iSteadi camera gadget

What a nifty little piece of technology! Speaking of which, this is the second kickstarter project I've backed in the "technology" piece of the pie. I've added my Benjamin to the growing pile of folks who want this helpful item to hit the market.
Part of the reason I want it to do so is this: a side effect of the hypertension medication I take is a tremor in the left hand. It's a pretty mild side effect, as those go, but it can affect my photo-taking skills. This little device, and its adapter for my non-iPhone, would add steadiness - and focus - to my photography.
Christmas is the other reason I have backed this Southern-state project. You see, to reward my generosity and belief in their dream, I will receive two of these devices, and protective cases, right in time to be gifts for at least one of my nieces and nephews. (Maybe two, if I don't keep one of the mounts!)
I do wish them much success in meeting their goal.

samsara: the hand-painted animation

The artistry involved here appeals to me. The concept, birth, is approached using a series of still pictures, newly created, to tell the story and convey the emotion. The pictures I've seen by Erica Farrel are quite lovely and fantastical, with swirling colors, swirling shapes, swirling backdrops. Life in motion.
I'll have to let you know about the finished project next summer, when it is, at last, born into this world and shared with all. Please remind me, should I forget!
I should then be the proud owner of the dvd of the completed work, as well as one of the 6000 - or more - of the paintings used to compose the film.
Imagine - I'll be able to stop the film and the image on the screen will be the same as the painting on my wall.
That will be quite magical!

I'm hoping for one of these under-the-sea paintings -
that will be perfect in my Ocean Room!

Celebration in the Garden

Why id I became involved with this kickstarter project?
I had been searching for local projects to support, in particular, projects in Georgia. This one caught my heart, promising to delight both my palate and my soul with tales which connect daughters to their mothers and the recipes of their younger days.
What a beautiful concept!
Stories of love through the generations, with a family recipe to add to the warmth of a mother's touch.
I know my mother would have very much approved of this use of her money.
I just wish she could share the Julia Glenn Carter's finished book with me.

hephaestus

Wow!!! This is the first animated film project on kickstarter that I've been truly drawn to. It speaks to me, of good versus evil, of the strong defending the weak, of brute power with tender heart.
I like the feel of the name in my mouth, too.
Old-timey, days of Roman and Greek gods, epic saga stuff.
But Sci-fi style, with a robot as the hero.
You just don't know how much and how loudly this speaks to me.
My friend Sam Johnson would have been all over it with me. A love story between an aging battlefield robot and a motherless 9-year-old girl? And it's animated? Wild horses couldn't keep us away.
One of the best things about it? The folks doing it are all local.
Alex even blogs about the progress on his webpage, so I can watch the work come together. He even has his storyboards, both of them, posted there. So, I have a good idea of the action to occur, but not the dialogue or music cues or sound effects.
I saw a trailer for the film during a student showcase (!!!), but that just whet my appetite fiercely.
Oh, I am so eagerly waiting for this one...

global village construction set

Marcin Jakubowski is living in the heartland of the United States and wants to help the world live better. To that end, he founded Open Source Ecology, a network of farmers, engineers, and supporters. Together, they have designed equipment that can be easily built on-site anywhere in the world, with the versatile pieces in a kit.
That's right: build you own tractor, using parts from a kit. Build your own brick press - to construct houses - with the pieces from that same kit. And the list of industrial machines goes on and on, to fifty total.
That's right: fifty machines to build a village, from one kit.
The Global Village Construction Set.
Much cheaper than having to buy something premade and then having it shipped.
Much easier means of turning subsistence into a livable life.
From bakery ovens and bulldozers to well-drilling rigs and wind turbines - the instructions will be available to all, as well as any pieces which cannot be easily manufactured.
I want to see Factor e Farm, the place where it all comes to life.
That's the funding level I chose.
The privilege of visiting the site in Missouri. The GVCS deluxe dvd with the instructions to build the Tractor, the Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) Press, the Power Cube, and the Soil Pulverizer. The punch-out magnet, formed by the fabrication of the CEB Press and Tractor. The video thank-you.
I want to truly be part of this worthy and needed endeavor.
Maybe they'll even let me help build something when I visit.

time travel adventures

Yep, believe it or not, we have an author in Decatur who wants to encourage kids to read science books! To that worthy goal, he has written two books, In The Nick Of Time and The Time Of His Life, about space travel and has them geared toward the home-schooling market in particular. The books have an entertaining story with science, math, history, and other topics sprinkled in right under the kids' noses.
With this project, he's trying to get them published.
Hopefully he'll be successful in this funding venture.

