Orlando: The City Beautiful's topics - tribe.net

Burning man

greg — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:19:21 GMT

Is there anyone in Orlando going to BM 2009??
Driving my 1971 vw bus looking for folks to either follow or ride!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

seeking drinking buddies

Wanderingwolf — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:37:58 GMT

guys, girls, girls that used to be guys, whatever, just want open minded people, 30s, not a moron, into respect for others, intelligent, likes to read, likes to drink,( beer, prefferrably guinness but thats just me, ) not holier than thou, and NOT a moron,. have i mentioned that i dont like stupidity?
just want somebody to hang with, nothing sexual, just a friend, dont care if youre straight, gay, intersexed, trans,. whatever, just want to TALK, my gods is there ONE person out there that can drink and discuss a BOOK or a movie or a philosophical topic without pretending to be "THE EXPERT ON EVERYTHING" anywhere in this town? im just a regular guy, straight, NOT single, very much taken thank you, but my GODS i need someone to hang out with.

JUST ONE intelligent life form in this town, sci fi, reader, movie watcher, gay friendly,( close minded people are assholes, so dont bother talking to me) send me a message, lets talk here first, get to know one another and then set up a time to hit a bar and shoot the breeze, talk about women, work, religion,money, our moron president,guys and wierdness,just not sports, lol,

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 8 replies

Celebrating the Divine Feminine: A Prenatal Workshop

Lacey — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:30:02 GMT

Register today for this intimate workshop specially designed for mothers-to-be, and women who have recently given birth.
Tribal bellydance celebrates the beauty of a womanly body, and encourages community and support amongst women.

Students will learn movements that will assist in loosening the hips as well as movements to help take stress off the back and the body, commonly occuring during pregnancy. Techniques to tone and tighten muscles will also be explored.
A minimum of five participants must register by Friday, April 17, to hold workshop. No previous bellydance experience required to attend!

Date: Sunday, April 19 1-2:30PM
Place: YOU Health Center
Cost: $25 in advance, $30 at the door

email me to register: floridatribaldance@gmail.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

What IS it exactly that makes this town remarkable?

Wanderingwolf — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:48:01 GMT

ive been here off and on for years, adn i gotta say, im not seein much.... opinions anyone?

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

O-town pagans out there anywhere?

Wanderingwolf — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:05:09 GMT

Bueller?
any pagans out there that like to socialize with a beer occasionally,shoot the breeze?
Hello?

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Looking for a practice date LOL

Sean — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:48:07 GMT

35 M here looking to get back in to the dating scene. Hoping to meet someone nice for coffee. Think of it as a practice date. I'm 5'9 about 180. I have blue eyes and brown hair.

Here are some of my interests:
Art, Eco Business, Dogs, 2011, Mckenna, pichbeck, graphic design, cool people, coffee. moving to boston, new friends, veg cooking, writing, reading, writers, raw food (veg of course), energy work, healing, films, digital art, painting, graphic novels. eco-consciousness, shamanism, yoga, tantra, sustainability. Mac, OS X, Linux. May be meet a nice (but not to nice) female.

I think it would be fun to meet someone for a conversation.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Brighid’s Fire festival in Florida

Richard — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:20:06 GMT

Please join us for the 6th annual Brighid’s Fire festival on February 13-15 at All World Acres in Plant City.
The gathering will feature workshops, main ritual, drum
circles, sweat lodge, bardic circle, healing circle, vendors, and fun
for the whole family. Come spend the day or camp for the whole weekend.

The admission donation for this event is only $10 per person in advance for the full event. This includes all workshops and activities. Come for one day or camp for the entire weekend. Camping is free. Children 10 and under are free.

For more info please visit: http://healingtoday.com/news.htm

Please help spread the word.

All World Acres is a not for profit sanctuary supported by the
community it serves.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Hair Stylist and Makeup Artist Jennifer Andrews, just moved to Orlando from the west coast.

Jennifer — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:04:14 GMT

I just moved to Orlando from Arizona and am looking to gain new clients in the Orlando area. I am a licensed hair and makeup artist with 15 yrs experience doing all kinds of styles from alternative to classic. I have been featured in various magazines, worked on films, local and national commercials, celebrity clientele... I have extensive advanced training with all hair types and am freelance working for now. I am a personal stylist for hair, makeup, wardrobe, shopping and will help keep your beauty in check:) Call me for a complimentary consultation that is very detailed and specialized just for your needs.

Christmas Specials running through the end of year, hurry before I get completely booked! 407-844-2097
I will come to your home or you can meet me at a very cool, artsy salon here in Orlando that features DJ booth, live musicians, open bar and lots of artwork on the walls. Very cool place! Call today

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Electronic music fans: Wolfgang Gartner

Devon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:23:18 GMT

Is anybody going to see Wolfgang Gartner at the AKA Lounge downtown on 11/28? I'm staying about 20 min away from downtown near the shithole that is Disney, and I need a ride. It's only $8, c'mon!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Bombshell Betty Burlesque......a few spots still available!

Suspira — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:18:33 GMT

Bombshell Betty Burlesque at Orlando Bellydance!

BURLESQUERCISE!™ INTENSIVE:

Fabulsous guest instructor Bombshell Betty offers a crash course in Burlesquercise!™.
Whether you want to polish up your burlesque stage show or spice up your boudoir boogie, in this special class you will learn everything you need to know to keep your audience wanting more, including:

* The burlesque strut and bump-and-grind song interpretation.

* Burlesque prop use including boas and how to use your clothing (before and after removal) as effective stage props and how to take it off gracefully without tripping on your frilly nothings.

* How to craft a burlesque skit using timing to create drama, sensuality and humor.

* Turning up the sensuality with striptease techniques.

* Techniques for engaging your audience and getting the exact response you want.

NOTE: While this class includes striptease techniques, no nudity is required and all comfort levels will be respected, so don't be scared if you don't want to take it off!

This very special workshop will take place on Dec 6th from 2-6pm at Orlando Bellydance's New Studio (opening Oct 20th!)
Cost- $65/4 hours

Ready to Shake it With Bombshell Betty?
Call to reserve your spot at: 407-579-9765

Visit Betty at : www. BombshellBetty. net
Visit Orlando Bellydance at: www. OrlandoBellydance. com

Join us for an afternoon of outrageous fun!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Photo Contests!!!!!!!

Kristen — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:11:54 GMT

http://khphotographics.bigfolioblog.com
Go check it out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Orlando Happenings!

Suspira — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:08:14 GMT

Announcing the New Orlando Bellydance Studio!

We are thrilled to announce the grand opening of our brand new studio, opening its doors on Oct 20th! This state of the art, luxurious space offers one 1,200 square foot studio with floating hard wood floors, as well as one smaller studio perfect for private and smaller group classes. Our beautiful new space will allow us to greatly expand our schedule as well as offer new and exciting classes in addition to our award winning bellydance classes! This location is at: 6900 Aloma Ave in Winter Park, located in the Aloma Business Center, just four miles from our current Orlando Bellydance location.

A few exciting offerings for Fall/Winter -

Indian "Bollywood" Level One Class!
Taught by Acclaimed Indian Dancer, Shainna
Cost: $90 for full 9 hour course
Sundays 7:45-9:15
Nov 2, 9, 16, 23 & Dec 7,14
This class will cover Bollywood and Classical Indian Technique, Terminology, History, as well as a full choreography.

Please call to enroll!

Polynesian (Hula and Tahitian) Level One Class!
Taught by Master Instructor, Laila
8:45-10pm on Mondays
Oct 27 & No 3, 10, 17, and 24th.

Cost- $65 for full course
This 5 week workshop will be in classes 1hr, 15 minutes in length.

Learn the magical motions of the islands, as well as a full choreography.

Please call to enroll!

International Burlesque Superstar, Bombshell Betty of California, will be visiting Orlando Bellydance Dec 6th for a very special 4 hour workshop! Absolutely no experience necessary to attend! This course will teach all retro moves of the divas of yesteryear! 2-6pm on Dec 6th at the New Orlando Bellydance Studio.
Cost: $65 with pre-enrollment!

Please call 407-579-9765 to reserve your spot in these exciting workshops, or in our new Bellydance Sessions (from beginning to professional) starting Oct 20!

We look forward to meeting YOU!

WWW. ORLANDOBELLYDANCE. COM

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

I am so very glad.

bubbledumpster — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:59:22 GMT

To be gone from this shit hole of a city for ever.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Tibetan Buddhism

dancingcat — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:28:05 GMT

Mark Winwood of the Chenrizig Project in Yahala, FL (near Lakeland) in Lake County will be facilitating studies in Tibetan Buddhism starting Thursday, October 2nd.
Mark is a long-term student and a participant of Tibetan Buddhism.
The goal of the Chenrezig Project is to promote the wisdom, compassion and loving-kindness that is the very heart of the Geluk lineage of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice.

The discussion groups will be held the first Thursday of each month at 7pm at the First Congregational Church of Winter Park which is located at 225 S. Interlachen Avenue in Winter Park. Meetings will include dharma teachings, discussion and meditation(s). Meetings will be fun, practical and geared toward those in attendance. There is no cost to attend, nor is experience with Tibetan Buddhism necessary; welcome to all who are practitioners, interested or simply curious.

For more information, please send email to Mark at mwinwood@chenrezigproject
or call 352-324-3419. For more information on the Chenrezig Project visit www.chenrezigproject.org

All are invited to join us. Please feel free to forward this info to anyone that may be interested.
Chenrezig = Compassion

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Testimonials Needed - Free Product - Call Today! (Orlando, FL)

fionajames — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:43:35 GMT

Nature's Blend Inc is great all Natural Health & Wellness Company . They are embarking on a national campaign to launch their new 100% natural skin care line for people who suffer from skin conditions, such as acne, rosacea, eczema, rashes, diabetic ulcers, damage caused by the sun, wrinkles and more.

Over the next few days they are looking for men and women of all ages to try our skin care line for FREE and participate by submitting testimonials with before and after photos. I have personally seen quick results clearing my 10yr old daughters pre-teen skin

This product is like nothing you have ever tried and is 100% natural. The ingredients include coconut oil, kelp, aloe, and soy. It is safe and gentle enough to use on people of all ages and skin types.

Call today and stop by the office to pick up your free skin care products and sign up to be included in our video testimonials. Call the corporate office at (407) 240-1052 today!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

LOOKING FOR HAIR STYLIS(S) FOR A PHOTOSHOOT

Kristen — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:45:27 GMT

I am in need of a hairstylist(s) for a photoshoot on Sunday August 31st. I have three models that will need updo's. Please contact me if you are interested! I will give you pictures for your portfolio!

-Kristen

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

The Big Bellydance Photo Shoot 4!

Kristen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:58:49 GMT

Hey everyone! It is that time again! You have seen the photos from the past BBPS 1-3 and it is time to join in on the fun! It is Sunday October 26th at Ponce Inlet Beach! If you are interested please contact me (kristen@khphotographics.com) with the subject line "I want to be in BBPS 4!". You can also join the mailing list by going to www.khphotographics.com, click on "The Studio", then "Mailing List" to keep up with all of the info! Stay tuned for more details......until then...mark your calendars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Kristen

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

World Hoop Day Orlando!

Morgana — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:37:43 GMT

It's official- World Hoop Day is coming to Orlando!

What in the world is World Hoop Day and what is HoopDance, you ask?

Hoopdance is all about fitness and fun! It’s a truly unique dance form that is spreading like wildfire across the US and beyond. It helps develop self confidence, core strength, and is an excellent and fun way to get and stay in shape! Fun is the main motivator for this fitness form- as hoops are usually thought of as “child’s play,” hoopdance uses sturdier, weighted, adult sized hoops with grip tape that help the hoops stay up on the body. The movements are much more controlled and therefore help to develop great core strength and endurance. And most of all- anyone- any age- can learn to hoop!

The mission of World Hoop Day is to promote a healthy, fun, and active lifestyle for children and adults around the world and increasing the awareness of hoopdance as a part dance, part aerobic exercise activity that anyone of any age and any walk of life can learn!

There is also a charity aspect to World Hoop Day. Funds raised from donations at the event go towards creating durable hoops for underprivileged children worldwide. Many charity organizations focus on raising money for life’s basic needs for these children, such as food, medicine, shelter.. etc. But play is a central part of a child’s healthy emotional and physical development- and hoops donated to these children through the efforts of World Hoop Day help to bring hours of enjoyment, a way to develop hand and eye coordination, and most importantly, help the children develop self confidence and social skills needed to live a healthy, active life- from childhood to adulthood!

So please join us for the World Hoop Day celebration at the YOU Health Center next Friday- 8-8-08 from 7-9:30 pm!

511 Virginia Ave, Orlando, Fl.

Enter to win a professional hoop! Proceeds will go towards the world hoop day fund- and donations will be collected throughout the evening.

To learn more about this worthy cause, visit www.worldhoopday.com!

There will be ongoing hoopdance and other dance performances throughout the evening. Bring your drum, your tambourine, your hoop, and your creative spirit!

Don't have a hoop? No problem, borrow one of ours or adopt one of your own. Licensed Hoopdance instructor, Morgan, will guide a hoopdance 101 workshop.

Join hoopdancers worldwide for 8 minutes of hooping at 8pm!

We hope to see you there!

~Morgana

www.myspace.com/thehooploop
or
thehooploop tribe

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Drum Circle For July 4th!!

dancingcat — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:22:32 GMT

http://dandelioncommunitea. com/drupal/

*Celebrate the 4th of July @ Dandelion Cafe New Moon Drum Circle.

*7-10 Drum Circle /10 closing meditation

*Jewelz of the Nile will be there along w/ other local vendors

*Great view of fireworks from Lake Eola

See you there...Many Blessings~Jules

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Recycling Project

Wed, 21 May 2008 18:43:46 GMT

Currently I am working on a "Texas Recycle" project. I am customizing 26 gal. cans. There is a daytime photo of one in my album. The logos will be lit at night, like an "exit" sign. I am going to try to recycle at the major events in the Austin area (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas are close enough...+/- 3 hour drive). Anyhow, I think some of y'all should take on the project as well. Obviously there is still a problem with not recycling at major events.

Matt

Also, you will want to coordinate the recycling well in advance (at least 6 months methinks).

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

Bollywood Choreography Workshop with Shainna in Orlando!

Suspira — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:45:09 GMT

INDIAN "BOLLYWOOD" WORKSHOP!
Orlando Bellydance Proudly Presents an authentic Bollywood workshop with acclaimed Indian Dancer, Shainna!

What is Bollywood? "Bollywood" is a term used to describe the Indian film industry; the word itself is a conflation of "Bombay," the previous name for the city of Mumbai in India and and America's own "Hollywood." This dance form finds its routes in the seven classical dances of India, and over the generations, Bollywood has diverged and embodies a coalescence of various dances worldwide. Performances range from solemn, graceful mannerisms to upbeat and lively motions all of which are filled with emotion and easily portray the artist's affection to the audience.

This special four hour workshop will feature terminology, technique, and a full original choreography by Shainna.

When? Sunday, July 27th and August 3rd from 7:30-9:30pm at our secondary location, The Longwood Ballroom.
Cost for this workshop is $45 in advance, $55 at the door if spots are available. Registration now open by credit card over the phone, or at either Orlando Bellydance location.

www.orlandobellydance.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Need a unique and artistic photographer in the Central Florida area? weddings, portraits, events.....etc.

Kristen — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:49:37 GMT

Then go to www,khphotograqphics.com and check us out! Or email kristen@khphotographics.com for details and pricing on packages as well as availability.

-Kristen

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

NON- touristy things to do in Orlando??

Pampelmousse — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:49:16 GMT

Hi~

I am in town for a few days from San Francisco, and I want to take this chance to see a more authentic Orlando. Is the public transit use-able? How far to the beach and whats a nice one? Also, where can I find some Kombucha out here??

