Reclaimed Land

Here's a song about mountaintop removal and its devastating effects on Appalachia. Harold E. Wilcher created this film to Carol O'Brien's song "Reclaimed Land." It is performed by Carol M. O'Brien, Robert Rorrer, Mitch Barrett, Deborah Payne, and Levi Gordon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgS8DYZEyME

A Year in the Life of Nick

I want to do something a lot like this. I don't know if I will create music for myself. It would be neat if I could figure out how to, but for now this is absolutely mind-boggling. I understand the massive number of photos myself as a photographer. My series would be different from his because I focus so much on nature while his focuses on city life and people.
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"Absolutely every picture I took over a year's time. A photographer's life in pictures (both work and pleasure) during a year in Italy. [Part one: August to January; Part two: February to July]."
Music "Keep Movin" produced by Nick Barberio with Garageband. For info visit his site at http://www.nickbarberio.com. Thank you!
Part 1's soundtrack is "trippy." Buy the mp3 here.
Part 2's soundtrack is "Keep Movin." Buy the mp3 here.
Or get "trippy" as a bonus track on Nick's album.

A Year of My Life: 10,000 photos from my point of view
By Nick Barberio (TheaterofMemory on YouTube.com)

Horse on Old Grimes Mill Road

horse, Old Grimes Mill Road, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

One Sunday in June I went to St. Hubert's Episcopal Church in Fayette county, Kentucky. It is a little church in the countryside and the roads leading to it are some of the most beautiful ones I have driven. After the service I drove around for a little bit. I saw a doe and waited for her to cross the road. I also stopped to visit these horses. One was a white mare who was tending to her foal. She watched me and never came close to me to pet. I kept my distance and she didn't seem too disturbed by my presence.

High Contrast B&W

High Contrast B&W, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

In early July I was sitting on the floor at Phoebe's listening to a few other friends play on guitars, making a little music. I got my camera out to take some pictures but they do not look so good in color; the lighting was dark and isolated. It was mostly behind her, sitting on the couch. I did take this picture and then edited in a photo-editor. Looked pretty neat when I got finished with it.

Land of Confusion

Thought this was an interesting video I found online. Enjoy!

Group Project: Land of Confusion

Video Text Link

Reaching for Higher Ground

"Reaching for Higher Ground:Youth Activism in the Mountains"
3 minutes, 49 seconds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DahUTco3bpk

"Reaching for Higher Ground, produced by youth, tells the story of a group of young people who are fighting to save their communities' water.

Background:
Appalshop's Appalachian Media Institute had been training young people from Lotts Creek in video production for several years. The goals of these trainings was to have the video makers create works which would serve their community. At the same time a citizens' group named Kentuckians for the Commonwealth had been working on an organizing project against mine blasting and a deep-mine permit which would destroy the community's watershed. Through communication and working together the two groups, young and old, were able to come together and begin sharing ideas and resources.

In October of 1999, working with media artist Nick Szuberla, a new group of students participated in a series of AMI workshops designed to teach them basic camera skills, team work, image framing and in-camera editing. The students spent time outside hunting for images and running relay-races with cameras around their school grounds.

During the months of November and December, the participants began to form their topics and do community interviews.The young video makers picked two topics. One group began to document the history and founder of their community school--Alice Slone. The other group began to record local residents' struggle with the effects that blasting from coal mining is having on water quality and community health. They called people to be interviewed, set a time to stop by, and prepared questions on the topic.

Between January and April the students shot interviews, created selects tapes and began to rough cut their tapes together. During one interview with a community member who was having problems with blasting, the students came across inspectors for the State Department of Surface mining who told the young video makers that they need to turn their camera off. The students later wrote the State Office of Surface Mining and requested an interview with the inspectors. The interview took place after a series of letters and communications from the state's lawyers...

During February the students produced a community showing of their work and had many of the people they interviewed come for the screening. The showing turned into a community meeting on the history of the school and issues faced by people in regards to coal mining. Both young and old people agreed that it was important for the community to fight against the permit which would threaten their watershed. Later in the month the students produced a one hour radio call in show on WMMT, where they played segments of their interviews over the air.

