First, the guerrilla music video I made with D-Squared of their song Little Iraq has been accepted on Neil Young‘s Living with War web site. At one point it ranked number 17 but has since fallen to 25. Every time someone clicks to view it the popularity ranking goes up, and we could use your support. If you have five minutes, visit http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html and click the Little Iraq link to vote for us. We’re really excited to support and be a small part of Neil Young’s vision!

Next, Ryan Kost wrote about Recapturing the Agua Fria River’s oasis in the Arizona Republic recently, the exact area that inspired the song, and where the video was shot. It looks like Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department has stopped allowing motor vehicles into the area. Hurray! A first step. And there is a public hearing coming up to discuss this conservation area and appropriate uses for it. If you live in Maricopa County I strongly urge you to attend and make your concerns known. Here is the info:

Sept. 17, 2007, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Albins Civic Center
19005 E. K-Mine Road Center in Black Canyon City
Details: (623) 374-5234

This little spot is important for a lot of reasons. It’s one of the very few natural lakes in this area. It’s a water resource that’s hugely important to the native wildlife, yet it’s being contaminated horribly by all the things people are leaving out there. Think about it: lead from bullets, chemicals from paint and motor oil and gasoline and God knows what else people are taking out there and either shooting up or dumping or just leaving sitting out. All of it leeching into our water supply.

There are amazing animals out there that I’ve never seen anywhere else, including the most incredible little frogs you’d never expect to see in the desert. And the abuse of this area is killing them.

There are also extraordinary petroglyphs out there, left by the ancestors of local First Nations peoples. Their precious cultural record, a huge part of the history of this area – not to mention incredibly beautiful enduring art – is being casually blown to bits by the ignorant.

I documented some of this in Table Mesa Road, which screened at Pixelodeon this summer. If you can go to the meeting and speak out, it’s a chance to make a difference. I’d love it if I could never get a bunch of production equipment out there again due to vehicle restrictions. Remember, take only photographs and leave only footprints – lightly treaded ones. The frogs and I thank you.

It’s video from when I received my moko in June of 2006. I was in the Taranaki region Aotearoa as part of an intercultural exchange. I handed my good friend Wendy my video camera and she captured the experience for me.

This was a very personal experience that’s hard to put into words. I have been interested in ta moko for a long time. I have a couple of tattoos, but never felt they were a true and deep expression of myself.

Mahinekura Reinfeld arranged for us to meet the artist who designed her moko, Rangi Kipa. Mahinekura explained that instead of picking out something pre-designed, Rangi works by listening to you tell a story about yourself, which he translates into Maori iconography, and that he aligns his artwork with the muscle and skeleton structure of your body. She believes he channels from the spiritual realm as he works. (So do I.) She told us about her own preparations for receiving her moko, including spending three days fasting and purifying herself in a sacred place.

Since I knew I would have the opportunity to receive moko I decided to fast for three days and meditate as much as I could during our busy schedule. With the exception of Wendy, I didn’t tell my travel-mates I was doing this. I didn’t want to dramatize it. I wanted to honor this tradition. And it’s a good thing I did. I waffled about what story I would tell, but on the third day, a mere hour before we were to meet Rangi, the story came to me, and I knew it was right. I’m not sure that would have happened without my fast.

For those tattoo artists and aficionados who copy Maori designs, all I can say is don’t. Ta moko is a highly personal, spiritual process. Stealing a design is akin to crass identity theft, and totally inappropriate. It is more than worth your time, resources and energy to do it properly by working with a Maori artist.

Speaking of which, Rangi Kipa will be in the U.S. during May. At least I hope he will. Keep your eyes open for his visit, and come support his art.

More about Rangi:

• http://www.maoriart.org.nz/profiles/rangi_kipa
• http://www.whenua04.com/artists/rangi_kipa.htm

Today we visited our friends at the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki, and had a lot of fun singing and having a nice meal together. I didn’t have permission to videotape there, so I will share our weaving tutorial instead.

This video depicts Ruapounamou’s patience as a teacher, and Sue’s beautiful voice. There are enough closeups that if you have access to a flax plant, you can figure out how to make a flower, too.

After the song, there is an explanation of another sound we can try to make – a way of saying thank you for the music. I cannot make this sound come out of my throat so far. If anyone out there has learned to make this sound as an adult, please post a comment with your tips. If you help me learn to make this sound, I will bring you a souvenier from New Zealand!

I recorded this song at our orientation session on May 13, 2006. Randy Kemp, one of the faculty members from ASU, is the main singer, and the rest of the travel group is singing along.