Wednesday, July 28, 2010
the Garbage Question
An average of 4.5 lbs of trash, per person, a day. In the U.S.> equals 130 million TONS of American trash in the landfills, every year.
1 TON= 2,000 pounds
that's 130,000,000 x 2,000 pounds= 260,000,000,000 pounds of trash. uh, that's 260 billion lbs of trash?
We see corporate sustainability initiatives, DIY composting, and in yards across the country, there are recycling bins next to regular rubbish. However, no matter how much we recycle, we have decades of trash that has already built up and must be dealt with....
A CLEAN BURING FUEL: garbage can be an asset rather than a liability.
PLASMA ARC TECHNOLOGY
-- essentially a process that involves gasifying trash in a closed-loop system. returning the material to the elemental forms.
-- operates by passing a high-voltage electrical current between two electrodes, creating an arc between them. Inert gas is then passed through the arc into a sealed container of garbage. Temps are above 25,000 degrees F. (hotter than the surface of the sun)
-- molecules are atomized and the waste is broken, down into its basic elements.
-- incinerates without combustion. no flame. no smoke.
Side effects
-- also a solution. syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is released. If captured the gas can easily be used to GENERATE electricity.
-- the heat, can be harnessed to power a steam turbine, creating even more electrical energy.
-- slag, a solid residue, is similar to obsidian and can be turned to bricks, gravel, asphalt or other building materials.
-- if compressed air is introduced, slag turns into rock wool, 2x as effective as fiberglass, makes wonderful insulation. Its absorbent, lighter than water, so can be used to clean oil spills inthe ocean.
-- hydroponic system can be used with the material, plants will grow from seeds in slabs or blocks of it.
-- "proven" no hazardous materials dissolve or leak from slag.
The facilities are self-sufficient. They run off the electricity they produce.
Natural question is whether this is an environmentally viable and safe option.
"extensive" research thus far has shown, yes.
Because of the the low oxygen atmosphere and high temperature, the base elements of the gas are unable to form toxic compounds, such as sulfur dioxide, furans or nox. Burning syngas produces CO2 emissions similar to natural gas power plants.
However, this system is EXPENSIVE.
-High cost of building it. Additionally, a landfill will charge a city about $35 for a ton of trash.
A ton of trash costs about $172 to run through a plasma arc. B/c of the costs, the technology is associated with big businesses thus far.
Also might impede in the recycling movement. Must be clear- re-use and recycle is the #1 goal. It's not a replacement or alternative to, rather a conjunction with strict recycling policies.
OPERATING PLANTS
--opened 2008 Ottawa, Canada. Plasco , the private company that owns and operates the plant.
--Florida is currently building one in St. Lucie County, scheduled to open by 201. $425 million plant will generate 6 megawatts of electricity, in addition to the energy it needs to operate. Entire landfill in the county (4.3 million tons, accumulated since 1978, is estimated to be gone in 18 years).
-- efforts to create a facility in LA, concluded that "the technologies best suited for processing black bin post-source separated MSA on a commercial level are the thermal technologies." The possible issues found were increased traffic to and from the plant; concerns about odor, noise and dust. (but could be pointed out, that it couldn't be worse that the already existing garbage dump facilites)
-- "... received the highest total scores and the highest environmental scores, primarily due to the advantages in regard to landfill diversion rate." the report written in 2005, details a plan for creating an alternative waste management plant.
the DPW revealed that alternative solutions are still very much at the front and center, discussed as recently as May 7th.
--the city is trying to find a way to make a facility such as this possible and is currently exploring their options.
UTOPIA?
may be able to reach such a sustainable town, in that we will live off the trash we produce. THe best and most viable option for plant operation is on a smaller scale.
Smaller plants would be closer together and require shorter waste haul trucks, saving on vehicle pollution. Economically, construction would be less daunting, as small plants cost less, and financing would be easier to obtain.
We can solve this problem (like the Pacific Garbage Patch, that has 6x more plastic than marine life, estimated to be larger than Texas, while some scientists speculate it's bigger than the entire United States, or others found in the Atlantic and in the Sea of Japan), but it will require a large and enthusiastic degree of pro-activity from each and every one of us.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
"Green to Gold" Daniel Etsy
Incentive to sell extra permits, to people having trouble reducing, people good at reducing keep reducing. EPA modeling, how much it cost to get a ton of sulfur out of the atmosphere. est $750, electric co. said way too low, actually $1,500. Once there was a real price to be paid for releasing sulfur, companies got real creative, (the strength of a Market Based approach) facing real payments for their emissions. Every utility facing incentives to think hard at reducing emissions. It wasn't the gov't dictating the price, all utilities figured how to cut the emissions. First trades came in at $300 a ton, then a year later the price was down to $150 a ton. Price signals. Hard figure out in advance how to reduce.
