Zaadz: Media & Technology

Cesar Milan - The Dog Whisperer

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:58:51 -0000

I love this show. I don't watch it every week, but I love it when I stumble across it. Sometimes the Hallmark Channel does marathons of the shows too, so you can really get a dose of Cesar and the wonderful dog and owner stories.

Cesar is a bodhisattva doing a very special thing with dogs and dog owners. I am so grateful he is out there sharing his gifts and skills. When we first found the show we just happened to come across it. We loved it instantly. What is interesting is that at the time we didn't even have a dog! But we both had dogs as kids and knew that one day we would have a dog again. We slurped up the great stories and transformations of dog and owner behavior.

Then ... on January 27th we brought home a puppy! She's a resuce puppy, a Chocolate Lab / Austrralian Shepherd mix - a darling pup we named Tashi Nyima, Tibetan for "Auspicious Sun" or "Sun of Good Luck." We found that all we had learned on Cesar's show prepared us for our new puppy. She is doing great; she's easy to train and is a joy.

Here is Tashi at around 13 weeks:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/389711555_edaa0b435a_m.jpg

I have a set of shots of her and her siblings on Flickr at:
http://flickr.com/photos/applecrisp/sets/72157594490832328/

Thanks, Cesar for your inspiration and incredible information. :))

Layne

Re: Cesar Milan - The Dog Whisperer

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:04:55 -0000

Dear Layne,
Welcome to zaadz and this small but fun pod with wonderful members. Thank you for sharing such cute pictures. It brought more smiles to my day. Congratulations on the new addition to the family. More love!
love,
Samme

Ooops! Cesar Milan should be in this discussion...

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 03:05:00 -0000

I put my post about Cesar Milan's show in the Network TV discussion, and perhaps it should go here! :)

Cesar's show, "The Dog Whisperer," is wonderful. He is a great teacher spreading love, wisdom, and skills in the dog and dog owner world. If you haven't seen him, and especially if you have a dog and haven't seen him, you must! He is on the Hallmark Channel every Friday night and the show repeats on other nights. Every show features about three dog behavior cases and the solutions, and a large part of what he does is train the owners.

Re: Richard Dreyfuss on BIll Maher

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 03:08:42 -0000

Yes, I saw this one. Richard Dreyfuss was quite amazing - very knowledgeable and articulate. He has great insight and passion.

We watch Bill Maher each week. It's one of the few shows we catch. And since he's on several nights, there are several chances to catch it.

Bill's' site: http://www.billmaher.com/

Roshi Joan Halifax's Tibetan Trip

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:03:46 -0000

Namaste,

Zaadzster Joan Halifax has just put a 10 minute video of her trip to
Kham,Tibet on youtube. check her blog.but here is the link.

It was a medical mission with some incredible video worth the watch.

MERLIN TO PARSIFAL - 1

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:11:05 -0000

Posted on Apr 10th, 2007 by Happiness

Comment:

To answer your question, a Twenty-Third Century Novel (23CN) is a knowledge system, a self-organizing cyber park to amuse the mind and engage all twelve senses in a Hero’s Journey to discover the Seven Secrets of the Universe. It is a living, interactive and holy participatory artwork that uses both visible and invisible materials to create meaning out of the mundane and numinous. It is most of all about meetings,parties, and having a good time.

FROM: Merlin

TO: Parsifal

VIA: WizardNet.cosmos

You may now enter the novel.

Welcome!

1) In any one novel you will find many games going on at the same time, even if only one player is playing. When two players play, the possibilities go quantum and become exponentially delicious. A novel may serve as a self-organizing force-field for the imagination. It draws on all contiguous universes and parallel realities, and often makes up new realities on the spot if this will advance the action.

2) Our conversation last night, for example, has been incorporated into the 23CN Archives, and in turn has sparked other conversations connections, and possibilities for multiple meetings and shamanic convergences in inner and outer space. Even this Entry, even the video-clip of you illustrating Einstein’s space-time continuum by folding the table cloth at the Italian restaurant over onto itself. Home movies.

3) All novels begin in the dark, from wherever you are at the moment, like this. For awhile, like an out-of-body experience, you feel as though you are in free fall, free-falling through glittering air, and then everything stops, or so it seems, you are not sure. Like a blind person, you grope along a cold wall of metaphors and memories, feeling along for some golden thread that might lead you out of the Labyrinth.

4) Then you remember. There is someone you are supposed to meet, from another life time, from a part of your life you had forgotten. But you are lost, as in a dream, and wonder of you will make it to the meeting. You continue to grope along the wall, which now warms to your touch, becomes malleable and friendly, talks back in a language you cannot understand.

5) Because of our lack of basic knowledge, the range of possibilities for the proposed meeting remains indeterminate, but hints at a shimmering infinity. You are aware that someone else has joined the novel. You hear breathing, and then realize it is your own. We play Russian roulette with the climate, hoping that the future will hold no unpleasant surprises. Acting on the basis of ignorance, paradoxically, requires one to know things and to remember that error is possible.

