Dispatch from Europe
June 1, 2008
A brief play by play of our production adventure for the Yale Biophilic Design documentary:
May 20 - Bill and Jaime take a red eye to London. Unfortunately for Jaime, this is a sign of things to come.
May 21 - Wasting no time, we head North in our diesel Skoda (thank goodness for small cars given the price of gas over here), stopping at the David Mellor design museum and factory in the Peak District (a beautiful round, stone building) before spending the night in the Lake District (with the Boyds generously offering their farm house as a filming location and place to rest our weary, jet-lagged heads).
May 22 - Waking up to the crisp Cumbria air, we film some sheep in a stunning valley before heading south again to interview historian Tony Sutcliffe and film the Jubilee Campus in Nottingham. Late arrival in London for the night, having driven the length of England for two days in a row.
May 23 - A day spent in central London: filming in Portcullis House, Evelina Children's Hospital, and Inn the Park at St. James's Park - all three striking buildings by Hopkins Architects (two of whom - Patrick Nee and Mike Taylor - served as our guides for the experience). After a leisurely dinner, we're off for a heart-pounding race to make the 1am ferry out of Newhaven. We arrive at the ferry dock to find a French fishermen's blockade has delayed our boat for a few hours. A hardly restful night ensues on our way to Dieppe.
May 24 - Ferry arrives with the sun dawning on the French coast. Bleary-eyed we stumble into the old port town and find a bustling Saturday market. Realize we don't speak any French. Somehow get croissants and coffee for breakfast. Epic drive to Mont St. Michel, an incredible monastery built on a rocky outcrop off the Normandy coast. Arrive to pouring rain. Hope "atmospheric" shot of soggy sheep in mist will work. Drive to Paris.
May 25 - We meet our French host, guide and translator Miriam underneath the Eiffel Tower (the plan made sense at the time and incredibly it not only worked but we also ran into other friends randomly). Jaime and I jostle with the hoards to enjoy the view, regroup at a cafe with Miriam, and slowly make our way to Chartres, where we aren't allowed to film in the cathedral given the Sunday services in session - minor setback, which you think the people who sold us the filming permit would have mentioned. But stern church volunteers and train delays can't keep us from a delicious rabbit stew made by Miriam and Andres which Jaime indicates is finger-lickin' good.
May 26 - A highlight in my short career thusfar - we trek off to Notre Dame in Paris, up many flights of winding stairs, and get a gargoyle's eye view of Paris from the towers (through a special gate and off the tourist track). Then on to the Viaduc des Arts and the Promenade Plantee, a linear park built on the remains of an old viaduct, for some filming of flowers and strolling Parisians. And over to interview Patrick Berger, the architect behind the Promenade. We swing by the exterior of the Louvre to capture the Jardin des Tuileries in a drizzle, before parting ways with Miriam. One last stop before hitting the road for our overnight ferry. One disastrous last stop. Looking for a little more of the typical Parisian scene, we head to Montmartre, where I set up the camera in Abbesses Sqaure to film the classic Guimard metro station. Here we go to Jaime, who had a better view of the following incident:
"Talking smack in French is not easy when you only know 20 words. As we were filming near a Metro station, a punk grabbed the lens of our camera, tilting it downward on its tripod. Two buddies lurked behind him, one holding a wine bottle. I shoved him away but he got up in my face, using the old 'why'd you touch me?' line. I wanted to tell him off but all I could say was, 'You no touch camera. You no touch me. I no touch you. You are cheese.'"
In the end, the tripod was broken, but the camera (and us) unscathed. Some neighborhood residents took us under their wing, but after a half hour of waiting for the police we had to book it if we were going to make our ferry. Another heart pounding drive, this time arriving just in time to take the freight entrance on the ferry before the ship set sail.
May 27 - Another bleary eyed drive - this time to London where we had an appointment at Charterhouse, a monastery turned retirement community. A beautiful, quiet spot right in the thick of things, and the last stop on our whirlwind week...
"Eat Local" video featured on YouTube homepage for Earth Day
April 22, 2008
A little over a year ago, Flo and I were brainstorming ideas for the Convenient Truths video contest at Treehugger.com, and we spontaneously filmed her cooking a quiche and talking about local food. It rated well in the contest (viewed by 177 people and just missing the top 20 cut) and then sinked into twelve months of Internet oblivion.
Yesterday, the folks at YouTube raised Eat Local from obscurity and placed it on their homepage (3rd from the top -- above the fold) for Earth Day. In the past 24 hours, about 100,000 people have watched it, which is pretty insane. Also insane: the downright toxic comments that people post on YouTube. Who knew that cooking with local ingredients would make some people so angry/resentful/mean. Ah well.
