if feels nice when you know someone who grows and pushes themselves and accomplishes something amazing. someone who develops their talent and gets really damn good. this is my friend matthew, pictured above at the g8 in scotland doing his thing. check out his site: justimage.org

SANTA CRUZ, CA. just as i begin typing this i spill tea all over myself. i’m in a coffee shop so i’m embarrassed looking like i peed in my pants. oh, well. i shot more footage today of the bike church building their new home. they will be renting what was once a tire shop and an illegal tattoo parlor on the corner of pacific & spruce. much more space, including offices for people power and ped ex santa cruz. it is a successful story of a bike collective finding a new home in which to grow. they are rebuilding the space themselves, framing walls, hanging drywall, building doors and partitions. pretty amazing. so many of the other bike collective’s i’ve visited have outgrown their space or face future gentrification, i.e. the derailer and the bike kitchen, respectively. the derailer currently runs out of the garage in a denver house rented by a handful of young, enthusiastic people who also coordinate a local food not bombs from their kitchen.

the new, unopened bike church is filled daily with volunteers to help renovate the space. they are still raising money to pay for the project, but money is secondary to getting the space open in time for the new year according to josh muir, one of the founders of the bike church. the old repair shop has already been closed to begin moving equipment and tools. tomorrow i have an interview with josh and quentin, two of the founders. and then wednesday i fly to north carolina for the holidays. i haven’t even stopped to realize it’s that time of year. and the fact that i’m walking around in a t-shirt during the day… it’s going to be hard to go back to chicago.

BERKELEY, CA. i spent last night making cookies and videotaping conversations with the four workers at Pedal Express in berkeley, california. we had a list of twelve questions printed out, but only a few were asked directly; the rest of the questions were answered indirectly through our discussions on buisness structures, class issues, salary, health care, politics, and even urban gardening. it was the most informal, unscripted video interview i’ve done, and because of this, it felt the most real and open. most of the footage may be difficult to fit into a short documentary on bike collectives and co-ops, but it is nevertheless invaluable for future projects. while shooting last night, i thought about a potential project documenting conversations on alternative life choices and cultures–a cross-section of thoughts and opinions on work, class, human environment, peak oil, etc, from people of my generation, the current young workforce and future shape of the western world to come. maybe it’s a day dream project all idealistic documentarians get, but it seems pretty simple and gathering footage can be done anywhere, anytime. leave a comment if you have a thought on this…

so anyway, i also taped a bicycle cargo delivery by PedEx: cynthia, a courier from pedex, hauled a big metal desk with a Hauler, a trailer built by Human Powered Machines in eugene, oregon. i rode in a Blue Sky trailer pulled by foresta, the ever-so-kind messenger from pedex who has been incredibly helpful. the footage should soon be up on this site once i download it from tape.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. while video taping at the Bike Kitchen in san francisco, i met someone working on a video documentary on alternative education. his name is kevin arnold, and he first approched me to offer a reference in santa cruz, someone i should talk to about collectives. then we got talking about education and public schools, and soon we had to forcefully break up the conversation to keep from talking for hours.

if anyone out there is interested in kevin’s documentary or know someone who should be interviewed for his project, let me know and i’ll get you in touch with him. his project sounds really great. i’ll also post updates on his project here.

PORTLAND, OR. the most notable thing i took from getting aquatinted with the folks of Stumptown Printers is a unique enthusiasm for the collective community. and they expressed ardent support for my project documenting local collectives. interestingly, they were instrumental in getting the Portland Alliance of Worker Collectives (P.A.W.C., often pronounced “pawk” or “posse”) off the ground, and printed the brochure that spreads the word about the collectives involved in the alliance. i received a warm welcome from Stumptown and constant thanks simply for my interest in doing a project on collectives in portland. they made a great effort to give me access to their shop and answer questions. my only regret is not meeting with them sooner.

every collective i’ve met with so far has been zealous about collectives and community, but Stumptown was one of the most positive about being involved in a project documenting their organization. they saw it from a community angle. it wasn’t a selfish, self-promotion thing. being in their shop was like being welcomed into someone’s home where you are immediately offered food and coffee and a place to sleep if need be. perhaps their enthusiasm was because they are the first artists i’ve involved in my project, their craft & service completely entangled in the creative spirit. most collectives and cooperatives i’ve documented have approached my project from business angles–food distribution, bicycle service, public social space. when i thanked Stumptown, they thanked me for working on such a documentary.

this feeling is really hard to describe, but i wanted to try to get it down… hopefully i will engage with their collective more and get some of this feeling recorded. i seem to get deeper and deeper into this project after meetings like this.