May 20th, 2009 by asia

Mid-City Arts Presents Live Painting and Art Exhibit from Retna & The Mac, June 7

Mid-City Arts is proud to present a live painting event and exhibit opening featuring two of Los Angeles’ most respected graffiti artists: Retna and The Mac. The opening event takes place Sunday June 7th 12pm – 6pm at 33Third. The art exhibit will be on display in the adjoining Mid-City Arts gallery, which recently hosted the first ever gallery exhibit from Chaka, LA’s most infamous graffiti writer.

The new exhibit from Retna and The Mac will featured a large-scale indoor mural installation in addition to smaller pieces. Retna says that the show “will be representative of the remembrance of growing up as a youth.” They will aim to re-enact “the trials & triumphs of pursuing an art form that you have all this passion for, but yet angers all these people. Just kind of showing the 2 different sides to it.” This is a topic near and dear to the artists’ hearts, echoing sentiments shared by many of today’s successful artists who have transitioned from graffiti to legitimate street art. “This is where we came from. We came from being these street kids. We wanted to show that you can keep going,” explains Retna. “It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of a culture like this that has spread throughout the world and this would be our way of giving back to an area, a city, a community that was the beginning of my career (Mid-City Area of Los Angeles). Those blocks and corners were where I was given the opportunity to do my art and was shown a lot of support by the community. Communities like these are where we come from and it feels good to give something back to the future generation of kids doing this.”

Since first creating a name for himself in the early 1990s, Retna has become an “eternal broadcaster” of sorts, shining a light to the kinetic urban soul of Los Angeles. His work merges photography with graffiti style and paint, time with color, couture with street culture, the spiritual with the sensual, and fluidity with grit. Retna traverses between the galleries and streets with ease. In addition to being aligned with the Art Work Rebels and Mad Society Kings Art Groups, he is a member of the internationally exclusive art collective, The Seventh Letter, whose influence on contemporary street art encompasses the globe.

The Mac began painting graffiti in the mid 90s and since then he has been commissioned to produce murals around the world, exhibited in museums, and his work has graced the cover of numerous publications. Mac has gained increasing notoriety for his almost photorealistic depictions of both ordinary people and ethereal women, in a style that is uniquely his own. Mac’s intricate brushwork styles have also gained attention, while some of his murals have become mini-landmarks. Elements, themes and techniques of classic art are often incorporated into a modern context in Mac’s artwork, usually with an emphasis on the human face and figure.

Mid-City Arts was established in September 2009 as an extension of the store 33third – LA’s premier source of street art supplies, streetwear apparel, and related books and magazines. The gallery was established with the purpose of showcasing local, national, and international artwork by up and coming and established artists with a focus on (but not limited to) graffiti / street / urban art. Mid-City Arts offers a show space that interacts with other artists and events that surround the 33third Los Angeles location. The gallery’s artwork is available to view by the active customer base of 33third, which includes graffiti artists and fans of graffiti art. Mid-City Arts is open Monday through Sunday 12-8PM. For more information, visit: http://www.midcity-arts.com

Both Chaka and Retna were featured in a recent segment on graffiti art by KCET’s SoCal Connected show. See the clip here:

http://kcet.org/socal/2009/05/graffiti-goes-gallery.html

May 18th, 2009 by asia

Food For Thought v.2

Listen up folks, this here is the real low down on an oil we need to make sure we are using, because of the lauric acid it contains. This is the pathway to vibrant health. Lets get on the road! Again, as per my last Food for Thought article, the same goes here, when it comes to what “they” are telling us to eat…Dont Believe the Hype! There is economics and politics behind everything in the western world.

Coconut Oil

The Healthiest Oil on Earth

By Brian Shilhavy

“Coconut oil is the healthiest oil on earth,” says Dr. Bruce Fife, a naturopathic doctor and the author of the book The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil.  Modern research seems to back up this bold statement.  Once wrongly accused of increasing cholesterol levels, coconut oil is now actually being used by doctors in the treatment of a variety of disorders.  Clinical studies have shown that coconut oil has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties, and is now even being used in treating AIDS patients.  Studies conducted in the Philippines last year showed that coconut oil does indeed reduce the viral load in AIDS patients.