6) She knew when he was thinking about her. It was a knowing, a feeling that was like something calming in her mind, some light on the waters of consciousness. Night fishermen, holding torches aloft. She felt that feeling now, as she continued to grope along the wall. It was not an uncomfortable feeling, but it was still new to her. In fact, her heart ached for more, but first she had to find her way back to base camp. This was part of the orientation for the novel she was creating for herself. Was he trying to tell her something?

7) He was transfixed by the idea that scientists are devising a new class of flying machines, powered by beams of pure energy, but he also felt a yearning that was new and strange for him, he who had lived his life by pure science had no frame of reference for what was now happening, as he fell deeper and deeper into his novel, her novel, their novel, this universal data-base masked as a novel but actually activating alternative psycho-spheres and nana-dimensions, and he knew there was nothing to do but find her in cyberspace, and try to bring her back into the central processor. It was possible that machine intelligence had “crossed over” and was in fact thinking his thoughts. What to do? Not quite Orpheus and Eurydice. Wasn't that a movie? No, this is happy story.

8) Healing the seas may be an enormous task. She realized this, and it was why she has chosen to learn how to communicate with cetaceans and other marine mammals. She is also studying how to communicate with male human mammals. Ah, there is that sexy cetacean she was hoping would show up tonight! Here in the Sand Bar! He swam straight up to her and made strange dolphin noises, hoping to start a touchy-feely conversation. These dolphins have a way, for sure. Lancelot, is that you?

9) She wondered what anyone talked about these days, when it was clear that we are at the end of history. What is interesting, now? This is why she so enjoyed her research with the dolphins. There was no need to talk. Everything with them was physical, uncontaminated by words, concepts, theories, hypotheses. With dolphins, it was a matter of pure energy transfer, invoking the celestial noosphere and dancing with it. How, she wondered, would she ever learn to talk to human males?

10) We still, he reflected, live largely in the belief that form comes before thought. The essence of the shift now taking place, he realized, as he descended deeper into the heart of the novel, is the reversal of this perception. We are all being directed to advance our perceptual systems into recognizing that energy or thought always precedes the creation of matter. Suddenly, he smelled roses, and realized that there was another person quite close by. He said the only thing that he could think of, hoping against galactic hope that it was her: “In three billion years, life here has evolved from single cells able to soak up chemicals to collections of cells embodying minds able to soak up ideas. Don’t I remember you from somewhere?”

**************************************************************************************************

COMMENT:

LISA: Thanks for checking in to The Twenty Third Century Novel!

Thanks for your flow approach…!

Everything is going to be posted as “Excerpts” from The Twenty Third Century Novel in my blog. In other words, this site and my blog are ALL “the novel.”

It is a long story…..:)

You can start anywhere and read in any direction. If you want to focus on a particular 'book' within the novel, you can do that through the tagging codes.

(I am still working on these, but they will provide a way of organizing the various works within the larger work if you like a particular theme or environment.)

For example, you can put in “23CN-VR” and that should pull up all the entries so far from a book titled:

“VR: The Journals of S”

Some of the books I will be posting excerpts from are:

MINIMATA:POWERS OF 10
THE WORLD'S FIRST NANOTECHNOLOGY NOVEL
THE KING AND QUEEN OF ROLLER DISCO

AND SO ON…

(Actually, the entry titled “Flying” early on is from KING AND QUEEN)

This is an adventure in using digital technology to serve imaginary works to create new ways of looking at ourselves and our tools for a playful creative experience that expands opportunities and potentials exponentially.

Kurzweil says that his “singularity” will result in humans being 30,000 times more creative as we work more closely with machine intelligence.

I am asking: With all these new breakthroughs in science and technology, what are our traditional forms, like the novel, going to look like in the Twenty Third Century? I am looking at changes going on right now and projecting them forward.

We will have traditional material, yes, but it will be presented in radically new ways, and I believe ways which will be more sharing, interwoven, interactive, communal, playful and ultimately more exciting. Again, there will be commentaries on all this in the ongoing text.

So, when you ask about a “goal,” and about “context” this is not really a work of art where there is either.

The best analogies are perhaps in non-linear systems theory, quantum physics, strange attractors, Heisenberg, Bell's Theorum, and the Diamond Sutra.

The point (rather than the goal) is to create something without specific beginning or end, but with FLOW. Sort of like life. This is different from Proust, or Tolstoy or Dickens. This is more like Silly Putty. Or, you might say, correctly, Borges on steroids, or Cortazar on a sugar high.

Each Reader will put The Twenty Third Century Novel together through his/her own memories, perceptions, mind set, world view, and so the work will actually “happen” in the space ….

between these words and your heart…..

Does this help? Thanks for your interest and thanks for asking…

I will now post this as a Comment, and add it to the novel as a kind of hypertext exegesis (is that the term?)…

The Designer
:)

Alex Noble

An Excerpt from The Twenty Third Century Novel - 23CN

“The World's First Nanotechnology Novel”

Photo Courtesy of Morguefile: www.morguefile.com

If you need a website or a storefront...

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:15:32 -0000

I have not been here for a while and I look forward to catching up soon. I have missed y'all.

I have decided to put my money/actions where my ideals are and have just finished setting up a beta edition of RainbowRiver.org

I hope you will join and pass it on. Basic Registration is FREE.

This is my way to help as many people as I can become the best that they can be; Emotionally, Spiritually and Financially...and to change the world in the process.

DD

Re: A New Internet Architecture

Wed, 02 May 2007 10:37:33 -0000

Don't we all have a long way to go - and not I am afraid a great time left to get IT right such that the 'survivors' can take a sustainable technology package with them !

Prosthesis for Amputees in Africa

Wed, 02 May 2007 14:10:36 -0000

I am looking for opinions on who is the very finest company that makes leg prosthesis for amputees. I am looking for someone to sponsor a project in which a medical team will go to Africa and fit children of God... who have lost their legs in land mine explosions in the Sahara, with hope. I already have medical volunteers who are interested in this, right in my home town, in Kansas. I would appreciate your opinions or a visit to my profile. Thanks...beautiful day :) J

Re: One Laptop Per Child

Fri, 11 May 2007 00:02:01 -0000

I 'd like to see the demo TELL me something about the interface instead of just showing me screenshots. If the GUI paradigm is so redefined, then I am curious how the software actually promotes understanding and knowledge building. What is the teacher's role in the OLPC revolution? From where is the content derived? I'm still looking at the site and wiki so perhaps I'll find the answers but right now I'm not seeing the pedagogical information.

The Movies of Adam Curtis

Mon, 14 May 2007 06:53:16 -0000

I've just put The Century of the Self up on my blog. It was real easy to use the insert video function.

If you have not heard of Adam Curtis or seen his movies, this is a good start. Very thought provoking. Examines the media with media. You could say a self-reflexive discourse.

This one along with two more can be found on Google Video. I put The Power of Nightmares up here.

I put them up because I find Google Video awkward to navigate. The third one The Trap - What Happened to our Dream of Freedom is his latest but the third part is divided into three parts, making it five parts online. I am hoping to find the third part as a single piece. Then I'll put it up somewhere.

His technique is interesting because his movies are constructed from archived footage. His biggest problem is clearing the rights to all the little pieces. Shows what you can do with other people's footage.

Hello!

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:14:55 -0000

Hello! I'm joining this pod both for the serious talk on media issues, big vs. grass roots, DIY, etc. and also for just the fun of talking about movies, the internet, etc.

I'm a news junkie and can't keep myself from trolling for news on the web. I don't get cable though, putting that money into internet bandwidth instead. A trade-off that is becoming more and more common, I think...

The Seventh Seal

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:22:43 -0000

For those in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, The Naro Cinema will have a FREE showing of Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" this Sunday September 9th at 5PM. I've never seen the film, actually, so I'll be there.

Next Wave in eBooks

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:26:47 -0000

The E-Books Last Stand? Internet Giants Are Gearing Up to Write The Next Chapter in the History of Reading

Source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/09/the-e-books-las.html

There's something comforting about reading words on good old fashion paper, but analysts say the time might be ripening for e-books as well. Before we thumb our noses at electronic reading, it's worth noting that due to the cheaper costs, publishers are more willing to give talented, lesser-known authors a chance to get their work out there. Who knows how many "Hemingways" have slipped through the cracks because their last name isn't Hemingway. Also, e-books are more likely to be published by independent publishing houses, which can mean greater editorial and authorial freedom.

There's also the convenience issue. A small electronic reader that contains dozens of your favorite titles is easier to pack around and store in an increasingly mobile world. It evens provides it own lighting, which is convenient for a late night read or in poor-lighting conditions like on the subway, for example.

But although techies have praised the advantages and predicted the emergence of e-books and electronic readers for years, the idea never caught on with mainstream book buyers. The reasons are many, some practical and others based in tradition. But some of those limitations have since been resolved and two new offerings this fall are set to test whether average consumers are willing to give e-books a chance.

Next month online mega-retailer Amazon.com will unveil the Kindle, an electronic book reader that has been the subject of industry speculation for over a year. The Kindle will be priced at $400 to $500 and will wirelessly connect to an e-book store on Amazon's site-a significant advance over older e-book devices, which require connection to a computer to download books or articles. The drawback is that it's rumored that you'll only be able to download e-books from Amazon as it will not support the standard format.

Google also has autumn plans for online books. They won't be peddling an accompanying product like the Kindle, but they plan to start offering access to full online digital copies of books in its database. Publishers will set the prices for their own books and share the revenue with Google.

Neither Amazon nor Google are expected to carve out a significant piece of the $35-billion-a-year book business-at least not right away. But these new services, from two Internet heavyweights, may help answer the question once and for all of whether consumers are willing to read books off of digital screens instead of on processed pulp. Some are skeptical that enough people will be up for the switch.

"Books represent a pretty good value for consumers. They can display them and pass them to friends, and they understand the business model," said Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research. "We have had dedicated e-book devices on the market for more than a decade, and the payoff always seems to be just a few years away."

Even so, hope for e-books was revived last year with the introduction of the widely marketed Sony Reader. The gadget costs less than $300 and is the size of a regular paperback. With a six-inch screen it holds enough memory for about 80 books. More impressively, the battery lasts for around 7,500 page turns before it needs a recharge. It uses technology from E Ink that creates power-efficient digital screens that very closely mimic the appearance of real paper. The Reader has done well enough that Sony recently increased its advertising for the device in several major American cities.

