Buck a Bag...

Saturday, November 15, 2008... half a mile west of Harmony Grove Road. The Homeless Encampment and I was directed to this area out of a growing concern from the residents about the dangers of the fires that were being lit by the homeless especially during red flag warning days. This would make it the 3rd major incursion into their world and as much as I suspected the potential concerns, I couldn't be so rude as to turn down breakfast. There was a lot of work to do. Especially hauling out the trash.



Some people mistakenly believe that the homeless are responsible for the blight. In some cases this is true but there are many contributing factors along the aquaduct. Soccer balls, plastic and all forms of Styrofoams is in abundance, run-off from the various neighborhoods and industrial areas in Escondido and it all makes it's way down underneath the Harmony Grove Road overpass where it becomes a natural creek bed again.









From what I have witnessed, these catchments that are employed in order to screen some of this debris, the idea is good but the execution of it seems poor. They are not routinely cleaned and if they are, routinely may mean every 6 months from what I have seen and all that happens in this case is that when there is heavy rain, the trash and debris will just overtop the catchment and end up in the natural creek bed. There then is evidenced the sad and slow demise of this natural and beautiful resource.





As one can see there is practically a whole patch of land littered with prescription drug medicine bottles and capsules. I can not yet with certainty say that these washed down the flood control channel as well. It seems to be just another one of those issues that needs to be addressed in order to determine the contributing factors to this problem and how we can eventually come to resolve them.



Doug, one of the residents of the encampment assures us that no one from the camp hauled it down there since at first I really got some pretty creepy feelings thinking I ran into one of those back in the country meth labs you hear about in those documentaries... the plaque associated to that drug and how people insist on being obstinate in it's manufacture. I am sure that will be something Island Suns will delve into in the future especially when we get to the areas up and around East Valley Parkway.

Back to Doug and to my surprise, he wades into the creek just to show where it seems as if piles upon piles of nails had settled themselves into the creek bed.







I just can't even begin to think along with all the other materials stewing in this creek what health concerns affects the homeless, the wildlife and some of the kids that come down to fish and who as you can see handle them on quite a regular basis.



Thankfully no one has admitted to actually cooking and eating some of these up... yuck... can't even imagine though and on runs like these where it is necessary for me to take photos and document these events, I, on my return, do feel a strong need to employ a form of decontamination where I basically wipe and wash down my shoes, gloves and other equipment including my bike with a mixture of ammonia and hot water.



So if you are not angry yet well you should be. Even in not being a resident of Escondido, who knows what types of neglect and disdain for the environment is going on in your area. This has nothing to do with sitting in trees or flushing the water in your toilet only when the efficient amount of urine is achieved.

This is basic and for those that live in Escondido, it is in our backyards practically. It is in the aquaduct and it eventually is emptied back into the natural creek bed and is not only polluting but basically killing the environment we all live in. We can share and enjoy this environment as should be the case.

With all the bail out-s going on in a seemingly endless flurry around us, who is going to bail out our most precious resource... our environment? Our we going to wait until some famous politician in Washington makes his way to our neck of the woods to finally do something or are we just going to brush aside, out of sight out of mind.

I could go to the Wild Animal Park for some peeks at wildlife no?, but later on in the story as this one evolves, one will surprised to learn all the wildlife that we have here and that is being treated in such a manner. I also look forward to the day maybe in a year or 2 or 3 yet hopefully sooner, I can take my photos in what should otherwise be a beautiful and natural setting without having to worry about stumbling upon some rusting bicycles and or tentatively accepting a meal prepared in a possibly not so sterile manner by those that have found in it a refuge. It was extended to me though in the humblest of graces so I just couldn't outright refuse and I would hope that as this project progresses, we learn to extend to our environment, the concerns and proper respect it is so rightfully due.

Below is a short film of the initial stage of Operation Buck-A-Bag. Please visit also the the Escondido City website and continue to voice your concerns.

So then it begins...

because the Aquaduct is alive. From it's primeval beginnings as it churned out gorges and made possible fertile valleys, majestic groves of trees and all the lives in between, it runs down the city as if an artery, a life blood that in it's beauty can re-vitalize and heal a somewhat divided community.

It won't be easy. There are wounds to mend, some superficial, others deep, ill conceived, partisan, festering even when we sleep. We need a common bond, a central theme, a fundamental leg to stand on. We need leaders from the various neighborhoods and enclaves within Escondido to come together, to have a meaningful dialogue and to come to an agreeable compromise with reasonable considerations. We need the business sector both large and small to be creative in defining their role and to re-invest their efforts and attention to this specific community.