Lauric Acid:  A Key Component to Health

Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid which is abundant in coconut oil and is considered responsible for many of its health benefits.  Coconut oil is about 50 percent lauric acid.  The only other abundant source found in nature is in human breast milk.

Dr. Jon J. Kabara, PhD. and Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University, says, “Never before in the history of man is it so important to emphasize the value of lauric oils.  The medium-chain fats in coconut oil are similar to fats in mother’s milk and have similar nutriceutical effects.”

Dr. Mary Enig, a nutritionist/biochemist and one of the world’s leading authorities on fats and oils, goes on to say, “Approximately 50 percent of the fatty acids in coconut fat are lauric acid.  Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body.  Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, various pathogenic bacteria including listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia.  Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid.”

The Politics of Tropical Oils

So why has coconut oil gotten such a bad rap in the recent past?  After all, much of the research supporting coconut oil as a healthy fat has been around for some time.  The answer is politics and economics.  Coconut oil was heavily used in the U.S. at one time, being used for baking, pastries, frying, and theater popcorn.  But starting in the 1980s, some very powerful groups in the U.S. including the American Soybean Association (ASA), the Corn Products Company (CPC International), and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) began to categorically condemn all saturated oils.  Faulty science was used to convince the public that ALL saturated fats were unhealthy, when in fact saturated fats rich in the medium-chain fatty acids like lauric acid are very healthy.

These organizations were are aided by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), many of whose key personnel are recruited from and return to the vegetable oil industry.  The result was that most people switched to vegetable oils, and the main source of lauric acid from tropical oils in the American diet was lost.  The countries that these tropical oils came from, mainly the Philippines and Malaysia, were too poor to counter these untrue claims with advertising investments for the truth.  It is only recently that the health benefits of these tropical oils are starting to become rediscovered.

Population Studies

While some clinical studies have been conducted recently, such as the study on AIDS patients in the Philippines (1999 – 2000), much of the studies have been done on tropical populations where coconut products are a main part of the diet.  One such study was done in the South Pacific islands of Pukapuka and Tokelau near New Zealand.  The studies were started in the 1960s before either island was exposed to Western refined food.  These populations ate only natural foods, and coconut foods were the most prevalent, being consumed at each meal in one form or another.  While most people in western countries get 30-40 percent of their calories from fats, the people in these islands averaged between 50 and 60 percent of their calories from fat, most of that being saturated fat from coconuts.

So what kind of health did these studies find among the populations in these two islands?  Bruce Fife reports in his book:  ”The overall health of both groups was extremely good compared to Western standards.  There were no signs of kidney disease or hypothyroidism that might influence fat levels.  There was no hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol).  All inhabitants were lean and healthy despite a very high saturated-fat diet.  In fact, the populations as a whole had ideal weight-to-height ratios as compared to the Body Mass Index figures used by nutritionists.  Digestive problems are rare.  Constipation is uncommon.  They average two or more bowel movements a day.  Atherosclerosis, heart disease, colitis, colon cancer, hemorrhoids ulcers, diverticulosis, and appendicitis are conditions with which they are generally unfamiliar.”

A fat that causes weight loss?

Another incredible fact about coconut oil is that even though it is a fat, it actually promotes weight loss!  The reason is again because of the healthy medium-chain fatty acids.  These fatty acids do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats, but are sent directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy, just like carbohydrates.  So the body uses the fat in coconut oil to produce energy, rather than be stored as body fat.  Medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut oil also speed up the body’s metabolism burning more calories and promoting weight loss.  The weight loss effects of coconut oil have clearly been demonstrated by many researchers.  (A list of references can be found in Bruce Fife’s book The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil.)