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

Buyer Beware EBAY

dancingcat — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:13:04 GMT

vintage_silk_wraps on Ebay

This is a store on ebay for Buyer BE WEAR
I was bidding on a lot of 6 skirts in which I was winning with a wonderful price so I thought. After the bidding got to $100, the seller put a BUY NOW price in the site so anyone that was bidding and wanted the lot of 6 for $89.00 could purchase it cheaper but the highest bidder was locked into paying the higher price. I paid ASAP and contacted the seller - ask if he would not make up the difference with sending extra wraps - just told me "TO BAD not he fault the bidding got so high"
So I left them a natural comment - and explain the change in auction after price was over $100. In return they give me a negative comment and misleading information my comments. I contacting him asking why the negative when all I did was be a great buyer by over paying within 10 min of the auction ending and only asking for him to balance the wrong doing on his part. Again "TOO BAD" "YOUR FAULT"
My reply...I will take my business and many other with me. HAVE A NICE DAY!

So with all that said - BUYERS BEWEAR....please please please....from one Tribal Goddess to another..PLEASE DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SALER. There are many other seller on ebay - this guy does not deserve the belly dancer dollars!

Any questions......just me~~~~

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Need Pet Sitters in SW Orlando (on job training)

dancingcat — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:34:35 GMT

We are looking for pet sitters to work with a local Pet sitting company.Area needing service help is Windermere, Bay Hill, Dr.Phillips, Ocoee, Keene' Point.
You must live with 10 miles of these areas to be hired.
Must be able to work Weekdays, Weekends and Holidays.
Must love animals.
We will do on job training.
Must have computer and cell phone
Must have car.
Be able to pass backgrond check.
Per visit pay with holiday pay too.
Please call 407-532-5050
Send you resume to 407-532-4644

www.petsfirst.info

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Now is your time to relax and heal!!

dancingcat — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:28:48 GMT

Hello Dear Ones,

I hope you are enjoying the year and wish you well in this relaxing time. I am offering my services and taking appointments for sessions. Sessions include:

Body Talk!!!! Angel Readings Crystal Therapy
Reiki Treatments Flower Remedy Ear Candling
Spiritual Readings Intuitive Body Care Aromatherapy and Essential Oils
Pet Massage, Reiki,and Therapy Touch Chakra Balancing......and more.

Any questions about treatments, please contact me.
Phone: 407-579-2509 or email : revreikicat@aol.com

Cat Bruce,
Reiki Master/Teacher, ADL Ordained Minister, Spiritual Counselor, Intuitive Consultant

myspace.com/haleyannacat

Visit CatBruce.com for Classes,Sessions and Workshops

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Facial Piercing Cost

bubbledumpster — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:12:33 GMT

How much does an eyebrow ring generally cost in Orlando area parlors?

Anybody recommend one in particular?

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

White Rabbit — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:23:08 GMT

16 views since posting on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Location California

enlarge photo
NCEF! Media in Humboldt County Ca.(AKA NORTH COAST EARTH FIRST!), is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Active and legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group.

Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitimate environmental nonprofit:

From: northcoastjournal.com/100407/...004.html

October 4, 2007

"Money On Trees"

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: northcoastjournal.com/101107/...011.html

"Trees Foundation Wins"

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

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posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Nutrition for the Soul Feb 3

dancingcat — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:07:24 GMT

Nutrition for the Soul
Is a gathering of kindred spirits and those who are excited to: spend time in music and celebration, feel spiritual support, obtain mystical answers and help in manifesting their heart’s desires, connect more with their soul, receive healing, inspiration, and experience transformation.

What is it?
This Month’s Topic

Nurturing Your Chakras—Root Chakra (1st of 7 workshops in a series)
 Learn about what chakras are and how they affect you; including your body, thoughts, emotions, and current circumstances in your life
 Receive guidance on how to open, heal, balance, enhance your root chakra through various methods
 Practice some of these methods hands on in order to experience the method and its benefits

Where is it?

The Pink Lotus
 Call or Email for Directions
 407-579-2509
 RevReikiCat@aol.com

When is it?

Sunday, February 3, 2008
5:00pm—7:00pm

How much is it?
$10.00 or Love offering

Who is it?
Cat Bruce & Laurel Lightworker
 Reiki Master/Teachers
 ADL Ordained Ministers
 Spiritual Counselors
 Intuitive Consultants
 Belly Dance Instructors

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Reiki I Seminar in Orlando

dancingcat — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:37:31 GMT

Reiki I
Weekend Seminar
Date: January 25th ,26th , and 27th
Time: Friday 6-9pm, Saturday 3-7pm, and Sunday 10-4pm
Cost: $225. 00 per person (Text and Materials are included)
Where: Ocoee area, please call for directions
What is Reiki?
Reiki is an ancient modality of healing that uses energy to assist in rapid healing. It can help release the pain from a small bruise in your body as well as help you deepen your understanding of your soul purpose upon this earth. It is a powerful yet gentle and beautiful form of energy healing.

Who Should Attend:
This is a weekend for all interested in deepening spiritual awareness, expending the capacity to love and learning Reiki method for self-healing.

During this weekend we will discuss and study the Reiki method of healing, how to balance energy, and students will receive the Reiki I attunements and symbols.

Your teachers for this weekend, Cat Bruce and Laurel Turner Both are Reiki Masters and experienced healing facilitators.

Pre-payment required by Jan 20th,2007
To RSVP, send your email to:
revreikicat@aol.com
by phone: Cat Bruce @ 407-579-2509

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

hello everyone!

Wanderingwolf — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:54:52 GMT

heya! new guy here, im currently in the navy, serving in Mayport naval station, Jacksonville Fl, and soon to be out, looking for potential jobs and places to live in Orlando FL. cheap is good, the navy pays well, but not THAT well, lol, anyone know of places ( one bedrooms, rooms for rent, with privacy, for a couple) in the Orlando area?

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Looking For Pet Sitters in Orlando

dancingcat — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:23:16 GMT

Hello Fellow Dancers......

I own a large pet sitting company in Orlando and we are looking for animal loveing pet people that would love some part time or full time work. www.petsfirst.info in my website. Please contact us at 407-532-5050.

Thank you,
Cat
Please pass the info on to any friends or family your feel would love to work with us.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

GO PURE at Avalon, Sat-15-Dec, noon

mattd — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:02:00 GMT

Come see Greater Orlando PURE dance at the Avalon bookstore, near the corner of Mills and Colonial, as we help kick off its wintertime peace festival. Stay for an open drum circle later in the day! To find out more about us, visit http://www.go-puredance.com. Festival info at http://www.avalonbeyond.com.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

fall festivals?

Suspira — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:43:03 GMT

Does anyone know if there are any fall festivals or simmilar events going on in Sept?

Thanks!
Suspira

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 3 replies

NCEF! Media sabotaged! Hijacked by lone wingnut! Accused of fraud and embezzlement!

White Rabbit — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:39:03 GMT

NCEF! Media in Humboldt County, Ca. is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Other legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group. Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitamate environmental nonprofit:

Dog Days
From: http://northcoastjournal.com/100407/cover1004.html
October 4, 2007
Money On Trees

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: http://northcoastjournal.com/101107/news1011.html

Trees Foundation Wins

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Any kayakers out there? Anyone interested?

danceafterdark — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:26:18 GMT

Now that the summer sun is fading away and the afternoons are bearable again, I'm looking for people to join me on kayak trips. I live in Sanford, but I routinely strap my kayak to the top of the car in search of fun places to go. I'm even known as the weird kayak guy at work because I've brought the kayak to work several times so I could take a sunset spin through the Winter Park Chain of Lakes.

If you have a kayak, great. If you don't mine's a tandem. I even have a spare life vest & paddle, so anyone who wants to try kayaking for the first time is more than welcome.

