As for the Surprise...

OK. This is the post I was holding out on. I had to get all the beaches down before I backtracked to tell you about the big surprise halfway down the coast between Coogee and Bondi. Right next to the Charming Clovelly Bowling Club the trail rounds a corner, pictured above and then deadends, oh the puns, into Waverley Cemetery. IT IS HUGE. Pictures don't do it justice. It's staggering, and the quality of the tombstones is timeless. Some Italian families even have their own private catacombs. Mafia perhaps?



I couldn't stop taking pictures. If I wanted to be buried, I would want to be buried here. In fact there is a number you can call if you are interested. Just dial +61 for Australia first. I enjoyed seeing how many living and breathing people pass along the path that bisects the cemetery. Joggers, strollers, couples, the whole gamut, all pass through this place in their routine of healthy living among the strongest example I've ever seen of healthy death!



Any photography teacher will tell you that taking photographs in a cemetery is like shooting fish in a barrel, but this is a great place for memories. Not only of those loved and lost, but of the striking location where they lie along the amazing trail hugging Sydney's eastern suburbs. The trail is actually undergoing renovation along Waverley Cemetery, so chances are the walk will be even better.

Bondi Superfly

Bondi is by far the most popular beach of Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and so I wasn't sweating it too much. My attention is not needed or missed. When we visited it was clear why surfers prefer Bondi. The size of the bay is easily twice that of Coogee (see map in post below), and bigger waves come in for them to, well, surf. More hostels, more traffic, more everything. I am not from the school of more is better. To quote Linklater: "It's quality not quantity, man."



I did find quality in the typical Sydney stuff. The sunset was awesome, and I love how the weather on the coast of Sydney, even on the hottest days, cools down to a Southern California chill. It reminds me of desert weather in Lubbock, Texas. We walked through the neighborhood and I found the apartment I would have with the right combination of income and timing. It reminded me of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. (Unfortunately the part that collapsed.)



We ended the night at a nice little bar with tapas and a balcony on the second floor overlooking the beach. It is a choice location and we hear they have a live DJ on Sunday nights. I told our waiter the empty DJ booth made me want to cry.

Beauty, Beaches and ... Bowling?

View Larger Map
I wanted to employ the help of Google Maps for this one. We (that's Jamie and me, not the Royal We) have been walking along the path between Coogee Beach and Bondi Beach (that's Bond-Eye) for a nice view of the coast. It's gorgeous. The path traces the public land lining the coast of these densely populated beaches. North of Coogee comes little Clovelly, then Bronte, before landing in Bondi, the mother of all Eastern Sydney beaches. Here leaving Coogee:

The trail passes beautiful homes, green parks, the Clovelly Bowling Club (it's a little different in Australia than in the States). The beach at Clovelly is a funny little thing. If you are looking at your Google Map you'll find where the ocean grew an extra little finger into the coast and, voila! Clovelly is a beautifully shaded bay with the deepest, skinniest beach I've ever seen. That reminds me of Jamie. She is very deep, and also very skinny. Here they are together:

After Clovelly there is a HUGE surprise that we weren't expecting, and it's so photographically rich I've saved it for another post. Let's just say it's THE LAST THING you'd expect. Continuing on ... the trail happens upon Bronte. Each time we rounded a turn the view became more dramatic. When we walked into Bronte there was actually a little girl's birthday party, complete with ABBA and Cindy Lauper bouncing into the airwaves. I didn't get evidence of that.

To be honest with you it got dark after Bronte and we ended up taking the bus to Bondi the next day, see next post. We tend to start our outdoor escapades later in the day to avoid the sun. It beats down on you here like a solar-masochistic dominatrix without the hand of the ozone layer to block its painful paddling. With pain like that, selling the Australians on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is like selling ice to Eskimos. Or Inuits. I'm sorry.

