Inspiration

Walk on Water from NRS Films on Vimeo.


Per Vimeo:

For each thing we lose, we gain another…

When a skiing accident left Greg Mallory paralyzed from the waist down, he turned to kayaking to help him escape his wheelchair. Now he’s an accomplished Class V whitewater paddler who finds strength, challenge and meaning on the river. This is his story.

Walk on Water

A film by Andy Maser andymaser.com

Presented by NRS Films nrsfilms.com

Media and film festival inquiries: andy@andymaser.com

To not give up or allow himself to feel less than because of the limits imposed by his accident.....instead to find an alternate path.  "Walk on Water" strikes me as a great title for this film!

For the people who support Greg on this path, kudos!  

Water Dance

PHANTOM WATER EDIT from Chris Bryan on Vimeo.

Goodness Speaks In A Whisper......

Voices for Freedom from wearecaptive on Vimeo.

TED Ads Worth Spreading 2013 - My Personal Favorites

A reminder that acts of kindness and bravery are taking place around us all the time.
Music: "Give a Little Bit" Written and Performed by Roger Hodgson.

See how Annie, a persistent fifth grader, combines Dell technology and a little bit of ingenuity to learn how to fly.
http://www.dell.com/learning
http://goo.gl/8v8ye






 If the fairytale of the "Three Little Pigs" was to take place today, how would a 24-hour press cycle and social media change the story? Discover a new twist on an old tale as today's media dissects the supposed innocence of the pigs.




 

 So you want to save the rainforest? You could give up your job, your family, your life, and start a movement with the local tribesmen of Nicaragua. Or you could follow the frog.

30 Gifts to 30 Strangers -- Finding "Home"

30 gifts to 30 strangers in Sydney from Lucas Jatoba on Vimeo.


From Vimeo:

Music: “To Build a Home” by Cinematic Orchestra

"Hello! My name is Lucas and I'm Brazilian. Since I arrived in Australia a lot of beautiful things happened in my life, so on the day I turned 30 I decided to celebrate in a special way, being grateful to the people of Sydney. :)

Thank you so much to all my friends who helped make this happen, without you it would not have been possible. And thank you to everyone who lives in Australia, making this country such a wonderful place."

Make someone grateful to find some version of "HOME" in your smile or the welcome in your eyes!

Try To See It My Way......

It's Not About the Nail from Jason Headley on Vimeo.

For Carmen

Last Minutes with ODEN from Eliot Rausch on Vimeo.



The emergency clinic called to say that I can come and pick up Carmen's ashes.  I miss her so much.

Her ashes are in a pine box.  Henry agreed that we will bury her in a corner of the yard, under a tree, where our garden Buddha will sit close by and where we can keep her close to us.

Color in Motion

Discodeine - Aydin from pleix on Vimeo.

Poem

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver   You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body    love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--- over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Music Video

LONDON GRAMMAR - Wasting My Young Years from Bison on Vimeo.

Seasons

Seasons from Erica Haowei Hu on Vimeo.


Yesterday afternoon -- Henry and I went to photography class.  It was at the intersection of blue sky and wide open space, a good place for breathing.  I was happy with my review especially as I know NOTHING.  But Henry's review......cause for celebration I thought!  And I live with this guy so I get to say how did you get that shot I have no idea on how to execute?  Even better than that, Henry has spent his life wanting to pursue this and here he is .....I wanted to sing but restrained myself.   There is a woman in our class, Sylviane, who has the most breathtaking skills!

It's an interesting process looking for photos.  They seem to be in the most unexpected places...like almost right in front of you if you can see them sometimes.  The thing is they are non-conventional, recognizable, I think, by instinct.  For our next challenge, we are looking for lines/patterns within textures and we need to start incorporating people in our pictures!

To Be A Pilgrim

PATER NOSTER from Salomon on Vimeo.


A re-post from several days ago because I LOVE this poem!  I realize the film shows the interactions of a couple, but for me, the woman represents the rest of the world and the protagonist will stand his ground no matter what...maintain his right to be a "pilgrim"...to journey through life UNAFRAID of the learning process, unafraid of STANDING UP.

A friend who writes several blogs asked me to contribute a piece on what it's like to have Parkinson's Disease.  What is it like to know that over the course of xx number of years, you will lose your ability to move...even your facial muscles will freeze.  It is a slow progression but there is no present known cure and it is, therefore, inevitable.

One of the best ways of favorably impacting the decline in function is vigorous exercise.  But, what if f the greatest impacts in your experience of PD are the mood/planning/cognitive and emotional effects.  You find yourself feeling chained to home, unable to get yourself out the door while you know this is worsening the impact of PD..  You know because you feel the difference.  You think: "Yes, I am going down the tubes.  There are people who want me to go down the tubes.  I am so tired of fighting to stay afloat, I will allow myself to sink."

And then, the structure of the Team (Team in Training) throws a rope in.  You can haul yourself out of the hole and there are coaches, like Larry Prensky, who believe in you as well as other supportive people who stand and cheer for you.  You have a structure standing behind you.  You are no longer alone and, on top of that, you have a goal to work towards.  For that season, the team saves your life.
They are good people, the vast majority of them.

Then, there are the people who say "How can you have PD and do a triathlon?"  For a moment, you think, "I must fear them.  They will certainly hurt me.  And some of them actually try to ...not because they  know me (What justification can there be for setting out to hurt someone?  Revenge?  Justice?  I prefer to think it stems from confusion).

