Thoreau Center Film Screening: "The Killing Seasons"

Presented by Director John Antonelli

Friday, October 8

12:30 pm

Pacific Room at Tides

Can wildlife conservation efforts go too far? Two African stories. Two white families. Two vastly different approaches: one ruthless, one collaborative. Two perplexingly different outcomes.

Filmmaking partners John Antonelli and Will Parrinello will screen their 20 minute rough cut of The Killing Seasons. Shot on location in Zambia and Swaziland, the film began as short segments about Hammer Simwinga and Thuli Makama, two Goldman Environmental Prize winners. Now, midway in the production, Antonelli is shaping the story in the edit room and planning another trip to Africa. This informal feedback session will help inform the filmmakers on their progress and guide them as they move forward.

Antonelli's Sam Cooke: Crossing Over was broadcast on PBS American Masters, which was just nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Series.

Parrinello's most recent film Mustang: Journey of Transformation had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS.

For more information on the filmmakers, go to www.mvfg.com

Brown Bag events are free informal mid-day learning sessions hosted at Tides. Friends, neighbors and colleagues are welcome. Visitors, please sign in at the front desk.

New book donations from IFG

Thank you to the International Forum on Globalization for their recent donation of numerous books to the library collection, including the following diverse selection of books by some of their board members, staff, and other associates. Also be sure to check out the recommended book list they put together this month, part of our new series looking at what books Thoreau Center organizations are reading and recommending.

• Barlow, Maude. (2005). Too close for comfort: Canada's future within fortress North America. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
• Mander, Jerry. (1978). Four arguments for the elimination of television. New York: Morrow.
• Shiva, Vandana. (1997). The enclosure and recovery of the commons: biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and intellectual property rights. New Delhi: Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology.
• Barlow, Maude, and Tony Clarke. (1998). MAI: the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the threat to American freedom. New York, N.Y.: Stoddart.
• Korten, David C. (1995). When corporations rule the world. West Hartford, Conn: Kumarian Press.
• Broad, Robin, and John Cavanagh. (2009). Development redefined: how the market met its match. International studies intensives. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
• Goering, Peter, Helena Norberg-Hodge, and John Page. (1993). From the ground up: rethinking industrial agriculture. London: Zed Books in association with International Society for Ecology and Culture.
• Mander, Jerry, and Edward Goldsmith. (1996). The case against the global economy: and for a turn toward the local. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
• Daly, Herman E., John B. Cobb, and Clifford W. Cobb. (1989). For the common good: redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Paik, Koohan, Jerry Mander, and Hannah J. Bernard. 2009.The SuperFerry chronicles: Hawaii's uprising against militarism, commercialism and the suppression of the earth. Kihei, Hawai'i: Koa Books.
• Mander, Jerry. (1991). In the absence of the sacred: the failure of technology and the survival of the Indian nations. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
• Barnet, Richard J., and John Cavanagh. (1994). Global dreams: imperial corporations and the new world order. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Hertsgaard, Mark. (1998). Earth odyssey: around the world in search of our environmental future. New York: Broadway Books.
• Clarke, Tony. (2007). Inside the bottle: exposing the bottled water industry. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Read-Out this Friday at Thoreau Center

Reminder: Banned Books Week Continues

There are still a few days left in Banned Books Week (September 25 - October 2), the annual celebration of your freedom to write and read what you want. That means that you still have time to write on our Banned Books Wall on the front of the library. Thank you to everybody who has contributed and be sure to check it out to find out what some of the Thoreau Center’s favorite banned or challenged books are.

And on Friday, be sure to stop by from noon to 2:00 pm for our first ever Read-Out: spend a few minutes at lunchtime reading aloud from banned or challenged books and listen to others do the same - it’s like an audiobook but without the iPod and no volume control, and a fun way to speak out against would-be censors. We will also be announcing the winners of the Banned Books Week essay contest we sponsored for our student neighbors just down the road at the Bay School, and hopefully (their class schedule permitting) one or more of them will stop by to read their essays. If you would like to reserve a time slot to do a short reading (5 minutes or so) please contact the library at library@thoreau.org. Otherwise, just stop by - we will have a selection of banned books on hand. Refreshments will be provided.

