Jim Northrup: With Reservations
Jim Northrup: With Reservations is a wild trip through Indian Country.
Follow the link below to learn
more or to order the video. Learn more
THOMAS McGRATH
The Movie at the End of the World is a video vision quest. Click here to see more.
Welcome to thecie dot org. We make poetic media with people of all ages from all over
the world for everyone.
A BAT IN HEAVEN
I'm a bat in heaven
today for Halloween.
I want to bless & be
blessed by a bat I killed
like a bat out of hell.
As violence begets violence,
& peace makes peace,
so a little bat came to me
in a dream recently
& gently kissed my elbow.
Grateful as hell,
today for Halloween
I'm a bat in heaven.
THE CASE FOR MASKS
No no, I don't want to know
about some obscure mask
in a natural history museum.
I am not going to believe
any mask moved on its peg
while the other 30 in the case
were stiff as tourists. So what
if you rapped on the glass
and leaped up and down
and you couldn't make it
shake until all on its own,
it was poetry in motion.
No no, I don't want to know.
A CASE FOR MASKS
Told as a kind of argument with myself, this poem is a true story about a visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Literally, it tells a story about a display case for masks and something which happened which I can't for the life of me explain. Metaphorically, it makes a case for how its collection is the unpredictable face a museum shows the world.
"If you look, you will see things," Hazard likes to say. "You have to look to see."
This video poem QUESTIONS is based on The Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda. The video was created by Jackson Burger as part of a MITY class with Media Mike Hazard and David Bengtson.
This short will be featured in the Bicycle Film Festival at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis at 9pm, Thursday July 9, 2009.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
GREY MATTERS is the last in a series of studies of the spectrum, color by color. Like RED EYE, AGENT ORANGE, FOOL'S GOLD, THE EVERGREEN MAN, THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS and SHRINKING VIOLET, it is a multimedia montage of poems, pictures and profound objects by yours truly, Media Mike Hazard.
Free for all, come see GREY MATTERS in the St. Paul Art Crawl, Friday 6-10pm April 24, Saturday 12-8pm April 25, and Sunday 12-5pm April 26, 2009 at Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul. Or call 651.227.2240.
THE WAR WITHOUT END
Crickets sing the fall away.
The computer whines whenever it is on.
White noise, it is.
In a black hole, we are.
Lately, I dont even want a piece of me.
FOOD CHAIN
A strident black crow struts.
He beaks the grass for breakfast.
I beak the bird like a poem, a feast.
SNOW JOB
Shoveling black Tiger Jack's white snow
in the midst of the first blizzard of the season,
I thought about how he prefers to call himself a Negro.
I scraped and skimmed that concrete fact, row on row.
When I was almost through, it was time to begin anew.
Black & white: a wise crow in the cold snow.
Black & white: history deeper than deepening snow.
Black & white: in old photos bold stories show & tell
of civil rights and wrongs, of heaven and hell,
of blacks and whites singing as one under the sun.
Shoveling black Tiger Jack's white snow
in the midst of the first blizzard of the season,
I thought about how he prefers to call himself a Negro.
This is a video about my old neighborhood in Philadelphia, Longford Street, one of the first integrated housing developments in the country. It was created as part of the Precious Places project of Scribe.
His poems about boxelder bugs buzz with the generous and crazy energies of Issa's insect haiku.
"The bug's Latin name is several times as large as itself: Leptocoris trivittatus."
THE BOXELDER BUG PRAYS
I want so little
For so little time,
A south window,
A wall to climb,
The smell of coffee,
A radio knob,
Nothing to eat,
Nothing to rob,
Not love, not power,
Not even a penny.
Forgive me only
For being so many.
I used to love teasing him about his fierce hatred of television. I likened his piano to a tool: Technology. He brooked none of it.
Click to read an article by David Bengtson on this theme.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
KISS, IT'S THE SOLSTICE. Kiss, it's the Solstice.
Light a candle.
Marvel at a miracle.
Ponder a parable.
Look for an angel.
Strum an instrument.
Hang an ornament.
Hum some hymns.
Sidle slow & glow
by the mistletoe.
Roll home video.
Muse on the mystery
of the lowly pine tree
and a tiny, tiny baby.
Pray for peace.
Jingle bells. Jingle bells.
Open, open your ears
Make merry the merry
music of the spheres.
This is a poem for the season, composed by Mike Hazard.
Friday, December 12, 2008
MR. POSITIVE is a poetic video portrait of an amazing fellow named Carl Bentson.
