Click here to view the embedded video.

This past summer I got to do some deep hanging out with folks from Brazil and the Puyallup Tribe as we canoed up the Puget Sound. The encounter grew out of a of conversation that occurred nearly one year ago at the home of Geralda Soares in Araçuaí, Brazil. I was to there to help with the FLIP Brazil: Documentary Filmmaking, Human Rights and Global Activism program. Led by Professors Angelica Macklin, Margaret Griesse and Jonathan Warren the program is jointly sponsored by the University of Washington’s Comparative History of Ideas Program, The Latin American Studies Program in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Master of Communication in Digital Media (MDCM) program.  The FLIP Brazil program is grounded in the work that Jonathan Warren has been doing for over 20 years and is chronicled in his book, “Racial Revolutions: Antiracism and Indian Resurgence in Brazil.”

I sat around the table with Ivan, Geralda, Jonathan, Angelica, Margaret, Matthew Franco, and Jaquelina Pinheiro Neiva.  Ivan (Chief of the Pankararú indigenous people of Brazil) was telling the tale of how his people have worked to reclaim their land and are now in the process of re-awakening their canoe traditions.

They live near the nexus of two rivers and were known as canoe people until they were driven from their land around 1850. Upon hearing this story and because I had my laptop ready at hand, I pulled up the movie that I had made with the Hoh River Nation documenting the 2002 canoe paddle to Quinault : “Tribal Journey: Celebrating our Ancestors.”  These tribal journeys are part of a series of inter-tribal cultural exchanges reaffirming and re-awakening the canoe cultures of the Northwest coast. The film portrays the celebration of ancestors through the journey of the canoes; along with the art, dance and songs of the participating tribes; through the preparation and sharing of meals and through the celebration of the potlatch (gift giving ceremony).

Click here to view the embedded video.

After watching the film, the conversation turned when I said, “hey, you should come up to the Northwest and do some deep hanging out through participation in an upcoming paddle.” Ivan then said, “OK, make it happen.” We all looked at each other and said “let’s do it. So with a little help from our friends, we did. Jonathan Warren adds:

“The impetus for the trip had several origins. First, I have always believed that the best way to advance indigenous movements in the Americas is to forge intertribal linkages within and across national boundaries. So for some years I had been hoping to at last link those communities that I have partnered with in Brazil with those in the Puget Sound. Secondly, the Indians in Brazil have always been very anxious to make connections with indigenous communities in the US – I believe for many of the same reasons that I have had, including the belief that such connections will further the indigenous movement in Brazil and elsewhere. So we’ve been searching for ways to make these connections – something that is more difficult than what you might imagine. Thanks to your previous experiences with the NW canoe journey, that sparked the idea of making the connection through that annual ceremony.”

Along with the folks sitting around the table we’d like to thank Suzanne Martin, Carla Simone Barbosa de Brito, Connie McCloud and several members of the Puyallup, Pankararú and Pataxó  communities.  Thanks also go to University of Washington’s Diversity Research Institute, Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity, School of Social Work, Clowes Center, Center for Northwest Studies, and the Master of Communication in Digital Media program for helping to support this encounter.

We also wish to express our deep gratitude for the care that the Puyallup canoe family took in hosting our friends from Brazil.

May the sound of your drums continue to touch the sound-boxes of our souls as the rhythms and ripples of your canoes chart a better humanity for us all.

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Congratulations to Cohort 10’s Dan Thornton and incoming student Jonathan Cunningham, who will be sharing student editor duties for Flip the Media for the coming year.

Jonathan is a successful music blogger who has worked with the Seattle Weekly and Publicola, and as a trainer with youth media literacy programs. He will formally become an MCDM student in the Fall, but has been volunteering with Flip the Media for the last year, writing popular posts on topics ranging from viral videos to cloud music services.

Dan has extensive experience in film and design and teaches at Bellevue College. He worked with the Flip the Media independent study during Winter and Spring quarter, authoring and editing dozens of posts.

“I am keenly dedicated to enhancing the relationship between Flip the Media and the larger MCDM community,” Thornton said in his application letter, adding “…the goal is to establish Flip the Media as a ‘go-to’ destination for readers interested in the cross section of technology, media and culture.”

Jonathan will be recruiting contributors to the blog from the broader community, and writing a bi-weekly column. Dan will be managing and scheduling posts as they go out and building relationships inside MCDM.

Corey Christiansen will continue as Technical Coordinator, and Alex Stonehill will stay on as Faculty Advisor to the blog.

A shoutout is also due to the rest of the team who helped run Flip the Media this year: Sophia K. Agtarap, Brook Ellingwood, Suna Gurol, Elizabeth Hunter, Beth Koemans, Toni Del Rio, Carlos Sanchez, Inge Scheve and Sean Wang.

