Cleaning out the inbox

I often send myself articles or links so I can read them again or forward them to other people. I had three sitting in my 'inbox' for a long time so I am now sharing them with you. Not that you check here anymore. It's been about three years since my last post, I think. When you do check, you'll be rewarded. Onward!

Making Movies To Change The World
A great article about some documentaries that were released last year. As you probably are aware, I love documentaries. I revel in real life stories. I want to learn about real people and how things in this world are affecting them so I can try to change the way I live in a helpful way.

I just watched Black Gold last night and it made me angry to learn how poorly Ethiopian (and, undoubtedly, all other) coffee farmers are treated. If you don't buy fair trade coffee (and as many other products as you can find), you should. Watch the trailer, get the film (I'll lend it to you) and calculate how much of the money you paid for that $6 mocha espresso lattechino goes to the farmers who actually grew the beans (it's in UK pounds). Interesting facts from the film... 1) It takes about four years for a coffee plant to grow usable beans. That's a freaking long time! 2) Coffee is the second largest commodity traded next to oil. The NY Stock Exchange sets the price, not the farmers.





Last Wish: Feed The Homeless
It's kids like this that give me hope for the next generation. They also challenge me because I'm way older and I have no apparent health issues to hold me back but I still manage to be way more selfish. He cuts through the complexity we've created and gets to the heart - people are hungry so let's give them food. Wow. If this doesn't make you tear up or feel motivated to go help someone, you've got no soul. I encourage you to make sure you have a soul.

Now Screening: A Sermon
The Hamilton Spectator came to the new theatre that our east Hamilton site of The Meeting House moved to from my old high school, Saltfleet. It was fun to see my graduation picture and those of my friends up on the cafeteria wall every week. This theatre is pretty sweet, though. In the picture, you can see my friends Matt (the pastor) and Len (the realtor) on the left caught in the same pose.

If you don't check PostSecret on a weekly basis, you're missing out on some interesting people-watching. Or, I guess, secret-watching.

I've had a good and relatively productive week off. I start my new position next week and am very excited about it. I got to workout a few times with Taxman and Chad, went out for breakfast four times with different people (Melanie, Jordan & Jesse, Justin and all of my former team), worked at Sophia House twice, bought a new fridge, renewed my license plates, watched a couple Lost In Space episodes (including possibly the worst television episode ever produced called 'Flight Into The Future'), cleaned out the fridge and did some general tidying around the house. Oh yeah, we also donated blood. You should donate blood. Blood. It's in you to give.