Holiday Hafla & Bazaar / Tribal Fusion Faire LA after-party & show

Holiday Hafla & Bazaar / Tribal Fusion Faire LA after-party & show

Monday, December 14, 2009
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Donavon's Studio Iqaat
3515 Eagle Rock, Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

Holiday hafla and bazaar / Tribal Fusion Faire LA afterparty
with
music by DJ Amar & Donavon
Performances by
Aubre,
Calamity Sam,
Heather Shoopman,
Shahlah Sutra,
Elizabeth Mahina,
Ayse Cerami,
Jamie Bechtold,
Khani Zulu,
TWNN
... and maybe more :)

Great opportunity to grab some last minute holiday gifts.

Performers will be vending, so bring some cash and check out the wonderful handmade wares and unique gifts.

Doors at 8pm. 2 sets of performances at 9pm and 10pm.

$5-10 requested donation

Koalas need our help *Australia's deadly wildfires

You may have seen this famous photo showing a firefighter giving water to "Sam" the koala as she holds his hand. The firefighter found Sam walking painfully on scorched paws along the smoldering forest floor. Sam was rushed to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter, a group IFAW is supporting with an emergency grant.

SYDNEY -- It was a chance encounter in the charred landscape of Australia's deadly wildfires: A koala sips water from a bottle offered by a firefighter. David Tree noticed the koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw Tree.
Local CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian Koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. Suspicions that the worst wildfires ever to strike Australia were deliberately set led police to declare crime scenes Monday in towns incinerated by blazes, while investigators moving into the charred landscape discovered more bodies. The death toll stood at 200.One man has been arrested for arson.

After the scorched koala sipped from the water bottle and Tree's crew moved on, animal welfare officials came by.
Coleen Wood, manager of the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter where the koala was taken for treatment of second- and third-degree burns to its paws, said Wednesday that it was expected to make a full recovery.

Wood said there was no doubt the animal was wild, not domesticated, and that it would be released back into nature once a suitable habitat is found - the foliage in Sam's forest was all but destroyed.
"The hardest part is going to be trying to find enough habitat to support these guys," Wood said.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals said it was establishing shelters to care for thousands of pets and livestock affected by the fires.

If you wish you could help - then please visit this link to IFAW. They are an amazing organization that jumps in when wildlife are in need of human help.

www.ifaw.org/ifaw_united...es/index.php
www.ifaw.org/ifaw_united.../index.php#x

Blessings.

How This Happened

From: Barack Obama <info@barackobama.com>
Date: November 4, 2008 9:10:13 PM PST
Subject: How this happened
Reply-To: info@barackobama.com



I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Silverback Gorillas in peril - We can help!

Oct. 26, 2008
The Gorilla Park Headquarters in DR Congo is still held by the rebels. They spent the night there and vandalized the buildings by busting down doors and stealing.

The 50+ Rangers who fled yesterday from the fighting spent the night in the forest with no food, or shelter, or water. The situation is now desperate. The area controled by the rebels has grown, and we fear our Rangers are now sitting in an isolated pocket of forest, totally vulnerable to all the militia groups in the area.

Go to www.gorilla.cd/blog to catch up with the latest events as they unfold on the ground - be the first to know what is going on in the struggle to protect Virunga and 200 of the world's last remaining Mountain Gorillas. They need your help.
Links to contributions there. Please take action - this is critical!

Oct. 28, 2008

Twelve of the 53 missing Rangers who fled the Gorilla Park Headquarters in DR Congo on Sunday morning as a result of the fighting have been located in the forest, about 20km north of Goma.

These men have walked over 35km through Virunga during the last 48 hours with no food, water, or shelter. A rescue operation is now underway to get them to safety. These brave Rangers are the LAST barrier between the Gorillas and poachers!

Will they make it? Keep up with events at www.gorilla.cd/blog

countdown for Congolese Wildlife

This is an urgent appeal from the Mara Triangle in the Masai Mara, where post-election violence has seen a collapse in tourism. The Mara Conservancy, a non-profit, was entirely dependent upon park entrance fees paid by visitors to manage the Mara Triangle, and since the New Year we've had to suffer severe cutbacks in critical park operations. Working on a reduced budget has already had an impact on our effectiveness, and this is the first month since January that we've started with no money to carry on.

On Thursday rangers caught 6 poachers who had killed 37 Thomson Gazelles, and last Sunday one of our rangers was shot and seriously injured when chasing cattle rustlers. The Big Cats in the park are also under threat since the collapse of the compensation scheme in January, which you can read more about this here:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scien...7372298.stm
To read more about what I have written you can visit Kimojino's blog where it is also possible to make a donation, with 100% of your donation (minus only a small bank fee) going directly to support the work of the Mara Conservancy rangers:
maratriangle.wildlifedirect.org
If you have ever visited the Mara you'll know how important it is to preserve the animals in this incredible place, and if you have ever wanted to visit, then your support now is crucial.

