Good morning, all.

If I’ve found one thing to be true, it’s that stuff happens. And happens. And happens.

Seriously, I’m not an obsessive collector (outside of my St. Louis Cardinals baseball cards), a hoarder or overly sentimental. I’m careful with our money, never one to buy much on a whim or because I was told to do so by a commercial during “Lost”. But despite all that, I somehow have collected a lot of stuff in my life. Glad to know I’m not alone.

Don’t know if you’ve stumbled across this or not, but a small Internet-only film called “The Story of Stuff” has been gaining momentum for months now. It’s a charming short film of 20 minutes which examines, well, where all our stuff comes from and where it goes. Take a few moments off to watch it here. A related chunk:

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

I echo the sentiments over at Kent’s Bike Blog from late last year and say that my mea culpas are not only heart-felt and sincere, but somewhat troubling as well. Neither gluttonous nor excessive on my part, I still really, really like my stuff. That said, the film put me in the mind of the Really, Really Free Market we wrote about last year as well as the efforts of the students at W.R. Coile Middle School. Small efforts positively impacting one portion of the Stuff System.

Never preachy, only informative, the film doesn’t paint those like me as bad people. It just hopes to make us aware of what it takes to get that stuff in our houses. It took me less than half and hour to watch the thing a week ago and I’ve been thinking of it for two week. Worth the effort.

FIVE-MINUTE READ

Glad to see that study abroad program is working out. A chunk from the story of “Indiana Jones” opening at Cannes: Amelia Sims, a 19-year-old University of Georgia student studying abroad, held a sign reading "I (heart) Indy." She managed to get a pass to the press screening and loved the movie. "I guess I've been waiting 19 years for this," Sims said. "You could say I’ve been waiting my whole life." … Looks like Saxby and The Right have made up. Just don’t mention that whole immigration thing. … In a near-unanimous voice vote last week, the U.S. Senate passed a “resolution of disapproval” that would nullify the Federal Communications Commission’s latest attempt to dismantle longstanding media ownership limits. Even though a Bush veto looms, in an increasingly uni-voiced and trivia national media landscape, this decision is 100 percent correct. Just two senators, hell bent on carrying water for the Bush Administration to the bitter end, expressed opposition: Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Good lord. … How cool is this? Just in time for the summer travel season, audiobooks are available for Athens-Clarke County Library patrons to download for free. Next to my wife, these have been among my favorite traveling companions. A consortium of 20 Georgia libraries has selected a custom collection of audiobooks for patrons. These can be downloaded to your PC, burned to a CD (when allowed by the publisher) or dropped onto a portable device. This service will be available 24 hours, seven days a week for patrons to download titles from home using their PINES library card and pin number. The audiobooks will also be found in the PINES catalog. Patrons cannot download audiobooks at the library. However, staff will be available to assist with questions related to this service. … Forget Red States and Blue States. This map tells us more about the nation than anything Tim Russert can conjure up. I think the map gives the Braves far too wide of a fan base. The Reds are a bit too discounted and the Cardinals, well, the team’s sphere of influence goes deeper into the South thanks to the traditional radio powerhouse KMOX broadcasting the games (long before the Braves ever existed) up until last year. Lot of old-timers who are Cardinals fans around here. … Everybody dance now.

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