GRANT GROUP

Analytics Update!

2011-05-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

So one of my goals for this summer is to take over the world.

In a sense...

I brought up Google Analytics in an early blog post about 'hits' on a website.

The artistic goal for this summer will be to LIGHT UP the map, and have a hit from every country in the world. I will do it the old school Kevin Bacon way of person to person networking. This project is more about outreach investigation than it is about fame, or notoriety.

We are becoming a global society - so what better way to start? :) I will keep you updated

Here is what my map currently looks like, for both the US and the WORLD! I have my work cut out for me...

wish me luck :)

www.joseojeda.com

Eagle Blessing

2011-05-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is a short video that I took,

Short, but I argue, very powerful

I have only begun to know the full importance of the Eagle to native peoples. But beliefs aside, the sight itself is awe inspiring.

The Emcee said to 'bless yourselves' as the handler brought the eagle to each of the four directions. NAnd I did. I said a prayer and accepted the blessing

I have changed the way that I pray. While I am still very spiritual, it has certainly changed. having to deal less and less with any religion, and more with forces and feelings of the universe

I love this video because the eagle seems to flap with the beat.

I think it would be a great video to use with the connect VJ

Daily Drawings - THE BOOK!

2011-05-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I am excited to say that my first volume of "Daily Drawings" is now in book form,

and ready to order! if you have the desire and funds

It actually came together really nicely - I think the format works well with the images, and I really cant wait until I have enough content for Volume 2!

Take a look at this preview:

Daily Drawings by Jose Antonio Ojeda | Make Your Own Book

Latino Fashion Show

2011-05-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

I had meant to post this a long time ago,

But I was fortunate to help with the latino fashion show on campus this year. I think that I mentioned it at some point.

I was especially happy because I was able to bring in my Bodega awning/signage and use it as part of the stage design.

I also built those 2 large silhouette screens that were used in other scenes, and that broke up the space really nicely.

This video is of the 'Urban Scene'

On top of La bodega awning, was projected imagery of actual bodega's and NYC street life

This was fun

2011-05-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

People always ask me how I make my small metal pieces. Almost everyone assumes that I use a machine, or a laser or something. They are usually surprised when I say that I just use my hands and a jeweler's saw. Then I describe what a jewelers saw is =P It has a U frame, and the key is the very tiny teeth on the blades, which allow for cutting through metal.

I sped up the piece and put it to music

I chose daft punk because they represent this hybrid space between human and machine that I am really interested in exploring. And maybe even becoming.

After this past weekend, especially with the mind control device, I think that we are one step closer to this hybrid reality where the lines are blurred :)

I really want to take more footage of myself working. I recently bought a new HD webcam that I will utilize. This video was actually shot with the camera on my macbook pro. I propped it up and open with many a brick =P

SHOWS

2011-05-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Aside from the regular craziness that is finals, I will be participating in 2 art shows this weekend, Friday and Saturday.

Here is the poster with the information for both: *click*

This is a video I compiled with the footage of my first show that I had at La Bodega, which again is my hybrid studio/exhibition space at Stony Brook University.

I really hope the second show goes well!!

SUPER SHAWLLL

2011-05-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

So remember that badass Shawl that I said I was making?

Here is a video of it being used in action, on one of the largest powwow stages in the country. Gathering of Nations, in Albuquerque, NM.

It is the dancer in all black. Black dress,

And the shawl is a black shawl with a colorful yellow/blue/red/white horizontal band going across it.

It was called the "Super Shawl" midnight special - yes, it was midnight at the time. And dozens of women competed, in a winner take all contest. The prize was $1000 and a trip to vegas!!

I an also posting this because to date, it is my most popular youtube video - with 2,494 hits! I know that might seem like chump change for some, but for me, that's amazing! I am almost in disbelief, but it is very promising.

The sky is the limit :)

Smoke Dancing - My favorite

2011-05-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got footage of Smoke Dancing! It has become my favorite thing to watch at Powwows now, and I am borderline obsessed.

The dance is very popular with the Iroquois people, but it's popularity has expanded throughout Indian Country. And with this guy (thumbs pointing to self).

The name comes from the quick footwork, which looks like you are kicking up smoke moving your feet so fast!

I think it'll take me a while to get anywhere near good, but it looks like fun :)

Take notice of the little girl in the middle. I have seen her at a few powwows now - and aside from being cute and adorable, she is also very talented. I remember at one powwow, there was no one to compete for smoke dancing, so she went out there alone, and killed it! People even started walking up to her and throwing money at her feet in appreciation :)

This is smoke dancing, people :)

Asia de Cuba + Graduations

2011-05-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

This Monday I was fortunate enough to go to my brother's Graduation at NYU. Again, he received his Masters in Sports Business and will be starting his new job with the Susan G Komen Foundation. I am very proud of him and I know he will go very far - because he already has.

We took him out to eat at a restaurant called 'Asia de Cuba', a fusion place. The food was priced for midtown, but very worth it, very delicious. The folks enjoyed it too, which was also a plus.

I thought it was interesting seeing my brother walk down the street in his purple robe, and yellow and blue masters hood. It was a normal sight to me - clearly the guy was a recent graduate. But then it got me to thinking - a lot of the people must be baffled, as to why someone is walking down the street in this robe!

Is it religious? Is he a priest?

Is it a clansmen? or some other cultish group?

Is it simply a crazy person? or worse, an eccentric??

but in the end, the robe got him that nice cake :)

Congrats, brother!

En route to The Tank

2011-05-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of riding the train with Waylon down to the city.

I had not slept the night before (as suggested by Phillip, haha), but not because I was out partying, but because I was finishing up some work. I figured that I would work through the night anyways, knowing it would be impossible to wake myself up in time while on such little rest.

It was a good train ride though. I wont get into everything we discussed, but aside from the philosophical and brilliant, there were a lot of jokes and laughs to be had :)

@ The Tank - Group shot

2011-05-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

I thought that this was a pretty good shot of all of our actors/performers

Taken at the end, right before the Q&A

They all worked really hard an deserved our praise and appreciation.

The show kept being refereed to as a "Mash Up", and this is true even in it's actors. They came from various levels of experience, different age groups, counties, different departments even

All coming together to take this new, American Decameron

@The Tank - Callibrating

2011-05-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

The interesting question of "Is this all a gimmick?" came up, in regards to all our toys and technology.

It was speculated that it was. At least at the moment. In the end, the show was all about the stories. It was about the actors, on a stage, telling and acting out their fictions and realities to the audience. A mix between drama, music, and comedy.

But the potential is certainly there and i'm glad that we began to investigate it. Already thoughts have been stirring on how to make it even better. The technology just needs to be better integrated with the actual storytelling so that it enhances it, instead of distracting or overpowering the story. It might also be wise to have a separate dancer - who knows the story - interact soley with the kinect, leaving the actor free to best deliver their role

@The Tank - Images

2011-05-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Tank was a fun experience. Crazy that we were right down the block from Daniel Radcliffe!