Please, help with what you can, and forward this email to everyone you know.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please feel free to email me with any questions.
All the best

William Deed
williamdeed@gmail.com

The Mara Conservancy

Are bees our canary in the coal mine?

NEO-Nicitnoids – ever heard of ‘em? If you didn’t watch or tivo 60 Minutes tonite, you may find your eyes glazing over with what I am about to blog here. But trust me when I say it will affect every one of us next year…… or sooner.
I was unaware that beekeepers actually rent out their bee colonies to other farmers. They do this when a crop is in bloom and the farmer knows that his produce will not mature unless those blooms are pollinated. Case in point, one pumpkin farmer who has 300 acres of them ready to grow – estimating that each flower requires 30 bee visits in order to determine whether that pumpkin bud withers and dies off or if it grows to fulfill its Halloween destiny. That's alot of work!
That's right - if Bees don't pollinate - we dont' eat. Period. They've already banned the use of NEO-Nicitnoids in France. We need to catch up.
Without re-creating the entire 20 minute segment that aired tonight, let me reduce it to this: One third of the largest bee colony in the U.S. has gone missing, as in, left their hive, their larvae, their honey. One Third of the colony. And thusfar what the experts are guessing is the main reason is – poor health, stress and memory loss. What’s the primary cause? Experts are puzzled, but agree that most likely the use of a new super pesticide NEO-Nicitnoids, used in golf courses (and other applications, including domestic) Bayer is the manufacturer of this new chemical cocktail with no regard for the ecosystem. Know what happens if the bees keep dying off and disappearing (and soon)? No more fruit, nuts, vegetables ------ not even flowers. Did I mention “soon”? This nasty and unnecessary chemical destroys a bee’s nervous system and memory. Bees require a good, working memory in order to:
A. come home
B. bring their hive-mates back to flowers they have found (and in turn pollinate them).

Should we care? We will when we go to the grocer in a year or two and all they have is shitty looking produce and less of what we like to buy from them. Think you can just grow your own? Think again --- you need bees too, even in your backyard. And this is certainly not the ONLY petrochemical that is being sprayed into the environment - plenty are sprayed on the fruits and vegetable than many people are eating every day!
What can we do? If you find yourself receiving an e-mail from some organization who gives a shit about all this – RESPOND. If someone is collecting signatures in front of Whole Foods (or anywhere else) demanding that Congress take action – Sign that petition. Talk about it – knowledge is power. And of course the changing and erratic, extreme weather patterns are contributing to their (bees) demise as well.
And BUY ORGANIC - for goodness sake, Trader Joe's will tell you that they base what products they carry and which they discontinue, based on what their customers buy the most of. Vote every time you go to any grocery store - buy the organic product. Your body will thank you for it. ......and so might the bees that are still left.

Okay, sorry if this sounds preachy – but it’s no time to turn a blind eye.

The Whale

The Whale

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle in 2005,
you would have read about a female humpback whale
who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.
She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle
to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands
(outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help.
Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her...

One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.
When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.
She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them,pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love,
be so blessed and fortunate
to be surrounded by people
who will help you get untangled
from the things that are binding you.
And, may you always know the joy
of giving and receiving gratitude.

I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.

He looked kindof like this:

