Video: Dancing Philippines Prisoners to Micahel Jacksons Dangerous

Social issues are back on the forefront politically and the prison system in the Philippines may have hit on something big here. The whole reason many people end up in prison is a result of low education and poverty. Instead of giving a person a fish, teach them how to fish and they will eat well for a lifetime. Maybe dancing is the answer to therapy as it helps from so many angles.

Here's the full length dancing video. These guys are the most violent prisoners in the Philippines and dancing 4 hours a day is part of their rehabilitation. Not a bad idea, actually, as dancing gives you a lot of joy and blows off stress. It also helps with brain and body coordination, develops your brain and emotional discipline. Everybody wins!



Michael Jackson, Dangerous, song, Music, Philippines, prisoners, Keith Olbermann, Dance video, funny videos

This Week: Roundup of Sunday Funnies - U.S. Kept Copies of Keys to Iraq, Statue of Liberty Reopens, Maine Gets Gay Friendly

Photo by Tansan @ flickr

From Denny: In this summer heat we all can use a good laugh! Here's the latest from the late night show comics.

This Week's roundup of the Sunday funnies.

The Daily Show

Jon Stewart: The United States gave the Iraqis the key back to their own cities. Don't worry, we made a copy.

The Late Late Show

Craig Ferguson: The show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is returning to prime time. But due to the recession, it's being renamed "Who Wants Five Bucks and a Taco?"

Late Show

David Letterman: Here is good news for Bernie Madoff: Only 149 years, 50 weeks to go.

The Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert: [Clip from CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" show] "Tonight, connecting with one of Michael Jackson's old friends and perhaps one of the oddest, Bubbles, the chimp." Colbert: Congratulations, Anderson. This is even bigger than your 2006 sit-down with Saddam Hussein's beloved pet, Khalid Sheikh Mohamster. [Screeb shows hamster dressed as Saddam Hussein.]

And the week I missed somehow... Statue of Liberty Reopens

The Tonight Show

Jay Leno: It was hot today. Wasn't it? I tell you. Oh, I was sweating like John Edwards waiting to watch his wife on "Oprah."

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon: The crown at the top of the Statue of Liberty will reopen on the Fourth of July for the first time since 9/11. Isn't that cool? Visitors will now be able to touch Air Force One as it flies right past them.

The Late Show

David Letterman: Here's a public service announcement now from Joe Biden. Remember that the sun's rays can cause painful sunburn and long-term skin damage. To be safe, between now and October, do not leave your home. Message from Joe Biden, "Time to Panic."

The Late Late Show

Craig Ferguson: The state of Maine today legalized gay marriage. Maine became comfortable with the idea after years of touching Canada.

Saddam Hussein Joe Biden Michael Jackson Anderson Cooper John Edwards Late Night with Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show The Late Show The Late Late Show

Libations Friday! 3 July 2009

Featured this week is a poem about Michael Jackson’s life, a writing exercise of how to write a poetry version of a favorite person’s biography and a coffee recipe.

Coffee photo by once and future @ flickr


Pot-Brewed Coffee with Raw Sugar and Spices (Café de Olla)

From: by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless @ Epicurious.com

This recipe is from the Rick Bayless cookbook - "Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico" (found under the Coffee section of The Social Poets Amazon store or just click on this book link)

Yield: Makes 4 - 5 servings

Commentary from author Rick Bayless: “Today, Mexico's best coffee is ripened and dried along the roadways in the cloud-blanketed highlands of Chiapas and over through Veracruz and Oaxaca. The prime beans are usually roasted a little darker than ours — almost a Viennese roast — and they brew a nice, medium-bodied liquid with some spunk. They tell me it's the second-class beans that get roasted darker, to a mahogany black with a shining sugar coat.

The steam-powered espresso machines in the city cafeterías extract a trio of ethnic brews: espresso, straight, foamy and Italian; café con leche, mixed with hot milk, French-style (but so common one would mistake it for purely Mexican); or Americano, simply diluted with water. The more rural brew leans toward the Spanish, the history books say, but it seems like a Mexican-flavored campfire version to me.

