i remember hearing a fair bit of hoopla about the Al Gore book, An Inconvenient Truth. i thought (rather jadedly) - well, that's a good thing for a former vice-president/almost-president to do with his time - raise awareness of an important issue. after watching the dvd this evening, i feel that it might have been the most film i've ever watched (although i may stay up to watch clerks 2, which could also be profoundly life-altering).

what he does remarkably well, and why i think this is such an important achievement, is he lays out the issue in a very clear and well-illustrated fashion. and i do not refer to the nifty graphics, or his use of his macintosh powerbook or keynote. mr. gore illustrates using historical scientific data considering literally millions of years worth of historical data to show that the world that we are living in is at the brink of catastrophic changes, and he makes this conclusion as clear as crystal - or perhaps ice.

i blithely joke at work about the lack of coldness in this ontario winter - when back home, they just came through a cold snap of three weeks of minus thirty degree days. but the fact is that it is nearing the middle of december, and i walked to the gym in my shorts and a t-shirt. the weather forecast has it just under 10 degrees this upcoming week. the world is changing, and it has scared me for over a decade to have watched it. mr. gore's presentation of the consequences of continuing in this seemingly inexorable path are terrifying and what is more terrifying still is that they are so completely credible.

i don't use this site often enough to express any real information of value or any stance of any kind that isn't selfishly related to me (unlike my friend, jim, who is also the handsomest man in toronto). but i urge everyone who comes here to see what i am doing or how i am doing or just happens to find it to go and rent this dvd, or read the book (which i plan to do) and to learn about what mr. gore has to say. i guarantee that it will be the most important thing you will see this year. and you will also ask yourself the question, what if gore had won that nearly-deadlocked election in 2000, rather than Dubya. i swear, that question now boggles my mind.

go visit the website, if you don't have time to rent the video or read the book. please. http://www.climatecrisis.net.

- g