"They'll never play surf music again..." Jimi wouldn't dig all the refried tan lines and beach bummified combers of St. Augustine. Europe claims it as its longest held territorially occupied city. In 1564 a strong Spanish fleet obliterated a small occupation of French and free blacks in the region that would become Jacksonville. A year later St. Augustine was born... (for more history read a brochure!)
I was there to visit the incredible facilities of The University of St. Augustine's School for Health Sciences. This is the university utopia for prospective physical and occupational therapists. I had the distinct pleasure of touring the campus and sitting in on two classes during my two-day stay in the city. I landed in Jacksonville after a brief 50 minute flight from Atlanta and an equally long drive to St. A.
I checked in and received a campus tour from an admissions assistant. She was kind enough to confirm receipt of my application. The main lab building was huge. Approx. 60 treatment tables in ONE LAB! Wow! A GREAT gym, treatment pool, and juice bar.
Thursday I sat in on a "Clinical Massage and Manipulation" class. Though I went there to get a taste of class structure I picked up a few techniques and peed the "demographics." I think I saw one cute sista... the whole time there but that's okay. "Remember your priorities," the little voice in my head said... but, I couldn't help but notice the lack of melanin in the place I hope to attend. I stayed for three and a half hours still hoping to add some punch to the punch as a student.
I got a bite to eat on a beach front spot and checked into my hostel. http://www.casayallaha.com/ For those of you who may not know about B&B's and hostels... there THE ONLY PLACE to STAY when traveling on a budget. For around $28 I got a room and a fully furnished house at my disposal. The owner was quite friendly and after a "character check," house tour, and a few ground rules, I settled into my dorm. Fortunately I had the entire room to myself and read The Spellbinder's Gift by, OG Mandino from Tim's personal library.
Dinner at the Columbian. A Heinekin and I read myself to sleep, turning in early around 10:30.
Friday morning I awoke around 6:30, still programmed from my usual daily work routine... no problem. I made a pot of coffee for the house around 9am and Tim loved it! I showered, shaved, and dressed for my day of observation at the university. Making a good impression on my tourguide afforded me an observation in a Neurology class where students were locating structures on human brains. That's right! After a lecture and orientation groups of 5 students prodded specimens.
Another beach front lunch, completion of The Spellbinder, and I was about ready to leave for Jacksonville.
My flight got delayed and I studied James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Revelation at the terminal. With my ipod churning out tunes the time quickly passed and I enjoyed a quick flight home...
In a few weeks I'll know if I'm considered for an interview... I sure hope to return to St. Augustine!
-delano
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
PIMpS (Big Boi in the News)
'Sneakerheads' pay big bucks for rare kicksStory Highlights
Big Boi says he has 400 pairs, including crocodile-skin Nikes he's never worn
Shoe companies capitalizing on niche demand for rare, limited-edition sneakers
Sneakerology teacher: "If they've got money, they can buy coolness"
By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- OutKast's Big Boi is a junkie, has been for years.
Big Boi: "You can really tell a lot about a person through the shoes, so I always like to keep me a fresh pair."
1 of 3 The multiplatinum rap star got his first shoe fix back when he was better known as Antwan Patton, a busboy at Steak and Ale. He saved up his paychecks and rushed to a dealer to cop the only thing that could cure his jones -- a pair of British Knights tennis shoes.
"I've actually been into sneakers since I was a little kid," Big Boi, 34, said backstage before his concert this month at the Sneaker Pimps exhibition in Atlanta. "You can really tell a lot about a person through the shoes, so I always like to keep me a fresh pair."
Sneaker culture has thrived for decades, but shoe companies have increasingly capitalized on the demand for one-of-a-kind kicks. Collectors, known as sneakerheads, have lined up to pay hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to ensure few people are wearing the same shoes. See some of the rarest shoes »
"Coming up, my mom got five kids so there wasn't a whole lot of stylish tennis shoes around the house, so I used to want a lot of sneakers," Big Boi said, explaining that he started making up for lost time -- and shoes -- long before OutKast's 1994 debut, "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik."
Juan Castaneda, 27, also grew up in a family of modest means and longed to don the fresh kicks he saw his peers wearing.
"When I got money to buy them, I started catching up," said Castaneda, who works at a nursing home in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Don't Miss
Miuccia Prada, the reluctant fashionista
He estimates he owns about 200 pairs of sneakers, including a pair of Nike Air Jordan XIs with patent-leather trim called "Space Jams." They cost him $500.
It's supply and demand at its simplest, said Elliott Curtis, a former Carnegie Mellon University basketball player who for two semesters taught Sneakerology 101, billed as the first accredited class on sneaker culture.
Shoe companies create a limited number (say, a few hundred pairs) of shoes -- even if it's just an old model with new colors or materials -- and demand automatically spikes.
"It's like a status symbol. If Nike is selling a shoe for $2,000, they're not expecting to sell that many," the recent graduate said, adding that sneakerheads are drawn to scarcity.
"If they've got money, they can buy coolness," Curtis said.
Curtis goes to garage sales and mom-and-pop stores seeking rare and retro sneakers for his 75-pair collection, but he concedes he's waited in line for limited editions and paid as much as $250 for a pair.
Sporting an ultra-rare set of blue-and-red "Bugs Bunny" Nike Air Jordan VIIIs, Big Boi said he today boasts at least 400 pairs of sneakers, but he rarely pays for them because shoe companies send him pairs.
His most expensive, a pair of crocodile-skin Nike Air Force 1s, sell on various auction sites for up to $1,800. Big Boi has never worn them, but he plans on taking them out of their Nike lockbox this summer so he can wear them in a video for his upcoming solo album.
To Peter Fahey, the mastermind behind Sneaker Pimps shoe shows, Big Boi's enthusiasm is typical.
Sneaker culture got its start in New York in the 1970s, mostly among playground streetballers and practitioners of an emerging genre of music called hip-hop. Over the next three decades, rappers and basketball players -- most notably, Run DMC and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan -- would play integral roles in boosting the popularity of rare kicks.
"Run DMC were probably at the height of the whole movement. It was the first time music and sneakers crossed like this," Fahey said of the group's 1986 hit, "My Adidas."
Today, Adidas, Nike and Puma compete with luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada and Gucci. The major sports shoe companies also allow customers to design their own shoes. Upstarts such as San Francisco's JB Classics and Japan's Madfoot and KKOK have snatched up market share as well.
Shoe companies realize hip-hop's influence and work hard to get "a fresh pair of steps" on a rapper's feet. Earlier this year, Converse released a line of its iconic All-Stars in tandem with Chicago rhymesmith Lupe Fiasco. Nike has issued two versions of the Air Yeezy, inspired by rapper-producer Kanye West. Louis Vuitton also has teamed up with West.
Some lines, such as the Yeezys, quickly become collectors' items. Die-hard sneakerheads keep them in their original boxes like "Star Wars" action figures and ferret them away in closets, their soles never to be scuffed by a sidewalk.
Bryan Lyle, 22, of Stockbridge, Georgia, said he recently camped out three nights at an Atlanta boutique to get one of the shop's eight pairs of Air Yeezys.
Lyle paid $300, a small fortune for shoes, but Castaneda said the price more than doubled within days. He got a pair of Yeezys from an eBay merchant in Hong Kong. The damage? $700.
Castaneda's girlfriend, Melissa Bailey, 26, said Castaneda actually bought three pairs. He found two online and paid someone to camp out for the others. Castaneda's modus operandi is to buy three pairs of his favorite shoes -- one to wear, one to store for later and one to sell or trade, she said.
"He will not walk through grass. He will not walk through dirt," Bailey said.
Fahey held his first Sneaker Pimps show in Sydney, Australia, in 2003, but only 200 people showed up. Soon, however, tens of thousands would attend shows in more than 60 cities. A 2006 show in Jakarta, Indonesia, drew about 13,000 sneakerheads.
The shows now feature between 1,000 and 1,500 shoes. Some are rare. Others are signed by celebrities. Hip-hop acts are a staple, as is artwork -- on both kicks and canvas.
At this month's show, hundreds of sneaker enthusiasts filed through Atlanta's Tabernacle with the decorum of museum patrons, stopping to admire the shoes displayed on swaths of chain-link fence.
There were novice sneakerheads, such as Chris Shepherd, 20, and Charnelle Cook, 20, an Atlanta couple who marveled over the DC Comics and Transformers sneakers.
Asked about her multicolored hightops, Cook said, "I couldn't tell you what these are called. All I know is they're Reeboks, and they're fly."
There were seasoned collectors, such as Kyle Self, 35, of Decatur, Georgia, who said he had about 25 pairs, some of them still in their boxes, including three pairs of $400 low-top Pradas, which he called his "everyday sneakers."
There were even female collectors, such as artist Estasha Goodwin, 23, who modeled a pair of shimmering gold, winged -- yes, winged -- hightops made by Adidas and designer Jeremy Scott.
She complained that shoe companies too often focus on the male market and ignored female aficionados.
"When they do cater to us, it's always bubblegum pink. They don't even make them in our sizes," she said. "I know women who know more about sneakers than any dude out here today."
Incidentally, her favorite of the 15 pairs she owns were made for men -- the Nike "Ace of Spades" Dunks, inspired by the Detroit Tigers' high-kicking pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, who is prominently featured on the black-and-aqua shoe's hightop.
Asked why she shelled out $250 for them, she gave a familiar response: "It's a feeling you get when you know you're the only one that has something. Even if you're not, it's the way you walk it."
Big Boi says he has 400 pairs, including crocodile-skin Nikes he's never worn
Shoe companies capitalizing on niche demand for rare, limited-edition sneakers
Sneakerology teacher: "If they've got money, they can buy coolness"
By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- OutKast's Big Boi is a junkie, has been for years.
Big Boi: "You can really tell a lot about a person through the shoes, so I always like to keep me a fresh pair."
1 of 3 The multiplatinum rap star got his first shoe fix back when he was better known as Antwan Patton, a busboy at Steak and Ale. He saved up his paychecks and rushed to a dealer to cop the only thing that could cure his jones -- a pair of British Knights tennis shoes.
"I've actually been into sneakers since I was a little kid," Big Boi, 34, said backstage before his concert this month at the Sneaker Pimps exhibition in Atlanta. "You can really tell a lot about a person through the shoes, so I always like to keep me a fresh pair."
Sneaker culture has thrived for decades, but shoe companies have increasingly capitalized on the demand for one-of-a-kind kicks. Collectors, known as sneakerheads, have lined up to pay hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to ensure few people are wearing the same shoes. See some of the rarest shoes »
"Coming up, my mom got five kids so there wasn't a whole lot of stylish tennis shoes around the house, so I used to want a lot of sneakers," Big Boi said, explaining that he started making up for lost time -- and shoes -- long before OutKast's 1994 debut, "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik."
Juan Castaneda, 27, also grew up in a family of modest means and longed to don the fresh kicks he saw his peers wearing.
"When I got money to buy them, I started catching up," said Castaneda, who works at a nursing home in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Don't Miss
Miuccia Prada, the reluctant fashionista
He estimates he owns about 200 pairs of sneakers, including a pair of Nike Air Jordan XIs with patent-leather trim called "Space Jams." They cost him $500.
It's supply and demand at its simplest, said Elliott Curtis, a former Carnegie Mellon University basketball player who for two semesters taught Sneakerology 101, billed as the first accredited class on sneaker culture.
Shoe companies create a limited number (say, a few hundred pairs) of shoes -- even if it's just an old model with new colors or materials -- and demand automatically spikes.
"It's like a status symbol. If Nike is selling a shoe for $2,000, they're not expecting to sell that many," the recent graduate said, adding that sneakerheads are drawn to scarcity.
"If they've got money, they can buy coolness," Curtis said.
Curtis goes to garage sales and mom-and-pop stores seeking rare and retro sneakers for his 75-pair collection, but he concedes he's waited in line for limited editions and paid as much as $250 for a pair.
Sporting an ultra-rare set of blue-and-red "Bugs Bunny" Nike Air Jordan VIIIs, Big Boi said he today boasts at least 400 pairs of sneakers, but he rarely pays for them because shoe companies send him pairs.
His most expensive, a pair of crocodile-skin Nike Air Force 1s, sell on various auction sites for up to $1,800. Big Boi has never worn them, but he plans on taking them out of their Nike lockbox this summer so he can wear them in a video for his upcoming solo album.
To Peter Fahey, the mastermind behind Sneaker Pimps shoe shows, Big Boi's enthusiasm is typical.
Sneaker culture got its start in New York in the 1970s, mostly among playground streetballers and practitioners of an emerging genre of music called hip-hop. Over the next three decades, rappers and basketball players -- most notably, Run DMC and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan -- would play integral roles in boosting the popularity of rare kicks.
"Run DMC were probably at the height of the whole movement. It was the first time music and sneakers crossed like this," Fahey said of the group's 1986 hit, "My Adidas."
Today, Adidas, Nike and Puma compete with luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada and Gucci. The major sports shoe companies also allow customers to design their own shoes. Upstarts such as San Francisco's JB Classics and Japan's Madfoot and KKOK have snatched up market share as well.
Shoe companies realize hip-hop's influence and work hard to get "a fresh pair of steps" on a rapper's feet. Earlier this year, Converse released a line of its iconic All-Stars in tandem with Chicago rhymesmith Lupe Fiasco. Nike has issued two versions of the Air Yeezy, inspired by rapper-producer Kanye West. Louis Vuitton also has teamed up with West.
Some lines, such as the Yeezys, quickly become collectors' items. Die-hard sneakerheads keep them in their original boxes like "Star Wars" action figures and ferret them away in closets, their soles never to be scuffed by a sidewalk.
Bryan Lyle, 22, of Stockbridge, Georgia, said he recently camped out three nights at an Atlanta boutique to get one of the shop's eight pairs of Air Yeezys.
Lyle paid $300, a small fortune for shoes, but Castaneda said the price more than doubled within days. He got a pair of Yeezys from an eBay merchant in Hong Kong. The damage? $700.
Castaneda's girlfriend, Melissa Bailey, 26, said Castaneda actually bought three pairs. He found two online and paid someone to camp out for the others. Castaneda's modus operandi is to buy three pairs of his favorite shoes -- one to wear, one to store for later and one to sell or trade, she said.
"He will not walk through grass. He will not walk through dirt," Bailey said.
Fahey held his first Sneaker Pimps show in Sydney, Australia, in 2003, but only 200 people showed up. Soon, however, tens of thousands would attend shows in more than 60 cities. A 2006 show in Jakarta, Indonesia, drew about 13,000 sneakerheads.
The shows now feature between 1,000 and 1,500 shoes. Some are rare. Others are signed by celebrities. Hip-hop acts are a staple, as is artwork -- on both kicks and canvas.
At this month's show, hundreds of sneaker enthusiasts filed through Atlanta's Tabernacle with the decorum of museum patrons, stopping to admire the shoes displayed on swaths of chain-link fence.
There were novice sneakerheads, such as Chris Shepherd, 20, and Charnelle Cook, 20, an Atlanta couple who marveled over the DC Comics and Transformers sneakers.
Asked about her multicolored hightops, Cook said, "I couldn't tell you what these are called. All I know is they're Reeboks, and they're fly."
There were seasoned collectors, such as Kyle Self, 35, of Decatur, Georgia, who said he had about 25 pairs, some of them still in their boxes, including three pairs of $400 low-top Pradas, which he called his "everyday sneakers."
There were even female collectors, such as artist Estasha Goodwin, 23, who modeled a pair of shimmering gold, winged -- yes, winged -- hightops made by Adidas and designer Jeremy Scott.
She complained that shoe companies too often focus on the male market and ignored female aficionados.
"When they do cater to us, it's always bubblegum pink. They don't even make them in our sizes," she said. "I know women who know more about sneakers than any dude out here today."
Incidentally, her favorite of the 15 pairs she owns were made for men -- the Nike "Ace of Spades" Dunks, inspired by the Detroit Tigers' high-kicking pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, who is prominently featured on the black-and-aqua shoe's hightop.
Asked why she shelled out $250 for them, she gave a familiar response: "It's a feeling you get when you know you're the only one that has something. Even if you're not, it's the way you walk it."
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Patience is Virtuous
Today was one of those days that just felt weird.
Mother Nature sent us a reminder of fall while summer encroaches on us with glaring 87degree afternoons. May daisies and a buzzer beater victory of the Orlando Magic over the nearly perfect-at-home, Cleveland Cavaliers; it was overcast and patients behaved oddly...
I got a reminder of why I'm on my path, which is a good thing leading up to my trip to Florida in two weeks.
A patient called in to schedule an appointment and had no earthly idea about the process of using his insurance to pay for PT services. Something familiar in his voice drummed all the patience I could muster to help guide him towards understanding. I explained to him how insurance works and provided a couple of scenarios that could play out once I got his policy verified. He was very gracious and I did my job well to get him scheduled, despite taking an extra two minutes to do-so.
I had a moment after that phone call. I felt concerned for the many people who get less than tender loving care when trying to navigate the choppy waters of insurance and paying for medical services. I hope to one day try to educate many people on the basics of how insurance works, how to select a good plan, and how to stay on top of your claim once filed and services have been rendered.
Again, this is about doing what others don't care, or have the time to do... explain, repeat, review, and educate.
Something just feels right about leading people to understanding, something empowering, something potentially life-changing...
May this reach you in peace of heart and mind.
-rev. run (kidding!)
-delano :c)
Mother Nature sent us a reminder of fall while summer encroaches on us with glaring 87degree afternoons. May daisies and a buzzer beater victory of the Orlando Magic over the nearly perfect-at-home, Cleveland Cavaliers; it was overcast and patients behaved oddly...
I got a reminder of why I'm on my path, which is a good thing leading up to my trip to Florida in two weeks.
A patient called in to schedule an appointment and had no earthly idea about the process of using his insurance to pay for PT services. Something familiar in his voice drummed all the patience I could muster to help guide him towards understanding. I explained to him how insurance works and provided a couple of scenarios that could play out once I got his policy verified. He was very gracious and I did my job well to get him scheduled, despite taking an extra two minutes to do-so.
I had a moment after that phone call. I felt concerned for the many people who get less than tender loving care when trying to navigate the choppy waters of insurance and paying for medical services. I hope to one day try to educate many people on the basics of how insurance works, how to select a good plan, and how to stay on top of your claim once filed and services have been rendered.
Again, this is about doing what others don't care, or have the time to do... explain, repeat, review, and educate.
Something just feels right about leading people to understanding, something empowering, something potentially life-changing...
May this reach you in peace of heart and mind.
-rev. run (kidding!)
-delano :c)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Seeds!
with the spring came the cool breeze of children...
2009 has been the year of new additions to my circle of friends
the miracle of childbirth has never meant so much to me
as I welcome new arrivals to the planet!
With so much drama in the economy I see what folks did with those long nights in; saving money.
1. SG. her son nearly cost her her life after some postpartum complications - reminds me that even with fibroids and one ovary God decides when and where life happens. She is a true rebel for peace and patience and is well deserving of her new son, biggups to St.P, you two make a great couple!
2.KB - after a long celebrated courtship with a fellow Hamptonian KB, up and marries this other gorgeous chica he met through his mother...Lady MB is the proud wife and mother of one of my best friends and I am ecstatic for this couple to have gotten married BEFORE starting their family! As "old school" kids, I wanna be like KB when I grow up! But, really mad props to folks who tie the knot!
3.CHG - another TWO points for CHG! She too made it official prior to her "bump" project! I had the honor of speaking poetically at her wedding ceremony. With open arms I welcome her new daughter CDG!!! (Keep me in your prayers C, I'm on the cusp of PT school!)
4.ABC - now you know I have to celebrate Copper tones and the blessing of life that comes from unexpected bundles of joy. A friend of mine whom I once dated...I decided to be a true friend when she dropped the bomb on me about her being 'with child.'
5.Tony - my best friend's baby is on the way... I always hoped we would be thirty, single, and childless... he beat me to the child part and is very happy with his new lady Chevy... a true love child in the works, Tony wasn't expecting to meet his baby's momma when he did, but being aggressive has its benefits! The same time he was getting all wrapped up in a new connection he started his parenting phase of life more quickly than I expected. Alas, its just begun!
With all these children I may not need any of my own... ha ha ha! No, I'm just doing me like I know how... career first, ladyfriend/wife second, daddy hat third...
whatever is in God's plan for me, I'm rockin with it!
-delano :c)
2009 has been the year of new additions to my circle of friends
the miracle of childbirth has never meant so much to me
as I welcome new arrivals to the planet!
With so much drama in the economy I see what folks did with those long nights in; saving money.
1. SG. her son nearly cost her her life after some postpartum complications - reminds me that even with fibroids and one ovary God decides when and where life happens. She is a true rebel for peace and patience and is well deserving of her new son, biggups to St.P, you two make a great couple!
2.KB - after a long celebrated courtship with a fellow Hamptonian KB, up and marries this other gorgeous chica he met through his mother...Lady MB is the proud wife and mother of one of my best friends and I am ecstatic for this couple to have gotten married BEFORE starting their family! As "old school" kids, I wanna be like KB when I grow up! But, really mad props to folks who tie the knot!
3.CHG - another TWO points for CHG! She too made it official prior to her "bump" project! I had the honor of speaking poetically at her wedding ceremony. With open arms I welcome her new daughter CDG!!! (Keep me in your prayers C, I'm on the cusp of PT school!)
4.ABC - now you know I have to celebrate Copper tones and the blessing of life that comes from unexpected bundles of joy. A friend of mine whom I once dated...I decided to be a true friend when she dropped the bomb on me about her being 'with child.'
5.Tony - my best friend's baby is on the way... I always hoped we would be thirty, single, and childless... he beat me to the child part and is very happy with his new lady Chevy... a true love child in the works, Tony wasn't expecting to meet his baby's momma when he did, but being aggressive has its benefits! The same time he was getting all wrapped up in a new connection he started his parenting phase of life more quickly than I expected. Alas, its just begun!
With all these children I may not need any of my own... ha ha ha! No, I'm just doing me like I know how... career first, ladyfriend/wife second, daddy hat third...
whatever is in God's plan for me, I'm rockin with it!
-delano :c)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Doing Me
If you know anything about me, you'll know helping others comes naturally... I must take a moment to share the incredible fruits of my efforts.
Direct: My SAT tutor client improved her score by a few hundred points and got into her #1 school Xavier in New Orleans! I am so proud of "Smuckers!" I also want to thank the "Academy" and the folks at Barnes & Noble for letting me run my tutoring business in their space.
Indirect: My best friend Tony is getting some SERIOUS vibes from a sista w/ twists... I told him about "soul sistas," and now he is VERY happy getting to know "Chevy" from Cali! I dig them both and to see my boi happy and scared, nervous and excited makes me remember so much!
I will continue to support both my folks to the end and new beginnings!
Best to my friends,
Delano :c)
Direct: My SAT tutor client improved her score by a few hundred points and got into her #1 school Xavier in New Orleans! I am so proud of "Smuckers!" I also want to thank the "Academy" and the folks at Barnes & Noble for letting me run my tutoring business in their space.
Indirect: My best friend Tony is getting some SERIOUS vibes from a sista w/ twists... I told him about "soul sistas," and now he is VERY happy getting to know "Chevy" from Cali! I dig them both and to see my boi happy and scared, nervous and excited makes me remember so much!
I will continue to support both my folks to the end and new beginnings!
Best to my friends,
Delano :c)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Who is MIA
TAVIS SMILEY INTERVIEW: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200901/20090128_mia.html
from the Huffington Post:
M.I.A. performed at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.
By THOMAS FULLER----------
Published: February 10, 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — To many Americans, Maya Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A., is the very pregnant rapper who gyrated across the stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
Yet in Sri Lanka, where she spent her childhood years, M.I.A. remains virtually unknown. And some who do know her work say she is an apologist for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in the country’s long-running civil war.
M.I.A. — who has been nominated for an Oscar for the song she co-wrote for the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire” — has branded herself through music videos and interviews as the voice of the country’s Tamil minority. In the video for her song “Bird Flu,” for instance, children dance in front of what looks like the rebels’ logo: a roaring tiger.
“Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said in an interview on the PBS program “Tavis Smiley” last month. “There’s a genocide going on.”
But her political views rankle some people at a time when most Sri Lankans are clutching to the hope that the rebels, branded by the United States and European nations as a terrorist group, are on the verge of military defeat by government troops.
“Frankly, she’s very lucky to get away with supporting, even indirectly, perhaps the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world,” said Suresh Jayawickrama, a songwriter based in Colombo.
Mr. Jayawickrama is from the country’s majority Sinhalese ethnic group, and his reaction is similar to that of many Sri Lankans who know M.I.A.’s music. But he also said that M.I.A. deserved credit for her artistry and the fame she had achieved. “She really should have a little more recognition in this country,” he said.
Despite decades of conflict, music has remained largely free of political messages or overtones in Sri Lanka, perhaps because audiences are seeking entertainment and escape from the daily reminders of civil war.
“Compared to other countries, people don’t write many songs here about what is going on politically,” said Dillain Joseph, a singer who is of mixed Sinhalese and Tamil parentage.
Meanwhile, M.I.A.’s claims that the government is carrying out a genocide against Tamils place her on the outer fringe of opinion about the conflict.
Although the government has brutalized and killed Tamil civilians over the past 25 years, human rights organizations spread the blame around, estimating that 70,000 people on both sides have been killed in the fighting.
“This is a conflict in which both sides have terrible human rights records,” said Yolanda Foster, a specialist on Sri Lanka with Amnesty International in London. “The Tamil Tigers have a long history of child recruitment, hostage taking, forcing civilians to the front lines. It’s complicated to assign blame.”
M.I.A. was born in Britain but moved to Sri Lanka when she was 6 months old so that her father, an engineer and a leader in the Tamil separatist movement, could help fight for an independent Tamil homeland. Her childhood took her across northern Sri Lanka, wracked by insurgency, to India and back to Britain, where her mother and siblings settled into a public housing project outside London. Her father remained in Sri Lanka. She now calls New York home.
Sri Lankans who have seen her videos say they interpret some parts as showing support for the Tigers, or at the very least glorifying their cause. But for those not familiar with the conflict, they might come across as generic third-world scenes.
“I kind of want to leave it ambiguous for my fans,” she said in the PBS interview, referring to the lyrics of her song “Paper Planes,” which was nominated for record of the year at the Grammys but did not win.
“Paper Planes,” which compares international drug dealing with selling records, drew a reaction from DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in Los Angeles, who made a video remix in which he interspersed images of people being blown up by Tamil Tiger bombs and subtitles about M.I.A. being a terrorist.
M.I.A. responded that she did not support terrorism.
Despite those tensions, which played out largely on the Internet and abroad, musicians in Sri Lanka say the music scene has remained ethnically diverse, with members of the country’s numerous ethnic groups and religions often forming bands together.
“There’s a lot of mixing and matching going on,” said Rienzie Pereira, a guitar player. “It’s basically like sports. No matter what ethnic group you are from, people can play cricket together.”
from the Huffington Post:
M.I.A. performed at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.
By THOMAS FULLER----------
Published: February 10, 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — To many Americans, Maya Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A., is the very pregnant rapper who gyrated across the stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
Yet in Sri Lanka, where she spent her childhood years, M.I.A. remains virtually unknown. And some who do know her work say she is an apologist for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in the country’s long-running civil war.
M.I.A. — who has been nominated for an Oscar for the song she co-wrote for the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire” — has branded herself through music videos and interviews as the voice of the country’s Tamil minority. In the video for her song “Bird Flu,” for instance, children dance in front of what looks like the rebels’ logo: a roaring tiger.
“Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said in an interview on the PBS program “Tavis Smiley” last month. “There’s a genocide going on.”
But her political views rankle some people at a time when most Sri Lankans are clutching to the hope that the rebels, branded by the United States and European nations as a terrorist group, are on the verge of military defeat by government troops.
“Frankly, she’s very lucky to get away with supporting, even indirectly, perhaps the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world,” said Suresh Jayawickrama, a songwriter based in Colombo.
