September 2007 Archives

As seen in Ultra!

Bright Lights, Dark Room from TJ Norris on Vimeo.

Los Angeles is the city that the world watches to detect the shape of the future. There are more artists,
writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers, and musicians living and working in LA than in any other city, in
any other time in the history of civilization. Los Angeles' ethnic diversity is unparalleled, it serves as a
microcosm of the global economy and worldwide trends in immigration.

To appreciate LA you need a prying eye, we fell in love through a series of explorations that led us to
unique events and surprises. LA has taught us to pay attention to details. We invite you to uncover the
greatness of LA through these image portals. Go ahead, click on it.

the passion that moves us to make bodycity a living thing is a need to discover,
utilize and celebrate the intricacies and capacities of our own bodies.




bodycity passion face from bodycity on Vimeo.

My face is always dancing.
The upper most plane of our bodies is impossible to codify in any single term except
maybe constant motion. We look for faces everywhere and are eternally intrigued
by what they are and the conundrum of our own faces mirrored imperfectly back at
us. This is hard. I forget my face is always there looking but am also desperately
aware of this topography of features. I think myself is somewhere in this plane and
I am trying to share important stories, but sometimes all I have to do is stare.




bodycity passion arms from bodycity on Vimeo.


"You often rest your ulna on the table."
Two snakes or paired lengths of dead rope.


Arms are funny. They are like a pair of tools hung from the scaffolding
of the shoulders. The arm hangs from the body like a hose from a nail in
the wall. Where do you keep your arms? Folded with its companion tight into
your chest until you need it again? Or perhaps you keep it close to your body
sides in a place where you know you can find it again: dug into the stability of
your pockets?


Young, plump arms tethered to bodies that land often and rise quickly again.
They are in the habit of experiencing swinging walks and tumbles at the hands
of much larger arms and attached bodies, only to face a greater number of full
out poppings and dislocations. And back in you go.


The fragility of the ball and socket joint that pins the arm to the body makes it
vulnerable for slipping and dislocations. This leads experts to believe that within
the next century, arms will separate completely from their skeletons and become
a solitary subject in the atmosphere.




bodycity passion core from bodycity on Vimeo.

The human core is a ticking time bomb. A veritable capsule of beating pumping
flowing gasping growling devouring lumps and juices, all working within their
body prison. With no appendages, our bodies are basically behavioral burritos.
Many of the elements of my machine function poorly. And I wonder
to myself, is this due to a window of possible freedom? A rib on my right side
appears to be missing. It is through this gap that the ingredients inside me are
fighting to barrel through. And perhaps someday, like the crack in the bottom
of a burrito or a weak spot in the floor of a ship, it will all flood out.

Six years ago, I jumped off of a cliff in Philadelphia and crushed two bones in my
left foot, just under the big toe. Now, the pieces of bone are held together by a
fibrous union of soft tissues that sometimes swell up and squeeze
on the nerve endings down there. And, sometimes, if I wiggle my toes just right,
it makes a sick grinding noise. I think of my feet now as something in need of consistent
consideration. This is not a new concept for many as this part of the body has been
heavily fetishized and feared across cultures and over time. But, since the general
plans of our feet correspond directly to different points throughout the rest of our bodies,
one can never be too careful. I mean, what if I'm poking at my thyroid when
I wiggle my toes?

This post has been removed pending investigation by the site administrator. For more information please email interminable.duration@unspecified.name reference: "Matthew Stadler, post #6."

Congrats to Hubs for correctly answering all the blogging trivia questions! He is a internet nerd extraordinaire. We love it.

1. One of the best-known personal bloggers, this woman is famous for having been one of the first people fired for writing negatively about work on her blog. The name of her blog is now commonly used as a term to reference when this happens to others. Name the blogger or the blog. Dooce

2. Julie Powell got a lucrative book deal after blogging for a year about her attempts to cook every recipe out of a famous chef's cookbook. Whose cookbook was she using? Julia Childs

3. What is the name of the political blog, published by Gawker Media, that may be most notoriously known for publicizing the blog of Jessica Cutler, who worked on the hill and wrote about accepting money for sexual favors from a Republican senator. Wonkette

4. Which award-winning group blog's tagline is "a directory of wonderful things"? Boing Boing

5. What celebrity gossip blogger made news for outing Doogie Houser and Lance Bass? He also recently appeared on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar. Perez Hilton

6. This awesomely cool internet cartoon character has a blog-like page where he answers emails sent in by fans on his Lappy 486 computer. Strong Bad

7. What legendary musician and artist has a blog, but is insulted if you refer to it as such, insisting - don't call it a blog, call it a journal. David Byrne

8. This Denver "scenester" blog recently changed its name when it became too popular. Name the original and new name of this blog. (2 points) Elitist Hipster Snob/Donnybrook Writing Academy

wikidance creators! from bodycity on Vimeo.

In the spirit of willing expression and collaboration we want to share with everyone what was shared with us. Keep the spirit alive.
Yay! It's alive!

[ 3890 words ]

All Aboard!


After starting my day at the crack of dawn, packing super light in a single backpack (the bookbag size variety, no hockey sticks in this baby). While waiting in line I had a friendly chat with a woman in her late 50s who recently moved from Ithaca to Seattle, she explained that her family lives in Portland and talked about the manageable size of the city. She also expressed the change she's seen over the years, but interjected that the change all seems to make the overall city a more sound place. We parted ways after car assignments, myself in Car 1 and she in #2. We are boarding Amtrak. The Cascades travels between Portland's Union Station to Seattle's King Street Station nearly every day, and this train actually left a minute early at 8:29AM! The folks on the train let out a collective sigh of excitement.




