Primal Digital sets up at Foundry Hall

Julian and his family found their way to South West Michigan last summer and have now established roots in South Haven on the shores of Lake Michigan. Primal Digital headquarters is now located at South Haven’s creative vortex Foundry Hall.

Foundry Hall exterior

This community event space is primarily a live music venue but also hosts all sorts of events, including film screenings (more on that in the future) and is available to rent for private events. Primal Digital, in collaboration with Foundry Hall, will offer live audio and video recording for musicians playing at Foundry Hall.

SWPDX Young Musicians Video

Primal Digital soon moves to The Land of Lakes

Wrapping up projects, connecting with people, and getting the plan in order before we leave Portland at end of June.

We have decided that Michigan will soon be our home! I am still teaching one movie making class to kids after school at Robert Gray Middle School, which is a zombie film! I love this work, but it along with other cool projects I have been immersed in, bring in very little income. Land is cheaper in Michigan, family is closer, and perhaps my primal digital projects will be more fruitful in SW Michigan. We also have some other community building projects in mind which will come to the surface soon.

As a manifestation of synchronicity, many people I have collaborated with since arriving in PDX are having events, screenings and gatherings so that I can touch base in a good way before leaving. For example, two works-in-progress which I screened during the Hillsdale Microcinema last year, are now complete and just premiered in Portland last week! The Escape of Middle C by Bev Standish and Play Again by Ground Productions.

Last weekend the family and I hung out with Tony Deis and Trackers NW for a potluck and discussion about hyper-local living, family values and exponential expansion of ecovillages (among other topics). The Geezer Gallery last Sunday hosted a massive event “Grand Works Northwest” featuring music, workshops and art by elders at the Mark Building downtown Portland. I have met with them and the Aging Artfully Initiative and screened films at the Hillsdale MicroCinema, which will apparently be continuing on at the Watershed Building through Jim Corcoran.

More personal artistic projects? I am working on the first of a new primal digital video series entitled Better Ways which looks at better ways of doing things. I also edited an excerpt from Young Musicians of SW PDX show I did and will post that shortly. If I can pull it off, I hope to have a new podcast and web-casting set up soon as well. All that while I am moving and taking care of the baby. By Fall of 2010 Primal Digital HQ will again be set up in a new location. This time in South Haven, Michigan. In the meantime, enjoying the ride but wishing I could teleport to The Residents shows in Europe.

Earth Day Salute

It is also the birthday of Charles Mingus!  Music is one of the prime ways to honor the earth I do believe.  Praise the sun, the earth and primal source beyond human comprehension!

I recently lost my community garden.  Though I never was notified in writing or email, the plot defaulted back to Portland Parks and Recreation and has a new owner.  So, that was a tough hit.  But I got a LOT out of that garden, and managed to take some plants back to our patio, so we have some greens and such that are still going.  Also, I did not get the ED position at Lost Valley Educational Center and none of my youth media classes have been filling up this Spring.  So, many things are not going in my direction it seems.

However, what it really adds up to is that after this summer it seems a move back to Michigan may likely be in order.  This will be a difficult shift for the blended family of 9 (6 kids, 3 parents) – whose father lives in California – but will bring us closer to my mom, brother, cousins, step-sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.  Also, we can dwell cheaply in a beach house in South Haven that is well situated in a very productive agricultural and greenhouse zone and not far from Chicago!

This Sunday, April 25, I will give a “This I Believe” talk at West Hills Unitarian Universalit Fellowship. The basic outline is to first look at the entropic state we humans are in; based on various interconnected broken systems (war, politics, industry, technology obsession, fossil fuel extraction, fundamentalist re…ligion, GDP economy, profit driven healthcare and prisons, global food systems, etc.) and then present a comprehensivsit approach to doing more with less; while enjoying our lives more. Underlying it all…”the best ideas are ‘bad’ for the ‘economy’. Great and generous souls like Tesla, Bucky Fuller, Paolo Soleri, etc. have paved the way on that work. Now we just need to pull it together and stop trying to get back to “business as usual.” We need Radical Comprehensive Realignment, not just baby steps like compact fluorescent light bulbs and Priuses.

Following that, from 2-5 pm, I will be producing (together with Wilson Area Arts Council) and recording a live music event featuring local young musicians from SW Portland in Multnomah Village @ O’Connors.

