First up, Mr. Havens doing his take on Here Comes the Sun – which is one, my favorite version of this tune, and two, a little ironic for Earth Day, but I’m sure we’ll live… NOTE: This is a live version and a little fuzzy. His audio version of this song is amazing and available on Alarm Clock (usually you have to find it used). But you can also find it on iTunes or listen to it FREE at last.fm.

The next tune I have to play because of the holiday and two because I love Joni. She looks so pretty here too! Yay.

Coming up next, my official take on Earth Day…

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This first movie is just the beginning too – according to Robert A. Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, “Disneynature is a concept we look forward to building across the company and across the globe for years to come. And, we hope these films will contribute to a greater understanding and appreciation of the beauty and fragility of our natural world.”

Other Disneynature’s Earth films in production include…

• T H E C R I M S O N W I N G: Mystery of the Flamingos, taking viewers to the isolated shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania for a birds-eye view of the mysterious lives of flamingos.
• O C E A N S: Mysteries and dangers of the oceans.
• O R A N G U TA N S: “This film tells the true story of a six-year-old male orangutan and his little sister, who must journey to find a home and a family.”
• And more.

You can see the entire press release here (pdf).

Visit the official website Disneynature Earth website.

Do you think your family will go see this movie?

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Sundance Channel GREENIMATION: Going Green, Or Else – this is a cool little Sundance gem. A little depressing, but cool all the same.

Green Porno with Isabella Rossellini – this is something Peggy posted, it grossed me out, but she liked it, and so did other folks. More nature than green but still along the same lines. (you will have to pop over to Sundance to see though.)

Make some homemade paper – great video instructions for a cool family project.

The History of White House Gardening – I really liked this video. It is sort of for kids actually, but in my mind, adults can start this change, so it’s important you see it with the kids.

Also read: Great Movies to Rent (or buy) for Earth Day. Last up in our video round-up, all the kooky stuff I share here, green or not. Ok, so they do all sort of follow the green theme, but not entirely.

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First – a round-up for the kiddos…

This first video is hands down my most favorite recycling video for kids, by kids (ok older teens) of all time. These kids are so flipping funny and so on target with the music and how the video was cut. I laugh every single time I watch it.

What tofu does when you walk away… I love this video – it’s pretty silly. My son liked it, but then he’s a strange kiddo. If you’ve got a wacky kid they might like this too. Or you can simply read more about kids and tofu.

Last up, a video for little ones that explains recycling in terms they can totally understand.

Grab your kids and enjoy – later I’ll post a round up of some of the more adult-minded green videos from THF’s past.

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Ok, if you’re a regular reader of me, at any of my blogs, you may have noticed that I’m not the biggest animal fan. Animals are often messy, a lot of work, and they’re just not my deal. Pets to me, are enough trouble, once you cross over to wild animals, say like, monkeys, it’s just more fuss. In fact I’ve told a certain ex-co-blogger of mine, on many occasions that I’m the world’s last monkey fan.

That sort of changed the other night. 

We don’t have cable and we only semi-get one channel on our TV, PBS. Anyhow, the other night, around 2am, I was sick of working, so I turned on our one channel and the Nature special, Clever Monkeys was on. I got so into it, I couldn’t go to bed, and trust me I was tired.

Here’s the show description: 

“Love, language, guilt, envy, generosity, secrets, lies, and sophisticated society are not unique to humans. We share all those complex concepts with our relatives – the monkeys! Learn about monkey culture, how and what monkeys teach their young, and how they communicate with one another. Monkeys around the world rely on that knowledge to adapt to the remarkable variety of environments they now call home. Who are the cleverest monkeys? And how much of our human experience do they really share?”

Now these were some seriously clever monkeys. I swear I watched with my mouth hanging open in amazement half the time. I really don’t know what to say, except for that I have SADLY underestimated monkeys in my life, until now. These monkeys had learned to make their own medicine, attack wild cats, and more, it was astounding.

Also, this show was so entertaining that I’m actually thinking of buying the darn DVD -unheard of for me – I do not buy nature shows about animals.

You and your family must check this show out. Visit PBS to see your local programing guide and to watch a great preview, or buy the DVD at the Nature shop.

Did your family see this show? Tell me what you thought.

[image via PBS]

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Maybe it’s playing near you? In any case, no matter what your plans are, I hope you have a great, and hopefully peaceful day.

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In any case the entire Lifestyles Channel got together and did a “Where I Blog From” theme day today. And after some failed attempts (Cedar kept interrupting) I managed to make a video of my office. It’s 3am during the shoot, so really excuse my rambling. Maybe my next video will be better. If there is a next time.

Now see where my co-blogger Peggy blogs.

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I let Cedar watch whatever, because we don’t have big rules around television and censoring at my house. However, for the sake of other families I tried to split this list into kid movies vs. adult movies. But of course, use your own judgment.

For adults and older kids:

The Gods Must Be Crazy

An Inconvenient Truth

Into the Wild – some people hated this book and movie. I loved both. I think people may be concentrating too much on the one major mistake that Christopher McCandless made at the end of his life, and aren’t looking at the bigger picture. That said, the movie has absolutely stunning nature scenes, and if you haven’t already, it makes you reconsider this whole material life nonsense that most of the world is stuck in.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

The Bear: could be good for kids, but a little scary so I have it up here.

Last Call for Planet Earth – 12 architects and their views on sustainability – not sure if you can rent it, but you can buy it.

Garbage Warrior: A Film by Oliver Hodge – not sure if you can rent this yet? But it rocks.

Earthlings: NOT for kids at all. This is an in-depth study into pet stores, puppy mills and animals shelters, as well as factory farms, the leather and fur trades, sports and entertainment industries, and the medical and scientific profession’s relationship to animals.

Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food

For the kids:

Totoro – not a green movie exactly, but it’s one of my son’s favorites, and has a large love-the-environmental slant. Kids being kids, kids playing outside, tree planting, munching veggies straight from the garden, family time, co-sleeping, big trees, magic, and surprisingly beautiful scenery for an animated film – you don’t get much more happy than this. One of the best movies for kids and adults ever in my opinion. Some scenes may scare very small children.

[photo via Totoro.org]

Hoot: Haven’t seen it, but heard that it’s a good kid’s flick. It covers kids trying to save endangered owls.

The Lorax of course.

Brother Bear: The kid’s answer to the real life movie The Bear. I have some super issues with Disney in general, however, I think this is a good movie, and Cedar loves it. I like the whole walk in animals shoes deal. It drives some points about respecting nature home.

You pretty much can’t go wrong by checking out National Geographics DVD for kids page. Many earth-friendly – animal loving movies.

There are tons and tons of documentaries out there. One pretty good list is at Grinning Planet – I don’t agree that all the movies on their list are exactly eco-friendly, but most are.

Do you know any good Earth Day movies?  

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