Café de Olla at its best is pot-boiled in earthenware with molassesy piloncillo sugar and spices like cinnamon, anise or cloves. These days, many traditional city restaurants offer the dark, delicious drink more regularly, served in old-fashioned earthenware mugs at the end of the meal.”

Ingredients:

• 4-5 ounces piloncillo*, roughly chopped or 1/2 to 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, plus 1 teaspoon molasses

• 2 inches cinnamon stick

• A few aniseeds (optional)

• 2/3 cup (2 ounces) Viennese-roast coffee, medium to coarse grind


• *Unrefined sugar that is pressed into cone or disk shapes. Also called panela.

Directions:

Boiling and steeping: In a noncorrosive pan, combine 1 quart water, the sugar, cinnamon and optional aniseed. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring to melt the sugar. Stir in the coffee, remove from the fire, cover and steep for 5 minutes.
Straining: Strain the coffee through a fine-mesh sieve into cups or mugs and serve immediately.

A few reviews from the Epicurious site on this recipe:

"I made this for our dinner club and it was delicious. Just don't burn anyone pouring the coffee through the sieve! by A Cook from Alaska

"I needed a Mexican drink for a coffee where I demonstrated Mexican Appetizers. I put Starbucks in my pot's filter basket, added 2 Teaspoons whole anise seed and a few teaspoons of cinnamon. The smell was fantastic and they drank more coffee than Sangria! I also had dark sugar cubes for those who wanted it! by petitti from Memphis

"Very authentic. The only change I make is to omit the sugar and allow each person to add his own, as this is quite sweet for most North Americans, and nearly undrinkable for those who don't normally sweeten their coffee. Do use dark brown sugar in either case, and piloncillo if available. If you're accustomed to sweetened coffee, follow the recipe,playing with the amount of sugar. by A Cook from Jackson, NJ

"I used the brown sugar with ground Starbucks, and it was extremely sweet. You may want to tone down the sugar to 1/3 instead of 2/3 Cups. Other than that, very nice after dinner type coffee drink. by Tony from Philly"



Color Word Cloud - Michael Jackson: Talk About My Life
Photo by Denny Lyon
Copyright 2 July 2009
All Rights Reserved

From Denny: And now for the poetry section. Prominent on the news this past week is the passing of a music legend: Michael Jackson. I thought I’d use the technique of employing 24 of his song titles to tell his life story, describing his view of the world and how he liked to touch others. I also used a phrase I often heard him say after a performance or in interview.

Try this technique with a favorite artist or historical person using phrases, song titles, movies or book titles for which they were known. The song titles were bolded and italicized for easier recognition. This is like writing a poetry version of a biography in the tightest most concise manner.

When a celebrity dies one of the reasons people are so fascinated is that the event calls them into reviewing their own life because it was affected by and connected to that celebrity. Older people fondly remember the music of their youth; the youth realize that death is closer and more unexpected than they realized.

What I like about my own English language is that it is a conceptual language where often what is said or written can be interpreted on several levels. This poem’s title can be interpreted several ways. On the surface level that every reader can easily see is that the narrator appears to be discussing his own life. The next level is implied. MJ is in the news even after death and people all around the world are talking about him, even gossiping about him if they were not fans.

The third level of interpreting this poem’s title is how Michael’s body of work talks about his life, even speaks for or against his journey through life. This level’s interpretation is dependent upon the reader’s view of him, positive or negative, much like Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It’s where you are standing that determines your point of view.



Black and White Word Cloud - Michael Jackson: Talk About My Life
Photo by Denny Lyon
Copyright 2 July 2009
All Rights Reserved


Michael Jackson: Talk About My Life


When I looked at the Man In The Mirror

There were times when I thought I’d never Beat It.

Working hard to earn my way there was Blood on the Dance Floor.

In those days it was Dangerous - When You Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.

