I'm now on Twitter... joined the mass mania.

http://twitter.com/Windpathfilms

peace,d

Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: Friday, August 28, 2009

It takes time to get an intimate understanding of a place. It takes time to move beyond our initial observations and judgments. It takes time to be assimilated and to become something other than an outsider, drifter, and no man. This is not only true for places but for people and like with people, first impressions are usually just a partial picture.

This is not to say that the L.A. freeways don't still frighten me to death, nor that the smog here isn't grotesque... but there's a reason 10,000,000 people live here.

What blows me away more than anything is that although this population is staggeringly high, the people for the most part are still quite friendly and open. In this land where dreams come true people seem to have caught the contagion of bright-eyed optimism. That is from what I hear, unless they are behind the wheel. My friend here who lives in the downtown was saying how people are in their own world. They'll drive up on you, honk, swear, and lose their minds, but then when you pull into the parking space next to them ready for a fight, they hop out on their cell phones, give you an oblivious wave and off to their very important meeting.

This IS the land of movers and shakers. Everyone is important here. Or rather everyone thinks they're important, seeming to have not yet caught onto the fact that in reality they're just a spec in geological time. Not to say that all these filmmaking, movie producing gurus aren't important.. just to say that importance is relative.

The reason I came here is that I actually think this place is pretty important. L.A. was originally, and to a large extent still is, the only city appearing in my continental journey. Now why Los Angeles?

My original project proposal was geared around a contemporary pilgrimage down the center of the North American Continent. I spoke of the need to reconnect to traditional knowledge in the wake of an apparent crash course. The project was set up to explore silence, the transcendental, and this notion that with language we speak the world into being.

An extension of language is media, and it's hard to argue against the idea that with language/media we create the world. That media and the resultant world is nowhere more apparent than L.A. where material consumption is rampant and everyone is bloodthirsty to get their vision out to the masses, for mass consumption.

The question becomes what are we producing and why. Rapid-edit TV designed to suck the viewer into a state of submission just in time to deliver the repeated product placement punch to the minds eye. Tell them they're unworthy, tell them they're worthy, tell them anything to get them into the stores tell them anything that will prop up the capitalistic mechanism in which we all live. The pay off for those on top, beachfront properties, Mercedes convertibles, beautiful women clad in almost nothing, beautiful men with perfectly crafted pectorials, or anything else your heart desires from the storefront of the American Dream. It's enough to make your mouth water... or encourage you to tackle those freeways.

I know there's another paradigm we could be projecting onto ourselves, and I know it's starting to happen out there. More green TV being produced everyday.. but is that even possible? Green TV? The moment we submit to our couches and that radon gaze we let go of and lose so much more. We are letting go of imagination, community, and perhaps our own individual and self determined uninformed vision of reality. The only way to think freely is to turn off and disconnect the external inputs.

The consumer is the most studied animal on the planet. If you still hold the illusion that they don't understand what makes you tick/buy/move/groove/want/consuuuuume.. than think again.

But the current paradigm isn't all bad, in fact, it's the only one we seem to have these days. So the question becomes how do we tweak it and make the small adjustments necessary to turn the tide. I don't know.. in fact I have little idea what I'm even talking about.. all I know is L.A. and it's 10,000,000 inhabitants is an interesting example of what we're capable of.. but I still maintain on some level that in the past one hundred fifty years we've witnessed a vast and self defeating misallocation of our earths resources.

Ha, this was supposed to be an optimistic blog... I guess L.A. still has some charming to do.

peace,d

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date: August 28, 2009

After three years of floating around the continent, drifting between small towns, national forests, and now.here places, I find myself sucked into an urban landscape like no other.

It was upon me in no time. I drove into the surrounding suburbs like any other vagabond, but before I knew it, I had been sucked into a nightmare of twisted and endless freeways. They pulled me into the jam-packed twelve lanes of traffic and I held on for dear life. This was no pristine and preserved landscape, this was no uninhabited desert highway, this was no of the world from which I had come.

My knuckles clench tighter, gripping the steering wheel for dear life. Around me trucks, cars and motorcycles swerve in and out of traffic the drivers apparently gifted with extrasensory faculties. I feel like a slug, a turtle, or the slowest moving mammal on earth.