Winner of Honorable Mention at the Fargo Film Festival and Audience Favorite at Big Water, MR. POSITIVE will play in the 2008 MNTV series on Twin Cities Public Television.
Channel 2: Sunday, December 14, 10 pm (For those with basic cable in St. Paul, TPT 2 is on channel 23; in Minneapolis, it is channel 2.)
Channel 17: Saturday, December 20, 10 pm (For those with basic cable in St. Paul, TPT 17 is on channel 17; in Minneapolis, it is channel 13)
Check local listings for other cable systems, over the air digital and so on. MR. POSITIVE is the second show in the program.
This short is also in the line up for the Film Anthropist screening on Sunday, December 14, 2008 from 3-5pm at the Riverview Theater, Minneapolis.
This documentary by Mike Hazard and Emily Rumsey shows how Bentson lives a good life with a disability which is never actually defined. Like spokes of a wheel on his legendary bicycle, Carl is at the center of a network of support which makes our world go around.
One student at the school where Carl works says, "His favorite word is yeah." Yeah.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
LOCAL COLOR is a collection of camera works clicked by Media Mike Hazard within easy walking distance of the Black Dog Cafe. The show is on exhibit at the Black Dog, 308 Prince Street, St. Paul, through Sunday November 2, 2008. Call 651-228-9274.
"My camera comes with me whenever I go for a walk. Things happen. People, buildings, parades, plants, and a fair number of just plain peculiar photo ops present themselves. Things click," Hazard says.
"I am inspired by the naturalist, poet and parson Gilbert White (1720-1793) who wrote, 'It is in zoology as it is in botany: all Nature is so full that that district produces the greatest variety which is the most examined.'
White wrote this after living his whole life in one neighborhood, Selbourne, England. He wanted to see and name everything that lived. Towards the end of his life he realized he was never going to identify all the birds, beasts and bugs who lived right under his nose. There is always more than one can see.
The point is, the more you look, the more you see. Every neighborhood is like that."
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of a Bush Artist Fellowship which has made LOCAL COLOR possible.
Monday, October 06, 2008
MEDIA DADA is a multimedia portrait by Media Mike Hazard of his daughter.
MEDIA DADA will play at the St. Paul Art Crawl October 10-12, 2008 in the fifth floor atrium of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul.
Here is a poem from MEDIA DADA.
THE WEE ONE WONDERS
Where does outer space go?
Did dinosaurs turn into monkeys?
Dada, can I watch you sexing?
I said my prayers after Gramma's treatment; why is she getting sicker?
Don't you know watching TV is my hobby?
When can I get keys?
Does a camera take pictures when you are not looking through it?
Can I use the f word?
How does the Easter Bunny lay all those eggs in one night?
Do you think there is one of you that is good up in heaven and one of you that is bad in the underworld?
Why do we have to pay to live, if these are our bodies?
Who made God?
There are lots of things in this world we don't know, do we?
MEDIA DADA began as a video made to show and tell the kids at my daughter's day care center what her daddy does for a living. Now 21 years in progress, the length will always stay the same, but new images and sounds will be added as life evolves.
PULLING DUCHAMP'S LEG was made with kids once upon a time one Saturday morning at the Walker Art Center to complement an exhibition called DUCHAMP'S LEG.
MEDIA DADA plays with the playful ideas of the Dada artists, using chance and peace as sources of power. Here is another piece of MEDIA DADA.
THINK TANK
My kid freaked yesterday. A tank wheeled onto the schoolyard at Central High, recruiting.
She got it. At the school with a zero tolerance policy for weapons of ass destruction, a killing machine parks.
In her face, the soldier told her her right to go to a public school, to wear long hair, was because of his tank. The Pentagon thinks it wrote the Bill of Rights.
In her face, the history teacher tells my child she is free because of our tank. Two men, one teen.
War is my job, that's what I do.
No, you are an army recruiter. You are parked here following orders. You are promising the moon to kids who dream big with little means.
With raw poise, like our children, we have to stand in the way of the tank.
Called Past Success and Future Possibilities: A Discussion with Media Reform Pioneers, these three engaged veterans of civil rights and media activism bore witness to and helped shape more than half a century of U.S. media policy.
Together--Stoney, as independent filmmaker and professor of film and television at NYU's Tisch School; Pinkston, as broadcast journalist and the first African-American news anchor at WLBT-TV, the Jackson, Mississippi, CBS affiliate; and Johnson, as writer and former FCC commissioner--provide a unique complex of views on social change, from the inside out. Stevie Converse, Free Press Communications Coordinator, moderated.
