Bees are People Too

Hey folks,

Well its been a crazy few days, so sorry to my faithful readers about not putting up any new posts. It happens though, and never fear, I will always come back to give updates on what's going on.

Alright, well where to start? Go from now and work backwards, or try to recall what was going on a few days ago? I know. I'll start on my 2nd Grocery Shop. Went to the grocery store Friday night after doing some recon at lunch Friday afternoon (a working day, so I spend my lunches at the grocery store a lot) and became very disillusioned at the lack of healthy vegetarian options in the frozen foods section. There are no vegetarian hungry man meals, and I was a hungry man. Felt very misrepresented. In the end I found a vegetable penne from President's Choice Blue Menu, and some vegetable chow mein.

And so I ate the chow mein for lunch, which wasn't all that bad, then had the penne the next day for lunch which was actually quite tasty. but that gets me off of my causal track. Back to the grocery shop Friday night. It went well and was much cheaper than the first when I had to buy all of the condiments and everything first. Excited about my new sea-salt and pepper mill and my Szechwan Sauce. Found a couple of new fruits that were interesting. A starfruit and dragonfruit. Odd looking things that were expensive, but I might invest next time if I can figure out what the heck they are. I decided on a new type of bread, as the last brand wasn't quite me. This one is a flaxseed bread and so will carry lots or iron and protein as well - which is always a good thing. Have to keep those levels up. Other than that, mostly just the usual produce and almond milk and a couple of other fixin's. Oh - and I feel guilty about it, but I bought a box of chocolate chip cookies. I felt so bad, actually, that I ate a couple and have given the rest to my roomates to finish off. They were quite pleased.

After the shopping and putting away of groceries I wrote my 2nd article for the paper (the 1st has been received quite well, which was exciting for me). This one pertains to grocery shopping and certain do's and don'ts for people trying to be more vegetarian, with a few tips on how to wash produce and what's more important when it comes to buying organic. I have a nice little rant about milk in there as well. Following the article I went and spent some time with friends over in New Rez (a residence on the campus I live at) and had a very lovely evening in the company of fantastic people.

Saturday started off like any other Saturday. Work, lunch, work, home. I had intended to stay in and watch the Jungle Book but was dragged out by Nadia, whom I met through Danielle (who eats babies, as reported in previous blogs) to a pre-X-ring party. It was one month til X-Ring yesterday, and so all the seniors were out to celebrate. I already have my X-Ring from last year, but it was fantastic to be out nonetheless.(In Picture, left to right: Myself, Natalie and John)

I suppose I should explain X-Ring for those of my readers not familiar. For those that get it, feel free to skip over this part and go on to my rating of Bee Movie. The X-Ring is a ring that 4th year students of my University, St. Francis Xavier University, receive on the Feast of St. Francis Xavier (December 3rd). It's of very simple design and is the 3rd most recognized ring in the World, after the Pope's Ring and the NFL Ring. It is a very big deal to us, and is part of an ages long tradition. It solidifies us all into the Xavarian Family and connects us to all others with X-Rings all over the World. It's not uncommon to run into someone in Paris or Rome with an X-Ring and strike an instant friendship with them over a simple piece of gold. It is a networking tool, but it is also a symbol of accomplishment. It carries a weight of authority to it as well, as it is something earned through four years hard work. And we're nuts over it. We have countdowns as far back as first year, anticipating the day when we get to walk up onto the stage and get our Ring. The party afterwards is also quite fantastic, as we on the East Coast definitely know how to throw a good party.

Anyway, so that's the X-Ring. On to my review of Bee Movie.

Today was just another Sunday as per usual. Knitting Society, studying, chatting with roomates - but with an exception tonight. Nadia and I decided to take in a movie, and as we have a one-screen theatre, Bee Movie was the movie of choice tonight. I for one enjoyed it. Jerry Seinfeld made a solid main character, with the supporting characters adding levels of hilarity throughout. Matthew Broderick as his best friend Adam (seen below), John Goodman as the old-timey Southern Lawyer, Renee Zellweger as his human love interest and Patrick Warburton(of Seinfeld and Family Guy fame) as her boyfriend it provided a lot of laughs, but also a significant message.

SPOILER ALERT

I know from reading review sites that it's important to say I might give away plot secrets. The whole story revolves around Barry, who enters the human world because he's just graduated college (hardest 3 days of his life) and is now supposed to enter the workforce. He winds up talking to a human and through a series of events discovers that humans have been cultivating honey from bees in an inhumane fashion for generations. He then decides to sue humanity for the honey that has been wrongfully stolen.

The court case that ensues and his later victory bring about important ideas and critiques about environmentalism, animal rights and resource management. to continue using the movie as example, a prime point of Barry's case is the fact that the bees in industrial hives are forced to smoke so that humans can steal the honey. This is seen as inhumane and unnatural to a bee's proper way of life.

It really brings a face to critique current practices when it comes to animals and even plantlife. The way that humans, as a species (not pointing any fingers here), generally exploit the natural world, not really thinking about the wider ramifications. We use indiscriminately and don't consider the damage we're causing to the surrounding ecosystem. Barry learns this lesson quickly when his actions lead to the bees being rich in honey through reparations, but because they have so much, they no longer need to work to produce honey, and all flowers and plants begin to die because pollination ceases to occur.

This can be expanded into arguments in our lives as well, looking at current farming practices, which don't allow the animals to act naturally, to culturing special plants to meet our own ends, which are reliant on chemicals that are contributing to the destruction of our planet. It is a movie that really points out that a natural system, where we cooperate with nature, is a system that we can maintain sustainably and really bring profit and wellbeing for all involved.

Well that's my rant on the movie and its messages. I don't want to stay on my environmental high horse for very long. lol. But I will say this - the final scene, where Barry is giving legal advice to a Dairy Cow really hit the spot, as most of you know my stance on the Dairy Industry as a whole.

Anyway, that's about it for me for tonight. I would suggest going and seeing the movie and thinking about some of these ideas.

Cheers all