Flip the Media is seeking writers for the summer, and the coming academic year. Submit your story idea here, or send completed posts to dan@alibipictures.com or wordlush@gmail.com.

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• September 13, 2010 -- Resurrection by Prezi after Death by Powerpoint? (1)
• February 12, 2010 -- How Zynga and Other Social Gaming Companies Sell Virtual Goods for Real Money (15)

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However, a young population alone does not guarantee success. Certain stars must align in governance, education, and employment opportunities. Countries that are home to large youth populations and have limited infrastructure or jobs opportunities find themselves in challenging situations where they have millions of under employed and unemployed youth. Some of these youth are educated and some not—and if there are no jobs to focus their talents then unrest can occur, and often does. Again, it comes back to the human capacity on the ground.

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(view presentation)

Stories have always been the heartbeat through which communities are bound and the footsteps by which nonprofit organizations bridge their mission to the outside world. With the advent of digital media and social technology, the nonprofit sector’s ability to create, disseminate, and thus challenge dominant modes of mass media has arrived. Despite newfound access to these tools of creation and distribution, successful communication still requires the timeless basics of effective, credible, and inspirational storytelling–perhaps even more so given the exponential increase in new content competing for attention.

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The occasion was an offering of a 30-course (frankly, I lost count) sampling of recipes from the upcoming: “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking” authored by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet. Consisting of over 2400 pages with 3500 images, the 6 volume set spans over 6 miles of text with the ink alone weighing in at 4 pounds. The dinner was prepared and served at the Intellectual Ventures food lab. Now, realizing we are all shaped and live by particular metaphors, I am going to induce a music analogy to describe my culinary experience. The Roasted Corn Elote (freezer drier, N-Zorbit powder) and the Spaghetti Vongole-Geoduck, Banga Cauda, Sea Beans (centrifuged broth) had the progressive sophistication akin to King Crimson. The post-punk, funk and ska sensibilities found in the continuum of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Fishbone (if you can catch the allusive nuances) played out the the bang and flow of the “Snow Ball” – Green Apple and Fresh Wasabi (vacuum aerated sorbet, frozen fluid gel powder) and the Oyster Cocktail (liquid nitrogen shucking, liquid nitrogen citrus shattering).

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The Roast Chicken, Jus Gras (combi oven roast program, heat stable jus gras, pressure cooker garlic confit) was pure Hendrix. My favorite, the Pistacchio Gelato, Cocoa Nib, Black Olive (frozen constructed cream) launched into Curtis Mayfield space.

My table-mate coined the compliment “bowl licker” – as in the Beef Stew (low temperature extraction, cured, sous vide marrow) being another “bowl licker.” Another compliment added to the mix by another table-mate was “pocket stuffer” as he referred to the Pastrami and Sauerkraut (72 hour sous vide, precise curing and brining, fermentation, dehydrated bread). I did find the BBQ (high tech smoking, sous vide, centrifuged sauce) to lean more to the Bolten rather than Marvin Gaye side of the R&B equation.

All in all, the dinner was a brilliant mix of scientific explanations and the heart-felt care of preparation of Bilet and his team all wrapped up in Myhvold’s infectious kid-in-a-candy-store laugh.

A quote by Matt Catmill that I found on one of the stall walls best gets at the spirit of the dinner, “As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life – so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.” If I would have had a sharpie in my pocket, I would have added the Earth, Wind and Fire lyric: “sounds never dissipate… they only recreate… in another place.” (thanks Quetzal)

And…this one does go to 11.

To catch more of Nathan Myhvold in action be sure to join us on February 21 for our next Media Space / Four Peaks salon: “Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Pacific Northwest: Are We Really Ready for the Future?”

RSVP http://fourpeaks.eventbrite.com/

A UWTV/MCDM/Four Peaks event: Monday, February 21, 2011 11:30 – 2:30 p.m., Walker-Ames Room, Kane Hall, University of Washington

Admission $20 (includes lunch – a thought-provoking way to spend President’s Day) **FREE parking

Salon conversation leaders will include:

• Nathan Myhrvold (Intellectual Ventures)
• Susan Sigl (Washington Technology Industry Association)
• Wanda Gregory (UW-Bothell Center for Serious Play)
• Tony Benton (Community Affairs Director for Clear Channel Radio-Seattle)

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• February 25, 2008 -- Flip Video Vlog: Codecs and You! (25)
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Click here to view the embedded video.

