Tuesday, October 09, 2007

The Guevara Convention (by Dave Watts & friends)

October 9 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto ´Che´ Guevara. Since his image, writings and influence has spread across the world, the thought of putting a compilation album to commemorate his life has been in my head for a few years. Our small team has tried to get record company interest in this but it has not materialized, which in reality is how it´s supposed to be, and i was stuck in the mental time-zone of CD format ideology. Use what is at my fingertips,

I think Ernesto´s sense of care for the people of Latin America (and beyond) especially after his initial travels around the continent where he got to see first-hand the subjugation of a people by the USA and it´s excessive greed, is something that many people are still living with today, and it seems that things have only gotten worse with it´s influence and misuse of power growing day by day.

So I am writing to you because I think you could contribute in some way, with art, words, music, ideas, suggestions, distribution, whatever....

The project would be a compilation album with music inspired by ´Che´ and/or the revolutionary spirit that he embodied. The contributions do not have to mention ´Che´ directly, but it´s the spirit for humanities well-being and desire and efforts to bring about a change in our status, conditions and environment that he and thousands, millions of others had worked tirelessly for.

"Above everything, be always capable to feel deep inside any injustice committed against anybody anywhere in the world."

Ernesto ´Che´ Guervara.

In this day it makes sense to use the internet as an avenue of our collective expression. The plan now is to upload at least one piece of music, image, essay, etc. a month running over the year, starting from next week October 9 to be precise as that was the day Che was retired as a living human.

Running the project online instead of a ´traditional CD release´ gives us the opportunity to maintain a continuous flow of contributions to stimulate, exchange interest, ideas, create bonds & links, provoke, engage, inspire, maintain momentum. Words, Music, Visual Stimulants, Sound.

Through the internet, some of us have the ability to ´make friends´ with people we have never met and will most probably never ever meet. However through some of our ´friends´ we have learned of something that we had no knowledge of previously, and through some of these ´friends´ meaningful relations have flourished and connections made. My point being that our knowledge base is constantly expanding and contributions can arise instantly and uploaded as soon as one wishes and hence shared. So with this in mind, we can dispense with the limited ideology of a CD and it´s restrictions, imagined or real.

History appears to be filled with a continuous flow of stories of rebellion against tyrannies large or small, that hold no regard for the fact that we all came onto the earth in the very same manner as the those next door or across ocean´s and therefore entitled to a life without the enforced burdens laid upon one´s shoulders down by whoever thinks they are "The Man" and governments of ill repute whose icons parade as saints and saviors.

The Guevara Convention is a space where to express the revolutionary change that we seek....or maybe i just need to lighten up a bit and read Hello / Hola.

John Hutnyk wrote this and inspired the title. Which leads to issues surrounding the iconic status and state of reality, which is something that DJ/ Rupture has said he would like to tackle in his contribution.

It is my wish that you still see something in this for you to contribute to and be part of.

We have also had positive response from Indigenous Resistance, Coldcut, Filastine, Las Ratas, Fermin Murguza, Clandestino (artwork), Dr. FDM, Dr. Das, Ramjac, Sandy Hoover and Los de Abajos. Shaheen, who was in S.African hip hop pioneers Prophets of da City, is now residing in Toronto, doing a university thing on hip hop and politics is now onboard also. Shaping up nicely.

All the beats
Dave

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Beep Beep Sputnik

Beep Beep - 50 years ago today. Happy Birthday.

From the fine folk at Needham High School's History Crib


The Launch of Sputnik
"Never before had so small and so harmless an object created such consternation."
- Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans: The Democratic Experience

The launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, brought the dawn of the space age, and increased conflict between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The people of the United States had begun to feel as if they were unsurpassable in every aspect of life. However, the launch of Sputnik alarmed society and created a wide spread panic in suspecting that their country was vulnerable and could be outshown.


The Story of Sputnik

Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, was launched on October 4, 1957 by the U.S.S.R. It was little more than the size of a basketball and weighed 184 pounds. Sputnik was not equipped with any scientific instruments, but orbited the earth once every 98 minutes. It contained a single radio transmitter, which did little more than issue an incessant beeping that allowed even the most primitive instruments to track it. As an instrument used for gathering data, Sputnik was relatively insignificant. However, Sputnik did usher in the new age of space exploration, and initiated the U.S./ U.S.S.R. space race that would lead to the creation of the manned space shuttle and utilization of the space station.

Why the U.S. Did Not Beat the U.S.S.R. into Space

Conflict between military branches had hindered the progression in creating a satellite before Sputnik's launch. Also, it was not until the U.S.S.R. got Sputnik launched that the U.S. saw their own space program as something more than a leisurely hobby. Satellites were predicted to have no military value to the U.S., and so sufficient funds were not put into the Vanguard project. A lack of qualified personnel contributed to the slow progression of the U.S.'s satellite projects as well. After Sputnik's launch, however, money was pumped into education and satellite projects.

....
continues here if you want to read what Eisenhower did next.

but better might be to seek out:
"Soviet Claiming Lead in Science." The New York Times. 5 Oct. 1957: 2.

Happy Birthday, ball of tin. Erm, RED ball of tin. Yaay!