Tag Archive for 'Save Japan Dolphins'

Jackson’s Journal (3/21/10) Tricia Huffman, May I Be Frank?, Ric O’Barry, And Health Care

jackson published on March 21, 2010 in art, celebrity, food, superforest journal and zeitgeist. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Good Morning SuperForest,

Today was a heck of a day.

It began early, with the High Priestess of Joyology Tricia Huffman arriving at my door, with her friend the Lovely Miss Chelsea in tow. As I have no car and this is Los Angeles, we had all arranged to venture out into the world together. Our first destination: Westwood, California. Specifically the UCLA campus. We were going there to see a screening of a movie our friends had made about a man named Frank.

The film is called May I Be Frank? and it follows a man named Frank Ferrante as he goes on a 42 day detox while eating a strict raw food diet. Three young raw food enthusiast/mentors, Ryland, Cary, and Conor, offer coaching and emotional support and document Frank during the process. What happens to Frank is amazing as the healthy diet, personal affirmations, and moderate exercise lead to an emotional and physical reawakening. He cures his Hepatitis C, loses 50 pounds, regains his libido, goes off his anti-depressants, and most importantly, regains one of the nicest set of cheekbones this side of the Gowanus Canal.

Was it the four morning shots of wheat grass that inspires Frank to apologize to his baby brother for every time he has wronged him, then buy him a motorcycle? Is it the weekly colonics that motivate Frank to reconnect with his estranged wife and daughter? Are the daily repetition of positive mantras the force that moves Frank to share his process so nakedly (literally) and profoundly?

Watching this overweight, hilarious, charming, complicated, 55 year old Italian man physically and emotionally blossom is a joy. The directors could not have picked a better subject. By then end of the movie Frank looks like Michael Douglas. No kidding. He’s glowing!

I adored the film. It radiates positivity, hope, and, the ability of the people to transform their lives. I hope it inspires many people who are struggling with health issues to consider one of the movies main messages: Food is medicine, and medicine is food.

After the film, Tricia, Chelsea, and I drove down the road to a lovely house in Beverly Hills where Earth Island Institute was having a brunch for the Plastic Pollution Coalition and Ric O’Barry! The man himself! Miss Dianna Cohen from the Plastic Pollution Coalition had generously invited us. We got there just in time to hear Ric’s talk on the state of dolphin fishing in Taiji, which sadly continues to this day.

Ric finished his talk and we met outside for the first time. We’d spoken on the phone several times and had just missed one another at a number of events, so it was grand to finally meet face to face.

We took a picture together. For the first one we are serious…

Then I gave him a tickle and said “Say Dolphin-burger!”

Yay! Seeing Ric O’Barry smile is like watching the sun punch sadness in the balls. It is a wonderful thing to behold and I strongly recommend that everyone try their darndest to make Ric smile. He constantly travels, speaks and meets with people all over the world, always spreading a message that we can do something positive about this situation, and every situation, and he could definitely use all the positive energy we can swing his way.

He mentioned that he’s planning an event in Taiji on September 1st. The thinking is that to coincide with the first day of dolphin fishing season, we pack the beach at Taiji with people. Baloons, smiles, songs, young people, old people. Positive and happy.

“Why not call it Goodstock?” said I.

And so the working title for the event is Goodstock. September 1st, in Taiji Japan. Let’s all be there if we can and join forces! Not against anything, but FOR the ocean and the people of Japan, and the people of the world. For is so the new against. Ric and I are going to collaborate on getting a site up and the word out, and I’ll keep you posted.

After the Earth Island Institute gig, Chelsea drove us all to my house where I found out that the House had passed the Health Care bill.

A darn fine day!

I’m heading to Japan on Wednesday, first to Tokyo, and then up to Kyoto, with a side order of Taiji. Any SuperForesters in Japan wanna hang out? I’ve been making business cards. :)

Love to All,

-Jackson

p.s. Tricia has a rad blog: I Am Being Love

Another Dolphin Win: “The Cove” Screening in Japan!!!

carla published on October 22, 2009 in celebrity. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Heyo, SuperForesters!

It goes without saying that Ric O’Barry and his Save Japan Dolphins Coalition have gone through a roller coaster of a ride in regards to The Cove documentary and their brave actions in an attempt to stop the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. But as of late, it seems the news they are reporting is increasingly getting more and more positive. And we couldn’t be happier!

On October 21, 2009 (yesterday), The Cove was screened for the first time in Japan at their Tokyo International Film Festival! And as if this wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, director Louie Psihoyos was there (despite the fact that there is a warrant for his arrest) and when he arrived at the Tokyo airport, he pledged to give the town of Taiji profits from any Japanese screening of the film — if the town of Taiji ends the hunt. In addition, he offered to show The Cove movie for free in Taiji, to give the townspeople and local authorities the opportunity to personally judge the merits and accuracy of the film.

Here is a bit of a recent interview he gave Take Part after the Japan screening of the film:

Carolyn Sams: How did The Cove debut at the film festival? What was everyone’s reaction?