Railroad de-regulation. Why don't we just ship low sulfur coal. Shifted to low sulfur coal. and saved a lot of money.
Carbon tax or Emissions allowance trading system.
Shifting the burden to some bureaucrats in Washington to thousands of companies, gives a much broader set of people to think about the problem and find interesting solutions, and test out ideas. Business world better at testing success and making mistakes. Gov't set the standard, business in the hot seat how to regulate. Corp. envir. strategy. Or pay a premium. Or buy technology from someone who already figured it out.
We don't have regulation in thinking about Climate Change.
Regulation is a critical driver. Real emission obligations. Huge amount of money going into the alternative, in Europe. beginning to in US.
Corporate environment interface.
Corn based ethanol is a terrible energy translation. 3 units of fossil fuel to produce 4 units of corn energy output. Price of corn doubled.
Australia banning incandescent bulbs.
GE- CEO Jack Welsht, failed to clean up the Hudson Rivers, fought the EPA every year... now committed to cleaner company. wind turbines, envirn solutions provider. putting it into wind power, solar... high growth high margine is the envirn. position.
Intel- making themselves environmentally attractive to the highend workers.
Walmart- ambitious envirn. goals. big reductions in green house gases. big reductions in wastes. driving the demands in the supply chains. Whatever is delivered to the store has to be put out to the customer, or is taken home. Delivered in a plastic, take the plastic home. Delivered in boxes, take the boxes home.
Juxtaposition of Ford and Toyota:
Ford- CEO- environmental guy. rebuild their river rouge plant with green roofs, natural lighting, natural ventilation . but they didn't intervene with the cars. giant fuel guzzling cars with a "natural building" doesn't match.
Toyota- prius. light weight vehicle. smart systems. no idling. cost effective. * check their consumption and use of nickel. Toxic and unsustainable uses.
Friday, July 23, 2010
http://www.naropa.edu/accepted/index.cfm
On behalf of the Office of Admissions, it is my pleasure to inform you that your application to Naropa University’s Bachelor of Arts program has been accepted by the admissions committee for entrance in Fall, 2010. The decision was based on the strength of your application and the contributions we feel you can make to the Naropa community. This acceptance is contingent upon the receipt of an appropriate, original, second letter of recommendation.
http://www.naropa.edu/tuitionfees/ugrad_scholarships.cfm
Monday, July 19, 2010
Landscape Architecture
Landscape architecture is founded on an awareness of our deep connections to the natural world and the recognition that we are part of the web of life. A healthy society rests on a commitment to landscape design that respects the land, its processes, its integrity --- and that helps fulfill human potential. These are applied to making richly supportive places beautiful in their response to human needs and ecological context. The Department of Landscape Architecture is built on the 19th-century legacy that landscape architecture is both a design and a social profession with responsibilities to ourselves, society, the past, and the future. The program combines professional understanding and skills with a liberal-arts education.
As a profession, landscape architecture includes ecologically based planning activities and the analysis of environmental impacts as well as the detailed development of land and sites. As an academic discipline, it provides an opportunity for personal development through environmental problem solving and project-oriented study.
http://landarch.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=main
As a profession it includes the detailed development of land and sites of all sizes and uses, as well as planning activities, both of which rest on a foundation of ecological understanding which views human value systems as a major force in landscape change.
Our program objectives are to provide both a solid base of essential skills, tools and knowledge and enough flexibility to allow each student to proceed through the program following his or her own pattern of interests and readiness.
As an academic discipline, Landscape Architecture provides a unique opportunity for personal development through environmental problem-solving and project-oriented study. The faculty emphasize the making of richly supportive and expressive places. We see planning and design as processes for understanding the complex interdependence between natural and cultural systems.
Graduate students wishing to pursue a Master's degree who enter the program with a Bachelor's degree from a non-design field, or from a non-accredited program in landscape architecture, enter the First Professional Master's Degree program, a three years plus one term program of study. Because graduate students are not required by the university to take general education classes, we offer a very intense first year program geared toward accelerating the graduate students in their professional education by the end of that introductory year. By that point the First Professional Master's students have established a fundamental introductory understanding of design, media, plant materials, site analysis and landscape technologies and move on to more advanced coursework and graduate studies in the second and third years.
