Getting into TV

Looking at TV may not be as exciting as looking inside of it. Bjork demonstrates.

'Invisible' on Youtube

INVISIBLE: Children Living with HIV/AIDS
Length: 10 minutes 55 seconds
A mini documentary created in 2007 by Happy Hippy Productions for the TTCRC (Trinidad and Tobago Coalition for the Convention on the Rights of the Child)

Many hands. Lightwork. (with video)

My friend Glen, measuring a piece of wood in his factory workshop.
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At this point I must say thank you to those of you who have been keeping up with these window lamp updates. Any interest and energy you are putting toward the lamp-work process so far is helping it all to happen. This is the kind of project (as you will see in the end) that not only one person can do. Many people will have to come together, physically and otherwise, to make it really happen. This is what I am inviting you to be a part of.

(Don't mean to sound like I'm receiving an Academy Award, but ...) A special thank you also to my friend Glen who, when I took the window to his workshop and decided upon the way in which it should be constructed further, immediately set to work on helping me achieve that vision. He had other important work to do, but he put it aside to help me with the construction. Even when I said: "Look, we can do this tomorrow you know" ... he said: "No. I would rather do it now."

Now is Wow, after all.

The short video below shows what is becoming of this window. You will begin to see it taking its new shape. A few people (in TT) have contacted me to say that they are having trouble viewing the videos (due to slow internet or other issues). That's a pity. I really wish you could see the clips, especially this one, as the window undergoes transformation. I have kept all clips as short as possible to make it easier for you ... so be patient, let it load while you do something else on your computer, then go back to it and view smoothly.

Working like a dog (video clip)

Making wire flowers with the dogs ... and an extra little guest.

S(m)oothing the Situation (with video)

Length: 36 seconds
Location: My friend Glens factory workshop

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Press play and you will see the video. Press numbers in a certain combination and you will make a phone call to a particular person. Turn the right key in the right lock and you will open the right door. This is what I feel happens when I work on a window lamp. Each thing I do to it is like pressing a button to activate something similar which happens on a larger plane and another dimension.

For example, in the video, clip, I appear to simply be smoothing the rough surface of the window. However, this is symbolic of a larger occurrence. I trust that the rough aspect of a particular situation (to be revealed) which requires resolution is also being worked upon ... in ways that cannot yet be seen.
This is why I often call the window lamps 'three dimensional prayers'. The creation of each lamp is a series of visual intentions occurring in sequence to bring about a desired result. Sometimes the full intention is deep in the subconscious and I am not immediately aware of it - until, by going with the flow, I see the deeper meaning gradually unfolding before me. And sometimes the intention is very clear and focused, as with this lamp. There is no question for me as to what this lamp is about ... and yet, I still leave room for possibilities ... knowing that nothing is ever just what it appears to be on the surface. The lamp may be about even more than I think it is.

Smoke Ceremony (with video clip)

Late one afternoon, just before sunset, I went under the sapodilla tree, lit two sticks of Chandan incense and sat in front of the window playing my thumb piano. I was hoping for inspiration, since at the time, I didn't know what the window would be for. A short video clip capturing a snippet of that evening makes me think of an indigenous smoke ceremony ... for cleansing, healing and giving thanks. It is necessary to do that before we move forward with this project (or with anything for that matter ...)

We clear away what is no longer needed.
We invite what is.
We give thanks.

(Below video is only 38 seconds. Press PLAY to cleanse, heal and give thanks before we proceed).

A second before (video)

Length: 32 seconds
Location: La Vega Estate, Trinidad
Shot on: Video function of digital still camera
*
Shadows shift in the sun
Lightly
Naturally
Effortlessly
Changing
Releasing themselves
Never to be again
As they were
Before.

So why ...
Do we stay there in
What we thought
What we were
What we felt
What we did
What we said
A second ago?

3rd song in my 2008 soundtrack

Love, thy will be done
I can no longer hide
I can no longer run
No longer can I resist the guiding light
It gives me the power to keep up the fight
Love...thy will be done
Since I have found you my life has just begun
And I see all of your creations as one
Perfect complex
No one less beautiful or more special than the next
We are all blessed and so wise to accept
Thy will love be done

Love, thy will be mine
And make me strive for the glorious and divine
I could not be more, more satisfied (satisfied�)
Even when there's no peace outside my window
There's peace inside
And that's why I no longer run (I don�t know�)
Love thy will be done

Love, thy will be done
I can no longer hide
I can no longer run (no�.)
Love, thy will be done
Thy will love be done

No longer can I resist (no..) the guiding light (guiding light)
The light that gives me the power to keep up the fight
I couldn�t be more satisfied (no�)
Even when there's no peace outside my window
There's peace inside
And that's why I can not longer run
Love thy will be done (thy will be done, done, done�)

