The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers, but above all, the world needs dreamers that do... Sarah Ban Breathnach

Saturday 29 September 2012

Exactly



i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am a blessing manifest
i can undress the moment
naked time unwinds beneath my mind
and from within i find the kind of beauty
only i can find
i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am surrendering so willingly
to be the perfect me inside this now
and truly how else could it be
destiny she blesses me
when i try to fight or run
i only wind up back at square one
when i think i know what's best for me
fate she takes me back 
to exactly where i need to be

Tuesday 25 September 2012


It is vital that we educate and empower our children if we are to protect them, to enable them to protect themselves when adults around them fail to do so. To give them a voice, to speak up and speak out about childhood sexual abuse...

To understand that they are not at fault and that its ok to tell someone, to be protected.

Erin's activism is an inspiration, energy, passion an honesty I admire. In her own words...

"Growing up in Illinois public schools every year I was educated with my classmates on tornado drills, fire drills, bus drills, stranger danger, and learned the 8 ways to say "NO" to drugs through D.A.R.E.

As a child I never had to take cover because of a real tornado. I never had to stop, drop, and roll or run out of a burning building. I never had to evacuate a school bus due to an emergency, but I had the knowledge to know what to do if any of those situations happened.

Where was the drill on how to escape a child molester? Where was the lesson plan on sexual abuse, safe touches, and safe secrets? It never came. I was not educated on “How to Tell Today or How to Get Away.”

I was never educated on “My Body Belongs to Me.”

Empowering our children is the key to protecting them and helping them to protect themselves.

Monday 24 September 2012

The Imagination Foundation - Caine's Arcade




The Imagination Foundation's mission is to find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in kids.

The Imagination Foundation was formed by the creative team behind Caine's Arcade, an 11-minute short film by Nirvan Mullick about a 9-year-old boy's cardboard arcade. 

Posted online April, 9th, 2012, the film became a global phenomenon, receiving over 7 million views, raising a scholarship fund for Caine, and inspiring a wave of cardboard creativity around the world. 

With the support of a matching challenge grant from the Goldhirsh Foundation, we hit the ground running and started a Caine's Arcade School Pilot Program, where over 100 schools in 9 countries used the film and cardboard arcade building to teach kids math, science, engineering, art, entrepreneurship, storytelling, creative thinking, and more. Our second initiative is the Global Cardboard Challenge, a world-wide celebration of play, creativity and community.

The Inspiration
Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.
The Production
We built a mobile recording studio, equipped with all the same equipment used in the best studios, and traveled to wherever the music took us. As technology changed, our power demands were downsized from golf cart batteries to car batteries, and finally to laptops. Similarly, the quality with which we were able to film and document the project was gradually upgraded from a variety of formats-- each the best we could attain at the time—finally to full HD.

One thing that never changed throughout the process was our commitment to create an environment for the musicians in which they could create freely and that placed no barriers between them and those who would eventually experience their music. By leading with that energy and intent everywhere we traveled, we were freely given access to musicians and locations that are usually inaccessible. In this respect, the inspiration that originally set us on this path became a co-creator of the project along with us!
The Effect
Over the course of this project, we decided it was not enough for our crew just to record and share this music with the world; we wanted to create a way to give back to the musicians and their communities that had shared so much with us. And so in 2007 we created the Playing for Change Foundation, a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to do just that. In early 2008, we established Timeless Media, a for-profit entity that funds and extends the work of Playing for Change.

Later that year, Timeless Media entered into a joint venture with the Concord Music Group through the support of label co-owner and entertainment legend Norman Lear and Concord Music Group executive vice president of A&R John Burk. Our goal is to bring PFC’s music, videos and message to the widest possible audience. 

Now, musicians from all over the world are brought together to perform benefit concerts that build music and art schools in communities that are in need of inspiration and hope. In addition to benefit concerts, the Playing for Change band also performs shows around the world.

When audiences see and hear musicians who have traveled thousands of miles from their homes, united in purpose and chorus on one stage, everyone is touched by music's unifying power. 

And now, everyone can participate in this transformative experience by joining the Playing for Change Movement. People are hosting screenings, musicians are holding benefit concerts of every size, fans are spreading the message of Playing for Change through our media, and this is only the beginning. Together, we will connect the world through music!

Wednesday 19 September 2012

REGENERATION



The award-winning documentary film, #ReGENERATION, explores the galvanizing forces behind the Occupy Movement and the state of social activism in our society. The film takes an uncompromising look at the challenges facing today’s youth and young adults as they attempt to engage on a myriad of social and political issues.

Focused on how our education, parenting, and media can influence us, the film follows three separate walks of life representing today’s generation. Each brings their own unique perspective – from an inspired collective of musicians working outside the corporate system, to a twenty-something conservative family about to welcome the birth of their second child, and a group of five high-school students from the suburbs looking for their place in society. Their stories are interspersed with the knowledge, wisdom, and personal reflections of some of the country’s leading scholars, social activists, and media personalities, including Noam Chomsky, the late Howard Zinn, Adbusters’ Kalle Lasn, Andrew Bacevich, Talib Kweli, and many others.

Narrated by Ryan Gosling and featuring a riveting soundtrack from STS9, the film explores how today’s generation approaches activism, how it is impacted by technology, our disconnection with nature and history, our consumer culture, and the economic factors holding many of us back from becoming more active participants in our communities. Through a diverse and intelligent series of stories, interviews and insights, we come to a deeper understanding of the influences shaping our society. We have entered uncharted territory, economically, environmentally, and intellectually–and we must look honestly at ourselves to create a sustainable future.