So my boyz (Brian & Fyodor - my bandmates) and I totally rocked the house!!! The show went off without a hitch (except for that one technical difficulty - but what's a show without a technical difficulty?)!! For the sake of humor for the evening we were calling ourselves MOJDEH & THE OPPRESSED! I was wearing a shirt that said "Independently Hardcore", Brian and Fyodor were wearing black shirts that said "Oppressed". We were giggling about it for quite sometime because it had been a running joke through rehearsal that they wouldn't ever be able to play EstroJam w/o a sassy front WOMAN!! Therefore this festival was their moment of oppression! Why? I think it's obvious! Because IT TAKES OVARIES TO PREFORM IN A FESTIVAL LIKE THIS!!!!

to learn more about EstroJam for next year see www.estrojam.org
i will continue to post green blogs so check those out at http://estrojamgreening.wordpress.com/

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 4:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the hell of it I thought I'd share more of my light based work. Here it is..Enjoy!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So recently I've been revisiting a bunch of old projects that I worked on last using light as paint. The first project I did like this, was using a sound piece as motivation for how I would represent the waves of sound. I just thought I'd share some of the images I'd done since I've been revisiting them a lot lately! Enjoy!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ridiculous! So we just booted one of my roomates from our humble abode...and I realized that since he'd joined us a few months ago our energy costs went up rediculously. Upon him leaving I realized it's because he didn't practice any of our habits for saving electricity and I couldn't wait for him to move on so I could infiltrate the remainder of the apartment with energy efficient goodness!!! As an artists...student...human being...whatever, I definitely don't mind saving a bundle on my bills so I thought I'd share some love for your brains.

Here’s the thing…those incandecent bulbs just aren’t so hot anymore…I’d go as far as to say…they’re OUT OF STYLE…

And I’m out of money…it’s no using ‘em anymore! In terms of the environment and the economic blow to your wallet!

I’m sure I’m not the first to say it but, ONCE YOU GO COMPACT FLORECENT, you never go back!

Lets just face it, incandecent’s BLOW…out…I mean they blow out all the time. Who wants to spend even a dollar on one bulb ever few months…shoot…multiply that by how many sockets you have in your household by how many replacements per year PLUS the amount of cost form the electric company due to the SUCKAGE of power!–>you’ll find yourself a poor soul compared to the glorious splendour of switching over to CF bulbs!

Sure you may spend 5 bucks on one bulb, BUT, you’ll never spend that money again! OKAY, I’m over exadurating BUT the bulbs that I bought said that they had an average life of SEVEN YEARS!!! Imagine that! The average apartment renter like me wouldn’t ever replace their light bulbs in their entire time living in one place!–>and then you can take your light with you to the next place!
- All that being said…DON’T FORGET! When they do finally blow…or if one breaks before it’s expected expiration, PLEASE RECYCLE YOUR BULB!! CFs are made with mercury! And if mercury is placed into a landfill—>we’ve got bad news! However if you take them to your nearest hardware store, some WalMarts, some Kmarts, and many local government offices they’ll dispose of them properly!
- So next time you need a little light…remember to get a CF…because…
MOJDEH said….LOVE THIS EARTH

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frolicking through our campus and past all of the SUGs galleries recently got me thinking about the amount of paint that's used by the artist community. If it's not paint on canvas, it's enamel on casted metal or on wood! And even if the piece itself doesn't contain paint, most shows put a totally fresh coat of paint onto the walls of the gallery spaces before every show. Not to mention the festive colors artists choose to paint their living spaces as well. So I thought I'd give a little lovingly green advice for the artist's paint fix!
-----CONSIDER THIS!-------

I’m sure that you’ve all considered the fact that it’s bad enough that as humans we’re offsetting natural biospheres by overtaking all of these open spaces with urban or suburban sprawl! But have you ever stopped to think that EVERYTHING that surrounds us no matter how minimal it may seem has the potential to make a negative impact on both our bodies and this Earth!?

-->From the car you drive, to the room your sitting in now whilst reading this blog–> your surrounded by shades and hues both vibrant and dull….PAINT! –>Now I know what you’re thinking. What’s so horrible about paint? You’re wondering whats wrong with a little color or a protective coat over the materials you’ve used to build the object or holding or the space your in! But the trouble is that majority of paints used are highly toxic! If it’s not bad enough that there’s paint made out of LEAD & LATEX right?! Well keep running because even if you buy lead free & latex free paint, unless you went the extra mile and looked at the label, you’ve just purchased yourself a solvent-full toxic mess!!! And unless you put that gallon back and run! You’ll be in for a big whiff of harmful VOCs everytime you open your mouth to breathe!