A First Professional Bachelor Degree Program for graduate students is available for students who wish to pursue a course of study that culminates a comprehensive design project as opposed to a graduate research/design project. This program combines learning the basic skills and knowledge of Landscape Architecture in the early years with significant attention paid to an individually focused, studio-based design project that the students organize and execute in their third year.
http://landarch.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=programs&page=grad&sub=gradbla
The First Professional Master's Degree Program combines learning the basic skills and knowledge of Landscape Architecture with graduate research work during the third year. Students are required to take five elective classes in their 'Area of Concentration' and in support of the Master's project or thesis. This program begins in the third week of June each year.
Based upon their undergraduate courses, work experience, and background in design-related disciplines, these students may have competency in some areas, gained either through previous course work or professional experience. In these cases, adjustments are made to the typical program of study for each individual, done in consultation with a faculty advisor.
http://landarch.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=programs&page=grad&sub=firstpro
STUDY ABROAD
Examples of programs offered outside of the UO have included the DIS program in Copenhagen, study in Norway and Sweden offered through UC Davis, and a summer experience in Costa Rica offered by SUNY Buffalo. Students will also often elect to travel, either on their own, or as part of a scholarship-funded exploration that meets their own interests or that meets an area of concentration interest that they have.
The Landscape Architecture department also has partnered with Lincoln University in New Zealand to establish an exchange program for students. This program enables students at the UO to travel to Christchurch for two terms and study landscape architecture in the program at Lincoln. Students interested in work on the Pacific Rim, or in the landscape of that region of the world, have found this experience to be an amazing opportuniity to experience life overseas while pursuing their degree.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
When Ideas have sex
At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It's not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.
Trade between human groups has been going on for a 100,000 years. Idea of Cultural Evolution is done through exchange- the habit of exchanging one thing for another, a unique human feature. This creates the momentum for more specialization, people working for each other. We all know little bits, but none of us know the whole.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
3. Altering my outlook of culture and society
In 150 words or fewer, describe how one of the items listed in the "Involvement and Participation" section has affected you. How have you changed by being involved with this particular club, organization, or activity? Or how has this experience altered you outlook on politics, cultures, economics or education?
What happens to you when you dance and explore contact improvisation? How much do you want to merge and how much do you want to separate? What does it means to risk connection, connection to the world of others? Is our history the most important thing or is it our soul? Do we relate to each other as representatives of groups or as individuals? What roles do we play and how do those public personas influence others, creates movement, and changes space?
Contact Improvisation has given me a framework to explore these questions and the ideas of closeness, of connection in our lives, especially when we have our own tailor-made personalities with their own set of boundaries. And then, how to shed those roles and move authentically, connected and integral in the space of dance, and society. Contact Improvisation allows us to see how we are disconnected and then perhaps move through those disconnections to more meaningful interactions. It is where you get to discover where you see yourself in relation to the greater world. This form of dance offer kinesthetic training and somatic awareness, and it also gives you tact for negotiation and clear communication. There is also this lovely, floating relationship to abstraction, while shedding light into the deep inner human existence and webbing of our reality.
What is Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation is an evolving system of movement initiated in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton. The improvised dance form is based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion—gravity, momentum, inertia. The body, in order to open to these sensations, learns to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain quality of willfulness to experience the natural flow of movement. Practice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner.
Contact improvisations are spontaneous physical dialogues that range from stillness to highly energetic exchanges. Alertness is developed in order to work in an energetic state of physical disorientation, trusting in one's basic survival instincts. It is a free play with balance, self-correcting the wrong moves and reinforcing the right ones, bringing forth a physical/emotional truth about a shared moment of movement that leaves the participants informed, centered, and enlivened.
Contact Improvisation is an open-ended exploration of the kinaesthetic possibilities of bodies moving through contact. Sometimes wild and athletic, sometimes quiet and meditative, it is a form open to all bodies and enquiring minds.
Contact Improvisation (CI) is a framework for an improvised duet dance. Since it is essentially a dance of investigation of weight, touch, and communication, it adheres to no single definition or pedagogical certification program. All practitioners ultimately participate in the defining, disseminating, and development of the form through their own practice and discovery.
2. personal transformational experience
Naropa University is a place where transformation happens. Our students examine who they are, their roles in the world and how they want to meet the world and change it for the better. In a minimum of one page, tell us about a transformational experience you have had and how it enhanced your ability to see another person's view, alter your own view, or engage with the issue or you community in a new way.
