Recycled and Found: International Mixed Media Virtual Arts Exchange and Exhibition
https://www.babylonarts.org/recycled-found-exhibition

Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts (BACCA) and Sognare Insieme Viaggi travel agency are proud to announce their partnership in presenting this exhibit.This virtual showcase brings together artists from Calabria, Italy, and Long Island, New York and the Greater New York Metro area, inviting them to redefine artistic boundaries by crafting mixed media
artworks from unconventional found materials. Calabria, Italy and Long Island, New York, both have vibrant artistic communities eager to foster connections and champion environmental stewardship. Participating artists were encouraged to utilize a variety of discarded materials including, but not limited to, plastic waste, reclaimed metal, and paper
within their work. The exhibition aims to challenge viewers to reconsider the value of everyday items while promoting sustainable practices through art. Featured artists from Long Island include Bri Sander (UpSculpt), Gregory Rapp, Tom Brydelsky, Sarah Vitale, and Scott Schneider (Toxic/Nature Studios). Featured artists from Italy include Curator Luigi Impieri, Stefano Ricci, Antonio Froio, Delio Piccioni, Alfredo Granata, and Antonio De Pietro.

The Long Island Public Arts Festival https://www.babylonarts.org/public-arts-festival

About Our Program:
BACCA (Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts), Harper Bella, and Jose Tutiven – the Artists Create Change project and partnership through CRNY – present the Long Island Public Arts Festival – a vibrant celebration of creativity transforming Phelps Lane Park in North Babylon, NY into an immersive public arts exhibition.
​
Opening Celebration: Thursday, June 6th from 3:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Opening Celebration Rain Date: Thursday, June 13th from 3:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Installation Open: from June 6th – August 31st, 2024
Town of Babylon Phelps Lane Park – 281 Phelps Ln, North Babylon, NY 11703
The Festival will Feature
 Visual Artists, Large-scale Art Installations
 Music
 Workshops: Full calendar of events will be available at the BACCA website.

Some current and upcoming events

Recycled and Found
BACCA celebrates its 50^th year of service to the community through the arts. This virtual showcase brings together artists from Calabria, Italy, and Long Island, New York and the Greater New York Metro area, inviting them to redefine artistic boundaries by crafting mixed media artworks from unconventional found materials.

The Long Island BlueGrass and Roots Festival
For 22 years, BACCA has been teaming with the Bluegrass Club of Long Island to bring this genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s.

Paumanauke Pow Wow
Now in its 42nd year, the Paumanauke Pow Wow celebrates the history and culture of the Paumanauke tribe. Admission helps support the Native American Scholarship Fund.

#bacca #babyloncitizenscouncelonthearts #elizabethmirarchi #lizmirarchi #babylon

The post Babylon Citizens Counsel on the Arts (BACCA), Elizabeth (Liz) Mirarchi, BACCA’s executive director shares their Good News appeared first on Good News!.

http://goodnewsplanet.com/happy-juneteenth-weekend/
Good News was invited to The Positive Community Magazine” 20th Anniversary
Inaugural Great American Emancipation Day Awards Banquet, it was a powerful and important event.
Honoring Champions of Community Progress on
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Sponsored by Prudential Financial
Awards Banquet to be Held New Year’s Day from 2 pm-6 pm ET in the
Grand Ballroom at the Historic Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, NJ
Emcee: Liz Black of Inspiration with Liz Black”, WBLS/WLIB Radio
NEWARK, NJ – January 01, 2020 – In celebration of its 20th anniversary, The Positive Community (TPC) is hosting the first annual Great American Emancipation Day Awards Banquet honoring three extraordinary individuals for their exemplary community service with the Torchbearer Award: Hon. Mildred C. Crump, president Newark Municipal Council; Hazel N. Dukes, president New York State Conference, NAACP; and Rev. Calvin McKinney, general secretary National Baptist Convention, USA on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, from 2 pm-6pm ET in the Grand Ballroom at The Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, NJ.
Joining the three honorees will be organization honorees: African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, John Harmon, president; African-American Clergy and Elected Officials (AACEO Brooklyn), Rev. Robert Waterman, president; and Friends of Harlem Hospital, Rev. Jacques A. DeGraff, president.
The awards banquet purposely takes place on New Year’s Day, an important date in American history, especially for African Americans. On New Year’s Day, January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring slaves within the rebellious states free. The Emancipation Day Awards Banquet is sponsored by Prudential Financial, AARP, United, PSE&G, McDonald’s, Berkley College, and Two Fish and Five Loaves.
“Prudential’s partnership with The Positive Community is steeped in our alignment around financial literacy and creating pathways to financial wellness for all,” says Shané Harris, Vice President of Corporate Giving and President of the Prudential Foundation. “We are particularly honored to be a part of TPC’s Great American Emancipation Day Awards Banquet to celebrate and highlight the progress of the Black community. We congratulate The Positive Community for two decades and service to the Black community, and we salute the awardees for their dedication and service to this continued progress, particularly in our hometown of Newark.”
WHEN: Wednesday, January, 01, 2020
TIME: 2;00pm – 6:00pm
WHERE: The Robert Treat Hotel
50 Park Place, Newark, NJ
BACKGROUND: “January 1 is a date of deep meaning to African Americans,” says Adrian A. Council, co-founder and publisher of The Positive Community. “It is our day of liberation, the start of our freedom journey. Without this day there would be no Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., no Motown, no Juneteenth, no Godfather of Soul no Queen of Soul.” The vision of TPC co-founders Council and Editor-in- Chief Jean Nash Wells was to create a balanced medium that accurately reflects the community building efforts of churches, small businesses, corporations, and concerned individuals.
In 2012, TPC created and introduced The Cultural Narrative. Written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Emancipation, the document is an account of America’s freedom journey condensed into 281 words. On New Year’s Eve 2012, hundreds of churches participated in TPC’s Great Watch Night Initiative which involved singing the Negro National Anthem; having a young person read The Cultural Narrative before the congregation; and concluding with everyone exiting the sanctuary singing the Negro hymn We’ve Come This Far By Faith. What started as an initiative is now an established tradition among many churches and clergy groups.
Launched in 2000 by Adrian Council, Publisher and Jean Nash Wells, Editor-in-Chief, The Positive Community (TPC) is the only faith-based lifestyle magazine targeted to the African American consumer in the New York/New Jersey market. For nearly two decades, the magazine has delivered on its tagline, focusing on Good News from the Church and the Community.

The post Emancipation Day, free slavery in America. Celebrate Juneteenth – FREEDOM FOR ALL appeared first on Good News!.

