Now for something uplifting!

China's amazing pollution and its heart wrenching effects on the areas' people.

THE MEANING OF HERE

"The meaning of the word 'here' contains the meaning of oneself."
—George Oppen

PARKING DAY

So Parking day is about comandeering parking spaces and turning them into parks! If we did this can you imagine the awesomely creative parks that would come out of it?

check eet owt

Map of Space Exploration

A gorgeous map of space exploration seen on this blog: http://wanderingspace.net, an excellent blog about space. The original map is from National Geographic.

Wonderfully Goofy Traveling Orchestra

JUSTE POUR RIRE, "L'orchestre d'hommes-orchestres", Montréal 2009

Guaranteed to make you smile.

It Might Get Loud

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/itmightgetloud/

Students launch camera to edge of space, snap pics of Earth

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/21/space.camera.icarus.ireport/index.html

protestin

Also, if you haven't heard the CIA is recruiting tomorrow at Gateway at 1 and I think thats some bull shit.  So we're protesting! Come out and enjoy some good ol' fashion picketing. 

"In spite of the official suspension of police assistance between 1974 and 1985, CIA and other U.S . officials worked with Salvadoran security forces throughout the restricted period to centralize and modernize surveillance, to continue training, and to fund key players in the death squad network.

Even though the U.S. government's police training program had been thoroughly discredited, the Reagan administration found other channels through which to reinstate police assistance for El Salvador and Honduras. Attached to this assistance is the requirement that the president certify that aid recipients do not engage in torture, political persecution, or assassination. Even so, certain members of Congress showed concern over the reinstatement of police aid to repressive regimes. In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Senator Claiborne Pell (Dem.-Rhode Island) asked, "I was talking about cattle prods specifically. Would they be included or not?"' more here

One of many many many reasons Hugo Chaves may have given Obama this book...

"Oh just like domestic politics or different regime issues... you know like coup de tats and dictator installment type things."

cameras cameras everywhere

Click to enlarge

Random live webcams from the Net

AND ANOTHER

Chlorophyll is the substance which makes green plants green. The chlorophyll molecule has the unique capacity to convert the energy of the sun into chemical energy (through photosynthesis), which the plant uses to make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, and as a byproduct, furnish the earth with oxygen.

Ultimately, all living things—plant and animal—derive their energy, and therefore their life, from solar energy through photosynthesis.

Hemoglobin is the substance in human blood that carries oxygen from the lungs to the other tissues and cells of the body.

SPACE/PLACE WHICH IS WHICH

One is Hamburg, 1850...guess what the other is....

Bunnyproject

Cute and scandalous!

 http://www.connyblom.com/bunnyproject.html

Map of Tropical Typhoons

Map of all tropical typhoon storms originating over the Pacific Ocean between 1980 and 2000. The vertical line on the right side of the image is the International Date Line.

DECLARE INTERDEPENDENCE

This is an open experiment.
A putting in words of what is already in the air.
The more this declaration is being read, thought or spoken out, the more its energy will manifest in our world and in our society.
If what is written here resonates with you, make it your statement.
Find ways to read it, share it and put it into action.

DECLARATION OF CULTURAL REVOLUTIONARIES 2009
_live, act, work with and not against nature
_know that life is too complex to understand it intellectually
_build and support local, self-governed economies
_value and safe-guard diversity of all kind
_value interdependence, since they know that nothing is separate
_regard themselves as equal to all life forms
_protect and support life
_love and support children unconditionally
_work on themselves towards greater awareness
_know about ecological principles and integrate them into their lifes
_see music and dance as an integral part of their expression and communication
_live on an animate earth and regard it as sacred
_know how to grow their own food
_appreciate their sensory awareness
_celebrate life
_cooperate
_make the shift from thinking ‘either, or’ to thinking ‘as well, as’
_share their knowledge
_understand and integrate process as a way of being
_are not identified with their body, thoughts or emotions
_see the mind as a tool
_realize that there is no right or wrong
_are not identified with any social tag, their past or their future
_are aware that the very essence of who they are is life itself
_take responsibility for their emotions
_are aware of and value their relationships to their living and seemingly non-living surroundings
_value and integrate the wisdom of women
_value and integrate the wisdom of indigenous cultures
_value generalist knowledge
_are aware of change as one of the core principles of evolution
_work towards diversification and decentralization
_engage in and create bonds to the place where they live
_turn from dependent consumers to responsible producers
_are looking for ways so that their interests and talents may unfold
_have the courage to resist and disobey laws that render self-rule, self-provisioning, and self-sustenance illegal
_are informed about the current money system and identify it as a contemporary form of enslavement
_identify and boycott biological, cultural, social and philosophical monocultures
_boycott monopolies of any kind
_question everyone who promotes one solution
_value environmental and human ethics over profit maximization
_boycott corporations and banks operating for profit maximization
_reclaim land and forests as common good
_reclaim water as common good
_reclaim biodiversity and knowledge as common good
_are aware that they participate in the process of co-creation at all time
_allow life to unfold through them