Government House, Sydney

At the top of the Moore Stairs is a park. Within that park is a trail. At the end of that trail is a small neo-gothic castle. This is the Government House of New South Wales. It's like the Governor's mansion for the state of New South Wales, though since 1996 it no longer serves as a residence. It is a rare breed in Australia of a strictly functional government building that is also completely open to the public every day of the week. Unless there is scheduled business of signing documents, hosting international leaders, or important receptions, you can walk right in for a half-hour tour. (As long as you don't take pictures, don't touch anything, don't lean on anything, don't sit on anything, and leave your backpack at the ticket office.)



This impressive building and its grounds were not always public, and in fact it took almost a hundred years for the building to be built. Taking the tour was an amazing history lesson. Our tour guide pointed out that British interest in Australia is a direct result of the United States' Declaration of Independence. Australia received all of the Common Wealth attention (and prisoners) that the United States denounced. I love Wikipedia which has a great History of Australia page under constant vigilance to increase the level of detail in this country's history prior to British colonization.



That being said, I'm even more proud of being a United States Citizen, because Australia is a great place. I'm glad we could all help make it happen. As I stood in the gardens looking around the sights are amazing. Sydney Opera House to the north, Sydney Harbor and sailboats to the east, lush gardens and gum trees to the south, Gothic revival castle to the west. This is an amazing destination to take in the process of Australia's colonial and post-industrial development. Especially on the way out, when the old and new colonial architecture dominate the landscape, side by side.

Moore Stairs

Rising up from the Sydney Harbor in between ultra modern apartment buildings and shops is an anachronistic brownstone staircase. Like C.S. Lewis's wardrobe, these stairs have an allure to climb away from the rest of the world and go into hiding.

The stairs are a relic from the days of Sydney as an offshore prison for the UK and I wouldn't be surprised if they were chiseled by indentured hands. This doesn't change the liberating nature of the destination they provide, as the top of the staircase opens up into a massive park overlooking the harbor, the Opera House, and the impressive skyline of the Sydney Central Business District.

Sydney Opera House by Night

After months and months of seeing the Sydney Opera House featured in every DVD about Australia I could find before making the move here, it seemed to be blown out of proportion. I though I had tired of seeing it; in the scores of images I'd seen already, the Opera House was ubiquitous.

Seeing it face to face, especially at night, I was humbled. Watching birds swarm the white sea shell exteriors, catching bugs amidst the lights, they reminded me of bats swarming the tower of a cathedral. The design is so imaginative, I recalled the feeling of awe I had in Anton Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.


Passing along the backside of the Opera House is quite funny. It's the side you can't see from the Harbor Bridge, and the walkway is very narrow. Walking along this narrow path with a high wall obstructing the view of the eggshell exterior above, it looks like any Convention Center in the United States. If someone were dropped on that little walkway, they would have no idea they were in Sydney until they rounded the corner to see the stairway stretching above the main entrance.


I have quite a reverence for this icon after seeing it face to face. On the way from our walk around the Opera House Jamie and I noticed a park just across the road. We went on a walk to explore that area the following day, which is the topic of the next post.

Melbourne's Laneway Culture

Melbourne, pronounced by Australians as "Melbin", is known as Australia's cultural capital. Ten years ago the city provided money to turn the narrow "laneways" between high-rises into cafe's, galleries, and boutiques to complement the city's covered arcades like the ones in European destinations like Milan, Italy. I had a chance to visit Melbourne's laneways and see how they contribute to Melbourne's identity.

The success of laneway culture has caused Sydney to provide similar funding for laneway development, and recently a Laneway Festival has been created across Australia. The feeling I got from walking around and stopping for coffee throughout the network of cafes reminded me of other cities like Prague and Florence with older infrastructure.

I find it interesting that the buildings on either side of these laneways are often ultramodern and have been given face-lifts so often that the age of the block seems all but lost. The laneways, however, have received no such reconstructive surgery and shine in the brilliance of their antiquity. In Melbourne's case these alleys can date back to Melbourne's origins as early as 1835.

Who founded Melbourne in 1835, you ask? You're gonna love the answer:

Batman! I'm not kidding! Check it out...

Chinese Fortune Teller, part 2

The first time I visited Cloud 9, the highest bar in the World atop the Grand Hyatt Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, and the Chinese fortune teller who roams its tables, it was New Year's 2007. I hadn't bought my house in Durham, NC yet, and I didn't know Jamie existed. The fortune teller told me that my future was in Shanghai and the Asia Pacific Rim, and that I would be married in October of 2008.

