Papiroflexia - zell777

god bless user generated content.

in love,
ge

i love comments!

hello friends! some kind people informed me that they were having trouble posting comments on the site....so i fixed it! post away! i always intended for this site to be a conversation, a way for us to take the isolation of the internet-world and spin it on its head, co-creating a "place" for nourishment, transformation, and community...and fun!

in love,
ge

Tim and Eric Awesome Show! Great Job!

ok, sometimes tim and eric is offensive. sometimes it is really weird.

other times, it is so funny that my life actually gets better while i watch it. here are three of my favorite clips. enjoy!

in love,
ge.

Liberation Ecology - Frances Moore Lappe

this is so awesome. frances moore lappe also happens to be an earlham grad! go quake!

this is taken from the midwest social forum.

i really hope that we figure out how to co-create a culture of life...

in love,
greg

Muto - Blu

well, thus far, this is the only video about which i can safely say, "i have never seen anything like this."

although it is not particularly uplifting or discernible, it is unbelievably creative and radical. art for everyone! i loved watching it from start to finish. who knows what's going to happen next?!?

thanks john!


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Alex Fals, aka "Alf"

i have known alex since he was 11...or maybe 10. i can't remember. i was his camp counselor. then we worked together at that same camp. he is a great dude, always seeking, always searching, always growing. it has been a blessing to be his friend all this time. and now he's an amazing songwriter! that's so cool! i believe that all three of these songs are originals. they were all recorded really recently in columbia. he is there visiting his family.

it's really great to know so many incredible people.

in love,
ge

Fire Breathing Fish - Brandon Guy Smith

brandon smith is my brother. we've known each other since the fourth grade. no matter how much time might pass between conversations or visits, he's still my brother. and he blows glass! how cool is that!?! although this video is sped up a bit, it really only takes him about 15 minutes to make a glass fish like this one.

that's pretty awesome.

RR vs. D - Au

ok team, this is one of my favorite new bands, Au. this video is so beautiful to watch. i love the spinning tops!

Seasonal Favorites!

happy winter solstice! you just might celebrate it as christmas, but in fact, christmas was moved to dec. 25 to overshadow the pagan celebration of the winter solstice! bring the green inside! (christmas tree) light up the night! (christmas tree lights) sacrifice a pig! (ham dinner) put up a wreath! (good luck for a healthy year) wahoo! but for those of you who might have sentimental seasonal memories, here are mine!

ok, so clearly this is not on everyone's list of favorites because my friend kara just ran out of the room due to the fact that the snowman melts at the end of this cartoon and brings up bad memories. maybe a lesson on impermanence is a little heavy for a christmas classic, but remember, this is only after a snowman dance party in the woods hosted by santa!

p.s. kara just threatened to boycott my blog due to my insistence on including this video in today's post. for the record, you can stop watching the video after the snowman dance party if you want to skip the sad ending. and if this video makes you as sad as kara, be sure to watch the next three.



scrooged is my favorite christmas movie of all time! this is the ending. some important back information so you know what's going on: bill murray is scrooge and a tv executive. he just figured it out. then, dance party/sing-a-long!



adam sandler's chanukah song...what a success! i have always loved this song, and i am pretty sure that most of my friend's my age know all the words. i wish there were more awesome chanukah themed youtube videos, but they seem to be in short supply. i guess that's because it is not one of the most important jewish holidays...but send me some if you know some!



the last part of "how the grinch stole christmas"! awesome!



and to top it all off, a little commercial for "buy nothing day"! R.I.P. Demore, the wal-mart employee who got trampled.



have a wonderful day! and happy holidays! however you spend them!

in love,
ge

Ubuntu and The People's Grocery - The Global Oneness Project

these videos are so good, i had to post them as soon as i saw them. who has heard of this organization? i never have. i don't know much about them, and i'm sure they're not perfect, but these are some beautiful short films. they are well-shot, powerful, and important. we hardly ever see the radical actions of others. we hardly ever see images of African peoples that are not of genocide, poverty, and political tyranny. the images we take in really impact us. i know that they have impacted me.

someone once said to me, "people love what they know about." the example was that people won't love nature unless they know more about it. but i think maybe people also love what they feel connected to. i don't know the names of all the trees or flowers, but i love them because i feel connected to them. i understand the importance of their life and their place in the universe. so, maybe connection or knowledge can come first. maybe one creates the possibility of the other.

but what happens when neither thing happens, when we don't know about something or someone and we don't feel connected to it or them? and what happens when that shifts, and all of a sudden something is on our radar that never was before? and how does that shift? just some thoughts and questions....what are yours?

the first one is about ubuntu, and it is filmed in South Africa, and the second one is about a food justice project in Oakland, CA called, The People's Grocery.

www.globalonenessproject.com

in love,
ge

The Common Fire Foundation! and Climbing Poetree!

so, this is going to be a two part post. this part is about the common fire foundation, started by jeff and kavitha in the hudson valley! (i helped!) jeff and kavitha are really amazing people, and i've been bumming recently that i haven't seen or talked to them in a while. they work so hard to contribute to the world in radical, creative ways, and i am blessed to know them. this video was shot maybe three years ago now, and if you look close enough....you can see me in the background of some of the shots! the footage is primarily from the grand opening ceremony for their super-green co-op building. the event was really fun and joyful. and they got julia butterfly hill and climbing poetree! how cool is that?

i love you, jeff and kavitha. i hope you are well. samiha too!



