Obamapalooza Videos

I'm on Vimeo now :) If anyone has an account with them, feel free to add me. That being said, check out me and my +1 on the ticket/partner-in-crime Alex in my wobbly Flip Video Ultra clips from the Election Night rally in Grant Park:

Inside Grant Park: http://www.vimeo.com/2177804

Finally @ The Rally: http://www.vimeo.com/2177848

The Beach Ball: http://www.vimeo.com/2177848

Yes We Can! Yes We Did!: http://www.vimeo.com/2178040

I got footage of his speech, but it surpasses the upload limit for the week so I'll have to do it next Thursday when it resets. That night was so surreal - all of this is. Definitely one of the best nights of my life.

"Obamapalooza" in Grant Park

FINALLY! Here are my personal photos from the now infamous Election Night rally at Grant Park in Downtown Chicago dubbed by many as "Obamapalooza." They start off showing the crowds that were gathering in the early afternoon around 2 PM and ends with the deluge of people leaving the gathering around 11:30 PM:

YES. WE. DID.

Yes. We. Did

This is a time for celebration and rejoice, without a doubt...but we have a long road ahead of us. My friend Paul put it like this:

"Now the real work begins.

Holding Washington accountable and making sure that President Obama (man, I love the sound of that) lives up to the promise of candidate Obama.

Obama is not the messiah, he's still a politician. As much as I believe that we'll be on a much better course as a nation, power does things to people.

Obama is not impervious.

Let's all make a promise to each other that we wont let our government squander this incredible opportunity we've given it.

No free passes.
No blind eyes.

Don't sleep y'all. "


Word.

History...

If Obama wins today, this should totally be his victory song:

History ft. J Dilla - Skyzoo



Obama '08

Let's Go!

Thriller: Indian Style

I saw this about 2 years ago initially, but it is one of the greatest things you will ever watch. I figure since the MJ version of "Thriller" gets just a *tad* overdone this time of year but you can't have Halloween without it, I decided to switch it up and go Indian-style:

Yet another indication that I am WAY too easily amused >_<

Happy Halloween! Go easy on the witches brew or potion or whatever it is that you end up imbibing tonight. Last time I checked, puke shouldn't ever be a part of your costume ;)

The Single Guy @ Hello, Beautiful

Breaking News...

Starting today Write For Freedom will be syndicating a weekly blog via Hello, Beautiful. It's a bit of a departure from the usual content that I generate here, but when Kevin Clark asked me to cross post his writing I figured it'd be good to break up the monotony of all the music-related randomness that's kind of my thing in this here blog o' mine. Under the label "The Single Guy" he writes about his experiences as he navigates the dating scene in NYC, a far cry from his small-town upbringing in Kent, OH. Kevin and his way with words are a hot mess sometimes (in a good way of course), so his stories are pretty hilarious. It's worth a read - there's something everyone can relate to @ some point. So, without any further ado...

Black Magic Woman
By Kevin L. Clark October 27, 2008 4:51 pm

I believe that one of the most precious things on this Earth is a black woman. The way y’all walk, talk and even sass can light this Scorpio’s passionate flame and I can’t get enough of it. But, if I knew what type of spell this “black magic woman” would cast on me, then I would’ve never have went to Lotus that night…

Her name was Denay and she had to be the finest girl in the club that night. I called her “friend,” but everyone else had some more clever connotations for the Harlem dimepiece. “Ay, aye, aye, aaaayyyeee!” was cool for starters. “Shawty with the phat ass,” was another one. She never would answer to comments like that and on this particular night, she looked like she got dressed in sin with a dress that hugged her curves so right that I wanted to call her mama.

The fates must’ve been in the air because as they would have it, Denay thought that I looked pretty official myself. She stalked me through the crowd to ask about my shirt. I replied to let her know that it was just something to wear. She smiled… I did too… and a whole lot of drinks were consumed! We enjoyed the next few hours on the dance floor, navigating in our own personal world. But I must say, in trying not to offend any born-and-bred New Yawkers, this: “Y’all can’t dance…”

See. Told you he was a hot mess.

