This morning it’s a bit chilly and it seems it’s still too early to be up. In sight of that, here I bring you a little song that’s been haunting my dreams — it’s a mad piano riff by a band that self-describes as a “Brechtian punk cabaret” act, or basically, just really extraordinary.
Archive for February, 2012
The Country Urbanite: Don’t Forget Those Resolutions
2012 -
02.24
Image: Now and Zen Photography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
We are nearing the end of the month, which usually means that the big, huge, meaningful, and meltdown-inducing holidays are behind us.
O-M-Yes! Now, before you start thinking of how you’re going to spend your St. Patty’s Day or your spring break (please, not on Girls Gone Wild), ask yourself if you’re forgetting something. No clue? I’ll give you a hint: Do you remember those New Year’s resolutions?
You obviously know that I am not the type to wait for the New Year to try to start my life over, but it is a good starting point, like a compass. Once the holidays are over, though, people tend to forget the resolutions they made in the first place. This, I think, is good and bad.
It’s good because you get to gauge how much you really meant or wanted to achieve the goal you set for yourself. It’s bad because it could mean you are losing focus on your life, although I don’t mean it to sound so drastic. Losing focus is great if you decide you want to rearrange your priorities, but if you just can’t get yourself together then it’s time to reassess.
Once the exhilaration from all your parties and get-togethers with your nearest and dearest is gone, you may feel lost. If you feel as if you’ve lost your way or perspective regarding what you want out of life, I recommend you start small.
I have this huge list of things I want to get done this year that are important to me and I found myself feeling overwhelmed. I decided to do one small thing every few days or every week and build on it.
My personal self-improvement goals are as tiny as not using plastic for shopping or storage. Yes, I have faltered and had a last-minute grocery stop and have forgotten my reusable bags, but I have made sure that I recycle the plastic I use. I have also done larger-scale changes in the personal arena. Those were painful and confusing, but also very necessary. I can say that such a big and positive change has served as a catalyst for many other changes.
Do try to do something, even if it is minuscule. You will rapidly get hooked on your desire for change and the effects it has on your life. Do not be overly ambitious so you don’t set yourself up for failure.
Start now. Off the top of your head, what do you feel like doing that you wish you had done ages ago?
Globetrotter extraordinaire. Obsessed with cooking and books. Mother hen of her group of friends. Caribbean Islander by birth, but the World is her stage. Anything and everything is interesting and must be pondered. After a decade or so of traveling all over the world, she has settled down in the unlikeliest of places — the U.S. Midwest. Her column helps her navigate the uncharted waters of domesticity.
SPOT ON: Motown, ’70s, Funk, and Feelgood.
2012 -
02.23
It’s February and love is in the air (chemical or otherwise). Spring is around the corner and people are feeling great!
Here’s a little playlist of tracks that always get me going. I love funk and Motown, Jackie Brown meets Crooklyn. There’s a reason they call it feel-good music! There’s a bit of rock in here and lots of tambourines.
Some of the artists featured are Edwin Starr, Freda Payne, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson 5, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Isaac Hayes, Rare Earth, James Brown, War, Sly and the family stone, and Stevie Wonder.
As always, you can share, interact with, and repost these playlists as much as you like. You can even access them right on your smartphone and I will be adding more and more content to each of these playlists week after week, so make sure you come back to check them out often.
Look out for an upcoming “Max Pix” and more interviews with some great indie artists.
Enjoy!
CLICK HERE FOR ACCESS to my Motown, 70′s, Funk playlist. Make sure to subscribe!
Other lists:
Updated my Electronica playlist: CLICK HERE FOR ACCESS
Also updated my Grunge 90′s Rock Playlist with some new content: CLICK HERE FOR ACCESS
Dont forget to check out my Old school Hip Hop and R&B playlist: CLICK HERE FOR ACCESS
Alex Ferbeyre (DJ Maximus 3000)
Alex Ferbeyre pka DJ Maximus 3000, is a chart topping producer, remixer, DJ, and founder/owner of the record label 8025 Alliance Music Group. DJ Maximus 3000 is also an experimental artist who has been working in the music industry since 1995. He has a background in music theory, journalism, and marketing and is the music editor of Arketipo 187 Magazine. Follow Ferbeyre on Twitter and Facebook or email him at max@arketipo187.com.
What a Country! Lowlives in the Florida Legislature
2012 -
02.22
Residents of Florida, beware! The Legislature is trying to pass a bill that shields any of its staff and members, past or current, from being sued and from requesting depositions from any lawsuits whatsoever.
