This is Jasper. He’s a Bouvier des Flandres and he was chilling on the E train, calm as ever. His owner told me he weighs 120 pounds and is a service dog, which is why a crowded train did not bother him in the least.
The Bouvier des Flandres is sober and thoughtful, rather than light-hearted or whimsical.
The AKC Standard calls him “equable, steady, resolute, and rugged.”
Though they can be athletic and agile, Bouviers are often a bit lazy unless deliberately taken out and encouraged to move. Brisk walks are a must to keep them in hard condition.
Mental stimulation in the form of advanced obedience, agility, tracking, herding, carting, or Schutzhund is even more important to this highly intelligent breed.
Though he is not overly demonstrative — he shows his loyalty in deeper, more subtle ways — the Bouvier des Flandres must live indoors and close to his family, his “flock.” When his needs are met, he is laid-back and serene.
Matching his stern appearance, he is often aloof with strangers and assertive when challenged. His air of calm appraisal can be intimidating, and he may use his big body to control people, rather than biting. Socialization must be early and frequent so that he learns to discriminate between friend and foe.
Most Bouvers des Flandres are dominant with other dogs, especially of the same sex, and those with a high prey drive are not reliable with cats and other creatures that run or flutter.
He may poke or nudge people and other animals in an attempt to gather them or move them along.
Make no mistake about it, the Bouvier des Flandres can be a pushy, strong-willed dog who requires a confident owner, especially during the challenging adolescent period. This is not a breed for first-time or passive owners.
Brooklyn rapper,Justin Bates(a Chicago native), tells me he often gets “You remind me of someone,” in regards to his sound. YES. Is it Red Man? I’m not sure. But one thing is clear: He’s got a GREAT voice.
Obviously, he’s a great lyricist, too, or I wouldn’t be sharing his latest track, “All On We,” produced by Madwreck. I dig the soulful intro, and again, can’t say enough of Bates’ voice. This song is very reminiscent of 90s New York hip hop for me!
And check out this video for his track, “Turn The Music Up,” from 2012.
Africa’s most inspirational band, “Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars,” celebrates ten years together with its finest album to date. Libation’s “around-the-campfire” intimacy, honest soulfulness, and technical prowess reveal how far the group has come while remaining true to its roots. Produced by Chris Velan and mixed by Iestyn Polson, known for his work with David Gray,Patti Smith, and David Bowie, Libation embodies the contagious joy, optimism in the face of struggle and love for their fellow man that has earned the All Stars a devoted following across the globe.
US & Canada Release Date: March 18, 2014
After a 10-year adventure that has taken them from the squalor of refugee camps to the world’s biggest stages, Africa’s most inspirational band continues to ascend with what will surely be hailed as their best album yet. For these beautiful recordings,Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars go full circle to the acoustic, “around the campfire” sound that appeared on their first album, much of which was recorded in the refugee camps during their years in exile from Sierra Leone. Back then, the group was in a very different frame of mind, had yet to tour the world, and were still raw in their sound. Over the years they have evolved to become one of Africa’s most recognized bands with fans across the globe. Libation‘s acoustic intimacy, toe-tapping rhythms, catchy melodies, honest soulfulness, socially conscious lyrics and musical dexterity reveal how far the group has come while remaining true to its roots.
It’s a family reunion as well, as they join forces again with Chris Velan, the producer of their debut album Living Like a Refugee. The new album, which will be released in the US and Canada on March 18, was recorded amidst the Green Mountains of Vermont and mixed in London by renowned British producer Iestyn Polson, known for his work with David Gray, Patti Smith, David Bowie and others.
The album takes its title, Libation, from the ritual pouring of a liquid that is common in African cultures. A libation is poured as an offering to a god or spirit, to honor the ancestors, and in memory of loved ones who have died. Often, when a libation is poured it is an invocation for sacred spirits to be present at a special event such as the welcoming of people into the community, for a wedding, birth or funeral or the coronation of a king or other ruler. After the tracking of the album was finished, for example, the members of the band celebrated the occasion by pouring a libation, both as a celebration and to remember the numerous beloved members of the band who have passed away over the last ten years and could not take part in the session. The title offers a celebration of ten years together, a chance to remember those who have joined the ancestors and hope for many years of success ahead.
** Thanks to Ryan from Press Junkie PR for the press release!
Grab your máscaras and join us as we celebrate the joyful Caribbean and Latin American tradition of Carnaval with music, storytelling, dance workshops, and art-making for all ages. It all takes place on Saturday, Feb. 15, from noon to 4 p.m. at El Museo del Barrio in Harlem.
One of the best things about working at a Jesuit university is that you’re often inspired by students who take the foundational element of Jesuit education, “Men and Women for Others,” and run with it.
Case in point: Michael Partis, a young man I wrote about who graduated from Fordham in 2008.
Partis is now a doctoral student, and through his work, he is doing something for the next generation.
Young Movement, Inc. is a nonprofit organization he has worked on building and developing for the past two years.
In conjunction with CUNY Hostos Community College’s Black Male Initiative, Young Movement will launch the one-day F.E.E.L Program at Hostos Community College, in the Savoy Building, Multi-Purpose Room.
