Friday, February 26, 2010

Breakthrough!

URBAN HIP HOP UNION PRESENTS ...
BREAKTHROUGH! **A URBAN TALENT SHOWCASE**
S A T U R D A Y, F E B R U A R Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 0
- $7 cover
- Ryerson Student Campus Center, Room 115
- Doors open at 6PM
Hip-Hop ain't just a LIFESTYLE... it's a CULTURE!
Come out to recognize and support the sprouts to the roots of this cultural phenomenon! Funds raised will be donated to support the Remix Project!
It will be a Night Jam-Packed with TALENT:
- rapping
- dancing
- beatboxing
- spoken word
- graffiti
- singing
- fashion
***HOSTED BY: UHHU'S own KING OGU... RANJ DHATT & STEPHANIE SAMS of Urbanology Magazine!!!
*** FEATURED GUESTS: BLAKE CARRINGTON and more!
Come out and hear the freshest sounds under one roof
For more information/tickets visit the Urban Hip-Hop Union in Ryerson's Student Center (SCC B25)





Wednesday, February 24, 2010

GHSA Elections

Guelph-Humber Student Association's election period is officially here.

Students are encouraged to run for a spot in their student government for the 2010-2011 school year.

Positions are available as a program representative to one of the eight streams Guelph-Humber has to offer.

There are also six executive positions available. Students can run for president or vice-president of operations, finance, academics, activities, or communication.

The week long nomination period begins today, and runs until 4p.m this Friday, March 12.

To be eligible as a candidate for election, students must fill out a nomination package, provide a brief biography, and ask for student signatures.

To be elected as a program representative, students must obtain at least 20 signatures from full-time Guelph-Humber students, while candidates running for executive positions must collect at least 40 names.

The nomination package can be picked up at www.ghsaweb.com

“This year, to be more environmentally friendly, the package will be available through our website.” Said Sunny Dhillon, GHSA’s Chief Electoral Officer.

Immediately after the nomination period ends on Friday, there will be an All Candidates Meeting at 4p.m in GH101.

This meeting is mandatory for all candidates, as campaign procedures, dates, and expectations will all be announced and discussed.

Campaigning will commence the following week. From 12a.m on March 15 to 11:59p.m on March 19, candidates will be promoting themselves to win student votes.

Campaigners will contend for votes by plastering themselves around the school with the use of posters, slogans, t-shirts, social networking websites such as Facebook, and direct marketing techniques.

“I handed out lollipops.” Shared Krissy Carlton, current GHSA president. “Students love free stuff – especially food.”

There will also be a Campaigning Day in the atrium from 11:30-2:00p.m on Tuesday, March 16.

“This year, for the first time, we planned an atrium Campaigning Day. All candidates will be invited to set up a table and talk directly to students about their platforms.” Explained Dhillon.

Voting will run from March 22-26. Online polls will be open from 10a.m-4p.m the entire week.

“Last year, we introduced our electronic voting system with great success. Since it helped increase voter participation, we will continue with that method.” stated Dhillon.

Students will be contacted through their Guelph-Humber account with a link to cast their vote.

“We have made voting very easy. It takes under two minutes and can be done almost anywhere.” Dhillon shared.

There will also be a polling station set up in the Guelph-Humber atrium during voting week.

Results will be tallied immediately after voting closes, and the winners will be announced at 5p.m on March 26, in the GHSA office.

Students elected into the GHSA have a real chance to make a difference and bring positive change to the school.

“Student government is incredibly useful and instrumental in changes. The members of the GHSA sit on many academic bodies, including the Academic, Management and Program Committee, which is the highest decision making body on campus. These students will bring a voice and help formulate new policies and programs to govern the university.”

The GHSA is growing every year. With the opening of the GHSA office, and the website, the organization is able to bring more change, and do more for the students it represents.

