Aug 15

American Gypsy Woman

American Gypsy Woman

Oksana Marafioti’s parents performed in a traveling Romani ensemble until she was

15, when they moved to America. Growing up, she saw the Mongolian deserts and

the Siberian tundra, watched her father get into bar fights with Nazis, learned about

sex by sneaking into illicit movies, and endured the hostility of school bullies. What

little Oksana and her sister, Roxy, knew of the United States they had learned from

MTV, subcategory George Michael. Not quite prepared for the challenges of

immigration. Marafioti cracks open the secretive world of the Roma and brings the

absurdities, miscommunications, and unpredictable victories of the immigrant

experience to life, one slice of processed cheese at a time.

Oksana spoke at Vroman’s Bookstore August 7, 2012 on her family life as a gypsy woman.

Video of the talk:

Part 1 – Gypsy Woman Oksana Marafioti

Part 2 – Gypsy Woman Oksana Marafioti

Part 3 – Gypsy Woman Oksana Marafioti

Jul 12

How To Disappear In America

Last summer, after writing a story for Wired
magazine about people who fake their own
deaths, journalist Evan Ratliff decided to vanish
and invited the public to try to find him. While
he attempted to stay hidden for 30 days, he
was caught in 25, thanks in part to the digital
breadcrumb trail he left behind.

Join Peter Eleey, curator of The Talent Show
and Ratliff as they discuss data-mining,
surveillance, and other ramifications of a culture
awash in in information.

Video:

 

 

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Alexandra Bruce
Publisher, Forbidden Knowledge TV

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Bike Center in Santa Monica offers Showers and Lockers

Aside

Bike Center in Santa Monica

If you carry a bike with you in your van (or if you don’t have one, go to a thrift store and buy a bike helmet and become an illusion of a biker), note that this very cool major bike shop in Santa Monica offers a lot of services, including showers!  A low $15 bucks a month and you got showers!  Towel and/or locker is extra, but is still very reasonable.  They offer a lot of services, bike repairs, education, tours, etc.  If you are camping out in your van “gypsy cool” style on the Westside this might be a spot you will want to go to, it’s near the beach on 2nd near Colorado.  They are open until 10pm. If you are camping in the area for an extended period, the yearly rate is only $299 for membership, including locker, towel and showers.  That’s less than $1 per day, so don’t be stinky, check out this place. Here’s the link:

http://bikeandpark.com/city/santa-monica/locations

Tell a friend about this one.  Paulie is going to try to get some video soon!  If you have a bike, Santa Monica has a lot of great rides.  With the new rail line, the Expo line set to extend that way, you could get to Santa Monica from almost anywhere in LA, (you can also take your bike on the bus).  Or just get there and rent a bike from them.  Lot’s of possibilities here for fun, healthy bicycling, shower, sunshine and great weather on Southern California’s beaches. You can enjoy the world’s greatest weather and laugh at all your dumb friends stuck in their hot-box apartments in the Valley.  (Anyone who has spent a summer in the San Fernando Valley knows that hell is just an afterthought.  In fact, rumor has it that the Devil came up to the Valley one day to check it out, but it was so hot he had to scurry back to Hell to cool off.)