Obama & Clinton (Bill)

I was trying to get Fired UP and Ready to GO to see Obama & Oprah at the stadium. Wanted to see Obama in person and see if he could fire me up. Plus I didn't want Oprah giving out cars or her "favorite things" and miss it. But I really didn't want to get in that parking mess and huge crowd. Then I remembered my ETV credentials, grabbed my camera (to get those special press privileges) and parked right next to the stadium in the ETV lot. YES! The two gianormous guys guarding the press gate waved me off with my ETV badge and said I needed an "official" press badge that I could get on the other side of the stadium. That didn't work quite as I planned, the crowd continued to swell and I was getting a little lost in the shuffle. Then I saw Craig Melvin and decided to shadow him to see if I could gain a little more access. I was "Craig Cam" for a while. He was looking for folks that were there for Obama and not just Oprah. Most everyone I heard him speak to said they were there for Obama and that Oprah was an added bonus. Craig headed back to the press area and I slipped in behind him through the gate, crossed the field to the press area. Phone was ringing as I crossed the field.

Got stopped a couple of times by "official" people and after showing my ETV badge several times they told me we had an area up on the press stand. "Thanks so much." I love special treatment. Message from sister Lori - "I can see you right now! Walking with Craig Melvin across the field! What are you doing!?" Lori and Pete are BIG Obama fans and were in the stands.

Arrested Development performed and the crowd was into it.
There was a ton of national & local press and I just blended in and took in the event. I finally decided to see how easy it would be to get an official press pass and walked across the field in search of the press entrance. After not finding my name on the list the guy just had me sign a sheet and gave me my pass. The press stand was really crowded so I stationed myself on the stairs of the stand and watched the crowd grow. Michelle Obama came out first, then Oprah who introduced Barak. I like what Michelle said that we needed someone that would make us feel differently about each other. Barak's speech was inspiring and entertaining. I find it amazing that people like Obama(s) and Cinton(s) can talk for 20 - 45minutes with no notes and not much stuttering and come off intelligent.
Oprah did not give out any cars, darn it.

I thought of my friend Cecil Williams and the time as a young black photographer he met up with JFK as he announced his candidacy for president. After being turned away at the door JFK himself told Cecil to come sit in the front row. Can you imagine!?. Cecil has lovely photos of JFK from that day. The moment Obama walked up the steps to his own soundtrack (U2) and paused, seemingly to take in the event himself, (of course it may have been very rehearsed but he totally pulled it off I think) I was thrilled to be witnessing it and capturing it on tape. I was happy I'd gotten my butt out the door. My heart felt full to witness the evolution and hopefully revolution this country is experiencing at least for the moment.


RILEY & CLINTON
My old Chernoff buddies asked me to work the Gov. Riley dinner that featured Bill Clinton as the speaker.
I have always loved Gov. Riley and his public service work. He was sweet that night when he took a moment to speak to me. Heidi Mehltretter was there to photo it. Heidi and I were partnering that night. I love working with Heidi and always enjoy her company.
We had access to the VIP room where Bill appeared for photos.


After a long wait Bill came through the door 2 feet from me and I was able to shoot a little bit of video before his guy politely told me I couldn't shoot any video.


I did pop off a couple of stills and then taped his speech. That man is incredibly inspiring, smart and charismatic. BC can hold a crowd.

My dear friends Marvin & Anastasia Chernoff had their moment with Bill.




Bill Bill Bill Bill

Toubab Krewe

Finally got to see Toubab Krewe live at
The Pourhouse in Charleston
LOVED IT!

Influenced by one of my favorite music genres - West African percussion - these guys rocked and were tight!
I had met a couple of them a few years ago when they played with the group Common Ground out of Asheville and was happy to finally catch up with them. They graciously allowed me to videotape their performance. Tough to do with one camera and a dark stage but also tough to shoot and not just enjoy...

SC Repsonds to Genocide

A few months ago I joined a group called the
Darfur Action Group of SC.
The group's mission is to bring awareness to the genocide happening in Sudan, Africa and to push our leaders into action to help stop the violence and insanity of the situation there. Darfur is not the only region in the world that is presently suffering from this type of violence - but we cannot sit back and let this happen without taking SOME kind of action. Whether it be Darfur, Rawanda, Albania, Iraq or your own community, suffering, violence, rape and murder is never acceptable.















