No BS: I Only Now Discovered "Live Earth" (Part 6 in a series)

More education. Less schooliness.

No BS: I Only Now Discovered "Live Earth" (Part 6 in a series)

[Series: Preface: The Seed--an Idea; Part 1: The Bud--a Concept; Part 2: The Blossom--a Project; Part 3: The Pollen--a Call; Part 4: The Honey--a Pedagogy; Part 5: The Bees--a Community]

How interesting. I just discovered the “Live Earth” concerts sponsored by Al Gore (who I’m still going to have the student promoters contact for support — he can only say no, which is as educational an experience as anything).

If I were a reader of this blog in any English-speaking country, or even a reader with normal media and music habits, I would have laughed at the recent flurry of posts announcing a “Concerts for Global Cooling” flat world “community service 2.0″ project. What a shameless rip-off of the idea. What BS.

But if I were a regular reader of this blog, I’d have read several side remarks that its author doesn’t watch TV and doesn’t pay any attention to ads or pop culture. At 45, my rock tastes are too decidedly dated (and my general attitude about concerts too indifferent) to keep up with concert news. Here are a couple of snippets from just a couple weeks ago in my paranoid defense:

I don’t know if Alain de Botton is a big name in the States, since I’ve lived in Germany, China, and Korea for the past 9 years, but he’s new to me (it’s easy, and painless, to lose touch with American media and marketing, even about books).

….[I own] only one TV–40″, but a Chinese model that cost about USD 250, and a hi-fi home theater worth more than I care to admit, since I’ve watched probably ten hours of TV and listened to even less music in the last nine months.

So believe me, I’m not ripping off “Live Earth.” I only heard about it today when browsing a Crooks and Liars article about the recent G8 cant about tackling global warming by 2050.

But now that I have heard of it . . . what? “Teen Live Earth”? I’m ready to “flatter by thievery” now!

I’m going to turn this strange coincidence over to my students on the blog we’re devoting to this project. There are obvious possibilities of piggy-backing and synergizing the generations here. The Next Greatest Generation will need socially conscious concert promoters and musicians, and Live Earth is the perfect model.

Since transparency can result in good feedback from good-willed lurkers, you’re welcome to visit too, and to pass the address on to any interested young leaders in your area.

If you like this post, please spread it: (But don't tag it "education." That will bury it.)