“I make home movies
therefore I am.
I am, therefore
I make home movies.”

~Jonas Mekas, Walden (1969)

As a film programmer, my one hard and fast rule was to actually watch anything before screening it. A lot of movies sound really great on paper and are really crap on the screen. This Sunday, we’re going to take that one little rule, fold it up like a paper airplane, and toss it out the window.

Home Movie Day is an international celebration of the art of amateur movie-making on 8mm and 16mm film. Whether it’s footage of grandma blowing out candles at her 80th birthday party or a cops-and-robbers movie made by grade-school kids, this is an opportunity to share, preserve and celebrate old films.

For this event, community members are encouraged to bring their home movies for inspection and potential exhibition. Local film experts, along with archivists from the University of Oregon Libraries, will assess the physical condition of the film before projecting movies for viewing. They will also offer advice on how to best preserve and protect these film formats from damage.

The enduring success of Home Movie Day lies in the thrill of uncovering original film footage of places, people and events — both familiar and strange — that may have rested unseen in household closets for decades. At a 2006 Home Movie Day event in New Haven, Connecticut, amateur film maker Robbins Barstow shared his 1956 travelogue “Disneyland Dream,” which captured his family’s visit to the Magic Kingdom in its first year of operation. Also captured in the background is a fleeting glimpse of future comedian Steve Martin selling guidebooks in a top hat and striped pink shirt. See the clip below for a preview.

Screenings and education will take place on Sunday, Oct. 18, from noon to 5 p.m. at the UO Portland’s White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch St. Admission is free.

~Michael Neault

This October, How We Develop’s debut event, CONTENT, will premier at the Ace Hotel in Portland, OR. This event is designed, in its curation of talent and selection of venue, to harness and highlight the individuality stemming from the independent fashion community.

For this inaugural CONTENT event, 38 of Portland’s finest independent clothing and accessory designers will inhabit 28 rooms on the 2nd floor of the Ace Hotel. Attendees will explore at their leisure while enjoying live music, libations, art installations and more, extending into the adjacent Cleaners event space.

Learn more about it HERE.

***UPDATE***
Watch the promo video HERE.

Caleb Deupree of Néojapanisme’s staff blog files a lovely report on Takemitsu Tōru, an experimental musician and composer who created his own graphical system of musical notation, beautiful designs rather than the traditional 10-bar staff familiar to traditional Western players. In one score, “Each sheet is printed in different colors and is cut from the middle of one edge to the center of the circle, so that the sheets can be overlaid to create unique configurations for each performance.” Toru worked in collaboration with designer Sugiura Kōhei collaborated with Tōru as well. More at Néojapanisme.

That’s the title of my talk this week at the UCDA conference in Seattle. Come on over if you are in town.

Every day, each of us makes thousands of choices to make our businesses more competitive and our design work more effective. But do they sustain us as designers, as a culture, and as a planet? How can we develop proficient and relevant design habits that make meaning, make money, and make a difference?

UCDA Design Conference, Seattle
Tuesday, Otober 6, 3:15 pm
More info: http://ucda.com/conference.lasso

Photo above, getting kicked out of Times Square during an art action in March ’09.

Lesque drop a new video from their Summer Tour and a new line.

Designers, filmmakers, artists, writers: every day, we make decisions and take actions, large and small, that influence our lives and the world around us. What do you do, personally, that helps create meaning in your life and your work? What everyday habits do you cultivate?

Feel free to answer one or both of the questions above, in two sentences or less. Quotes may appear online and in my upcoming UCDA talk. Please let me know if I can use your name in my talk, or if you’d rather remain anonymous. –Joshua Berger, Creative Director, Plazm
Email josh (at) plazm.

More info about my talk:
Design Habits for the Future: Act, Collaborate, Do Meaningful Things

UCDA Design Conference, Seattle
Tuesday, Otober 6, 3:15 pm
More info: http://ucda.com/conference.lasso
Open to UCDA conference attendees