Which Means, Unfortunately,

That the Decentralized Community and Humanity projects must be put on hold.

Fortunately, these undertakings all share a common thread and a common end...

Looks Like I'm headed To Africa In Two Months Time...

In order to document HORSE the band's African tour and do some serious Adventuring!

Between now and then I have to finalize HORSE's 15-hour Earth Tour DVD and dynamically deliver at least five Decentralized Dance Parties- a monumental challenge, if ever there was one.

The next two months will consist of nothing else.

Inspirational Materials From my Main Man J. T. Gatto

Although the majority of my youth was misappropriated by the education establishment, I somehow managed to survive the attendant Thoughtocaust.
I was robbed of my time, but not my mind.
Millions of others weren't so lucky.

No child deserves such a fate, and via Humanity I intend to build the strongest possible case against Centralized education systems and the dysfunctional lives/societies they so often engender.

I highly recommend reading the entire article below and all related materials.
And wish I'd discovered them earlier...

http://www.thesunmagazine.org/archives/937

The Awesomeness That Is "The Found Footage Festival" Premiered In Vancouver Last Evening

“A one-of-a-kind event that showcases footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters across the country.”

And a one Gary Lachance was lucky enough to snag the final ticket to the sold out show...
Which was truly amazing, and had the entire audience laughing and interacting for two fun-filled hours. Can't recommend her enough.. definitely check out their site for upcoming tour dates, tons of hilarious clips and the opportunity to purchase a wide array of life-affirming merchandise!

Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher are the two Crap Connoisseurs behind this venture and it was quite exciting to have them drop by my place after the show in order to check out my own sprawling VHS collection...

For you see, I too am a Compulsive Crap VHS Collector, and have amassed about 800 of them over the past decade.

At first I was obsessed with them for no good reason, just enjoyed casually collecting and coercing random friends into watching "Getting The Love You Want", "Emotional Eating" "Denise Austin's Pregnancy Plus Workout" and other such treasures.

But deep down I knew that somewhere along the line these videos would reveal a Far Greater Potential... And one momentous day that Greater Truth struck me.

The mountain of schlock which had grown to dominate my apartment and so perturb my (ex) girlfriend did indeed serve a divine destiny. For, unbeknownst to me, the tapes were to serve as essential building blocks for a film I'd begun to develop several years earlier (and am only now about to begin sharing with the public)- Humanity!

But yes, Joe, Nick and I had a great time rummaging through and discussing my collection, including such gems as "The Larger Woman's Workout", “How To Raise A Street Smart Kid”, “The Art Of Successful Breastfeeding” and "How To Win At Parenting (without beating your kids)". Encountering fellow humans who appreciate such beauties is extremely rare and it was a lot of fun to nerd out with them. Definitely looking forward to trading some footage and whatever else the future may hold for our overlapping bad tastes...

Check ‘em out at http://www.foundfootagefest.com

Or enjoy one of their finest (and a few photos of my collection (the shelved ones are two deep)) below:

So,

After BC Arts Council’s recent rejection of my third major grant application for my Humanity project, it’s time for a GRANT RANT!

Although I don't believe our government should be involved in financing the arts, someone receives these grants every year, so I gave it my best shot...

But as a libertarian-minded individual, I strongly disagree with the notion that maintaining a vibrant and relevant Art scene requires money to be taken from certain individuals, run through a bureaucracy, and then portioned out to the few deemed worthy.

Running counter to mainstream Canadian ideology, I believe that inspiration (individualism), rather than coercion (statism), should guide the flow of resources and support for any communal undertaking, be it commercial, social, or Artistic.

For, where in history flourished the freshest, most dynamic Art scenes?

And were they a product of government subsidies, supporting those who wrote grant applications that most impressed the presiding Arts hierarchy?

Or borne of a hungry and competitive creative free-for-all that rewarded those creating the most compelling works?

What force drove the Renaissance?

Modernism?

Surrealism?

Punk Rock?

Hip Hop?

Not overly bitter here, just disappointed that after receiving the Arts Council’s feedback three times and attempting to re-tailor subsequent applications to meet their criteria that the project which so excites me still fails to inspire them.

But!

Maybe it’s for the best.

Cause good Art shouldn’t come easy.

And a good Artist no stranger to suffering and sacrifice.

For my part, for the past five years I've sunk thousands of dollars and thousands of hours into Humanity’s development. Financing this has required me to live in a basement, sleep in a tent, eat low-grade food and sacrifice countless other opportunities.

And I’ve loved every minute of it.

Grants are not required to create Art.

What's required are creativity and determination.

If you haven't got those, you're a hobbyist, not an Artist.

Accordingly, I'm going to bring this film to life, if it's the last thing I do.

Above all else, it is why I was put here.

And so, instead of simply whining away on my blog about the current state of affairs, I’ve devised A New And Better Way.

And never again will I apply for a grant to create this film.

Instead, I’m going to post my grant application online, making it available for feedback and asking those who believe in the project to please contribute whatever they can (which could be significantly more if everyone wasn’t overworked+overtaxed in order to sustain Canada’s myriad bureaucracies)...

Approximately $30,000 will be required in order to complete Humanity.

Not an astronomical sum, but it far exceeds my annual income.

I have no idea how many people can be inspired to help me create this film, but the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

And somehow, I'm going to make this happen.

If you, gentle reader, would like to help out, that would be righteous.

I’m hoping to have the preliminary website launched very soon.

Love,

Gary Lachance

Via Humanity my intention is to creatively proffer A New And Better Way for human beings to coexist and manage their affairs...

>>Update August 2010

Just discovered Kickstarter.com, a website that has put this financing formula into practice- Awesome!

This is certainly THE FUTURE of creative financing models and once I have a moment, my projects will be there!!!