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Image from In America (Jim Sheridan, 2002), the first film to be (partly) shot in New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to Seán Crosson's article "‘They can't wipe us out, they can't lick us. We'll go on forever pa, ‘cause we're the people'..." (2008)The absence of the Twin Towers from the post-9/11 New York City skyline posed a number of dilemmas for the creators and producers of television shows and movies that were ‘symbolically’ set in New York City after 9/11. Whilst the World Trade Center towers had been destroyed, editors in studio lots in California faced the prospect of the late 2001 ratings season commencing with stock reels of New York City that prominently featured the Towers prior to 9/11. This posed an odd dilemma for the producers of television shows such as Friends, Sex and the City, and Spin City, programs in which the Twin Towers often appeared as a backdrop and a powerful signifier of being in New York City. The response seemed universal – the Twin Towers must be removed from the tele-visual pop-cultural locations. They needed to be purged, exorcised and air- brushed out of the shot. But by airbrushing out the Towers, the producers have purged post-9/11 television of more than just the steel and concrete of the iconic buildings. I suggest that this purging is powerful, a little odd, and deeply symbolic. In order to recover, perhaps some space – and some forgetting, if only temporary – was needed. But I argue that the missing Towers also represented a missing terror, a missing city. It was as though the creators and producers of some post-9/11 television believed that the world’s viewers would have no stomach for seeing images of a pre-9/11 New York City – a city that in many respects no longer existed. Perhaps the problem lies in how the destruction of the Twin Towers was witnessed – live on TV, in real-time, as heinous, immediate and real violence. It was ugly, sickening, horrific, terrifying. Yet it was also difficult to look away. [Luke John Howie, 'Representing Terrorism: Reanimating Post-9/11 New York City', International Journal of Žižek Studies, Vol 3, No 3 (2009)]
It is the eve of another anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America.

Film Studies For Free respectfully remembers the tragic and traumatic events of nine years ago tomorrow, and other closely related ones since, with a list of links to important, insightful, and openly accessible studies of the cultural depiction and (re)media(tiza)tion of the 9/11 attacks, as well as of their aftermath.

• Marco Abel, 'Don DeLillo’s “In the Ruins of the Future”: Literature, Images, and the Rhetoric of Seeing 9/11', PMLA, 118.5, 2003 
• Raúl Álvarez Gómez, 'Terrorism and Social Panic in British Fantastic Cinema', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009 (scroll to p. 3 in pdf)
• Kari Andén-Papadopoulus, 'The Trauma of Representation: Visual Culture, Photojournalism and the September 11 Terrorist Attack', NORDICOM Review 24, No. 2 (December 2003): 89-104
• Francis A. Beer and G. R. Boynton, 'Globalizing Terror', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003
• James Brassett, 'Cosmopolitan Sentiments After 9-11? Trauma and the Politics of Vulnerability', Journal of Critical Globalisation Studies, Issue 2 (2010)
• Gordon V. Briggs, White Masculinity in the American Action Film Pre and Post 9/11, Masters Thesis, College of Fine Arts of Ohio University, June 2007
• Mary Caputi, 'Ground Zero, an American Origin', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003
• Steven Alan Carr, 'Staying for Time: The Holocaust and Atrocity Footage in American Public Memory', Violating Time: History, Memory and Nostalgia in Cinema. Christina Lee, ed. New York NY: Continuum, 2008
• Aimee Carrillo Rowe and Sheena Malhotra, 'Chameleon Conservatism: Post-9/11 Rhetorics of Innocence', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003 
• Dana L. Cloud, 'Therapy, Silence, and War: Consolation and the End of Deliberation in the “Affected” Public', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003
• David Crawford, 'Realism vs. Reality TV in the War on Terror: Artworks as Models of Interpretation', Geometer, January 19, 2009 
• Seán Crosson, "‘They can't wipe us out, they can't lick us. We'll go on forever pa, ‘cause we're the people' - Misrepresenting death in Jim Sheridan's In America (2003)", Estudios Irlandeses: Journal of Irish Studies, Issue 3, (2008)
• Sven Cvek, 9/11: Event, Trauma, Nation, Globalization, PhD Thesis, University of Zagreb, 2009
• Marieke De Goede, 'Beyond Risk: Premediation and the Post-9/11 Security Imagination', Security Dialogue 2008; 39; 155
• Arne De Boever, 'The Politics of Retirement: Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men after September 11', Image and Narrative, 10.2, 2009 
• Elizabeth Ellsworth, 'Media and the Un-Representable: The Brief Time of Audience-as-Witness to 9/11', MIT3: Television in Transition International Conference, Cambridge, May, 2003
• Phoebe Fletcher, 'Apocalyptic Machines: Terror and Anti-Production in the Post-9/11 Splatter Film', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009 (scroll to p. 81 in pdf)
• Gabriel Garcia Mingorance, 'Monsters, Feérie Fear, Threaten Global And the Uncanny in the Cinema of M. Night Shyamalan', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009 (scroll to p. 23 in pdf)
• Silvia Herreros de Tejada, 'Drumming the Horror Away', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009 (scroll to p. 47 in pdf)
• Will Higbee, 'Ungrounding the Narrative of Nation" - Review: David Martin-Jones (2006)', Film-Philosophy, 13.1, April 2009 
• Luke John Howie, 'Representing Terrorism: Reanimating Post-9/11 New York City', International Journal of Žižek Studies, Vol 3, No 3 (2009)
• Luke Howie, 'I’ll be there for you – the meanings and consequences of 9/11 in Friends', TASA: Re-imagining Sociology, The University of Melbourne, December 2-5, 2008
  
