Interview with Josh Tickell on Leno...

GO SEE THE FUEL FILM!!!

The Fuel Film!!!! GO SEE IT!

This movie is so well put together it is a MUST SEE!!! Go see it this week in LA - find a theater at http://www.thefuelfilm.com!



CHANGE YOUR FUEL, CHANGE THE WORLD!

11 Easy ways to have a pink and green Valentine's Day!

Show your significant other and best buds you really care by thinking pink and green this February 14. And since volunteering and contributing to nonprofits is the new green, go gift shopping at Do Something's nonprofit shopping mall. Many of the gift ideas below are available on the site, which donates a portion to Do Something. So surf over, and shop away! You’ll feel great knowing that you’re spreading love and giving back this Valentine’s Day! (Psst: Email this guide around so you can be on the receiving end of some of these goodies!)

1. Send an e-card . . . American Greetings Corporation reports that around a billion physical valentines are mailed each year. If one billion cards were laid out end to end, they would stretch around the world five times. Whoa, that's a lot of trees – and trees help our planet by soaking up that bad, global warming-causing carbon dioxide. Not to mention, emailed V-cards also make cents in this economy.
2. . . . .or a recycled one. Determined to deliver physical proof of your love? Buy recycled paper and make your own heart-shaped greetings (Aww!) or Google eco-friendly card brands for purchase.
3. Donate to an environmental organization. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money – it’s the thought that counts. This gift’s a particularly good idea for the serious eco geek in your life or the parent who has everything.
4. Give green flowers. No, not weeds or clovers (though if you find a four-leaf one, you might want to save it for next month). Here’s the scoop: Nearly 90% of V-Day roses are imported from Colombia and Ecuador. In addition to the air freight costs, most flower growers there need not adhere to the safety standards that produce suppliers do. This means their flowers may be doused in chemicals to maintain their unblemished appearance. So check out VeriFlora-certified flowers or 1-800-Flowers (both are available on Do Something's shopping mall). The blooms are sustainably grown, guaranteeing not only adherence to the highest of environmental standards, but also fair labor practices.
5. Buy a gift card for a yoga or pilates class. #1: We all need to get off the couch and get in shape. #2: Your local health club or spa is probably hurting for business (dang recession!). #3: Always give a gift that you’d like yourself. Here’s an idea: buy yourself a class too and go together.
6. Think fair-trade chocolate. Valentine's Day will be extra sweet for you, your beloved and the cocoa farmers too. Farming families earn a price for their product that is adequate to meet their basic human needs. Additionally, environmentally sustainable production methods are required, and you can be assured that forced and abusive child labor was not involved. Organic Style has some great options and is available on Do Something's shopping mall. Search for their "Life is Sweet" Fair Trade Chocolates or Organic Gourmet Signature Chocolates
7. Opt for natural perfume. It’s a popular gift this time of year, but did you know that your average fragrance is a total chemical cocktail – not something you'd want all over your body. Gross! There are a ton of beauty vendors on Do Something's shopping mall that sell all-natural brands of perfume. One name you can trust is LAVANILA. They carefully infuse pure essential oils with 100% active botanicals for natural fragrances that are fresh, clean, and nurturing.
8. Send a Valentine to a candy company . . . that doesn't sell organic fair-trade chocolate. Take action by asking the company to use fair-trade chocolate. Explain the benefits and why it would make you want to buy their candy.
9. Buy local groceries for your Feb. 14 dinner. What’s better than a V-date with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or a bunch of your best friends? A V-date that features delicious fare you’ll find at a farmer’s market or in the local section of your supermarket. Buying local foods saves on the transportation, energy, and packaging it takes to bring produce from faraway (and hence, cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions) while also supporting local farmers.
10. Lead the charge on making V-Day green at your school. Encourage your principal, class prez and/or team or club to start new, eco-fabulous traditions - like, for those sweetheart sales, swap out those plastic bags filled with candy for paper ones (tie ‘em with raffia – it’s organic!), use fair-trade chocolates, and look into potted flowers that can be replanted instead of single-stemmed ones that will die within a few days.
11. Go on an environmentally friendly retreat. Spend some time at a local wildlife reserve, park, or natural area – even if it means bundling up. Being at one with nature will remind you how precious our planet is. Or see if your parents might consider a V-Day getaway. This year Feb. 14 falls on a long weekend (it’s also President’s Weekend) so the timing is perfect. We love Gaiam’s earth-friendly travel options and there are some other great travel deals out there too!

Want to shop for a good cause all the time? Just download this widget (http://shop.dosomething.org/shop/widgets/9) and anytime you buy something at your favorite shopping sites, a portion will come back to Do Something (and cost you nothing!). How sweet is that!

Weekend in Boston (part three)

After a weekend drenched in resistance art and Fairey's wheat pasted posters. I couldn't help but go on a propaganda binge.

Here's a nice little compilation of propaganda posters that are as beautiful as they are fascinating and some good books if this kind of thing strikes your fancy too.

