“Views from Atop My Bedpan” is set to release on April 1, 2023. The cover picture is of author Alan O’Hashi as if he aged 10 years.
Views from Atop My Bedpan, a memoir by Alan O’Hashi, is scheduled to be released on April 1, 2023. The book is a memoir about the author’s experiences with the American healthcare industrial complex spanning seven decades.
During his journey, Alan learned about the Emergency Department bottleneck when he was nearly dead for six weeks. His road to recovery was a long one through alternative treatments. As he grew younger, his contact with the healthcare system was much simpler.
The book moves back in time starting his healthcare in a Boulder, Colorado senior cohousing community. Read about his acupuncture torture and drunken raisin arthritis remedy until he was kicked out of his retirement home for being too healthy and young.
The book recounts Alan’s medical-related experiences in the working world, including a small town hospital merger and an emergency CPR RESCUE.
The story tracks his time in college, then traces his life through high school, sex education as an adolescence and his bad eyes and teeth in grade school.
Is life ends as a twinkle in his parents’ eyes.
Some content may not be suitable from some readers.
There’s a paradox. Public and private healthcare providers are dedicated to keeping people alive and free of disease, but, at the same time, they must financially profit to maintain themselves.
At the same time, the industry keeps its heart thumping and pumping based on continually expanding the number of patients who consume the latest pharmaceuticals, visit doctors, and are diagnosed by the newest machines. It’s better that people stay a little sick rather than be cured from a profit-and-loss standpoint.
At last check, according to the Social Security Administration actuary chart, the author has 10.4 years to go. He conjectures his death at 79. He’s had a flirt with death every 20 years or so, most recently, surviving an exotic lung disease in 2013.
“We all have unique experiences as we move through life. Being at the top of my game has been hard work. I prefer to have positive influences on others I meet.” Alan O’Hashi
“The Covered Wagon” is a 1923 silent film. BCM and the Boulder Symphony are collaborating on a new soundtrack that retells the stereotypical cowboys and Indians movie with a tribal perspective featuring the Northern Arapaho Eagle Drum and Singers.
Boulder Community Media (BCM) had great success in 2022 and wants to keep it up through 2023. BCM was awarded a highly competitive $10,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant for “The Arapaho Covered Wagon Redux,” four years in the making.
BCM is seeking matching funds to record a contemporary soundtrack for the 1923 epic “Covered Wagon” silent film. The original score compiled by Anne Guzzo will be performed by the Boulder Symphony led by Devin Hughes in remembrance of the 160th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre. Most of the funds will pay musicians and the Northern Arapaho Eagle Drum. For information, watch the trailer.
When “The Covered Wagon” screened, tribal members appeared before the audience while casting directors Ed Farlow and Tim McCoy provided information about why they hired 500 Native Americans, mostly Northern Arapaho to perform in the film. Ironically, the realism they wanted to purvey added to tribal stereotypes.
Your tax deductible contribution will make an impact by undoing old stereotypes whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support. We previously raised $500 for the project.
BCM is a 501c3 production company dedicated to make media in all their forms accessible to all.
If you’re a facebook user, BCM has a year-end fundraiser happening through the end of 2022.
If you’re in Denver on Black Friday, November 25th, author Alan O’Hashi will be signing his memoir Beyond Heart Mountain at the Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The book is Alan’s story about growing up and living in Wyoming after World War II. He recounts the subtle and overt racism he and his family had to endure. His family was spared from living in a War Relocation Center because Japanese individuals who resided in the U.S. interior were deemed as being interned in place.
Two one-of-a-kind versions of the “Nishigawa Neighborhood” coffee table book is now available as NFTs on the opensea.io blockchain. If you want a true collectible, one or both of these have premium value because they are unique with colorized covers.
Both include unlockable assets that can be downloaded by the successful buyer. Both NFTs are watermarked with March 17, 2022, the publication date. The first is a one-of-a-kind digital version. The second is an MP4 movie of the 84 pages tracked by original music compiled by author Alan O’Hashi. If you want an autographed copy of the hardcover book, they areavailable from the author.
Click the image: Nishigawa Neighborhood LTD one of one unlockable MP4 NFT
Click the image: Nishigawa Neighborhood LTD one of one unlockable digital book NFT
A Boulder, CO shaker and mover named David Nichols in 1864 recruited 100 local volunteer militiamen to train at Fort Chambers located just east of town to kill Indians at Sand Creek.
Flash forward to 2018 when the city of Boulder government purchased the fort location as open space and a group of citizens called Right Relationship Boulder (RRB) is working to repatriate that land, in some form, back to the Arapaho people.