I should probably start by explaining to those here on the Ultimate Blogger that this time around I am planning to submit my "Passion" entry on a subject that feels closest to my heart, travel. Oh yes, the open road, or in this case, rail. It's been years since I've been to Europe, last in '03 to Barcelona to be exact. But small getaways like this one have a special place in my life, particularly since it's a more affordable to see my region. Speaking of which, the view from this moving window is quite green, with a salt marsh, big freight containers, and the mighty Columbia River, all lit by what I call a ½ sky. That's the type that is densely dark in parts and sunny blue in others. The sort of sky that makes you start envisioning the shroud of Godzilla just behind those clouds!




As soon as I heard the theme for this week's challenge I went all cheesey and thought I would rat my hair (er a wig I guess), and do a really bad karaoke lip-synch performance to the Rod Stewart ditty of the same name (Passion, that is). But I'm going to spare you this time. I would have, could have, should have donned the cheetah lycra! Fun for me, not too pretty for you, so this will have to do.




This 'travelblogue' is an opportunity for me to really write (especially since I will be sans video camera (or cam - I have a pre-Intel G4 iBook). This I will consider a blessing because it will give me the chance to sharpen my keyboard skills a bit. And given that I just completed another assignment for Igloo Magazine of Orange, CA (doesn't that have a tart ring to it?), completing my third rendition of a column I m writing called "+/-". The intent for this column is to cover some experimental electronic music that may otherwise not be heard. It has now been over seven years writing about music, sound, noise, or whatever the kids are calling it these days. And I am considering taking some much needed time off. (Sidenote: the train stopped on the Columbia Bridge outside Vancouver, WA to let a big old tugboat pass. Riding the train has some sort of romantic time-travel thing about it). "Go By Train" says the big sign back in Portland, and though there's something quintessentially mid last century about the experience of the bounce and rock of the cabin, the bellow of the locomotive, there's a comfort in not having to anticipate one of the more icky traffic corridors, not to mention the tension on my eyes if I was behind the wheel. Being a photographer, it's one of my most sacred assets.




Where was I? Oh, no matter, I'm moving right along here....


My train car is equipped with a 120-volt input, which is great for an energy-meiser like me, especially given that this weekend will be a real adventure. You see, as far as packin' it, I have a single change of clothes, a laptop (and holstered iPhone) and not much else (I did remember my multivitamins and a few protein bars). The sun is warming the right side of my neck right now. Got greenery to the left of me and to the right, with few peeping stretches of the river, and a plank of two story condos. And we even just came side-by-side with one of those mile-long cargo trains carrying everything from lumber to mysterious liquids in big metal drums, to cars on occasion. I like contemplating what actually is inside these often sealed containers without a view. And of course it's also a traditional canvas for taggers, some stylin' old skool and some scrawling, and once in a blue moon you will see stencils and other contemporary transfigurations and modalities. The train has just picked up steam and is racing at a speedy clip. We are scheduled to arrive in the Queen City (now the "Emerald City") at 12:40PM, perfectly timed for lunch. I may even skip snacks completely on the train, not to mention that I should try and cut down on my intake. Just last night I was out at Red Robin with Paul, celebrating our paper anniversary (more on that later), with the bottomless pit o' fries and a stack of onion rings way bigger than my head. Yes, a grease pit, for sure (I loved SS's fry basket contest!).




I hate public restrooms. There, I said it. It's probably one of my biggest pet peeves. They just wreak of uncontrollable fungus of every kind, and conjure a full range of gross images. OK, I feel better. Not because I successfully went number one, but because I got that off my chest. It's also funny to leave your seat with your belongings behind, the whole 'trust factor' is a suspension of belief in our whole culture of fear when you are on the train. I came back to my seat and my laptop was still here. Could you imagine if someone stole this intellectual property?


Ahhh. I will say that this particular restroom had a cold metallic seat, and a faucet that you had to push up from underneath and touch it to get water. Hard to explain, but I guarantee you it was something from the dark ages. But my hands are clean, and I am passing by a huge field of grazing cattle. They look so peaceful, but I'm glad I'm on a moving train and the windows are sealed. The syncopated glints of light chop through the trees as we whiz by, like laser beams. The engineer toots his horn every third of fourth block, we must be traveling through a populated zone, no wait, it's another oncoming train. They must have GPS and were able to predict that. This train is just feet from my shoulder, and it's a bit of a rush when that happens as you can kind of feel the imaginary weight of the other train, the proximity to this seat and the thin column of air between the two locomotives is spare, and probably has a ton of cylindrical force, enough to din the sound of the air in a blur for a few minutes as they pass.




It would be remiss of me not to tell you why I am actually traveling. And that is to fulfill another dense passion of mine. I said passion. And I meant it. This weekend is the annual Decibel Festival, now in its fourth year I believe. The festival was brought together in my sister city to the north by one Sean Horton, a big music fanatic like me. I have been to every rendition except last year, I can't remember why I missed '06 honestly. The festival covers a range of exploratory splinter genres within the world of electronica. Having traveled to Spain, Boston and Montreal to other major music festivals it's a proud moment to have our own regional version. And this year is world class.




But before I say more let me just say aside from my past music writing, I am an avid collector of the dying out CD, a format that is slowly fading for straight digital download. It brings up the whole notion of collection (which used to be a much bigger passion of mine) and the object. I guess I grew up on the tail end of the 33 1/3 generation of crackly vinyl, and given that the CD just turned 25 years old this year, I guess technology has caught up with us. But you can't touch something on the net. You just can't. Music as virtual reality, that doesn't collect dust, well it just bugs me. I took such pride in my non fire or water damaged collection of music in boxes they refer to as 'jewel's. I never used mine as Frisbees or let them sit in the sun and fade away. My collection also probably has fewer scratches per capita than anyone else's of the same compounded assortment. I do have over 250 gigs of downloaded music, not sure in the moment how much that is in cat years, but it's a lot, and does fit in my bag weighing less than a few pounds (and there's room for more). My CD collection takes up an entire room and about 35-40 moving boxes worth. Some I probably haven't listened to in a handful of years. It's about access I guess. Maybe iTunes and Bleep have won that challenge?