The timing is interesting because the Dems are getting ready to sue in light of the “smoky back-room deals” that were done in the current redistricting efforts which were, not so curiously, set up to favor the Republican/Obstructionist party.
Now, I am a big boy and I know how it works, and redistricting favoritism is normal course of business for the party in power to favor themselves. But to hide behind a law that protects them from any lawsuits is giving the crooks and thieves carte blanche to screw over the populace and have no recourse or responsibility for their actions.
House Speaker Dean Cannon had the big cojones to stand in front of reporters with a straight face and say, “This will put us in sync with other states that shield lawmakers and uphold the truth that the motives, opinions, or attitudes of an individual legislator… aren’t appropriate for discovery.”
The blatant nerve!
What this is saying, without the lawyer-ese, is: Whatever the legislator does is none of your business and any suit seeking a deposition will not be allowed under the proposed bill and therefore there cannot be any legal recourse, screw you.
We keep electing these morons; we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Jorge Goyanes is a Florida business owner since 1993. He has served as president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in West Palm Beach, Vice President of the A.I.H.T. (a professional association of Hispanic businessmen), and ran for city commissioner in 2006 (receiving the majority of the vote in the general election, but resulting in a run-off). He is currently serving as the Chairman for HISPAC (a political action coalition) and is also on the local advisory council in Palm Beach for ASPIRA of Florida. Due to his noble nature, he was inducted into the honorable order of Kentucky Colonels in 1993 and somehow manages to find time to play golf (pretty well), write (very well), play poker (extremely well), and be a wonderful husband, father, brother, and grandfather.
Book Review: Silk by Rupert James
2012 -
02.22
Managing a plot with more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco, Rupert James keeps the pace steady and sure while advancing the characters through their development. The writing is superb in Silk; it makes the reader feel like an invisible observer who gets to participate in all the exciting parts, too.
Because it’s set in England, there are some concepts that puzzled me, like becoming Queen’s Counsel for a barrister. Never fear, Wikipedia to the rescue! Other than that, everything else translates fairly easily to American life.
The story takes the reader on a ride of celebrity lifestyles in fashion, movies, and even the criminal underworld. From the beginning you know things are going to get very bad, it’s inevitable, but what you don’t know is exactly how it’s going to happen and if only one character will be the culprit or if they will all have a hand in the crisis. Brilliantly done, Mr. James!
The Characters: Victoria and Christine dominate the action, with Isabelle being more of a catalyst for their actions. Joel was the perfect foil to all the people he interacted with in the novel, and let me tell you, most everybody dipped their quill in this guy. Massimo is as fascinating as he is disgusting. The one who won my heart from the start, of course being the fruit fly that I am, was Will. He’s Isabelle’s business partner and as gay as they come. Slutty, funny, and a true best friend. I loved him!
Overall: With a mix of sex in all its variety, professional and emotional jealousy, rampant infidelity, drugs all over the place, and yes, murder, all in a rollercoaster ride of a read, Silk is a book you will not want to put down. Move over The Devil Wears Prada. Look out, fans of Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins, Rupert James has joined the party.
And it’s going to be lots of fun with him here!
I am a happily married to my soul mate and have four daughters of the heart and body. God has also seen fit to reward me, through my gorgeous daughters and their loving husbands, with five beautiful grandkids. I am terminally addicted to reading, will read anywhere, everywhere. My Kindle goes with me wherever I go, though I might leave everything else behind. I am also an avid supporter of gay rights, which translates to human rights. God made me heterosexual, just like He made me with dark hair and eye color. I firmly believe that God does not make mistakes, that He made each of us as we are, and gave us life to live in this world of ours with the express purpose of allowing us the privilege to love. He also gave us diversity, to make life interesting, to learn from all those who cross our path and grow accordingly. My passions are many, my vices few, and I find every single minute of this ride we call life an exhilarating challenge that I cannot wait to meet. Got questions, concerns, issues or emotional outbursts you want to share with me? By all means, email me at: viv.santos@arketipo187.com. Or just drop me a line to say hello!
Happy Fun Hour! The first Monday of the rest of your Life!
2012 -
02.20
Image by Surian Soosay
It’s always fun to see people make fun of themselves… or at least to believe they’re consciously acting silly. The latest teen stars, Ashley Tisdale, Justin Bieber, and Selena Gomez all make appearances in this new, casual and quirky music video.
It’s a get Rich or Die Trying kind of week. A new video called Meltdown on Main Street is riding the coattails of the turning tide in wealth perception, inspiring a new generation to make themselves the next wealthy class.
