I wrote Emails from (Over?) the Edge before I got into poi, so it's not about poi. It's about life, and me, and some very special people and events that were worth writing about. The people who resonate with my sense of humor laugh a lot when they read it.

You can learn more about the book on the Nick's Book Page or on homeofpoi.com, where I'm sure many reviews will come piling in.

You can also read the first few chapters as a PDF

The videos are going to roll in for a while. Remember to send your requests soon, as Jocelyn goes home in two weeks!

The flowlights were designed from scratch by Sean and Prisna and co. This took a lot of vision, time, money, and love. I'm quite inspired that people from my own circle of friends are doing this kind of production, and I am hoping that I can help rally the community behind them (which will be easy as long as they keep making the best toys.)

The flowlights replace the “streetlights” that used to go inside the flowtoys casings, but the flowlights are brighter, much more durable, and they have better strobing options, designed specifically for spinning.

They also have... removable/rechargeable batteries! In fact, they refuse to sell disposable batteries altogether. Each flowlight takes a single AAA battery, which means you can have extra batteries when you're at a festival. They're using some high-tech circuitry so the lights stay bright the whole charge.

They are sold with tube shells in various lengths, so you can have various lengths of poi, wands, staffs, etc. (We admit that we're looking forwards to Soft covers, which are coming in a few months.)

And the BONUS SURPRISE FEATURE: Flowlights make great handles!

Need I say more?

I write from Halifax, my home town. This is my first visit in two years and I'm awash with memories. I'm also awash with loot! My parents decided to be patrons of the arts and I have a new external hard drive and a better suitcase. That leaves a new laptop and a video camera as the remaining pieces of gear on my wish list :)

So very much has happened since I last wrote. Jocelyn and I flew to Play Festival in England at the end of July. We then spent a week visiting Cole and Lisa in London, during which time we filmed a couple of tutorial videos. Then we went to Poland for a fire festival, then to Austria to visit Andy and to film more tutorials, then to Switzerland to visit my friends Adrian and Naomi, and then to Cortona to an amazing science/spirituality convention, and then I flew home to Halifax and Jocelyn went back to Switzerland to work on the videos.

It's all been very... different than what I thought it would be. I imagined it would be easier to find time and locations to film the tutorials... but time is a funny thing and there were a lot of logistics to deal with. We definitely got some great material though, and we'll be rolling out new videos for the next few weeks.

On Sunday I go back to Germany. I'll be in Europe for about six-eight weeks and then I'll return to Bali for about six months. I am once again spreading word to see who wants to join for a winter of poi investigations. A few of my favorite spinners have once again decided to join me so here we go!

Regarding videos, we've finally begun to put up new tutorials! Go to the videos section and you'll already see three new videos from this summer, and many more will follow over the coming weeks. If you like what you see please do remember to spread the word :)

Peace and poi,

Nick

Maddi was very special to many people, and it was hard to accept that she died, especially in these circumstances. Few people who spill forth with life the way Maddi did. It was like her soul was always trying to fly from her body. She will be missed very much.

Life is fragile and unpredictable. We come and we go. It's all a little incomprehensible sometimes, and it's good that we have each other for the ride.

It's really great to have some collaboration. This is from our first playful photo shoot. I love the creative process, especially when I'd doing it with others :)

Lots more coming...

How it happened:

Several people asked me over the course of the winter, "Are you going to make a beginner's DVD?"

For months my answer was, "eventually."

Their answer to my answer was, "You should do it sooner than later." This included important business partnerships and very smart friends.

There are many reasons for sooner rather than later. For one, my website currently appeals to a niche within a niche. The fact that I don't have beginner resources holds me back from many dreams, including the one where I make enough money to get my teeth fixed (long story... but basically I keep giving art priority over things like teeth, and that's got to change).

There are also reasons for later. For one, I have no money. For another, I have lots of other things I also need to do. For yet another, I'm still a little burned out from the past few years and I wasn't sure if I wanted to start another huge project.

And then I had a vision of working with Jocelyn and making this into a very interesting and multidimensional project. Visions are the winds that fill my sails. Whether they will blow me to new lands or onto the reefs actually has a bit to do with you, dear reader, but more on that later.

For a couple weeks I waffled about whether it "made sense," and eventually I realized that "reasons" weren't why I wanted to do it. I simply wanted Jocelyn to be here. I wanted an accomplice. I'm tired of doing everything alone. DVDs shmreeVDs. It was a deep spiritual knowing, darn it, just like the one that told me, "play with poi and they will come."

The next thing I knew I was sending Jocelyn my credit card information, cleverly embedded in a photo of my new hair. Six weeks later I picked her up at the airport with my mystic Driver, Agung. She immediately fit right in. Did I mention that I'm paying her? Did I mention that a big part of my dream is becoming the guy who actually pays artists to do their life's work?

Where is the money for all of this coming from, you wonder?

Credit cards!!!

Why the bank gave me so many credit cards, I'll never know. I do hope this is the last time I do a project like this on credit. Most days I'm fine, but I'm definitely having occasional moments of stress. The project is already going longer and costing more than I expected (trust me, double the time and cost of any project, really). Ultimately that's the lesson I want to learn anyway, non-attachment. I'm beginning to think that I'm going to keep giving myself situations like this until I learn to relax about them... so relaxing here I go.

