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...for a piece I'm writing in the FT, it's a beautiful place. While I was there I took a bunch of photos. Check them out by clicking here or on the photo above.
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South Carolina’s Carleen and The Groovers released only two 7” singles, in the early 1970s. They have gone on to become standards in the Deep Funk scene due to bootlegged, poor-sounding, anonymous compilations. The singles themselves are so rare that copies almost never exchange hands. They were re-released a while ago though.
At the peak of the band's success Carleen decided that she was moving to Germany. Clary [St. Clair] heard a young drummer by the name of Bernard Smalls performing with the Electric Icebox Band and liked his funk style which was similar to Carleen's. Bernard Smalls joined the band while he was still a sophomore in high school after Carleen moved to Germany and he played with the other original members keeping up the deep funk tradition. After Carleen's departure the band was re-named St. Clair and the Mid-Night Groovers. During the early 70s the band had a tradition of being the best R&B band in the low country with its deep grooves based on James Brown style funk.
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Check out Carleen's hair.
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There are at least 16 you need to know that use various parts of the body, but above are the nine simplest fists. Here's one list of all 16, but there are always differences and stuff, and they go with different movements (rising, falling, forward, back) as well as fitting certain specific parts of the body or types of attack.
1. Kikaku-ken (aka Zutski) Head-butt
2. Fudo-ken (aka Nio-ken or Kongo-ken) "Immovable (clenched) fist"
3. Shikan-ken '4-Rings Fist'
4. Boshi-ken (aka Shito-ken) Thumb-drive fist (refers to the piercing end a blade)
5. Shako-ken Palm-strike/claw-hand fist
6. Kiten-ken (aka Shuto) Knife-hand
7. Shitan-ken Finger-spear/thumb-pressure grip
8. Happa-ken "8 Leaves" Open-hand (slap)
9. Koppo-ken "Bone method fist" Thumb-knuckle fist
10. Shishin-ken "Finger-needle" fist
11. Shuki-ken 'Elbow-gun' (Elbow and forearm)
12. Sokki-ken Knee and shin
13. Sokuyaku-ken Heel of foot
14. Sokugyaku-ken Ball-of-foot & toes
15. Shizen-ken "Natural weapons" (teeth, whatever, basically, anything not on the list!)
16. Taiken "Body-as-weapon"
(and here's a video)
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Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face. Don't mind people grinnin' in your face, O Lord, Just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find. Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face.
They'll jump you up and down. They'll carry you all around and 'round. Just as soon as your back is turned, they'll be tryin' to cut you down. But just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.
Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face...
Your mother, she'll talk about you. Your brothers and your sisters, too. Yes, don't care how you're trying to live, They'll talk about you still. But just bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.
Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face....
Ravi writes...Birth of Virgin Atlantic
The following speech by Richard Branson (at the 4th Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture) proves my point; the situation he found himself in could have been that of ANYONE of us, in fact, there were a number of people who were in the same situation. Only, he decided to look for a solution.
“In ’79, when Joan, my fiancee and I were on a holiday in the British Virgin Islands, we were trying to catch a flight to Puerto Rico; but the local Puerto Rican scheduled flight was cancelled. The airport terminal was full of stranded passengers. I made a few calls to charter companies and agreed to charter a plane for $2000 to Puerto Rico. Cheekily leaving out Joan’s and my name, I divided the price by the remaining number of passengers, borrowed a blackboard and wrote: VIRGIN AIRWAYS: $39 for a single flight to Puerto Rico. I walked around the airport terminal and soon filled every seat on the charter plane. As we landed at Puerto Rico, a passenger turned to me and said: “Virgin Airways isn’t too bad – smarten up the services a little and you could be in business.”
That, my friends, is how VIRGIN ATLANTIC began. Can you believe it? A mad hatter’s flight was cancelled, and look what he came up with.
He goes on to add:
“When VA was launched in ’84, not one person thought it would survive for more than a year. The bosses of these 13 big American airlines that we competed with said we’d fail. Now 21 years later, all 13 of them are out of business.”
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Credits: Film by Allison Schulnik Cinematography by Helder K. Sun. "It's Raining Today" written by Noel Scott Engel
4:23 min Copyright Allison Schulnik 2011
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd_VUIvnMgU&w=700] ...lovely lyrics. Simple and sweet.
...and though I tend not to post about my own stuff, I'm pretty pleased with some of the photos I took. If you get five minutes over lunch, do please check them out by clicking here or on the photo above.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5g8wXE__Y&w=700] An anguished love song John Lennon wrote to Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney interpreted it as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down." Richie Unterberger of Allmusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs", and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies." The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, one of which was included in the Let It Be film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
In 1969, Marcia Griffiths did a reggae version, which I adore:
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There are other covers too -- Ben E. King, Annie Lennox, Stereophonics, a beautiful one by Paul Weller to name a few -- but one of my favourites is one I only just found out about, Phoebe Snow in 1977, with a syrupy, languid voice that tickles the back of my neck and tweaks at my heart:
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An Autumn Rain-Scene by Thomas Hardy There trudges one to a merry-making With sturdy swing, On whom the rain comes down.
To fetch the saving medicament Is another bent, On whom the rain comes down.
One slowly drives his herd to the stall Ere ill befall, On whom the rain comes down.
This bears his missives of life and death With quickening breath, On whom the rain comes down.
One watches for signals of wreck or war From the hill afar, On whom the rain comes down.
No care if he gain a shelter or none, Unhired moves on, On whom the rain comes down.
