Vote Earth Day was spent using only a few grams of hydrocarbons to make hot tea in the morning, and thenceforth, only foot power moving through the desert landscape.

watched the stars intently for a couple hours after the thin-sliced crescent moon falls away to the west, the rest of the disk lit with earthshine.

watching part with binocs and part with glasses, and part with neither. not much more to say except that zodiacal Light is there as well.

long day with a 12-mile round-trip trek into Sycamore Spring. could not have made the drive in with anything less than a Mercedes Unimog, a Hummer would have been too wide. SUVs don't have tires with enough bite. so, two-foot-drive it is. better that way. though tiring even when the air temperature is modest. sun was not.

there are cattle being grazed on the BLM land that surrounds the wilderness, and technically they are not supposed to be near the spring or in the wilderness area at all, though I find one gate completely down, and cow shit in some stages of decomposition all to frequently. cattle cause tremendous shifts in the landscape. although it would be hard to tell exactly how or what aside from the obvious disturbances of the soil from the cloven hooves, and the dessicated pies. they re-distribute large quantities of grass and other seeds through the grazing and shitting process.

a frequent thought exercise while making these long walks is to imagine the landscape manifesting as a time-lapse film rewinding back to pre-settlement, and pre-human times. this also purges the frequent song loops that arise while walking -- some inane Abba riff will get stuck in head, god knows how (or maybe god places this curse of cultural meme-play on solitary human stragglers).

the moment I step off the jeep track and enter the wilderness area beyond the slender fiberglass demarcation signs, up a wash, the energy of the place shifts. walking along another much older jeep trail that has been unused for years one sees the damage as well as the natural regeneration process overtaking the road, destroying it eventually. once the surface is defaced by a vehicle it rapidly erodes with the sparse but often violent rains. sections of the trail now are reduced to a single track or narrow gullies making it easier to bush-whack.

a mile or so down the track is Sycamore Spring, near the head of Peoples Canyon. it is bursting in its place, in this time. at the mouth of a narrowing deep canyon: upstream the dry wash has a trickle of life for at least 200 yards up from the actual spring, a trickle moving across a white bed of welded tuff. shallow pools of tepid and greasy water buzzing with flies, hornets, bees. the spring itself is surrounded by huge sycamores about to leaf out, some substantial cottonwoods, jumbles of downed wood, deep dried leaves, juniper, myrtle, mountain mahogany, segueing within 50 feet on either side back to hard-core desert like all the surrounding space for at least 20 miles to the east and 300 miles to the west, 500 to the south and north at least. saguaro, cholla, teddy bear, barrel, beavertail, mesquite, ocotillo interspersed with short grasses and flowers. the transition is stark and stunning. I am greeted by a pair of Peregrine Falcons who, for a few moments make my presence welcome, but only as an interloper. one sits high in a sycamore screeching occasionally, the other circling on the thermals, they eventually glide down stream to the deeper canyon. there are several deep pools under the trees covered with a yellow skim of pollen, numerous frogs and tadpoles are in the water. this is a wild place.

start off with hydrocarbon tanking. Woody's Flying-Vee gas station. I ask the Latina cashier if she knows anything about the architecture of the station, she is completely puzzled by my question. memory of glory days in the West. road trip. this one very short, down from the mountains to the desert 1000 meters below.

back in the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness, this occasion in from the Peoples Canyon access -- a very bad jeep trail which I only risk a bit more than one mile of the five possible. after a scout of a section up Cottonwood Canyon and finding several sections that would possibly doom my truck, I retreat (not without several stressful moments where a ten-point turn in deep pea-gravel in the wash almost fails). find a suitable spot back up on a scarp above the canyon to park the truck and aLight. no clock-ticking time passes here, only Light time. a treat, treating, retreating. self energy reflecting against the place. reflecting against imbricate order and connectedness and shimmering stars. air temperatures only in the low 70sF, but sun already hinting at the brutal intensity of summer to come. everything is green. air drone humming with winged insects, prepping or engaged in the initial stages of pollination. only a few cacti flowering yet. many of the wildflowers already peaking. the few cacti blossoms are infinitely small spatters of paint dropped onto the muted greens of the land surface. magenta scarlet purple of the beavertail and the strawberry hedgehog. other buds swelling and ready to burst in the next days. owls, rock doves, red tail, peregrine falcons, circling vultures; evidence of javelina and coyote; lizards and pack-rats, kangaroo rats.

mikropaliskunta is back again!

