May 12, 2012 – Surfing
NEW YORK, NY – Spring is here, which means the hood is off. Booties, gloves, and another millimeter of neoprene are next.
Archive for the 'blog' Category
March 23, 2011 – Production Blog
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Blog Published March 23, 2011 on studentsrebuild.org
During pre-production for this winter’s Haiti trip, I jokingly prodded Grace by asking her “wouldn’t it be great if we made a video about the ‘carrying stuff on you heard phenomenon’ we see in Haiti all the time?” Hence, the idea behind the video was born.
In Haiti, things don’t always go according to plan. The day we were scheduled to visit Port-au-Prince’s downtown markets to film for the video, just so happened to be a day where political tension filled the air. The people were awaiting the final results of the two presidential candidates (which didn’t go over too well last time). We decided against placing ourselves in danger and instead opted to film at a Haitian market in the neighborhood of Pétionville, a safer neighborhood near where we were staying. With a little bit of research and some help from AFH design fellow, Schendy Kernizan, we found the perfect market to produce our piece.
The Route Frére market is a small yet lively market in the heart of Pétionville. Here, you can find many of the same products that we find in our local supermarkets (like fruits, veggies, and meats), in addition to other goods unique to Haitian culture. Our small crew of five: Brandon (videographer), Grace (talent), Baselais (translator), Marseille (driver), and myself (video producer); decided it would be of best practice to introduce ourselves to the vendors at the market prior to busting out our arsenal of cameras and microphones (in general, when you are taking pictures or videos, it is appropriate to ask people if you can take their photo prior to pointing a camera at them. This is especially important in foreign countries). For the most part, most of the people we approached agreed to be a part of our video.
Once we began filming, all things went smoothly. So-much-so, that by lunch time we almost had all the material necessary for an edit (this was almost unheard of!), yet one sequence still eluded us – we wanted to film Grace attempting to carry a basket full chickens on her head (to her dismay). After lunch we re-grouped and returned to the market to capture our final scene. It was a bit odd interrupting market vendors and asking them if we could take their place for a few minutes (understandably so). We were turned down a couple of times, so to break the ice, I put my camera down and asked a young man if I could try carrying his merchandise on my head. He allowed me to do so and once I placed that basket on my head the market exploded with laughter. (Making a fool of myself always seems to be the perfect ice-breaker in tense situations). Soon thereafter we met a woman selling large wooden spoons from a large basket on her head. We decided to purchase a spoon and capture it on film. We moved on to another section of the market and met a young man named Jamie whose job was to transport coconuts for market vendors. He allowed Grace to carry his basket for him and again, as the locals watched her struggle the basket on top of her head, laughter ensued throughout the market.
At the Rout Frére market, we didn’t score any of the two-tiered chicken head-baskets we were hoping to capture, but we did create a fun little educational video to give the world a small perspective into life in Haiti. More importantly, I got to take home one cool and oversized wooden spoon!
Below is the video. Enjoy!
January 9, 2011 – Family & Community
SOUTH BRONX, New York – Good times spent at Brook Park after Mulchfest 2011 
December 10, 2010 – Surfing
LONG ISLAND, New York – Footage of my friend Harry and I surfing waist high waves in our winter rubber. Filmed by Rob J.
November 25, 2010 – Travel + Surfing
LAHAINA, Maui – Cruising on the log.
Novermber 17, 2010 – Travel
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Blog Published Nov 17, 2010 on studentsrebuild.org
Due to the negative press, rumors and realities of Haiti, the GNG production crew had its initial reservations about filming at the Boliman Bran Camp, a Haitian tent city, where our student profile subject, Diandine, lived. Contrary to our expectations, the experience proved to be one of my most memorable moments from this fall’s Students Rebuild video productions.
Upon our crew’s arrival at the Boliman camp, Diandine led us through the 1400 household maze of tarps and tents to get to her home. We were immediately greeted by the curious smiles of women and children that quickly dispelled any misconceptions we might have had about our safety. When we arrived at Diandine’s shelter, she introduced us to her family and neighbors, and proceeded to invite us inside her home. She pulled aside the sheet they used for a door and led us into the muddy tarp covered area. As soon as she opened the “door,” I could feel the blazing heat from the sun, which was magnified by the plastic tarp that stood between us. She showed us the area in the tiny room’s dirt floor, where she slept beside her mother, step-dad and sister. The dense layer of mosquitoes inside were immediately drawn to my flesh, so much so that the prickles made it difficult for me to be present as she told us her story, but it was even more difficult to believe that Diandine ate, bathed and slept in this room.
Throughout the tour of the camp, and pretty much anytime I saw Diandine, she always had a big, bright, contagious smile on her face. It was inspiring to see the obstacles she has to overcome – first hand, and also know that she was ranked second in her senior class at Ecole Ellie Dubois as well as fluent in three languages (Creole, French and English). I think her situation, academic success and positive attitude helped put the situation of Haiti into perspective for me. And I hope it will help viewers of her profile do the same.
October 11, 2010 – Travel
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Today our team (GNG) worked with the young women of the Ecole Elie Dubois. Their school was selected to be a part of the Students Rebuild Haiti project because of the destruction the January 12th earthquake caused their institution.
The young woman were wonderful and even saw us off with a nice thank you song! Check out the clip below.