In the fall of 2008 I packed a couple of panniers full of warm clothes, camping gear, and bike tools and flew to Portland, Oregon to set off on a month long bike ride to Los Angeles. Never in my life did I consider that traveling by a bike and camping for days on end was possible, moreover doable. I met my 3 friends with whom I planned this adventure in Portland and after a few days of preparations we were off.
A small footnote, I began riding my bike in Los Angeles 4 years prior to the trip and although I was a bike enthusiast, the farthest bike rides I did where 10-15 miles one way to meet some friends across town; I was used to riding for an hour max and then moving onto a different activity. I was comfortable and familiar riding in the city but by no feat was I a rode racer, pounding away miles to attain a goal. I have always been an athlete, but within recent years I have fallen into the comforts of personal choice and being able to withdrawal myself from physical challenges when they where too much.
So you can only imagine how I felt when I began to realize the first day that we where going to ride for hours on end. This was the begging of coming to terms, breaking away and expanding my mental barriers and perceived physical limitations. Not only did I have to adapt to the changed weight of my bike, whereas it was 25 pounds in the city to more than doubled on this trip; I also had to come to terms with physical pain of relentless time spent in the saddle, freezing in the nights, and nowhere to hide- emotionally or literally.
This was my initiation. I was learning to release the notion of instant gratification and endure- for success down the line. I learned to communicate my sorrows more deeply, my joys more openly. Every mountain climbed and descended, crazy autumnal elements overcome, I learned. I observed. I shared. I overcame. And with that, it began to dawn on me not only in theory but through experience, of how resourceful, resilient and patient human nature can be. I gave myself a month of contemplating, listening within, exercise and direct exposure to the natural elements. How many people in the world have that kind of time and opportunity?
My personal experiences also motivated and inspired others to do the route, as well as shed light on the very possibility to "everyone" else. It is almost like I became a certified spokesperson for bicycle touring. But more importantly the trip gave me the confidence to be a part of the bike co-op community. Shortly after my return, I began to volunteer at Bikerowave , a "do it yourself" bike shop, which has been a big figure in the west-side bike community in Los Angeles. I continued to learn about my bike, but I also began to learn about vintage French bottom brackets as well as building wheels and teaching people to do their own tune-ups. I was growing in my knowledge of bike repair, moving from simply fixing a flat to fully re-hauling a bicycle. Even more importantly though, it was all done through a community setting. We held monthly board meetings and voted on issues; raised money through fundraisers and parties; created a "women only" night for females who wanted to fix their bikes in a quiet and sensitive environment; moved to a bigger and more accessible location, and thus grew our member base. All the participation stemmed from the trip. It was my way in to the bike community.
Since then, I have toured the east coast of Australia. Learned and explored the sub-culture of bicycle polo. Connected with people around the world, who I might have never have met, if it wasn't for this medium. Not only is cycling a great way to exercise, it is an important means of alternative transportation, and ultimately an enriching journey inside and through the world.
1. how you are prepared to participate
At Naropa University students develop critical intellect, engage in service to the world, explore their inner resources, participate in the creative arts and develop an understanding of the richness of human diversity. Given this, please tell us in an essay (minimum of 500 words) how you are prepared to participate in this distinctive community and how your life and educational goals would be reached by attending Naropa University.
My perspective is that of Holism, where every part is integrated and interrelated with the others. For a while, I felt different from my peers and internally isolated; I was interested in issues of existential reality when most of my friends where more interested in gossip and the mainstream ideas. I would wonder, how could some people be so unaware or disinterested in the macro and micro dilemnas. Senseless conversations, unsustainable consuming, destructive habits, such ideas plagued my being with confusion and sadness. I was partaking in an internal struggle and resisting what was. But, those concerns where the catalyst to my passion for change and self-improvement; the catalyst to becoming tolerant yet curious; and finally blending a sense of acceptance with productivity and action.