Read the rest here. Check out his other stories here.

Manic Music Monday @ GangstarrGirl.com

The picture above pretty much sums up how I feel today for a number of reasons, but I digress. Luckily I was able to channel some of that irritation into creative fuel to put together a damn entertaining edition of Manic Music Monday for this week. Check it out here. Yezzur! © Pharrell

Last.fm Chart Exchange - Week 2

We've got a couple more bloggers/blogs on board for the weekly chart exchange - thanks for playing Tha 4.0 Show and Thoughts Remixed! Just to refresh your memory, the premise of this weekly chart exchange is to cross-promote blogs, politick about the music we love and network via social networks such as Last.fm (using social media to network - what a novel idea!). Anyone with a blog or website and a Last.fm profile can jump in and participate. Just be sure to cross-post, otherwise it kind of defeats the purpose of the whole endeavor. Onward to the charts! Click on the charts to view our Last.fm profiles for a more extensive look at our musical tastes:

My Top Artists
Oct. 20 - 26

I got an *ahem* advance copy of John Legend's Evolve (which drops tomorrow, BTW, 10/28) and it pisses excellence - hence the 41 plays last week. Ian Pooley was my "getting-ready-to-go-dancing-at-a-club" music on Saturday - and it took me a long time to get ready because I kept getting sidetracked by the music and I'd start dancing, HAHA. If you dig breakbeats and instrumental hip hop, definitely check out Bulljun & El Barrio 2016 by Bulljun (FYI - his website's completely in Japanese so...you might wanna translate that isht unless you're on some Google isht and you're "feeling lucky"). I listen to his stuff a lot when I'm at work - it helps me zone out so I can plow through my tasks with significantly less disdain. Elis Regina is the reason I became interested in Brazilian music on a grand scale in the first place. She had a powerful voice, charasmatic stage presence and a defiant persona which earned her the nicknames "furacão" ("hurricane") and "pimentinha" ("little pepper"). She was quite the beast back in the day - unfortunately she didn't get the memo that coke and booze don't mix very well so she died tragically young. She deserves a blog post all unto herself (and she shall have it one day soon).

That's enough about my charts. Check out what my fellow bloggers are listening to these days:

Thoughts Remixed's Top Artists
Oct. 20-26



Laya's Top Artists
Oct. 20-26



Tha 4.0 Show's Top Weekly Artists
Oct. 20-26

Once again, If you're on Last.fm and you have a blog/website that you'd like to cross-promote, you can participate in the weekly chart exchange. Hit me up and we'll get things moving!

Will Paints Barack

This is Will. He braved chilly weather and strong winds to spraypaint a mural of Barack Obama on a piece of a wall on Halsted in Lincoln Park:

I will venture over that way later on this week or next weekend to get a picture of the mural after its completion.

Blue vs. Green

The Presidential Elections are just 11 days away. Don't like Republicans, but you don't like the Democrats either? Are you considering voting for a 3rd party this election - more specifically the Green Party? Here's a very thought-provoking, rational, well-articulated argument for voting Blue over Green this election season. Just food for thought - it offers a clearly defined set of angles that you may not have considered before. Check it out:

Why I'm voting for Obama (and not McKinney)
By Megan K.

If you are considering voting for McKinney (Green Party candidate) AT ALL please take the time to read this.

The 2000 election was the first Presidential election I was eligible to vote in. I voted for Ralph Nader of the Green Party. I was extremely firm in my decision to vote for him, as I was already disenchanted with the two-party system and was heavy into my activist community at the time. On election night (and the days that followed), I watched in horror as George W. Bush stole won the election, with all the politicos saying that Nader, being the 3rd party candidate, was the "spoiler" for Gore...who had been tapped in the polls as the likely winner.

Now, I won't go so far as saying that I promised I'd never vote for a 3rd party candidate again, but I learned some things that year, and when I worked in politics many years later these lessons were repeated and enforced.