I turned off email notification after the first hundred comments, and have tried to avoid spending too much time looking at the 400 that followed, but amid the spam and disrespectful unaccountability there were actually some really nice and thoughtful postings. I also got a message from Eva at Stuck in VT whose Jr Iron Chef video was also featured on the YouTube homepage a few days back. Check it out (but don't read the comments, as most are just plain mean)...
VT Climate Witness in the news
April 12, 2008
While we have yet to formally launch Vermont Climate Witness, the site has already caught the attention of some VT newspapers - this Sunday a feature story on the project appeared in both the Rutland Herald and the Montpelier-Barre Times-Argus.
Citizen journalism has been on my mind lately, as J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism hosted a great mini-conference last week for the New Voices grantees. Very exciting to get together with people from journalism schools, public access TV stations, and media advocacy groups to explore where this "new media" thing is going...
Movies in Montpelier - The GMFF
March 27, 2008
It's Green Mountain Film Festival time in Montpelier, and the capitol city is awash in films, filmmakers, and film lovers. Last weekend was the VT premiere of The Axe in the Attic - two sold-out shows, with friendly (mostly) audiences, and great discussions afterwards (I was there with some friends for the first and Ed filled me in about the second). But that just the tip of the iceberg, as Flo and I have 23 tickets between us.
Highlights so far include:
Protagonist, a great doc that weaves four personal narratives and Greek tragedy to illuminate the danger of extremism and the powerful moment when someone suddenly realizes that everything they believed with total certainty was wrong (who knew that was also the take home message from Euripides).
The Seventh Seal - Ingmar Bergman's 1957 slightly fantastical, surprisingly funny rumination on God and death. It felt like a cinematic experience and sparked a good conversation on the way home, even in Flo was struggling to stay awake during the film.
On the agenda this weekend, we've got the enviro double-feature of King Corn and Everything's Cool, plus taking the DREAM Environmental Productions team to the Vermont Filmmakers Showcase. Should be fun, if my eyes don't completely glaze over from so much movie-watching.
Vermont Climate Witness "Soft Launch"
February 1, 2008
For the past nine months Tamarack Productions, the non-profit offshoot of Tamarack Media, has been working on website to capture and share Vermonters' stories about climate change. Now we have launched a Beta version of the website for testing and seed content - check it out at Vermont Climate Witness and let us know what you think.
This project is funded by J-Lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland, and is being produced in partnership with our neighbors at Legitify and friends at Vermont Natural Resources Council.
Luna de Miel
January 2, 2008
I'm back in the office after a month-long hiatus/honeymoon. Our trip to Chile was amazing, from the generosity of our Santiago hosts Miriam and Andres, to the delicious food and picturesque villages of the island of Chiloe. But the best part was Patagonia - I think the picture speaks for itself...
It's all about food - turkey day 2007
November 22, 2007
So while Pete's posts tend to be about travel, mine seem to be mostly about food. Flo and I have noticed that pretty much most of our free time revolves around cooking, eating, and talking about food. Long gone are the days of dinner in less than five minutes (via a microwaved bag of frozen, processed food). And I'm ok with that.
In that spirit, here is what we ate for Thanksgiving, possibly my favorite holiday (especially given the fact that it revolves around eating):
- Turkey (of course) from Gaylord Farm in Waitsfield
- Stuffing featuring bread from Manghi's Bakery in Montpelier, parsnips from our Pete's Greens veggie share, and sausage from Winding Brook Farm
- Mashed sweet potatoes from the veggie share with fresh sage (fortunately we transplanted the sage plant inside before it started snowing)
- Mashed rutabaga (also veggie share)
- Sauteed kale and garlic (from the share)
- VT Cranberries from the share
- Roasted potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, and possibly a few other random things (all veggie share)
-And to drink, my sister brought some wine from upstate New York that they picked up on the way from Rochester.
Am I obsessed with food? Possibly. But it is just so delicious.
Opening night at the New York Film Fest
October 6, 2007
Pete and I tend to take advantage of the flexible nature of our self-employment to help out every so often with a special project. For me, a side-project which almost became a second full-time job this summer was helping a pair of filmmakers based in Roxbury, VT finish their feature documentary on the Katrina Diaspora, The Axe in the Attic.
Well, on Saturday I got my first taste of a big film fest premiere when Axe opened at the New York Film Festival (the film is in good company, as the fest is where the new Wes Anderson and Coen Brothers films are premiering in the U.S.). Flo and my dad and I got to hang out in the green room beforehand with filmmakers Ed Pincus and Lucia Small, and the film took on new power on a big screen and with the energy of a large audience (even though I have seen various iterations of it over a hundred times by now).