• Carolyn Jess-Cooke, 'Narrative and Mediatized Memory in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', Scope, Issue 8, June 2007 
• Jonathan Kahana, excerpt from Intelligence Work: The Politics of American Documentary (Columbia University Press, 2008)
• E. Ann Kaplan, 'Feminist Futures: Trauma, the Post-9/11 World and a Fourth Feminism?', Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol 4 #2 April 2003
• Mina Karavanta on C. Cilano’s From Solidarity to Schisms », European journal of American studies [Online], Reviews 2010-1, document 7, Online since 16 March 2010
• Laurie A. Manwell, 'Faulty Towers of Belief: Part II. Rebuilding the Road to Freedom of Reason', Journal of 9/11 Studies, August 2007
• Alan S. Marcus, '“It Is as It Was”: Feature Film in the History Classroom', Social Studies, March/April 2005
• Peter Knight, 'Conspiracy Theories about 9/11', Centre for International Politics Working Paper Series, No. 34, August 2007
• Allen Meek, 'Walter Benjamin and the Virtual: Politics, Art, and Mediation in the Age of Global Culture, Transformations, Issue No. 15, November 2007 
• William Merrin, 'Total Screen: 9/11 and the Gulf War Reloaded', International Journal of Baudrillard Studies,  Volume 2, Number 2 (July 2005)  
• Robin Marie Merrick Murphy, 'Post-9/11 Rhetorical Theory and Composition Pedagogy: Fostering Trauma Rhetorics as Public Space, PhD Thesis, Bowling Green State University, August 2007
• John S. Nelson, 'Rhetorics of Response to 9/11: The Aftermath of Terror', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003
• John S. Nelson, 'Four Forms for Terrorism: Horror, Dystopia, Thriller, and Noir', Poroi, 2, 1, August, 2003
• Marc A. Ouellette, “I Hope You Never See Another Day Like This”: Pedagogy and Allegory in “Post 9/11” Video Games', Game Studies, Vol. 8, Issue 1, 2008
• Chrysavgi Papagianni, 'American Multiculturalism after 9/11: Transatlantic Perspectives, by Derek Rubin and Jaap Verheul', European journal of American studies [Online], Reviews 2010-2, document 5, Online since 12 August 2010
• Isabel Pinedo, 'Tortured logic: entertainment and the spectacle of deliberately inflicted pain in 24Battlestar Galactica', Jump Cut, No. 52, Summer 2010
• Maria Pramaggiore, 'The global repositioning of the city symphony: sound, space, and trauma in 11’09”01—September 11', Jump Cut, No. 52, 2010
• Susannah Radstone, ‘Trauma theory: Contexts, Politics, Ethics’, Paragraph 30 (1): 2007, 9-29
• Christina Rickli, 'An Event “Like a Movie”? Hollywood and 9/11', COPAS, 10.10, 2006
• Araceli Rodríguez Mateos, 'Cinema and Social Trauma after Terrorist Attacks: the Spectatorship Perception. Approaching to the Spanish Case', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009
• Antonio Sánchez-Escalonilla, 'Hollywood Under Siege: The Entrenched As a Dramatic Role in the Wake of 9/11', in The Many Forms of Fear, Horror and Terror edited by Leanne Franklin and Ravenel Richardson, InterDisciplinary.net, August 2009 (scroll to p. 13 in pdf)
• Thomas Shevory, "From Censorship to Irony: Rhetorical Responses to 9/11," Poroi: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, 2003: p. 8-4 
• Elisabeth Siegel, '“Stuff That Happened to Me”: Visual Memory in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005)', COPAS, 10.7, 2010
• Louise Spence, 'Teaching 9/11 and Why I’m Not Doing It Anymore', from Cinema Journal 43, No. 2, Winter 2004
• Lynn Spigel, 'Entertainment Wars: Television Culture after 9/11', American Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 2 (June 2004)
• Kim Toffoletti and Victoria Grace, 'Terminal Indifference: The Hollywood War Film Post-September 11', Film-Philosophy, Vol 14, No 2 (2010)
• M. Karen Walker, 'Analyses of Post-9/11 Media Coverage: A Review of the Communications Literature', RhetoricaLens.info, July 17, 2006
• M. Karen Walker, 'Visual Rhetoric: A Literature Review', RhetoricaLens.info, July 17, 2006
• Cynthia Weber, 'Fahrenheit 9/11: The Temperature Where Morality Burns', Journal of American Studies, 40 (2006), 1, 113–131

from prweb:
Inkstone Software today announces the launch of MegaReader—a highly customizable iPhone eBook reader that gives users the choice of over 1.8 million free books on the internet.

The MegaReader app has been designed to tap into book catalogs such as Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, Baen Free Books, Smashwords, and the Internet Archive—allowing users to discover not only the classics (such as Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, and War and Peace), but also up and coming modern indie authors and publishers.

