OK, Josh Leo tagged me and so now it’s my turn:

1.  I was a cub scout.  My friend Ronnie sent a letter to JFK, inviting him to our Blue & Gold dinner.  One of his aids sent us a nice rejection note.  Here’s a picture.  I think he went to Dallas instead.

2.  I love working with ceramics, especially Raku.  I used to build kilns.  Here’s a video of a piece I made back in high school.

3.  When I was 12, my friends and I used to "cut" through the KonTiki Motel’s parking lot on our bikes.  Our parents told us never to do that.  Once, when all the other kids cut through the lot, I went around the "safe" way.  I got hit by a car.  I received a small settlement.  Through the miracle of compound interest, it grew to pay for one year of college.

4.  I started out as a studio art major in college.  Then I went into photography.  Then psychology, then social-psychology and then mathematics.

5.  I was thrown out of the boy scouts.

Ok, now I gotta go find five people to tag: Dave, Alicia, Chris, Tyler and Bill.

I recently came across some old amusement park footage.  It was a joy to discover.  As a child, I had played at that very same seaside fun zone.  The video triggered the recollection of so many memories that had somehow become buried over time.  Without these archives, I can’t imagine how I would have ever recalled so many important details.  It was truly a wonderful and astounding experience.

When Jen Proctor and Aaron Valdez first proposed their Lost In Light project, I immediately fell in love with the idea.  Perhaps it’s because much of my own childhood was captured on 8MM. Perhaps it is the voyeuristic thrill of experiencing "other people’s memories" and a sense of "time travel".  Perhaps it is the community aspects around film preservation.

I just know that I love it and hope you will support this fine project that aims to both educate and preserve.

Here is their description of the project and their intro video…


Click here to download video

This is a project about the 8mm film format.  But 8mm is dead, you say? On the contrary!  Not only is the format alive with innovation by filmmakers around the world, but hours and hours of Super 8 and regular 8mm film exist in attics and basements the world over—as home movies, educational films, works of art—that is slowly fading from the historical record.

via The Last Minute

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Economic crisis and globalization are putting unprecedented pressure on the lives of people in Colombia. Ten percent of the population have emigrated, many to the United States. Maria Gomez, a Colombian resident of New York City, has begun a video documentary project interviewing other Colombian people affected by this period of social upheaval and change.

Maria, who is trained in ethnographic data collection for anthropological research, has already interviewed many in the Colombian immigrant community of New York. She needs financial backing for a 4 month trip through Colombia gathering the stories of those still waiting to make the journey North.

Project Site: colombiamigrationproject.net