Ekaweeka | Thomas's EkaBlog : Project Manager, Services, Los Angeles, USA : Ekaweeka - The Small Business Community - Artists, Crafters, Painters, Designers, Small Businesses, Show, Tell, Shop, Sell Unique Handmade, Independantly Crafted.

things I shouldn't say on ekablog :-D

September 05, 2007 3:57pm

Like We Never Left	Views: 322
Two years have passed, since then I've spent less then a month back in the city over a course or 3 or 4 visits. But it feels like we never left only I want it again. The pedestrian lifestyle, The way so different from any other. I know why people never want to leave New York, it's because everything seems like it is here. The culture's the food, the language, shyness, attitude, art, struggle and joy... they are all encapsulated in everything you do here. We landed last night, Heather had a toothache so we had to find somewhere else to crash. Charles having just arrived at LaGuardia offered to pick us up from JFK. We drove back to his place in the UES at 88th st. We drank beer and talked. This morning we took a bus down to 18th and shacked up at 71 on Irving for coffee and email checking. I fixed a bug or two on Ekaweeka, emailed about some new Flash projects and then Jimmy showed up to have coffee with us. Score points for Jimmy and Charles. But those two went beyond the call of duty and made it clear that anywhere anytime our visit would not be ignored. Same to you Masha - you guys just know the art of making someone feel welcome. Now Bri prepares for the "W event" and I head out to that dreaded club land on 28th street to meet her for it.
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July 30, 2007 9:57am

Today - Catch Up	Views: 492
We went camping in the Sequoia National Forrest last weekend, a lot of fun but no internet and no cell signal. So I've got a lot of catching up to do. And that tax extension I filed not too long again is about to be over..... so much to do so little time.
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July 26, 2007 4:52pm

Efficiency	Views: 353
Was listening to NPR mmmmkay and there was this guy talking about cutting down to a 4 hour work week by strategizing when and how he did ANYTHING..... mmmm thinking about... sounds kind of nice. It's called the 4 hour work week. Check it out.
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July 26, 2007 4:24pm

BLAAAAAAAAWWWwwwGGGGGGGG!	Views: 317

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June 01, 2007 8:38am

Surfing this weekend	Views: 408
The water is finally warming up, Britt is in town from New York and there is nothing she wants to do more then to go surfing! So we're going to head out to shores and try to find some nice breaks. I'm a little tired of my short board so I might look into getting a stand up paddle board - these are super cool extra long surf boards that you stand on the entire time and use a paddle to get around. They end up working more muscles and you can catch the tiniest of waves. I'll send some pictures when I have em!
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May 14, 2007 11:12am

Just added a photo upload feature to the blogging system.	Views: 367
Mom and I on top of the Pacific Crest Trail in Ashland Oregon.
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May 11, 2007 11:58am

I joined Ani Difranco's Band	Views: 466
Had a dream last night. I think it started around 6 or 7 am. Ani Difranco was performing with a band at some small venue, there was a different band playing on another stage in a different room. The guitarist's string broke and for some reason I had a Fender Stratocaster with me, it was one of the crappy ones that are made in Korea. The guitarist was grateful at first but quickly realized my guitar was a piece of shit (it was). So I tried to replace his strings quickly but there were too many broken. This all went on until I was suddenly hanging out with Ani and crew after their show. Somehow I was suddenly proposing that I play back up with the band. They weren't into it. I grabbed someone's guitar and began to demonstrate my chops. This didn't go over well so I jumped on a piano and busted out a progression. They dug the progression and became open to discussion. Some where around this time I started waking up, it was around7:30am and I vividly remember popping in and out of my dream: "it's 7:30am, should I get up?" flashing back into my dream "I don't want to wake up I'm about to join Ani Difranco's band! Noooooo!" : "I have to go back to sleep!" I did go back into sleep and continued the story. I'm not sure if I was aware of how I had just consciously decided to continue the story, I might have just be praying in my dream that it wasn't a dream... maybe I really was about to become a permanent fixture in this awesome touring act! Next thing I knew I had become aware that the players weren't all convinced I was made of the right stuff for their gig. I confronted them. I told them I was good! I was better then good! I was afraid they were going to steal my songs and leave me behind. When all of sudden I opened my eyes; it was 9am I had slept in. As a side note I realized I wasn't in the band.... it was a dream. Weird.
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April 16, 2007 9:12am

Moving	Views: 495
Jeff and I are driving to San Diego today, he has relative who is getting rid of all her furniture to make space for a new furniture. We're going to pick up the old stuff, bring it back, keep what we like, and find new owners for the rest. I guess I can add "mover" and "furniture" dealer to my resume now :D
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April 14, 2007 12:41pm

Earth Day Festival	Views: 780
We just got back from Santa Monica where we were helping the Earth Day LA team. We helped set up the booths, got each exhibiter set up at their station - and unloaded their cars without incident. We got there at 6:30am and finished at 11am. Then we walked around and met all the amazing people with booths. There were bio-diesel vehicles, electric vehicles and scooters. All sorts of green lifestyle companies with environmentally friendly alternatives to everything from interior design to baby food. Coolest of all was the live music which was powered by a solar panel. I have yet to follow up with all the amazing people I met there but there is no doubt that we will be collaborating in the future to bring more clean air and clean energy practices to the main stream :-)
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April 11, 2007 4:46pm