After high school, it took me some time to commit going back to school. But once I started, I knew I was embarking on a journey of discovery. I picked classes specifically to answer inner questions or out of curiosity of the subject, while also fulfilling my transfer requirements. I whole-heartily engulfed in the topics, or fully withdrew if they where not meeting my educational requirements. Selfishly, I wanted to figure "it" out and develop relationships with my professors, not just pass along in a class among the many. For two years I volunteered with the Student Sustainable Crew Program, which focused on us teaching peers: on diverting solid waste through recycling, become water efficient, eliminating toxic chemicals, minimizing transportation impacts, reducing energy use, and better consumer choices. In my fourth year of college, I ran for Student Secretary under the "Solid" Campaign, a group of my friends who where all concerned about "greening" the campus. We where interested in getting a food-garden on campus, a textbook- rental program started, and better food choices in the cafeteria. Our entire running party was elected by a landslide, even a new position in the Associated Student Government was created called the Director of Sustainability. But like many idealistic and enormous ideas, we where met with a lot of resistance from some teachers and Advisors. That was my first real experience to witness the ongoing bureaucracy and top-down power and control that has been part of our social system. No matter how much the students inspired and motivated the prospect of change, we where going against the status quo. What irony. Needless to say, I was disenchanted with the whole idea, and decided that my energies where better spent traveling and learning about how people live, directly.
So I flew to Sweden at the end of my semester term. I was able to witness how an entire country, small as it may be, functions under a sustainable and social system. Universal health care, strong public transportation systems, the EPA that made an impact and is a leading force for national decisions. This was eye-opening. Years later I traveled the east coast of Australia by bicycle, where I was blown away by their sustainable and conscious practices. Water tanks at every house, clothes lines and the lack of dryers in both homes and apartment buildings. Bicycle lanes through out the cities; the decision to make, grow and consume domestic products as much as possible; conservation of water, energy, and the natural environment. The list was long of efficient practices, but it made me wonder, why where we so far behind in implementing ours?
It dawned on me, people do only what they know best. If we knew more, with our whole essence, and where taught and raised with better habits, then the world would look quite different. But we are still learning; either to rediscover the the mystery of the universe, or just move closer with it's vibration. My goal is to make objective and holistic decisions, and if I can inspire or educate other's, even better. Not only do I want to understand, more importantly I am ready to learn the theoretical as well as the hands-on techniques and information on becoming a more self sustaining person, living in a natural world. To apply the knowledge and my life experiences to create some kind of efficient system where I live. And it all stems from education.
Now, 25, a little wiser, I am eager to share, express and experience a holistic university. I am more aware of my strengths, short comings, and learning abilities. I know how to apply my self more efficiently and give full-heartily. I am also excited to participate and continue growing in contemplative dance practice, such as contact improvisation and yoga. I am excited about a school that applies meditation as an integral part of it's system. Acknowledging that life is a process, I am ready for this new chapter in that process.
Two Streams/ Many Ways
cont...
The Red Square
"..practice is to take a ball of very thick red twine and create a square of red on the floor. it's definitely something, it's not ambiguous. It is not necessarily a "square", just an architectural lines appropriate to the space... choice made each time-- what wall will be the back wall? will it be 3-sided? how big will it be? It always has straight lines.
First practice is to present the space as being empty. Then invite people into a mind-training discipline of quieting the mind, closing the eyes, and then opening the eyes and seeing oneself in a posture, a still posture, in the space. Actually letting an image of oneself arise in the space, then go and inhabit what we see... A fairly intense practice of manifestation. YOU are going to invite a vision- a future image of yourself, to arise in the space; and then you are going to COMMIT and go take that shape, on person at a time."
The instruction is take the shape and spend a moment inhabiting the shape. Sometimes between visualization and physicality there are some adjustments of weight.
Then come to stillness and inhabit the posture 100%.
Then simply allow yourself to be seen, witnessed, so that you are cannot hide even while you are out there, solo... Really feel the kinesthetic surrender to let people see you.
And then at some moment, there is a flicker of consciousness; then it starts to dissolve and you let it dissolve and then you leave the space. There is no effort to try to sustain it.
It is rather you are looking for that moment when the mental perception and the consciousness are softening, and you let it go. "
"What is to inhabit a still posture? What is it to actually be present, to feel yourself in a shape in space?" "What is it to let you see me? And what does that feel like kinesthetically?"
Visualization isn't always like visualizing a photograph. For some people it's an energetic process. For some it is very visual, and for other people it is almost like a molecular density, or emotional coloring." It is not to be beautiful." It is not to make a clever posture. IT is to take on what you visualize.
Everybody does a solo, then you move on to duets, and then trios, which are much more accessible. So, one person takes a shape in the space and then you see yourself in the space because of that shape and immediately there is a relationship. So the liberation comes as people start to feel the engagement that way."
Then we get to do Round Robin.
So when you enter, it's not with the intention of "completing an image" or making a compositional statement? It is simply a visualization in response to what you see?
Yes. The person is standing there, and where do you see yourself because that person is standing? You start to see these two pathways: one is abstract and one is content. ONE is design and ONE is emotional/relational. And we talk about that.
