Koyono Blog

This is hiliarious. A Dolphin that patrols the waters for rouge swimmers? I love it!

Evidently, bolstering security at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor close to Seattle is a high priority these days. Of course, I can not help thinking that this could be nothing more than psychological warfare to make a terrorist, prankster or whomever with sinister designs think twice about going in the waters on the Pugest Sound. This statement makes me wonder: “The Navy is seeking public comment for an environmental impact statement on the proposal.” Really? Okay, okay so their intent might be pure. But why not just keep it quiet?

Go Flipper!

Via Wired.com

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My family and I belong to the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland. We struggled for many years to find a church that shared our beliefs in being open minded, tolerant and creative, and are very happy to have found one so close to home. At first I was a little taken back by the thought of going to church based on my past experiences. It’s not that I do not believe in a higher power; I just never felt comfortable with any church I went to in the past.

Unitarian and Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion and the services are always intellectually stimulating and insightful. What I think I like the most are the various Cleveland musicians that perform at every service. The creative ambiance is an uplifting and freeing experience to which I look forward every week. Much like Apple and the Macintosh, UU is the religion for the rest of us. Click here to learn what UUs believe.

Here is a reading from the UU Hymn book to give you a sense of what the services are like:

A Network of Mutuality

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

There are some things in our social system to which all of us out to be maladjusted.

Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear, only love can do that.

We must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation.

The foundation of such a method is love.

Before it is too late, we must narrow the gaping chasm between our proclamations of peace and our lowly deeds which precipitate and perpetuate war.

One day we must come to see that peace is no only merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.

We shall hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.

Martin Luther King.

If you feel the need to join a spiritual community for whatever reason, check out a UU church near you.

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Pandora is a “Music Genome Project” that,“…ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or “genes” into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song – everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It’s not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records – it’s about what each individual song sounds like.”

It’s been around since 2000 and has evolved into a unique way of listening to streamed music, bookmarking your favorites and even liking directly to iTunes. You can select an artist, (eg. LTJ Bukem) and Pandora will stream relevent music making it easy to discover independent artists and music that otherwise would take some effort. This would be an awesome thing to have with a future Apple iPhone, or any high speed hand held. Check it out.

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Every December, I exchange pleasantries with Jerry from Nashville, TN at a mutual friend’s x-mas party. I have always known Jerry to be a passionate musician, but it was not until this recent Holiday exchange that I really had the opportunity to get to know him. Let me just say that we connected on every level (i.e. economics, society, plight of man, beyond). He’s one of those souls you can start a conversation with and suddenly (2 hours later) have your better half pulling you out the door to go home.

During his annual visit through Cleveland, I learned that Jerry will be stopping in at Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland on Dec. 26th at 8PM to join in with a few others for their open mic night.

Check him out if you get a chance! Here is Jerry’s website for more info.

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CNN: Skin-Deep: Racism in America

I was watching Paula Zahn Now: SKIN DEEP: Racism in America and took a few moments to reflect on my day-to-day experiences with it. Hey, it’s simply not going to go away any time soon and it is and will contiue to be in my neighborhood. Every year I go to our street party and inevitably there are a few people who say the “N” word, make short-sighted comments like “get rid of all the Muslims,” or make a crack against gay people. Interestingly, I never seem to hear them say anything about people of Asian decent, but I am sure they do behind closed doors. That’s just the way it is and we all have to find a way to meaningfully coexist and educate.

On Paula’s show there was one Jewish person who made some great comments. First, as a remedy towards to a different future he called on everyone to not let other people get away with racist comments. Call them out (meaningfully) and challenge them with questions and a different perspective. This is somewhat difficult during social settings, but if you don’t want to hear it, then let people know where you stand. Hopefully over time they and their kids will learn something. Like advertising, it’s the 11th, 12th or whatever time that someone might actually hear what you are saying and take action or change. Second, I really liked his perspective on white people who say blacks “just need to get over it.” As a Jew, he pointed out that NO ONE asks him to “just get over the Holocaust.” Hmm, interesting.

Recently I purchased a Public Enemy hat because I like giving back to those who support KOYONO. I am amazed at the reaction I get wearing it and how it reveals people’s true colors. For example, the other night I did some late night grocery shopping and while checking out was asked by a white woman in her 40s if “I am Public Enemy.” “Excuse me?” I replied. She then asked, “you know – your hat?” like I was missing something. “Oh, Public Enemy. No I’m not, but I believe in their cause and frankly love their music. Also, I support them because they buy our stuff,” I explained. “What cause?” she replied. I further explained that Public Enemy’s songs are about the social injustices around minorities (blacks) and they are really promoting equality. She commented, “they must be criminals.” I could not help but laugh and asked if she knew of Flavor Flav, which she had. She then went on to comment, “he is probably a criminal.” Then she and her coworker both started laughing. I replied that they were not criminals, paid and left. Is racism still alive in my neighborhood – yes. Am I going to stop wearing my Public Enemy hat – no way. In fact, I think I am going to wear it into my next business meeting to see what happens. Who knows, the next time I buy groceries I might wear some God Smack paraphernalia to see if they call me a Satan worshipper and sinner!

Fight the power!

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