As we enter Kelso/Longview, WA, as I was saying, I am headed to this music festival taking place in a handful of venues, including the Broadway Performance Hall. This year they are cranking with the inclusion of a few true daddies of the genre, Wolfgang Flür (formerly of Kraftwerk) and the duo of Harold Budd (regular collaborator of Brian Eno) with Robin Guthrie (of the seminal Cocteau Twins). If that isn't enough there is Speedy J and Biosphere of Norway (saw them a few years back, amazing silky smooth) as well as countless others. In 2005 I spoke on a panel at this fest. I don't recall what the panel was about exactly, though it dealt with audio/visual intersections and media, etc. Panels often meander as they are live and take into consideration the audience who keep things perky. I remember seeing Richard Chartier in a basement club the first year. I won't soon forget the clink of glass bottles and the rough crowd, here to see one of the contemporary gurus of click/cut minimalism? Seemed like a bad combo package, but Richard decided to turn up the heat by creating sonics that not only emulated the crunch of the crowd, but went one better. He conjured a wall of sound a few feet higher than the doe-eyed, rude, attention-challenged in da haus that fateful night. Other highlights over the years included a complete topsy turvy performance by Montreal's Akufen, and Deadbeat who is far better live than any MP3 to date. If you were so inclined you could go to igloomag.com and search on keyword "Decibel Festival".




OK, as a segue, the train has stopped prior to Centralia as it looks as though a big old tree fell upon the rails. Since I am on the first car I could see the personnel on the railside struggling to move it. We are still here, maybe they have to call an arborist? Maybe we'll be here a while? I guess I spoke too soon as the train just started with jolt ahead. Oh, nature. I tried to get shots of the splintery wreckage, but it was just too close to the train that the abstract image wouldn't have made much sense dear reader. I assume you are still with me....?




This train power to my computer is better than at home where I normally average 96-99% power. Here I have 100% in the green wilderness. It's not quite the way mother nature intended, but I'll take it. Now that we stopped I noticed a well coiffed lady, probably a septegenarian, quilting something with hearts on it. It's a scene that Norman Rockwell forgot to paint, but she maintains a smile all the while. A lanky guy eats carrot cake to the left of me, there's a young man in his early 30s who probably has some developmental disability with his dad. I'm always attracted to someone in his state of mind, odd but true. I am fascinated by the way he might think, the way life may be simpler, and for that am a bit envious. I'm not at all being facetious. The folks to my rear talk about the dangers of using debit cards. We are moving at full speed again. It's a Friday in September and all's well.




Now, with the wafting scents of coffee and other morning treats in the air I may not be able to hold out too too long without a visit to the provisions car. They make things just too damn convenient. I feel like what's his name on blue-blood Martha's Vineyard, was it Kurt Vonnegut or Rudyard Kipling writing their memoirs? I can't remember all those writers of coastal Americana. No matter, I lived in Boston and traveled 'round New England my first thirty-five years without having stepped on that particular soil. I guess I prefer the more unchartered Wild West. Perhaps it's just that turning point in my life? There's something about travel that I relish, something about the sense of movement, progression, moving quickly through space. Perhaps it's not that unlike other forms like astral projection, transcendental meditation or an psychotropic trip? My indulgence in these has been lil' to none, so I cannot compare, but only imagine as we chug by some squat farm type settlements. Watching the land pass is like a film in my mind. A moving picture, a landscape ¾ untainted, at least most of what's out this particular window. And I don't see a rose polyfilm covering anywhere.




That's it, it's nearly 10:30AM and I need caffeine. Funny thing, I never touched the stuff until I moved out to the left side of the country in '01. I know, seems hard to believe. And my dental bills have doubled, more coffee = more cleanings. I'm surprised that I opted for a healthy salad that looks pretty good with some blue cheese, cranberries and apricots, and a nasty Diet Pepsi (sorry to any potential sponsors). My friend Bryan just pinged me to say that he didn't see any story about the Ultimate Blogger in today's paper as was the rumor. Well, I guess we can keep a good thing to ourselves as I graze on my field greens, a bit early for lunch, but hey!




Mmmm, the candied, spiced hazelnuts had this sorta buttery-salty bite that did the trick. This lil "shoebox express" comes from Gretchen's and is marked with a red label emblazoned with "Farmers Market". It was the best five and a half dollars I spent on food in a while. Ah, the small pleasures. I just looked over at the lanky guy again, he has a discerning nose and is quite buff. But what I noticed most is that over his facts n' figures (I think he's playing with spreadsheets, with a pen no less) he also was focused on the DD guy (who I forgot to mention is wearing a ubiquitous Boston Red Sox cap). And, on the right we just passed a rural beauty, a crystal still pond.




I'm sitting here (feels funny to say "sitting" when I am actually moving), anticipating the music festival, being out late at some hot nightclubs. I love sitting, typing and moving all at the same time. Actually, I would like to do this more often. We are about to arrive at Washington's capital city, that's Olympia for those not in the know (I'm still in a double-seater alone - which is comfy). It brings to mind, as a non-sequitor, the recent YouTube clip with the beauty pageant queen who tried to no avail to talk about education in America. You remember the one? But as I imagine my arrival in the town made famous by a needle in the sky, a faked orgasm by Meg Ryan of all people, and one of Frank Gehry's ugliest of his uglies, I realize I don't have a solid offer of a place to stay. While, yes, my Youth Hostel card has long expired (FYI: Seattle proper no longer has one anyway), I didn't reserve at the Ace (my usual single night stopover), and the few artist friends I have in SEA either are (said cheekily) "conveniently out of town" or didn't return emails after a week plus.




