Try this social experiment!

Task: 

Hopeful Result: 

Toronto graffiti photographed by melissa fockler 2012 

The McDonaldization of Society

After reading Naomi Klein's latest opinion piece, "Geoengineering: Testing the Waters", I started thinking about the night I saw the little bandit. 

It was dark. I was headed towards the campus library. I did not expect to see him: a raccoon, crunched near a garbage-can eating remnants of a left over McDonald's meal.

courtesy of clker.com

When people saw him, they started snapping pictures. Perhaps, they intended to show the world. Look what I saw! Look what I saw! Even raccoons like Mickey D's! And that was tragic. This wild animal was familiar with our garbage, dependent on it for a meal.

The natural diet of a raccoon is berries, acorns, apples, corn, cherries and so on. But these foods are not readily available for the "suburban raccoon". Therefore, this creature resorts to foods that we leave behind. This includes high-cholesterol fatty treats. Still, this is not the most nutritious diet. Urban growth has destroyed this raccoon's natural habitat and diet. Now, our bad eating habits are influencing the look of the food chain. 

After photos were taken and the last shriek of surprise was screamed, everyone walked away. Everyone expect for him. He was still snacking for survival, but on his unsustainable diet, how long will he survive? 

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion." - Henry David Thoreau

images created by melissa fockler 2012

Stop It before It Starts: Bullying

The schoolyard is a site of struggle: a space where "the bully (the powerful) learns to subordinate and exclude "the other" (the powerless).  

Why has bullying become the norm? 

I had my first contact with bullying when I was in elementary school. I say, "contact with bullying" because it was common for my classmates to throw garbage at me and push me into bushes that were planted on school grounds. I was tossed about and picked on so often that even my teachers turned a blind-eye. No one spoke up for me and I was taught not to speak-up for myself. Don't rock the boat, so-to-speak. With more and more teen suicides due to bullying, it is time to speak-up against bullying. It is time to undo the silence. 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- 

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

       Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- 

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

- Martin Niemöller

I have been told not to take what people say so personally--that I need to "grow thicker skin". But, why is this? Why is a victim of bullying expected to consent to emotional (and physical) abuse? It's time we (as global citizens) started rocking the boat and reclaimed our right to "freedom, justice and peace".  

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far." -- Swami Vivekananda

                 

Photos taken by melissa fockler 2012

The Magic Garden (Broadview Community Group)

*Photos taken by melissa fockler 2012

Summer at Nipissing University

Scouring the hallways of Nipissing University, I found these words posted on a whiteboard. 

So true.

If you have cookies, share them maybe. (I love cookies)

Sizzling Hot Days and Climate Change

A Worthwhile Documentary: "The Crisis of Civilization"

Based on the book, A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilization and How to Save It by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed (2011), the following film documentary discusses the disastrous effects of neo-liberal policy in relation to the international market of oil. How must relations within our global society change? How can we (planetary citizens) learn to live without oil?

To learn more about disaster capitalism, I would recommend reading Naomi Klein's (2008) The Shock Doctrine, in addition to watching the documentary Capitalism is the Crisis (2011). Both are complementary to the other. 

What are your thoughts?

Wake-Up Your Inner Artist: Searching Toronto Streets for Art

Above photos were taken by melissa fockler 2012. 

Other examples of street art can be found here. 

KFC's "Revolting" Packaging

For more information click here.

Lovin' this Graffiti in Yorkville

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Albert Einstein 

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
Henry David Thoreau

Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator"

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone – if possible – Jew, Gentile – black man – white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men – cries out for universal brotherhood – for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world – millions of despairing men, women, and little children – victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. …..

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes – men who despise you – enslave you – who regiment your lives – tell you what to do – what to think and what to feel! Who drill you – diet you – treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate – the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” – not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then – in the name of democracy – let us use that power – let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world – a decent world that will give men a chance to work – that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world – to do away with national barriers – to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

TRASH art.

DON'T THROW THAT AWAY. USE IT AS ART! Meet the following artists that use garbage to create art: 

1. Justin Gignac 

Justin Gignac, artist and entrepreneur, sells "Garbage from New York City", or rather time capsules of New York's garbage. 

2. Can Man.

The "CAN MAN" Promotes environmentalism through unconventional attire. 

3. Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz is a modern-day trickster, using garbage to create portraits of pickers in Brazil.

4. HA Schult 

        

HA Schult, "the first European artist to deal with the ecological imbalance in his work", is famous for his Trash People. 

5. Dr. Evermor 

   

Dr. Evermor's Forevertron, located in Sauk County, Wisconsin, is the largest scrap metal preservation in the world. 

“Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times . . . I just shoot at what interests me at that moment." – Elliott Erwitt

Photos taken by melissa fockler 2012

One Small Step for Google, One Giant Leap for the Art World

courtesy of clker.com

If you haven't already heard, Google's Art Project is bringing world famous art to a computer screen near you. It is, without a doubt, a cheap way to travel to an art museum (that is, if you have access to the Internet) and environmentally friendly too. So, what are you waiting for? Go, indulge. Pablo Picasso is waiting!

A Must See Documentary: "Colour Me"

Dance Party: Tomboyfriend Sings Kamstra's "End of Poverty"

To find out more about this song and video, click here and here.

A Zen Tale: "Calling Card"

Courtesy of clker.com

Keichu, the great Zen teacher of the Meiji era, was the head of Tofuku, a cathedral in Kyoto. One day the governor of Kyoto called upon him for the first time.

His attendant presented the card of the governor, which read: Kitagaki, Governor of Kyoto.

"I have no business with such a fellow," said Keichu to his attendant. "Tell him to get out of here."The attendant carried the card back with apologies. "That was my error," said the governor, and with a pencil he scratched out the words Governor of Kyoto. "Ask your teacher again."

"Oh, is that Kitagaki?" exclaimed the teacher when he saw the card. "I want to see that fellow."

A Zen Tale: "The Nature of Things"

Courtesy of clker.com

Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung. The other monk asked him, "Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know it's nature is to sting?"

"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."

ON HER SHOULDERS: An International Women's Day Documentary

Anorexia is a disease, not a life choice.

Created by melissa fockler

Check out the video(s) below for information regarding the "thinspiration" movement and the dangers of pro-ana Web sites.

Save the Arctic, Stop Shell's Arctic Drilling

Sign to save the Arctic here.

Science, Business and Tobacco: "Addiction Incorporated"

For more information about the film, click here.

Spread the Love, Wear a Sweater on National Sweater Day

Be part of the solution rather than part of the problem! Turn down your thermostat and throw on a sweater! For more information, click here.

Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself by Seth Godin

Go ahead. Unlearn everything you know. 

Click here. 

NASA's Spidernaut: Science Looks to Nature for Answers.

Click here for more information. 

The Wise Woman's Stone by An Unknown Citizen

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the wise woman's bag, admired it, and asked the wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life.

But a few days later he came back, searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he returned the stone and said, "I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back to you in the hope that you can give me something much more precious. If you can, give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

Was Wikipedia's protest successful?

Worth Watching: "Beginners"

Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent shine in the film "Beginners" (2010). This movie follows a plot-line of an older father and son (re)learning how to love; leaving viewers with the impression that it is never too late to discover who you are, or to find true happiness.