In June the young people, working with KFTC, organized a surprise trip to the Frankfort, KY, Office of Surface Mining to confront officials about the permit that would destroy the Kelly Fork watershed.

In all, over thirty students, community members and ten community-based artists boarded a bus and traveled to Frankfort. Armed with creative tactics and video cameras the young people held a two hour meeting/protest with government officials where they demanded the pulling of the proposed permit. The young people left the building chanting "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, you sink us, and we will sink you." A student later reflected that she felt this was one moment where "we were all together as one... just for one day."

In the following months youth participants in Appalshop's AMI project produced a documentary on youth activism. Building upon the work that came before them, they interviewed the participants in the organizing project and used their peers' video footage to create a piece which spoke to the power of youth organizing."

Are FEMA trailers toxic?

"Are FEMA trailers toxic?
Congress investigates formaldehyde danger in FEMA trailers as residents complain of health problems. CNN's Susan Roesgen reports."

Are FEMA trailers toxic?

Video Link

Family

I created this after watching a few similar vids (this one and this one) by friends elsewhere on YouTube & LiveVideo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN8RXa8FPQI

Mudpi in July

This Saturday July 28, Main Street Cafe, Berea, KY, around 6 pm.
mudpi's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/mudpi2
mudpi is Carol ("mud"), Robert ("pi"), and Bassman John

Seasons of Love

A friend on YouTube created a video to bring awareness to an issue that is still prevalent in society now. With all the other political and social issues in the press, people seem to forget some of the health issues we need to always be aware of and stay informed about. Do not let myth and fiction interfere with finding out the facts about AIDS and HIV.
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"The education of AIDS and HIV seems to be a thing of the past. We cannot, as one world, stop teaching our youth the things we already know! We can't forget hose who have died, and those who suffer everyday. HIV/AIDS doesn't not discriminate.
Please take note: This song is called "Seasons of Love", and it's the theme song for the play Rent."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZEPLuBYF7k

Informative Links:
AIDS:
Medical Encyclopedia: AIDS: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000594.htm
AIDS Quilt: http://www.aidsquilt.org/
AIDS.org: http://www.aids.org/
AIDSinfo: http://aidsinfo.nih.gov/
AllAfrica (AIDS related issues): http://allafrica.com/aids/
The Body, Complete HIV/AIDS Resource: http://www.thebody.com/

HIV:
HIV.com: http://www.hiv.com/
Medical Encyclopedia: HIV Infection: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000602.htm
Center for Disease Control & Prevention, HIV: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/
HIV InSite: http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/
The Body, Complete HIV/AIDS Resource: http://www.thebody.com/

Women in Art

I love this video concept. My only complaint is that there are only two women artists included in the list. Where is Frida Kahlo? Emily Carr? Artemesia Gentileschi?
If you're interested in women artists from the Medieval period to the 20th century, take a look at this link: Women Artists in History
Or how about this site: Women Artists: Self-Portraits and Representations of Womanhood from the Medieval Period to the Present
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"500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art"
Music: Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yoyo Ma
For a complete list of artists and paintings visit
http://www.maysstuff.com/womenid.htm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Astronomy Sky

Berea College, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

This stained glass design is in the Science building which also houses the observatory. It is one of the most beautiful stained glass designs I have appreciated.

Room

I wish I could do something like this with a room in my apartment!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzKgjmrqmRI

potatos, onions, and garlic in sunlight

potatos, onions, and garlic in sunlight, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

I love these colors...

Freckle or Birthmark?

Just above my left eye, in the corner, on the higher rise of my eyelid, I have what looks like a freckle. It is a dark little freckle, or is it a birthmark? I've always had it and it never seems to change color or size. It does not raise up from the skin like a mole might would, so I know it should not be mistaken as one. But is it a freckle or birthmark? I've always wanted a birthmark, some proof... proof that I was born? My existence is proof enough, right? Maybe it is proof that I am unique. But I think there is evidence enough to support that statement.