Love, thy will be done
I can no longer hide
I can no longer run
Love, thy will be done
Thy will love be done

Love, thy will be done
I can no longer hide
I can no longer run (no, no, no)
Love, thy will be done
Thy will love be done�
Thy will love be done�
Thy will love be done

2nd song in my 2008 soundtrack

"Big Time Sensuality"

i can sense it
something important
is about to happen
it's coming up

it takes courage to enjoy it
the hardcore and the gentle
big time sensuality

we just met
and i know i'm a bit too intimate
but something huge is coming up
and we're both included

it takes courage to enjoy it
the hardcore and the gentle
big time sensuality

i don't know my future after this weekend
and i don't want to

it takes courage to enjoy it
the hardcore and the gentle
big time sensuality

First of 12 songs in my soundtrack for 2008

Now and then a song comes along which I can't help but play repeatedly - for days, weeks, possibly even months (mostly in the case of a whole CD) ... until my mood/vibration changes and requires a new soundtrack to accompany it.Above: singing and bopping to my January 2008 theme song. I love it: the words, sentiments, beat, melody, energy. Yesterday I must have played it hundreds of times for the day alone - and today will be similar. It speaks on so many levels, the way I see it: not just as one lover to another, but as self to self and the Divine to the human/vice versa.

Flying into 2008

One of our guides zipping along the cable.
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Coming in for a landing on one of the platforms
*

2008 started on a high note, literally. Early this morning we went zipping through and above the St. Lucian rainforest on lengths of cable, strapped into individual harnesses with helmets and heavy duty hooks to suspend us from the wires. This worthwhile adrenalin rush is the Rainforest Canopy Zip line Adventure. It involves a ride up into the rainforest in a cable car, then a ten minute walk into the heart of the forest (led by our guide, Kennedy) to our first take off point.

There were eleven lengths of cable for us to zip along - some higher above the ground and longer than others. Your dominant hand must grip the cable, while the non-dominant hand holds the harness in front of the body. You push off from the platform, let go and zip through the greenery to the next platform. And so on ... until all eleven platforms have been encountered. The whole experience is great, lasting about 3 - 4 hours.

I will use this exciting excursion as a metaphor for 2008:
Journeys deep into the heart of the forest = journeys deep into the heart of the self.
The towering trees and cables = new heights to be reached and enjoyed.
Letting go of the platform = leaping into the unknown and using wings.

A zippy exciting happy natural heightened trusting new year.

Jasper does Kitty-Casso

Today I got a Christmas package in the mail from my friend J in TO. I waited until I got home from the Post Office to open it. Jasper, who had been asleep on my bed, woke as usual when he heard my car and was perched expectantly at the edge of the mattress when I walked in. He watched as I opened the box, perhaps sensing that it contained something for him. Indeed it did: his very own Kitty-Casso kit so we can do paintings together.

In the above video he has not started painting yet, but it shows him being introduced to the little red mouse toy that came in the kit.

One-of-a-kind Christmas gift special! (with video clip)

This Christmas you don't have to sit in traffic for hours ... embark upon futile hunts for parking spaces in jam-packed malls ... lug heavy bags and parcels back to your car ... or wrack your brains for innovative or appropriate gift ideas for children, adults and families.

Happy Hippy Productions is pleased to offer you the ideal gift alternative ... the I SPY environmental series on DVD ... at the extra special Christmas price of $60 per DVD!*

*

Front of the I SPY DVD

*
*
This gift is:
(a) Interesting, educational, enjoyable and different
(b) Affordable
(c) Environmentally conscious-raising
(d) Suitable for all ages (young to old ... i.e. the whole family)
(e) Easy to order
*

The I SPY Environmental DVD contains four entertaining and educational environmental documentaries filmed by diverse groups of children aged 7 - 10: I SPY Wildlife, I SPY Things in My Garden, I SPY Recycling, I SPY Trees. Each documentary is approximately 13 minutes long. Just under an hour of total viewing time for the whole family.

Inside of DVD

Back of DVD

*
Order now
at the
SPECIAL 2007 CHRISTMAS PRICE
of
$60TT each

* (Special offer valid until December 31 2007)
*

To place your order and arrange for collection:
Call Elspeth at 786-2539
or e-mail nowiswowisnow@yahoo.com

Orders placed after buy-out of current stock may have a ten day waiting period.

Opening sequence of one of the episodes:
I SPY Things in My Garden
(episode filmed by the Gunsam and Joseph children, Santa Cruz)
Youtube upload quality does not reflect quality of actual video.

Turn, turn, turn

I must admit I feel a twinge of jealousy when friends living in temperate countries write and mention in their e-mails 'the signs of coming winter', the nippy weather, the frost, etc.

