Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Godspeed Rider Show

My first full gallery show in Los Angeles!
Be sure to come by if you are in the area!
I'll be showing paintings and work from my art books and travel journals!

Monday, October 22, 2012

anonymous



I am reminded why it is good to see documentaries in Los Angeles; half the time the filmmakers live here and are in the audience and half the audience is in the film or was working on it. Such was the case this weekend when we checked out this outstanding new doc,We Are Legion. Writer/directer, Brian Knappenberger was answering questions and we happened to be sitting next to the film's editor.  

If you are at all interested in anthropology, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, politics, activism, or power to the people, or even cheap laughs, check it out, by nature of the content they have uploaded a version to youtube already.     

What's it about exactly? Well, the film chronicles the pretty incredible way disorganized internet users  coalesced into the political movement called Anonymous, which is closely tied to and overlaps with the Occupy Movement.

 < Computer Hacking + Activism = Hacktivism >


Documentaries like this are fascinating to watch because this is not ancient history, in fact the filmmaker was saying that he was literally updating the film as they were editing in the previous weeks. Major developments are happening, one of the Anonymous leaders admitted to being an FBI informant, some of the hackers are on trial, there is still civil unrest in the Middle East. This is an evolving movement that we are watching real time. To have a reflection on how this all started so early in the game is immediate gratification, like watching 100 hours of news feed condensed into one entertaining and important story.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

I had to post this because I think her views on this are so inspiring.

The original picture was of a Sikh woman with facial hair, taken by someone on an online forum for laughs. A friend told the woman, Balpreet Kaur, that the picture was all over the internet. Balpreet decided to get online and respond. Here's what she wrote:
"Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. I actually didn't know about this until one of my friends told on facebook. If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled However, I’m not embarrassed or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positive] that this picture is getting because, it’s who I am. Yes, I’m a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body – it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying ‘mine, mine’ and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a separateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn’t important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello. I appreciate all of the comments here, both positive and less positive because I’ve gotten a better understanding of myself and others from this. Also, the yoga pants are quite comfortable and the Better Together tshirt is actually from Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that focuses on storytelling and engagement between different faiths. I hope this explains everything a bit more, and I apologize for causing such confusion and uttering anything that hurt anyone."
The original poster obviously learned something. He came back and apologized.

Monday, October 8, 2012

bottom feeding is good


The word foraging always made me think of vultures and bottom feeders, but I have a new appreciation. We went out to the woods with a survivalist over the weekend and brought back enough edible things to make a gigantic salad. These are my notes and this is the salad.


Some of the ingredients include: Prickly Lettuce, Chickweed, Oxalis, Willow Herb, Watercress, Black Nightshade, Sow Thistle,  Scarlet Monkey Flowers, Mint, Curly Dock, and Nut Grass.

Only drawback was the worms. They kept popping up everywhere.