My birth in the year of the horse is auspicious for leadership in China, as many government leaders are horses in the Chinese Zodiac. In the Astrological Zodiac I am a Virgo, and little did I know in 2007 that by the time of this trip in 2008 I would have met another Virgo, Jamie, and find myself in the same corner of Cloud 9 two years later. It's my hope to work in sustainable energy in China amidst other dreams, and as fortune would have it, I just might have my way.


Jamie's fortune was interesting: She was described as a river; going with the flow, powerful but meandering energy. What's amazing about this is her interest in the Amazon in South America. Additionally he said Jamie would be in the hospital soon, but it wouldn't be a big deal. This freaked us out a little, but as I write this in Melbourne, Australia we have just visited the hospital this morning after Jamie had a gran mal seizure.

This was just another day in the life of an epileptic, but it was my first time to witness a gran mal and I was freaked out enough to follow directions from our host in Melbourne, (who luckily happens to be a Neurologist), and rush Jamie to the hospital. Luckily her fortune didn't end there and she has a year ahead of Double Happiness. 2009 for Jamie is a year when everything is said to line up, and all opportunities will unfold into lifelong resources, resulting in the biggest opportunity of her life when she turns 40.

With the stability of Jamie's health unquestioned, it's fun now to look back and take our hospital trip as reason to value our fortune teller's predictions. That said I'm really excited about business school given what I was told. When choosing between working internationally in sustainable energy consulting or partnering with investors to form an international cafe and media franchise, I wanted his opinion. It didn't come out right away; we had to consult the cards. After I dug for the hardest cards to find in a deck spread out before us, it was determined that I could do both, but the cards favored the sustainable energy gig.

It was cool to see the six cards face down, three for each choice, and learn the meaning behind the Chinese character on each and the value it had between 1 and 54, 1 being the most favorable. The cards for sustainable energy told of work with government and success with sustained effort. The numbers prioritized this over the work with an international cafe, which could also be successful if pursued on the side though it wouldn't live up to my expectations.

It's all news that my colleagues at AGSM would tell me without consulting the cards, but I enjoy Cloud 9 immensely and thank Kevin Low for his flawless translation while my Mandarin still sucks. Plus, those with business knowledge may have not have been so generous as the fortune teller. When noting that I would go through a great transition through 2010 with a lifestyle of international income afterwards, he added that I would be like a high-flying James Bond type! Sounds good to me. I enjoy the view from Cloud 9.

Lounge 18 in Shanghai

Riding the coattails of my esteemed colleague Kevin Low, Jamie and I arrived at Lounge 18 in Shanghai, right along the Bund overlooking the Pudong financial district along the Huang Pu River. This place is awesome. On the inside it has the opulent colonial architecture from the Bund's heyday in the 1920's. Large lofted ceilings and sumptuous furniture cradled us as we sipped our burgundy and settled into conversation across our table.

We punctuated our speech with comments about how amazing the music was. I wish my blog were sophisticated enough to play a selection in the background while you read, but I'll do my best to describe it. I don't know if House Music means anything to you, but to be even more specific this was a breed of Deep House, my favorite. A great example is yours for the taking at the Deep House Cat Podcast.

To do this post justice, just download a podcast above and go to the Lounge 18 website. The DJ, Paul Cayrol, did such an amazing job all night that I had to get his card after dancing all night to add his brilliance to my bag of tricks! I was compelled to go up and shake his hand personally when he put on a Deep House remix of Obama's "Yes We Can" speech.

Wyclef Jean Sings in Chinese!

Jamie and I had a nice little time with our friends in Shanghai at a promotional Hennessey event last night. Headlining was Jay Chou, a Chinese "R&B" artist with number one singles in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I'm embarrassed to say I had no idea who he was! Those three places are a sizeable chunk of the world's population, thanks to China of course. Xie Xie, Chonguo!