The space was smaller than I had thought, but only because it was mentioned to be just as large as the black box at Stony Brook - but I most likely misinterpreted that.

I was happy to take on the sound/music element of the show. I enjoyed cueing up music and fading it in an out between the scenes/stories. I miss putting on shows :)

@ The Tank - Photos

2011-05-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

practicing his story in front of the kinect & projector

Limbering Up, getting in the zone

Phillip, demonstrating how to utilize the device for VJ'ing

@The Tank - Phillip Baldwin Intro

2011-05-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Our Professor, and fearless leader, Phillip Baldwin, kicks off the show! And explains the class, our process, and how we got to where we are now

Also featured is the amazing mind control device. We have only touched upon the very surface of its capabilities

A great kickoff to a fun and interesting evening

@ the Tank, Kinect test

2011-05-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

And it all came down to this - whether or not our 'toys' would work in the space or not.

After some work, our center kinect was able to pick up and calibrate a person. It just has to be elevated some, and now the VJ software could work :)

2011-05-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

AMERICAN DECAMERON!

2011-05-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

The long awaited show!!

Here are a few photos taken from of THE TANK, in NYC

American Decameron Rehearsal - Photos

2011-05-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

A few photos from the rehearsal

A lot of callibration

Taking a break from American Decameron

2011-05-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the video textures that shot and thought were unique and interesting

American Decameron Rehearsal - Stories comingatcha!

2011-05-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Phillip demonstrating how to best utilize the Kinect to operate the videos

American Decameron Rehearsal - Even More Stories

2011-05-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Michelle manipulates the film with her body, using the Kinect

American Decameron Rehearsal - More Stories

2011-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

More of the stories, as told by our actors

American Decameron Rehearsal - Stories

2011-05-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the stories that were told at the Tank, being rehearsed at Stony Brook University

American Decameron Rehearsal - Opening Dialogue

2011-05-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the opening dialogue from the show

American Decameron Rehearsal - Thea

2011-05-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

Here are previews of Thea's masterful singing :)

Certainly one of the highlights of the experience!

The Dress Rehearsal

2011-05-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Where it all started to come together.

Waylon and the Machine

2011-05-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Waylon did not have as good results with the brain device.

His brain waves were flatline... certainly no reflection on Waylon,

I blame the device. And lack of saline solution

Annika and the Machine

2011-05-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Annika tries out the MIND CONTROL machine!!!

I immediately thought of Doc Brown from 'Back to the Future'

Shadow Puppetry

2011-05-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

A short video of one of my students,

She made a beautiful shadow puppet out of paper. We are trying to work out how to best tell a story - using this old tradition, in a modern time

Impending summer Part II

2011-05-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

What to do? crap.

I am teaching the first summer session, so that is good. Gives me some sort of stability, and more teaching practice. Plus, it is a much shorter semester - meaning that I have to adapt the syllabus to fit within the time, but still have just as much meaning.

I JUST GOT 8!!!

What does that mean?

I just got 8 people to sign up for the course, so far. Which means, that it won't get canceled due to low numbers :D

I CAN TEACH!!!

Now for the second part of summer.... The traditional thing would be to find an internship of sorts to enrich my experience. I will try

But last resort (but fun resort) is to just make work and commissions for cash - continually enhancing my portfolio and my bank account, all the while trying to be more business savy.

The idea of going to business school has crossed my mind. I might start studying for the GMATS soon... because the art teaching market isn't looking too happy. But maybe i'm just not looking in the right places :)

Regardless, I am excited for this summer - and for a fresh start next Fall. Next fall will be a hit ! with non stop art making, art showing, pot stirring, and future forward thinking.

Stay tuned :)

impending Summer

2011-05-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Summer is allllmost here!

yay?

yay!

This year has been my worst year at Stony Brook. Haha, that is very dramatic. To be fair, I have only been here 2 years, and the first year was "better" because it was a more innocent and naive time. There were fewer visible "problems" and anything could be brushed away with "well, it's just our first year here"

2nd year has just opened our eyes a bit more to how things really are. Growing frustrations with our department, and unfortunately that has caused rifts between colleagues at times. Last year, we were all the best of friends! Maybe.

I loved this Theatre course though. Not to kiss ass or anything. But it was great to take a course in another department, and get away from the drama of my own...

Though I hear every department has their own drama.

This course was also the only one this semester that really challenged me and made me excited to learn and create. My photo class was ok, but I got a few ideas and moments of inspiration from it - and Gary is just a great guy to be around.

VAS was....

Theatre was not perfect, but hardly anything is. Perfect enough to be top dog of my course load, haha.

And now I will forever refer to my absent students as "bagging my gig, man"

Belonging

2011-05-17T14:12:00.001-07:00

Communities.

What does it mean to belong to one?

Race - Ethnicity - social status - pedigree - location - proximity - age - interests,

there are many ways to group and classify a community.

But how does an "outsider" fit into a community? How are they accepted, or not accepted.

Using myself as an example - I am latino, Ecuadorian by decent. My girlfriend is Native American. I have been learning a lot about her culture, and Native culture in general through our time together. She has taken me to many a powwow and I love it! I would go to one without her at this point.

I was helping out a lot during this year's Dartmouth College Powwow. I helped with the t-shirt and poster design, I made them a banner, and helped with set-up and break down.

But I am still very careful of considering myself part of their community. Partially because of my ethnic background - even though my heritage has links to the Indigenous cultures of the Andes. I also do not want to "intrude" for similar reasons. My people have had their own history and experiences just as the Native peoples of North America have. But they are different and occurred independent of each other, and I guess I am just being respectful of that.

And I also have my own community - the Latino community. And we have our own biases and opinions towards "outsiders"

But in the end, we're all people - blessed with a story to share with each other.

Back in Hanover

2011-05-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Relationships make you do funny things.

I say funny, because they're not bad things. Not always the best things, but just funny :)

I find myself back in Hanover, NH for the day. The girlfriend and I were really stressed about our respective work loads and schedules - to the point where we didnt think that we could finish it all.

I have 2 shows, several stole orders, and final critiques by the end of the week. She has a similar seemingly impossible burden.

Yesterday (Monday) was my brother's graduation from NYU - he got his masters in Sports Business. I had already not slept from the night before (making work), and then I drove to the city. After the ceremony and lunch afterwards, I drove the 5 hours north to New Hampshire. At the end of it all, I would have been up for 34 hours. And as much of a struggle it was, and as much as it seemed like a crazy idea, I don't regret it at all

and not just because of the cheesy lovey dovey reasons of being with your significant other

But it's nice being in a different place - I feel like moving around keeps you on your toes, and you are able to be more productive. I have already accomplished so much, whereas if I had stayed in my studio I would have sulked about and done just about the same, if not less. Plus, it's beautiful here. Sort of rainy, but the trees are blossoming a brilliant light pink. I'd never leave here if I could help it

But i'll be coming back down tomorrow morning,

Spontaneous trips are the best.