Louie Psihoyos: Amazing – and scary. Everyone was in the audience – the mayor of Taiji, Private Space, Komatsu (IWC delegate), along with several suits I imagine were their lawyers. It was a tough crowd to say the least – the exact opposite of preaching to the choir. I was talking to people who were in the movie and to people who had no idea this was happening. For those who had never heard about it, they asked what they could to do help. It really gave me hope that there is a possibility for change. People were really moved, and I heard a lot of clapping.

CS:Was there any negative reaction in the theater?

LP: The mayor of Taiji actually walked out. I think he was too emotional, especially because the audience was reacting favorably to us.

CS: How did it feel to screen to people that are actually in the film?

LP: It was more difficult than making the movie. You’ve made it and now you have to look into the eyes of the people who are doing something horrible. It was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. But in the end, it was good to face down the people accusing me face to face.

CS: You actually answered questions after the movie to festival goers. How did that Q&A go?

LP: I think there’s definitely a different expectation between screening this to an audience in Japan and an American audience. Civil disobedience is not a part of their culture so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I got some great, really thoughtful questions and many people offering to help. And I also got some tough questions and there were skeptics of course. The skeptics wanted to focus on animal rights, but this isn’t just an animal rights issue. One guy asked me what scientific evidence exists that dolphins are more intelligent then any other animal – while there is plenty of documentation of this, that’s not the point and is ultimately an unwinnable argument.

It’s a human health issue also. And I wanted everyone in the theater to understand that. It’s a human rights film because people need to know that the levels of mercury is off-the-charts toxic. How can anyone argue that eating dolphins is the same as eating cows – dolphins are not safe for human consumption. I mean kids especially should not be eating this meat. I feel like, as a father, I’m giving people the information that the government isn’t.

CS: Is it true you will donate profits from distribution in Japan to the town of Taiji?

LP: Yes, I want people there to know this movie is a love letter and that we don’t want to see the city destroyed over this. We believe they can actually thrive. Any of the profits earned by OPS here in Japan will go to Taiji if they agree to stop the slaughter and using dolphins as entertainment. More money has been made in whale watching than whale hunting, so hopefully this is a way forward for the dolphin hunters.

Amazing!!! To see the way Psihoyos, O’Barry and friends are handling this disturbing and saddening issue with such poise, class, and positivity is something truly incredible to witness.

Cheers,

C

Save Japan Dolphins: An Update and What We are Doing to Help!

carla published on September 26, 2009 in celebrity and zeitgeist. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

Pilot Whales

Good afternoon, SuperForest!

We’ve been keeping a close eye on the work of Ric O’Barry and his team’s attempt to stop the annual dolphin slaughter that is featured in The Cove. Being that so much has happened since my first post on this issue, I figured it was time for another update.

As Jackson mentioned before, unfortunately the fishermen did return to the Cove only a few days after the media left. About 100 dolphins and 50 pilot whales were captured but due to a new (and temporary) non-slaughter policy that was put into place, about 30 were taken for captivity while the rest, instead of being slaughtered, were released. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for the pilot whales which were regrettably killed. The fishermen have tried to dodge the non-slaughter policy by calling them “whales” instead of dolphins but as O’Barry’s team explained, “pilot whale meat has even higher levels of mercury than the other dolphins.” And, of course, the fact remains that pilot whales are part of the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae.

So the fight isn’t over but Ric O’Barry and his crew are still working hard. Just yesterday, The Cove had its first public screening in Japan! More than 250 journalists from Japan and around the world showed up to watch the film as well as non-governmental organization representatives!

The Cove Screening

This is extremely significant and as Ric O’Barry wrote yesterday:

Only a couple of years ago, I went around to major news media in Tokyo with my Japanese friends, pleading with reporters to cover the story of the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Many reporters told us that they thought it was a very interesting story, but they knew their editors would not run the story. They did not want to upset the Japanese government, and so the media colluded with the government to hide the dolphin slaughter and the dangers of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat.

Wow! To see the developments unfold and the step by step actions people are taking to cease the Taiji dolphin slaughter is very promising. And there is still so much we can do!

Here at SuperForest, we have launched the pro-dolphin media site, “Dolphins are Awesome”. SuperForester Jackson wrote (and performed) his Dolphins are Awesome Rap and soonafter the lovely SuperForester Aiko translated the rap lyrics into Japanese and graciously taught Jackson how to recite it! The plan is to spread this happy dolphin song far and wide and you SuperForesters can help us out by informing others about our actions or by making your own pro-dolphin media and sharing it with us!

In addition, Ric O’Barry has outlined a few more things we can do to take action:

1. Follow his blog: It’s very easy to stay informed with all of the Taiji dolphin developments by reading Mr. O’Barry’s very own blog! He explains the day to day developments and experiences in relation to his visits to Japan.

2. Sign the Petition: You can take a few quick moments to urge President Obama, Vice President Biden and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki to address this issue and urge the government of Japan to stop the slaughtering of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

3. Donate: As is often the case, in order for most organizations to stay afloat, they need funding. And being that travels to Japan are very pricey, Save Japans Dolphins accepts any donations, big or small, here.

Once again, we applaud the hard work and dedication of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition! Slowly but steadily, the dolphin wins are beginning to trickle in and it is an understatement to say that the work of the Save Japan Dolphins coalition is an absolute inspiration!

Love to all,

C