I love the four temperate seasons - best of all the cool-to-cold autumn, winter and spring. I'm not much of a summer person, which is ironic as I currently live in a hot clime.

When in England, I used to love waking up and beginning the day by looking out of my window onto the expanse of grass outside. It was like opening a new, surprise gift every day ... not knowing what to expect. One day it would be green. One day it would be silver (frost). One day it would be unexpectedly sleeping under a serene, untouched blanket of white. One day there would be footprints and other kinds of prints in the snow. One day there would be little green shoots pushing out of the white expanse. One day there would be slush or white patches. One day there would be a whole set of yellow daffodils ...

Here we have two seasons - wet (which I prefer) and dry. Waking up in the morning there's not the diverse variety in terms of drastic changes in temperature and things like frost, sleet, snow, sudden new flowers, etc. Mostly I see the variety above, in the sky and the clouds. Every morning when I go for my walk there's something different about them that attracts me ... not so much like opening a new gift, but like observing a new painting.

Today the sun was shooting out in massive rays from behind the cloud bank, looking like a scene from one of those religious movies. The angels would have been chorusing and it would have been symbolic of some new beginning or great revelation.

*
To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born, a time to die.
A time to plant, a time to reap.
A time to kill, a time to heal.
A time to laugh, a time to weep.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to build up, a time to break down.
A time to dance, a time to mourn.
A time to cast away stones.
A time to gather stones together.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time of love, a time of hate.
A time of war, a time of peace.
A time you may embrace.
A time to refrain from embracing.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to gain, a time to lose.
A time to rend, a time to sow.
A time for love, a time for hate.
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

(The Byrds)

Divali (short video)

Location: Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook, Trinidad
Shot using video function on digital still camera.

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Members of the public came off the streets and gathered in the square, co-operating to pour coconut oil into the hundreds of deyas, twist and place wicks in the deyas and light up. Indian music played softly in the background. Cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, soft drinks and water were on sale from little vendor carts. It was wonderful seeing so many different people - young and old - helping each other and working in harmony to get all the deyas lit. The atmosphere was peaceful and the laughter of many small children filled the square.

With elections having been just a few days ago, of course the night couldn't pass without some election-type comment being made. Someone, struck by the peaceful, harmonious atmosphere, said: "This is a COP Divali."

Black African rhythm (instructional video)

This is one of the rhythms the women in the Arouca class taught me on Saturday.

In this video I start slowly so it's easier to see what the rhythm is made up of. Then I play it faster so you can more or less hear what it sounds like. Then slow again, then fast.

For the rim shot (5th shot) make sure to 'cork' the drum (i.e. hold your hand down tight on the skin) so that the rim shot sounds like a 'crack'.

A Magical Mud pimple day (with video)

(Brief summary of today's journey to Manzanilla with Adrian and Joanna)It was a partially dark and stormy day ...

We walked along the beach and found enlightenment.

As we sat on a piece of driftwood in Mayaro munching rotis for lunch, this beach dog (of which there were many) waited patiently for a few morsels.
One of the day's many highlights was this mud volcano (in Kernaham Village), which we re-christened "the mud pimple". Volcano seemed to be too dramatic a word for this pimple which stood there bubbling politely, much to the delight of the crowd of onlookers we met upon arrival. It is not clear whether the girl in the shot is running from the gurgling mud pimple or from the camera.

For live mud pimple action, see the video below.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

One of those idle moments.

Try and guess what the sound in the soundtrack is. I'll put the answer in the Comments section and you can look after you have guessed.

The Wind (video)

Video - Elspeth Duncan
Voice - Susanne Fritzsche (Creative. Mother. Thinking.)
Music - Gary Winter (Psychedelic Zen Guitar)

Collaborative music/video/spoken word project between Trinidad and Germany.

The video was created first in Trinidad and edited with 'silence' as the soundtrack. Without seeing the video, Susanne (Gary's wife) was asked to say something in English about the wind - 20 seconds in length. This narrative was sent back to me and added to the video which I then sent back to Gary in Germany. He viewed the video and composed the music, which was then sent back to me to edit into the video.

What is interesting is that Susanne had no idea that the location of shooting (Temple in the Sea, Trinidad) is a sacred site. On the shores, Hindu people are cremated outdoors on a large open-air pyre. Listen to her words. They poetically reflect what happens when 'bits' (smoke, ashes) of the cremated person are carried on the wind to the sea around the Temple.

Magic (video)

Video: Elspeth Duncan
Music: Gary Winter
Length: 3:11

The music I used for this video is one of a few mp3s Gary of Psychedelic Zen Guitar had sent me when our first collaboration was underway. The video was shot using the iSight camera on my Macbook, Satya.

We are doing three short collaborations to present to you. Stay tuned for the third one sometime this week. For that one, I also invited Gary's wife, Susanne, of Creative Mother Thinking to take part.