news from kintespace.com ::: 8/31/2009

This was kinté cast #3, “Othello, the Moor of Venice.” It starts with some magnetic tape recordings I made in college (at UCSB circa 1987) with my second serious girlfriend, Saundra Esparza, and her roommate (the flute player you heard) Tasha—I’m sorry I don’t remember her last name and she’s really cool.

Next, comes a track from Steve Connell’s “Intimate Nature of Knife Fights”—I call this track “country lies between us” and the excellent vocals sets the tone for reaching the character of Desdemona in this show. I apologize for not knowing who this vocalist is—and any accusations of this thing “we” might call “reverse racism” is a gross misrepresentation. You can purchase this Steve Connell work from stevenconnell.com.

So: we get to my favorite Julliard graduate, Saundra Quarterman, playing Desdemona in a sound-space I designed, using audio from a Spanish museum, La Casa Encendida, in Vernissage TV footage from Heinrich Schmidt and his dedicated team. Check out the 2009 “quick interview” of Vernissage TV celebrating their 1000^th video at we-make-money-not-art.com.

Then we jump into my spoken word piece from many years ago, called “girlfriend is paula cole,” that should be found at rasx.megafunk.com (and kintespace.com). YouTube.com personality “Psychedea” speaks next in “Effects of Racial Discrimination on Interracial Couples”—and she is followed by another YouTube.com lovely lady, “ChockeyMe,” with “Interracial Relationships & Ignorance.”

My spoken word soundtracks return with “girlfriend is paula cole part 2” which leads into my attempt to play a few lines as Othello—the sound components used in this scene come from Kit Watkins, his “Ambient Realms” collection for Sony Creative Software. By the way I auditioned for Othello way back in my freshman days at UCSB and broke out into an uncontrollable laughing fit. Obviously, I didn’t get the part.

Direct Download: rasx_-_Othello.mp3

Search for the “kinte cast” on iTunes or visit rasx.libsyn.com for more episodes.

::: Ezrah Aharone: American Exceptionalism vs. Obama’s Idealism

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/kp_aharone6.html

During his European debut, a reporter in asked President Obama if he subscribes to the school of “American Exceptionalism” as did his predecessors. Being the first Black president and known as a uniter, the question weighs heavy in irony since America’s self-grandiosity is tied to military aggression and presidential legacies that are littered with unapologetic ethnic and cultural indifference. Although not a common term, African Americans should form long lines like when voting to get information whenever the subject of “Exceptionalism” is mentioned.

::: Robert Thurman: Buddhism and the Just Society

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_robert_thurman0.html

This streaming audio presentation of the 2003 Robert Thurman interview from Changesurfer Radio, produced by J. Hughes (a.k.a. Dr. J.) describes a struggle for peace between devout materialists and devout monks. Thurman maintains that the monastic order is not a dead relic of the past but an essential element of a future free from the “inevitability” of war and the so-called “human nature” of finding ways to alienate and exploit nature.

What is closer at hand is the ‘internal conflict’ between ‘secular’ Buddhists of “nothingness” and the traditional Buddhists who “believe” in many metaphysical systems, including reincarnation. This ‘realistic’ trend is represented by Stephen Batchelor and his book Buddhism without Beliefs. In this Dr. J interview, Thurman explores this area with a deep commitment to the foundational need for reincarnation.

Robert Thurman is the author of several books including Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within and Inner Revolution.

rasx()