so, the second part of this post is about climbing poetree. after watching the previous video, you're probably asking yourself, "oh my god, who is climbing poetree? they are amazing." and i am here to reply that they are in fact amazing. i actually found that common fire video looking for videos that featured them (teehee). my friend anna just saw them perform and was blown away by them, which reminded that they are incredible.

i think that what is particularly powerful about the previous common fire video and the following two videos featuring climbing poetree is that both are examples of what is possible. in jeff and kavitha, we have two people who created a non-profit and coordinated the creation of the greenest building in the east, an accomplishment so big that they constantly had to remind people of their long-term commitments to social justice, camps, retreats, etc. and in alixa and naima, we have two women who have decided to let their lives be their vision, who have decided to speak out for justice, who have decided to create radical, transformative art, and who have decided to be alive for the sake of awakening the consciousness and collective power of the masses. not to mention that all of them are so much more than the sum total of these words...

whoah...and can i just say how amazing the poem in the second video is? i just got chills...it reminds me that i gotta start doing some shit. seriously.

thank you. thank you. thank you.

as my mentor trayce says, "you're allowed to shine."

www.commonfire.org
www.climbingpoetree.com

Gene Kelly

My friend, Louis, first introduced me to Gene Kelly. I had only ever heard his name, never watching the dances I knew he was famous for. Then I watched the first clip with Louis at his apartment and was stunned. Besides the fact that his dancing is incredible, he has this way of dancing that is both graceful and strong, light and direct. His mastery is beyond the sum total of his dance moves. He makes me want to dance! And in the second clip, he tap dances on roller skates! Roller skates! And he's just so handsome!

Enjoy!

ge.

Lata Mangeshkar

enjoy!

i love you.

ge.

Dare - Stan Bush from the Original Transformers Movie

whoah. this song is so good, i don't even know what to say...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Animation by Seth Brau

this is pretty awesome. i have always had a hard time with the notion of "property," but this is a beautiful document. and one cool looking film.

Validation - A Movie By Kurt Kuenne

wow. this might be in contention for my favorite internet movie of all time. words cannot express. i just teared up watching it. be warned, it is 16 minutes long. but it is worth it.

thanks, isaak!

Locusts (Docu-Music-Video) - Invincible and Finale

i made may way to this through the youth program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. they have co-organized a tour called, Drop Beats Not Bombs, for a few years now, and Invincible was on the most recent tour. The nonviolence and anti-oppression training that comes out of the same program, called the Peacemaker Training Institute, has been so very important to me for six years. some of the most amazing people i have ever met were through PTI, and i am so thankful that many of them are still in my life today. isaak, alejandra, kavitha, maryrose, cesar, hayden, hawah, anna, elandria...all of you (plus so many un-named!) are amazing in so many different ways.

this video is very powerful and effective. contemporary cities are battle grounds, colonized land, where city governments, real estate companies, multinational corporations, and educational institutions purchase neighborhoods and remake them as they see fit. this was really evident in nyc, where "williamsburg" continues to grow eastward, taking over neighborhoods predominantly populated by people of color, and turning them into condominium play-lands, first for young white people, who don't mind living in slightly more "dangerous" and "cheap" neighborhoods, then for the businesses and "life-style" enthusiasts that follow them looking for the next "hot spot." meanwhile, the people who were already living there are forced to relocate further and further out or find some other way to stay and make ends meet, provided they are allowed to stay. this is just one example. we forget that this happened to manhattan as well.

it doesn't sound like this is exactly what is going on in Detroit, but it is the same dish with a different flavor. as i think about where to settle down, i flounder trying to find a place that does not already feel taken over. there are some really beautiful examples in this film of how people can reclaim abandoned spaces and turn them into spaces that exist for the community. not to mention some really, really good hip-hop!

i hope the tour went well!



oh, and p.s. -

invincible is amazing! here is her music video for "Sledgehammers."

Murder in the City - The Avett Brothers

holy moly. the avett brothers. what can be said about the avett brothers? i stumbled upon them one night playing in a small bar in tivoli, ny. i had never heard of them. had no idea what to expect. i came in about 2/3 of the way through the show. and the last third was unlike anything i had ever seen. they played from their toes to their eyebrows, giving everything they had into those microphones. they screamed and sang harmony better than anyone i had ever heard. they expressed emotions of love and passion that so few capture. and at the end of the show, a 3 hour show by all accounts, they came into the audience, shook everyone's hands, and thanked them for coming. i was very thankful indeed.

and now they're famous, just signed with american, rick rubin's columbia label. we'll see what happens, but at this point, it's safe to say that they are making some of the most honest, passionate, and beautiful music out there today. thanks for being honest, loyal, and true, dear avetts. may you continue on to even more beauty and expression.

Coded Language - Saul Williams

i needed to get into a poetry writing mood, so i found this little gem. although i've been having mixed feelings about saul williams recently, i.e. his nike endorsement and sub par album release, it cannot be said that he is asleep. i had the blessing to meet saul, and i asked him, "how can you be so sure that revolution is coming?" to which he replied, "have you ever read the tao te ching?" to which i replied, "yeah, a while ago." to which he replied, "maybe you should read it again."

we are the equivalent of three buckets of water and a hand full of minerals.

the last two minutes and twenty seconds is the best part.

where do you find transcendence? or rather, where do you transcend dance?

The Life Aquatic & Sigur Ros

the best scene in the best movie.

Tracy Chapman - Talking About a Revolution

who doesn't love this song? it's been a little while since i posted a music video/performance. powerful stuff.

i hope you are well.

in love,
ge