True Fictions – Live Performance Trailer from THE LIGHT SURGEONS on Vimeo.

Today it would seem that something that was working upon my subconscious has ascended into the conscious mind. Like a diver who had been stroking the depths has finally made himself known. Emerging through the water –with him he brings news of great treasures that lay at the bottom waiting to be extracted.

Being part of Panman Productions all of us have been mauling over this piece of human psychology, this treasure waiting to be exhumed from the depths. We all know it’s there, at the bottom, but everyone’s perception is different of what that treasure may be.

Within each persons different perception lays a different reality. Our minds build walls around each of our own realities and we stand at the gates to defend our very fragile- indispensable kingdoms.

I say to myself, my kingdom should be sacred.  Believing this to be true I want to share it with others. My kingdom could be my aspirations and ambitions, it should involve my imagination and creativity pushed through the lens of action and exploration. My kingdom reveals itself as a world that I have called, FreakCast, my kingdom has many worlds within it. Each world bearing its own province: Pilgrims of Pleiades, Hooligans Under The Sun of the Littlest Little Skitbook, Penguins in the City Inc., and Nargile Productions, these are just a few examples. Without these para-realities I would be lost. There would be no compass to guide me, no purpose to explore, no reason behind why I am. Fundamentally I exist because of the worlds I have created for myself and adapt into reality. Those around me who inhabit similar dimensions/kingdoms/universes can walk as freely into mine as I can into theirs. Once we are interacting on this level, communication begins to evolve as a byproduct.

As a recent example I look towards Pancity. Pancity opened its gates to me and said, here is where all your dreams come true. No shit! It took some time to adapt this very earth shattering mantra but it was repeated enough where I gained the courage to test it out.

Panman had put out a petri-dish and said, go ahead colonize it. In this boundless petri-dish I saw no competition and ripe soil and went for it. What I realized seems that the petri-dish was designed for me. And that everyone in Pancity gets their own dish. We don’t have to compete for real-estate. Besides that, these dishes are boundless, morphing, vessels for our creativity. They interject, cross-multiply, and reverberate through all of Pancity in a holographic composite image that bends through space.

Even better, we may set out our own petri-dishes if that is our cause.

We all have a kingdom. We were all once children. Some of us have taken that world with us and nurtured it, others tried to shed that world. The reasons are boundless, but be aware that if you are not living in your kingdom then you are living in someone else’s. If that could be the case what role do you play?

Few kingdoms are out there to Make YOUR dreams come true. No wonder we are skeptical.

First I had to believe. Then I had to stake my belief and take a risk. Dreams don’t come true out of nowhere and out of nothing. First you have to have a dream. Even for me this seems vague and uncertain since the fear of this dream coming true exists. What do you do next? How do you operate without your dream once it has come true? What if it’s a disappointment? Dream Again?

I realized that these were all traps and that dreams innately carry the DNA of your personal survival and evolution.

I realized that these were all traps and that dreams innately carry the DNA of your personal survival and evolution.

The process of finding your dream should be figuring out what you would like to create. It may be anything. The end result carries no significant importance. Going through the process of creation reverberates historically as an important element linking creativity with survival. Process unlocks realization. That realization should be the next process: evolution.

Evolution as defined by me: change over time that increases chance of survival and improves quality of life.

Evolution of self leads to evolution of community.

To get to the process you will have to do things that you will generate a million excuses as to why not to do.

On the other hand your process may be to create a circumstance in which you will have to do nothing, relax, meditate, find out how to get back to or explore your infinite kingdom.

When you present the product that has come from going through a process, Panman will respond. The new level of communication could seem as concise and unexpected.

I believe in this one tenet as a module to making the culture of our company as strong as water (apply personal elemental analogy here.)

Several realizations that I believe I have made through process.

1.Extract truth and realization from tribulation. For some reason it seems more impacting than from positive experiences and seems to last longer. Its longevity offers more time and abilities to study the realization and to extract its character.
2.Play games with yourself and others. Games should be how we learn and check paradigms.
3.Do not accept mediocrity, be weird.
4.The universe or ether, god, subconscious, shows it self as a fabric of humor. Gut-wrenching humor. Often you come off as the butt of the joke.
5.Be afraid. Be afraid to confront your fear. Confront it anyway.
6.Don’t do things as if you are doing them for someone. Do things for yourself.
7.Don’t believe anything anyone tells you. Especially when they sound really convincing. Always test their advice and opinions. Rely on your won experiences. It should be your kingdom after all.