Few of my faves from the Chinese Revolution:

This one is promoting their new space program.
Not sure what bunnies and panda bears have to do with space programs but I am totally on board.



"We study hard for the revolution"



Classic Communist vibe.


This one is Fairey's. Kind of interesting side by side the Chairman Mao poster. I really like the peaceful twist on the classic red and black radiating message.


And who doesn't love a good Soviet poster:


'Realize the Great Plan of Great Works!'


This one's called 'Liberating Army'
liberated indeed...

American Posters during WWII:





Don't forget Cuba:

Pretty piece with doves and Che.


Now for some great books on political PROP art which you can buy through www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com:


PROP ART by Gary Yanker


The Story of the South African Poster Movement by Judy Seidman


ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA by George Orwell


...And last but not least let's take a look at other artists in Fairey's genre who have fused historical posters of the past with their own political spin. Playing with the design, concept and means of effective propaganda.


Robbie Conal - Known for his mass campaigns which used punk kids (what is now widely known as a 'street team') to spread his posters and media.


Barbara Kruger -


Not sure who this is but it's definitely Kruger-esque
OMG I love this one sooooo much!

So that wraps up this segment of my trip to Boston: Karmaloop, ICA, Harvard School of Design and down the memory lane of propaganda of the past. Hope you enjoyed!

The Fuel Film in LA this Friday!

Come out and support my friends:

Weekend in Boston (part two)

So the Karmaloop party continued without the star DJ/man of the hour.



ICA Museum - all dressed up for an 'experiment' that never really took off.



Karmaloop's TV star Julian Wadsworth. I love this guy - a. for not smiling in any picture and b. cause he's got that 'I just crawled out of my cave, leave me alone' vibe.



Karmaloop owners: Dina and Greg Selkoe



Ummm.. are you catching on to the hot chicks with nerd guys theme yet?
Must be a Ivy League phenomenon.



Hay... and here's me - trying to be hip and relevant.

I think had Fairey actually shown up, the music would've finally jelled and the party would have gotten off it's feet. But instead there was a disjointed feel, the poor DJ who had to scramble to fill in for Fairey, never quite got his bearings.

As for me, I was on Cali time and did the unthinkable - stayed up till 5am and went to 3 afterparties. I simply wasn't tired...

Fairey probably stayed up till 5am too during his night in jail. He had this to say Monday morning:

Weekend in Boston... (part one)

This week I went to Boston to attend the opening party of Shepard Fairey's 20 year retrospective at the ICA. This event was sponsored by Karmaloop, a Boston street wear boutique which pumps out it's community's perspectives online with its own "TV" channel and its in-your-face, for us by us, mixed media shopping site.







Prior to the party I had the rare opportunity to sit in on a lecture at the Harvard School Of Design. The speaker was Albie Sachs, and the lecture over-viewed the revolutionary art and architecture that makes up the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Sachs, an equal rights attorney and activist, had been incarcerated and nearly assassinated for his beliefs and actions during the South African Apartheid. In 1990 he took an active part in the negotiations which led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. After the first democratic election in 1994 he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to serve on the newly established Constitutional Court.

In addition to his work on the Court, he has traveled to many countries sharing the South African experience in healing divided societies. He has also been engaged in the sphere of art and architecture, and played an active role in the development of the Constitutional Court building and its art collection on the site of the Old Fort Prison in Johannesburg.

While the art reflects the work of the broadest spectrum of South African contributors, among others, much of it can be defined as “resistance art.”

The thread of my evening was becoming apparent. While Sachs spoke and showed slides of the Courthouse and it's many heartrending installations, I couldn't help but draw the obvious link to Fairey's exhibition (which I was excited to be attending in about an hour). Fairey's work is roughly based off both fascist regimes' and freedom movements' propaganda. His exquisite versions of cultural icons and historical moments of significance make the point loud and clear - media has a very real power and influence. The use of graphics, posters and art can incite both mass following or rebellion.






Fairey, the now big name artist, went for years as the anonymous force behind the ever-present OBEY / Andre The Giant campaign. The ubiquitous images of André René Roussimoff were plastered everywhere. The direct order to OBEY without any clear understanding as to why the professional French wrestler was chosen to be iconified by Fairey, made the campaign even more intriguing.

Fairey told you that Andre the Giant had a posse...



...and when you traveled and saw the giant's face in every major city you went to, you had to believe that indeed he did.


And as is evident in Obama's case, once Fairey declares it... it is so.



Unfortunately before Fairey had a chance to enjoy a party celebrating his now widely accepted street art, he was picked up by Boston police on his way into the gallery.

"Fairey was arrested Friday night in Boston on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art to DJ at a sold-out party kicking off his first solo exhibition, “Supply and Demand.” Two arrest warrants had been issued Jan. 24 after police determined that he had tagged property in two locations with his street art campaign featuring Andre the Giant and the word "obey," said Boston police officer James Kenneally." -LA Times (Feb. 7th)