Paying Attention

Long Story Short: I'm in NYC, Brooklyn to be exact, and my film is on it's way to the duplicator. 

Long Story:  I did something really stupid; it just goes to show how important "paying attention" aka “mindfulness” is.  Not paying attention costs a lot. 

I thought the film was finished at 1:30 am on the morning of my flight to NYC.  I gave the DVD master to Nik so he could overnight the film to El-Man Productions (who has replicated my films and CDs since 2004.)  I took one copy with me on the plane. 

So, I arrived in NYC (after one substantially delayed flight - about 16 hours of travel and airport time) and discovered the next day that there were major problems with the sound.   It was partly the rush and partly the encode process exaggerating my mistakes in sound levels and balance.  "I hate it! It can't go out like this!" I shrieked.   I sent an urgent message to Elman to stop the presses.

I had to do a complete sound remix of the entire film, and re-encode, and re-author, which meant another night without sleep   

So the really stupid part is that at the end of that long day, I went to the corner shop to get a gallon of water.  As I left the shop, I was looking at the water bottle, not the sidewalk, trying to figure out how to hold it, at which point the little 2” ledge was not observed.  I heard bones crack, and suddenly. ... Big ouch,  hobbling around, hopping ouch!  And when I got upstairs, crawling seemed to work much better than trying to walk.   I couldn’t put any weight on the foot without pain. 

Two days later, I am looking back at my moments of non-attention, and lessons to be learned.  Even though it hurt to distraction, and I could not walk on my foot, now it seems mostly healed.  This was after using ice packs, an oil called Balsam Fir, and me telling the foot “Heal NOW!” over and over, while breathing and tapping.    I’ve broken my foot twice -  “ballerina” hairline fractures --  in approximately the same place, and it felt a lot like that.  Nik sez the twist & fall probably just snapped a bunch of cartilage temporarily out of place. It was definitely seriously traumatized.    I’m just feeling relieved and thinking this was a miracle because right now, I’m not crawling to the fridge for ice, and I can walk -- not skipping just yet.  

So here’s to mindfulness, paying attention in advance or it will cost you in arrears.   

The cost:  $45.00 to send the corrected version via UPS (they deliver on Saturday), loss of sleep, and a few stressful moments.  I think I’m lucky!

Me, bleary eyed and weary, having just completed the rework of the film “9/11 Dust:  A Healing Journey”   Such lovely red indoor light, late in the night. This shows about the way I really felt.  So done

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Composer hard at work

Nik is working on music score for "9/11 Dust: A Healing Journey".   Nothing like a looming deadline to stir the juices!

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9/11 Dust: A Healing Journey

The deadline draws near for completion of my new film "9/11 Dust: A Healing Journey"  and the date of the preview premier also gets closer (September 8).  In order to fill the gap left by the primary funder pulling out "due to philosophical differences and the direction of the film", I launched a Kickstarter campaign to feed the rest of the process and get me to NYC for the premier.  Please check it out and if you like what you see, please consider a donation to help me meet my goal of $1500.       

 

This short documentary is a followup to my 2006 film “9/11 Dust and Deceit” about people who have suffered from the health effects of the toxic dust of September 11, 2001, many of whom are still not getting the health care they need.   The film seeks to show solutions, and asks how those directly affected by illness, and all of us still grieving, can heal from 9/11.   

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Fukushima

One of the songs we performed at the Solstice Festival in Santa Barbara for the first time was "Fukushima" which I wrote thinking about how the government and officials act the same when disaster strikes, whether manmade or environmental; they don't tell the truth and it affects the health of people for years to come.  Half way through writing the song, doing some research I found out that sunflowers absorb some radiation and were being planted by the millions in Japan.  

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The Away Team at Solstice

The Away Team performed at this year's Summer Solstice Festival in Santa Barbara, If you've never seen the Solstice Parade it is not to be missed. You can check it out here http://www.solsticeparade.com. About 100,000 spectators are entertained by the people powered floats, ensembles, dancers which can be likened to Brazil's Carnival Santa Barbara style. The Festival is three days with music, art, crafts and food, a drum circle, a DJ area, and a kid's festival. The parade began 38 years ago as a birthday party for a local mime artist Michael Gonzales, parading down the street in costume.

It's taken me awhile to get back to blogging. After Solstice I had to seriously get in gear to get my followup to my 2006 film "9/11 Dust and Deceit" ready to go for a September premier in NYC. This short film "9/11 Dust: A Healing Journey" will look at how those affected by the toxic dust of 9/11 are faring, the Zadroga Bill, and looking at how we can all heal from 9/11.

So, here's a photo taken by Steve Fields (from the band Bunnyhead) of Nik Green and myself, Penny Little, at Solstice 2012.

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Good Times Fly Music Video

The Away Team is Away - Pause Press Play launched on September 11, 2011

The Away Team is on two coasts, Penny in NYC and Nik in San Francisco for the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001. In San Francisco, Nik performed his piece "Requiescant in Pace" to a montage of footage by Lenny Charles taken on 9/11 at Ground Zero, and the music video Topsy Turvy World was shown at the Herbst Theater. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVe1WV_YEs

Penny is in NYC to do follow up interviews for an addendum to her film "9/11 Dust and Deceit", and a showing of her film as part of the PAUSE PRESS PLAY project and Health Help 9/11. The showing at the Walker Stage in NYC included a wonderful presentation by healing consultant Ama Lia Wai-Ching from Singapore.

In Miami, the event at the LMNT Contemporary Art Space included an art installation/exhibit, "The Pause Towers" - a plexiglass sculpture filled with prescription bottles and medical packaging from ten years of prescription based treatments from health survivors of World Trade Center illness. The Miami event at the LMNT Contemporary Art Space included an art installation/exhibit, "The Pause Towers" - a plexi-glass sculpture filled with prescription bottles and medical packaging from ten years of prescription based treatments from health survivors of World Trade Center illness.

PAUSE Project Director Rachel Hughes who has struggled with the health effects the WTC Syndrome for the past ten years, says, “Pause delves deep into the questions I face on a daily basis. Because of my illness I have been forced to ‘pause’ and reflect on the questions surrounding 9/11.” This project launched on the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2011 launched with film showings, art exhibits and presentations focused on solutions.

The 2006 film “9/11 Dust and Deceit” by Penny Little examines the questions of the health problems suffered by thousands of first responders, volunteers, workers who were exposed for months to the toxic dust in lower Manhattan.

For more info:
http://www.911dust.org/hh911.htm

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