This session featured a video history of the landmark WLBT case, in which Dr. Everett C. Parker and other concerned citizens ultimately moved the FCC to revoke the station's license--the first and only time a station lost its license for failing to serve the public interest. It was this case which established the right of American citizens to testify at federal regulatory hearings, the right of standing.
Another clip shown at the session documents the history of the public interest in American media. Excerpted by Media Mike, both clips come from ON TELEVISION: PUBLIC TRUST OR PRIVATE PROPERTY, written and directed by Mary Megee for On Television, Ltd. Aired on PBS from 1988 to 1992 and first distributed by Charles Bentons Films Inc., this documentary is available through California Newsreel. Megee [ontel2@aol.com] is currently developing a 20-year update on the issues.
Generous support for this session was provided by the Benton Foundation.
Friday, May 09, 2008
THE REVEREND DOCTOR Everett C. Parker is an extraordinary ordinary citizen. In his own words, "I have spent 70 years trying to awaken the conscience of the government."
Working with George Stoney and Charles Benton, we have begun a documentary video portrait of the 95-year-old media activist, minister and professor who has never given up trying to change the world. "The bad guys hope the good guys will get tired of being good before the bad guys get tired of being bad,"� Parker jokes.
Guided by a strong sense of ethics, Parker seeks to irritate and worry the media establishment. He is a professor of telecommunications at Fordham University and founder and treasurer of the Emma Bowen Foundation.
Indeed, Parker's sense of ethics is a golden thread which has guided his many good works and good life as activist, minister for the United Church of Christ, professor, organizer, PR guy, gadfly, author, broadcaster, film producer, philosopher and father.
Born, raised and educated in Chicago, Illinois, Parker is most famous for organizing the successful revocation of the television license of WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, on the grounds of institutional racism. That mission began when he asked Martin Luther King in 1962 how he might help the cause of civil rights. King answered, "Do something about television." Parker did.
In a struggle that took 17 years, the ultimately successful case established the right of American citizens to participate in federal regulatory proceedings, the so-called right of standing. It is no exaggeration to state that all the public interest, environmental, communications and civil rights actions which follow in the courts have been enabled by this decision. The story of that successful citizen action is still a potent and inspiring model for us all.
Stay tuned for progress.
Friday, April 25, 2008
SOLO FLIGHT will fly at the St. Paul Art Crawl April 25-27, 2008 in the fifth floor atrium of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul.
SOLO FLIGHT is a collection of pictures and poems by Mike Hazard of people on quests.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
JON HASSLER has died. Once upon a time, I wrote a one line poem portrait:
DEAR JON
Slightly stooped, he looked up to everyone.
Click to see a wonderful piece by Dave Wood with a video webcast.
Funeral services will be at 2pm Thursday March 27, 2008 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
ORGANIC MEDIA Come see a free evening of shorts, clips and bits from works-in-progress by Deb Wallwork and Media Mike Hazard at The Black Dog Cafe at 7pm, on Sunday March 9, 2008.
Wallwork and Hazard are two well-known home town indie filmmakers who make organic documentaries with genuine people. The show will feature the late Carol Bly, Elsie's Farm, C. Beck, Mr. Positive, George Stoney and other home-grown surprises.
The Black Dog is at 308 Prince Street, St. Paul, right by the Farmers Market. Call 651-228-9274 or visit.
C. BECK was chosen by ITVS as Grand Prize winner of the Independent Lens Online Shorts Festival. To see the film, click. To read an interview with Beck, click. For an essay, The Music of Woodcarving, click. To see a collection of pictures, look.
To acquire art by Beck, visit the Ripple River Gallery in Aitken, Minnesota or call the Rourke Art Museum at 218.236.8861 in Moorhead, Minnesota.
To order your own DVD or VHS video, for $20 plus $5 for S&H, call 651.227.2240. We take VISA/MasterCard. Or click to see how to order by mail.
Bly recorded THE LUCKY PREDATORS, a video essay on the psychology of violence, during the first Gulf War. While we hear her, we see a peace rally recorded by Mike Rivard. The piece was edited by Media Mike for PEACE WORKS.
Read a moving obituary by Sarah T. Williams. This blog of wonderful comments is terrific!
A public memorial service has been set for Bly on Sunday February 10 from 2 to 5pm at Hamline University's Sundin Music Hall, 1536 Hewitt Avenue, St. Paul. Program begins at 3 pm. For more, click.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
MAKING A SCENE: Twin Cities Youth Media is a one hour teevee special to be broadcast on TPT 17, at 8pm, Sunday, February 10, 2008. This awesome program produced by Daniel Bergin features an interview with our own David Bengtson and several video poems from our classes with MITY.
