Laura and I needed to take full advantage of her large belly, so we created this.

It’s wonderful to find media outlets that encourage us to think, discuss, and encourage change in society. I recently stumbled across a website that motivates us to do this. It is called FiftyCrows - Social Change Photography. Through the use of photos essays and short films, the photographers look to educate people about the hardships and realities of life that we tend to forget and to take action to protect our fellow human beings from further harm.

I encouarge you to check out the short films title “The Chernobyl Accident” and “Iraq: A Depleted Generation”. The photo essay titled “Ushguli: A Village at a Crossroad ” by Gia Chkhatarashvili reflects on a remote village in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, north of Armenia. Another photo essay titled “Self-Immolation: Afghan Women Cry Out for Help” takes a look at the slow progress in social change for women in Afghanistan. The photos can be a bit graphic. These movies do not have your typical movie stars to adore, instead they have real people suffering as a result of circumstances beyond their control. Get off your butt and do something.

If you haven’t had the chance to attend the Banff Film Festival, you are missing out. We went to a showing last night in Sunnyvale and saw some great films. The films focus on environmental issues, outdoor/mountain sports, and culture awareness. We have had the opportunity to attend the festival a number of times over the years and each time has been wonderful. The original festival is held in Banff, Canada in November and then the films go on tour. You can visit the website for the festival to see when it will come to your town.

We saw 8 films over 3 hours last night. The topics were about paragliding over the Grand Canyon, Fishing and protecting the Black Canyon in Colorado, crack climbing in Utah (great film), children skiing in Nepal, kayaking in Sequoia National Park, insane mountian biking, ice climbing in Canada, and wonderful visual display of balancing (great camer and editing work).

Each stop offers different films, so if you have the time then check it out.

Check out the new movie Gunner Palace. It has a good take on the Iraq war from the soldier’s perspective.