'Gasland."

In class we watched a documentary called "Gasland." Josh Fox, a filmmaker, travels around the Delaware property and interviews families after he was offered $100,000 for gas rights on his property. He interviewed people because he was curious about the effects of drilling and fracking. From interviewing families he was surprised by their responses. He was surprised because they said that fracking was bad because after they drilled, their drinking water was undrinkable. They also talked about the symptoms they had after they drank the water, which were feeling dizzy and having a severe headache. After drilling, the water even became flammable. Fox was so amazed by this that he recorded families putting a lighter to the sink water and flames would shoot out. The documentary also included interviews with the fracking business' and they tried to make it seem like fracking was a good thing. I was amazed by the film because I had no idea what fracking was and how dangerous it could be to the environment and to families in and around the communities.

"The Cove."

In class we watched a documentary called “The Cove.” The movie is about a team going on a mission in a cove in Japan called Taiji. The team would hide microphones and cameras in rocks, so they could observe what was going on in the cove. The team ends up finding out some deep secrets and crimes that are happening under water. They find out that dolphins are being killed and they want to put a stop to it. It is said that the amount of dolphins that are being killed in the Taiji cove is a much greater amount than the whales that are being killed in the Antarctic. The number of dolphins being killed every year was close to 23,000. When Dr. Maluso put the documentary on I did not expect to watch such a disturbing film. Through the cameras the team witnessed the dolphins being lured into the cove and killed them with spears and knives. Even though the film was difficult to watch without getting upset, I still liked it because it was interesting. I would have never known about those dolphins being killed until I watched the film in class. I also gained respect for the team for putting this “investigation” together. The film was made to prove a point, which was that killing the dolphins was unnecessary.

Flow: For Love of Water

For class we had to watch a documentary on Irena Salinas’ thoughts about the water supply in the world. The film explains that if we continue to take advantage of our water supply and abuse it then humankind will soon become extinct. The movie reminds us of how important water is to the world, especially for children. The beginning of the movie had beautiful pictures of water and helped remind us that we never really think of water as a gift because we are so used to it being in our every day life. People do not think of water ever going away, but in reality we are the ones that are slowly creating a global crisis. Salinas gives examples of disasters that have happened due to humans abusing their water supply. The movie made me realize that we are destroying our world without even noticing it.

"Avatar."

The movie “Avatar” is about a paraplegic guy in a wheel chair named Jake Sully. He was previously in the military and became injured. The beginning of the movie is a little confusing because it consists of flashbacks of Jake’s life and how he woke up on a space ship traveling to Pandora, which is a planet of all blue people. In the beginning you find out that Jake has a twin brother that died who was a scientist. Since Jake and his brother Tom have an exact genetic match, the people on the ship presented him with an opportunity, which was to take over his brother’s contract on the ship. Jake would travel to Pandora and become one of the blue people. The reason for Jake to be placed on Pandora was to send a message to the people, but act like he was one of them so that they welcomed him. In order to get to Pandora, Jake had to jump into a machine with some kind of mask over his face. After going there Jake becomes very comfortable with the people and they accept him as their own. While Jake is there he realizes that the Colonel that he is working for on the ship is trying to take over the land of Pandora. Jake and every one on the ship refer to the people as “avatar” and while Jake is there he quickly and unexpectedly falls in love with one of the aliens, Neytiri. The rest of the movie is Jake trying to convince the people on the ship to not ruin their land and he ends up choosing the avatars side.

Personally, I did not like this movie at all. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t like it because blue aliens are not my thing. The plot of the story was decent, but the movie was dragged out for three hours. There was many times where I was asking myself when the hell they were going to die. I also thought it was stupid because Jake was not one of them. If anyone shut off his machine or intentionally pulled him out of the machine, which they did, he would go right back to being human. The thing that I did enjoy about the movie was the special effects, but that’s about it. I do not think I would ever willingly watch this movie again. I felt like it was a waste of time.