I turned to Couchsurfing.com (2.0). It's a place to meet fellow regional to international travelers, willing to share space in an exchange of hosting. It's an "e"volution to me. One of those things the www has generously granted us. Brought us virtually together, then helped us realize common interests and perversions. Now this. I got three responses from absolute strangers. One was more like a dating response: "I have a small sofa that's not too comfortable, but you are welcome to share my bed". And one was from an amateur travel photographer in his 50s who sounded OK, and would have been sharing a townhouse with my own bathroom, sweet! But he's not around this weekend. It was like taking candy from a baby. So, it leaves me with one offer that is slightly out of city center, about 7 miles. He says there's public transport. I don't have a pocketful of quarters (maybe they take debit cards?...I better not let the people behind me see this screen...). So, I feel like a bit of a renegade rebel, like I was back in '97 traveling through Iceland and England, meeting up with other travelers from Turkey, Antwerp and Sao Paulo. This is different though, I know the turf, and I'm traveling lite.




My iBook still says 100% power, and it's after 11AM, so we shall carry on....




Another thing I'm going to do once I touch down on the soil of the Evergreen State (doesn't that have a nice ring to it?), I'm planning to head to Western Bridge. This is a non-profit contemporary art gallery space that's quite sizable. They present the collection of the Trues, which is most certainly in my world. Big conceptual art that is often installation-based. I loved their presentation of Christian Marclay's Quartet - a four screen large-scale video work that is synched flawlessly. This time out they have a group show with the UK's Martin Creed, whose work I have only ever seen out here in the Internets. So, it's about time, indeed. The show may be called "Insubstantial Pageant Faded" or something similarly obtuse. I am so there.


We just took a bend in the rail are now going past the most spectacular part of the trip scenic-wise, that's the big bay or channel or whatchamacallit near Tacoma, they have a new bridge going up soon. I think that's where we are. Maybe not, as I see no bridge, but we are supposed to be in Seattle in just an hour now. The light is lovely today. Water to both sides now, as we cross a small train bridge. I think that's the Tacoma Art Museum up on that hill, but I've never been. It looks like a museum. The mustached DD guy is talking to his dad about pirates now. It's weirdly heartwarming, and somehow a lil' awkwardly sad. We just went into a darkened tunnel, everything seems cooler all of a sudden. The lack of light tones everything into this noir froth of sorts.




As the train pulls into Tacoma I just realized that after I finish this passage I am going to upload some of these images I shot for you in order to illustrate this daytrip. Before I do that though I just have to say there's something magical about this lil' nook just between two bigger cities. I was watching a podcast the other night on small towns losing their sense of purpose, spirit, to the more overpopulated major city centers, and it hit home. In places like this for sure, but more in places along the road. Those dusty places Jack Kerouac once rode through in bewilderment. Long before HD MTV and ADD. A time unfettered by massive malls with their IMAX and 20-plex theaters. The places where roadside diners were home to staples serving piping hot comfort food and cherry pie, not just faded sideshow novelties (of course, most of that was before I came up).




Ooops I just started to daydream 'bout the smallest violin in the world, so I better roll on....




This entry will serve in lieu of boring you with the whole walk through of the entire music festival's goings-on. Sure, it's going to be a friggin' blast (beyond mere words), but you only have so many hours in a day. But take a minute out of your day to smell the roses (unless you're one of the millions of Americans suffering from Environmental Sensitivity Syndrome). I may report back some of my experiences of wild light shows and the like. Perhaps online in the coming weeks, or you can just ask me in person, or text message me. Though since this here, this record of my passion, is due on Sunday at noon, it just makes sense to stop here, maybe as a cliffhanger that will have you come back for more later? Just know that next time around I will probably try n' dazzle you with a gaggle of fembots in g-strings and off-the hook multimedia to the nth degree, we're talkin' full tilt boogie here. But since I am already 3600+ words in I am going to cut to the chase, and spare you the run on sentences and other reading aerobics so you can watch everybody else's stylish videos and other rad uploads.




A special call-out to my peeps Existential Media (download, reload, to the max), G-Rad (I'm still in a quagmire trying to figure that last post out with my dot matrix), Matthew Stadler (hope your basking w/the Mayans), Oh Don Piano (you got under the wire last time, and I voted against the absentee Lil' Elephant btw), and of course Bodycity (what moves!). This is pretty much an old-fashioned travelogue. Thanks for taking the time to read (or skim). It covers my three passions: music, travel, and blogging (er, writing). Oh, cheeses, the conductor just came over the intercom to say that there was a car vs. train incident up ahead. We are approx. eight minutes out. The nice man said it could take up to two hours in the worst case scenario. So much for getting an early start. D'oh! We are parked on the tracks aside Cosco, I overheard some of the seniors in the back talking with the man in the blue cap asking if they could get off here and shop while they wait. I fear our culture of convenience has gone to our heads. It's all good as I don't really have any particulars until a bit later, my belly is sated, and I am pleasuring the masses by taking my precious time to write this blog-based tome.




People a lil' fidgety, cellphones immediately pop from pockets and bags to inform business colleagues and loved ones about the potential for delay, and then click, the train revs back on track. Delay = a mere 37 minutes.


The announcer says: "Entering King Station". There's just a ring to it!


Postscript: That last picture comes from my first stop in Seattle, the Greg Kucera Gallery, to see new work by compadre, Jack Daws (who I've shown with twice), lookin' good bro! And as for any alliances, an aside, may the best blogger win the big huge grande prize, which I hear is a case of PBR (sponsorship or non)!

This post has been removed pending investigation by the site administrator. For more information please email interminable.duration@unspecified.name reference: "Matthew Stadler, post #5."

This post has been removed pending investigation by the site administrator. For more information please email interminable.duration@unspecified.name reference: "Matthew Stadler, post #4."

The Wikidance from bodycity on Vimeo.

This challenge was serious fun for us. Our mission as a dance troupe is about collaboration and creative democracy so, in a way, we were on familiar territory. But we found ourselves so impressed and inspired and grateful each time new moves were submitted by willing friends and strangers alike. Our process mutated from conceptual couch conversations to obsessive internet stimulus digestion sessions. bodycity came to life in a crazy way because of this challenge. we were required to operate on such a pleasant and frenzied new level that we are really hoping to do it again. So, thank you to everyone who joined the troupe for this project. And welcome to bodycity.