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‘Getting ethnic consumers’ is not just about leaving money on the table, it will determine which brands win or lose. We are at the tipping point where the American critical mass is Multicultural and ‘minority-majority’ is an oxymoron. The need to do Multicultural marketing right is painfully obvious.
Multiculturals are nearly 40% of U.S. consumers who spend $1.7 trillion yet still get under 18% of all ad dollars, and less of company resources. U.S. kids are already majority-ethnic, Millennials will be in 2022, and all of America by 2040. Key states like Texas, California and Florida are led by Hispanics, and ethnic-skewed top 15 DMAs, which make up half of our economic activity.
Hispanics, African Americans and Asians will power all future growth in population, jobs, new HH formations and new customers – as aging Non-Hispanic Whites decline. National minority-targeted media, digital, and social platforms and content continue exploding, as do sophisticated research and data analytics to develop and evaluate multicultural marketing efforts, and a shift of cultural openness in overall attitudes to foster Multicultural marketing.
While major players in telecom, CPG, QSR, Automotive and banking have been effectively addressing ethnic consumers for decades, they still drive the bulk of MCM ad spend growth. Most of the Fortune 500 are still reticent, late in the game or not doing it right. It is not just about a few adjunct in-language TV spots, influencers, soccer, events or social. It’s about a top-down, thoughtful, holistic and organization-wide approach that impacts the company’s goals, metrics, research, operations, resource allocation, strategies, target segmentation and execution. And tactically, hopefully make English ethnic efforts BAU because it is way overdue – we did our first English McDonald’s Hispanic spot back in 1989.
Recently, a Univision C-suite executive asked me ‘Liz, don’t you get tired of the constant education to deaf ears and wish you had gone Wall Street like your Stanford buddies?’ The answer: No, I am still an avid preacher and believer in marketing, love the multicultural, uber connected world we live in, and never give up… because money talks.’ So I urge Fortune 500 stakeholders to get it right. And here are my top ten pitfalls to watch out for.

1. Approaching The Market As If It Were A Blended or Monolithic Reality.
Don’t assume one size fits all or that the lowest common denominator approach is viable for long-term growth and success.
The answer: Personalized marketing will be even more critical based on the expectations and needs of Multiculturals, Millennials and Gen We. The optimal marketing approach is more of both ethnic targeting plus leveraging broader-appeal strategies for all.
Multicultural marketing has certainly evolved from the orphan regional efforts and silo years, to the post-pubescent total market homogenization, and now the Multicultural-led total market. Yet few have matured to the adulthood rich with complexity where the truth lives. For Hispanics, there is granularity by country of origin, acculturation, integration, generational distance and language; for AA, single female HOH decision-makers vs. traditional families, single young influencers or matures; and for Asians, by acculturation, or country, like Chinese vs. Filipino vs. Korean. Marketing can be incisive, geo-targeted, layered, or general as desired, depending on the objective and ROI parameters. But the first priority is honing the common base to maximize the brand voice and investment, and as a DDB-bred ad executive, I totally get finding the universal truths of human nature. Yet while a LCD approach works at times, it’s not going to drive consistent growth. The need to address target specificity and needs to drive deep relevance is vital in the increasingly geo-targeted, digital and social me-centric era we live in – where we must know customers profoundly and use customization on a grand scale for two-way brand connections with multiple targets, platforms and technologies.

2. Oversimplifying and Under-estimating the MCM Potential.
Don’t delegate MCM sizing to a junior person or intern, or think it’s just a big deal in a few markets.
The answer: Dig deep, understand and quantify the size and potential of each segment rigorously, the sub-segments within, roll-up by market and product, and reapply per initiative.
To build sustainable and profitable brand relationships, you must delineate an accurate ‘lay of the land’ view with the bandwidth of data, information, evidence and expertise to make the best and most judicious choices. Quantify the national impact by aggregating the target potential by market, by product, by store or zipcode. Figure out how to package meaningfully so it resonates within your organization. Establish the right metrics to identify the priority targets and roll out plans applying the proper analytics, research partners and tools like Simmons, Nielsen, TNS, Millard Brown and Horowitz.

3. Not Grasping the Ethnic Differences Related to Your Category.
They are likely not at the same point of category lifecycle or brand development, and culture lifestyle, demos and preferences impact their category behavior, needs and response.
The answer: Knowledge-based strategies require discipline to ensure all consumer factors weigh in. Identify the category differences that matter, and assess how far to drill-down efforts.
Some differences matter to drive sales, some don’t, but the assessment is necessary to answer that. Understand their differences in demos, family dynamics, culture, lifestyle, psychographics, product usage, preferences, and buying influencers which trigger perceptual and behavioral differences in how they define quality, value and loyalty; buy and use products, media and services; what motivates them and how they respond to marketing and ads. For example, in telecom, Hispanics are the heaviest mobile and data users, AA the highest TV entertainment and latest gadget users, while Asians skew broadband Internet – and this varies by market and sub-demos. Thus, address strategic, message and tactical implications for the common segment approach, and then pertinent sub-segment variances.

4. Inadequate Allocation Of MCM Company Resources.
Don’t say ‘This is all we have for Multicultural this year’ or allow territorial departmental silos to cause ineffective resource allocation to Multicultural marketing and hinder business growth.
The answer: Understand upfront the market in totality and by segment to objective budget allocation on segment revenue and upside, identify any programs/processes requiring recalibration, and address nuanced needs/opportunities across 360 strategies-tactics.
Inadequate pre-planning, lack of sound research, analysis or metrics, limited efforts, sub-standard concepts, and poor execution devalue the MCM potential. MCM should be an integral part of the top corporate strategies and planning process. There are likely disconnects in strategy, unidentified chances to leverage data, or missed opportunities from internal and external stakeholders. Within total resources, properly allocate MCM budgets by target share, revenue and potential, and weigh spend trade-offs across all the 5 P’s. Think about the money spent researching GM customers and identifying breakthrough product, insights or ads, while MCM cultural relevance, response, understanding or motivations dwarf in attention. The more this is done, the more impact ethnic marketing has in the mix. The best MCM marketers have recalibrated the organizational culture and programs where needed, and the way teams work so efforts are sustainable.

5. Executing short-term MCM Programs that Must Immediately Pay Out.
Multicultural efforts, generally added by switching dollars ‘from the GM’, are unrealistically expected to incrementally pay out in a limited time, with little costs for customer loyalty.
The answer: The right expectations and metrics, consistent marketing, engagement and two-way communication are all critical, and the base cost to maintain and grow customers.
There is a base cost for attracting, getting, growing and keeping Ethnic customers, and the MCM Program should not pay out solely on incremental sales. Short-term messaging and lack of customer engagement leads to poor brand perception, discounting, and churn. And don’t assume that brand affinity among AA will remain so without deep roots in their community; or brand familiarity in Mexico/LatAm will automatically transfer here without nurturing that relationship. A great example is Colgate-Palmolive left behind by P&G. Just like the GM, you need a consistent, integrated branding, retail, promotional and loyalty plan, a sound campaign across media and touch-points in the purchase path and customer lifecycle. Employ the proper research to ensure Ethnic segments are well defined and represented; and have realistic, measurable goals. We call this effective Transculturation, making your company Ethnic-relevant.