Hiking Scavenger Hunt

Last week in class we went hiking together at Tanglewood Nature Center. My group was not too excited to go hiking because we are all from the city. Nature was never my thing and I had never gone hiking before. We were told to meet at 9AM sharp and to bring water and cameras. We were also told to wear sneakers that we don’t care about, which was a problem for me because I care about all my sneakers. Soon enough the time came and we had to jump in our cars and drive to Tanglewood. In my group were Shannon, Megan, Kelsie, and I. We basically just wondered off and followed the boy’s path. At first it wasn’t too bad besides the signs that read “caution: rattlesnakes,” which we did not like. It was a nice day but it had been raining for a couple days prior to the hike, so of course there was mud. Me and mud DO NOT get along. At this point I was pissed and so were the girls. We had to go uphill and it was covered in mud. My sneakers were now ruined. It seemed to only get worse with the whole mud situation, so we all wanted to cry because we were being dramatic. At this point we found the boys snapping pictures of us because one of the things on the list for the scavenger hunt was something funny, which apparently was us. After surviving the mud hill we proceeded to walk the trail and take pictures for the scavenger hunt until a thorn bush jumped out and attacked me. Again, I was not happy. As the hike started to get better we came to a shed that was surrounded by water and a beautiful view. After taking pictures and passing the shed we came out to a road. It was the end of the trail, but we were expected to walk back the same way that we came, which was NOT happening. So we decided to walk back on the road, which was also an adventure. I honestly would not have minded hiking if there was not any mud. The thing that I did like was the view because it was absolutely beautiful. The hike was also wicked funny.

Hiking at Tanglewood

One of the first trail markers.

The view.

We somehow got ourselves lost.

Carrying Shannon.

Kelsie and I at the exhibit.

Opinion of "No Impact Man."

While I watched the movie “No Impact Man” I found myself becoming frustrated. The movie aggravated me because I felt like he was doing too much for the environment. His family’s goal was to create as little or no environmental impact as possible. I did not think that they would end up accomplishing their goal because it was such a drastic change in their lifestyle. I believe that Colin’s wife, Michelle, definitely cheated during this project because it was very hard for her and she was very comfortable with her daily routines. I think that one of the easiest adjustments for the family was to stop using the car and trains because they lived in New York City, which was a convenient place to use a bike. I also think that the food was not too hard for the family, but they definitely missed their take-out food. The change that really annoyed me was using no toilet paper. That is disgusting that they used a cloth to wipe themselves all the time. They did not really talk about not using toilet paper and how they felt about it, but it was said that they were no longer using toilet paper in their apartment.

Another thing that frustrated me in this movie was the electricity. They only did it for six months, but they also had a two-year-old daughter who was probably afraid of the dark. It is also unsafe to surround their apartment with candles when there is a child running around. They also used their cellphones throughout the movie, which meant that at some point they were using electricity. Today, there is no way that a parent can go without a phone to be reached at when they have a child. Anything could happen or an emergency where the parent needs to be contacted. At the end of the movie I was impressed by how much the family did accomplish and how much they helped the environment, but some of the changes they made were ridiculous.

"No Impact Man."

This week in class we watched a documentary called “No Impact Man.” The documentary was about a man Colin Beaven that wanted to practice what he preached, so he formed a project for him and his family that would last a year. Beaven, his wife Michelle Conlin, and his two-year old daughter Isabella participated in this project and their goal was to create as little environmental impact as possible while living in New York City.

Michelle had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed in participating in this No Impact Project. Beaven created a list of things that they would reduce, recycle, and reuse along with phases that the family would go through. Michelle thought it seemed easy until the things were actually taken away. The family immediately stopped using their vehicle and cut all ties to any other form of transportation, such as the subway. Michelle used a scooter to get to work and Beaven used a bike. When the family would go out together they used a tricycle, so Isabella could ride along too. They got rid of their television and worked on creating less trash. The family stopped using toilet paper and diapers and also stopped ordering take-out food, shopping for any new clothing, and only buying food that was within 250 miles of New York. Beaven threw away any cleaning products and made his own in reusable bottles, this method always worked for shampoo and soap. They also stopped using elevators, which resulted in the family walking up and down nine flights of stairs to get to their apartment. After six months they lived without electricity, which meant they could only use candles and they had no refrigerator.

Throughout this whole project Michelle tried to follow the rules because she knew it was what her husband wanted, but sometimes it was too hard for her. At times she became frustrated because she changed her life so drastically to make him happy, but when she brought up the subject of having another baby he would shut down her idea. Michelle thought that because she participated in his dream then he should help her with her dream. This documentary is a perfect example of who has control in a household. Beaven obviously made most of the decisions in the house and became self-centered on his project. He did not understand how frustrating and inconvenient the whole project really was. Together they were fantastic parents and equally took care of their child, but Beaven seemed to always be in control because he was the man of the house.