Oct. 6th 2007 we held a rally.
Although working on this project has brought me nightmares and anguish for the suffering it has also introduced me to new friends that I love and respect.














For the rally I asked my friends Mohamed DeCosta and Abou Sylla to perform.


They drove up from Florida to participate and stayed at my home. Tasana Camera also came.
Sitting on my porch while they played kora and balafon was sublime.
I also asked Danielle Howle and Brian Conner to participate which they did gladly.















Djole children's group out of Charleston performed and totally gained my respect as an ensemble. The dedication and professionalism from these kids was top notch!



Click on the title above to check out our web site for more info or to volunteer as well.
Video's to promote rally and rally montage below. More videos can be found on youtube.



Photos by Janae Davis, Austin Watson, Hartley Barber and myself.
Video was shot by Josh Rose and Chris Tilley.
Although the rally is over there is much work to be done.
I wonder, worry and debate if something like a rally has any meaning or brings any change to the situation but at the VERY LEAST it has opened eyes and hearts to this particular brutal situation.
Lots of people I talked to before the rally didn't even know where Darfur is and certainly didn't know what was going on over there...sooooo at the VERY LEAST we have educated and made more people aware.

Martinique

My hotel view in Martinique.

I was hired in late August to travel to Martinique to videotape and edit a short public relations video about economic development opportunities for the island.
Tough job but somebodys gotta do it right?

I left for Atlanta Sat. morning to catch a direct flight to Martinique.
Hurricane Dean had just blown through and I was prepared that the trip might be cancelled or delayed.
I arrived at my gate in Atlanta just in time to see a group assembled in front of the desk and an announcement being made that the flight was cancelled and would be rescheduled for Next Sat. - a week from then.
The small crowd in unison went "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" We were told the airport was closed.
















I was traveling with my two clients one of which is from Martinique along with 44 other families, students, lawyers, children...everyone except one couple from California spoke French and a few spoke English as well so I was constantly having to pay very close attention, pull out the little French that I know and have things translated.

The group of strangers traveling to Martinique banded together as "The 47" and refused to accept the options of either being sent back to their original destination or fly out next Sat.. Delta was ill prepared for the determination of these folks to get home. There were a couple of Delta reps that tried to placate the group but all in all I was surprised at the lack of leadership and compassion Delta showed. We all stayed at the same ratty hotel in Atlanta Sat. night. I had dinner at "Ruby Tuesdays" with my new friend "Jill Bon" or "Mr Good". Delta called at 4am to inform us of a plane that would take us to Martinique in the morning. We boarded the plane and after the door was closed Delta came on and in English said that anyone traveling to Martinique would need to deboard - that this plane was not going to Martinique. Nobody got off....

We flew to St. Maartin and after deboarding the group leaders began trying to get us to Martinique. After a couple of hours of phone calls, negotiating with airport officials, trying to get Delta to discuss (they hid in their office) "The 47" were asked to collect luggage and leave the airport. We refused. I was basically along for the ride but could see that things might escalate with 47 tired, angry and a few aggressive travelers. Security was called, the chief of police of St. Maarten showed up, and then a canine unit was brought in to herd us out. There was much arguing, debating and demanding on both sides. Several of us had our cameras and were taking photos and video. They told us to put our cameras away or they would confiscate.
I backed out of the volatile crowd and watched as the dog was brought over - there were some shrieks, a struggle, some man handling and one of our passengers was taken away - kids were crying, more arguing and the crowd reluctantly shuffled to claim luggage with no place to go....We had called the media and they were outside to greet us and take our stories. Someone in the group had called the French Embassy and the Guadeloupe authorites who apparantly paid for shuttles to take us to a hotel and put us up. They did for two nights - The hotel was actually a really nice resort.
They fed us for two days and after a couple of false starts (one- we waited at airport until 1:30am and then had to return back to hotel) they chartered a plane that held exactly 47 people and got us to Martinique.
Whew! - Quite an adventure but I made some great new friends and I can think of many worse things than being stranded at a resort in St. Maarten!