Eventually you begin to add props and costumes; one group is responsible for the materials the other for the imagery. For example, "I'll go out in the space and sit down, then somebody will come and put a hat on top of me, or a candle in front of me, or a shawl around my shoulder. And I will stay there. And either I can stay there until I want to leave, or you come up and tap me on the shoulder because you don't want me in the picture anymore, and I'll leave. At this point, any number of people can be out there and it starts to get more dense. Then we start to include movement, but starting with only limited repetitive movement patterns, like walking."
IS there a point where people are working as an ensemble using all of these visual, kinesthetic, and compositional awarenesses as a foundation, where it is actually just open space?
Of course! that is ideal.
Does there need to be a frame of any kind, an intention, limitations?
Well, I think ensemble is a deep commitment. It is relational. You make an intention to be together and to really do that. 25 to 30 years ago we didn't have a lot of group consciousness. For all our brilliance, cleverness, and riskiness, we didn't have a lot of psychological savvy. We just blasted into material having no sense of what it was about. We where fooling around with our unconscious and our subconscious.
What is it to decide that-- those questions-- are up front before you even enter into the intentional community with somebody? talking about the different levels of perception, the slidings between awarenesses.
... to make theater that is about society, about culture, and about deep inner human existence-- ther is some longing I have about that kind of storytelling. But then again, my training is in pure movement, and I still love that.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Two Streams/ Many Ways
Interview with Barbara Dilley on Her Dance Improvisation Practices
by Nancy Stark Smith for CQ
Follow the Leader:
..."if you are a follower, what are the different kinds of follower that you can be?... it's not always necessary to be a duckling in line with the mother duck. I can still be a follower and be quite removed, even spatially but my intention is very clear."
What compositional practices are revealed by Follow the Leader?
"Well, any kind of group dynamic- the power of unison, the power of a group of people moving simultaneously, or moving together, or the intentionality of that... What is it to surrender to a leader? What is it to rest in a leader? What is it not to demand so much originality of yourself all the time?
When you are in the place of resting in the role of the follower, you can begin to perceive the bigger picture, the choreographic choice, something to make the space more interesting."
Developing Compositional Awareness
"-- dance and spatial movement awareness-- first I talk about the "inner eye": cultivating inner awareness and relation to impulse an sensation.
Then there is the "group eye" the ensemble eye, or what it is to be with others. What happens to you, and how much do you want to merge, and how much do you want to separate? All the social dynamics that we have become so much more conscious of in the last 15 to 20 years. And then the third are is the "director's eye" or the choreographic choices... consciously recognizing the design palette of the stage and the audience. You are choosing to do things for them. You are making compositional choices, which is different than group dynamics."
Corridors
"... basic form is three people traveling in parallel corridors. It is a training practice essentially... Basically, you learn to be influenced by the people traveling with you (in parallel corridors).
What are you being influenced by? Who is influencing you? Can you accept influence? Can you put it down? Can you accept more influence? Can you notice what kind of influence you are accepting?
In Corridors, you get to develop and exchange between yourself and two other people. You jus have to keep doing it, and then it happens... can feel it in the space when the three people suddenly go "Oh yeah, my awareness has expanded to encompass the other two people. Then you get to play! "
I remember there are a few specific movements used in the beginning of the practice.
"... the five basic movements are: walking, standing, running, arm swinging, and crawling. Then it can evolve into personal movement vocabulary."
Grid
"arose in the 1970s out of an improvisation ensemble. It is a development of Corridors... We're in corridors making the lane changes. The next step os to say that you can change lanes in the middle of the space. You and I are in swim lanes; we're on corridors. Now I'm going to turn 90 degrees, and I'm going to cross your corridor. I am traveling on a line now, no longer in a swim lane. Graphically I am on a line. I am making a right angle in space. A corridor is a pretty wide expanse of territory, whereas the grid is really a map, a trail. As soon as you start making that right-angle turn and crossing the other corridors, everybody feels the different spatial arrangement.
You start perpendicular to the grid going east-west and north-south. Next, just put the grid in the space at an angle and everything is on a diagonal. Then you mix the two together; you can go back and forth between one and the other at anytime. Then we add the circle. And you have a circular pattern in space."
..."What does the group need? On what levels are compositional choices made? That is fascinating, to try to detail them out and be able to say, "Well I prefer making my decisions for this reason, or I have a tendency to do this..."
"Or just be myself! I am in the ensemble being myself. I am the one who always wants to act out against the structure. Can i just be myself like the color blue arising in space? My choices can be more playful, too."