At the bottom of the listing was, can you believe it, a very humble and sportsmanlike Wyclef Jean! I think he was paying his dues before the Chinese masses, hopefully to be rewarded with more market share, and rightfully so. I was jumping up and down, putting my hands in the air with all my heart, and feeling for him when nobody else was able to respond to his commands to do so in English! I doubt he'd had to work a crowd that hard since before the Fugees! He had to resort to, I'm not kidding, doing acrobatics to get some universal crowd response!

After Wyclef's back-handspring I thought a lot through the performance of how these two artists could better support each other. When Jay Chou came out, he gave no credit to Wyclef; one of his mentors who created the genre he is so privileged to dominate in Asia. At the end they did perform together, as pictured below, and ended the show with a hearty one armed man hug, but I want more!

That's what I live for, to see humans, artists especially, of different cultures share the same values on the same level. As my tour guide back in Kolkata, Asim, told me when we spoke eye to eye as he pointed back and forth between our faces, "Same, Same, Same."

Shanghai and Dry

After a journey that began Monday morning in the United States' Capital of DC, Jamie and I have perched at a coffee shop off of the People's Square (Renmin Square) in Shanghai.
We ended up spending the night in Tokyo, which was cool, but not part of the original plan and kept my friend and host in Shanghai wondering where we were.

I'm in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes, but the employees of Java Detour here have been more than accommodating. One of them even let me use her cell phone to announce our arrival! Chinese Democracy may be only an album by Guns 'n' Roses, but Chinese Hospitality is alive and well.

Executive, Legislative, and Judical

With two weeks left at ASI-Modulex I have the rare opportunity to speak more openly with my coworkers, particularly my manager Randy. After our conversation about politics at a company dinner, which could have easily lasted until 2am, I felt motivated to reinforce my knowledge of the subjects we covered. Thanks to my lovely sister Elizabeth, I've been surfing a website she sent me upon President-Elect Obama's victory. Obama's Presidential Transition Resources provide a very useful website which outlines the three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. You can download individual pages from the document or all 695 pages of it. If you have Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional, you can add revisions to it like this:


And now for something completely different! See what I am, and more importantly others are, writing for the Nasher Museum of Art Blog. At the end of a long weekend, the Nasher stayed up until midnight Friday and Saturday. I wonder how their El Greco to Velazquez hangover is going!

Durham Art Walk Nov 1&2

This is it! The Durham Art Walk will be my last Lineaist showing in the Triangle Area for at least two years. I start an MBA program in Sydney Australia in January and need to liquidate my assets. :P Good homes are needed for original artwork.

Come to the Liberty Warehouse entrance on Rigsbee Rd. That's the uphill side of the warehouse with the old signs for the restaurant at the corner of Rigsbee & Corporation. If you're a skater, it's right down the street from where the new skate park will be in Durham Central Park. :)

I'll be standing ready to send you walking with the painting of your choice from 10am until 5pm on Saturday and 1pm - 5pm on Sunday. Right there in the middle of everything. Take a walk in Central Park. See a bunch of great people doing tons of creative stuff. Take your mind off other things and exercise your freedom.

http://www.durhamartwalk.com/

Spanish Art and Wine Authorities

I arrived in good company at 7:30pm Friday September 5th to a packed store at Wine Authorities for the Spanish wine tasting in conjunction with the Spanish art of El Greco to Velazquez at the Nasher Museum. This was a brilliant overlap to further engrain in my mind the reign of Philip III in Spain, and to learn how Spanish wine shares a resurgence from obscurity similar to that of Philip III.

Including the sparkling wine to kick off the evening, Craig and Seth of Wine Authorities presented a total of 9 wines with hors d’oeuvres while Juline Chevalier, Curator of Education, filled in the gaps with visual and historical information from the show. The underlying theme was that wine and art should not be seen as snobbish, but accessible. With this palatable offering, I absorbed more information about the El Greco to Velazquez than ever before.

Spain, at the end of the Dark Ages, found itself in a new era of art as well as wine making. The vines in Spain are hundreds of years older than those of wealthier vineyards who replace their vines more frequently. It took a while for these older vines to prove they had something to offer over the competition. Likewise Sara Schroth has spent years preparing the art collection of the Duke of Lerma in the court of Philip III before we now get to pop the cork with El Greco at the Nasher.

