My additions to Clay’s commentary:

“Coherence” as a concept has inherent class and cultural biases skewed in favor of those in with more power in the social and economic hierarchy.

Our socio-economic operating system doesn’t exactly making any f@#$ing sense to a many people in the 99% either.

#OWS is hardly radical. It is inherently a conservative response to the loss of a social contract from the 20th century. It seems like a call to return to the spirit of that post WWII-1980s social contract.

For Movement strategy Director, we want someone who can architect major projects for clients, and create and run new partnerships and incubated ventures. As you know, our 3 core disciplines are marketing/communications, strategy consulting and political organizing — so the ideal candidate will be very strong in at least one of these areas (e.g. a super talented political organizer who has helped to start or build a movement organization). Full job description

For CTO, we’re looking for a world-class team leader to oversee all aspects of technology, from the overall vision, to the buy/build/integrate decision-making process, to development and deployment of the organization’s applications and web presence, and management and growth of the technology team. Demonstrated interest in technology for social change and mass digital participation is a must. Full job description

Please let me know if anyone springs to mind – whether currently employed or not. For the right person, these roles are an opportunity to shape and direct major areas of a rapidly growing (approaching 50 people) organization.

We’re also offering a finder’s fee of $5k to the person who makes the referral (cheaper than hiring a recruiting firm) as a token of thanks.

Three firsts this week:

First time getting elbowed in the face. It was kind of my fault for not blocking, but I learned a valuable lesson that I will remember. Thanks LC! Tip from Ari: use your elbows to block your partner’s elbow and knee, it’s more subtle and less aggressive than using your hands. My cheek is still a little sore,

First time doing a pull up. I was inspired by a blogpost I stumbled upon on Art of Manliness and decided to go for it. I was I was at the academy taking a break by a horizontal bar and just pulled myself up. This is certainly not something I could have done a year ago. Next step is trying to do 2 in a row. Looking to build upper body strength in general so I can do queda de rins into a tesoura, like we were doing on Tuesday night in class.

First time doing a handstand away from a wall. After Ari giving me a valuable tip of folding my body more and getting my feet closer to my hands before I go up, I was able to go up into a handstand. It seems that the trick is thinking more about up, rather than forward. Forward is fine for doing a handstand on a wall, where the wall is there to catch you, but up is where it’s all about.

Another lesson learned this week, Grilo taught us how to do a tesoura while guarding the family jewels. Valuable tip indeed.

Curious about capoeira? Join us at the New York Capoeira Center.

Video of me giving a Pecha Kucha-style talk at a Purpose.com event in March 2011. I weave together a story that combines design philosophy and movement building with anecdotes and metaphors from capoeira, pop culture, and literary history.

There was a camera glitch halfway through the talk, so please pardon the jump cut. Music by Hepnova.

The Analog Underground article got me thinking, and made some synaptic connections in my head that I am still trying to full grasp.  The author of the article, Ashlea Halpern, mentions the nostalgia as well as novelty value of anachronistic objects, which I totally get.  But she also labels this analog phenomenon a “neo-Luddite counterculture”.  I’m not sure if that label was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but I really don’t think “Luddite” correctly captures the motivations behind this trend.

According to Wikipedia:

The Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the nineteenth century who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life.

I don’t think the so-called analog underground is rebelling against industrial capitalism.  They aren’t embracing the nostalgic novelty of vintage analog gadgets because the new digital ones are threatening their craft or livelihood.  I think the motivations are more personal, and inward focused.  Maybe it’s just an aesthetic thing.  Many people, from hipsters to old money trustfunders have favored old or vintage things for a long time now.  But maybe there are deeper psychological and spiritual needs too.  A need for a more physical, tactile connection with our objects.  It reminds me of the New York Aquarium ad I have been seeing in the subway that has a picture of a girl petting a starfish and the line “no screen, just touch.”  Maybe in the age of touch screens, we just want to touch something real.  Something analog.  The physical and the analog have a kind of permanence that ethereal and ephemeral cloud-based applications do not.  And we can really own them, hack them, and personalize them.  We don’t really own the apps on our iPhone or any software as service apps we run.  Somehow perhaps, all of these motivations are a reaction against the increasingly black box nature of technology.  We can’t open things up and see how they work.  After the magic and the seduction of these new shiny digital black boxes fade, what is left?  Alienation from our devices?  A desire for the real?  I don’t know, but it’s something to think about.

Other manifestations of this broader cultural phenomenon include the popularity of sites like Etsy and the spread of the Maker Movement.

Slimwhitman’s comment on the article really resonated with me:

The analog will always be more a more complex code than the digital, which has to approximate its curves, where the nearly infinite realm is. Although that sounds like pop-metaphysics, all you have to do is recognize how the record industry collapsed, it made the analog compressible into any digital file system and degraded our relationship to music. We went from live music to analog waves made in vinyl and magnetic tape to essentially finite squares out of binary codes. In order for a computer to synch with a neural net, like a brain or group of brains, it will require waves that cannot make errors or be approximate. The digital will never be the sole entrancer of humans, and probably, we will have to eventually build analog computers to achieve anything of value in the post-PC age.