“We are thrilled to contribute to Inkstone’s efforts to bring the enjoyment of these books to readers around the world” said Peter Brantley, Director of the BookServer Project, Internet Archive.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4475754.htm
Get MegaReader: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id387136454?mt=8

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Pro- independence leader Juan Mari Brás died today from health complications related to lung cancer. Founder of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party and co-founder of the Puerto Rican Pro-Independence party, Mari Brás was 82 years old.

Sadly, Mari Brás died without ever having witnessed justice or obtained answers for the assassination of his son, Santiago Mari Pesquera, in 1979. However, according to his daughter Mari Mari Narváez, he died in peace, believing that someday Puerto Rico will be free. Narváez explains, “He was an eternal optimist. My father fought for 68 years every day of his life for the independence of Puerto Rico. Since my childhood, I have never known him without his love of independence.” She stresses, “He was never embittered. When they killed Chagui, he said at his tomb, ‘revenge does not fit into the hearts of true revolutionaries.’” She adds that the Commission of Truth and Justice are still working to resolve the death of her brother.

Mari Brás was born in Mayagüez on December 2, 1927, the only son of Mercedes Brás Graña and Santiago Mari Ramos. Former Professor at the Eugenio María de Hostos Law School, a lawyer, and writer, he was one of the founders of the pro-independence weekly newspaper Claridad. He was a journalist for over five decades. In 1949 he entered George Washington University to study law, from which was expelled in 1950 following the Blair House attack. Hours after the attack, he was arrested and interrogated, but released because he was not linked to the event. Mari Brás founded the Pro independence Movement (MPI) in 1959, which later became the Puerto Rican Socialist Party.

Mari Brás was the first pro-independence Puerto Rican leader to come before the United Nations to denounce the colonization of Puerto Rico by the United States. He was also the first person to receive a certificate of Puerto Rican citizenship from, then Puerto Rico Secretary of State, Fernando Bonilla. As part of his strategy in the struggle for independence, in 1994, he had renounced U.S. citizenship. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of State declared this act void. In 2009, declassified FBI documents revealed that the agency was aware that between 1975 and 1976, a group of Cuban exile planned to assassinate Mari Brás.

This afternoon, the independence leader’s body will be brought to the Colegio de Abogados [Bar Association] where there will be a tribute for the deceased revolutionary. Tomorrow, following a funeral motorcade to Mayagüez, a celebration of his life will take place at the public square. In accordance to his wishes, the funeral procession will go by his childhood home while will his friends and family sing the famous danza “Verde luz,”  there will be a mass at the Cathedral of Mayagüez, and he will be buried at the Mayagüez Cemetery.

As a tribute from Repeating Islands, I would like to share with our readers “Verde luz” sung by Haciendo Punto en Otro Son:

[Many thanks to David Labiosa for bringing this item to our attention.]

For full story (in Spanish), see http://www.elnuevodia.com/fallecejuanmaribras-776880.html

To listen to Juan Mari Bras’ moving farewell to his son, see

These are expanded Chicago Reader capsules written for a 2003 collection edited by Steven Jay Schneider. I contributed 72 of these in all; here are the third dozen, in alphabetical order. — J.R. Salt of the Earth This rarely screened 1954 classic is the only major American independent feature made by communists; a fictional story about the [...]

From the June 7, 1991 Chicago Reader. — J.R. THELMA & LOUISE *** (A must-see) Directed by Ridley Scott Written by Callie Khouri With Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brad Pitt, Timothy Carhart, and Lucinda Jenny. I’m not quite sure precisely when Thelma & Louise kicks into high gear. Does it happen when Thelma [...]

Rare color footage of the bomb damage inflicted on London during World War II has surfaced on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.

The dramatic footage shows the destruction of several London landmarks, including the flagship John Lewis store on Oxford Street.

The film was released Monday by Westminster Council to mark the start of the devastating German bombing campaign that began September 7, 1940, and continued until May 1941.

The film was found in the attic by the family of an air raid warden who shot it on the home movie equipment in use in the 1940s.

The footage also shows wartime leader Winston Churchill visiting bomb sites to assess the damage.

Source: Yahoo News

(cross-posted on www.countermedia.in) Shamshad Hussain, J. Devika The death threats received by a young woman student of engineering, Rayana R Khazi, a native of Cherkalam in Kasaragod, over a period of the past ten months, have been in the news in Kerala recently. The threats which were issued over the phone, on the streets, and [...]

Schön, dass die F.A.Z. wieder mal, wie sagt man in diesen Kreisen: „Flagge zeigt“. Wenn die BILD schon riesentitelt: „Das wird man doch noch sagen dürfen“, dann will das, nun ja, bürgerliche Blatt nicht hinten anstehen und benutzt für den selben Unfug ein paar Worte mehr: „Was darf man in dieser Republik sagen und schreiben, ohne die mitunter bis zur Existenzgefährdung reichende ‚Menschenverachtung’ zu erfahren, die Sarrazins Kritiker nur bei ihm erkennen können?“  Und schon ruft der Fall wieder „die Frage auf, wie weit in Deutschland die Meinungsfreiheit reicht“. Interessanterweise taucht diese Frage in, nun ja, bürgerlichen deutschen Zeitungen stets auf, wenn wieder mal einer oder eine von rechtsaußen „Tabus bricht“, „politische Korrektheit vermissen lässt“ oder eben „Denkanstöße gibt“. Aber, Deutschland ist noch nicht verloren, der F.A.Z.-Kommentator Berthold Kohler berichtet von „mutigen Blättern, die sein (Sarrazins) Buch in Auszügen vorab druckten“.

