Emily

Our annual holiday fundraiser screening of The Wildest Dream was a smashing success, with only a few small hiccups. One of those being the eternal bane of holiday travel. Conrad Anker’s connecting flight left without him, so he had an epic travel day. He ended up renting a car in Salt Lake City and driving down to Telluride–thankfully the weather was sunny and not blizzard conditions–just in time to catch the after-party at the Sheridan lounge.

We were able to schedule a morning talk with Conrad the morning after, which in many ways was even better than a post-screening theater Q&A. The Camel’s Garden Hotel was generous enough to allow us to use their lobby area. More than a couple hotel guests in full ski gear stopped and caught some of the discussion, which ranged from whether or not Conrad believes Mallory made the summit of Everest (probably not) to what makes a great mountaineer (a large quota of luck, among other things).

Conrad is so smart and thoughtful with a wide range of knowledge. When asked if he was sorry to miss the great Age of Exploration, he said that he thought the future edge of exploration would be in science. Almost nano-exploration in the effort to combat climate change and species loss.

If you made it to the screening, thanks for coming out.

The Hoffmans, Erik Fallenius, Chris Hanson and others dropped in for Conrad's talk

Conrad and David hold court in front of a roaring fire

Standing room only

Prolific director Matt Morris has been shooting this week down on Vern Switzer’s farm, to update and add to the short film he  premiered here at Mountainfilm in May. He shared some of the photographs from the shoot with me this morning.

The work-in-progress was called History Making Farming Author on the Move, after Vern’s self-proclaimed moniker.

Matt and a camerman Kenneth Price went down to Vern’s farm in order to document the watermelon harvest, but tragically, the prolonged drought in North Carolina killed most of the crop. However, check out the enormous collard greens below. The author of Puffy the Watermelon may not have had as much luck with his beloved fruit this year, but that should make next year’s harvest that much sweeter.

The new updated version of the film will start playing on Mountainfilm on Tour as soon as Matt finishes it!

I just ran across a nifty site where you can calculate your car’s fuel mileage, or comparison shop for cars with the best miles per gallon. Test your own vehicle here.

I read this article by Derrick Jensen yesterday, and it’s been haunting me ever since. Check it out.

Thing is, I’ve been trying for years to limit my consumption habits, and feel pretty good about my “carbon footprint” being relatively small.

But I’ve got this gnawing feeling that all my earth-friendly efforts–reusable bags, shopping local, using public transportation–are fruitless and meaningless. And Derrick seems to be confirming my fears.

Scary.

Question: Do you believe that small, individual actions–like changing a lightbulb–can inspire major change?