Dream Vlog 1

DWM vs. Native theater

I’m reading Bruce A. Goebel’s new book Reading Native American Literature to review on my blog. I’m sure I’ll be the first of all my friends to read it. What I’m struck by so far, and what I keep thinking about, is that this book evolved from Goebel’s literature classes where he made a point of introducing his students to Native lit. What this causes me to explore is the possibility of assigning more Native plays in my class and fewer of the white classics.
On the one hand, some of these things like Shakespeare and Oedipus Rex are read ad nauseum in American grade schools. And I understand why – a major purpose of schools is to train good citizens, and that means understanding the foundation texts of the culture. Here in the States, those texts are things like Shakespeare, the Greeks and Romans, and the Bible.
On the other hand, I have found that classes are really only useful to me when they encourage me to pursue my own projects, introduce me to useful new skills (like blogging and Youtube videoing, Phillip – thanks), or when they introduce me to interesting new literature or interesting new readings of old literature. One of the things that I do, and that I have an important insight into as a Karuk theater practitioner, is Native theater. This train of thought leads me to the opinion that putting two or three more Native plays on the syllabus next semester and dispensing with the works by DWMs that my students have read every year since kindergarten might be a really good thing to do.

Filmmakers Use Sketchup Too, Dontcha Know

Google has FINALLY gotten around to updating SketchUp to include a new Advanced Camera Tools plugin. It's free to paid users of SketchUp Pro 8 and gives you a nicer choice of pre-configured types of cameras to drop into your 3D storyboards...
Read about it here. Well, it's about time.

Besides film Set Designers, camera crews have been using SketchUp for years to plan out and visualize complex camera setups. It's been used by Hollywood filmmakers for movies like Inception, 300, The Social Network, and Tron: Legacy.

A New Learning Paradigm

How we learn cannot be limited to old-fashioned methods; this alienates millions of kids who no longer learn the way their predecessors did. It isn't that they are incapable of learning or lack the intelligence of earlier generations. But in truth, the past few generations are ones that have become increasingly visiually-oriented in their learning styles, and with that overly stimulating environment why are we penalizing them for getting distracted? In this video Sir Ken Robinson ponders the changing education paradigm needed as we move into the 21st century.

Smile or Die!

This animated RSA video narrated by journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking, particularly in the corporate arena.

The message here: Optimism and cheerfulness are MANDATORY! Screw whatever skills you’ve amassed in your brilliant career, bucko! It’s all about keeping a positive attitude! This layoff is a golden opportunity for you to take charge and get back on your pollen path!

War and Peace

In 2003, as the second Iraqi War was just getting under way, I was driving in my Jeep Wrangler one day in a suburb of the Seattle area when I saw a group of people at a major intersection rallying for the war effort.

“If you’re not with us, you’re against us,” read a sign held up by a young mother holding the hand of her toddler. “Pinkos go home” read another sign in the crowd. My car came to a stop at the red light at the intersection. I was amazed to witness such animated vehemence right here on a local street in my own neighborhood. People were chanting slogans in praise of our President, the righteousness of the war effort and the unswerving patriotism of real American soldiers.

I happened to catch the eye of one of the rally participants on the side of the road. I made the mistake of flashing him the peace sign. In his fury the man pointed straight at me. Others in the crowd began to surge towards my car, screaming at the top of their lungs that I was an ungodly traitor.

Needless to say, I ran the red light.

Big Wheel, Keep on Turnin'...

Some days I think that American Healthcare, the allopathic medical system in particular, is one humongous machine, never ceasing, always rolling, sucking patients in and spewing them out at the other end with palliatives to keep them sated until their next health crisis or at least the next appointment. This whole process adds a completely different meaning to the term Medicine Wheel.
Sick people go in one end of a giant mechanical conveyor belt to be processed through the system step by step. First they are seen by the GP, then sent down to the lab for bloodwork and urinalysis, then sent over to radiology for x-rays, then referred to a specialist, then subjected to various pokings, prodding and procedures like prostate exams, mammograms, colonoscopies, cat scans, mri’s and other medieval torture techniques that pass for modern day therapy. For some people, the whole process has become so everyday it’s just another social outing.

