Poet: "Dissention" Video
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"Voices of Dissent: Activism and American Democracy" clip
This 8-minute excerpt from VOICES OF DISSENT: ACTIVISM AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY focuses on some of the brave citizens defending our American heritage of First Amendment rights and civil liberties against government attempts to repress democracy and our freedom to dissent. It features Martin Sheen, Woody Harrelson, Michael Franti, Al Franken, Medea Benjamin, Daniel Ellsberg, Will Durst, Jim Hightower, Norman Solomon, Joan Blades, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and many more. VOICES OF DISSENT uses theatre, dance, comedy, poetry, music, events, wisdom from America's founders and interviews with well-known personalities to remind us of the importance of protecting our democracy.
"Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" trailer
Songwriter. Poet. Counter-culture icon. Consummate ladies' man. Since bursting onto the scene in 1967, Leonard Cohen has inspired generations with his unique personality and haunting music, becoming one of the most original and enduring artists to emerge from the 1960s. Now, Lions Gate is proud to celebrate Cohen's legacy with director Lian Lunson's "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man," an intimate look at the songs, poetry, and life of one of music's most celebrated and influential troubadours. In January, 2005, Lunson traveled to Sydney to film the historic "Came So Far For Beauty" show, a tribute to Leonard Cohen at the Sydney Opera House organized by famed music producer Hal Willner. "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" includes behind-the-scenes interviews and live performances from this event by Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, Linda Thompson, Teddy Thompson, Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, Julie Christensen and Perla Battala, as well as a special performance of "Tower of Song" by Cohen and U2. And in a series of candid interviews, Cohen himself reveals his trademark wry humor and soulful intensity, using his own artwork, poetry and personal collection of photographs to reflect upon his colorful past and his creative process.
During the festival of Ganesh Chaturti, the last time devotees get to see their beloved lord Ganesha is before immersion. But no one knows what happens underwater. This film is a blend of fact, myth & fantasy, which talks about the journey of an immersed image underwater. All the immersed clay images, each one with innovative iconography, get animated (indicating the presence of prana). Their energy and merrymaking finally make the God himself appear, to collect prana from all the images. This leaves inanimate clay objects, which quickly dissolve into formlessness. This formless state of clay only lasts for a short time, though. In next year's festival the prana again regains its iconic form. In this respect it replicates the cosmos itself.
"Me and You and Everyone We Know" trailer
"Me and You and Everyone We Know" is a poetic and penetrating observation of how people struggle to connect with one another in an isolating and contemporary world. Christine Jesperson is a lonely artist and "Eldercab" driver who uses her fantastical artistic visions to draw her aspirations and objects of desire closer to her. Richard Swersey (John Hawkes), a newly single shoe salesman and father of two boys, is prepared for amazing things to happen. But when he meets the captivating Christine, he panics. Life is not so oblique for Richard's seven-year-old Robby, who is having a risque internet romance with a stranger, and his fourteen-year-old brother Peter who becomes the guinea pig for neighborhood girls - practicing for their future of romance and marriage. In July's modern world, the mundane is transcendent and everyday people become radiant characters who speak their innermost thoughts, act on secret impulses, and experience truthful human moments that at times approach the surreal. They seek together-ness through tortured routes and find redemption in small moments that connect them to someone else on earth. Performance artist, Miranda July, wrote, directed and stars in this remarkably original and poignant film.
At the Samsung Experience in Manhattan's Time Warner Center, Samsung unveiled its first Blu-ray player in the States. The event on June 15, 2006, was the first of many Blu-ray hardware and software introductions this summer.
Tech giants' 'nauseating collaboration' in China
In a House subcommittee hearing for global human rights, Rep. Tom Lantos accuses four major U.S. technology companies of "complete compliance" with Chinese repression of civil rights and political dissent. Their actions are, he says, "a disgrace."
Jerry Hawkins: "For When You're Feelin' Blue"
This video is one of my own songs that I wrote about losin' a girlfriend and tryin' to work through that and not give up on love. Two entertainers who always really impressed me over the years were Elvis Presley and another whom I finally got to meet in person, Mr. Mickey Newbury. Mickey was one of the finest poets I've ever known. Oh, Rod McKuen still rules; don't get me wrong, but when it comes to expressing how things can go in relationships, at times, Mickey took the prize.
Diverse (featuring RJD2 and Lyrics Born): "Explosive"
From the mailroom to "Move," to "One A.M." and beyond, Diverse innovates. A self-described poet, his rhymes are true. Shunning the pseudo-hard stance taken by some emcees in favor of everyday human experience, Diverse consistently ups the ante. Over the course of numerous releases and collaborations, his rhymes have shown that flash and substance don?t necessarily have to be adversaries. "Move" was released on Chocolate Industries in 2001, receiving a strong response from critics and listeners alike. A collaboration with Mos Def on the first installment of "Urban Renewal Program" followed soon thereafter; "Wylin? Out" would go on to dominate college radio airwaves for the better part of the summer. The "Certified/Build" 12" was enough to keep heads happy for a minute, but soon the pressure would be on. Diverse?s debut full-length "One A.M." dropped in the latter part of 2003 to critical acclaim, featuring collaborations with Jean Grae, Prefuse 73 and Madlib among others. The tour appearances and showcases that followed packed venues, seeing fans channel the same charismatic energy that keeps our guy in the studio late at night. With a grueling tour schedule and verbal delivery that would make UPS envious, Diverse has still found time to collaborate with other artists and work on fresh releases of his own. Be on the lookout for the next full-length, "Round About," in your area sometime next year.
Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy: "Faster Kill Pussycat"
A Lively Mind is Paul Oakenfold's second artist album and his second for Perfecto Records. Of course, every single one of his mix albums and projects have involved a high level of artistry, so perhaps a little explanation is in order... Paul Oakenfold has long been one of the most important--if not the most important--name in modern club culture. People who don't know that much about DJ culture or the music itself are familiar with Oakenfold's name and what he represents. Of course, many people who think they're unfamiliar with Oakenfolds music actually may have heard it often, thanks to appearances globally on the radio and TV featured in commercials supports mega brands such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, Motorola and Saab all which ran throughout 2005, not to mention his contributions to hit films such as Swordfish (which Oakenfold scored), The Matrix Reloaded and Michael Manns Collateral. In fact, when the superstar DJ sold out the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago, many pundits viewed the events as definitive proof that dance culture had finally arrived in America--a force as powerful as any other in modern pop music. Still, when he works as a DJ and/or as a remixer and releases mix CDs it's not a total expression of this Grammy Nominated artists musical creativity. Thus, A Lively Mind features 12 new songs composed and created by Paul Oakenfold. A work of love and passion, its been three years in the making. Bunkka, his debut artist album featuring the hits Ready Steady Go and Starry Eyed Surprise, was released in 2002, sold over a million copies worldwide and went Gold. "I'm an infant in the 'artist' world, weaned and ready to blossom," jokes the composer. "I still primarily believe that songs are the way to move forward in my musical world, which has always been very instrumentally-based. So coming up with great songs takes time. And, naturally, I'd jump from making the record to working on cues for films or doing a couple of remixes and then I'd get inspired and jump back into it. Some of the tracks have been reworked many times over to find a comfortable arena for me. "Plus, even though there are 12 tracks on the CD, I've recorded quite a few more. It wasn't a process of seeing what I could come up with and that's what's ended up on the album. There was a lot of tooing and froing until I was happy with the record". By his own admission, however, Oakenfold is not a singer. Bunkka featured such guest vocalists as Perry Farrell, Ice Cube, Tricky, Nelly Furtado, and--in what would turn out to be his final recorded appearance--Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A Lively Mind continues the tradition of employing unique vocalists. "Faster Kill Pussycat," the kickoff track and first single, is perhaps the most unique and somewhat shocking of the album when it comes to guest singers. The song--which started life as a rock tune but now might best be described as reminiscent of a young Madonna at her very best--features the astounding singing talents of... Brittany Murphy. Yes, that Brittany MurphyEminems girlfriend in 8 Mile. The femme fatale in Sin City. The actress-turned-diva was recommended to Oakenfold by a mutual friend Oakenfold claims, by the way, to be totally unfamiliar with Russ Meyer's cult classic film, Faster, Pussycat, Kill Kill. "I was looking for a different genre and a different feel and something just original for me," explains Oakenfold. "I knew I wanted a girl vocalist but also someone who's not known as a singer. It had to be someone from a completely different world than mine. It ultimately seemed that film was the right place to look because I was venturing more and more into that world. But even more importantly, I needed someone who could sing--who could really, really sing--and Brittany Murphy fit the bill." The world of film--or at least of Hollywood--influenced another of the albums stand out tracks, this one featuring vocals by modern hip-hop great Pharrell Williams. Inspired by the four years the London-Raised Oakenfold has called L.A. "home," the track is titled "Sex 'N Money." "It was actually an idea I came up for my last record that didn't make it because it was to hip-hop back then and I already had enough hip-hop songs on that album," says the writer. "So I shelved it and then later came across it while hunting for some old stuff. I liked the lyrical connotations of sex and money, thinking if anything, it's more relevant to today. "It's a song about how soulless the Hollywood party scene can be. Ive been in situations where people are introduced to me and then they spot a celebrity, standing nearby, and they disappear, literally mid sentence. So the track is really Hollywood in a nutshell for me--it's all sex and money. We deconstructed our original track and rewrote it for Pharrell, in a way that's melodic and hypnotic and just keeps coming back at you in waves." Other vocalists include two artists signed to Oakenfold's long-running Perfecto custom label--Spitfire (who performs on "No Compromise" and "Feed Your Mind") and Ashley of the rock band Bad Apples (who adds his vocal talents to "Vulnerable"). And then theres one who can only be described as a true living legend. Grandmaster Flash, the man who gave birth to the whole hip-hop movement in the early '80s with his classic "The Message," joins Oakenfold on "Set It Off." "Flash and I have long talked about making a track together hes the godfather! So it was truly an honor to work with him. I don't think there's another DJ I would actually make a record with but I really liked the idea of the guy who arguably started the whole DJ thing being on my record. And I liked the idea of our worlds colliding and our sounds clashing. That's why the track is a little more electronic than some of the others. It's a perfect blend of both our elements." A perfect blend could also be the perfect phrase to describe the cohesiveness of A