Teufel auch, was haben wir für mutige Verleger und Redakteure! Nicht achten sie der Gefahr, die laut F.A.Z von Künstlern in Potsdam ausgeht, die die Meinungsfreiheit mit Füßen treten und allen Ernstes nicht mehr ihre Bühne betreten wollen, wenn Sarrazin dort „seine Thesen verteidigen dürfe“. Und natürlich muss auch wieder die arme Rosa Luxemburg herhalten wenn es um die Freiheit der „Andersdenkenden“ geht, von Voltaire ganz zu schweigen. Darf ich an einen klugen Satz von ihm erinnern: „Je öfter eine Dummheit wiederholt wird, desto mehr bekommt sie den Anschein der Klugheit.“

Das ist der ganze Trick dieses Diskurswechsels in Sachen Sarrazin: War er am Anfang noch ein amüsanter Rüpel, mit dem man mit ein bisschen Huch und Hach das Spätsommerschwein durchs Mediendorf jagen konnte, so wird er nun, bevor endgültig der News-Wert beim Teufel ist, zum Schlüsselbild, ausgerechnet, für Meinungsfreiheit.

Noch etwas hat Voltaire geschrieben: „Wenn Sie einen Bankier aus dem Fenster springen sehen, springen Sie hinterher. Es gibt bestimmt was zu verdienen.“ Die Abwandlung davon: Wenn Journalisten in, nun ja, bürgerlichen deutschen Zeitungen sich vor einen Vollidioten stellen, stellen Sie sich dazu, es dient bestimmt der Karriere.

Film Music and Digital Media 
(Moderator: Martin Marks with Paul Seiko Chihara and Dan Carlin) MIT, April 2, 2009 (Running Time: 1:55:26)
Film Studies For Free really enjoyed the above highly insightful and well-illustrated video and it very much hopes you will, too. The discussion covers, with wit and great intelligence, many of the practical considerations that are part and parcel of contemporary film scoring. As it is quite long, the below text will let you know a little of what you can expect.

For more on film music studies, check out FSFF's entry "Music to the Eyes: Film Music Essays and Resources Online", as well as its other references to film music here.About the Lecture In a panel that at times resembles a late-night ramble and conversation, three film music professionals discuss changes in their industry, with some no-holds-barred dishing and kvetching.

Martin Marks sets the scene historically, starting with the revolutionary introduction of sound to film. He plays a clip from the original 1933 film King Kong, which he describd it hopes es as both a technological and aesthetic landmark of soundtrack production. Paul Chihara continues the story, explaining that the score’s creator, Max Steiner, was part of the first wave of film composers, classically trained musicians, fleeing Hitler’s Germany. Steiner drew on the music he knew best, the kind performed by the Vienna Staatsoper, for his King Kong score, so we get a movie that’s “wall to wall music, filled with leitmotifs,” played by a giant orchestra.

Cut to 2005, and the Peter Jackson remake of King Kong. In what he describes as “an electro-acoustic seminar on how digitally sound is enhanced,” Chihara plays several clips of the same scene that demonstrate the evolutionary leap in soundtrack scoring since 1933. The process involves the demo track, a score with digital sampling and no acoustic instruments intended to help the filmmaker imagine how music will work with the film; next an acoustic score; and the final dub version, where acoustic and digital music sources combine, and the rest of the sound elements are added in post production (dialogue and sound effects).

The new scoring process can prove dangerous to composers, as Dan Carlin reveals. “We have a term called ‘demo love,’ describing how the director gets attached to the very first track offered by the composer.” This is a digitally sampled score often drawn from other composers’ work. The editor and director become accustomed to it, and test audiences watch films with demo tracks. “So the composer comes in with a new approach, and often gets fired at this point.” This has led to composers fearful of originality. Carlin says starting in the ‘90s, generic romantic and action scores began to emerge: “Everything starts to sound alike.” He also describes how composer Georges Delerue went to see Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple, and heard one of his own themes, which had started as a temporary music cue but then was essentially plagiarized. This led to a very lucrative law suit. Marks notes that “one of America’s film music geniuses,” Elmer Bernstein, essentially dropped out of the business because of the insistence on demo tracks over original music.

Panelists also bemoan the demise of orchestral recording sessions at production studios, as digital audio tools put the composer’s work in the hands of directors and editors, who play with increasingly authentic sounding software-based instruments. Companies are buying up the rights to the sounds of famous symphony orchestras, down to the staccato and legato notes of strings and horns in different keys and pitches. The craft involved in composing music, then conducting an orchestra through a movie scene, has become obsolete. Chihara concludes sadly, “It’s an unnecessary art.”