The only trick is that I'm off Tuesday & Wednesday. I can do an evening trip any day.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Hey FL Bands

Heather — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:06:24 GMT

<img vspace="5" align="right" src="http://tlpshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/virtuvian.thumbnail.jpg" hspace="5" alt="Vitruvian" title="Vitruvian" /><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnZpdHJ1dmlhbnJlY29yZHMuY29tLw==">Vitruvian Records</a> and the <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vYnJ1dGFsYmFja2hhbmQuY29t">Brutal Backhand Show</a> are teaming up to give Florida a backhanding it won't forget. Bringing only the most brutal metal acts together for "Florida's Featured Backhand" compilation CD. To be a part of this, all you have to do is read on at <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnZpdHJ1dmlhbnJlY29yZHMuY29tL2NvbXBpbGF0aW9uLmh0bWw=">Vitruvian Records and apply</a>. For everyone else, watch this space for the early December release of this Brutal album. <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnZpdHJ1dmlhbnJlY29yZHMuY29tL2NvbXBpbGF0aW9uLmh0bWw=">Read more »</a>

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Central Florida Film Festival in Kissimmee (aug 31st-sept.2nd)

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:49:58 GMT

Wish I could go - but I'm in NC right now. They're showing Supercharge Me! It's a spin-off of Supersize Me- only instead of eating junk food for 30 days - she eats RAW food for 30 days.

Brilliant!

Here's the link: http://www.30daysraw.com

August 31 - September 2, 2007
at the Osceola Center for the Arts in Kissimmee!

http://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com

The Central Florida Film Festival intends to use independent
film to create a community of cultural experience and
creative art education throughout the region

The Central Florida Film Festival will showcase
Documentary, Narrative Shorts and Feature length films.

InJoy!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

World Dance Gala to perfom in Orlando!

Suspira — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:14:28 GMT

Orlando Bellydance Proudly Presents:

HIPnotica....a Kaleidescope of World Dance!

Saturday, August 11th at 7pm at the Helen Stairs Theatre, Downtown Sanford (Central Florida near Orlando)

This high energy gala showcases Florida's top dancers performing authentic world dances: Bellydance, Spanish Flamenco, Samba, Salsa, Ballet, Fire & Sword Balancing, Retro Burlesque, Polynesian, Classical Indian Dance, Gyspy Dance, Middle Eastern Folklore, Tribal Fusion , African, Acrobatic Bellydance and More!

Breathtaking performances by Suspira, Nathalie, Orlando Dance Theatre, Serpentina Dance Company, Ashley, Salsa Heat, Laila & Tamara, Sheherezade, Gypsy Sa'har, Shainna, Troupe Ahlaam, Zizi Zabenah and many others!

Come see the art of sensuality in motion!

Tickets- $15/advance. $20/door. (Ticket sales are going fast, we suggest reserving tickets by phone to guarantee a seat. Seats are numbered- not general admission.)

Tickets are available by phone with a credit card at: 407 579 9765
Or in person at either at either Orlando Bellydance Studio location.

Hope to see you all there!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

TATTOO!

bubbledumpster — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:05:35 GMT

So I'm planning on getting my first tattoo soon, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any parlors in the Orlando area they'd highly recommend.

Thanks!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Any Writers Here?

Heather — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:20:22 GMT

Hi all.

My friend Amy and I have started a group for writers. It's like a support group for unpublished writers and a way for published writers to share there experiences. It's also for any writing style from poetry to romance to mystery to childrens to erotic and everything in between. Here is the link http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Incredi_writers/

Hugs,
Heather

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

needs a ride

Bethanie Stardust Pepper — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:58:04 GMT

anyone in orlando going to the gathering? i need a ride

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

AGH

LauraAnn — Tue, 22 May 2007 02:32:44 GMT

Anyone else in Orlando a tad bored, let's get together and cause chaos!!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

New Retro Burlesque Classes at Orlando Bellydance.....find your inner pin-up girl!

Suspira — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:49:28 GMT

Channel your inner Bettie Page in our new Retro Burlesque classes at Orlando Bellydance. Learn to bump and grind like the starlets of yesteryear.

Classes are Wednesdays at 10pm at Orlando Bellydance's Winter Park studio.

Also offering classes from beginning to professional in Bellydance, Children's Bellydance, World Dance, and Exotic Dancing.

Find out more info at www.orlandobellydance.com or call us directly at 407-579-9765

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

wireless cafe

diy — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 00:26:24 GMT

I know the stardust and dmac provide an excellent free wireless setting. But, I'm looking for some other online options. It doesn't necessarily have to be wireless as long as they have hi speed access.

but, what i'm looking for that dmac and stardust don't offer is a well lit place. I like to occasionally do homework and/or research away from home but I need visibility. both stardust and dmac are very dark. they work great if all you need is the screen; but, not so well for looking at books as well.

i've heard panera bread has access but that's not really a place i'm too comfortable going.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 7 replies

Pat Benatar - downtown August

PermanentSunshine — Sun, 20 May 2007 03:35:17 GMT

I just got home from the free, Romantics/Loverboy concert downtown. It was great! Is anyone interested in having a tribe get together at the Pat Benatar concert there in August? - - - - Sarah :o)

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

Fringe Festival Downtown Orlando

Sun, 20 May 2007 12:36:43 GMT

Come and celebrate the festivities of the Fringe Festival today with Blue Caravan Tribal. We perform at 5 to 6 pm.

See you there!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Motocycle trip

coolbreeze — Thu, 10 May 2007 18:32:46 GMT

I'm thinking about organizing a bike trip to...?? Lonoking for anyone that might be interested in joining me for a week or 10 day trip. Ride a BMW sport touring bike, ya, I'm a RUB, a bit fat, past 40, but hey I ride! Just don't want to ride alone.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Heather — Fri, 04 May 2007 23:05:06 GMT

Hi All. I wanted to let you all know that Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central FL is in desperate need of Big Brothers in the central FL area. I know because I just signed my son up and it can take over a year to find him a Big Brother because they have around 200 kids and about a dozen Big Brothers. It's only a couple hours a month and it could really help a kid in need of a mentor!

Thanks,
Heather

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Food banks in Orlando area

LauraAnn — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:23:57 GMT

I'm trying to help my mother find some food banks in orlando that offer vegan / vegetarian foods. Do any even exsiist? send me a message if you know of any. thank you.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Brand New Classes for Beginners at Orlando Bellydance!

Suspira — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 22:08:24 GMT

Come join the fun, and unveil a new you! Visit www.orlandobellydance.com for further information!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Health Help

Odon Soterias — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:45:52 GMT

Hello beautiful people,

I've been searching tribes for the past hour trying to find some community and help in the Orlando area. My absolutely wonderful best friend is going down this horrible path of more and more pharmaceudical meds that are messing her up more and more. She knows the answer lies in healthier living, but she has no community and no help or advice.

Please, any reference to a raw food/ health food/ naturapath will help. Anyone know anyone who's been down the road of declining health and found alternative help, got off meds? Please let me know where to look. I am new to Florida, not the first clue where to look.

Thanks so much.
LOVE
email me directly at contact@odonsoterias.com if you want to.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Safe Beach??

bubbledumpster — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:21:44 GMT

My boyfriend and I moved here last year, but we only recent got a reliable car. We're dying to go to the beach, pitch our new tent, build a fire and play with our poi. Only we don't know of any nice beaches where this is a possibility. Can anyone help us out??

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

PARTY NAKED ----- @ X Bash 2007!!!! LIVE BANDS!

XZanthia — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:21:05 GMT

PARTY NAKED ----- @ X Bash 2007!!!! LIVE BANDS!