The art can be enjoyed in several ways. First, the artist will appear with a copious display of pictures at the market itself downtown in Lowertown on Saturday September 29 and Sunday September 30, 2007 from 9am-12 noon.
Second, a selection of pictures and poems will be exhibited at the Black Dog Cafe, 308 Prince Street, kitty corner to the southeast corner of the market, from Saturday September 29 through Wednesday October 31.
Third, CORNUCOPIA will be on display during the St. Paul Art Crawl October 12-14 in the fifth floor atrium of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul.
Here are some poems made at the market.
A LITTLE SERMON ON THE SUN
The light in this farmer's blue eyes
comes from farther away than the sun
which is now shining on her stand.
Facing her in the milling market,
I step forward and pretend to click.
Seeing my camera game, she beams.
Teased about how far off she was--
expecting to hear something about
the chores, how early she had to rise,
and on a Sunday morning, when
sleeping in might have been heaven--
she says, "Kiss of the Lord. I feel
I am being kissed by the Lord when
the sun kisses me. Kiss the Lord."
DIRTY WORK He holds out his hands in a beam of sun.
Dirt jammed under finger nails, informed
by ceremonies of dust and mud, he teaches
"Every day above ground is a good one."
A PINT-SIZED CHILD
A pint of raspberries rests
in the lap of a pint-sized child.
Lolling in her stroller, shes
living in the lap of luxury.
Dont eat them, Mom says,
as the little one begins eating,
two-handed, two-fisted,
too much; we laugh until
we grow red as raspberries.
You may also hear poems from CORNUCOPIA on Write On Radio. Click on September 13 in the calendar, then STREAM, and run the slider to about 34:50. It is the last half hour of the show.
WHEN I ADMIRE THE SHINING
When I admire the shining
strawberries, praise the grower,
shining like a fresh berry
he tells me they shine most
the moment they are picked
GENESIS
How did we get here?
In the market, stirred
by the lavender of Russian sage
the aroma of romantic rosemary
a delicate lingo of cilantro
the ephemeral squash blossoms...
How do we stay?
OVERHEARD IN THE MARKET
Once upon a time, it was all organic. Now, not.
Wow, Ive never seen that before.
Holy buckets, look at those radishes.
Climate is what you expect and weather is what you get.
Were up to our eyes in groceries here.
Soda pop is liquid corn.
On a farm, everything is dangerous.
I love to watch stuff grow.
Plant your corn by the light of the moon.
A farmer farms soils and a writer farms brain cells.
If it was easy, youd see it on every table.
Ive known these Brussels sprouts since they were seeds.
Enjoy every blade of grass. Dont miss the miracle.
CORNUCOPIA is dedicated to the late Dick Broeker, grower of tart cherries, city manager in the Latimer era who organized the resurrection of the farmers market, and advocate of self-reliance and the home-grown economy.
The artist is grateful for help from Bernie Brand, Patty Brand, Jack Gerten, Sarah Remke, Don Roberts, Edible Twin Cities, Deb Wallwork, Write On Radio, Digigraphics, The Friends of the St. Paul Farmers Market, and all the growers and customers who make the market the marvel it is.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
THE BARBARA SCHNEIDER FOUNDATION has commissioned The Center to produce GETTING IT RIGHT, a documentary film about how police officers and other public safety and health workers can better serve people with mental illness. It will be authentic and useful.
World premiere is at the Minneapolis Public Library on Thursday, July 26, 2007. For information, click.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
ROBERT WILCOX & TED HARTWELLClick to see a video snapshot of the photographer Robert Wilcox as described by the late Ted Hartwell. Hartwell was a photographer and the curator of photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
The piece was created in the summer of 2006 by Conrad Zbikowski and Phoebe Bottoms, a couple high school students in the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth working with their teachers Media Mike and
David Bengtson.
The sweet enthusiasm of Hartwell for camera works and camera workers shines.
For moving tributes to Hartwell, visit the awesome blog of Alec Soth.
For a fine obituary writ by Mary Abbe in the Star Tribune, read.
For a sweet obit created by Marianne Combs broadcast on MPR, listen.
In Minneapolis, on MTN on channel 16:
Thursday May 24 at 4:30pm
Tuesday May 29 at 11pm
Saturday June 9 at 10:30am
Wednesday June 13 at 9:30am
In St. Paul, on SPNN on channel 15:
Friday May 25 at 11:30pm
Saturday May 26 at 5pm
Sunday May 27 at 6:30pm and 8:30pm
Thursday May 31 at 3:30pm
Friday June 1 at 10:30pm
Saturday June 2 at 9:30pm
For your own copy, call Media Mike at 651.227.2240.
