the joy of clean water

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with stories about their lists! It was a tough pick, but this one from Rory in Massachusetts took the cake:

Hey what’s up,
so here’s my deal- I am 16 and have big dreams in life but just a little trouble knowing were to start. I want to start a large group called (well I’m not sure, yet) but its gonna be a group that goes around from town to town and finds filthy water areas and cleans them up. Things like creeks streams, ponds and so on.

i first got this idea cuz there’s a creek in my back yard that helps supply the town with water. Now when I first moved here the creek was teaming with all kinds of life but now 12 years later there are things like car parts tires chairs- so many thing polluting it and the lake it come from.

at first I tried to clean it alone but it was just to big for me to do alone, and none of my friends wanted to spend their days cleaning up streams. I really wanna do this and get a big group with like company sponsor and everything. but I’m having a lot of trouble finding were to start. So if you get a chance (before you die) I could use a hand.

Thanks, Rory (P. S. this is on my List.)

That’s an honorable mission Rory, good on you. Keep up the good fight and we’ll do our best to come lend a hand one day soon. If anyone has any tips or resources for Rory, leave a comment. It all helps. - Jonnie

ben and duncan longboarding behind the bus

No this isn’t a new picture. I wish! Soon though. The winter thaw has come and the four of us look happily on the approaching summer. It’s too soon to announce our plan for round three on the road, but rest assured that we have not yet given up on accomplishing each and every item on our list of 100 things to do before you die.

Some of you have been visiting the site for a while and we love to have you come. That said, we can’t be the only ones sharing tales of our successes. We want to know what’s been on your plate lately: new list items? New accomplishments? Tales of compassion? What’s going on for you? Send your story to crew@theburiedlife.com and maybe we’ll throw it up for the world to see! -Jonnie

dave is especially excited, as always

Hey everyone,

First of all, sorry for being inconsistent with our blog posts. We’ve been hunkered down in the editing room piecing together our updated/new trailer and there hasn’t been much to report except the fact that we’re really excited to show it to you.

Secondly, our site isn’t working properly. None of our links are linking like links are supposed to link (excuse my technical lingo).

All will be fixed soon,
TBL

“we are your friends, you’ll never be alone again”

And we’re back! Sorry for the blog-holiday everybody.. how are you guys?

Dave and I (Jonnie), both in Montreal trying to complete number 11 on the list, saw Justice give a hell of a show last night to a sold out crowd! For the unfamiliar, Justice (and their artist collective/label: Ed Banger) are the fast emerging lords of new-wave electronica: 2 Grammy nominations, a couple VMA nods, 6.2 million myspace visits.. and this crossover hit.

Busy P stays busy

Not only was Justice’s album Cross blasting in our bus all during last summer’s tour, their manager, Busy P (pictured), was the first guy we met in line when we stormed the MTV VMAs in Vegas. We hit it off with him and, when we heard they were coming by Montreal, called to see if we couldn’t line up some interviews.

packed to the brim

jonnie shooting on stage

Busy was nice enough to set up time for him AND Justice to sit down and answer the question - what do you want to do before you die? - and to give us some vip show passes to the show! Dave and I messed up and missed our press call for Justice (I know..) but we got to spend the evening running around the theater and basking in the madness of their live show (video coming).

left to right: a girl, a fist, Busy P, 1/2 of Justice, So-Me

After the concert we headed down to scribble off #94 on the list and Dave went surfing on the crowd. It was a hell of an evening. Thanks Ed. -Jonnie

dave surfing

What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?

For those of you that missed it, a few weeks ago we did a blog about Dave meeting one of his idols, the well-known B-boy Venum. As promised here is the follow-up with some questions, answers and advice from a guy who came from very little and rose to the top.

Venum we’ve got to ask, as we ask everybody: What do you want to do before you die?
“Before I die? My dream is to buy my mom a house. She has spent her entire life raising kids. She has worked so hard without the chance to live her own life and do what she wants to do.”

If you knew you had 24 hours to live what would you do with time you had left?
“Grab all my family together and hang out with them.”

Given that situation, what advice would you give if you were lying on your deathbed?
“A few things. If there is something you want to do just do it. Don’t let anyone tell you somethings impossible, it might be impossible for them, but not for you.”

“Don’t conform to what everyone else is doing, find your own way through life, try to inspire other people.”

“Find what you like and become the best you can be at that.”

Venum’s advice to all those searching for meaning:
“It wasn’t until I found a passion in life, that my own life got meaning.”

“If you hang out with people that accept life the way it is, it’s not hard to start believing that yourself. Breakdancing / B-boying introduced me to people with goals and ambitions, which I hadn’t been exposed to before.”

Below is a clip of Venum breaking. You can see him featured on Dancing with the Stars off his website venument.com.

Venum is currently on the Avril Lavigne tour, check him out and see if he’s headed to your town.

WWW.VENUMENT.COM

This is not an Adidas commercial (yet), but it was always one of Duncan’s dreams to lend a hand in developing sport in third world countries. It took a long time to get going but he is on his way.

Here’s the most recent video Duncan, and the organization he co-founded, released:

The organizations called OA, it’s a cool vid:

A group of them will be going to Rwanda in 30 days in anticipation of their initiative there in 2009.

For more information check out their website at oaprojects.org

round 2 at the best smoked meat shop in the world

Our first attempt at #49 on the list (”Take a Stranger Out for Dinner/Lunch”) was such a success that CTV Montreal called us and wanted to do it again! This morning we headed out with their crew to find a new stranger to feed and found a very deserving man named Bob.

In the last ten years, Bob has been through divorce, jail-time, and a major stroke and he now lives day-to-day panhandling and doing odd jobs around the city. It’s tough, he says, at 60. But Bob is more optimistic about life than anyone we have met in a long time. Stay respectful and positive, he says, and everything will turn out okay in the end.

The full story airs this Thursday at noon, 6:00pm and 11:00pm EST if you’re in the neighborhood. We’ll try to post it too - it was pretty cool. Thanks again to Tony, Frank, Diamond and the whole crew at Schwartz! We love you guys. -JP