“The GHSA has grown in the number of elected members and will continue to evolve in the near future. Next year will be pivotal, since the organization’s structure and collaborations are under review to create efficiencies and a stronger bond now that it is larger and more mature.” Said Dhillon.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

A good song

A good song is:
timeless
authentic
classic

It doesn't matter who wrote it,
Who sings it,
When it was written,
Or what genre it is.
A good song is a good song.

A good song can make you move:
you can feel it in your bones
A good song is something you can relate to:
It speaks to your soul

A good song can take you back,
Make you look forward,
Or make you happy to be in the here and now.
A good song can change your life.

Monday, February 22, 2010

K'naan at Humber

Keinan Abdi Warsame, known as K’naan, the 31-year old rapper/poet from Somalia visited Humber today to talk about Black History Month.

“I don’t really know what to talk about. People usually have their own ideas about what they want me to talk about.” He said. “I get bored talking about my self.”

He opened the platform up to students to ask questions. Conversation evolved from questions about Warsame’s personal background, to the Somalian war, to Black History Month, to future music he plans on making, and where he gets his inspiration.

The Somalian-born rapper escaped the Civil War, and moved to Toronto when he was 14. He grew up in Rexdale, and began trying to adapt to Canadian culture.

“My first mission was to learn English.” Warsame shared about when he first moved here. “My entire senses were different. This was the beginning of my art – the adaptation process as an immigrant.”

Warsame took his experiences, and used them as inspiration to make music. “The most courageous thing is to take your experiences, and do something with them.” He shared. “I wrote my pain into success.”

Somalia is a nation of poets. His aunt Magool, was one of Somalia’s most legendary singers, and his grandfather Haji Mohamed was also a famous poet. . “They operate their social and political discourses in poetry.” Warsame shared. “Part of my life there was beautiful, but some was dangerous.”

K’naan shared his story of fleeing his war torn country, and the repercussions it brought upon his life. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and survivor guilt. “It tormented me” He said.

When asked about Black History Month, and what it means to be black, Warsame spoke in poetry.

“I didn’t know I was black, because everyone is black where I’m from. I only became black when I moved to North America. Before, I was just human.” Warsame spoke.

K’naan has exploded on to the hip hop scene. His song, “Waving Flag”, has just been picked up as the World Cup theme song. He has alredy toured with Jason Mraz, Wale, K-OS, Lenny Kravitz, and Damian Marley. Warsame was able to record his album in Bob Marley’s house in Jamaica. He was the first artist since Marley’s death to be given the keys of his house to record in.

He also spilled the secret that he just recorded new tracks with NAS, Jay-Z, and a song Canadian artists Drake, and Justin Beiber.

“Right now, musically, people are looking at Toronto.” He said.

Humber welcomed K’naan for taking the time to come share his story. This young artist is just beginning his success story, and has much more great things to come in the future.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We all have a fix

We are all addicts.
Everyone has a fix.

Alcoholics and stoners are judged by the world, but we all have an addiction - some sort of artificial happiness that gets us throught he day. Why do we all fein something? There are coffe addictions, sex addictions, shopping addictions, and work addictions. Addictions to video games, tv, facebook, food, porn, religion, sports, etc. We all have something.

It's as if we were all made with a little hole inside us needing to be filled. Maybe it's because we were never given a concrete reason as to why we're here on Earth, or what comes next. We have all grasped on to something as a coping mechanism to deal with life. No matter the reason though, we are all addicts. What's your fix?

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Princeless Princess

Just like every girl I’ve ever known, I grew up indulged in the fairytale classics. I would put on my dress-up gowns, and a tiara, believing I was a princess, rewinding my Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White VHS tapes until I knew them word for word.

Even at three years old, I believed I would have my own Prince Charming come sweep me off my feet to go live happily ever after.

As childhood turned to adolescence, my role models changed with me. Cinderella and Ariel were replaced by Brittany Spears, and Beyonce. Fairytales were replaced with t.v shows such as the O.C and One Tree Hill.

The values of love I was taught here were no less warped. Everyone my age believed that having a boyfriend made a girl cooler, happier, and therefore a better person. Everywhere I looked in popular culture, I was being taught that I need to find my other half, and our love would fill every hole that I had in my life. My search began.