Change in scenery is healthy.

-Jose

New Age Watering hole

2011-05-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is an older post that I never transcribed from my recent trip to New Mexico,

About how I discovered the 'watering hole' of the 21st century digital age.

Power. As in, electricity. And connectivity. It's what we need, it's what we thirst for.

I was sitting in the airport of LaGuardia Airport in New York city. Our flight had already been delayed several hours due to inclement weather around the country. So more people than usual were starting to fill the terminal. Tensions were getting higher, the temperature rose, there was a mugginess in the air... kind of disgusting.

The modern day traveler (as well as many modern day people in general) come well equipped with a myriad of electronic devices that they rely on. The cell phone - the ipod - the camera - the ipad - the laptop. After many hours in an airport, these devices start to drain themselves of their life force. Especially after the many calls to loved ones and employers, explaining how they are stuck in New York, accompanied by frustrated obscenities.

The airport has set up powering stations, near the seating area, where people can plug in. There are actually several of them scattered about. Some are like pillars, and some more like tables. But no outlet was left un-tapped. Imagine dozens of people, both sitting and standing next to these stations with their devices, strapped in as if with an umbilical chord. If there were no more taps, people looked elsewhere and got creative.

Underneath the pay phones. In a hidden corner. Near a vending machine. A plug that would normally be used by the cleaning staff when plugging in a vacuum cleaner.

While at one of these watering holes, I made 2 friends. One was John, the other Kate. We told each other stories of our lives, shared internet videos, and bonded over our halted journey's. And now we're even facebook friends, so you know it's real. They say that we are losing our humanity because of technology. I think that we're not losing it, but it's just changing. What we do need, is more time to stop and interact with the people around us, even if we are still plugged in.

Cheers!

2011-05-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

I am off to Seattle to dramaturg two shows for Greenstage Theatre this summer - both are Shakespeares: Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest. Greenstage has been a favorite theatre company of mine for quite some time - they've been doing free Shakespeare in the Park shows for 23 years and generally I can claim that for each show presented A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for All.
I am about to embark upon a cross-country road trip with my sister-in-law Linda who has been in my life since 1974. First we'll drive up to Martha's Vineyard to meet up with her sister then we'll start the trek west from there. Exciting stuff!
This week after my foray into off off Broadway with American Decameron, I managed to pack another 5 boxes to send to Seattle and finish up another nifty pair of flip flop socks!
Ahh, me dogs ain't barkin' no more!

American Decameron review

2011-05-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

http://waylonlenk.blogspot.com/2011/05/american-decameron.html

Here are the parting thoughts on the show that I posted on my blog. Onward!

2011-05-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Annika, Jose and I drove into the City.

2011-05-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Working hard or hardly working?

American Decameron

2011-05-15T07:58:00.001-07:00

Love in the time of the Plague - the plague of the blood-sucking undead, that is.

Inside the Tank

2011-05-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Jose and Ryan do things with machines. It was actually a cozy little place. I want one just like it.

Outside the Tank

2011-05-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here we are outside the Tank. You know what would be a cool space for projections? That big barren wall.

And guess who was performing down the street. I'll give you a hint - it was Daniel Radcliffe.

Super Secret Mind Contol Device

2011-05-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

Sequestered deep underground, armed guards stationed invisibly on the parameter, a group of performative scientists work feverishly for their Lord and Master, the Mad Scientist Phillipus Baldwinmanius. What is Professor B's latest plot to conquer the earth and enslave all mankind? Could it be? No! A mind control device! 'Zounds, whatever can we do? We are helpless against the Professor's mental prowess as it is, but with this spidery device augmenting his alpha, beta and gamma rays, he is well nigh unstoppable! Oh, that we weren't so quick to turn on Mercury, our city's hero and defender! If only he could get it up and wasn't sexually frustrated! He was the only one who could have saved us, and now he too is a villain!

Baldwinmania

2011-05-11T05:25:00.000-07:00

You tell Prof. Baldwin that he's on camera, and he just can't help performing. Oh this is going to be a fun show.

Ford Taurus

2011-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.theonion.com/video/ford-unveils-new-car-for-cashstrapped-buyers-the-1,14381/

Mine's actually a '99 Taurus, so it's way better than this one. The body is is in great condition, minus a few scratches. It can get me from coast to coast, which is way further than the house I rent with a crowd of other guys and my job (because I have one and I don't need to go to the unemployment office.) And it cost nearly five times as much as the Taurus in the video. All in all, I'd say I'm living in the lap of luxury, in spite of Phillip's scoffing.

sick?

2011-04-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

The past 2 days I have been on the brink of getting a cold.

You know the feeling?

You can feel it coming a mile away.

First.... your throat gets dry...

Then.... it gets itchy/scratchy...

Next up, full on sore throat...

The illness travels up to your sinuses, and then you feel a head congestion...

Then come the sniffles

and the end is full blown sickness.

I've been trying to fight it off, or rather, cut it off at the pass. I drank an entire carton of OJ yesterday, and am half way done with another now.

They say that you need fluids and rest.

Fluids, check.

Sleep.......... ?

And then this is where the tough decisions in life come into play. How far do we push our bodies, and how much should we sacrifice?

Cost/benefit analysis comes into play as well. Sleep now, and live to work another day?

Just another day in the life :)

I think i'm going to rest up. For once.

Thanks,

-Jose

Balancing the overwhelming

2011-04-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

I have been a night owl for quite some time now. At least since my first year at college, but probably early on into high school as well.

It seems that I do not REALLY get into my work until the sun goes down. The morning and early afternoon hours are often very lazy, or easy going. The motivation to really 'get cracking' is not there. I often wish that I was a morning person...

But no, I am a child of the night. Maybe it is because the night time eliminates many distractions (i.e. other awake people). Whatever triggered the pattern, I seem to be stuck with it. It is now 12:33 am, and this seems still "early" for me. 4am starts to become a warning sign, but there are many a day when I see the sun rise.

I came across this news video:

It speaks about a genetic mutation that allows some people to require less sleep than others. These people are arguably more 'successful', if only that they have more 'useful' time in their days.

And then conversely, there is this story, about how little sleep you can get away with

Some nights I average about 4-5 hours. Which is ridiculously low. I can only pray that I am one of the genetically fortunate.

WHY???

Why do I get such little sleep?

I've boiled it down to a few possibilities:

- Too many "responsibilities" or things that I have taken upon myself to do. Including work/commissions. Perhaps I stretch myself too thin...

- Poor time management. Can be a possibility... maybe if my daytime hours were spent more effectively. But our egos never want to admit to this possibility

- Bad habit. I've been doing it for years... and i'm still going. I'm sure I will feel sharp negative effects at some point.

