Primal Digital Blog Vortex

3.3.10 PDX

Kin 224. Mayan Calendar info for today. I created 3 electric seed thoughts, as requested in the Star Travelers 13 Moon Almanac of Synchronicity. 1) Our Concept of Family is Expanding. 2) We are in need of a society that better respects our elders. 3) Connect or Diffuse. Had two jobs today, which is great for me after so little work for these past couple years. Of course, it has been great to focus so much energy on raising my first child, daughter Aria (now 15 months). But work is important now and I had two fabulous clients today. Communications specialist and organizational consultant, Karen Mathieson, of Serendipty Communications hired me as videographer today. Many of you have seen the videotape of a conference presentation with bad audio and video. This is an alternative meant to show what a presenter will offer, but in better quality and more as a teaser for marketing purposes. Karen’s work is inspiring insightful and thought provoking. It reminds me that the oral traditions emerge in fascinating ways and that we need direct interpersonal communication now more than ever. My second client today was MC NETT, a high school student from Wilson High School. He is a talented lyricist using hip hop to channel his thoughts and personal expressions. Sometimes cathartic and abrasive, sometimes very loving, sometimes sounding much harder than he is- his work reminds that hip hop is here to stay and that it serves as a medium for personal expression through words with beats to keep the mind on track. So, today was all about the words. Words and vibrations. Yellow Electric Seeds being sent throughout the day by humans around the planet.

3.2.10 PDX

Wrapping up an intense day mostly spent in NE Portland after working in community garden for a while. Just back from Final Cut Pro Users Group (FCPUG) meeting at Portland Community College (PCC) about doing animation combining old school technology with new school tools. I love those combinations of old and new, ancient and modern, tribal and techno, primal and digital. But I often come back to the topic of how technology can, in many cases, lead to dependencies and “fuzzy logic.” I remember seeing street life in NYC change drastically as cell phones were introduced. Less interaction, less serendipity, less potential for tapping into telepathic skils and truly experience synchronicity of one’s immediate surroundings. I, of course, love technology and the tools of the modern world. But I really think we need to know when and how to use the tools and to keep them primal, that is, directed towards our needs/goals/values/dreams, etc. Not like channel surfing until your eyes bleed and realizing you should have turned off the idiot box hours ago. Not text messaging while driving a car or playing Super Mario for 8 hours on a beautiful day. Honor the tools, the food, the love, the earth, the friends and family that surround you and use but don’t abuse the tools and gifts you have access to. Of course, have fun too! Creativity often comes through improvisational moments and access to the right tools. Give thanks and keep it primal!

PDX , 3.1.10

Its March 1, 2010. Year of the Tiger. Many changes around us. Systems are falling apart. Many of us are looking for new ways to live and do things. We need radical rethinking of health care, transportation, economics, food systems, energy, fuel and other aspects of humanity and consumption patterns. How can it be that there are so many homeless while vacant properties are everywhere? How can it be that childhood obesity is an epidemic in America while mass hunger is causing food rebellions across the world? Time to shift humanity. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK. We are inside the context of nature, not outside. BE THE LIGHT. Enjoy each day and give thanks.

2009 in Review

After a trip to Michigan with my baby girl Aria it is nice to return to Portland. I have many homes with many friends and lots of family. For this I am very thankful. As I have not secured employment with an organization, I have focused on entrepreneurial activities through Primal Digital. I have to make the best of this economy and actually consider that this shift is fundamental to what needs to happen to become more sustainable citizens. This recession is actually just what the forces of nature mandated. We needed to shift our consumption patterns. If the economists are happy that people are spending lots of money over the holidaze, I say check yourselves people. Sure, gift giving is a special and important activity. If I could ever get around to getting the Pd recordings for sale and marketed (Insha’Allah this year), I would ask for you to commit to the Primal Digital cause. But the level of consumption we are accustomed to is not sustainable and we must forge ahead with new ways of living; using less and enjoying the simple things.

But enough of that rant…what IS going on in Primal Digital land with Julian Lauzzana and his partners? I will continue with my teaching of video production classes at Multnomah Arts Center and Robert Gray Middle School. Teaching is a new adventure for me and one that I almost started immediately following graduation in Boston in 1992. I am a much more patient man now and feel that its good I waited this long. I work in media literacy and digital divide issues to my classes and feel that, through the act of production, I am teaching kids to be less of simply blobs and more participative members of this high-tech world. You can find out more about my classes and some of the useful links related to this work at my
wikispace for youth media production

On December 13, 2009 we held a Cd Release Party for the “Young Musicians of SW PDX” at O’Connors Pub in Multnomah Village. The place was packed. I did pretty good on the live sound (considering how out of practice I am). The musicians were stellar. We sold out all the merchandise with additional orders still being filled! Please keep buying this as 50% of proceeds supporting small arts grants program in the Public schools of Southwest Portland. It feels like this project is the beginning of something substantial and replicable. With the partnership of the Wilson Area Arts Council this CD really brought out some amazing talent from the neighborhood. I would love to do additional volumes in this community and branch out into other communities of Portland, the country, the world. We’ll see where it goes next!

Primal Digital hosted the Hillsdale MicroCinema in the last part of 2009 with 4 screenings September to December. We are now in planning stages for how to expand and sustain this project. Each event has been a wonderful undertaking with meaningful results and a sort of world unto itself. Attendance, support and donations are greatly appreciated!