X Bash 2007
August 17th and 18th

Live bands, hot tub, pool, sauna, foam dance, camping and much more.
ART SHOW!!! - Body Painting and more....
More info: http://xzanthia.com/xzanthiadotcom
RSVP on TRIBE--- http://tampa.tribe.net/tribe/servlet/template/pub%2CEvent.vm?eventid=97f50fb9-b24c-4c0c-9638-d6cb73c670d1&published=true&nextpage=http%3A%2F%2Ftampa.tribe.net%2Flocal

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Bellydance

Suspira — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:36:56 GMT

Orlando Bellydance proudly presents an evening of Middle Eastern Dance and more, Sunday April 15th at 7pm. This special showcase features never before seen choreographies by Orlando Dance Theatre, Troupe Ahlaam, the stage premier of Serpentina Dance Company as well as performances by Suspira, Belda, Tamara, Laila, Shainna, vending by Aladdin's Lamp featuring the newest designs from Joharah International, Sharifwear and more! Come join us for a beautiful night of dance artistry.

Tickets for this event are available at either Orlando Bellydance studio location, Aladdin's Lamp Imports, or by credit card over the phone. (407-738-3814)

An Evening Unveiled 8 will be held at Lyman Highschool in Longwood, Fl. More info can be found at www.orlandobellydance.com.

Hope to see you all there!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Recruiters in Orlando

Timothy — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:46:03 GMT

I'm attempting to relocate to Orlando from Rochester, NY and I wanted to know if there are any HR/Recruiting professionals here that know of any companies/positions in your area. Any info would be greatly appreciated..

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

Something a little different........ :)

Suspira — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 06:51:23 GMT

Looking for somethijng unique in the Orlando Bellydance?

Come shimmy with us on Saturdays at 3pm at the Orlando Bellydance School! This new class just opened and requires no experience at all.......just a sense of humor!

Our website is: www.orlandobellydance.com and we are located in Winter Park near to Rollins College.

Please let me know if you would like further info!

Take Care,
Suspira

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Art Shows

pwrstrm — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:01:29 GMT

Here are some great opportunities to support our local arts community :)

paint on!
storm

----- Forwarded message from jules@julianadavidson.com -----
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:47:35 -0500
From: Juliana Davidson <jules@julianadavidson.com>
Reply-To: jules@julianadavidson.com
Subject: Art Shows

Hi Everyone,
Here are a few good events for this week. Also I'd like to thank
everyone who attended our February Art Opening at The Center. We are
gaining quite a crowd these days and I sincerely hope that we can
continue to grow and share such wonderful talent with everyone!
Very Sincerely,
Jules

______________________________________________________________________

Images Photo Contest Submissions are Due! February 15-16th at The Center!

The application can be found online at www.ocfta.com.

______________________________________________________________________

Nude Nite, Feb 15 - 17, doors open at 8PM, nudeniteorlando.com

Over 100 Provacative works / DJ - Performance - Painting
Epic I: 1011 E. Colonial Dr. (former Cruises Only building)

_______________________________________________________________________

AKA Lounge features art from Rhonda Barczak, Johannah O'Donnell, & Adriaan Mol, Feb 7 - Mar 6, 407.839.3707

Artist Reception, Thur, Feb 15, 6-9PM

68 Pine St. (upstairs at the corner of Pine & Magnolia in Downtown Orlando)

----- End forwarded message -----

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

DON'T USE TUFFY AUTO SERVICE

pwrstrm — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:32:21 GMT

The Tuffy Auto Service on Metrowest Blvd. in Orlando is untrustworthy and uses deceptive practices!!

This is the complaint I just filed with the BBB:

ISSUE 1: I was told the 60,000 mile service was $339.95 plus sales tax (There was a sign prominently posted on the counter stating just this too). When I picked up my vehicle there was an extra shop supply fee of $33.53 included on my bill.

ISSUE 2: After I picked up my car and was sitting at the traffic light I looked down at my odometer and it read "61091" and my fuel level was barely 1/8 of a tank. I was shocked because when I had dropped it off the night before there was 3/8 a tank and the mileage was around 609--. I am positive the mileage had not passed 61000 yet, but I did not write the number down because I trusted the service people to do that when I dropped off the car. When I looked at the work order it had listed the in mileage as "61048". I took a digital picture of my odemeter while sitting at the light and the picture clearly shows the mileage and fuel level as I have stated above. When I called Tuffy about this just now, the shop manager denied my car had been driven any further than around the building and accused me of lying about the mileage. He was extremely rude and refused to even consider investigating my claims.

ISSUE 3: I had my brakes inspected at this same location just over a month ago and at that time was told my brakes were fine. This time, when they called me after the 60,000 mile service they told me that my rotors were bad and needed to be replaced at a cost of nearly $500. I have not experienced any problems or abnormalities with my brakes and they had just told me that my brakes were fine on my previous visit, so I declined this service. After speaking with several mechanics that I know, I have reason to believe that Tuffy was fraudulently representing the state of my rotors and the need for service.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

ocala rainbow gathering

SAGE — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:03:55 GMT

council has just conviened and farles praie is the location,directions will be posted soon as kiddie villege is set up,kitchen locations,trails cleared-again...and the drum circle.Any one comeing back from the front line plese contact me,let me know whats going down.I am going to be there 3+weeks if I can get a contact,would like to set up babylon.Any one interested in a hike and bike to this gathering I know the trail system there and have a bike trailer to haul gear,do not want to journey alone but will make this pilgramage.Loving all my brothers and sisters here in O-town.Been here 30 years so if you need to know,I got answers,I am the hippie of 50 and for you first timers I still rock.Keep it real.........Peace..........Jerry

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Hello, just joined.

LauraAnn — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:34:34 GMT

I plan on going to the rainbow gathering in ocala this year, and by plan to I mean I'll be there no matter what! So I figured joining here would be a good start. Maybe I can finally meet some people with similar interests in this city. <333

-Laura

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

hello from canada can you help

Celeste — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:46:23 GMT

I am coming to the central Florida area for the next couple of weeks and I would love some suggestions on where/what/when? You know things to do, see, shop, eat, maybe some yoga or a great band, things with a little soul, a little flair, a bit fun and funky, basically looking for something other than the disney trip. can anyone help with suggestions please?
peace.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 5 replies

Got

Phoenix — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 03:27:49 GMT

Take a look in my photos, comment, critique, condemn.....if you want more, let me know

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Looking For Reiki, Massage, Alternative healers both new and master!

dancingcat — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:30:49 GMT

I am have started a tribe to help us all get together and learn, share and help us along this path. I would like to to help us all contact and keep us posted on what is going on in Orlando for us! Please post here so I can find you and invite!

Thank you!
Cat
(Tribe: Florida Healers)

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Searching for riders for local moped group. The Suicycles.

theLBD — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:34:47 GMT

Looking for people interested in joining The Suicycles, the southernmost moped gang/group/what not. If you have friends or family in Central Florida that have a willingness to buy, ride, and repair mopeds, network with other riders and have fun while doing all of that, then send them our way. Always looking for more "bodies" (yeah, we have bad humor some times).

** FYI - these are not... and again NOT.. scooters. These vehicles have pedals and are started by pedaling. Although scooters are welcome to ride but we are more focused in preserving and encouraging moped culture along with economical transportation.

If you're interested in finding out more about what we do, take a look at the Suicycles website <a href="www.suicycles.com">here</a> or by cutting and pasting to Suicycles.com.

Thanks again!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Where Are All The People Here?

MartaS407 — Wed, 10 May 2006 05:59:46 GMT

I'm just curious why a group with 208 members is so quiet? I know there is more going on in Orlando...What would it take to organize a get together???

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

Research Opportunity for Men

Todd — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:58:53 GMT

ARE YOU A MAN WHO’S OVER 18 WHO HAS EVER BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN THAT LASTED FOR A YEAR OR MORE, WHERE FOR SOME OR ALL OF THAT TIME THE RELATIONSHIP WAS SEXUAL?
IF SO, TAKE PART IN AN ANONYMOUS RESEARCH STUDY ONLINE.
THE STUDY IS EXAMINING MALE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS.

TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH,
CLICK THE LINK TO THE WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS MY
QUESTIONNAIRES:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp

PARTICIPATION IS ANONYMOUS AND FREE OF CHARGE.