Therapeutic Dosage

So how much coconut oil should one consume?  A good therapeutic dosage is 3 to 4 tablespoons a day.  This provides enough lauric acid to build the immune system.  Also, look for unrefined coconut oil.  Stay away from all hydrogenated oils, whether it is coconut oil or vegetable oils.  Hydrogenated oils are oils with trans-fatty acids, which have been altered from their original chemical composition and have been shown to raise serum cholesterol levels that can lead to heart disease.

Also look for unrefined coconut oils like Virgin Coconut Oil.  Most commercial coconut oils are RBD (refined, bleached, and deodorized).  While these RBD oils do maintain the beneficial chemical structures of the medium chain fatty acids, they also contain chemicals used in processing.

May 18th, 2009 by asia

YO! IF YALL DIDNT KNOW THAT THE BGIRL SCENE IS EUROPE IS HOT, TAKE NOTICE NOW! I MEET THIS SUPER COOL, FRESH STYLE BGIRL AT THE WE BGIRLZ EVENT IN BERLIN, ALONG WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER FLY BGIRLS, ALL ROCKIN DOPE GEAR AND WITH ILL PRESENTATION. REFRESHING!! SO ON THAT NOTE, ILL LET HER TAKE IT FROM HERE, B-GIRL MORETZ.

by Bgirl Moretz from Italy

Eurobattle in Porto, Portugal. April 1, 2, 3, 2009

This was the first time I was in this event. It was a 3 days competition of 5 different styles: Bboying, Bgirling, Locking , Popping and Newschool.

The first day, there were the qualifications for every style and it took quite long because we were lotf of dancers. The competition was in a large building. When we arrived at 2 pm the speaker said we had to go behind the stage in the warm up room. There, the jury came to talk to us and to explain how they would have judged the selection.

 At the beginning I was with my friends bgirl Roika, bgirl Dany ( Italy) and bgirl Angel ( France/UK). Then we met with bgirl Pons ( Austria) and with the bboys from Urban Force Crew (Italy). While we were waiting for our turn sometimes we watched the selection on the TV, in the warm up room, and sometimes we made a little cypher just to chill out. After Newschool, Popping and Locking selection it was time for the bgirls. They called our names and we had to walk through a “runway” ’till we arrived in the stage. It was sorrounded with a lot of people! After the bgirling it was time for the crew vs crew. When we all finished Amjad said who was going to participate the day after and he wrote the names on a sign (Me, Roika ,Angel and Dany passed the 2 vs 2 selection and also Urban Force passed the crew vs crew selection).

The second day, we were more relaxed. In the morning there were various workshop for the 5 different styles.  It was the day of the 8 and the 4 final.The warm up room was better because we were less than the previous day and we had more space for training. The speaker started again with the same order, calling the names from the Newschool dancers  to the Bboying.one We didn’t know exactly when we would have danced so we were warming up and stretching all the time. Finally at 22.00 the bgirling started. We were all dead tired but there was so good energy that it was almost palpable!

B-girls Quarter Final:

BSB-girls vs Movie One & Raza ? Movie one & Raza

Angel & Dany vs Double Motion ? Angel & Dany

Moretz & Roika vs Minimish & Miwa ? Minimish & Miwa

Lady Flava & J_onne vs Barcelona bgirls ? Barcelona bgirls

After the bgirl there was the bboy battle and then it ended another competition day.

Later in the night, there was the after party. It was in a disco not too far from the center but we had to take the metro anyway. Even if it was 3 in the morning we still had a lot of energy and we danced in the cypher with bboys and bgirls from all around the world. That was amazing!

The third and last day was full of show showcases and performances. It was the day of the semifinal and the final but also the day of the 1 vs 1, the powermove and the toprock battle.

B-girls SemiFinal and Final:

Movie one & Raza vs Angel & Dany ? Movie one & Raza 

                                                                              VS                  ? Movie one & Raza

Minimish & Miwa vs Barcelona bgirls ? Barcelona bgirls

B-boys Final:

Gaiolin Roots/ Deep Trip VS Dynamic Rockers ? Dynamic Rockers

 Overall:

The event was great but it was very long and I also think it would have been better if the after party was at the end of day 3. Anyway these kind of events help your mind to open. They show you so many different people with so many different styles and it is good because you even understand better different cultures. I hope i can go again next year and to see more bgirls than this year.

