Saturday, May 31, 2014

#WOUNDED #HUMANS


#Maya #Angelou - such an inspiring woman and a life of #SHALOM.


Phenomenal Woman By Maya Angelou: 

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. 
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size 
But when I start to tell them, 
They think I’m telling lies. 
I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, 
The span of my hips, 
The stride of my step, 
The curl of my lips. 
I’m a woman Phenomenally. 
Phenomenal woman, 
That’s me. 
I walk into a room 
Just as cool as you please, 
And to a man, 
The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. 
Then they swarm around me, 
A hive of honey bees. 
I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, 
And the flash of my teeth, 
The swing in my waist, 
And the joy in my feet. 
I’m a woman Phenomenally. 
Phenomenal woman, 
That’s me. 
Men themselves have wondered 
What they see in me. 
They try so much 
But they can’t touch My inner mystery. 
When I try to show them, 
They say they still can’t see. 
I say, 
It’s in the arch of my back, 
The sun of my smile, 
The ride of my breasts, 
The grace of my style. 
I’m a woman Phenomenally. 
Phenomenal woman, 
That’s me. 
Now you understand 
Just why my head’s not bowed. 
I don’t shout or jump about 
Or have to talk real loud. 
When you see me passing, 
It ought to make you proud. 
I say, It’s in the click of my heels, 
The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, 
The need for my care. 
’Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. 



 from And Still I Rise. 
Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. 

Rest in paradise sista Maya Angelou! 





Friday, May 30, 2014

y⃣o⃣u⃣ a⃣r⃣e⃣ b⃣e⃣a⃣ u⃣t⃣i⃣ f⃣u⃣l⃣

*




y⃣o⃣u⃣
a⃣r⃣e⃣
b⃣e⃣a⃣
u⃣t⃣i⃣
f⃣u⃣l⃣





*

Powerful. Emotional. FULL of respect for Maya Angelou


Watch this video
click it into full screen
hear the words
feel the tone
read the expressions
view the woman

Maya Angelou



BOOK REVIEW 'Between the Bars'




BOOK 
REVIEW


"An emotional and educational read that charts an individuals struggle with anger 
and the challenging environment that they are forced to live in. 
The book offers solutions; useful tools and antidotes that we can employ as individuals to help us know ourselves and 'shore up' that Achilles heel. 
The book encourages us to take that leap of faith 
and rise from the ashes bathed in the knowledge of self worth and self discovery."

Jenn Mac

Between the Bars

By Pip Wilson Bobby Hossain

Paperback, 124 Pages 



This book contains the correspondence between Pip Wilson, 
who for years worked on the streets of the East End of London, 
and Bobby Hossain, as he struggled to deal with his feelings whilst inside prison. 
The diary of communication that flows between them is real and frank. 
It relates the pain, the days of darkness and 
the gradual internal strength that Bobby discovered with Pip's help.

Preview more details HERE

I just love this stuff from Gilles Peterson




City Of Saints: Gilles Peterson Interviewed

The tale of his tropical new album, 'Brasil Bam Bam Bam'...