Berlin, 03/2009
Cultural Revolutionaries and The Declaration of Cultural Revolutionaries in 2009
created and stated by www.art-ecology-education.org

Litter in Baltimore

PSA
February 10, 2009 (Baltimore, Md.)—Planit will host Mayor Sheila Dixon and partners in the Initiative for a Cleaner Greener Baltimore in a private reception on February 11th to unveil two 30 second TV public service announcements aimed at stopping Baltimore residents from littering. The two spots, entitled “Butts” and “Paper Cups,” depict trash “vigilantes” who publicly call attention to “casual litterers,” in order to make viewers aware that even seemingly small, inconsequential pieces of trash are a big part of a growing trash problem.

Planit, a strategically driven marketing and communications agency, produced the spots as part of the $2 million Cleaner Greener Baltimore initiative, which began in Spring 2007. The Cleaner Greener Baltimore campaign is intended to change the public’s perception of littering and the behaviors that contribute to litter problems. The campaign has also included advertisements placed on city trash trucks and city-owned trash receptacles.

“The message, ‘Don’t make excuses, make a difference,’ is hard-hitting and confrontational. And that works really well here” says Planit President Matt Doud. “The goal isn’t just to tell people not to litter, but to empower them to call other people out when they see them doing it, even if it’s something that seems insignificant like a paper cup or a cigarette butt.”

The two spots will begin airing on February 16th on WBAL, the media partner for the Cleaner Greener Baltimore initiative.

The Cost of Litter no wonder there's so much litter, apparently one trash can costs $500 ???

BQE

Part of Sufjan Stevens' BQE video project

ballen

Finding a Diamond in the Middle of a Muddy Road

Above: Bushwick Creek, represented in the 1839 S.Stiles, Sherman & Smith Map of Brooklyn and Williamsburg.
Below: Google Earth images of Bushwick Inlet, and surrounding area in 2009.
Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist, Eve Andrée Laramée is seeking a team of volunteers to work collectively on a project on dowsing for water in Brooklyn. This experimental project titled, Finding a Diamond in the Middle of a Muddy Road, will be conducted with a skeptical eye, yet an open mind, and will involve mapping the Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Brooklyn area using sets of dowsing rods and a GPS unit. The intention is to examine how the information recorded through the procedure of dowsing (also known as water divining or water-witching) compares/correlates to historical maps of the springs, creeks and streams that existed near Bushwick Creek, now known as Bushwick Inlet, prior to the urban concrete strata now covering it.

If you would like to be a part of this project, please contact the artist at: wander at earthlink dot net
Participants will receive a set of dowsing rods to keep.

A blog has been set up for the project, and more information will be posted on it:
http://brooklyn-water.blogspot.com

Luxury Condos and the Rest: The Making of Place

Luxury Condos, and the rest
The Making of a Place

“Time forks perpetually towards innumerable futures,” wrote Jorge Luis Borges in his short story, “The Garden of the Forking Paths.” Considering the range of futures from sustainability to dissolution, Woven Spaces, a local not-for-profit arts initiative, encourages artists to conceive of multiple possible worlds from within their local community. This is the central concept behind “Luxury Condos, and the rest” an exhibition that imagines the landscape of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg of tomorrow by the talented local artists of today.
Woven Spaces, in preparation for the exhibition, is pulling together visual artists, architects, filmmakers, dancers, and performance artists who have lived in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area for at least three years, to respond to the challenge of dreaming up where the community is headed. Each artist is invited to predict the future of this place, reflecting, evaluating, or dreaming up directions. The artist’s paths are innumerable: from Utopian to apocalyptic or surrealistic, to comical or satirical. Whether re-conceiving the urbanism of high-rise luxury architecture set beside industrial abandonment, avenues closed to traffic and covered in grass, or a complete replacement of what is here by new infrastructures and socio-economic groups; we welcome all visions.
During the course of the economic downturn, Woven Spaces identified artists’ concerns over exhibition space for more experimental forms of presentation and varied financial support for the arts. We are encouraging viewings and events in non-traditional spaces and are working to secure industrial interiors, storefronts, rooftops, streetscapes and the riverfront areas. We believe interconnectivity with the various sectors of community will expand audiences, and foster new communicative and creative relationships that enjoy and support the arts.
The first exhibition of the series will be held over three consecutive Saturdays in October of 2009 in Greenpoint’s Transmitter Park, as well as interior spaces yet to be confirmed. In May and October of 2010 we will hold the second and third exhibitions. The programs include film, video, performance, painting, and various types of mixed media and installation. We envision a series of panel discussions with artists, art professionals, and community activists alongside the exhibitions. The events are free and open to the public, and will be thoroughly publicized through local publications, email blasts, and using on line resources. The artists are selected through our own curatorial scouting and local gallery recommendations. We are also reviewing work through open submission calls, listed in the Brooklyn Arts Council and Woven Spaces websites.

Luxury Condos, and the rest: October 3rd Program
Transmitter Park, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, starting at 4pm.

5:30 pm – Artist Eve Andree Laramee, presentation on freshwater springs feeding Newtown and Bushwick Creeks – introducing larger project for Spring 2010
5:45 pm – Architects Evangeline Dennie & Kubi Ackermann, presentation on rooftop farming, green construction and urban ecosystems.
Ongoing art installations by Cris Dam and Ethan Pettit

6pm – 8 pm

Opening Reception
Music by Slim Francis and James Catholic & the Sects
Wine sold by OSA
8 pm – 9 pm

Films: Keith Rodan, Jonas Mekas, Angela Christlieb, Elle Burchill, Moira Tierney, Jim Jennings, and Sara Kraushaar. (Dress warm and bring a blanket!)
After party – River Barrel Cafe, 160 Franklin Street. (Joining new Greenpoint artists alliance.) After after party – Coco 66, 66 Greenpoint Avenue.


Saturday October 10th – Transmitter Park, starting at 4 pm

I. “The Pod” – an installation by Vamos Architects

II. 6 pm – t.b.d. Bar and Lounge, 224 Franklin Street. Debut of ongoing video screenings by Keith Rodan (waterfront footage and more). Screening schedule: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 5-9 pm, until October 30th.

III. After party 6 – 8 pm.


Luxury Condos, and the rest
The Making of a Place

Starting in Fall of 2009, Woven Spaces will be curating a three-part exhibition pulling together artists, architects, filmmakers, and performance artists who have lived in Greenpoint/Williamsburg for at least three years. Luxury Condos, and the rest; The Making of a Place will include a range of works from historical documentation, to reactive, redesigned, or reimagined – covering structural, natural, and recreational geographical aspects of the neighborhoods. The works will be presented within the traditional gallery setting, raw industrial interiors and open space venues.

Cal Lane Lecture, Weds Oct 7 at 7pm

spook

IRA GLASS ON STORYTELLING: PODCAST TUTORIAL

<3 Ira Glass

LANDMARK-Thomas Merton-Louisville, KY

"In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness. The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream...There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun....

I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each on is in God's eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all of the time."

From T. Merton's book, "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander."

The landmark designation was installed at the corner of 4th and Walnut in 2008

Rethinking education.

What is our place?

"When improvisation, imagination, and resourcefulness are key, artists at long last, take their place at the table, when strategies of action are in the process of being designed."