May 8, 2010 – Music
NEW YORK CITY – These sketches are from the 2010 All-Night Concert of Indian Classical Music held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
Kumar Bose
Samir Chatterjee
April 28, 2010 – Music
NEW YORK CITY – Mr. Juan Torres from Puebla México performs ‘Si Fuera Pintor’ on the uptown 6 train.
February 7, 2010 – Surfing
LONG ISLAND, New York -
August 25, 2009 – Surfing
LONG ISLAND, NY -
May 2, 2009 – Family & Community
NEW YORK CITY -
My girlfriend Dara and I received a second place award for our entry into the Alaska Fish & Game Department’s Bear Aware Video Contest. Yay-ah!
March 11, 2009 – Activism
WASHINGTON D.C. – Today I participated in the Friends of Brad Will Caravan to D.C.. Our mission was to inform our representatives of the human rights violations and impunity U.S. tax money supports in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean – through the Merida Initiative; and to verbalize our opposition to it as well as encourage theirs.
January 14, 2009 – Travel + Activism
OAXACA CITY, Mexico - Today I filmed members of Section 22 and APPO as they came to demand Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno’s release from prison at the offices of the 5th District Judge. In this clip, his sister Lybia reads the families statement. Background info: On October 16th 2008, Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno was imprisoned for the 2006 murder of American Journalist Brad Will, unjustly, as eye-witness and forensic evidence has proved his innocence. He was scapegoated by the Mexican government in order to appease U.S. demands that the case be prosecuted, as a prerequisite for funding to Mexico under the Merida Initiative. He remains incarcerated at Santa Maria Ixcotel prison, in the City of Oaxaca, to this day.
January 11, 2009 – Travel + Music
OAXACA CITY, Mexico – Last night we celebrated Oaxaca with Raices. The full moon came to play too.
Son de la Barricada!
Salieron de todos lados con palos, gritos y piedras
y a toda la policía la mandaron a la mierda
después vino el contrataque con fuerza de tierra y aire
con gases que los maestros se quitaron con vinagre¿Qué de dónde son, qué de dónde son?
Que son de la barricada
¿Y de dónde, de dónde son?
Que son de la barricada
Poesia anónima.
verso:
La Bamba:
January 7, 2009 – Travel
OAXACA CITY, Mexico.
Protegenos Santisima Virgen de las Barrikadas.
January 5, 2009 – Travel
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASA, Mexico – Today, us big city boys got a good old fashioned butt wooping from the Zapatista basketball squadron. Luckily the match was cut-short (too late!) by el Sub-Comandante Marcos and the EZLN Comandantes, which had to clear the court for their departure from the CIDECI/Uni-Tierra campus. The Zapatista lineup sported beautifully woven blue wool garments, which did not handicap their dominance over our big city squadron.
January 1, 2009 – Travel
CARACOL DE OVENTIK, Mexico – After announcing our arrival at the Office of Good Government, our video crew was allowed to enter the Caracol de Oventik (in Chiapas, Mexico) to participate in the 15th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising and 25th anniversary of the creation of the EZLN (National Zapatista Liberation Army).
We joined thousands of masked campesinos of the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya indigenous communities and also hundreds of international Zapatista sympathizers that were present to celebrate the autonomous movement’s accomplishments.
Once the sun set the comandantes spoke, and at midnight the norteño bands began to play in what was a cornucopia of congo lines, coffee drinking, masked faces, and arroz con leche. Those that survived the 6 hours of dancing were greeted by the sun and another day of autonomy where the mountains kiss the sky.
This clip was shot at sunrise (6am):
Picture Gallery:
December 28, 2008 – Travel + Music
MEXICO CITY – Today I filmed this anti-fascist skinhead band at The Festival of Dignified Rage.
December 14, 2008 – Travel + Music
SAN FRANCISCO, California – Last night, my homie Carlo and I saw Ozomatli at the Filmore. It was just about the hundreth time I’ve seen OZO!!! ;0 But for the first time with Chali 2na, who just recently reunited with the group after doing his own thing for a couple of years. It rocked!!! Here is a clip of the same show I found online:
October 22, 2008 – Activism
NEW YORK CITY – My footage of members of the organization Friends of Brad Will participating in a 4-day vigil and fast was aired on the headlines of Democracy Now! today. The activist are goint on hunger strike from October 21st until October 24th in front of Senator Hillary Clinton’s offices in New York, as part of an international “Week of Action in Remembrance” of their murdered friend Brad Will. The purpose of the action is to bring attention to the Mexican government’s cover-up of the U.S. journalist’s murder and to show opposition to Senator Clinton’s support for U.S. funding for Mexico’s military operations under Plan Mexico (the “Merida Initiative”) .
Here is a small piece I edited with the footage:
September 11, 2008 – Health & Nutrition
NEW YORK CITY – Yoga at Tompkins Square Park with Swami Paztrami.
The Lion and the Cobra.
August 8, 2008 – Health & Nutrition
SOUTH BRONX, New York.
Viva le Time's Up!
July 12, 2008 – Techie
This is a great piece of software for extracting video from DVDs (protected or not) and from Youtube using your Mac or PC. It let’s you easily extract and convert to a wide array of formats with a simple but option filled interface. Best of all it’s FREE!
Download it here: www.squared5.com
May 17, 2008 – Gardening
SOUTH BRONX, New York – Teaching and learning to plant a cherry tree as a collective in the South Bronx. We tried to save as many worms as possible, but the “Worm Patrol!” thing got out of control 