An expedition collects artists to explore the nationality of a tourist in Canary Islands 03-10.march.2009

The travel can be followed in real-time at renewed website http://www.mikropaliskunta.net

mikroPaliskunta is a series of interdisciplinary expeditions exploring contemporary imagined nation called Finland and its eco-social changes in a sustainable way. mikroPaliskunta has already made two expeditions: across Finland from north to south by a biodiesel car with a stuffed reindeer in 2006 and around Berlin by bicycles in Germany in 2007. This spring, the group starts a series of expeditions themed The Finnish on Holiday. The first expedition in the hell triangle of tourism is made to Canary Islands - the ever-popular holiday destination and a border shore for African refugees risking their lives to enter European Union. Following two expeditions head to entertain centers in Vantaa and Lapland in Finland

The Finnish culture is moved to warm climate in Canary Islands. How does
tourism intensify presented national identity in tourists themselves and in
local people? Also, the affects of mass tourism from perspective of economic
depression and ecological awareness is an interesting subject matter, explains
media artist and member of the expedition Mari Keski-Korsu.

mikroPaliskunta website is renewed for the Canary Islands expedition. As with
the earlier expeditions, also this expedition can be tracked almost in
real-time. The artists of the expedition work with their own individual themes
producing articles, photographs, videos, maps and a series of performances about
coffee drinking as a social phenomenon. All the materials about this and the
past expeditions are exhibited at the website.

Members of the expedition include media artists Mari Keski-Korsu and Mika
Meskanen, photographer Eija Mäkivuoti, author and scriptwriter Taina West.
Researcher of sustainable consumption and production Satu Lähteenoja is a
special guest of the expedition.

mikroPaliskunta is supported by Arts Council of Finland and Finnish Cultural Fund.

another chapter. starting to finish the commission for Rick and Sally. nice to have the opportunity to do large prints -- 36x48 in. -- from scanned 35mm negs. multiple panel work. maybe the start of a new set of possibilities, combined with all the scanning I've been doing. still have at least 10,000 negatives to scan, at least as many chromes, and then there are the images from the family archive. but what to do with it all. a bonfire before relocating half-way 'round the world? possibly. but not probable. despite the limited term of life left to be spent scanning and such.

go to bed reading of Qi in Ted J. Kaptchuk's treatise on Chinese medicine and wake up early from a deep dream where I was working with a group of boisterous and engaged young people who are somehow brought together by the impulse of Barack Obama. my immediate thought upon waking is why does a political figure enter my dreams? social action is important, sure, along with an interest in community dynamics, but a politician (community organizer none-the-less)? somewhat disturbing, though that thought is outweighed by the energy of the scenario. I suppose I am missing teaching. there will be opportunities for that in Oz, although I will keep it highly restricted to workshops rather than term courses. nothing should get in the way of the appointed task.

the Qi discussion illustrates the absolute difficulty in framing a concept in the language -- the specific social protocol -- within which the concept did not arise. the fundamental problem of translation. and in this case, translation of a term that is so formative to any worldview built on it that if one adopts that specific term, it will map, literally, where one stands in the world. and the ensuing conclusion that the adoption of another social protocol, language, precipitates a shift in worldview. no surprise there.

one global 'solution' to this issue especially in regard to fundamentals like Qi or energy (noting that even here I am making no one-to-one correspondence between the two!), when 'comparing' fundamentals, is to consider that each human individually is observing the world, and, at the same time, the social collective that they are participating in exerts an impressive synergy on all these points-of-view, and generates a collectively determined world view. this is the dominant social protocol, their language. Both the individual and collective world view are reductive apprehensions of essentially the same phenomena -- that of be-ing in the world -- seen from the particular point of view of that individual or collective. Of course, there are the instances where the worldview of the collective is impressed on the individual when the individual is forced to sacrifice personal autonomy to the collective -- often through violence or threat of violence. it becomes a deep issue of personal autonomy or idiosyncrasy versus the power of the collective and where to set the line.

