When It All Becomes Home...

    There's a point in every aspiring artist's life, when that easel and canvas become a piece of miscellaneous furnishing, equivalent to an old shoe box. When that small booth, and/or walk-in closet is the girlfriend, whose arms are always opened, but not as "obviously" inviting as she once called your name, now signals and insinuates something normal that could become something interesting.  With all people following their true passion, there will come a time, rather it is a microphone, drawing pad, composition notebook, or saxophone, it will all become home.



    What is it about that familiarity, that gives us the feeling of haven?  Usually, people of a more left-brain approach spend a certain amount of time in life, if not all of it, expressing and compensating feelings of loneliness and complacency, and after so long, the only place of comfort, where self-identity has no need for headstrong defense mechanism, is where the magic they create is made.  Even if the only thing being created is an expression of that solitude.  Although today's "people of the passion" are getting used to a more domestic culture of home studios, and portable digital devices, there are still those of us who find beauty and appreciation of what might be considered the hard way.  Not all of us agree with rapping into a laptop, then looping it to a software, where you can practically turn what sounds like an MC stuck in a sewage system, into Prince having a magic moment at Studio 54 after a divorce with his first celebrity wife.  As hard as it may be for some of those iPhone photographers to accept, there are several people who prefer dark rooms, and film cartridges.  It is something about the extra labor making the finished product more particular than the ideal "fecund selection" modification that almost anyone can fathom, once they find out where to download your sound pack, for FL Studio 12.  So, we've know, now, that in the world of "different" there are even more awkward people within. But what do we know about them? And what do they have to say about their whims and preferences?... To Be Continued




 

 

V.O.W.

If you're hungry and in need of food, the lyrical cafe is open at MidTown Arts and Coffee Lounge!!Wednesday nights have now become the new Friday. After Mondays' stagnance, and Tuesdays' follow up, leaving work on Wednesday calls for a celebration! Come on out to Vibes On Wednesday with your host Theon Lee. This guy has no filter, and has no issue making sure that everyone feels welcomed and ready to laugh. For only $7 at the door, you will enjoy awesome food prepared by Ms. Amber Michelle Harper, and positive uplifting vibes. On 38th and Ruckle, right next to the Domino's Pizza!!

Every Wednesday, be it rain, sleet, or snow, there is a V.O.W., opened.

And Life is Grand
-ParaLectra

 Staff Writer



Coming at you with more goodness. 

Check out this new vid from Indy native, Blake Allee.

 

"Headlights" directed by Digital Rabitt

Editorial on Blake Allee COMING SOON! 

Stay tuned!

-Ari Attack 

Staff writer

 Serena does the C-walk, Pres. Obama sings Al Green, and the world's corrput. Well, if you cannot see the small photo of a Nascar event above, it is a picture of a largely welcomed presence of the Civil War Confederate flag. I guess you guys are still upset about the black fists at the other Olympic uproar, huh? It's hilarious and absolutely rib-shaking to know that "black history" and the culture behind it makes everyone uncomfortable, and the reactions are completely reasonable, says the young man who is not allowed to display a peace sign because it is a patriotic act of gang violence. No twisted fingers, no blue flags, and nothing that in the common background of this dance, that would indicate that Serena is forreal thuggin' it, shows itself. But all through an entire night of family fun, there goes that flag that was only made after slaves were given jobs, rather licks on the back, being flung across the Manifesto-American atmosphere.


   Listen, maybe she could've been a tad more conscious about the outcome, but you crackers and hollywood niggas don't even know its initial origin. Just to clear some things up, The gang movement formally known as "G.D." (which stands for Gangster Disciples) was an answer of communal and ethnic security in a time where half of your Dale Earnhart Sr. fans were secretly covering klansman in sheriff badges.  And like most things, the culture of that particular area, along with it's patriots, has taken another form of recognition. I don't know how many times I've seen White America replicate the 'Kid N Play' dance. Wonder how many people would erase their Facebook accounts, close their checking accounts, and take a family leap off the Chase Tower.  The lack of maturity and audacity of people to, not just criticize, but single out and condemn someone for using what could still be a representation of rapid violence and massacre, as a reminder that good things can come from the slums of California. How many of those people are Catholic, and sport the cross (* a signature execution punishment from the Romans) around the neck, on top of their churches, sewn into their into their bibles, encrypted in  stain glass murals, etc? 