The other side of the coin is....

The "NORMAL" sleep time frame is based on an agricultural society. People on farms would wake up when the sun did so that they could get as much done during the day, with the light out. But now that we are a different, very diverse and specialized society, who is to say what the "right" time of day to sleep is?

Vitamin D deficiency?

They have pills and special lamps for that :)

Good night everyone. Your midnight is my noon,

-Jose Ojeda

Alegria!

2011-04-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

"Alegria" is Spanish for 'Joy'.

It's also the name of a local restaurant and lounge in Astoria, NY. Alegria Lounge has recently become the home base for a group of 6 young, latino artists (myself included).

THE ALEGRIA ART COLLECTIVE

I have never been part of an artist collective before, so this has been a really exciting past few

months. The group consists of JohnMichael Arcella, Candido Crespo, Andres Gallardo, Melinda Gomez, Jessica M. Luciere, and myself, Jose Antonio Ojeda.

We all came together through knowing one or the other. Our common thread became our first group show at the Lounge, entitled "Salsa: A Fine Arts Experience." The Lounge, since its inception, had intentions of featuring young local artists on it's walls. For the "Salsa" show, we each produced three pieces that was inspired by Salsa (music, culture, history, etc.). A live 10 piece Salsa Band performed at our opening in March.

Last week, our April show entitled " Y Ahora Que?" (which translates to, "...and now what?") opened. The theme centered around the 'American Dream' and what it meant to us. We e

ach produced two pieces, the first dealing with the question "What IS the American dream?" and the second addressing "And once the American Dream is realized (or not), Now what??"

This show was particularly exciting because we all did a live painting on two canvases, that was later raffled off.

We will be having a new show (and new work) every single month. Starting in June, we will be pairing off into two's and having some 2-Person shows, as opposed to the entire collective - though all will help out in organizing.

* Here is a link to our collective's website *

I am very excited, because I feel that the group is keeping me on my toes, helping me to produce on a regular basis, all the while giving me the motivation and inspiration to do so. Let's see where it leads us :)

Here are my two pieces from the April show:

"Cross Your Fingers"

"This is Your Land"

See you in May!

Thanks again,

-Jose Ojeda

YIKES

2011-04-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

I am beyond terribly behind on my blog posts. It has been slowly eating away at my brain and conscious for weeks now. I have a bunch that just need to be transcribed, and others that still need to manifest.

Here we go again...

ALBUQUERQUE!!

On Thursday I am boarding a plane and headed to the ABQ, New Mexico. I'm traveling with 3other friends to attend the Gathering of Nations, North America's largest Native American Pow-Wow. I am beyond excited as I have been looking forward to this for months now. The south west has been an area of the US that has always been a mystery to me, and I finally get to satiate my curiosity. Expect many a post from there this coming week.

LENSES!!

Turns out that my father's co-worker is an avid amateur photographer. And we also happen to frequent the same gym. One day, while hanging around the lateral pull down, I strike up a conversation about my upcoming trip. I mentioned how I wanted to buy a telephoto lens, because I would be so far from the "action" to get any good pictures. The end result is himlending me 3 of his badass canon camera lenses for the weekend. We're talking L-Series, really pro stuff! Saving me in the thousands....

It's heavy... And intense.

So Bless him, and hopefully I put it to some good use.

SHAWL !!!

In addition to the million things that I have to do before I leave, I am working on a ''Fancy Shawl" for my girlfriend (who is coming along too, and will be dancing at the Pow Wow)

The patterning is fairly intricate and I hope that it turns out spectacular for her sake. The design is based on the pottery of New Mexican Pueblos.

Pictures to come soon - Let's see how far I can get on it tonight.

Thanks!

-Jose

NMAI

2011-04-25T06:45:00.001-07:00

http://waylonlenk.blogspot.com/2011/04/reactions-to-nmai.html

True to PB's cannibalistic form, I'm posting the URL to my latest blog post on Kachakaach on Grant Group!

More to come later on Phinneas Buckshot, Cyborg Cowboy from the Future!

Related to that, here's the latest trailer for "Cowboys and Aliens," which I'm going to wait in line until midnight to see come July.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2016976153/

Knotty Bits

2011-04-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

I am a member of the Puget Sound Lacemakers Guild, even though I haven’t shown up at one of their monthly meetings in well over two years, mostly because they hold meetings about 40 miles from my neck of the woods while I’m in the Seattle area and those meetings conflict with other stuff I have to do on Saturdays.
Recently I picked up the book “The Lace Reader” by Brunonia Barry and am so thoroughly engrossed by it I think I’ll just sit down and knit me some lace edging. Nothing as fancy as the bobbin lace created by ladies at the Lacemakers Guild, or characters in "The Lace Reader," just a simple edging for pillowcases or frilly hankies or lingerie.
The reason I’m a member of the Lacemakers Guild is I’ve published a book on macramé lace, which is what macramé was called in Victorian times. It’s just macramé done on a small scale, with a lot of bling thrown in, like Swarovski crystals for added sparkle power. Funnily enough, macramé has always been knotted on a small scale in places like Italy and South America, and it doesn’t hold the same hippy-dippy connotation for the rest of the world that it has here in the US with rustic hemp knottery (read rustic to mean scratchy).

Let Them Eat Lead

2011-04-20T15:54:00.001-07:00

A few years ago I was visited by Milit-arie Antoinette who showed up only to help celebrate one of my two annual birthdays – I was born on Easter, and as Easter is a holiday based on the lunisolar calendar and rarely falls on the same date, I get to celebrate two birthdays a year, one on the actual date of my birthday and the other on Easter Sunday. Frankly I find Milit-arie a bit of an odd bird contradiction; but hey, with militant right-wing rifle power looming right there under my nose, who am I to ruffle feathers?
As you can plainly see, Milit-arie Antoinette brooks no quarter for slaggers, vagabonds and ne’er-do-wells, which is really unfortunate seeing how most of my friends are ne’er-do-wells. I had half hopes that day that she’s take a couple of pot shots at that dastardly bobcat Super Bob who was in the habit of treeing my puddy cats every time he blew through the neighborhood, but no luck for me or the puddy cats. As far as I know, Super Bob remains at large. As does Milit-arie Antoinette.

This is SuperBob, archenemy of puddy cats

How to Save the World

2011-04-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Phinneas B: How I Came Back from the Future to Save the World from Japanese Porn is the title of a new book by best-selling author Waylon Lenk. This opus in ink defies description – you just have to read it for yourself. It is HILARIOUS. If you don’t think it is the funniest, most spot-on interpretation of the current world-crisis as told by a future world-saver, you are sticking your head in the sand and pretending you were born with an intellectual handicap that won’t allow you to absorb facts. Lenk’s mastery of the socio-semiotic sci-fi genre befits this post-modern American classic; it reads as if Salmon Rushdie, Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Dave Barry collectively donated snippets of their creative DNA to formulate a hybrid monster-child. It's both funny and funny-looking.
I heard on the Grapevine while driving down to LA last week, that Paul Wendkos is tentatively scheduled to direct the film version due out next year in time for the Christmas season. I can’t wait.

Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In

2011-04-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

What is this world coming to?
Double-nosed dogs, crocheted canoes…the universe is NOT unfolding as it should.

Or is it? Has reality shifted 120 degrees out of phase? Is everything you know wrong nowadays? Contrails, chemtrails, ELFs abound. Has a preponderance of bad geomantic decisions re: skyscrapers, mining techniques and butt-ugly architecture finally done its true damage to this world? Are jackdaws strutting in peacock feathers?
Food just doesn’t taste the same. The nightly news on TV is pablum for the masses. Cellphones and microwaves disturb our sleeping patterns, and set us up for brain tumors. And, of all ungodly things, keyboards on laptops have so many bugs in them the words jump around on the screen ending up in sentences two lines above where they should be, making people think they don’t know how to type any more.
Here’s the solution: Turn off, Tune out, Drop in. Turn off your electronic devices, tune out the hyper-hype on television and go drop in on your friends to see what they’re up to. Strike up some real live human conversations. Go on, you can do it!

Keepin' Tabs on Tabi Socks

2011-04-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know what my fascination with tabi socks is all about, but I do like 'em and have bought another three pair on eBay. Invariably I give one pair away in some sort of sock swap within days of actually getting them in the mail. Now who could resist Sumo wrestlers on their tootsies? I ask you.
I love these stretch jersey ones more than the knit ones. I actually had an identical pair to these but lost the right sock. I kept meaning to take the left sock apart and make a new pair out of some lovely jersey scraps, but haven't done it yet, so I bought another pair. I'll keep the original as a pattern.
The third pair celebrate the cherry blossoms blooming right now in Washington State. Sigh. I wish I was there...

Dr. Sybil deGroot

2011-04-17T15:06:00.001-07:00

June 24th is St. John's Day and often you can find St. John's Wort blooming around here at this time of year. 7 years ago, it was on this day that my mother, Dr. Sybil G. deGroot passed away. She was 78 years old.

My mom was one of the most remarkable people you could ever meet; in her youth she had been a Rockette at the Radio City Music Hall, later she became the first woman in the U.S. to hold a Doctorate in Engineering Psychology (which is also known as Human Factors and Ergonomics).
To try to sum up her brilliant life and career in just a few sentences seems so inadequate and trite. After so many years I still can't find the words. Even what I wrote in my book isn't enough:

"Those who knew her will agree, my mother led a most remarkable life. Highly intellectual and only sometimes circumspect about it, she was a curious blend of scientist and social butterfly. Her eyes flashed sage green whether engaged in scholarly pursuit or dancing a fandango on the neighbor's coffee table. I will always miss her."

My Hero

2011-04-17T14:55:00.001-07:00

I was perusing DudeCraft's blog just now and came across a photo of my beloved Hero robot...oh how I miss him! I received a Heathkit Hero Robot kit as a Christmas gift sometime in the mid-80's (Thanks, John, wherever you are! You always gave me the coolest stuff!) and set about putting him together immediately. I think it took me 3 or 4 days to get him finished to the point where he could roll down the hallway and sing "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..." My cats hated him with feline fury and swatted angrily every time he came within range.

I finally let him go one day in early 1999 when I took him to Goodwill's to drop him off with a couple of bags of old clothes. One of the attendants was so thrilled by the prospect of owning his very own robot I said to him "Oh hey, this guy is for you -I'm giving him to you, not Goodwill."
My final memory of Hero is looking back in the car mirror and seeing that excited kid clutching him as I drove away...Miss you, little guy...

Fiction Film for Class

2011-04-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is my fiction film for class, it's titled "Invisible."

I know you'll think it's just a tad morbid...

Weird Stuff People Used to Smoke

2011-04-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

I remember the smell of clove cigarettes from highschool and college the first time around. But what about those Cocarettes?
The Cocarette cigarette, a tobacco and cocaine mixture was popular way back when. The package in the photo displays much testimony of the benefits of this concoction, suggesting that Coca neutralizes the depressing effects of nicotine in tobacco. Alrighty, then.

And what about Cubeb cigarettes? Sounds spicy, no?
Marshall's Prepared Cubeb Cigarettes (1881-1940s) was a brand so popular its sales continued until World War Two. Blosser's Cigarettes, Dr. R. Schiffmann's Asthmador Cigarettes, and Requa Cigarettes were also non-tobacco medicinal brands smoked as a treatment for asthma and other bronchial problems.
Huh.

Heavenly Herbal Combinations

2011-04-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

I am a great believer in the healing power of herbal blends (not that bogus new age pseudo-aromatherapy crap shoved up our noses daily by perky actress/models on infomercials). We respond to smells on an emotional level; an aroma can trigger a whole string of forgotten memories thanks to our olfactory nerves which are located within the nasal cavity. The area of the brain associated with smell is the same area as that associated with memory. Aromas can trigger all sorts of chemical actions and reactions within the body and because the olfactory nerves are a direct extension of the brain's limbic system, reactions to aromas are relayed immediately.

Anyway, enough ranting. here are some of my favorite mixes of essential oils:

Rosewater and Saffron
Anise and Vetiver
Rosemary and Mint
Lavender and Mint
Lavender and Orange
OakMoss and Cubeb

Tobacco Flower all by itself. Ahhh...

The Ministry of Magic Strikes Again!

2011-04-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am sooo excited! When I return to the Seattle area after this term ends I am going to go on a Mini Cooper-oriented event the first weekend of June! Return to This is Stonehenge is fast becoming a legendary annual trip for Mini owners in the Northwest. I couldn't go last year because the week before the trip a tray fell on my foot and broke a toe that hurt so much I knew I wouldn't be able to manage a 3 hour road trip. I was very sad. Here is a photo from the trip that I so wished I had been a part of.

I really enjoy going on Mini rallies; it is always so fun to see the astonished looks on drivers' faces as 40 or 50 Mini Coopers pass by them on the highway! Silly silly stuff, but whot the hell.

I also indulge in Mini sightings in Seattle and on the eastside. Whenever I see a Mini parked in a parking lot, I put one of my You've Been Spotted by the Ministry of Magic! cards on their front window. Hee hee hee!

Glitch Mob

2011-04-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztRZ34AEcY Hey you cool cats and sexy dolls, here's an interesting fusion of the electronic media that Phillip seems to be so into with street performance and actually disrupting the flow of social traffic (they even got ticketed). It's an interesting idea, and I think that Phillip's interest in disrupting "zombie" ecosystems might be well served by spilling American Decameron out into the street in Soho and blocking traffic.

Up That Sketch!

2011-04-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Faustus Vlog 1

2011-04-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Camino de Santiago and Other Pilgrimages

2011-04-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking alot about doing a pilgrimage walking along the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain maybe in a year or so. I'll only be walking the last 70 miles so I can qualify for the pilgrim's passport. I guess you could say that since the concept of doing pilgrimage is common human experience shared amongst all the major religions, it can be thought of as a Jungian archetype. It's been haunting me for a few years as something I need to do. Loreena McKennitt's Santiago

I first became aware of pilgrimages through Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; he got the idea from Boccaccio, even though the people in Boccaccio's Decameron weren't on pilgrimage, but escaping the plague in the city of Florence by hanging out at a country villa for ten days (Decameron refers to ten days).

Dream Exercises

2011-04-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've been doing guided meditations for donkeys' years so I wasn't particularly tempted by the lucid dreaming exercise proposed in class, partly because I don't have a need to dictate to my mind what to dream about, and partly because I like to let my unconscious mind come up with unexpected combinations of things. So I thought I would share a healing meditation that came to me a few weeks ago.

I was relaxing with my eyes closed, letting my mind drift along gently when I decided to focus on parts of my body that were in pain or causing me concern. As my energy shifted from one pained area to another I began to identify and call out each area: Right elbow. Back of neck. Left big toe, etc. so that I could direct healing energy towards them. Soon a vision of three rather scary men appeared in my mind's eye; they drove up to me and opened the door of a large black sedan, indicating that I was to come with them. Immediately I was afraid. As I focused my concentration on them, each man began to shrink in size until he was as only as big as an apple pip. I gathered up the three seeds and planted them in the garden at the side of the house. They immediately started growing into rose bushes and bloomed into vibrantly colored roses, unfolding again and again. It became evident to me that there was a correlation between my heart chakra and these lovely flowers, as if I was being told that while fear can settle in the heart so easily and cause us to make rash decisions based on it, it wasn't necessary to interpret my reaction to those men in that car as fear.

Somehow or another it reminded me of Joseph Campbell's take on the Bardo Thodol where one has to let go of earthly concerns, such as fear, in order to get beyond reincarnation and achieve nirvana.

Performative Space SketchUp Animation

2011-04-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here 'tis...a veritable inundation of performative goodness:

New and Improved pre-SketchUp Version!!!

2011-04-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the non-SketchUp version of my building animation! it looks exactly like what I had in my mind's eye! And I didn't even need to use SketchUp for it! Ha! Now, don't be jealous...

Funkadelic Building/City Animation from SketchUp

2011-04-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my building/city SketchUp animations:

A Canon!

2011-04-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

http://waylonlenk.blogspot.com/2011/04/coloumbes-reading-native-american.html This is a review that I wrote for Joseph L. Coulombe's new book, Reading Native American Literature. In it, he defines a potential canon of literature by Native authors. His list is: N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony Gerald Vizenor, Bearheart James Welch, Fool's Crow James Welch, Heartsong of Charging Elk Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Linda Hogan, Power This list is, to my thinking, incomplete. All of the selections are novels, with the exception of Alexie's collection of short stories. This list overlooks the outpour of poetry by Native artists, and it also overlooks my pet genre, drama. I would like to see a canon that gives a fuller picture of what Native literary artists are up to.

A Few Misconceptions

2011-04-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Laplander Ice Torture is really a misnomer. It sounds like a horrible ordeal to endure, but it isn't. It's a kind of snowcone filled with cherry red syrup, coconut and pineapple bits, rum, and chocolate. The torturous part is you can't eat just one. They're addictive. It's not the same thing as Sammi Ice Torture.The Sammis like to add stuff like birch twigs to their snowcones. Don't ask me why. Don't ask them why. No one knows. It's just one of those funky traditions from way back when.

And to clear up Waylon's assertion that I took out a third of Norway in that botched moose mission: that is an erroneous statement. It was Jose, not me who ordered it. Or Dr. Z; he orders all sorts of crazy things. All for the sake of Art, whoever that is. Scandinavia is a pretty big place, so maybe they won't notice. I'd hate to see the bill for that boo-boo, if you know what I mean.

I do take responsibility for the Badger March and the Great Hedgehog Cure. Too bad Spud still hasn't grown all his spines back yet.

Sacred Geometry and the Likes

2011-04-10T15:21:00.001-07:00

Just found this nifty little tome on The Golden Section at a second-hand store yesterday (along with a couple of books like the Penguin edition of Ibsen's Ghosts and so forth)and and I do agree with the book's cover, it is nature's greatest secret. That and sacred geometry and Harmonograph: A Visual Guide to the Mathematics of Music.

Hell, even Pythagoras knew that an oscillating string stopped halfway along its length produces an octave relative to the string's fundamental, while a ratio of 2:3 produces a perfect fifth and 3:4 produces a perfect fourth. Pythagoreans believe that all these harmonic ratios give music healing powers which can "harmonize" an out-of-balance body. No shit, Sherlock.

If you are looking for a good book covering hands-on healing may I suggest Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan? I love this book but always get the ketheric confused with the etheric. Silly me.

Oh hey, if your Bardlibido is up for it, take a look at a scene from Taming of the Shrew starring that rascal Waylon Lenk and his friend whose name was McGill, she called herself "Lil" but everyone knew her as Nancee.

Textures Video Piece

2011-04-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's a little video I slammed together this afternoon while watching epic documentaries like "Finding Jack the Ripper" and "The Botany of Desire," not to mention "DaVinci's Lost Code" and an Ancient Almanac on the Borgias. Dude, I am becoming over-educated. I was particularly inspired by daVinci, but I doubt that it's obvious or relevant to this digital opus.

Enjoy, if you can.
BTW, I figured out who Waylon Lenk is: he's that guy who was on the news recently for saving a kennel full of Rottweiler puppies from burning to death in that tragic petshop fire in El Paso. I say tragic, but really, it wasn't. No animals were hurt, but the petshop/puppymill owner was overcome with fumes, but not from that particular fire, if you know what I mean. Rat bastard! The petshop owner, not Lenk, I mean.

Fictional Film without Words

2011-04-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muO-d4Xw7SY

Who Stole My Book?

2011-04-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Shit. Somebody stole my book. It was my favorite book in the world. It was assigned to me for a class, and am I ever glad I took that class. I define my life by that book. You see, this isn't just any book. It's a fourth hand copy of The Meridian Anthology of Restoriation and 18th-Century Plays by Women. That's right, the only collection devoted entirely to female writers from that golden age of English drama. Because you can't really understand Restoration or 18th-century plays without reading those by women. Their plays are something that none of the other plays of those periods can ever aspire to be. Sure, those other plays that were written by men had the same insipid plots, caricatures in place of characters, and general boringness. But there's one thing that those plays are not - they're not plays by women. So if anybody knows who stole my Meridian Anthology, tell me so I can kick their ass in gender-non-specific way and get my favorite book back.

