OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 31, 2011
MME's Jam Of The Day
Joss Stone has been baptized by the deep soul experience of real folk! She reminds me of the late-great Janis Joplin with her emotive, husky, rich timbre that pulls you into her world. You will probably not hear much of Joss Stone this side of the Atlantic, but in continental Europe & Africa, she is huge. Quite a shame that here in the US we have to endure the "talents' of a Katy Perry or Lady Gaga, when there is so much quality music around. Anyway, this cut, "Drive All Night" (which she produced) was taken from her latest CD, "LP1". Of all the songs on this CD, this was my favorite one..Incredible blues/rock/soul fusion here, & the lyrics on this track carry a depth of maturity that allow the listener to feel her scars & the love that heals......
You saved me
Saved me from hate
It's so close to love
And no one's ever done anything like this for me before, no
No one's ever drove for miles to make me smile before...
Brilliant!
OneLove
:::MME:::
Occupy Your Mind!
We are living in uncharted waters. I am reminded of that Charles Dickens quote of living in the best of times & the worst of times. Absorb it in its full glory:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way......
The old world is fading & the forces that drive us all (internally/externally) are in violent flux. It is up to me, it is up to you to discern what is true/relevant & as the wise philosopher, Terrence McKenna stated, push the envelope of creativity & language & do what has never been done in order to usher in a more empowered way of being.
OneLove
:::MME:::
Musings
"There are two parts to the human dilemma. One is the belief that the end justifies the means. That push-button philosophy, that deliberate deafness to suffering, has become the monster in the war machine. The other is the betrayal of the human spirit: the assertion of dogma that closes the mind, and turns a nation, a civilization, into a regiment of ghosts--obedient ghosts or tortured ghosts."
- Jacob Bronowski.
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 28, 2011
Our Better Angels
It's an amazing thing to see the good that people can do when they unite, oftentimes in spite of impossible odds. As Akido Master & author, Mitsugi Saotome, once stated, "If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth."
OneLove
:::MME::
Oct 27, 2011
MME's Jam Of The Day
Michael Franti is the lone wolf crying in the wilderness. He is the embodiment of what being a renegade is all about. Being a poet, musician, vegan & social justice/environmental advocate, he walks barefoot wherever he goes to spread the message of peace, love & justice. Check out the following interview:
Stay alert...
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 26, 2011
Seeing
 |
Have you ever looked at something without really seeing it (or worse, looked at someone without seeing them?). I know I have which led me on a quest many moons ago to sharpen my observational skills. It's amazing when you are able to see things/people as they are & not as we would like them to be. There's a lot of power in that simple act alone, and anyone can acquire this skill with just a little practice. Here are a few quotes on this art which I found most illuminating:
We can become anything. That is why injustice is impossible here. There may be the accident of birth, there is no accident of death. Nothing forces us to remain what we were.
-John Berger
We do a lot of looking: we look through lenses, telescopes, television tubes...
Our looking is perfected every day, but we see less and less.
-Frederick Franck
People look without seeing, hear without listening, eat without awareness of taste, touch without feeling and talk without thinking.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
-Marcel Proust
Perhaps we can see best when we're looking for the least.
-Cyd Madsen
It is impossible to do a thing the way I see it because the closer I get the more differently I see.
-Alberto Giacometti
If you look at a thing 999 times, you are perfectly safe; if you look at it for the 1000th time, you are in danger of seeing it for the first time.
-G. K. Chesterton
The hardest thing to see is what is in front of our eyes.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If you learn something too well, it will get in the way of your perception of reality.
Darby Bannard
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.
-Anais Nin
A mediocre man copying nature will never produce a work of art, because he really looks without seeing, and though he may have noted each detail minutely, the result will be flat and without character... the artist on the contrary, sees; that is to say, his eye, grafted on his heart, reads deeply into the bosom of nature.
-Auguste Rodin
Clarity, insight or understanding, are only possible when thought is in abeyance, when the mind is still. Then only can you see very clearly, then you can say you have really understood ... then you have direct perception, because your mind is no longer confused.
-J Krishnamurti
Poke that 3rd eye!
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 21, 2011
Musings
Most histories understate revolt, overemphasize statesmanship, and thus encourage impotency among citizens. When we look closely at resistance movements, or even at isolated forms of rebellion, we discover that class consciousness, or any other awareness of injustice, has multiple levels. It has many ways of expression, many ways of revealing itself-open, subtle, direct, distorted. In a system of intimidation and control, people do not show how much they know, how deeply they feel, until their practical sense informs them they can do so without being destroyed...
The prisoners of the system will continue to rebel, as before, in ways that cannot be foreseen, at times that cannot be predicted. The new fact of our era is the chance that they may be joined by the guards. We readers and writers of books have been, for the most part, among the guards. If we understand that, and act on it, not only will life be more satisfying, right off, but our grandchildren, or our great grandchildren, might possibly see a different and marvelous world.
– Howard Zinn (Quote from History As A Weapon)
OneLove
:::MME:::
Poet's Nook: "Quilts" by Nikki Giovanni
 |
| (nikki giovanni) |
Like a fading piece of cloth
I am a failure
No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter
My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able
To hold the hot and cold
I wish for those first days
When just woven I could keep water
From seeping through
Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave
Dazzled the sunlight with my
Reflection
I grow old though pleased with my memories
The tasks I can no longer complete
Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past
I offer no apology only
this plea:
When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt
That I might keep some child warm
And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers
And cuddle
near
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 19, 2011
MME's (Double) Jam Of The Day
03 Put Some Music On by EddieTheIslandBoy
Verrry smooth track by the legendary Boyz II Men taken from their latest double-disc release "Twenty" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Another great track I had on repeat was "So Amazing" featured below. As usual, these brothers know how to sing praises to our beautiful sisters in soul-drenched, beautifully-complex harmonies that nourish & elevate.
02 So Amazing by EddieTheIslandBoy
Enjoy!
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 16, 2011
Laughing To Keep From Crying
Whatever is funny is subversive, every joke is ultimately a custard pie... a dirty joke is a sort of mental rebellion.~~George Orwell
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 13, 2011
Poet's Nook: "Crucifixions" by Donald Hogan
 |
| (contradictions) |
I am not an idealist, nor a cynic
But merely unafraid of contradictions..
I have seen men face each other when
Both were right yet each was determined
To kill the other, which was wrong.
What each man saw was an image of the other,
Made by someone else.
That is what we are prisoners of...
(Gotta love the powerful simplicity of this short piece).
OneLove
:::MME:::
Cutting Through The Fog
Stay alert...
OneLove
:::MME:::
Immortal Technique for President!
This interview of Immortal Technique at the #Occupy Wallstreet demonstrations is bound to go viral & spread like a blazin' fire. I say "Immortal Technique for President" knowing full well that he would probably be shot before hitting the campaign trail, but wouldn't it be great if we had folks like this leading the way to a true democracy (which is not what we have now in the US--& if you think that voting is the only evidence needed to negate my postulation, slap yourself now). I wrote about Immortal Technique a few years ago (here), and will feature his upcoming CD on this blog soon. Check out the interview & listen to what he's saying.
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 12, 2011
MME's Jam of the Day
In the 80's, the era of the R&B super-group with consistent, chart-topping hits came to a close. The Commodores, Bee Gees, Temptations, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stylistics, The Jacksons & others too many to mention, had reached the apex of their success in the 70s. The 80s saw the meteoric rise of the lone Superstar like Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna & Lionel Ritchie. Of course, you had your groups like Cameo, Con Funk Shun, Ready For The World, Atlantic Starr & The Time, but the chart-topping dominance of the super-group was over. Of the many R&B acts that formed in the 80s, the one which I felt had the most promise of becoming the next super-group was Troop, but that wasn't to be. Of all the songs they did, "Still In Love" remains my favorite & I'm surprised no one has remade this vintage Quiet Storm jam ( I think Mint Condition would do a hell of a job with it).
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 11, 2011
Jedi Mind Tricks (Guard Your Mind)
 |
| Lloyd Blankenfeld (Jedi Mind Trickster) |
Look at him. This man, born with a stupid, goddamn face you just want to punch, is the embodiment of all that is wrong in the US/world. If this scum's face isn't enough to make you want to get out there & demand a complete overhaul of our major institutions, then you're either benefiting in some way from this lopsided setup or asleep at the wheel. Regardless, more & more people are waking up & the well-heeled excrements are getting a lil worried that the "rabble"are finally figuring things out for themselves. Their smokescreens & mirrors (the mainstream media & supine politicians/lobbyists) are becoming less and less of a barrier to the truth (as people are seeking outside sources of information) of their heartlessness, greed & corruption which has impoverished the world.