At the age of 18, I found my Prince Charming, and if he was one thing, it was definitely a charmer. We fell madly in love, and soon moved in together, planning our future with only each other in mind. Is this the where I’m supposed to say we lived happily ever after?

Unfortunately, we never heard the real endings to our childhood fairytales. Cinderella divorced the prince, Ariel grew tired of life on land, leaving for the sea, and we all know what happened to Brittany and K-Fed.

Life doesn’t end in happily ever after. We will always have our trials, arguments, bills, tears, and raw emotion that cannot be scripted. If not, then we aren’t really living at all.

After two years of living with my own prince, things began to change. Our long talks turned to long arguments, promises to love forever, turned to threats to leave, and eventually we found ourselves living in a relationship without happiness. Our love had slipped out from under us, and we didn’t know where it went. How could a love that was once so strong burn out as easily as a candle?

After deciding to end our relationship, I sunk into a dark and dreary state. It felt like my whole life and future had been destroyed, and I didn’t know where to turn to next. I had lost contact with many friends and family, and found myself the loneliest I had ever been. It wasn’t until I held all the broken pieces of what I had called a life in my hands that I began to put them back together.

I was searching for love in all the wrong places. I was looking for the prince to fill every void in my life, thinking he would be my happiness. It was then I realized that we can never truly love someone until we love ourselves, and are complete individually. We are responsible for our own happiness, and the only person we should ever truly depend on is ourselves. If we cannot find what we are looking for in ourselves, than we cannot expect to find it in someone else.

Even recent teenage based films such as Twilight, and High School Musical, and musicians such as Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus aim their attention towards the opposite sex, highlighting the idea of being saved by them, and sending a false impression of living ‘happily ever after’. It is no wonder adults believe that young people don’t know anything about love, with media sources feeding this false representation of happiness, we are doomed to learn only by experience. In life, we go through pain for a reason – to learn.

If times were to change, and teenage girls focused on achieving personal success, and self-worth, they will find themselves gaining a sense of happiness that no man can give them.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Bohemian Rhapsody

Out of France, in the 1820s, came a united front of artists, musicians, and writers, whose ideals, work, clothing, beliefs, thoughts, and actions mocked and rebelled against the mainstream bourgeois culture.

When word circulated, in France, of the uprising of such a colourful group of people, rumour spread that they were gypsies, travelling from Bohemia, a state in Czech Republic. Bohemians however, can only be pin-pointed on an abstract map. They are artistic individuals, possessing anti-establishment political and social values, rejecting private property, and materialism by refraining from permanent residence. “We were afraid of nothing and thumbed our noses at public opinion, and openly revolted against all prejudices, I might say, against all laws. We lived as if entrenched in a fortress from which we made belligerent sallies ridiculing everything.” (Houssaye)

Bohemians lived in voluntary poverty, surviving off very little, living and working in cafes, streets, and libraries. Living such a way, they believed, brought them the true meanings of life, enlightenment, freedom, and an inspiration for their art.

They dressed in unique and colourful clothing, in which they mocked the boring sameness of the clothes worn by the bourgeois. Their unique example that clothing is a reflection of personal identity wasn’t appreciated at the time, but today has helped launch the fashion industry into a billion dollar enterprise. The fashion world eventually turned on Bohemianism, turning vibrant, draped, floral dresses into a Bohemian trend that has been shown on all major catwalks around the world. Bohemians do not categorize themselves. They are seen through their own eyes as a free-spirits.

Bohemians are very in-tune with their spirituality, and possess their own personal beliefs that celebrate their creativity, and the splendor of life and death. They believe that all human beings are significant, and that the human life force is unique for all individuals. Life is a gift, which we should celebrate. The afterlife, as bohemians believe, consists of the lasting impressions, moments, and memories we have made upon other human beings, and the world during our time on it. This gives bohemians inspiration to live everyday to the fullest, for we do not get a second chance. Bohemians were also sexually promiscuous, believing in ultimate freedom.

