Shirari Industries

VIDEO: The Racial Crossroads

Asher Roth and the Racial Crossroads Via Talking Circles on Race and Racism

The Feminist Frequency on Lego

I love Legos. And I LOVE this blog, and this two-part series on Lego and Gender. LEGO & Gender Part 1: Lego Friends Lego & Gender Part 2: The Lego Boys Club Sign the petition to #liberatelego!

VIDEO: Stroke of Insight

I just watched this video of brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk about her stroke and the incredible insight it gave her. I don’t want to spoil the experience of watching it, so I’ll just say that for me, this video started out as a dry-feeling scientific talk, but by the end, I was [...]

Some new sites, fresh off the WordPress

We’ve been hard at work over here but just realized we haven’t been blogging about it very regularly. So, here’s a batch of recent sites we’ve made for some lovely clients in Ithaca and NYC. Stay tuned for more reports from the Shirari Industries factory floor, a.k.a. our desk. A new graphic home page for [...]

A new website for our alternative energy doc, Empowered

Check out the new WordPress website we made for Empowered – there are new video clips, and we’re selling the DVD. Let us know what you think!

We Remember You, Dr. King

Here are some of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words. Let’s remember him, and then follow his advice and go change the world for the better. “We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace [...]

VIDEO: Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite!

“One of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history was given by a comedian by the name of Charlie Chaplin.” Watch it (given a 99% / #OWS video treatment) above or on YouTube. How does this video make you feel? How can we change the world together in 2012?

VIDEO: Rural farmers unite to feed Wall Street protestors

From November, 2011: “How rural farmers, an unemployed chef and a protestor named Heather are getting 1,000 dinners served at Occupy Wall Street every night”. I’m posting this because I just watched it and realized that Ithaca farmers get a shout out! I feel like our little city is a part of history in the [...]

‘Tis the Season for Sharing and Bartering

In Ari’s recent blog post Say Happy Holidays to the Earth and Your Neighbors, she pointed out some great ways to get gifts while supporting your local economy. If you want to take traditional money out of the equation altogether, in Ithaca, you can come to one of three (count ‘em, three!) local events in [...]

Say Happy Holidays to the Earth and Your Neighbors

Holidays can be a lot brighter when we give without hurting the earth (with excess packaging, plastic junk, planned-to-be-obsolete electronics, etc.), and when we’re conscious of where we’re sending our money. If you buy a cookie-cutter gift that everyone else is getting from a big box store where workers are being exploited and money is [...]

7 Documentaries I’ve been loving

These 7 films are all awesome! Found on Netflix. The Power of Forgiveness – very moving film featuring interviews with people from many different backgrounds, discussing forgiveness and how it can heal us and help the world. Mana: Beyond Belief – a great film with no narration, just excellent footage of people and the things [...]

Pepperspray: History repeated

WARNING: Videos contain scenes of intense police brutality / torture. So, some cops sprayed some nonviolent protesters at UC Davis with pepperspray. You can watch it above – it’s gut-wrenching. It made me cry. The way the students respond is inspiring. The way they’re continuing to occupy the UC Davis campus is also inspiring. Click [...]

We Are Occupying Ourselves

Dear world, thank you for waking up! We’re of the 99% but only because the 1% isn’t yet ready to join forces with us instead of against us – we’d love to be part of the 100%. Today (November 17th), there’s a big Occupy Wall St. action going on in NYC, and we’re watching from [...]

Report from the Community Sneak Peek of “Empowered”

It was a bit of a crunch to get the film edited in less than a month for our Community Sneak Peek at Cinemapolis in Ithaca on September 30th, but it was well worth it! Over 130 people came out on a Friday evening to watch Empowered and participate in a discussion with me and [...]

Convenience is an illusion

Recently at an event here in Ithaca where folks were discussing the future of our economy, a friend of ours pointed out that a lot of alternatives to the status quo (capitalism, big box stores, etc.) are inconvenient. He said that this might be a barrier to folks adopting these alternatives, and asked if we [...]

Julia Butterfly Hill on Disposability Consciousness

“I have seen the weapons of mass destruction called disposability consciousness. And if we want to heal the world we have to begin to use tools of mass compassion.”

Video: Support Wild Things Sanctuary

I just finished making this video for Wild Things Sanctuary, an amazing local nonprofit that “is dedicated to helping native wildlife through rescuing and rehabilitating debilitated and orphaned/displaced animals until they are ready for release back into the wild.” Watch the video!

Videos: Mycorrhizal Fungi and Orcharding with Eve’s Cidery

I recently finished two more videos for Eve’s Cidery… Orcharding with Autumn from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

How is RuPaul different from Tyler Perry?

Ladies, gaga: What drag is doing for women Is Tyler Perry Atlanta’s most famous drag queen? Madea’s Big Happy Family: Tyler Perry’s Drag Ball Tyler Perry’s Gay Problem

Two shoots to go, and we’re screening in less than a month!

Empowered is a film Shira’s been working on for months and months with our friend Suzanne McMannis, the producer. I just finished the site for it and am psyched that we’ll have a place to share all the photos and videos emerging from the production. It’s been really cool getting to know more about the [...]