Now we will shift to the outreach phase - developing educational materials and using the film to raise awareness and advocate for the cause of Katrina evacuees by hosting screenings in all of the communities where Ed and Lucia filmed. With any luck this important film will also be coming to a theater (or TV station) near you...
I wore black, Flo wore white, and the wedding was a shade of green...
September 23, 2007
So after much planning and anticipation, Flo and I are finally married. And it was a ton of fun. I won't bore you will stories of one of the bazillion photos taken, but I did want to mention a few of the green aspects of the event (this is not to brag, preach, etc - I just like to use this space for shout outs).
So the BBQ the night before that my family hosted featured local, organic beef from Roseland Organic Farms; a spread of local, organic sides prepared by Get Me Greg's Catering; and organic veggie burgers and cookies from Opes's; an amber and a pale ale from the Round Barn; some Michigan apples from Joe Jackson's fruit stand; and pies from a little bakery in Sawyer.
For dinner at the reception, all of the veggie were from the Eaters Guild Farm in Bangor, MI and the wine was grown, fermented, and aged steps from our table at the Round Barn Winery. Exceptions to local included some sustainable Alaskan salmon and cheese from Shelburne Farms that Flo brought by the block as carry-on luggage.
I was really hoping that I would be able to find buses that would use waste veggie oil (which my brother-in-law was hoping would smell like french fries), but unfortunately the Bronco Biodiesel project at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo wasn't at full production yet.
Oh, and on the color theme of the title of the post, the best man (Pete) wore a brown, second-hand tux...
Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT) hits Vermont
August 8, 2007
The folks behind the Bear Necessities video in the Convenient Truths contest are coming to a town near you. Your Environmental Road Trip, or YERT, is a yearlong journey across the country documenting stories of everyday sustainability.
They are about a month into this epic trip (traveling by hybrid, I should add) and are spending a few days in the Green Mountain State. We've tried to make them feel welcome, show off our green-ness, and give them a few leads on stories (we have a little bit of everything around here - local food, renewable energy, green business).
Their next stop is Monteal, and then they meander around the midwest, west, and beyond (Alaska). You can track their progress on their website.
YERT!
Iron Chef meets VT Farmstand: The Localvore Kick-Off Cook-Off
August 1, 2007
First Flo baked a quiche.
Then she organized the Kick-Off Cook-Off for the Central Vermont Localvores, an Iron Chef styled competition in which local chefs concocted culinary treats with all local ingredients. Check out the press in the Times-Argus and Burlington Free Press.
I took the day off to help: I spent the morning baking 24 pies in the massive oven at Butterfly Bakery and then was assigned to assist the judging panel, which meant I got to hand the judges mouthwatering samples of delicious-looking food prepared by Montpeliers best chefs (while I glanced over at the 300 person line forming outside the food tent). Fortunately, after much deliberation by the judges, I was able to run into the tent and grab the last piece of pie.
Live Earth concert - check out the interactive badge
June 22, 2007
So I don't think I'll be making it to the any of the Live Earth concerts on July 7th (especially as the acts in the UK and Africa look better than the U.S. line-up) but I'm pretty excited that it is shaping up to be a huge international event. Let's hope this is not just a blip on the collective consciousness, but the beginning of a widespread, mainstream, apolitical movement to address climate change.
Anyhow, I got an email from the Live Earth team mentioning their interactive "badges" for a website, and I thought I'd give it a try here (reload this page a few times to see the different states of the badge)...
Digging in the Dirt: Groundbreaking for a green building...
May 3, 2007
Today was the official groundbreaking ceremony for Kroon Hall, the future home for the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale. Pete and I were on hand to capture the event for the School's website and a future exhibit/kiosk that will educate visitors about what makes the building one of the greenest in the world.
While Pete filmed the pomp and circumstance (Dean Speth, President Levin, and Mr. Kroon himself were on hand to give speeches), I climbed up to the rooftops with Peter Otis (F&ES Director of Career Development and an amateur photographer) to get a bird's eye view of the proceedings.
Over the next 18 months a LEED Platinum building will rise on the spot, and Tamarack will be there to capture the key milestones. For more info see the F&ES website.
Stepping it Up...
April 15, 2007
Saturday was a gloomy, gray, cold day for a climate change protest, but hundreds of Vermonters gathered at Morse Farm to sample maple creamees before marching down to the steps of the State House.
Burr Morse, 7th generation Vermonter, maple sugarer, and newfound climate change activist kicked things off. Burr reflected on the changes he has witnessed over the years: "Vermont sugar makers not only are experts in making the world's best maple syrup, and the most in the states. We might just qualify to be smarter and more expert in identifying this thing called climate change than the most studied, learned scientists. We need the perfect weather. I think sugar makers are the fussiest of any farmer anywhere in the world about the weather."