Accused of being a Smooth Criminal and oh, so Bad

I would Scream in pain, “They Don’t Care About Us!"

But Billie Jean told me, “You Are Not Alone; Baby Be Mine.”

My eyes met hers and my heart spoke, “I Love The Way You Make Me Feel!”

“Oh, girl,” I melted, “The Way You Love Me.”

“I Wanna Be Where You Are, so I can Rock With You!"

Remember the Time when it didn’t matter if we were Black or White?

We hoped so much we could spend our lives as Invincible…

The ups, the downs, all of my Life was a chaotic Thriller.

It’s time I Got to Be There to hear that beautiful Earth Song.

It’s time to Heal the World. I walked off the stage, waving,

“You Rock My World! I Love You All! God Bless!”



Denny Lyon
Copyright 2 July 2009
All Rights Reserved

Have a great Fourth of July weekend, everyone; stay safe! Thanks for visiting!

Video: King of Pop Reigns Again

From Denny: This is a good news video about Michael Jackson's new material yet to be released and a discussion of the music business and why many songs never get released. Of course, there are the usual commentaries about how artists' estates make more money after their deaths.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Spiritual Perspective: Michael Jackson

Image by bernissimo via Flickr

From Denny: Most of us enjoyed the King of Pop's music and dance as much as we agonized over the mess in his personal life. That kind of abuse is difficult to heal and you have to be motivated to the point of treating healing like it's an extreme sport to accomplish it. It can be done. Unfortunately, MJ continued to interact with his abuser and, over the decades of not healing, it drove him to drug addiction to avoid the flashbacks of PTSD. Then the toxic long-term effect of the drugs created the ensuing bizarre acts.

I did manage to find some of his videos that were not disabled over at YouTube and embedded them in the sidebar. Already the family is fast-acting to make money off a dead artist who hasn't even been buried yet. Sometimes you really wonder about the crassness of your own culture...

When I was watching his earliest videos it struck me how much he had grown as a dancer, an artist and a producer. Initially, he began by creating the scenarios, designed the set, created the dance choreography. Then, like the director Hitchcock, he would quickly inject and then exit himself from the scene. He reminded me of the fast flutter by of a hummingbird. As his confidence and ability grew he developed a longer dance scene for himself as part of the crowd. By the time of the early 90's like in Black and White he had hit his stride for visual expression on all the levels.



Moon Walking Series Photo by tipoyock @ flickr

Whether it was conscious or not, Michael had started really getting in tune with his spiritual energy. I noticed how he was moving Chi energy during his dance. When you observe others imitating his dance moves the Chi movement isn't there as that is what set Michael apart and made him so attractive to others. Granted, he spent years studying dance films of many other great dancers and put in the hard work to perfect his own moves. The Chi movement explains the smoothness of his Moon Walk and his fluidity of dance.

Lately, I've been reading in the mysticism area of the Kabbalah. It struck me how the Kabbalah talks about spiritual energy distortion. Michael Jackson immediately came to mind. Because he had not fully healed of past trauma he was unable to fully express and cooperate with his given spiritual energy - in Christian circles it is called a spiritual anointing.

An anointing, and the larger and more powerful it is, takes a lifetime to grow into, understand and learn to cooperate with to both receive and give out the full benefits that can become available. One evidence of Michael Jackson's anointing was this new energy to draw the races together: liking the same music, thinking better about each other, choosing to live better. Up until his arrival on the music scene black and white America were divided in their music as well as their lives. Michael changed all that for his generation and the next one to come. In that area he was quite successful in his anointing.

Like most people I wondered about the business of so many plastic surgeries to change his appearance and the skin bleaching. He was a handsome man and it left a lot of us scratching our heads as to why he wanted to change his appearance and so drastically at that. Again, as I observed his metamorphosis over the years, I realized on a spiritual level what he was reaching for as he tried to cooperate with his spiritual energy: this neutral state of straddling all the polar opposites. In an awkward way he was trying to create balance in himself by not being totally male or female, black or white.