The 30th Anniversary of Lehman Center for the Performing Arts promises to be an interesting season.The venue located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West in the Bronx, N.Y., will open its 30th Anniversary 2010-2011 season with the popular cross-over artist Victor Manuelle, (known as “El Sonero de la Juventud” to his fans), on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 8:00 p.m.

Executive Director Eva Bornstein has prepared a special season of programs for their 30th anniversary and with assistance from local politicians such as Jose Rivera, Lehman Center has refurbished their performing arts space via a half million dollar grant and a $150,000.00 grant, which has enabled the center to improve their lighting and sound system.
Having worked over 30 years in the cultural arts business, Bornstein has brought new life to Lehman Center during her six-year sojourn. She has continued to keep in mind the surrounding community when booking this season’s entertainment. “There are many Latinos living in the community, thus, I booked talent that appeal to the local residence. We have become known for our salsa entertainment so I have brought in many top salsa acts which have proven very successful for us. “Our season opens with Victor Manuelle who draws both the younger and older crowd.I am bringing in two masters of Latin jazz: Eddie Palmieri and his Afro-Caribbean Jazz Septet along with Michel Camilo, known for his contemporary latin swing” said the center’s director.
Guitarist and singer Jose Feliciano will make a double appearance on Saturday, Dec. 4, when he does a 2:00 matinee and an 8:00 p.m., show.
New Orleans performers Nicholas Payton, the Joe Krown Trio and 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and recipient of the 2009 prestigious Grammy Trustees Award, Allen Toussaint, will introduce the music of New Orleans as part of Lehman Center’s remembrance of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 6:00 p.m.
“Our Doo Wop shows, which feature oldies but goodies always do well.So, we are again adding a doo wop show to the roster this season.“Doo Wop Forever” will feature Kenny Vance and the Planotones, the Chantels, Terry Johnson’s Flamingos and others” claimed Eva who seeks to keep variety performances on the show roster. A gospel show may even be added to the roster this season. “We are fortunate to feature Johnny Mathis this season. His appearance isn’t until May but already people are buying tickets to his show. I advise Johnny Mathis fans to buy their tickets in advance so they are guaranteed good seats,” stated Bornstein.
The Lehman venue will feature dancer Savion Glover, Dennis Edwards and the Temptation Review and once again pay tribute to “King Michael” on the second anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death in June 2011. “We will be bringing in the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Russian National Ballet, the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company as well as shows that appeal to our local and international audiences. We are showcasing the Opole Philharmonic of Poland, Tango Buenos Aires from Argentina and from Israel “The Aluminum Show,” as well as aerialists who defy gravity via Cirque Le Masque.”
Eva Bornstein started off her career as an actress in Poland. When Eva grew up in Poland the country was under communist control.“Money was scarce and it was rather a grim reality growing up,” recalled Eva. “However, cultural events were affordable and part of my fond memories are my mother taking me to cultural events in an attempt to buffer our dismal surroundings. So I saw operas, musical theater and cultural entertainment. As a cultural arts executive director, I have made it my mission to pass down culture to children. Thus, Lehman Center offers a $10 flat fee so parents can bring their children to Lehman Center and expose their children to cultural events,” said Eva.

For the original report go to http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/articles/2010/09/09/entertainment/music/caribbeanlife-cl_ent_music-2010_09_07_deardra_lehman_center_30th_anniversary.txt

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has produced an educational and informative online mangrove ecology tour.
Established in 1964 on a defunct dairy farm in Maryland, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) now leads the US in research on linkages of land and water ecosystems in the coastal zone and provides society with knowledge to meet critical environmental challenges in the 21st century.  Today, SERC encompasses 2,650 acres of land, and is home to a diverse staff of 16 senior scientists and supports an interdisciplinary team of more than 180 researchers, technicians, and students carrying out their work at SERC and at field stations from Alaska to Antarctica, from Belize to Australia.
Explore the ecology of mangroves in this online tour of a virtual Caribbean mangrove island. You’ll visit dwarf forests, discover snails without shells and learn about the threats facing mangroves around the world.
Click HERE to view.

 

Delegations from the Dutch Antilles signed a declaration yesterday in The Hague reforming the status of these five former Dutch island colonies in the Caribbean.

As of 10 October 2010, the Dutch Antilles will cease to exist as a country. Curacao and St Maarten will become separate countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius will become special Dutch municipalities. Aruba already had a separate status. The ceremony was attended by Prince Willem-Alexander and Deputy Kingdom Relations Minister Ank Bijleveld and caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

The prime minister called the declaration “a new chapter”. The intensive process which has taken five years is supposed to give the larger islands more autonomy.

In the Caribbean, no tears are being shed over having to say goodbye to the Netherlands Antilles. The islands are reasonably close neighbours, but have never really been one unit, argues Gert Oostindie, director of Leiden’s Royal Institute for Linguistics, Geography and Ethnology. “Family ties mean the links between the islands strong. But the only links they have as countries come from sharing the same colonial power. The islands felt unity was more a problem than a help.”

The two largest islands, Curaçao (population 144,000) and Sint Maarten (39,000), are set to become more or less independent. The Netherlands will take over the lion’s share of their debts and will keep an eye on the finances to prevent debt build-up in the future. “They will remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but independent of the other islands in the Antilles. Curaçao and Sint Maarten wanted this status so they could take responsibility for their own development and wouldn’t have to worry about the other little islands,” explains Professor Oostindie.