If you begin to tire at any point during the survey, you can close the browser and your place in the survey will be automatically saved. You can click on this same link again at a later time and you will be able to come back to the survey exactly where you left off.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Girls Night In

Passion Lady — Tue, 09 May 2006 22:33:10 GMT

Have you ever wanted to shop for some fun new products to spice up your romance but didn't want to go to the adult store? How would you like to have a fun, informative girl's night in party where you get to see, touch, taste, and feel the newest and best in sensual romance products such as: sensual bath and body products, massage oils and lotions, fun and tasty edibles, adult toys, and more? Well now you can! As an Independent Passion Party consultant I offer fun, tasteful, informative parties for ladies showing a selection of these products.

Hostesses get 10% of party retail sales in free product! *after qualifying sales*

Also going on now through September you could win a cruise for 2 on Carnival Cruise Lines with party sales of $350 or more!

So invite all your girlfriends over for a funfilled night. You'll be glad you did!

You can check out our products and/or order online at www.janipassionlady.yourpassionconsultant.com

My party schedule is fast filling up, so don't wait to get your party booked! Contact me at janipassionlady@aol.com or send me a message on here, I'll get back to you asap.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

looking for writers

eriksays — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 20:17:14 GMT

JUST started orlandobarguide.com --- rather than an "entertainment guide", i'm really wanting to make this more of a local flavor blog

looking for some orlando writers/bloggers that want to write about the local "scene" / nightlife

go here: orlandobarguide.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 3 replies

Looking to experience a massage style which combines Thai and Swedish?

hyperplasia_orozco — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 04:56:49 GMT

I'm a male massage therapist visiting Orlando for a couple days. I'm from San Francisco, will be in the area starting around Wednesday, February 15th. I'm going to be around unitil the 19th. I am looking to do about 5 or 6 outcall massages within a few days. I'm a friendly, laid-back guy. I offer a nurturing massage and feel comfortable working on men and women. My massage is designed to help you relax, release tension, recover quicker, correct imbalances, and so much more! I studied in Thialand and completed my massage certification in Oregon.

Please visit these websites to read my reviews, and about my massage work:

http://www.masseurfinder.com/bigheart

http://www.sfgaymassage.com/asven.html

http://www.friendster.com/profiles/muchachosven

Please email me if you have any questions or would like to schedule between February 14-19th. If you have any suggestions for things I should do or see in Orlando.
Thank you! -Sven

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

The City Ugly - cleanup. Do it for the dogs.

theLBD — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 01:13:48 GMT

Hi, this mainly pertains to those who exercise, picnic, or walk their dogs at the Urban Wetlands / Dog Walk (not sure what the actual name is) near Mills and Anderson.

I am going to have a cleanup in the next few weeks at this park. If you ever go there, it's a nice little place. Just lots of broken glass and discarded trash all around the lake. I'm afraid that some pups or dogs will take a dip in the water or go to fetch and will get injured in the process. Besides the dogs, it's just sad to see a natural habitat full of junk.

I will need some help. Anyone in? I'll be flyering up soon and will give more details. If you're interested, just respond or send me a message.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

Question Re: A Fundraiser I'm Doing

MartaS407 — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 07:48:27 GMT

Hi Everyone;

I haven't posted here for a while; I'll be doing a fundraiser for the Humane Society of The U.S.'s legislative branch-it will be in Orlando on the 26th of February, and I'm hoping to target singles as the participants-maybe even some older women, younger men if possible.{Both the older women and younger men say there is no meeting place in Orlando yet-why, I have no idea-just forgetful, I guess?}
Any suggestions on how to get the people involved? I have only worked on larger projects before, that were targeted to a more general audience/group of people.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

new member

Shelby — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 02:36:48 GMT

I'm new to both Orlando and to tribe. Just thought I would say hi and feel free to send me a message, I am looking to meet people. I don't know anyone here except my fiance so I don't get out much. I'm hoping to change that.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

New Person

Jill — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 02:03:07 GMT

Hi all...
I'm new to this Tribe, however , not new to Orlando...I've been here for years. I was just sending a post, hoping to meet some new friends...
keep smiling!!!!
Jill

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 11 replies

Orlando Anti-Bush Activists: Meeting This Friday 10/14

bingfutch — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 16:06:09 GMT

he World Can't Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Mobilize for November 2nd, 2005

MEETING, DISCUSSION, AND BANNER MAKING EVENT

WHEN: This Friday (October 14th) starting at 6:00 PM
WHERE: Stardust Video and Coffee, Orlando FL
(1842 E Winter Park Rd, off of Corrine Drive, across from ABC Liquor.
Directions: 407-623-3393).

If you're serious about driving out the Bush regime, come out to this
meeting and help build for the mobilization on November 2nd. All of
us need to coordinate our efforts and make sure that people know
about this day of resistance to Bush and everything he represents.

If you're interested but want to hear more, come to this meeting and
discuss with World Can't Wait supporters why the Bush regime must be
driven out, and how we can actually pull this off. Bring friends or
neighbors you know who are looking for a channel for their anger at
what is going on under this regime.

The word about November 2nd -- the beginning of the end of the Bush
regime -- must get to thousands of people in our area and it's not
going to happen by itself. Be a part of this historic movement.

At 7:00 PM we will head over to a nearby park to work on several
banners to be used for November 2nd itself. We need plenty of people
to give their time and energy to help make this happen!

Some supplies we are in need of include: black and green spray paint,
dropcloths, white bedsheets, grommets, stencils, paperweights, and
plastic ties.

Contact/RSVP: orlando@worldcantwait.org

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Hoopedance with us!

shehoopsalot — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:40:36 GMT

If you've ever tried hula hooping (or ever wanted to) this is the tribe for you! It's not like it was when you were a kid anymore! Join the Florida Funkshine Hoopers Tribe and we'll keep you posted on upcoming hoop events in your area!
http://tribes.tribe.net/flahoopers?r=10469

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

It's a Friday ... almost night.

rofo — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 21:01:18 GMT

Since there actually seems to be a little life today in this tribe, just wanted to Mention that Q-Burn's Abstract Message is spinning at Cleo's Downtown (not to be confused with the strip club with a very similar name on S. OBT). I've been enjoying this guy spin since I moved to Florida and he was playing at Knock Knock all the time. Details below:

Q-Burns Abstract Message
and
Rob Slac
at
Cleo's Lounge
located at 11 S. Court Avenue
Downtown Orlando / next to Knock Knock + Crooked Bayou
No Cover / 21 + up

www.qburns.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

?>/>?,.lm;'[.

Daywalker — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 08:34:50 GMT

I just wanted to say HI!!!!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

The End Of Will's Pub?

bingfutch — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 08:43:16 GMT

When is a rumor not a rumor? When you hear it from the source? I saw Will tonight during Dani-O's highly successful benefit for Slam Team Orlando, but we exchanged greetings, nothing more. It sounds pretty involved, and neither of us were going to stand there and hash that all out. That is, if there's anything to hash out at all.

Apparently, the land upon which the Loch Haven Motor Inn and Will's Pub sits has been sold. Which means that as the venerable music venue and local hangout approaches its tenth anniversary, it seems as if it will also be the last. Making like mainstream news, I'm not going to name my sources, but they are credible.

I suppose I should've just asked him. But then he'd ask, "who told you that?" and, well, didn't a reporter go to jail for this kind of stuff recently?

Anyway - if it's true, then Orlando is truly losing a landmark and you've only got a little while left to enjoy it. I know I've got a few out-of-control-at-Will's stories. Got the dents in my car to prove it.

Tell ya what I won't miss though. That parking lot, Lord love a duck (or pretend you *are* one when it's been bucketing rain.)

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 3 replies

Kelly Fitzpatrick

bingfutch — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 08:55:39 GMT

If you read The Orlando Sentinel Calendar section on Fridays, you've probably read Kelly's column, which usually involves copious amounts of freaky Orlando nightlife and booze. I've always thought that she'd be a hoot in person, and damned if I wasn't wrong. She's a hoot-and-a-half!