Hospitals sit like little fiefdoms unto themselves, at war with insurance companies, recalcitrant patients and each other. The more complex medicine becomes, the more people you need to feed into the system to make it work. Jesus, whatever you do, don’t be a spanner in the works by claiming allergies to things like thimerosal or penicillin. That’s just being a nuisance, a nonconformist, a renegade.

Sketch Up - Gaudi's Swimming Pool

Here's a theater space I've been noodling with in Sketch Up; I want the surfaces to be a bit more flowy and droopy and "organic" but I like the idea of the whole shebang being covered with ceramic tile stuck in the side of a hill somewhere. I also envision it being covered by triangular tarps for inclement weather, but have yet to add those elements. After I started playing with this idea it began to remind me of a swimming pool ala Gaudi.
I was having a devlish time trying to get one of the raised sections to raise up in the audience area. I stillcan't figure out why it won't raise up like I got the other sections to. Whatevs.

Saturday Afternoon at the Mark Morris Dance Center

Here's what we were up to Saturday afternoon at the Mark Morris Dance Center:

SketchUp 2

I was continuing to think about an outdoor stone circular playing space, not unlike the orchestra in ancient Greek theaters, when I read Girard's Violence and the Sacred this weekend. This is the result.

SketchUp 1

I was just tinkering around with an Icelandic church I found on the Warehouse. My main addition was the stone circular playing space in front. I had ancient Greek and medieval theater in mind when doing it.

Mark Morris 3

Mark Morris 2

Images from Mark Morris 1

Mercury

I remember the time I brought a lover over to spend the night with me at my parents’ house. Well, to be precise, she came as a friend and left as a lover. We were hanging out in my room watching a movie. Then we started to cuddle. She asked if she could spend the night, and I enthused “Yes!” That was when I discovered the drawback to my cyborg lower body.

You see, I’m the survivor of a horrible accident. I was driving through the New Mexican desert when a meteor struck my car severing my seat-belt. I crashed through the windshield and landed face up on an armadillo. I opened my eyes just in time to see my Silverado plummeting towards me.

I woke up in a hospital, an IV in my arm. I had this terrible pain in my legs. I hesitantly looked down to find out what the matter was, and vomited when I saw the flat sheet below my waist. The doctor told me they had to amputate the lower half of my body, but that there was an experimental new procedure that would return my life to normal. After checking to make sure my insurance would cover it, I signed the paper work to have my missing half replaced by a machine.

I thought it was the best thing that had ever happened! Not only could I walk and run, but I could run really really fast, and fly. I designed a disguise and became MERCURY, extraordinarily endowed crime fighter!

But that night I brought my best friend home and she asked to stay the night, I learned all about the dark side of my abilities. You see, I can’t feel sex. Enraged that she got hers, but I could never get mine, I kicked her out on the street, donned my MERCURY costume, and vanished into the night to brood.

I’d been having a bad week anyway. You see, a super-villain had just tried to frame me for his crimes, and I was disgusted at how quickly the citizenry turned against me. “They want me to be a criminal?” I asked myself, “I’ll give them a criminal.” So I stole a Corvette from a car lot and went joyriding, totaling the car against a tree.

And what a rush! I had no idea that doing evil felt so good! Why, it must be better than even sex. Not that I’d know, since I’m a freak who can never feel pleasure in the same way as a normal human being. But now I’m committed to a life of crime, a life where I stand as a god amongst ants, a life where I can maybe approach the orgasmic paradise that fate has denied me. No more am I MERCURY the hero. Henceforth, I am YRUCREM, the world’s mightiest super-villain!

Documentary Idea

For my THR 403 documentary i'd like to explore the possible indirect reasons behind the marriage rate in minorities being lower than that of other races. Based on my time on a college campus I've observed many people and decided that one possible reason could be the lack of public intimacy. In my four years at Stony Brook it was inevitable that I came across couples while traveling throughout the campus. What is interesting though is that I didn't necessarily know the couple it could just be assumed that they were because of shows of affection such as holding hands or giving a simple kiss. What i find disturbing is that in most of those recollections not many of any of those shows of affections were between minority students.

My goal is observe and interview minority students on their views of public intimacy and why they choose not to show it but at the same time admit that they are romantically involved with someone on campus. I will look to interview minority females in an depth manner because I find it unusual for females to deny public shows of affection. I believe that picking the minds of these individuals can be beneficial to myself and figuring out if there is indeed a connection between the latter and low marriage rates amongst minorities.

A public show of affection is a small scale representation of being romantically and happily involved with someone. It signals others that those two individual are content and not necessarily looking for any other suitors at the moment. My fear is that if something as simple as holding hands in public is being avoided then notion of wearing a wedding band or having a wedding may also be avoided. Overall i'd like to get a better understanding of why there a case of lacking public forms of affections amongst minority students and if it connected to things such as the regressing notion of simply dating or just a psychological burden that must be tackled.

Stretching the Sketch Up Muscles

Sketch-Up is as fun and interesting as advertised, certainly a wonderful tool for all types of creative planning and mapping. However, as with most worthwhile technology, there is a learning curve that I am still working with.

My first rendering is of the SAC auditorium. There is a fashion show scheduled there in about 3 weeks, and I signed up as part of the design team. So I measured and mapped out the space, and now I can go back in and see how different elements will work, including sets, props, and projections.

This theatre space design has a translucent orb as the focus. The idea is for performance activity to happen within the sphere, but the orb itself would also be a place for projections. I like the idea that some of the media can be visible from outside the theatre, for a broader audience.

The lesson from this design is that chairs are evil. Chairs are the only reason that I can come up with why this plan (and the first one) started to get impossibly slow for sketch up to run. I have a pretty decent machine, but working with so many chairs was very frustrating.

I like the idea of a panoramic vantage point along the stage - which opens up great potential for projections, and a different scale of immersion for the audience member.

Waiting for my sketch-up pro version to digitally arrive to me - let's see if at the least it can help me work with these elements quicker.

-Jose

War.

War.

Hoo. Yea...

What is it gooood for? I'm not really sure. It must be good for something. We keep having them...

We always have.
A large part of me believes that we always will.

Everyone knows the horrors of war. We hear about it, have read about it, seen documentaries, heard testimonies, have lost loved ones, seen the propaganda.

Then there is the benefits of war. Obviously, the benefits are only reaped by a small percentage of people - usually people of power and influence. Wars are ways to acquire things. Wars are ways to settle "issues". Wars are a way to generate revenue.

Just to use the US military as an example, it can be seen as a company. It has thousands/millions of employees. Billions are spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But at the same time, thousands of people have jobs who otherwise might not.

To quote a scene from 'American Gangster'

"You know,
I don't think they want this to stop.

I think it employs too many people.

Judges, lawyers, cops, politicians,
prison guards, probation officers.

They stop bringing dope into this country,

about 100,000 people
are going to be out of a job."

This was in reference to the war on drugs in the late 70's. The same question can be raised on the wars today, and many other wars of the past.

My aching Mouth...

I have always been fortunate enough to have health care. Thankfully. God Thankfully.

One of the debates that is going on is whether healthcare is a basic human right, or if it is like other resources, limited, and for those who can afford it.

A friend of mine was recently freaking out about a dental procedure that she needed done. However, the insurance that the school provides its student-teachers isn't worth a crap. I.e. no one wants to accept it. With mounting student loans, nearly maxed out credit cards, and no other income than a meager wage from her teaching assistantship, it was looking more and more like her procedures were going to have to come out of shallow pockets. Doctors won't even take payment plans, but who can blame them? They need to get paid as well - to cover all of their malpractice insurance and the like.

The insurance companies seem to be the logical target of blame for the healthcare disaster in this country. But they are also a business, and they also have expenses to cover. If more and more Americans are getting sick and need more expensive procedures, then how can rates NOT go up? Maybe the real culprit is our American way of life, which has made us disproportionately unhealthy. But even if the later is true, it is no excuse for people to live without coverage.