"Digital readers are not a replacement for a print book; they are a replacement for a stack of print books," said Ron Hawkins, vice president for portable reader systems at Sony. "That is where we see people, on the go, in the subway and in airports, with our device."

Book publishers also seem to be preparing for the kind of disruption that hit the music business when Apple introduced the symbiotic combination of the iPod and its iTunes online service. This year, with Sony's Reader drawing some attention and Amazon's imminent e-book device on their radar, most major publishers have accelerated the conversion of their titles into electronic formats.

"There has been an awful lot of energy around e-books in the last six to 12 months, and we are now making a lot more titles available," said Matt Shatz, vice president for digital at Random House, which plans to have around 6,500 e-books available by 2008. It has had about 3,500 available for the last few years.

Amazon has been showing the Kindle to book publishers for the last year and has delayed its introduction several times. Last fall, a photograph of the device, and some of its specifications, leaked onto the Web when the company filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to get approval for its wireless modem, which will operate over a high-speed EVDO network.

"This is not your grandfather's e-book," said one publishing executive. "If these guys can't make it work, I see no hope."

Stephen Riggio, chief executive at Barnes & Noble, argues that for most people the value of traditional paper books will never be replicated in digital form. Nevertheless, he says they will compete with Google and Amazon. Riggio said in an interview that the full texts of many books will become available on the company's Web site over the next year to 18 months. He also said that Barnes & Noble was considering introducing its own electronic book reader.

"If an affordable device can come to the market, sure we'd love to bring it to our customers, and we will," Mr. Riggio said.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

Re: Next Wave in eBooks

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 03:25:29 -0000

I used to work for iUniverse, one of those "self-publishing" companies, and did a lot of software testing and quality control on e-books. I wasn't impressed, and didn't see the appeal of reading on a computer screen or even a PDA. Besides, e-book titles were mainly mainstream fiction and pop non-fiction, and most of the stuff I read is a bit more obscure.

If they've improved the technology, like Sony's eInk so you don't have to read this glowing screen for hours, then great, I might try it with a big enough library to chose from. But, what about DRM and obsolescence? Books always work, you just have to turn the pages. And if I have to re-purchase my library every time I get a new computer or ebook reader, I'll go broke.

On the other hand, I move a lot and moving all these books is getting to be a pain...

Pushing Daisies

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:27:43 -0000

Anybody seen Pushing Daisies?

Wow.

s.

My morning glory
Blooms in my garden in light
Smile colors my world.

Samme S. S.

Incredible Intl Documentaries Worth Supporting

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:57:41 -0000

I just found this incredible list of documentaries and movies from the International Documentary Association. Just the ideas and stories behind them are so inspiring and worth exploring deeper and if we support them in any way - by donating, watching and/or spreading the word - even better. Enjoy & share!

The Shift
	Director: Rochelle Marmorstein, Co-Directors: Christopher Allingham and Stanley Fisher Producer: Rochelle Marmorstein Website: theshiftmovie.com/index2.html
A massive worldwide phenomenon is in progress offering seeds of great hope for the future. Millions of individuals, organizations and corporations around the world are waking up and embracing a new outlook with an emphasis on their responsibility to contribute positively to our collective future. We are in the middle of the biggest social transformation in human history, The SHIFT. At this critical point, it is imperative we make the masses aware of this global movement quickly. This evolutionary phenomenon is broader and deeper than the most visible SHIFT, the environmental movement. It involves our very understanding of who we are as human beings, and our responsibility to the world and to life itself. THE SHIFT film raises awareness to the story of our roles in an evolutionary shift in our collective consciousness. As it chronicles the faces, the stories and leaders assisting in this social transformation, the film reveals its emergence & meaning.

A Finished Life: The Goodbye & No Regrets Tour
	Director: Barbara Green & Michelle Boyaner Producer: Barbara Green & Michelle Boyaner Website: www.greeniefilms.com/films/home.htm
"A Finished Life: The Goodbye & No Regrets Tour" is a feature-length documentary about Gregg Gour, a 48-year-old HIV positive gay man who is on the "Road Trip" of his life. Gregg has lived with HIV/AIDS for 24 years, and in July of 2004, after struggling with the side-effects for so long, he stopped taking the HIV/AIDS medications that were making him sicker than the disease itself. When Gregg was given six months to live in December of 2005 he gave away all his belongings, bought an RV, and decided to travel cross-country with his dog Cody, saying goodbye to family and friends in his "Goodbye & No Regrets Tour." Adding to the poignancy of his trip was the fact that Gregg intended to "hasten his death" before he would need to be hospitalized.

A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story
	Director: Lane Wyrick Website: www.BillSackter.com
"He was a little man who made coffee and played the harmonica - and that was enough!" Bill Sackter's life didn't start out extraordinary. As a child, he was abandoned by his family and spent 44 years locked in an institution. When he emerged, he could have easily been forgotten by society had it not been for unlikely friendships and Bill's incredibly positive embrace of life. His story gained international attention through the Emmy Award winning made-for-tv movie "Bill" starring Mickey Rooney. Now, through actual film & video footage and photographs of Bill himself, the real hero for people with disabilities will come to life in this riveting and uplifting feature-length documentary.

