@DailyShoot – #ds589 – Make a photo around the number three today.

So what are the three? Well in my mind, they are the Devil’s Claw (an Arizona plant I’ve always loved), the dried gourd, and the eye of the sculptor who thought to combine them with stain, carving and painting to make something wholly other.

Cheryl Colan
District 6 Resident

On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 1:23 PM, Councilman Sal DiCiccio <council.district.6@phoenix.gov> wrote:

What do you get?

Ask yourself this question as you read this: “What do I get?”

A first-year city of Phoenix clerk gets 40 and a half days off, including vacation, holidays and sick time. That’s two months off — and an afternoon — in the first year of employment. And the days off keep going up as the years go by.  (Read an Ahwatukee Foothills News article regarding compensation HERE.)

If employees don’t use all their time off, they get to cash in the remaining days like casino chips, and guess who the bank is? You and your family.

You have heard me talk about Phoenix’s high cost of labor at $100,000 a year per employee. That’s just a part of the picture. It doesn’t account for back-filling all that time off.

To compensate for days when employees are out, you must either hire more people, pay more in overtime or reduce services to the public. You now can see why your taxes have gone up, services for seniors and children get cut and why you are getting less and paying more for the same service.

This can all change. There is hope on the horizon.

As you may know, I have been working with state leaders on Senate Bill 1322, which will change the culture here at City Hall. The bill will require Phoenix (and Tucson) to be more efficient, look for more strategic ways to deliver service and be more competitive. It pulls private sector knowlege and practices into city government. SB1322 passed the Senate on Monday and is headed for the House.  For an updated copy of the bill, click HERE.

I cannot get the city hall reforms needed without your help. I need you to write, email, call or fax the Representatives below and ask for their support on SB1322.

I made a commitment to you that I work for you and only you.  I don’t represent the civilian labor groups that walk our halls, and I don’t represent the management that wants more from your family. I represent you.

At times that puts me in a difficult situation because I enjoy and respect the people I work with.  But, you are not their first interest.  Staff’s first interest is to protect their way of life. Our goal is to build a city government that puts taxpayers first and protects your way of life.

Phoenix is a fantastic city and a place we all love. Help me help you stop this insanity, and let’s get this great city back on the right track and back to work again.

Respectfully,
Sal DiCiccio
Phoenix City Councilman – District 6
council.district.6@phoenix.gov
602-262-7491

 

	e-mail	phone number
Judy Burges	jburges@azleg.gov	602-926-5861
Tom Forese	tforese@azleg.gov	602-926-5168
David M. Gowan Sr.	dgowan@azleg.gov	602-926-3312
Steve Montenegro	smontenegro@azleg.gov	602-926-5955
Michelle Ugenti	mugenti@azleg.gov	602-926-4480
Steve Urie	surie@azleg.gov	602-926-4136

I will be returning to spend a good four or more hours in the Experience Room. I’ll shoot better video then, I promise. But in the meanwhile, Janice’s expression sums it up. Playing music with friends is pure joy.

Bonus points if you can name that tune.

What I forgot to say in the video: Email from the Guardian gives brief article summaries and links to the full articles on the Guardian web site. If the full article text came in my email, I’d be happy to get the email. But I have to read the articles on the web site whether I get the email or not. So why can’t I just skip the email?

Update

I guess at least one other person has looked into this. These are not the results I’m looking for:

http://twitter.com/cherylcolan/status/20325811564

http://twitter.com/robb1138/status/20326282271

http://twitter.com/cherylcolan/status/20326514198

http://twitter.com/robb1138/status/20326898286

http://twitter.com/cherylcolan/status/20327785699

And by “this” I mean, of course, the “Modify Your Subscription” statement at the bottom of every email stating that my account preferences are in my control and can be changed, which I linked to as a screenshot.

Anyway, many thanks and a follow to @robb1138 for at least replying. Still nothing from the Guardian. This isn’t going far to convert me to a paying subscriber. Why pay $30 a month when that comes with daily emails you don’t want to receive?

My hubby complains from time to time that the store only has apricot jam, no peach jam. So I decided to lease a peach tree from local Schnepf Farms – they’ve been growing organic peaches for 45 years. The variety of peach tree we got is Earligrande – they ripen early, and, man, are they ever grand!

Our peach tree ripened during the last two weeks of May, and I ended up with 17 boxes of fresh, juicy, sweet and delicious peaches. Probably somewhere between 100 – 120 pounds of peaches. I’d say we consumed or shared 3 boxes worth of them fresh. Plus I went crazy buying jars and canned pints and quarts for just under two weeks. I’ve become a peach peeling and peach pitting expert. I have a peach pit callous on my index finger. And I’m proud of it!

