Funhouse

Funhouse, funhouse, funhouse....runs 'round rampant like a broken recording. A constant reminder of all the world’s ills outside this windowsill.  Vivid in my mind like flashing neon lights, running mascara, and warped faces in the frothy swirls of my morning coffee creamer…but I’m a dreamer steady hoping against hope, against ticking of the tock as people beating the clock, crawling up and down these inner city blocks…it’s a minstrel show. Aye, turn that conscious shit down and turn up! Lo behold there goes Sambo on yo' radio but like LL I can’t live without it. The beat hits them chakras...surrounded by show stoppers and pill poppers –  I call ‘em Lohans. Meanwhile, Sam I am in these trenches steady Willy Lynchin' next to booby traps promising the biggest booty so niggaz be like I got mines…clowns don't realize the jokes on them.  Signs of a time when children kill, grown men squeal and women endure madmen for rent money and cheap thrills. Blind leading the blind so the love is lost but fuck it I’mma BOSS! It cost to be. Funhouse, funhouse, funhouse…her nose is red like October with lashes longer than her lies, meanwhile his heart is in the trap steady laughing hysterically at their own demise. Huffin' and puffin' running through this maze just to huff an puff after a long day in a purplish haze. Yet, the shit got me wound up….so I pops up outta this box and startle everyone passing through. They told me keep calm, relax, and pass the time away...ignore the view. Snatch the needle off the wax. 

Information Overload

Are we suffering from information overload?

Nonsensical News
by Bornscorpion

More often than not the news can be a total drag. We are fed a concentrated form of all the world's ills in 30 minutes or less.  It can leave anyone [even if for a moment] remotely nauseated by the reports of incessant crime, injustice, crooked politicians, and the age-old battle between global powers and principalities.  Even so, the news is a necessary evil.  A daily dose of "reality check" keeps us all grounded if not painfully self-aware.  Yet, a counter-culture of gadget-geek, information junkies has emerged. The 21st-century world is an open book by way of Facebook, Google, Bing, and Yahoo!  The .com boom has evolved media and affected social consciousness.  So, is there really such a thing as "too much information?

Max Igan - The Calling

Freedom Fighter Leymah Gbowee of Liberia

Nobel peace prize winners (2011): Gbowee & Pres. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

Photo courtesy: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images

Civil war and unrest ravaged Liberia for over a decade until Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee led peaceful protests which turned into a campaign; thousands brought their message to Monrovia. The mass movement (compromised mainly of Liberian women) ultimately removed tyrannical ex-President Charles Taylor from power in Liberia. In 2003, peace was achieved in the region. Fast forward to 2011. Gbowee along with current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were honored by the Nobel Committee for their combined efforts to erradicate women's suffrage. During an exclusive post award interview with BBC's Focus on Africa program, Ms. Gbowee expressed "This is a victory for women's rights everywhere in the world" and being "confused", "humbled" and for the first time in her life "out of words". Meanwhile, Taylor is on trial for war crimes charges. 

Book Tour

In the interest of promoting global awareness and activism Gbowee wrote Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War; a book chronicling the women's movement to bring peace back to Liberia. She recently completed her book tour here in the United States. Notably, Gbowee is the focus of the award-winning documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell -- a poignant account of Liberia's recent history. 

Congratulations, Ms. Gbowee, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf....congratulations Liberia!

MUSICAL REMINDERS

X'd my Mind =
A song or TV jingle suddenly goes auto-play in your head...  

You could be in the middle of vacuuming, styling your hair, at work, driving, grocery shopping, lip-locking, staring into space, whatever.  We've all got a mental jukebox. Some songs we could karaoke at the drop of a hat, some we can only humm and garble out the hook until someone jogs our musical memory bank.

Today, I found myself chanting "la da dee dow wow" from Gypsy Woman on Crystal Water's 1991 album Surprise.  I swear THAT song will never leave my sub consciousness lol -- and more importantly nor did its actual message.  Who knows what moved the mental needle on this one, but I was pleased to remember such an awfully-good song (literally). 

This one has seen its fair share of praise and criticism; hence, the In Living Color  parody of the song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTykohWAPRg). <---hysterically funny by the way... but seriously, the message itself is far from a laughing matter.  Gypsy Woman is House music and repetitious hooks come along with the territory.  For the record this track has been mixed and sampled countless times -- getting airplay to this day in chic clubs featuring House, Techno, Ambient, B-More to Euro sound, etc.  Overall, this track falls under the category of things we either love or hate.  And for all my fellow 90's music fans out there, here's a socially conscious blast from the past... enjoy!