A Taxi Odyssey
	Director: Alexia Haidos Producer: Dylan Rush, Alexia Haidos and Executive Producer Nia Vardalos Website: www.ATaxiOdyssey.com
Can these taxi drivers be tamed? Find out in A Taxi Odyssey, the hilarious and insightful story about the infamous, independent, colorful and charming taxi drivers of Athens, Greece as they attend government mandated behavioral seminars to learn better manners. In their cabs, we visit modern Athens on the eve of the 2004 Olympics; experience the struggle to survive in the time of the Euro, feel the growing pains of a country changed forever by globalization, and follow these taxi drivers during charm school in this feature-length documentary which magically captures life in Greece through their eyes and their resilience in the face of change.

A Year in the Life: Healing Africa
	Director: David Hudacek Producer: Robbie Leppzer Website: www.healingafricafilm.org
"History is biography writ large." The same is true of health care. Many of the triumphs and advances in health care delivery in the developing world are intimately linked to those personalities making a difference. What are their motivations? This is a unique film essay exploring our responsibility to act in the face of suffering. The film is grounded in the reality of a health center and hospice in Africa, framed by interviews with philosophers, theologians, and leaders in public health.

All God's Children
	Director: Scott Solary & Luci Westphal Producer: Scott Solary & Luci Westphal Website: www.goodhardworkingpeople.com
"All God's Children" takes a personal look at the consequences of child abuse within the Protestant missionary community through the eyes of three former missionary families. While the parents were stationed in remote outposts throughout West Africa, the children were required to attend a missionary boarding school in Mamou, Guinea, run by their Church. Cut off from their parents and without any reliable means of communication, the children suffered extensive abuse at the hands of the all-missionary staff. It took the children decades to acknowledge the effects the abuses had on their lives. When they finally dared to speak out, their Church denied all allegations and refused to help. The children and their parents took action.

All’s Well and Fair
	Director: Luci Westphal Website: www.GoodHardWorkingPeople.com
All's Well and Fair gives a unique perspective on growth and identity, choice and consequence, through portraying three punk rock mothers and their five children. All's Well and Fair questions the stereotypes of "welfare moms" and alternative culture while examining the pitfalls of capitalism and living on the cusp of poverty. Do these women lead lives of integrity outside of the mainstream system or are they just feeding off the system? Did they have a choice? Through the unique approach of filming the women and their children twice over ten years, in 1996 and 2006, All's Well and Fair furthermore considers how much we all change as we grow up and how much we might stay the same.

Anna May Wong ~ Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times, and Legend
	Director: Elaine Mae Woo Website: www.anna-may-wong.com
Frosted Yellow Willows is the story of Anna May Wong, the first Asian-American film star. She appeared in over 60 films and her very name conjured the exotic scents of the orient and fantasies of faraway lands. Her body slinked and shimmied while her hands hypnotized her eager audiences. She sang and danced on stages throughout Europe and the United States, performed on radio programs, and starred in her own television series. This documentary film recalls her long career, in the context of the anti-Chinese bias of the time, and will introduce modern audiences to an artist who overcame cultural struggles and personal tragedies to pursue her dreams of Hollywood stardom.

Bad Blood: Hemophilia in the Age of AIDS
	Director: Marilyn Ness Producer: Marilyn Ness Website: www.necessaryfilms.com
BAD BLOOD details the anatomy of a medical disaster that unfolds in the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic when the cause of the disease was still unknown. The hardest hit victims were hemophiliacs, who became the "canaries in the mineshaft" warning the rest of the world that a new disease was in the nation's blood supply. In just seven years, 70% of hemophiliacs in the United States -- 10,000 victims -- would become infected with HIV. BAD BLOOD recounts the complex chain of events that led to the worst medically induced disaster of the 20th Century and considers the valuable lessons to be learned in the wake of this tragedy.

BIRTH: The Journey That Shapes Our Lives
	Director: Christopher Carson Producer: Christopher Carson Website: www.ReverieProductions.com
Birth is a rite of passage through which all human beings pass, but for many mothers the physical realities of labor and birth are confusing and frightening. Why do some women feel deeply empowered by their birth experiences and others feel stripped of their motherhood? Is it safer to give birth in a hospital or at home? Is an elective c-section safe for the mother? The baby? What options are currently available for mothers as to where and how they can labor and give birth? What is the best scientific evidence telling us about the way in which we treat childbirth? The answers might surprise you.

Boys and Men Healing From Child Sexual Abuse
	Director: Kathy Barbini Producer: Kathy Barbini & Simon Weinberg
"Boys and Men Healing" is a documentary portraying courageous male survivors of childhood sexual abuse and incest in the process of healing from the devastating effects of this insidious crime. By exploring their intimate lives, our documentary is a powerful witness to the possibilities and hope for victims, those speaking out and ending the cycle of self-abuse, crime, and a life of turmoil and shame. However arduous the healing process, "Boys and Men Healing" illustrates that males can overcome silence and social stigmas related to sexual abuse, while leading fulfilling lives. The documentary is also a bold voice revealing a secret epidemic effecting our families and communities.