Sets
"When we all get the Grid practices, all the maps, clear, we do "sets", with very specific disciplines. You could do a set where all you do is work the grid in the upper body with only walking and standing. You can make up any set of disciplines to follow."
Limitations.
"it's just a practice of awareness! It isn't about being successful at it; it's just a question of what does it bring you in terms of your awareness and what does it bring the others? ... it's like sketches in a notebook-- we do one after another."
"So you do set after set with these specific limitations and it just keeps building awareness. At the very end, after having cultivated all that limited awareness, you do a long set, of just present moment-- just in the moment, just together, just ensemble."
Eye Practices
"Basically...ask that we work in space, we take more cognizance, more awareness, of where we are looking while we are moving..."
Closed eyes-- Conscious choice that you would explore. internal seeing. rest; refresh
Peripheral seeing-- soft focus; seeing from the corner of the eyes
Infant eyes-- seeing before naming. before judgment, before concept.
Seeing the space between-- very active place of improvisational energy. really focusing on the space between; the negative space.
Direct looking-- investigate; study; absorb "just look at the light on somebody's face, or the creases of their arm, or they way they hold their hand. That's when I start talking about what it is to look from the back of your head rather than to push through the eyeballs. What is it to move the energy of the eye way back so that you are actually witnessing from way back here? It takes a lot of pressure off of the seeing."
Carrying a Teaspoon of Water
"The idea is: Can you feel what it's like to try to put 100% of your attention on the teaspoon? You can barely move across the space. So then you have to somehow or another watch the spoonful of water and simultaneously be cognizant of the space. And then, what is to hold the teaspoon of water and turn you gaze away from it? People get more daring... it's all about the sense of mindfulness and awareness coming together.
Contact Quarterly- a vehicle for moving ideas. Summer/Fall 2005
A more recent, extra interview
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Moral Vegetarians
Moral Vegetarians: part deux
"even the most ideal tillage just keeps pace with the most ideal conditions of soil formation" 62 Bill Molison ' has a solution involving the restoration of soil-building perennial polycultures, which he named "permaculture".
'the best annual grain culture- given the the correct climate, topography and animal rotation- can only hope to replace what it's destroying. Not build, like nature does: only replace.'
'... a further problem is the salinization caused by irrigation'
"when the Rivers Run Dry- Fred Pearce." "70% of all
Resources
The Weston A. Price Foundation http://www.westonaprice.org
Julia Ross http://www.moodcure.com
Soy Online Service
Eat Wild http://eatwild.com
Local Harvest http://www.localharvest.org
Wise Food Ways www.wisefoodways.com
Eat Local Challenge www.eatlocalchallenge.com
Beyond Vegetarianism www.beyondveg.com
The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics
making it happen
did you ever dream of becoming, participating in something that ached from your heart? Visions of grandeur; visions of possibilities. well I have. many many dreams, all day daydreaming of all the possibilities. making them a reality is a gift and a journey. so here goes:
acroyoga, contact improvisation, fabric flying, fluid movements.
moving from the independent external sports to a communion with another. body work. somatic-- Anatomy: of or relating to the outer wall of the body, as opposed to the viscera. soma-- the parts of an organism other than the reproductive cells. • the body as distinct from the soul, mind, or psyche
Contact Improvisation- jams and events
from Breitenbush to Boulder
FALL CONTACT JAM
http://www.breitenbush.com/events/sept19-24jam.htmlhttp://www.breitenbush.com/events/sept12-14.html
STRAWBERRY CONTACT JAM IN THE ROCKIES- OCT. 14-17
BOULDER CONTACT IMPROV
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Moral Vegetarians
"at the pain I felt over my powerless witnessing of the destruction of the planet".
"we have no mechanism to digest cellulose". "
"we need to be eaten in as much as we need to eat. the grazers need their daily cellulose, the the grass also needs the animals. It needs the manure, with its nitrogen, minerals, and bacteria; it needs the mechanical check of grazing activity; and it needs the resources stored in animal bodies an freed up by degraders when animals die." "need each other in as much as predator and prey".
"its mineral cycle and carbon trade, its balance points around an ancient circle of producers, consumers, and degraders"
"with humility, awe and respect"
Moral Vegetarians:
"glaring anthropocentrism"
"why are we humans allowed to take without giving? Isn't that called exploitation?"
"Fruit trees are grafted, not sprouted" 6
"Ruth Stout" 8
"a square meter of topsoil can contain a 1,000 different species of animals" 10
"on the side of righteousness, and like any fundamentalist, i could only stay there by avoiding information".