There are many other things happening, but those are the media related events from Primal Digital during the last quarter of 2009. Playing music with the baby has been fun and there are many plans to roll out Primal Digital products and services. We wish you a festive 2010 and trust that you will do all you can to make the world a brighter place for me and you! Keep it primal with love, dedication and expression!

Hillsdale MicroCinema

Tomorrow is the second Hillsdale MicroCinema I am hosting/producing through Primal Digital in Portland. This time the theme is “Aging Artfully in America” with folks from the Geezer Gallery and Aging Artfully Initiative present for dialogue about the films and the topic.

In September of 2009 Julian Lauzzana of Primal Digital, LLC began The Hillsdale MicroCinema which will take place (at least) until the end of the year at The Watershed Building’s community room. Located in SW Portland at the corner of Bertha and Capital Hwy, this building is one of the cornerstones of the Hillsdale neighborhood.

Media Literacy thru Production

I am working in Portland, Oregon, USA as a teacher at Multnomah Arts Center and Robert Gray Sun School. I teach kids to make movies and, through the process, deconstruct the media and become more active participants in the media (not just passive consumers).

I love this work and feel that, while having fun, I am teaching valuable skills that will help kids be more critical of the media and less blob-like. I suspect this will be an ongoing part of my work and life in some fashion. “Don’t Kill your TV, Make TV!”

Currently, I am teaching 3 classes. I would like to begin teaching additional after school classes at the Primal Digital Hillsdale office along with 3D animator and teacher Bev Standish. We are working to promote a media literacy course for the Winter term.

Ongoing writings and rants about social change

I have often written in a journal. Those who know me well know that I always have ideas percolating. So, I shall finally be taking the blog-opportunity to let some of this out to the masses, should anyone care to partake. The topics I take on will often be controversial and opinionated. I will intentionally be ruffling feathers and stirring up the sediment, but always in a loving fashion that seeks to be productive. Upcoming topics may include: aging artfully and the need for inter-generational learning/sharing; eco-villages as a model for human development based on radical comprehensive realignment; the dance between freedom and discipline, etc. Although the process of blogging is rewarding simply as an archival journaling system, I hope to engage others in my discussions as well. They will be posted right here starting whenever the spirit moves me.

2nd Pd Podcast

Mert Balkanli was a frequent flyer at Primal Digital when it was located in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NYC from 2000-2005. Unfortunately he was rounded up in the hysteria surrounding the 9/11 tragedy as he was not in full compliance with his student visa obligations. Before and after serving time in Paterson county jail (for several weeks without any charges), Mert made music with Julian Lauzzana and others at Primal Digital. This podcast documents some of the work we did together in the cave of creation in Brooklyn back in the day.

http://www.primaldigital.com/media/PdPodcast2.mp3

Primal Digital begins quarterly podcasting!!

Pd Podcast No. 1

This podcast celebrates 10 years of Primal Digital, which began in New York City at 244 East Houston street in October of 2008. It turns out that this is also a 7 year anniversary of Julian meeting Hardy Fox on Halloween in 2001 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco at the tail end of The Residents “Icky Flix” tour, which led to a future collaboration with The Residents.

This podcast is the first of many upcoming Primal Digital podcasts for which Julian Lauzzana will be digging into the substantial and tasty Pd archives while also creating new work and mixes for releasing to the public and conducting interviews with individuals somehow associated with Primal Digital, LLC. This podcast includes an edited interview from October 28, 2008 with Hardy Fox of The Cryptic Corporation, Julian’s initial and ongoing point of contact for communicating with The Residents. This podcast contains remixes done by Julian from the original multi-track recordings made on November 13-15, 2002 at the Warsaw Theater in Brooklyn, NY where The Residents performed during their Demons Dance Alone Tour. These mixes were done by Julian Lauzzana and released in this podcast with authorization from Hardy Fox of The Cryptic Corporation and are not intended for resale in any way. All rights reserved by The Residents and Primal Digital.

Please visit the Primal Digital Podcast page at http://www.primaldigital.com/pages/podcastpage.html.

East Coast Trip

The trip to the East Coast in August was very fruitful, including: completion of Masters Degree requirements with a Capstone Presentation, a Mantramatic show and some hard core family time. Although the MantraMatic show was attended by very few, a good recording was made and the session itself was quite deep and followed by an epic conversation with Daniel Carter and Pasquale Cangiano which involved Burrito consumption and me trying to keep up with these two heavy weight conversationalists who can play their tongues in the language of talk as much as music…I am also a little out of practice with the New York schedule.
It was great to interact again with Giorgio Gomelsky (who hosted the event), Daniel Carter and the rest of the MantraMatic crew for this, the Seventh Manifestation of MantraMatic.
Prior to the New York gig, Julian completed his graduate work in Organizational Management by presenting Capstone work on Cross-Sector Partnership for Sustainable Development at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. In 2005 Julian underwent an intensive one year on-campus phase of the graduate program. Then, during 2006-2007 Julian worked and lived at Arcosanti for one year for the practicum phase of graduate work and then conducted research in Farm to Schools Programs while living in SE Michigan–this will be discussed further in another blog entry which will link to the completed work.Primal Digital, LLC is dedicated to using the arts and the media for social change and this requires people and our organizations to work in harmony with others who share the planet. The knowledge and experience of this graduate program will be applied to my work and life, through Primal Digital. Currently I am working to expand the Pd website as the main portal for sharing and communicating, while using Portland area contacts to express things locally. I am also deep in job search mode.