Paul Wendkos Does It Moondoggy Style

2011-04-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hey. My name's Paul. Paul Wendkos. And you're - could you spell that for me? A-N-N-I-K-A. Annika. My what a lovely name. So what do you do? You're a grad student? Why, the moment I layed eyes on you, I knew you had a stunning...intellect. What do I do? Are you serious? I'm Paul Wendkos! I directed the Gidget series! You know, Gidget, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Gidget Goes to Rome, Gidget Goes to Hell, Gidget Goes All the Way, Gidget Does It Moondoggy Style 1-19. You're sure you don't know who I am? Maybe you know some of my other movies: Cordoba's Cannon? I Love Women? No? What are you implying? I do love women! Although I never say so right away. I usually wait a few dates, until I propose. Hey, where are you going? Call me! Fuck.

Coming to a Bookshelf Near You!

2011-04-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Cornelius Flibbertiggibit, renowned author of Florentine Art Smugglers Who Got Implicated in a VAT Scam with What's-His-Name, is set to release his new expose on high culture's sordid underbelly, A New Expose on High Culture's Sordid Underbelly! If you liked Florentine Art Smugglers Who Got Implicated in a VAT Scam with What's-His-Name, then you'll love A New Expose on High Culture's Sordid Underbelly! It's a dynamic second installment in Flibbertiggibit's four-part trilogy Pooping With My Socks On that leaves the reader in bowel-watering anticipation for books! So come on down to your local Barnes & Noble on Monday, or maybe Tuesday, so you can be the first in line to read all about high culture's sordid underbelly! Annika de Groot will be there.

Dear Annika

2011-04-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Annika, Why would you go and blow my cover? I thought we were friends, but apparently we're not. You know why? Because a real friend wouldn't reveal my true location after I had to defect to cover her ass after she "inadvertantly" directed a drone bomber to take out a whole herd of moose. I even told you that if you did that you'd be taking out a third of Norway's population, but would you listen? No, you had to go into the Scandinavian wilderness with your guns blazing, just to prove how tough you were. And I took the heat for you. You know why? Because that's what friends do. Now I was just starting to get settled down in the Yukon, but I guess I'm going to have to move somewhere else. I'll just have to tell my friends where to write me. But I'm not going to tell you. You know why? Because you betrayed my trust, and that hurts more than Laplander ice torture. Sincerely, XXXXX

justmethr403 textures from ssk street fair

2011-04-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to go in the american decameron file...sorry

A True Mystery!

2011-04-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

I was perusing the woo-woo section of the used book shelf at a local second hand store this afternoon and came across a most interesting book: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Plays by Women edited by Katherine M. Rogers. Now this is a truly fascinating collection, but what really struck my curiosity is the previous owner of this book had crossed out the book's previous owner's name and scribed his own on an inside page. Jeez, that name sounds really familiar but I cannot place this mystery man. Where have I seen that name before? I really am cudgeling my brains about this one folks, because I know that name from somewhere. But where? Is he that Cambridge spy who defected to the Yukon over the Norwegian moose scandal a few years back? Didn't he co-author that novel about Florentine artifact smugglers who got embroiled in a VAT scam with what's his name? Or was he the director of the vintage classic motion picture movie Gidget Goes to Hell and its sequel Gidget Goes All the Way?

I am at a loss. If you know who this guy is, give me a shout. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to donate this ultra-fantastic book of restoration plays, and if you find him, tell him he can have the book back for a nominal fee. Now, I'm not talking blackmail or anything, so don't get your knickers in a twist over this matter. It's just that used book stores don't give books out for free, especially ones that have been autographed by famous people.

Theocentricity and/or Where the Hell Am I?

2011-04-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

Some where back in time, mapmakers shifted from creating mappaemundi - visual representations of the world with Jerusalem at the center, to portolans, which showed sailing routes between ports of call. "The medieval mappaemundi (world maps in the Christian tradition) are the cosmographies of thinking landsmen. By contrast, the portolan charts preserve the Mediterranean sailors firsthand experience of their own sea, as well as their expanding knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean," says Tony Campbell, Map Librarian for the British Map Library.

To see the differences, take a look at this cool example of a mappamunde DIE EBSTORFER WELTKARTE . Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home.

I think there comes a time when you've got to stop thinking so much about where God lived on earth and start focusing on where you're going next. Take a look at this
portolan from 1489 to get your bearings. Portolans were used onboard to plan voyages. Captains, owners, investors and the like used them to determine sailing routes, figure out the best times to voyage hither and yon, locate ports of interest for trading and find places to stop in at if the ship needed repair. To quote Ralph Helverson, "A ship is safe in a harbor; but that is not what a ship is for."
Same goes for portolani.

Oak

2011-04-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Birch

2011-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Cedar

2011-04-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Softball

2011-04-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Grass

2011-04-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Chives

2011-04-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Pine

2011-04-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Daffodil

2011-04-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Rose

2011-04-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Fire Marshal

2011-04-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

Round 5 with the Fire Marshall

No one likes being in trouble...

That's how i've grown up. As a child, you never want to get in trouble. You are terrified at the prospect of trouble. Trouble means having thing taken away. Trouble means yelling. Trouble means changes in tone and inflection. Trouble means scolding and becoming even more "inferior". My whole life has been spent trying to avoid or stay out of it.

The other day I got wind that the Fire Marshal was once again snooping around in my studio. Not only that, but he made a lengthy write up that got distributed to a handful of "higher ups"

This is the 5th time that I've had a fire safety related "issue" in the past 2 years. One would immediately think that I was "asking for it," or that I just didn't learn. That's one possibility. But I would like to think that I consistently try to be compliant, but just end up failing in a different area.

"You can't do this..."

Ok, so I guess i'll just do "that" instead.

"Nope. Can't do that."

Ok, then maybe if I make these...

"Those are no good either. And now you're on our radar"

Well there can't be anything wrong now?...

"Except for 4 more things..."

So I had a meeting with the Fire Marshal posse. Large dudes. I suppose they meant "business," I guess you have to be somewhat burly to be in the fire business. But like most people in authority - whether they are teachers, police or firemen, I knew that they were only trying to do their job.

Their job is to save lives and properties at all cost.

My job is to make art, at as much of a cost as I can afford.

The meeting went well and we came to a common reasoning on all of the issues. I had to make many concessions, but hey.... it's their property, and domain.

What had me more upset is the scare tactics that I was hit with right after the initial inspection. A letter from my department - threatening all of the worse. Removal of my studio privileges, fines, and the possible termination of the program. What a way to start of the weekend....

Again... I hate being in trouble.

I hope that this is my last Fire Marshaley encounter. But I say that every time.

I'm going to go try some new "this" now.... and see how it goes.

