April 30, 2012

Florida Humanities Council: Geoffrey Philp


Give thanks to the Florida Humanities Council for publishing, "A Prayer for my Children," (from Dub Wise, Peepal Tree Press) which they describe as "a poem that offers spiritual sustenance for adults as well."






***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

Caribbean Fest @ Barry University: Geoffrey Philp




I've always enjoyed reading for the students at Barry University. Professor Evelyn Cartright's students always reflect her assiduous scholarship by their close readings of "My Brother's Keeper" from the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. This year, I was invited to read at Caribbean Fest, which was sponsored by the Africana Studies Program.


Dr. Evelyn Cartright and Geoffrey Philp


The event began with a welcome by Dr. Cartright and then, featured PowerPoint presentations by her students: Haiti by Reginald Jeudy and James Norman; Dominican Republic by Darien Bush and Ivana Fabian; Trinidad and Tobago by Alexandra Toro and Rolande Saint Preux; Colombia by Taylor Edwards and Joseph McGovern; Cuba by Jennifer Winchester and Jessica Tabor, Jamaica by Xioanne George, Leslie Redmond, and Crystal Huerta.


Leslie Redmond and Geoffrey Philp


After the gracious introduction by Taylor Edwards, whose analysis of "My Brother's Keeper," highlighted the themes of fatherlessness and domestic abuse in the story, I had planned to begin with a reading from my e-book, Bob Marley and Bradford's iPad, and to introduce a model for purchasing e-books at author readings.






But after listening to the students' presentations, I read a few poems livicated to the countries that were represented:


Haiti: "Dust" Geoffrey Philp's Blog: http://bit.ly/yFhI20
Dominican Republic: "Bachata" from Dub Wise (Peepal Tree Press)
Trinidad and Tobago: "A Day at the Races" from Hurricane Center (Peepal Tree Press)
Colombia: "Como se Dice Eso?" from Dub Wise (Peepal Tree Press)
Cuba: "La Rosa Blanca" from Hurricane Center (Peepal Tree Press)
Jamaica: "A Prayer for my Children" from Dub Wise (Peepal Tree Press)


The program ended with musical selections by Nia Devine and a dance performance by HICA.


Give thanks to Professor Evelyn Cartright, Leslie Redmond, and the students of Barry University who continue to support my work in so many ways.











***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

Accepting Submissions: Caribbean Flash Fiction Collection







***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

MDC Freedom Tower Will Go Blue in Support of Child Abuse Prevention





Miami Dade College (MDC) will illuminate its National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower in blue in commemoration of Amigos For Kids’ annual month-long activities during National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. The Tower will be illuminated at sundown on Saturday, March 31, and then again on Monday, April 30, to mark the beginning and end of activities.


Amigos For Kids, a non-profit dedicated to preventing child abuse, will kick-off festivities with its Second Annual Celebration for Friendship Luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel at 11:30 a.m. on Mar. 31.


Amigos For Kids is a 501(C) 3 nonprofit corporation founded in 1991 to respond to the diverse needs of South Florida’s abused abandoned, neglected, and less-fortunate children and their families, through education, abuse prevention, and community involvement. To fulfill its mission, Amigos relies on the support of dedicated volunteers and donors throughout the community. Throughout the year, the organization creates awareness of its cause through public service campaigns, fundraising events, and community efforts such as the Amigos For Kids, There’s NO excuse for child abuse! ® campaign.


Miami Dade College is the nation’s largest institution of higher education with an enrollment of more than 174,000 students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and Science degrees. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including several baccalaureate degrees in education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing and others. In fact, its academic and workforce training programs have served as national models of excellence. MDC is also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the Miami Book Fair International, Miami International Film Festival, the Cultura del Lobo performing arts series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, a sculpture park and a large art gallery and theater system. MDC has served nearly 2,000,000 students since it opened its doors in 1960.




