Sam Waterston: “Oceans hold the solution to Earth's woes”

Sam Waterston (Law & Order), who is a board member of Oceana, recently wrote an article for the Miami Herald about the importance of our oceans. He writes about how we need to learn to read the warnings that our oceans are giving and react accordingly. Here is an excerpt:

And still the oceans serve us. In fact, they're performing double service. First, they are giving us early warning, telling us in plain language, the certain consequences of continuing to consume as we are. Second, they're offering us a solution to the problem that has brought us to this dangerous moment, namely humanity's vast appetite for energy. So what happens to the carbon dioxide absorbed by the seas? It combines with seawater to create carbonic acid, changing the acidity of that vast solution and reducing the amount of available carbonate. And that is serious mischief for all kinds of sea life, from corals and pteropods, continuing on through shellfish, clams, oysters, lobsters, mussels and so on, that need carbonate to make the structures that support them.

A chain reaction begins. Even those creatures whose own structural parts might better survive a decrease in available carbonate in sea water depend to one degree or another on critters with higher sensitivity. Whales and salmon eat pteropods for dinner. The very tasty and much-prized Alaskan pink salmon makes pteropods 45 percent of its diet. Many kinds of fish need corals for habitat. And corals aren't just tropical -- the colder the water they live in, the more vulnerable they are to changes in the availability of carbonate.

The current acidification level hasn't been seen for 800,000 years, and acidification is coming on at least one hundred times faster than ever before. The levels are alarming; the rate of change makes them even scarier because it so restricts the ability of sea creatures to adapt.

In contrast to the debate that continues about the causal relationship between this or that weather event and human activity -- there is no debate about ocean acidification. The rise in carbon-dioxide content is a man-made event, plain and simple, and the consequences of it continuing uncontrolled will belong squarely to us.


The full article, ”Oceans hold the solution to Earth’s woes” can be found on the Miami Herald web site (link here.)


Since I live only about 4 miles from Lake Erie – not an ocean I know – I understand all too well the importance of the earth's water and how we need to take very good care of it. (The Great Lakes are all fresh water and the ecosystem is closed, so any problems there are even more magnified than in the ocean.) We must take care of all our water resources; our life depends on it.


For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Elisabeth Rohm’s Behind The Scenes Farewell Party

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the farewell party for Elisabeth Rohm when she left Law & Order. While this happened quite some time ago, the video seems to have surfaced only recently on the internet. It’s rather cute, and there is the added bonus of Sam Waterston making a great farewell speech. Of course, there are no words for seeing Sam in a blonde wig.

Here it is - enjoy!






For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Courtney B. Vance to “Flash Forward”

Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order Criminal Intent) will be appearing on a new ABC show called Flash Forward which will premiere on September 24 at 8:00 PM ET. Courtney will play Stanford "Stan" Wedeck, who is the Assistant Director of the Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI. The Flash Forward web site says his character’s “ability to process and delegate efficiently enabled him to single-handedly turn his team into a well-oiled machine. The same rules apply at home. Though with his only child having just started college, Wedeck is learning to embrace the quiet nights he gets to spend with his wife. He maintains a dry sense of humor during the darkest of times.”

The Flash Forward web site also goes on to describe the show as follows:

A mysterious global event causes everyone to black out simultaneously for two minutes and seventeen seconds, and each person sees a glimpse of their lives six months from now. When they wake up, everyone is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen.

Los Angeles FBI Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) is desperate to uncover why this happened and who or what is behind it. And he's not the only one. Before long, everyone starts asking, "What did you see?" As Mark and his team struggle to figure out what caused this bizarre event, they begin to piece together the future by creating a huge database of people's flash forwards from all over the world - The Mosaic Collective. No one knows what these flash forwards mean or exactly what the future really holds. But it is clear that across the globe people who've never met will somehow be intimately connected and will have an impact on each other's lives in the next six months. Some will fear what's coming, others excited; but not a single person will be unaffected.

Sounds interesting. By the way, the executive producer of the show is Marc Guggenheim, who has produced many excellent Law & Order episodes in the past.