A wise old sage was once asked what is one piece of advice you can share with the world. His response was, don’t trust what wise old sages tell you. There is a deeper meaning to this than the one that is obvious at first glance.

The hard part is remembering what I have realized. Memory can be tuff rubber. It feels great to have people around that have made similar realizations. I suppose that maybe what community could be based on.

Victoria & Richard Emprise was created by the artists, Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs. This intimitable couple tickled the turn of the 20th century upside down. Then tumbled into today with leaps and bounties of inventions and intentions to rattle the shackles of protocol with a wry wink to the world. The designs of Victoria and Richard fetch the fancy and unfeigned wisdom within us each and shower them with crisp inspiration to conquer the callous. Their collections are full of exuberant and funky designs in dinnerware, stemware, tabletop accessories including lamps and vases.

Whether you are looking for jewelry, a purse, a lamp and magical carpet- they have it all!

Come visit them at RS POP- 501 Lexington Ave @ the Roger Smith Hotel.

December 20, 2009 Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Without a set list prepared for his final show of the 2009 Festival of Light tour, Matisyahu engaged his entourage by asking them what they thought he should play.  The backstage request of “Rastaman Chant” was a great song to start the show.  Throughout the night Matisyahu took requests from the crowd, his band and from his twitter fan base. The show came together very organically.

Backstage at the Music hall of Williamsburg, Brett Siddell with engaged Matisyahu on the subject of story telling, twitter, and crowd surfing.

The Live broadcast of the December 20, 2009 Matisyahu show drew 100,000 + viewers on Ustream.tv. The ability to reach that many people via the internet is impressive to me. As we enter into a new year of technological advancements, we will harness the power of the Live Internet. Stay tuned for more Live events in 2010.

If you had the chance to request a song at one of Matisyahu’s concerts, what would you choose? Please leave a comment, share and engage.

Thanks for watching.

John Knowles

This year there were no HUGE advancements in technology (on the consumer level), but it was the year WE really embraced technology.  For example my entire family is on Facebook now.  If I want to share something with them it’s ridiculously easy.  Hi Mom!  The point is, the longer this stuff is around, particularly the advancements in communication the more we begin to rely on them not as a novelty, but as a necessity. For example, when cell phones first came out they were very much a novelty. Now, when your plane lands the first thing you do is fire up the iPhone (if you have one) check your messages (voice and email), send a few texts, and probably update your FB status. Another example is GPS, and I’m completely lost without mine. What will we rely on in 2010, and furthermore what will be the next big thing in 2010? (Comments plz).

Without further adieu, here is my list of top tech in the year that was 2009

iPhone 3gs

This smart-phone will now shoot video (unhacked) and send it to YouTube, and if you get lost in the woods you have a nifty compass to guide you out! Price: Your f%*ing soul.

New Intel CPUs

Code named “Nehalem” i5 and i7 core chips with “turbo”. Put them in mac books already!!! I’m waiting ’till they do to upgrade. Price: Get one with a new computer (27″ iMac).

Twitter

This micro blogging service exploded in 2009. Words like “Tweet-up” “Tweets-giving” and “Tw-izzlers” entered our vocab. I’m @johnbirdsong, holla. Price: Free (or ALL of your free time).

Tinychat.com/Skype

Skype, one of the most effective low/no cost communication tools has been around for a while. The new version allows screen sharing which is AWESOME. Tinychat.com takes it a step further and allows groups (up to 12 cameras) to communicate with a/v in a virtual room. Perfect for online meetings, and bizarre 3.0 interaction. Price: Free

Facebook

This year my mom and dad both joined Facebook, and they use it (a lot). Price: All of you free time.

Flip ultra HD

Best flash memory video recorder. Reliable, tough, fantastic daylight video, not to bad indoor/low light video. A lesson in minimalism. Price: $170

Any of the LED back lit flat panel HD TVs

Energy sipping, high quality displays for Bluray, DVD, Hulu, Netflix, web browsing, Amazon on Demand, gaming, and oh yeah…cable.  Price: $1,000+ (for Samsung, Panasonic, etc) less $$ for Vizio (which gets very high ratings).

Canon D7 Digital SLR

I havn’t gotten to use this pro-sumer still camera yet, but the picture quality and videos I’ve seen are beautiful. With the D7, Canon has embraced creative filmmaking. The cam features full 1080p HD video @24 fps, adjustable exposure control, and a large CMOS sensor to mimic the shallow depth of field look of motion picture film cameras. Price: $1,899 with a 28-135 lens.

