I just wanted to add this quote regarding the new world order of consumer culture from Kalle Lasn's book Culture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge - And Why We Must. I don't agree with everything Lasn writes... and I would suggest I'm somehow more of an optimist... however, there are days when I feel this quote may be quite accurate,

"The citizens of this new world order are trapped inside their living rooms, roaming the thousand-channel universe and exercising the one freedom they still have left: to be the voyeurs of their own demise."

15 days until departure!!! It's coming fast and we're ready!

In the last week, we've finalized the following sponsorship contributions,

KODAK CANADA - A big thank you to Alma Obeid, Greg Vance and Johanna Gravelle for providing us with still photography and motion picture stock for the project. Your contribution is really beyond words and has left me in a perpetual state of bliss! I look forward to meeting these people in Toronto and thanking them personally.

BUSHTUKAH - Thank you to Bob Laughton for being so very generous!!! Your large gear contribution has been a huge blessing for us and we are so thankful for having had the opportunity to work with you! It was also very interesting to chat with you about your experiences of people and their relationship to the natural world. It's nice to talk to someone who genuinely supports our project and has a heartfelt interest in its outcome. Also for those reading this Bob mentioned an interesting project called Y2Y.. chk it out online as it's another great initiative http://www.y2y.net/ . I hope to have a chance to talk more with Bob in the future, as I feel he shares my desire to protect the natural world around us.

MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP - A big thank you To Rebecca Goostrey and Laurie Edward for providing us with some great MEC gear! It was a absolute pleasure to work with Rebecca here in Ottawa and chat with Laurie out in BC. Rebecca we better see you out at our media launch as we'd love to talk some more. I'd also like to say I'm very happy to be working with MEC specifically since I have a background in working with the Independent Filmmakers Co-op of Ottawa and I strongly believe in the Co-op model. In addition MEC as an organization promotes values that I support in terms of sustainability and intelligent community development.

TRAILHEAD - Thanks to Wally Schaber owner of Trailhead for providing us with gear at cost. In the end, this has resulted in substantial savings for us as we get ready to head out on the road. Also a big thank you to Steve at Trailhead for taking the time to walk the store with us while providing a wealth of solid gear information.

CANADA GOOSE - Thank you to Leila Lohonyai at Canada Goose for providing us with Resolute Parkas at cost.. this is a big savings for us and we're very happy to have Canada Goose a part of the project. I really look forward to meeting Leila in Toronto in person as she's been great to chat with over the phone and very kind to us.

Anyway a Big thank you to all our sponsors.. I'm very happy with the results of our sponsorship drive and I'm happy to be working with everyone above. If you'd like to see the gear provided it should be up on www.windpathfilms.com under the Searching for Dragons Project under Equipment! Pics n' all.. chk it out!

Not much else to say except we're heading home to Hudson Quebec this weekend to say bye to the folks and our hometown peeps.. then this weekend up to Gracefield to my cousins farm to install new brake pads, tie rods, and fuel line in the van.. can't wait to get greasy!

peace,
d

People who are into my project may also be interested in this slideshow at Mountain Equipment Co-op Tonight. It's short notice but check out your local MEC for other great initiatives like this.

Organization: MEC Ottawa
Description: Join Jim Fraser for slides and stories from our 100 km, 11-day self-guided backpacking trek across Auyuittuq National Park
Date: Feb 15, 2006
Cost: Free
Time: 7:15
City: Ottawa
Location: 366 Richmond Road

Some great news this week! Kodak Canada has come on board as a sponsor of the project. This is major since they have agreed to provide still photography stock for the project free of charge. Yesterday when I found out I think achieved what they call a state of grace. Sometimes life is truly unreal. Here at Windpath we're all feeling blessed. Still waiting to hear back from Kodak Canada's Entertainment Imaging in response to our motion picture film request and are very hopeful. Fingers are crossed and either way we are all very pleased and happy to be working with Kodak Canada.

Other than that it's business as usual. Still have some work to finish up on the van and we're finalizing deals with other sponsors of the project. Sponsorship has been a long hard road but it now feels as though you do indeed reap what you sow. If you would have asked me last week, I would have been a little less enthusiastic about the whole sponsorship process.