While learning about Spain’s old vines and Sara’s discovery of Lerma’s inventory, I was drinking Ergavio, a pleasant white wine. Ergavio is made from the Airen grape, the most widely grown grape in the world, though typically used to make brandy. We then enjoyed a wonderfully full-bodied Rosado while covering the Counter Reformation and military dominance under the previous reign of Philip II. We moved on to a Verdejo grape while learning that Philip III moved the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid.

The pleasant tone of the evening was sustained for the next three wines, all made from the Temperanillo grape and accompanied by the most amazing sardines I think anyone in the room had ever experienced. The white sardines, imported of course from Spain, had a pleasant ocean essence without overpowering the wines. While these flavors lingered we learned of Tenebrism, a contrast of light and shadow in painting so dramatic that it rivals Caravaggio’s Chiaroscuro technique.

Our wines ended with a sweet brandy and a rare dessert wine directly from Craig’s private reserve, accompanying the cheeses, olives, and bread that can be purchased everyday at Wine Authorities. This serves as a reminder to visit our local wine store and to engage our own private reserve of rare and wonderful artwork currently on display at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

El Greco to Velazquez at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

I was lucky to schedule a site visit to Duke for my job at ASI Modulex on the same day as the preview for El Greco to Velazquez at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University today. In the spirit of Ferris Bueller visiting the Art Institute of Chicago on his infamous day off, I gleefully hopped up the steps to the Nasher shortly after 4:00pm when I usually work until 5:30 or later!

Upon visiting El Greco to Velazquez it took me a while to acclimate inside the Nasher atrium. The information desk has moved to make way for the new, black and beautiful Calder sculpture, so I had to pause and get my bearings. There it is! The round information booth is now to the left after entering and has become a point of sale for Audio Tours!

Right away that has to qualify my favorite museum in a new tier of legitimacy: Audio Tours! I had to get one which happened to be from my friend Kyna who heralds her own brand of Duke and Durham connections. She encouraged me to volunteer for the Nasher during the El Greco show. I told her that sounds like a great idea.

Audio Tour in hand I rush to the large banners. I have no ticket. How did this happen? Oh! There it is back there! The Ticket Booth! Which is now a straight desk, not curved and in the middle of the Atrium, but to the right of the entrance to the permanent collection pavilion. I hurriedly got my ticket (Thanks, Juline!) and made it into the show.

I encountered more new intellectual territory when I passed the Label Books (Gallery Copy) that guide you through the show in addition to the Audio Tour. With my Label Book open to page one I start to listen to the show. Background music! Sarah Schroth is at my command, excitedly adding spice to the informative male voice in the recordings.

The paintings are beautiful and you don’t need me to write about that. That’s been done for you by experts. What I will tell you is that what the exhibition notes say is true: Some of these works have never been out of Spain, and I encountered new elements within familiar religious themes. Look for the Seraphim in the Carducho Stigmatization. What does the Leopard represent to the right of the Apostolado?

I only made it through the first room, so I didn’t even get to see the portrait of the Duke of Lerma. That’s where the historical significance of the show really takes off. The patronage of contemporary art in the court of King Philip III had a lot to do with the Duke of Lerma. I gathered from Sara’s interview on the Nasher blog that he was a very diplomatic and peaceful man.

Many people out there may dismiss political leadership in an art exhibition, and if so that’s appropriate. The art is good enough by itself. However, when the art historical context of El Greco to Velazquez elevates my idea of making peace with other countries by fostering creative expression, it’s like the show was custom tailored for my best intentions.

Lineaism on display at 202 Lounge

Hello fellow travelers on Spaceship Earth,

For those of you not on the ETA Cafe Calendar on Facebook, SURPRISE! I had my first solo opening in over two years this past Sunday at my boy Ahmad's place, the 202 Lounge. I've been eager to show there since I saw Ahmad's attention to detail with other artists he had chosen. Sadly we had to take down the work of Grant Haze to make room for mine, but luckily Ahmad will be putting up his own show shortly after mine comes down.

