A Pivotal Speech in the Idea War

Brett Gaylor's documentary 'RiP! A Remix Manifesto' is a profound declaration in our Conceptual Era's "Idea War."

http://www.hulu.com/watch/88782/rip-a-remix-manifesto

Whoa. I'm getting serious or something.Re: Arts Funding

From: joeyostrander@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Economic Recovery Package Must Include Arts
Date: March 27, 2009 4:59:08 PM GMT-04:00
To: senator@stabenow.senate.gov

Really!?!

Thanks, for the cookie cutter response. It makes me feel like you really care. No response at all could have made me feel less neglected.

I fail to see how any of your attached email relates to continued annual loss of support for Art.

American Culture and Art are dying, Senator Stabenow, particularly in Michigan. The only self-sustaining visual art form in our country any longer is filmmaking. We cannot rely solely on a consumer public, nor especially on a capitalist economy to revive us. Sustenance for Art has always needed support from government.

Today is little different from days when men painted Roman chapels, or carved the physiques of great leaders from stone, from days when photographers documented for and future playwrights were employed by Roosevelt's WPA. Grecian sculptors, Michaelangelo, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Miller, each were supported and funded by their governments. Without such state-sponsored efforts, these historic artists could not have achieved such historic works.

American government has begun to decreasingly offer financial aid toward our Art education, production, and appreciation. The NEA has grown progressively weaker, more overlooked, and grossly underfunded relative to the evolution of the rest of our economy. A continued neglect of Art in America's future will foster the bankruptcy of our culture, and likewise the morale of our society.

This is not an argument. This is a warning, of inevitability.

Joey Ostrander
Photographer & Filmmaker
SE Michigan



On Mar 27, 2009, at 1:27 PM, Senator Debbie Stabenow wrote:

Joseph Ostrander
413 Ballard St, Apartment 1
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Thank you ...

... for contacting me to express your concerns about the economic recovery plan recently passed by Congress. I supported this legislation because ... (click for full letter) ...

... ... [ blah , blah , senate intern , or computer drone , sent this ] ... ...

... Thank you again for contacting me. As always, please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.

Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

"PUSHING DAISIES"

that is, Pushing Daisies, the television series.
mm. yes, good.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/pushingdaisies/
http://www.youtube.com/user/47alias47?ob=4




ps.
oh yeah, did i mention: PUSHING DAISIES!

Michigan Film Tax Incentive Endangered

Over the past couple days I've drafted a statement opposing a Michigan Senate Bill 1535 that would put a constricting cap on Michigan's current film tax incentive.

The cap would limit the state's support of the film/arts industry, turn away production companies from outside Michigan, and eliminate jobs.

I've attached the statement here
-- http://JoeyOstrander.googlepages.com/StAgFilmIncentCap.pdf --

Please feel free (i.e. compelled) to read, and call your Senator to tell them to vote against SB 1535.

i feel good about helping

tonight an old woman almost passed out on my front steps trying to carry a box of penny banks half way across downtown Ypsi to a coffee shop.

i helped her carry that change - it was heavy - and we had a nice little discussion about our optimism on our country turning around after the upcoming election. (Go Blue)

i dropped her and her change off at the coffee shop where the late night waitress graciously began to count here pennies for her, and serve her a fresh tasty cup o' ... joe.

hurray, Robin Hood.
*cheerful sigh*

Earth v. The Earth

Often we call our planet "The Earth" as if it is an object, much like we may refer to the man, or the clock, or the home, creating some personal detachment from it.

But sometimes we call our planet "Earth" giving her a name, like an artwork, or a beloved ship, or a pet, or a friend, creating a relationship between ourselves and Earth.

Semantics? Perhaps.
But it is not the way we say it that concerns me, rather the way we think about our planet...
as a place, as a home, as a rock, as a friend... ???

pony

tail

I could write about a hundred things...

... but I don't want to write about anything that I don't have photos of.

I could take more photos.
I can, and yet, I will.
Epiphany!

push

I am more lost than I've ever been.

I am sure of so little.

But I still keep trying. , , Because this is what I know... to do. because i am sure of somethings._

because someday,, , th- _ ;
someday, those sure things... will be.

change & stay the same

i'm tired of pretending that i'm happy all the time

from now on i will say what's on mind
the truth
and act on what i feel

but i'll still be nice to everyone. i can't help that

if there's only one thing

I understand the adage goes: 'You can't have everything you want,' meaning you'll need to make important decisions in life of what to pursue and what to sacrifice.

But what if there's only one thing that you've decided that you want? Anything else - any possession, any dream, any memory - is secondary... is worth sacrificing if you could just have this one thing because maybe it is everything you want, and maybe you never knew it until now...

How does that work?