So, la vida da vuelta, pero… life goes on and the signals create renewed clarity and inform direction. Happy 40th Anniversary, Earth Day!

Primal Gardens and Local Foods

Spring has sprung and that’s no April Fools.  Here are a couple pics from my community garden plot.  Been hanging out a lot there with my baby girl Aria.  She is eating lots of greens both raw and cooked!  Unfortunately our broccoli was beheaded a couple days ago.  It must have happened the night before I walked to the garden with a blade and bag to reap the harvest.  Well, that hurts, but I hope they were in need.  This garden has been well worth it, regardless of this crime against my humanity.

Tomorrow I am going in for an interview at Lost Valley Educational Center, where I hope to be living and working, ecovillage style.

A few weeks ago, on March 15, I saw Wes Jackson, founder of The Land Institute in Kansas, speak at Illahee lecture series.  This man is a huge player in the sustainable food movement.  A recent friend and collaborator invited me and, I must admit, I had actually never hear of Wes Jackson.  They are working on breeding perennial grains.  His presentation and life’s work is very compelling.  However, I have two fundamental problems with his approach.  One is that he believes we must focus the bulk of our energy on buying off senators and continue to spend our time, energy and resources on politics and advocacy work.  The other is that his work is based on the acceptance of our overwhelming dependence on grain and grain for beef production.  I believe that one (of many) key demands we must place upon ourselves, in order to continue living well on this planet, is to eat less meat, more locally produced foods, thus minimizing the need for foreign grains and meat.  Either way, though, I admire this man and learned a lot from him.  I also had the opportunity to meet with him briefly after his talk.  I look forward to a future with perennial grains!

Youth Audio-Video Projects

Just wrapped a Spring Break intensive video production course on March 22-26 at Multnomah Arts Center in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was a bit crazy but we produced a lot of quality material. I incorporated theory and history in a new, more improvisational way throughout the week (rather than powerpoint at the beginning of class). This was an interesting new way of working. The class also used the theater stage and some props a bit more than in the past, so that was fun.

Just locked in another young local musicians gig for Sunday April 25 at O’Connors in Multnomah Village, Portland, Oregon, USA. Line up so far is two bands (Kittin and Squid Party) and several solo artists: MC NETT, (hip-hop lyricist/vocalist); Carrie Kitzke (singer/songwriter) and Emma Knox Hershey (vocalist). That should be a blast, once again. I am planning to record and release “Live at O’Connors” CD. Working with these talented young musicians from SW PDX High Schools has been great. One of my favorite projects since arriving in Portland. My wish is that this event be a regular continuing event (maybe quarterly) at O’Connors on Sunday afternoons and that the musicians take care of the live sound themselves and some of the promotions, so that they need very little help producing the show. This is actually pretty much the case, so sustaining the project is rather feasible.

Working with youth has really been the primary thrust of Pd work since arriving in Portland. Primal Digital, LLC now has a youth media production aspect to its portfolio. This is a really interesting development that began most serendipitously upon meeting Bev Standish almost two years ago at a Final Cut Pro User’s Group meeting. Turned out she needed help teaching an Animation Camp two summers ago. Telling stories is so important a craft to human civilization and mass media seem to be such a focal part of storytelling these days. Teaching youth to deconstruct mass media through the act of production is what its all about in these classes, though it is never blatantly so.

3.10.10

Today is KIN 231 of 260 KIN on the Tzolkin, consisting of 13 tones 20 seals. It is the day of the Blue Planetary Monkey, a day connected to the illusion, play and magical dimensions of existence. I am following this calendar, despite my concerns about getting too new age-y, for a many reasons, which I will mention now.

This calendar is based on natural law and ancient knowledge. I feel that our current mainstream, western, industrial-technological-science driven paradigm is caving in on itself (though there are many good things about it) and that we are in need of realignment.

