In this first 2022 episode of Us As We Are, we share our footage from the New Year's Eve celebration at Johnny B's in Medford. We'll talk to event organizer James Deans of Yoga for your Ears and the Roomy Depth, venue owners Trent Beck and Curtis Cartwright, as well as the front-man of headliner Smiley T & The Tall Trees Tommy Letchworth, plus many other amazing talented individuals. We know 2022 will bring forth many new and interesting stories for us to cover on Us As We Are. Namely, we look forward to diving back into some more serious topics once again. In the meantime, please enjoy this celebration of life with the region's premiere conscious hip-hop community.
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In this episode of Us As We Are, we attend two holiday events put on my the cities of Medford and Jacksonville. In the morning, we go to the Jacksonville Victorian Christmas Parade, where locals from various clubs and organizations showcase their passions. Later in the afternoon, we find ourselves in Pear Blossom Park, where Medford's City Manager Brian Sojthun hosts the annual Winter Lights Festival. In 2020, this event was modified into a drive-through where city officials, cops, and Santa Claus greeted passing citizens and handed out candy, in order to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. This year, the event was back on in person, featuring a candy cane hunt, kids' coloring contest, and a tree lighting lead by Mayor Randy Sparacino. Many said this was the best turnout they had seen. This will be the last episode of Us As We Are for 2021. We're going on a hiatus until late January to work on a special project which will be coming out on SO PBS in early January. Thank you to all our viewers and *especially* our Patreon supporters - and, of course, the people who agreed to be on the show to share their views. We'll see you in 2022!
In this groovy episode of Us As We Are, we attend a Saturday night house music show at local venue Johnny B's. Featuring Chorasynth (Helen-Thea Marcus), CROMULON (Kyle Lewis & Marshall Bjorling) and DJ Nykon, this night of live looping funky jams kept a constant smile on the faces of the artists, musicians, and residents of Medford who attended. We also talk to local painter Miles Frode, and his wife, Holly, who regularly participate in these nights for the prime atmosphere for artistic inspiration. All in all, this is a fun video full of great music and art sure to make anyone bounce in their seat.
In this episode of Us As We Are, we drive out to the small unincorporated community of Rocky Point, OR to join them for their 20th annual Fall Festival celebration. Each year, the Rocky Point Quilt Guild puts on the Fall Festival at the Rocky Point Fire Hall to raise money for their fire department, and other charitable causes. Visitors can come to eat baked goods, shop for hand-made trinkets, and enjoy the beauty of the Klamath Basin's west edge.
Here's another video we shot several weeks back, before the rains came. In this episode of Us As We Are, we head out to Emigrant Lake, where local businessman Amit Choudhary and his friend Mmmingpha, a Zen itinerant monk and local activist, set out to give away free saplings to members of the community who happened to pass by. The idea is to enable residents of the Rogue Valley, and eventually Oregon at large, to plant trees wherever they live with the aim of increasing the amount of green cover in the region, and in turn help to diminish the effects of the droughts which have becoming an annual concern.
We shot this episode several weeks ago, before the rains finally came, about how the drought in the western United States is affecting the hemp farming business. We talk to the owners and farmers on Magu Maiden Farms just north of Ashland, OR, who explain how the shortage of water is forcing them to farm a fraction of the hemp they would produce in a typical year. We also learn much about the inner workings of the hemp farming business, including how legal farmers and illegal farmers often find themselves at odds over the use of land and resources. Despite the rains having come at last, it's thought by many that the effects of the drought will continue onward in the months and weeks to come.
In this episode of Us As We Are, we head to Oregon's state capitol in Salem to attend the massive anti-vaccine mandate rally which took place there on September 18th. While wandering through the massive crowd, we talk to multiple individuals about their unique perspectives and hear more about why some people distrust the government so much when it comes to issues related to COVID-19. This will most likely be Sailor Boy Media's last major video on the topic of COVID-19, at least until there is some other major development in the story. We've been following this movement from the local level in Ashland, OR, where we are based, all the way to the state level just ahead of the vaccine mandate deadline.
Check out the links below to see our other videos on this subject. Reactions to new lockdowns in Oregon - 11/20/20 https://youtu.be/rTI1j74q6jY Local Anti-mask protest in Ashland - 3/23/21 https://youtu.be/zNW5Yio8Tq4 Keegan gets vaccinated by FEMA - 5/1/21 https://youtu.be/HXe1NfzYs7w Huge anti-mandate protest in Medford - 8/31/21 https://youtu.be/57gOOBH7ooE Talking to anti-vax leadership in Southern Oregon - 9/23/21 https://youtu.be/tly7Q4bFByg In this episode, we visit the Bear Creek Greenway, where a little over one year ago the Almeda Fire burned from Ashland, through the towns of Talent, and Phoenix, right to the doorstep of Medford. Volunteers working with The Hearth storytelling group initially organized a large community event to commemorate the tragedy, but due to concerns surrounding the pandemic, pivoted to create an interactive walk through the 8 mile stretch hit by the fire, where citizens can reflect on the catastrophe and the traumas it left behind.
More information about the Almeda Walk: www.almedawalk.com The Hearth storytelling group: www.thehearthcommunity.com This is a modified re-upload of the video to comply with YouTube's community guidelines. Here's a link to the original cut on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/uawa-0919...
In this episode of Us As We Are, we once again attend a rally in Medford, OR, where people against the workplace vaccine mandate for medical workers and teachers gathered to express their frustrations. Unlike in our previous video on this subject, we were able to gain much closer access to organizers like Ryan Mallory, who is the spearhead for much of the planning behind the recent protests in the Rogue Valley. With this access, we were able to have far more focused discussions with protesters about why they believe what they believe, and how they respond to public criticism. Additionally, we had an opportunity to chat with the Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, an activism duo who routinely appear at right-wing events to counter-protest, livestream, and create videos for their large following on TikTok. In this episode of Us As We Are, we visit Meyer Orchards, where owner Kirt Meyer explains how the drought has impacted his orchard, and why he's slashing all 10,000+ of his trees - some of which are older than him - clearing his 115 acre land, and getting out of the pear business.
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The CrewKEEGAN VAN HOOK
producer, host, editor, manager TRIPP WHITE
producer, first camera, creative assistant, editor LOUIS BENGTSON
contributing correspondent, researcher, host/personality, chef |