Participation: Three Ono Actions from TJ Norris on Vimeo.

Big thanks to Scott Cummins of Riverscape Pictures for his expert handling of an abstract idea. Though they both came out to the Willamette River for the 'scoop' the Portland Tribune and The Oregonian only got a glimpse of the full picture here on the Ultimate Blogger. See you on the Net!

This was my ad on Craigslist.

Time Began: 10:00p.m. EST
Time Ended: 12:15p.m. EST
Total Number of Chatters: 24


Obviously we will not be posting a 2 hour chat in its entirety, as that would be tiring. So, instead, we present to you a summarized recap of the highlights.


Note: Names, and screennames have been blurred to protect individuals from internet abuse. Although, one celebrity remains uncensored, and a few slips...





The night began slowly with just a few of us, and a mild discussion about blogging.





Things then started to "blow up". We all talked about a certain someone and their whereabouts.


(There are 17 of these, so in respect to other Ultimate Bloggers this will be extended so we don't hog ALL of the space. Click the link below, or here)

We lay, sprawled in a radial effect on the floor, faces illuminated by a familiar LCD glow. Within that tiny apartment in Portland, a revelation was born, a participatory event that did not require paralyzing creativity. We were tired, but we needed each other. So rather than watching a movie or dispersing throughout the room we read the entire screenplay of Hard Rain aloud, including almost all of the stage directions. None of us had seen the movie, we entered it's (web)pages blind and hopeful. Level, we took our best shot at the characters (first noting the actors on imdb). We were gripped by a flat story and mediocre script, why? Was it the beer?

Yes and no. It was the interdependence, the possibility, and innocence.

And it was with this small, glowing coal that we took on our participation challenge. We resolved to reenact a scene, something touching and awkward, some thing the experience would inevitably be.

There is something terribly important about reenactment.

"[Re-enactment] provides a ready-made means of externalizing human plight by embodying and representing them in storied plot and characters. What is the significance of this externalizing tendency in [re-enactment]? It provides, in the first instance, a basis for communion among men. What is 'out there' can be named and shared in a manner beyond the sharing of subjectivity. By the subjectifying of our worlds through externalization we are able, paradoxically enough, to share communally in the nature of internal experience....Fate, the full of the moon, the aether--these and not our unique fears are what join us in common reaction....Sharing, then, and the containment of impulse in beauty--these are possibilities offered by externalization."

--Jerome Bruner

1. Why did you agree to participate in our project?
Mostly, I was curious about the project. But I also thought the message I received asking me to participate was a mistake. So obviously I said yes.
because the kind fellow who asked me is a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who since my visit in portland has been elevated to straight up friend. this made us closer.

2. How did you feel while we were reenacting the scene?
I felt awkward and a bit tipsy, but less uncomfortable than usual.
like gena rowlands in the film 'opening night'.
A little strange due to the role reversal and because I was doing it in front of people I don't know. But it's kind of, uh.. neat how I get to be posted even though nobody knows who I am.

3. How comfortable do you feel using the internet? Do you participate in any online communities or networks in any way?
i love the internets! I like to read blogs, and occasionally post in online forums about stuff i like (threadless.com for example)
I am fine with the internet. I don't know it very well but I have a myspace, an email and I frequent an online banking resource.
you know, i've often thought about getting one of those foot leaning devices that improves posture but the wrist cushion just seems ostentatious to my mind. i regularly troll the forum for northampton town football club ( thehotelend.cjb.net) and "i cannot tell a lie": i am myspace legit. recently, ijustfindtheinternetboring.com. this is due to my own limitations in e-creativity, though.

I really don't use the internet. Basically just for what I absolutely need, or sometimes for looking up Harley dealerships.

4. What would make you more comfortable and more likely to participate?
having the extra time, and as far as blogging, having a friend to do it with.
It was fun and I would do it again, so probably some sort of good or service.
hallucinogens. or immense personal praise.
If I knew how to use it.

5. What do you wish you could read or find online?
every book in the world!
Ice cream delivery services, or intergalactic travel simulators
I would love to get the advance copies of a lot of the authors I read!

6. Did you learn anything from this experience?
I am really bad at pretending to be people pretending to be people, and writing a bio is difficult.
dignity, always dignity.
I learned I can play a girl...my feminine side just came out.

But this was no at all like the transcendent night in Portland. There was no level playing field. We chose a scene that we loved and none of our participants had the same context, and perhaps this was both our downfall and our success.

We learned that true participation--the kind that results in shared meaning--requires a shared context and understanding. We wondered if we might be imposing our meaning on others; we sought reciprocity and learned that it is not a one sided attempt. Essentially, this challenge asked us to depend upon people outside our own sphere. This vulnerability pushed us to explore how humans create and share meaning in the first place. We had to trust that, eventually, our acts of participation would at least inspire thought. It might not be meaningful for every person, but we hope that something more than just discomfort will linger. Perhaps some wonder at the blind lengths we will go to for another person--even a person we barely know.

This post has been removed pending investigation by the site administrator. For more information please email interminable.duration@unspecified.name reference: "Matthew Stadler, post #3."

Denver is nothing if not a city of city of participation. And we, being residents of Denver, had a full weekend of activities planned. However, given the nature of the challenge of participation we decided to turn things on their head. Instead of just going to these events, as we would have normally, we decided to become part of the events themselves.

We got a theater full of midnight movie goers to play games, we drank absinthe with patrons during an art opening, and hosted a round of trivia at one of Denver's most popular bars.

We integrated ourselves into each event and made it something larger than it originally was intended to be, therefore enhancing the community's experience and our own.

It was fun.

