I agree on not hiring the advisors they had, although the lead DCCC person (can't remember her name) knew what she was doing - but the rest of the parachute crew didn't know anything about the local area and messed up big time.

I surveyed the empty theater--it was spattered with abandoned, half-drunk ginormous Cokes and bags soaked with artificial butter substitute. I had the sudden, horrible sense that if, in relatively Green Seattle, at a screening of possibly the most enviro-conscious movie to ever be released, the aftermath looks like this, that the movie should've been titled Dear America: You're fucked! (Heart,) Al.

Actually, it's no different from theatres elsewhere (having, ahem, actually sat in and observed theatres elsewhere). Seattlites just THINK they're better for the environment than the average urbanite, when in fact they're just as wasteful, sloppy and destructive as people in other cities.

Saw it Monday after work at Pacific Place. It wasn't packed but, Jim McDermott was in the audience.
If you stay through credits there are talking points. One is to contact Congress to make them listen. Another is to run for Congress if they don't.
Awkward.

I drove my hybrid car to see this movie and brought along my own organic popcorn from Whole Foods. Eat vegan and build sustainable houses, every little bit helps.

What can be expected from Americans, even if the "live" in *cough, cough* ":SEATTLE"?

Upgrading to an auto that is 30% more fuel efficient does not translate to the average leftie or rightie to mean that there would be more gas for everyone, or even a clean environment. More often then not, americans, regardless of how they vote, would spend that gas savings by driving 30% more often. (But driving to the mountains to camp in BC somehow does not use the same amount of gas as say, camping 30 miles outside of Seattle? Driving the hybrid to the mountains must be better then the SUV?, huh?)

I say that most of the audience that night carpooled or might be bikers/walkers most of the time. By most of the time, I mean a 'green' commute and they only, only drive if they really, really have an errand to run. Unless they need it for work, in which case planting a tree will be penance enough. That night I can expect that everyone drove to the theater for "What Was A Very Good Reason(tm)". Fine for them, thanks for not driving (very much) but they still used gas, but it is ok, because as an american leftie or rightie, that night was different (for some reason... probablly had something to do with Al Gore and shoring up his opening night boxoffice reciepts. "A Very Good Reason(tm)" indeed.) and, by God, most americans would want to know who the f-in-hell am i to judge how much they drive? What makes me so high and mighty? Why I must be one of those who are part of the problem and not the solution. About sums americans up, huh?

But lets not forget, and glib camping remarks aside, that on Saturday there was the farmers markets and the 'really worth it' shopping trip on the way home. In the evening, well, it is such a drag to hassle friends for a ride. Then sunday, well, the soccer game was clear across town (and metro sucks, you see) or that day-hike at the summit, can't get walks like that in town, huh?.

But, that aside, Paul brings up a bigger issue: SHAME ON ALL FOR LEAVING YOUR TRASH. Management provides trash cans for a reason, and even though it ain't your job, it is someones job to pickup and sweepup the trash. Someone would like to be cut a break and not pick up every fuckers dirty cups and popcorn bags. Fuck and A.

(Numbers are SWAGed for rhetorical expedience.)

I think Gomez is both right and wrong. It seems to me that the people willing to actually inconvenience themselves or exert effort to act in accord with their environmental concerns are in Seattle maybe 5-10% of the population, in most other big cities perhaps 2-5%, and in the rest of America less than 2%.

Any way you slice it, it's a lot of people left over to spend the price of a cheap dinner on a bucket or two of body poison and then leave half of it on the floor.

Through the whole movie I had the vague sense that I was about to break into tears

I got that too (though the 9/11 trailer before the movie had a lot to do with that). I think those near-tears are caused by pent up trauma: 6 years of violent rape by the Bush administration all welling to the surface when we're faced with the thought that the man on that screen should have been our president.

Howdy, Ivan!

Yeah, I think we're all getting tired of all these years of continual and increasing incompetence ...

interesting comments