I have a distinct memory of this little spot being noticed. My family is at a baseball game in Jackson, Mississippi. I'm am somewhere around 11 or 12 years old and have just returned from the concession stands with a hot dog and drink. Dad stands up to let me pass and as he looks down he noticed the brown spot next to my eye. He says, "Oh, you've got a little dirt above your eye" and starts to rub at it to clean it away, but it doesn't budge. I was taken aback by the action and was surprised that it took be a few seconds to realize what "dirt" he was rubbing at, meanwhile Mom realizes the tiny detail that caught his attention and she says, "That's not dirt; that's a freckle, Jerry!" And we laugh as I settle down in my seat next to Dad.

I have been asked about it twice since then, though I cannot remember the details of those curious inquiries. But my freckle birthmark is all my own.

Suheir Hammad

This exceptional spoken word poet really gets into you. I stumbled across the clip of "What I Will" some time ago and just now realized I never linked it here. Hope you can appreciate her poetry. I do. This is Suheir Hammad's official website.

Def Poetry - Suheir Hammad - Revision of "First Writing Since"
5 minutes, 50 seconds


Def Poetry - Suheir Hammad - "What I Will"
1 minute, 30 seconds


Def Poetry - Suheir Hammad - "Mike Check"
1 minute, 36 seconds

mudpi

mudpi, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

One of my favorite local bands in the Berea and Richmond area, mudpi, performing at Madison Gardens in Richmond, Kentucky, on Friday July 13, 2007.
Listen to a couple tunes through their MySpace page.

Liquid Coal

The above sculpture is by Jeff Chapman Crane, artist.
I need to write about mountains. Mountains that have always been there, mountains we have lost to greedy big coal companies, and the mountains we fear to lose in the future. Our mountains are under a massive terrorist attack, but the rest of the country would never know it since the media does not put its mainstream FOX-NBC-CBS-CNN eye on those gorgeous curves of the earth... or the places where they once colored the sky with rolling green in Summer or red-gold in Autumn.

Not only are we fighting Mountain Top Removal, but now we have to shed light on why Liquid Coal is NOT clean energy. First, take a good look at this page's diagram which shows what happens when liquid coal is made. Take a good long look at the fact that the residue is crammed back into the mine afterwards. Now did our parents teach us to hide our garbage under our beds? Come on, now, people! That's what this process does to our earth! It also says "hauled by rail cars" but it doesn't say where! The refuse has got to go somewhere! Sierra Club's saying liquid coal is a bad deal because it will only contribute to global warming. How? "Liquid coal releases almost double the global warming emissions per gallon as regular gasoline, making a hybrid filled with liquid coal as dirty as a Hummer H3 running on regular gas," says Sierra Club. So, not only is the liquid coal going to create a ton of refuse in the process of being made, but it creates even more carbon dioxide than petroleum-based diesel fuel. And then to make matters worse, economically, we're thinking about spending even more of our tax dollars on a process which is extremely expensive and, for the most part, backwards and NOT progressive?! Check this out: "The process is extremely expensive and inefficient. One ton of coal produces just 2 barrels of fuel. A recent M.I.T. study estimated that it would cost $70 billion to build enough coal-to-liquid plants to replace just 10% of American demand for gasoline."

And again with the excessive need to blow up our mountains, wrecking havoc on our mountain communities, destroying wildlife and headwaters... how? "According to the National Coal Council, if the US were to replace just 10% of our transportation fuels with liquid coal, coal mining would need to increase by 40%." Who profits from this increase? Not the miners because they've been actually losing jobs because of Mountain Top Removal (MTR), contrary to coal companies' statements that it increases jobs. It doesn't. Not the communities who have lived in the Appalachian mountains for decades, some for centuries. They lose because the foundations of their homes crack when a blast goes off on the other side of the mountain for MTR. They lose because layers and layers of dust cover their homes and community. Not the wildlife. The wildlife lose because they lose more and more of their land as it is leveled flat. Plants, fresh water fish and creatures of the like lose because the streams become blocked and clogged with mining debris. The blown up tops of mountains must go somewhere; they end up in the sensitive wildlife areas of the nearby valleys. And MTR supporters say "We'll put it back. We'll reclaim the land." Reclaiming the land is not planting foreign grasses which change the PH of the soil so that trees of the region, or any trees for that matter, cannot grow on this new leveled land. Nothing wins but money hungry big-mouthed corporate coal companies.