MEDIA MIKE LOOKS FOR PATTERN IN RISING STARS
I like to think the essence of my teaching has been contained in the phrase "hands on". I learned to make video by doing it, getting my fingers on equipment.
Yet, I learned new levels of the phrase, hands on, with this project.
Wondering what we might do, I saw a film about a school for the blind in Czechoslovakia by Mira Janek which taught me to free myself. It opens with blind kids feeling a camera.
Wow, that is so simple, it is a wow.
I had to resist the urge to warn these kids, keep your fingers off the lens. The most exciting passages in our film are when the kids feel the camera. Cayla in the Central Court is so stimulated by the discovery, she giggles ecstatically.
In our studio classroom, Cassie demonstrates she has learned the basic metaphor of the machine as an analog of the body. "The lens is the camera's eye and the microphone is the camera's ear," she says as the camera is physically explored.
These are moments when a teacher says, "Yes."
I'm an artist whose life is seeing things. It is a tiny thing, but every morning since this project, I close my eyes and shave without looking.
Studying RISING STARS, I have been impressed with how much our tools do without our actually consciously using them. We see without seeing, hear without hearing.
Given a camera, Steven, who can't see at all, made pictures for everyone in his life to see. It was a power to behold how good it made him feel. He was ten feet tall. Me too.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
RED EYE is a multimedia montage of poems, pictures and profound objects written, recorded and collected by Mike Hazard on the color red.
Free for all, come see RED EYE in the St. Paul Art Crawl, Friday 6-10pm April 20, Saturday 2-10pm April 21, and Sunday 12-5pm April 22, 2007 in the atrium on the fifth floor of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul. Or call 651.227.2240.
Here are three poems from the collection.
THE RED CARPET
The red carpet was
unrolled from a roll
of red paper to honor
the world premiere
of a movie the artistic
and autistic kids made.
As the students entered
our ad hoc theater,
the paper crinkled.
Cameras flashed,
reporters questioned,
the kids twinkled.
MARASCHINO MAN
Spoony as a maraschino cherry
his cheery spoon reddens
in the sun of her affection
ablush in the garden of Eden
spoony as a maraschino cherry
EULOGY IN RED
Cadmium sunset reds,
sunburned bald-headed reds,
flag-waving Communist reds,
bleeding, bleeding heart reds,
a raspberry on the elbow from
stretching a single into a double reds...
your funeral at 39, Greg Kelsey--
painter, baseball player, revolutionary--
parted a sea of red eyes.
Coming soon is FLYING COLORS, where Hazard's color collections RED EYE, AGENT ORANGE, FOOL'S GOLD, THE EVERGREEN MAN, THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS and SHRINKING VIOLET will become one.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
THE MAGIC GREEN SCHOOL BUS is a half-hour documentary portrait of Paul Wellstone. Created by kids at Lake Country Montessori School in Minneapolis, it is a trip for people of all ages. See what lessons we learned from the life of the late teacher and senator from Minnesota.
Click to see a scene from the movie. To see the whole shebang on line, click on the panel for the bus to the right where it reads, "See the film". We are grateful to Stinkless Communications for hosting the video.
The historian Howard Zinn enthuses, "It is delightful. And a brilliant idea to tell his story through the magic bus, the bus driver, the utterly charming children! It is a good example of how to take a subject that at first glance seems rather dull, and invest it with vitality, humor, inspiration, without sacrificing serious ideas."
Music includes Ballad of Paul and Sheila by Mason Jennings, Star Spangled Banner played by Larry McDonough and On the Bus by Larry Long and Wellstone Elementary School.
You might also want to learn more about the current legislation for Mental Health Parity.
To order your own copy, zoom. To order on line at Wellstone Action, click.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
SHRINKING VIOLET is a multimedia montage of poems, pictures and profound objects written, recorded and collected by Mike Hazard.
This is the purple section in a series on the visible spectrum. RED EYE, AGENT ORANGE, FOOLS GOLD, THE EVERGREEN MAN and THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS compose the sequence.
ULTRAVIOLET WE
Ultraviolet we cannot see
ornaments the petals
of certain flowers,
powering the bee
to the pollen,
the flower to eternity
Free for all, come see SHRINKING VIOLET in the St. Paul Art Crawl, Friday 5-10pm October 13, Saturday 12-7pm October 14, and Sunday 12-5pm October 15, 2006 at Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul.
a rainbow
of cranes
colors
ground zero
where
the towers
and planes
and cranes
were, now
towers
a rainbow
of cranes
A thousand paper cranes were hung among a mass of memorabilia on a fence around an old church near ground zero. I took a picture. After watching the cranes grind away at ground zero, clearing the debris, I wrote a poem. Today I put the two together, a picture poem for peace.
