2405 days imprisoned wthout trial

Today is almost a year ago since I first wrote about Dawit Isaak. He is a Swedish journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea without being given the right to a trial. He is one of many who is receiving such unjust treatment by a government that seems to be breaking human rights left and right. And someone like me feels small and powerless against such evil. What can we do? You can begin by signing the petition on www.dawitisaak.com and showing your support for him and many others. One of the issues at hand is freedom of word and press. To think that I can freely sit here and write and publish to my hearts desire and that there are some place on earth where one would be imprisoned, tortured maybe killed for the words I type is mind boggling. I think their postcard is a wonderful image of the question at hand, a typewriter with upsidedown nails on each key. Thank you Emma for making me aware of this issue.

I am posting the original blog which was written the 2nd of may, 2007.

070502
Politics, socialism, injustice, freedom of speech, peace, love and pizza
Yesterday was the 1st of May and in Sweden like in many socialist countries it is a day where the working class go out to the streets to express their political opinions, commonly known as International Worker’s Day or in the US, Labor Day. I was there with Sebastian (our wonderful guitarist) and he was telling me about the Haymarket martyrs who were killed on the 4th of May, but was the culmination of a labor unrest which began the 1st of May 1886 in Chicago, where the celebration of this day comes from. So I marched with the left party, behind a Uruguayan drum group playing “Candombe”, mostly to accompany and support Sebastian who is very politically inclined.
I am a pacifist and think that the problems of the world need to be solved from within each of us. Not that politics isn’t important, I value highly my right to vote. One of the things that can really make me angry is injustice. I think greed and selfishness is the cause for most of the problems in the world. And those are issues that can’t be corrected by law enforcement or power but need to be addressed by every individual. I believe in being active and working within my circle of influence. Those around me who I can affect, my money that I can use as I see best fit and mostly my music which can wake an interest within others is how I like to be political.
Today, May 2 I was at a conference about freedom of speech and heard a seminar about Dawit Isaak who is a Swedish/Eritrean citizen who is in jail in Eritrea and has not been given a fair trail despite his arrest in 2001. The arrest of Dawit as well as other journalist and opposition politicians took place shortly after the World Trade Center attack when the eyes of the world where focused on the US and Eritrea’s government could do horrors without being noticed. These acts of horror are due to selfishness and greed, external results of internal fears and weaknesses. I believe no person who is truly at peace with themselves will do such horrors.
So I influence you reader by encouraging you to go to www.dawitisaak.com and reading about the situation in Eritrea and signing the letter of protest if you are in agreement. As I said earlier I am a pacifist, like my father before me, and as I wrote a friend earlier this month, make Pisa not Warsaw (a take on Berkeley’s Fat Slice slogan, ‘make pizza not war’, which in turn is a take on the original 60’s slogan, ‘make love not war’). So in conclusion, eat pizza and make love in Italy.

Another jewel – Electronic, folk, jazz, rock

This is an artist who uses Electronica with such good taste, Axel Krygier. Listen to his song “Ya me voy” which sounds like pure Buenos Aires 2008!

New Discovery – Indie, folk

During my garage sale a guitarist friend of mine recommended Devendra Banhart to me. The name sounded familiar, but I don’t know where from. An artist I know nothing about, except what I’ve heard and read this morning, but definitely worth checking out! Like me, he goes between english and spanish. Several people say I sing differently in each language and listening to Devendra I can understand what they mean. I also like his use both piano and guitar, which I’ve been doing more of too. His soundscapes are incredibly varied and very inspirational. I love the type of vibrato he uses which reminds me of Caetano Veloso (one of my favorite singers of all time). Exciting new discovery!!! Thanks Steven.

Wonderful Mixer

I just wanted to post a link to a wonderful mixer, if anyone is looking for one. His credit list would make anyone in the latin world jealous as he’s worked with Gloria Estefan, Juan Luis Guerra, Santana, Julio Igelsias, Chayanne, Arturo Sandoval and of course… Andrés Solé. Not only is Eric a fantastic Producer, Mixer, Engineer, but one of the nicest people I have had contact with in the music industry. It was a great learning experience, truly a pleasure and of course an honor to get to work with him.