6. Not recruiting or Staffing Multicultural Marketing Appropriately.
Don’t have staff who happens to be ethnic lead Multicultural efforts, assume interspersing Multiculturals across departments is the holy grail, or recruit your housekeeper to evaluate work done by an experienced creative with a Masters.
The answer: Cultural leadership driven by a central group is foundational to success, layered with some cultural competency across all decision-makers, and an understanding of its importance across the organization. Effectiveness is not found in either extreme of silos or total market blending.
Assure Multicultural efforts are led by a multi-disciplined Ethnic marketing group with the depth of experience to guide strategies upfront at the high-level; have ongoing strategic oversight to feed into the brand as a whole; define where it makes sense to align or diverge; adeptly develop, execute and assess initiatives; assure ads are tested for validity; and be fully accountable for MCM performance. While also integrating Ethnic personnel across departments is beneficial, this alone fails as departmental management is still GM-driven, no one is accountable, and insufficient time is allocated to the ongoing depth of MCM segment knowledge and analysis required. While leaders like McDonalds entrench this philosophy with all marketing filtered by Multicultural leadership, I have also witnessed the loss of MCM accountability, dilution of efforts, and business erosion with various clients taken by the total market ‘efficiency’ model.

7. Consistently Opting For GM Translations, Benetton or Blended Casting.
Sometimes a concept or initiative transcends ethnicities, but consistently employing and force fitting a ‘universal’ approach is ineffective and dilutes all efforts and impact.
The answer: Leverage both universal commonalities and unique segment needs or opportunities. While always within a single brand platform, the target consumer should ground the segment efforts.
Seek synergies where it makes sense but don’t force-fit. It’s about transculturation, a relevant application of your brand essence to Multicultural segments, which usually results in a successful combination of three approaches – universal, parallel or unique. The ‘universal’ approach is a program, message or execution that works equally well across all segments (with minor tweaks); the ‘parallel’ approach makes strategic sense for all segments but may vary in product, message, nuances or casting; and the ‘unique’ approach is an initiative, promotion, channel or strategy necessary or opportunistic for one single segment, which may or may not cross-over to others.

8. Mistaking Language for Culture And Not Knowing the Difference.
There are the ‘fixers’ who use in-language as the solution to effective MCM marketing; the ‘uninformed’ who minimize the impact of cultural relevance regardless of language; and the ‘blinders’ who do not see the importance of either culture or language.
The answer: The currency of culture is how and where Multiculturals spend their time and money, the basis of effective marketing, with both native and English efforts key to maximize reach and impact.
Multiculturals, while integrated strongly or somewhat into the dominant culture, are set apart from others by their roots, context and idioms language abilities because they have access to a unique world of culture, people, way of relating, values, passions, content, music, food, sports experiences and media, and that they desire to maintain. There are three types of marketers that miss the mark. The most common are the ‘fixers’ who rely only on in-language efforts to define Hispanic or Asian efforts, but as most Multiculturals are bilingual/bicultural, they transition seamlessly in between, thus both in-language and English-targeted ads are important. The ‘uninformed’ misguidedly believe their GM spots work equally well, and while at times it does, it is not as effective as targeted efforts, as it’s foremost about cultural relevance, and staying culturally rooted is an inherent choice made by most African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics whether foreign or US-born. Lastly, I’ve had Client ‘blinders’ who say ‘Half of them see our English spots, so we are covered since they’re the ones with the money anyways.’ They don’t get that over 20% of Hispanics have income over $100k income and Asians the highest of all, so they can likely afford the product, and their connection to cultural content and in their native language remains strong because is the language of the heart, even among bilinguals.

9. Assuming You Know the Target, Stereotyping & Cultural Appropriation.
Making generalizations about Multicultural consumers results in superficial or ineffective work, missed opportunities, negative stereotyping, and at worst, inadvertent racism and backlash.
The answer: A knowledge and demand based view and cultural lens and insight are key to a sound marketing strategy and ads. Assure you have the personnel, research, listening tools and hard data competency to know the difference, and avoid cultural appropriation.
We all know Hispanics are group-oriented, but showing a family with grandma in tow is not effective advertising – it’s how this collective lens affects their lifestyle, influencers and decisions. A Benetton Millennial cast piled into a car does not assure car buyers. Salsa is sold more than ketchup, but only 15% of buyers are Hispanic, and suburban White men consume 80% of urban AA hip-hop music. False assumptions and faux pas stem from ignorance, lack of perspective, and unvetted bad judgment. I almost choked when asked to translate Taco Bell’s ‘Run for the border’ for Hispanics. Another client wanted a ‘high level’ Asian campaign since ‘All Asians are smart’. Home Depot got ostracized for a tweet with African-American drummers and a Caucasian disguised as a gorilla, asking, ‘Which drummer is not like the others?’ Houston 1836 failed as the new MLS team name tied to its founding year, but also Texas winning independence from Mexico, offending its Mexican soccer fan base. Starbucks’ good intentions of engaging customers in race-related discussions was rejected by most ethnicities, and Kendal Jenner’s Pepsi ad showed just how bad it could get. And beware of poor GM translations, from the classic ‘Got Milk?’ campaign launched in Spanish as ‘Are you lactating?’; ‘Come alive with the Pepsi Generation’ translated in Chinese as ‘Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave’; to ‘Life Takes Visa’ translated in Spanish as ‘Life Drinks Visa’ which was confusing and culturally clueless. And be careful not to be seen as a quick fix, cliché or offensive when localizing regional text, radio or video. All of this counts as cultural appropriation, the ‘silent racism, disrespect, ignorance, tokenism, discrimination, pandering or cultural white-washing of marketing and advertising’ – which you must be aware of to avoid potentially catastrophic blunders.

10. Not Finding The Right Agency Partners.
Don’t settle for your GM agency hiring a few ‘ethnic experts’, just because Multicultural is now one of the few growth areas left, and also dominates youth, digital and social.
The answer: Hire the right ethnic agency with proven success, depth of knowledge and experts, which takes years to develop and effectively guide Clients strategies and profit.
Find the right ethnic agency that lives and breathes Multicultural. By definition, Multicultural experts have a uniquely broader perspective, as they have to be well versed in ‘GM/White’ consumers to lead the client and identify the commonalities and differences, whether in cultural cues, behavior, preferences, needs etc. Thus, are in the best position to feed the core MCM insights that will help fuel better ideas, opportunities and growth. Make them a part of the broader agency team that helps drive the company’s efforts. They are used to working collaboratively, have an engrained philosophy to work harder and smarter, and love challenging the status quo. Also, in shifting your GM strategy to be more culturally relevant, in addition to culturally focused efforts, there are several viable approaches. The ‘multi-agency reconciliation model’ has Ethnic agencies weigh in on overall marketing strategy and efforts (e.g., Wal-Mart); the ‘GM agency co-option model’ where they co-opt or buy-out a MCM agency, or create multicultural competency internally to better serve a Multicultural total market (e.g. Ogilvy); and the ‘Ethnic agency inversion model’ where Ethnic agencies go after the total market, competing on their deeper consumer knowledge. Bottom-line, hire a true MCM agency, and try a new one – like INFUSION by Castells.