This is a story about a chapter in Boulder’s cultural history told from the perspectives of the Arapaho people. Arapaho cultural traditions are oral ones.
Documenting Arapaho voices preserves tribal members’ Sand Creek Massacre experiences that have been orally passed down from generation-to-generation.
RRB is a group of Native and non-Native Boulder-area residents who work with local governments and organizations to help all residents learn about the Native peoples who lived here historically, and who live here today.
RRB is also the lead organizer of Boulder Indigenous People’s Day that happens in October.
The city of Boulder purchased the Chambers property east of Boulder.
The Chambers property includes a home and pasture land along Boulder Creek at Valmont and 61st east of town.
Stay tuned, for project updates. BCM is also seeking contributions of any amount towards the project to match the Boulder Arts Commission grant.
Contributors will be included in the movie credits.
Facebook brought an event called the Community Boost to Denver
Facebook is putting on the full court press to get the gig economy to become an integral part of the macro-economy. How do we turn our hobbies and cottage businesses into real money?
The grassroots road show came to Denver recently. It was a classy event at the Cable Center near the University of Denver.
The Cable Center is a non-profit organization that educates the public about, I suppose, the great things that cable TV has done for the good of society.
My background is public access TV, which was a provision of the original Cable Communications Act of 1984 that set up community access channels as a ploy to avoid regulation as a public utility and dodge FCC oversight.
I had to check out the CATV museum with the history of cable and honors all the pioneers who made billions of dollars.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I digress.
The event’s goal was to provide basic information and some hands-on experience with how to use facebook to increase website traffic, get more buyers / customers and ultimately how to buy more facebook ads through micro-targeting and subsequently make more money for your fledgling business and for facebook.
The facebook Community Boost exhibit area include the Mobile Studio that provides in-phone apps to edit pix and video
I’m a filmmaker and facebook is trying to turn everyone into rough-around-the-edges filmmakers, which devalues the work that I and all of my colleagues do.
Nonetheless, if you’re going to make video, you might as well post stuff that at least looks halfway decent.
Here are a few tips to improve your videos:
Have a story in mind. Even on the spot, you can mentally compose a beginning, middle and end to your movie, even if it’s only 15 seconds long. If you use an in-phone app like Splice or iMovie, you can shoot clips, trim and reassemble them. If you don’t edit, lots of creativity can come about from the continuous shot – going from scene to scene while keeping the phone camera steady. The climax to your story is some sort of call to action – “Click here”, “Call us”, “Donate now.”
Hold your camera steady. Move smoothly hand-held. My preference is to shoot with the phone camera horizontally. TV screens and monitors are not vertical and horizontal video displays and looks better. If you’re webcasting facebook live, turn the camera horizontally until the image flips then start the recording.
Movies are 80% sound. Viewers can take video that’s a little shaky or out of focus but if the sound is bad, your potential customers will skip to the next video. The microphone is at the bottom of the phone. Get as close as you can to your action or subjects. Normal voices from across the room won’t be picked up. If you decide you want your voice in the recording, try to let your subject complete their statement and avoid “walking over” their audio with your excited utterances or laughing.
Fill out the meta-data fields. Facebook has figured out the meta-data thing and prompts you through the video upload with titles and key word fields. Fill them all in and in the post narrative pick out a few key hashtags that are common sensical. I see posts with six or more hashtags – many of which are nonsense. That tactic detracts from the content.
Take my workshop. If you’re interested in turning your volunteers or staff into decent social media movie makers, I offer workshops about how to tell your organization or business story in 140 character elevator speech. I also teach practical ways to light a scene, get good sound using inexpensive, everyday items.
The Community Boost mobile studio pushed 10 apps to edit images and movies.
What I learned from the Community Boost is that real filmmakers need to differentiate themselves from the short-form shooters who know how to point the camera and record, but make bad video look better with the bells and whistles graphic overlay apps.
At the same time, filmmakers can better promote their work using the short and rough cut format.
Since attending the Community Boost, I’ve done this a couple times and have generated some pretty good organic engagement – a couple thousand views of one and nearing 1,000 views on another.
How that translates into more business is anyone’s guess but the phone keeps ringing and my friends keep making referrals.
The event was set up for lots of time for face-to-face networking, but during the breaks most everyone was sitting in the corners staring at their phones, computers and other screens. The lunch was good, but nearly missed out since I ran into a filmmaker in the hallway after the facebook ads workshop.