Henry Murger, who is named the original bohemian, was a French journalist. In 1820, he wrote the novel, “Scenes la Vie de Boheme” (Scenes of Bohemian Life), which influenced many early bohemians into the revolution of their own lives. He emphasized that living in Bohemia without the ambition to leave it would destroy a person.

In 1896, La Boheme Opera was written by Giacome Puccini, becoming a worldwide success, and familiarizing mainstream society with the idea of bohemianism for the first time. It was still considered one of the most important operas in musical history.

In the 1900s, bohemianism spread globally, each area responding differently to these creative groups, whose name, actions, and motives differed from country to country.

In London, they were known as Grub Streeters. These bohemians disregarded the original value of no discrimination. 19th century Grub Streeters excluded women in their society. The movement began when groups of young followers of Charles Dickenson and William Thackeray worked to create lives as authors. Few writers ever made it out of literary obscurity, and lived their lives in the shadows of Dickenson and Thackeray. Most were from lower, middle class families, without private income, or a university degree, leading them to live a bohemian lifestyle of poverty out of necessity as opposed to choice. As with all bohemians however, they enjoyed the freedom it brought. They could write what they wanted, when they wanted to.

Bohemians spread to North America in the 1950s, where the Beat culture exploded in New York City. “The subject matter is really the operation of the mind.”(Allen Ginsberg) Those in the Beat culture opposed mainstream American lifestyle, culture, and art. With the beginning of the 1960s, and the Vietnam War, the expressions of the Beat culture evolved into the revolution of the Hippie Movement.

“The hippies recall the bourgeois of the 1830s. The takers of LSD descend perhaps from the hashish-eaters of the 1840s. The modern student recalls the battle of Hernani, and the wilder excesses of the Jeunes France. Their behavior is similar, for their background is much the same.” (Houssaye)

Much like bohemians, hippies gave up comfortable lives for poverty, to rebel against authority, war, and hate. They were warriors of peace. Hippies also wore unique clothing to mock mainstream culture, while revolutionizing music, art, literature, and philosophy.

In the early 1900s, Jonathon Larson created the hit Broadway musical, Rent. Larson’s play was based on Henry Murger’s Scenes of Bohemian Life. Larson tackled many controversial issues such as AIDS, homosexuality, fidelity, drug abuse, and everyday life as a bohemian in New York’s East Village.

Shortly after, Laren Stover, a self-proclaimed bohemian, wrote the Bohemian Manifesto, classifying five distinct mindsets of the bohemians:

The Nouveau crowd was attracted to Bohemianism, yet only attempted to join when it became popularized in mainstream culture. Every subculture has a group of posers, and for the bohemians, it was the nouveau crowd. The Beat group was non-materialistic, and focused on their work, where freedom of expression was the main objective. Zen Bohemians are spiritual, and focus on reaching a higher plane, usually with the experimentation of drugs. They were continuously moving from reality to fantasy. The Dandy Bohemians don’t have money, but appear to, through their collection of rare and interesting items. Discarding strict moral values, alcohol, drug use, and sexual freedom was common among most bohemians. The pursuit of wealth was non-existent, replaced by the pursuit of passion, and happiness.

“Bohemianism doesn’t always steal the headlines. Bohemianism may be big and shocking, but it may also be personal and sub-terrain with quiet defiance. Bohemianism slops into our bedrooms and makes a personal appearance in our dreams, sits next to us in the car, and whispers detours. Bohemianism is the stranger pouring stars and galaxies into our morning beverage while we watch the cat lick its paws…an elixir of undisclosed ingredients, a strange, bootleg perfume. It’s the psychic, globally warmed truth serum the government wants to ban. It’s the holy water of the unconscious mind, and once anointed, the underground gold mind of ideas blossoms and bleeds into the open air, without judgment. (Bohemian Manifest P.1)

Today, Bohemians tend to gather in the most artistic cities in the world, such as Greenwich Villiage, the East Villiage, and Chelsea in New York City, as well as paris, Soho, Bedford Park, and London. The can be found all over the world. They are every age, race, sex, and religion.