It is hopeful to see a rise of a more 'health conscious' movement in America. To be healthy is to be hip. But once again, this hipness is for those who can afford it. A lower class family with several kids cannot afford to buy the healthiest food options.

I think that preventative medicine needs to be more of a focus. Let's start turning this vicious cycle in the other direction.

As for my friend...

It was suggested by another friend that she just put it all on another credit card and worry about paying it off later. The important thing was to have the procedure done. However, she did not want to have to deal with dodging collectors for who knows how long, or have to pay the great amounts of interest.

Often times, health care for the less fortunate has to happen in creative or sneaky ways, or at the mercy of a doctor who can't help but put humanity first.

I heard of a recent study that said that 'Happier' people were often 'Healthier' as well, and vice versa. It was a self fulfilling cycle. I believe it. But in these tough times, it is going to be hard to get people to be either or...

Waylon 13

So Japan isn’t the only country with the bad sense to build nuclear reactors on the Ring of Fire – I saw one this past summer between Sacramento and Ione, California. My mom and I were driving to the California Indian Basketweavers’ gathering, and, right in the middle of these picturesque vineyards, we saw the unmistakable gray cylinder. We thought it was pretty funny that there were no signs on the vineyard – they didn’t want anybody to know they were growing their grapes so close to a nuclear reactor. I can just picture it: “And for dinner tonight we’ll be having salmon, cornbread, and a bottle of Radioactive Red.” We were pretty curious about that reactor though. Who owns it? What’s it called? Is it active? So we drove up to it. The only sign we saw, though, was the one that said, “Past this point you’ll be shot.” Knowing they’d have no qualms about shooting Indians with Oregon plates, we turned around. The law enforcement is pretty racist around there. There aren’t any motels in Ione, so outside of the nearest town with motels, the local cops set up a road block to perform sobriety tests on all the Indians coming in.

Waylon 12

Dear Doctor Faustus,

You ain’t got nothin’ on us. When you signed a deal with the devil for power over all things earthly, all you did was play pranks on the Pope and screw sexy witches. I have just one thing to say to you: grow some fucking balls, man.

We’re more like Coyote than you, anyway. That is, if you discount his conscience. While he (like you and us) is driven by his appetite, he did fix the world more times than one. We’re going to destroy ourselves and everybody with our appetite. You, on the other hand, are a pussy.

Have you heard about our nuclear energy programs, or is the hellfire too loud in your ears? In case you haven’t, we figured out how to split the atom, which releases energy. And we can use that energy to heat our homes, cook our food, charge our cell phones (which, incidentally, cause cancer), and blow people up. We’re kind of over that last one, mostly, but man, are we hungry for energy and power! The downside is that these power plants are super unstable. So if a worker at one of these plants fucks up, the whole thing can poison and potentially kill a whole bunch of people. And even if everybody involved does everything right, all it takes is a major earthquake to cause a national disaster of explosive proportions!

(You like what I did right there? How I used “explosive” instead of “super” or “ginormous” to talk about nuclear meltdowns? Yeah, I’m in college. I know how to do things with words.)

But that’s not all we do! We’re permanently altering the climate, ‘cause we gots to have us our oil to drive our cars. We’re destroying sustainable indigenous ways of life, because their lands have oil and running water and all kinds of shit we can turn into power. And, dear Hans, we have power. We have a kind of power that makes your horse-thieving, Jew-robbing hijinks look like a pebble of pathetic next to a purple mountain’s majesty.

And so, to conclude, fuck you asshole.

