Things I Loathe and Things I Love

Not necessarily in order...

Loathe:
Violence
violent movies and video games
horror/terror/gore movies and their marketing at Blockbuster that 3 year olds can view
no spell check on blogspot
the Confederate flag flying in front of our statehouse
teens when they are smart asses
WAR
dishonesty
procrastination
jealousy
suffering
forgetting peoples names
my computer not working properly
depression
loneliness
really loud noises
lyrics on popular music that degrade women or are violent or bigoted
torture
Bush's politics
lack of gun control & smoking bans
the mix of religion and politics
gangs
lack of discipline at home and schools


Love:
my family
The Dove commercials where they use more average and older looking women.
Celtic music
great drum solos that aren't too long
a lovely harmonic blend of voices
sun
a pristine beach
the sound of waves
my daughters laugh
a beautiful smile
the look of middle eastern people
my mother's pimento cheese
the memory of my dad
a great hamburger
luscious wine
dancing
Sunday family dinners
sitting on the front porch
Will & Grace
Sex in the City
intimacy
great conversation
great coffee
steak and baked potato
unagi
Joe's Salmon
Anything Karen cooks
Emile's pork chops
physical activity
some yoga poses
singing
editing music and pictures
watching the teens make up dances
chocolate
traveling
other cultures
playing vollyball

Music.....Makes the People.....Come together...

I recently had the opportunity to hang out and videotape So Percussion out of NY. They were in town doing a residency with USC's Percussion Dept.Several students had the privilege of performing with So Percussion as part of the USC Southern Exposure series.
I'll be editing a short piece on that experience soon.
if ART Gallery hosted a reception after their performance.



Our AC Flora Drum Club performed for International Day.
Here is a VERY short clip....


My love of West African music and dance began sometime around 1997 when I was introduced to Faisal Salahuddin and saw him perform with USC's West African Drum Ensemble. He then became my teacher and I traveled to Guinea, West Africa first in 1999 and then again in 2001 to document and experience this fantastic culture and the draw it has for us Westerners.
The clip below is an excerpt from my longer doc "Boloba". In this clip you'll briefly see several world renowned West African artists: Alkhaly Camara, Bolokada Conde, Ishmael Bonfise Kouyate amoung others. Being with them in their homes, at their rehearsals, lessons and gigs was such an honor and privilege and I will never forget it. See other videos of Bolokada. I'll be posting more clips from that doc in the next month.



The short clip below is of our now defunct group Djoliba Don performing at Columbia College several years ago.



Although out of sync - this clip is Jo Diva women's drum group performing at the Women's Expo.