The final tally:

• 5 pints Peach Raspberry Freezer Jam
• 5 pints Peach Cherry Almond Freezer Jam
• 8 8oz jars Peach Butter
• 6 pints Spirited Peaches
• 4 pints Peach BBQ Sauce
• 11 pints Honey Spiced Peaches
• 1 quart Honey Spiced Peaches
• 2 pints Curried Peach Sauce
• 3 quarts Peach Pie Filling
• 10 quarts Peach Halves in Syrup
• 5 pints Peach Pistachio Chutney
• 4 pints Peach Cherry Chutney
• 5 pints Peach Jam
• 2 8oz jars Peach Jam
• 2 10in Peach Pies
• 2 9in Peach Pies
• 2 pounds dehydrated peaches

I have a new nickname. My husband now calls me “Peaches,” and I don’t mind one bit.

What was wrong? What wasn’t?

First, the pub isn’t an acoustically great environment. Sound bounces around off the tile floor and stone fireplace and off walls and ceiling. So if more than one person is talking, you get a cacophony and it’s impossible to isolate and listen to any one particular voice. The only thing you can do is try to talk to the person next to you. And among this group, everyone was talking. Dougherty remained standing while everyone else sat. He tried briefly to engage the group as a whole and then evidently gave up. I got to hear what he had to say when he was at my end of the table. And he had some interesting things to say.

But the conversation, driven by one or two people, kept reverting back to SB1070, which, topical as it may be, is not an appropriate issue to fixate on when you have the opportunity to talk to a US Senate candidate. It’s a state law, not federal. If we were there to learn about Dougherty as a candidate, why weren’t people asking what he would do to reform immigration laws at the federal level? And why keep the whole conversation focused on this one issue, when we could be asking him his views on economic reform aimed at preventing big banks from causing another meltdown, or what he would do to end lobbyist influence in Washington, or his views on Iraq and Afghanistan, or what he wants to do regarding energy policy?

For about twenty minutes, I listened as closely as I could to what others were asking Dougherty, and to his responses. The same guy who bragged about the great turnout talked so loudly that I only made out about half of what was being said. An older gentleman next to me kept looking up information on Google using his Blackberry, since no one heard when he tried to ask clarifying questions. During this time, all but four people at my end of the table were completely ignoring Dougherty, and talking so loudly that those of us right next to him could barely manage to converse with him. So were they hear to support him, find out about him, or what?

When I finally got a chance to ask a question of my own, Dougherty either didn’t hear it correctly or was completely unprepared to discuss the topic, because his answer didn’t directly address the question and more, was a pretty weak answer. I wanted to know more about his views on the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and the issue of corporate money and its effect on our elections and our lawmaking process. Before I could clarify or follow up, someone had routed the talk back to SB1070.

I stayed as long as Dougherty stayed. I shook his hand and thanked him for coming. I signed his petition to get on the ballot, which, by the way, he nearly left behind at the pub when he left. But I don’t feel like I got to know much about his positions on anything he would be able to influence should he gain the Senate seat. And that’s a failure on the part of the group hosting the event, and on Dougherty himself. I mean, honestly, how are you going to lead in the Senate if you can’t lead or inspire a group of 18 people to focus for half an hour and hear you out on your campaign platform?

My husband’s one-line assessment: “No one in this room has any political or monetary clout.”

As for me, I’ll keep an open ear and open mind. Hopefully I’ll have another chance to hear Dougherty, and hopefully he’ll be able to more clearly articulate some sort of vision of himself as a Senator. But for now, I’m not wowed.

I used a teensy snippet of music performed by D-Squared. It’s their cover of Buckeye Jim.

We’re doing this in the park in the center of Clarkdale, Arizona. The funny thing – after we finished a curious woman approached us. She turned out to be an anthropologist who specialized in human recreation. She really wanted to know what we were doing! After we told her, she explained that children in nearly every culture invent games to alter their state of consciousness. She just didn’t expect to find adults doing it in her local park.

It’s silly but I was really worried about this when I planted my watermelons back in February. I’ve never grown them before. I had no idea how big this variety gets, and no idea how to decide whether the melon was ripe. I was really worried I would waste my first, great big watermelon by either harvesting it while it was unripe, or accidentally letting it rot by not picking it in time. Hurray for the internet!

I learned there are three things to look for:

1. The tendril:  When the tendril closest to the melon dries up and turns brown, you know the plant is no longer sending water to the melon. It’s not going to get any larger from this point on. (Use common sense here: if the leaves are dried up, too, that’s water stress, not ripeness.)
2. The creamy spot:  There should be a creamy white or yellow spot where the watermelon rests against the ground. (This presumes you haven’t disturbed its natural orientation.) My husband says the spot should be yellow, not white, but as he’s never grown watermelon either, and hasn’t cited any source, I have know way of judging the credibility of that statement. (Yes, I fact-check my hubby.)
3. The sound:  The melon should sound hollow when you hold it to your ear and thump it. Personally, this is the most difficult test for me, because I grew up eating watermelon from the grocery store, where they are all presumably ripe. They certainly all sounded the same to me. But growing my own, I was able to thump the young ‘uns and compare that sound to the ripe melon. So now I think I’ve got this part down.