Pax. Paix. Salaam aleikum. Shalom. Peace.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
A PACK OF DOGS will be on exhibit throughout the dog days of August at the Black Dog Caf. Free, it is a collection of canine photographs and poems by Media Mike Hazard.
YOU GOT AWAY
You got away for good this time. You were
always getting away, racing into the woods,
disappearing in a fast and furious blur of fur.
Cleverly teased home once by a trail of baloney,
you wolfed it slice by slice right up to the door,
then made another great escape as we
grabbed for matted hair and combed thin air.
Whenever you did get away, we hollered
your many pet names. You never obeyed,
always following the bliss of your piss,
mapping and remapping the neighborhood.
On a leash, on late night walks, you heard
and kept the family secrets. Time after time,
patrolling the house in the darkness
we fell asleep to the tick of your toes.
THE SAVAGES ARE COMING
The savages are coming,
the savages are coming,
screamed the man as he ran
up to his neighbors house
near Mankato, August 19,
1862: The Sioux Uprising.
The neighbor was flaying
a wolf alive, trapped
and hung, spread-eagled.
Peeling the canines skin,
the wolf and men howled,
The savages are coming,
the savages are coming.
Located in Lowertown in downtown St. Paul by the Farmers Market at 308 Prince Street, the Black Dog Caf is open every day. Hours are Mon-Thu 7am-10pm; Fri-Sat 7am-11pm; Sun 7am-8pm. For info, call 651.228.9274.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
WACAPI WANAGI/GHOST DANCE is a cool video by Deb Wallwork of a hot buffalo by Laura Youngbird. This video is from a half hour program called WE & ME, created at Circle of Nations School in Wahpeton, North Dakota as part of an artist residency with Media Mike.
Friday, June 16, 2006
THE CAMERA OPERATOR whose lens focused Howard Dean's infamous scream in Iowa for the network pool is a media buddy. One of the savviest people I know, he was stunned the morning after when he saw how his recording was being used to assassinate the candidate.
A similar scenario seems to be unfolding with Susana De Leon. Footage recorded by a private group was edited by a local teevee investigative unit into a news story.
It makes De Leon appear to be racist. This is so out of line with the individual we've been recording as a leader of a community outfit called Quetzalcoatlicue, that this short is offered here as part of the big picture. It was recorded at a Solstice ceremony.
By the way, everyone is invited to the north end of Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis to see this year's Solstice Ceremony, Saturday June 17 at 11am.
The camera sees; people react and act.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
JERRY LIEBLING ASKS, "When was the last time you went to a museum and you went in fear?"
Click to see what he is talking about in a new film by Media Mike,
LOOKING AT LIEBLING.
Liebling is showing a collection of his photographs at Minnesota Center for Photography. Curated by George Slade, the show runs through Sunday June 11, 2006. There will be a closing discussion on that last day at 2pm led by Slade.
Located at 165 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, the Minnesota Center for Photography is open Tuesday-Sunday 12-5pm and Thursdays 12-8pm. For more, call 612.824.5500.
He will open your eyes. Click.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
AGENT ORANGE is a multimedia montage of poems, pictures and profound objects written, recorded and collected by Mike Hazard.
This is the orange section in a series on the visible spectrum. RED EYE, FOOLS GOLD, THE EVERGREEN MAN, THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS and SHRINKING VIOLET compose the sequence.
JAIL
Curious as a school of koi men and women
dressed in orange
are looking at us
looking at them
Curious as a school of koi
Free for all, come see AGENT ORANGE in the St. Paul Art Crawl, Friday 5-10pm April 21, Saturday 12-7pm April 22, and Sunday 12-5pm April 23, 2006 at Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul. Or call 651.227.2240.
Did you know Columbus brought the orange to this hemisphere? The fruit began in Asia.
Agent Orange is also the poison the American military sprayed all over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
SCHOOLS
In a tasty and tasteful Chinese restaurant called Rainbow, my daughter and I were seated at a table next to a 120 gallon tank loaded with a school of large orange carp. Projecting into the middle of the dining room, so you could see through it like a big lens, we were in a fish bowl.
As we talked about college, the hungry and healthy fish zoomed in and out of our conversation. After going to the bathroom, I swam back, a fish-faced fool of a father, trolling for a laugh. This adult, who once upon a time was my child, smiled.
