BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living

BiG TeA PaRtY editor VaLerie K has just received a grant from the Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association (PIFVA).

Congratulations Val!

This grant will help support a NEW BiG TeA PaRtY DVD on GREEN issues like composting, the importance of buying local food, water conservation and much more. Look for it this fall.

PIFVA is a membership organization whose mission is to strengthen, promote and serve Philadelphia’s independent media community through programs which provide opportunities to learn, mentor, produce and screen work, advocate for the community and network. PIFVA is dedicated to increasing the creative capacity of Philadelphia media artists, promoting public appreciation of independent media making, and encouraging the talent and ability of the region’s creative community of filmmakers.

VaLerie K is a professional film and video editor, specializing in Final Cut Pro, Avid, Photoshop, After Effects, DVD Studio Pro, mixed-format projects, HD, DV, DigiBeta, you name it. Contact her if you’re in the NY/Philly/NJ/DE area and need an experienced editor to start/finish/critique your video or film project, tutor or teach editing techniques and skills.

Posted by Elizabeth Fiend.

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BiG TeA PaRtY is on VACATION!

Playa del Fuego, an East Coast Burning Man
BY ELIZABETH FIEND

 May 2009 look for the BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living Theme Camp at PDF! 

Join us on Saturday, May23 - Noon, for a Wormwood Iced Tea Party

PDF 2008: They burn a pony, not a man. The vibe is chill, not hot.

I was trying to describe the difference between Burning Man, which by now every one knows about, and Playa del Fuego, which is still pretty much a secret, to my Burning Man campmates last year, who would be coming to PDF for the first time. ) PDF is the mid-Atlantic regional “burn” – one of the many regional off-shoots of Burning Man.

Playa del Fuego is nothing and everything like Burning Man.

Held in not-so remote Odessa, Delaware, PDF is a four-day campout with a max capacity of 800 peeps (editors note: as of 2009 1,000), and this alone changes the tone. It’s a personal, intimate scene of outlandish, crazy, weird, extraordinary strangers who will end up being your best friends at the end of the weekend. That is, if you do it right.

Playa del Fuego is closer to the first Burning Man I attended, way back in 1996, when there were only 8,000 participants, unlike today’s 40,000-plus.

At today’s Burning Man, you’ll encounter astounding creations like the Belgian Waffle — a $250,000 project constructed of 100 miles of wooden beams. A spun-shredded wheat marvel by day, and a glorious electronica shrine by night. State-of-the-art sound and light with cult DJs flown in from Europe, it’s impressive and amazing, but it isn’t that personal.

Interaction is what PDF is all about.

PDF is about connecting and participating. Sure B’Man’s motto is participation, but it’s increasingly difficult to compete for attention if you don’t have some major bucks and a lot of folks behind your group.

I was telling my six campmates that we needed to dream up a theme camp to make the most out of our experience at PDF. A theme camp is an event, a residence, a place to dance or chill, a giving of yourself, music, street theater, performance, art of any kind.

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Future Weather the Movie: Philly Filmmaker Jenny Deller is on a Quest to Make a Feature Film Sustainably

by VaLerie K

Ever think about the wastefulness of the entertainment industry?  Here’s a biz where they build a whole city in a matter of weeks, only to dismantle it or blow it up in the end.  A movie crew can sweep into a city, a major U.S. city that is struggling to maintain funding for basic public services, and make streets over to look like Toronto in the 1800s, filled with horses and carriages with fake street signs and gas lamps.  Or a movie crew can make a summer day look like fall, or a sunny day into an overcast sky pouring rain.  And as is probably obvious, these movie and tv projects use an enormous amount of energy and resources, usually without really taking the environmental cost into account.

And yet there is a lone warrior, on a noble mission to actually produce an independent feature film without a huge carbon footprint.  Ok, she’s not so lone as all that, Jenny Deller has gathered a group of talented and dedicated folk around her to work toward making the story come to life in as environmentally-friendly way as possible.  “Future Weather” is a tale about a plucky tween determined to learn to grow trees from seed in an effort to help slow global warming.  Deller and her team have also developed a resource blog about all things green and sustainable. where you can find all kind of info from green gifts for any occasion, to how to navigate the complex world of plastic recycling, to a review of an automotive product called ‘the blade’ that you can attach to your car to reduce carbon emissions instantly.

For Future Weather: The Movie [website], click HERE.

For Future Weather Report [the Blog], click HERE.

To see the BiG TeA PaRtY blog post about our participation in GreenFest Philly 2008’s Eco-Film Fest, programmed and hosted by none other than Jenny Deller and Future Weather the Movie, click HERE.

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The Physics of “Green” and an Exploration of Sustainability

Six Week Workshop For Teens In Philadelphia’s Historic Italian Market

Instructors: Elizabeth Fiend and  Richard Hwang

Project 360 Spring Workshops For Home-schooling Teens and Youth Seeking Enrichment

April 20-May 29 (6 weeks)

Register today!  Call Sonia at 215/336-2418 to sign up or email her at sonia@meow.name for more information. Enrollment is limited to 10 youth per class.

The Physics of “Green” and an Exploration of Sustainability: Wednesdays 6:30-8 pm April 20- May 29 (six weeks)

(HWANG and FIEND)
This class will look at lifestyle issues of sustainability as well as “green” technologies such as wind turbines and solar energy. Two tag-teaming teachers will rotate weeks bringing a lively element to this investigation of how to become more sustainable.

Sustainable living refers to a lifestyle and set of choices that minimize a person’s ecological footprint. It is a lifestyle that pays attention to the symbiotic relationship between Earth and humanity with the ultimate goal of preserving the Earth’s natural ecology, its plants, animals and resources.

In this class you will learn ways to tweak your current life to become more sustainable. But to really achieve a sustainable future, we need science.  You will also learn about “green” technologies such as wind turbines, solar energy, and other elements of physics being used today in the new trend toward a sustainable future.

Each student will receive a free 30-minute VHS video, Green Tea Party, with tips on how to live a more environmentally friendly life, and make their own green shopping bag from recycled materials.

Materials are included in the cost of the class.

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