Monday, February 23, 2009

Orgasm While Reading....well almost

Yes...I almost got an orgasm while reading Mark Duffield's "War as a Network Enterprise: The New Security Terrain and its Implications." Found in Cultural Values, Vol. 6, Nos. 1 & 2: 151-165....and FREELY available at:

http://www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/10588048681Duffield_netwar2.pdf


I'm not one to get wild about academic work all too often, but Duffield is awesome and should be mandatory reading for all undergrads (which sadly I was not privy to while I was doing mine). Additionally Carolyn Nordstrom and her "Shadows of War" is an excellent read. Both speak to a network of extra-state transactions that are changing our society, and the need to somehow incorporate it into our 'old' (my emphasis) state system (a slightly nuanced interpretation...not as much of an academic one as I'm currently writing lol).

That's it for today!! Keep your brain from shrinking by getting a daily dose of "What...I didn't know that!!!"

Short post, I admit!!, but as time gets tighter and I need to finish a few papers, these are the cherries in my day that make things go POP!


Wishing you all happy reading "with a POP"!!

-anna(r)

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Why I love Bill Maher

Yes....I'm finally coming out, I though I could keep this to myself, but no longer can I keep my heart from bursting forth with awesome rainow filled admiration; I love...LOVE Bill Maher!

I would like nothing else than to take that little man and jump on him, then kiss him from head to toe.

I know I know, you are probably asking why, and to give you a full run-down would be difficult online, but his outspoken nature, tell-it-like-it-is personality, amazing documentaries and **drum roll please** recent comment on Phelps and Kellogg's, is song to my heart.

Mr. Maher made my heart jump for saying publicly (on Jay Leno [extra points]) what I've been thinking all along, but haven't built up my media empire enough (just yet) to do myself. For your reading pleasure I include a quote.

On Kellogg's dropping Phelps:
"I wish we could end this charade in this country that putting marijuana in your body is somehow worse than a thousand other things that people put in their body - including anything made by Kellogg's!" -Bill Maher on Jay Leno 2/10/09

Woooooohoooooo, THANK YOU Bill Maher for finally coming out and saying what needed to be said in your ever heart-stopping manner :)

Yes Kellogg's is rolling in its multi-million dollar bed, but evenutally they will realize what crap they sell and move along. Maybe spike some of their cereal with nutrient dense MJ seeds :)


That's my thought for the hour :)
peace to all

Sunday, February 15, 2009

A Poetry Post.....musings of a time long gone

Happy belated Valentines day: otherwise known as "consumerism and lust 101"

--> my ode to Feb 14 (09):

talk talk talk
but what to say
to keep you lovin' and for another day?


To lighten my day, and to bring light to my writing skills (no not the good ones), I rummaged through my aged notebooks and found a bit of older writing I did when a bit of time became available.

There are so many things to talk about, but for now I just want to listen to music and eat chickpea stew :)

Enjoy :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The burning of leather and screams of pain
wallowing
lingering
swallowing

their blood bursting forth, covering your decadent mouth in untold suffering
disgust
sorrow
misunderstanding

questions of sincerity and good ol'days
freedom
love
knowledge

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Late Night at a Tim Horton's

To start off, I had a late night. I woke up a few hours after I went to bed, and as divas all know: sleep is the secret to fresh beauty. I sadly inform you now that I am a bit tired, have zipper marks on half my face, and have been chowing down on lettuce as a lunch and breakfast meal to get some energy in me.

The lettuce part will be it's own post, "the no good leafy green" post lol, but I will leave that for another day. The main point of today's post is related to my previous Kartel post. Which leads me to why I had a late night. No it wasn't me hard at work, more or less it was me and a cup of cold tea and 3 long hours of a debate on rights in Canada as related to Dance Hall artists.

As you may of noticed in the lyrics I posted, Kartel and Spice say they do not like gays, which is everyone's own opinion, but they take it to another level by saying that gays should be shot. This is where the debate started.

Although I'm all for freedom of expression, it is my belief that you should be free to express yourself as long as you are not infringing on the right to safety of someone else. This is a corner-stone in protecting people from other peoples ethnic/sexist phobias. In many way's it was present when slavery was abolished, and when people came to their senses and finally decided that there is no different between a white woman/man and a black woman/man. Each person may be unique, but all people share the same basic DNA and emotions, and deserve respect. This is where the Universal Declaration on Human Rights makes its stage entrance, it is by far the most important human document crafted since the modern world began to form. It may not be followed, but the idea is pure brilliance and should be upheld.

