Amigos of Honduras

A friend of mine started a foundation called Amigos of Honduras. It is amazing some of the work and progress they have achieved. They brought water to two different villages they previously had none. They have built a school in the mountains of El Portillo de la Oky where most of the kids prior to the building of the school went without any education. They have provided homes and land for those without. They also contribute to the battle against aids on the island of Roatan. The great thing about this foundation is that 100% of all donations go directly to the people of Honduras, that kind of thing is hard to find nowadays. Honduras is the poorest country in it's hemisphere second only to Haiti, it is also plagued with an aids epidemic. Those people really need our help. Please check out their website www.amigosofhonduras.org It is a great organization doing great things.

Holidays are happy, especially when listening to good music.

I have been listening to lots of music this holiday break and it has been great. I am always looking for that next movement in music that blows my mind. Lately I have been really interested in the DJ scene, especially that of "mash ups" and global influences. It is a great niche for anyone who is a fan of all genres because all genres get rolled into one uber song. More than that I enjoy the global stuff. I am fascinated by the other cultures that are just killing the music scene in their respective regions. It is so frustrating how hard it is for their amazing music to penetrate our culture. I lived in Costa Rica for a few years and there I was exposed to many different styles of Latin and Afro-Caribe music and I always have been fascinated by music from India and Africa, but it is hard to be "in the know" about some of the more underground movements there. (That is why the internet is awesome, especially myspace.) When I first heard M.I.A.'s mix tape "Piracy Funds Terrorism" I had my mind blown into bits and dripped out my nose. She, along with help from Diplo, combined hip hop with favela baile funk or hard reggae or African drums. Artists like them really help with exposure of those rarer scenes. M.I.A.'s first real release, Arular, wasn't a mix tape, but the global influence was there. Now, if you add "in your face" flows and lyrics you have one intense and amazing record. Her second album was of equal "amazingness" but I feel it is a bit more sophisticated. She uses drums and temple flutes from Africa and India and combines a sort of weaved quilt of sounds and samples. You can hear more world sounds in her one CD than most people have in their entire collection. In her lyrics, she presents issues that were unheard of in main stream music. In "20$" she raps about the cost of AK's in Africa, "Hussel" speaks loud and clear about the influence of money especially in the shanty towns. Lets not forget the loud booty shakin anthem of "World Town", "hands up, guns out, represent the world town." This entry started out as just a review of some DJ stuff and world beats, but kind of digressed to a review of how badass M.I.A. is. I guess that says something in itself. I think we need more artists like M.I.A. As artists like 50 cent, Jay Z, and Dre pump their influence into the third world, its nice to have someone like M.I.A. reciprocating some third world back. (thats more interesting anyways) Her album has influenced me to investigate more and be more aware of whats going on and thats a good thing, I recommend her albums to anyone, plus she's a babe and her music is great to dance to. Now, let's go outside the western block and listen to something different like Casablanca hip-hop.

First Time.

I was originally going to create my first post to describe what the purpose of this blog is, but I figure there are many purposes and due to a conversation that I had last night, I will just jump in. I was speaking with my cousin who is a soldier and did a turn in Afghanistan. I am pretty opposed to all forms of war, but I also realize that due to circumstances war happens and I thank my cousin and others like him who sacrifice their lives in the call of duty. That is not intended to be a rationalization, but a realization. Anyways, we got to talking and we bounced all over on different topics. From boarder control, socialist movements in Central America, to the war in the middle east. He gave me a very interesting point of view, and I guess that is the real point of this entry that we should all be more open minded and educated. My cousin told me that he had somewhat of a limited view on the overall situation, a small cog in a big machine type of view. He told me of the schools and roads they are building to get them on their feet and of the love the Afghans have for voting. I was pretty impressed. He also told me of the fact that the extremist laugh at the thought of our concern for the prisoners we detain, especially in Guantanamo Bay and that they have cut off limbs of people just for talking to Americans. Rather disturbing. The question is "why", what have we done to instigate such a hatred. My cousin and I also talked about Iraq and why the involvement. He had less of a qualified view than that of Afghanistan, but better than most. My main question to him, and to anyone really is this: to what end are we fighting? Are we looking to eliminate or rehabilitate all extremist? Will we fight terrorisms in all parts of the world? To what end are we fighting? That conversation just made me want to learn as much as possible. Too many people live their lives in ignorance without a concern of what goes on around them. No matter how thin cheese is cut, there are always two sides. We need to educate ourselves in these matters to better have a handle on whats going on. With that knowledge we can better demand things that will lead to progress. Complacency is death.