Down on the State House steps, the event took on the character of a political rally, with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Peter Shumlin, President of the Vermont Senate, signing pledges to support strong climate change policy.
The speeches didn't really add any new info, reach out to new audiences, or do much to inspire. But what what was undeniably inspiring was the fact a handful of Middlebury students with the backing of Bill McKibben, the people behind Step it Up 2007, had pulled off a massive distributed rally, with over 1,400 events around the country. The movement continues to build.
Stay tuned for video clips from the rally in Montpelier (which I was filming).
Climate videos make the cut...
March 15, 2007
Treehugger and 7th Gen have announced the 20 semifinalists in the "Convenient Truths" contest, and two Tamarack shorts (Change a Light Bulb and DREAM Big) made the cut! After two weeks of viewer ratings, they now go on to the celebrity judges. The four other entries from us did not make it to the next round, although they rated pretty well and we got some good feedback (except for the Chicken video -- it is possible that I am the only person who finds that one funny).
We are definitely in good company -- the YERT team's Bear Necessities is genius, Reality in the Self-Checkout Lane has been one of my favorites from the start, and Better Late Than Never makes great use of archival ("recycled") footage.
Regardless of how the contest turns out, Pete and I are definitely planning on building on this work, and we have set the goal of making a new silly/provocative video on climate change or other issues of interest each month. If you have any ideas -- email us!
Localvore challenge debrief
February 21, 2007
So it has been a few weeks since the localvore challenge ended, and I have finally gotten around to compiling a little info about the week.
133 people participated in the challenge. The only event I made it to was the screening of a very interesting documentary on industrial agriculture at the Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield -- Our Daily Bread. It was a little painful to watch (and a little slow paced, and incomprehensibly organized for my liking) but I guess that was the point.
If you are interested in how eating local can create community, check out the Mad River Valley Localvores website to see how valley residents have rallied to help the Turner Family Farm, where the recent blizzard took down the roof of one of their barns, killing five cows.
The localvore challenge was all about thinking about where my food comes from and connecting with local farmers. Here is my plug for the sources of my food:
-veggies from Pete's Greens in Craftsbury
-milk, yogurt and whole wheat flour (for homemade bread) from Butterworks Farm in Westfield
-cheddar and butter from Cabot Creamery
-eggs from Knoll Farm in Waitsfield
-sausage and bacon from Winding Brook Farm in Morrisville
-apples and apple cider from Champlain Orchards in Shoreham
-carrots, beets, and winter greens from Flo's garden
-plus local apple sauce, maple syrup, honey, beans, wheat berries, and more.
The highlights of the week were an amazing breakfast at the new local-food breakfast spot on Montpelier, Kizmet, and making it through a poker night on local popcorn a bottle of blueberry-apple wine from North River Winery in Quechee (it took all the will-power I had to refrain from PBR and tortilla chips, but, since I went home a winner, I'm convinced local food is lucky).
Localvore winter challenge begins
January 30, 2007
Is it possible to only consume food grown within 100 miles of my home for an entire week in the middle of the winter? I'm on a quest, with 100+ other Vermonters, to find out. Monday was the first day of the Winter Challenge of the Mad River Valley Localvore Project. Visit their site to learn about the growing local food movement or to get recipes for the kind of stuff that grows (and stores well) up here. The Mad River Valley Localvores coordinated a similar challenge in September, when farmers' markets were in full swing and fresh local food was easy to find. This time it is proving to be a little harder, requiring more planning, but not impossible (he says one day into the challenge). I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
Why the focus on local food, you ask? Well, there are the fossil fuels it takes to get veggies from a farm in California to my table, and the fact that Vermont's small-scale farmers are an endangered species due to intense competition from industrial agriculture. There is also a certain satisfaction that comes from knowing where your food came from. And the food tastes better. I swear.
My First Blog: a quick shout-out to the inspiration for Bill/Pete's World
January 22, 2007
Hello world. As a new feature on the Tamarack website, Pete and I each get a little space for a personal blog. The "News" page will still be the main place to look for Tamarack updates. Come to "Bill's World" or "Pete's World" (if you get bored in my world) for rambles, rants, and anything else we see fit to post. Why the silly name? Well, it is in part because this is the only time I will ever use the word blog. Ever. It was also inspired by the online home of the "World's Number One Marketing Genius" - Mr. Beryl Wolk. Over the past three years Pete and I have met quite a few characters, but one of the most memorable is Beryl, whose proclaimed mission is using media to make a better world (he also claims to be the inventor of newspaper inserts and infomercials). To meet virtual Beryl and listen to his theme song (I kid you not), visit Beryl's World.
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