Pray that this works out for us :)

In other news: Our other accomplice of late is Tigger. I needed a way to make it easier to find my motorbike amongst all the other motorbikes, and the obvious solution was to have Jocelyn bring a stuffed Tigger from LA. I had a Tigger when I was a small child, but that Tigger was washed away to sea. It's a happy reunion to have Tigger again.

Cakya Muna continues to be a very special place to live. Here are some photos of the river below and the stairs leading down. Rob and Rachel have such a vision for this space, and I think it might work out. More on that soon... but imagine both healing retreat centre and global digital arts hub rolled into one.

Meanwhile, my attempts to go neo-tribal via cartilage piercings went amock, and I spent a few days flouting the neo-tribal, ear-cyst look. It wasn't so sexy so I'm now on anti-biotics. So much for that. I might try again when I'm back in the northern hemisphere. Life is an adventure.

There is so much still to explore. We've only begun to see Bali. At first I was going to try to get the DVDs finished soon so I could still go to the festivals in Europe... but that would mean rushing everything. I want time to still explore and be a part of this place, so we're doing things at a pace that allows us to be humans, not just DVD producing machines. Bali is too beautiful to rush through, as is all of life.

The stripping makes a good metaphor. I'm stepping out of all my fears lately (and I'm not the only one). We bring our dreams to life by choosing to. Thus I'm swinging the credit cards around fast an furious, and we'll be offering a lot of yummy new content starting early June. Please stay tuned.

I'm hoping you'll take the time to pay attention to the poiticipation ideas, and to have faith in me that I'm offering a two-way relationship. I don't think artists have to live in poverty to maintain their integrity. It's time to blaze a new artist/community relationship, and part of that happens here, and I would love you to be part of it.

If things go well there will be more nudity, I promise.

Nick

I love it here, except for the bad driving and bad internet, both of which are great for my emotional-control practices, so I love them too.

To make a long story short: Around 1500 years ago Hindu people from India decided that Bali, of all places, was a nice spot, so they packed themselves into boats and sailed/paddled/sung over. They mixed with the local tribal people of the Island and the cultures merged and became “Bali-Hinduism-somethingsomething.” For the next 1500 years Bali and Indonesia and the lovely Dutch invaders went through a long series of political shenanigans, many of which resulted in mass-exodus of artisans from other parts of Indonesia to Bali, which for a variety of reasons (including the art-loving Bali-Hindu culture) was a lovely place for escaping artists to escape to. In the 1920s Bali was discovered by several influential artists from the west, who worked with the Balinese artisans to fuse Balinese arts with western arts and western production methods, and to promote Bali as a tourist destination.

The Balinese have long had a love for all things beautiful. Art gushes out of everything. Everything is art. I cannot stress this enough. The natural landscape, the way they've landscaped the nature, and the way they put statues and temples and offerings everywhere is mind-blowing. I can see them going, “hmmm, God obviously left that little bit over there for us to do something beautiful with. What do you think, a little Ganesha statue?” Apparently, if you ask somebody in Bali what heaven is like, they will say, “it's a lot like Bali.“ No joke. Much of it seems to stem from mysticism-infused methods of terracing the rice fields, which, incidentally, is at the heart of family, village, and cultural structure.

The people are constantly worshiping, having ceremonies, making offerings, and “moving the energy“ of the spaces where they live, with a sincere enthusiasm. I've had lots of talks with Balinese about spirits and the power of prayer. I'm sure there are people just going through the motions like other parts of the world, and there are the con-artists and sharks you find anywhere, but many Balinese people cultivate a deep faith. In general I feel like I can connect much more to the people here than in Thailand, and I find the art and culture more accessible. I could not ask for better settings for the photography and videos I want to create. I am already making plans for next season.

Bali is also home to a huge population of talented artisans who do incredible work in fabric, leather, wood, bone, and silver for affordable wages. They are friendly, happy, talented, and easy to work with. Thus there is a huge crew of young, neo-tribal fashion designers from North America producing beautiful lines of clothes, jewelry, and accessories, which they sell back home and abroad. This is possible partly because the artisans are so talented that the designers are able to go to them with sometimes vague ideas and drawings, and before you know it, the artisan has made a beautiful sample. Then the designer says, “yes! just like that! Can you make 50?“ I sense great opportunity to put my long-developed conscious-business-practices into motion here. If only there were three of me.

Now, take into account that I came straight to Ubud and have not explored much further. Much of Bali is definitely quite... overrun by tourism. The beaches the most, which is ok because I don't like the beach scene usually. Ubud is inland and has long been the hub for Balinese art, crafts, and culture. This makes Ubud very different than the trendy surf town of Kuta.

The exciting news is that I'm flying Jocelyn over to help me film more poi yumminess (oh, you're going to love what we'll be brining you). We'll go on some trips together for sure and show you a bit more of Bali :)

To see the complete Bali Photo Set, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/playpoi/sets/72157600158756972/