Ollie///Beauty is trying to save the earth!

As most of us internet users would have realised on 29th March 2008, Google lights turned out and for the whole 24 hours the page was black.

What was this in aid of? Earth Hour

"It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities joined Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement."

From Earth Hour

The event has been dubbed "a new age tooth fairy delusion" by skeptics, yet with over four million people together in just a Facebook group, there is certainly nothing that can be said to get these people down.
What turned out as a relatively small idea in 2007 became a global phenomenon in 2008 and all in aid of saving the planet from global warming. I've seen the news footage, the weather is changing... I've seen the documentaries (believe me, I've had enough Al Gore for now!) and clearly something drastic has to be done but if each person carries around with them the attitude, I am just one person, my contribution won't change much then the answer is no... We will get no where but if people ask, what can I do? What small thing can I change each day will then set of a greater chain of events and before we know it, the difference will be made.
This is a global thing, it's not country vs. country or culture vs. culture but the coming together of everything to realise that this planet will not be here forever and if we persist in destroying the time we have left then what of the future?
And to be honest this is the beautiful thing- communities coming together in recognition of the problem and together coming to a solution that will not only help themselves but others and not only their generations but future ones to come.
Already plans are being made for an even bigger Earth Hour 2009, what can you do?

Listen to some good music

Check this guy out... really good, especially for any Goo Goo Doll's fans out there... You know who you are! Highlights include 'Take it Slow' and 'Thrift Store Gypsy' (see next month for a review).

While I'm promoting, here is another great singer, his recent album 'Soul Variations' is great and the songs 'Stop' and 'Pushing Triggers' are definite highlights

Ollie///Beauty is music for this month

Hey! Here are my top five tunes for this month... more writing come soon...

1. Remy Zero- Save Me
Having been sitting through the WGA strike over the past couple months I have been introduced to some television shows that I have not watched before, new and old... One of those has been Smallville, the story of Superman as a teenager, starring Tom Welling. Anyway, this is the theme tune and after watching one episode, I was straight onto iTunes! I can't really point my finger on what they sound like because they sound different to most other generic sounds and after the calm introduction to the rockier ending, the song takes you through the motions with some great lyrics.

2. MGMT- Kids
After being lent their album on recommendation and already loving the single, "Time to Pretend" MGMT have spent some time getting to the top and although they are not everyone's taste, their tunes are consistently catchy and memorable. Kids, one of the songs on the album, Oracular Spectacular, happens to my favourite. Starting with the layered rhythms all the way till the end this shows some real talent. " Picking insects off of plants, No time to think of consequences" Some really meaningful lyrics and certainly a highlight from the album, look forward to hear more from them in the future.

3. Justin Timberlake- What Comes Around/ Goes Around (Interlude)
The 7 1/2 minute version of this song from the album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, has put the faith back into this guy for me. I am the first to say that of recent, the music from Timberlake sounds like a sell out, his first album, Justified had a variety of stuff and sounded really good but on the sophomore release, I was not surprised to hear the constant reminder of the bland music that people like these days... But this song, has certainly surprised me, almost a sequel to single, 'Cry Me A River', this song is accompanied by a great video starring Scarlett Johansson and contains lots of twists and turns along the way. I particularly like the album version with the added two minutes including Timberland's extra... The story behind the story is also great, but I'll let you get that.

4. Thomas Newman- Six Feet Under Theme Tune
I know officially not a song but all the same, a great piece of music showing some amazing talent. Another of the shows I started watching, Six Feet Under, about the dysfunction American family who own the funeral home had this amazing theme tune. With the added bonus watching the beautiful video with it... This is a real gem, when the bass comes in you feel really relaxed and I could listen to this 1 1/2min tune for such a long time.

5. The Devlins- The World Outside
I heard this song on an HBO advert advertising various shows from years ago (thanks to YouTube). This rock song starts with the beautiful piano part and then the guitars come in followed by the drums and then lead singer, Colin Devlin adds to the mix, this Irish quartet show that sometimes Indie music can really be touching as they don't just stick to the mediocre conventions attached to this music. Seen with REM a while ago- certainly a song to listen to.

Don't worry, I will be back with some stuff for you to read soon, revision has been mental recently- exams are too close, but I will be back!