Relay For Life - Laundry

Below is a video that I created for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Kleberg and Bishop Texas. The footage is from 2 years ago. The original idea of the video was to have two shirts fight in the washing machine. One shirt was to be a "cancer" shirt and the other was to be a Relay For Life shirt.

For some reason the editing process was not going the way that I wanted it to be so I just scraped the idea. A few days ago while cleaning my computer folders I came across the video footage and created this new video promo. 

 http://youtu.be/Ge0GHpM48ug

A New Tribalism - Spotlight on Adrian and Jere Sepulveda

www.grong.kommune.no

Imagine a world with no smog, clean water, food that is grown without being genetically modified, a world where animals roam free and what is that you hear in the background? Could it be some music? No, it is just the sound of rushing water from a distant river and here you are sitting back, soaking in the sun and enjoying all that is around you.

How can you be so lucky to live like this? It is a decision that must be done intentionally. One has to make the effort to live in the natural world the way that it was intended.

According to wikipedia.org, Daniel Quinn the American writer best known for his novel Ishmael, believes the world and people are of one unity and that

"...Quinn ideas are popularly associated with environmentalism, though he criticizes this term he identifies himself a cultural critic and specifically refers to his philosophy as new tribalism."

This week I had the privilege conducting an e-mail interview with Adrian and Jere Sepulveda who are part of the solution to obtaining a pure and wholesome life. They are part of the "new tribalism" movement. The term "tribalism" refers to an open, cooperative community that states that nature and the laws of man are connected to one another. Therefore man should live in perfect balance with nature.

Below is the e-mail interview: 

In one word how would you describe your lifestyle? 

Simple

What made you decide to do eat only whole foods and limit processed things?
A love of self which corresponds to a love of the larger self...we take care of our body and we take care of our larger body...the earth. Especially after witnessing family members die of terrible diseases and their link to modern industrial foods. That was the turning point, about 1999 or so. Although, we do partake in some processed organic foods, we strive to keep it to a minimum.

Do you follow a certain religion?

What we believe in, or follow, is not religion perse, but in a word, i would call it..animism. Unlike a religion, animism, is something totally different. It is something woven into our daily life. Something that hums in all of life.

What kind of employment/work do you both do?

We both are master gardeners and permacultural landscapers. But we are skilled in many things. In a simple life, we cultivate what makes us happy, what makes others happy, what makes the land joyful with our work. In this sense, it isn't "work", but just simple living. In modern industrial society, work is something apart from home life, something you "go to", something separate, rather than an integration. We practice something like...mind, body, spirit, all connected and flowing from source. Rather than mind, body, spirit being atomized and institutionalized, or commodified. By its very nature, industrial society is at odds, is contrary, to a simple life.

Growing up what were your parents like?

Adrian...i was raised in an extended family household. I never met my biological father. I did have a stepfather though. My mom was a hardworking woman raising a large family. My grandmother, my great uncle and my uncle Chuy were close knit to me. And rounded out my familial setting. Everyone was caring and loving.

Jere....Growing up my parents were very protective, had high expectations and were very loving. I imagine my mother would be proud of the woman i have become. My grandparents also played a large part in my upbringing.

What is the one thing that you recommend for others to try when changing their lifestyle for the betterment of the world?

First, one has to realize the mess were in and come to grips with it, then, one has to realize that another more ecologically sound way is possible. With that in mind, yes, one starts to do what is possible with what one may have presently at their disposal. Gardening, recycling, education, helping others in community, volunteering to clean up ecologically sensitive areas, or helping animals in need (human and non human)...like at a shelter or a runaway hotline, etc. But more importantly, teaching the young ones the truth and how to go about living an ecological life. That's hard, especially with kids raised in the digital world. But its not impossible, get a really charismatic and go get em type of person with kids, and the kids will love it! 

As one develops an ecological self, the mind opens up drastically, and what was once hidden, is totally blown open, and one "sees" what one did not before. In other words, its a life journey, not something you turn on and off, once you know, it will be so deep and profound, you'll feel the aliveness and you'll never go back to the "old self". 

Kleberg Co. and Bishop Texas Relay For Life

It is NEVER too early to start getting ready for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. This is one event that we enjoy getting ready for year after year. This is our 13th year in participating in the event in one form or another. 
The reason why we participate in Relay For Life is because we want to keep the memory alive of our family members who have lost the fight against cancer. We want to honor the memory of my college professor who encourage me to work on the first Relay For Life video and just recently lost his battle with brain cancer and we do this in honor of our family members who are cancer survivors and kick cancer in the rear!

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society signature event to raise funds and local awareness for all types of cancer.  

"Relay For Life teams camp out overnight and take turns walking or running around a track or path at a local high school, park, or fairground. Events are up to 24 hours long, and because cancer never sleeps, each team is asked to have at least one participant on the track at all times." - Relay For Life. org

Our event is on April 11, 2014 and will be held at the Javelina boulevard on the campus of Texas A&M University Kingsville. I am so excited for this year's event because I will be the event co-chair. In years past I have work on the official Kleberg Co. and Bishop Relay for Life videos but will take a step back from that and let someone else shoot the video. Of course I am going to help edit some of the footage but it will be nice to give someone else a chance at creating the majority of it. Honestly the videos need a fresh look and feel so I think this is for this best.

For more information about this event or to donate to the American Cancer Society go to this link here. The link will take you to our family's personal Relay For Life fundraiser page. So far we have raised $130. Our goal this year is $600. Last year we raised a little over $500 and thought that this year we would try to raise a little more. 

www.relayforlife.org

Why does Israel have a Prime Pinister?

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who makes typos when writing. This was on the front page of the Yahoo! Web news stories for today. This actually gives me some encouragement to keep writing. If professionals can make mistakes then so can I.

Menda's Country Bumpkin Report on Facebook

Hobby House Singer

The spotlight interviews will have to be delayed for now because I'm still waiting on some e-mail responses to see if the interviews will take place.

In the meantime enjoy this short video about a random girl singing at the Hobby House comic book store.

Be sure to check back here on Thursday for another update and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel. 

http://youtu.be/rNuAYzfS-Yk

Happy New Year!

fcnetwork.org

A suggestion was made to me in a blog forum that this blog should be more focused on a single topic instead of being a general blog about life. I was asked what is the one thing that I am passionate about and whatever that thing is then that should be the focus of this blog. Easier said than done. My true passion is information gathering and finding out other people's opinions on a variety of topics.

In the next few blog posts I plan on interviewing people that have a unique view on life. This series will be called the "Spotlight on (person name)".  They may have a unique job, overcame a major hurdle or maybe just have a unique view on how the world works. This should be a fun project and I can't wait to share it with you. Check back here on Tuesday to see who will be spotlighted first.