Totoro Forest Project

The Totoro Forest Project is a fund raising effort being spearheaded by Pixar artists Dice Tsutsumi, Enrico Casarosa, and Ronnie Del Carmen. The goal is to raise money to help preserve Sayama Forest near Tokyo, Miyazaki's inspiration for Totoro's forest in his classic film My Neighbor Totoro. I was lucky enough to win, in the online auction, this work, "Blind to Fear" by Clayton Stillwell:



This work, along with many others from the auction, will be on display at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum from Sept 20th, 2008 through February 8th, 2009.

Though the auction is now long over, there is a book of the work available. Proceeds from the book will also go to the forest fund. Keep an eye on The Totoro Forest Project Blog for information on how to purchase the book when it becomes publically available.

Donate To Help The Prids

I just found out that my friends, The Prids, were in a serious automobile accident not too long ago (while I was away, so it took me a bit of time to hear about it from other mutual friends).

Fortunately, none of them were as injured as badly as Todd Blair, but being an indie band working full time at recording and touring, with the paltry income from it that so many indie bands endure for years, several of them were not insured. Their hospital bills are enormous. David being airlifted to the hospital alone cost over ten thousand dollars.

So, please donate to help The Prids. They aren’t just the world’s best independent postpunk band, they’re also a nice bunch of people who are not going to be able to easily afford these hospital bills without a huge community of people lending a hand.

Donate to a "Help Todd Blair" Event

Anu and I have signed up to sponsor a gear for The Wall, a sculptural installation being created to benefit our dear friend Todd Blair.

As some of you know, Todd was involved in an accident involving a large metal structure falling on him after a performance in Amsterdam last September. He suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and his recovery time is going to be long and unpredictable. Todd and his wife Alex need help to survive financially through this next chapter of their recovery.

Todd was Anu's co-Associate Producer on ZeroOne 2006, and over the five months they worked together and the two years since they have developed a close friendship and a strong professional relationship. Stephan has known Todd through SRL for quite a while. Todd is a great guy, and a good friend, and we are doing everything we can to help his doctors and Alex nurse him back to health.

Alex has been tireless in her efforts to bring about his recovery, staying by his side constantly and working closely with his doctors and physical therapists to develop and implement challenging treatments over the last six months.

We believe in Todd's ability to make a full recovery, but right now he is a long, long way from that. Todd and Alex need financial support to make it through to that day, which may be a year or more away. It's a tough row to hoe and they need ongoing support.

We are reaching out to the people closest to us and asking that you contribute toward our beloved friend's recovery. Every little bit is needed -- even $10 or $20 is helpful. We have supported various folks' causes over the years, including charity marathons and cycling events, organization benefits, and similar "help a friend" type of causes. Now, we hope, you can pitch-in to help us out.

We are committed to raising $500-$1000 (or more!). Every little bit helps, and we cannot think of a person more deserving of kindness than Todd, whose own kindness and compassion is legendary here in the Bay Area and throughout his international network of friends and collaborators.

Donations can be made via PayPal through our fiscal sponsor, The Luggage Store, and are 100% tax deductible thanks to their fiscal sponsorship.

It is easy to donate. Please indicate via either method that you are contributing to the Gear sponsored by Anu Vikram & Stephan Bugaj, and email me at svbugaj@gmail.com to let me know you have done so so we can keep track.

Pay by PayPal at: http://srl.org/shows/events/toddwall/wall.html

If you need to send a check, e-mail me and I'll get info to you on how to do that.

The unveiling of The Wall will be July 20th (please save the date!)

Rhythmix Cultural Art Center
2513 Blanding Ave
Alameda CA 94501
3:00 - 9:00 pm

Details about Todd, the accident and his progress are here: http://toddblair.wordpress.com

Please feel free to contact Anu or I if you have any questions about Todd, the event or how else you might help.

Thanks so much!