Unfortunately, by then the drug addiction had grabbed such a hold on him that his thinking was distorted, unable to flow easily with his outrageously over-powering anointing – even for him. Many unspiritual people don’t realize that the more spiritual energy you cultivate, the more you absorb - and the more you must discipline yourself on every level in order to cooperate with it, most especially your thoughts. If not successful it is like trying to grab a roaring tiger by the tail and it bites ferociously.



Photo by frgdr @ flickr

Michael Jackson was just as vulnerable and imperfect as the rest of us. His contributions to music, dance, social issues like hunger and poverty, and most of all, race relations can be counted among his tremendous accomplishments. Had he been able to mature fully in his spiritual anointing it does leave us wondering how he could have influenced humanity to live better? We will never know. The brief time he was here brought the races closer together in America. Let’s not allow that dream to be lost in Time.

Over at Flickr I found 17 really great photos of Michael Jackson, placing a link to them in the sidebar. They are parked over at my photo blog, Visual Insights. The majority of the photos are All Rights Reserved and only allow blogging them not downloading for use.

It was interesting to see how people perceived him. Many are artistic interpretations; others are candid photos of autograph signing, portraits and performances. Enjoy the photos, as I culled the best of what was on Flickr, and think kind thoughts for an entertainer who brought us all a lot of joy into our lives!

Denny Lyon
Copyright 30 June 2009
All Rights Reserved

Iran Headlines 28 June 2009

From Denny: It's getting more and more difficult for Iranian protestors to get news out or into the country. People around the world are carefully forwarding news reports - from different sites other than the official international news sites - in the hope folks in Iran can connect, finding out how much of their message and truth is reaching other parts of the world.

Feel free to send out what headlines posts are here at The Social Poets to someone you know - who knows someone - who knows someone, you get the idea. Hopefully, as bloggers we can fly under the radar for a while before the regime catches on to our support! :)

Remember, keeping this story high profile - while the mainstream media runs around with its head cut-off worrying about Michael Jackson - real people in Iran are suffering for lack of intense coverage. You can help save lives by keeping the heat on the public pressure on the Iranian regime, and, in turn, circling back to forcing mainstream media to carry more coverage.

World leaders stand united against Iran violence

Thousands demonstrate silently in Tehran

Iranian police clash with up to 3,000 protesters

Report: Hospitalized Iranians seized

Iran Crackdown Continues



“Punished mercilessly” – Is this Islam?

Sunday last day for Iran candidates to file complaints

Iran still interfering in Iraq, top Army general says

Iran detains eight local British embassy staff

Britain blasts arrest of embassy staffers in Iran

Iran's security council tells Moussavi to back off

Where is Rafsanjani?

This Weeks Roundup of Sunday Funnies: "Sicko" (Cinco) de Mayo, New Dem Senator

The Tonight Show

Jay Leno: See all those people on the news walking around wearing those surgical masks, huh? Suddenly Michael Jackson not so crazy, huh?

The Colbert Report

Steven Colbert: President Obama got exactly the gift he wanted, an adorable new senator [former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter]. I just hope he is housebroken.

The Late Late Show

Craig Ferguson: [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad complained President Obama hasn't been returning his messages. No offense, Mahmoud, but maybe he's just not that into you.

The Colbert Report

Steven Colbert: Republican Sen. Arlen Specter has contracted donkey flu. Folks, this disease is now officially out of control. Back in 2004 we thought we had it contained to the coasts and the cities, but then it mutated and tore through the country.

Note from Denny: For the folks outside of America so you don't miss out on the inside America joke: donkey flu is a code phrase for changing your political party affliation to the Democratic Party.

The Tonight Show

Jay Leno: Biden isn't speaking out so much lately. Today, President Obama took some action. Did you see them together? Take a look. Duct tape. Look.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel: We have the first president ever who knows how to use Facebook, but his staff can't use Photoshop. Here it is, here is Air Force One and the Statue of Liberty, and look what else we can do. We can see President Obama walking on the wing.

Photo by Tansan @ flickr