We need a comprehensive approach, one that can only be achieved if instead upon our differences, we focus on and are gracious with our commonalities in order to slowly work at bridging the gaps.



This will take time. It is all that people sometimes have and yet it has always been generally believed the value is in how one spends it. The wide variety of issues is daunting. How to treat in a dignified manner, the economically disparaged and psychologically displaced people whose only intent is to try and meek out an existence away from eyes that look so disdainfully as well as times suspiciously down upon them.



How to incorporate all the diverse cultures that exist along the Aquaduct where in a community rejuvenation project, all has a voice in the direction of their artistic and functional expressions. How can we convince the California Center for the Arts and other organizations in Escondido to at least begin to look at the feasibility of taking on such a task.



Where we then have groups that pull together to make possible again a boxing gym within an expanded community center that serves also the youth in the hopes of establishing well grounded principles of discipline in exercising an accepted form of competitive development. Where we have sponsors who help make grants possible and awarded to winners of mural competitions, fun runs, bike-a-thons, and semi-pro marathons along the Trail, as well as periodical achievement awards for deserving neighborhoods to nurture, foster and maintain once again the concept of true unity.

Unity whereas a garden of ideas and approaches can make possible something such as a band competition, open to everyone, at Grape Day Park with some proceeds dedicated to the Aquaduct Trail Revival Project to consequently benefit the City herself.



We can come together. We can start now.Let's start from scratch, community zero so we can be proud of being Escondido again.

Operation Comm Zero ( Community Zero)...

Community Zero, The Aquaduct Project, I am sure once everyone gets on board realizing how potentially "cool" of an endeavor this is oh so going to turn out to be, they will come up with their own names and deservedly so. To me, on a personal level... it is known also as Operation Thin Line and I am glad to be a part of this adventure.

Others may call it ambitious, misguided, self-interested, whatever coinage such people phrase to maybe excuse themselves from having come up with the idea themselves and giving up on it realizing how difficult such social revival and reinvigoration projects can be.

Hey well, please don't blame me... I just wanted something to do besides the usual over-indulgent behaviour we all tend to get ourselves into but please, I have a funny shamanistic feeling there will be plenty of time for that sorry err I mean particularly sensitive and rather personal story line.

Back to the concept of a thin line and when exactly is it crossed, is it also as convenient a detraction from the real issues as when one uses the expression "people in glass houses should refrain from throwing stones"? Could that have somehow evolved over time to be as sophisticated as the saying "no static at all"? or when John McCain so aptly advised the audience not to give in to the "static"?

What is "static" in the metaphoric sense of the word? Is it when concepts of justice are somewhat perverted out of convenience? Is it the usual business of treating with favour those we on a deep and maybe subconscious defer to as having the most in common with? What fine and or thin lines therefore separate statical and non statical considerations? A cubicle? A certain bloodline, a set of railroad tracks or something as intangible as the amount of a paycheck?

Are those that throw stones in glass houses ones that own a glass house or two for show? Is there a sense of static in the notion of who exactly would throw a stone in a glass house anyways? Wouldn't one disturb the righteous maturation of a benevolent and soon to be delicious foundation to a grateful soul's spaghetti sauce? Or maybe that creation (tomato for those that didn't get it) just isn't as susceptible to the propagandist messages coming from that mysterious frequency some guy named Kenneth seems to know about.

Fact is, static is everywhere, just permeates our very fiber and the only hope I can think of in dispelling it as much as I could from my life was to try and express the love I have for film and photography.

My glass house I suppose one can say then because of urban shots that were necessitated by my first project... to initially put together a video documentary on a group of people called the Beautifiers... my glass house materialized into this monstrosity running through the city of Escondido known as The Aquaduct. Most refer to it as a flood control channel and rightfully so but we will get more into that.

I have a sometimes irritating knack of telling segmental stories, I start at the middle double back and then maybe branch off into a somewhat vaguely related track... it is that HUGE of a GLASS HOUSE for me... the issues are so wide and varied and I am but as of yet one element in this endeavor.

One aspect that seems to be getting resolved though is the litter and the danger posed under the 15 freeway overpass.

On my way back from the 3rd day of preliminary scouting where I finally made it to Foxley in assessing the beginning to the concreting of the creek, I happened onto this scene.







Finally! and a bicycle police officer at that. As far as the pile of refuse along the side of the trail, he had to basically put some gloves on and toss it from the embankment itself since Public Works wouldn't remove it due to the issue of it being Cal Trans problem. We will speak about that more later.

Wow though the anger I must have felt when our officers are regulated to trash duty simply because of the lack of cooperation between 2 agencies, Public Works and Caltrans to work together in resolving the issues.