For those who don't understand the meaning of a Jedi Mind Trick--It is a powerful persuasive tool used to dissuade others from pursuing what's in their best interests. The trick is to say something over and over (propaganda) until others become convinced that what you're saying is true and act against their better judgment. For example, by constantly saying that the "free enterprise system lifts all boats", people actually suspend their critical judgement of an economic system that does otherwise in the real world. As Frederic Bastiat once stated, "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men together in a society, they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." No wonder this bastard is smiling like a reptilian overlord from the bowels of Hades!
Time is a running out.....
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 10, 2011
Oct 7, 2011
Musings
"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. ... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. ... They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."
~Steve Jobs
We lost another great mind--RIP. Outside of the very interesting genesis of developing Apple Inc. from the humble beginnings of his parents garage to becoming the most valuable company in the world, Steve Jobs' personal history is also quite intriguing:
- His biological father was an Arab Muslim from Syria & his adopted parents were Armenian immigrants who came to the US from Turkey.
- In 1974, he worked as a technician for Atari with the sole intent of saving enough money to go to India for a spiritual retreat. He returned to the US as a Buddhist with a shaved head & experimented with LSD which he described as "one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life".
- He was a pescetarian, one whose diet includes fish but no other meat.
- Think different - This mantra pretty much defined the man
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 6, 2011
Occupy Everything!
Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com
Ever since I started this blog, one question I consistently posed in one way or another was: When will the American people wake up? Well, it appears that they are waking up now as years of denial & self-deception have caved into the grim facts of reality. The corporate media tried to blank out this nascent movement hoping that it would peter out, but it kept getting stronger as more and more people are now ass-out & finding it harder to thrive & survive. Even Fox News covered it for the first time today! Imagine that.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the Joint Economic Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, yesterday with the dire facts. In a nutshell, he warned that US economic recovery is “close to faltering”, and that a “disorderly” default in the Greek debt would have a serious impact here. What he didn't mention (for obvious reasons) was the greed, fraud and theft of the Wall Street pimps (& their prostitutes on Capitol Hill) who continue to get their perks and bonuses while laying off workers & off-shoring their profits, jobs & manufacturing facilities. It's way past time for this madness to end & a unified front is the only way to turn the tide & take our wealth back!
OccupyDC starts today at McPherson Square. If you cannot be there, you can still be part of the movement by donating resources here.
We are all we've got--Join the movement! . This is our moment.
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 5, 2011
Musings
“People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed
themselves to become, and they pay for it, very simply, by the lives they lead.”
Oct 4, 2011
MME's Jam of the Day
I was never much of a fan of Beyonce's music, but this cut here is a banger! Kanye weaves his magic yet again with Andre 3000 spittin' heat to make the joint sizzle. The beat reminds me of the music of the 90's (along the lines of Total, SWV & Brandy) which makes this cut vintage in my book.
OneLove
:::MME:::
Poet's Nook: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(This is a brilliant piece. In a nutshell, the poet is exhorting his dying father (& us) to passionately embrace life even if death is imminent. Don't die easily, don't give up too soon, and up to the last few seconds before being extinguished, stare into the abyss and put up a good fight! Beautiful!)
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 2, 2011
Great Performances: Cook, Dixon & Young
 |
| From left: Roderick Dixon, Thomas Young, Victor Trent Cook |
When I first saw these cats on a PBS Great Performances special a few years ago (they were the original Three Mo' Tenors), I was awe-struck by their range and versatility. I had never seen a performance which effortlessly bridged opera to gospel, blues/spirituals to soul, and everything in between, from Handel to Ellington and beyond. Check them out.....
OneLove
:::MME:::
Oct 1, 2011
Poet's Nook: "Dust to Dust" by unknown
When you’re moved to find out who you are,
study the graves you encounter as you pass by.
Inside rest the bones and weightless dust
of men once kings and tyrants, wise men, and those
who took pride in their noble birth or wealth,
their fame, or their beautiful bodies.
Yet what good was any of that against time?
All mortals come to know Hades in the end.
Look toward these to know who you are.
~Unknown/c.305BC / Athens
OneLove
:::MME:::
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