Can I have it?
I think I'd give up anything just for a shot... just for one chance to prove that she's worth it _ __ ___

doubts of selflessness

My motivation has always been bred by the doubt of others. If I am told I cannot do something, naturally I find a way to do it.
But at times I question whether this M.O. will help me reach the most ambitious goals I see for my future.
Will constantly swimming upstream prove my worth? Will I earn accolades if I always defy what is expected of me, though I only want what's best? Will earning what I believe is best set me apart and away from the people I long to have near me?

Why can I not have everything I want? Why must I sacrifice one joy for opportunity, pleasure for responsibility, myself for others? Why do I feel I ought to? Why do I feel this way?

And does this make me a good person? an ignorant man? selfrighteous?
Does or will what I do matter... ever?

winning

I am starting to win.
I have a job... working in video editing and other media.
I may get to do some photography and documentary for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.
I've moved to a comfortable new house.
I am finding the desire to be creative once again.
And it snowed.. a lot.. and I'm happy about that.

Now, if I could only get paid.



PS.. I added a ONE page element on the right. They're about fighting poverty. It's worth checking out.

My Theme Song

This is my theme song.
I didn't choose it; it chose me.
Sometimes I hear it playing, but there is no radio around. I could be anywhere, and the right thought just pops into my head, and this song plays, and I can actually hear it... in my ears. Of course, this happens with a number of songs. It is like they're recorded in my head... but never so often as with this song.

Jason Kendall Ray

It took me an hour and a half to read this article...

____Ray of Hope____
about Jason Kendall Ray
aka Rameses, the UNC mascot,
aka youth leader,
aka front man for Nine PM Traffic,
aka etc, etc, etc...

Recently,
as we were discussing how I believe some people I am close to look to me expecting to see pride or strength or success,
a friend asked me who it is that I look up to.

While one may expect some obvious well-known professionals,
directors or artists or writers,
I had never deeply considered the individuals that inspire me to be who I am.

I have never truly kept track of the people and their stories whom,
when I hear of or read of or meet or get to know them,
I am affected, moved, shaped, changed.

I think this record begins today
with Jason Kendall Ray.

Save Joey

Like most people, I am motivated when what I do is seen and encouraged.
Unlike most people , I need this motivation.
For some recent time, I (namely, my imagination, which is more important to my survival and personality than my brain and heart) has felt like a dead puppy.

Your mission - whether you choose to accept it or not - is to help bring me puppy back from the dead.
This is not a one person job; it is a community effort...
for all those who care about me, I challenge you to tell me what I could/should/(hell, what you would) do.

Joey needs your help.

Perfect from Far Away

I just spent eight days with two of the coolest nieces this side of the moon. It's been the most fun I've had all summer. It's a shame I'll have to go home tomorrow.

Also. I just fell in love with this Sam character in Garden State.


I'm afraid to make a big change because... what if I fuck it up again.
(don't tell me there's no reason to be afraid because I am.

I am.)

Me and Me from This to That

Marla...
the little scratch on the roof of your mouth
that would heal if only you could stop tonguing it,
but you can't.
-Ed Norton, Fight Club, 1999

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm a schizophrenic
And so am I
-Bill Murray, What About Bob?, 1991

From that day on,
we was always together.
Jenny and me was like peas and carrots.
-Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump, 1994

Resilience

I've been feeling knocked down a lot lately,
but I get back up.
I always get back up.
It has been difficult.. recently.

Not knowing how many times
I'll be knocked down this hard
before it gets easier:
that is difficult.

Getting up is what to do though.
I'll keep it up,
getting up,
hopefully long enough.

Soon I expect the falls won't feel so heavy.
Eventually every hit won't knock me down.
Someday soon I will be as strong again as I was not long ago.
You'll see.
I hope you'll see.. because I know I will.

Accidental Hero Vs. Accidental Villian

Today I did some yard work at my friend's house. (When you are poor and struggling for work, friends hire you to help out a bit... and this helps you out a bit.) So I did quite a bit of magifying some bushes and grasses.

Among the taller-than-me bushes I found grapevines abundant. They were covering - no, blanketing the brush, which was fighting just to earn some light. Oh, but the grapes were young and not quite ripe. This posed a dilemma. I did not have trouble deciding... the baby grapes and choking vines must go. So I cut them away - most of them - and tore them from their deadly grasp on the branches. I saved the bushes, but..!!

While I was recklessly and aggressively tearing away vines, I failed to recognize a bird's nest in the tall branches... until I had gone and knocked two infant barely-feathered sparrows from the nest. I noticed them lying on the ground after they began chirping. They could not fly. Their eyes barely opened. They could only but thrust their legs about and cry for help.

I was afraid to touch them, but had to return to them to their nest or they would die. I went to the garage. I gloved my hands up, and found a small nest-sized garden shovel. The birds were lying in some pile of dead leaves. Hopefully this broke their fall and not their fragility. I delicately scooped each up sliding one then the other into their crib overhead.I hope my non-skin interference in the rescue didn't taint their motherbird away from them.

I think I saved these birdlings today, though I also almost killed them. I hope I did not. This could make me a bad person... a little bit.... or at least careless.