Take today to remember all the men and women who have died for your country (and their families and friends). Fly your flag at half-staff from dawn to noon. Have a picnic or a BBQ with those special people around you. No matter what you/others have to complain about in current American politics… today, let’s remember those who have served America by giving their lives so that we might be free. Have a fantastic Memorial Day. You can find the Epicrew on Swaysey beach of the Green River, of course… feel free to join us.

Also, today Maria is happy to say that she doesn’t have to “remember” her brother because he came home from Iraq this year safe and sound.

We’ve been getting tons of last-minute band, short film, and art submissions! Project Green River is only 8 days away, so if you have any last minute submissions you better overnight them ASAP. Epicenter// P.O. Box 444// Green River, Utah 84525

Not submitting anything to Project Green River? Well, the least you can do is come.

We have hopes and dreams that it will be something on par with Doo-Nanny or the 280 Boogie (we compare everything we do to things we love in Alabama, by the way). Currently, we’ve got 15 musicians/bands performing (for free!) and they are good. Really good. We’ve gotten short film submissions from all over this great country, Mexico, and even China! The gallery in Baxter will feature work by renowned quilter Luke Haynes, photographer Jon Cobb, local muralist Allene Swan, photographer Laura Heisig, and a series of blind portraits by Charlotte Sullivan. There will even be a carnival with rides!!!

We can’t wait for you to get here. You start arriving this week!

Cal biking in Marfa, Texas

• name: Christian Jose Ayala Lopez
• born: Guayama, Puerto Rico  September 10, 1983
• age: 26
• status: married
• children: name and age undisclosed
• current city of occupation and explorations: Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
• current employer: TEN Arquitectos
• position: Junior Architect (unlicensed) 
• project: CIEAX and Masterplan (Centro de Investigacion y Exploracion del Agua Xochimilco)
• extracurricular: riding his bike around the city. eating tacos, tamales, huaraches, panochos, chilaquiles and anything Mexican.

Christian went to architecture school at Auburn University with Maria + Jack, has visited Green River once, and he assisted Epicenter in many endeavors (mostly on Skate Green River). His work is beautiful. He is talented. He is a valued member of the Honorary Epicrew.

Reads: Twenty minutes for refreshment- passengers visiting the California lions at Green River Station. Across the continent— The Frank Leslie excursion to the Pacific—incidents of travel from Fort Steele to Green River.

Is this our Green River station? Maybe. “Frank Leslie’s excursion” took place on the Central Pacific Railroad. The Central Pacific Railroad ran from Sacramento, CA to Promontory, UT where it meets the Union Pacific Railroad. The only “Green River Station” we can find in Wyoming was for the Pony Express, not the railroad. Our vote is for these California lions being in Green River, Utah.

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (1855-1922) was the first successful American venture to bring pictures and news together in a weekly. Leslie’s career coincided with the rise of photography, a technological achievement that increased the public appetite for pictures. But the camera was little help for publishers during Leslie’s life since there was no mechanical way to bring a photograph to the printing press. Thus magazine illustrations were done by hand.

Today we received an email from our dear Epicrew member, Jack Forinash, with some inspirational words. Glad you’re alive and we hope you’re enjoying Mexico, Jack.

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To the Crew///////////////
Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in art, in music, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man.

From East of Eden, John Steinbeck. A book I’ve read.
I was looking for another quote and saw this one. I was wondering how that applies to us, to the Epicenter. And I think it does. At first read, it seems opposite. But in reality, everything must be championed by one person. And the Crew is the group that picks it up once it is moving and perpetuates it. It may be true the individual mind may be the instrument of creation, but it must be equally true one man cannot do it all, cannot carry the whole burden. After all, people change, and they eventually die (either in actuality or by simply moving on). But good is permanent, and unceasing. 
At the Epicenter, we shouldn’t be hesitant to start something. We all have the ability and drive to do good things for and with people. It is less important who started it, because it wouldn’t reach the point of making a difference without the entirety of the Crew, with the passion and momentum that is created through each other. Good things will gain followers, allies, and supporters. Let us be clear in our mission. Let us remind people what we are doing. Let us realize the power of our own individual power to create. And then, we will all share the burden of enacting.
A lady died recently, and it is part of the story that I don’t remember her name or know who she or her role really was. The radio story told me she was an influential lady in the fight for civil rights. Yet, she never gained much recognition, as it was mostly given to the males, specifically to Rev. King. But her impact was perhaps even more than the visible people. The other point is that she obviously didn’t get caught up in issues of credit. She just kept working. And so, even when King was assassinated, the movement continued onward.
There must be a million great ideas a day that don’t make it out of the mind of an individual. Either because of insecurity one might have in the relevance of the notion, or a lack of a network that effectively carries it out, or because of simple mismanagement. I believe the Epicenter is not plagued by these things, or specifically shouldn’t be. 
Let me remind you that we are doing good. It takes us, the Crew (in situ Crew along with the Extended Crew and Honorary Crew) to carry the burden. It’s not and shouldn’t be about self-promotion, or viewed in that way. It’s about gaining support, finding allies, all in the effort to help others. People need to be clear on what we do, and be reminded constantly of our successes and troubles. So that they can learn from us, and we can from them. 
Let us keep working. Let us draw upon the diversity within our own group to bring out ideas that will change the world. And then let us take it on as our own.

Charlotte’s Bedroom

MONDAY - FRIDAY
I wake up at 8am. I take a shower. I drink iced stump town coffee as I walk to the bus stop. I work in an office until 6pm. I rush home to my front porch. I watch the sun set. I make dinner. I think about the ones I love. I plan what I will be doing 6 months from now. I listen to music that funks my soul. I go to bed.

SAT & SUNDAY
I wake up at 8am. I drink iced stump town coffee as I walk to the park next to my house. I watch people. I watch dogs. I stare at the sun. I listen to music that funks my soul. I do laundry. I eat brunch. I think about the ones I love. I walk. I ride my bike. I watch people. I plan what I will be doing 12 mths from now. I D.A.N.C.E. I do something I have never done. I yearn. I do. I make. I see. I am. I want. I love.

Guy on the train audio.

Char’s favorite building besides the Chrysler.

Queen of the Night + Dance.

Char’s online portfolio.

Char’s tumblog.

Weft Warp Weft.

oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

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Charlotte spent most of July with us. She worked on Epicenter fund-raising and developed the Green River Community Center’s identity. But, most importantly of all, Charlotte continues to support us with her kind words, never-ending praise, and her jealously of our living in the beautiful desert of Utah. Thank you, Charlotte.

The Spanish Trail, a major trade route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles, has entered western lore as the scene of historic events and as a route for famous explorers. A large section of the trail curves north to pass through central and southern Utah before bending south again and passing out of the state. The trail has been traveled by ancient and modern peoples and has witnessed slave trading, emigrant parties, Indian massacres, and superhighway construction.

The Spanish Trail measures 1,120 miles long and passes through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. The seemingly roundabout path resulted from human and natural obstacles; sometimes hostile Apache, Navajo, and Mojave Indians discouraged Euro-Americans from taking the direct southern route; and the deep, often impassable canyon country of the Colorado Plateau necessitated a detour far to the north. Archaeological evidence indicates that many stretches of the trail were well known to prehistoric Native Americans, including Archaic and Fremont peoples. The heyday of the trail, however, lasted from 1829 to 1848 when Santa Fe traders used the route to bring goods to and from California. John C. Fremont, who traveled much of the trail in the 1840s, assumed that the route had been laid out by the Spanish and so named it for them; many sources refer to it as the Old Spanish Trail.

The trail enters Utah from the east near the present-day town of Ucolo, about 15 miles east of Monticello, and continues roughly northwesterly to about the town of Green River in Emery County. Just northwest of Moab the trail crosses the Colorado River at a spot where low water reveals an island. Continuing up steep-walled Moab Canyon, the trail eventually crosses desert and wash region until it crosses the Green River, again via a low-water island. Orson Pratt, who traveled the route in 1848 and kept a detailed diary, noted that his party was forced to swim their animals and raft their goods at both crossings. The trail then skirts the northern edge of the San Rafael Swell, until reaching its northernmost point in the Black Hills in present Emery County, then bends to the southwest as it crosses the Great Basin on its way to Los Angeles. In 1853 Capt. John Gunnison and a surveying party traveled part of the route before turning north along the Sevier River. On October 26, 1853, Gunnison and a number of others were killed by Indians. John Wesley Powell named a butte, valley, and Green River crossing for Gunnison when he passed through the region in 1871. Eventually the route climbs Holt Canyon, crosses the infamous Mountain Meadows, and enters the Virgin River Basin and Arizona. Much of the route in southwestern Utah has been obliterated by Interstate 70.

The New Mexicans carried woolen goods—rugs, blankets, and other woven products—along the trail to California where they traded them for horses and mules that in turn were driven back to New Mexico for sale. Along the route traders sometimes swapped animals for Paiute slaves or stole children outright from the relatively weak tribes. The slave trade peaked in the 1830s and 1840s, with Chief Wakara’s Ute bands playing a major role in capturing and trading slaves who brought good prices in California.

The arrival of Mormon pioneers in the late 1840s gradually displaced the natives and disrupted the slave trade. The Mormons eventually turned the western part of the Spanish Trail into a wagon route, bringing pioneers down the Mormon Corridor to California.

Project Green River is currently taking submission for music, short films, and art.

All submissions are due on May 14, 2010. That’s only 8 days away!!!

Music: Mail a hard copy of your music on a CD or email us your website, myspace page, or mp3 files to be considered for booking. Or go to Sonicbids to submit your music and/or band to be considered to play at our festival. (P.O. Box 444 Green River, Utah 84525, maria@projectgreenriver.org)

Art: Either mail a hard copy of selected works/portfolio or email us a maximum of three high-resolution images to be considered to show at the festival (to P.O. Box 444 Green River, Utah 84525, hayley@projectgreenriver.org)

Film: Either mail a hard copy of your short film on a DVD or email us a link to your short film on the internet (youtube, vimeo, personal website, etc.). Note: If your film is chosen, you will be required to send a hard copy on DVD to us eventually. Also, we accept Super-8 films. (P.O. Box 444 Green River, Utah 84525, maria@projectgreenriver.org)

All submissions must include: Your name, physical address, email address, phone number, and a short note explaining why you would like to be considered for PGR.

All submissions are due on May 14, 2010. This means we receive your submission on May 14, 2010… not postmarked by May 14, 2010, please.