The Cove

Typically, if I'd come across a film about dolphins and activists, I'd probably dismiss it thinking, "It's been done. We all know about Greenpeace." However, The Cove, from director Louie Psihoyos in coordination with the Oceanic Preservation Society, is far from the conventional stories we've all heard about "Flipper" and his (and her actually!) fellow cetaceans.

With extensive interviews from Ric O'Barry, original trainer to television's "Flipper" and a dolphin activist ever since, The Cove is perhaps the most unnerving, disheartening yet exhilarating and enthralling documentary film you're likely to see.

By the end, if you have even a sliver of a heart, you'll be deeply sympathetic to the plight of the world's dolphins but also to the state of the oceans in general. Just by shedding light on one dolphin "killing cove" in Japan, the film's organizers have opened the flood gates of international compassion, and hopefully action as well, that will lead to end of these abhorrent practices.

Despite the inherent weight of the work's message, the OPS team has produced a captivating spy tale full of cat-and-mouse reconnaissance, covert operations, breathless near misses, and triumphantly OO7-esque surveillance. Put all this together and you have what deserves to win the Oscar for best documentary film of 2009.

Some of the scenes involving a pair of champion free divers are quite breathtaking. In an underwater world that is made up essentially of sound and sound alone, dolphins and whales are generally perturbed by s.c.u.b.a. equipment, so these especially gifted divers are able to commune with the creatures without restrictions -- just beings sharing an environment together.

There are so many ways you can help: One way is to completely avoid consuming large fish species in foods like sushi and sashimi (your neurons will thank you for keeping them free from mercury exposure which is a central theme of the greater environmental issues presented in The Cove); another way is to start with the Internet and find out how to contribute in any way possible.

TheCoveMovie.com
SaveJapanDolphins.org
TakePart.com
Facebook.com/causes
OPSociety.org

Produce: Labor's Fruits

As I paused to let a garbage truck turn clumsily in front of me, I caught the a scent-memory of photo fixer in my nose and it slipped me back years in time, back into the darkroom on a day reminiscent of this misty, muggy day. I'd spend hours with that familiar smell wafting into my head, my mind transfixed on images and processes and exposure times and light. By the end of such a day, I'd have a stack of dried down prints to marvel at, nitpick over, and sometimes actually enjoy. But the day had sure enough satisfyingly slithered away from me like a venomless snake through leaf litter.

Now, the days slip by but I've little concrete to show for those days of long work. My eyes become a filter and what does not belong deserves mention, a discussion, a suggestion, a lesson. The students glean something from every session, but in the end what exactly that is eludes measure.

What scent will trigger these days? Will this be a fond recollection of good work and satisfaction? My wish is only this.