Did Israel Commit War Crimes?
March 23, 2009
In this talk, Dr. Avi Bell denies that Israel has committed war crimes. His argument is that collateral damage of civilians is okay when it is justified. We, however, in the West never get to see pictures of that damage. It is also extremely rare to get the Palestinian view of the matter.
Bridget…
March 20, 2009
Lately I’ve been on a roll making it to yoga classes. I have had five different teachers in the last week. It has added a wonderful perspective on my practice. The latest teacher I had was Bridget today in Hawthorne. I have had her before and I like her style. She brings a very youthful vibrant energy to the practice which is also reflected in the music she plays from her Ipod. I mean it’s cool doing Yoga to Led Zeppelin.
There was a strong emphasis on the vinyassa and movement as well as power. We moved at a pretty rigorous rhythm although there was no pressure to do so. At anytime we could revert to child’s pose which I just remembed how we opened class. I don’t think I’ve ever started a class that way.
The class too ended in a very cool fashion. Bridge laid down a cool rap about how ultimately yoga is about the relation with your self. She said how we see things, hear things and so forth. I know I do. It was good to hear it . Sometimes yoga in a gym and in Westchester in particular the yoga can be on a cold, personal style not that I am putting it down.
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Sylvia…
March 19, 2009
Pushing the envelope I made it to the Thursday night yoga class at the White PlaIns location. Earlier in the day I had done spin and swimming and was a little tired from that endeavor but I had my mind on making the yoga class all day. I’ve been on a roll lately and wanted to continue it. My decision was made when I was able to catch on camera a fantastic sunset behind the house. All day there had been a gloomy overcast sensation but at dusk the sun peeked out from around the clouds and bestowed on the woods a golden amber. It is the day before Spring but it’s that time between winter and spring. In just a couple of weeks the green will burst through.
So I made it to class. I had to have a clear intention because I have taken this instructor before and I know her to be very rigorous. Tonight was no exception. And lo and behold when I went into the class and it was crowded. The only spot for me was in the very front of the room. This is no big deal accept I usually like to be in the back. It’s my natural inclination to watch people.
The thing that sticks out in my mind about the class is that it held very true to vinyassa, so to the point Sylvia went over a detailed explanation about chattarunga. Utlimately it’s how we root ourselves. This struck a chord with me as it reflected the sense of connection I had when taking the pictures…
The last ironic note was I had to ask her name because I’ve been writing these posts and she answered with the great, “who am I?”
And I was like, “I can call you who am I.”
“Sylvia.”
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Opening Up…
March 19, 2009
Yesterday’s yoga class with Diann was about opening up the shoulders. It was a delicious class. I left there feeling exhilerated. Since I had been on the road the last couple of weeks. it was the first time I had been in Diann’s class. Diann likes to create a narrative while she is instructing the class.Yesterday was no exception. The only thing is I am writing the post the next day so it is not as vivid in my mind. One anecdote that stands out in my mind was when she said when you open up to the universe the universe will give you for what you ask for. “You as individual are part of nature as well,” she said communicating the point that we are not seperate entities from nature. This was in relation to Spring coming in the next couple of days. She was saying how yoga reflects what’s going on outside in nature. To this regard, the opening up routine she had us following was about building up heat. So we were doing wild twits to open up the shoulders through the lower lumbar region…
St. Patrick’s Day In NYC 3.17.09
March 18, 2009
st patrick’s day march 17 2009…I rode the train in with my mom…on the platform in the ‘qua watched the trucks dig up the ground…american landscape…so impermanent…the trees that you used to line the bridge are gone…then again, a lot of things are gone…like bowie…like Matt…somethings remain though…like the light although it too is always changing form…the walk through the woods…the last day of winter…you can feel spring peeking out from amongst the clouds..
the ride in the traiin…teens skipping school drinking forties…the young girls with lush bodies so unformed…an american education…they’re kind of funny to look at…not too many of them doing yoga I would suspect…
off the train cops shaking down kids with beer…shuffle through the grand central up to park avenue…I need to use a bathroom so we go into American doll…what a place…every young girl’s fantasy….the sweet side of American consumerism…
after the visit to the men’s room back out on the street…we meet my aunt and a family freind Mrs. Murphy in front of the Trump Tower…I got a nice spot by the barricade to take snapshots and video…
We watched an impressive array of bands and military groups parade…as usual, my Aunt Ann was very funny…it was fun to see the Fighting 69th…they have a long storied history in New York…and when the Firemen came up it was a moving experience…they carried a banner with the number 343 honoring the fallen firemen in the world trade center tragedy. Additionally, to the banner they carried 343 American flags also in honor of the fallen firemen. It was quite the sight.
Ater an hour and a half I had seen enough and left my Mom and Aunt. I had to hand in a new show over on 59th street. Once I was able to navigate over the street, not on easy feat on a day like this I walked into Central Park.