Gossip at gossip’s best is going on about Whitney Houston’s funeral. The bane of her existence, Bobby Brown, nearly wrecked the deceased singer’s funeral, bringing eight more people than he RSVP’d for and refusing to move so other guests could sit down. Luckily he left before causing any real damage. Even Al Sharpton tweeted about the fiasco!
Having one of those mornings? Check out 7 Ways to be Happier Right Now.
Charity Sapphire is a writer, journalist, stunt fighter, philosopher, and all around performer. Miss Sapphire has lent her skills to projects and organizations including Vagina Monologues, Alternative Breaks, Fernando Arcay Special Events, and Shakespeare in the Park Miami. She is currently writing a news column for Arketipo187.com and learning to wield a rapier with Urban Ronin. She makes her bread and butter as the content manager/marketing assistant for Meditab Software, Inc. Miss Sapphire received her B.S. in Mass Communications from Florida International University and is working toward her MBA in Marketing with Strayer University, Doral Campus. When she is not writing or fighting, she is at home with her boyfriend and mutt.
S-S-Sunday News Mashup: The Dead and the Radical
2012 -
02.19
The Associated Press reported this Sunday that human remains were found in the Long Island woods. Suffolk County Police speculates the skeleton has been there for five years, but it has yet to be identified. This is one of several corpses and sets of bones that have been found around the Long Island Central Pine Barrens forest. Read more at the New York Daily News.
“It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal,” reads an article in the New York Times about the rise in motherhood before marriage. The Times mentions that while in the past, a child out of wedlock may have been a sign of poverty or low socioeconomic status, today two thirds of children in the U.S. are born to unwed mothers. According to the research, when more women joined the workforce and marriage was no longer a financial necessity, a wedding signified “having arrived rather than a way to get there.”
This week in politics, aside from the hectic battle for public attention that is the presidential election and all its surrounding debates and actions, Jeffrey Bell explained the Republican tact behind social conservatism. Bell is the author of an upcoming book, The Case for Polarized Politics, in which he notes that the GOP won seven out of 11 presidential elections since 1968 (the year when “social issues” entered the political mix), and only two out of nine in the decades before, when Bell argues, social issues were “nonexistent.” According to Bell, social conservatism is a response to leftist aggression. Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
Maria Murriel is a serious writer for serious publications. She is a freelance features writer for Open Media Miami, Beached Miami, and the Miami New Times, and is managing editor of Arketipo 187 Magazine. Her past endeavors include Consequence of Sound, The FIU Beacon and local blogs in Miami. Aside from an inextricable interest in music and culture, Ms. Murriel is mesmerized by issues of gender, power, and the role of religion in tying these together. Ms. Murriel holds a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies with a certificate in women’s studies and a minor in journalism. In her spare time, Ms. Murriel reads convoluted literature on the nature of sex and religion in the collective consciousness and watches Gilmore Girls DVDs. Her aspirations are high and her path is open.
All’s Fair in War… Right?
2012 -
02.17
In his post for the Atlantic, Dr. Patrick Lin of California Polytechnic asks, “If we can engineer a soldier who can resist torture, would it still be wrong to torture this person with the usual methods?”
He is referring to the ethics of technologically enhanced soldiers. Does warfare change when its players are superhuman?
According to Lin’s essay, the next generation of American soldiers will be more superpowerful than we can imagine. To make our warfighters resistant to the rough living conditions of combat, military technology researches ways to keep soldiers going — amphetamines and caffeine, and “go pills” for pilots on long missions.
Lin’s concerns are with the health of soldiers who may be modified by the military to become combat machines. Is there a risk of addiction to any chemical administered? Once veterans return to civilian life, their military enhancements come with them. Lin asks, should these enhancements be reversible?
There is also a question of having an “unfair advantage” over the enemy. Should that be a concern? In the end, one goes to war to win a war.
What are your thoughts?
Maria Murriel is a serious writer for serious publications. She is a freelance features writer for Open Media Miami, Beached Miami, and the Miami New Times, and is managing editor of Arketipo 187 Magazine. Her past endeavors include Consequence of Sound, The FIU Beacon and local blogs in Miami. Aside from an inextricable interest in music and culture, Ms. Murriel is mesmerized by issues of gender, power, and the role of religion in tying these together. Ms. Murriel holds a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies with a certificate in women’s studies and a minor in journalism. In her spare time, Ms. Murriel reads convoluted literature on the nature of sex and religion in the collective consciousness and watches Gilmore Girls DVDs. Her aspirations are high and her path is open.
The Coutry Urbanite: Having a Meltdown? Savor it!