“The one-day program is geared to help youth and young adults not only understand today’s economy, but also to succeed and transform it,” Partis says.
Workshop topics will include:
financial literacy
wealth-building
community leadership
Representatives from TD Bank and American Express, along with minority entrepreneurs and business-owners, will be in attendance.
Throughout the day, guest speakers will discuss topics such as social entrepreneurship, “turning classroom learning into a career,” and how local neighborhoods can accelerate local economic development.
Partis urges all youth, young adults, and area institutions and agencies, to attend.
Click here to learn more about how Employment Readiness, Personal Finance, and Higher Education fits into Young Movement’s vision for economic empowerment and community development.
“Zuzuka has turned to our minds like the impact of a helicopter against the building; like a hot gate of sound. Zuzuka is a Big Bang. Zuzuka is poderosa.” – NHM (Spain / London)“She’s very prolific. We love all the stuff that she does. She has an interesting way with words.”
– NPR’s Alt Latino’s ‘Mad Musical Scientists’
About the EP via FACT Mag:
On her Carioca Bass EP, she has collaborated with Bay Area producer Kush Arora on a pair of baile funk tunes that use the genre’s everything-in-the-blender ethos to subwoofer melting effect. The title of ‘Seda’ (Portuguese for “rolling papers”) is a play on words, as Zuzuka meditates on the criminalization/legalization of pot over a club-rap grinder. ‘Psicodelia’ owes more to baile funk’s Miami bass tradition, with Zuzuka rapping about fireworks that are actually blasts of favela gunfire.
Upcoming Tour Dates: Chicago, IL – Fri, Feb 8th | Beauty Bar San Francisco, CA – Sat, Feb 9th | Tormenta Tropical @ Elbo Room Brooklyn, NY – Fri, Feb 15th | Public Assembly | Tickets
Born in Vitoria, Brazil, ZUZUKA PODEROSA grew up in Rio and spent her formative years in the West Indies. She later moved to Brooklyn, NY, to study jazz vocal improvisation and work at her poetry. For the past few years, she’s been building up the underground Baile Funk, Moombahton and Global Bass scene in New York.
The EP is produced by the Bay Area’s Kush Arora. Kush Arora has walked the line between culture, experimentalism, and percussive bass music for the last 15 years in San Francisco and beyond. With over 10 discs to his name and countless singles, all shades of Dub, Garage, Dancehall, and Indo-Caribbean influences merge into his unique futuristic sound.
“She sounds dangerous, intense, unhinged, and different and more experimental than the baile funk, carioca, and tropical bass vocalists I hear out there. She has an amazing stage presence, uncompromising attitude and intense energy that she pushes forth, and her willingness to experiment outside of the small box of samples and traditions from the Brazilian electronic movement. She has that knack to take people, propel them into motion to get down and forget about the world, but lyrically she’s not all fun and games, which is very important to me.” – Kush Arora
Tracks on the EP are remixed by: Jubilee: Though now splitting her time between Miami and Brooklyn, XLR8R’s “artist to watch” Jubilee will always be Brooklyn’s bass sweetheart. Known for her rambunctious combination of upfront bass music, UK house, and tropical flavors, she has become a surefire remedy for ailing dancefloors around the globe.
Sonora: Sonora Longoria, is a producer of Latin and third world/global bass music who resides in San Antonio, Texas. The “cumbia child” Sonora has accomplished quite a few projects with global artists, one being for his “Remezcla” EP series where he takes on remixing and recording with carioca bass diva Zuzuka Poderosa.
Nego Mozambique: a Brazilian expat living in Toronto, who has been in the electronic music scene for more than ten years, performing live acts of his own compositions, mash ups and remixes, and also creating soundtracks for TV and movies.
Others include: Vancouver’s HXDB, Chicago’s Chrissy Murderbot, Miami’s Burt Fox and CEE.
Song meanings:
‘Psicodelia‘ is an upbeat track featuring Zuzuka rapping about fireworks at a party that are, in fact, gunfire and bombs in one of Brazil’s favelas.
‘Seda‘ is a play on words. Seda is Portuguese for rolling papers. In this song, Zuzuka touches on everything sexy about the drug while advocating for its legalization as there are “worse things happening to people because of its criminalization.”
Rockaway residents crowd around a generator to recharge their phones. Photo by Ben Hallman/Huffington Post.
This was written Mary Kate Burke, an Inwood (northern Manhattan) resident who helped transport donations to Far Rockaway: (bold and italic formatting mine)
First of all, a big hearfelt thank you to the neighborhood! Your efforts today were tremendous. I am now reporting back from what we experienced/found in Queens this afternoon with all of your donations. I would like to stress that my suggestions are only meant for the areas that we went to in Far Rockaway, and that I can’t speak for other areas hit by the storm (though I have a feeling that some of my suggestions would probably help those in Staten Island, New Jersey and elsewhere).
First up, no more clothes. (*** SEE Mary Kate’s COMMENT UPDATED BELOW. The Salvation Army has stepped in to help organize donations). Several of the dropoff places we went to had stopped taking donations. There are a few reasons for this. One, there are other high need items (which I will get to) and, two, the way that we and others have been preparing the clothes for dropoff is not particularly helpful to those people who are so desparately in need.