It's tricky, the faster I drive, the deeper the realization of my van's weight and my inability to stop even if I wanted to. The images a clear in my mindseye, the attempt at brakes as I slam into and obliterate the vehicle in front of me, as all of my worldly belongings including the dog fly through the front windshield. However to no keep up with the flow feels as though it would also result in death. The only thing I can do is hold on and hope my unknown destination will reveal itself to me before it's too late.

...

After dropping Moses in dog day care, I slept in airport long term parking that first night curled up in the fetal position. It gave my ears space to adjust to the urban drone and my lungs time to adjust to the air. After being here for some time I've concluded I may just be allergic to this place. I can't get over the notion that with every breath I'm sucking back poison. It makes me think of John Nichols' book The Sky's the Limit where he talks about how even though the air is clear and transparent, it's still filled with dirt. The only difference is that in LA you can see that almost ever-present layer of smog floating overhead.

The next morning I was ripped from my steel womb and onto an airplane destined for the wide open prairies of Alberta and the Peigan Reservation. While in Peigan, L.A. hummed, a dull ache in the back of my cerebral cortex. I would have to go back, I would have to face those freeways again, I couldn't stay here forever, I still had work to do.

peace,
d

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Location: Los Angeles, California

I keep getting sidetracked… I want to write an entry about L.A. and my immersion in it… but for that I think I need the morning and some strong coffee. There’s no way my central nervous system can keep up with this place… I’ve been out of the rat race far too long.

Tomorrow I’ll give you my thoughts on this convulsing imaginationland!

Peace,
D

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Location: Los Angeles, California

I pulled into L.A. after a quick trip home to the Peigan Reservation for a ceremony. It was a beautiful time up there with the ‘family’ and I miss everyone already! Although this year was a tough one in many ways, it was also wonderful and extraordinary in so many ways. The more we learn the more there is to learn, and for every door we open, ten more open before us.

Personally I had some good releases thanks to a little help from my friends. I feel I’ve put some things down yet again and am a lighter happier human being for it.

One day, while I sat on a block of unsplit wood with tears streaming down my face one day I found myselI found myself reflecting on why. There was no why, only the physical release. No thoughts, no definitive emotions, just tears flowing out from deeply within my body. The body remembers everything and there are things we carry within us that we no longer think of or consider emotionally. But the body remembers.

I’m grateful to have found myself in those places of safety and security, I’m thankful to have found people capable of pulling my triggers. And I’m grateful to be a little bit lighter on the inside, of what, I may never exactly know.

The key going forward is to flow with this moving and extraordinary universe, to continue not to ‘hold on’ but instead to enjoy the ride. It’s hard being human, holding on is a natural tendency for all of us, but whether by chance, by choice, or at the end of our lives, we’re all going to have to let go eventually.

peace,d

pic of my bro and I on pete and sarge. GiddyUp!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Location: Los Angeles, California

I just finished reading Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and am left hanging in that world. A world of genetic manipulation dominated by the scientific mind where anything is possible.

I read an article a while back about genetic engineering and how it’s never a question of if but a question of when. The scientist being interviewed was stating something like, “We can’t say that it’s wrong to create pigs with wings, since pigs with wings have never before been created, there’s no precedent.” He went on to say that if the leaders in laboratories didn’t do it, it would eventually be done in garages since the technology was cheaper and more readily available than ever.

One of the principle ideas of this article was that life/innovation happens and if we limit it’s ability we also limit the ability of our greatest minds to create the natural antibodies to this life/innovation. Take the internet as an example, people are constantly trying to create viruses to take down the system, however the system/people in their unrestricted life/innovation have always been busy building firewalls, antivirus software, etc.

Either way the future is oftentimes a frightening concept. The evils of this world have long since been out of Pandora’s box, and as in the original story, hope alone stands against them.

I hope Margaret’s vision of the future is just a dream, never to be a reality. Often I fear otherwise.

peace,
d

Spread the Love! peace,d
_____

The 2 degrees tour -- a unique climate change experience

Ontario Sept 20-30 -- Western Canada Oct 1-20 -- Ontario/Quebec Oct 21-30 -- Maritimes Nov 1-17

The 2 degrees tour will help mobilize public support for a strong climate agreement in Copenhagen, and for the massive and sustained cultural shift that is essential for resolving the climate crisis. The tour will feature 2degreesC founder, David Noble, in 30-40 events across the country. Drawing on his diverse and unique experiences over the last 6 years, David will share stories and inspiration about the possibilities for transcendent citizens responses to climate change. Many events will also include presentations or commentary from distinguished guests.