Not sure what has been banned or challenged? Here is the top ten list for 2009 as assembled by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2. And Tango Makes Three , by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower , by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
4. To Kill A Mockingbird , by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6. Catcher in the Rye , by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
7. My Sister’s Keeper , by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things , by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. The Color Purple , by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War , by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

And some additional resources to check out:

· Amnesty International commemorates Banned Books Week by highlighting the plights of imprisoned and persecuted writers around the world: Banned Books Week 2010

· No. 1 banned author Lauren Myracle writes about her experiences in Wednesday’s Guardian: Building bridges with the book-banners

· The Office of Intellectual Freedom’s informative blog.

· And, of course, there is a Facebook page.

Banned Books Week display

Our Banned Books Week display so far. Lots of room left.

Banned Books Week at Whole Earth Library

It is that time of year again - Banned Books Week! Held during the last week of September, this event celebrates one of the most basic human rights of any democratic society: the right of intellectual freedom. It is a reminder that ongoing efforts to restrict access to books and information continue to be a major problem for schools and libraries all over the country. Books are challenged for a wide variety of reasons, but the effect of a successful challenge is always to deprive people of the opportunity to learn, to read important literature, and to be exposed to new ideas and points of view different from their own. Opposed to such efforts to shield people from ideas or to shut down voices, intellectual freedom holds that the open and civil debate of a free society depends upon a well-informed citizenry with the freedom to read freely.

The Whole Earth Library will once again join libraries throughout the country in Banned Books Week which runs from September 25 until October 2. Look for the return of our interactive, appropriate technology Banned Books display on the outside of the library wall where everyone will be encouraged to write quotes from their favorite banned and challenged books or to just share their thoughts about intellectual freedom in other creative ways. In addition, due to popular demand, our second annual celebration expands this year in a few ways:

• We are sponsoring an essay contest for our neighbors at The Bay School of San Francisco, a private coeducational college preparatory high school just down the street in the Presidio. Students will be asked to write on the subject of intellectual freedom and a sustainable future.The winner will be announced October 1.

• On October 1, there will be a Read-Out! in the hallway in front of the library. That afternoon, from noon to 2:00 pm, come and read aloud a passage from a banned or challenged book. Or sing a banned song. Or act part of banned play. We can be flexible. Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to sign-up for a specific time slot in which to read, please email the library at library@thoreau.org

If you would like to learn more and discover what books have been banned or challenged in the United States, visit the American Library Association's lists of Frequently Challenged Books. 2008's most challenged book, And Tango Makes Three, is no longer at the top of the list for 2009, but you might be surprised by some of the books that have returned to the list. Regardless, you will find lots of inspirational reading ideas.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Presidio "Green" Grand Opening

Open House Celebrating the Public Health Service District -
San Francisco's First "Green" Neighborhood

Saturday, September 25
11 am to 4 pm

The Public Health Service District - site of the park's largest historic building - has been revitalized as a "green neighborhood where people live, work, and enjoy the outdoors. Be among the first to explore and enjoy this historic area long close to the public. Learn more about the Public Health Service District.

The Thoreau Center and the Whole Earth Library will be attending.

Open House Activities

• Tour the historic former hospital, nurses' quarters, and surgeons' houses, and learn how they have been sustainably transformed into contemporary homes and workplaces.
• San Francisco street food vendors and live music
• EcoVillage showcasing sustainable ideas and non-profit organizations
• Lobos Creek Scenic Overlook
• Fun for kids provided by the Presidio Community YMCA
• Open House at Arion Press
  

For more information and directions visit: http://www.presidio.gov/calendar/ggopresidio.htm

Thoreau Center Film Screening: The Wall

Friday, September 10
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
Pacific Room at Tides, Thoreau Center for Sustainability SF
Presented by Lou Ramirez

Join us for a premiere screening of the San Francisco Film Festival's The Wall, directed by Ricardo A. Martinez.

In 2006, the U.S. Congress passed The Secure Fence Act calling for the construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S./Mexico border. Filmed over two years, The Wall documents the impact of constructing this border fence along the Southwest. From policy makers to citizens of border towns, the debate elevates as residents respond to having a fence built in their backyard. Nobody could have imagined how many problems the fence would create, from an excess of dead bodies to an increase in smuggling costs.

The San Francisco Latino Film Festival runs September 16 through September 28, 2010. Check local listings for screenings and the Cine+Mas website for more information: www.sflatinofilmfestival.com.

Brown Bag events are free informal mid-day learning sessions hosted at Tides. Friends, neighbors and colleagues are welcome. Visitors, please sign in at the front desk.