To Me, Every Hour Is Earth Hour

Yesterday is so called the Earth Hour takes place that requests everybody to turn off lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Well, that’s exactly what it is — a symbolic gesture to raise awareness. To me, every day is the Earth Day and every hour is the Earth Hour. Why must the rest of the world light up everything when they can go on their lives without them? If lives can go on during the Earth Hour when the lights are off, then why are they turned back on afterwards to pollute the night sky and to waste energy? There are plenty things that we can conserve energy in our daily lives. For example, I don’t use a clothes dryer. I think clothes dryer is one of the most evil machines that human invented. They waste so much energy and dry clothes in the least efficient way. I can dry my clothes on a rack just fine in my apartment, when I don’t have a yard like I used to. So right before 8:30pm, when the Earth Hour was supposed to start, I was actually hanging my clothes in my room. When I looked outside my window, I saw the Golden Gate Bridge was visible, although it never glows at night. By the time I finished hanging my clothes, the lights were off! The Palace of Fine Arts also disappeared in the view, and I noticed a bright moon in the sky, even it was not a full moon. Wouldn’t that be nice if we can keep those lights off forever? The weather has been super nice lately. Yesterday, after the gym, I decided to go check out the Mission District, a Latino neighborhood I hardly visit. When I got off the BART‘s 24th Street Station, I was greeted by an energetic street performance. I had been enchanted by the lively and colorful surroundings, until a few young guys wearing bandanas covering their faces showed up at a street corner. They surely look like gang members to me. My mind began to run through those news stories about shootings and violence in the Mission District. I decided to leave. But before I headed back, I bought some fatty salmon bellies and some jalapeño pepper. They are so delicious and rich in fish oil! Since the weather is so inviting, today I went to Marin Headlands again with Peter. It’s absolutely beautiful out there and two hour long hiking is extremely invigorating. Apparently, the spring season not only wakes up all the wild flowers, it also wakes up something that makes both Peter and I screaming and running: Now I regret that I didn’t catch it and bring it back home to cook a stew. Alright, I will never have the guts to touch it, especially when it’s alive. I hope there will still have plenty wild flowers when I return to the wildness next weekend. Now, the Earth Hour is over, the light is back on, and I just took a peak outside of my window, the moon is hanging on top of the bridge now. Tomorrow will be the first day for me to work in a cubicle — the remodeling is finally finished and our private offices are all gone, and cubicles are built. Now I am officially becoming a Dilbert. I am not looking forward to it. I prefer watching movies. This is what I wrote this weekend: Every Little Step We can all imagine how fierce competitions might be among actors trying to get a role in a Broadway production. Every winner is followed by hundreds if not thousands of losers. Although almost every audition process is brutal and "not for the weak of heart," unlike TV shows such as American Idol, we normally do not know the often deeply emotional behind-the-scene stories about those auditionees. In 1975, when Michael Bennett brought audionees’ personal stories into a Broadway musical "A Chorus Line," it won nine Tony Awards and became one of the longest running musicals on Broadway. Three decades later, "A Chorus Line" is revived on Broadway. The audition process not only once again echoes the musical’s story, it also produces a touching and endearing documentary "Every Little Step" (USA 2008, 96 min.). The film pays tributes to artists of many generations. The casting team consists of A Chorus Line‘s original co-choreographer Bob Avian and original cast members Donna McKechnie and Baayork Lee. Their task is to select 19 actors out of over 3000 auditionees. The film captures auditionees’ heartfelt journeys and explores A Chorus Line‘s legacy. The filmmakers bring us inside the audition studio and also those actors’ lives through their observant and affectionate lenses. The film turns the harsh audition process into a suspensive dramatic tale about the dedication and struggle from these talented artists. Even we might have our own picks after each audition, all actors, especially those who do not get the parts, earn our respect and admiration. During a scene in A Chorus Line, a gay youth character Paul gives a monologue describing the moment when his parents come to see his performance. When Jason Tam auditions for Paul, his powerful deliverance not only brings me into tears, it also breaks down the casting team captured by the film, even they have heard the same lines for thousands of times. If anybody is not moved by Jason Tam’s monologue, I will refund your ticket myself. Regardless whether you like musical or not and whether you have seen A Chorus Line or not, this terrific documentary will inspire you as well as entertain you. "Every Little Step" will be shown at the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23-May 7.