17″ Mac book Pro

This behemoth of a laptop has an 8hr battery, two video cards, up to 8GB RAM, and a 3.06GHZ duo core Intel CPU.  Price: starting around $3,000

Amazon Kindle 2

Paper books are so passe. JK, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing device. First of all:  electronic ink is really cool. Kind of like a 21st century etch a sketch, but with Hemingway and J.K. Rowling instead of that dumb staircase you’d draw over and over.  One of the coolest things about the Kindle 2 is that it comes with FREE wireless. The browser is not perfect, but it gets the job done (for the most part).  Price: $259

Looking forward to 2010:  What’s Next?

1. Wireless electricity…coming soon

2. A proper upgrade for the iPhone…better battery, HD video recording, front facing camera for video chat

3. Faster computers (plz)

4. 3D HDTV

5. Larger capacity more reliable SD cards

6. Flip camera with wireless, optical stabilization, mic jack, AND headphone jack

7. WiMax

8. A redesigned Facebook

9. A new more efficient, less processor intensive video codec. H.264 is great, but is really CPU intensive…takes 20min to transcode a 3 min video. S-L-O-W.

10. A video camera for every cop that records 24/7 and cannot be tampered with, and a less lethal taser. Police need WAY more oversight.

What did I miss? What tech trends do you see for 2010?

Do you disagree? Please let me know.

-John Birdsong

By Victor Reznik

Mural @ Eat Your Art Out.

Jack Kerouac once took a job as the fire lookout at desolation peak in Washington State Park to find inspiration. The summer he spent on top of that mountain in complete isolation yielded two novels and a series of short stories that many consider his best work. During the first week of December 2009 I traveled to Miami to find that same type of inspiration, but instead of isolation I was seeking immersion. I went to Miami thinking I would find a hotbed of visual and performance artists eager to engage and create, debate and teach. Instead I found “a great excuse to party, and more to the point a thriving market (although just months after an international economic meltdown a much more conservative one) for wealthy art dealers and collectors, who appreciated the over the top courting by the world’s most prestigious art galleries.

I crossed the threshold separated by motion detector sliding doors, and the comforts of the climate controlled processing facility at the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Airport, into the humidity of south Florida, which engulfed me with sticky ceramic beads of sweat. I was nervous, anxious, it was too hot to light a cigarette, and I was over dressed, my luggage weighed me down. I paced, out of boredom triggering the censor and forcing the doors to slide open over and over again. Airports are pseudo efficient processing plants, get in quick get out even quicker, so when your forced to wait in one your confronted with the stillness of time awkwardly deterring your movement. Ft. Lauderdale’s airport did not pretend for a second to be efficient, instead like the rest of south Florida it was a place you rushed to get to and ended up hanging around until you left. I always feel like I’m being judged at airports, partially because airports exist outside of the social strata where dress code or authority establishes hard and fast rules for etiquette. I tried to curb my pacing, like drinking black coffee before bed, the adjustment from New York to Miami would not be kind on my system.

Luke finally emerged in his ‘85 Toyota Tacoma pickup through the stream of Audi’s and late model BMW’s. He pulled up onto the curb and I threw my bags in the bed. I handed him an original vinyl pressing of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Bands album, Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Luke hadn’t shaved in weeks, his eyes sunk into his face, he wore a sand toned military cap with the remnants of many hard fought battles etched into its fabric. Lucas Leyva, the creator of the Borscht Film Festival would be my machete in this jungle of ravenous blood sucking leeches that I was told feed off pocketbooks provided by unsuspecting tourists, and distracted locals.

Luke @ Versailles

I had arrived for Art Basel 2009, the sister event to the Swiss Basel a massive overcrowded collection of art galleries, the vast majority of which are from New York, vying for the short attention spans of would be collectors. Lucas is an old friend of mine, and a staunch supporter, promoter and advocate of the arts in Miami. Through him I would acclimate myself to the local year round art scene, and with the blessing of the Roger Smith News crew I planned on exposing the underbelly of the foreign invasion by cosmopolitan galleries onto the shores of liberty city. Quickly, though I realized I was a foreigner in a foreign land, far from New York and farther from my comfortable northeast safety nets. I only had Luke to rely on, and as I would find out traveling alone, with no money, an abundance of sensitive recording equipment, and no compass (directional or otherwise) is not conducive to telling other peoples stories. My journey trying to discover the essence of Art Basel 2009, became an exploration into the economics of how failure can be successful, how natural illusions are often more true than the illusions of construction, and how sometimes the most poignant inspiration is the kind that doesn’t actually inspire.