For a long time, I have had a deep fascination with the Park. As a student of light and shadow the park is a wonderful place for such observations. Today was no disappointment. At that time of day, a little after one, there was a bright, warm sensation streaking the land. The park sitll exhibits the signs of winter with no leaves out on the trees yet but one can feel it’s pregant energy about to explode forth…
I cut out of the park over at Columbus circle so I could make my way over to the MNN studio which is located over at 59th street between 10th and 11th. It’s an awkward lcoation. You almsot feel like you’re going out to the Hampton’s or something. It seems that far away.
I got over there and handed in my show. I had a very pleasant chat with the girl in the Library who accepts the dvd’s. This is the end of the winter quarter with the spring quarter to start next week. At the end of this quarter will be our second anniversary of broadcasting in the city…
the dream has kept going through many permutations. Over all, I have been doing the show for over 11 years…I started in May 2008…long distance runner….through all the indifference I have kept my expression going….it’s not easy when you get this advanced along the path…the people you started with get burned out or sell out to the man. The audience one might have had has long since dissipated. It’s like talking to one’s self in the void. Expression, however, is real. One of the early themes of the show was to communicate where I was at in the moment. The moment is always with us. That’s one thing that can not disappear until the specter of death…
It’s amazing to think back about all the characters who were hanging around during the process of the show…there was rob, our first station manger and then his successor Antonio and now Carrie…also down in White Plains Fred gave away to James although Rita and Gary are still there. In the beginning we used to hand in the shows on vhs…now all the stations accept dvd…I went from some old linear track editng thing up at Greeley to the non-linear destructive editing of Final Cut Pro.
Fromn the beginning we have been putting the shows up on the web….at first it was real player…the quality wasn’t all that amazing but it was still amazing to be able to see the work stream across the web. It never obtained the fame we envisioned for it but we were blown away by it nonetheless…..now with the rise of youtube and other such venues some clips from the show get thousands of views. We are so jaded these days. It seems hardly worth mentioning although to me I still find the excitement in it…
like the light today…with the hints of Spring in it…songs like waterloo sunset playing in my ear..
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Indigo Bindu…
March 15, 2009
Today I made it to Christina’s sunday yoga class. One thing I like about her method of teaching is the relaxed pace of the class. An additional pleasure today is that I got to sit down with her in the Barne’s and Noble and beautiful daughter.
Q. So how long have you’ve been doing yoga?
A. Formal practice since 2nd year of college which was about 1999. I took it as a class one semester and continued to take the class.
Q. When did you decide to become a teacher….
A. I decided to become a teacher in 2007.
Q!. What prompted this decision?
A. Because I wanted to have a career that would encourage me to think philosophically and stay in shape and make my own hours and not for one person…choose my business relationships carefully….
Q, the meaning of your business name…
A. bindi is ornamentation which is a dot women wear over their eyes… so when I took classes when I close my eyes I would see a really vivid indigo…I started researching the word and found it was the dot of creation and that’s where that came from…
Q. How can people contact you?
A. they can contact me at my email cpatierno@hotmail.com
Trackbacks…
March 15, 2009
Social Media has become the norm in marketing on the internet. A vital technique is the use of trackbacks.
Sunflower Sutra or the nauga ate Ginsberg…
March 14, 2009
Vision of expression…a wondrful reading by Raja of the beautiful Allan Ginsberg poem “Sunflower Sutra” which celebrates the sublime beauty of the world admist the debris…music from the Sprinkle Genies…rock music with an
ironic attitude…original fiction from Dave Pollack…images, video and graphics from Tyler Sid…
On the road again…
March 12, 2009
on the road again…today we leave the the warm comfort of my sister’s home to go back to New York where it is a lot colder, both physically and mentally…the pace the last two weeks has been this slow graceful ballet of waking, eating, playing with the kids and doing yoga at the YMCA all admist the beautiful panorama of this Arizona desert…it has been a spiritual time for me as well as I hadn’t seen Lia and Isabella since last June..it is truly amazing to watch as children grow…their development so expotentially great..I think I get along with then because as a poet and an artist, I am just a big kid at heart, which is I believe is created by being aware of vision and in touch with creativity….those two forces it is my belief will keep an individual extremely young at heart…
the road too will keep you young at heart if you are not eaten up by it…the constant moving keeps the mind fresh and out of the rut of routine…it is a journey into the night, a dictum and concept I picked up from Celine many years ago…moving out of your environment helps to keep your eyes fresh and your mind open to ideas…by being in motion you prevent yourself from becoming stale…
the return home, like Ulysses, is joyous too…because you see your familiar haunts with new eyes as well…
Bike Riding Into the Void or dancing Free in the Desert..
March 11, 2009
Bike riding into the void or dancing free in the desert…the last day with my nieces in the beauty of the Phoenix desert…the void flashing about us on the abyss the beauty of the girls pushing it back…how we define ourselves defends us against the void or lets us sink into it…Lia and Isabella are six and five respectively and it’s a real joy to watch them play…the excitement when they discovered a swing…we had to come off the path and immediately engage the swing…we went then went for a longer bike ride and then it was time for our picnic…bike riding into the void or dancing free in the void…
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