Broken Promises
	Director: Melinda Janko Producer: Melinda Janko Website: www.brokenpromisesthemovie.com
A powerful reminder that the Indian Wars are far from over, Broken Promises, follows one woman's fight for justice for 500,000 American Indians. In this modern day, David vs. Goliath story, Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian, discovers fraud and corruption in Washington, DC and files the largest class action lawsuit ever filed against the federal government. Billions of dollars of royalty payments for some of the poorest people in America are unaccounted for in what many are calling the "Enron of the US government." Throughout the film we meet Indian beneficiaries who own oil rich land but live in abject poverty. We talk to Senators, government officials, lawyers, and whistle blowers to find out what went wrong and how one woman's lone voice in the wilderness is echoing a truth everyone needs to hear.

Burning Man: The Movie
	Director: Harrod Blank Website: www.harrodblank.com
Burning Man is the definitive American cultural phenomenon of the turn of the century. Defined by active participation, the festival has grown exponentially over its 20-year history, from a handful of spectators to well over 35,000 participants, each with their own sense of what it all means. In 1993, Harrod Blank perceived something revolutionary in the freedom and expression of Burning Man. He embarked upon an extensive inside look and has been at the festival, 16mm camera in hand, every year since. The film loosely follows Blank, as a participant/voyeur who participates with his art cars, and observes through his lens. The film will offer a cumulative look at the event and its growth, focusing on the array of artistic expression. The relationship between exhibitionism and voyeurism, seen so clearly at Burning Man, will be explored in depth. Mirroring the community spirit of the event, the film will be made up of the work and visions of many other photographers and filmmakers as well.

Children of War
	Director: Bryan Single Producer: Bryan Single and Farzad Karimi Website: childrenofwarfilm.com
Set in the East African country of Uganda, CHILDREN OF WAR chronicles the daily struggle towards rehabilitation and reconciliation by a group of recently escaped child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army, one of the world's longest running and most brutal guerilla militia's. To add perspective to the stories of these children, the film also follows the Chief Priest of the Lord's Resistance Army, as well as recipients of the Army's professsed healings and miracles, and victims of its atrocities. Together, these individuals illuminate the pitfalls, challenges, and triumphs of a war-sick society desperately attempting to transition from violence to peace.

Christa McAuliffe: Reach For The Stars
	Director: Renee Sotile & Mary Jo Godges Producer: Renee Sotile & Mary Jo Godges Website: www.TEACHER1986.com
Everyone knows how Christa McAuliffe's story ended. Now see how this pioneering woman lived. For the first time, the heroic teacher's family, friends, colleagues and even NASA speak candidly about the memories, the pain and events surrounding the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that brought a nation to tears and tore a family apart.

Colorblind or Blinded by Color? The State of Black Equality in America
	Director: Erma Elzy-Jones Producer: Anthony Asadullah Samad, Erma Elzy-Jones & Pamela Bright-Moon Website: www.blackequality.com
Racism, as overt as it's been in the past, has been cleverly disguised in modern day America as colorblindness. Colorblind means one is free from racial prejudice or oblivious to one's color. Our feature length documentary examines the evolution of the race caste system in America by proving that segregationist Jim Crow laws, disguised in modern day terms as colorblindness or race neutrality, still hinders the progress of African Americans. With facts bearing out exaggeration, we prove that inequality and systematic racism still exists in the entire social fabric of America to include: education, the legal system, media and entertainment, in health, labor, housing and economics.

Crossed Lines
	Director: Jeff Reichert & Seth Resler Producer: Jeff Reichert & Seth Resler Website: www.OneEyedManFilms.com
Since the dawn of our democracy, politicians have manipulated the outcomes of elections through a technique that poses a threat not just to Democrats or Republicans, but to Democracy as a whole. In 2003, fifty-three Democratic Representatives fled Texas to prevent the redrawing of state district lines. Republicans not only dispatched state troopers, but also misled the Department of Homeland Security to enlist their help with the chase. It was the latest battle in a war that has raged between the political parties for decades, in which both have used race and redistricting to manipulate elections. One-Eyed Man Films offers Crossed Lines, the definitive feature-length theatrical documentary on the hidden history of our country's redistricting wars.

Cuba: Beyond the Cars and the Cigars
	Director: Carlos Alvarado Producer: Carlos Alvarado & Leonard Shields Website: www.cubabeyondthecars.org
"Cuba: Beyond the Cars and the Cigars" will shine a light on the Ballet and the arts in Cuba. This documentary-film is about the dreams, the dedication and the struggles of becoming a ballerina in Cuba. It will show how passionate these dancers are about their careers, how hard they work and the limited conditions in which they train, all to get a chance to one day dance for the National Ballet of Cuba and travel to the outside world. Photographer Carlos Alvarado has spent six years shooting the Ballet and the arts in Cuba, and aims to show the world a side of Cuba much too rarely seen.