flutterby

Andrea Kay's father has Alzheimer's Disease, a type of dementia, and he is dying. Her dilemma was how to connect to him, even when he was not aware of who she was.
Connection. Connection to the man he once was, through the man he had become.
Before he was gone forever.
When I was searching out new projects on kickstarter, looking for local ventures, this one came up. But wait! She's in Ohio! That's twelve hours away, by car!
Oh, I see. She is gathering money to take her work on tour, starting with a health professionals conference in Atlanta. Okay, I can definitely relate to this.
After all, my father died in April of 2009, just a few weeks after his birthday.
My stepdad just died in August of this year.
So, when she spoke of trying to keep her relationship to her father intact, even though his relationship to her was not, I could definitely relate and thank God that dementia was not present in either Daddy or Frank. We all knew each other right to the end.
That's a blessing that not all enjoy.
So, I gladly added my money to the funds she was nurturing.
I know her work will, in turn, nurture so many who have not been as blessed as I.

billy brown

"Everyone has a hurt worth laughing about."
What a tagline.
He also posted a link to a sweet video called "Climbing To The Moon". That just may have tipped the balance (all puns intended - watch the video) in his favor.
Even though Andrew Morgan is out in California, I decided his project had much merit and warranted my backing. Even though he is not here in Georgia.
(smile)
But he is planning to enter the film in the Atlanta Film Festival, so that will work out well.
And just in case I cannot make it to that festival, I threw a Benjamin into the pot, so he would share the dvd with me. I'll also get my name in the credits, which I really like as a reward, I must say!
And, as an extra bonus, a bright T-shirt to wear about town.
Oh, yeah, bragging rights will be mine!

real outdoorsmen - a documentary

I must say, when I first stumbled across this project, I thought of my cousin Penny's cousin, Jeff. He's a fisherman and even has (or had) his own fishing show, up in the great white Nebraska. He's been very good to me over the past few years and even sent me his Garmin when he read on facebook of my driving lost, yet again.
Here's the setup: Nick and his buddy, both filmmakers in California, come to the Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia. Their goal? To produce pictures and a film that are through the eyes of a regular hiker, not some expert scientist or historian.
That sounds like a hike I would enjoy - not chiggers or ticks or sand gnats tormenting my flesh. But I would still be able to see the same sights.
Okay! Let's go!

fairtax, the musical

Well, alrighty then! A musical about politics!
Actually, Fairtax: The Musical is theatre and marks the second theatrical project I've backed on kickstarter. I hope it does as well with its funding as the summer venture here in Savannah did!
This one's home base is about four hours from me, so, when the play is eventually produced - estimated as July 2012! - I'll easily be able to drive up to see it. Maybe my best friend and her family will even be able to join me! Marietta is just an hour away for them.
Actually, when I know the specifics of the performance dates, I'll have to see if some of the Drinking Liberally chapters want to make it a group venture. THAT sounds like it would be a lot of fun and certainly lead to some good discussions at our meetings.
This portrayal of an ideal America, where everyone contributes their 23% for the benefit of all, should be quite entertaining. As it begins, everyone who buys anything, whether goods or services, is paying into the federal government. (No word about state or local taxes in this play. Hey, one thing at a time!)
A rather utopian manner of tax collection it is, until the politicians abolish it in favor of a more complex, progressive income tax... like we currently have.
Don Goodman is a man on a mission, a mission to change the income tax system, one song at a time!
I'll be listening for every note, too.

chalk talk

When I saw this project on kickstarter, I immediately thought of my stepdad.
So, I have backed this, a local Georgia film, in memory of him.
I only wish I could share a screening of it in his den when I receive my award.
Yes, I believe it is worth every bit of a Benjamin to own this piece of history, to be created by SCAD student Chris Durenberger, in honor of aging veterans.
Nicely done.
No dialogue. Morse code, as interpreted through contacts of chalk on a board, transmitted from one classroom to another through the wall.
You never know what time travel machine will be used to transport memories.

cafe murder opens

Wow! My very first game project on kickstarter! And it's local!
Well, not in Savannah, itself, but in Athens, Georgia, so that's close.
I'm curious to see how long it takes for an electronic game to be developed.
My ex has a long-time family friend who is in that business. He's known Jimmy Adams since they were in pre-kindergarten together in Michigan. I think Jimmy lives in Arizona or New Mexico now. (I know his mom, but I'm not sure I've ever met him, except in photos on facebook.) As I recall, he had something to do with "The Watchmen" graphic novel (which I did not read, but I loved the movie).
Anywho... This is not a graphic novel, but a very colorful, engaging bit of entertainment which looks to be suitable for most ages. Including mine!
Looks fun to me! I'm looking forward to having my very own copy of the game.
And I'll get a T-shirt, too... awesome!

