Blog Action Day: Say No To Poverty!

 
Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Their aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. This year’s topic is Poverty.

Growing up and living most of my life in India, I’ve always had a close view of how disparate the distribution of wealth is in the world. The most disconcerting aspect is that most people are there due to circumstance and that it could very easily be me. Yes, I agree I’ve worked hard to reach where I am but much of the world’s poor may go through a lifetime without getting an opportunity to work or display their talents and at most times oppressed due to their lack of resources.

Take for example this recent article about the shocking treatment of the poor in India.

India is changing so fast that it is starting to look like someplace else. Skyscrapers are sprouting. Towns are ballooning. The young date, drink, smoke freely. But many of the people who are making the new India new – from the stockbrokers to the bedecked socialites – are responsible for preserving a certain gloomy element of the Indian past: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel, to taunt and humiliate and condescend to them, to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be served.

Not so surprising for me—again, I’ve seen it happen often and think it’s inexplicable. One can only wonder how long they’ll remain patient and quiet—in India there are numerous stories about mini revolts sparking off in retaliation. We don’t need more strife and internal fighting, even if we can’t make monetary contributions, we should embrace the moral right to respect human life.

One observation that’s amazed me in my travels around the world is that children, no matter how poor their family, still manage to go about their daily chores with a smile and frolic with their siblings and the other street kids. It’s that very innocence, that pure pleasure of life itself, that we tend to lose once we’re entrenched in the greedy quest for wealth. I’m not advocating that we donate all our life savings to charity and become ascetics but rather occasionally detach ourselves from our daily pursuits and understand the need for a more equitable distribution of wealth for the world to prosper. Our strength is in our people and right now millions of them are dying in abject poverty.

Dealing with poverty can be depressing but with this video I’ve tried to capture some of the happier emotions that can inspire ourselves to seek out that same unperturbed joy by limiting our needs and contributing our excess towards uplifting the marginalized. The recent financial crisis has taught us many lessons but the most severe being that many countries have been living way beyond their means and for the most part, at the expense of the less privileged. Lifestyles will have to drastically change to fix this mess and I hope we can all evaluate our lives and make a commitment today to make a positive impact on our environment and the people around us. I hope you enjoy the video… please pass it on, and keep smiling!

The song in the video is Bob Sinclar’s ”Give A Lil’ Love”, a DJ who “aspires to bring people together by making music with hope and energy, music that can be shared across the world.” Check out “Love Generation” which also has a similar theme. Here are the lyrics for the song in the video:

now you and I 
can get together
let us start a revolution
change this world
to what it should be
and forget all this confusion

we could live together
for the sake of love 
what are we fighting for
oooh now
we could start heeling today

if we can just learn to give 
give a lil’ love
you and I can change the world
live a lil’ love 
make it better if we try
show a lil’ love
let your love rain
let it rain down on me

now if we wait and do nothing
then what about their future 
how can we look in to there eyes 
and say we love our children
we can make it better
feel the love inside
forget foolish pride

Here’s an action list that can help you get involved. Another great site that I use is Kiva, which helps you make loans to small business owners in third world nations.

Brooke Waggoner & The Pines, Joe’s Pub (10/2/08)

I’ve been obsessed with Brooke Waggoner since she released her first EP last year and jumped at the chance to see her given that I missed her the last time. It was my first time at Joe’s Pub and just like Brooke put it, I was expecting something very “pub-sey”. Quite the contrary—reminiscent of a speakeasy, it has a dark candlelit ambiance, velvet walls and couches to lounge on. Brooke was everything I expected her to be and more: beautiful voice, brilliant on the piano, quirky, and cute with a childlike playfulness that resonates in her music—I think I have a crush!

You can download Brooke’s first EP, Fresh Pair of Eyes, free from her website.

The Pines who opened were really refreshing as well… deep, haunting, and Dylan-esque! What’s more, the club played Devendra Banhart in between sets—totally geeked out!

Alessandra Ferri and Sting music video

Alessandra Ferri is a highly accomplished Italian ballerina and performs a beautiful ballet routine as Sting plays Bach’s Perlude on his guitar. The warm up scenes are very intimate too as he does yoga stretches and she gets her shoes ready—it’s very soothing and has a nice ending as well.

Moodstream by Getty Images

 

Moodstream is a brilliant mashup and interactive art tool by Getty Images that mixes images, videos, and music based on your mood—happy or sad, calm or lively, humorous or serious, nostalgic or contemporary, warm or cool. According to them:

Moodstream is a powerful brainstorming tool designed to help take you in inspiring, unexpected directions. Whether you want images, footage or audio, or just need a stream of fresh ideas, tweak the Moodstream sliders to bring a whole new creative palette straight to you.

The UI is simple yet elegant and the palette allows you to customize your mood preferences and save them for later as mood playlists on the “Moodboard”. 

Some folks have complained about the resolution of the pictures but I quite liked the stylized effect which almost makes it feel like a lenticular surface. The player comes with some preset moods and I highly recommend Simplify and Inspire. I’m not sure how much it can do to change your mood but it’s definitely inspiring and if nothing else, interesting to look at. So start streaming, sit back and enjoy the show.

Cut Copy & The Presets Live at Webster Hall, NYC (9/22/08)

Enjoy this little video I shot of the concert. The “Hearts on Fire” finale by Cut Copy was the highlight but all the jumping around messed up the audio. Either way, the lights were off the charts.