early in the morning, has covered tents with misters and fans, so it's not so unpleasant. We picked up some outstanding jalapeno/cilantro hummus, some fresh herbs, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. People think that it costs more to buy local, but the cost of not buying local is food being shipped in trucks thousands of miles. But if you live in a place that has a long growing season, the prices of local food are comparable to the prices at a grocery store. Nothing we bought was in more than it would be at the grocery store. I highly recommend buying local (for food or otherwise) as often as you can. Some good reasons --

Farmers’ markets are:

Good for farmers

- they’re a different source of revenue, often crucial in today’s difficult farming climate.
- they give farmers greater control over their economic lives.
- farmers can get higher prices - as the middle man is cut out.
- farmers diversify their skills - gaining marketing and business expertise.
- farmers get increased networking and learning opportunities with other farmers.

Good for the local economy

- more money is spent in the local economy, and it circulates in the locality for longer.
- there is high knock-on spending in other shops on market days.
- they provide an outlet for local produce, helping to start new local businesses and expand existing ones.
- they reinforce local job and business networks, maintaining local employment.

Good for consumers

- consumers enjoy the atmosphere and experience of farmers’ markets.
- consumers get fresh, healthy produce usually at competitive prices.
- they offer increased choice, and can offer extra fresh, affordable produce in areas with few such options.
- they strengthen community - a key factor in the quality of life.

Good for the environment

- food travels less far; there are less “food miles”.
- food has less packaging.
- they are an important outlet for farmers selling organic and less intensively-produced food.

Plus we checked out a few movies this weekend:


Ocean's 13 - Nothing's left on the table with this one. More flash, more disguises, more twists, more characters. It helps if you have seen the other 2 movies as it ties in characters from those movies (Andy Garcia, Vincent Cassel). The film is an apology of sorts for the shortcomings of Ocean's 12, which was just a little too in love with it's own cleverness.

There's a lot of made-up terminology and purposely obtuse dialog, and one guesses more than a little ad-libbing. It helps to create the thief's world ... one which we may not understand but can get humor out of the machinations. A lot of the joy in the movie is not that different that the original Ocean's 11 movie with Sinatra, Martin, Davis, etc. They were obviously friends, had an easy rapport and were obviously having fun making the movies. This movie is no different. Actors added for this installation include Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. Eddie Izzard, who was in 12, has a larger role in this one and is very good.

There are some funny inside jokes including the end where Pitt ribs Clooney's character for gaining weight between capers (in real life, he purposely gained weight for Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana). Clooney responded suggesting that Pitt settle down and have a few kids.

I've liked these movies because I've always been a little nostalgic for the Vegas/jazz/Rat Pack scene. These movies upgrade it and introduce better acting. Grade: B+

Yesterday, the wife and I checked out Knocked Up:



Knocked Up - From the director (and many of the actors that brought you 40 Year Old Virgin, comes a comedy about what happens when a stoner out kicks his coverage and gets the attractive (and successful) Katherine Heigl character pregnant after a drunken night. She decides to have the baby. They both want him to be part of the process and the movie revolves around the adjustments they have to make to fit each other's worlds. It's very real, very raw dialog, a lot like Virgin. If you are offended by repeated f-bombs, marijuana use, or blue humor, you probably should stay clear, But if you can see the role all of that plays in settings the scene and creating very funny situations, you'll like the movie. It's not really skit-based comedy like a lot of comedies are now. It's more funniness out of real life. As such, the movie has some dramatic and poignant moments. All of the lead actors are great but I especially liked what some of the smaller roles added: Alan Tudyk (of Serenity fame) as her boss, Kirsten Wiig (SNL) as a co-worker, and cameos by Steve Carrell, James Franco and even Ryan Seacrest (whose profanity-laced tirade will do a lot to loosen up a lot of people's image of him ... very funny stuff). RF's a big fan of this film and gives a much deeper review here Grade: B-

Other films I've recently seen that we've seen that I'm not going to take time to do extensive reviews of:

The Queen - A film that that shows in spades the important art of subtlety in acting -- something that British actors are much better at than Americans (though American James Cromwell does his usual great job). Check out RF's very good review here -- Grade: B

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - A film with a lot of obvious holes ... actually I'm not sure there's an actual plot. It's much too long. All that being said, I liked it anyway due to the obvious strength of the ensemble cast: Depp, Knightly, Chow Yun Fat, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, etc. The special effects are great. You are going to a Pirates movie to see swashbuckling and funny dialog and this delivers both. -- Grade C+

Organic Foods/Wal-Mart

Yep, I was just about to begrudgingly give Wal-Mart credit for greatly increasing their organic foods offerings. Although they were ultimately doing it for profit reasons, it was an opportunity to expose the masses to the benefits of eating organic. But like the earlier instance where Wal-Mart seemingly did something positive environmentally by promising to protect wildlife habitat for every store they build, the promise and the result are two different things. Ultimately, with Wal-Mart, it is about consumer perception and not a sense of real civic duty. And questioning where things come from (China, huge factory organic farms) doesn't seem to be high on the list of Wal-Mart's traditional demographic.

Wal-Mart Charged with Selling Nonorganic Food as Organic; Group Asks USDA to Fully Investigate Organic Product Misrepresentation

Quit shopping at this place. It's like buying a beer for your alcoholic uncle. By frequenting this place, you are an enabler. You're telling the owners of Wal-Mart that it is OK to make a profit at any cost ... wages, insurance, environment, truth be damned.

Speaking of enablers, retard Bill O'Reilly is applauding Wal-Mart for reinstating "Merry Christmas" as a greeting. It's part of his annual "War on Christmas" rant. Either he doesn't realize or he is ignoring the fact that Wal-Mart isn't doing it as a nod to Christians or "traditional" Christmas culture. Like every other decision Wal-Mart makes, they were doing it for a financial reason. Let's get portrayed as the "Christian" store and see the profits roll in. Is it any surprise that Wal-Mart is the 3rd largest contributor to the Republican Party? Pretending to be pious and screwing everything else for financial motives are part and parcel for them.