Saving the World

If you see one movie this summer, whatever you do, don’t drive to it! Burning petrol creates greenhouse gases which have resulted in unprecedented global climate change. You would know as much already if you had seen An Inconvenient Truth. You may already have had an inkling, but if you want a long lecture on the topic by the formerly-stiffest guy in politics, see Truth. (By the way, David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, says he is funny and engaging in-person, if a bit pedantic.)

If you see two movies this summer, well, don’t drive to either. Duh!

Though I haven’t actually seen two movies this summer, I have a guest recommendation. It comes from a discerning critic, a wizened connoisseur of moving pictures, a girl who has seen at least 14-and-a-half films from the AFI Top 100: the inimitable Zoe Kay. She recommends Superman Returns. On what grounds? “Even the opening credits were really cool.” You just can’t argue with that.

While she felt the flick had its weak points, particularly the opening scenes—upstaged by the credits, no doubt—as a whole the movie passed muster with this most demanding of critics. (Full disclosure: I am a blood relation of this young lady and, though I once put a booger in her apple juice, we have a strong bond).

If you don’t have enough money to go see movies this summer, I have an alternative: BookTV. Every weekend, all summer long, C-SPAN2 is hosting 48 hours of non-fiction. I’ve enjoyed David Remnick talking about his new compilation of interviews, Tom Wolfe in his white ice cream suit, Gore Vidal on the state of the country (bad, in case you’re unsure) and Ron Suskind on his book about the One Percent Doctrine—Cheney’s pronouncement, after 9/11, that the U.S. must act with full force if there was even a 1 percent chance that terrorists could get their hands on nuclear weapons. Check it out.

(Other alternatives are, of course, the World Cup and Wimbledon, but the intelligent readers of this blog surely need no reminder for these ).

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I have good news. Zoe, who was admitted to Hampshire College this April, has received a reply regarding her orientation application. (Apparently, you now have to apply to student orientation. Next up: five paragraphs on why seeing your college counselor will make the world a better place.) In any case, Zoe's efforts were successful. She will be oriented correctly at the Circus for the Gravitationally Challenged. It was her first choice.

On a completely unrelated note, the median yearly income for a carney is $7812. Hampshire costs $40,458 a year.

[Thanks for reading. In anticipation of complaints, I assure you there are a few posts in the pipeline on things that I have actually physically done and seen, hopefully proving that I'm not always on the phone to CA, reading a book or watching TV. I ran out of time to finish them tonight, so return soon if you're interested.]