Natalia Bogolasky Fliman

A couple of months ago I watched a documentary called "Sunrise/Sunset" that shows a normal day in the life of the Dalai Lama, at his home in Dharamsala, India.

He talks about existence in general and Buddhism, and shares his concerns about current issues.

At the end, he expresses his feelings about the world's overpopulation, and as he speaks, images from the filmmaker's train journey that took him back to Russia from India through China, appear on screen.

The contrast is made clear through these images: at the beginning of the trip one can see chaotic cities crowded with people, but then, the Tran-Siberian window shows only desolated land.

The Dalai Lama says that overpopulation will eventually trigger global conflicts and war, and that it is a serious problem. Nonetheless, he ironically says that its solution is to have "more monks and nuns".

And then on a graver note, he talks about sharing resources and lands to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, and to solve the current paradoxical situation of some countries that have too many inhabitants, and others that have a declining population.

Our 'Flip Camera' assignment sounded pretty simple. I just had to find someone to interview for 30 seconds, and make a 5-shot excercise in order to tell a story through images. I had worked on television, so how hard could that be? Well, it kind of was. And not because of the shooting, or the editing, but because of the distrust displayed by the individuals when they finally realized that they were talking to a journalist.

 

Jenny Ryan is almost ready to open ¨Home Ec.¨ in Silverlake, a beautiful craft workshop and retail space.

I ran into Eric Kufs of the band ¨Common Rotation¨ at the Farmer´s Market. His music was the perfect soundtrack for a perfect day: Sun, food and rythm. What else could I ask for? 

Last week I had my first Craigslist experience. I had heard so much about this website when I moved to the US that I was actually looking forward to checking it out. I needed a car, furniture and all of the basics to start a new life here as a Southern Californian student. And what better than a P2P webpage that has absolutely everything you might want? So I began the quest and my interest grew as I went along navigating it.