The video was shot with my iPhone on July 20. Unfortunately I never got to share this watermelon with my Mom as intended. We forgot to eat it while she was in town. Fortunately, since I harvested this one, I got four more, so I’ll be taking a couple up to her house this weekend. They are SO good. And I love this one-or-two-serving-size variety – it makes much more sense for a small household.

This will be one of my last garden reports for this growing season, if not the very last. As you’ll see in the video, my poor plants are frying in the intense 115ËšF heat.

My friend Linda is retiring from full-time teaching this year. To help celebrate, my friend Rachel and I made a digital story for Linda.

We were asked to create a video about Linda’s impact on the Australia/New Zealand Study Abroad program, which Linda and Rachel created as a result of their work with Digital Storytelling. Rachel and I realized the story could not just be about the international cultural exchange program, that it needed to encompass the power of storytelling as well. To get a look at the big picture, so we could distill it, we tried to map out, on a whiteboard, the entire series of events that culminated with an international exchange focused on indigenous culture. There were too many events, though, so we mapped what felt like the truly essential pieces.

We could easily have made an hour-long documentary film with all the material collected over the last ten years or so. Linda went on a sabbatical where she traveled the world interviewing storytellers. Linda and Rachel have taught Digital Storytelling classes for several years, impacting the lives of hundreds of students. They also teach the process to faculty, sometimes with my help. And the international exchange has been ongoing for the last four summers. We’ve also hosted at least four return visits. The metaphor of ripples helped us distill this material, and the impact of Linda in particular, to its utter essence, and into this 5-minute story.

We both felt it would be inappropriate to narrate, and instead we chose to let the stories do the talking. We excerpted them, but did not edit them, which means we left the voices and visuals intact. We added a bit of text, and some beautiful photos to accompany our words. We connected the dots of “aha” moments and experiences. We chose not to worry if anyone else “gets it.” This video is for Linda, and she gets it. If you feel it as a summation of years, instead of a linear narrative, you’ll get it.

Meanwhile, what’s in YOUR nest egg?

Are you mad yet? What are you doing about it?

Join us (150 strong so far) for a Nest Egg Hunt demonstration on the sidewalks in front of the AIG building, Central Ave & Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ on April 11 at 11am local time / 2pm PDT. Demonstrate your desire for a new way forward to a more just economy. Showing up will empower our leaders in government to stand up to the banks.

TWITTER — http://twitter.com/phxwayfwd
FACEBOOK — http://bit.ly/I68D
RSVP: twitvite — http://twtvite.com/g9g9o2
RSVP: upcoming — http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2372257/

Want to help me get ready? Leave a comment here or in the demonstration forum and I’ll email you ASAP.

Not in Phoenix? Join a demonstration in your city: A New Way Forward.

Happy Videoblogging Week 2009 everybody!

Just a little tour showing progress so far. Nothing easier than rolling outside with my phone and shooting a little Qik video. I’ve got plants. Most of them I started from seed. Most of them grew. Hurray me! Soundtrack by local birds. Guest appearance by White Kitty.

My favorite thing about buying locally grown produce is that it forces me to be creative in order to use whatever happens to be fresh. I go shopping with a general plan, but instead of knowing I need potatoes, I might know I need “some starchy vegetable” and I get my choice of all kinds of great stuff, but I could end up with jicama or turnips instead of potatoes. That means I have to be flexible and let the food inspire me. In turn that makes me feel very alive, instead of like a cooking robot sticking grimly to the shopping list and the menu plan.

So, the other night at the market there was this cutie little mix of Heirloom tomatoes, cherry size, that came in four colors. When I was washing them at home, I noticed I’d squashed one in my grocery bag, so of course I ate it on the spot. Oh! My! Goodness! It was super delicious, almost like a summer tomato, only less acidic, with a mellow sweet tang. I knew some of these babies would have to be lunch the next day.

In the cabinet I had half a pound of orzo pasta and in the fridge some leftover feta cheese. I remembered a Food Network recipe for Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes and decided to make it. It called for pasta, feta cheese, grape tomatoes and fresh parsley. Had all that stuff. But I also had a couple roasted red peppers left over from when I wrapped them around goat cheese last week, and half a handful of leftover chopped scallions I’d used for a garnish on some Thai noodles. Meanwhile, I had bought fresh dill at the market, and I love, love, love tomatoes with dill. While the pasta boiled, I did the minimal prep work of halving the tomatoes, chopping fresh parsley and dill, and cutting the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

So the improvised recipe turned out to be:

• half a pound of orzo pasta
• a handful of feta cheese crumbles
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill
• half a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
• two roasted red peppers, chopped
• half a handful of chopped chives
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

After draining the pasta, I mixed in the butter and oil and feta, then dropped in everything else and tossed it a bit. It was so good I completely forgot about fresh ground pepper or salt.