The NeverEnding Story

It began with a lot of bunched up faces and empty thought bubbles, so we did what any self-respecting team on a mission would do. We went out for pizza. It was good, plain with a wheat crust. It filled our bellies, but didn't fill our heads with a great idea, so we headed home to stare at each other for a bit longer. We bounced around a lot of ideas: perhaps we should set up a booth in town and challenge people to thumb wrestling; maybe we should try to break a world record, a world record that would need a lot of people to finish it. We thought about creating a group play, written by the participants and then acted out by us. Each idea was thrown out for one reason or another. Reasons like, our thumbs would get tired and world records are for sissies.

J, our resident Oh Don Piano assistant, thought that maybe we should go learn from the kids who play Yugioh at the local comic book store, but we are pretty sure he was angling for a few hours of uninterrupted browsing time while we talked with the kids. However, we thought he might be on to something with that one. It made us think about other events going on over the weekend. Events that we were already planning to attend.

The NeverEnding Story was playing at the midnight movies on Saturday. Being adults who were once kids who loved a good fantasy movie about dragons and shit, we couldn't resist going to see the movie once again on the big screen. So considering the challenge of participation, we wondered how we could take a simple night at the movies and morph it into something that we actively participated in. Since none of us have projectionist experience we thought perhaps the key would be trying to interact with the audience before or after the movie.

Step 1: Penetrate the Perimeter

We called the theater and were told a guy named Matt ran the midnight movie and he would be the one to talk to. However, since he slept most of the day (he is, afterall, the midnight movie guy) we had to wait until he woke up to call us back. So we had to continue with the plan without the guarantee we would be able to get into the theater for our plan.

Step 2: Sweeten the Deal

After some thinking we decided most people would be more apt to interact with us if we offered some sweet sweet goodies. Being good theme party hosts from way back we knew there was only one way to go when offering up snacks - they had to be themed. So after some quick thinking we came up with Swamp of Sorrow cookies, rock biter candy, and some awesome DVDs snagged from an undisclosed source.

Step 3: Wait for the Signal

While we were standing in line at Big Lots we finally got the call from midnight movie Matt. He had just woken up; it was 4 PM. He sounded a bit muddled, but after we explained what we wanted to do he agreed to let us take over hosting the event since it would let him take care of other things during the day. We assume he needed some more sleep.

Step 4: Learn as Much About the NeverEnding Story as Possible

Thank goodness for IMDB.

Step 5: Action

We arrived at the Esquire Theatre at 11:30 PM. We met with Matt and discussed our plan, shook off our nerves, and then waited. At 12:00 AM Matt introduced us to the audience and then we were on. We introduced ourselves and the crowd couldn't have been more awesome. They were totally into it. We asked trivia questions and then got one very brave girl to come up and sing The NeverEnding Story theme song with us in front of the entire crowd. At one point most of the crowd was singing along. We achieved our goal of turning the passive movie watching experience into something where people actively participated and had an enhanced experience. Not to mention we got to see a kickass 80s movie for free.

You might have noticed absinthe on that list...

Komar and Melamid Gallery Opening: The Absinthe Drinkers

Being fans of the artists Komar and Melamid, we had already planned to go to their art opening - American Dreams - at the Mizel Center here in Denver, but knowing our plan was to somehow actively participate in the event, we were almost afraid of what that would mean in terms of the quiet observational atmosphere of an art gallery.

Step 1: Get Outfitted

We go to the liquor store on a mission to buy absinthe. Now, we love to get stinkin' drunk just like most crazy hoes, but we usually stick with the vodka, whiskey, tequila route. We don't know anything about absinthe other than it used to get people crazy addicted. We didn't even know if a regular liquor store would carry it. Luckily, the sprawling Argonaut Liquors carried one brand and we went to pick it up. All of a sudden a black clad, gauge-eared Goth guy was standing behind us. "Don't even think of picking that up," he warned. "That stuff is crap. Not even close to the real thing." Well. Apparently, we needed to get the good stuff online right from the Czech Republic. We told him we didn't have time to wait for anything, but if he wanted to sell us some (very black market of Team Oh Don Piano) we would take it. Unfortunately, he didn't have any (er, maybe that was a good thing) and we made do with the non-hallucinogenic American version.

We also picked up some sugar cubes and plastic cups. This show was going on the road.

Step 2: Get In There

We enter the gallery at 4 PM, our canvas bag of supplies tucked safely under our arm and did some recon. There were a lot of people milling around, but no sign of Vitaly Komar, who was supposed to be speaking later that afternoon. The crowd was big, but subdued. Suddenly, the probability of our plan happening this Sunday, in a sophisticated gallery housed in a Jewish community center, seemed to diminish before our eyes.

Step 3: Just Do It

We bided our time for awhile, but then we decided it was do or die. We worked up our nerves and went to speak with a man in the corner, who had an air of authority about him. It might have been the fact that he was standing in front of a giant portrait of himself. We explained our plan to him and he amazingly didn't see anything wrong with it, but told us we really needed to speak with Simon, the gallery director. So that's what we did. We walked over to Simon and told him our plan. You could have knocked us over with a feather when he seemed intrigued and said, "Sure - go ahead!" Yeah!

Step 4: Make It So

We walked over to a nearby bench and started breaking out our booty. We opened our absinthe, cups, sugar cubes, and started pouring. The patrons might have been quiet, but our impromptu absinthe bar caught their attention. We poured the strong liquor over sugar cubes and started handing them out, explaining that we were offering absinthe, historically a drink of the art community in the 19th century France, and a beverage that Komar and Melamid used to bring to their events. We told the gallery patrons we wanted to bring them into the experience; instead of submissively viewing art, they were participating in an experience that artists had partook in for centuries. They were into the idea, and at one point during the evening, almost everyone there had our offering in their hand.

Circles began to develop between strangers, all discussing the drink. Then slowly, they began discussing themselves. The absinthe drinking broke down barriers between strangers. We met so many interesting people who we would have never spoken to if we hadn't asked them to participate. It turned out that Komar was unable to come as planned, and our absinthe drinking became the activity of the evening.