Luke with random flipped SUV

Out of all of the curated art I saw over the course of four days in the worlds biggest art convention, the two images that will never leave me were; an 86 year old Cuban world war II veteran brandishing a cane made from a touchtone phone and rare coins he had collected, and an over turned pickup truck with the roof completely smashed in with its contents barely pushing through windshield in the middle of two massive art fairs. Neither the truck, nor the man were much affected by the invasion of artists, gallery owners, art collectors or aspiring journalist/filmmakers trying to make their mark on a city that will remain splintering into multi faceted identities with or without a week long summit to define it.

Cuban Dude

I had one concrete assignment from Aleks A.K.A Marlo, he asked me to catch up with a gallery director from Williamsburg that we had meet a month prior during an exploration of the Brooklyn Arts scene. Marisa from Like The Spice Gallery told us that she would be setting up shop in a suite in a hotel, unlike the hoards of galleries that exhibited work in convention booths around the city. In the meantime I would tour Miami for everything it wasn’t known for, and haphazardly avoid all of the things it was. Ultimately I would find it easier to borrow the perspective of my friend and guide, Lucas, in order to understand both Basel and Miami. The city was in dire need of substance, it was industrial but gaudy, disposable but desperate and like the colliding identities that define Miami’s culture it is constantly renegotiating extremes in order to discover some balance. Kerouac’s desolate mountain peak was an outpost that served as an advanced warning center for those further down the mountain that changing conditions were eminent. In the chaos of over crowding, traffic, oppressive heat, lost souls and vice the rejection of the gaudy extravagance that is inextricably tied to Miami sent me scurrying from the outpost convinced that I had to ring the alarm.

Ralph's Exhibit @ Sushi Samba

stay tuned for the next part.

Part 1

Part 2

PART 1 Emotions

“How do we get people to care about our ideas? We make them feel something.”

- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Chip Heath & Dan Heath

PART 2 “Its all about the people.”

The characters make the story interesting. Last week we met with a collection of Chinese Television Executive to talk about the Real Time Media, Live broadcasting online and the effect of Social Media on an industry. With a language barrier we broke ground when we had each of our guests introduce themselves directly into the camera. With the share cameras on the market like the flip or the Kodak Zi8 it is an interesting moment when you realize that you can turn the camera on yourself.

“The stories told here show how individuals, sometimes by design, but often by accident can change the course of history.”

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.  Steven M. Gillon

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PART 3 To Summarize

“Here is our checklist for creating a successful idea. A Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credentialed, Emotional, Story.”

- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Chip Heath & Dan Heath

We are interested in the art of story telling as a way to engage with people. With people as our subject we build relationships surrounding the stories that are told. We look to listen, engage and share your stories. So please engage us with your story and become part of our culture. If you like it, Share it, and be sure to make a comment.

Thanks for watching.

John Knowles

Kata with charcoal. Photo by Adam Wallace

When this performance was exhibited at the LAB Gallery, I had just received news that a close family member had become an expectant mother. I was deeply moved by this performance, not only because of my excitement about a new family member, but also because of the elegance and beauty by which Kata presented the experience of her pregnancy. The performance provoked me to think about the nature of motherhood. Here are some of my thoughts.

When a woman imagines having a family, the notion is lucid and naive. No matter her previous thoughts, the reality of what that experience will truly be like is intangible and distant by its very nature.

Life moves forward, but somewhere in between, your perception of the world changes forever. You no longer can conceive of yourself first. Now you have been given the knowledge that you will be a mother in 40 weeks time, and the only thing in the world that you can think of is how you can give every ounce of your being to this new life growing inside you.

As humans, we are locked in our own minds. We perceive the world through the narrow lens experience and genetics have allotted us. But for this moment in time, these 40 weeks, you extend your vision beyond the ledge of your own corner of existence and for once honestly know what it feels like to be another. You create the other, and project onto and into the other; and they onto you.

Your perception of time shatters. It is no longer about your life, but the one to come.

Everything happens quickly, and yet the process has a framework that is slow and methodical: one step at a time, building, changing and morphing. A force so strong yet so fragile.

Circles completed and corners eroded.