It was nice dining with you, she said as we were about to leave. Fishing for compliments, I didnt realize she was thanking the carp. Fish, like families, swim in schools.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
LOVE MAKING? For an essay on why I love making poetic videos, click.
PEACE HOUSE SINGS is a new film about a place people call "the living room of Franklin Avenue". For two decades this totally volunteer-run, faith-based action has been helping people trying to better themselves. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, we made a new documentary, Peace House Sings.
For one of the songs from Peace House Sings, click.
To buy a copy for $20, call Catherine Mamer at 763-588-4144.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Gladys S. Ray, Biidwewidamookwe (Hear the Thunder Coming Woman), has passed on. Among many good works, she was the informed informant who was instrumental in making Mino-bimadiziwin: The Good Life the great film that it is.
Lucky enough to meet her a few times, I always took notes. Here are two poems for her which retell stories she told.
A KODAK MOMENT
A herd of buffalo appeared in our camp by the Sheyenne.
Eagerly, we flashback with Gladys. As the scene clicks,
her dark eyes widen with wonder. We are there.
From inside the car, through the window,
a bull is rubbing his beard on the picnic table.
More bulls are grazing among the pup tents
of the sleeping campers, dreaming they hear bison.
"I took pictures that look just like postcards!"
A MOSQUITO AMONG THE MAHNOMIN
Gladys grinned when we noticed the hum.
"I'm keeping a pet mosquito in the house.
I had to tell my children to leave it alone.
It makes me feel like I'm out in the woods.
I can't believe how stupid we were when we began.
We knew nothing about the ways of the world.
We just knew the woods, the mosquitoes,
the berries, and mahnomin, the wild rice."
I can't believe how smart she was in the end.
She was born near Mahnomen, Minnesota, on the White Earth Reservation. "Mahnomin" is the Ojibwe word for wild rice. I used to always call Gladys when I needed a translation.
"Ba go sen dam is hope as a noun." "Aashkibaago indicates green." "SUN IS GII SIS MOON IS DIBIKIGIISIS. HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL, gLADYS"
To read a catalog of obituaries which have been appearing all around the world, click.
You may also watch the whole film on line at Free Speech TV.
While we were making the film, Gene got very sick and I wrote this poem about some of the things we were going to do.
WE WERE GONNA AND WE STILL MIGHT
We were gonna smash the ball past those who bought the park.
We were gonna listen to you play Mozart on the clarinet.
We were gonna take your dog Punky for a walk in the country.
We were gonna hunker down by the Vietnam Wall and feel the pierced heart of America.
We were gonna remind the country about the tear gas in Chicago and how it still makes people cry.
We were gonna get Ladybird, Abigail and Muriel together and record the real story of 1968.
We were gonna ask if you feel like a veteran, wounded in the war at home.
We were gonna dare ask you about St. Sebastian and private devotions.
We were gonna climb the steps of the Senate or the House--you said it didn't much matter which--and talk sense about democracy.
We were gonna get a bottle of Dewars and Robert Bly and drink until you guys forgot the camera was rolling.
We were gonna trace the arc of your thought back through Thomas More and Theresa of Avila.
We were gonna give the system a test, and we still have to.
We were gonna keep death daily before our eyes, and we have.
We were gonna smash the ball past those who bought the park.
We were gonna change the world, and we still might.
Media Mike's GANG, a meditation on violence linking and synching local and global points of view, is now playing at Chuck Olsens ambitious and ambidextrous website for new media.
CABLE FABLE shows media activist George Stoney in action.
PEOPLE WE RARELY SEE ON TEEVEE is a half hour collection of clips of good folks who rarely appear on the tube: youth, teachers, the blind, poets, philosophers, activists, Aztec dancers and others.
In Minneapolis, on MTN:
Monday December 19 at 11pm on Channel 17
Thursday December 29 at 9pm on Channel 16
Saturday January 7 at 5:30pm on Channel 17
In St. Paul, on SPNN:
Sundays and Saturdays in December at 3:30pm on Channel 16
Friday, October 14, 2005
The Bluebird of Happiness is a wingy collection of poems, pictures and profound objects on the color blue. The work of Media Mike Hazard, it shows at the St. Paul Art Crawl on Friday 6-10pm, October 14 and Saturday 1-6pm, October 15, 2005.
A BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS
A bluebird of happiness flies
in Geraldines aquamarine eyes.
I feared shed died and flown
to heaven when I found her,
here in this rest home since
she cant remember when.
Shes good on the old days,
not so on the current questions
she repeats like bird calls.