Community Boost “Aha” Moment – Campaign 2016
The Trump presidential campaign successfully employed the same techniques as taught at the Community Boost. The Hillary campaign didn’t and the rest is history.
I had a big “Aha” moment during the facebook ads workshop. If you missed, it was about how to target the ads to particular markets and how different messages and their words, images, colors and other variables can be tweaked to maximize viewership and interaction.
Earlier, I watched a 60 Minute TV newsmagazine segment by Leslie Stahl. She interviewed Donald Trump campaign social media guy Brad Parscale. Apparently, facebook offered to embed staff members into the campaign organizations who advised about how to maximize use of facebook ads.
Parscale explained how they decided to focus on 3,000 voters in Wisconsin which ended up turning the course of the election. The Trump campaign decided to try out the facebook offer. The Hillary campaign didn’t and the rest is history.
Those of us in the Community Boost workshop learned in 30 minutes what was taught during the 2016 presidential election. Facebook ads, with practice, can be a very effective way to micro-target market and maximize advertising budgets.
I get chided by friends about why I spend so much time on my facebook account and pages that I manage. I’d say three quarters of my business business leads come as a result of my presence on facebook. “If I didn’t make money from facebook, I wouldn’t waste my time there,” I tell them.
I still don’t understand the psychology behind facebook and why people respond, but then again, it really doesn’t matter.
Book a personal appearance by “Aging Gratefully: The Power of Good Health and Good Neighbors” filmmaker Alan O’Hashi who will screen the film and facilitate a discussion. Stipend is negotiable!
The “Aging Gratefully in Cohousing” documentary series Video on Demand is now available. The three movies can be rented or purchased.
To purchase or rent, click on the Video On Demand (VOD) links below:
“Aging Gratefully: The Power of Good Health and Good Neighbors” (Run Time: 50min – 2017) Filmmaker and Silver Sage Village senior cohousing resident Alan O’Hashi is mostly recovered from his death bed illness in 2013. As a result of that experience he’s become much more aware of his health. One of his neighbors circulated information about a research study at the University of Colorado about the effects of exercise on brain health. Curious, he was selected to be a research subject. To measure success, one of the criteria is emotional health and strength of relationship building.
Does living in a cohousing community be an added benefit to physical exercise? He interviewed six residents of newly-formed Germantown Commons to find out their motivations to living in cohousing and whether living intentionally with neighbors was a positive experience and what physical activities happen in a group setting.
Germantown Commons Residents:
Essie Sappenfield (retired)
Doug Luckes (still working)
Suzanne Glasgow (still working)
Sarah Carroll (single mom)
Chris Corby (still working)
Ginger Lange (retired)
Vicki Metzgar (retired)
Also Appearing:
Bryan Bowen, AIA (Caddis Architects)
Angela Bryan PhD,( Principal Investigator CU FORCE study)
Book a personal appearance by “Aging Gratefully: The Power of Culture and Traditions” filmmaker Alan O’Hashi who will screen the film and facilitate a discussion about his experiences. Stipend is negotiable.
“Aging Gratefully: The Power of Culture and Traditions” (Run Time: 30 min – 2017) My latest trek took me to South Africa where I’m investigating a third documentary in the Aging Gratefully series. This pilot is mostly based on a little research and my initial observations spanning Tolstoy to Gandhi to Mandela to the present time.
There’s an intentional community being formed in the Town of Memel and the Township of Zamani in the South African Free State Province by a friend and colleague, Steven Ablondi and his wife Cindy Burns. Steve and I serve on the National Cohousing Association board of directors.
I tagged along with the Memel Global Community architect and my across the street neighbor Bryan Bowen and a couple of his crew, Jamison and Molly. Bryan lives in the Wild Sage Cohousing community in Boulder.
I embedded myself with a local buy named Shakes in the Black African community and even though it was only for a couple days, I gained quite a bit of insight into the cultural dynamics, which are not unlike those I encounter among my Northern Arapaho tribal member friends.
As this story develops, how Native American tribes could incorporate cohousing concepts into its growing housing demand will also be investigated. There are generations-long traditional tribal cultures that have a norm about multi-generational care for elders. Does it it makes any sense to form intentional communities around these customs?
This is a 30 minutes pilot of my visit shot mainly on an iPhone 6s and I’m not sure if anything will come of this story. I’m collaborating with a fellow filmmaker Pieter Lombaard, who appears in the short. We’re trying to figure out a good story with a great arc. What do you think?