About Liz Castells-Heard
CEO/Chief Strategy Officer of INFUSION by castells
Liz Castells-Heard is a ‘tell it like it is’ strategic thought leader and industry force with a Stanford MBA, finance and psychology training, 37 years of Multicultural, GM and Client experience with hundreds of brands, and unique brand of ‘brains, heart and grit’ with her analytical acumen, diverse skill-set, energetic style, solid values, and fearlessness.
Her agency, INFUSION by castells, is a leading national Multicultural agency providing Clients best-in-class marketing leadership and consistent results ‘no matter what’ by infusing strategic acumen, cultural insights and ROI-powered ideas. They create strategic brand and performance-driven creative with innovative 360° activation. The creators of Transculturation, they guide clients McDonald’s, Toyota and Charter Communications to profitably integrate Multicultural efforts across the P’s. The agency, founded in 1998 and formerly known as Castells & Asociados, is now minority and women-owned, expanded its Multicultural capabilities, and now has offices in both NY and LA.
Liz is regularly tapped industry source, speaker, and sits on the board of The LaGrant Foundation, which offers scholarships, internships and mentoring to Multicultural youth in pursuit of marketing/advertising careers. Education is her passion, which she calls the ‘equalizer’ to possibility. Liz is also a member of Easter Seals, AHAA/CMC, AMA, City of Hope, New America Alliance, SBSAA, Mentoring Partnership, Women In Management, and Who’s Who.
Fully bilingual and bicultural, Liz was born in Cuba, raised in Europe, Puerto Rico, and ten diverse U.S. cities. She lives with her husband Alan of 34 years in LA, has 7 godchildren, 2 German-Shepherds, a Chihuahua, and loud macaw (whose colorful personality matches hers).

Contact:
Liz Castells-Heard | CEO, Chief Strategy Officer | INFUSION by castells
liz@adcastells.com, Executive Asst.: carolina@adcastells.com
865 S. Figueroa St. Suite 1100, LA, CA 90017 | m: 213-305-4129 | p: 213.688.7217
122 East 42nd St. Suite 2305, NY, NY 10168 | p: 606.649.5600
www.adcastells.com

The post Top Ten Things To Avoid In Multicultural Marketing appeared first on Good News!.

“We subsist now on a meager vocabulary of winners and “losers,” of “sad!” naysayers and “nut job” adversaries. We’re asked to see an absence of eloquence as the presence of authenticity. But that’s bunk. Words, like monuments, matter.”

Love,
Liz

With Memorial Day around the corner a friend from Juilliard and world class musician sent email with the enclosed article. It brought tears to my eyes.

Sincerest thank you for all that you do to make the world a better place.

B. Tina Ebey

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/opinion/mitch-landrieu-new-orleans-mayor-speech.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

The mayor of New Orleans just gave a speech on race and history that you need to hear.

The post NYTimes: Mitch Landrieu Reminds Us That Eloquence Still Exists appeared first on Good News!.

Hello,
I wanted to share with you, that my daughter, Alana Galloway who just turned 17’s story was published in the Huffington Post. Needless to say, I am very proud of her. Hope all is well with you.

Sara Herbert-Galloway

We are pleased to inform you that our story has been published:
· The Huffington Post: Young Global Leader Embraces Prison Reform
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/young-global-leader-embraces-prison-reform_b_6214042.html

· Stewardship Report: Young Global Leader Embraces Prison Reform thru Osborne
http://stewardshipreport.com/young-global-leader-embraces-prison-reform/
The story is enormously inspiring. As always, please circulate these links far and wide, asking supporters to COMMENT and LIKE on the articles.
Thanks!

Jim Luce, Piper Kerman author of memoir ‘Orange is the New Black, My Year in a Women’s Prison’ and Alana Gallloway. Jim Luce and Alana Galloway are the authors of this story

Jim Luce, Alana Galloway and Jim McGreevey former Governor of New Jersey and new Board member of the Osborne Association

The post Young Global Leader Embraces Prison Reform appeared first on Good News!.

THROUGH THIS FILM FROM AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR, JAMES MOLL, YOU’LL STEP INSIDE THE WORLD OF FARMING FOR A FIRST-HAND GLIMPSE INTO THE LIVES OF YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS. LEARN ABOUT THEIR HIGH-RISK/HIGH REWARD JOBS AND PASSION FOR A WAY OF LIFE THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, YET CONTINUES TO EVOLVE.

DIRECTOR JAMES MOLL TRAVELED ACROSS THE COUNTRY MEETING YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS. WATCH THE TRAILER TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF STORIES SHARED DURING HIS INTERVIEWS. THIS FILM WILL BE RELEASED IN SPRING 2014.

THIS FILM WAS MADE WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE U.S. FARMERS & RANCHERS ALLIANCE ®.

Good News loved the film and what it will share with the public.  People will learn to have a greater respect for a farmer, the inner workings of a farm and honest relationships within the families.  Just sharing that someone erased a message from a family member who passed couldn’t be more real and honorable to give to the public.  (We are all in this together)  Both you and all the super stars in the movie and their families deserve many Academy Awards for their openness.  Not even mentioning that there wasn’t a bad frame in the movie that could take out of the film:)   You start with a seed and you end with a seed. 4/25/14  Paul

JAMES MOLL’S WORK AS A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER HAS EARNED HIM AN OSCAR, TWO EMMYS AND A GRAMMY. MOLL HAS DIRECTED AND PRODUCED SUCH FILMS AS FOO FIGHTERS: BACK AND FORTH ABOUT THE 16-YEAR CAREER OF THE ROCK BAND FOO FIGHTERS; THE SPORTS ADVENTURE RUNNING THE SAHARA, EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY MATT DAMON; INHERITANCE, ABOUT THE DAUGHTER OF A NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP COMMANDER; AND THE LAST DAYS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG. MOLL’S UNIVERSAL STUDIOS BASED COMPANY, ALLENTOWN PRODUCTIONS, HAS ALSO PRODUCED NUMEROUS PROGRAMS FOR TELEVISION AS WELL AS WEB-BASED CONTENT. IN ADDITION TO WORKING AS A FILMMAKER, JAMES ESTABLISHED THE NON-PROFIT SHOAH FOUNDATION WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG FOR RECORDING AND PRESERVING MORE THAN 50,000 ‘VISUAL HISTORIES’ OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS.

Trailer:  http://www.farmlandfilm.com/home/trailer/

• Brad Bellah (Thockmorton, Texas) – sixth generation rancher who runs beef cattle operations in Texas and Colorado, including a natural beef herd. The 26-year-old husband and father of twins earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications from Texas Tech University.

• Sutton Morgan (Brawley, California) – fourth generation farmer from California, who is the first person in his family to grow organic crops. Sutton grows, packs and sells onions, potatoes, melons, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale and alfalfa. He holds a degree in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

• Ryan Veldhuizen (Edgerton, Minnesota) – fourth generation farmer who is taking over operation of his family’s hog farm in Minnesota with his brother and sister. On the farm, Ryan and his siblings raise hogs, and grow corn and soybeans, which they use for feed.

• Leighton Cooley (Roberta, Georgia) – fourth generation poultry farmer who operates four farms in Georgia with his father. In addition to chickens, he also has a cow-calf operations and grows hay. Leighton and his wife have two sons.