I hope you enjoy my little summary

Peace

B-girl MoReTz (Italy)

May 17th, 2009 by asia

Food for Thought

v.1

Topic: The word “Aryan” and what it really means.

LETS FARM INTELLIGENCE, SEED IT INTO WISDOM AND GROW WITH IT FOOD FOR THOUGHT TO FEED OUR COMMUNITY.

What do u think of when u hear the word “Aryan”? Do you automatically picture a bunch of nazi skinheads, and then think of the concept of white supremacy? Well most of the world does. Have you ever wondered why we “automatically” believe certain things like this to be truths without questioning them? Oftentimes to learn the truth we must “unlearn” some common misconceptions perpetuated upon us all by western globalization. No one has ever told me that there was another real historical meaning to this word “Aryan”. I happened upon the truth due to my often-meandering mind that desires to seek out and find the real story. I have always been interested in original, native peoples to a land, and their story. From their colorful story our collective history unfolds. We know it all began in Africa. The genotypes of Africans have every DNA type known to man/woman kind. How we all got spread out and changed hues, due to mutations, and isolation, is where it gets interesting. So…with that in mind, I began contemplating India. What did the original people from there look like? I can’t help but picture Gandhi, or think of the Aborigines from Australia. My journey began, and through it I kept tripping over this word, “Indo-Aryan” that came up every time I researched native people of India. I was like, huh? Sounds like some chronic smoking skinheads or something…Well apparently it is a reference word used to characterize certain languages that are considered “Indo-European”. But the weird thing is that these languages are said to be spoken by people native to South Asia, such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia. Man, I was not satisfied with this info and it left a stain of misgiving on my brain. So onward I marched. I began looking up the word “Aryan” to figure out the connection. Here is where it gets sick n twisted. The word “Aryan” is an English loan word, which means we stole it basically.  The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language states at the beginning of its definition, “[it] is one of the ironies of history that Aryan, a word nowadays referring to the blond-haired, blue-eyed physical ideal of Nazi Germany, originally referred to a people who looked vastly different. Its history starts with the ancient Indo-Iranians, peoples who inhabited parts of what are now Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.” Apparently, its history as a loan word began in the late 1700s, when the word was borrowed from Sanskrit ??rya- to mean the same thing it originally did in that Old Indic language, namely as a (self-) identifier of speakers of North Indian languages.[2] When it was determined that Iranian languages – both living and ancient – used a similar term in much the same way (but in the Iranian context as a self-identifier of Iranian peoples), it became apparent that the shared meaning had to derive from the ancestor language of the shared past, and so, by the early 1800s, the word ‘Aryan’ came to refer the group of languages deriving from that ancestor language, and by extension, the speakers of those languages. So obviously we can see that there is probably some synergy between the Iranians and the Indians of East Asia. Then, in the 1830s, the term “Aryan” was adopted for speakers of Indo-European languages in general, in the erroneous belief that this was an ethnic self-identifier used by prehistoric speakers of European languages. This development was in turn instrumental to the development of the concept of an “Aryan race“, which by the early 20th century became closely linked to Nordicism, which posited Northern European racial superiority over all other peoples (including Indians and Iranians). In Nazi Germany the classification of peoples as Aryan or not was most emphatically directed towards the exclusion of Jews.[4][n 1] This racialist interpretation engendered both the “Aryanization” programs of Nazi Germany, and – in a late 19th century British-mediated form – to a racialist reinterpretation of Indian society, texts and history. Following the end of World War II and the discovery of the genocide that the self-styled “Aryans” had caused, the word ‘Aryan’ ceased to have a positive meaning in general Western understanding. In colloquial modern English it is typically used to signify the Nordic racial ideal promoted by the Nazis. VanDamn!! So in effect a word that was once used to mean something completely different, (identifying origins of peoples native to India) now has a negative meaning and is associated with hate and racism. Of course those biting ass Nordic/German evil mofos also stole symbols that the original Indo-Aryan peeps used such as the swastika that actually is a good luck symbol, and has been used throughout original peoples from the Fertile Crescent to Asia.  This is yet another example of how the western world perpetuates lies and domination and rewrites history to its own liking. Like PE told us in the 80’s “Don’t believe the hype”, ever, never, ever. 