And another knows nought of its chilling fall Upon him at all, On whom the rain comes down.
--
To Autumn by William Blake
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain'd With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou may'st rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe, And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.
'The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve, Till clust'ring Summer breaks forth into singing, And feather'd clouds strew flowers round her head.
'The spirits of the air live in the smells Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.' Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat, Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.
--
Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson
In the other gardens And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over And all the summer flowers, The red fire blazes, The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!
-- AUTUMN FEELINGS. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
FLOURISH greener, as ye clamber, Oh ye leaves, to seek my chamber,
Up the trellis'd vine on high! May ye swell, twin-berries tender, Juicier far,--and with more splendour
Ripen, and more speedily! O'er ye broods the sun at even As he sinks to rest, and heaven
Softly breathes into your ear All its fertilising fullness, While the moon's refreshing coolness,
Magic-laden, hovers near; And, alas! ye're watered ever
By a stream of tears that rill From mine eyes--tears ceasing never,
Tears of love that nought can still!
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sFqfbrsZbw&w=700] "The birds are outbursts of raw, maternal energy." Slavoj Žižek from his upcoming film, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, an investigation into what psychoanalysis can tell us about film (I just like what he says about Mitch). More clips here.
Zizek rocks. Here's him on why Love is Evil (which is pretty darned brilliant).
And here's a Q&A he did in The Guardian:
Slavoj Zizek, 59, was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, international director of the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities in London and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana's institute of sociology. He has written more than 30 books on subjects as diverse as Hitchcock, Lenin and 9/11, and also presented the TV series The Pervert's Guide To Cinema.
When were you happiest? A few times when I looked forward to a happy moment or remembered it - never when it was happening.
What is your greatest fear? To awaken after death - that's why I want to be burned immediately.
What is your earliest memory? My mother naked. Disgusting.
Which living person do you most admire, and why? Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the twice-deposed president of Haiti. He is a model of what can be done for the people even in a desperate situation.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Indifference to the plights of others.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Their sleazy readiness to offer me help when I don't need or want it.
What was your most embarrassing moment? Standing naked in front of a woman before making love.
Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've bought? The new German edition of the collected works of Hegel.
What is your most treasured possession? See the previous answer.
What makes you depressed? Seeing stupid people happy.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? That it makes me appear the way I really am.
What is your most unappealing habit? The ridiculously excessive tics of my hands while I talk.
What would be your fancy dress costume of choice? A mask of myself on my face, so people would think I am not myself but someone pretending to be me.
What is your guiltiest pleasure? Watching embarrassingly pathetic movies such as The Sound Of Music.
What do you owe your parents? Nothing, I hope. I didn't spend a minute bemoaning their death.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why? To my sons, for not being a good enough father.
What does love feel like? Like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.
What or who is the love of your life? Philosophy. I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it.
What is your favourite smell? Nature in decay, like rotten trees.
Have you ever said 'I love you' and not meant it? All the time. When I really love someone, I can only show it by making aggressive and bad-taste remarks.
Which living person do you most despise, and why? Medical doctors who assist torturers.
What is the worst job you've done? Teaching. I hate students, they are (as all people) mostly stupid and boring.
What has been your biggest disappointment? What Alain Badiou calls the 'obscure disaster' of the 20th century: the catastrophic failure of communism.
If you could edit your past, what would you change? My birth. I agree with Sophocles: the greatest luck is not to have been born - but, as the joke goes on, very few people succeed in it.
If you could go back in time, where would you go? To Germany in the early 19th century, to follow a university course by Hegel.
How do you relax? Listening again and again to Wagner.
How often do you have sex? It depends what one means by sex. If it's the usual masturbation with a living partner, I try not to have it at all.
What is the closest you've come to death? When I had a mild heart attack. I started to hate my body: it refused to do its duty to serve me blindly.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life? To avoid senility.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? The chapters where I develop what I think is a good interpretation of Hegel.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you? That life is a stupid, meaningless thing that has nothing to teach you.
Tell us a secret. Communism will win.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt3K_H4Qf4k&w=700] For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes (sweeties, fireworks, feasting, fun). For Jains, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana by Mahavira in 527 BC. For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important which they celebrate after the celebration of Bandi Chhorh Divas (the Day of Freedom), celebrating the release from prison of the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619. Some Buddhists celebrate Diwali too, remembering Emperor Ashoka who converted to Buddhism on this day - they know the festival as Ashok Vijayadashami.
The name "Diwali" is a contraction of "Dipawali" (Sanskrit: दीपावली Dīpāwalī), which translates into "row of lamps". Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas or dīpas - in Sanskrit: दीप) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.
The festival starts with Dhanteras, on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival, Naraka Chaturdasi, marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the Bali, and banished him to Patala. It is on the fourth day of Diwali, Kartika Shudda Padyami, that Bali went to patala and took the reins of his new kingdom in there. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.
While the story behind Diwali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region (festive fireworks, worship, lights, sharing of sweets), the essence is the same – to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying Reality of all things (Brahman).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWAUCVbnDUg&w=700] Brilliant song to blast, this one. Sore and raw and beautiful. Nothing wrong with a bit of Wattstax/Koko. Luther Ingram didn't make a record until he was 28 (in 1965). This is his best known song - it was later covered by Isaac Hayes (who Ingram often opened for), Millie Jackson, Rod Stewart etc.
He had a song called Exus Trek that was huge with the Northern Soul cats too - well worth a listen. Rocking. Plus, when it came to leather waistcoats and slightly odd hair styles, he really knew what he was talking about.
