I recently had the pleasure of an interview with our new music blogger, Dan Rickabus. This young man from Michigan has a happy perspective on life, a strong yet smokey rock’n'roll voice and a weird way of making ukelele work in his catchy alt-rock songs. Podcast only.
Here’s a video from uke-rocker (?!) Dan Rickabus. His smooth-yet-gritty voice and his big, ukelele-glazed rock sensibilities are very easy on the ears.
We can choose who and what enters our psyche. Technology has made us extremely efficient. But at what expense? If we decide that efficiency is one of the most important values, perhaps it is possible when choosing to perk an ear to what we care to hear and nothing else, we miss out on ideas and deepening of relationships, which best occur happenstance. Podcast available.
Our government in the form of law enforcement and committees is often vilified. It’s “The Man,” the cultural stick in the mud, the overbearing control that people must rise up against. Call it what you will, but the government as it is often viewed today has a foreboding quality to it, a “Big Brother” kind of blank-face authority that heartlessly implements rules in order to put a damper on free will. This is, however, where definition is often misconstrued and perception misaligned. Podcast available.
Jeremy Olsen of The Avocado Jungle conducts an interview with Joe Vaux, whose acrylics on wood surfaces simultaneously evoke both children’s nightmares and dark metaphors for very grown-up truths.
Especially with environmental activism, the issues are so expansive that our efforts feel like a drop in the ocean. Even legitimacy in the eyes of policy-makers can be hard to attain. It is fair to say that Shiva faced a lot of opposition from people who didn’t share her world-view. But at the end of the day, she followed her conscience and she continues to do so. Podcast available.
I interview Brian Center, executive director of A Better L.A., a community improvement group whose mission is to transform communities that struggle with violence, and whose approach is to identify the important players and resources, bring them all to the table to talk and plan, and then teach people within a troubled community to make use of these resources for themselves and change their own situations for the better. I recommend listening to this inspiring interview about people accomplishing incredible things simply because they hold the belief that it can be done. If you only have time for highlights, I’ve transcribed some of my favorite excerpts and added a little commentary.
As is the case with every Avocado Jungle topic, this week’s topic begins with the familiar four words, “Searching for the truth…”. Considering the given subject includes the Iraq War, those four words are particularly significant, because, the truth is readily available for those willing to listen. However, for many, the truth is no match for an oft-repeated lie. Despite this sad and lazy irony, I will continue to fight this uphill battle against those willing to ignore facts in favor of their hearts. Podcast available.
Nathan Schafer performs “You Did” from his EP A Lapse in my home for our series “Music In Our House.” Jeremy Olsen conducts an interview, and we’ve also got a track straight from the CD for you.
we are searching for the truth about friendship. What are the challenges of maintaining friendships, be it in context of the modern age, family needs, sacrifice, reciprocity, forgiveness, or trust? What does friendship mean right now? Last week: profit. Next week: American muscle.
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