More information about the show and Courtney’s role can be found at the Flash Forward web site.



For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Law & Order Meets “Jaws & Order”

It’s time for some summer fun. Here’s a little parody of a famous shark movie, featuring the faces of some of your favorite Law & Order “mothership” stars - Sam Waterston, Linus Roache, and Jeremy Sisto. Enjoy!






For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Anthony Anderson Plays Celebrity Billiards

Anthony Anderson (Law & Order) attended the Tuck's Celebrity Billiards Tournament at Slate NYC on July 13, 2009 in New York City. Here are a few pictures of Anthony from the event.

Please note: I am sorry, but the photos are no longer available.


For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Sam Waterston: November at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre

Several sources are reporting that later in the fall, Sam Waterston (Law & Order) will be starring in the world premiere of "Have You Seen Us?" by South African playwright Athol Fughard. The play will be at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT., and will run from November 24 through December 20 on the theater's main stage.

The Hartford Courant reports that the play “is set in a Southern California strip-mall diner on Christmas Eve. Waterston will play Henry Parsons, a South African history professor "forced by a chance encounter to deal with the demons in his heart.”….The play is described by a theater spokesman: "Henry Parsons, a South African transplant comes in for his usual--a turkey sandwich and insulting banter with Adela, the Mexican-American waitress. The two creep towards a fragile understanding until Solly and Rachael, an eastern European Jewish couple sit down to eat. The couple's entrance forces Henry to a reckoning with his inward struggles and, for a moment, unites four lost souls."


Right now there isn’t any ticket information on the Long Wharf Theatre web site, but if you’re interesting in attending, check back at the site at a later date for box office information.




For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Chris Noth, Spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month

The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) recently issued a press release advising that Chris Noth (Law & Order, Law & Order CI) will be the national spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM). Chris will help to bring awareness to a problem -many families lack adequate financial protection, and the importance of life insurance.

Chris shared his personal story and the role that life insurance played. The press release from LIFE stated that


Noth grew up in a life insurance family. Both his grandfather and father were life insurance agents. But his connection to life insurance doesn’t end there. Noth was just nine years old when his father died in a car accident, leaving behind his mother to raise Noth and his two brothers on her own. Fortunately, as an agent, Noth’s father understood the value of life insurance and was adequately insured. The proceeds from his insurance helped Noth’s family during that difficult time and enabled his single, working mother to put three sons through college. Noth will draw on that experience to help Americans understand that in today’s difficult economic climate, the need for life insurance protection is more important than ever.

“These are difficult times and many families are struggling. Especially at a time like this, life insurance can be that safety net that catches a family when tragedy strikes,” said Noth. “I know from personal experience that life insurance can be the bedrock of a family’s financial security. That’s why I’m proud to be working with the LIFE Foundation to share my story and help educate Americans about the need to plan for life’s uncertainties. A family’s financial future is too important to leave to chance.”


In July, Chris will appear in nationally broadcasted TV and radio public service announcements (PSAs), which will also be available on LIFE’s website during the September campaign.




For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Elisabeth Rohm and “The Whole Truth”

For all you Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order) fans, here are a few short clips of an interview with Elisabeth where she is talking about her work on the movie ”The Whole Truth”. The movie is billed as “a screwball comedy - with a twist.”


Clip #1


Clip #2


Clip #3


Clip #4




For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Sam Waterston Attends “Twelfth Night” Opening

Sam Waterston (Law & Order) and his wife Lynn attended the 2009 Shakespeare in the Park opening night gala performance of "Twelfth Night" at the Delacorte Theater on Thursday, June 25, 2009 in New York City. Sam told The New York Observer, “This whole experience is just a wonderful experience from beginning to end," said Law and Order’s Sam Waterston, who has performed at the Delacorte in Much Ado about Nothing and in two productions of Hamlet. " To be a member of the audience, to be in the shows, to have the sun go down, to have the whole city concentrated around this 'O' here"--he indicated the round theater--"is just a wonderful experience. Whether you’re up there or out here, it’s just great.”

Here are two pictures of Sam and Lynn at the event.



For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.