May 8th, 2009 by asia

May 7th, 2009 by asia

Check out my boy Fienz Jam called Mighty Four Denver, coming up May 15-16!! Bringing that real B-Boy/B-Girl True School Vibe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEc7kqnyNck

May 4th, 2009 by asia

Gifts are never expected and they don’t always come boxed and gift-wrapped! So I discovered during my participation at the Dance South LA 2nd Annual Symposium on May 2, 2009 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in LA.
I went to the “symposium” (I don’t even really know what that means) not knowing what to expect. I also have been frequenting mainly jams lately surrounded by my Bboy/Bgirl Hip-Hop peeps so my collegiate/academia skills have not been polished nor put to the test in a minute. Face with grace I always say, so I donned my regular Bgirl For Life tank top and looked forward to probably being the oddball of the afternoon. Thank goddess that my Mom taught me some manners and is a classy lady, so it rubbed of somewhere along the line. I did a little research on the other panelist/lecturers/workshop instructors so I wouldn’t get caught out there, feel me? I encourage everyone to beef up on their knowledge of other panelists if you’re ever invited to speak on one; it’s the respectful and educated thing to do. Slap! It aint all about Yu. Haha! Anyway there were some real stars involved from the world of dance, and education/activism. Here are a couple of names to google cuz im not gonna do all the work for ya now! Dr. Halifu Osumare, Carmen de Lavallade, Rennie Harris, and Nina Flagg. I must say that I felt the immediate vibrations of love in the room. Not a lot of people, but those that took part in the conference gave and got plenty of inspiration to eat off of for a minute. I was taken by Dr. Halifu’s report on what is going on with Hip-Hop in Ghana, West Afrika. Seeing footage and hearing her powerful statements about culture, and respect, made me again acknowledge that Hip-Hop is African and no matter where and when the root of all music and movement is from our collective ancestry from Afrika. I was watching the footage of some Ashanti warrior dances and couldn’t help noticing how similarly Rockin looks to it, and the barrel arms movements, and the posturing. Got me open like a NY turnstile! Well that was just for appetizers cuz the real meat came from Carmen de Lavallade. This woman is ahh-mazing (a very overused artsy fartsy word hipsters throw out to dang much) her story is legendary but its her very now ness approach to life and movement that touched me deeply. I’m not going to even mention how old she is, well okay, she is like 78 or something, but she is an agile beauty who can take you through the world as she sees it, peppered with Shakespearean references, Duke Ellington swing, and a NYC central park tree hugging ballerinas savoir faire. Rennie Harris added his Pure Movement mind state, enriching us with discussion about regional dances, and life before the Hip-Hop God. We had a great time doing some serious chopping. Nina Flagg was the youngest yet her attitude about what part of her mission is, to bring authentic feel and cohesive synergy to projects from Bette Midler to Tina Turner as a choreographer/creative director was noteworthy and very refreshin like a tall drink of lemonade on a hot day! Watching Nina dance I saw rhythm embodied in the truest darkest form. My yellow ass was trying to keep up in the party dance/house class Rennie was teaching, trying to peep Nina’s groove to go off of. Nuff said! Kudos to the organizers Leslie Sisson and Debra Winters, who ran a beautiful ship, and in parting will give you their mission for the symposium: “it is our goal today, and always, to inspire and motivate you towards building and strengthening dance in our community and to share ideas so that dance in South L.A. can lie, thrive and progress!”

May 3rd, 2009 by asia