Lively Mind a title which means an active person, says its creator. Balance was the key on this one, and the artist believes that this album may strike with a larger audience than Bunkka, an album that tended to alienate a small portion of his large audience. "What I set out to do on my last record was probably one step ahead of the game," he says in retrospect. "The dance world or electronic world was expecting more of a DJ record and I wanted to make a record that was more out there. Direction is hugely important to me--to have a balance. And I felt like maybe I'd lost a bit of balance on Bunkka. So this record is a lot more up-tempo, a lot more focused, and a lot more comfortable in the electronic world than the last record was and yet it still has a variety of flavors." In fact, some of the titles and themes on the album have a direct correlation to that electronic and dance world, both lyrically and title-wise. "Save The Last Trance For Me" is, of course, a play on words from the Drifters' classic "Save The Last Dance For Me." His critics get their comeuppance in "No Compromise." And the instrumental "Amsterdam" pays tribute to a city that plays host to the biggest dance scene in Europe. Of course, on some levels, it seems almost absurd to think of Paul Oakenfold needing to get "more comfortable" in anything involving the electronic world. After all, the guy helped invent that world. His mark can be seen and heard in everything from the early rise of hip-hop to the birth of the "Madchester" scene. Oakenfolds career began in London, when he began DJing in small clubs around the West End. His rising reputation led to a job as an A&R rep at the UK-based Champion label, where his first signing was Will Smith (still part of Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince). His second? Salt N' Peppa. Not bad for a novice record exec. After stints at Profile and Def Jam (where he perfected the talent scouting skills that would eventually lead him to start his own Perfecto label in 1991), he returned to DJing. Oakenfold changed European youth culture throughout the late '80s and early '90s. He was one of the first DJ's to have a residency on the Island of Ibiza, leading to both a new sound and a yearly festival. He also started regular "Balearic" club nights in London, attracting a crossover audience and remixed legendary bands such as The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays (whose Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches album was produced by Oakenfold and his production partner Steve Osborne, becoming the biggest album of the band's career). His pivotal role in the Manchester scene was Oakenfold's visa into the rock world. Over the next several years, he, along with Osborne, remixed tracks by legendary bands New Order, The Cure and Massive Attack. In 1991, he first worked with U2 remixing "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and "Mysterious Ways" from their Achtung Baby album. It was the start of a long partnership with that band. He was the DJ on their historic ZOO TV tour and later remixed the band's "Beautiful Day," a number one hit for U2 on the U.S. and U.K. dance charts. Over the years, he's remixed tracks for everyone from Madonna to Elvis Presley to Justin Timberlake to Moby to Snoop Doggy Dog. He's the first electronic artist ever to be in the Guinness Book of World Records--for being the biggest DJ in the world. He's the only DJ to have a display case in the Hard Rock Cafe's Rock & Roll Museum. 2003 also saw Paul perform a concert on the Great Wall of China. That same year, not only was he honored with the UK's "Pioneer of Dance Music" award, which was presented by Queen Elizabeth herself at the "Pioneers of the Nation" celebration," shortly after Oakenfold had played the Nelson Mandela-organized South African AIDS benefit concert alongside Bono, Peter Gabriel and Beyonce Knowles. Oakenfolds mix compilation Another World (Perfecto) sold over 500,000 in the U.S. alone making it the biggest selling DJ compilation. He's also one helluva cook, having graduated from culinary school before beginning his journey in the music world. Now comes A Lively Mind, a totally new and fresh venture and perspective, musically speaking, for the artist. The album is just the beginning of an amazing 2006 that will find Oakenfold working on the scores of at least three new films--as well as remixing a number of singles including Madonnas new record Confessions of a Dance Floor and a track from the legendary Burning Spear. At the same time, the Perfecto label is releasing debut albums by the aforementioned Spitfire (who Oakenfold compares to a young Anthony Kiedis) and the London-by-way-of-Los Angeles Bad Apples. Then there's the U.S. and European tour that will follow the new albums release.
The Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race 2005
For the first time in its 23-year history, a course correction was required at the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race. The white kaps in the bay were so foreboding Sunday morning that a conference of course and city officials was quickly convened. All concurred to move the water segment of the course to the protected area at the Fort Worden State Park pier, next to the quicksand course. The stiff, chilly winds failed to deter anyone from the pre-race ceremonies, not even the BBC crew filming the event for its children's TV series, "Only in America." After surviving the beach and water at Fort Worden, the 16 entrants endured an especially windy and More-Dismal-Than-Usual Bog churned up at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. A stalwart crowd cheered and hooted as some teams slogged through the mud the hard way while others bribed their way down the sidelines. "Look the other way everyone, the judges are cheating!" Efra announced as Supreme Court reversed its motion and was lifted out of what had appeared to be a permanent restraining order of knee-deep mud." Port Townsend, Leader Newspaper (Wednesday, October 4, 2005)