The tour comes on the heels of a major international agreement to limit global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees C, and less than 100 days before the Copenhagen climate negotiations, where 192 countries are to thrash out a global agreement to avert catastrophic climate change. This is a historical occasion – the outcome of which will shape the course of human development forever.

History needs you. Be a part of it!

Think you’ve heard it already?

Think again! This isn’t a facts & figures presentation on climate change. You will hear a story of stories that is engaging, inspiring and hopeful. It will make you think and it will make you feel, it probably will make you laugh, and it might make you cry. It might even make you want to do something – to really do something.

See the attached tour information brief for more info, or visit www.2degreesC.com.

…or that it’s not for you?

We are especially keen in connecting with audiences who might not normally come to a climate change event. The climate change issue is now so big and so urgent that we need everyone acting in every way possible. That’s why, if you are not one to normally help make this type of event happen, we especially need you! You can help us access people that we could not otherwise reach.

Want to (co-) host?

We are looking for partners and organizers in communities across Canada to (co-) host events. Find or share a venue, rally your local partners, and together do your very best to fill it with anyone and everyone you think could use some hope. Contact us about (co-) hosting a school-/university-based or community event.

Want to sponsor one or several events or contribute in-kind?

We have a great sponsorship offer for national, regional / multi-event and single event sponsors. See page 5 of the attached tour information brief for more info.

If you can’t contribute financially, you can still pitch in. At the moment, we could use some additional support in marketing (especially in new media), fundraising and media strategy/liaison. You can always, always, always promote the tour and specific events amongst your networks.

Simply curious?

Then stay tuned! We'll be sending updates over the next weeks.

You can also find more info in the attached tour information brief for more info, or visit www.2degreesC.com.

More information on David? See page 4 in the attached info brief. Testimonies of his work? Page 6.

... peace,d

I felt the immensity of the Grand Canyon in my soul.

It filled the space between us.

Drawn so far apart by ego and fear.

A deep dark pervasive magic.

Learning.

Letting go is a difficult teacher.

We give ourselves over to the void.

If only there was another way.

Make peace with the darkness, let the light shine in.

Surrender.

Then came the dam.

The breaking apart of it all.

The torrent crashing down into oblivion.

Within me chunks of concrete tumble out with the flood of tears.

Obstacles I have no more use for.

Release.

Cleansing.

Rebirth.

In those moments after, we saw things clearly.

Rearranging ourselves and newly defining what...

IS.

... Love.

... maybe Wisdom.
______
peace,d

Another must watch film.
peace,
d

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

Here are some images from the Petrified Forest where I spent two days on my tour through Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo lands. I'm trying to catch up on my blogs, and since pictures are worth so many words, I'll leave this entry short.

These Trees were supposedly carried down river systems long ago where they eventually sank to the bottom of swamps and were buried and preserved in mud and silt. This swamp today is desert giving up a sense of how things shift over geological time and how with all the climate change around us our world will one day likely look like a very different place.

peace,
d

When it rains it pours. I had just left Bill and Belle's place when I received a call from GB Cornucopia up at Chaco Canyon. GB has been living up at Chaco for over twenty years and I had been courting him for an on-camera dialog ever since I first heard his name over six months ago.

I spent time in Chaco on my initial way south into New Mexico and I figured I wouldn't be back, but sitting down with GB was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I packed up my gear in Flagstaff and left that evening making the six hour journey in one shot so I could interview him the following afternoon.

I pulled into Chaco from the south this time around and since it was late at night and the Chaco Campground was closed I just slept on the side of the road in the desert surrounded by darkness. In the morning I awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

I rose early to get out into the Chaco Landscape so I could do the four hour hike out to the Super Nova Petrograph. You can read more about it HERE. My on-camera dialog with GB wasn't until somewhere between four and six and I had to beat the desert heat so Moses didn't burn his paws on the noonday hot sand.

The hike out was quiet and meditative and I was grateful to have been brought full circle to Chaco. The last time I was here I left early in a rush to get to Taos for an interview with Mike Reynolds and was sad that I hadn't been able to do this hike to the far reaches of the park.