I have always been struck by the ways of indigenous peoples around the world. In particular, on my many visits to Mexico, those who speak Spanish (if at all) as a second language and are descendants of Maya and other peoples. I have considered for decades getting a tattoo o a half human/half animal, man -god but I simply don’t know enough about it to be happy with a decision. If I do that, I want to do it out of reverence, respectfully.
This calendar is based on synchronicity and the “art of time”" as opposed to “time is money.” It is very simple, but has various layers of complexity that can be explored as you get more in tune with the system. I particularly like the part of being a conscious participant in the “noosphere” and channeling to and from the more elevated places; being grounded on earth, but aware of our connection to that which is vast.
For example, today is a day that channels the energy of the Blue Planetary Monkey. It was on KIN 31, 1862, that paper money was first printed in USA. Now the Federal Reserve prints money behind close doors, never telling the public how much – injecting it into the economy – deflating the value of all our currency; robbing the middle class. The government counterfeits and does it somehow “in our interest?” These are the tricks that need to be seen for what they are. If we remain ignorant and uneducated about economics and we believe that it is far too complicated for us to understand, then we rely on “experts” who, it seems are inevitably tainted by greed and power. There are many other “tricks” being played, often “in our name” around food, war, social welfare, education, etc. I plan to dance with that monkey illusionist and play his games with him, exposing them along the way.
Now, on a more business related note. Primal Digital LLC offices will be moving again, back into the home front, as there is room available again, and cost-savings is important! Of course, the work is now coming in, and the office space is getting used more. Later today I have a video editing session and a recording session booked! I plan to do all I can to keep these clients and make the most of my new space. In addition, we are looking to plant ourselves somewhere else very soon, hopefully for a longer period of time. Most likely in Portland or some part of Oregon.
See the tricksters around us, and make some illusions of your own so that you understand the process.
In Lak’ech (I am another you). Julian Lauzzana, Primal Digital MC

3.3.10 PDX

Kin 224. Mayan Calendar info for today.

I created 3 electric seed thoughts, as requested in the Star Travelers 13 Moon Almanac of Synchronicity. 1) Our Concept of Family is Expanding. 2) We are in need of a society that better respects our elders. 3) Connect or Diffuse. Had two jobs today, which is great for me after so little work for these past couple years. Of course, it has been great to focus so much energy on raising my first child, daughter Aria (now 15 months). But work is important now and I had two fabulous clients today. Communications specialist and organizational consultant, Karen Mathieson, of Serendipty Communications hired me as videographer today. Many of you have seen the videotape of a conference presentation with bad audio and video. This is an alternative meant to show what a presenter will offer, but in better quality and more as a teaser for marketing purposes. Karen’s work is inspiring insightful and thought provoking. It reminds me that the oral traditions emerge in fascinating ways and that we need direct interpersonal communication now more than ever. My second client today was MC NETT, a high school student from Wilson High School. He is a talented lyricist using hip hop to channel his thoughts and personal expressions. Sometimes cathartic and abrasive, sometimes very loving, sometimes sounding much harder than he is- his work reminds that hip hop is here to stay and that it serves as a medium for personal expression through words with beats to keep the mind on track. So, today was all about the words. Words and vibrations. Yellow Electric Seeds being sent throughout the day by humans around the planet.

3.2.10 PDX

Wrapping up an intense day mostly spent in NE Portland after working in community garden for a while. Just back from Final Cut Pro Users Group (FCPUG) meeting at Portland Community College (PCC) about doing animation combining old school technology with new school tools. I love those combinations of old and new, ancient and modern, tribal and techno, primal and digital. But I often come back to the topic of how technology can, in many cases, lead to dependencies and “fuzzy logic.” I remember seeing street life in NYC change drastically as cell phones were introduced. Less interaction, less serendipity, less potential for tapping into telepathic skils and truly experience synchronicity of one’s immediate surroundings. I, of course, love technology and the tools of the modern world. But I really think we need to know when and how to use the tools and to keep them primal, that is, directed towards our needs/goals/values/dreams, etc. Not like channel surfing until your eyes bleed and realizing you should have turned off the idiot box hours ago. Not text messaging while driving a car or playing Super Mario for 8 hours on a beautiful day. Honor the tools, the food, the love, the earth, the friends and family that surround you and use but don’t abuse the tools and gifts you have access to. Of course, have fun too! Creativity often comes through improvisational moments and access to the right tools. Give thanks and keep it primal!

PDX , 3.1.10

Its March 1, 2010. Year of the Tiger. Many changes around us. Systems are falling apart. Many of us are looking for new ways to live and do things. We need radical rethinking of health care, transportation, economics, food systems, energy, fuel and other aspects of humanity and consumption patterns. How can it be that there are so many homeless while vacant properties are everywhere? How can it be that childhood obesity is an epidemic in America while mass hunger is causing food rebellions across the world? Time to shift humanity. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK. We are inside the context of nature, not outside. BE THE LIGHT. Enjoy each day and give thanks.