8:22 Fulfilling the dream/nightmares of conservatives everywhere, Rock tells people to get smaller cars. I say people should get whatever size car they need, but they should get a hybrid for now, and a plug-in hybrid flex fuel vehicle for the car after that — assuming, that is, they care about their children and the next 50 generations.

8:31 Shatner pushes reusable shopping bags.

8:35 Gore sort of leads the audience on taking the 7-point pledge. Then he introduces the “Foo Fighters” — bet he didn’t have that in his life plan 10 years ago.

8:12 Chevy claims fuel pumps hate their cars because they have 8 — yes 8 — whole models with a highway mpg 30 mpg or higher. Too bad 1) the EPA rating is inflated maybe 20% and 2) we don’t spend all our time driving on highways.

Heck the law requires a 27 mpg average, which pretty much means every major car company can match or beat Chevy’s lame claim.

8:05 Yes, NBC kicks off with Leo introducing Al Gore to a mostly standing ovation, which we blogged about so long ago it seems like yesterday. Gore introduced Keith Urban who then brought in Alicia Keys.

8:09 The middle-aged vamp, Madonna, rocks London, or at least she did a long time ago. Good to see the old gal still works out and still has a thing for the young and the ripped.

The same plane that had been flying a banner for a global warming denyer website over Giants Stadium switched to a Draft Gore banner! Apparently the pilot got the S.O.S. message.

5:52 Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam aka Akon, the Senegalese-American hip hop and R&B singer, offered Bravo’s David Holmes a novel idea for saving energy:

Next time you’re on vacation, don’t leave the lights on in an effort to fool criminals.

Akon didn’t say so, but we doubt many criminals are fooled by this anymore — now, if you put a timer on your lights….

Al Gore has shown up at Giants Stadium — okay, this happened at 3:44, but I have to confess that Bravo’s coverage has been less interesting from a global warming perspective since the New York Jersey concert started, so I’ve been flipping back and forth with the coverage of Tiger Woods’ tournament here in the DC area (Tiger only had an okay day, but is way too many shots behind the lead).

Anyway, Gore got a mostly standing ovation after an introduction by Leo DiCaprio, most recently producer of the global warming movie “11th Hour.”

Gore’s remarks in NJ were much tamer than in his remarks in DC at the National Museum of the American Indian:

Some who don’t understand what is now at stake tried to stop this event on the Mall. But here we are. And it wasn’t the cavalry who came to our rescue, it was the American Indian.

The uber eco-geek is uber eco-chic.

3:56 pm, from New York: KT Tunstall’s press conference just finished, and she showed a genuine concern for her contribution to global warming. Recognizing the fact that as an artist who tours, the level of her emissions is directly correlated to her album sales. She’s begun to renovate her flat in London and has 6,000 trees in Scotland munching her emissions away [ed. note -- not that we're crazy about trees as Scottish trees as offsets].

4:01 pm: Kenna, the opening performer for Live Earth U.S., spoke about the issue of educating people on global warming, its causes, and its consequences.

An emerging theme from these press conferences is the value of knowledge – KT Tunstall said that while touring in a bus, it’s easy to find biodiesel stations, so long as the driver is informed. For Carson Daly, it’s a matter of knowing to unplug his phone charger.

About 30 minutes ago MSN made an announcement on the number of computers streaming the concert, and Live Earth has broken the record – over 9 million people streaming the global shows. Knowledge is power to change, and Live Earth is getting the message out.

12:30 Blue Man Group does a very funny bit, no big surprise. They point out that, unlike an airplane, the planet has no emergency exits. We’re stuck with this blue and green planet, and the planet is stuck with us!

12:12 Shrek says Kermit was wrong: “It is easy being green!”

(Okay, I confess I find the music — which in general has very little to do with global warming or its solution — to be less interesting than the rest of the show.)

11:45 I wasn’t sure the first time I heard him, but sounds like William Shatner is doing Live Earth spots.

11:44 Plant shade trees — a great idea!

11:36 Kelly Clarkson, dressed down, explained she doesn’t know very much about saving the environment, but she really wanted to do this show and learn about what she and her fans could do.

11:32 Robert Patrick (of the X-Files and Terminator 2) pushes bamboo as an eco-friendly building material (which it is as long as it wasn’t transported over great distances).

11:05 Robert Redford is in the house. What eco-event would be complete without him?

10:47 Antarctica. Yes eco-geeks are eco-chic:

Nunatak is the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station’s house band. The five person indie rock band is part of a science team investigating climate change and evolutional biology on the Antarctic Peninsula — a region where temperatures have risen by nearly 3°C during the last 50 years.

10:55 Sarah Brightman sings one of my favorite tunes, “Con te partir²” (“Time to Say Goodbye”). Her duet with Andrea Bocell is available at YouTube.

10:59 Chris Rock does a commercial on the need to keep your tires inflated to save gasoline.

10:07 Now the party starts. Rihanna rocks Japan! Must confess I never heard of her before. For those similarly uninformed about this rising star, she is a “sultry R&B/reggae/dancehall queen” who was “born in Barbados, but raised in New York.”

10:12 And what eco-event would be complete without eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes hawking eco-beauty products?

10:30 Specially commissioned global warming music video, “Hey You,” by Madonna. Nice job.

10:35 You go 12 girls band! They play clips from classical tracks like Beethoven’s Fifth with a modern spin using traditional Chinese instruments. Here’s more info on them and their unusal instruments:

Read more

9:35 Bravo. Finally, a song I know. “Don’t dream it’s over,” by Crowded House (1986) — I betray my age again, as does host David Holmes, who calls them “the most underrated band of all time.”

Very appropriate lyrics for global warming: Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup, There’s a battle ahead….

You can follow David Holmes’ blog at bravotv.com — but I can’t see why you’d want to get even more of this guy.

We are implored to “change 4 lightbulbs to CFLs” — they really shouldn’t use acronyms. Not sure everyone watching Bravo knows that means compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

9:45 “Switch Off” — first hot commercial — imploring people to turn off their home electronics when it is not being used because so-called “standby power” consumes 5% of household electricity.

10:00 A nice visit with super-green celebrity Ed Begley Jr and his family. It was not too long ago that he was the butt of jokes in Hollywood. Now green geeks are eco-chic.

9:20 Live Earth on Bravo started slow. Sorry but Karen Duffy and David Holmes are bland hosts — they make Ryan Seacrest seem like Johnny Carson (oops, I betray my age already).

Glad to see David de Rothschild hawking his fine book: The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills To Stop Climate Change.

Repeated pictures of Giants Stadium empty. Zzzzz.

Can’t say I am now a big fan of Wolfmother.

Good News: Taking Back Sunday explains that they buy carbon offsets for their concerts.

Bad News: The offsets appear to be trees.