After arriving at the petrograph I say in some of the last morning shade and ate beef jerky with Moses. I then set up and shot the stone images on a variety of formats and after feeling the ground decided it was best to leave the Penasco Blaco ruins at the end of the trail for another day. Moses clearly getting hotter by the minute did not hesitate to agree.

We arrived back at the van a few hours later, moses crawling into the shade beneath her while I drank water sitting in the side door. After a while we headed back to the visitor center where I read Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake given to me by Bill McDorman, while I waited for GB.

GB and I finally sat down surrounded by books in his beautiful Chaco apartment. We talked about how civilizations come and go, how there are no absolute and clear answers in relation to what occured in the case of Chaco, and how complexity and adaptation affect each other. We talked about how places affect the people who inhabit them and from GB's timeless and calm gaze I could see that this was true for him. I left glad to have made the journey, not only for the content, but for the human connection. I know I could learn and share a lot more with this man, and I look forward to perhaps doing that in a not too distant future.

peace,
d

I'm backtracking a bit here to do some catch up. I'm currently in LA down in the Venice Beach area trying to get my bearings on what content I've come here for.

A few weeks ago after my starter motor burnt out in Hopi and I had it fixed in Flagstaff I found myself dropping down to Cornville, AZ for an interview with Bill McDorman of Seeds Trust. Bill, wife Belle and his father and mother run this small seed saving and distribution company out of their home which is surrounded by glorious gardens filled with life and love.

I first met Belle who, after warm smiles, led me back through the gardens to Bill who sat on a stationary bike peddling away. Bill it seems is an avid cyclist. While he peddled I gave him my usual spiel on where I've been, what I'm doing and where I plan on going. His eyes shone giving away the fact that despite his lengthy time on the cycle he still had energy to spare and I was about to encounter it.

With certain people I've met on my journey, like all of us on our journeys through life, there are instant kin ships that present themselves. Bill was one of those people for me, reflecting a brother, father, son, and teacher back at me. And when we got into it the torrents of energy moving with our conversations were beautiful magical and deeply profound.

Bill has been collecting seeds for over 25years, it started way back when he realized it was on of the most profound ways he could preserve our world for future generations. At one point in our dialog he held out both his hands saying, (I'm paraphrasing) "In one hand I can hold a diamond, in the other I can hold a seed. By our current standards the diamond is seen as a thing of great value and the seed is just a seed. While in truth the diamond is just a diamond, while the seed contains the ability to produce food, multiply itself hundreds of times to feed thousands of people, and carries thousands of years genetic information, human labor and selection processes to come to the attributes and information that it now carries within it for all of us."

We live in a world where huge multinational corporations are patenting genetic information and creating seeds that are unable to produce seeds. Corporations understand what Bill is pointing out and they are determined to control every aspect of our food production. What does it mean for us that large corporations are suing small farmers whose crops are naturally cross pollinated with corporate patented seed genes. Why would they want to control all food production and make it almost impossible for people to cultivate and collect seeds on their own.

People like Bill are not only safeguarding seeds, they are safeguarding our freedom. Freedom to live peacefully, to produce food and is void of monoculture, free of pesticides, hearty, healthy, resilient, and carries with it all of our traditional knowledge and the wisdom of generations of human beings.

Bill knows all this, he's not becoming a rich man doing what he's doing, but he does it because in this world in increasing disconnection and insanity he recognizes the importance of holding onto things that are real, and truths that are in my opinion fundamental ones.

In speaking about his vision he repeatedly states that it's not about selling seeds and making money, but instead it's about education and dissemination of knowledge and the genetic information vital to all of our survival. Without food we are nothing, and without seeds there is no food...

peace,d

I just pulled back into LA after being at Sun Dance Ceremony in Alberta, Canada... Got lots of catching up to do. Today was mostly made up of driving in circles around LA trying to find a groove.. I just found a bench outside a closed coffee shop where I'm stealing wireless... email all checked.

My first blog will go back to a few weeks ago when I spent some time in Cornville, AZ with Bill McDorman and wife Belle of Seeds Trust. Here is a audio file he shared with me that day.. more to come tomorrow when I have more time online.

peace,
d
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