MDC and Amigos for Kids to Light Up Freedom Tower in Blue


WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 31, 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
WHERE: MDC’s Freedom Tower 600 Biscayne Blvd.
MDC and Amigos for Kids to Light Up Freedom Tower in Blue


WHEN: Monday, Apr. 30, 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
WHERE: MDC’s Freedom Tower 600 Biscayne Blvd.


For tickets, or more information regarding Amigos for Kids events, please call 305-279-1155, or visit www.amigosforkids.org.








***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 29, 2012

Celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day)



Tomorrow is El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), "a celebration every day of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds."

The new Dia site lists several ways you can help with spreading the word:

Download the Dia Resource Guide: http://dia.ala.org/sites/default/files/ResourceGuide%20UPDATED1-18-12.pdf

Download book recommendations: http://dia.ala.org/sites/default/files/Spanish%20brochure%20-%20FINAL3-28-12.pdf

Send an e-card: http://www.readingrockets.org/content/e-cards/setup.php?photo_id=4


Tomorrow will be a day to share our stories with children and to celebrate our community.



***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Pinterest

Thank you!

April 27, 2012

World Literature Today: Interview With Geoffrey Philp




Give thanks and praises to World Literature Today (May/June 2012) for publishing in their 350th issue, an interview I did with Erika Waters, founding editor of The Caribbean Writer.


World Literature Today also published two poems, "Roots" (Hurricane Center) and "A Prayer for My Children (Dub Wise), and you can listen to me reading the poems at the WLT website, worldliteraturetoday.com: http://worldliteraturetoday.com/2012/may/two-poems-geoffrey-philp

World Literature Today| May 2012: http://bit.ly/J9rIhJ





***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

The Florida Poets Project: Michael Hettich








The Florida Poets Project has been funded by a grant from the
 Central Florida English Speaking Union Drey Endowment 

 Executive Producer Maurice O'Sullivan 

Production Assistant Susan M. Fowler 

Shot and Directed by Bill Dudley




***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. 


Follow Me on Pinterest 


Thank you!

April 26, 2012

Poem in Your Pocket Day: Adrienne Rich





What Kind of Times Are These
 
BY ADRIENNE RICH
 
There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.
 
I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled
this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
 
I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
meeting the unmarked strip of light—
ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise:
I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
 
And I won't tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it's necessary
to talk about trees.
 
“What Kind of Times Are These”. © 2002, 1995 by Adrienne Rich, from The Fact of a Doorframe: Selected Poems 1950-2001 by Adrienne Rich. Used by permission of the author and W.W. Norton, Inc.


Source: Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems 1991-1995 (W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 1995)


Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181516








About Adrienne Rich


Poet and essayist Adrienne Rich was one of America’s foremost public intellectuals. Widely read and hugely influential, Rich’s career spanned seven decades and has hewed closely to the story of post-war American poetry itself. Her earliest work, including A Change of World (1951) which won the prestigious Yale Younger Poets Award, was formally exact and decorous, while her work of the late 1960s and 70s became increasingly radical in both its free-verse form and feminist and political content. Rich’s metamorphosis was noted by Carol Muske in the New York Times Book Review; Muske wrote that Rich began as a "polite copyist of Yeats and Auden, wife and mother. She has progressed in life (and in her poems …) from young widow and disenchanted formalist, to spiritual and rhetorical convalescent, to feminist leader...and doyenne of a newly-defined female literature." 


For more, please follow this link: 


http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/adrienne-rich


Image source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/adrienne-rich







***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

1 Minute Book Review:Beyond Sangre Grande by Cyril Dabydeen





Name of the book: Beyond Sangre Grande

Author: Cyril Dabydeen (Editor)

Publisher: TSAR Publications (September 30, 2011)

What's the book about? "Beyond Sangre Grande "brings together a contemporary selection in English from some of the key writers now living in Canada, the US, and the UK, as well as various countries of the Caribbean."

