A long day of work on the Moishe Mobile in Long Beach... Its coming together! Thanks a lot to Robert Johnson, AJ Mendoza, Mike Burt and my family for lending helping hands. The Bus will be making an appearance in Santa Barbara for the annual CHILLA VISTA community festival on Sunday June 3rd.

Whole Earth Festival, UC Davis

A sustainable festival that we can all learn from, reusable dish ware, recycling, composting, music, good people, and good times!!

San Fransisco Earth Day

I love California, and I'm glad that SF loves California!!!

May Day Festival

A couple of weeks a go "My family-Sustainable living Commune" put on the 15th annual "May Day Festival". Every year we invite hundreds of our most loving friends to celebrate the renewal of Spring. We dance to the sound of drums around a huge 40ft phallus like pole with ribbons in our hands weaving in and out of each other. The phallus represents the fertilization of the earth and the dance represents... well you can figure that out. Then we eat local organic food from the farm and listen to live music like "Groundation", "Pato Banton" and "Sol Hirozin". May day allows my little hippie child shine. Next year you are all invited to celebrate the earth with the hippies of Sebastopol!!

When I can't ride around in the green Moishe bus...

Nice Sexy Legs Huh?? I've been working out!!

I have found that living without a car has improved my life. I have lived without a car for almost four years now. The initial reason for my transition from car dependence to freedom was financial. I could not afford to pay for insurance, maintenance, or the increasing price of gasoline. After selling my car I realized that there are many other benefits to not owning a car, including minimizing my ecological foot print, feeling healthy and in shape from riding my bike, and the exciting possibility of meeting a cute guy on the public transit system.

My personal circumstances have made it possible to live without a car. In Santa Barbara the bike lanes and bike parking was extremely well integrated into the school and urban planning. The bus was free for students, and I had many friends who were willing to help me out. I also lived in Barcelona, Spain for a year, where buses, the metro and trains were my primary means of transportation. I also lived in South America for three months, where buses run 24 hours a day, and go just about anywhere you need to go. After living abroad I have learned to appreciate public transit, and good city planning. All over the world city planners are creating new and exciting projects to improve the overall quality of life, with Bus Rapid Transit, bike co-ops, recycling programs, water conservation, and affordable housing. I have been fortunate to see these projects first hand. I have been inspired to continue this sustainable path of our parents in order to provide a better future for our children.

(I am also privileged to have a father who collects old Volkswagens and converts them to bio-diesel, and has no problem with lending me a car when I am in need)

Renewable Energy Day

For the second day in a row, the Moishe Mobile crew consisting of me (Joe Madden), Matt Harnack and Levi Felix has been learning, filming and inquiring about everything there is to know concerning veggie-oil conversions. The crew here at Lovecraft Biofuels (who was generous enough to give us parts and labor all free!) has worked diligently on our beautiful green bus as we curiously peaked over their shoulders in an attempt to familiarize ourselves with the veggie conversion. Today was a huge day for the renewable energy portion of the Moishe Mobile- not only do we now run on clean burning veggie oil but we have just acquired two 64 watt solar panels for the roof which will more than handle our energy needs for the entire trip. As we continue to ask our acquaintances how they might suggest to make the world a better place we are really feeling the project come together. The three of us are getting very excited about the trip and anxious to unite the full group in Santa Barbara at the end of the week. GO MOISHE MOBILE!!!!!!

Gaining Composure

GAINING


Adorned was I to be born.
Yet soon deceived
through garments of scorn,
hapless and forlorn,
prerequisites for a life lived torn.
(Satiated was i, un-capitalized.)

Inspiring sparks!
fire to contemplate.
Meditate upon the state;
in which my mind gyrates.
It is a ordered plate!
that precipitates
my fate.
B'seder

Now! Gently,
Step upon step
filling the chambers of momentum
with cautious breath.

Cultivating emotion
and challenging desire
"Retire your wanton fire!"
I scream towards beasts of moral mire

Apprehending vistas of peace,
ascending clarity's peaks.
Resilient are the boots of pure intent.
Formative be the path which sincerity seeks

Treacherous be the path
of unchallenged rote,
desperation lurks in the shadows
of its sensual slope.

Radiance to be gleaned:
Standing tall,
The Mountain of Hope.
Engage a thought
become the pen,
transcend the margins of the note


COMPOSURE

Tripping with Yaakov

To all the Chillaroo crew,

Hiya, from Ohiya (or Ohiyer if you speak hillbilleh dialek). Its great to see all the enthusiasm that surrounds this project. Id love to spend the next couple weeks dreaming with all of you in person, yet I am soon headed back to my dwelling 2 Islands east of greenland.

Via London, I hope to stay engaged with all of these wonderful visioning sessions, yet I extend a preemtive apology: I have 3 final exams occuring within the next 3 weeks, which all count for 100% of my grade, so I may be a bit distant...

Other than that, I am planning the workshop (roughly) entitled- Globe Tripping With Yaakov. It will be focused on the history, abstact theory, as well as practical implicaitons of globalization based on my academic traning at UCSB (BA Global Studies) and at London School of Economics (MsC Global History), as well as my own experiences in 40
countries across the globe. I may also give an elementary introduction to Speaking and Writing Mandarin Chinese, of which I am in my 4th year of study. Maybe those who artistically inclined could assist and we could create a collaborative project of Chinese characters to put on the side of the bus or your face (Levi).

I am also highly encouraging Levi to sequester sufficient funds for us to engage in the superfluity of intellectual and emotional stimulation derived from utilizing one of modernities greatest achievements in creativity: Play-dough. Heaps of playdough, preferrably edible. I encourage all of you to join this admirable campaign...


The bus is merely the vessle, our light shines from within

Yaakov

Getting The Bus

This last monday, I woke up from my comfy bed in San Francisco at 6am. I was running late so I ditched my favorite hat (that I couldn't find) and jumped on the muni- san fran's finest public bus, and started my adventure to pick up the renown Moishe Mobile. Scrambling to find the Caltrain, I ran down the street with backpack and sleeping bag in tow excited to get to the San Jose STA bus lot. After a few hours of hopping from one form of public transportation to another, I arrived at the lot to find my beautiful yellow short bus.I exchanged a few words with Greg, my trusty bus sales man, and I was on my way. Driving down the 101 in a short yellow school bus, I never imagined the goofy and confused stares I received. "What's that 80s sunglass fro sporting 20-something-year-old doing driving a school bus on the freeway," I could hear a woman say. Me and my trusty Moishe Mobile, sweating to the oldies of the radio, I had never been so happy. Only one thing would make me more excited: painting it bright green...oh yes, it's bright green now and will soon be packed with 9 other sweaty crazed kids trying to make the world a better place...

Moishe Mobile

Chillaroo

The Chillaroo crew, a team of 10 diverse young adult activists, environmentalists, musicians, and artists- will set out on the Moishe Mobile to learn, grow, educate, and inspire those they meet as they enhance their relationship with the earth on a journey across the country to the music and arts festival Bonnaroo. The veggie powered Moishe Mobile will make stops in several cities where they will touch the lives of adults and children asking the question, “How will you make the world a better place.” Setting up an interactive camp wherever they go, the group will collaborate with local organizations and lead discussions on the environment, facilitate self-growth workshops, lead sustainability discussions, create communal art, jam out on musical instruments, and inspire others to make a difference. From attempting to eat only organic the entire trip, composting everything possible, and leaving 0-Waste behind, this will create an eye opening documentary for young and old alike. Catching this voyage on hand held cameras, these 10 pioneers tackle the obstacles that face them on the road to Bonnaroo… and on the road to a greener and better world.