Dirt: The Movie

I just finished watching "Dirt!: The Movie". It wasn't quite what I was expecting or maybe it wasn't what I was hoping for. The first 20 minutes or so were about the very basic science of dirt, which was kinda cool, despite the cheesy humor. It made me wish I could remember all the crazy soil nomenclature I learned at one point in my life, and it covered some of the biological aspects of dirt I'm less familiar with, so that was interesting.

But then the cheesy animations got worse and whole thing developed into a piece about sustainable agriculture. Now, I'm all for sustainable agriculture, but this movie didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. (It was pretty basic.) Also, every time I watch or read about this subject and get angry and depressed. If we know the system isn't working, then why don't we change it? But people are, and then I get a tiny bit hopeful, which quickly turns into frustration that I can't do more, because I live in an apartment, and am too cheap and lazy to start a worm culture compost, and then the self loathing sets in. But I digress. . .

This movie had some great moments, but more importantly, reinforced, for me, the difference between sediment and soil. And although I love soil, in terms of my work, I'm more drawn to sediment. Soil is busy and life and growth and the future. Sediment is the quiet poetry of the past.

Maybe someday I'll make work about soil, but for now I think I'll stick to sediment.