Why am I reading the book? Beyond Sangre Grande extends the definition of Caribbean beyond a geographically enclosed space and recognizes the contributions of writers in the diaspora.

Quote from the book: Sangre Grande means "big blood," the image of a red river; "blood" as symbol evokes consanguinity and "red," courage.

Where to buy: http://tsarbooks.com/TSAR_BeyondSangreGrande.htm

***

I've modified this format from One Minute Book Reviews: http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/







***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Pinterest 

Thank you!

April 25, 2012

How to Sell E-books at Author Readings





E-books have freed many writers from many of the niggling details of selling physical books at author readings: making change ahead of time, schlepping the books around, having someone watch the table while you read, and worrying about taxes and receipts.


Last week at Barry University, I tested this method at my reading from Bob Marley and Bradford's iPad--a story about a writer whose health and work problems are solved when Bob gives him some sage advice.


Like everything else, it takes a little prep work, but it's worth it. Here are the steps:


1. Let the audience know ahead of time that you'll be reading from an e-book and encourage them to turn on their smartphones with the ringer on vibrate.


2. Set up an e-mail account with a memorable name. I chose: bradfordsipad@gail.com. Try it and see if it works.


3. Once I set up the account, I went to Settings and clicked Vacation Responder on.


4. Then, I copied this text into the Message Box:
 
Greetings!


Thank you for supporting my work. For indie writers like me, word of mouth/blog/tweet/e-mail is crucial for success.

Here is the link to Bob Marley and Bradford's iPad @ Amazon:
http://amzn.to/nrg1Kg


Of if you prefer, @ Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/JeiiHm


My e-book is also available in any style to match your e-reader @Smashwords:  http://bit.ly/JeiDtE


So thank you, thank you, thank you.


& remember, to tell a friend or two *wink wink*.



1Love,

Geoffrey


Visit my Amazon page: http://amzn.to/A7oZgU

Follow me on Twitter: @geoffreyphilp



Then, I invited the audience to send an email to bradfordsipad@gail.com, so they could buy the book and read along with me. With the vacation message on, the purchase details were delivered automatically to them.


I also encouraged audience members to live tweet the event. The more audience participation, the better.


The students at Barry University responded positively to the story. So far, I've seen some movement on sales at Amazon, but more at Smashwords because most of the students had Nooks.




Let me know about your success!








***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 24, 2012

Children's Book Fest @ South Regional/ Broward College Library



***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Pinterest

Thank you!

April 23, 2012

E-Book Review: My Darling You by Hazel Campbell



A delightful Sunday afternoon. What could be better than after a hearty family brunch, curling up with a good book and reading until mid-afternoon? And especially when you "discover" a writer who has been on your radar, but you haven't read most of her work.


Last Sunday, I decided to put my money where my mouth was by supporting a fellow Jamaican/Caribbean writer. For if discoverability will continue to be the main challenge for Caribbean writers, especially with the advent of e-publishing, I figured that if I liked the work, then I would do my best to spread the word. So, I downloaded a copy of Hazel Campbell's e-book, My Darling You, curled up with my iPad on the sofa, and marveled at the sheer mastery that Ms. Campbell displayed in her new collection.


Setting the tone with a poem, "Our Antillean ark/ painted Carib blue/ charts ancient unknown waves/ even to the center of the storm," the six stories, with the exception of "The Santa Picture," are set in Jamaica and live up to the description on the Amazon web site: "Six short stories set in the Caribbean, loosely linked around the theme of love."


The stories in My Darling You are engaging in their deft development of character, use of dialogue, and adept handling of plot. But there's more. They also give the reader a brief glimpse into the lives of characters who have been changed by love while skillfully exploring Jamaican attitudes toward sexuality ("Emancipation Park) and the influence of the church on the romantic decisions of its members ("First Love").