  Lesson: If you're going to use insignia to judge someone's character, well hey... I'm sure there's a KKK application you can fill out online. Unless you can literally cause a change of karma on a man, shut up and let people embrace their origin. It's not like us minorities have a lot of that to work with, anyway. In the words of another beloved Californian, We "...Build our own pyramids, write our own hieroglyphs." Inferior society, stop getting pissy because people are becoming authors of their own legacy. "Go, build another route to China, if they'll have you." I solute you, Williams sister. May you "worship" all the way to the pages of history.  

Staying Tuned and Alive

Here's for everybody that missed  the debut D.O.X. show (Breakfast Club)...
so now you know. Next time you see a flyer with the name "D.O.X." you need to be tuned...

D.O.X. Presents: The Breakfast Club @Midtown

I don't know about you, but We here at Forty5th Floor celebrate breakfast food at midnight, and other unorthodox dietary sustainments alike. But if you CAN relate, July 26 at Midtown Arts Lounge will be filled with people just like you. On the behalf of Omni-breakfast eaters around the city, D.O.X. would like to present: The Breakfast Club.Come out Thursday night and open your Friday the right way,Poetry, Emceeing, and HipHop Dance (the real kinda hiphop dance. Did we mention it was only a dollar?... Cause, we definitely should've. So for a dollar, you get a perfomance from Adrian Bless, Rehema McNeil, Limitless, And Theon Lee w/ Harry Otaku on the beats all night, for a dollar!... BE THERE!

FREE IPOD FREE IPOD FREE IPOD

Much like the distraction above, Spring of 2012 has bloomed, blossomed, and opened up with the world's greatest tactic, for people who dare to actually participate in "boring ol' global gov't stuff". I fondly remember knowing a young girl from Africa, with a massive scar on her face, and an unusual story behind it. Mind you, a discovery made in grade school finally finds itself, fifteen years later, posted all over my now retired timeline, and scarcely updated wall. This year, the U.S. Government reached into its bag of luxurious raffle terrorist tickets and finally pulled out... ( drum roll please )... UGANDAAAAAAAAA, as if we've ever cared about what goes on in Africa, *cough, Ken Saro Wiwa, cough. One fine Tuesday morning, I logged in to the sight of a beautiful collage of videos, notes, pictures, pages, and more, that in some manner or another, read "Kony 2012". Then a week passed, a fundraiser got started, and then... nothing. Off subject, what ever happened to that oil spill in Florida ( hm )? Am I the only one that feels like the Hell that exists on Earth has been desensitized by social networks and other media "fan bases", only to become another tweet or profile picture?... Wish we could hire some Forty5th crickets. Recently discussed and exploited, the Trayvon Martin trial. Here is a case doused heavily in so much racial turmoil, that they've literally convinced you that it's sane and legal to kill people, as long as they're the same color and creed. Now out of good heart, people around the country gathered together to march in the spirit of a missed and loved young man, and against the bigotry that stands so boldly in front of it. Did they gather in unity? Maybe in Florida, but as of Indianapolis; a lady got shoved, almost to the ground, by a "well-respected" elder, christian pastor throws a fit because, "Man, they don't EVER say my chants!", and an overly excited, overly dehydrated poet spits his heart out ( among other things ) about the battle of the sexes. A crowd still singing proudly, "We shall overcome... one of these days", is all it took for a small circle of sincerely concerned citizens to ask themselves, "Why are we even out here?" Why did it take two months for everyone to even care that it happened? And why wasn't the random Canal Bridge Shooter's story dissipate and disappear? Most of the time, when a person walks into a room and is bombarded with ten million different stories at one time, or one after another, one grows suspicious. Especially, when one story seemingly makes the previous one "irrelevant". Or maybe throwing dirt on top of more dirt is what makes it fertilizer. Maybe we're caught up in some much theoretically conspired Jambalaya, we can't find the small pocket of moral oxygen to get back to what really matters. And don't ask me, I'm distracted too. The point is, we can't keep circulating the same ideas to feel like we're making the world a better place by tweeting and "status-ing" peoples' deaths and misfortunes. A revolution might have changed its mind about television, but a personal takes so much more than Face Book updates. If you're going to care about anything, care in person.

Then Who SHOULD I Be?

The month is almost over, and my motive of research has become increasingly self-discovering. Not only does the knowledge I've inquired come from books and documentaries, but personal opinion and social network-based expression. There's been a lot of talk about non-racial unity since the month started.