... the unusual difficulty in making Qi intelligible in modern Western philosophy suggests that the underlying Chinese metaphysical assumption is significantly different from the Cartesian dichotomy between spirit and matter.... (Furthermore) the continuous presence in Chinese philosophy of the idea of Qi as a way of conceptualizing the base structure and function of the cosmos, despite the availability of symbolic resources to make an analytical distinction between spirit and matter, signifies a conscious refusal to abandon a mode of thought that synthesizes spirit and matter as an undifferentiated whole. The loss of analytical clarity is compensated by the reward of imaginative richness. The fruitful ambiguity of Qi allows philosophers to explore realms of being which are inconceivable to people constricted by Cartesian dichotomy .... Qi, in short, seems inadequate to provide a philosophical background for the development of empirical science as understood in a positivistic sense. What it does provide, however, is a metaphorical mode of knowing, an epistemological attempt to address the multidimensional nature of reality by comparison, allusion, and suggestion. -- Tu Wei-ming in Confucian Thought

furthermore, the adoption of another linguistic naming system or protocol represents the potential of seeing the world anew. at the same time as it represents a separation from the dominant or previous system. this is an essential feature of the process of immigration, this identity shift that comes through a (linguistic) re-naming the world. but it is also inherent in the process of adoption of any protocol or technology that is produced and imposed on the individual.

spend the afternoon at a meeting with a group of about 15 enthusiastic Mizzou students who are interested in fundamental issues around sustainability and social activism. the meeting (01:20 audio) was organized by the Open Sustainability Network Mid-Missouri, under the title Tools to Thrive. hosted by Richard Schulte, one of the founders of the Mid-Missouri group (which is connected to the umbrella Open Sustainability Network). OSN-MM is also the initiator of the Columbia Missouri Exchange Circle.

Lonny Grafman, the featured presenter, is a lecturer at Humboldt State University and is the founder of Appropedia Foundation, the self-proclaimed sustainability wiki which provides a public platform for information on sustainable community practices along with pertinent knowledge-sets for implementation.

Lonny is also the Executive Editor of International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering (IJSLE). He introduced some of his work in the form of a presentation Democracy Unlimited Humboldt County Rainwater: A Case Study in Open Source Community Action for Sustainability which explored community activism in deployment of sustainable (in this case, domestic rainwater gathering) systems.

words: creation of human networks ... the search for deliverables ... starts with a sonic ambient exploration a rainstorm ... examples of rainwater sequestering ... Bechtel in Bolivia ... anthropocentric impurities ... a lesson in rainwater catchments: free ... local infrastructures generate independence / autonomy. Too many details at first. without the principles of appropriate technology use -- public perception, policy situation, know-how, resources, initiative, currency in Humboldt ... hemp paper, soy inks ... Temporary Autonomous Zone

break-out groups: creation and organization of more and better public art; bike-powered something; CSPAN (Columbia Sustainability Policy Action Network); local economy (in general); moving from thought to action; facilitating dialogue; sustainable creative activism; expanding the sustainability community; empathy and interconnectedness; rooftop gardens where possible on campus; community networking club celebrations, gardening; organizing / participating in one implementation workshop for a physically appropriate technology setup; less plastic use, healthy local food, teaching sustainability to children ...

sorry no more detailed notes, I had to leave right after the break-out sessions to meet Nick and Deb to look at houses.

I cycle across downtown from campus to the Walgreens where I lock the bike and go in to buy a snack. when I come out I wander across the parking lot looking for Deb's car. an chubby white woman gets out of a sedan and asks me if I need a ride. she says she normally doesn't do that, but I looked like I wasn't a killer and that she'd be happy to help me out. I say no, no thanks, I'm just waiting for friends to pick me up. mid-western courtesy? I'm wearing a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, black half-gloves and a baseball cap from Germany, and dark brown sunglasses. who's she kidding? she must have been one of those mild-mannered mid-western serial killers. just then Deb pulls up. saved! Nick stayed with the kids, so we drive into the countryside to some small towns looking at houses. the area is really depressed, many empty storefronts on Main Street. and this area is relatively affluent compared to much of the rest of the state. it would be very interesting to travel through these areas and document what is happening. sustainability? indeed. things are not sustained here. help is needed.

attend a screening last night of Randy Olson's Flock of Dodos at the RagTag Cinema in Columbia. he was in attendance. and again this morning, he gave a presentation for science academics at the university as a part of their Darwin Days (where the Chair of the Life Sciences Department pointed out they were not allowed to say "celebration" but rather "commemoration"). the film's premise was to map out the way both sides of the evolution/creationist divide are communicating and presenting their POV to the public. scientists are shown to be poor communicators, creationists shown to be poor communicators except for some who know the value of style and appearance (the Discovery Institute being the chief antagonists posing as a non-partisan think-tank). they are the ones leading the issues. in the same way Republicans have been successful in constructing the narratives guiding the story-following population to the conservative Nirvana.