Having no children of my own, I can only speculate. But I believe every woman wonders and waits patiently for the moment when they will give every once of their being to another.

I hope this video captures a fraction of that beauty and honesty.

-Abianne Prince

This week I set out to review the different options available for LIVE internet broadcasting. There are a number of options and platforms available. The best advice is to determine YOUR needs and pick the one that suits you best.

Here is my best of list

1. 1. USTREAM.tv
2. 2. livestream.com
3. 3. justin.tv
4. 4. Qik.com
5. 5. Kyte.tv

Some of these platforms don’t offer services that others do…for example Qik is meant only for mobile phones. while USTREAM allows streaming from a PC or mobile (iphone).

USTREAM

Right now USTREAM is my favorite. It’s really popular and offers some high profile content as well as a ton of user generated LIVE and archived content.

Pros

1. 1. You can use flash media live encoder (if you have a fast PC) for HQ broadcasts.
2. 2. Easy. Like really f%#ing easy.
3. 3. New broadcaster app for iphone allows for spontaneous LIVE streaming (don’t forget to jailbrake and install ‘mobile substrate’ so you can stream over 3g).

Cons

1. Limited quality with mac (no plugin).
2. Messy UI sort of reminds me of myspace (not a good thing).
3. Player app for iphone doesn’t work (that sucks).
4. The ‘youtube’ of LIVE internet broadcast (at least for now).

Livestream.com

Pros

1. Gorgeous design. Site is beautiful, and easy to navigate.
2. Standalone app for mac (can broadcast using h.264).

Cons

1. Annoying (video) ads.
2. Unreliable recording (archiving) with mac app (to be fair: the mac app is still in beta)

Justin.TV

Pros

1. Says it’s compatible with Quicktime Broadcaster (HQ broadcasting for mac)
2. Very experimental (lots of lifecasting going on here).
3. Nice design.

Cons

1. I only got QT Broadcaster working for a minute…(crap).
2. Have you ever heard of justin.tv? (now you have).

Qik

Pros

1. Qik is pretty awesome.
2. Live video from your iphone (jailbroken), and certain Nokia handsets.
3. Syndicates really well. Press the red button and it posts to facebook (live and archived video) posts to youtube, twitter, tumblr, etc.

Cons

1. Only works on mobile phones.

Kyte

Pros

1. OK site design.
2. Offers mobile and PC broadcasting.
3. Quality seems good.

Cons

1. Have you ever heard of kyte?
2. Site seems heavily geared to their pay model and a little hard to navigate because of it.
3. Hard to navigate to FAQ and other HELP info.

Come back here every tuesday for more technology related reviews and best of lists.

Cheers,

-John Birdsong

We will be LIVE streaming Matiyahu’s show @Music Hall of Williamsburg. Stop by and check it out here or on USTREAM.

-John Birdsong

LIVE Dec 20 @7pm

MATISYAHU BRINGS ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHT TO NEW YORK CITY

Matisyahu brings his brand new album Light to hometown crowds in New York City for the Festival of Light, an impressive annual eight night stand, beginning December 10th at Webster Hall. Matisyahu will perform four nights at Webster Hall and four nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the eight nights of Hanukkah. Each night will have a different opening act including Glitch Mob, John Brown’s Body, Kid Koala and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes. This is the fourth year Matisyahu has brought this special tradition to New York City.

Fans will have two chances to purchase tickets before they officially go on sale this Friday, October 23rd. American Express card members will have an exclusive pre-sale this Wednesday, October 21st beginning at 10am. The next day, members of the Matisyahu fan club, and followers of his on Twitter, will be able to buy tickets starting at 10am using a special code obtained by monitoring Matisyahus Twitter feed.

The dates are:
12/10/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Glitch Mob)
12/12/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ John Brown’s Body)
12/13/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Dub Trio)
12/14/09  New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Brothers Past)
12/16/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Rana)
12/17/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kid Koala)
12/19/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Travis McCoy)
12/20/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kevin Devine)

‘One Day (Acoustic)’

Matisyahu is currently on the road behind Light which Billboard said “pushes musical boundaries: dipping into everything from guitar driven rockers to stripped down acoustic tunes.” The 40 date tour is sponsored by surf-wear brand Mavericks. Coined as “the wave beyond,” Mavericks inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature. Matisyahu and Mavericks is a match largely in part to a shared passion for preserving the environment. The tour pulls into Anaheim at the House of Blues on Wednesday at 7pm.