One of the more outspoken 47, Fabrice Blackodon from Martiniue became our on-camera spokesperson and my quick friend.
After our first night at my client's mother's home and THE BEST MEAL at her table we spent the rest of the week mostly in Fort de France interviewing incredibly interesting people including: Amie´Cesaire,

the Mayor of Fort de France, Serge Lechimy &

Artist, Hector Charpentier
Our time was cut short because of our delay and the hurricane made getting beauty shots a little challenging so we ended up using a good bit of existing footage. I edited a 20 minute presentation that will be shown to politicians and potential investors.
This is a short video of the airport adventure and some of the footage from the video in Martinique.

Hawaii

Sister Lori and Husband Pete have returned from their stay in Japan. I met them in Oahu, Hawaii to welcome them back and to take a short vacation myself.
Although air travel has become such a hassle these days we did have a few lovely days at Lanakia beach.







The Lanakia rowing teams trained every afternoon and did sprints which were great fun to watch.
We also got a chance to go out and paddle with a local who had a canoe, did a couple of short hikes and mostly chilled.

In the JAM ROOM

Danielle Howle recently asked me to play percussion on a movie soundtrack she is producing for "The Four Children of Tander Welsh" a film by Ashlon Langley.



In a couple of short sessions at The Jam Room with Jay engineering we layed down I think 6 tracks of jembe and dun dun rhythms.


I had a great time playing and look forward to hearing the final product.


Danielle is also working with me on a couple of other projects. I'm hoping to use some of her music in my 701 Whaley doc and she will be producing a song about washing hands for my DHEC/ETV client.
LOVE THAT GIRL! SHE ROCKS!

The Beach, The Beach, The Beautiful Beach

Ahhhh, the beach....

Melissa & I have been going to Folly for many years and she was there for most of the week.

I love the beach. Especially Folly Beach. "The Edge of America"


Rented a house for a week in June and several folks came to visit.
Deb came down along with the teenage guys.











































Love that view!



Mel, Kellane, Emily & I went on a kayak tour in the marsh and saw lots of wildlife.



Karen and Tom made it for a night and we visited our now favorite place 11 Center Street for dinner.
(We ate there 3 nights while there) The first night we walked in and they were playing Steely Dan and Kellane said "This is your kind of place mom!".


Yes, Indeed.

INDIE GRITS FILM FESTIVAL

This week filmmakers from around the southeast will converge on Columbia for the first Indie Grits Film Festival.


My film "Boloba" will screen WED. MAY, 30th around 4ish at the Nickelodeon Theatre. Come on out and support your local film community!


CHECK OUT a clip of "Boloba" under LA Kornegay videos in the right hand column.

Heading into Summer

Spring has been busy especially in the art world. How fortunate we are to have so many opportunities to experience artistic and creative endeavors in our community.

The Columbia Festival of the Arts presented a plethora of events.
Janet Orselli's installation "Musical Soles" at the historic Robert Mills house was a rich pleasure for the eyes.


John Sherrer and myself bear our soles


Another highlight of the festival for me was the open studios.
Suzy Scarborough and Marcelo Novo were just a couple of the many artists that opened their studios.




My 701 Whaley documentary is moving along and interest is high.

The Columbia Design League & The Columbia Museum of Art hosted a showing of my rough cut 701 Whaley.
The auditorium was filled with folks interested in the Olympia Mill village and the 701 Whaley building.
Check out this article in The State and the rough cut excerpt they streamed.

This month's SKIRT Magazine also has a blurb on me and the 701 project. Photo by Molly Harrell at 701.
(Although Harriett Green tells me I haven't really made it unless I'm in the 24/7 feature. oh well...)



SPOLETO
Dashed down to Spoleto to catch the Rene Marie concert. Her voice is spectacular! We got to meet her at a reception along with her drummer Quentin Baxter.

Hanging out with the SC Arts Commission folks gets you into the hot ticket parties!






Harriett Green and I caught the Feed and Seed Band.