We visited a National Guard spot on 116th Street in the Rockaways after being turned away from Breezy Point. The National Guard (at least where we were) is only manning food and water donations. Everything else is essentially being dumped out back on the ground. Local residents are sifting through garbage bags and grabbing the few diapers and wipes that are there. There is no organization. (So, please no more clothes for now until we figure out a better system).
When we first arrived at 116th Street, we spoke to a cop and a resident who encouraged us to set up our own makeshift spot on 65th Street. Ify, the local resident who was at 116th Street with her husband and several large bags of supplies to bring back home, told us that she would lead the way, so we crammed her and some of her stuff into the Inwood Caravan (we left the husband behind) and headed down to 65th Street. As we got closer, Ify started bellowing out of the car, “These people have a truckful of shit for us!”
We arrived on 65th Street and it was a ghost town. She rallied some neighbors including several older residents who had already been at work “organizing the community,” including a council man of some sort. Don’t quote me on council man but he had some kind of leadership role. He also lived on the block.
There was no fire station. There were puddles and a scarcity of dry places to unload. And there was no National Guard. We started organizing. “You can put the water on my steps!” “Baby stuff over here!” etc…. And then the people started coming.
Council man had them line up at first and wait until we finished organizing and unloading but that only lasted so long. How could we tell these desperate people to wait any longer?
All of the food went. As did all of the toiletries, diapers, etc. Basically everything went except half a truck of clothes. We learned that things get a little dicey in parts of the Rockaways after dark and we were working against the clock.
Ultimately, Mr. Council Man told us to put all of the clothes back into the truck and try to take it somewhere else. This was tricky. We piled back into the Inwood Caravan, taking Ify with us. She helped direct us to places that were makeshift spots organized by civilians. They didn’t want any more clothes. Many of them were hipsters who had biked in to volunteer and had no way of dealing with the already overwhelming number of garbage bags of clothes. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain anytime soon.
We eventually went back to the 116th Street National Guard station and thankfully were able to leave them there after we realized that Salvation Army trucks were rolling in and collecting in response to the overabundance of clothes. Phew.
Here is what people need in Far Rockaway. (Remember, there are no traffic lights, power, water, etc., for miles.)
1. Diapers!!! After we ran out (and several people asked for them), Jaimie and I hightailed it back up to 116th Street and I grabbed the few boxes that were there, threw them in his car and brought them back. They need all sizes. I can’t tell you how many people asked for the newborn size which broke my heart. People asked for all sizes though.
2. Wipes. For the same reason as above, but they need more wipes because I am sure they are serving double duty. To wipe babies’ bottoms, but to also clean adults.
3. Batteries! All kinds. We had very few and they needed them. Including a man who used a device to speak through his throat and was worried that the battery which operated his device was going to die soon. I didn’t have a nine volt to give him. They also need batteries for flashlights and radios, and I’m guessing some elderly folks would need hearing aid and other specialty batteries.
4. Flashlights! Many asked for those and we had very few.
5. Tampons!!!
6. All kinds of toiletries.
7. Toys, coloring books, crayons, and fun stuff for kids. We ran out of toys quickly and towards the end, a five year old little boy asked me if we had any toys (for him) or diapers (for his younger sibling) and I had to say no. Talk about a knife in the heart!
8. Juice boxes, healthy snacks, baby food…..
9. Water.
Here is the deal. We need to organize another Inwood Caravan. But, we need to organize the items more effectively next time. Buying in bulk is great and cost effective for us, but not so much for those in need.
Northern Manhattan will be home to the very first “Young Moms Conference” this September. The event is being organized by Carolina PIchardo, one of the cofounders of Young Urban Moms (YUM), a blog devoted to young mothers in the NYC area.
I asked Pichardo to tell me how this conference came about.
A young mom herself, Pichardo said she always wanted to display a side of young mothers that has never been demonstrated before. She also wanted to provide a place for young moms to get together.
“YUM, the site, has always the main vehicle, but I know that every once in a while we need to step out from behind our screens and desks and whatever other lofty little places we currently are now and help those that need the real hand-holding,” Pichardo said. “This is that ‘Girl-to-Girl’ conference. Our goal is to make it real, to make it friendly and open, like so many of us. We are a community and we’re here to show it.”
A keynote speaker is expected to be announced in coming weeks.
Other things to expect at the conference are workshops on various family topics presented by area organizations; wellness tips and panels by The SPEACH and Healthy Kids in the Heights; and sessions with A Young Mother’s D.R.E.A.M, a nonprofit whose mission is to assist young/teen moms in completing their education through a one-on-one mentorship program.
And, by the way, according to YUM, there isn’t a strict age limit on who qualifies as a “young mom.” So if you can relate to the topics on their site, you’re a young mom. End of story.
Here are the need-to-know details:
Date: Saturday, September 8th
Time: 1 to 5 p.m.
Location: 3940 Broadway, New York, NY 10032
You must register in advance. Visit the YUM site for information on how to register and to learn about the conference cosponsors.
Scene By Gina 