Tropical Storm? Hurricane? Just can't decide...

Thank goodness for the internet and our handy little Red Cross weather radio.

Baptism

Forcast: 100% Chance of Heavy Rains.

Oh yeah, we're the newbies. I've only been at the beach during one tropical storm (that I can remember). That was in 2003 and I was in South Padre. Luckily the house we were in had storm shutters (large, thick, metal shutters that pulled down over or across each window or door). It was a little scary that night, all sorts of things blowing around and hitting the house, but I was with my family so we played cards by flashlight and had a good time being trapped inside together.

Now we're in NC. Just me and the boy. We have our water, our NOAA battery powered weather radio and probably enough food for three days. If this storm is anything like the one in Padre...we're over prepared...except the window part. Our current condo has these rules that we can't cover the windows with anything unless we intend to pay for damages. If the windows are damaged by the storm their insurance will cover it. Hmm... Whatever...

I guess its cool though, cause none of our neighbors seem concerned. Andre and I will just get the 'ole scrabble board ready, keep papers out for grading and just go with it...

Come Friday we'll have been through our first storm here and come out the other side. Baptised mother nature's way.

If there were any doubts left...

...about the unrealistic images being promoted to us by the news media...even Katie Courics boobs get spin.



From Newsday.com
CBS's promotional magazine Watch digitally altered this photo of Katie Couric to make her look slimmer. The photograph on the left is the undoctored version, and the photograph on the right is the version that is in the magazine.

Spin Until You Can't See Straight

Andre and I went to see Little Miss Sunshine on Sunday, AND I highly recommend it to everyone. All ages, genders and sizes. Especially if you've had a rough day. Its scrappy as far as production goes, but for us every actor was endearing on some level and we left feeling good. Hopeful. Which sometimes is just what you need.

My second recommendation - if you feel like spinning until you can't see straight afterwards...absolutely do it. Go out into the garish movie theatre entry way and amongst all the over the top colors, sounds and chemical butter smells just spin to your hearts content. Hopefully your friends will join you...but if not...who cares!?

Another Huge Setback For The Little Guy

Excerpts from Todays News About Pluto's Downgrade

************
Dinky Pluto loses its status as planet
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Pluto, beloved by some as a cosmic underdog but scorned by astronomers who considered it too dinky and distant, was unceremoniously stripped of its status as a planet Thursday.

The International Astronomical Union, dramatically reversing course just a week after floating the idea of reaffirming Pluto's planethood and adding three new planets to Earth's neighborhood, downgraded the ninth rock from the sun in historic new galactic guidelines.

Pluto, a planet since 1930, got the boot because it didn't meet the new rules, which say a planet not only must orbit the sun and be large enough to assume a nearly round shape, but must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." That disqualifies Pluto, whose oblong orbit overlaps Neptune's, downsizing the solar system to eight planets from the traditional nine.

The decision by the IAU, the official arbiter of heavenly objects, restricts membership in the elite cosmic club to the eight classical planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Pluto and objects like it will be known as "dwarf planets," which raised some thorny questions about semantics: If a raincoat is still a coat, and a cell phone is still a phone, why isn't a dwarf planet still a planet?

Cool Sites

Chuck at Minnesota Stories (http://mnstories.com/) just turned me on to Chasing Windmills (http://chasingmills.blogspot.com/) a weekly web video series.

Both sites represent exciting news ways of looking at distribution and interacting with your audience/community.

Enjoy!

A little Happiness blip!

Here's a link to a review of the All Dressed in White exhibit that's currenlty at Women and Their Work (downtown Austin, TX - my place of happiness). Appropriately, my film "And Happiness Everywhere" is screening as part of the show through mid September. Even got a little blip of a blurb. Yeah!

http://www.dtweekend.com/080306/bridezilla.php

Check it out if you happen to be in the area.

Film Premiere

In other good news, my thesis film 29 Places I Once Called Home premiered last night in LA at the UFVA Conference as part of the NextFrame International Film and Video Touring Festival.

For more details on Nextframe and UFVA check out: www.ufva.org

On a Fest Note...

On a fest note - if anyone is in Dallas next weekend Andre and I both have films playing at Dallas Video Festival (as does Jen Proctor, longtime Cinemaker and Iowa friend).

Screenings are as follows:

Saturday, Aug 12
Dollar Disobedience (Andre)
29 Places I Once Called Home (Shannon)
The One and the Many (Andre)

Sunday, Aug 13
Alternative Forms of Energy (Jen)

For more details check out: www.videofest.org!

Starting a new life...

Well, after 5 weeks of travel we're finally back home in Wilmington. It was a crazy summer. Graduation, moving across country, visiting family in Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Even had a few weird grown up life experiences (saw my baby sister get married, saw my middle sister prepare two of her boys for the beginning of school, started talking about adoption for ourselves).

On the way home we bought the CD version of the book "Gods Politics" and its been a bit life changing. We both feel on a mission to ask what we can do on a personal, familial, community and global level to change the tide of what is happening in America and around the world. We both have felt for some time that things are going further and further out of control and we complain about the Bush administration ALOT, but the reality is that complaining just isnt enough, it isn't stopping what is happening, it isn't getting us anywhere. Something, no many things, have to be done. So we are taking the next few weeks to look at our lives, to see where we are failing, to see where we can do more, to see what positive changes might be possible if we reconsider what we've been putting our time and funds towards - and how we can do better.

In the book the author talks about budgets being "moral documents" meaning that if you look at a family's budget you see where its priorities are. Andre and I talk about this often and this week traveling across country it really hit home. We use to see a rare Hummer when we traveled, but now they are everywhere in every city and town. When we juxtapose this excessive expense with the fact that my Aunt (who has stage 4 breast cancer) has just had her chemo treatments cancelled because she has no insurance my mind turns to mush. Basically she is being handed a death sentence. "Sorry mam, you don't have insurance so we have to let you die." I can barely speak I see so much red. But I can accept that if I want things to change I have to start at home. Andre and I have to look at our own budget. See where we are putting our priorities (eating out, buying books, purchasing on itunes). Sacrifice our own conveniences and give back to those in need if we want others to do the same.

If we have any hope for the next election and for the world's future we are going to have to start the work now. For a few years I have felt a deep frustration towards the American two party system which does not even attempt to represent the diversity of voices and values that exist in our communities. But no more. It is clear that I can do more than complain. I can say in my own daily life that I can create a different way, a more positive way. And that's what I am going to work on doing now. Andre and I are in a new place and starting a new life. The possibilities are endless.