Quizmasters

We love a god pub quiz. Denver is rife with them, as the Geeks Who Drink brand of quiz night infiltrates a local bar at least once a night somewhere in the city, and other independent ones have been popping up. Usually, Oh Don Piano's participation is limited to sipping on beer and cider and wracking our collective brains for any remnants of knowledge linked to 80s hair bands, women's history, or comic book characters, but of course that wouldn't do during our weekend of participation. Naw, man: we had to become the quizmasters.

Step one: Appeal to the Master

The first task was to convince Marc Hughes, who hosts a pub quiz at the local hipster hangout, Sputnik to let us steal a round for the evening. While we worried that he would be hesitant to release the reigns for an entire round, he actually agreed readily. Man, everyone in Denver LOVES our participation! We promised we would provide glorious prizes and a fun round of trivia.

Step two: Find Glorious Prizes and Create a Fun Round of Trivia

Once again, we turned to our undisclosed source of dvd greatness and put together what could possibly amount to the best movie package ever. Hits like, Baywatch: Season 2, Alligator ("A vicious alligator named Ramon, who was flushed into the city sewer as a baby..."), and the Westminister Dog Show were included. And since Big Lots was practically giving away the "White 'n' Fluffy" popcorn and Mike & Ikes, we threw those in there, too. At this point, we were ready to win the prize ourselves.

Next up, the quiz. We batted around a few ideas for the theme before landing on the obvious: blogging! It was a risk, because not everyone is a huge internet nerd with lots of bloggy "friends" and "community members" they've never met. But we decided we'd go with it. We came up with an array of questions covering blogs in the music, political, techy, personal, and local realms.

Step three: Quiz Time, Yo.

We showed up at Sputnik feeling good. Our battles with group singing and absinthe distribution had left us pretty worn out, but we knew this participation project would be fun. It was a whole different world behind the microphone. Suddenly, instead of sitting quietly in a booth with just our friends, we were thrust into the spotlight, literally, and all eyes and ears were on us. And for good reason: they were hungry for our sweet ass movie package prize. We launched into the quiz, a little shaky. With Marc's guidance we slowed the questions down and learned to repeat when necessary.

And even though we were behind the DJ booth, this was some killer participation. You get it from all sides: teams yell questions and funny remarks at you, they leave little notes for you on the answer sheets, they come up to talk between rounds. While ostensibly about teams' interactions with each other, pub quiz is really a lot more about teams' interactions with the host.

Step four: Crown a Round Winner

Here's where the real world community differs most from the online community: nerdy blog knowledge. While you'd be hard up to find an active blogger who doesn't know who [answer to #1] is or read [answer to #4] or gather friends around to watch [answer to #6] every once in a while, this real world crowd was a little less blog-literate. But nonetheless, one team pulled right ahead and answered over half the questions correctly.

An excited team member ran up to claim the prize and brought it back to the table for sorting.

All in all our weekend of participation was a big success. Of course, we had to refuel after all that "outside" time with a couple episodes of "The Hills" and some "Rock of Love." We're all better now.

To continue the participation theme and bestow the quiz upon the true nerds, we offer here the questions from our foray into the world of pub trivia. The first person who is able to email us all the correct answers will win a dvd chosen randomly from our undisclosed source, and if they're lucky, some candy. Of course there's no way to monitor this, but the answers should come from your knowledge base, not Google's (except for the last one, which is a local-knowledge thing. We'll allow research on that one). Good luck!

All About Blogging Trivia

1. One of the best-known personal bloggers, this woman is famous for having been one of the first people fired for writing negatively about work on her blog. The name of her blog is now commonly used as a term to reference when this happens to others. Name the blogger or the blog.

2. Julie Powell got a lucrative book deal after blogging for a year about her attempts to cook every recipe out of a famous chef's cookbook. Whose cookbook was she using?

3. What is the name of the political blog, published by Gawker Media, that may be most notoriously known for publicizing the blog of Jessica Cutler, who worked on the hill and wrote about accepting money for sexual favors from a Republican senator.

4. Which award-winning group blog's tagline is "a directory of wonderful things"?

5. What celebrity gossip blogger made news for outing Doogie Houser and Lance Bass? He also recently appeared on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar.

6. This awesomely cool internet cartoon character has a blog-like page where he answers emails sent in by fans on his Lappy 486 computer.

7. What legendary musician and artist has a blog, but is insulted if you refer to it as such, insisting - don't call it a blog, call it a journal.

8. This Denver "scenester" blog recently changed its name when it became too popular. Name the original and new name of this blog. (2 points)

I am working very hard in Latvia.

Swamp of Sadness Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)
4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (don't use half and half because you have it in your fridge and hey--what's the difference anyway? It will totally screw up your swamp)

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1.In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks with a fork until blended.

2. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, cocoa, and vanilla until the cocoa is completely moistened. Add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture, scraping the bowl frequently and mixing until thoroughly combined.

3. Add the flour and salt. Use a hand mixer to blend until dry ingredients are moistened. Add the toasted pecans and mix on low, just until pecans are incorporated.

4. Using a small scoop, shape cookies roughly into balls and place on a nonstick cookie sheet about 1" apart.

5. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, checking with toothpick at 12 minutes. (Toothpick should come out clean).

6. Immediately after baking, use a small cookie scoop, melon baller, or other roundish object to make an indentation in the middle of each cookie.

Swamp of Sadness Ganache:

7. Place the chocolate a bowl.

8. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, but be careful not to scald.

9. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk vigorously until chocolate is completely melted.

10. Using a teaspoon or piping bag, fill each cookie with the chocolate. Allow chocolate "swamp" to cool; serve.

It is important that you don't let the sadness overtake you when you're making these, or you might sink irrevocably into the chocolate.

When asked why the inter-relationships of color were so important to him, Josef Albers responded, "Color, in my opinion, behaves like man -- in two distinct ways: first in self-realization and then in realization of relationships with others. I have tried to make two polarities meet -- independence and interdependence." In this philosophy, we move forward.