Sincerely,

_______________________________________________________________
First name Middle initial Last name

My mom almost lost her job

In this economic turmoil, the job market is not what it used to be. Even though employment rates have been on the rise from the past few years they are still at historical lows. With the brightest and the youngest having difficulty getting jobs, a college education does not have the same weight that it used to when our parents were growing up. The inexperience and experienced apply for the same jobs not knowing who is going to win out. Government jobs are the ones hit the hardest. Federal and state governments are taking all the precautions necessary to reduce budget gaps cutting state unions such as the police and teachers. My mother, a teacher, like all teachers these day has to worry about her job and if she will have it the following year. A well-educated teacher with a lot of experience can just as easily loose their job as a first year teacher.
My mom has supported my family for the past 6 years. My parents divorced and my dad "accidently" lost his job. My mom has worked very hard to receive her masters ++. Since we moved from Florida 10 years ago my mother had to receive her masters and get back on her feet in preparation for a divorce. Talk about planning ahead. She did not leave my dad until she finally got at least a permanent substituting job here in New York. After a long struggle she got a permanent position as a middle school reading teacher an hour away from our home. She has received her tenor just recently.
The other day my mom came home from work really excited hugging me saying " I didnt loose my job!". I was completly unaware as to what was going on. She kept it from us until the final judgement came. She was bumped down into kindergarden and was going to working by herself. She used to work with 4 other ladies whom she become very close to. A lot will change for her but she is just grateful she did not loose her job. If a teacher in her department did not accept retirement my mom being the last one hired would have been booted. Luckily the teacher dutifully accepted her retirement.
I am sure that many other teachers, and many other workers, have not been so lucky and my heart goes out to them.

Invisible Paris

I have been mulling over the notion of finding a way to stage Invisible Cities, a book by Italo Calvino and as a side step in my haphazard research came across this blog: Invisible Paris. One post there talks about a house smack dab in the 17th arrondissement with features that are not quite what they seem on the outside.
Here's the architect's model with a cross section of how the ground unexpectedly drops away, and how the house sits on top: Lime tree and all, this house is deceptively open, with much much hidden away.

Waylon 11

And I've been back to work on the grant hunt! I've been looking at documentary grants through Sundance and NAPT, and at a performance grant through NMAI. The documentary work is interesting, since I'd never really thought about making them until now. Not seriously, anyway. My girlfriend and I came up with a concept for one dealing with traditional basket-weaving one time, and this past summer I was talking to a lady about what I do at CIBA, and she told me straight up to make documentaries. If you get on NAPT's website, it becomes plain that educational films made by us for both Indian people and outsiders are all the rage right now.
The NMAI grant is a great big juicy thing for me. It would be perfect for the continuation of "Stories of Our People" that Julian and I were thinking about in San Diego. We could expand our little basement storytelling-theater to basements all up and down the Klamath!
What I should maybe look for next are grants for Indian radio shows. I've had some ideas for a few of those in the past, but they never really got off the ground. It's too bad, since now that I've been working on writing grants, the mystique is all stripped away. They're similar enough to all the other applications that I've filled out to border on the same ol' same ol'.

Waylon 10

And another video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwxhkxzqCMg

WinHEC 2008 and working at MS

Ha! I just found on Youtube a backstage video I shot for a Microsoft Conference held in the LA Convention Center in 2008. The conference, WinHEC 2008, was a big IT hardware-oriented convention put on every year for IT hardware designers and developers. I met people from all over the world who were in one way or another involved in designing hardware like digital cameras, printers, usb drives, cell phones, anything that had to be compatible with Windows, or the software that accompanied said hardware.

I conducted a Focus Group for my team while there and was touched by how many people worldwide actually used my website and what exactly it was they found so useful about it. One guy from Israel actually blogged about me! (Gotta find that blog...)

Incidentally, part of the video was taped on the night Obama got elected. This video was really just a sort of backstage record of the Microsoft WHDC and WinHEC production team working on the convention. And yes, even I had to wear a blue Microsoft shirt during the entire conference!

Beginning Anew...

Yes, yes, hard as it is to believe, even I meditate now and then. I had been thinking alot about what faith meant and how it related to trusting people. The thought that came to me was "Do you think that somewhere somehow there is an answer to your question about faith?" and I thought for a while and realized that yes, I did believe that somewhere in this great universe there was an answer to my question. Is this believing not an example of faith itself?

During one meditation I came up with the following, which I dutifully calligraphed for future reference:


Past triumphs of spirit refer to a continuum of triumphs over doubt. Doubt is such a fear-monger!