I think there really is something to that observation. I have been feeling the same way in my own creative practice as a musician, but Slimwhitman’s articulation of the issue really gelled things for me. While I have been making electro-acoustic music since I was a teenager, and digital tools will continue to be important to how I work, I have recently been immersing myself in the analog music world by playing acoustic instruments. Even the joys of playing the humble ukulele has a kind of humanity and expressiveness that is quite different, and in many ways more accesible and immediate for me, the player, than any of my complex high-tech music making gadgets.

I’m still waiting for the analog blogging platform though.  Until then, I’ll still be sticking to my iMac and WordPress.  ;-)

New cord, new nickname, new moves, and new tunes. All in all an awesome Capoeira Angola Quintal festival week.

The video above is of me playing for my dark green cord. Thanks to Mei Yen for the video!

My Purpose colleague, Alessandra Orofino, and I will be teaching at SVA’s MFA program in Design for Social Innovation when the department opens in fall 2012.

Social innovation is the application of new strategies and models to solving the challenges the world faces and to strengthening society.

The MFA in Design for Social Innovation will prepare students to apply the principles and ethics of social innovation as filters for understanding and as a discipline for engaging with and improving the world through design.

Graduates of the program will be more than graphic designers, filmmakers, advertising creative directors or interactive systems designers. They will be all these, mastering all the skills and knowledge of how to apply them to have a positive impact on business, society and their own lives.

Check out the department website for more updates.

The JET Alumni Association of New York, in partnership with NY de Volunteer, will be holding a fundraiser to benefit Japan on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The night will include great drink specials, entertainment, and – a highlight of the event – wonderful raffle prizes. （日本語版は下記）

Over 30 generous JET Alumni and local businesses have donated goods and services to the cause, such as: cooking classes, bottles of sake, private dance lessons, handmade jewelry and more!

Please show your support for this cause which is so near and dear to our hearts. All proceeds from this event will go to the JETAA USA Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. During the event we will be collecting messages for Send Hope to Japan from the World to further express our solidarity during this difficult time.

This is an open event and will have a great crowd of JET alumni, members of the local Japanese expat community, and many other New Yorkers wanting to show their support. Feel free to invite your coworkers, neighbors, roommates, and anyone else interested in looking for a way to help!

When: Tuesday, April 5, 6:30-9:30pm

Where: Slate
54 West 21^st Street between 5^th and 6^th Ave
(Nearest subway 1, 2, F, M, N, R, and Path)

• $5 = 1 ticket
• $20 = 5 tickets
• $50 = 15 tickets
• $100 = 35 tickets

Increase your chances of winning! 100% of raffle sales go to the JETAA USA “Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.”

$20 = Standard Admission (entry and 2 raffle tickets)
$25 = Standard Admission + 1 additional raffle ticket
$40 = Standard Admission + 5 additional raffle tickets
$70 = Standard Admission + 15 additional raffle tickets
$120 = Standard Admission + 35 additional raffle tickets

Special Thanks to our Sponsors & Donors:
Japan Society, Hills Learning, Bao Noodle, Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), City Bike Coach, New York Video School, Shockra Studio, Boutique Pink Diamond, Bloomsbury Publishing — more to be listed soon!

Please share this event on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr!

JETプログラム参加経験者の会NY支部会は、この度NY de Volunteer(2003年NYで初めて日本人によって 設立された非営利団体)とパートナーシップを組み、４月５日（火曜日）に東日本大震災支援の為のファンドレイズイベントを行います。当日はドリンクが提供されるだけでなく、エンターテイメント、そして最後には豪華景品があたるくじ（ラッフル）が催されます。それらの景品は多くのJET卒業生達や地元企業のご好意により寄付された、お料理教室のチケット、日本酒、個人ダンスレッスン、手作りジュエリー等盛り沢山です。

I worked with Joey from BareBurger, an organic burger restaurant in Greenwich Village, Murray Hill, and Astoria to create this flyer for their Japan disaster relief fundraiser promotion.  They will be donating 20% of their sales next Tuesday, March 22, to Red Cross efforts in Japan.

Download PDF version of the flyer

Awesome funny pic of me by the talented Ida Benedetto.  Taken at #SXSWNYC last night at Purpose headquarters.  Full set on Flickr.  We will be submitting these to TED Prize winner JR’s Inside Out project.

I’m wearing a Creative Commons Limited Edition SHARE t-shirt.

If you are interested in giving a 5-7 minute Ignite/Pecha Kucha-style presentation about your artistic, activist, interactive, or just awesome work, email me at leesean [at] purpose (dot) com.

Subway flash mob dance party music video by Xelle. Can you spot me?
What are some other cool flash mob videos?