Dino
Dino designs database models and programs for Technology Pathways and he is the founder of Epistech, a firm dedicated to developing programming applications to enhance knowledge management. Oh yeah, and he was once a professional tennis player. He recently moved to Covina, California, where he speaks French with his wife in a microscopic apartment. Most days he can be found with a laptop at his neighborhood Starbucks, chatting it up with the baristas when he's not hard at work.

Jamie
Age: 22
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Website(s): unluck recs / Undereducated Music
Short bio: born in Northampton, England. Died in Portland, Oregon.

Marlo
"I am a student of Graphic Design. I hope to graduate December 2007. I'm allergic to cats, but they're my favorite animal. I don't like peanut butter or milk. My favorite food is Italian. My favorite color is red. I love my parents, and my 4 brothers and 2 sisters. I love stars! twinkly little stars, like diamonds in the sky!"

Steve
Steve is a domestic violence/drug counselor originally from Rochester, New York. He is an avid Harley Davidson rider and tries to "get on the road" as much as is possible. Steve is a caretaker for his mother in Covina, California and is engaged to be married. He is a good man.

Tristan
"I was born in Rose Hospital in Denver, Colorado. I haven't been there since. Once in high school I was at my friend's house, we were in the basement just hanging around. His parents came down and asked if we needed anything and we said no. Later we went upstairs to go outside, and the door was locked."

So here is the first video response for our dance move request! We hope it's not the last!!! It is fun, easy, and quick...so join bodycity for WIKIDANCE while you still can......there are two days left (Tuesday at 3pm).



Participation Shakedown from alex brown on Vimeo.

Purpose:
To use intimate, non-threatening, physical interactions as a metaphor for the Internet
To introduce people to the possibilities of immaterial media
To give Existential Media a body that can meet other bodies
To actualize the concept of the world-wide-web by involving relative strangers in our web community

Hypothesis:

Procedure:

So here's our first post for this second challenge....and now we need YOUR help. Whatch this instructional video and then start cutting some rug to become an honorary bodycity member!

Participation: Wikidance from bodycity on Vimeo.


Remember that you must post your video by 3pm on Tuesday, Sept. 18th so that your moves will make it into the dance by our deadline THE VERY NEXT DAY!

Also remember to tag the video bodycity wikidance so that we can find you! You can also email us a link at bodycity@gmail.com.

We are so psyched about making this dance together!!

My dear friend Upsi beams messagerial for you:

Writing a profile to disclose personal information is necessarally challenging for me, whose identity is unrooted in person.

The circumstances binding me to earth are stillfresh and traumatic, and therefore still alienologically repressed.

Here is a bit of the back story for Upsi and me. As we build mutual trust, I will start to divulge. Though if you are keen, you will have known before and without.

Check out our photos!

Cosmically yours, L.E.

Untitled from Paige's Interns on Vimeo.

Thanks to the interns for all their hard work and effort. We expect good things from them in the future and wish them all the best. If it wasn't for them, I don't how we'd ever make photocopies or keep files in the right place!

An Introductory PowerPoint Presentation:

Please download and enjoy this Microsoft PowerPoint presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint or with a Microsoft PowerPoint-approved reader.

Notes:
You can find G-RAD online at http://www.g-rad.org, and each of the core group specifically:

The hand image can be purchased in T-Shirt form from Premier Skateboarding, our neighborhood skate shop. It is the "where we are from" design.

Warning to Microsoft Windows users: this Microsoft PowerPoint presentation looks totally weird in Microsoft Powerpoint on Microsoft Windows. Apologies.

♥ G-RAD

Existential Media Profile from existentialmedia on Vimeo.

Who the...?
There has been a lot of questions and speculation about what this place is. It all began not too long ago...
Mr. Matthew Spencer was looking for a way to share his artistic vision. He had a vision of an experimental utopian community called Existential Media. The foundation was laid. The populace gathered. The word got out. Every once in a while, other anointed were found and added to the ranks. This respectful bunch has continued to publish their ideas.

So...what?
Existential Media is a place for existential media. Extreme artistry. Transcendent folks focused on the creation of new ideals. That's our main focus. Each post, each blog, each author strives to follow this model.

Why?...how!?
It's an obvious answer here. Why the internets? The immediacy. We are cutting edge. Switch blades. Air planes. The medium is the message. How? Collaboration. Down here, we are powered by collaboration (and Movable Type).

oh don piano \oh don pee-an-oh\
noun
1. an Ultimate Blogger 3 team made up primarily of Liz and Krista, representing the great Mile High City of Denver
2. pub quiz fanatics stuck in a third place rut
3. one cat's beautiful poetry

This post has been removed pending investigation by the site administrator. For more information please email interminable.duration@unspecified.name reference: "Matthew Stadler, post #2."

bodycity profile from bodycity on Vimeo.

Hello interweb community, we are bodycity. Hi!

We are a dance troupe based in LA. Our little video here is a compilation of stills from several of our dances over the last 2 years. It also features a sneak peak of the first rehearsal of a dance we are building for a Halloween performance. So you get to see all of the members past and present of bodycity as well as some sweet new moves. Right now, bodycity has 10 members, but we also work, tour, travel, and sometimes get a little sick...so not everyone could make it to last nights rehearsal, but if we stick around, you'll get to meet all of us!


Our mission statement says a little something about us too:

bodycity is a dance democracy. we are completely ensemble based, each of us with varying levels of training. we are all creative directors. our dances challenge the notion of dance and choreography as a traditional/singular vocabulary performed by specific dance "types." we are dedicated to the site specific. we are interested in the humorous, perplexing, delightful, weird, pensive, beautiful, exciting and lively.

And, of course, we have a blog and more photos to look at, and some really great videos!

Yip! Yip! Yip! bodycity is ready to dance 4.0!