a dollop and a pinch wants to get cooking

Well, well, well! My first project in the publishing category of kickstarter! Why this one and not some other? Well, in keeping with my desire to "buy local', Dea Irby promised just that. Located in Georgia, she was the one-time owner of a tea room called The Baron York. After seven years, she decided to close up shop, only to find herself beset upon by folks clamoring for her recipes.
Enter kickstarter. Here, she could ask the recipe-seekers to put their money - and that of others - where their craving mouths were. Truthfully, I joined the project late, after it had already garnered all of its funding, but still had four days to go until the deadline. I jumped on the bandwagon anyway.
Say what? They allow folks to do that?
Yes, they do.
So why did I?
Well, November of 2009, I found myself having Thanksgiving dinner in Augusta at the home of one of my cousins. She is a long-lost cousin on my father's side, pushed to the wayside when her mom and my mom, once best friends, had a falling out with each other. That was around Christmas of 1967 or 1968, as I recall. By a chance meeting with her best friend from high school at a festival in Jekyll Island, Beverly and I had been reunited and I had made the trip to visit her for the first time in almost forty years.
She is a very fine cook. She does a bit of catering and loves to throw dinner parties, too.
She is the reason I signed on to back this cookbook.
You see, for the paltry sum of $59 dollars, or just a little more than my cellphone bill, I will be granted two autographed copies of the cookbook. One for me, one for Beverly.
What a priceless Christmas gift for both of us!

assisted loving

I think Sam Queen may be on to something here. He must have some beloved elderly folks in his world to dream up this story.
It's about taking a chance on love, even when you're elderly and in an assisted living environment. Knowing there is a risk of someone saying "no" and asking anyway. After all, no one ever died from being told "no", right?
As he describes the film, it has everything he likes in movies: "action, comedy, suspense, and romance." Coincidentally, those are also the things I like in movies!
I do enjoy backing these student shorts! They are not afraid to try any idea, and the more innovative, the better. That's the way I cook, too. Throw some odd items together and see how it turns out! Sometimes, it's a fabulous new dish to add to the repertoire; other times, it's best not repeated.
I look forward to seeing how this dish will taste.
Especially as my name will be in the credits!

portraits of the solidarity economy

I like that word: solidarity.
People standing together, as a unified front, against selfishness and greed.
I especially like that.
But in New York City? Home of rudeness and ruthlessness?
Well, Caroline Woolard is dispelling that line of thinking. Using filmed segments with seven economic innovators in that Big Apple, she is wanting to reveal the intactness of the old values: justice, democracy, sustainability, and cooperation.
I can stand with her on that. And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, too.
In return, I'll get the DVD of those interviews, to maybe show others how to do business differently, more fairly, in this hard economy.
I'm going to look forward to that. My eldest brother has his own business and, until last year, I was working with him, getting the files computerized, being his Gal Friday. Then business soured and I was fortunate enough to find work elsewhere, in a different field. He is still limping along, but the reason he even still has work is this: he and the other floor men look out for each other.
That's what this project is all about.

the red thread

Duston Spear and Michael Minard are crafting a film about a woman in prison. Actually, about a woman serving thirty years to life behind bars.
And they're doing it with poetry and operatic music.
Wow.
What woman? What did she do? How long has she been in prison?
We aren't told any of that. The film to introduce the project on kickstarter indicates that she has been locked up for about thirty years, so far. That means she's been in prison for more than half of her life.
My youngest brother is in prison and has been for four years now. He has nine more years ahead of him, unless he is fortunate enough to earn parole before 2020.
I think this is going to be an interesting ride.

gypped

This looks like fun!
Having served seven years in the United States Navy, as a woman in a traditional male job, I certainly know about sexual harassment. That said, I also grew up an only girl with three brothers, so I've learned to take it in stride. Most of the time. As long as the guys don't get touchy-feely without my permission.
(Smile.)
I'm trying to stay mostly local with my funding of projects. More opportunity for me to potentially reap the benefits of seeing the completed projects in a nearby venue.
I wonder how long it'll take for this one to be completed?
Well, that's if it gets more funding than my Benjamin. I hope so!

crucifaxe 2: the immaculate deception

"Bad habits are hard to break."
Seriously. That's the tagline for this film!
It's the Bad Habits versus the Protestants and the Mother Superior has made a deal with the Devil herself!
Definitely a bit of lighthearted stuff and nonsense, so very much needed after my stepdad's death in August.
I'll keep my finger crossed for its funding.
I very much look forward to owning this short film.

the flight

Wow. A film about daring to hope for more, daring to believe a different truth, daring to venture into the unknown.
This young woman seems to have crafted a fine science fiction/ post-apocalytic tale with a protagonist who is also a young woman.
A young lesbian woman.
But her sexuality is not the focus here. Her sexuality is simply one facet of her life.
As one's sexuality should be.
Brava!
I have chosen to use a generous chunk of money to help this project come to life.
I do wish it much success!