This was the first collaboration I ever did with Chalie Boy, for Rapid Ric’s Fistful of Dollars mixtape hosted by Trae and Paul Wall five years ago.

Ric called all giddy, and emailed me an mp3 with the hook on it. I was impressed, and started venting on the uncharacteristically long verse immediately.

I don’t think I’ve done as many joints with anyone as I have with J (of Reelaktz), Element7D and Chalie aka the only one of them who still raps.

For what it’s worth, he was #6 on BET’s 106th & Park today.

You can download the original “Fuel to My Fire Fleaux (2004)” mp3 if you click for more…

Bavu Blakes & Chalie Boy – Fuel to My Fire Fleaux by mr.blakes@gmail.com

I watched Fistful of Dollars last night. I am quite addicted to Eastwood westerns, have no problems admitting my man crush on the Man with No Name.

New Zealand’s Bang Bang Eche have been doing pretty good lately considering they have been mentioned in NME and Filter Magazine. Below is their video for (You + Me) As Thick As Thieves. Their new EP, ‘Sonic Death Cuntttt’ is out November 3 and the band are also tour over the next month which includes a show at CMJ in New York. For more info see their MySpace page.

‘(You + Me) As Thick As Thieves’ and the brand new song, ‘Fistful of Dollars’ are also available free to download via Einstein Music Journal, so you might want to get onto that too.

  A 12 year-old heroin courier and speed-chess player decides to execute a vaguely chess-themed revenge plot against his bosses.

This movie deserves its cult following. It’s a crime thriller set in the ghetto that is not about rap music or gang-culture. In fact, don’t believe that there is a single rap song anywhere on the soundtrack. It’s not a retelling of Scarface, nor does it glorify violence. That said, it’s not the unique gem that its devotees claim it to be. It’s A Fistful of Dollars with a little kid instead of Clint Eastwood (the same device used here). The chess theme is just a MacGuffin-like gimmick to hold the story together. When it becomes clear what the little sociopath is up to, however, it’s difficult to not feel a little malicious glee.

• Things to note about Fresh that the cult won’t tell you:
  This is a black movie. I know you see Samuel L. Jackson on the back of the DVD and you may have already guessed this, but I mean this is a black movie. It makes the Madea movies look like Steel Magnolias. Unless you are familiar and comfortable with inner-city black American culture you will likely be perplexed and/or completely unable to relate to any of the characters. The sub-titles will likely not help you, either.
• It’s pretty gritty. Writer-director Boaz Yakin does not attempt to make this a pleasant film-going experience. This is not your faux grungy PG-13 ‘hood from Law and Order Episodes, this is the one where a writer goes out of his way to ram home how unpleasant the projects are in order to seem “authentic”. Note that several little kids get murdered in the course of the plot.
• This movie is dated. The slang, the clothes, the haircuts, all offer a pretty good picture of early 90s urban American fashion, but if you are not familiar with that generation you will need to pay close attention as you may be easily distracted by how goofy everybody looks.
• Samuel L. Jackson is a supporting character, not a lead. The fact that he appears on the DVD case is misleading, one of those marketing ploys to capitalize on fairly recent fame. He does a good job, and there is no question that his character is important, it’s just not a lead.

Over the years, Hollywood has remade many Japanese movies and also made original movies that were inspired by Japan.

Here’s a list of some of them that I thought of. Tell me if you can think of others that I may have forgotten.

First, HOLLYWOOD REMAKES OF JAPANESE MOVIES:

• U.S. remake: “Gatchaman”
  

  Gatchaman (scheduled for release in 2011)

  Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ガッチャマン」 (Gacchaman)

  Original Japanese movie: 「科学忍者隊ガッチャマン」 (Science Ninjas: Gacchaman)

  

  科学忍者隊ガッチャマン

  (Click here to see my “Gatchaman” stamps.)

• U.S. remake: “Astro Boy”
  

  Astro Boy

  Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「アトム」 (ATOM)

  Original Japanese movie: 「鉄腕アトム」 (Powerful Atom)

  

  鉄腕アトム

• U.S. remake: “HACHI: A Dog’s Story”
  

  HACHI: A Dog's Story (release date 2009 Aug 8)

  Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「HACHI: 約束の犬」 (Hachi: A Faithful Dog)

  Original Japanese movie: 「ハチ公物語」 (Hachiko’s Story)

  

  ハチ公物語

  (Click here to read another post I wrote about this movie).

• U.S. remake: “Shall We Dance?”
  

  Another US remake of a Japanese movie starring Richard Gere.

  Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「Shall We ダンス？」 (Shall We Dance?)

  Original Japanese movie: 「Shall We ダンス？」 (Shall We Dance?)

  

• U.S. Remake: “The Ring“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ザ・リング」 (The Ring)
  Original Japanese movie: 「リング」 (Ring)
• U.S. remake: “The Grudge“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「The Juon」
  Original Japanese movie: 「呪怨」 (Juon (Grudge))

  

• U.S. remake: “Dark Water“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ダーク・ウォーター」 (Dark Water)
  Original Japanese movie: 「仄暗い水の底から」 (Dark Water From Below)
• U.S. remake: “Last Man Standing“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ラスト・マン・スタンディング」 (Last Man Standing)
  Original Japanese movie: 「用心棒」 (The Bodyguard)

• U.S. remake: “A Fistful Of Dollars“Japanese Translation Of US Title:　「荒野の用心棒」 (The Bodyguard Of The Wilderness)
  Original Japanese movie: 「用心棒」 (The Bodyguard)
• U.S. remake: “The Bodyguard“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ボディガード」 (Bodyguard)
  Original Japanese movie: 「用心棒」 (The Bodyguard)
• “Eight Below“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「南極物語」 (South Pole Story)
  Original Japanese movie: 「南極物語」 (South Pole Story)

  

• “Magnificent Seven“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「荒野の七人」 (Seven Men Of The Wilderness)
  Original Japanese movie: 「七人の侍」 (Seven Samurai)
• “Dragonball“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ドラゴンボール」 (Dragonball)
  Original Japanese movie: 「ドラゴンボール」 (Dragonball)

  

  (Click here to see an earlier post I wrote about this movie).

• “Speed Racer“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「マッハＧＯＧＯＧＯ！」(Mach GoGoGo!)
  Original Japanese movie: 「マッハＧＯＧＯＧＯ！」(Mach GoGoGo!)

  

• “Godzilla“Japanese Translation Of US Title: 「ゴジラ」 (Godzilla)
  Original Japanese movie: 「ゴジラ」 (Godzilla)

  

  (Click here to see an earlier post I wrote about this movie).

—-

And, HOLLYWOOD MOVIES THAT WERE INSPIRED BY JAPAN:

• Gung-Ho!


Gung-Ho!

• The Karate Kid
  

  「ベスト・キッド」 (The Karate Kid)

  (Click here for my post about this movie).

• Lost In Translation
  

  Lost In Translation

• Ramen Girl
  

  Ramen Girl

  (Click here for my post about this movie).

• Mr. Baseball
  

  Mr. Baseball

• Toxic Avenger II
  

  Toxic Avenger Part II

• Sgt. Kabukiman, N.Y.P.D.
  

  Sgt. Kabukiman, N.Y.P.D.

• Star Wars
  

  Star Wars

• Memoirs Of A Geisha
  

  「SAYURI」 (Memoirs Of A Geisha)

• Last Samurai
  

  Last Samurai

• Ronin
  

  Ronin

• Wasabi
  

  Wasabi

• Fast And Furious 3: Tokyo Drift
  

  「ワイルド・スピード」 (Fast & Furious) 3: Tokyo Drift

  Also, I just found this “Pixar ‘Cars’ X ‘Tokyo Drift’“:

• Black Rain
  

  Black Rain

• Blade Runner
  

  Blade Runner

• Austin Powers: Goldmember
  

  Austin Powers 3: Goldmember

• The Simpsons: 30 Minutes Over Tokyo
  (It’s not a movie…just one episode of a weekly U.S. TV show. But I wanted to include it since the characters go to Japan. And it’s funny.)

  

  The Simspons "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"

• American Yakuza
  

  American Yakuza

• The Hunted
  

  The Hunted

• Rising Sun
  

  Rising Sun

*Follow me on Twitter, http://twitter.com/CKfighter, for more blogs and updates. Also get in on the American Fighter Contest*

MMA fans most likely heard about CNBC putting on an original special showing UFC’s evolution from small time to big time. I decided to watch it so that I could give a review for you guys here on my blog. The show overall was good, and I liked it. It touched on the major themes that surround MMA; the history of MMA and UFC, a behind the scenes profile of a fighter, the creation of an iconic brand, and plans for the future. I will address each theme in my review and talk about what I thought was good and what I thought could have made the show better.

The first segment was about the history of MMA and the UFC. It showed clips of the first fights that happened inside the octagon and gave a little bit of background to how the concept of UFC came about. For old school MMA fans, this segment was both a treat and a disappointment. While it was great to see all the old clips and old history of MMA, I felt that there was still a lot left to be talked about. Granted CNBC only has so much time to squeeze in what they can, but I do feel they could have talked a little bit more about the core approach to MMA. Perhaps feature other arts as well that helped grow the sport besides BJJ. However, overall I think they did enough to cover all bases to show the start of the concept and how it grew thanks to Dana White and the Fertitta Brothers.

The next segment focused on a specific fighter to give the audience an in depth look on what goes on behind the scenes. Anyone who knows me knows the joy I got when I saw that the featured fighter was Rich Franklin. CNBC took us backstage during Rich’s fight in Germany against Wanderlei Silva. I really liked this part of the segment, of course I am bias because Rich is my favorite fighter, but aside from that I think CNBC did a good job of showing the softer side of MMA by connecting the audience with a very down to earth fighter like Rich. I would have liked them to have dipped a little more into how Rich prepares for his fight to show how much work does go into this job, but for what they put on it was a good piece.

In the third segment we got to get a deeper look into the inner workings of Tapout, the iconic brand name that is synonymous with UFC and MMA in general. As an entrepreneur myself, I really enjoyed this segment because it showed how all you need is a dream and an idea and magic happens. These three friends knew what they wanted to do, they saw something they liked and loved and wanted to be a part of it. They stuck together through everything and are now being rewarded for it. Punk Ass, Skyscraper, and Mask deserve every bit of what they have earned and I love how they spread the positive message of chasing your dreams. I really can’t say anything bad about this part of the show, it was very good.

The last part showed UFC’s competition and sort of alluded to what UFC could be in the future based on the profits that they are raking in. I liked how they interviewed Dana about the competition surrounding the UFC, and I think he said it perfectly, that this is not an easy job and to those who think that they can just stroll in and throw a bunch of money at the system are in for a rude awakening. That was a lesson that Trump and Cuban had to learn the hard way. I would have liked to have seen a little more time spent on Fedor to really drive home his potential for revolutionising the world of MMA. I also liked how they talked about the up and coming fighters that will hopefully be able to carry the UFC name that was build on the shoulders of legends like Couture and Liddell. I also liked how they touched on the critical point, that even though the UFC has such momentum they can’t afford missteps like the one made by Brock Lesnar.

All in all it was a good show. It was well put together and I enjoyed it a lot. Some MMA fans have said that it was too bland for their taste and that it was a show that was better tailored for the casual fan who wanted to know more about the history. I concede that this is a fair critique as true MMA and UFC fans for the most part already know all about everything that was mentioned in the show. Still, even for MMA fans it was entertaining to watch and what is more important is to realise that this is the beginning of the mainstream recognition that everyone in MMA has been praying for.

<!–// –>

Slept early, this morning, so woke early to day. Diet colas stacked in fridge, limited supply is just enough to control the rate which I slow down caffeine intake, to prevent headaches in future. Just took first shower in probably two weeks, and my hair is gorgeous, as always. Listened to Harry Potter episode of LEOG for the third time, and did not expect dad to want to head to Soundwave today. Will head out soon, and will hopefully return to find numerous updates on my favorite webcomics, and I will finish the comics Nathan lent to me today. Some of the Batman runs should exist in parallels, but the cracks in continuity between them have me more confused than trying to understand Alan Moore’s Green Lantern stories (without having read them, of course). Past couple of days’ve been exactly like this:

wake
eat
drink
read page one
read page two
blurry vision
try to watch something to wake the fuck up
fall asleep
wake
eat
drink
accidentally read page two again
read page three
read page four
blurry vision
try to watch something to wake the fuck up
fall asleep

UPDATE:
Fell asleep while watching the copy of Fistful of Dollars we got at Soundwave. Been dropping out of it at the damndest of times. On our way back from Soundwave, earlier, we stopped at Walmart for food, and with the energy invested in me by Clint Eastwood, I put full use of my fedora and squinty eyes to make myself feel like the badass of the grocery store, seeking justice in a lawless box mart, spreading dread in the hearts of capitalists as I strode without a flinch through the deli.
The following takes place in the passage of a complete second and a half. As we left, I was hauling everything in both arms, and just before making way to the parking lot, I caught a look at this pair of eyes staring from ahead of me. She looked young, but I’m also young, so the barrier of appropriate attraction becomes moot, which is not to improve or condone illegal and psychologically harmful tracks of mind, but I all but completely ignored her until she did the damn cutest thing a girl could do. She looked ahead at me, and without noticing fixed her hair. That I could inspire an impressionable young lady goofing around with girl-pals in a Walmart to unconciously desire better looking hair for a second sent my esteem sky-rocketing. I’m sure it was the way my delicious curls perch just beneath the brim of my withering fedora. I am beautiful that way.
Next time, on The Subtle Victories of What’s-His-Fuck in Public Situations…

DOWNLOAD THE MIX HERE

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Konshens-Dem Vex

Advocate Riddim
3. Laden-Money Over War
4. Mavado-Money
5. Elephant Man-We Nuh Know Dem
6. Vybz Kartel-We Nuh Fraid

7. Konshens & Demarco-Paper Chasing
8. Kardinall Offishall Ft. Barrington Levy-Numba 1
9. Demarco-Life As A Juvenile

Target Riddim
11. Sizzla-Children Crying
12. Elephant Man-Rapid
13. Capleton-Trust
14. Mykal Roze-Mr. Quick Fi Shoot

15. Bramma-Voice Of The Ghetto
16. Demarco-I Need A Roof

Collie Monster Riddim
17. Mykal Roze Ft. Cali P & Mitch-Mr. Collie RMX
18. Vybz Karetl-Mi Talk Wit Gunshot
19. Sizzla-World In Problems

20. New Kingston Band-In The Streets (DJ UNITE RMX)
21. Erup-Drop Dung
22. Laden-Bad Boys
23. Laden-Time To Shine (TRIBE OF KINGS DUBPLATE)
24. Peetah Morgan-Wey Mi Come From
25. Vybz Kartel-Court Case
26. Konshens-This Means Money (DJ UNITE Go Kart RMX)
27. Busy Signal-Money Tree (TRIBE OF KINGS DUBPLATE)
28. Dapz-Thing I Been Through

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been finishing up the final touches on this thing…
I now proudly present:

DOWNLOAD THE MIX HERE

Tracks:
FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Konshens-Dem Vex

Advocate Riddim
3. Laden-Money Over War
4. Mavado-Money
5. Elephant Man-We Nuh Know Dem
6. Vybz Kartel-We Nuh Fraid

7. Konshens & Demarco-Paper Chasing
8. Kardinall Offishall Ft. Barrington Levy-Numba 1
9. Demarco-Life As A Juvenile

Target Riddim
11. Sizzla-Children Crying
12. Elephant Man-Rapid
13. Capleton-Trust
14. Mykal Roze-Mr. Quick Fi Shoot

15. Bramma-Voice Of The Ghetto
16. Demarco-I Need A Roof

Collie Monster Riddim
17. Mykal Roze Ft. Cali P & Mitch-Mr. Collie RMX
18. Vybz Karetl-Mi Talk Wit Gunshot
19. Sizzla-World In Problems

20. New Kingston Band-In The Streets (DJ UNITE RMX)
21. Erup-Drop Dung
22. Laden-Bad Boys
23. Laden-Time To Shine (TRIBE OF KINGS DUBPLATE)
24. Peetah Morgan-Wey Mi Come From
25. Vybz Kartel-Court Case
26. Konshens-This Means Money (DJ UNITE Go Kart RMX)
27. Busy Signal-Money Tree (TRIBE OF KINGS DUBPLATE)
28. Dapz-Thing I Been Through

Big Up Skip on the cover

Fistful of Dollars (Joe):

I’m totally biased, especially having seen both the original Japanese film and the Spaghetti remake as an impressionable child. Yojimbo, a story about a wise warrior outwitting two feuding gangs, retold as a western with an impressively amazing soundtrack and well framed sequences.
I won’t use my regular rating system for this one, since it’s been a while since I have seen it.

For a Few Dollars More (Manco):

An unnamed gunman travelling through the arid, untamed western front (again) teams up with an equally mysterious bounty-hunter to collect on a team of bandits and their maniacal boss. A thrilling story that draws its romantic borders of good and bad the way great westerns do, and never forgetting how to wind its audience up for a good climactic sequence. Even balance of lights and darks, paced motion (relying not mostly on dialogue, not mostly on still motions, and not mostly and too much motion)… though the flashback sequence is a bit too long for me. It probably should have been revisited more than twice, and each time lasting no more than half a minute. Reminding me what happened in a slow-paced flashback makes me feel like I’m too stupid to follow the simplest of revenge plots. And some more awesome music.
SCRIPT: good
ACTION: respectable
DIRECTION: amazing
CONTENT: respectable

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Blondie):

An unnamed gunman travelling through the arid, untamed western front (again) teams up with a not-so-trustworthy cat (again) to find the stolen fortune of a dead soldier, while being chased by a ruthless assassin. Throughout all of the films in this somewhat-trilogy, Clint Eastwood’s character is recognized as the hero, but is treated in every story as a mechanism to resolved unfinished business. In Fistful, he gives the captive woman and her family a happy ending, and brings peace to the town, without really noticing. In A Few Dollars, he gives the colonel his vengeful resolution and ends the villain’s internal torture in doing so, without really trying. In this movie, the “man with no name” teaches his witty pal Tuco a series of life lessons, provides the comfort of companionship he so desperately desires, and allows Tuco the pleasure of ending a period in his life with the death of a great adversary of his. This movie IS a movie, not about the unnamed gunman, but about Tuco, beginning to end, and frankly, I love Tuco more as a three-dimensional character than Blondie as the awe-inspiring predictable badass. The music shakes my soul. The tension of Ennio’s “The Trio” and the sheer energy I get just from humming “Ecstasy of Gold” is incredible. The visual comedy is another point to admire. Union soldiers camouflaged by gray dust, the look on Tuco’s face when he realizes Blondie will shoot the noose… superb. An altogether greater movie than either preceding… it drives a story and pleases the eye, as Fistful told a story and A Few Dollars pleased the eye… The opening credits were kind of corny, though.
SCRIPT: amazing
ACTION: respectable
DIRECTION: amazing
CONTENT: amazing

One testament to the power of the Fellow’s network, as described in Julie Ross’s excellent post The Importance Of My Fellow Fellows, is the existence of these two videos below. No sooner had Abby Gray (KF6) suggested via a mass email that it would be useful to have A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story Of A Kiva Loan in French so that she can show it to her MFI in Francophone Africa, than offers to translate/edit poured in from around the fellosphere. “Spanish would be great too” lead to a similar rumbling from the Latin American contingent.

Within three days I had both translations, thrice checked over. And a lot of work on my hands. Et voila! Only… ahem…  a-month-and-a-half later, and the videos are finished.

To link directly to Un Puñado de Dólares, use this link: http://www.vimeo.com/3479976



To link directly to Une Poignée de Dollars, use this link: http://www.vimeo.com/3445730

To download either video, go to the Vimeo page (French/Spanish) of the video, scroll down and on the right-hand side below the viewing stats there is a Download section where you can download the Quicktime version (you will need Quicktime player which can be downloaded for free on the Quicktime Download Page for PC or Mac.

A thousand fistfuls of thanks to Abby Gray, Jessica Chervin, Cynthia McMurry, Monica Chavez Arriaza, and Brice Richel.

HELP PLEASE: If anyone knows how best to get these videos seen by the French and Spanish speaking world, please let me know or distribute as you see fit!

Coming soon… A Fistful Of Dollars… in Japanese!!

Like the windshield on a motor-taxi in Phnom Penh rush hour, transparency is vital to Kiva’s survival. To give interest-free loans, lenders deserve to know that every cent of their money is being distributed exactly as promised, whilst borrowers have the right not to be misrepresented.

An important aspect of this transparency, and one which Kiva takes very seriously, is the integrity of the data on its website. Allowing inaccurate data is the first step towards encouraging fraud on the site, which would have severe reputational consequences for Kiva.

A key data check is performed between the time the loan is posted by the MFI, and when it goes live on the website ready for funding. At this point every loan is reviewed by one of a team of over three-hundred online volunteers. These language gurus work from all over the world to translate loans posted in foreign languages and edit those posted in English by Kiva’s field partner microfinance institutions.

This is a crucial link in the chain of events, not only because it ensures that Kiva lenders can understand business postings and thus make informed choices, that lenders are represented with dignity and clarity, but also because it is the one time that every single loan is scrutinized. Editors can, and often do, flag issues ranging from missing information in the loan description, double-postings, loan amount discrepancies, inconsistencies or problems with the borrower picture, to potentially controversial loans, such as a loan for a cockfighting business.

The Editing and Translation volunteers range from a high school microfinance club, to returned Peace Corps volunteers who want to continue contributing to the country where they were stationed, to young mothers home with their children who want to reach out to make a difference, to retired English teachers and technical writers. They are located on six continents around the world.

In my last blog I posted a video which followed a loan from London to Cambodia (A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story Of A Kiva Loan). The client that featured in the video was the smiley and exceptionally accommodating Van Makara, whose loan was posted by field partner AMK and selected by Danielle Lieu and my other ex-colleagues in London to be the recipient of their $25.

When the loan was posted to the Kiva website by Sophanith at AMK, it landed in the work-queue of Lorne Warwick, a retired high school english teacher. He immediately got to work checking the loan posting and editing the English to make it easily comprehensible (perhaps he should have edited this introduction too). His edits can be seen below.

Lorne Warwick has edited over six hundred loans in the past four months alone. And while no-one will ever really understand the complex algorithms running within Danielle Lieu’s brain that made her pick Mrs Van Makara for her first Kiva loan, it’s certain that Lorne’s edits did a fantastic job of making the loan posting infinitely more readable (ideal for people who are sifting through Kiva loans in the office when they should really be working).

Lorne Warwick: An Editor and a Gentleman

Lorne, a keen blogger himself, kindly agreed to write about his involvement in Kiva and what goes into the editing process. This is what he wrote:

Entry by Lorne Warwick, Kiva Volunteer Editor

As the editor of the loan to Mrs. Van Makara, the subject of the excellent video, “A Fistful of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan,” I have been asked to write briefly about my involvement with Kiva and what goes into the editing process.

A retired high school English teacher, my path to Kiva was largely serendipitous. In my first year of retirement, I purposely avoided making any commitments that would impose specific structure on my day, since structure was something that had defined my professional existence for 30 years. Content to take each day as it came, I busied myself with small home-improvement activities (never quite finding time for that major renovation needed in our basement!), an education research subcontract, and some sporadic writing.

My second year found me with a desire for a little more structure, so I began volunteering at a local food bank sorting and shelving donations. The very immediate results wrought by strictly physical effort were and still are quite gratifying. However, as time went on, I began to want to be of more service to others, never forgetting how fortunate I was to have been able to retire while still in my fifties, healthy and financially secure. The thought of paid work held no appeal. After becoming a lender with Kiva, one day I noticed a button on the site that said “Do More,” and to my delight found that the organization was seeking editors. The rest, as they say, is history, and I have now been editing loan descriptions for the past year, usually assigned two sets (with an average of 12-15 per set) each week by Kristy Harrison, one of Kiva’s volunteer coordinators living in England.

Perhaps the most powerful inducement for me in editing loan descriptions stems from my work as a teacher. I always had a special respect and admiration for those students who came to me, not to complain about their mark or try to wheedle a few extra points out of the old man, but rather were genuinely motivated to try to better their academic results. Essentially, they said, “I want to improve my work, and I want you to help me to reach that goal.”

Expressing such a desire meant I was at their service, and, in partnership, as long as they maintained that attitude and commitment, progress invariably ensued – progress not sudden and spectacular, but instead slow and steady. At the end of term, students would sometimes thank me for my help, but I would tell them that they had done all of the hard work – I had merely provided a framework and structure for their efforts.

This is precisely how I feel about Kiva, its mission, and my small role within the organization. The people seeking loans, already vetted and assessed by local Kiva financial partners, are the ones who bring the commitment, the motivation, and the goals to the deal – we are merely the conduit by which those goals can be achieved. Like the students I worked with for so many years, they have my deep respect and admiration, and I am happy to be of service to them.

Which brings me to the other aspect of Kiva that I find so immensely appealing: its model does much to renew the human spirit. I am convinced that the desire to help others exists in most of us, but this spirit of philanthropy needs regular cultivation. For example, many people have specific charities to which they regularly donate, and are quick to respond to pleas for money when natural and human disasters happen. However, these contributions are often made to large and seemingly faceless organizations tasked with dispersing the funds in a responsible and ethical manner. Our involvement in assisting the lives is thereby quite limited. The Kiva model, however, invites on-going participation in the lives of the borrowers, first as we select the region, the entrepreneurial activity and the borrower, and later as we can track the success of the loan through its repayment. The entire process is a steady reminder that we, as individuals, can indeed have a positive effect on the lives of our fellow human beings.

Kiva is an organization powered by a vision that is ideal for the times in which we live. While the events of the world and the actions of our leaders may frequently invite despair, Kiva is a vital reminder of the good that still exists, indeed thrives, in the heart of humanity. I feel privileged to be a small part of its efforts.

_____________________________________________________

Postscript

To view two more examples of loan edits, go to the following links

Zinllahbodin’s loan revisions

Cecilia Andoh loan revisions

And to see a short video of live editing as it happens, check out the Cecilia Andoh loan live editing video

_____________________________________________________

If you or anyone you know would be interested in becoming part of the Volunteer Editing and Translation Team at Kiva, visit http://www.kiva.org/about/opportunities/ and follow the appropriate links.

[The latest in our Introduce Your Local Record Shop series is Bart. Bart is not only in pretty much every band in Edinburgh, most notably the superb Eagleowl, but also the evil mastermind behind The Gentle Invasion, who put on some of the best gigs in the city.]

I’ve been trying to find a way to write about this as a music fan, rather than a musician or promoter, but inevitably it’s as a promoter of gigs that I have most experience of the record shops in Edinburgh. I have a poster run that starts at Elvis Shakespeare on Leith Walk and goes up along the bridges, finishing at the Southern Bar on South Clark street. This occurs at least once a month, depending on what I have on.

Elvis Shakespeare is my favorite record store in the city, so it’s no accident that I start there. It’s a genuinely nice shop – well stocked, and so cramped for room (as the best record stores are), but the bright walls and wooden flooring make it feel spacious and welcoming. It doubles as a second hand bookstore (hence the name), and you can also get a cup of tea or coffee. The two guys that work there know me quite well (purely from doing this monthly poster run), and when I stop in we always have a chat about what the current poster’s for, what else I’ve been up to, and how things are going in general. It’s just nice spending time there.

On to Vinyl Villains, which is dark, stuffy and, in comparison, a little unfriendly. I always ask, out of politeness, if it’s okay to put up a poster, and I’m always met with the same response: “as long as it’s for a music event”. Going from a shop were I’m greeted each month with a smile and a hand shake – where both members of staff know me by name and always ask how things are going – to one were the guy can’t remember me from one month to the next, is frankly baffling.

Avalanche doesn’t fare much better. I can normally get a poster up, but it depends entirely on how well I get on with the particular member of staff that’s working that day. I know a couple of them well, but there seems to be a general policy from the management to discourage local gig posters being on show. Which adds frustration to bafflement.

This may be an isolated example, and a little to early to go on an “independent music shop that doesn’t support independent music” rant (and I do like Avalanche), but it also extends to selling merchandise. If selling a release from a local/unsigned artist, Avalanche keep 20%. Which is fair enough – in fact that seems to be standard practice. Elvis Shakespeare, in comparison, keep one copy for themselves, and then pass on all profits to the artist. An entirely altruistic system, since they can’t possibly make any money from it, it’s purely there to support local musicians. (Unfortunately as such they have to be quite strict about who they can and cannot sell in the shop – but it’s hard to fault them for that.)

They also run in-store gigs, which have included some of the best shows I’ve been to in Edinburgh. (the photo is from when Thomas Truax played there earlier this year, which could barely be described as an in-store gig, since he spent as much time running up and down Leith Walk, singing in the windows of the neighbouring shops).

But it was as a music fan I first went to Elvis Shakespeare. The first purchase I made was a German release of one of Morricone’s Dollars Trilogy soundtracks (I forget which one, though the title was translated into German anyway). Meeting Dave, the owner, at the counter for the first time, he proceeded to explain that a lot of the records in the store were from his own collection, and he picked up that particular one whilst living in Europe. This may not sound like much, but from that short conversation, I was hooked. To have that small bit of background – to know that the record had a part in someone’s life, and was now being passed on to be a part in someone else’s life (it was a present for a friend’s birthday) was really exciting. It’s that connection that’s important, and why I love record stores in general. It’s not just the music that’s important, it’s how the music fits into your life. We frequent these record stores and we have long online discussions about what Micah P. Hinson album is slightly superior – not because we quite like music, but because we’re genuine music fans. I mean I like tea, but I don’t have epic debates about whether Earl Grey is more refreshing than Darjeeling [It isn't - Toad]. Music is part of out lives. And it’s nice to see a music shop that’s run by people with the same outlook.

Oh yeah, songs.
Ghost of David, title track from the Damien Jurado album which was recommended to me by David at Elvis Shakepeare, and has since become one of my favorites.
Damien Jurado – Ghost of David

And The Chase from the Fistful of Dollars soundtrack. I’m pretty sure that was my first purchase at Elvis Shakespeare. Also, it kicks ass.
Fistful of Dollars Soundtrack – The Chase

Today was “Cowboy” day on AMC.

I told myself I’d clean the house and watch John Ford’s “The Searchers” as I went from room to room. I’ve perfected these delusions over the years so don’t go rolling your eyes.

I stayed in one room and went to other rooms only during the advertisements which, as the movie went on, increased in frequency just as my cleaning forays diminished. It’s not a very efficient way to clean a house. But, apparently, that is not the goal of AMC. Um..nor mine. There, I’ve said it.

They run the initial few minutes of the movie without interruptions and then they begin throwing more and more ads at you with maddening, irritating frequency. I was grumbling about the constant ads when I had a lightbulb moment.

I realized that there had not been a moment in the entire movie when advertising wasn’t going on. At all times, the AMC HD icon was on the lower right hand corner. On the lower left hand corner were advertisements of three lines of ascending sizes of red and yellow type for “Starsky and Hutch”, the movie with Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson, alternating with ads in white type on three lines, same ascending size, for AMC’s popular series, “Mad Men”.

As I watched John Wayne swaggering around the screen, in and out of advertisements for “Starskyand Hutch” and “Mad Men”, I thought about the academy award winning director of the movie, John Ford, a man of legendary temper and fits of pique.

If he wasn’t already long dead, this might do it. At what point does the art of this film become compromised when the viewer is constantly forced to think about goofy Starsky and Hutch and not Chief Scar and kidnapped Debbie?

I’m not kidding. Directors used to complain about their films being “edited” for TV. Do they ever complain about their masterpieces being served up as an elaborate lunch board?

After the movie was over and I looked at my still messy house, I noticed that Sergio Leone’s “Fistful of Dollars” starring Clint Eastwood was coming up next.

Poncho clad, squinty Clint took a drink from the well.

Starsky and Hutch popped up before he could swallow.

Attention, genius mythical cowboys and directors, dead and alive:

Your art has been lassoed and branded by Starsky and Hutch.

Not my idea of “Cowboy Day”, AMC.

Fistful of Dollars, indeed.

©Pat Coakley 2008

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