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Friday music blogging: Once

Last night I finally got around to watching Once, the little Irish indie flick that got so much critical acclaim last year. It is, in fact, a remarkable film — worthy of the buzz. I’m not sure what you’d call it. A “musical”? Not exactly — the movie’s entirely naturalistic. There’s no spontaneous breaking out […]

Obama takes the stage in Seattle to rally support for Saturday’s state caucuses

Barack Obama's speech in Seattle today made this 26-year-old feel positively old. I and a few other Gristers hopped a bus over to the rally in Key Arena and were greeted by a stadium overflowing with supporters, many of them high school and college students. I overheard an usher say "I dont see this kind of support for [Seattle's basketball team] the Sonics anymore." (The venue holds 18,000 people: by speech time it was over capacity, with people crowded on the floor, spilling into the aisles, and climbing up the walls into off-limits box seats; several thousand had been turned away at the door.)

Georgia governor eases water-use restrictions

Despite an ongoing drought, and despite a recent court ruling that removes Atlanta’s right to much of a heavily relied-upon water source, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is lifting a near-total ban on garden watering and swimming-pool filling in the state. “Swim, kids, swim,” said Perdue, who didn’t announce a start date for the eased restrictions. […]

‘Fix it or ditch it’

Here’s the new TV ad from Friends of the Earth, telling Senate Democrats to “fix or ditch” the Lieberman-Warner climate bill:

Notable quotable

“The [Lieberman-Warner] bill, as reported out of committee, would be the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States.” — an aide to Sen. Joe Lieberman

Sweet ideas for your sweetie

Photo: iStockphoto My New Favorite Commenter already has a bouquet picked out for me, but if you’re still wondering what to send your sweetie for Valentine’s Day, the Boston Globe offers some eco-friendly options. The Sierra Club and GreenLAGirl have also put together lists. And you’ll love my own "red-hot" ideas for a green holiday: […]

Knee-brace gadget harvests energy from walking

Frustrated by your iPod batteries dying while you’re on the treadmill? Keep an eye out for a new knee brace designed to harvest energy from a walker’s stride. From only one minute of movement, the device outlined in the journal Science can generate enough energy to power a cell phone for half an hour. A […]

From Pirates to Parody

Oh arrrrre they? Ahoy! Cap’n Marie Jailbait and Ironic Sal be impressed by the gumption of these swashbuckling eco-pirates. We hoist a pint o’ grog to ye, mateys! Photo: iStockphoto Want to suck my pickle? Thought: When your own website wonders whether your product is “one of those crazy ideas that should have died a […]

Aussies release gruesome footage of Japanese whale hunt

There’s a new twist in the twisty tale of Japan’s off-then-back-on-again whale hunt: the Australian government has released gut-wrenching footage of what it says is a mother and baby minke whale being harpooned and hauled aboard a Japanese ship. An unamused official at Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research denied that the large and small whales […]

Boats float, bears don’t

Greenpeace: 27 years of getting arrested in the name of the planet, and still finding new ways to do it: