The Maron v Seder Show

I looooooved the radio show Morning Sedation back when Air America was cool. I practically went in the fetal position when it went off the air. Well, Marc Maron and Sam Seder are back on the "air" together with a unique, one-of-a-kind political show broadcasted on their site. Isn't technology wonderful?!

Maron v Seder. LIVE Daily M-F @ 3pm. Tune in!

The show is really is great. I think they have a formula that actually works for the internet. Who knew? It's funny with lots of clips and bits. And Maron even had a connected to The Guardian UK with a cross country road trip covering the 2008 Election.

Barack X

My friends over at Exittheapple.com put up a really interesting comparison between Barack Obama and Malcom X. The pictures are quite striking. Politically they may be somewhat dissimilar, but as for looks ... well, you be the judge.

Strawberry Fields Forever

There are not many things about NYC that you can attribute the word "sweet." The John Lennon Memorial at Strawberry Fields is one of the few exceptions. It is one of my favorite spots here in the big city. It's a place where New Yorkers and tourists alike can gather, sing a few Beatles tunes with strangers that know the words, and remember John. One of the other things about passing the area that kind of special is that it is usually covered with flower petals. It is so sweet. So, of course, there is an attempt to destroy it. I'm mean, well, you can't have happiness around all willy-nilly. People might get the wrong idea.

From United Press International:
"Lennon memorial tender could face charges" —

Ayrton "Gary" dos Santos, also known as the "Mayor of Strawberry Fields," said police have threatened to charge him with littering and assembling large groups without a permit, after he spent 15 years spreading flowers across the site and speaking to visitors about the former Beatle, the New York Post reported Monday.

I am Hope

This is just too good. I just had to post it. Thank you ABW for posting this first. This is from The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, but of course you knew that!

Radical Radio

During the afternoon while I'm working, I like to listen to a variety of Internet radio stations. Radical Radio is one of my favorites. It features a multitude of lectures from progressive voice of all kinds: Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, Howard Zinn, Greg Palast, and so many more. The serious stuff is dotted with comedy skits from Monty Python, Onion Radio News, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, and others. It makes for a zany, fascinating afternoon. Check it out if you have the chance. You need Winamp Media Player to tune in.

From the Radical Radio site —

Radical Radio is a non-commercial news, analysis and commentary-based alternative news radio that is comprised of an 18 - 25 hour program that is updated continually and features current alternative news from sources like Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio News, the Shortwave Report and international Indy Media reports and mixes them with political speech from groups or personalities such as Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis and many, many others. This is peppered with music and poetry. We aim to offer the best in alternative news radio available on the web. We hope you like the taste more than the bland pablum of commercial radio, or the middle of the conservative perspective that NPR dishes out.. Stay tuned, stay informed and stir it up!

Opinion Writing For Beginners E-Class

The registration deadline:
Saturday, November 24, 2007

Classes will run:
November 27, 2007 - December 18, 2007

Yvonne Bynoe is accepting enrollment in "Opinion Writing For Beginners E-Class." To enroll immediately you can email info@yvonnebynoe.com to receive payment and course details.

The class enrollment is limited to just 25 people to ensure that each participant receives personal attention, which includes analysis of your writing project. The cost of the 4 week E-class is $199.99.

In the comfort of your own home or office you will learn:

• How to research your topic effectively and efficiently.
• How to develop and write an article for publication
• How to establish yourself as an expert in your field—the person that the media and decision-makers call on for information.

By the end of the class, student can expect to have an article ready for publication.

Yvonne Bynoe will offer each participant a 100% Money Back Guarantee (If you complete all 4 weeks, including all of the homework assignments but feel that you did not learn anything that gets you closer to being published -- She will refund your tuition in full).

Yvonne Bynoe clearly has been a bridge between the talkers, thinkers and doers. She has no doubt been a doer and galvanizer within the hip hop nation. The Urban Think Tank as a collective has rejected the stereotype of the anti-intellectual movement while keeping the energy of the streets. Now the book "Stand and Deliver" has readied the climate to prepare for the next stages on how to persevere within the millennial socio-cultural war zone.

- Chuck D, rap artist, activist

Clowns Make White Power Rally Silly

Just when I think I got White folks figured out you go and do something like this. A friend of mine told me about this yesterday (Thanks Chris!) and he said that all the blogs were talking about this. I haven't seen this story before on any of the blogs that I read. I must admit this story is pretty damn funny and worth repeating as many times as is humanly possible.

The KKK and a White power group gathered together for a rally in Tennessee last May. Unfortunately for them an White anti-racist group got wind of the rally and decided to show up ... in clown outfits!

From Asheville Indymedia by Chris Irwin:
"Clowns KKKick KKK ass!" —

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”

I don't think that Black people would have approached a race rally with this kind of creativity, we would have been too angry. It wouldn't have worked as effectivily anyway. I've always thought that the only people who can deal with White racism is White people. After all, it is a White problem not a Black one. Asking Black people to fix racism is a little like asking a rape victim to figure out the rapist's problem, how the hell is she supposed to know what his problem is. I'm glad to see this kind of action. It gives me hope. And it sure is damned funny.

Sandman Poster in Support of the ALA

This is a really cool poster for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman fans. This is a great way to express your love for The Sandman, reading, and support the American Library Assoc. (ALA) at the same time! The ALA has a lot of other posters and stuff that you can buy to support their work. Cool!

Hey, I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

I was very honored to be nominated for this blog award! Thanks so much to Celebrate Life ~ Daily! for nominating me. I'm not quite sure how this works. So I'll just accept the nomination with grace, composure, and many thanks! (Picture me taking a bow ... several times!)  

Special Africa Issue of Vanity Fair

This month Vanity Fair Magazine has done a special edition on Africa edited by Bono. When I first heard of this I thought "Oh great, another collection of articles about how down trodden Africa is." Instead I find that the magazine demonstrates a lot of depth and breath about the continent. There is so much to see and read, it may well take longer than a month to go through. I've only just picked it up and it seems jam packed with articles on many aspects of African people such as political figures, African filmmakers and musicians, and the African News network and so much more. There is even a article about African writers (p. 118 - 122) that is quite commendable.

There several different covers featuring famous people photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Each cover has someone from the previous cover whispering in the ear of the next person. (It was funny that George Bush is one of the people. It's Condi Rice who talks to him and Desmond Tutu who sits with Bush. I think it would take a saintly figure like Tutu to be willing to sit with the man.) Pick up this special edition July Vanity Fair magazine. It is not to be missed!

The Mud Spot

Photo Credit urban75.org

Coffee in this city is amazingly bad. So to get a good cup you have to be willing to travel and know where to go. The Mud Truck has saved many a New Yorker from caffeine withdrawal. Those of us who live in NYC are familiar with the big orange Mud Truck that serves us some of the best coffee in town. But how many are aware of The Mud Spot? Yes, there is a place where you can sit and suck down as much of the wonderful brown elixir of the Gods in a cool relaxed setting. And when you get hungry you can order up a nice meal at a reasonable price. Not Bad.

The spot is a neat throw back to my days in Cambridge. In the back space there is a cozy room with lot of light that shines in from a glass roof. I spent a rainy afternoon there last week reading my book and drinking, seriously, the best mug of warm chai I've ever had while the sound of the Kinks resounded over the speakers (You remember them: "Lola", "Apeman", "You Really Got Me", etc.) I'm willing to travel from Brooklyn all the way to the East Village to hit this spot. Give it a try and tell them Jenn sent you!

The Mud Spot
307 East 9th Street
New York City 100003
(212) 228-9074

Reverand Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping

When I first saw Reverend Billy on Democracy Now! I wasn't sure if it this was an elaborate joke that Amy Goodman was playing on her audience or what! Amy is not exactly known for her sense of humor so I watched intently to see if a smile would crack somewhere. A smile did appear but it also became abundantly clear that this is no joke. Reverend Billy is as serious as a heart attack. He is a performer similar to The Yes Men, drawing attention to the hypocrisy, and sometimes evil, perpetuated by corporate America and the sleepwalking American consumer. Bill Talen's book What Should I Do If Reverend Billy Is in My Store? calls us to witness the high drama of cash register exorcisms, his choir singing anti-Starbucks anthems, and many more antics that have gotten him arrested.

From a May 9th, 2007 Democracy Now! report: "Following Public Campaign For Trademark Efforts, Coffee Giant Starbucks Signs Licensing Deal that Could Bring Millions to Ethiopian Farmers" —

AMY GOODMAN: Many say the public pressure on Starbucks helped force them into the licensing agreement. Activists from the Ethiopian community, regional fair trade coalitions, university students, consumer groups all got involved. Perhaps the most vocal of public campaigns was the one started by Reverend Billy, the founder of the Church of Stop Shopping. He took his campaign to the doorsteps of Starbucks coffeehouses. With his choir in tow, Reverend Billy launched his Sidamo Prayer Campaign in February in front of the Starbucks at Astor Place in Manhattan.

[From a video of the demonstration being shown]
REVEREND BILLY: This is the beginning of a campaign of a struggle that will result in a basic shift in the policies of that multinational union-busting corporation we have across the street. They are confronted with the devil, the devil in the form of a mermaid that has no nipples! Amen? Hallelujah! We will walk across the street and drive the demons out of that cash register! They’re trapped in an economic situation that comes straight from Davos, comes straight from the WTO, comes straight from the World Bank, comes straight from Starbucks! Will you come inside with us?

AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Billy being taken out of a Starbucks coffeehouse here in New York. Well, Reverend Billy joins us now in our firehouse studio. You were arrested?

REVEREND BILLY: Yes, not long after the cash register exorcism was completed. I spent the night in the Tombs at Starbucks’s insistence, and I witnessed the phone call come from Starbucks to the precinct house.

I've been noticed?

Bookseller Chick said some really nice stuff about my blog:
"The Post BEA (Sausage) Links Edition" —

We have a new (relatively speaking as she’s been around since March) bookseller on the blog block in Jenn Brissett’s A Bookseller’s Tale. I particularly enjoyed her insights and additions in this post to Melissa Lion’s “Bookselling this Week” article “How to Talk to a Bookseller: A 10-Step Guide for Authors,” but she also does a great job highlighting books and other book news that I would not have heard of otherwise.

Well, gee, thanks!!

Loving Day

June 12th
For More Information go to: Lovingday.org

What is Loving Day? —

On June 12th, 1967, interracial couples became legal thanks to the Supreme Court decision entitled Loving v. Virginia. Before that date, states had the right to separate and punish interracial couples. These punishments included imprisonment of up to ten years. Violations included marriage, sex, and living together. This issue is a part of the civil rights movement that is too often forgotten. On June 12th of every year, celebrate your legal right to love a person of any race.

To learn more...

Also, there is a movie about the couple involved in this court case called Mr. and Mrs. Loving (1996) starring Timothy Hutton and Lela Rochon. It's in the basic made-for-TV film format but it does cover all the bases and is enjoyable to watch.

The 6th Annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC)

May 18 - May 19, 2007
Temple University's Main Campus
Philadelphia, PA
For More Information

Because the comic business is a very lucrative and impactful industry worldwide, especially in the U.S., [ECBACC] saw the need to create [Africentric / Black] images that were both ennobling and reality-based.
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There is a yet untapped potential in this industry to promote critical thinking, increase literacy levels and, lastly, make money. Thus, I envisioned that our major goal for the ECBACC would be to look at how we can network to actualize this potential.

• Meet and network with comic book publishers, writers and artists.
• Find rare and unique comic books, Kid's Corner, professional workshops, lectures, marketplace and more.
• To get on the mailing list and more information email: Blackageofcomics@ecbacc.com

Gandhi in Spring

Yesterday Geoff and I were out for an afternoon walk around town. We had a wonderful day and the weather was just beautiful. I had my camera with me and we took pictures of ordinary things that struck us a cool. One of them was this statue of Gandhi in Union Square, NYC. We pass it all the time and never really just look at it. It is really a very nice statue and one of the few I've seen made for a man of peace.

Happy 14th Anniversary

May 1st is a lot of things to a lot of people. It's May Day to the labor movement. It's the anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. It's also Beltane to the practitioners of Wicca. But for Geoff and I, it is totally something else, it's the anniversary of the first day that we met. We have been together 14 years ago today and it still feels really good. Here are the roses that he brought me last night. They are so beautiful I had to take a picture. You're a great man, Geoff, and I love you more and more every day. Happy Anniversary!

The RugMark Foundation

The handmade carpet industry exploits nearly 300,000 children. This has to end, and it will.

The RugMark Foundation is the international nonprofit organization devoted to building schools, programs and opportunities that give children back their childhoods by ending child labor in the handmade carpet industry in South Asia.

The organization was founded on a simple premise: If enough people demand certified child-labor-free rugs, manufacturers will only employ skilled, adult artisans and the exploitation of children in the carpet industry will come to an end.

RugMark recruits carpet producers and importers to make and sell carpets that are made without illegal child labor. By agreeing to adhere to strict no-child-labor guidelines and by permitting random inspections of their carpet looms, manufacturers earn the right to place the certified and individually numbered RugMark label on their carpets. If inspectors find children working on looms, they are offered the opportunity to go to school instead, and producers and importers lose the privilege to use the RugMark label.

A short film that get's me through the hard times...

When the Bushes are getting me down and I need a good laugh, I just put on this video. It's funny and it's a great song, too. You can sing along:

'Cause you're an ass-hoooole,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
'Cause you're an asshole.

Bookmarks Magazine

I found Bookmarks Magazine yesterday while in a magazine store on Broadway in NYC. The magazine store was the only respite in the area over-run by commercialism. I thought I was going to pass out from the crowds of materialistic shoppers pushing against me as I walked down the street.

Bookmarks seems great so far — much better than Publishers Weekly. (I've had some serious doubts about their star rating system.) This magazine seems to be a book lovers venture. They carefully detail the books that they choose to highlight with the eye of a true bookseller. The part that got me was the letter from the editor:

“As the number of independent bookstores continue to dwindle, I sorely miss browsing in them—mostly because their books are selected and displayed by dedicated bibliophiles. I'm not talking about a shelf of staff picks; I mean the store where you feel an editorial hand on every shelf.”

Brother, I know what you mean.