EVENTS Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development This organization will continue to protect free speech, privacy, and many other rights. I hope you will join me in supporting their work. From their site: "From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people's radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights."
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Dear Friends,
Great events at YBCA this winter:
* "Hilarious" -- Flavorpill
Creative Director of Capacitor Jodi Lomask is so talented..
My mom gave us a gift subscription to this magazine several years back and Ken and I wrestle for it each week. It gives great international coverage, national issues are addressed from the right and the left sides. It's like an aggregated blog of all the news and of course some good trash too. Think of it like the magazine form of the Herald Tribune. Official description: "THE WEEK Magazine assembles and delivers the best journalism from all sides of the important weekly issues. These incisive viewpoints will fascinate and entertain you."
Paris, je t'aime is a great compilation of filmmakers writing cinematic love letters to Paris... Official description: "It is about the plurality of cinema in one mythic location: Paris. The film is the work of twenty filmmakers, each with five minutes of freedom, woven into one narrative unit. "
This film is bold and brash and unusual. Official description: "Persepolis is an animated film based on a graphic novel. It tells the story of a young girl in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Through the eyes of the nine-year-old Marjane it shows how people's hopes were dashed as the fundamentalists took power, forced the veil on women and imprisoned thousands. The title is a reference to the historical town of Persepolis." Coming to theaters soon..*
King Corn is a funny, poignant film about food in this country. Official description "King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, nitrogen fertilizers, and powerful herbices, they plant and grow a bumer crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat – and how we farm."
This film is getting rave review. Les Blank is one of my favorite documentary filmmakers. Quirky, and makes any subject fasinating. Can't wait to see this film. From the site: "In All In This Tea, Les Blank’s handheld camera takes us into the hidden world of tea by following world-renowned tea expert David Lee Hoffman to some of the most remote regions of China in search of the best handmade teas in the world."
Very romantic and close to the book.
Here is my sister Kimberly Brooks doing what she loves: painting. Now she has a blog on Huffington Press talking to other artists about the process of creating. My favorite post is on the eight stages of the creative process. 
"Damning evidence in their own words"
My stepmother, Judge Ina Gyemant, started this amazing organization. I wish they had this when my parents were getting divorced when I was ten. From their site: "Kids' Turn is renowned throughout the United States as a leader in programs designed to ease children through the negative affects of parental separation or divorce. The educational programs offer hope and optimism to children during the very difficult time of family transition. The organization also just published the book, 'Good Parenting through Your Divorce.'"
This is such a great organization with such wonderful people behind it. From their site: "826 Valencia is dedicated to helping kids with their writing skills, and to helping teachers get their students excited about the literary arts. They can really use donations of money, tutoring, computers, and volunteers."
My friend John Wood started this organization. They do such important work helping to bring educational infrastructure to developing countries throughout Asia and Africa. From their site: "Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education is a lifelong gift that empowers people to ultimately improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries, and future generations. Through the opportunities that only an education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time."
Stephen is a good friend and artist in Brooklyn. Everything he sends us is a piece of art. From Polaroid holiday cards to all the great crafts he makes. Very excited he is crafting and selling items for the home now. Check out his online store at 
This beautiful new gift boutique was inspired by Lemon trees in Italy. The young creator of Limonaia is Jessica Goldfarb who has exceptional taste in gifts. Journeying into Limonaia lets you explore handcrafted, detailed, and original gifts from around the globe, including England, France, Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Italy, China, Thailand, America, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nicaragua and Peru. 
Branch wanted to create a solution to the fact that as shoppers, we rarely know where the products we buy are coming from. So, instead of asking people to stop shopping (which is, of course, pretty darn impractical), they changed the paradigm of shopping itself. They do the challenging part of shopping for us. They offer products that are manufactured and brought to market in such a way that we don't have to feel guilty about buying the products we love. They have everything for your holiday shopping needs: Furniture, Décor, Pillows, Tabletop, Kitchen, Bed, Bath, Garden, Lighting, Accessories, Kids, Pets, Miscellaneous, Gifts Under $50, Exquisite Gifts, and Gift Certificates
Zahava is a brilliant sculptor. I was lucky enough to take one of her classes and can't recommend them enough. If you're in the Bay Area, get your hands dirty in 2008. From her site: "I work in both clay and stone, exploring themes of unity in diversity, seeking the deep underlying commonalities and connections in seemingly disparate worlds. By examining the conventional, the acceptable, the norm, I have pushed boundaries, redefined and stretched them. This is how I live my life and this is how I make art."
Download free lectures for your iPod and listen to them anywhere. I love doing this for long drives. UC Berkeley's Hubert Dreyfus's philosophy courses are some of the most popular. I took a course with him back in the day at CAL and he is brilliant. You can read more about Dreyfus and Berkeley's iTunes lectures in 
Nathan Shedroff, one of my favorite minds is one of the people behind this...so it's got to be good. Official language: "The innovative MBA in Design Strategy focuses on a new generation of business leaders comfortable and courageous enough to create lasting, innovative, meaningful, and sustainable change. The program unites design, finance, organizational management, communications, leadership and entrepreneurship, and sustainability in studio settings and projects that put theory into practice in a dynamic, team-centric experience. Students explore customer and market needs, challenge assumptions, devise effective, strategic solutions, and communicate opportunities across a wide range of stakeholders."
I was asked to write a chapter for this book. Lots of interesting stories in here on people doing things differently in this brave new world of indie filmmaking. Below is a review of the book: