Retail window displays (ABC Home in NYC – Union Square). Holiday store displays are such a big deal in NYC, people line up to check them out, from Lord Taylor to Bloomingdale’s, but wouldn’t it be nice if people were just hanging out in the windows (like ABC Home).

This was actually a meditation thing, “Sit Down, Rise Up meditation marathon,” where people meditated for 24 hrs….

Here’s the article

This one’s short.  PartyMom’s got a parent/teacher conference to attend.

I will see you at this tonight, ja?  I’ll be at both shows. Taking the Mini-Me to the early one.  (See also: HUGE THANK YOU to Heather McGarry, Andy and Sabrina Sterling and John Averill.)

And while you’re there, pick up a copy of Rise Up.  Recorded and mastered and all that shit right here in p.town by Jason Wells of AudioWells.  It’s a homegrown product that you desperately need to own because it might just be their best yet.  (Yes.  I have them all.)  The first track, Ninth Ward Calling, is dedicated to the citizens of New Orleans and a portion of the proceeds from this CD sale go to Sweet Home New Orleans, a non-profit whose mission is to support the individuals and organizations that will perpetuate New Orleans’s unique musical and cultural traditions.  SHNO helps musicians, Mardi Gras Indians and Social Aid and Pleasure Club members get on their feet, earn money from their art and pass on America’s most unique cultural traditions.

If that’s not enough to convince you, they’ve got some new material on there–Nightmarika being a new favorite.  It’s my favorite drinking band with a marching problem.  Actually, my favorite band on the planet.  Not too much makes me as happy as their music.  I love sharing this experience with everyone.  Hope to see you at The Wonder Ballroom.

And there’s an afterparty.  It’s the end of an era.  No joke.  Come see me at the show for more details.

More to come tomorrow because this weekend is a GOOD ONE FOR MUSIC.

____________________________________________________________________________

Solovox-A-Thon.  It’s on now.  He lost the BeatOff by ONE VOTE.  I call bullshit.  The proceeds from said BeatOff would have gone to replacing his computer that went kaput.  NOW TAKING DONATIONS SO CARL DOESN’T DO ANYTHING CRAZY. We had $57 within 45 minutes of his tragic loss last night!  See me at M4 tonight or PayPal it to me at kerichang7 [at] gmail [dot] com.  If 60 people donated $10, we’d be golden.  Nico Bella is also donating her wages from The Crown Room next Tuesday for the cause.  Come on, family–show some love ♥

(And thank you to everyone who’s donated so far.  Make no mistake–we take care of our own.)

Have You Seen Grey’s Anatomy: Season 5 Episode 6 – Rise Up?

Episode Synopsis:

The residents and interns squabbling over procedures upsets Dr. Hunt, Erica discovers what happened to the heart she lost, and Derek asks Sloan to break out the McSteamy to distract Yang.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

Cada estudiante es motivado para crecer en caracter, servicio y en educación.

Project rise up field trip from Jonathan Gallardo on Vimeo.

defeated option

]]> http://akagenoan.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/from-the-bottom-up/ Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:27:07 +0000 akagenoan http://akagenoan.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/from-the-bottom-up/

At one point or another all of us fall short, whether it is in a test or in combat. Dejection and depair weigh heavy on our hearts, however even they have a lesson to offer us. From defeat we see our weakness and realize how we can become better, if we allow it. That is the way any person on this earth can rise up and be something amazing. The only thing needed to do this is the will to rise up and press onward to places far beyonf the imagination

We have been hearing about it for months – healthcare overhaul, public option, non public option, hundreds of billions in cost, who will cover it, death panels (seriously?)…what do you know about this debate?  I must admit, it’s complicated at best.  But hey, you’re young but not dumb!  Educate yourself.  One of the best websites out there for wading through all of the b.s. is Fact Check.org.  This non-partisan website offers an opportunity to cut through the spin and attempt to find out what’s really going on.

Republican, Democrat, Independent…we need to know when we’re being lied to and we need to demand that it stop!  The healthcare debate is a complicated one at best.  It is however, something that the younger generation needs to get a handle on.  Succeed or fail, it is imperative that today’s generation learn from this.  Educate yourself.  Rise Up.

The following is starting to go viral on facebook. I did not write this but I share in its ideals:

Do you want your country back? If we get comfortable with a small victory, if we pause to take a breath, even for a moment, we could lose EVERYTHING (politically, constitutionally & personally).

The far left has been trying to reach this point in history since before McCarthy. They can almost taste the victory and are eagerly salivating for it.

The martial arts teach us to “use your opponent’s own inertia against himself.” We can use their eagerness to trip them up or cause them self-inflicted damage. Study, take notes, know your history, familiarize yourself with their predictable moves, look for weaknesses, and be prepared and careful with what you say. Failure will cost nothing less than our personal well being, our standard of living, our personal liberties AS WELL as our children’s, our grandchildren’s & possibly our great grandchildren’s.

RISE UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SELF AND YOUR NATION!

May God Bless America!

tonight I marched for a hospital… oh, who am I kidding. it’s New Orleans. I boogied a mile and a half with a thousand other people for a hospital and for an historic neighborhood. second lining: one of the the thousand and ten reasons why my city makes your city eat dirt.

yes, in the lime green baseball cap. it’s a long story.

Martin Luther knew music has the capacity to move people.

I’ve had that experience.

If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn’t do anything to you, but since you aren’t wise, you need us who are old.

Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favour that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God’s grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace.

But since the devil’s bride, Reason, that pretty whore, comes in and thinks she’s wise, and what she says, what she thinks, is from the Holy Spirit, who can help us, then? Not judges, not doctors, no king or emperor, because [reason] is the Devil’s greatest whore.

Rise Up, Parachute Club
(Rise up rise up)
Oh rise and show your power
(Rise up rise up)
We’re dancing into the sun
(Rise up rise up)
It’s time for celebration
(Rise up rise up)
Spirit’s time has come

We want lovin’ we want laughter again
We want heartbeat
We want madness to end
We want dancin’
We wanna run in the streets
We want freedom to live in this peace

We want power
We want to make it ok
Want to be singin’ at the end of the day
Children to breathe a new life
We want freedom to love who we please

*Chorus
(Rise up rise up)
Oh rise and show your power
(Rise up rise up)
Everybody dance into the sun
(Rise up rise up)
It’s time for celebration
(Rise up rise up)
The Spirit’s time has come

Talkin’ ’bout the right time to be workin’ for peace
Wantin’ all the tension in the world to ease
This tightrope’s gotta learn how to bend
We’re makin’ new plans
Gonna start it again

(Repeat chorus)
Rise up now

It’s time, it’s time, it’s time

(Rise up rise up)
Oh rise and show your power
(Rise up rise up)
But dance into the sun
(Rise up rise up)
It’s time for a celebration
(Rise up rise up)
Everbody’s time has come
Spirit’s time has come
Spirit’s time has come

(Rise up rise up)
Oh rise and show your power
(Rise up rise up)
All dance into the sun
(Rise up rise up)
It’s time for a celebration
(Rise up rise up)
Everybody’s time has come
Spirit’s time has come
Spirit’s time has come
(Rise up rise up)
Oh rise and show your power…

America  was shocked  over the weekend when Reality TV Love went wrong. Reality TV star Ryan Alexander Jenkins murdered his TV co-star and real life girlfriend, Jasmine Flores and stuffed her body in a suitcase, that was discovered in a Southern Californian dumpster. He later took his own life after he crossed  the border into Canada. Shocking, sad, unecessary! RIP. Our thoughts go out to all of their family and friends and this time. Poor Jasmine Flores.

In other news, here’s  how you all voted your Sunday entertainment items of interest here in Hollywood on Horiwood.Com.

1. KRISTEN STEWART ON BEING AN ACTRESS

2. 10 QUOTES BY ROBERT PATTINSON FOR SUMMER

3. ART PIC – SALVADOR DALI

4. SIEDAH GARRETT’S MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE

5. REVOLUTIONARY MUSIC WOMAN: TRACEY CHAPMAN IS PROFOUND

6. VMA AWARDS: LADY GAGA VS BEYONCE

7. HORIWOOD’S TOP RANKING CELEBRITIES LIST FOR 2009

8. WILL KATE MIDDLETON BE THE FUTURE QUEEN OF ENGLAND?

9. ALEXANDER SKARSGARD IS THE NEW BRAD PITT

10. GIVE THE GIFT OF HOPE IN DISTRICT 9, NEW ORLEANS

horiwoodSuccess occurs when preparation meets opportunity; and many, not just yourself, benefit too. Together Everyone Achieves More.less than 5 seconds ago from web

Sergei Eisenstein was one of the greatest  film editors, auteurs and director/ producers known to the art and science of film editing. Eisenstein could do it all.

At The University of Auckland,  New Zealand where I went to film school, we all studied this man’s brain and way of thinking. Although his films were shot and edited in black and white, Hollywood’s film & TV editing owes much to Eisenstein’s clever innovation in editing the visual language  of the moving image. In particular, the blockbuster action, big budget film owes its action sequence editing techniques to Sergei. The city of LA is  built on other nations’ brilliance. It’s our history here.

Eisenstein’s ability under heavy censorship, made him a revolutionary of the people. He worked out a way to juxtapose images of military force of might by State that were contrasted against the softer face of human life.

Always, what was more important was the people, the masses, the majority and a sense of fairness that mediated between greed of politicians and the bourgeoise and the people who needed to be fed. I love the filmmaking aesthetic  of this man as a film editor of revolutionary social and political change.

Above is Eisentein’s Que Viva Mexico documentary, 1932. With his spirit and life’s work contained on celluloid, he is still da man today! Viva forever.  

Info on QVM: Sergei Eisenstein shot ¡Que viva México! in Mexico in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression. The courageous financiers of this project were the author Upton Sinclair, his wife Mary Craig and a small group of their friends. They had great difficulties in keeping the production going; the economic crisis forced Sinclair to call a halt to it in early 1932. Shooting was stopped with most of the work completed; only one episode could not be filmed. At the same time Josef Stalin insisted on Eisenstein’s return to the Soviet Union.

Eisenstein left Mexico with Sinclair’s promise in mind; that all the negatives would be send to him to enable the final editing of the film in Moscow. Sinclair tried several times in vain to transfer the film footage to Russia, but the Soviet Film Industry was instructed not to import the film. Eisenstein had been denounced both as a political renegade and as a Trotskyite, which was, in the eyes of Stalin, a serious offence. Preventing Eisenstein from finishing his Mexican film was Stalin’s punishment. Consequently Eisenstein was left without film work for several years and started teaching at the State Film School. The Stalinist propaganda, which heaped all the blame on Upton Sinclair for the tragic end of ¡Que viva México!, prevailed.

Two films utilizing Eisenstein’s film footage were made with Upton Sinclair’s permission: Thunder over Mexico made in 1933 by Sol Lesser and Time in the Sun, made by Mary Seton in 1939/40. Thanks to the foresight of Sinclair, who in the 1950s deposited the unedited materials of Eisenstein’s film with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the subsequent work of Jay Leyda to make them accessible, all is not lost. We are sure that seventy years of archival care and investment in preserving the essence of this film will eventually result in an authentic reconstruction of this lost film.

Many film-historians are convinced that ¡Que viva México! is one of Eisenstein’s greatest films. ¡Que viva México! stood at the crossroads of Eisenstein’s artistic development and at a crucial point in the evolution of the art of the cinema. This work deserves more than any other to be taken out of the archives, to be appreciated by a new generation! It is a treasure waiting to be discovered.

On Wednesday night I was blessed in the City of Los Angeles, to be at the Wiltern, and hear the national treasure of music that is, Tracey Chapman.

Her songs moved America, and the fire of them, still burns so bright. They are just as relevant today in this economy and in these times as they were when I first heard them, when I was 16 years old, Miley Cyrus’ age (See pic).

Above, is the song, Sing For You, which brings America back to the camp fire, sitting around it, telling stories and singing simple songs. Why so relevant? Because sharing is caring.

It’s the sound of friendship’s broken bread of melody, passed around in sweet communion on the rocking chairs of porches in the South as the sun sets amongst  old friends. It’s the simple sounds of a songstress prophetess who is singing America back to life so sweetly.

Tracey Chapman is just so wow, live! This woman is amazing! Thank YOU so much T.C! She’s like Maya Angelou singing poetry on the guitar, to all who will hear wisdom’s sweet harmonic timbre of vocally exquisite whispers. The reid of her voice is like a clarinet, harmonizing in order to resonate with her audiences’ spirit.

Honestly, it was like going to church! The church of Tracey Chapman. Profoundly spiritual. You could sense change in the air. She’s a torch carrier for global and humanitarian change.  Disguised in dreadlocks, with a guitar, or  a drum or a sitar, she sings and orchestrates the fire of change, into being.

The highlight of the night, of course, was her song Revolution. Everyone raised their hands in the air and danced in the aisles. The tables are starting to turn. How exciting.

We are IN a new revolution right now. You can always feel it, when a prophetess sings. This is their gift to the world. If you don’t believe me, go to hear Tracey Chapman for yourself at her San Francisco concerts. Incredible!

Chapman in concert, creates music and through it an experience of back-to-back, goose bumps producing moments. Tracey Chapman has still got the fire of social conscience to move America with hope. (Thanks R.P!)

Revolution lyrics follow:Dont you know
Theyre talkin bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Dont you know
Theyre talkin about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

While theyre standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take whats theirs

Dont you know
You better run, run, run…
Oh I said you better
Run, run, run…

Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin bout a revolution

….from clothing line Rise Up.  Compliments to Karmaloop.  Fresh!  Retail $65. Are you ready for Fall?

“Ueh, a batida tá pronta e deu certo, eu só vou fazer a letra”

Vítima: Yves Larock

Ladrões: Aviões do Forró

My dreams, is to fly, over the rainbow, so high! PARA: Gatinha cê gosta mais de Red Label ou Ice? ÉÉÉÉÉ FOOOOOOOOOOOODA.
Criatividade Nordestina nota mil!

The Jam-Tex selector will post a study and organization of the essential tracks of reggae music. The selector invites others to join in on the organization of these tracks.  Thus Jam-Tex presents “The World of Reggae Music Collection.” This collection of singles begins with the greatest roots reggae hits in a category  entitled “Reggae’s Superstars – The Lions of Jah.”

The Reggae Superstars category includes the section: “The Lions of Jah.” The Lions of Jah section includes the pillars of reggae music, such as Bob Marley & the Wailers, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown, Jimmy Cliff, Toots & the Maytals, Jacob Miller, Peter Tosh, Max Romeo, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bunny Wailer, Desmond Dekker, Freddie McGregor, Horace Andy, Barrington Levy, Beres Hammond, and features supergroups like  Third World, Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse, and Culture. The grouping of songs includes classic vocal groups like the Mighty Diamonds, Wailing Souls, and the Itals, and early deejay and singjay sensations like Big Youth, Tenor Saw, and Half Pint.  Yet overall this category relies on the heavy hitters of reggae music like  John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Lucky Dube, Johnny Osbourne, and Cornell Campbell.

Please feel free to comment. The selector is open to suggestions and changes. Feel free to comment on the selections, categories, genre headings, and section headings. The selector will consider track additions and removals and even the renaming of categories, sections, and genres. Without further ado…

The Jam-Tex Selector presents…The World of Reggae Music Collection

Reggae’s Superstars: The Lions of Jah

1. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Get Up, Stand Up
2. Toots & the Maytals – 54-46 That’s My Number
3. Peter Tosh – Steppin’ Razor
4. Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come
5. Burning Spear - Old Marcus Garvey
6. Third World – Reggae Ambassador
7. Black Uhuru & the Revolutionaries – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
8. Culture – Two Sevens Clash
9. Desmond Dekker – 007 (Shanty Town)
10. Barrington Levy – Too Experienced
11. Lee “Scratch” Perry – Chase The Devil
12. Lee “Scratch” Perry – Disco Devil
13. Steel Pulse – Handsworth Revolution
14. Steel Pulse - Revolution Dub
15. Gregory Isaacs & Roots Radics – Night Nurse
16. Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse Dub
17. Ini Kamoze – World-A-Music
18. Dennis Brown – Here I Come Again (aka Have No Fear)
19. Wailing Souls – Shark Attack
20. Mighty Diamonds – Right Time
21. Jacob Miller & Inner Circle – Westbound Train
22. Horace Andy – Skylarking
23. Freddie McGregor – Big Ship
24. Max Romeo & the Upsetters – War Ina Babylon
25. Israel Vibration - Get Up and Go
26. Toots & the Maytals – Funky Kingston
27. Jacob Miller & Inner Circle – We A Rockers
28. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Rebel Music (Three O’Clock Roadblock)
29. Burning Spear – Columbus
30. Lucky Dube – We Love It
31. Jimmy Cliff – You Can Get It If You Really Want
32. Barrington Levy – Saw Red
33. Peter Tosh – Whatcha Gonna Do
34. Steel Pulse – Uncle George
35. Dennis Brown – Wolves And Leopards
36. The Heptones – Book of Rules
37. Cornell Campbell – The Gorgon
38. Mighty Diamonds – Identity
39. Beres Hammond & Zap Pow – Last War
40. Toots & the Maytals - Time Tough
41. Culture – Iron Sharpening Iron
42. Dennis Brown – Stop the Fussing & Fighting
43. Steel Pulse – Ravers
44. Half Pint – Level The Vibes
45. Beres Hammond – They Gonna Talk
46. John Holt & the Aggravators – You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine/Version
47. Jacob Miller & U-Brown – Keep On Knocking
48. Bunny Wailer – Blackheart Man
49. The Heptones – Party Time
50. Bob Andy – I’ve Got To Go Back Home
51. Burning Spear - The Invasion (Aka Black Wa Da Da)
52. The Itals – In A Dis Ya Time/ Harbour View Rock
53. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Is This Love
54. Johnny Osbourne & the Sensations – Come Back Darling
55. The Pioneers – Long Shot
56. Toots & the Maytals – Pressure Drop
57. Black Uhuru – Party Next Door
58. Gregory Isaacs – Sad To Know (You’re Leaving)
59. Peter Tosh – Wanted Dread And Alive (2002 Digital Remaster)
60. Cornell Campbell – Queen Of The Minstrel
61. Big Youth – Livin’
62. Burning Spear – Rise Up
63. Tenor Saw – Lots of Sign
64. Black Uhuru – Black Uhuru Anthem
65. Jacob Miller – Mixed Up Moods
66. Steel Pulse – Blues Dance Raid (LP Version)
67. Barrington Levy, Kojak & Liza – My Woman/ Ten Thousand Woman
68. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Rat Race
69. Jimmy Cliff – Struggling Man
70. The Heptones – Fattie Fattie
71. Horace Andy – Nice And Easy
72. Mighty Diamonds – Have Mercy
73. Black Uhuru – Rent Man
74. Sammy Dread – My Princess
75. Chalice – Good to Be There
76. Culture & Shorty the President – See Them A Come/ Natty Pass Him G.C.E.
77. Cornell Campbell – Boxing Around
78. Glen Washington – Rockers (Nuh Crackers)
79. Johnny Ousborne – Truths and Rights
80. John Holt – Strange Things
81. Dennis Brown – What About The Half
82. Jimmy Riley – Love And Devotion
83. Burning Spear – Jordan River
84. Third World – Roots With Quality
85. The Itals – Brutal Out Deh
86. Peter Tosh - Why Must I Cry
87. Culture – Lion Rock
88. Barrington Levy – My Time
89. Steel Pulse - Back To My Roots / Dub To My Roots
90. Gregory Isaacs – Stranger In Town
91. Dennis Brown – Ghetto Girl
92. The Wailing Souls – War Deh Round A John Shop
93. Jacob Miller – Chapter A Day
94. Beres Hammond – What One Dance Can Do
95. Max Romeo - One Step Forward (Album Version)
96. Lucky Dube - Prisoner
97. Israel Vibration - Back Staba
98. Lee “Scratch” Perry & the Heptones – Why Must I (Version)
99. Ed Robinson – Rude Awakening
100. Jimmy Cliff - Treat The Youths Right

Do you hang with Dummies?

Have you ever heard the saying, “it takes one to know one” or “guilty by association?”  These are especially true when it comes to youth leaders.  What does your crew say about you?  Are your friends in the wrong place at the wrong time or does the wrong place and wrong time seem to always be when they’re around?  It’s a fine line to walk when you associate with people that don’t share your attitude and beliefs.  A true leader is the same person when they’re out in front of the crowd AND when no one is watching.  Leadership is not a part-time gig.  Youth often think that they can ride the line and live in both worlds but it can’t last forever.  There will come a time when you ask yourself, “are these people helping or holding me back?”  Hopefully that question comes when you can still make a change.  Usually you can.  Sometimes you can’t.

I challenge you to ask yourself that question.  If the answer is “holding me back,” you have some work to do.  It won’t be easy but it is probably necessary.  Just a thought.

Rise Up

today I was in the elevator headed down to grab some lunch, and on the 18th floor two women got on. one of them had a bundle of fliers and some tape, and she got back off on the 17th floor to hang another flier.

the fliers were for a Night Out Against Crime event, where people were asked to bring items for the food bank in lieu of a entrance fee.

the remaining woman says to me, “I don’t see how donating food is going to stop crime. I mean, I think the food bank is a good idea, I just don’t see what it’s got to do with stopping crime.”

I took a deep breath, I wanted so badly to tell her how poverty and crime go hand in hand, and how ending poverty in America is the only way we’re ever going to see a significant reduction in most crime, and if she didn’t understand that, she was an idiot.

instead the elevator hit the first floor and I smiled and shrugged like I hadn’t understood what she was talking about, and I walked out.

Não é Over the Rainbow que ele canta. É Ôh, Madaleno. Certeza. Sempre foi assim.

Quando a Aurinha descobriu que eu cantava desse jeito, ela ficou rindo durante cerca de uma hora e meia. Mas ouve, vê se ele não fala Ôh, Madaleno!!!

Da série: “Pode seguir a sua estrela / o seu brinquedo, onde está?”

Yeah yeah! So it’s conspiracy related but check it:

I had the pleasure of meeting a guy over this past summer, who was going on and on about how he believed he had discovered a way of getting free energy using a wheel and leverage. Regardless of if that was true or not, he proceeded to elaborate on about how the government would probably intervene with his project at some point to stop him from making it public.

This video reminds me of that.

-ZF

Click Here For Fundraiser Page

Our annual blowout event to raise some cash for our school project in Bodhgaya, Indian is going to be held on Sunday, October 25, 2009. This year the owner of the eclectic and unfortunately defunct Boomtown record and gift store is donating the Boomtown space for the event (located at 910 NW Harriman Ave, Bend, Oregon 97701 – corner of Galveston and Harriman near Blacksmith restaurant).

Starting in 1632, 20,000 laborers worked on the Taj Mahal for 20 years