Memel Global Community featured denizens:
Steven Ablondi (cofounder)
Bryan Bowen (Caddis Architects)
Shakes Mafanela (SheWins sports coordinator)
Marley Hauser (SheWins volunteer)
Pieter Lombaard (Binary Film Works)
Book a personal appearance by “Aging Gratefully: The Power of Community” filmmaker Alan O’Hashi who will screen the film and facilitate a discussion about his experiences. Stipend is negotiable!
Cohousing is a collaborative living arrangement. Residents own their own homes, live private lives but share in the ownership and upkeep of common spaces such the garden and common house.
It’s a challenging way to live, but living together more intentionally is a hedge against being alone and isolated through the twilight years of life.
Filmmaker and Silver Sage Village resident Alan O’Hashi was on his death bed in December 2013. Following a 6 week hospital and rehab stay and a month of home confinement, he joined a yoga community to regain his strength, but learned more about himself than just getting healthier.
Through his reflections, he recounts his continuing recovery and weaves those experiences with the perspectives of neighbors with Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and those who find themselves in supportive neighborly care giving roles.
Cohousing pioneers Katie McCamant and Chuck Durrett and gerontologist Anne Glass phD offer their perspectives about senior cohousing living.
Silver Sage Village featured residents:
Lindy Cook (nurse)
John Huyler (facilitator)
Henry and Jean Kroll (retired from San Francisco)
Dan Knifong (retired professor)
Jim Leach (Silver Sage Village developer)
Margaret Porter (retired federal government)
Also Appearing:
Anne Glass phD (University of North Carolina Wilmington Gerontology Program Coordinator)
Chuck Durrett AIA (McCamant and Durrett Architects)
Katie McCamant (The Cohousing Company)
Larissa Ortiz (teacher The Little Yoga Studio)
The Denver Post published a story prior to “Aging Gratefully” production beginning and KGNU radio did a story about it post production
If you have questions about purchase, rental or booking a screening, email Boulder Community Media
Filmmaker Alan O’Hashi had to take a “before” and “after” MRI as a participant in the FORCE Study. Get free tickets for the movie test screening by clicking on the photo.
“Aging Gratefully: The Power of Good Health and Good Neighbors” has a first cut test screening at the Dairy Arts Center – Boedecker Theater. Doors 630pm – cash bar and snacks in the Polk Cafe – movie at 7pm. Tickets are free, but sign up so we can keep track of seats.
Filmmaker and Silver Sage Village senior cohousing resident Alan O’Hashi is mostly recovered from his 2013 death bed illness. As a result of that experience he’s become much more aware of his health, almost to the point of hypochondria.
One of his neighbors circulated information about a research study at the University of Colorado about the effects of exercise on brain health.
Curious, he applied and was selected to be a research subject. To measure success, the criteria emotional health and strength of relationship building.
Residents of the Germantown Commons cohousing community in Nashville, TN enjoy a neighborly get together.
Is living in an intentional community, such as cohousing, an added benefit to physical exercise? He interviewed CU researcher Angel Bryan about her research to gain an empirical perspective and six residents of newly-formed Germantown Commons to find out their anecdotal motivations to living in cohousing and whether living intentionally with neighbors was a positive experience and what physical activities happen in a group setting.
Boulder Arts Week is a happening time in the creative community and we’re jumping in with our monthly schmoozer and featuring the work of women. The April 1st event is free of charge, but buy some music!
We don’t have a lot of wall space for flat art. Instead, we’ll be entertaining with some music and a short movie in the Silver Sage Village cohousing TV room.
The Whistle Stop F.I.L.M. Festival screens “Cordially, Georgia O’Keeffe” about the artist and her sister’s visit to Ward Colorado in 1917 will screen in the media room between music sets.
There will be schedule changes all week, before you go to your assigned venue, check in at the Boulder Theatre first. (If you go to the St. Julien Hotel, they may not know who you are and if they do, they will send you to the Boulder Theatre.)
We Need Help on Thursday Morning for Load In – We could use some help on Thursday loading and unloading gear and getting the production office set up at the Boulder Theater.
We Need a Thursday Morning Production Crew – Do you want to have the first video out there? We need a small crew to shoot some of the set up and advance the festival before things get underway. One crew member is also helping with the event set up, but could use some production assistance.
We Need Editing Stations – We’ll provide two MacBook Pros with Final Cut Pro 7. Bring your laptop editing systems if you use others.
Updated NewsTeam Schedule – The crew calls will be posted here and updated as changes occur.
Boulder Arts Week is a happening time in the creative community and we’re jumping in with our 
615 to 715pm-ish: Multi-media music and video by 
745 to 845pm-ish: Music by 