I founded Earthwise Productions in 1994. During the preceding eight years, since my college graduation in 1986, I was pursuing a career in advertising. I denote a shift in my intentions upon the discovery of the writings of Jerry Mander, a former advertising executive who more recently has worked on issues related to analysis and reaction to corporate power; he advocates a type of media literacy or resistance. He is the director of the International Forum on Globalization. He wrote a book called “In The Absence of the Sacred: the failure of technology and the survival of the Indian Nations.” While reading this book, I was asked (by Dr. Cindy Russell) to produce a section of Bay Area Earth Day at Stanford pertaining to indigenous views on the environment(it was called “Earthwise Traditions”), and from then on I started putting on events under the name Earthwise Productions (which has since also morphed into a management company, meaning I have worked directly with certain artists and bands, helping them manage their business, reach an audience, navigate the labyrinth).

Here is a video I just viewed with Jerry Mander explaining the basics of the consolidation of power in the media, and how that relates to the problem of consumerism. It is from Big Picture dot tv:

http://www.bigpicture.tv/?id=3184

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Here is a link to the book:

It’s a little ironic that Jerry Mander is on the internet because he famously argues against the beneficence of computers. It is less ironic that I have started a blog; I consider myself a Luddite.

His main point is he wants people to think about the fact that seven corporations control 70 percent of the media in the world. He also says that the average person watches 30,000 commercials per year. To what extent does this limit consciousness, change basic human instincts (corrupt them), or constitute a type of brain-washing and mind-control (in the Orwellian sense)?

*”Luddite” could be read here as “idiot” or “ignorant” or “lazy” in that I am leaving the code to the embed link, which is not actually a link. RTFM. Generally I think of this blog as a notebook to keep track of, and sometimes sort out or elaborate on, articulate, my own thoughts on topics of arts, culture and maybe politics, rather than a deliberate attempt to share my ideas or influence others. Or is that just being an idiot as well?