Flying out to Brazil to make a new album, eh? Must be a hard life. Yet for Gilles Peterson, this wasn’t a task to be taken lightly – the DJ, label owner and producer’s new record, ‘Brasil Bam Bam Bam’, is the sound of decades of devotion coming to fruition.
“It was something I had in the back of my mind for quite a long time,” Gilles tells Clash. “I just felt this is really good opportunity right now, with what’s going to be happening in Brazil over the next few years, to be able to present this kind of music to a wider audience. I really wanted to create a record that was going to be able to showcase the real authentic Brazilian music, maybe more so than a lot of the throwaway records that are probably going to be released squarely and cynically for the World Cup.”
A long-time advocate for all facets of Brazilian musical output, Peterson knows his bozza nova from his salsa, his baile funk from his favela hip-hop. Using Rio de Janeiro as a base, the producer gathered local musicians – some underground, some well known, some new, some established – to work on something special.
“For me, this first record, I probably go a bit more traditional,” he says. “So, less electronic at this stage. I work with a collection of musicians, ranging from legends like Elza Soares and Marcos Valle through to kind of more modern legends like Seu Jorge, but also incorporating a few names that might not be so familiar to a European or non-Brazilian audience. So people like Mart'nália, who’s a huge star in Brazil, and Arlindo Cruz, who’s one of the most famous cavaquinho players.”
Yet this enormous blend of talent presents its own problem – namely, how to achieve any kind of unity. “So, in many cases, it’s 'How can I incorporate all those elements to make a record that also represents the club culture side, which is where I come from?’ Why is a DJ from London playing, y’know, Brazilian records on a pirate radio station in 1988? What made me do that? I wanted to bring the essence back, but do it in a modern way, I suppose.”
Scouting for talent (and doing a spot of record shopping) with close friend Floating Points, recording commenced with heavy percussion sessions. Roping in whoever they could find, the discoveries ranged from world beaters to complete unknowns. 
“For example, Naná Vasconcelos was around – who’s actually the musical director for Kate Bush when she’s going to be doing all these gigs this summer. He’s probably one of the top two or three percussionists and arrangers in the world. He was in town and I managed to get him to come to the studio, so we did two songs with him. So it was really who was around – soon the word spread amongst the Brazilian community, and soon more people became interested.”
- - -
Having Elza Soares sing ‘Aquarela Do Brasil’ is probably the highest level of emotion I’ve ever had in a studio...
- - -
Recorded largely live in the studio, ‘Brasil Bam Bam Bam’ is packed with odd little moments of improvisation, chance decisions which transform the mood of entire pieces.
“We did a version of ‘The Mystery Of Man’ with Mart'nália. I mean, she’s never sang in English ever before, so that was a bit of a struggle for her to sing it properly. Some of those songs... they weren’t really jams, we sort of just decided on a song and thought whether the singer was going to be capable of singing it the way we wanted her or him to, and then we kind of made an arrangement and recorded it and sort of twisted it a little bit when we got back.”
He continues: “Basically, we kept the record pretty much live, but with little touches of modernism. There’s a strong element of good moments of musicality in the studio, all jamming, because we had such a good rhythm section and an amazing percussionist. So tracks like ‘Xibaba’ are more popping, and the tracks with Seu Jorge, they are great rhythm tracks, they almost just sang over the top.”
Recorded in a short burst and then re-assembled in England, ‘Brasil Bam Bam Bam’ retains a certain freshness, an excitement born of live performance. “I think the rhythm is really, really important in Brazil,” Gilles says. “I mean, obviously Brazil is home to bossa nova, samba, tropicalia, you know. Many rhythms have come out of Brazil. Brazil, Cuba, South America, Jamaica and a bit of Africa – you’ve basically got it all, really.”
Fused with this percussive sensibility, though, is an awareness of the enormous range of moods, of emotions which colour Brazilian music. “There’s the real sad music, which hopefully we capture in songs like ‘Aquarela Do Brasil’, which we did on the record with Elza Soares. That’s the other side of Brazilian music, the real modern-day legends of songwriting and composition. Those people didn’t have big samba beats behind their music, and their music was completely the opposite. I wanted to make sure there was a bit of that involved in the record, too.”
Currently plotting the possibility of a full live set featuring Brazilian musicians, Peterson points to one performance as the real emotional crux of the album. “Well, ‘Aquarela Do Brasil’ was a remarkable moment for us all, because what you have to remember here is that Elza Soares is basically the queen of Brazilian music. She’s like a cross between Eartha Kitt and Billie Holiday and she’s been around since the late 1950s, early 1960s. She was discovered by the man who [originally] wrote that song, which is kind of like the alternative Brazilian national anthem.”
“She was like the original celebrity in Brazil, but she’s also had a very, very difficult life. She’s been beaten up, she’s lost her children, she’s had all kinds of problems. But the one song she’s never done on record is this song, ‘Aquarela Do Brasil’. So for us to get her to do it on this record, and for her to sort of almost express her 40 years of pain through it, was a moment that is probably the highest level of emotion I’ve ever had in a studio.”
- - -
- - -
'Brasil Bam Bam Bam' is out now on Talkin' Loud/Virgin. Find Gilles online here
Buy Clash Magazine
Get Clash on your mobile, for free: iPhone / Android
Listen to 'Brasil Bam Bam Bam' in full via Deezer, below...

a wonderful disguise



*
Stood in front of the mirror all alone,
examined my features skin and bone,
looked at this face I've always known
It was a wonderful disguise

Through the curtains the daylight crept
I looked at my lover as she slept
and as I watched her face I wept...
It was a wonderful disguise
It was a wonderful disguise
*
Outside the museum I was addressed
by a blind man in his pants and vest
I was most impressed
It was a wonderful disguise
It was a wonderful disguise

*

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Spiritual Humans.




It was all a alcohol fused
mind brain and vocal chords.

One phrase came through clearly;
"I am a spiritual person"

LOVING #KateTempest REAL #URBAN sounds and lyrics Kate Tempest

LOVING Kate Tempest
REAL URBAN sounds and lyrics
HAVE a listen and Love it Love it







Kate Tempest started out when she was 16, rapping at strangers on night busses and pestering mc's to let her on the mic at raves. Ten years later she is a published playwright, novelist, poet and respected recording artist. Her work includes Balance, her first album with band Sound of Rum; Everything Speaks in its Own Way her first collection of poems, the critically acclaimed plays Wasted, Glasshouse and Hopelessly Devoted. Brand New Ancients, her self-performed epic poem to a live score, won the Ted Hughes prize 2013 and the Herald Angel at Edinburgh Fringe. It has sold out tours in the UK and New York and is published by Picador. Her second collection of poetry, Hold Your Own, will be published by Picador on October 2014. Her debut novel, The Bricks That Built The Houses, sold in a highly competitive auction to Bloomsbury and will be published in territories including the UK, US, France, Holland and Brazil in Spring 2015. Excitingly, each track on the record correlates with a chapter in the novel, in a groundbreaking cross-genre experience.
Her single Our Town, with producers letthemusicplay was recently released on Greco-Roman records. Kate has featured on songs with Sinead O Connor, Bastille, the King Blues, Damien Dempsey and Landslide. She has toured extensively, supporting Billy Bragg on his UK tour, as well as supporting Scroobius Pip, Femi Kuti, Saul Williams and John Cooper Clarke. She is 2 x slam winner at the prestigious Nu-Yorican poetry cafe in New York and has played all the major UK and European music festivals either solo or with Sound of Rum. She's headlined Latitude festival and has been featured on the BBC's Glastonbury highlights, Channel 4, BBC Radio 1,4 and 6, as well as XFM and the Charlie Rose Show (Bloomberg) in the US.
Kate's new album Everybody Down is released in May 2014 on Big Dada records. It was produced by Dan Carey aka Mr Dan who is one of the UK’s best known and most highly-rated producers. When the two met, Carey invited Tempest to come through to his South London studio to muck about on a track or two. In a burst of intense creativity, they put down the whole twelve track album in a fortnight having spent almost a year developing the characters and story. Kate is currently working on a new collection of poems, (to be published by Picador in 2014).

#Brasil #Brazil - here is the #music - just let it roll LOVE IT

Brasil Brazil - here is the music - just let it roll LOVE IT



#RISK


I heard a song - lost it


#YMCA #UNIQUE


Monday, May 26, 2014

#POVERTY #feelings of #powerlessness, insignificance, frustration, and despair



The World Bank reported in that "the past quarter of a century has been a period of unprecedented change and progress in the developing world. And yet, despite this impressive record, some 800 million individuals continue to be trapped in absolute poverty: a condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality, and low life expectancy as to be beneath any reasonable definition of human decency "

In the northern hemisphere, the urban poor live predominantly within inner cities. In the southern hemisphere, they cluster mainly around the cities. Most of those in the northern hemisphere would be classified as relatively poor, whereas almost all in the southern hemisphere are absolutely poor. Despite many differences in the groupings of the poor, the Brandt Report and research by UNA and the WHO clearly indicate that urban poor worldwide have in common:



• feelings of powerlessness, insignificance, frustration, and despair
• fearfulness of the future
• low health expectation
• inadequate housing
• unemployment or underemployment
• insufficient money
• poor provision for education
• a higher rate of crime
• political turmoil

There are large, long-established reservoirs of the poor in the inner cities of Europe and North America; floods of work-seeking rural dwellers pouring into the cities of Latin America, Asia, and Africa; increasing streams of refugees from natural disaster and political repression. The urban poor are to be found in the CALLAMPAS (mushroom cities) of Chile, the BUSTEES of India, the GOURBEVILLES of Tunisia, the SECEKINDU (built after dusk and before dawn) of Turkey, the GHETTOS of the U.S.A., and the SLUMS of Australia. Such settlements are often a third to a half of the urban population.

The urban poor are a fast-growing, harsh reality. Despite political initiatives and concerned social action, urban poverty appears to be intractable. The situation has not been helped by the relief policies, in which so much hope has been placed. The gap between the rich northern hemisphere and the poor southern hemisphere is widening—while 25% live in unprecedented affluence, 75% are trapped in poverty. The disparity between the rich and the poor within the countries of the northern hemisphere exists and is widening. There is an apparent determinism of economic laws which perpetuates the problems of the urban poor.

The church as a whole is trapped in an ignorance about the urban poor, the causes and consequences of their poverty, and the extent and gravity of our complicity in it.

"He has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people." (Jesus Christ, in Luke 4:18,19)

Jimmy Mizen went out to buy a lottery ticket. A few minutes later, he was dead – fatally wounded in an unprovoked attack in the local bakery.



Margaret adn Barry Mizen

Jimmy – A Legacy of Peace

On the morning after his sixteenth birthday, 10th May 2008, Jimmy Mizen went out to buy his first lottery ticket. A few minutes later, he was dead – fatally wounded in an unprovoked attack in the local bakery. As calls for retribution began, his parents appealed for calm. Barry and Margaret Mizen chose to respond to Jimmy’s death by rejecting violence and revenge. Instead, they now dedicate their lives to helping young people find a better way, through the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.
Jimmy: A Legacy of Peace is a story of heartbreak, hope, forgiveness and courage. “We need to understand [our young people] in order to find out why those who hurt others do what they do,” said Barry in a recent interview with The Guardian. “We don’t need any more laws. We have the power to build the sort of communities we want to live in. It’s down to us. We shouldn’t need to wait for the police or politicians.”
Margaret and Barry, both recently awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List and who attended Greenbelt in 2011 (you can download their recorded talk, Out of the Darkness: Ending the cycle of violence, here), will speak tonight at St James’s Church, Piccadilly about their journey of faith through tragic loss, and their work for peace with the Foundation dedicated to Jimmy’s memory. Co-author Justin Butcher and acclaimed actress Amaka Okafor will read excerpts from the book, described by The Guardian‘s Erwin James (at Greenbelt in 2012) as “One of the most moving books I have ever read.”

#Statistically





Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs are not Happy.

#SUNLESS #GARDEN


LATEST VACANCIES #JOBS


LATEST VACANCIES

LATEST VACANCIES

LATEST VACANCIES

LATEST VACANCIES



Sunday, May 25, 2014

#Emotions Cards from #BlobTree Tools - #Emotional #Literacy


Emotions Blob Cards

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£25.75
ISBN: 
9780863886799
Published: 
May 2008
Code: 
0035483
Encourage young people to talk about emotions.
What are the Blobs? They are neither male nor female, young or old, slave or free! They are open to interpretation. Each character could be you, your best friend or a personal enemy. What's true for you might be completely the opposite for someone else. Blobs are a way to discuss issues in a deep, meaningful way and yet they can be understood by adults and children alike.
The groups of Blobs on these cards are acting in many familiar 'human' ways: celebrating, fighting, feeling left out, supporting or ignoring each other. Looking at Blobs together instead of alone enables you to explore a wide range of feelings and emotions to do with personal and social interaction.

Contents:

48 full-colour cards and 8 instruction/ideas cards containing suggestions for activities with small or large groups and one to one, boxed

#BlobTree style Question to you about #Coffee



Which Blob are you in terms of your relationship with COFFEE?

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Sea view


#TEENAGE LIFE #BlobTree Cards




Teenage Life Blob Cards

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£25.75
ISBN: 
9780863887741
Published: 
Dec 2009
Code: 
0035664
An effective tool to explore teenage issues, these cards provide a tool to consider and discuss a multitude of positive and negative teenager feelings and behaviours.
Blobs are a way of commicating using two of the first languages which are learnt as children - body language and feelings.
They can be used individually or for groupwork and cover topics such as:
  • Relationships and friendships
  • Bullying
  • Addiction
  • Emotions
  • Confidence
  • Self-image, and many more. Includes cards suggesting over 50 optional activities.

Contents

48 full-colour cards 125 x 80mm plus 8 instruction cards, boxed.