This is a place for me to express my thoughts on racing, the environment, science, politics, and whatever else might cross my wandering mind.
It will be an overflow of random ideas, reflections, notes and quotes to be enjoyed by those of you who take the time to read it.
Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you down the road...
Peace,
10.20.08 glamour shoots & grateful dead concerts
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't checked in lately, I have been really busy, which is great! I will try to recap the past couple months...
Let's start with the most important thing: music! I've been to a couple of concerts - the first was Jack Johnson in Raleigh, North Carolina. Not only
is Jack a great musician but he also has made an big effort to "green" his music tour, find out more at jackjohnsonmusic.com.
I had the honor to meet Jack and his wife Kim, they were really kind people and seeing him play live was amazing. You can see photos from the show in my
Events Gallery.
I also had the chance to make a trip to Penn State University to see my brother in law Bob Weir and the rest of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead play a concert to benefit Obama for America. It was the first time the Dead
had played together in years, you can read all about it in Rolling Stone's article: Grateful Dead Reunite for Obama.
I took some photos at the event which you can see in my Change Rocks Gallery. Everyone
seems to get a real kick out of the shirt I bought for Bobby in the parking lot, it's the last photo in the gallery if you want to see it. It was a shirt that was, literally, made for him.
The show was sold out and they raised a lot of money for Obama's presidential campaign.
Speaking of politics, I had the pleasure of greeting Joe Biden and his wife Jill when they visited North Carolina on Sept 14, I have photos of that up
in my Events Gallery, special thanks to
BarackObama.com for the photos.
I also made a trip to Washington DC last month where I spoke at the CleanTech Forum.
It was a fantastic event and quite an honor to be asked to speak there, you can see photos from my speech in my Events Gallery.
After DC I went to New York where I attended some events surrounding the Clinton Global Initiative, another impressive event
where I met some amazing people doing great things for humanity and the Earth. Some important people were there like Al Gore, Bono, Barack Obama, John McCain, and of course Bill Clinton.
I also had a photo shoot with Glamour Magazine for their 70th Anniversary issue which will also be
their "green" issue. Glamour gathered 70 women they consider environmental leaders like Christy Brinkley, Laurie David, Alicia Silverstone, Rochelle Begly, Summer Rayne Oakes,
and Irmelin DiCaprio. I am absolutely honored to be included in that list. We all stood together for a historic photograph in New York's Central Park. Look for the photo in the
April 2009 issue of Glamour. After the shoot was over, I headed over to watch a live taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is one of my favorite shows.
It was hilarious. Next time I visit New York I am going to have to stop in for a taping of The Colbert Report, another one
of my favorites.
Last month the "Lucky Few" Lucky Brand Jeans ad campaign launched and I can't tell you how many emails and phone calls I have received from friends who came across my photo at their
local mall's Lucky Brand Jeans stores, which is really cool! I even had the chance to see one of my photos in the front window on 5th Avenue in New York, thank you
to Victoria Jacob for taking the photo for me. It's a great campaign to be a part of and I can't thank Lucky enough for including me! You can see a video, download
some desktops and more on my Lucky page at luckybrandjeans.com/leilani.
Things are staying busy and I will be headed back to Washington DC for Jane Goodalls Global Leadership Awards on November 7th, which will be hosted by Anderson
Cooper and honor US Representative Tom Udall, Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely Shaye. Then I will be headed to Hawaii to give a speech at the State Capitol Auditorium
in Honolulu, look for a press release soon. I will also probably do some scuba diving while I'm there, one of my favorite hobbies. A list of my appearances and speeches
can be viewed on my schedule page.
I will check back in when I get home from Hawaii. Don't forget to vote!
Peace,
Leilani
08.02.08 one of the best commericals ever
07.21.08 i am a lucky (jeans) girl!
I just got back from Los Angeles where I was at a photo shoot for Lucky Jean’s fall ad campaign. It was a blast, we spent three days shooting at several locations including Union Station, Sunset Blvd and on a bridge overlooking the freeway. I met some new friends at Lucky Brand Jeans and the photographer Michael Bernard was amazing. Michael shoots all of the Victoria’s Secret ads and usually works with girls like Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima (just slightly intimidating, no?).
When they told me that, I almost felt bad for the guy having to photograph mere mortals! It was a great experience and I think the ad campaign is going to be very cool. It is dubbed “The Lucky Few” because Lucky Jeans chose 8 unique people they felt were living their dreams for the campaign. You will see it popping up on billboards and magazines in October. I was going to post some behind the scenes photos but I was told I have to wait until after the ad campaign come out, they want to keep our shoot under wraps for now. Women's Wear Daily: Lucky Picks a Few Dreamers for Ad Campaign
Now I am in Vegas doing some traveling with my soon to be father and sister-in-law who are visiting from New Zealand. We are going to fly over the Grand Canyon tomorrow and at some point I'll probably play a game of craps or ten. I'll post some photos in my travel gallery when I get home. Wish me luck!
Leilani
06.20.08 finally, i am home!
Sorry it has been so long since I checked in. I have been really busy the past couple of months. In May I was a keynote
speaker at National Wildlife Federation's Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado (
see photos from my trip to Colorado). As soon as I get the video of my speech, I
will be posting it in my video gallery. From there I traveled to Los Angeles for some business meetings.