Well, I will not back away from doing all that I can to complete the TRI...most likely sprint, rather than olympic,   Gossip can stalk me.  I WILL NOT crawl away, back into my comfortable hole to increase the speed of decay.  I WILL NOT allow fear to dictate the terms of MY life.

Experimental Film - Piano Works 13

Piano Works 13 from Julien Martorell on Vimeo.


Piano Works 13 is a short movie, which combines live action and motion design. Over an original soundtrack played by Polerik Rouviere, four dancers perform different styles (break dance, new style, popping). The film illustrates the link between body, instrument and instrumentalist. The moves give birth to a sort of calligraphic language which is a representation of the moves themselves.

To Perceive Patterns

TO UNDERSTAND IS TO PERCEIVE PATTERNS from Jason Silva on Vimeo.

Carmen Remembered

Photos of Carmen, our dog:

What does it feel like?

Caldera (2012) from Evan Viera on Vimeo.



SYNOPSIS

 Through the eyes of a young girl suffering from mental illness, CALDERA glimpses into a world of psychosis and explores a world of ambiguous reality and the nature of life and death.

AWARDS
Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction
Award of Innovation - Seattle International Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Rome Independent Film Festival
Best Animated Film - Rockport Film Festival
Best Short - View Social Awards
Nominated for “Best Picture” - Maverick Movie Awards
Nominated for “Best Director” - Maverick Movie Awards

The Hunt Takes Many Forms

Do we plan to do what we do?  Did the hunter set out to kill the wolf cub and then its mother?
Perhaps he was sleepwalking.  Perhaps we all sleep walk more than we are aware.

Wolfsong from Toniko Pantoja on Vimeo.

Late Prayer by Jane Hirschfeld*   Tenderness does not choose its own uses it goes out to everything equally, circling rabbit and hawk. Look: in the iron bucket, a single nail, a single ruby-- all the heavens and hells. They rattle in the heart and make one sound. *(from "The Lives of the Heart")

Genesis

GENESIS from Malevo on Vimeo.

PATER NOSTER from Salomon on Vimeo.


Pilgrim: a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons. • (usu. Pilgrim) a member of a group of English Puritans fleeing religious persecution who sailed in the Mayflower and founded the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. • a person who travels on long journeys. • chiefly poetic/literary a person whose life is compared to a journey.

 'Not all those who wander are lost' - JRR Tolkien

 Inspired by the writings of John Bunyan. 'Pater Noster' is latin for 'Our Father' - it is the abstract exploration of a couple navigating their relationship, thru the weather of the life journey.

 (I like the abstraction of this and I love the poem. For me, it is more about the individual experiencing life as opposed to the couple....he will remain on the road hoping for a growing sense of understanding.....)

 Cast: Emile Freeman, Lesley Ligthelm VO: Tom O'Bedlam
(youtube.com/spokenverse) ---

 Who would true valour see,
 Let him come hither;
 One here will constant be,
 Come wind, come weather

There’s no discouragement Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round With dismal stories
Do but themselves confound; His strength the more is.

No lion can him fright.
He’ll with a giant fight,
He will have a right
To be a pilgrim.

Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit,
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He’ll fear not what men say,
He’ll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.

Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not from Mew Lab on Vimeo.

A Dog's Purpose

A Dog's Purpose (from a 7-year-old). from Shamus Pat on Vimeo.

Dog = Love

Dogs in Cars from keith on Vimeo.

Senior Dogs = Special Love

 

Senior Dogs Across America from Nancy LeVine on Vimeo.

Senior Golden - Creating Healing, Happiness, Joy

 

Senior Citizen Dog Holds The Secrets To A Long Life - "How To Live Forever" by Mark Wexler from Mark S. Wexler on Vimeo.

 

Carmen, Much Loved Dog

Carmen, our 12 1/2 year old dog, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in mid-April. Last Monday, she went into cluster seizures. The vet was able to stop the seizures with drugs but warned me that if she convulsed again despite the drugs, it would be best to take her to an emergency pet clinic and ask for her to be euthanized. I spent that night on the floor sleeping next to her so I would be sure to awaken if that happened. At 3 AM I felt her body moving across her bed. She was convulsing. It broke my heart to see it. But, thankfully, the vet had been very clear about what needed to be done. I wanted her to go as gently as possible. Henry said good-bye to her there. He kept asking if I was sure because she looked ok after the seizure had ended. I was absolutely certain because I had seen her convulse 3 times within an hour during the day (the last time on the floor of the vet's waiting room). So, I drove her to the emergency clinic, all the while reciting the lines I could remember from one of my poems (because she had seemed to raspond to it once on a trip to Tahoe. "On sunlit days, I swoop over white edges with arms outstretched, my puny wings. They fly me through the clouds, into clear azure and I am sure of my feet underneath me. That was the only section I could remember, so I recited it over and over. I had called the emergency clinic so they were expecting us. After filling out paperwork, they put me in a room with her. I started to cry very hard and she looked up at me as if it distressed her, so I stopped. She was all that mattered. The vet gave her an overdose of anesthetic and she closed her eyes. Henry and I held each other through the night. We are both in mourning for the loss of a member of our family. But what a gift she was to us and vice-veraa also. We only knew her for 2 1/2 years but she taught us so much. We are grateful for every minute of our life with her.


 From Homeward Bound Rescue (the sanctuary where we found her):



 Here is a photo of Carmen: