Monday, September 28, 2009

Gibbous Moon: David Brower, No Impact, No Name & Indie Artists


It's a foggy Monday in SF after a warm, sunny busy gibbous moon over the bay weekend. Friday and Saturday were taken up with the Expo for the Independent Artist & symposium, paired events that served to connect up a bunch of us like minds who are rolling around the city making songs and events and 'zines and films. I think there might be a full list of participants at the Arts & Expo site. Notable for me on Friday was the setting of the Symposium, the Brower Center in Berkley. I was educated early on David Brower's many contributions to the environmental movement as we know it. While the Earth Island Institute founder passed in 2000 his spirit lives on at his namesake green, sustainable and committed to social causes center just a half a block from the Downtown Berkeley BART. If you get a chance, go by. They've a nice gallery space as well as meeting rooms and a bunch of great resident nonprofits working hard for the betterment of our fragile world.
Before heading back across the bay for a fine potluck with some of my favorite yogis and then crossing another bridge to hear Art Khu play & Cecilia sit in at the No Name Bar's weekly jazz jam, I somehow managed to catch the film version of No Impact Man, a story, I trust, to which Brower would have related. Notable for documenting one man & his family's effort to reduce, recycle & reuse in the heart of NYC, I enjoyed the simple realness of the Colin Beavan & his wife as they strived to reach their ideals and keep it (& their relationship) together. Sure I'm already a City Carsharing, bike commuting, vegetarian, but darn, there's a whole lot I gotta do to really have no impact. I've said it before, I'll say it again, go see it or read it.

2 comments:

Karen said...

Sharon and Robert sold their car immediately after seeing No Impact Man and switched from fancy organic cleaning fluids to plain soap, vinegar and water among other things. I haven't checked in with them lately to see how it's going.

Bird in the Tree said...

That's a great story!