Last night we had an FLG fundraising party. (invites at various spots: 1, 2 , 3). It was a great success! I was out til 4am helping and partying :-)
SWARM is coming along. There’s a LOT of work to be done yet. I’ve got to weld orbs together (I’m getting to be a good aluminum TIG welder!), put battery systems together, buy some stuff (shopping for electronics can take an unhappily long amount of time), and help do choreography for the art. So far, we’ve been focusing on the HOW it works, not the WHAT it does; the orbs have sound, lights and motion. We’ve got to get some choreography action going!
On Saturday Richard Hart interviewed Michael, Jon and myself at the BoxShop, presumably for a new version of the Discovery Channel’s TV show “The Next Step”. He said that the episode might be out in a month or so. It’s kind of funny… I’m sure I’ll appear as the “brawn” in the piece. They got video of me grinding and welding. Jon is the geek and Michael the fearless leader and visionary. We’ll see. :-)
Charlotte made it on an internet television show before I made it to TV… There’s an internet television show (yes, real “internet television”… groovy) that did a piece about the Fire Arts Festival. Among other things, they talk about all the art at the show. And at the end of the show, they do an interview with Charlotte about the Serpent Mother and show her off!
That’s it. That’s the whole story… Just “Bioethicists Concerned”. They’re always concerned about something, aren’t they? Man, I want to be a bioethicist. That must be some easy money. What do they do besides be concerned?
In addition to the workshop, that I am giving this Saturday, I am starting a dance group in the Mission–join us, just bring your desire to dance! No experience necessary! Want more info?
email me (write dance in the subject line)
“Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances.” – Maya Angelou
“Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education: dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?”
“We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” Kisa
“There are two ways to live — one as if nothing is a miracle, the other is as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein
I had a little discussion with someone at my new job a few days ago. We were talking about how “obviously successful” the Got Milk ads have been. I recalled mention that they generated a lot of recognition but not so much in the get-people-to-drink-milk category. I did some homework and was amazed to find out how true that is.
It would appear that the $20 million+ per year Got Milk ad campaign has pretty solidly failed. It is called the “Milkpep” program and it started in 1995. Take a look at the chart to the right to see how effective the program has been. There was a blip the year after the program started but per-capita and total sales of fluid milk have continued to fall pretty much continuously since it’s inception. Notably, the rate of change of per-capita consumption hasn’t changed. In other words, it’s very hard for them to say “Well, people would have been drinking even less milk if it weren’t for the ads.”
I found this information in the Dairy Facts Book 2006, put out by the International Dairy Foods Association. (local copy)
Lulacruza has an incredible sound. They build off a blend of completely natural earth-sounds, Alejandra’s freaky dynamic range and Luis’ masterful digital modifications and looping of the aforementioned in real-time. Pensar Bonito is one of my favorite energetic songs, listen to it on their website.
Lulacruza will be playing in New York City July 14th and 17th. You should go hear them play live. Here is the announcement:
Hello beautiful family! We hope this email finds you happy, peaceful and expanding.
We’ve been very busy here in California (working on new Lulacruza music as well as a collaboration EP to be released in the Fall). We have some upcoming shows in different cities and would love to see you there! We’ll be starting the summer with 2 shows in the NYC area. Come listen to songs from Do Pretty! as well as various unreleased gems.
Lulacruza in NYC!
Saturday July 14th -11pm- @ Piano’s $ 8. with Teletextile (CD RELEASE) 58 Ludlow at Stanton Manhattan, NY www.pianosnyc.com
Tuesday July 17th -8 pm SHARP- @ Zebulon Cafe Concert no cover with Charles Gayle trio 258 Wythe Avenue Brooklyn, NY www.zebuloncafeconcert.com Accompanied by the gorgeous visuals of Lady firefly ( www.fireflylab.com ).
We’ll also be playing other shows in the area -DC and Philadelphia-. And then in a few cities in Mexico after that. Go to our website for more info. FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS INFO TO FRIENDS IN THOSE CITIES!
thank you.
light resounding))) )))
luis & alejandra
www.lulacruza.com Rooted luminous songs unfolding in sonic landscapes
I think it’s pretty amazing that the first time I heard them play I didn’t realize that every song was in Spanish until -after- the concert had ended. It is a testament to the universal ability of music to touch one’s soul directly, knowing no borders or boundaries.
Trav found mention of how incredibly dangerous Action Park was.
Man, I loved that place. I worked there for 3 weeks at the Alpine Slide. I’ve got a couple cute stories about it. My fondest memory is of going to a party at the home of one of my supervisors. There was drinking so I asked my host if I could stay the night so that I might drink safely. The party was going pretty well. Then at about 2 am, the host told me in my stupor that the party was over and I had to go home. I very clearly remember arguing with him, “But I’m drunk, I can’t drive… But you said I could spend the night…” He argued the counter-case, that I had to get out because the party was over.
I drove 1/4 mile to a spot on the road where I could pull over. I spent the next hour and a half walking around, doing jumping jacks and push-ups in a dirt pull-out on the side of a rural-residential road near Vernon NJ. Nice host, eh? I finally felt well enough to drive and proceeded home.
About 2/3 mile from the north entrance of Smoke Rise on 23 South, there is a short straight-away. I was going a steady 50 mph. My window was open just a bit to let in fresh air, the car’s heat was turned on comfortably, the pop music was playing softly on the radio. At that point, I fell asleep. I held the wheel straight while the road curved gently to the left. I opened my eyes with a start, seeing a green mile-marker sign at an odd angle leaning toward me about 4 feet in front of my face. I saw the tips of a tree branch coming at me from the right so I swerved to the left. One frame later, the green sign was out of my field of view. I made it the 5 minutes to home with 1 quart of adrenaline in my blood. Even with that, I was astounded that I almost fall asleep on the road again.
The next day, I took a look at the car in the driveway. It was a white LeBaron. There were a few green scratches on the hood and no other damage. I drove out to the spot and was amazed. I found the mile marker post and the sign a hundred feet down the road. I put the sign in my trunk. I followed my tire tracks off the road, into the dirt, over the sign post and then curving sharply to the left where I woke up. What gave me terrible shivers was how incredibly close my tire tracks were to the telephone pole. I actually couldn’t believe that the tire tracks could be so close without some side-damage to the car, or worse. The track came 1 inch away from the pole; the tires on the car are set in at least 2 inches from the outside contours of the bumper and body. I don’t know why it didn’t catch, ripping off a bumper or scraping the whole side of the car. And I thought how lucky I was that I hadn’t been 1 more inch to the right; the bumpers would have been torn off. Or if I had been 1 more foot to the right. I was wearing a seat belt but that’s no guarantee that I’d be here writing this story.
Well, maybe my memory of Action Park isn’t so fond.