“The outcome of our project was more than just music but a meaningful bond between people coming from completely different realities critiquing the same social problems which exist in two different countries and across the globe.”  – Jaime Espinoza and Tom Pepe

The FLIP Brazil program takes up the broad theme of human rights.  In addition to learning about the on-going and very heated academic and political debates on human rights in Brazil, students were trained to document, in film, human rights movement in urban Sao Paulo and rural Araçuaí, Minas Gerais. Through this applied project students critically reflected upon a number of methodological issues as well as their role as global activists.  The Brazil program was composed of three courses: one seminar on human rights, one methods course in which students produce a short documentary film, and Portuguese language.

The list of FLIP Brazil projects include:

“Aldeia: Cinta Vermelha de Jundiba”
Angelina Gradskaya

“Dois Mundos Contra O Sistema”
Jaime Espinoza
Tom Pepe

“Getting Around Brazil – Access as a Human Right”
Selma Collins

“Illustration of Access”
Lucas Anderson
Ryan McNamee
Sydney Simon

“Learning Under a Mango Tree”
Nicolette Lock
Amanda Pugh
Jasmyne Walton

FACULTY
Margaret Griesse
Angelica Macklin
Jonathan Warren

TEACHING ASSISTANT
Matthew Franco

LEAD ROADIE
Scott Macklin

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Our walks be-get our thoughts – which then can be-come steps of action.  In my B-Side Docs about Seattle vignette produced as part of MTV’s $5 Dollar Cover Seattle, I had the opportunity to take a walk with musician Gabriel Teodros to places not typically highlighted on Seattle tour maps.  The sixth cut from his album “Love Works” starts with the lyric, “We got a lot of work to do.”  Indeed, taking a walk with Gabriel is work but just like the beat driving his song there is the tickle of a piano line which be-speaks hints of play and fun.

The beauty of the B-Side series (click on Seattle Scene) is that it uncovers hidden spaces and experiences in the Pacific Northwest.  This collection of short films produced by local filmmakers complements the bands profiled in the $5 Dollar Cover Seattle series directed by Lynn Shelton.

When I first met Gabriel, we were working together in an after school program. He said to me, “I am a high school drop out that teaches high school learners.”  This comment took me aback. I spend my days working at the University of Washington’s Master of Communication in Digital Media program, sussing out how digital media can help create better environments for learning, business, and social interaction.

Each Gabriel Teodros show is a like a family swap meet of beats and flows.  It inspires the question: hip hop moves masses but is it a movement that amasses movements that make a difference?  Taking a walk with Gabriel, I discover two movements I’d like to receive more structure and direction:

1) Global gatherings of people to grow that sense of shared experiences in order to reawaken common people’s common sense, by building bridges of understanding through exchange of story that becomes knowledge of self and community.

2) Local leadership that nurtures the exciting learning work that goes on in after-school programs, playgrounds, basements, community centers, gardens, and streets so that it shapes what goes on in classrooms in more culturally relevant ways and shortens the distance between informal and formal learning environments.

Taking a walk with Gabriel helped me to understand that if we are gong to do a better job developing such environments, we need better connection points between entertainment, community, innovation, and entrepreneurship.  At the MCDM we are embarking on a new walk to develop a network of content creators, technologists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who collaborate on projects that support innovation, storytelling, a sustainable economy, and strong social capital.  We are calling this new adventure Four Peaks. Four Peaks seeks to address an urgent need: how to connect idea generators with technology innovators in a way that establishes our region as a living, breathing communications and media laboratory for the 21st century to the benefit of its citizens, and the world.

Given the many challenges that we face today, we have much to learn from Gabriel when he says, “it’s not about what you got…it is how you freak it.” Taking a walk with Gabriel is about the work of play.

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The UW’s Master of Communication of Digital Media (MCDM), in collaboration with the Seattle Public Library and City Club present:

Open Secrets: An Open Conversation about Wikileaks and Information Transparency in America

Seattle Public Library  – Microsoft Auditorium (1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA)

5:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, December 10, 2010

Admission free, RSVP

Confirmed Subject Matter Experts:

Mike Fancher, Editor at Large of The Seattle Times
Brett Horvath, Director of The Leaders Network
Sarah van Gelder, Editor-in-Chief, Yes! Magazine

Hosted by Hanson Hosein, Director MCDM and Host of Media Space on UWTV
Directed by Scott Macklin, Associate Director MCDM

With the explosion of digital and social media platforms over the past decade, we celebrate the idea of an openness and transparency – especially online.  Is Wikileaks just another platform within this new “open” environment?  Or has the past week’s events provided a harsh lesson in our need to retain control over certain forms of information?  We’ll engage the public in a conversation about the nature of Wikileaks and its impact on our understanding of the Internet.

Streamed live at http://www.livestream.com/mcdm

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