The fact of the matter is, America is currently under a two-party system. And I honestly believe it shouldn't be. When we hold elections there should be many names at the top of the ticket for any number of parties. HOWEVER in order for a multi-party system to work we MUST use Instant Runoff Voting instead of plurality voting, which is what we use now. There is no other way we would be able to effectively choose political leaders in a multi-party system.

Secondly, the Green Party is, at its very essence, a grassroots movement. And as a grassroots movement, it needs to be built from the ground up. That is, it needs to gain traction on the local, city and state level before they take on the national political scene, much less the Presidency. To completely ignore your local Green party, or any Green candidate that is running for city council or the school board or mayor or state representative, and then throw your vote to the Green Presidential candidate? Sorry, but I think that's back-asswards and a waste of a vote. If you REALLY believe in the Green Party platform, you have an obligation to go out and get involved in making a strong Green Party in your city or state. (Did you know that the national Green Party is simply a network of state-level Green Parties?) Without doing so you are going against exactly what the Green Party stands for, which is revolution. Don't be an armchair activist, and ESPECIALLY don't be an armchair activist who votes for the Green Party candidate only when it comes to the Presidency. No revolution has ever been accomplished by folks taking the easy way out, and this election will be no different.

Third, if Obama loses, McCain will be President. There is absolutely, positively NO chance of McKinney winning this election. I'm sorry folks, but there's not. (Not until we build a Green Party from the ground up ... see #2). So regardless of the fact that I don't agree with Obama on ALL of the issues, I certainly agree with him more than I do McCain. The United States is about to head into another Great Depression so I want a president who knows economics and has the bipartisan appeal to get things done. Upon reading the Green Party platform you might notice that Economic Stability is last on their list of issues, after "democracy", "social justice", and "ecological sustainability". On the issue of the economy, the Green Party says "We need to restore a progressive tax structure, rather than continuing to move money toward the top echelons of society while squeezing everyone else." Know what? Obama believes that, too. But that alone is not going to fix our economic problems. The Green Party also says "Foremost, the Green Party stands for community-based economics and regional trade. We believe that the only model of true economic security is for a community and area to be largely (not entirely) self-sufficient in the production of its necessities." This theory is GREAT...in theory. But wow, it would be a major change from the current economic system. I mean MAJOR. Could the American economy handle such a violent shake-up of its core values if the Green Party won the Presidency?

Finally, there's the issue of a working government. Do you think if McKinney actually won the Presidency that she would be able to work with Republicans and Democrats (not to mention foreign leaders) to get things done? No, President McKinney would veto pretty much everything that Congress put in front of her and everything would have to pass back through for a 2/3 majority. So really. Think about it. The President does not create policies or laws. That's the job of Congress. And according to most polls, we'll have a Democratic majority in Congress next year. So. Democrats write the laws, the Green Party President rejects them because they go against the Green Party ideals, the bill goes back to the House and Senate for another round of voting. That seems like an awful waste of time when Congress could be passing bills that, even if they are not perfect, are better than what we've had for the last four years (not counting this year) when Republicans controlled Congress. So if there isn't a Green Party majority in Congress, what's the point of having a Green Party President? (Again, we need to work from the ground up. See #2.)

So...in the end...while it would be really great to have a president who agrees with gay marriage and indigenous peoples' rights and environmental sustainability as much as I do, I know that at this pivotal moment in history, after our country and its laws have been raped and pillaged by the republican machine, we need a president who has the bipartisan appeal to get things done. McKinney just doesn't have that appeal. And I know that if Congress tried to pass an amendment to the US constitution saying, once and for all, that marriage is between one man and one woman, Obama would veto it. And honestly? That's enough for me because there really isn't much more that a president can do about the issue of gay marriage.

I know that change will come to America, and that one day gay marriage will be legal everywhere, and the environment will be a priority, and social justice will prevail. But I also know that social change takes time, and it takes effort. Pulling the lever for McKinney is not the solution to the problems that America is currently facing.