How much more difficult will this project be in accomplishing then especially considering the very wide variety of static and stones that surely will be cast and thrown about?

Remains to be seen and this article will be updated daily so please stay tuned.

Don't just sit there...

What a comfy little existence most of us Americans live in where we can at a whim, pop something in the microwave whenever we have the urge to eat or spend all day in front of the television mindlessly taking in the many various interpretations of the current events, yet what matters the most in my opinion is the simple act of actually doing something about the many ills that plaque this World.

Just last evening, my buddy brought over some food from Taco Bell and there are 2 tacos left that will not be eaten. The shells are now soggy and besides, I already had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and I got to thinking about the children starving in my native country of the Philippines that struggle daily to even eat a bowl of rice for the day. I suppose I felt ashamed and so decided to write about it and also research the organizations that I can trust in giving donations to so I can do my small part in helping.

Here is one of the links one can go to if one feels inclined to assist in whatever way possible whether it be a small donation or in passing around the information to those that can.

http://helpkalibo.com/2008/07/02/helpless-starving-and-dying-filipinos-in-kalibo/.html

Also during this Thanksgiving, one might consider volunteering at a homeless shelter for women and children. I personally have always felt inclined to visit an orphanage in Mexico during the holidays and hope that a good number of my friends will join me in that endeavor this year.

In addition, besides donating money and or time by visiting, one can also help mentor and or tutor disadvantaged children in their community. The link below is an example of such a program in the Los Angeles area.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp220898.jsp

Yet there are many resources out there in determining how one can help those that are in need. I know I know, there continues to be that sentiment that some of these people put themselves in this situation by the decisions they made in life and at one point in time, I suppose I even felt cynical in the concept of helping those that in my opinion created the very predicament that they are in and if they were foolish enough to have children, they are not mine so why should I care.

The simple answer is that as disappointed I am at times in the shallowness and materialism exhibited by the American culture, I can not forget the opportunities and education this country has afforded me and so I feel obliged to help not only those that are suffering here but to those in need in my native land as well.

See the link below for a list of homeless shelters in your area and see what part you can play in assisting in some small way.

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/shelters.html

The CaliOptix Project

This summer, among the other various projects I was pretty overwhelmed with, I tired to incorporate all the needs of a few people that needed my help. One of the folks who worked with me at another job had gotten fired and so since one of my friends Donna who owned a eyewear boutique in San Marcos needed some added exposure, we embarked on a project to see if we could do just that.

The name of the shop is CaliOptix and the place offered very reasonable prices on high end sunglasses/ eyewear as well as various services that others did not. Donna had been in this line of work for quite sometime and so decided to open a shop of her own. I asked my friend Nikki along with J. Treez to model some of the eyewear and the many ideas we had for the photos as an inside the store slideshow to show off the various brand names and styles was a good start. In addition, these photos would be posted on the website and it would have eventually expanded to include a few other models with scenes at the Oceanside Pier and CSUSM.

Here are some photos from inside the boutique and many people seemed to really like the way they came out...













Unfortunately, there were many more issues at her shop than what I came to expect and or fully understand. Donna ended up selling the place after only having been open for 11 months and I just happened upon the situation towards the end of that period. Wish I could have came upon the scene a little earlier since I believe there were plenty of potential and opportunities yet I do thank her for the opportunity to gain some invaluable experience in putting a photoshoot together especially from a marketing perspective.

Extreme Autofest and Imagine Media

What a good time I have been having assisting in taking video footages and photos for various groups in substantiating my photojournalistic endeavors. I know I still have so much to learn yet being in this type of environment is very exciting especially when you get to meet a few celebrities here and there.

In covering the Extreme Autofest Events, just to see the enthusiasm alone in those who put so much time, effort, and investment in their automobiles as well as the folks that come to appreciate all that work can be pretty infectious. Most of these cars although differing in style are just absolutely gorgeous.

























At the Autofest in Anaheim on August 10th that I had the privilege to cover, along with again experiencing the excitement that crowd brought with them and seeing the beautiful works of art in the automobiles present...











I got to meet and be on stage with the Game and LL Cool J. That was a really big "WOW" for me although I acted pretty down to Earth and nonchalant about the whole deal. One just has so much adrenaline going through the veins that it all just becomes part of the whole scene as if I had always belonged in this type of environment.





Which maybe I do, hehehe, but I got to send a shout to Emil and Ed of Imagine Media for just letting me do this thing ya know. Much love to ya and all that you do. They put so much work into these productions and I am always glad to help out in any way I can.