Giving 'Em the Boot!

Here's the link to my most-astounding-video project on Abandonment.

Most folks want to get all verklempt about abandonment, and tend to think in terms of their own personal abandonment issues. Yes, that is a vitally important step to get beyond so that you can do glorious things and not be bogged down by excess emotional baggage.

But if you think in terms of learning to let go of bad relationships that aren't serving your higher purpose (whatever that is) Abandonment ain't such a bad thing, all in all, if the people around you are a bunch of ne'er-do-well know-nothings you should have rid yourself of long ago! So clean house, people! Get rid of those pseudo-friends and part-time acquaintances who are in reality just Psychic Leeches intent on sucking the joie de vivre outta your life! So long, suckas!

Random Futility - Hiding in Plain Sight

There are times when all I want to do is sneak into a dark quiet hidey-hole just so I can get some writing done. Why is that so hard to do these days?
Here's a vlog on what I was feeling last night...

Machine Knitting – Flash from the Past!

In the 1960s through to the 1980s crafty ladies with disposable income often purchased knitting machines from companies like Brother, Singer and Toyota. Yes, that Toyota; they used to fabricate the most amazing knitting machines for home use complete with charting systems that are an engineering marvel to behold. I found my first Toyota knitting machine at a yard sale about ten years ago; over the years I’ve added another one, a four color changer for Fair Isle knitting, a lace carriage, etc. etc.

I can’t say I’ve outgrown my beloved Toyota, but eventually I did want to branch out and explore knitting at a gauge larger than the standard gauge of the Toyota machines. So I bought a Singer LK100 which produces a knitted fabric that’s a cross between standard and chunky gauge knitting. Of course, all my precious machines and their accoutrements are sitting happily in a storage facility in Seattle awaiting my return.

Well, I love creating fabrics knitted or otherwise and could not resist bidding on an LK 100 Singer on eBay a few weeks ago. Yep, I am the proud owner of yet another ultra cool retro-looking knitting machine. Yeah, baby!

Holographer Mark Diamond

This is an introduction to one of my oldest friends: world renowned photographer and holographer Mark Diamond. Like me, Mark is a high school drop-out; we first met in 1976 at the house of a then mutual friend, and kept bumping into each other at gallery openings in odd places like the Miami Planetarium, but it wasn’t until the early 80’s that I began working with Mark in his Holografix gallery in a South Miami warehouse district (where wild parrots flew overhead every afternoon at 4 p.m. on their way back to their nesting places).
Mark started shooting photographs when he was given a camera at 5 years of age; by the time he hit his teen years he was shooting rock stars for Rolling Stone. Somewhere in the 1970s he discovered holography, became mesmerized by the grainy quality of light helium neon lasers produce, and built a holographic studio in his garage which comprised a bed of sand perched on several inner tubes , with an assortment of interferometers and beam splitters stuck in the sand at angles conducive to hologram creation. I took lessons from him and was smitten; I still have my old reflection holograms and a couple of dichromate gelatin ones to boot. He also hooked me on stereographic photography ; from him I learned the art of free fusing – the ability to focus your left eye on one image while focusing the right eye on another and fusing the images together in your mind to create a 3D view (now I don’t need to use those stereographic viewers so popular in late Victorian times).

Mark’s had a most amazing assortment of clients over the years, from Buckminster Fuller to Dizzie Gillespie to wealth-laden Sheiks looking for holographic artwork for their banquet halls. I remember being in on a 360 degree anaglyphic holographic display for an udder cream company that involved getting a cow to stand still on a revolving stage while we shot 35mm motion picture film…
In 1982 we fully expected that lots and lots of money would be put into R & D for hologram development and by the year 2000 we’d have holographic lenses replacing telescopes in the space program. But the kind of R & D money we had hoped for never materialized, at least in any public sector I know of. It’s true most of us own holograms nowadays, but we never figured they would be tiny images on our credit cards.