Bring on the dream control...

2011-04-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a video I made to try and hone in on the powers of controlling your dreams.

The Mowing Devil and the Pig-faced Lady

2011-04-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of urban mythology and conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, I am not paranoid enough to believe in them whole heartedly; for me such paranoia borders on
extreme egotism.
Long before the 20th century crop circle fad, an English woodcut pamphlet published in 1678, told of a Hartfordshire farmer who refused to pay to have a field mowed by
a local laborer. The farmer said he'd rather have the Devil mow his field than pay the high price demanded by the field laborer. Well, lo and behold, that night his field appeared to be all aflame. In the morning the famer found his field was mowed alright, but in circles. The pamphlet written about the Mowing Devil is one of the first recorded instances of British crop circles.

Fast forward to 2009:
In Tasmania,a government official puts crops circles down to the antics of stoned wallabees. Lara Giddings, the attorney general of Tasmania, said "We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles. Then they crash..." Australia is responsible for over 50 percent of the world's legal opium grown for medical usage.

The Pig-faced Lady was a urban myth circulated in Georgian times, but it actually originated in the 1630's. In the early 1800's, it was rumored in Dublin that Griselda Steevens, an 18th century woman known for her philanthropy, had become a recluse to hide her pig-like face. In 1814 London another rumor swept through high society claiming a pig-faced lady was alive and well in Marylebone. Several portaits of her were published and the myth perpetuated so far as to have impresarios exhibiting pig-faced ladies at local fairs.
However, these pig-faced ladies weren't real women but shaven bears dressed up in frocks.

Can These Dots Find Connection?

2011-04-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you are familiar with Italo Calvino's 1973 novel "The Castle of Crossed Destinies" (Il castello dei destini incrociati). It's the story of several travelers who meet at a castle for a night. They cannot use their voices to communicate, so they tell their stories to eachother through decks of Tarot cards. Somewhat like the Richard Wilhelm translation of the "I Ching," which has a couple of different versions of the Book of Changes within it, Calvino's story is told with two different decks, the Visconti pack and the Tarot of Marseilles.(On a slightly non-sequitur note, in Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell," Childermass creates his own version of the Marseilles deck on the backs of receipts, business cards and the like, and teaches himself to read Tarot.) Calvino's book explores how meaning is created and how events can be interpreted through words and symbolic imagery like tarot cards. And like Tarot cards, Calvino's work can be read on many levels, achieving different intepretations to suit the mindset of the reader.

Calvino's "Castle of Crossed Destinies was influenced by Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" which was in turn inspired Boccaccio's "Decameron." Boccaccio was familiar with numerology systems like isopsephy and featured it in his "Decameron." Isopsephy is the ancient practice of assigning numerical values to words and adding the numbers up to discover the number the word represents. In Hebrew, its correlation is Gematria, which uses the Hebrew alphabet. Scientific theories are sometimes labeled numerology if their inspiration appears to be a set of patterns, like atomic triads (which denote elements mostly in the same group or column of the periodic table).
Many alchemical theories also closely related to numerology...I wonder if any of this can be used in American Decameron...

Miscellaneous Ramblings and Catching Up

2011-04-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in more of a reading mood than a writing mood today. I've just started Salman Rushdie's "The Enchantress of Florence" and just finished Kelly Link's "Magic for Beginners." On my MP3 player is Ken Robinson's "The Element." I listen to it when I'm waiting for a theater performance to begin or sitting in a $tarbuck$ knitting my funkadelic stripey tabi socks. I've just dropped the Ministry of Magic's Mini Cooper off at the dealership and am awaiting a call from them concerning the yellow engine light that came on the other day.
I live in a portion of the world where I'd be lost without my car. In less than two months I will be driving back across the fly-over states to Washington State where I normally live when I'm not gallavanting off to Europe or the East Coast. I like road trips. The one to get back home is a little over 3,000 miles.
I have other reasons for leaving, but one is I cannot afford to continue my degree at Stony Brook. Even with a stipend and scholarship, living in this area is simply too expensive for me. I just don't want to go any further into de.bt right now. So I will continue my education piecemeal, a year here a year there, paying off debt and saving money in between bouts at university.
One thing I notice about SBU is that the cafeterias and snack shops seem to be run by outside interests who gouge students with their high prices. The sad thing is, the students just keep racking up more and more debt over staples like food and supplies and books. Kids who live on campus and have little access to shops in the area are cash cows for those outside interests. Perhaps that has always been the case and I am completely out of the loop. Is it all worth it, I wonder? Since the 60's we've treated college as 13th grade, complete with remedial writing, maths and sciences courses many newcomers expect they'll have to take because they didn't learn those subjects in high school with any sort of proficiency. If they are still playing catch up, how can we prepare them for the real world?

Architectural Fish & Chips from Posh Nosh

2011-04-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

This series of snippets of a snobby foodie couple always makes me laugh. They deconstruct fish & chips to resurrect them as Architect's Fish & Chips, complete with architect's model.

I love the nonsense cooking terms they've come up with: "Embarass the vegetables, pop them into hot boiling water for 4 minutes, no more or they'll get scared!" and
"What Mummy would have called a vile little hussy!"

You Are Not A Gadget - But You're Really Such A Tool!

2011-04-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Before Facebook came along, we used Yahoo Groups, Ning, email and database-driven websites that catered to specific interest groups. Before that, we had bulletin boards and CompuServe, Adelphi and AOL. Before that, we used telephones, wrote letters and hung out at bars and pubs to encourage and commiserate.

Since Facebook and the onset of teeny tiny handheld devices, we've boxed ourselves in to viewing life through miniscule windows that peer out onto the world. Facebook and texting are the new & improved opiate of the masses. With the inky winky windows comes the necessity for acronyms, since real words are too big for this tiny world. BRB. LOL. OMG. ADHD. ADHD is key; it names an inability to focus on one thing at a time. Kind of like not being able to turn off your ability to multitask; becoming unable to resist the magnetic attraction to the world in a box. BTW, there's an old word for this new syndrome: addiction.

We forego real conversations for truncated messages on our tiny screens. For all the influx of information, our world gets smaller and smaller. We develop a co-dependency on Facebook as if it is the only conduit to our network of friends. We spew out cryptic messages in hopes of sympathy or instant popularity. We have to invent personas, facades that show us at our wittiest, cleverest, archetypic best.

For me, Facebook has become a tool of absolution. I get contacted by people from my past who want to apologize for insulting me 30 years ago. It's been on their minds for a long long time and now they want absolution, forgivenness for past transgressions. I'm okay with that. Even though I have no clue what they're talking about I forgive them for whatever it was they did that's been bothering them. So Facebook does have a purpose in my life. How about you?

Dream Vlog 1

2011-03-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

DWM vs. Native theater

2011-03-29T07:38:00.001-07:00

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

2011-03-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

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.