Join me for the closing reception, Sunday Sept 14th at 8pm with live jazz from Brian Horton. Below is a rough composite of the show.

Goldenbelt: Meet the Artists

The Triangle Area of North Carolina made a strong statement for the arts last night when the Young Friends of the Nasher Museum at Duke University invited their ranks to visit the Artist Studios at Goldenbelt. 300 guests, all Nasher Museum members at this private event, RSVP'd from Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill.

The turnout last night more than tripled from the projected number of guests at the first event since artists moved in within the last week. Some spaces still had unprimed walls, some primed, and others with bold colors to contrast the white gallery walls and earthtone brick, wood, and concrete.

As I conversed with friends and artists, the hopes I had for Goldenbelt were clearly coming to life. This is a creative enterprise accepted by the Triangle as a new Art Meccca and worthy of international export. Many of the Goldenbelt artists, such as Warren Anthony Hicks with representation in Beijing, are already Goldenbelt art ambassadors, showing the world that Durham's artists are in a unique position.

With an art scene that, regardless of the generations who have proven themselves here, seems so young and vibrant, the environment is ripe to take on the issues of our humanity, which I see as the true nature of artists. The Triangle of North Carolina, with its Universities, Scientific Research, BioFuel production, Solar Energy and Green Building stronghold, cradles and feeds its artist to represent the same everyday solutions in their art that are forged in laboratories and workshops all around us.

Goldenbelt will once again lead in manufacturing: the manufacturing of ideas, creative goods, and a synergistic fellowship that will stimulate all those who enter from all walks of life. As with any institution, buildings make it easier to assemble and unify. In the end, however, as Andy Rothschild of Scientific Properties stated, it's the people that really matter. These people and this place will inspire many more events after last night, the first social success of the Artists Studios at Goldenbelt.

Future By Design now on NETFLIX

Directly from the office of FBD filmmaker, William Gazecki:

Jonathan,

We appreciate your continued involvement! I'll be sending out an email soon to the FBD movie email list with the news that the movie is available, as of today, on Netflix:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Future_by_Design/70101466

And today is the official "release" date with out new distributor, Microcinema:

http://www.microcinemadvd.com/product/DVD/813/Future_By_Design.html

Thank you again,
Kim

Bank of America - Art on Us

I had to write about this: www.bankofamerica/artonus

Bank of America has a program allowing BOA customers free access to over 70 museums nationwide. Just show your BOA card and a valid photo ID! Check it out...

Duke's Nasher Museum event at Goldenbelt July 30, 2008

When Scientific Properties (SP) broke ground on Goldenbelt in 2006, I had to find something new to dream about. I’ve been dreaming the same dreams as SP President Andy Rothschild ever since I heard him speak at the Downtown Durham Inc. (DDI) Annual Meeting in 2005. To paraphrase Andy, “We can all get excited about the development in Downtown Durham, but the true excitement lies in the diversity and quality of the people.” That’s the vision that has come to fruition at Goldenbelt, and it’s a dream come true.

I was on the waiting list for one of the 15 Artist Studios long before they were all sold. Due to a turn of events in my own life, I had to abandon my slot for the opportunity to apply for MBA programs in Australia, but within the core of my being I long to be a part of this amazing development. It stands for everything I believe in: Creative potential, Community redevelopment, Integrated Entrepreneurship, and promoting Downtown.

The history of the site encapsulates the story of Durham’s own history. At the height of its heyday Goldenbelt was the largest Black-owned textile manufacturing company in the world. That history empowers all who are determined to rise above insurmountable odds and achieve legendary success. For aspiring artists it is a welcome beacon of hope. For aspiring business owners it is an ideal location with incentives and opportunity.

I jog past the building in the mornings, constantly surveying the daily changes as it nears completion. I remember donning my rollerblades on an earlier territorial exploration, skating into the Artist Studio warehouse prior to the arrival of white walls and central air ducts. I was moved to sing as I skated through the harrowed ground of so many positive art events to come. I felt charged by relentless creative energy and the feeling of fast-moving freedom akin to flying with the wind on eight wheels.