One Big Happy Family

Having one big happy family is a fantasy, well at least in my family. These TV shows persuade people that this is what a real family is all about when it’s not true at all. At one point in time I believed that this was how my family was supposed to be. But it wasn’t and at times I would find myself wishing for a perfect family whenever there was unnecessary drama. I hated the arguments and fights. The distant silence was the worst. All I wanted was for everyone to be happy, for everyone to get along with each other. But I guess that was too much to ask for. Everything is an issue, there is constant screaming and yelling going tit for tat, and back and forth….ugh I’m getting a headache from all this constant fighting when is enough, enough? Someone please make it stop. Give me peace of mind; let the birds sing louder than before, let the sun shine brighter than yesterday, let there be forgiveness and unconditional love in their heart. No not here in this family…just another sleepless night.

Bad Behavior

I love children and I hope to have children one day but some of these children are out of control. I am not writing this blog to lecture on parenting because what do I know about it I don’t have any children. But I do know that parents need to put their foot down and teach their kids how to behave in public. The behavior that I have seen is ridiculous. The way these children act today I would not dare to do with my parents. Some people may say “well you did not act out because you were afraid of you parents”, which is not true at all. I did not act out because I was taught not to. I was taught how to behave when we are not only outside of the home but also inside of the home. I was not a spoiled child either. My parents did not give me everything and anything that I wanted because in the real world people are not going to just give you stuff when you wanted it you have to work HARD for what you want in life. Nothing comes free and I’m afraid that this is how these children are being raised to believe. I cannot blame the child for misbehaving but I do blame the parent(s). If you let your child get away with misbehaving all the time when will they learn how to behave?
When I use to work at Target, I saw a lot of children misbehaving because they couldn’t get the toy or whatever it was that they desired. They were also very disrespectful to their parents and I’m not talking about teenagers (which is still not acceptable) but from children ages 5 and up. The tantrums, crying , and screaming was unbearable, therefore the parent would give in and buy whatever it was that the child wanted. But what is this teaching the child? That “oh today we are going to target and I know mommy and daddy are not going to buy this toy for me if I ask nicely so let me just act out and make a scene.” That’s what it seems to me, which is nonsense. Where is the discipline? I would never forget that this 10 year old girl called her mother dumb to her face in front of me and other customers because she didn’t want to buy her what she wanted. I was shocked, speechless. I couldn’t believe this little girl disrespected her mother like that. The sad story is that her mother still bought her what she wanted. That spoiled brat she would be on punishment for the rest of her life! LOL  !! Don’t get me wrong its cool to keep your kid happy, spoiling them every now and then, maybe over do it on Christmas and birthday gifts, since you want to give them everything you never had but don’t forget to lavish them with morals, respect, dignity, and manners!!!

My Non-Fiction Documentary Prelim: Senior Citizens and the Internet

Here's the link to my 5 minute piece for my non-fiction video project for class Seniors and the Internet.

This is one of those "let's not think about it" kind of topics because everybody in this country is so freakin' afraid of growing old. Well, guess what? It'll probably happen to you too, and sooner than you think! So get over yourself! Seriously, once you get over the fact that your face and looks are gonna go to hell as you age, life gets pretty damned good!

NO Manners!!

I come from a small town and although some people are arrogant, they somewhat have manners but not here at STONY BROOK!!!!! A small few of students have manners but the majority of students that attend here have no manners at all and it’s really starting to piss me off. I don’t know what is so hard about saying please and thank you when someone holds the door open for you. I feel like if I can take the time out to hold the door open for you, you can take the time out to open your mouth and say thank you. I also hate when people just let the door slam in your face and your right behind that person….so rude. What is wrong with these people? Were these people brought up without knowing “basic manners”? Did they forget how to use them since they left home to go away to college? I don’t know what it is but it needs to change.
Last semester there was an incident with a random stranger and me. It was around breakfast time and my friend and I decided to stop at the Stony Brook Union Deli to get breakfast. For those people who grab food from the Deli knows that it’s crowed and it’s a small space so people are bumping into each other and what not. I was waiting on line to toast a bagel and this girl bum rushes through me and the person in front of me. So I say “excuse you, you can’t open your mouth to say excuse me what the hell is wrong with you. Your parents didn’t teach you any manners?” She just gives me this stupid look like I was talking a different language and she clearly understood what I was saying to her. So I’m like ok whatever I’m not going to let her ruin my morning. Then she has the nerve to try to do it again and this time she has the audacity to tell me to move. Now this girl right her lost her mind. So I tell her “no” and then simply said “all you have to do is say excuse me and I will move out the way and if you won’t say it then walk behind me!!” So she ended up finding another way to pass. I thought it was rude of her to act in such a manner and that she thinks she can walk just go around barging her way through a crowd of people. She should consider herself lucky!