You can find his contact information by visiting his website. Here’s his credit list in PDF format.Here’s a great interview with him on Mix Online where he talks about his work as producer and sound engineer.

Here’s a picture of Eric and I at the legendary Crescent Moon Studios in Miami. To both Eric and Susan a huge hug and all my love and respect. May peace and joy fill your lives everyday!

Newspaper article in Göteborgs Fria

Today the Gothemburg newspaper (Göteborgs Fria Tidning) published an interview where they bring up the fact that I am moving to Miami to pursue my dreams. It is a nice article where Carina Sundqvist picks at my brain to try to understand what makes a person get up and leave everything they have and walk into the unknown in that way. The wonderful pictures are taken by the photographer Jacob Socherman. Check out the full article at www.goteborgsfria.nu.

A homage to our fathers

It doesn’t matter if you were born a boy or a girl, the relationship one shares with the father is very special. These relationships and the feelings around them are so complex and often difficult to put into words, which is probably why you see them show up in art all the time. Just recently I saw two videos that dealt with just this topic and both are pearls. One is an 8 minute animation done with watercolors which shows the relationship between a father and his daughter. The other is a son and it’s music video, also an animation, which deals with the relationship between a father and his son. Both deal with the topic with such tenderness and beauty that they really touched my heart and I made me want to share them. Give yourself the joy of seeing these treasures and give your father the joy of hearing how special he is to you. Dad, I admire and love you with all my heart (Happy Birthday! April 18, 2008).

Father and Daughter by Michael Dudok de Wit
For more information about him see his filmography on IMDB. His webpage is currently under construction, but on youtube you can see many of his animations.

The JBC Song by Nizlopi
Nizlopi is a a duo from the UK with a great acoustic sound and a carefree and unprotentious view on life. Visit their website www.nizlopi.com or their www.myspace.com/nizlopi.

Thank you to two great friends who are constantly inspiring me with beautiful treasures, Catherine and Anna.

Crazy Cool: Nellie McKay in Concert

I have a friend who always tells me how much she likes it when I play the piano and sing and has asked me to recommend artist who use that combination. I heard a great concert the other day on my ipod. A singer and pianist with a lot of talent called Nellie McKay. I hope you enjoy the concert Anne-Sofie. On her records her instrumentation is a lot more then just piano and vocals. You can here the concert on the NPR (National Public Radio) page and if you like it check out her myspace/prettylittlehead or her web page www.nelliemckay.com.

Music online – for musicians

Here is a book I read recently which really was an eye-opener for me. Thanks to it, I am on the right track now to promoting my musical career online. If you are a musician READ IT. This was written by Andrew Dubber at NewMusicStrategies.com. Thank you Andrew!

Click here to download: Things to know about music online – for musicians

An angel wtih paper wings

I went to see a play yesterday that was both inspirational and disturbing, “My name is Rachel Corrie”. It tells about the story of Rachel Corrie, a girl from Olympia, Washington, USA, who travels to Palestine to serve as a human shield and brutally gets killed as she is run over by a bulldozer when she is trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian family. What I found inspirational was to see the purity of her heart and her willingness to give her life for another (by Jesus terms, there is no greater love, John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends”). What I found disturbing is that I had never even heard of her. Our media is covered with information of the whimsical, pity inspiring behavior of a spoiled and confused little girl (take Britney Spears of Paris Hilton for example) and we can totally ignore the heroic voice of one like Rachel Corrie. Go to www.rachelcorriefoundation.org to learn more. The foundation encourages and supports grassroots efforts in pursuit of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice, which they view as pre-requisites for world peace.

Thank you Therés for a wonderful cultural evening! Then we went on to a concert to see a Chilean/Swedish artist who goes by the name El Perro del Mar (The dog from the sea) who had the stage filled with huge old lamps which created a wonderful atmosphere.