The island of Aruba gained similar autonomy in 1986 and has booked strong economic growth since. Despite this, however, the issue has been a hot political topic for some time, especially in Curaçao, with many pushing for full independence from the Netherlands.

Price of autonomy
Those who would have preferred full independence to autonomy warn that the Netherlands will remain heavily involved in the two islands’ finances. They fear The Hague will be the source of unwanted interference.

Professor Oostindie dismisses such worries. He points out that the Netherlands has always had the power to intervene and that, in this respect, nothing has changed.

“What has changed is that the areas which the Dutch central government can deal with have now been better defined. These areas include monitoring state finances, but also the maintenance of law and order. Everything considered, most accept it’s better to work on this together.”

The smaller islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire, with a total population of 20,000, will experience more palpable changes. As ‘special municipalities’, they will come under direct Dutch rule. Professor Oostindie says they always felt they were the little brothers in the Antilles family and that they got a raw deal from big brother Curaçao. He reckons living standards, law and order and the political systems on the three islands are all set to improve with their new status.

For the original report go to http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/hollands-last-act-de-colonisation-farewell-netherlands-antilles

The altsounds.com site looks at a new collection of music by Fania’s greatest stars.

In joining forces with Fania, the undisputed powerhouse of Latin music labels, Strut hopes to bring a new set of fans into the fold. Salsa Explosion is a wonderful introduction into the vast sea of classic and influential music in the Fania catalog, touching on many of the separate styles that make up the salsa movement. Strut is proud to offer the collection with completely new artwork, liner notes from Latin music afficionado Ernesto Lechner, and a wealth of previously unpublished photos. Preview some of the music and photos below.

Excerpt from the album’s liner notes by Ernesto Lechner (full notes available on request):

It never fails. The mere mention of “Fania” is guaranteed to bring a sweet smile of recognition to Afro-Caribbean music aficionados. The New York-based record company defined an era. It is rightfully known as “the Latin Motown” but it is much more than that. It was solely responsible for developing and defining the essence of an entire genre. Fania is without doubt the most important record label in the history of Latin American music.

The legacy lives on via lovingly remastered reissues from the Fania catalogue. If you have never heard of the New York school of salsa dura or hard salsa, this compilation will probably change your life. This is some of the most moving, heart-wrenching, soulful and devastatingly funky dance music you are likely to find anywhere on the planet. It’s the classic sound of Fania.

Strut are proud to be associated with the greatest and most important Latin American music label of them all, Fania. Tagged “the Latin Motown”, Fania is perhaps most famous for its recordings during the coming of age of salsa from the late ‘60s to the mid-‘80s, when Latin (often Cuban) dance formats like rumba, guaracha, mambo, son and cha cha fused with big band American jazz and the gritty punch of US R&B in the unique melting pot of New York.

Strut begin their programme of Fania albums with the first in the Fania Essential Recordings series, tracing the development of the many styles that matured on the label from Latin soul to salsa and boogaloo. The first instalment, Salsa Explosion, provides an essential introduction to the classic Fania sound through some of the label’s major artists including Celia Cruz, Mongo Santamaria, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ray Barretto and the Daddy of the Fania family, Johnny Pacheco.

Fania Essential Recordings: Salsa Explosion is packaged with completely new artwork and features previously unpublished photos from the Fania archive. Sleeve notes come courtesy of Ernesto Lechner of the LA Times and Washington Post.

Tracklist:

1. WILLIE COLON – CHE CHE COLE

2. HECTOR LAVOE – EL TODOPODEROSO

3. MONGO SANTAMARIA – O MI SHANGO

4. TITO PUENTE & CELIA CRUZ – PACHITO ECHE

5. JOE CUBA SEXTET – DO YOU FEEL IT (TU LO SIENTES)

6. CELIA CRUZ & JOHNNY PACHECO – CUCALA

7. FANIA ALL STARS – MAMA GUELA

8. RALFI PAGAN – BROTHER, WHERE ARE YOU?

9. EDDIE PALMIERI – BILONGO

10. TITO PUENTE & AZUQUITA – GUAGUANCO ARSENIO

11. LA SONORA PONCENA – BOMBA CARAMBOMBA

12. RAY BARRETTO – EL NUEVO BARRETTO

13. LOUIE RAMIREZ – AHORA ES EL TIEMPO

14. RAFI VAL Y LA DIFERENTE – A MI NENA

15. WILLIE COLON & HECTOR LAVOE – TODO TIENE SU FINAL

Fort he original report go to http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/121857-preview-music-and-art-from-fanias-salsa-explosion-on-strut.html

Film producers Ali Allie and Ruben Reyes have completed principal photography on Part 1 of the Garifuna Film Trilogy (http://www.garifunafilmtrilogy.com), shot in Los Angeles, California and Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras. The Garifuna Film Trilogy is a series of interlocking dramatic feature films which promote the retention of Garifuna culture, heritage, language and pride worldwide, and send a call to action for greater protection of indigenous cultures.