Volunteering	Views: 521
So I am volunteering for the Santa Monica Earth Day festival this weekend. It's a part of the whole "Step It Up" climate action thing that is going on for the next two weeks in support of fighting global warming earth day etc. 6am - 11am Saturday morning Briana and I will be setting up booths on 3rd Street Promenade. This is all very exciting except we have to go to a orientation thing tonight that will get us informed for the actual volunteer day which is Saturday. Basically driving to Santa Monica for the "prep meeting" tonight in addition to the crack of dawn volunteering on Saturday is less then hmmmm how do you say - ideal?
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April 11, 2007 4:40pm

Blogging Professionally	Views: 658
Does anybody out there blog professionally? I must have 15 blogs now... and I don't know if there is some strategy to blogging for bucks but if you got information - I got interest and I'm all ears!
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April 09, 2007 1:58pm

The Pages System	Views: 567
One of the biggest ideas we had when we were making Ekaweeka pre-launch was the pages. Ekaweeka was supposed to be a website creation tool and custom pages came hand in hand with that. Right off the bat we noticed people weren't using it, there was too much freedom or something. But some had suggested that they wanted to be able to make a "press page" that looked just like the rest of their pages, which made sense, instead of making them figure it out, we could have every custom page start out looking like the other pages but with a space where they could fill in the content and make a page relevant to their business; such as a "press page". But time has passed and aside from a few people we're still not seeing very much use of the page system. My next hunch is that we need to make pre-made pages that can be added optionally - like "add a press page". If that sounds interesting to anyone - let us know we'd love your feedback.
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April 08, 2007 7:13pm

Close your eyes	Views: 453
It will go faster then you think.
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April 07, 2007 10:23am

People Watcher Blog	Views: 507
I recently started a new blog, not to leave this or the EkaBlog in the behind. It is the People Watcher Blog. The idea is I have been taking pictures since I was 5 - always photographing subjects, things of interest. But occasionally people I don't know are in the background of those photos. So People Watcher is to serve as a place to post pictures of those who accidentally ended up in the graphic memories of my past. Possibly opening doors to missed connections, coincidence, and other magical synchronicities.
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March 27, 2007 10:01am

Yard Sale - Illegal!!!?!	Views: 538
A few weeks back Andy, Emma, Jeff, Tiffany, Briana and I all put together a yard sale at Andy and Emma's house. We all had some stuff to get rid of and we didn't feel like posting it on Ebay or Craigslist. So we organized, got a bunch of wine - and made an evening of imbibing and making funny signs for our yard sale that weekend. The next day (Friday) Jeff and I drove around Hollywood putting up the signs. Saturday we had the garage sale, we sold a bunch of stuff and were done by 1pm. We went and played golf and BBQ'd. It was a fantastic day. Fast forward a month ahead, Jeff calls me this morning to say Emma just got home from a trip to NYC and she found a fine in the mail from the City of Los Angeles for posting a sign on private property. The fine was for $194.00 and requested a court appearance. WTF! We didn't post our signs on anything but electricity polls where we had seen signs in the past. Whats even worse there could be more on the way. Jeff later heard from a friend that it is illegal to have a garage sale in Los Angeles - because they want you to pay a tax for anything you sell! Not much more to this post then that - but for real who knew! This is insane. Next thing you know it's going to be illegal to BBQ without a helmet!
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February 27, 2007 12:52pm

Global Warming Meetup Tonight!	Views: 539
Tonight we hold our first Hollywood global warming meetup. If it goes well I will start at least one more for the community of Los Angeles proper. This is exciting for me because we will discuss a range of issues. In one way or another we'll expand the awareness and understanding of what is at hand for anyone willing to admit that global warming needs to be tackled immediately. Ekaweeka will have event and group tools shortly, but until then if anyone wants to start their own local global warming group go to www.meetup.com just search for "Global Warming" meetups if there isn't one already in your area you can be the first to start it!
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February 12, 2007 3:11pm