Often times, my enthusiasm about learning and unwrapping my heritage gets questioned. I usually answer with, "It's good to know where you come from...". When it gets interrupted with, "But times aren't like that anymore. Shouldn't you try to make your own history?", I patiently just state that it's out of extracurricular interest. What I'd like to say is, "Bitch nigga, if my history wasn't so HALF-HIDDEN and filled with white people beat my ass, it wouldn't be so politically incorrect, now would it?!" Why is it every other ethnicity in the world can talk about their roots to each other, or even share their long-lived culture with others, but the moment I can utter syllables that may lead the "Black People", the offended want to talk about unity?... Unity?! The Vatican has concealed secrets about the original name for Africa, I don't know where my grandparents come from. Meanwhile you know the story of Cinco De Mayo like the back of your hand, read journals Anne Frank in your domestic AND public library, but suddenly, when I begin an endeavor to find an origin to be more than depressed about, it's all about unity? I may be racist (if you feel the necessity to question), but riddle me this, at the end of the day, doesn't knowing your legacy help you place yourself in this world, whether it be what should be expected of you, or what IS expected of you? Well, I ain't got that. I feel as though, everybody else is slightly offended by my research, because we all have a clue that it's one of many dirty paths, filled with "manifest destiny", raped women, murdered children, and missing men (or vice versa). You get to sing about mystical forests and good Ye Olde patriotic war stories, I had to sing "Strange Fruit" in celebration of one of our past beloved heroes, who was assassinated might I add.


I'm determined to believe there is a history of my people that surpasses slave trade and Egypt. Why do I have to remain silent to accommodate an ALREADY self-acknowledged population, and DEAL with the complexion this society hates most. Don't I deserve to develop a genuine confidence in not only my uniqueness, but my background? Yes... I certainly do. I don't run all up and down your timeline bashing whatever artifact you find about your culture with the words racist, anti, and rebellious. So stay the hell out of my virtual face, about how YOU feel when it comes to my identity. Let me have my 28-29 days of truth.

WE ARE CONNECTED

You have the power to speak to a mass much wider than your peripheral. The voice whose volume is worth millions of dollars worth advertisement, billions of dollars worth sponsorship, and ENDLESS supplements of lobbying, is now in your lap, as you are in the lap of luxurious broadcast. What must be said? What must be heard? What can be done, and should you do with it?

...Speak.

Ballots Anyone?

If you haven't been paying much attention to politics lately (like several of us, here in America), government affairs has taken on the new look as the, "Drama Club", where either a group of angry, raped women take stands, or toxicology reports are being twitpic-ed on Mayoral instagrams alike. And this is the infamous time of year to set those Tivo's to every CNN sponsored, budget fondling, tax promising, fraternal word-fight channel in the Nation. Ladies and Gentlemen, LLLLLET'S GET READYYY TO GET ELECTORAAAAAAL!!!

With all of the current jib-jab about anti-government associations and movements going around, is anyone ACTUALLY thinking about voting?... Anyone? What does this make of the seriousness these blue-bleeding candidates carry in their campaign? Who are they even talking to, at this point? It's been discovered recently that America hates America. If you ask fellow Occupy Indy supporter, 'One', "It's time for the people to take matters into our own hands...". A statement made in a telephone conversation cut short due to running out of minutes. Now, Indiana hasn't been the only state growing bored with monopolized governing, but across the country, people have been joining together to #Occupy their rights. As to HOW, well that'll come later. Even other small scale movements are being invested in, for the same reasons. Yet and still, these commercials and campaigns continue. It's as if you hearing and reading about two totally different countries. While the 60's-70's inspired "rebel swagg" is being reinvented on one side, 90210 series are going for another season on more white collar medias such as, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and that one cable channel that used to be HBO Late Night in like '99. Politicians have become more collectively dramatic then ever. Candidate Cain drops in and out of the race, in order to duck and dodge rape allegations and fiery, long-term "love" sessions. Gingrich, well... I'll let you guess what he's up to. Even election drop-out, Donald Trump, swung his razor sharp comb-over bang, at current President, Obama's citizenship. It's the like the best senior citizen reality show since the history channel. Point is, between comparison, this system is broken. People are supposed to bestow constitutional power and responsibility to a selected few, in order to see to it WE are on one accord with one another. The present-day masses, relentlessly, relies on the government to do so much more then "govern". Everyone's campaign proposes to LEAD the country towards a brighter future. I thought we weren't supposed to stare at the Sun. Nobody is doing, or is even aware of, their rightful position, to run a sufficient North America. This is what it's come to... A show.

Our country has become a cesspool of misconceptions and understandings. People aren't making laws anymore. Absolutely no one, is holding village conferences about what could be fixed or changed. There's a party at the White House, and none of the people it works under is invited. The time to be distracted from fact and priority is extremely inappropriate, and the actual Nation is in need of a re-education. (No rhyme intended.) But it's your call. Will you continue voting for leaders, or for listeners?

P.S.
If you're a fan of Al Green, you know what to do. I am. ^_^