The story of the first film centers around Ricardo (Ruben Reyes), a Garifuna language instructor in the United States who sets out to help his village on the North Coast of Honduras by attempting to build a small school there to teach children their native tongue. However, he runs into unforeseen opposition when his brother Miguel (Julian Castillo) becomes embroiled in a shady land deal that jeopardizes the building of the school. This prompts Ricardo to return to Honduras and confront land rights issues along with his educational mission.

The Garifuna are descendants of Carib, Arawak and West African people who live in the coastal regions of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua in Central America. The Garifuna came to be in Central America after they were exiled from their homeland (the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean) by the British in 1797 after nearly two centuries of successfully defending their freedom against colonization. Since they refused to submit to slavery, the Garifuna managed to preserve both their African roots and their Amerindian heritage, a fusion resulting in a unique ethnicity considered indigenous to the Americas. In 2001, UNESCO (http://www.unesco.org/bpi/intangible_heritage/) proclaimed the language, dance and music of the Garifuna as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

A major subplot of the first film involves a dramatization of historical events on the island of St. Vincent before the Garifuna’s exile. A group of teenagers in Los Angeles rehearse and perform a theatrical play “Garinagu in Peril” (written by Bill Flores) as a play-within-a-play theater and dance spectacle (choreographed by Georgette Lambey) that is interwoven throughout the film, highlighting the leadership of Garifuna Paramount Chief Joseph Satuye (E.J. Mejia).

The film itself embodies a unique cultural synergy: dialogue in three languages (Garifuna, English and Spanish), a mixture of dramatic and documentary textures, an educational theme with sociopolitical undertones, and an unprecedented cast of Garifuna talent, some of whom have been fixtures of cultural advocacy in Los Angeles for over 20 years.

Ali Allie (http://www.aliallie.com) (producer) is an independent filmmaker and cinematographer living in Los Angeles, California. Allie’s initial foray into the world of Garifuna culture began when he worked as a volunteer in an orphanage in Honduras run by a Garifuna man. A few years later, Allie returned to La Ceiba, Honduras to direct the first feature film relating to Garifuna culture and spirituality, “El Espíritu de mi Mamá (http://www.losgatosproductions.com/spirit)” (Spirit of my Mother) which told the fictional story of a Garifuna woman’s spiritual journey of re-identification with her own culture.

Ruben Reyes (http://www.rubenreyesonline.com) (producer), a Garifuna scholar and educator, has a vast knowledge of Garifuna culture and history and is a Garifuna language expert. In addition to teaching Garifuna language classes in Los Angeles in association with the Garifuna American Heritage Foundation (http://www.garifunaheritagefoundation.com), Reyes hosts “The Sasamu Show” (a weekly interview program about Garifuna culture and community issues) on GariTV.com (http://www.garitv.com). Reyes is also the inventor of the Garifuna clock, editor of the New Garifuna Trilingual Dictionary and the designer of an enhanced Garifuna flag. He has also translated the national anthems of Honduras, Guatemala and the USA into Garifuna.

The Garifuna Film Trilogy project is independently produced and has been ten years in development by Allie and Reyes who originally met at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival at a screening of Allie’s “El Espíritu de mi Mamá”.

For the original press release go to http://www.melodika.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63706&Itemid=50

Wellington C. Ramos (West Indian News) writes about the importance of September 10th in Belizean history. He writes about the history leading up to the Battle of Saint Georges Cay on September 10, 1798 and its importance in shaping present Belize, which gained independence from England on September the 21, 1981. Basing his information on Nancy Gonzalez’s Sojourners of the Caribbean: Ethno-History of the Garifuna and her research confirming that some of the Garifuna people fought alongside the British settlers, Ramos stresses that, had it not been “for this battle, Spain would have remained in control of this territory, and when Mexico, Guatemala, and other countries broke away from Spain in 1821 and declared their independence, Belize would not exist today.” He then focuses on present day boundary disputes between Belize and Guatemala. Here are excerpts with a link to the full article below:

The country that we know as Belize would be governed by Mexico up to the Gales Point Manatee River and from that point by Guatemala as another department of their territory. Guatemala signed a treaty with Great Britain in 1859 accepting Belize’s borders and boundaries as they are today renouncing their claim from Gales Point Manatee onwards with a new border established at the Sarstoon River. In that treaty, the British promised to build a highway to Guatemala City and the road was not built so the Guatemalans want this treaty to be voided.

In order for Guatemala to void this treaty, they would have to bring a case against Great Britain at the International Court of Justice in Hague Switzerland. Since signing the treaty in 1859, Guatemala has failed to bring such case against Great Britain but prefer to engage in international political rhetoric and threats against the people and country of Belize. Until the Guatemalan government bring[s] a case against Britain, the treaty of 1859 still stands. Mexico signed a treaty with Great Britain in 1893 renouncing their claim to Belize and accepting the current borders and boundaries as they are today. Since signing this treaty, Mexico has maintained good relations with the people and government of Belize. However, Mexico has indicated on several occasions, that if Guatemala is given any part of Belize, they would reserve their right to reclaim the portion that they gave up in 1893. Mexico would then have to bring back a case to the International Court of Justice like Guatemala to have the treaty voided.