Are you a good husband?
Are you a good husband?
I answer youre my teacher
in the school of hard knocks.
She says her daughter once
spelled that knocks k.n.o.x..
Giving her a little peck goodbye,
I flutter away, stopping to study
the bluebird picture by her door.
In Geraldines aquamarine eyes
a bluebird of happiness flies.
Its free for all ages in the fifth floor atrium of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul. For more, call 651.227.2240.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
FOOL'S GOLD is a whimsical collection of poems, pictures and profound objects on the color yellow. It shows at the St. Paul Art Crawl on Friday 6-10pm, April 22 and Saturday 1-6pm, April 23, 2005.
It's free for all ages in the fifth floor atrium of Lowertown Lofts, 255 Kellogg Boulevard E, St. Paul. For more, call 651.227.2240.
ROUND SONG
On a golden beach
in a bright yellow shirt
with a round belly
as big as the sun
a blonde man shines
as big as the sun
with a round belly
in a bright yellow shirt
on a golden beach.
FOOL'S GOLD
The maple tree in front of the old man's palace has shed its leaves in a golden shower. He takes the gold-plated banjo out of its case. Marked with his strumming, it's a four string tenor: $275: "In those days, boy!"
A print of a piano-playing lady by Renoir hangs on the wall above him. It is turning blue as the yellow fades in the daylight. I mention I heard Renoir sometimes painted with his penis. He laughs hard.
The bold sun beams on his glass of whiskey. Gold tree of life, gold instrument, gold liquor, gold teeth. Fool's gold for this neighbor, pen in hand, panning for nuggets of wisdom from the old man.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
To see how community media makes the world go around, click. Mary Bradys PUBLIC ACCESS AND THE PRESERVATION OF DEAF CULTURE and John Akres MOGADISHU TO MINNEAPOLIS are especially keen. Published by the Alliance for Community Media, you can download the whole shebang, free. See too the selection of international news.
Friday, April 01, 2005
The Children Remember airs on Twin Cities Public Television, TPT Channel 17 on Sunday, April 3 at 6pm.
Winner of First Prize for Feature Documentary at the Fargo Film Festival, The Children Remember shows us life at the Minnesota State School for Dependent and Neglected Children.
Written by Mike Hazard, narrated by Kevin Kling and directed by Kathleen Laughlin, the documentary is a story of stories told first person by some of the 10,635 orphan kids who lived there between 1886 and 1945.
Monday, March 14, 2005
MY PEOPLE ARE MY HOME, a fine film portrait of the late great midwestern writer Meridel LeSueur, will air on Twin Cities Public Television, TPT - 17, at 6pm on Sunday, March 27.
My People is about politics, caring for the planet and the struggles of people everywhere to survive with grace. Filled with hope and passion, it is essential viewing for all ages.
LeSueur says in the film, "Guard the democratic corn, we are brothers and sisters of the corn, solidarity of the ovum and pollen more immense than man-made fission, wrapped in the shuck of communal love."
To order your copy of the program on vhs or dvd, click. $20 plus $5 for S&H. Or call 651.227.2240 for VISA/MasterCard orders. It is rated R for radical!
Sunday, December 12, 2004
SOLAR POWER & MOONSHINE, a collection of pictures, poems and profound objects by Mike Hazard, is on exhibit at the Minnesota Center for Photography until Wednesday December 22, 2004.
To celebrate the Solstice, there will be a free haphazard happening with video, poems and star cookies on Sunday December 19 from 2-4pm.
Here are two of Hazard's poems, one for the moon and one the sun.
THE BLUE-HAIRED MOON
Your belief in The One Above made us
get down on our knees and close our eyes.
The sacred heart of your faith in Jesus
is a prize of prayers and praise.
By the Great Horn Spoon,
good night Gramma, and do not cry, please:
I promise by the blue-haired moon,
we will always hum and sing your lullabies.
THE BURNING BUSH
Abuzz with bees
amazed among
the manzanitas
in Madera canyon
abuzz with bees
in a honey of a sun
a man and a woman
in a maze of flowers
abuzz with bees
pause to praise
the burning bush
speaking in tongues
abuzz with bees
It is a show which plays with a thousand points of light.
Red, green and blue together make white light. We have three sorts of cones in our retinas which are sensitive to red, green and blue light. A holy trinity makes light white. This is the physical reason why the first color televisions had three tubes, red, green and blue. RGB.
The Minnesota Center for Photography is located at 165 - 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 USA. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Sunday 12-5pm, Thursday 12-8pm. For more information, call 612.824.5500.