Sarah McLachlan

Earlier today I heard a song by Sarah McLachlan. There's so many memories tied to Sarah's music I cannot pick just one to write about, so I will write about several as I recall them now.


When I was a junior in high school I had a close friend who was a freshman. He and I both loved Sarah's music and its largely him going on and on about her that made me become interested in her albums. So I spied the video for "Possession" on either VH1 or MTV one evening. I was won over. Sarah's intensity of staring into the camera as it filmed her singing the song, pretty much a head shot the entire time, her hair cascading around her. And when I commented on this to James, my freshman friend, he just sighed wistfully remembering the video. Watching the video again now, if it is the one I remembering seeing in 1993, there's not as many shots focused on her looking into the camera as I recall. Memory is interesting like that, extending the parts we liked most and abbreviating the parts we liked least. I also constantly played Sarah's album in my car, when I had a working cassette player in it. I recall driving on one of my favorite roads between the mall and the Barnett Reservoir, a curvy road that wasn't monitored too strictly by policemen but also didn't have any stops. Not a long road, just one good enough for a little while to get away from the busier traffic. I doubt I would enjoy it now as the area is getting swamped with chain stores and office parks.

"Adia" was another song by Sarah McLachlan which wrapped me up into all the lyrics and the way she sang the following:

’Cause we are born innocent.
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent.
It's easy, we all falter.
Does it matter?

I would sing this to myself all the time. Constantly. I cannot sing as high as Sarah, that's for sure, but I imagined I could just enough. At least I didn't torture anyone with my singing. I remember watching a VH1 special in which Sarah's being interviewed and she was asked what the song was about. She mentions her grandmother and their relationship.

Another memory deals with "Angel." I am attending the University of Mississippi after transferring from community college. The dorm I am staying in is a co-ed dorm, or as close to one you might find in Mississippi. The dormitory had two wings, one wing was male, the other female, and both having three floors. This dorm was mostly occupied by graduate, non-traditional, and exchange students. I was working and living there as a resident adviser (RA). After a while I started dating someone, and the opportunity arose the following summer for us to go with a friend to Nashville to Lilith Fair. I was excited because Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Liz Phair, Bonnie Raitt, and others were going to be there performing. I bought us tickets to go. It was a great show, even if we were sitting on the hillside and not in the stadium seats close to the stage. I could see a tiny Sarah standing center stage, flowy feminine and in blues and purples. The audience was mostly women, some varying kinds of couples here and there. We stood there together, watching and listening, embraced in a hug, my back to his chest. Later, there were some darker moments during that concert when I was not too pleased with him: his derogatory comments about a car full of women at the gas station, the under-his-breath comment about the lesbian couple I asked to take our picture for us. This was one of the many times I realized our personalities clashed extremely, and it only intensified as the summer months pushed forward till I finally broke it off with a little mental and emotional strength support from a university counselor at the wellness center.

In the arms of an angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You’re in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort there

Two memories are associated with "I Will Remember You." After Adam and I broke up I listened to the song often because I had learned a lot from that brief relationship. We were in different stages of our lives looking for different things in a relationship. It ended abruptly, but some time after that we became friends again, catching up with each other sporadically. I listened the this song and a lot of Matchbox Twenty after we broke up to deal with the emotions and frustrations I sunk myself into for a time.

