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Sunday, August 31, 2008
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Joshua Tree Needs Your Help Fighting 2,700-home Housing Development
Hi all, As many of you may be aware, a developer named Steven Katz is proposing to build 2,700 homes on a square mile of pristine Joshua Tree wilderness, on the southeast corner of La Contenta and Highway 62, (directly across from the Joshua Tree Retreat Center). At a community meeting in March, residents were overwhelmingly opposed to this project. In response, a group of Joshua Tree residents has formed a new non-profit, the Joshua Tree Development Oversight Group (JTDOG). On September 23rd, JTDOG will hold its first fundraiser, a screening of the award-winning documentary, The Unforeseen. Here are the details, which are also available on our website, www.jtdog.org: The Unforeseen DATE: September 23, 2008
TIME: 6:00 - 9:30 p.m.
PLACE: Joshua Tree Retreat Center (Mentalphysics), 59700 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree, CA 92252
DONATION: $10
Cocktail reception: 6:00-7:15 (cash bar)
Welcoming Remarks: 7:15-7:30 Screening: 7:30-9:30 Earlier this week I sent the following press release to the media, and we have received excellent coverage in the local media. Perhaps you have friends who love the desert and who would be interested in JTDOG, or in attending the fundraiser. If so, please pass this information along! If you would like to volunteer to help with the fundraiser, let me know! Thanks a lot, George Kopp JTDOG 760-366-3494 JT Residents Establish Land Use Watchdog Organization Joshua Tree Development Oversight Group (JTDOG) Eyes Katz Project Joshua Tree, August 26, 2008 -- In response to widespread community concerns over a proposed large-scale housing development in Joshua Tree, residents have joined together to form the Joshua Tree Development Oversight Group, Inc. (JTDOG). According to its core founders, JTDOG will educate and inform the public on land use issues, and mobilize the community to participate in the process from an early stage. 'The formation of JTDOG is a direct result of the community's outspoken opposition to the proposed Katz project,' said downtown Joshua Tree business owner George Kopp, one of JTDOG's founding officers. 'Between 200 and 300 residents showed up at the public meeting last March, and not one spoke in favor of this project. Putting 2,700 homes on a square mile of pristine land, and causing the destruction of over 10,000 Joshua trees, is unacceptable to our community, and contrary to the Community Plan.' Kopp stressed that the Katz project, dubbed Joshua Tree Villas, is by no means a done deal, and that organized community opposition could derail it. 'There is a mistaken assumption that because Katz's land is zoned for 2,700 homes, he can build whatever he wants,' Kopp said. 'In fact, he has many hurdles to surmount, and it will be years before he can put a shovel in the ground. Now is the time for the community to get involved.' To assure that the permitting process is followed properly, JTDOG will closely monitor government entities, including the Board of Supervisors, county planners, the Dept. of Building and Safety, and the Joshua Basin Water District. JTDOG will keep the public informed of open meetings and other opportunities for public participation and comment. 'So far, the developer has dominated the conversation with county agencies,' Kopp said. 'The community is entitled to have its say.' JTDOG will hold its first fundraiser, a screening of the award-winning documentary, 'The Unforeseen', on September 23rd at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center (formerly Mentalphysics), directly across the highway from the proposed housing project. 'The Unforeseen' relates the saga of a mega housing development in Austin, Texas, and its unforeseen impacts on the community. JTDOG, Inc. is a non-profit California corporation, and has applied for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)3 of the tax code. More information is available online at www.jtdog.org.v
4:39 PM
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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energizing words to my future self ...
I just stumbled upon this journal entry i wrote about 2 years
ago in December...do you ever find things you wrote a while
ago and you're surprised that YOU wrote it? I surprise myself a lot.
"been drumming. dancing. singing. hotboxing with 5 friends in a 2 door car. drinkin hurricane espresso with melted chocolate. eating magic fudge and drawing faces on huge pieces of paper.always expanding my human family. loving my friends. decorating their xmas trees. rehearsing! dancing in heels in the desert. rolling on the ground with laughter. kickin it at my favorite watering hole. waking up in alter realities. thinking about aliens. shooting awesome sets in joshua tree national park, and the joshua tree inn, feeling peaceful and balanced mostly all of the time, wanting for nothing, only the tools i need to assist me in carving my way through time and space, in the hopes of reaching a beautiful place. still always reaching higher, higher in my soul, knowing that's where the greatest treasure lies. "i'm the one that i want"
you know that song "we're never gonna survive unless we are a little crazy" - it's true, you know why, 'cause with craziness comes an element of fearlessness. and it is only our fearlessness that has ever allowed us to accomplish anything. ....if you're ever feeling blue, here's a trick to make you feel better. imagine you are dead, and looking down on the world from the sky. watching the passions and pursuits of your family and friends and wanting so badly to be involved, to offer support, direction, a smile, to tell them to keep on keepin on. but, you're in your world and they're in theirs and you can't reach them. then imagine you could re-enter this world to find them and let them know how much they are loved. you might even have to go around the world a couple times before you located them. but! joy of joys! you've found them! you ARE alive, and you are here now! so be sure to remember the reasons why you came searching. "
9:29 AM
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
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being realistic
A friend said to me yesterday, "I don't know if you're being defeatist, or being realistic."
Yes, that pretty much sums it up.
11:13 PM
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Friday, May 11, 2007
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salvation blues
yes! one of my mark olson photos is going to be used on the cover of his new album the salvation blues - see a preview here!
... i loved mark's work with the jayhawks, and his new solo album is an instant favorite too... heartbreakingly beautiful songs.. i highly recommend you order yourself a copy.
1:48 PM
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4 Comments - 6 Kudos
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Thursday, April 12, 2007
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the divine gift
" An artist's life cannot be otherwise than full of conflicts,
for two forces are at war within.
On one hand, the common human longing for
happiness, satisfaction and security in life,
and on the other, a ruthless passion for creation
which may go so far as to override every personal desire...
There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person
must pay dearly for the divine gift of creative fire."
-Carl Jung
5:51 PM
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