Yesterday at Red Light, Red Light (a new Winter Park bar that's so secret, there's no sign, no phone, no record of it existing in 4-1-1, it's like a second-floor juke-joint), the editors, columnists and freelancers from OrlandoCityBeat.com had a little get-together with food and beer - also celebrating the online zine's two EPpy awards. It was a nice soiree' - but it was also a blast to get to know the other writers, and Kelly and I had met once before. Jae and I saw her and a group at the Central Florida Fair earlier this year and chatted a little, she's very nice and incredibly funny. So it was cool to put deadlines and invoices off to the side and just talk about the strange, strange lives that we all lead.

And no, she's not my source for the Will's thing. Got that tip from two different people, neither of them journalists, but that's another post altogether.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

For Sale: Discovery or Imperial Cruise w/ 3 Days/2 nights Nassau, Bahama; 4 days/3 nights Orlando, FL ; 3 days/2 nights Daytona w/ Nascar Tix; Casino Cruise w/ FREE UNLIMITED ALCOHOL!; More -$950 OBO

niymae — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:16:05 GMT

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
**This Vacation Package Does Not include Airfare. Airfare must be purchased separately. Seller Does Not Offer Airfare.**
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Vacation Package is for Cruises, Hotel Accomodations and Theme Park Passes Only.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Package is also Fully-Transferable So It Makes a Great gift!!

This Cruises and accomodations in this Package are Good for up to 5 Adults -OR- 1 Adult,4 Kids -OR- 2 Adults,3 Kids, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------
This Package May Also be Broken-Up into smaller packages.
In other words: Only interested in Orlando? Only Buy Orlando.
Only interested in Nassau? Only Buy Nassau. Etc.
---------------------------------------------------------

Full Details:
-------------
~4 Days and 3 Nights in Orlando, Florida (plus 2 2-day passes to
Universal studios or islands of adventure theme parks)
~3 Days and 2 Nights at one of Florida's Beaches (or you can choose another location. If daytona is selected, you will recieve 2 tickets to Daytona Nascar race theme park)
~3 Days and 2 Nights in one of Summer Bay Resorts beautiful destinations across the country (choose your preferred location)
~2 Theme Park tickets (to one of your choice)
~6-hour Sterling Casino Dinner Cruise with ALL meals and UNLIMITED ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES paid for (FREE!!)!!
~3 days and 2 nights in the Bahamas on Discovery Cruise Line and 8 hour return trip OR 3 day and 2 night on Imperial Cruise Line - stay aboard ship and get more FREE meals and more UNLIMITED FREE ALCOHOL!!!

This package is usually valued at $3,500!! It was a gift to me which i have no desire for. it was bought as a promotional offer* at a lower price.
And you can buy it now for $950 or make an offer!
Individual Legs, $350 each. Or Make An Offer.
Reasonable Offers will most-likely be accepted.

Paypal preferred.
Western Union and Money Orders also accepted.

Thank You for looking.

Aloha

*This is the catch (although, certainly not an unpleasant one):
Summer Bay Resort simply requires that you attend a 60 minute presentation with a focus on informing you of their time-share condominium options. you have no obligation to buy. at this time, you will also recieve free breakfast or lunch (depending on what time you schedule your presentation for) for however many people are in your party. Thats It!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

coming down to the sunshine

candlelightskin — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:54:38 GMT

Hi all - I'm Lauren from NJ (yes I know Floridians don't like us much - thats ok, I don't like em either) I'm moving down there in June and just wanted to say hi. 24 years of the northeast has finally gotten to me and I seek people who are genuine and creative with enthuisiasm for something other than money or what kind of car they have. I work with animals as an emergency nurse and just started as a massage therapist (for humans!). I will be cramming 3 animals and everything I own in an old crummy compact car and driving down to family in June. Just giving a heads up and a hello and looking forward to experiencing a new area. I should be around the Orlando-Clermont area, so please say hi!

Lauren

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 3 replies

Local Music Podcast

bingfutch — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:19:49 GMT

http://allflorida.blogspot.com

All Florida Indies is a weekly podcast featuring the unsigned music of Florida, particularly central. This week's show features Dan Walters, Boxelder, Michael Andrew and new music from Kow and Mohave.

You don't need an iPod to listen! Visit the site and get familiar with the local scene! Also, be sure to visit the links to featured bands - support original music!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Orlando Artists & Entrepreneurs

ambitionn — Tue, 10 May 2005 21:57:32 GMT

Well let me try to jump in the mix here quickly for those of you reading this post. I am promoting a marketing company based in Jacksonville, FL that focuses on providing artists and entrepreneurs with the resources that will allow them to gain exposure for their products, services or themselves. The name of our company is (well... the NEW name is AMBITIONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.) Mainly, we deliver marketing startegies and campaigns that include Event production, Street Team Promotions, Web Design and Presence, Advertising, Graphic Design & Printing. We've also started a related quarterly magazine conveniently named, AMBITIONN MAGAZINE, to help expose our clients in the print world. And finally we are currently in the process of acquiring a local radio staion to provide further avenues for exposing the ambitionn of our clients.

FYI... inquire about our monthly specials and opportunities geared towards your needs!

Take a look inside, let's see what Ambitionn can do for you!
www.Ambitionn.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Looking for mopedders and scooterists

theLBD — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 01:10:01 GMT

To join / form an Orlando Moped Army (see www.mopedarmy.com) chapter and/or a Scooter/Moped riders group. Anyhow, drop me a line if you own a moped, scooter, noped, motorized bike, etc. I'd love to do some Summer night rides or Sunday morning rides.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

We Need An Orlando Hip Hop DJ

theblissclub — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 04:32:19 GMT

If anyone knows a DJ that is available this Saturday night in Orlando please have that person call 305.244.5787.

Thanks

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Orlando Citybeat

bingfutch — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 21:53:57 GMT

You may have seen it advertised in The Orlando Sentinel - it's a very hip guide to what's going on in the city, music, barhopping, arts and more.

http://www.orlandocitybeat.com/

And be sure to check out Gabriel Chapman's digital art exhibit at Taste before the month is up! Read the review at:

http://www.orlandocitybeat.com/arts/

If no-one here has been to Taste, it's a tapas-style dining adventure that's moderately priced and incredibly delicious!

Cheers,

Bing

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 7 replies

Billy Manes for Mayor of Orlando?

bingfutch — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 14:57:03 GMT

Driving home from rehearsal last night, I had to do a double take at the blue and white lawn sign that wobbled slightly in the evening breeze.

"Billy Manes For Mayor"

There was a website listed, www.billymanes.com, which I made a mental note of and planned to visit in the morning. The journey was an interesting one, to say the least.

My question is, in the vote for interim mayor, how many of you would vote for Billy and why? For those who don't know, Manes is the flamboyant columnist for The Orlando Weekly whose snarky commentary and booze-filled bar-hopping have become the stuff of legends in O-Town. Over the years, however, he's developed a core following of readers who see him as a spokesperson for "new" Orlando - a City Beautiful not run by out-of-touch old geezers but rather a town home to an upwardly mobile and youthful constituency with money to burn on residences such as 55 West or The Vue.

I've shared many a brew with Billy over the years and know that he's quite an intelligent and insightful individual, though injected with just a hint of self-loathing and more than a bucketful of self-promotional zeal (I can recognize that in a person, takes one to, well, you know..) Having glanced over the roll of would-be interim mayors, I'd just as soon vote for Billy to see if he'll live up to his campaign promises. It's time we had a youthful influence in City Hall, and if he's the only one to do it, maybe that's for the better.

Would you vote for Billy? I'd bet the well that the downtown curfew, leftover from the so-called Anti-Rave law, would be extended to at least 3 am.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

3rd Annual Spring Jamando - Sat. 3/26 FREE

jaegibbsfutch — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:41:41 GMT

Jambando presents an afternoon and evening of kind music and positive vibes. Join Bluelegs, funkUs, the Toni Brown Band, Russ Gaspard & The Grind, Junkie Rush, Mohave and special guest acoustic performances throughout the day. No cover!