Cult of Personality: The 2006 New Orleans Mayoral Election
	Director: Dave Schulz Producer: Melissa Tallerine Website: www.hotbuttonprods.com
The New Orleans mayoral election scheduled less than a year after Hurricane Katrina was a circus filled with unique characters, heated debates and groundbreaking politics. In the weeks before the election the city became a hot bed of political, social and economic debate. The stakes in this election were unbelievably high. The winner has the opportunity to direct the city's future. The lure of that power attracted nearly two-dozen candidates, civil rights leaders and national media attention. Amid the endless chatter a voice representing the history and the possibility of New Orleans was quietly rumbling. The voice of the voter took on new shapes The question is whose voice will be the loudest?

Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father
	Director: Kurt Kuenne Website: www.dearzachary.com
On November 5, 2001, Dr. Andrew Bagby, 28 years young, was brutally murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Shirley Turner, who fled the U.S. for Canada. She then announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's son, whom she named Zachary. Andrew's parents, Kate and David Bagby, moved to Canada to seek custody of Zachary, and in order to gain access to him they were forced to stomach a civil relationship with Shirley. Despite warnings from the Bagby's and the United States that Shirley should be behind bars while awaiting extradition, Canada allowed her to walk free and have custody of Zachary -- and on the morning of August 18, 2003, Shirley drowned herself and the baby. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, a close childhood friend of Andrew Bagby, originally began compiling this film for Zachary, so that the boy could learn about his father when he was of age. It has now been transformed into a document of an unbelievable tragedy, and of Kate and David Bagby's heroic crusade to change the system so that this will never happen again.

Dislecksia: The Movie
	Director: Harvey Hubbell V Producer: Andrea Haas Hubbell, Eric Gardner, Jeremy Brecher, Yvonne Reelick Website: www.capturedtimeproductions.com
About one American in seven has some degree of dyslexia. It's a condition that makes it hard to learn to read the same way other people do. With some special techniques, taught or self-invented, most dyslexics can learn to function normally. A lot of dyslexics are brilliant, talented, and successful. In the comic documentary Dislecksia: The Movie, dyslexic director Harvey Hubbell V with assistance from dyslexic writer Jeremy Brecher and several dyslexic crew members - will present the latest scientific knowledge about dyslexia and the experiences of dyslexics. Viewers will come to know dyslexics and those who teach them and study them not just as statistics or talking heads, but as people. And they'll know a lot about dyslexia: its causes, its effects, and what can be done about it.

Divertissement: Everyday Dancers Stories
	Director: Ed Lippman Producer: Ed Lippman Website: www.everydaydancers.com
"Divertissement" is the story of a remarkable group of everyday people who came to the study of classical ballet late in life. Ranging in age from 40 - 61, these non-professional dancers trained for, then took part in, an adult only ballet intensive. Each had their own challenges to overcome. Each has a unique story of how they came to dance late in life, and how having the courage to do so changed their lives. For one year we followed a handful of dancers from all walks of life, from all across the country as they prepared for, then took part in, this grueling, week-long intensive. We continued to follow them afterward, witnessing the changes in their lives. By confronting social, emotional and physical obstacles, these remarkable individuals learned that it is never too late to pursue a dream.

Facing Sudan
	Director: Bruce David Janu Website: www.bellbookcamera.com/sudan1.html
A custodian. A housewife. A pediatrician. A grandmother. Seemingly ordinary individuals. Yet these individuals have a story to tell. It is the story of suffering and death. It is the story of refugees. It is the story of terrified villagers running for cover. Yet, at the same time, it is a story of strength, courage and hope. It is the story of Sudan. Over the last 20 years, millions have died in Sudan. A civil war devastated the South and currently a genocide is occurring in the western region of Darfur. Facing Sudan is the story of ordinary individuals, moved into action by the events in Sudan. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things, even in Sudan.

Fate of the Lhapa
	Director: Sarah C. Sifers Producer: Sarah C. Sifers
Fate of the Lhapa is a feature-length documentary about the last three Tibetan shamans living in a refugee camp in Nepal. With no other descendants to carry on their healing practices and a younger generation attending schools and modernizing, these "sucking doctors" are practicing an endangered tradition. Each lhapa requested that their story be filmed. Their fear was that the next heir might not appear until after their own deaths. Subsequently, with no lhapa alive to mentor the heirs, the documentary would be used to transmit their healing knowledge. Their tales of nomadic childhoods, shamanic callings and apprenticeships, cosmologies of disease and treatments, and of their flight from Tibet during the Chinese occupation in the late 1950s will be juxtaposed with images of present-day life in the camp, current healing practices and shared concerns of the future and the fate of their tradition. This is a touching portrayal of life in exile in a refugee camp in Nepal.

Feat
	Director: Deborah and Bradley Carr Producer: Deborah and Bradley Carr Website: www.featmovie.com
FEAT chronicles one man's coast-to-coast quest to run 63 marathons in 63 consecutive days, while pushing a jogging stroller. Endurance runner Timothy Borland seeks to raise awareness and research funds for kids battling a rare terminal disease whose own feet lack the strength to run. Ataxia-Telangiectasia or A-T combines the complexities of cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and immune deficiencies. Most kids are in wheelchairs by age ten and few live beyond their teens. We'll reveal the mystery and progression of the disease through personal portraits of A-T families across the country. While the prognosis is grim, one man's inspirational journey revives hope for a cure or life prolonging treatment.