I also stopped into Honda's headquarters and took the Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car for a spin.
It was really fun to drive. Look ma, no emissions!
After Los Angeles, I went to Indianapolis to meet with some race teams and sponsors and attend the qualifying session for the Indy Lights Series.
I was disappointed to not be racing in the Freedom 100 this year, but I am concentrating on running Kentucky and Chicagoland this year and running
full time in 2009. My racing opportunities are not limited to open wheel as I have had some NASCAR teams contacting me about doing
some possible ARCA races as well. We will see what happens. I am never sure which of these opportunities will come through, so
we will just see which way the wind blows.
After Indy I travelled back to Washington DC for a second round of lobbying members of Congress on behalf of the Climate Security Act.
It was an amazing experience and I was honored to speak at a press conference with Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry,
Benjamin Cardin, and Amy Klobuchar. Also speaking was Gene Karpinski (President of the League of Conservation), Frances Beinecke
(President of the Natural Resources Defense Council), and Bill Becker (Executive Director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies).
It was incredible to share the stage with these inspiring people that are fighting for the future of our planet. I believe the race to save
our planet is the most important race I will ever participate in and I will never lift. See
photos of the press conference on Capitol Hill here
After Washington DC I went to Arizona to visit my father, then to San Francisco to visit my sister and the rest of the Weir family. Bobby and
Natascha and my nieces are currently on tour with Ratdog, so check their schedule to see if they are in your area. Now I am finally, three weeks later, back home in North Carolina.
It is a new home! My fiance' and I have purchased a new energy star home and already have approval to "green" the house with solar panels,
a solar water heater, solar tube lighting, and a rainwater collection system! I just bought Ed Begley's Book "Living Like Ed" so I am looking
forward to all kinds of eco projects at the new house. I will document our progress on my eco site
carbonfreegirl.com. Our house is a very very very green house...
04.03.08 my personal alarm clock
This is how I wake up every morning, everything is very accurate except the last few seconds...
03.29.08 earth hour
I turned out my lights, did you???
For more information please visit earthhour.org
Let's start with the most important thing: music! I've been to a couple of concerts - the first was Jack Johnson in Raleigh, North Carolina. Not only is Jack a great musician but he also has made an big effort to "green" his music tour, find out more at jackjohnsonmusic.com. I had the honor to meet Jack and his wife Kim, they were really kind people and seeing him play live was amazing. You can see photos from the show in my Events Gallery.
I also had a photo shoot with Glamour Magazine for their 70th Anniversary issue which will also be their "green" issue. Glamour gathered 70 women they consider environmental leaders like Christy Brinkley, Laurie David, Alicia Silverstone, Rochelle Begly, Summer Rayne Oakes, and Irmelin DiCaprio. I am absolutely honored to be included in that list. We all stood together for a historic photograph in New York's Central Park. Look for the photo in the April 2009 issue of Glamour. After the shoot was over, I headed over to watch a live taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is one of my favorite shows. It was hilarious. Next time I visit New York I am going to have to stop in for a taping of The Colbert Report, another one of my favorites.
I just got back from Los Angeles where I was at a photo shoot for Lucky Jean’s fall ad campaign. It was a blast, we spent three days shooting at several locations including Union Station, Sunset Blvd and on a bridge overlooking the freeway. I met some new friends at Lucky Brand Jeans and the photographer Michael Bernard was amazing. Michael shoots all of the Victoria’s Secret ads and usually works with girls like Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima (just slightly intimidating, no?). When they told me that, I almost felt bad for the guy having to photograph mere mortals! It was a great experience and I think the ad campaign is going to be very cool. It is dubbed “The Lucky Few” because Lucky Jeans chose 8 unique people they felt were living their dreams for the campaign. You will see it popping up on billboards and magazines in October. I was going to post some behind the scenes photos but I was told I have to wait until after the ad campaign come out, they want to keep our shoot under wraps for now. Women's Wear Daily: Lucky Picks a Few Dreamers for Ad Campaign
After Los Angeles, I went to Indianapolis to meet with some race teams and sponsors and attend the qualifying session for the Indy Lights Series. I was disappointed to not be racing in the Freedom 100 this year, but I am concentrating on running Kentucky and Chicagoland this year and running full time in 2009. My racing opportunities are not limited to open wheel as I have had some NASCAR teams contacting me about doing some possible ARCA races as well. We will see what happens. I am never sure which of these opportunities will come through, so we will just see which way the wind blows.
After Indy I travelled back to Washington DC for a second round of lobbying members of Congress on behalf of the Climate Security Act. It was an amazing experience and I was honored to speak at a press conference with Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, Benjamin Cardin, and Amy Klobuchar. Also speaking was Gene Karpinski (President of the League of Conservation), Frances Beinecke (President of the Natural Resources Defense Council), and Bill Becker (Executive Director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies). It was incredible to share the stage with these inspiring people that are fighting for the future of our planet. I believe the race to save our planet is the most important race I will ever participate in and I will never lift. See photos of the press conference on Capitol Hill here