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

Years later I would hear the song one evening when driving to Lexington, Kentucky to see Becky. For some reason the lyrics struck a slightly different meaning to me than it had in the past, a very subtle meaning. It felt as if the song was also saying to remember these memories in any relationship, whether in the midst of one or at the end of one. It struck me that I wanted to remember every detail of this relationship, every little moment, be it just sitting around reading together, going to the Kentucky Theatre, having a drink at Mia's, or any other moment that involved us being together, spending time together. I wanted treasure them IN the moment of those memories being created, not just remember them long after they were created. But when I mentioned that the song reminded me of her later that night, and she took it in a "this relationship is ending" interpretation, I could not find a way to accurately express what exactly the song's new meaning revealed to me. I tried as best I could, defensively with emotion caught in my throat, but the damage was done. This was something to support a fear that she'd had all along and there was no way to convince her otherwise.

Sewing a Fairy Tale

I came across this person some time ago on YouTube and thought her little films were interesting. She's created one here to exhibit her textile artwork and to give some insight into her inspiration and ideas on art and creation.
"Well... I created this video for my senior show. The purpose of the video is to show a small part of a project that I have being working on for the last year. I created a clothing line. All the garments are being exhibited right now in an art gallery in the city where I live. I will also put them on www.pazkynn.etsy.com if some one is interested in purchasing something. All the clothes are 100% handmade and all the designs in the textiles are as well 100% made by me :D I want to thank all the people who helped me in the creation of the video, without them this video probably would not exist!" - Paz Torres

Asheville, NC

Asheville, NC, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

I thought this was an interesting site when I was walking around Asheville, North Carolina. I am so curious about the person who's image got torn off. An odd collection of characters in this. It was on a pull-down garage door or something similar, if I remember correctly.

Charleston, WV

Charleston, WV, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

Coal-To-Liquid Pikeville Rally

On June 18th, members of KFTC and allies from across the central Appalachian region came together in PIkeville, KY to oppose federal and state incentives that would subsidize Coal-To-Liquid Fuels.

Slow Mo' Flow

A friend wrote this poem, recorded it, and put it with this video. Enjoy!
"I shot this footage, wrote this poem, and blogged a more rudimentary version when I went to Hilton Head in October '06. I like this more complete representation, which captures more of the feelings and sensations I experienced when the poem basically wrote itself while I was walking on the beach." - Tammy Clemons

Kathy Mattea Speaks Out

July 10th, 2007 - Charleston, WV
On the steps of the State Capitol during a driving thunderstorm, West Virginia native and 2-time Grammy Award-winning country singer, Kathy Mattea, speaks out against mountaintop removal coal mining.

AL Gore, Global Warming, and Coal to Liquid Technology

Al Gore on stopping global warming
Edited interview where Al Gore covers some of the real ways global warming will be stopped - by seeing the opportunity underlying this crisis by going beyond left vs. right politics to a shared sense of moral purpose...by making sure we have "a well informed citizenry" to quote James Madison. Only by coming together will we save ourselves from this potential calamity.
5 minutes, 8 seconds


AL Gore - Coal to Liquid Technology
Al Gore and Harry Smith on CBS Early Show discuss Coal to Liquid Technology.
1 minute, 33 seconds


And two videos of very long length, but must be shared. Please spend some time to watch these and listen.

AL GORE: Global Warming Testimony @ Congress 3.21.07
Al Gore testifies to the House Energy & Science committees.
37 minutes, 28 seconds


AL GORE: The Assault on Reason - 5.29.07 Full Speech
Al Gore speaks about his new book on May 29, 2007.
33 minutes, 43 seconds

Ice Baby

Francis during the Fourth of July/Going Away/Wedding Reception kept getting ice out of the cooler. I had my camera on the wrong setting when I took this picture, but it still turned out pretty neat.

4th of July

Backlit Morning

Backlit Morning, originally uploaded by blueathena7.

Yesterday I took pictures of a local band, mudpi, in Berea, Kentucky. They had a show on the back patio of Main Street Cafe, and while they were setting up I took pictures of the hanging pot flowers when one caught my eye. The setting sun backlit this yellow morning glory (or is it something else?) and I was quite proud of myself for capturing it in all its lit-up glory. Light-play like this makes me smile. This is why I like Summer, but I love Autumn even more.