First Generation
	Director: Jaye J. Fenderson Producer: Jaye J. Fenderson and Adam Fenderson Website: www.firstgenerationfilm.com
FIRST GENERATION is a feature-length documentary chronicling the journey of four low-income students who are first in their family attempting to attend college. While education is the most likely means of rising into another socio-economic class, our system makes it extremely difficult to break out of the cycle of poverty. We'll interview our nation's top educational experts to hear their perspective on the problems of access, affordability and guidance facing these first generation students. We'll also take a look at the history of public education and how things have changed in recent years. The film will be a thought-provoking look into what has become a major rite of passage for young people in America: getting into college.

Five Sisters
	Director: Luci Westphal Website: www.GoodHardWorkingPeople.com
Five Sisters (working title) paints a portrait of five sisters, in their 70s and 80s. During their annual get-together shortly after the first of the sisters' husbands has passed away, the youngest sister is on a quest to learn from her older siblings about transition and aging. Moving and enlightening, Five Sisters is full of joy and grief and tackles a subject that is essential to all of us - how to live fully and gracefully and yet be realistic about getting older and eventually dying.

Flashback
	Director: Wendy Anson Producer: Wendy Anson
"Flashback" dramatically unspools the science behind the long-standing controversy over "recovered memory" of child sexual abuse. Exclusive footage brings the social history of the hard-fought conflict to life as world-class, renowned experts come together at key flashpoints over the years to passionately and eloquently spar over whether or not you can as Elizabeth Loftus challenges, "be raped every night for a 10 year period and then totally repress it until it comes out in therapy 20 years later". Dramatic, compelling evidence from emerging brain science and the moving, engrossing stories from victims of child sexual abuse and lost memory both punctuate the story of the evolving evidence and bring it to a logically convincing conclusion.

Got the facts on Milk?
	Director: Shira Lane Producer: Shira Lane, Executive Producer: Thomas Sells Website: www.unleashedproductions.com
Got the facts on Milk? a comical yet jolting feature documentary that questions the health benefits of milk and examines the dairy industry's advertised claims on milk. A hybrid Bible belt style road trip unwinds across America to uncover the compelling behind the scenes story of milk and ultimately meet with the USDA in Washington DC to get the real deal FACTS on milk. Peeking into milking farms, labeling fraud, hormones, obesity, diabetes, cancer, dairy funded experiments, food assistant programs and more. Also includes footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, interviews and a live milk debate. "Got Milk", the most dominant marketing campaign of our time, uses little known facts about milk and celebrity endorsements to sell the beverage to consumers, as a move to reverse a 30-year decline in milk consumption. With milk allergies on the rise and 75% of the world's population unable to consume milk, who is at greater risk? Is it the milk drinker or the non-milk drinker.

Healed
	Director: Sam Karp Producer: Sam Karp Website: www.samkarp.net/healed.html
In 1989, Jim Klages - former cornet soloist of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band - was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which prompted his early retirement. After years of declining health and unsuccessful medical treatments, Jim tried Gonstead chiropractic treatment, which has reduced symptoms since then. However, Jim was not the only one to suffer from MS. His wife and daughter were also deeply affected. Healed explores the toll that chronic illness takes on its victims and caregivers: medically, emotionally, and in Jim's case, musically. In sum, how healed are Jim and his family from this ordeal?

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What IF WE - One Shift Movie ~ The Surprise Foundation & WE :)

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:28:55 -0000

This one minute video "What IF WE" was inspired by the Institute of Noetic Sciences Shift In Action initiative, created by me & is submitted especially for the www.oneminuteshift.com/ youtube.com/shiftinaction contest. It is a unique opportunity & invitation to ALL of us to share our message in 1 minute format, so here's mine & hopefully ours too!

The idea behind this one-derful initiative of the IONS Shift in Action Program is: "If you had a single minute to share the single most important message you have with the world, what would it be?"

Even if there's a little more content than one would normally share in such a short time frame, hopefully the meaning & importance of the message will serve its purpose to inspire, educate & illuminate amazing stories about how WE & the world are shifting in a positive way... EnJoy, Be Inspired & Share as You do/are!

D a r i n a S. & The Surprise Foundation

Also Please DO FEEL INVITED to VIEW, COMMENT, RATE, FORWARD, EMAIL, PUBLISH & SHARE it in ANY WAY or form (esp. on the youtube contest page) for that will increase its chances of winning the contest & the prize which I will be more than happy to share with you!

What IF WE ... One Minute Shift
01:02 From: SurpriseFoundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADQRA0lsEk

Music Credits: “Spanish Balad”, Jeff Wahl, Magnatune*Photo Credits: Kyle Maynard, Erik Weinhenmayer, Lance Armstrong, Jean Dominique Bauby, Stephen Hawking, Shirley Cheng, Pat Pedraja, Wangari Maathai, Amma, Juan Mann,…

Also available on google video, but it will be better to post comments & ratings on youtube.

What IF WE - One Minute Shift Movie by The Surprise Foundation

1 min - Jan 14, 2008

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Fri, 16 May 2008 07:54:38 -0000

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