Monday, February 28, 2011

Anonymous.

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We are Legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

Anonymous


Dear Citizens of the United States of America,

It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch—the billionaire owners of Koch Industries—have long attempted to usurp American Democracy.  Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.

Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker’s union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed.  This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process.  The Koch’s have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state’s power supplies.

The Koch brothers have made a science of fabricating ‘grassroots’ organizations and advertising campaigns to support them in an attempt to sway voters based on their falsehoods. Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Citizens United are just a few of these organizations.  In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed.  Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America’s broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere.  As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers’ political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.

Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks.  We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries’ paper products.  We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.

U.S. Product Boycott List
Vanity Fair [not the magazine, the napkins and “classy” paper plates -RM]
Quilted Northern
Angel Soft
Sparkle
Brawny
Mardi Gras
Dixie

European Product Boycott List
Demak’Up
Kitten Soft
Lotus / Lotus Soft
Tenderly
Nouvelle Soft
Okay Ktchen Towels
Colhogar
Delica
Inversoft
Tutto

To identify these brands, please look for the following logo anywhere on the packaging:


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Anonymous.
We are Legion I We do not forgive I We do not forget I Expect us


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Sunday, February 27, 2011

11-02-27 Even More Odds & Ends

Once again I found myself with a little too much time on my hands...













"The Boxer" Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin & Jerry Douglas

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A beautiful cover of a classic...Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin & Jerry Douglas - Simon & Garfunkels' "The Boxer."


"The Boxer"

Paul Simon



I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Lie la lie ...
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie... 
Lie la lie ...
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie lie la la lie... 

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Lie la lie ...
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie... 
Lie la lie ... 
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie lie la la lie...
Lie la lie ...
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie... 
Lie la lie ... 
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie lie la la lie...  

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Bleeding me, going home 

Lie la lie ...
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie... 
Lie la lie ... 
Lie la lie lie lie lie lie lie la la lie... 

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

Lie la lie ...

Saturday, February 26, 2011

11-02-26 Lanikai Sunrise

Didn't sleep last night so I could go with my photographer friends to capture the sunrise from Lanikai Beach.

















Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"Full Moon and the Shrine" Keiko Matsui



This is beautiful, both the music and the video. 

I'd never heard Keiko Matsui before but am now a big fan. 

Although it is possible that I actually had the privilege of hearing her jam with some other musicians at "Rafters" this past November.  I'll post the video I have of the performance later.

Deb Werts

Change your thinking, transform your life.
 

Talk about yourself and your life the way you want them to be, not the way they might happen to be at the moment.  Remember that before you can experience it in your reality, you must convince your sub-conscious mind that you already have it.  If you don't feel positive and enthusiastic at the moment, pretend that you do.  

"Fake it until you make it."

Sunday, February 20, 2011

11-02-20 More Odds & Ends

Getting a little bored so I have been going back and looking at older pictures to see if I missed any...sure did.
















Saturday, February 19, 2011

Need to work on this one.

It’s easy to make other people the focus of our attention isn’t it? Women, especially, are raised to do so. We judge, we criticize, sometimes audibly; through anger, manipulation, shame, or guilt, we try to control the people sharing our journey. I have news for you. These are always wrong choices and never ‘the work’ we have been called to do.

Focusing outside ourselves and attempting to control other people is a clever avoidance technique; temporarily, at least, it helps us escape having to look at our own sometimes troubling behavior. The irony is that we always see in others the behavior that we need to pay some attention to in ourselves. Always!

The people in our lives–family and friends, neighbors, even the strangers at the grocery or ahead of us in the traffic jam–are mirrors that reveal who we are. our reactions to them show us what we need to work on in ourselves, and as we release them to live their own lives, we can get back to the business of controlling the only thing we really can control: our own responses of life.


- Karen Casey

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pontification

Everyone is doing the best they can with what they know.  No one wakes up in the morning and says 'Today I'm going to be the worst person possible.'
-Linda Giles
 
Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

Mark Twain
 
Every day is a new chance to choose.
 
Choose to change your perspective.
 
Choose to flip the switch in your mind. Turn on the light and stop fretting about with insecurity and doubt.
 
Choose to do your work and be free of distraction.
 
Choose to see the best in someone, or choose to bring out the worst in them.
Choose to be a laser beam, with focused intention, or a scattered ray of light that doesn't do any good. 
- Ishita Gupta


The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.  These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.  Beautiful people do not just happen. 

- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross


Brains can argue, but it takes heart to comfort. 

Samuel Chadwick

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

You change yourself for yourself.

All the years you have waited for them to "make it up to you" and all the energy you expended trying to make them change (or make them pay) kept the old wounds from healing and gave pain from the past free rein to shape and even damage your life.

And still they may not have changed.

Nothing you have done has made them change.

Indeed, they may never change. Inner peace is found by changing yourself, not the people who hurt you.
And you change yourself for yourself, for the joy, serenity, peace of mind, understanding, compassion, laughter, and bright future that you get."


Grudges take up brain capacity and prevent us from performing at our very best. What we focus our minds upon grows; this is true of hatred too. Therefore, it is impossible to truly achieve great things for ourselves when we have a lot of our energetic capacity tied up in negativity.

Remember that forgiveness is primarily for YOU. It free up your energy tremendously. So forgive all grudges, no matter how old they may be, and seek reconciliation. If you find this hard, begin with the easiest ones first. Then gradually work up to the harder ones.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Yumeji's Theme" Shigeru Umebayashi




Wan Kar Wai's movie "In the Mood For Love." Score written by Shigeru Umebayashi.
I have never had the good fortune of seeing this movie but the scenes I've been able to view and the music have me totaly entranced.

"Song for the Asking" Simon & Garfunkel

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For a very special person.


This Is My Song For the Asking

Simon & Garfunkel



Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile

This is my tune for the taking
Take it, don't turn away
I've been waiting all my life

Thinking it over, I've been sad
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad
To change my ways for the asking

Ask me and I will play
All the love that I hold inside

"Furnace Room Lullaby" Neko Case (from The Gift)

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Neko Case is one of the few singers I enjoy listening to day in and day out. She has a hauntingly beautiful voice.




Furnace Room Lullaby

Neko Case


All night, all I hear, all I hear is your heart
How come, how come

I twisted you over and under to take you
The coals went so wild as they swallowed the rest
I twisted you under and under to break you
I just couldn't breathe with your throne on my chest

All night, all I hear, all I hear is your heart
How come, how come

So far under the bed
Into the beams you've gone
I've gone, you've gone

I'm wrapped in the depths of these deeds that have made me
I can't bring a sound from my head though I try
I can't seem to find my way up from the basement
A demon holds my place on earth 'till I die

All night, all I hear, all I hear is your heart
How come, how come

So far under the bed
Into the beams you've gone
I've gone, you've gone

All night, all I hear, all I hear, all I hear is your heart

"At Last" Neko Case

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So short and sweet.



At Last

Neko Case


I can say that I've lived here in honor and danger
But I'm just an animal and cannot explain a life
Down this chain of days I wished to stay among my people
Relation now means nothing, having chosen so defined

And if death should smell my breathing
As it pass beneath my window
Let it lead me trembling, trembling
I own every bell that tolls me

11-02-12 OPMUG Photo Safari

Today I spent the entire day with the Oahu Photography Meetup Group.  We did a photo safari that began at 7:30am in the morning and didn't end till I got home around 10:00pm this evening. 


























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