But wait, there's even more. Hidden between the layers of realism and social commentary there's a delightful fable, "The Jamaican Princess," a story about a sleeping princess in the land of Jamrock, who after many years awakens to the misery that her years of slumber have created. Of course, there is the requisite charming prince (who is unlike any other Prince Charming you've read about) who rouses the princess's compassion for her people and two scheming priests, Bongojai and Congojai, who oppose the princess's plans to undo the damage caused by her neglect.
I won't give away the rest of the plot, except to say that I've learned something from My Darling You. Instead of putting together the equivalent of a two hundred-page collection, wouldn't it be better, as Ms. Campbell has done, to assemble stories that could according to Poe's advice, "be read in one sitting"?


You may be on to something here, Ms. Campbell. I can't wait to see what you'll do next.




About Hazel Campbell


Hazel Campbell was born in Jamaica in 1940. She attended Merl Grove High School and obtained a BA in English & Spanish at UWI, Mona, followed by Diplomas in Mass Communications and Management Studies. She has worked as a teacher, as a public relations worker, editor, features writer and video producer for the Jamaican Information Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Creative Production and Training Centre. From 1987 she has worked as a freelance Communications Consultant.


Her first publication was The Rag Doll & Other Stories (Savacou, 1978), followed by Women's Tongue: a collection of eight short stories, (Savacou, 1985). Her stories have also been published in West Indian Stories, ed. John Wickham, 1981; Caribanthology I, ed. Bruce St. John, 1981; Focus 1983; Verre Wereld; and Facing the Sea, ed. Anne Walmesley, 1986.


She writes of herself: 'Child of the 1940s when nationalism was raising its head in Jamaica, I attended schools where patriotism and budding political movements were regarded as extremely important. In spite of the pervasive use of foreign texts, we were encouraged to think Jamaican. 


This consciousness has remained with me to the extent that I get physically uncomfortable if I am away from Jamaica for too long a time. Perhaps that's why I never migrated and why my work reflects almost a "romantic" view of Jamaica - its people, landscape and the very peculiar aura which makes it difficult to understand; difficult to live in; but nevertheless such an enchanting country.'


Hazel Campbell lives in Constance Spring. She has four children.


Source: http://www.peepaltreepress.com/author_display.asp?au_id=10


Visit Hazel Campbell's blogs:
http://jambooks-fiction.blogspot.com/
http://hazeldeebooks.blogspot.com/







***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

Kevin MacDonald's Marley: Rejection and Redemption



I fell asleep crying. On Friday night, I watched Kevin MacDonald's Marley from the comfort of my bed as rain from a sudden thunderstorm lashed the Orange Geiger I'd received from Miami's Adopt-a-Tree program--my small contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases.


As I fell under the spell of the Marley story, which I thought I knew from Bob's birth in Nine Mile to his death in Miami, I soon learned I was in for a few surprises. For when I saw the image of Bob at the clinic in Bavaria and learned for the first time that he had suffered a stroke and couldn't hold a pick to play his guitar, I bawled uncontrollably. I still haven't figured out why. Could it have been the appearance of rain lilies on my front lawn, an omen of thunderstorms that reminded me of my father? Or my identification with Bob's experience of growing up in Jamaica as a so-called "brown man" as Seeco used to call me?


Either way, what emerges from Marley is a story of an artist who relentlessly synthesized the contradictions of received wisdom with his experiences into potent lyrics that combined the utopian vision of Rastafari with the quotidian realities of the sufferahs. What also surfaces from the interviews are the recurrent themes of rejection and abandonment.


From the opening scene in Ghana at the "Door of No Return" from which sixty million Africans were forcibly exiled to the final scene of Bob's burial at Nine Mile, Kevin MacDonald weaves the ideas of rejection and abandonment throughout the film.