Bohemian culture continues to appear when there is a rebellion against mainstream culture, or an artistic breakthrough by any means. Our society seems so meaningless compared to the individual power bohemians have over their own lives.

HSF elections quickly approaching

The 2010-2011 Humber Student Federation election campaign begins Feb. 22.

Immediately following Reading Week, nominees will contend for students’ votes to be elected as Program representatives, Director and Vice-President of Administration or Campus Life for the upcoming school year.

To be eligible to run as a candidate for election, nominees must be full-time Humber or Guelph-Humber students in good academic standing, with a GPA of 65 per cent or above.

Applicants must also submit a nomination package before Feb. 12, with at least 100 different signatures from full-time Humber or Guelph-Humber students.

The nomination package can be picked up in the HSF offices.Voting will be held from March 8 to 12.

There will be polling stations available in the Athletic Centre, Concourse, Student Centre and Guelph-Humber’s Atrium from 9 a.m until 4 p.m for the entire week.

Students can also vote online. “The voters are contacted with a link, through email and the votes are tabulated using our Elections System supplied by Britannia Systems,” explains Krissy Carlton, president of the Guelph-Humber Student Association.

The votes will be tallied, and the winners will be announced immediately after the voting booths are closed.

More students are encouraged to get involved and vote in their student elections. Only 16.5 per cent of students voted last year.

“Students ought to take an interest in elections, because it affects their day to day experience.” Ercole Perrone, Executive Director of HSF says.

“Students can touch on all their experiences at school through HSF. I challenge all students to learn more about the elections, become a candidate, but most importantly – vote!”

GHSA’s election campaign will follow on March 15.

The latest election information can be found atwww.youvotehumber.wordpress.com.

Beat Lounge Bounces

The energy was electric and buzzing with opportunity at the Silver Dollar Room last Thursday, May 7th as Toronto’s most prominent hip-hop producers displayed their work at the Beat Lounge.

Fourteen producers from all over the GTA ranged in age, race, religion, and experience, yet they all had the same ability to make the room move as they shared their latest musical creations.

The Vinyl-killer featuring Nora Tones spun classic old school records as producers, rappers, fans, and friends met for drinks.

“Rappers and musicians get the acknowledgement in hip-hop, while producers are stuck in the basement.” Host Justis explained the business. “The Beat Lounge is a chance for them to get out and showcase themselves and what they’ve got.”

The Waterloo-born rapper/producer’s CD on sale at itunes, titled Just Is. http://www.justismusic.com/

Ali Deheshi, the Iranian-born Muslim producer/rapper let his beat rock first. His powerful life story is touching, and inspires the music he makes. “Music is my expression.” He shared.

Deheshi and his family fled the war torn Iran to Turkey, and spent four years in Greece before being sponsored by a Christian church to move to Canada for education.

He spent four years in Saskatchewan before coming to Toronto. “If it wasn’t for Toronto, I wouldn’t be where I am today musically.”

Thursday night was Deheshi’s last Beat Lounge before continuing his musical and life journey in Vancouver.

He announced the sale of his CD, “A Stereotypical World: a war story”, but by the end of the night he had handed almost everyone a free copy.

It can be purchased at http://www.deheshiempire.com/

All fourteen producers went through the line-up playing three beats each as the audience bobbed their heads in unison.

Producer Fraction has been coming to the Beat Lounge since it began a few years ago.

Fraction, whose real name is Shawn, began producing eleven years ago, and has since worked with artists such as Akon, Saukrates. “I come to the Beat Lounge for networking, and it’s a great chance to show myself, and get my music out there.”

Producers shook hands and met afterwards. Many have already collaborated.

For any upcoming producers interested in participating in an event visit www.unknownfunkhero.com or email beatlounge@unknownfunkhero.com