I've also been thinking about this blog and how reading about preproduction must be pretty boring. Not sure who is reading this since we haven't done any publicity. Our main media launch is scheduled for sometime in the first week or so of March. I would say that this blog should get more interesting as we enter production next month but in the meantime if anyone reading has any comments, questions or suggestions please feel free to email them to me.

peace,
d

In a recent meeting with a potential sponsor, the question came up of whether or not our project is self-propelled in nature. I love questions like this since they force me to reflect on what it is I'm setting out to do. For me the project is self-propelled in nature since the main energy has always come from within myself.

This question of the project's nature also leads me to the idea of living a self-propelled life. A life where we go out and challenge our fears and step beyond our personal comfort zones, instead of simply waiting for our desires to fall into our laps. Maybe we fall, maybe we fly, but the lessons are always in the process itself. This is definitely what I'm searching for... I want to get into that realm of uncertainty, discomfort, and fear and see what I'm exposed to.

Now, I'm well aware that my potential sponsor wasn't talking about this; they were talking about trekking across vast expanses of arctic tundra, paddling out to remote isolated areas or climbing large walls of frozen ice, but I think these are components necessitated by the project's nature.

For my crew and I, the van we're travelling in will act as a base camp as we venture out into the wild to capture our images. Afterall, I'm not at all interested in documenting the North Amercan highway system. To get the images I'm after I expect to have to trek across vast planes, ride dogsleds, wade through bogs and do whatever else is necessary to document the moments in time that we all long to experience.

peace,
d

This project is now becoming very real. Still have lots to do before we take off but I'm sure it will all get done in time. We've been talking about a departure party and media launch but I'm slightly resistant to the idea as I'm more low key, slip out the back jack, in my methods and I'll be far more concerned about media exposure once I have the film shot and in the can. But hey, what the hell, we'll see what happens and if we have the time. Looking at doing it at either the Mercury Lounge or Shanghai Restaurant.. and it would prob be somewhere around Mar 2nd. So stay tuned! In relation to all of this we're also working on getting a mass mailer set up so we can communicate on a mass level in terms of press and general mailing updates.

I met with my accountant yesterday to talk about the books.. man books.. gotta love the business side of things. Keeping receipts, tracking expenses while on the road, and being diligent and professional in my approach. It's all good since if you ask me Life is Art.. and life includes business and everything else.. so I just try to get creative in my methods and give my man what he needs to produce beautiful and artful tax returns and year end statements. The Art of Business, or in my case the Business of Art.

Tangent: If you're looking for a good read.. get in on Dan Eldon: The Art of Life by Jennifer New... Dan Eldon was a beautiful man, he walked the walk.. and along with Ottawa Filmmaker Frank Cole is a great inpiration to me.

Not much else to say except I'm getting better at actually posting these blogs on time.. and I'm enjoying the process more and more. Will also try to make them more visual in the future.

peace,
d

The pics below are as follows,

1) Family Farm where the Gainsford clan started. Picture taken from across the lake at my fathers new place.
2) The Lake at morning.
3) Van: Blank Slate.
4) Staring with the bed structure as a centerpiece for construction.
5) Looking back at the bed and the storage space with sliding cabinet doors not yet installed. Note that the bed extends to fill the hallway gap of 16inches using slides hidden underneath built into the bed frame.
6) Dad (Lyle) to the left and HR to the right (my wise workers with crafty woodworking skillz and plenty of great ideas).. and small cubby holes that house the 800 Watt inverter and charge controller that are hooked into the solar panels on the windows... and the battery system in the rear. Total solar power system cost.. $600. Total Power output: 206 amphours. Enough to run an electric blanket all night, charge electronics, basic lighting, etc.
7) Bed open to reveal storage space for clothes etc. Between each box is the slide that extends out to make double bed.
8) Trunk. Box with nailgun is sealed in the end and is used to house generator for extra power in case of emergency.. ie. -40c need blockheater. Other space holds deepcycle batteries to hold collected solar energy. You can see the solar panel in the window.. there is one on each side of the van.. but they may end up on the roof. we'll see.
9) Another shot of bed and cabinets being built.
10) Bed and Cabinets with all the doors on. At the end of the closest cabinet there is also now a flip up table that adds another 2.5 feet of counter top in front of the sliding door.. so you can putter and admire the view outside.

There are no pics of the completed project since I haven't decorated or and I've been testing it, so the place in a mess. But I've slept in it for the past 3 nights with temperatures down to -15C and it's a comfortable livable space. As things progress and the space is fine tuned with character and curtains I'll post some more pics.

Now back to sponsorship.. and other preparations.
d.

See
explanations
above.