It all had to start somewhere….

I just read that the olympics opening ceremony was viewed by 4 billion people. Could that be true? Aren’t there only 6 billion in the whole world? 2 out of 3 in the entire world? Wow.

I must admit that the massive display of power made me a bit intimidated by China. Makes the whole urbanization of America thing seem insignificant compared to the scale of issues that China deals with.

Levi

I have been enjoying these old VW ads lately. I think they really hit on something with that car when they first built it. It was like they were decades ahead of their time with the concept. Build something that is both cheap reliable and iconic. They were true to the original design instead of wandering off of it and what they ended up with was a revolution not just a car.

I think we could use to learn some lessons from VW on this one. (2008 VW might want to learn some lessons from 1950 VW by the way)

Micah and I have been talking about how to deconstruct what they built with that car and apply it to our Eco-Urban houses. We came up with a couple things, but I know there is more there we are still missing.

In a lot of ways, it’s exactly what we are trying to do. Build small economical houses that are durable and iconic in design. Houses that are distinctively Eco-Urban. We want to start a movement around a new lifestyle; one that we can all believe in and one that will make the world a better place to live.

Just for fun I think we might go out and shoot a few LJ Urban ads with my video camera that borrow from the Beetle ads. Anyone know how to handle a camera and want to come help out?

Here is another one I liked…

Levi

I want to thank all of you for your kind words that you commented on the last post. I am going to put them all together and make a book for Jason’s family to have. That way when his daughters are grown they can understand a little bit about what kind of a person Jason was.

Today I went and meet with EMRL (the design group we work with) they have had the privilege of spending a lot of time with Jason over the last year working on this website and all the LJ Urban branding. I could tell he really made an impact on them and how they do things. He was just one of those people that really made you rethink your life.We found ourselves asking over and over while we met today “What would Jason do?” Its a question that I find myself asking several times a day.

I have been contemplating when to do another post. It feels wrong to move on, like we need to stay here a while and be sad… But I know that Jason would have wanted us to keep on with the mission, keep striving to make cities better, and so as hard as it is I am going to try and start posting again. The Goodbye post will still be here and like I said I am going to make a book of the comments so please go back to it if you have not already and share your thoughts about Jason and put down anything you want him to be remembered for.
Somehow we will move on, somehow we will keep building sustainable houses and making cities better. In some ways it seems a little sweeter, a little more like this time around we can do this having had the chance to have a really great person with us, who’s passion we will draw from to carry on. I hope you will all join me as we pick up the pieces and start moving forward. I know that our work is not yet done here and that in a lot of ways we are just getting started.

Next month we are going to have our first Eco-Urban home completed in West Sacramento. I wish more than anything that Jason would be there to see that day, he had a lot of really crazy ideas brewing for the opening day. I can only hope what we put together would make Jason proud.

On another note; several months ago we were talking with Idea Factory. A production company about doing a LJ Urban reality show. We actually spent a week filming a pilot and everything only to find that their funding had been cut. I got a email a couple days back from Kristal who works with them and she is pulling together the footage from when they came out and going to give it to me. I am going to take it and put together a few short movies to post on here of Jason talking about sustainable cities and what we can do to make them happen. Should be some good stuff. I will let you know when I have more.

Levi

I saw this site today and clicked around to see if it was legit or not. There’s a lot of fun stuff on GreenzoneTV, like these birdcalls… its refreshing to see such simple ads with a sense of humor packaged with a sustainable mindset.

But I also saw some things that just don’t cut it. Like the cardboard box rocket and castle… what’s the point? Give your kid a cardboard box and let them make their own castle or rocket! Most of the fun of playing with something is in the process of creating it yourself. I remember reading some really academic child development researcher/writer saying once that the best toys to give your kid is the stuff you throw away.

Case in point: my daughter has a wood dollhouse full of every possible household item imaginable– no plastic, the dolls are made of fabric, all very eco-friendly, right? Wrong. Because she doesn’t play with it. But she always begs and begs for the cardboard boxes which she makes into… what else?… castles and rockets and forts and kitchens… and whatever strikes her fancy. They live a short life– anywhere from a week to 4 months– depending on her attention span and the quality of cardboard– and then they go in the recycle box.

This is yet another Live Small principle in action. By not buying her “pre-fab” stuff, I get to teach her about the value of re-use and empower her to think for herself, to engage in a kind of play that only requires her own imagination. And that’s the starting place for nurturing the Big Dreams in our children.

Jason

My wife and I are planning on watching Live Earth tonight and I have to say I am a excited about it. I don’t know if they will really be able to get 1 Billion people to watch but just putting something together at this scale is amazing.

Not sure what the real impact will be except maybe for making it cool to conserve. And I guess on that scale even if everyone did a little bit it could go a long way.

Here is the local broadcast time.

Levi

Picked up the free copy of USA today at my hotel room entrance and read with a mixture of interest and humor that Leonardo DiCaprio is developing (i.e. pitching) a reality show, E-Topia, that will document “the transformation of a town into a eco-friendly, green utopia of tomorrow“. According to the blurb, the project will focus on the “relationships between construction workers and eco-activists, architects and town planners.”

Maybe I need to get cable now.

Jason