Wall Street Plaza - Downtown Orlando
4:00pm - 2:00am
http://www.jambando.com

Jae

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

bellydance

annamarie84 — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:34:43 GMT

SOOOOO where does one go to see bellydancers in this town? I perfer tribal but any one would do.
Oh and any bd related shops around? I'll be here for 5months.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 6 replies

Arts Fest

bingfutch — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 15:46:10 GMT

Is anyone attending any of the Arts Fest events this weekend? Just a whole bunch of stuff going on - and I'd partake but Mohave's in the studio. Holla if someone is planning to indulge!

Cheers,

Bing

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 2 replies

hi all

chefmeilstrup — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:12:59 GMT

Posting indeed well for thows that are not on olrando socal tibe my name is brandon i just moved down here and now a intern slave to disney doing my culanary gig for them i am in hopes to make some friends hang out and have a good time id love to get to know people and do things.

i am currios is theres any spin jams here poi staf fire anything up here like burning man.

i hope to get to know ppl u all take care

brandon

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

Voted #1 Erotic Theme Event in The World!

theblissclub — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 04:19:53 GMT

THE bLiSS CLUB presents:

WHITE bLiSS
Saturday 1/22 11pm-5am
Jade Lounge in South Beach
1766 Bay Rd
305.244.5787
Tickets available at www.VIPBLISS.com

JUNGLE bLiSS
Saturday 1/29 10pm-2am
Roxy Nightclub VIP Room
305.244.5787
Tickets available at www.VIPBLISS.com

EROTIC THEME EVENTS FOR BISEXUAL WOMEN & ADVENTUROUS COUPLES!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Selling or Buying a Home?

Jeff — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:26:08 GMT

Visit my website at http://www.orlandopropertysales.com

I am a licensed agent with offices in Downtown.

Jeff Strickland
Stirling International Realty, Inc.
407-758-6495
jeff@orlandopropertysales.com

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

ORLANDO JAN. 8 - 12, 2005

Robin — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 16:40:43 GMT

It's back on the road time for me. 30 weeks of travel a year and usually to the same 5 places (Vegas, Orlando, SF, New Orleans and DC), so my first trip is to Orlando - Jan. 8 - 12. for a Vteternary Expo. I'm hoping some of you might be in the area, or even at ther show. My nights are free, I hate going to a bar alone, and waking up alone even more. I'm up for some sort of friendly company in the evenings. If anyone is interested in hanging out, send me a message.

Blessed Be!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

hello everyone

james — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:39:07 GMT

im james, in new to the tribe. im not new to the city though. i have been here for a year, and do not know many people here. im not working at the moment looking for some interesting jobs to apply for and some interesting people to hang out with. i hope to get to know many of you on here

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

moving to Orlando

America — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 02:08:47 GMT

Hey everyone! I am moving to Orlando in July and since I have never been there or anything, it would be great to get an idea of what the city and the people there are like. I am moving from Indy and am very excited to be getting out!!! LOL

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 1 reply

Free Tix to Holiday Jambando @ Hard Rock Live!

jaegibbsfutch — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 12:29:05 GMT

Celebrate the holidays with us! Come to the Holiday Jambando with Mohave, funkUs, Bluelegs and Ms. Toni Brown with her special guest, Tom Constanten, former keyboardest for the Grateful Dead.

8:30 p.m.
Thursday 12/16/2004
HARD ROCK LIVE - UNIVERSAL ORLANDO
Free tickets: email jae@jobentertainment.com

http://www.mohavemusic.com
http://www.funkus.com
http://www.tonibrownband.com
http://www.jambando.com

A joyous and blessed holiday season to all of you!

Jae

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 0 replies

Newbie tourist to Orlando

aymless — Sun, 17 Oct 2004 05:48:29 GMT

Greetings fair Floridians! I am visiting Orlando in a couple of weeks and could use some recommendations on: fun stuff to do, wheelchair-friendly public transportation, places to meet cool people, etc......
Any little bit helps!
Thanks for your time!

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 4 replies

The Social, last night

hisforhybrid — Sat, 08 Nov 2003 18:47:51 GMT

(With apologies to Bing and Mojave, we'll see you next week, I promise.)

So, last night, KellyBang and I were going to head to the Independant Bar for their Indie Night.

Then, half an hour before I'm due to leave, Ms Bang rings and asks if I'd mind going to The Social instead. She's been online, seen that there is a triple header on tonight, listened to a little of the headliner's stuff and liked it enough to suggest a change of venue.

I head down there, with some degree of trepidation. I mean, it's only $7, but the thought of three unknown bands always fills me with dread.

We arrive, and The Social is sparcely populated, and most of those there seemed barely above school age (even you Miss Danceypants, elastic hips, you know who you are!). This is not looking promising.

And then the first band, 'Dodger' come on stage. Fears increase. Four (very) young men come on stage to pubescent cheers. It's going to be one of those nights...

But wait. 'Dodger' can play. They play the fuck out of their instruments. They are just too young to be this accomplished. Fresh-faced, geek-chic oozing from their pores, and indeed their wardrobes, they impress the hell out of me.

Vocal duties are shared between the guitarist and keyboard player, each bringing a different dynamic to the lyrics, which although written at such a tender age, display a precocious sense of maturity.

The influences seemed varied, but you could definitely get a whiff of The Beatles, maybe even The Kinks. Some Elliot Smith, Radiohead, perhaps a little Ed Harcourt. But whatever their inspiration, they bring it all together in a surprisingly deft performance. And Kelly loved the little bow at the end.

And they're local, so watch out for them. And keep an eye on their website (www.dodgerandfriends.com) for news and snippets of their demo tracks.

(Lauren shows up, more news later.)

I'm smiling. It's a good start. One down, two to go. Come on 'Laguardia', don't drop the metaphorical ball.

Indeed, they do come on. And to milk the metaphor, the ball was handled superbly.

An interesting mix of songs followed, many of the most compelling being those which saw the lead vocalist (josh?), sitting at his electric piano. An instrument which seems to allow him to express his full vocal range more definitively than when he took up the guitar.

From whispered entreaties in thoughtful compositions, to full on, hard-edged rock, with punk undertones, the band run the gamut of influences from Neil Young, through The Clash, to Nirvana and Mercury Rev, with all the variety that suggests being displayed.

One complaint. The set was too short. But then, the drummer did look knackered after the phenomenal pounding he delivered to the skins...

"They were brilliant," exclaimed Kelly. Lauren concurred. I just smile.

And the smile is about to get a whole lot bigger.

The advertising video which precedes "Starlight Mints'" arrival on stage, showcases not only the bands nifty range of t-shirts, but also a sense of the band's personality. There is a goofiness to the shots. It's a theme that will be revisited.

So, the band enter stage right, hailing from Norman, Oklahoma. Even before they play a note, I'm struck with the observation that the lead vocalist, Alan, bears more than a passing resemblance to Steve Buscemi. Which can never be a bad thing.

And then they begin their audio-visual feast for the soul.

I am not going to even attempt to classify them, for to do so would be an exercise in futility.

All you need to know is that they are excellent at what they do. Which is entertain. In the purest sense of the word.

While Alan carries most of the vocal burden, he is assisted by all the other members of the band at one time or another, but particularly by Marian, cute-as-a-button keyboard player, visual overlord (overlady?) and occasionally Liz Fraseresque back-up.

This is a band who evoke and yet evade comparison. Their quirkiness reminds you of the B-52's, or at least a creditable version thereof. Alan's vocals brought to mind 'Midnight Oil' at times, Bowie elsewhere. The music hinted at Sonic Youth, at Pixies, but at oh-so-much more besides.

Any band who all whistle the bridge to a song in perfect harmony, and introduce a cello into the proceedings, will always get my vote.

The sheer sense of joy which pervaded the venue throughout their performance was an uplifting experience to behold.

They are my new favourite band. Catch them next time, they'll be yours too. And if Javier (think hispanic Nicky Wire) is anything to go by, they're really nice people too.

posted in Orlando: The City Beautiful - 25 replies