A lil' Tabla Poetry for Ya, babe...

Dhagenatin/If You Find One (Tabla Poetry #1)
Run Time: 1min 0sec
Creator's Page: This is another video collaboration between gALLIxSEE::media:: (me!) and James Whezel of Funketabla.com


***Click to Play!!!***


James Whetzel and I have a lot of fun with our collaborations. This one was shot in a day on location in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It happened to be snowing that day. Unprotected bald heads and snow make for quite a bit of cursing and hilarity. I'm not normally one to laugh at others' pain, but this was just funny (you have to watch the video all the way through to know what I'm referencing here).

James called me just after Christmas to tell me he wanted to make this video. He had performed his tabla poetry compositions for a group at a Christmas party and the response was quite positive. We chose quintessential Seattle locations and backgrounds for this video: Lakeview Cemetery (where we shot the snow scene), Volunteer Park Conservatory, and paintings/sculptures from Seattle Artists Francis Celantano and Parks Anderson, respectively.

If you're wondering what exactly Tabla Poetry is, James explains it like this:

"What it is is putting English words to the rhythms of tabla compositions. First there is a simple gat (tabla composition) and then an English poem set to the melody and rhythm of the gat."

I've included the lyrics in the image below. Whaddya think? Tabla Poetry #2 will be in production in March... and it looks to be even more interesting than #1... we're shooting on location at the Seattle Center with a cast and full run of the grounds. And I even get a PA this time! Hooray! Stay tuned...

::and so it is::

Think It So
Run Time: 4min 44sec
Creator's Page: Malcolm Cohan is the brilliant mind behind the Vision Statement Project and the creator of these videos... wow.



So I stumbled upon this video tonight and found myself overcome by the synchronicity and inspiration of it. Wow. What a simple concept- Malcolm culls techniques from well known self-help/new age philosophies like Abraham Hicks' Law of Attraction made popular by The Secret and Vision Boards from The Artist's Way and distills them down into a simple, easy for anyone to do little project that could quite possibly change one's way of life altogether. I was thinking while driving today about how important it is to know what I want. After all, how can I create my life if I don't even know how I want it to look?! And in waltzes Malcolm. Ta-Da! So simple and yet somehow, pretty profound.

I'm feeling so inspired that I'm going to start working on mine tonight. I'd like to encourage you all to create your own destinies as well. So here's the deal- this is the first video gallixsee challenge ever: I'm giving you all to the full moon on February 1st to sift through all the good the bad and the scary in web photos and video. Find the imagery that inspires you the most- that reflects your highest visions of what is possible in your life. Collage it all together with some good music and perhaps some fun effects and clock it in under 3 minutes. Then upload it to a video hosting service (I like Revver because they support artists like us by sharing ad revenues, but I won't hold it against you if you upload to YouTube) and post a link here in the comments section- or you can send it to me privately using the mail link in the sidebar. The top two videos (judged by some complex algorithm and criteria matrix that I will make up as I go along) will be featured here on the site and given lots of applause and love. I'm going to finish mine within the week and will post it here for inspiration or, for you to laugh at- whichever comes first.

Ready, set... goooooooogle (or flickr- there are lots of CC licensed photos there, but don't forget to give the creators credit!)

I can't wait to see what we all come up with!

::Blessings (and laughter) for the New Year::

A New Years Blessing (Sarod Lang Syne) ::&:: New Years (By Ze Frank)
Run Time: 1min 04sec :: 2min 54 sec
Creator's Page: New Years Blessing is by me, Alli of gALLIxSEE::media:: with music performed by James Whetzel of Funketabla. New Years created by Ze Frank, of The Show infamy...




Well, 2007 is indeed upon us. And the time has come to make those dreaded resolutions, eh? I guess I'm already a bit ahead of the game, since I've been making my resolutions every day, year round. heheh. Naw, I'm making my list of what I want to change this year like all the rest of y'all. One of those goals is to produce more original video for the sake of my sanity and creative outlet. The one above that you (hopefully) just watched is just such a project: it's a collaboration between myself and mister James Whetzel. We shot all of the performance footage in the last three days and I collaged it with some of the highlights from my trip to India and Thailand this past spring. A sort of year in review, if you will.

What's that? You want to know the rest of my intentions for 2007? Oh alright. In 2007 I'm going to:
* Produce at least one new, original video every month (yay!)
* Make at least one pod for Current TV (I know, I know...)
* Get the Smiling Flower series up and running
* Practice yoga every day
* Travel to at least 7 new countries (hey, it's 2007, right?!)
* Buy a new camera (ooooh I've been eying the new Canon Hx-A1)
* Be great~full for all that I have, in each and every day.
* Laugh more and bring laughter to others

Of course, good ol' Ze Frank is lightyears ahead of me on the last one. Here's a piece he did in the spirit of New Year's that's sure to inspire smiles and smug nods all around:

::how tiny we truly are::

The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken
Run Time: 6min 39sec
Creator's Page: Put together by Tony Darnell: the imagery, obviously, comes from NASA





I really don't need to say anything, do I? "We live on a planet, one of eight (?) in our solar system. These planets orbit a rather unremarkable star. Our star is in a gallixsee, one of five hundred thousand million in the milky way (!)... looking at this image, the idea that earth may be the only planet in the entire universe that harbors life seems almost absurd."

I studied astronomy in high school and college. I was riveted by the idea that we are just a tiny piece of an inconceivably large universe- I was drawn into the field of astronomy by the idea that there is no way we could even begin to pretend to know what's out there. The unknown is exciting, ya know?

Having left that all behind in college to focus on film school, this video re-ignited that childlike delight and awe for the infinite universe that we are merely a tiny speck of. Did you think that the whole gALLIxSEE thing was just a silly play on words?

Dream of vastness and the unimaginable becoming reality...

::Smiling Flower Wisdom::

James Figurine: "Apologies" music video
Run Time: 3min 52sec
Creator's Page: The Song is by James Figurine, Video By Die Versilberte Eitelkeit Animation Studio



This sweet little song got me humming along today whilst enjoying the eclectic grooves of my new favorite internet radio stream, dublab. The song comes from the brilliant James Figurine, one of the creative forces behind the groups Figurine and The Postal Service. When I found James on Myspace, I was delighted to discover his video was equally as cheering on this dark, blustery day. Music videos don't normally make the cut here. This one, however, features sweet & simple animation and... one of my own personal heroes, the Smiling Flower, and I just couldn't resist. Hope this one brings a little sunshine to your day as it did to mine!

If you didn't know, the Smiling Flower is one of the greatest Taoist teachers on this planet today. I have been working with the Flower and a cast of its closest friends in an attempt to capture a bit of the flowery wisdom. After losing a number of my crew members to various causes (all of them noble, I assure you), I have re-opened the Smiling Flower project and will be posting episodes from the series throughout the winter. ::stay tuned::