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The Good Day

When we arrived on Bali, our first phone call was to Gusti, who Donna has worked with and known for close to twelve years. He was distraught. His Mother had just returned home from a walk (at 80 she was a vital part of the family) and collapsed in the driveway. He was taking her to the hospital. He later told us that she had a stroke and he had stayed with her, and two days after that conversation, she died. We actually spoke with him the moment after her death (weird how this all works). So we knew the

Bali Journal, Week 2

We left Ubud by taking a winding route by our friend Gusti’s home, and then made our way out to the shore of E. Bali to spend a bit of time at the beach, as well as catch up with Michael Lorenti, a fellow member of 1% for the Planet with his company Sensatia Botanicals. Ketut, and her husband Willie drove u,s and we made sort of a family type outting of it, with the four of us. The tempo of life while being much more leisurely here, is pretty intriguing on several levels, especially when we got to have

Bali Journal: Week 1

This first week has been hectic, sort of no surprise, as the travel and shoot modus all of us use, is deeply embedded at this point in my life. We are staying on the outskirts of Ubud, off the beaten tourism path in the compound of a Balinese family and the home of A fascinating Yogi- fitness authority named Jocelyn Gordon. We did a little bit of motion capture for her website, Hoopyogini. Fun and she is quite elegant in every way (good subject) Days are a series of time lapse projects, design meetings for Donna and Betty B with

Outward Bound: LAX to Denpasar, Bali

It has been three years since I have been on Bali. The last trip was expeditious, in that aside from all the work stuff in my own imaging programs and working for Donna’s company, Betty Belts, I went there specifically to ask her to marry me and we had gone separately. In the time since I am amazed at the shift which has taken place. She and I joined lives in an amazing Hawaiian-Chumash ceremony at my home break and that of the Chumash, at Refugio beach on the Gaviota Coast, where we saw and felt the presence of God

Running and Gunning

Whew, just off a series of e mails with Lorenzo De Stefano, who is Director of the film Hearing is Believing which I am the Director of Cinematography on. The crew will be down at the Blue Whale in LA filming a performance by Rachel and the remarkable Taylor Eigsti for the project Thursday night. I on the other hand, will be on Bali working on some development projects for my wife’s company, and meeting up with a couple film makers there to possibly create something rather exotic. Life is hectic in a good way. This week saw a fantastic

Ocean Ohana: Guardianship

The other night my wife and I were at a friend’s home in Ojai. A bunch of us regularly get together and cook for each other. An eclectic mix of artists, musicians, scientists, researchers, doctors and ex or current military operatives, we spend the evening into the night, just enjoying the fok out of each other, and strangely enough, in spite of the laughter, challenges to each other’s knowledge bases, great food (each person is a remarkable chef-cook) and some interesting wines, we actually learn stuff that can be carried with us from that point onward. One such gem which

Another Year: NYE

The Holidays seem to never change much in our family. Generally speaking, they are a time of deep reflection and great personal growth. It has always been this way. I am not sure if it is because so many in the tribe were born this time of year, or what, exactly. But it has become an unsought tradition: that of looking inward and subtly shifting focus, often with dramatic results. As Creatives it is an obligation to do so: set our house in order. So that the work we produce may be a benefit to others, and not just

River of Life

I was reading this post from Seth Godin today. It struck me in pointed fashion. Some of the best, most powerful artists I know, at some point have mentioned that they are not “joiners”. Living a life is at times analogous to a trip down a grand river. The scenery that passes by, affords us invitation every inch of the inexorable flow to the sea, to pause. Or not. There is always that. What makes you choose what you embrace? Look around with that in mind. There you are, living as a product of those selections. Here is a beautiful

Thanksgiving

Well, it is Thanksgiving morning, and yep, the surf is flat here today in Ventura, Ca. USA. But not for long. This is an interesting piece by Jon Rappoport about some of what is going on at the Hawaiian State level in a Federal Judge overturning County based actions against some of the polluters damaging the watersheds, reefs and more. Take a close look at the names he lists. Unfortunately, this is another damned I told you so moment. But it is Hawaii, so hopefully those folks will just do what Hawaiians do. There are the socially stabilizing affects surrounding

Portugal

Well, it is the end of my first day in Portugal. Been here for 24 hours. Sitting on the 13th floor in our rental with Donna and Korina, in San Jao de Estoril. They are crashed out. I am wide awake. Korina had been burning the candle for days prior to landing. She is the color designer for Patagonia, and a close friend. Donna too had been hitting work hard, remodeling her little retail shop in Ventura, and doing her homework for this exploration and design quest here. Pretty stoked to be traveling with these two amazing women. A little

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