• David Loberg (Carroll, Nebraska) – fifth generation corn and soybean farmer who operates a family farm with his mother. The farm also custom feeds 500 head of cows for a local dairy operation and runs on irrigation business. The 25-year-old and his wife have an infant son.

Everclear (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Everclear is an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1991.^[1] The band was formed by Art Alexakis, the band’s lead songwriter, (vocalist and guitarist, and for most of the band’s height of popularity, consisted ofCraig Montoya on bass guitar and Greg Eklund on drums. The band found success with their albums first three albums on Capitol Records, Sparkle and Fade, So Much for the Afterglow, and Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile,^[1] which all were certified platinum in sales. However, sales suffered with Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude and Slow Motion Daydream, leading Montoya and Eklund to leave the band in late 2003.

After a brief stint of solo performances, Alexakis decided to push forward with the Everclear name, finding new musicians to perform with and releasing two more albums, Welcome to the Drama Club and Invisible Stars. Starting in 2012, Alexakis has also started up a 1990s nostalgia tour, called the Summerland Tour, that occurs every summer with Everclear and other 1990s alternative rock bands.

Contents

• 1 History

o    1.1 Formation and World of Noise (1992-1993)

o    1.2 Sparkle and Fade (1994-1995)

o    1.3 So Much for the Afterglow (1996-1999)

o    1.4 Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2000-2001)

o    1.5 Slow Motion Daydream (2002-2003)

o    1.6 Line-up changes and Welcome to the Drama Club (2004-2009)

o    1.7 Invisible Stars and 1990s nostalgia touring

• 2 Band members
• 3 Discography
• 4 References
• 5 External links

History

Formation and World of Noise (1992-1993)

Art Alexakis suffered through a troubled youth, beginning with his father walking out when Alexakis was a child. Financial hardships pushed his family into the slums of Los Angeles, where Alexakis became a heavy drug user.^[1] During his teenage years, Alexakis was shuttled around the country between various family members (including a brief period in Houston living with his father’s new family), but the drug addiction persisted. Eventually, Alexakis suffered a near-fatal cocaine overdose, which finally pushed him to clean up. In the late 1980s, Alexakis played in a short-lived rock band in Los Angeles called Shakin’ Brave, where he began to hone his songwriting skills. Frustrated by the inattention of the L.A. music scene, Art relocated to San Francisco, where he fell into the then-burgeoningcowpunk scene.

Alexakis founded Shindig Records, a label that represented San Francisco’s cowpunk scene. He began recording material of his own for a solo album, but it eventually evolved into a group project called Colorfinger. Alexakis wrote under the pseudonym “A.D. Nation” while writing/recording with Colorfinger. While involved with Colorfinger, he wrote several songs that would later find success as Everclear songs, including “The Twistinside”, “Heartspark Dollarsign”, and “Why I Don’t Believe in God”.

In a single month in 1992, Shindig failed (when its distributor went bankrupt), Colorfinger broke up, and Alexakis learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. Seeking a change of location, Alexakis and his girlfriend moved to her hometown, Portland, Oregon. There, he placed an ad in local music weekly The Rocket, which earned two responses: bass player Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. The name Everclear was chosen as a reference to the infamous grain alcohol. In an interview with The Discovering Alcoholic, Alexakis called it “pure, white evil” for its deceptive nature.^[2] The new band began recording in a friend’s basement, essentially bartering for recording time with musical gear and whatever limited funds they could scrounge up. The sessions culminated in two releases: the Nervous & Weird EP and the band’s first full-length release World of Noise, both released by Portland’s Tim/Kerr Records in 1993.^[1] Frustrated by Tim/Kerr’s limited resources, Alexakis hired independent promoters to help push the album.

Sparkle and Fade (1994-1995)

The band spent much of 1994 seeking out a major label deal. After a modest bidding war, they were signed to Capitol Records by Gary Gersh,^[1] who was responsible for signing Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Counting Crows to DGC Records. Just before their signing, Everclear parted ways with drummer Cuthbert, citing personality conflicts, and brought in former Jollymon drummer Greg Eklund. In May 1995, the band released their first album for the label, Sparkle and Fade.^[1]

The album’s first single, “Heroin Girl”, received some modest airplay via MTV’s 120 Minutes, but was generally missed by the mainstream. However, near the end of 1995, the second single “Santa Monica” found a strong audience via the burgeoning alternative radio format, which eventually carried over to mainstream success. The album subsequently was certified platinum. However, two ensuing singles, “Heartspark Dollarsign” and “You Make Me Feel Like a Whore”, failed to find a wide audience, and the band ended 1996 fast at work on their second full-length album.

As Sparkle and Fade reached its audience, Everclear had to endure consistent comparisons to Nirvana, particularly given the album’s subject matter and drug references. Following a show with the Foo Fighters at the end of 1995, Dave Grohl told MTV News that he did not think that Everclear sounded like Nirvana, noting that Bush sounded more like Nirvana than any other band.

So Much for the Afterglow (1996-1999)

By the end of 1996, the band had nearly completed the album, which they planned to release under the title Pure White Evil. Alexakis, however, was dissatisfied with the results, and decided to work on more songs for the effort, including “One Hit Wonder” and the eventual title-track to the album, So Much for the Afterglow. The songs “The Swing” and “Otis Redding” were cut from the Pure White Evil Sessions and were not on So Much for the Afterglow. Eventually they were released: the former on the soundtrack album for Scream 2 and the latter on Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile. So Much for the Afterglow was released in October 1997. The first two singles from the album, “Everything to Everyone” and “I Will Buy You a New Life” performed modestly, but helped begin a slow build for the album, while “Local God” was featured in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet in 1996 as well as on the soundtrack. The band completed a US tour at the end of the year, and started 1998 with a tour of Australia.

The Australian tour, however, was an unexpected disaster. At a show in Wollongong, someone threw a shoe at Alexakis, knocking loose a few of his teeth. Two nights later in Melbourne, someone threw a lit explosive on stage, which exploded and burned a stagehand. Tensions erupted backstage, with touring guitarist Steve Birch refusing to continue, and Montoya getting into a heated argument with Alexakis. In interviews for VH-1‘s Behind the Music, the band related that they nearly broke up that night. The band decided to cancel the remainder of their tour following a final show on the Gold Coast, during which Alexakis was hit with a shoe (while the crowd was singing him “Happy Birthday”) and Montoya’s acoustic bass guitar was stolen. Montoya declined to join the band for the ensuing tour of the United Kingdom, with then-bass-tech David LoPrinzi filling in. To date, Everclear has not returned to Australia, although Art has recently mentioned that he has no bad memories of the country and would return if a tour was viable.

Following an extensive tour of the United States with Marcy Playground and Fastball, the band released Afterglow’s third single, “Father of Mine”. The song catapulted the album and the band to mainstream success.

Afterglow provided the band their only Grammy Award nomination to date, a Best Rock Instrumental nod in 1998 for “El Distorto de Melodica”. Later that year, the band won Billboard’s Modern Rock Band of the Year Award. Though Afterglow never charted higher than No. 33 on the Billboard album chart, the album reached double-platinum status at the end of the year.

Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2000-2001)

Following the success of So Much for the Afterglow, Alexakis decided to step back from the Everclear sound and record a solo album of more pop-influenced songs, and brought in Everclear touring musicians David LoPrinzi, Brian Lehfeldt, and James Beaton to perform on the recordings. Unhappy with the results of the initial sessions, Alexakis decided to bring in Montoya and Eklund and transform the effort into an Everclear album. The results were released as Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile in July 2000. The album yielded the band’s most successful single, “Wonderful”, and eventually reached platinum status. The song “Wonderful” was also notably used as the graduation song for the Columbine High School class of 1999, who had months before suffered from the Columbine High School massacre.

Rather than tour for the release, the band arranged with their label to release a second album in 2000. Alexakis believed he had enough of a catalog of unreleased songs at the ready, and was eager to show the opposing sides of Everclear’s sound. However, delays in the mixing process of Learning How to Smile had pushed its initial April release to July, limiting the amount of recording time for the follow-up in order to meet Capitol’s demands of an end-of-the-year release.

Proclaimed as a “return to rock”, Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude was released just four months after Vol. 1 in November 2000. Unfortunately, the promotional push for Vol. 2 while still in the throes of supporting Vol. 1 confused much of the music-buying public. Learning How to Smile’s second single “AM Radio” was released barely weeks before the release of Vol. 2, leaving some stores to mistakenly label the song as the first single from Vol. 2. The confusion was amplified by the band’s decision to accept an opening slot for Matchbox 20 in the months after the release of Vol. 2, a somewhat awkward billing for a band who was trying to support a hard rock album.

By the late spring of 2001, both albums had stalled. Capitol attempted a final push by re-releasing Learning How to Smile with “Out of My Depth” and “Rock Star” from Good Time for a Bad Attitude as bonus tracks. A cover of Van Morrison‘s “Brown Eyed Girl” received some modest airplay as a result, but couldn’t help revive the momentum. A tour of the United Kingdom for what would have been the band’s first extensive tour out of the country since 1998 was cancelled shortly before its start.

That summer, the band decided to license “Rock Star” to the movie of the same name.

Slow Motion Daydream (2002-2003)

The band regrouped a year later to record their sixth album, Slow Motion Daydream, released in March 2003. Prior to its release, Alexakis and Capitol came to odds over the album’s first single. Capitol was thrilled about one of the last songs added to the album, a somewhat 9/11-influenced “The New York Times”. Alexakis, however, had previewed a tongue-in-cheek ode to suburbanite housewives, “Volvo Driving Soccer Mom“, during a solo tour in 2002, and had received a fair amount of media attention. Capitol eventually relented to Alexakis’ demands and released the song and video, but didn’t put much effort into the song and album’s promotion. “The New York Times” was released shortly thereafter as the second single with even less support from the label, and the album stalled after selling 100,000 copies.

At the end of the tour support for Slow Motion Daydream in August 2003, Montoya and Eklund decided that it was time to move on, and departed the band to pursue other interests. The following summer, Everclear ended its relationship with Capitol Records. Capitol compiled a Greatest Hits album reflecting the band’s tenure at the label, titled Ten Years Gone: The Best of Everclear 1994-2004, which was released in October 2004.

Line-up changes and Welcome to the Drama Club (2004-2009)

After a solo tour in the fall of 2003, Alexakis decided to continue with Everclear, organizing a new band that made its debut in March 2004. The new line-up consisted of bassist Sam Hudson, guitarist Dave “Davey” French, and drummer Eric Bretl. In the summer of 2004, the band added keyboardist Josh Crawley, and swapped Bretl for former Everclear drum tech Brett Snyder. The new line-up released its first recording, a cover of Woody Guthrie‘s “This Land Is Your Land“, that summer. Alexakis, an Oregon delegate, performed the song (as well as “Everything to Everyone”) with an acoustic guitar during a CNN interview at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. A self-released EP of performances recorded for XM Satellite Radio called Closure was given out at shows in the fall of 2004.

Free of a major label, Alexakis spent the ensuing year and a half slowly recording material for a new Everclear release in Biloxi, Mississippi under the direction of his new band instructor who moved from the northern part of the state where she worked at a music store. He admitted that the time after the breakup of the original line-up served as a “wake up call”, during which he suffered his third divorce and filed for bankruptcy and did not retain sole custody of his family pet, a dog named Scooby. The new line-up was signed toEleven Seven Music. Everclear released Welcome to the Drama Club on September 12, 2006, the title being in honor of their affection for the stage. Two songs were released from the album, “Hater” and “Glorious”.

In January 2008, Alexakis posted on the band’s Myspace that they were working on a cover album, and a new album, which should be released in 2008. In addition, two unreleased songs from the Drama Club sessions, “Downtime” and “Here Comes the Darkness”, were posted.

The Vegas Years, a collection of cover songs was released April 15, 2008 by Capitol Records. It contains a mix of newly recorded, previously released, live, and remixed older covers. To celebrate the release, Art and the band hosted a live video chat. They confirmed they will be touring in the summer of 2008 including a possible UK tour in autumn. They also plan to release a series of singles for download online in the summer.

In August 2008 former Godsmack and Fuel drummer Tommy Stewart replaced Brett Snyder on drums. While guest hosting on Sirius radio station 24, Lithium, Art Alexakis debuted “Jesus Was a Democrat”.

In November 2008 the band traveled around Iraq in support of the troops and the USO. They stopped at Camp Liberty, Camp Shield and Camp Slayer, FOB Echoand many other FOBs around the country. The sets were primarily done acoustically and consisted of most of the band’s hits. In March 2009, Art Alexakis went on a solo acoustic tour, playing Hard Rock Cafes around the US. The tour was a benefit for the Musicians on Call charity.

On October 6, 2009 the band released In a Different Light, a collection of re-recordings of old Everclear songs in a more acoustic fashion.^[3] The collection also featured two new Everclear songs, “Here Comes the Darkness,” which was actually a leftover track from Welcome to the Drama Club, and “At the End of the Day,” which Alexakis had written and performed with Marion Raven.

On September 13, 2009, Alexakis posted a blog on Myspace that all of the current members had left the band, and were replaced by all new musicians. This included Freddy Herrera who was the bassist of The Exies, who had previously toured with Everclear. This new version of Everclear toured for two months in support of In a Different Light.

On December 28, 2009, Alexakis again posted on Myspace that former guitarist Davey French, was back on guitar, and Johnny Hawthorn was exiting the band. In the same blog, Alexakis said the band would be recording the next album in March and April 2010, for a 2011 release. On May 7, 2011, Alexakis announced on the band’s Twitter page that keyboardist Josh Crawley rejoined the band.

Invisible Stars and 1990s nostalgia touring

The band entered the studio in 2011 to record both a new forthcoming studio album and to record cover songs and re-recordings of past hits album entitled Return to Santa Monica. Extended Versions was released, which contains 10 live recordings of a show taken place on October 15, 2010 in Seattle, WA at the Historic Columbia City Theatre.