Video Conferencing Companies

Here are my note on a list of possible Video Conferencing systems. Each has its own limitations. I have yet to find a company that can handle 20 people at a time for free.


1. Cisco Webex

Cisco Webex Meeting Center

They can handle up to 25 people, $49.00 a month. Can do video on iPads.
1-877-469-3239 14 day free trial.

Here's a portion of a live chat I conducted with a ever-so-friendly representative:

Thank you for choosing Cisco WebEx. A representative will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with Umar .
Umar : Hello Annika. Welcome to Cisco WebEx Sales. How may I help you today?
Annika: Hi I am evaluating online video conferencing systems for a graduate class project. We need to do video conferencing for 20 people
Annika: Does your Webex Meeting Center handle video, audio and web?
Umar : With Cisco WebEx integrated audio, you have the convenience of one provider for your web, video and audio meetings.
Annika: We are thinking of using it for a performance art project in New York City
Umar : Our multi-point video functionality enables you to see up to 6 meeting participants at a time. If there are more than six available on webcam, the participants can choose what 6 they want to view via a drop down menu.
Annika: Okay. So it is limited to 6 participants visible at any given time, with the possibility of having 20 participants involved
Umar : that is correct
Annika: Great. Thank you.

2. Cisco TelePresence

Public Cisco TelePresence

You and your employees go to one location and have your clients go to another location. The system is set up at those specific, pre-determined, permanent locations.

3.ConferenceCalls.com

Executive plan up to 1,000 for video, web and audio. It costs per person, though.


4. AccuConference

You need a reservation for over 50 participants. It costs 10 cents per person.

5. Skype

Group Video Calling can handle up to ten people
Trial group video free for 7 days

6. Start-video.com

Start-Video is a desktop video conference and collaboration tool that provides an easy to use video conferencing solution at a price that small and medium sized businesses can afford. All you need is your PC and a webcam to connect face to face with your audience. Start your next meeting the right way with Start-Video.com
two week trial today and receive a free, 10 party toll meet me audio conference account. Can only handle six video participants at a time.


7. GoToMeeting

Free one month trial. Not video conferencing per se, more like a Camtasia-style interface.

8. www.oovoo.com

Video chat with 6 people max.


9. iVisit.com

Video conference with up to 8 users
Share your screen, docs, apps, and more while in a live video meeting
Free 2-way video chat and collaboration
iVisit Presenter:
Share your desktop, presentations, documents, apps and more while video conferencing
iVisit Mobile (Beta)
Share your surroundings and talk face-to-face from anywhere using your mobile phone. Free to Try!
http://www.ivisit.com/plans

Vlogging for Bardolatry

Here's a vlog about one of my major passions: Plays by Shakespeare.

It can be viewed here: Blathering on about the Bard

Waylon 9

Now funny story, I churned out a documentary this weekend because, if I counted weeks right on the syllabus, it was supposed to be due today. By the way Phillip, did you know that the syllabus that you have posted is from last semester? Anyway, not foreseeing the resources to make the social-issue film as per Phillip's request, I made one about chemtrails.
http://www.youtube.com/user/WaylonLenk?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/Xd1JOqYj0uY

Waylon 8

My abandonment film.
http://www.youtube.com/user/WaylonLenk?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/Nb1wK6OVmBw

Waylon 7

My bug-out film.
http://www.youtube.com/user/WaylonLenk?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/OIB3V1lTQus