"...humic acid...breaks down plant compounds and stores them inside itself". "when it gets the right signals from its ecosystem it recombines and releases the needed nutrients. 'through tightly coupled feedback processes information on the chemistry reserves stored in humic acid feeds back into the above ground plant communities, indicating what plants should grow in what combination in what ecosystem and what kind of chemistries they should produce to keep the soil healthy." 14
Nyle Brady "the genesis of a natural body distinct from the parent materials from which the body was formed." 15
"NPK" nitrogen phosphorus and potassium
"my garden wanted to eat animals, even I didn't".
"Bill Mollison"
'phosphorus' "bone meal from land animals is a traditional source, and most farms (up to 1949) kept a flock of pigeons as their source".18 ..."seabirds and salmon do try to recycle it back to us.."
"the apple grower by Michael Phillips"
"relationship, one of mutuality and respect"
Michael Pollan's "the Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World."
"bovine experiment"
"agriculture as something the grasses did to people as a way to conquer the trees" 22
"without predators the land dies"
"and large ruminants changed humans"
"human hunting...literally helped form the American Plains bison, which...changed both physically and behaviorally after the arrival of the Indians." 25
'the megafauna of the prehistoric world, literally made us human"
"plants using animals" 'these flowers need animals to pollinate them'
'sex from the beginning has been an orgy of color and scent and taste, brilliant red for hummingbirds, sweet nectar for bees'
'plants co evolved with their animal cohorts'
'human harvest unintentionally disburse and protect he plant'
David Rindos "incidental domestication" 27
"nature loves an opportunist"
'exorphins' G Wadley and A. Martin
'in concert' 'perennial poly culture' 'how nature protects and builds topsoil' 'how life has organized itself to produce more'
"this is what agriculture is: you take a piece of land and you clear every living thing off it, down to the bacteria. then you plant it to a human use with a tiny handful of species, often endless miles of a single plant like corn, soy, wheat. The animals are killed, often into extinction. They simply have nowhere to go. There where somewhere between 60-100 MILLION bison in the U.S in 1491. Now there are 350K bison, and only 12-15K of those are pure bison that were not crossbred with domestic cattle. The land held between 425K and a MILLION wolves; only 10K remain. Some species of ground-dwelling birds were wiped out before thy even had names ("I'm sure the indigenous peoples knew what to call them). The North American prairie has been reduced to 2% of its original size and the topsoil- once 12 FEET DEEP is can now only be measured in inches~ " 37
'Steven Stoll' 38
'Tom Paulison-"the planet is getting skinned alive" 39
'this is the earth protecting itself, covering its body in a living armor of green' 'the trees keep trying to make a forest, the grasses want their prairie, and the waters ache for a wetland. Abandon cleared land in New England, and you'll get pokeberry and brambles, then sumac and birch, then maples and oaks and pines. In 5 years, it'll be covered in saplings; in 10 they're too big to cut with a handsaw.'
"the hills of Israel, Lebanon, Greece, Cyprus, Crete, Italy, Sicily, Tunisia, and eastern Spain" where dense with trees and topsoil a meter deep" 43 'Stripped of its protective trees, the soil washed to sea. All that's left now is scrubby brush clinging to dry rocks browsed by goats and desiccating in the sun'.
"fuel for industrial processes'
Richard Manning-"malaria" 48
'N. America was once covered in forests so thick that a squirrel could theoretically travel from Maine to Texas without touching the ground.'
'...native prairies 99.8% gone'
'Illinois once swaddled in 22MILLION acres of prairie" 51 "in Nebraska, 98% o f the native tallgrass prairie is gone" 52
'there's no place left for the buffalo to roam. Only corn, wheat and soy.'
"Indiana once home to over 2MILLION acres- now fragmented 1k remain.
'Most trees suffocate under water. Their roots need oxygen. But tupelo gum (can live over 500 years) and bald cypress (relatives to redwoods) grow a spongy tissue above the waterline, tissue that absorbs oxygen from the air like you and I do. "there's actualbreathing goin on' Richard Hines, wildlife biologist at the White River National wildlife Refuge." 54
Wes Jackson's answer is an agriculture based on perennial grasses' 56 "should we not strive to create an agriculture which makes unnecessary the example of exemplary people the current agriculture tradition?" ..."both the police and military do exist and are sings of failure within and of civilization...but should we not be constantly looking for ways to make them unnecessary?"
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