In June 2012, Everclear released their first album in six years, entitled Invisible Stars. In support of the album, Alexakis announced the Summerland Tour, a 90s nostalgia tour featuring Everclear themselves, Sugar Ray, Lit, Marcy Playground, and the Gin Blossoms. In 2013 the Summerland Tour returned, this time consisting of Everclear, Live, Filter, and Sponge.

Band members

Current members

• Art Alexakis – lead vocals (1992–present), rhythm guitar (2003–present) lead guitar (1992-2003)
• Dave French – lead guitar, backing vocals (2003–2009; 2009–present)
• Josh Crawley – keyboards, backing vocals (2003–2009; 2011–present)
• Freddy Herrera – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)
• Sean Winchester – drums, percussion (2010–present)

Liz Phair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Elizabeth Clark Phair)

Elizabeth Clark “Liz” Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Phair began her career in the early 1990s by self-releasing audio cassettes under the moniker Girly Sound, before signing with the independent record label Matador Records. Her 1993 debut studio album Exile in Guyville was released to acclaim: by the turn of the 21st century, it had been ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Ten years after the release of her debut, Phair’s fourth album, Liz Phair, was released on Capitol Records and her music began to move in a more pop rock-oriented approach. Phair has sold nearly three million records worldwide. Her latest album, Funstyle, was released on July 3, 2010.

Contents

• 1 Life and career

o    1.1 1967–1992: Early life and career beginnings

o    1.2 1992–2003: Exile in Guyville, Whip-Smart & Whitechocolatespaceegg

o    1.3 2003–2008: Liz Phair & Somebody’s Miracle

o    1.4 2008–2010: Exile in Guyville reissue & career as TV composer

o    1.5 2010–Present: Funstyle

• 2 Discography
• 3 Awards
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Life and career[edit]

1967–1992: Early life and career beginnings[edit]

Phair was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but was raised in Winnetka, Illinois, by upper middle-class adoptive parents.^[1] Her father was an AIDS researcher and head of infectious diseases at Northwestern Memorial Hospital; her mother, a docent who worked at the Art Institute of Chicago.^[2] She graduated from New Trier High School in 1985. During high school, Phair was involved in student government, yearbook, and the cross country team, and took AP Studio Art her senior year, among many other advanced-level classes.^[3] She attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, and majored in art history.^[4][5]
1992–2003: Exile in Guyville, Whip-Smart & Whitechocolatespaceegg[edit]Phair’s entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw was dating one of Phair’s friends, and stayed at their loft in Soma one weekend. Phair then moved toSan Francisco and tried to become an artist there. After being unsuccessful as an artist in San Francisco and moving back to Chicago, Phair began writing songs and recording homemade tapes under the name Girly Sound.^[5] She became part of the alternative music scene in Chicago and became friends with Material Issue andUrge Overkill, two of Chicago’s upstart bands to go national in the early 1990s, as well as Brad Wood and John Henderson, head of Feel Good All Over, an independent label in Chicago.^[1] (A later attempt at re-recording the Girly Sound tapes failed after arguments between Henderson and Phair.)

After asking Wood who the “coolest” indie label was, Phair called up Gerard Cosloy, co-president of Matador Records, in 1992 and asked him if he would put out her record. Coincidentally, Cosloy had just read a review of Girly Sound in Chemical Imbalance that very day and told Phair to send him a tape. Phair sent him a tape of six Girly Sound songs. Cosloy recalls: “The songs were amazing. It was a fairly primitive recording, especially compared to the resulting album. The songs were really smart, really funny, and really harrowing, sometimes all at the same time. . . . I liked it a lot and played it for everybody else. We usually don’t sign people we haven’t met, or heard other records by, or seen as performers. But I had a hunch, and I called her back and said O.K.”

Cosloy offered a $3,000 advance, and Phair began working on a single, which turned into the eighteen songs of Exile in Guyville.

Exile in Guyville was produced by Phair and Brad Wood, and released in 1993.^[5] The album received uniformly excellent reviews. The album received significant critical acclaim for its very blunt, honest lyrics and for the music itself, a hybrid of indie rock and pop. The album established Phair’s penchant for exploring sexually explicit lyrics such as in the song “Flower“: “I want to be your blow job queen/…I’ll fuck you and your minions too.” By contrast, her trademark low, vibrato-less monotone voice ^[6] gave many of her songs a slightly detached, almost deadpan character.

The release of Phair’s second album received substantial media attention and an advertising blitz. Whip-Smartdebuted at #27 in 1994 and “Supernova”, the first single, became a Top Ten modern rock hit, and the video was frequently featured on MTV. Phair also landed the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine with the headline “A Rock Star is Born.” Nonetheless, the album received mixed reviews,^{[citation needed]} and although it was certified Gold(shipments of at least 500,000 units), it ultimately did not sell as well as expected, as it was hoped the album would introduce Phair to a wider, more mainstream audience.^{[citation needed]} Following Whip-Smart, Phair released Juvenilia, a collection of some early Girly Sound tracks and several B-sides, including her cover of the 1980s song by The Vapors, “Turning Japanese“.

In 1994, Phair made several live television and radio appearances in an effort to promote Exile in Guyville and Whip-Smart, including David Letterman performing “Never Said” and “Supernova” and Jay Leno performing an acoustic version of “Whip-Smart”. She even performed “Alice Springs” live on Good Morning America.

She also appeared on the MTV alternative rock show 120 Minutes performing “Never Said”, “6’1”, “Cinco de Mayo” and “Supernova” live at various times during 1994 and early 1995.

In 1995, Phair married film editor Jim Staskauskas, who had worked on her videos. They had a son James Nicholas Staskauskas on December 21, 1996.^[1] Phair and Staskauskas divorced in 2001.

Phair’s third album, entitled Whitechocolatespaceegg, was finally released in 1998 after some delays, which included a disagreement about content; at one point, the label rejected the album as submitted, and asked Phair to write a few additional radio-friendly songs for the set.^[7] The album displayed a more mature Phair, and reflected some of the ways marriage and motherhood affected her. While the single “Polyester Bride” received some airplay, and the album received many positive reviews, it was no more successful commercially than her previous records. To promote the record Phair joined Lilith Fair. Phair performed on the main stage along with acts like Sarah McLachlan, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow and Missy Elliott. She also opened for Alanis Morissette on her 1999 Junkie Tour.