Branson offers $25m reward to fight global warming	Views: 911
Article from The Guardian UK - By David Adam, environment correspondent Richard Branson yesterday threw his weight behind the quest for a new wonder technology to defeat climate change when he announced a $25m (£12.7m) reward for the first scientist to develop a way to suck carbon dioxide from the air. Brushing aside suggestions that it was hypocritical for an airline boss to talk about climate change, Sir Richard said he wanted to spur the "world's brightest brains" to develop ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and "possibly save mankind itself". He also called for the world's population to be "urgently" limited, to help tackle global warming. Sir Richard said: "Most of us have only really encountered the concept of a planet under threat in science fiction films. The plot is often that no one believes the threat until it's almost too late and then a superhero steps in to save the day. Today we have the threat, we still have to convince many people that it is indeed both urgent and real, and we have no superhero. We have only our ingenuity to fall back on." But the prize - known as the Virgin Earth Challenge - was attacked by a leading climate scientist as promoting "hopeful, madcap magic bullet schemes". Kevin Anderson, of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at Manchester University, said: "He's misguided, misinformed and potentially quite dangerous in making people think there is some great technological hope out there." Backed by the former US vice-president Al Gore and senior scientists, including Jim Hansen of Nasa, Sir Richard said the prize would go to the first proposal that the judges agreed would remove greenhouse gases equivalent to at least a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere, in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way. Previous suggestions include giant artificial trees coated in chemicals that would absorb carbon dioxide from the wind. The most mainstream idea involves seeding the oceans with iron powder, to stimulate plankton which soak up carbon and carry it to the seafloor when they die. Last month the Guardian revealed that the US government wanted scientists to develop technology to block out the sun as "important insurance" against rising emissions. Mr Gore yesterday called those plans "horribly mistaken" but argued that technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air was worth pursuing. Sir Richard conceded that such technology may be impossible and stressed the importance of existing research into alternative fuels and renewable energy. On his aviation interests, Sir Richard said: "I could ground my airline today, but British Airways would simply take its place." But Dr Anderson said: "He should rethink his attitude to rail and aviation rather than take this wacko, futuristic route."
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February 09, 2007 11:55am

Calculate Your Personal Contribution To Global Warming	Views: 579
This might not be pleasant for some, but all in all it would help to know just how much damage you are causing in your own personal lifestyle. Once you know you'll be much more likely to want to change, see how you can change, and be inspired to tell others how they can change. Click Here To Calculate Your Personal Contribution To Global Warming.
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February 05, 2007 8:54pm

Ten Things You Can Do Now	Views: 567
Many people feel helpless when it comes to global warming. They throw their hands up in the air and think "I have to drive a car to work there's nothing I can do!". Driving a car is only one of the many lifestyles that contribute to carbon emissions, but there are tons of things you can do to make a difference some as easy as washing your clothes with cold water! Here are ten things you can do right now to fight global warming: 1. Buy energy saving light bulbs (a.k.a. Compact fluorescent bulbs). 2. Use cold water when hot isn't absolutely necessary. 3. Shop at local farmers markets. 4. Buy organic. 5. Unplug anything that doesn't need to be on. I unplugged my coffee maker, coffee grinder, microwave, printer, speakers, TV, DVD player, phone charger, and laptop charger. 6. Turn down your AC, turn down your heater. 7. Ride a bike. 8. Get oil changes for your car regularly. 9. Keep you car tires full. 10. Recycle. Buy products with recycled packaging. Buy recycled products period. 11. Plant trees. 12. Tell someone else how easy it is for them to reduce their carbon emissions. 13. Go to www.fightglobalwarming.com to see what else you can do.
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February 05, 2007 1:16pm

LA Street Dreams	Views: 562
I've taken on a couple side projects, one of the first is LA Street Dreams. LA Street Dreams is a project that opens doors for people when opportunities are all but lost. LA Street Dreams videotapes people's dream requests and circulates their requests via the Internet. They follow up with a video of successful dream fulfillments, not only in Los Angeles, but throughout the country. The people we meet are human beings, just like you, who need a helping hand in order to live a better quality of life. I am helping the founder Rande Scott with the landing page for LAStreetDreams.com where they will take donations and post the show and some information about the program. This is a wonderful opportunity to give back, come show your support: www.LAStreetDreams.com
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February 01, 2007 12:52pm

Green Energy - Fight Global Warming	Views: 555
We are going green, we already were no doubt, but now it's a priority like never before. While I can't buy a hybrid tomorrow, there were 2 things I was able to do immediately to get the ball rolling. Unplug everything! We unplugged the TV, the DVD player, the coffee grinder, our cell phone adapters and bedside lamps. Call Utilities and switch to green energy! Who knew all this time we could have switched our energy from power plants to renewable sources like windmills and a hydropower. It took me 1 minute on the phone and a simple request to make the switch. They say our bill will be about $3.00 more per every $50.00 which is nothing especially since our bills will probably go down with all the stuff unplugged! Check out climate crisis for all sorts of ways to fight global warming Let me know what you've been doing to fight global warming! We're going to make sure Ekaweeka is a green company everyone has to do their part.
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January 29, 2007 1:41pm

The photo gallery	Views: 542
I've been hacking away on the photo gallery all weekend. After getting things cleaned up on the front side I had to add the same features to the edit mode. The edit mode is getting pretty sweet though, you can add and / or change the photo title. If you have comments on your photos you can see those while you browse from the account pages. You can change any photo to be your logo now with ease. Soon we'll have placement management and more. All of these are very fresh and undoubtedly need work, so it would be great to get feed back if anyone has it!
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January 25, 2007 3:19pm

The Blog System	Views: 642
Here it is folks! The blog system has been put in. There are actually many site updates and it's been a bit overwhelming so I kind of put my hands up in the air and just dropped this one in. If you find any problems let me know!
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