2012 -
02.16
The Country Urbanite
Valentine’s Day (or week) is the perfect time for a personal crisis. All the heart-shaped and love-themed items, chatter, marketing, and must-haves are the perfect catalysts for a meltdown.
I say meltdowns are good and everyone should have one at least once in their lifetime.
Confused? You should be. Meltdowns or breakdowns are usually seen negatively because they signify that a person has finally gone insane and needs a cocktail of meds and some intensive talk therapy right now.
Let us turn the situation around, though. Once everything is broken down the only options you have are to either remain broken or build something, anything, from the ground up. How exhilarating! Think of it as a similar thrill to getting a new haircut, a new house or a new pair of shoes, only a bit more life-altering.
I can personally attest to the healing power of the meltdown. Many years ago I had a horrible, gruesome, and tortured breakup with my ex-fiancée. I felt I couldn’t breathe. I felt all my plans had been wiped off the face of the earth. I felt like my chest had become a blender and my heart was subjected to daily slicing, dicing, and chopping.
After a particularly alcohol-fueled weekend with my incredibly supportive group of friends, I felt I had finally hit rock-bottom. This was the moment where I had to choose between spiraling down into nothingness or doing something about my current predicament. I chose to be daring and to do all of the things I could never have done once I got married and settled down with my ex-fiancée. I did all of the typical post-breakup things like getting a new haircut and a different wardrobe. I dated bad boys, older men, mean boys, nerds — you name it. Then I took the most daring step of all: I moved to Australia.
The experiences I had there and the friends I made cannot be changed for anything nor anyone. No guy, no matter how much I may love him, can take away that period of self-discovery and freedom that I experienced. I am a wiser and more insightful individual because of it.
But I still need some help every now and then. I regularly see a therapist. (Let me point out, though, that my therapist has a therapist too.) I have little crises occasionally. The difference is that I am no longer afraid of them because they will once again serve their purpose as a chance to rebuild and to start anew.
Think about this if you start to feel down this Valentine’s Day. Is it time for you ro rebuild?
Globetrotter extraordinaire. Obsessed with cooking and books. Mother hen of her group of friends. Caribbean Islander by birth, but the World is her stage. Anything and everything is interesting and must be pondered. After a decade or so of traveling all over the world, she has settled down with the unlikeliest of dudes in the unlikeliest of places — the U.S. Midwest. Her column helps her navigate the uncharted waters of domesticity.
What a Country! One Million Morons
2012 -
02.15
I am not gay but injustice and bullying from groups that want to tell others what is right for them is getting to the point where these self-interest groups are going to need lobbyists for their lobbyists.
Recently the group One Million Moms wanted JC Penney to replace the recently hired Ellen Degeneres as their spokesperson because according to them (and who asked for their fucking opinion?) Ellen is not a “true representative” of the families that shop at JC Penney.
Based on the families that I see at the my local JCP I would agree with their statement that Ellen is not a true representative. A true representative would be named Jose Shaniqua Sanchez Leticia Gonzalez Jefferson Pierre Saint Jean.
What I do not agree with is that they are arbitrarily pushing their weight around and trying to get someone fired because of their sexual orientation. If Ellen likes to eat pussy, more power to her. God bless her and pass the dental floss.
Look, One Million Moms, if you do not like who JCP hired as their spokesperson, DON’T BUY ANYTHING THERE. See how simple it is?
If every obscure group decides to flex their muscle about every little thing that frosts their ass, we will have a country full of whiny self-absorbed groups cryin’ and bitchin’ whatever one of their sensibilities is currently offended. Oh, wait! We have that already.
I don’t care if my favorite department store hires Ricky Martin as their spokesperson. Just because Ricky likes the skin flute will not stop me from shopping there.
Hey, Moms, how about you do something constructive with your group and start an after-school mentoring program? How about starting a food drive? How about volunteering for your local hospice?
Moms, take your conservative agenda and leave the rest of the US alone. The 1950s are not coming back. Get used to it.
Jorge Goyanes is a Florida business owner since 1993. He has served as president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in West Palm Beach, Vice President of the A.I.H.T. (a professional association of Hispanic businessmen), and ran for city commissioner in 2006 (receiving the majority of the vote in the general election, but resulting in a run-off). He is currently serving as the Chairman for HISPAC (a political action coalition) and is also on the local advisory council in Palm Beach for ASPIRA of Florida. Due to his noble nature, he was inducted into the honorable order of Kentucky Colonels in 1993 and somehow manages to find time to play golf (pretty well), write (very well), play poker (extremely well), and be a wonderful husband, father, brother, and grandfather.