Now back to Dance Hall and its sometimes very homophobic lyrics, my partner thought that it is immoral to deny entrance to artists like Kartel and Spice because they sometimes sing about hating gays. He pointed to how they grew up and that homophobia is in large part a significant social norm in Jamaica (where these artists come from), and in turn they should not be punished for their personal beliefs as supported by their communities. I should also point out, he was coming at the issue from a personal background perspective so it was at times difficult to separate the emotional from the logical trains of thought, but each to his/her own. Below you will find my response, keep in mind I am thinking about this from my own perspective and directing it in a way that only responds to the potential actions I would take, not the groups that ask to ban certain Dance Hall artists.

So to start, free speech is not a part of Canada....you are free to express yourself as long as that expression is not in conflict with someone else's right to life/existence. Safety from harassment being key. By this extension if an artist is promoting violence against any group it is reasonable to ask them to alter their performance if they want to perform in a country that gives the same rights to gays, as it does to straight people.

Following this logic, I believe it is necessary to not start to ignore Dance Hall music, but embrace it while letting the artists know that certain aspects of their lyrics are unacceptable, but that if they change we will more than embrace them. Perhaps their audience will grow, after all gay people don't only listen to Cher LoL.

To point to another example, addressing the issue my partner brought-up about asking someone to change their morality based on an issue they feel strongly about because you feel like you know better.
In my response I admit I was a little taken aback, after all I am one of those people who preach that people, especially in what is the global South, need not crappy help from the West; but need to be apologized to and given reparations for all the horrible harm that the West has and still continues to inflict (aka. World Bank...3rd world debt....the stealing of natural resources etc). I came back at this with my final though that will finish off this post: people have a right to expression as long as it does not impose on someone else's right to life free of conflict and violence.

Hundreds of years ago, white people were lead to believe that they were better than coloured people and through this they could enslave people. This in itself was wrong, and so a change had to be made, and it was. The people that believed (to their bones) that whites were superior were challenged and successfully so. This lead to Martin Luther King Jr. and again segregation being challenged. This happened because people did not buy into the idea that one person is better than another due to skin colour or creed. This is what has lead to a new president who represents a group of people who have long been harmed by social policies created so that a group in power could stay in power.

So to you who read this blog, I engage you in this discussion to think about not only what has transpired but what continues to have to transpire so that all people can live free lives. This is especially true now, when communities fear immigrants/migrants because they fear change.

Think...think...think.....act :)

peace and love

Friday, February 6, 2009

Why Vybz Kartel will never get signed by an American label !!

I love Dance Hall music, the beats are amazing and you can't help but dance. The best beats to grind to are (in my opinion) Dance Hall beats. This is probably one of the reasons why I always wondered why I get to hear so few of these killer songs on the radio. That is, I had no idea until I started to decipher the language.

You know what I mean, you love the music but have no idea what the person signing is saying, apart from some semblance of what might be the chorus. This was me with Dance Hall, especially my all time favourite song by Sean Paul, Deport Them.

This was me until I decided I needed to brush-up on my language skills, and stop signing "la la la la dutty la la la dutty boy" (I kid you not) instead of the real lyrics. Listening to Deport Them for purely the lyrics was my first taste of how crazy-sexual Dance Hall music is, and how toned down it is for an American audience.

This goes into my highly held opinion that Americans (and yes us Canadians as well) are a little shy when it comes to sexual content, no matter how crazy our own sex lives might be or how much we want them to be. So today's post is no less than a call-out to all those closet sexaholics: be no longer afraid of your body and what it can (and can't do), but enjoy that which it is doing (hopefully on a daily basis lol). As an ode to this post I give you a taste of Dance Hall (I do not agree with the homophobic ideas circling around in the industry), purely I aim to open your eyes (and legs) to the sex.

Below I present to you my most recent dive into Dance Hall lyrics. A relatively new song, but one that I giggle at whenever I get to the "satellite dish" part. In case you want to listen to it I also include the video.



