Spring/Summer Etsy Preview or Kudos Rach Scott

Here's a small preview of what I'm working for my Spring/Summer on Etsy! Thanks to fashion icon Rachel Scott's great suggestions for new fabric wares, I've made a new skirt and giant plumage-like fabric scarf.

John Acquadro is Goodbye the Band is Demalgamated in New Jersey.

Photo by Julia Fredenburg.

This morning in my email I got a new song from our friend and former housemate John Acquadro (Goodbye the Band). John produces multimedia hits like most people grow hair. The song is called "Everyday, My Day's a Cop." This style is so advanced that even Google doesn't understand.

Julia and I used to live with John in Santa Cruz, CA. Now he lives in New Jersey. He goes by all sorts of amazing names like William Darkblood and Johnny American.

John once produced a video that claimed to be the long lost sequel to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Salinger supposedly authored this sequel direct-to-video. John submitted The Picture in the Rye to the Whitney Biennale.

John is a big fan of seminal avant-guarde filmmaker and Kansas City native Stan Brakhage. I think he would be a good housemate with Jonas Mekas, Ryan Trecartin and Thurston Moore. He makes real albums and fake album covers.

Last fall John visited KC with our friend Shan Raoufi. They make movies together.

They were in town to scout locations for a feature project called Demalgamation. While they were here Shan shot part of a music video for John's "Amazing Marsheen." See if you can spot Julia, me and more geniuses of Kansas City and Santa Cruz.

I have a feeling that Kansas City hasn't seen the last of William Darkblood!

Castles in the Sky over Kansas City

Moving from California to Kansas City, I noticed that space is less of an issue. But after the last couple weeks I'm beginning to think that space is no issue at all. If you have a idea for a project that thrives in the public eye, but doesn't have a budget, then you can set up shop in Kansas City's finest unused storefronts rent-free "until something better comes along."

I've been super excited about Westport recently. For those who don't know, Westport is a district of Kansas City. It was a launching point of the Oregon, Lewis & Clark, Santa Fe and California trails. It is home to the best coffee shop, movie theater and ice cream in Kansas City. It's a 10 minute walk from our apartment. But like many commercial districts, it hasn't been doing so hot recently. I think Westport's master cleanse has gone far enough!

Informal community projects and formal business communities can build relationships that let everyone get to work. Awesome projects keep storefronts bright for the passing public. They fill the gaps in a district's smile. They can drive traffic for neighboring businesses. There is even potential for rent-free occupancies to reduce a land owner's tax and insurance liability. Everyone gets to do what they do best.

Our favorite faux-public access kids show Whoop Dee Doo built a float for the St. Pat's parade in Westport...

Books for the Planet and Operation Breakthrough each collected then sold donated materials in Westport storefronts. Sales from Books for the Planet benefited the Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Filmmaker's Fund.

Operation Breakthrough's sales "help children who are living in poverty develop to their fullest potential by providing them a safe, loving and educational environment."

I want to build Castles in the Sky over Kansas City. I am serious about this.

I want to inflate full-scale castles on Kansas City's most prominent vacant lots. I'm talking about multi-story bounce-houses, Crystal Palaces that glow emerald at night and sustainable biodome residences for public living. (Post your inflatable castle design in the comments!)

I want to develop a way of rolling plastic grocery bags together into very long sheets. I anticipate working with neighborhoods, real-estate companies, city departments, friends and strangers to design, produce, install and maintain iconic block-parties over Kansas City.

And a healthy workstyle will continue support our Sunday family dinners and breakfasts in the conservatory.

This is similar to:
A London suburb's response to empty storefronts.
The media collective Ant Farm's inflatables of the 1970's.
The annual ice palaces of Montreal.

Whoop Dee Doo

Hey Friends,
Its about time the Whoop Dee Doo was brought up on the blog. It has had a few mentions here and there, but not a formal introduction.
Whoop Dee Doo is a faux public access childrens show centered (I think) around the live taped performance of the variety show. Its nice to watch the show on the Myspace, but its way more fun to go to a taping. What happends at a taping? Hilarious and zany acts! There are lot of highschool dance troop type groups, pugs!, religious mimes, and tons of kids and adults dressed in costumes dancing! And pugs (sometimes)! An important part of Whoop Dee Doo (it seemed to Jamie and I) was that it managed to do things that alot of groups/organizations had failed to do in Kansas City. And that was bridging the racial divide in the city. And high school kids aren't too cool for it!
Alright, now to be honest, Jamie and I have gotten involved in Whoop Dee Doo (Well, Jamie mostly, me only a little), which would explain all the plugs for it! (More on that later) Why bother talking about a cool group unless you have something personally at stake in it's success?! Right, friends?

This is one of my favorite videos made with Whoop Dee Doo personalities, but not by Whoop Dee Doo. It was in fact made by the hilarious Leone Reeves.

The Whoop Dee Doo float for the St Patricks Day Parade

More news on Whoop Dee Doo to come!