So the world is about to end in 2012 and I was thinking, if it all goes down in a big ball of flame or ecoli or whatever I ain’t got any real skills. I mean I can explain to someone how the bond market works but I don’t think anybody would really care in a world where people are riding around on motorcyles in their underwear.

So I got one year, now let’s assume that Armageddon doesn’t happen and it ends up being a Mayan-Y2K joke and we all laugh at Nostrodomous. But just in case…… why not work on some bankable skills?

I am going to see how much a schmuck like me, a man with a gut living in surburbia america with a 9 to 5 job can learn in one year. I am recording my progress on my preparations at howtogetreadyfortheapocalypse.wordpress.com

The irony, of course, is if the whole world goes to shit, no one will be able to read it.

Ignite phoenix has certainly come a long way from that first night. I am proud I was a part of it at the beginning.

I been trying to figure out hitrecord.org, a site built to let artists collabroate. I need with the sound quality for the podcasts. However, while hitrecord.org is an awesome site, I think the people are there want a bigger contribution then just helping you fix the audio, they want to help you create or as they say collaborate on the content. Regardless, it is a fun site to play around in.

Everything there must be your content or public domain.

The harder the life is for the locals, the more interesting it is for you if you are just passing by. Feel guilty about this. Be generous. Tip well.

Some are a bit more tongue-in-cheek….

A bad pickpocket is far more dangerous than a good one.

It is my first experiment with using hashtags on twitter.  Hashtags are used to group similar tweets with a topic.  Hastags begin with the # symbol. 

So click on Rules of Travel to see the hashtags of this theme.

Any rules of travel you would suggest?

Episode 5 Japanese Festival

Art Detour is a weekend long art walk in beautiful downtown Phoenix. I carried my trusty recording device and recorded people talking about times they had traveled for their Art.  Matt Spastic talks about going to Las Vegas with his band.  Lesli Yazzie discusses painting in South Dakota.  Meghan Jones talks about going to a National Poetry Slam competition.

Episode 4 Art Detour

This month we celebrated Mexican Independence with Ernasty leading us in a rousing Phoenix version of el grito and then a performance of the Fire Mariachis, the Firehouse’s house mariachi band.

The Fire Mariachis are Parker Morden, Ben Horowitz,Evelyn Jimenez, Anna Moncada and John Luther.

Click here to listen or right click to save.

I suppose when I think of world music I remember sitting in the back of taxi’s from Kuwait to Romania listening to whatever the taxi driver was listening to. For some weird reason that is one of my favorite moments of traveling. There are certain experiences that you have over and over when traveling, for example, the quiet reflection of watching the world go by while looking out of a window.
Perhaps my subconscious still longs for riding around in the back of a dolled up taxi but I want my world music experience to be a little edgier than Putmayo’s brightly colored album covers. But this is my own baggage, and Putumayo does a fine job of getting folks to listen to music that they might not otherwise be exposed to.

I do like their radio show. As I sit and mindlessly type away way in my cube, it’s the perfect music for shutting out the sounds of other’s mindlessly typing away in their cube.

Charlie Gillett’s World Of Music is another great online radio show. You are only able to listen to his most recent show. And for some reason I can’t explain it gives me more of the back of the taxi vibe.

I also have an account on pandora where have liked stuff from all over the world.

However living outside of my home I would often see curious moments, a new kind of seasonal fruit in the market, a micro-public transport bus packed with people, a knife sharpener using his bike pedals to power his traveling knife sharpening kit, a man carrying an entire refrigerator on his back.

Mo Willems’ book “You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monssons: The World on One Cartoon a Day” does a great job capturing the essence of those regular but fleeting “well, would you look at that” moments. Willems drew one cartoon of a day during a year of traveling around the world. The cartoons are not necessarily meant to be funny like an editorial comment, but just moments that gave him pause, like “10/17 man blessing his cigarette stand before opening new delhi, india” or “01/26 card game in the middle of a packed (jakarta – bogor, java, indonesia) train”.

The book should not necessarily be read cover to cover in one or a few sittings. Rather, it is great to flip through and ponder over a few pages at a time. In drawing one cartoon a day, Mr. Willems did not rush through his observations but took time to ponder over certain moments, and the reader should approach the book in the same way, taking a few moments every now and then to visit the world Willems creates.

And to show how around the world can give you many a wtf moments, I submit this video to prove my case.

Lisa had gone on a trip organized by the NCECA to learn about pottery in a place that has many ancient chinese secrets. If you get inspired after listening to her and want to go yourself than start by clicking here.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

The suit of salmon.

Rick Larsenstands in as co-host.