After practicing at its beautiful space in the Mission, I wanted to share the first part of a video series introducing Rusty Wells’ Urban Flow Yoga studio. In this short clip about one of the city’s first donation-based yoga communities, Rusty describes the studio’s intention to serve all by removing cost prohibitions that deter people from practicing yoga. I find the work that local production company document document put together most powerful, and not just because they captured this: “If you really believe in what you’re doing and then notice that something may be missing, then there’s your duty right there–to provide whatever it is that’s lacking.”
Should you want to get in on the action in person, musician MC Yogi and Urban Flow instructor Andrea Maltzer are hosting the elephant-power themed workshop “Ganesh is Fresh” on August 21. Think art, music, mantra, and flow.
The trailer for “Tapestries of Hope,” a feature-length documentary that exposes the myth behind the abuse of young girls in Zimbabwe, is well worth your sub-three minutes. It shows filmmaker Michealene Cristini Risley’s sojourn to Africa as she investigates longstanding myths about the power of virgin blood and the work of the Girl Child Network:
Since 2000, Zimbabwe has been in the midst of a complete political devolution, with rape as the predominant form of punishment. It is also a leading country in misinforming men of how to rid themselves of the HIV/AIDS virus. Last year, [the] local NGO recorded 4,146 cases of sexual abuse against children in its area of operation alone.
Han Pham of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs tipped me off to the project and Risley’s interactions with network founder Betty Makoni, and I’m excited–hesitantly given the subject matter, but eagerly for its importance–for the full length version.
I’m intrigued by Half-Remembered Stories, a multimedia exhibit exploring Jewish heritage that’s launching in partnership between local production company Citizen Film and the SF Jewish Film Festival. The latter is turning 30 this year and celebrating by presenting 50 shorts and 11 multimedia collages by artists 15 to 25 years old around “half-remembered” aspects of their cultural history. Think a Zombie day of Antonement, a great-grandmother’s infidelities, and time travel with a Moroccan sage and you’ll get some insight into Saturday afternoon’s programming at the Castro Theatre.
If you’re having a day when you’re less than loving the City by the Bay–and it happens, though cool July nights may play a role–a quality viewing of Massan for Leader Bikes by Brandon Finks Video/AnimationMacaframa could be just what’s needed. The beautiful city shots and tight editing could have you spinning down Fell (though the results may not be as picturesque). Not bad for a project whose graphic elements were completed in a day, but then, the work of the crew of local TV show Finktoons suggests nothing less.
Independence Days of years past have featured my mom persuading my sister and I into matching red, white and blue bathing suits, and I may be local beach hunting this weekend even without a costume prescription. Should a respite from the sun and pier fireworks be needed, I’ll be watching Marina and The Diamonds’ star-spangled “Hollywood” in preparation for the British band’s American debut at 330 Ritch next Thursday. And that’s before a double feature of Wet Hot American Summer and One Crazy Summer on Sunday at the Roxie (somehow Team America didn’t make the cut?).
VidSF and I sat down with Google.org general manager Megan Smith recently at the company’s Embarcadero offices to get her take on compelling educational and corporate engineering projects as part of the Women 2.0 In Conversation series. I’ll let her do the talking about the search giant’s philanthropy efforts, which include global flu and home energy monitoring (though I’m most grateful that she turned me onto the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing for an upcoming story on educational opportunities for female engineers).
Between its fantastic name and emphasis on helping San Francisco musicians make a worthwhile living, the Magik*Magik Orchestra caught my attention with its pressure-filled beginning. (No garage band start here). The orchestra’s founder and artistic director, Minna Choi, was studying composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music when she received a request by the booker at Cafe du Nord to put together a 34-piece string orchestra. And not just for the exercise, but to play the West Coast premiere of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s orchestral work, Popcorn Superhet Receiver.
“The performance was slated to occur that summer while Greenwood was in town to play the Outside Lands Festival with Radiohead, and would be his first U.S. hearing of the work,” production manager Julia Vanderham recalled. “Minna set to work putting together an ensemble of some of the finest talent at the Conservatory and, in August at a sold-out show at the Herbst Theater, the Magik*Magik Orchestra was born.”
Most of the Magik’s original members were students and it now accepts players on a word-of-mouth basis through application. The full service “orchestra-for-hire” typically works on a contractual basis with bands who want to add classical musicians to their own music, whether live or recorded. Music arrangements, sheet music preparation, coordinated rehearsals, and the opportunity to work with a bank of talented young folks are among the reasons their work is solicited for social music gatherings and a full-length album with John Vanderslice.
A talk given in a suit and Detroit Tigers cap that urges for an end to new media buzzwords and explores the cultural roots of the White House vegetable garden? Throw in a stat that 4 percent of people are tone deaf and anthropologist Grant McCracken has me hitting play on his PSFK Conference talk for a second time. If the observations shared here about the need for rewarding creativity within company planning are at like his book “Chief Culture Officer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation,” I’ll be reading it on the Kindle in under a minute.
Should your Saturday need a bit of spirituality and Sandra Bernhard, Tablet Magazine’s Dawn Festival event at the Academy of Sciences could be well worth a visit to Golden Gate Park. The self-described “late-night cultural arts festival celebrating the Jewish Holiday Shavuot” will also feature Gary Shteyngart, author of “Russian Debutantes Handbook,” and Daniel Handler, author of the Lemony Snicket series, slinging cocktails. You might say that the harvest festival is being reimagined–Technicolor aquarium included–while keeping the tradition of staying up all night learning. Expect good things from Spike Jonze’s video tribute to Maurice Sendak and Tiffany Shlain’s reading of “Yelp-with apologies to Allen Ginsberg” before the clock strikes 12.
If tomorrow’s bike in movie from the creators of the Disposable Film Fest wasn’t enough reason to get excited about this humpday, registration for TEDxSoMa later this month might be. The second day of insightful talks at the Parisoma co-working space on May 21 is particularly of interest with its focus on female entrepreneurs advancing the world through technology. As the “daughter” of the TED conference, TEDxSoMa is a community-organized gathering to inspire and “marshal like-minded innovationists.” Ten-minute talks will be delivered by the likes of Nicole Lazzro, founder of the first player experience design company XEODesign, and Pankaj Kedia, who delivers Intel silicon in the form of mobile Internet devices.
The benefits of TEDx events have been described in detail this week on the Ignite organizers message board, and the videos I’ve seen of the community events have been fantastically informative. My favorite to date is the “raising kids to be entrepreneurs” talk out of Edmonton, but that could change pending the next local talks.