Now that we are nearing the opening event of July 30th, I remember another inaugural event to christen the space when Scientific Properties held an open mic poetry jam. The mix of people, as Andy prefaced years before in his DDI speech, were the true inspiration to fill the walls with the right formula for community and creativity. All this would be enough to fuel anyone’s anticipation, but when the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is brought into the mix, it creates a dream team worthy of Olympic Gold.

As the wildly successful Street Level exhibition and lately that of Barkley Hendricks come to a close at the Nasher, it is plain that Goldenbelt is not alone in its vision of integrated programming. As a Duke alumnus and Visual Art Major, the creation of the Nasher was my primary beacon of Durham’s positive future in the arts. I fancy myself as a bridge between Duke and Durham through the arts, and the Nasher has given me a standing monument to explain to people what that looks like at its best.

To bring both the Nasher and Goldenbelt together in one event, forget dreaming: I feel like I have died and gone to heaven! As soon as I saw this event posted on Facebook, I RSVP’d immediately. The Nasher is making bold steps with the marketing genius of Wendy Hower Livingston, Amy Weaver of the Young Friends of the Nasher, and the endless support of brilliant staff like Trevor Schoonmaker and top rate leadership provided by Kim Rorschach. With events like July 30th, Duke and Durham are evolving together, creating a cultural commodity strong enough to be a viable global export.

The old textile mills and tobacco warehouses previously stored Durham’s global exports of hosiery and cigarettes, “Renowned the World Around”. Now those same structures are dwellings for Durham’s people, our new global export to share in a sustainable global economy of intellectual capital and the carbon freedom of mixed use development.

Future By Design Screening Sponsorship Announcement

Future By Design, the documentary about Jacque Fresco, a modern-day Leonardo DaVinci is one sponsorship closer to a screening this fall in Durham.

ASI Modulex, provider of solutions in architectural signage and digital wayfinding, announced this week their standing as the primary sponsor to bring Jacque Fresco to Durham in honor of the first public screening of Future By Design in North Carolina.

With additional sponsorship from forward thinking architects, developers, designers, engineers, city planners, philanthropists and entrepreneurs, Jacque will inspire a packed crowd with his visionary solutions to past problems with present-day technology and future planning.

For more information on the documentary and Jacque Fresco visit www.futurebydesign.org

Porangui Encore Event at the 202 Lounge

Last Sunday's event was such a success, the owner of the 202 Lounge has invited Porangui back this Saturday! Come celebrate your Independence with us!

202 Lounge is in the shopping center across Fayetteville from Southpoint, above Brandywine directly facing David's Bridal and REI. 6905-202 Fayetteville Rd 27713

Shake it out this Saturday!

Porangui's East Coast Tour

Porangui, global performer and sound healer, will be in Durham between stops on his East Coast tour in Princeton, NJ and Asheville, NC. Catch him at Sirens Lounge June 28th on the dance floor or at the Gallery Bar lounge on Sunday June 29th!

Bringing "Future By Design" to Durham

Good Friends, I have just watched Future By Design, about Jacque Fresco's vision of the future of civilization. One of the ways he frames his argument is to say that "civilization" is a process, that we are never fully "civilized". To become civilized would require us to first put new systems in place that aim to erase hunger, poverty, apathy, greed, or any of the extremes of life that tear our mission of civilization apart. I'm working on bringing Jacque to Durham to screen Future By Design and have him speak afterwards. I've been in touch with Roxanne Meadows and Kim Gazecki, partners of Jacque Fresco and filmmaker William Gazecki. I will raise $2000 to bring Jacque and be granted rights to screen the film upon his confirmed trip. This is the most powerful way I can think to communicate where I want to go. Jacque has had a lifetime of work, serving occasionally as a military contractor much like Leonardo DaVinci, but always with the peace and harmony of a global system that improves the world we all share. I could start quoting the movie, but I want you to see it for yourself. Will you give me your support? You can see the trailer on the website here: http://www.futurebydesign.org/shop

Let's make it happen!

Thanks,
Jonathan

Durham Food Coop Benefit March 21, 2008