Earth Hour

Last Saturday, Earth Hour was the main topic of conversation in the media. Radio, TV, print and the web had been urging us for weeks to become 'greenies' for an hour and 'vote earth'.

We celebrated with a candlelit birthday cake and coffee but many homes around us kept their lights blazing. Part of me felt like shouting 'turn your lights off' but we live in the city and community unity is on the wane.

The energy conservation message of the event does appeal but the promotion of it, which snowballed into a trendy bandwagon did not.

When I started high school, I joined 'The Environment Club'. We talked about recycling projects and so forth. In Woodwork, I made a tree shaped money box for its symbolism.
It soon became clear though that individuals can be environmentally friendly but the world isn't going to change to save the planet.

We don't recycle, reuse and reduce for the glory or recognition. In a way, the media jumping on the bandwagon by branding 'green as the new black' almost cheapens an independent movement that prides itself on its anti-establishment stance. Where can it go from here?

Soon this green trend will be discarded to make room for the next fad. Those hoping that Earth Hour has made a lasting impression on the population may have to be content with only an annual swell of support generated by the media.

Gamebox 1.0

After collecting ex-DVDs for a couple of months straight, I'm finally getting round to watching some of them.
It is becoming painfully clear that I was slightly misguided in my choices ranging from bad to worse.
Last night, I sat down to watch my first sci-fi action choice and was pleasantly surprised.

'Gamebox 1.0' - action/thriller set in the virtual game world of video games was pretty exciting. Our hero is a 20 something guy, depressed after his girlfriend was shot by a crooked cop. His past makes him a perfect pawn for a game that won't let you quit till you've either won or dead.

High pitched game music and low-budget computer generated sets were quite funny to watch combined with the rather clunky dialogue.

I quite liked it though and it happily chewed away a few hours from my Monday night. Maybe there are some actual bargains in the sale bin!

Parking Spaces

Caterpillars are crawling on the swan plant outside, soon it'll be too cold for them to turn into butterflies. Their life process must be pure instinct as mother isn't hovering about.

Differences with human society are we are taught the 'rules' depending on the teacher from day dot. Out with the cavemen went living on instinct. If we want to be part of society, we are bound by social expectations like manners and process, regulations and signs.

At the cinema, you are given seat numbers, reminded to sit only in that seat and stay there for the movie. It is funny the amount of people who check their tickets and seat numbers and sit in the allocated spot, as if a patrol could check them at any time.

At your own peril we can ignore rules, signs and limits. It must be the fear of the consequence like a parking ticket which motivates the majority to participate.

Parking spaces themselves are an example of rules. We can't park for more than an hour or beyond our paid time, we must park within the lines, no-one can park during clearway times and our registration should be current. All these rules for two lines of white/yellow paint?

But everyone lines up and accepts these conditions, invisibly signing a contract with known consequences. I find it a little disconcerting the amount of times we have to accept conditions in everyday life.

We need rules to be fair for everyone,but these regulations become a burden after a while. I moot the need for a 'no-rules day'. Of course it would be carnage on the streets with no-one obeying road rules, personal space boundaries or authoritive figures, but that is mere detail.

Living in the city sure has its challenges, think I'll take refuge for now in the freedom of non-metered spaces. I like to live dangerously!