Transition Sessions - The Musical? Hello Transition Sessions collaborators, So, I've been thinking (and dreaming) about Transition Sessions and what it could evolve into... First of all, it occured to me that since MTV, and especially in this age of YouTube etc., video is really very important. This reminded me that my excellent film maker friend Jason once told me he'd really like to make short funky videos for each chapter of the Transition Handbook. To get an idea of what that would include, here is the table of contents: (I've also attached a pdf copy of the handbook, plus two shorter early publications Energy Descent Pathways and the Transition Primer) Part 1: The Head - Why peak oil and climate change mean that small is inevitable Chapter 1: Peak oil and climate change - The two great oversights of our times * What is Peak Oil? * Some key indications that we are nearing the peak. * Peak when? * Climate change. * The greenhouse effect. * Is there such a thing as a safe limit? * The intertwining of peak oil and climate change. * Can peak oil engage people more effectively than climate change? * The contradictions of the Hirsch Report. Chapter 2: The view from the mountain-top * Evaluating possible ways forward. * Why a future with less energy ends up looking somewhat inevitable. * Why 'Energy Descent'? Chapter 3: Why rebuilding resilience is as important as cutting carbon emissions * What is resilience? * The three ingredients of a resilient system. * Life before oil wasn't all bad. * The cake analogy. * Echoes of a resilient past. * Can we learn anything useful from Britain's last 'wartime mobilisation'? Chapter 4: Why small is inevitable * Relocalisation. * The dangers of clinging to the illusion of large scale. * Top-down or bottom-up? * Where does government fit in? Summing up Part 1: The oil age draws to a close Part 2: The Heart - Why having a positive vision is crucial Chapter 5: How peak oil and climate change affect us - 'Post-petroleum stress disorder' * Clammy palms or nausea and mild palpitations * A sense of bewilderment and unreality * An irrational grasping at unfeasible solutions * Fear * Outbreaks of nihilism and/or survivalism * Denial * Exuberant optimism * The 'I always told you so' syndrome Chapter 6: Understanding the Psychology of Change * An interview with Dr Chris Johnstone * The FRAMES model Chapter 7: Harnessing the power of a positive vision * Why visions work. * Captain Future - the wizard of science. * Visions of abundance. Chapter 8: A vision for 2030 - looking back over the transition * Food and farming * Medicine and health * Education * Economy * Transport * Energy * Housing Chapter 9: Kinsale - a first attempt at community visioning * The Kinsale Energy Descent Action and how it came about. * Four lessons from the Kinsale Project. * Reflections on the Kinsale process. * What's happening now in Kinsale? Summing up Part 2 Part 3: The Hands - Moving from ideas to action: exploring the Transition model for inspiring local resilience-building Chapter 10: The Transition concept * The philosophical underpinnings. * Six principles that underpin the Transition model. * The Project Support Project concept. * Issues of scale. * The interface between Transition Initiatives and local politics. Chapter 11: How to start a Transition Initiative * The seven 'Buts'. * The Twelve Steps of Transition. Chapter 12: The first year of Transition Town Totnes * First, a bit of background * Then, a bit of prehistory Chapter 13: The viral speed of the Transition concept * Transition Penwith. * Transition Falmouth. * Transition Town Lewes. * Transition Ottery St Mary. * Transition Bristol. * Transition Town Brixton. * Transition Forest of Dean. Some closing thoughts Having remineded myself of Jason's plans to make videos for each chapter, I though we should get him involved to make videos for the songs we come up with (you up for it Jason?), and maybe use the Handbook as a rough initial guide for lyrical content too. (although there is a lot more subjects I'd like to include too, like land ownership, the banking system and media control. Transition is explicitly about moving from Oil Dependence to Local Resilience, but really we also need to move from Empire to Earth Community). Then, last night/ this morning I had a great fun dream where we'd effectively turned Transition Sessions into a fantastical theatrical musical production and we were performing a unfinished preview to a packed audience of friends :-D Personally, I love this idea; an album (possibly even a double or triple album), videos for each track, and a musical (on stage and film) telling the whole tale! What do you think? Also, that leads me onto an important question about committment... Basically my question is this: what would it take for you to fully invest your heart and soul into this project? (in terms actions on my part, money, or whatever it is you need and/ or makes you tick). Once I know, I can manifest it :) Finally, I had a brainwave about what studio we could use... On my last weekend in UK Gloria and I went to stay with Misty Oldland in her lovely cottage outside Stroud. Misty had arranged for us and some of her other friends to all go to a Peace Direct fundraising dinner in a local castle. One of these friends was a really lovely old guy called Vic. Vic produced The Jam back in the day, and was also responsible for one of the first anti-war/ pro-peace fundraising albums that had loads of big names on. He has got a lovely house in a secluded valley near Stroud (only £16 return on train from London) with what I assume is a quality studio. I thought it'd be a nice option, if possible. Will try to find out if he's interested... Smiles, Josef. Transition Sessions - More thoughts... I was thinking, that in order to inspire us and get our creative juices flowing, perhaps we should get together to watch some of the great peak oil/ climate change documentaries I've got. Then I thought we might as well make them public screenings. Hub Kingcross would be a nice venue. Then I remembered that I was offered opportunity to organise some Friday night events at Hub Kingscross and thought, hey, if we're all there watching a film anyway, why not have some live music after the film too. So, how about we start Transition Sessions at a monthly night at Hub Kingscross with relevant documentary followed by live music and jamming? (with the long-term plan being as outlined in previous mail, ablum, video, musical, film :P ) If you're up for it I'll get in touch with Hub Kingscross ASAP and try and fix some dates... (had tentatively booked July 19th anyway so might even be able to start then if you can make it?...) Please share your thoughts :) Love, Josef. Account Name: Josef Davies-Coates Bank Acc. No: 10052320 Sort Code: 16-00-53 IBAN: GB68RBOS16005310052320 The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC London Holborn Branch 127-128 High Holborn London WC1V 6PQ