She portrayed the role of Brynn Allen, opposite her good friend Robin Tunney, in the film Cherish.^[5][8]

2003–2008: Liz Phair & Somebody’s Miracle

Liz Phair in concert, October 26, 2005

In 2003, her self-titled fourth album was released on her new label, Capitol Records. Phair had not released an album in several years; she had been working on her record, as well as making guest appearances on other tracks (she lent backing vocals to the Sheryl Crow hit “Soak Up the Sun“). She had also performed the Dragon Tales theme song in 1999.^[9]

Initially, Phair worked on several album tracks with songwriter Michael Penn as the producer. When she submitted the finished Penn-produced album to Capitol, the label gave it a lukewarm reception and was unwilling to release it as submitted. Having already exhausted her recording budget, label president Andy Slater offered Phair more money to record only if Phair agreed to work with the production team known as The Matrix (best known as songwriters for Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne) to come up with some singles for the album. Phair’s collaboration with the Matrix resulted in only four songs, but much of the media attention focused solely on the Matrix-produced tracks, which were a departure from her earlier work.^{[citation needed]} The album received many negative reviews, especially from the independent music press, who accused Phair of “selling out” by making the record very pop-oriented.^[10]

Liz Phair provoked a strong backlash from critics and disappointed fans of her earlier work. Many decried her for “selling out”, and she became a “piñata for critics.”^[11] The New York Times‘ Meghan O’Rourke‘s review, titled “Liz Phair’s Exile in Avril-ville”, said that Phair “gushes like a teenager” and had “committed an embarrassing form of career suicide.”^[12]

The debut single “Why Can’t I?“, co-written by The Matrix, did reach the Top 40 charts in North America, and its follow-up, “Extraordinary,” was also somewhat successful: it appeared on the soundtrack to the 2004 movie Raising Helen and was the promotional theme for the 2004 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament; in March 2007, the song began appearing in Gatorade television advertisements. Phair continued to flirt with sexually explicit themes, however, as was most evident in a track called “H.W.C.”, standing for “Hot White Cum”. Phair also offered backing vocals on Jimmy Eat World‘s “Work” track on their Futures album.

Somebody’s Miracle, Phair’s fifth album (and final album with Capitol Records), was released on October 4, 2005. The album returned to a more traditional rock sound, mixing the mood of Phair’s earlier work with a more mellow sound.^[13] The album received mixed reviews and was not a chart success.

2008–2010: Exile in Guyville reissue & career as TV composer

Phair signed with ATO Records in early 2008 and re-released Exile in Guyville on June 24, 2008.^[14] Exile in Guyville was reissued on CD, vinyl, and in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: “Ant in Alaska,” “Say You,” and an untitled instrumental. Phair has also completed a new documentary DVD, “Guyville Redux.” ^[15] This DVD features an introduction by Dave Matthews, founder/co-owner of ATO Records, and describes the making of the album, in the male-dominated, Chicago independent music scene of the early 1990s (which included Urge Overkill,Material Issue, and Smashing Pumpkins), associated with the Wicker Park neighborhood where many of these bands often performed.

“Exile in Guyville is miles more complex than the porn-star manifesto it was often considered,” said Alan Light (former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe, and Tracks) in an essay written for the reissue. “Phair spoke for the uncertainties facing a new generation of women, struggling to find a balance between sexual confidence and romance, between independence and isolation. . . . Exile in Guyville sat at the center of a culture in transition.”^[16]

In May 2009, Phair released a new song “Faith and Tenderness,” sold exclusively at Banana Republic.

In recent years Phair has broadened her career by serving as a composer for television dramas. Beginning with the theme song for NBC‘s The Weber Show she has also worked on the CBS show Swingtown, the CW reboot of 90210, for which she won the 2009 ASCAP award for Top Television Composer, and most recently has been hired on as composer for the USA Network show In Plain Sight.

2010–Present: Funstyle

Phair said in an interview that she is writing a book and working on a new album.^[17] On July 3, 2010, her official website announced a surprise link to download her new album Funstyle. It contains 11 songs, many of which are experimental or at least unorthodox, compared to most of her earlier songs. The song “Bollywood” was available to stream from the site for a limited time, before Phair took it down.

A note from Phair to her fans posted on her official website explained why the songs were problematic:

How To Like It.

You were never supposed to hear these songs. These songs lost me my management, my record deal and a lot of nights of sleep.

Yes, I rapped one of them. Im as surprised as you are. But here is the thing you need to know about these songs and the ones coming next: These are all me. Love them, or hate them, but dont mistake them for anything other than an entirely personal, un-tethered-from-the-machine, free for all view of the world, refracted through my own crazy lens.

This is my journey. Ill keep sending you postcards.

-Liz

Phair revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the falling out with her record label, ATO, occurred after a change in management. She explained, “The people who were still there didn’t like, or didn’t know what to do with, the music I was making, so we just stalled out and I asked to leave.”^[18]

Phair went on tour to promote the album, playing many songs from Guyville and Whip-Smart, along with songs from the rest of her repertoire. The Funstyle Tour ran from October 2010 to March 2011. The tour’s last show took place at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

In 2012, she co-wrote and performed the song “Dotted Line” with A. R. Rahman for the film People Like Us. “The song ‘Dotted Line’ I wrote with A. R. Rahman for Alex Kurtzman’s film ‘Welcome To People’,” she said in an interview. “Both amazing. ‘Welcome To People’ is a truly powerful film. Very proud of being part of it.”^[19]

Phair also reviews books, including Keith Richards‘ Life.^[20]

Phair writes the original music for the television series The 100 on The CW network, along with Evan Frankfort and Marc Dauer.^[21]

Discography

Main article: Liz Phair discography

• Exile in Guyville (1993)
• Whip-Smart (1994)
• Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)
• Liz Phair (2003)
• Somebody’s Miracle (2005)
• Funstyle (2010)

Awards

The post Farmland: The Movie appeared first on Good News!.

Slow intestinal transit is a true struggle for a large portion of the population. The physical and psychological consequences on the quality of life should not be underestimated. Millions of women have been affected by digestive health issues. The statistics below from a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Activia illustrate the impact tummy troubles can have on ones life. These statistics reflect U.S. adult females who have experienced digestive health issues. Day-to-Day Battles

* Belly Blues: 70% of women say their issues have a negative impact on their lives; 43% feel irritable and grouchy
* Ugly Belly: 51% of women ages 18-34 say they feel less attractive when experiencing digestive health issues
* Left Out: 20% of women indicated they have declined or postponed a planned activity due to their tummy troubles
* Workout Woes: 1/4 (27%) of women say their exercise routines are sometimes disrupted by digestive problems
* Dental Diversion: 28% would rather go to the dentist than experience digestive health issues
* Waiting in Line: About 1/3 (32%) of women would rather wait in line at the DMV than deal with their tummy troubles Help is on the way!

Dr. Liz Lipski offers the Top 10 Tips to Improve Your Digestive Health:
1. Stay Hydrated.
2. Exercise Regularly.
3. Add Good Bacteria to Your Diet.
4. Get your fiber.
5. Slow Down and CHEW!
6. Cook at Home.
7. Try Fermented Foods.
8. Cook Foods Well.
9. Eat Smaller Meals.
10. Know Your Food Sensitivities.

For more information visit http://www.activia.com

More about Dr. Liz Lipski:

Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN holds a doctorate and is board certified in Clinical Nutrition. She’s the author of Digestive Wellness, Digestive Wellness for Children, and Leaky Gut Syndrome. She’s the Director of Doctoral Studies at Hawthorn Health and Nutrition Institute, and the nutrition editor for Pilates Style Magazine. She’s the founder of Access to Health Experts, a holistic health membership website. She is currently in practice in Asheville, NC and offers individualized nutritional counseling.
More information is available on Dr. Lipski’s Web site, http://www.innovativehealing.com

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