This will serve 2-3 people as a meal, or four people as a side dish.

Of course I shot some video of the light rail opening myself. But I have deliberately been un-teching during the holidays. My mom stayed with us for nine or ten days, and I wanted to be with her, not pasted in front of the computer. We hung out and made a lot of stuff. Custom covers for my husband’s mill & lathe so they won’t get covered with shop dust. Bags to hold protective eyewear in the shop. A couple crocheted hats and scarves, too. … So, when I get to it, I’ll post it. Honestly I haven’t even looked at it yet! Some vlogger.

Here in Phoenix, back in 1954, a man who loved making people laugh created a TV show for kids. The show ran in one form or another for 35 years. It’s most commonly known as the Wallace & Ladmo Show.

The man’s name is Bill Thompson, and he created all kinds of entertaining characters for his show, but he mostly played the straight man. For most of his show’s life he worked with two core partners as well as other cast members. He appears here as Mr. Grudgemeyer.

The man in the top hat is Ladmo. That’s the name of his character, and he eventually legally changed his own name to Ladmo. Ladmo is the everykid, who just wants to have a good time.

Ladmo and Mr. Grudgemeyer are constantly at war over their favorite park bench. Slapstick always ensues. This is one of many “Mr. Grudgemeyer” episodes I’ve saved. Yes I accidentally left ten seconds or so of black at the front. Oops.

When I was a kid I watched this show every weekday. Even into high school. Almost everyone who grew up in Arizona did. If you meet people from Arizona, and find they have a similar, rather bent sense of humor, blame Bill Thompson.

About the actual story

Many people are familiar with the story of Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworker’s Movement in California and around the nation. But because the movement was ultimately not very successful in Arizona, you rarely hear that part of the story. So we wanted to document the local farm labor law dispute, which culminated in an effort to recall then Arizona Governor Jack Williams. As part of this effort, Cesar Chavez conducted a 21-day fast here in Phoenix, and helped inspire the local community to take action to bring about social justice.

This should really be a half hour film. The events documented took place over a ten year period, and the political issues are somewhat complex. But those planning the exhibition relegated it to eight minutes, choosing to feature a film documenting the women’s movement in Arizona more prominently, so we did what we could with the time constraints. Which means there is an awful lot going on in the footage. And unfortunately, the local news reels contained more footage airing the point of view of those in power. Watch for contrasts between the voice you’re hearing and the footage you’re seeing – I had to resort to that kind of storytelling quite a bit. I even ended up narrating the piece, while the other project got professional voiceover talent, though this was partly because I could pronounce the surnames and Spanish words correctly, while the hired talent could not.

How we made this

With the exception of recording some voice over and scanning some old news articles, this piece is created entirely from 16mm film news reels from former Phoenix news station KOOL, which used to broadcast on local channel 10. KOOL donated all their film cans and log sheets to the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park. The museum has a big climate controlled room to store this stuff, and a makeshift film chain that channels the projected footage through an ancient but serviceable video camera and out to … any deck you can connect to the camera output.

Jean’s job directing this project was to do all the research, write the narrative and provide me with important dates on which newsworthy things probably happened. And just because I summarized her job in one sentence, don’t think it was light work.

My job was to check the news logs around the relevant dates in hopes of finding related news footage. Then, as part of the Exhibits Dept. agreement with the Archives Dept., I had to clean any reels I wanted to view. After cleaning, I would watch the entire reel and log it as best I could. If I saw anything related to our story, I’d record it to Beta-SP (best quality deck we had) and later transfer that to Mini-DV as well for a digital back-up.

Jean would review the collected footage, make notes, and often revise the script in order to work some of the best footage into the project. She would also do her best to identify people appearing on the reel, especially those on the MOS B-roll shots, sometimes bringing in people she’d interviewed for oral history to see if they recognized anyone.

The script was rewritten several times, and then I’d re-edit the project. We’d still be over budget on time, so we’d tighten it up some more, reorganize, figure out what to leave out – you editors out there know the drill. The look of the subtitles is inspired by Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County USA.

We were on a treasure hunt together. We were armed with facts. The actual events occurred before we were born to when we were kids (1968 – 1978). Some of the original footage noted in the logs had gone missing. Sometimes we found unlogged material. It was a trip seeing how Phoenix looked back then compared to now.

Even though the end result is imperfect (you’re never finished editing, right? you just stop at some point), I’m proud that this piece is on permanent exhibition as part of Arizona’s history.

If you have any questions I’ll happily answer in the comments.