Bob's life was emblematic of the kinds of rejection that biracials or "half-castes," as Bob was called by his tormentors, faced. "He wasn't teased, he was rejected!" Bunny Wailer emphatically affirmed. Yet from this seeming disadvantage, Bob gained the strength as Allan "Skill" Cole described it, to write the biblically inspired "Cornerstone.":


The stone that the builders refused
Will always be the head cornerstone


Bob's rejections came early. His father, Norval Marley, himself a misfit of sorts, abandoned Bob's mother, Cedella Booker, when he learned about her pregnancy. Although it is not mentioned in the film, Cedella, too, would also abandon Bob. As Don Taylor, Bob's former manager, in Marley and Me stated: "Abandoned by his mother had an early age when she moved to Spanish town to live with a Chinese man, Bob attended Stepney School in St. Ann" (33). Other rejections would follow. When Bob was seventeen, he was dating a girl named Esther. Stephen Davis in Bob Marley reported that Esther's older brother put an end to the relationship by confronting Bob: "We don't want no white man in our breed" (36).


The film also documents interviews with Bob's half-sister, Constance, and her cousin, Peter Marley. Prior to the interview, both were ignorant of the inspiration behind "Cornerstone." Although the film describes the encounter, Marley and Me gives a fuller account of the incident between Cecil Marley, Peter's father, and Bob: "The only contact Bob ever had with the Marley family he told me was when he visited his uncle, a lawyer on Duke Street, and tried to borrow £300 pounds to produce a record. The uncle, one Cecil Marley, not only unceremoniously threw Bob out of his office, he also called the police" (33).


This constant rejection instead of the demoralizing Bob, forced him to rely on his intuitive talents and to become the best version of himself. Curiously, it also led Bob to seek the protection of mentors such as Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Joe Higgs, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Mortimer Planno, the charismatic Rastafari elder. It may also explain Bob's conversion to Rastafari as Neville Garrick explains: "In the belief or knowledge of Haile Selassie, Bob found his real father which he never really knew."


One of the ironies of the film is that it relies heavily on the narratives of those, who for one reason or another, had a falling out with Bob or whose integrity had been impugned, at least for ardent fans, by others. For example, Bunny Wailer left the Wailers as he explained in Maureen Sheridan's Soul Rebel, "for spiritual reasons"(33). Cedella Booker prior to her abandoning Bob when he was seventeen had told him, according to Soul Rebel, "God is the father of the fatherless" (28). Neville Garrick's reliability was also questioned by Don Taylor in Marley and Me: "Neville Garrick was never on Bob's account nor involved in any of Bob's business… Some people will no doubt think me wrong to say that Neville Garrick was not an insider. But I know for a fact that Garrick had no personal relationship with Bob Marley" (221).


Besides the obvious fact that Taylor's book attempts to settle old scores, Kevin Macdonald's film is not about Bob's business dealings. It is a film based on interviews with people who knew Bob at his best and worst: Rita Marley, Cindy Breakspeare, Alan "Skill" Cole, Desi Smith, Lloyd "Bread" McDonald, and of course, Neville Garrick, whose connection with Bob has been verified by every known biographer of Bob, including Cedella Booker in Bob Marley, My Son. Bob's interview with Dermot Hussey on Talkin' Blues also attests to their long-term relationship: "See all Garrick there, him is the man who run the light. Make him tell you how hard me work."


Neville Garrick was there from the start of Bob's career building sets and running lights, mixing the sound for the concert in Zimbabwe, to witnessing Bob's internment at Nine Mile.


Another irony is that Bob rejected the advice of Cindy Breakspeare, who told him, "Come home to St Ann...and if you end up in the same place at the end of it, at least you will have had some comfort in your few last months on earth."


I can understand why Bob didn't follow her advice. To have done so would have been to admit defeat, and Bob was a fighter to the very end. As he told Neville Garrick, “I’m going to beat this thing.” 


As the final credits of the film rolled, I turned down the volume, then turned off the television, and fell asleep. The image of Bob, shorn of his locks and looking pale and weak, burned into my dreams.


