One of DJ Spooky’s latest projects involved traveling to Antarctica to use the ice, wildlife, footsteps and other sounds to construct an album and multimedia performance. Using ambient sound as source material is older than using vinyl samples, but Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a multimedia performance that comes at a key time in the life of the icy continent. As my homie Joe Block once said about one of my raps, “I woudn’t go bumping it in my car or nothin’”, but I have to hand it to a real hip-hop icon for doing his part for the struggle.

Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Field Guide has a nice news piece about an electric drag car that is breaking records and beating gas-powered cars. The more people see this, the more people will realize that electric cars can be rough and rugged too. Check it out:

With a 21 percent jobless rate in Motown, many people have taken advantage of empty lots to build community gardens. This AP article reports that within the city of Detroit, hundreds of urban vegetable gardens have popped up on abandoned properties. This kind of land grab has become common in the city where a house was famously purchased for 1 dollar.

In Los Angeles, a much more contentious story played out in the ashes of the 1992 Riots. The Garden Movie documents the story of an urban farm in South Central and the fight to preserve it from development. Here is a preview:

The Beastie Boys’ production company Oscilloscope Laboratories has put out a documentary about water privatization. Irena Salina’s film, which was an official selection at Sundance, builds the case against corporate ownership of water resources. The website for Flow has a link to a petition to add a 31st amendment to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right.

Check out the preview:

The Green Rapper crew rolled mobb deep to a screening of Seasons, a mountain biking film by The Collective. Now, we’re not ones to drink a lot of Mountain Dew and cross our arms in an X-formation while yelling “EXTREME!”, but we did very much enjoy this beautifully shot film. The film follows elite riders through the back country of their home turf and into the competitive mountain biking circuit, telling their stories chronologically from Winter to Fall. In the end, it is the amazing speeds, stunts and cinematography that make this film worth checking out. Also the soundtrack was awesome and has inspired me to check out the music of Latch Key Kid. Here’s a teaser from Youtube:

Last night, the Green Rapper crew saw a screening of the documentary Thirst, Fighting the Corporate Theft of our Water, Thirst tells the story of citizens’ fight for public control of water in California, Bolivia, and India. As the title might imply, the arguments put forth are fairly one-sided and the movie runs a bit long, but overall the film is informative and well-done.

The film opens with footage of civil strife in Bolivia after the privatization of water resources in Bolivia, but is mostly centered around activists in Stockton California and their fight to keep the local water resources from being controlled by a multinational. The town caved into the outside interests, but later overturned the decision to privatize water.

The most compelling story is that of Rajendra Singh and his work in Alwar, Rajasthan in India. His NGO helped to empower villagers to take control of water management due to the government’s slow progress. This story probably hit home for me because it was what I would have loved to see happen in the in Oviedo.

My buddy Justin just sent me a DVD of the film Ecosutra, a Russel Berns documentary about issues like permaculture, sustainability, and renewable energy. I don’t know if this guy is related to Ken Burns or not, but the preview on youtube looks pretty cool.