http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/ en-us 2007-01-08T02:05:28-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000661.html Happy New Year, folks!  The old SB Blog is going to go dormant for a while now as we gear up for our Dodos Darwin Day screenings.  But in the meanwhile, here's a great little article in the Washington Post over... Randy Olson 2007-01-08T02:05:28-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000660.html The white-fin dolphin that inhabited China's Yangtze River for 20 million years is gone.  No more.  Adios.  Into the Extinct Species Hall of Fame.     There could still be one or two surviving, but with the Yangtze becoming one big... Randy Olson 2006-12-17T23:13:26-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000659.html As most years go, this one has been relatively good for the oceans in congress.  In addition to defeating the #1 enemy of the oceans (California Representative Richard Pombo) last week congress reauthorized the major fishery bill (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and... Randy Olson 2006-12-12T10:37:28-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000658.html Very few films have tried to capture the drama of lost livelihoods due to fisheries collapse.  Here's a new documentary, "One More Dead Fish," about the struggles of a group of Canadian fishermen in 1996 which looks excellent.  And here's where to... Randy Olson 2006-12-05T06:10:00-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000657.html Careful, slow, cautious stodginess just doesn't work any more.  The media world is changing so rapidly there is only one way to deal with it, which is to have enough flexibility to be spontaneous and take advantage of opportunities as... Randy Olson 2006-11-28T09:27:47-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000656.html Though they painted a picture of Surfrider activists as long haired and tanned in their earlier article, in this editorial, the NY Times comes down on the side of Surfrider's very logical suggestion that instead of continuing the losing battle... Randy Olson 2006-11-20T03:18:57-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000655.html The story for today's media world is that if you don't take the initiative and control your own image, others will do it for you. Here's a good example of that in the NY Times yesterday.  It casts surfers and the... Randy Olson 2006-11-15T02:57:14-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000654.html When we made our silly film, "The No Seafood Grille 2050" we just guessed at the date.  But now a new study by Boris Wormet al. says the oceans are headed down the drain by 2048 and there will be... Randy Olson 2006-11-03T08:14:37-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000653.html Back on 8/2 we noted that NOAA was worried that the disgustingly slimy hagfish might actually run the risk of being over-fished.  We thought they might almost be joking, but now here's an article about Canadian fishermen hoping to offset the... Randy Olson 2006-10-27T00:29:55-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000652.html Arrrrr, maties, our favorite ocean political activists, Ocean Champions, have got California congressman Richard Pombo in their cross haaaaaairs. Great poster. It's RichAAAARRRd Pombo... Randy Olson 2006-10-20T01:21:45-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000651.html Does advertising still work?  That was the title of an article by Ken Auletta in the New Yorker last year.  His conclusion:  hard to measure, but pretty much "yes."  His key piece of evidence was the insurance company that realized... Randy Olson 2006-10-19T02:17:26-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000650.html Here's an article today in USA Today about the two variables in deciding whether to eat fish -- the good side (health benefits) and the bad side (toxins like mercury).  Not present in the discussion:  the other bad side (raping the... Randy Olson 2006-10-18T12:11:16-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000649.html Mitch Silpa was the wonderfully bitchy bald headed waiter in our No Seafood Grille short film a couple of years ago.  I didn't even recognize him playing street magician David Blaine in this incredibly funny video currently featured on Youtube. The... Randy Olson 2006-10-16T05:08:51-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000648.html Jeremy Rowley, improv comedy actor from The Groundlings who co-produced our Groundlings films, PSAs and taught a workshop on communicating science with Randy Olson this summer at Scripps stars as a "dream" date in this frickin' funny short film currently... Randy Olson 2006-10-14T19:02:18-05:00 http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000647.html There's always debate about whether fishermen can and should regulate themselves, but in the New Zealand oyster fishery a lot of people think they could have.  But the government didn't let them. Shucks, where'd the oysters go?... Randy Olson 2006-10-13T01:37:54-05:00