Mr. Jayawickrama is from the country’s majority Sinhalese ethnic group, and his reaction is similar to that of many Sri Lankans who know M.I.A.’s music. But he also said that M.I.A. deserved credit for her artistry and the fame she had achieved. “She really should have a little more recognition in this country,” he said.
Despite decades of conflict, music has remained largely free of political messages or overtones in Sri Lanka, perhaps because audiences are seeking entertainment and escape from the daily reminders of civil war.
“Compared to other countries, people don’t write many songs here about what is going on politically,” said Dillain Joseph, a singer who is of mixed Sinhalese and Tamil parentage.
Meanwhile, M.I.A.’s claims that the government is carrying out a genocide against Tamils place her on the outer fringe of opinion about the conflict.
Although the government has brutalized and killed Tamil civilians over the past 25 years, human rights organizations spread the blame around, estimating that 70,000 people on both sides have been killed in the fighting.
“This is a conflict in which both sides have terrible human rights records,” said Yolanda Foster, a specialist on Sri Lanka with Amnesty International in London. “The Tamil Tigers have a long history of child recruitment, hostage taking, forcing civilians to the front lines. It’s complicated to assign blame.”
M.I.A. was born in Britain but moved to Sri Lanka when she was 6 months old so that her father, an engineer and a leader in the Tamil separatist movement, could help fight for an independent Tamil homeland. Her childhood took her across northern Sri Lanka, wracked by insurgency, to India and back to Britain, where her mother and siblings settled into a public housing project outside London. Her father remained in Sri Lanka. She now calls New York home.
Sri Lankans who have seen her videos say they interpret some parts as showing support for the Tigers, or at the very least glorifying their cause. But for those not familiar with the conflict, they might come across as generic third-world scenes.
“I kind of want to leave it ambiguous for my fans,” she said in the PBS interview, referring to the lyrics of her song “Paper Planes,” which was nominated for record of the year at the Grammys but did not win.
“Paper Planes,” which compares international drug dealing with selling records, drew a reaction from DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in Los Angeles, who made a video remix in which he interspersed images of people being blown up by Tamil Tiger bombs and subtitles about M.I.A. being a terrorist.
M.I.A. responded that she did not support terrorism.
Despite those tensions, which played out largely on the Internet and abroad, musicians in Sri Lanka say the music scene has remained ethnically diverse, with members of the country’s numerous ethnic groups and religions often forming bands together.
“There’s a lot of mixing and matching going on,” said Rienzie Pereira, a guitar player. “It’s basically like sports. No matter what ethnic group you are from, people can play cricket together.”
Thursday, February 5, 2009
That
some won't believe it till they see it,
so Imma tell it like this
this is not a competition
This is risen from the clenches
a match made in seasons
of I've got to achieve this
dreams implanted and they search for my reason
in disbelief.
we see the musical unfolding on the streets
in character the lines begin to speak
parables and potions, escapism's magnum opus
day and knights
stars board solar winds, rush.
cooling jet screams to poetry
each breath pardons english on cue.
felt tip seamstress weaves epics by the footstep
in the sun she will not rest
in the harvest she is set
in winter
spring
summer idle
practice
and for our next recital: Miss Fancy McCoy!
To Joy we ode
photographic language
emblazoned seconds
thanks is presence
projector screen tv
so u can see
us doing me
connected
welcome,
to that feeling:
-delano
so Imma tell it like this
this is not a competition
This is risen from the clenches
a match made in seasons
of I've got to achieve this
dreams implanted and they search for my reason
in disbelief.
we see the musical unfolding on the streets
in character the lines begin to speak
parables and potions, escapism's magnum opus
day and knights
stars board solar winds, rush.
cooling jet screams to poetry
each breath pardons english on cue.
felt tip seamstress weaves epics by the footstep
in the sun she will not rest
in the harvest she is set
in winter
spring
summer idle
practice
and for our next recital: Miss Fancy McCoy!
To Joy we ode
photographic language
emblazoned seconds
thanks is presence
projector screen tv
so u can see
us doing me
connected
welcome,
to that feeling:
-delano
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