Olson, a former Harvard PhD biologist transitioned to Hollywood via a degree at USC's film school. he now tells stories that bridge the divide between science and the general public.

but the leap from stories to action -- stories that form a context for action -- well, there is generally a passivity that is a condition of listening/watching a story recitation. listening to stories has to stop at some point. so, the story has to have a transitional mechanism leading to action. how does that work? telling a story and have action arise out of the exchange of energies. the attentive focus of absorbing a story transforming into world-changing action.

in the evening Nick and I catch the screening of Sizzle also by Olson.

overheard today:

mass media is directed at the pelvic floor but what about having Kegels for Consciousness...

a repaired drum appears, as does a Tibetan singing bowl, and a basket full of instruments. resonant sound-making ensues.

coming up: turn off, tune out, and chill in the dark...

I learned about Ava's middle name this morning, Miao Shan Ying which comes from the legendary goddess Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit). Miao Shan was the goddess's name in her previous incarnation as the daughter of a cruel king. it means wonderful goodness. good call!

here is the princess making pancakes on Saturday morning.

a brilliant day, 70 F at least. Nick takes the day off and we head out to the Katy Trail at Rocheport (located in Missouri's Rhineland which was settled by Germans from the Gießener Auswanderungsgesellschaft in the 1830's). we do a leisurely 20 mile ride southeast along the Missouri to Huntsdale and back. then a nice aprés lunch at the Les Bourgeois Vineyards.

the entire area around Columbia is a classic karst landscape of Mississippian Burlington/Keokuk Limestone forming deeply excised drainages, caves, and springs, along with damp soil caused by the limestone weathering to a sticky clay. all along the Missouri River floodplain where the Katy runs are high bluffs of the limestone. the Katy came about as a Rails-to-Trails park and is built on the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad corridor.



i-70 slices across the river, through the deep karst, into the sky, with death-rattle sounds and falling gravel.

Nick, Kieran and I attend a marginal lecture about Saturn delivered by a nervous and not well-versed graduate student (kept in line by his advisor, Dr. Angela Speck and distracted by Angela's son writing his name upside-down and backwards on the chalk-board). it is followed by a visit to the observatory enclosing a 16-inch telescope at the top of the physics/astronomy building on the UM campus to see Saturn. there were some folks from the Central Missouri Astronomical Association running the 'scope. I recall an evening spent with Loki and Annie at the CU observatory doing the same. Light pollution is not so bad given we are in the middle of Columbia at an altitude of 740 feet, but the facilities management forgot to turn off the stadium Lights as agreed upon. collegiate sports 1, astronomy 0. Saturn was visible with the rings at the minimal inclination of less than a degree -- not to be seen again until 2038.

turns out the HyVee (not the Schnucks) grocery store has Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream on sale for just $2.73 for 1.5 quart, uh-oh. that and sadly, Henry the rockin' horse is ill, but Ava poses for a picture anyway.

the festival ends with a long eye-vibrating day -- War Against the Weak, Crude, and Burma VJ. I babysit the kids (and watch Lord of the Rings with them way too late for a school night, but don't tell anyone!) while Nick and Deb go out to the closing party.

documentary film is a bit foreign to my mind, after years of work in non-narrative experimental moving images. intriguing to be presented with stories, those basic forms of human communication versus the chaotic release of non-linear stimulation. perhaps there is a dialectic in this -- juxtaposing a need to have (socially) structured and chronological sensory input versus flows that are not really predictable (though safe in the sense that they are only optical/aural inputs and not full sensory inputs). different people have different capacities for absorbing change and facing the unknown.

is it merely that we have been conditioned as media consumers to the form of the filmic story? or is there some core stimulus that compels us to remain attached to the trajectory traced by the story-teller?