Just so you get the awesomness of this song....below are the lyrics. So yes yes Kartel (or whomever I happen to like at the moment...spin me around like a satellite dish :)


[Intro:]
[Kartel:] Ah di techer
[Spice:] And ah spice
[Kartel:] Every man grab a gyal
[Spice:] And every gyal grab a man
[Kartel:] Man to man, gyal to gyal dats wrong
[Spice:] Scorn dem
[Kartel:] All wen a nite yuh pussy feel like sun hot; wen yuh come inna mi ramping shop
[Spice:] Mek sure yuh kno how fi wuk and ah nuh chat yah ah chat

[Verse 1:]
Hey, mi cocky longa than mi nine
Tell mi wah yuh like
Yuh wah mi try or yuh wah fi ride it like a bike
Well, yuh haffi ram it hard
Di cocky nuh fi lie
Damage it fi spite
Not becah mi pussy tight
Suppose mi put it pon di lef
Gyal yuh tek it pan di right
Mi nipple dem a ripe
Sen it up inna mi tripe
Wah titi appetite
Every nipple get a bite
Mi man haffi go see it
Mi and him haffi go fight

[Hook:]
Cah me haffi wine pon di cocky like dis
Kartel spin me like a satellite dish
Deal wid yuh breast like mi crushing irish
Spice I neva love a pussy like dis
You ah my mista
You ah my miss
Kill me wid di cocky
Kill me wid di tightness
And when you a come
Whispa someting like dis
I can't stop fucking you

[Chorus:]
Hey, cocky nuh play
Me will bruk yuh back
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will quint it up two time and pop yuh cock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will mek yuh run out a mi house
Inna half ah frock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
A gyal eva ride pon it and gi yuh heart attack
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop

[Verse 2:]
Spice ah you mi love
Yuh kno how fi do yuh stuff
Yuh pussy buff
Plus it squeeze like handcuff
Kartel ah you mi love
See it deh mi cock it up fi yuh ramp ruff
Til mi belly cramp up
Shhh di climax begun
Bear sweat a run
Hold mi tight spice
Me feel like me ah cum
Mi nah let yuh go
So don't let me down
Me two phone a ring and me nah ansa none

[Hook:]
Cah me haffi wine pon di cocky like dis
Kartel spin me like a satellite dish
Deal wid yuh breast like mi crushing irish
Spice I neva love a pussy like dis
You ah my mista
You ah my miss
Kill me wid di cocky
Kill me wid di tightness
And when you a come
Whispa someting like dis
I can't stop fucking you

[Chorus:]
Hey, cocky nuh play
Me will bruk yuh back
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will quint it up two time and pop yuh cock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will mek yuh run out a mi house
Inna half ah frock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
A gyal eva ride pon it and gi yuh heart attack
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop

[Bridge:]
[Kartel:] Ah di techer
[Spice:] And ah spice
[Kartel:] Every man grab a gyal
[Spice:] And every gyal grab a man
[Kartel:] Man to man, gyal to gyal dats wrong
[Spice:] Scorn dem
[Kartel:] All wen a nite yuh pussy feel like sun hot; wen yuh come inna mi ramping shop
[Spice:] Mek sure yuh kno how fi wuk and ah chat yah ah chat


[Chorus:]
Cocky nuh play
Me will bruk yuh back
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will quint it up two time and pop yuh cock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
Me will mek yuh run out a mi house
Inna half ah frock
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
A gyal eva ride pon it and gi yuh heart attack
When yuh come inna mi ramping shop
From http://www.6lyrics.com

A Curious Discovery

I forgot I had a blog!!

I've been so busy with life, and my many temporary interests that this blog has gone the way of the giant Colombia snake (fossil) that was just found. I kid you not, it is the length of a bus! swallow that those who fear snakes!

I am back, I recognize I love...just love writing. Not the book style (although I am trying), but the general 'this is life and this is how I'm dealing with it' style. I hope you can appreciate this blog for what it is, a collection of little ol'me.

In the spirit of this new post I will update you all on what has happened in life. If you remember a previous entry on me and my crazy unknown path in life and where to take it, in a short statement in answer to that: I am now in Grad school! --> this does not make me more anything, it has just been a natural progression of my life thus far. Granted I now wish I was a vegan chef extraordinaire....with my own little B&B and a little cafe attached. No no, some of us who are on our way to higher education still don't know what to do with life, I would say that is probably why we are still in university LoL.

I welcome you all to this new and updated Blog....come one and all....

Now for some cool news!

Chocolate is good for you! I know many many people have been waiting for that, the caveat being that it should be raw dark chocolate! In my books, please do not hate me for this, chocolate isn't all that yummy; especially dark chocolate....I'm a fruit girl myself......ooooh sweet delicious pomegranates how I miss thee when you were a mere 99 cents.

Enough for now, to all a good day with lots of thoughts of warm May :)

peace
-Anna(r)