(well,.........only ALOT worse!)
The very wise mother of a friend of mine indirectly saved the life of a doggie today. My friend had told me a while ago that her mom keeps a bag of doggie treats and a leash in her car (I have now added a bowl to that short list). This is for the purpose of approaching and catching any stray dogs she finds in her travels. How many times have you been driving along somewhere and noticed a dog limping (or running) along, clearly distressed, lost and homeless? Not sure what to do to help, uncertain of how to approach the animal......perhaps you drive on, hoping that someone else does something for them. It's a sickening feeling.
Now, I felt empowered! The very next day I stopped at the 99 cent store and purchased a bag of chicken jerky and a cloth leash that could be looped back into itself, creating a "collar". Today, I was grateful that I had done so.
I had taken a sort of side-street on my way to an appointment in Canoga Park and saw this dog just walking along at a brisk pace, no human around him. I kept an eye on him for about a block and it was clear that he was not heading anywhere in particular and that he had been on the streets for some time - maybe since July 4th when so many dogs get panicked. I attempted several times for the next 4 blocks to pull my car ahead of his trajectory, offer a doggie treat to him - all to no avail. He couldn't have been less interested. Often when an animal is frightened or starving, they won't respond to food. I had no bowl and for once there was no bottle of water in my car. Damn. I began calling animal shelters on my cell, while I drove along with him. One shelter transfered me to another in the local district and I wound up on hold for the next 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I saw that this dog's path was leading towards a busy street ahead. Thankfully, he took a turn at the corner, now walking at a fast pace along a city street. It became increasingly clear that this dog had been at this for days and knew nothing of this neighborhood. The fur on his hind legs was matted and his coat disheveled. I realized that in two more blocks he was going to hit a MAJOR interesection - Canoga Avenue and Roscoe. Again, I attempted to attract his attention with a treat - again he raced on by. I wished I had a bowl of water to tempt him!
Frustrated and knowing he was freaked out - I knew I couldn't approach him with the leash - first of all he was moving too quickly - on occasion stumbling with, perhaps a bad ankle. I was beside myself trying to keep pace with him as he approached the intersection! It was all I could do to try to "block" traffic with my own car - I turned on my flashers and prayed! Unbelievably he got a green light!!!! It was crystal clear to me that he had no intention of stopping if the light had not been in his favor. The doggie angels had listened to my prayers!
Angry motorists honked at me since he did not clear the intersection before the light changed. Although, it was only a matter of time till his luck would run out and he would approach an intersection where the light was red!! But knowing how unaware of traffic he was - I knew the chances that he's been struck by a car was a good possibility. Trying to grab his body to lift him into my car might end up hurting a broken rib or hip. I was so frustrated!
Okay, still on hold with animal control (yup) I was now passing Costco and Home Depot. There were day laborers lined up along the sidewalk watching me with amusement. I threw a treat to one of them and yelled "el pero, por favor" and somehow they figured out what was needed. 4 of them surrounded him and blessedly he halted! I reached into my backseat for the leash I had bought 6 months earlier and ripped open the package - tossing it out the window to them. They got it around his neck without any teeth being bared (whew!) and then it was time to get him into my car. It wasn't as simple as it seemed it would be - but eventually they sort of shoved him up into my SUV back seat. He didnt' growl, he seemed okay and I figured that I was going to miss my appointment for sure now because I had to locate a shelter.
I pulled into the Costco parking lot and as I was about to dial information for a shelter in the area.......a girl pulled up beside me and asked through her rolled down window ,
"Are you going to take that dog to a shelter?".
"Yes, when I find out where one is", I answered her.
"I work at the animal rescue and I'm on my way there now - I can take him"
<sound of trumpets, heavenly choir sounds filling the air>
I nearly burst into tears - the past half hour had been stressful to say the least, and I was overcome with relief!
The two of us then struggled to get him OUT of my car - and (she later felt REALLY BAD about this!) he wound up falling onto the asphalt on his face. He either couldn't maneuver his legs or maybe was partially blind. With some additional effort we finally got him into her backseat - examined his collar for a tag (no luck) and both hoped he had a micro-chip so his owners could be located. Sadly and as was to be expected, we could feel that he was emaciated. And this had once been a beautiful animal!

So, apart from sharing a story that hopefully has a happy ending for this dog - I wanted to pass along the wisdom from my friend's mom. Keep a leash and doggie treats in your car.....and a bowl. You may need them some day. Oh, and micro-chip your pets. Please.

Blessings.
:~D

Darfur didn't go away -

Just because we weren't paying attention to the Sudan this week, just because it was Mother's Day or because I didn't take the right sleeping bag to LIB and was too cold and wasn't thinking about the genocide, just because college students are in the "finals crunch", just because the race for President had some new additions or just because we raised $1,500 at Tribal Caravan for SAVEDARFUR.ORG and Doctors Without Borders doesn't mean that assholes there have stopped slaughtering, have stopped turning children into orphans.
It occured to me that perhaps we raised enough money to pay for one medical worker to fly all the way to Africa - it's a long trip. Maybe one plane ticket. I wonder if the airlines give special fares to people going to volunteer there.
It's hard to pay attention to things we cannot see, or to pay attention to people we don't know, who are so far away.

I wish it would be over.

The Audacity of Hope

I parrot the title of Obama's new book, because it expresses my feelings about this one thing. The people of Darfur have had an abomination committed against them as a people FOR YEARS (over 400,00 dead) and now even some humanitarian organizations have withdrawn because the Janjaweed are SO outrageous, that they slaughter even those workers who have come to give aide to the 2 million refugees depending on them, who suffer daily at the hands of such atrocities of their genocide. Men slaughtered, women raped and children stolen, or forced to spend the night huddled behind fences in an attempt NOT to be forced into servitude by these monsters. It goes without saying that our own troupes' time and efforts would be far better spent in defense of these people in the Sudan than in some other parts of the world.
As the producers of Tribal Caravan, we will be doing what small part we can, along with the help of our generous vendors who provide their goods for raffling, to raise money to send to help relieve some tiny moment of suffering that is being dealt to these innocent survivors. Please come to our festival prepared - prepared to purchase an obscene amount of raffle tickets, in order to be a part of sending financial assistance to the Darfur refugees. They deserve our help, our assistance, our attention. We can no longer pretend that we do not know. For more information, log on to: www.SaveDarfur.org.


God Bless!
:~D