So here’s the DL on the VOC…that is Volatile organic compounds, that like to chill in the paints that surround you in this industriously colorful world we live in!

VOCs can directly contribute to the global warming because even AFTER you’ve finished painting something and it’s rendered shinny and dry…just like vynl and PVC those little VOC bits just chip off into the world over time and continuously pollute! Even worse than the environment (which is certainly bad enough), the effects of breathing this junk is shocking–>ever heard of “Sick Building Syndrome”? Ideally if you really wanted to live in a space with VOCs and have no effect you would have to have nothing but windows…which would render you wall-less and thus no worry for paint on the walls (brilliant)! BUT lucky for all of you aspiring interior decorators and weekend carpenters there’s still hope!

-- learn more -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound --

There are companies like ECOS that now make NO VOC interior AND exterior primers and paints!! The best part is that places like Greenmaker (a Chicago hardware & home improvement store, all eco friendly materials!) carries these kinds of products at a COMPETITIVE price! Their VOC free primer will seal in whatever toxic mess was painted onto the surfaces earlier and then you can paint over primer with any color your heart contends…say…GREEN?

- http://www.ecospaints.com/voc-free-paint/ , http://www.greenmakersupply.com/ -

Some of these VOC paints are SO good that they’ve passed the military durability standards for the US Navy!!!

- learn more-> http://ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2708&q=324056&depNav_GID=1763 -
***
So next time you’re lookin’ for paint just remember….
MOJDEH told you to….LOVE THIS EARTH!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm pretty pumped!! EstroJam 2007 if right around the corner!!! As many of you already know I am EJ's green blogger!! But at the 11th hour they asked me and my boyz (Brian & Fyodor - my band mates) to perform on the last night of the festival!!! SUPER PUMPED...did I mention that I was pumped!? We're performing on the 22nd at Uncommon Ground! EstroJam will see FOLKCORE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!!! WoooHooo! (<-Yes I know, I need sleep! I've gotten a little silly). I'm particularly excited about some of the performers i.e. EVIL BEAVER & MARGRET CHO!!! This is definitely the festival to get your lady fix taken care of!

more info about the fest @ www.estrojam.org
see my green blog at http://estrojamgreening.wordpress.com/
check out my new music at www.myspace.com/mojdeh <- FOLKCORE & POETRY

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 4:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, so I must admit I've got one of the coolest job on Earth!

WHY?! Because it sends me to shows like the EDITORS!!!

I'm pretty pumped, my roommate and I decided that they're like R.E.M. + The Killers + magic (yes as in real magic)!

Can't wait til the show...CAN'T WAIT...CAN'T WAIT!!!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So at first these guys didn't have me because they kind of remind me of Maroon 5...but slowly they found thier way into my brain until I couldn't get the third track of thier disc out of my head...so alas...here they are...my music pick of the day!!!

check em out myspace.com/thelastgoodnight

take a listen, let me know what you think!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was just talking with some friends and I realized that most folks...even those that profess to bike instead of drive, to have reusable bags instead of using the plastic ones in the store...etc. Most still need a little jolt of advice! Specially as a body of artists...I bring you my top ten!!!

1. Replace all incondecent light bulbs with CF (Compact Florecent) light bulbs

2. Purchase only “Energy Star” appliances

3. THE THREE Rs (Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle!!!)

4. Compost all organic non-meat food items (ie. fruit, veggies, bread, coffee grinds, etc)

5. Lessen your CO2 that comes out of your tailpipe! (ie. hybrid vehicles, bio-diesel cars, electric vehicles)

6. Choose paper products that are made from recycled materials (ie. toilet paper, note paper, paper towels, etc)

7. When planning a community pick nick choose compostable/disposable eating wear (ie. made of corn plastic, biodegradable materials, etc)

8. Stop drinking out of plastic! Go the SIGG rout! (drinking out of plastic is bad for your body and the earth. These Sigg bottles have a biodegradable/non-toxic coating on the inside that also DOESN’T encourage bacteria growth!)

9. Get plants in your household (the more you offset even your own bodily CO2 - the happier the planet)

10. GET OFF YOUR BUTT (and by that I mean…be proactive…it’s all about individual investigation as much as it is action!) :)

I would love to see the artist community really embrace being proactive about protecting this planet because of all people preparing for the "Real" world we are the only ones with such power to make executive decisions about our practices and impact!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)