Update: Party Girl featured on PerezHilton.com

“Petrosino Square”

Romantic recrudescence
Far from the burning iridescence
Safe from the searchlights of the past
Witnesses no more, but outlaws at last

You start to tense, begin to brace
As I press the revolver to your face
I see you aflame in this love so heady
Like a bomb thrown by Sacco and Vanzetti

When I saw you there in Petrosino Square
Is this paradise or my worst nightmare?
When the workers arise
I look into your eyes, your beautiful lies
Oh your beautiful eyes/lies

Your eyes your lies
Beautiful eyes/lies

Haven’t seen you in awhile and
I’m not sure how to start
Whether to thank or to blame you
For the anarchy in my heart
Your eyes your lies
Beautiful eyes/lies

More new Hepnova tracks on Bandcamp. And even more new music coming soon.

—

Finally, Bare Burger in Manhattan!

After nearly two months of making almost weekly treks to the original Bare Burger in Astoria, they have finally opened their Village location. And the quality is just as good.

Even though I visited on their first day, just about everything was up and running smoothly. The space itself is large and airy, with a huge garage door that opens onto a deck of outdoor seating. According to the waiter, almost everything is built from recycled and locally sourced material. The lights, which they get from a local artist, are made of old spoons and glass milk jugs.

I got my old favorite, the grilled pineapple burger with bison, and it was great. The fries and onion rings combo is as delightful as it is greasy. And the shakes, well, are amazing. (I had peanut butter and jelly). Service was prompt and courteous. They made a small mistake with my burger (wrong bun), but they corrected it very quickly, so no big deal.

All in all, I would say Bare Burger is an excellent addition to the local scene. We have plenty of burger places around, but they don’t offer exotic meats like elk or bison and their burgers not organic, which really makes a difference at Bare. Can’t wait to introduce friends who were too lazy to make the trip to Astoria.

This Monday, the Awesome Foundation NYC held our end-of-summer party at Tribeca Tavern, where we celebrated our recent grantees: Sub Base One by Lee Von Kraus and the Hip Hop Word Count by Tahir Hemphill.  Thanks to everyone for coming out and thanks to Grolsch Grants for the free beer!

Above: Ted Ullrich introduces DoTank

Composting 101

First drill air holes in a plastic bin. Add raw plant-based kitchen scraps and strips of newspaper.

Add worms, feed them more kitchen scraps over a few weeks, aerate, moisturize and otherwise keep the worms happy so they do their thing.

And finally harvest the compost and separate out the worms.  “Cure” the compost by letting it dry out a bit before adding to plants.

Recommended reading:
Easy Compost: The Secret to Great Soil and Spectacular Plants
Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System

Seed Bombing

Image via DoTank:Brooklyn. We didn’t have enough knives to go around at the skillshare, so I just shaped the clay into a thin wrapper with my hands, just like kneading a gyoza wrapper.  Also check out this video from the Guardian demonstrating how to make seed bombs.

Windowfarms

Windowfarms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.

Get detailed instructions on how to build your own Windowfarms and join the Windowfarms community for additional help and support.

I went on an impromptu trip out to Montauk, Long Island last weekend with Catherine.  Photo essay and travel tips below.

STAY at The Panoramic View – simple luxury, right on the beach

EAT fish and chips at Gurney’s Inn, right next door to The Panoramic View

DRINK at Nick’s, a beach bar right in town with live music

WATCH the sunset at the Montauket

EAT lobsters at Duryea’s.  Rustic and delicious.  My lobster was pregnant! Yum.

ADOPT a sock monkey and shop for other kitsch Americana at a shop on the main street in town (don’t remember the name)

More photos on Flickr.

Ni Hao You Doin’? – A new Hepnova shirt on Zazzle in collaboration with Joey G.

We were hanging out in Little Italy/Chinatown tonight and Joe came up with this brilliant bilingual pun that celebrates the confluence of cultures in a pizza/scallion pancake slice of Lower Manhattan with classic New York wit and attitude.  Here’s to pasta and to potstickers and to Sino-Italian-American friendship! Ni hao you doin’?

Buy the Ni Hao You Doin’ shirt on Zazzle

Ni Hao You Doin’? by Hepnova in collaboration with Joey G

I RIDE FOR LIVESTRONG by Purpose in the NY Times Media Decoder Blog!
I was in charge of the music and audio and also worked on animation and visual/interaction design.

Stuart Elliot reports:

A new agency whose name, Purpose, signals the kind of campaigns it hopes to produce is creating for Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong initiative that fights cancer, a virtual version of an annual bicycle race.

The effort is in the form of a game called I Ride for Livestrong. The online race began on Wednesday and continues through May 23, which is the end date for the actual race it mirrors, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California.

I took this photo in Williamsburg on my way to Joel’s dinner party last week.

ZEE Immersive Audiovisual Environment by Kurt Hentschlager  I’m in the testimonial video!