Last year the newly elected government of Belize under the leadership of their Prime Minister Dean Barrow, agreed and passed a resolution to have the dispute with Guatemala be sent to the International Court of Justice in Hague for a resolution after a referendum is held by the people to approve it. [. . .]

Belize is struggling to identify itself as [a. . .] unique nation in Central America whose primary language is English.

For full article, see http://www.thewestindiannews.com/belizeans-celebrate-212-years-since-their-country-was-liberated-from-spain/

Image of the sloop HMS Merlin used at the Battle of St. Georges Caye, from http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2009/03/hms-merlin-of-battle-of-st-georges-caye.html

George Gill, better known as Ital Bajan, is a Barbados born musician based in Fiji, where he is a hit, according to The Bajan Reporter. He has held wildly varied jobs—stock broker, actor, clown, and musician, with a detour through soccer— and has lived in numerous places—Texas, (USA) Italy, Barbados, Australia, and Fiji. The name “Ital Bajan” is his way of paying homage to his Italian mother and Bajan (Barbadian) father, both musicians. Furthermore, in Rasta terminology “ital” can mean fresh or vital.

Now Bajan’s “She Went,” the first single off Ital Bajan’s EP, “A stop for every journey,” has been released with Aitown Records. The video for this song, directed by Tiziana Forletta and Pietro Vecellio with photography by Renzo O. Angelillo, can be seen here:

For articles, see http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=69260, http://bajanreporter.com/?p=7114, http://bajanreporter.blogspot.com/2007/09/fiji-based-barbadian-entertainer.html, and http://bajanreporter.com/?p=16741

In Florida, Golden Valley Farms (roaster) and Florida Turnpike Services have joined forces to offer “Bird Friendly” coffee at stops along the turnpike for the 312 mile toll road segments running from Wildwood south to Miami. Sales from this coffee support refuge for tropical migratory birds in coffee farms of Latin America, with shade certified as “Bird Friendly,” while local Floridians and other turnpike travelers can savor the coffee from these farms.

The addition of “Bird Friendly” coffee at the 24-hour Service Plaza Fuel Facility sites fits well with other elements of the Florida Turnpike’s earth friendly philosophy, which includes new buildings certified as LEED silver level, an educational area for renewable resources, and the addition of E85 ethanol fuel at all sites. Florida Turnpike Services wish to promote conservation through the “Bird Friendly” coffee program.

According to Kim Winklhofer (Examiner.com), the criteria for qualification for Bird Friendly coffee farms are stricter than those for “sustainable coffee,” certified by the Rainforest Alliance. “They include: an organic certification, a minimum 12’ canopy height, 10 or more woody species, 3 layers of foliage, and at least 40% foliage cover, among other things. In fact, Bird Friendly is the only triple certified coffee choice–organic, fair trade, and shade grown.” In terms of providing protection for birds, the premise is fairly simple: many more species of birds can live on shade coffee farms than on sun-coffee farms. Winklhofer writes, “One study conducted in Mexico found over 140 species of birds in shade coffee farms while sun-coffee farms contained only 5-6 species.” As Grounds for Change states, “the increased yields of full-sun coffee come at the expense of the environment, the flavor of the coffee itself and of migratory bird populations, which have been decimated in the last 25 years.”

For full articles, see http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/coffee/bird_friendly/florida-turnpike.cfm and http://www.examiner.com/coffee-in-los-angeles/the-truth-about-bird-friendly-coffee

The Rev. Lucius Walker, who led an annual pilgrimage of U.S. aid volunteers to Cuba in defiance of Washington’s nearly half-century-old trade embargo, has died of a heart attack in New York, The Associated Press reports. He was 80. Walker, who died Tuesday, headed the nonprofit Pastors for Peace, which since 1992 has brought tons of supplies to Cuba via Mexico and Canada — everything from walkers and wheelchairs to computer monitors and clothing.

A statement on the New York City-based group’s website expressed “immeasurable sadness” about “the passing of our beloved, heroic, prophetic leader, Rev. Lucius Walker Jr.” Walker led 21 relief trips to Cuba, the last of which was in July. Pastors for Peace violates the embargo by refusing to apply for permission to export to Cuba, instead traveling through third countries to deliver supplies donated by people in the U.S. The organization is one of several that bring goods to Cuba in open defiance of the embargo, which took its current form in February 1962. Most are allowed to leave and return to the U.S. without incident, though some past participants have received letters threatening fines and other sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Walker was born Aug. 3, 1930, in Roselle, New Jersey. He graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1954, and earned a master of divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School four years later. In addition to organizing supply missions, Walker was founding director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization and negotiated an agreement with Cuban officials whereby dozens of American youngsters from poor areas can come to Cuba to study at Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine. As part of that program, American graduates are expected to return to the U.S., earn medical licenses and provide care in underserved communities.

Word of Walker’s death was posted on the Cuban government website Cubadebate — where Fidel Castro publishes his frequent opinion columns — and carried on state-controlled television and radio and in newspapers. The Communist Party daily Granma wrote, “Cubans, in gratitude, have to say that we don’t want to think of a world without Lucius Walker.”

Pastors for Peace said funeral arrangements had not immediately been made.