On Saturday morning, I was awakened to the sound of a mockingbird trilling outside my window, and quite by chance, my daughter singing "No More Trouble" as she watched the news on CNN.


I looked out the window. The rain lilies were still there. The orange geiger was still standing after the onslaught of wind and rain. It had survived.










***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 20, 2012

Bob Marley: Voice of the Ghetto


This is the first article I ever wrote about Bob Marley. It was written in 1974 when I was sixteen years old. It's hard to believe that I was ever sixteen.



I was attending Jamaica College, Lower Sixth, and I was the literary editor of our school magazine. Back then, I was better known as Herbert Spliffington.

Been a long time coming...

1Love


***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Pinterest

Thank you!

Marley Movie Celebration



In celebration of the release of Marley: The Life, Music and Legacy of Bob Marley, directed by Kevin MacDonald, I will be reading from my e-book, Bob Marley and Bradford's iPod-- a story that is really about what Bob's life, work, and example meant to me--at Caribbean Fest at Barry University today.




After the reading, I'll probably won't make it to O Cinema, so I'll  head home and watch it on one of these channels:


 Movies (Search Titles)
 Movies, Music, & Games · Video On Demand (Search Titles)
 On Demand · Uverse Movies - All Movies
 Movies on Demand • Independent Films • Magnolia Pictures
 Channel 1 (On Demand) - Movies • New Releases (Search Titles)
 On Demand • Movies • Indies & Foreign - Magnolia Pictures
 On Demand • Top Picks • New Movies (Search Titles)
 On Demand • Movies • Just In (Search TItles)
Cox:
 On Demand • Early Screening • In Theatres
 Channel 1000 and 1100 (On Demand) • Movies • (Search Titles)
 On Demand • Movies and More (Search Titles)
 Video • Playstation Store • Playstation Store • Studios • Magnolia Pictures (Search Titles)
 On Demand • Movies on Demand • Early Screening (Search Titles)
 On Demand • Featured (Search Titles)
 Now Playing • Now Playing • (Search Titles)
 Video Market Place • Zune • Featured (Search Titles)
 Video Market Place • Zune • Featured (Search Titles)
 Video Market Place • Zune • Featured (Search Titles)






***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 18, 2012

Marley Movie: The Idrens Who Knew Bob



Although the Marley movie will be released on International Weed Day, I hope one of the themes of Bob music, "Help the weak of you are strong" (No More Trouble") and the message of livity will come through.


Based on what I've seen from these interviews with Allan "Skill" Cole, Neville Garrick, and Desi Smith, my wish may come true. I'm also happy to see a clip from Island House at the scrimmage field where I last played soccer against Bob, Gilly, and Garrick.









Release Date: April 20, 2012 (limited/VOD) 
Studio: Magnolia Pictures 
Director: Kevin Macdonald 
Screenwriter: Not Available 
Starring: Bob Marley 
Genre: Documentary, Musical 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/bobmarleymovie


Plot Summary: Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. "Marley" is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best. 

From Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September," "The Last King of Scotland") comes the story of a towering figure of musical history, whose music and message has transcended different cultures, languages and creeds to resonate around the world today as powerfully as when he was alive.

***


If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.

Follow Me on Pinterest

Thank you!

April 17, 2012

Marcus and the Amazons has made the cut!




The Kart Foundation has published the 2011 Kart Kids Book List, and from over a thousand entries, Marcus and the Amazons, has been chosen as one of the thirty-two recommended titles for 2011.


I am deeply grateful to be included on this list. I hope that Marcus's story, which the Kart judges described as an "adventure fable that combines Caribbean & North American history while honoring the values of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Marcus Garvey," will inspire young readers to follow the example of these two great leaders, my heroes, who devoted their lives to freedom and justice.



"Set the captives free!"




***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 16, 2012

Save the Date! April 20, 2012: Release of Marley Movie





I 'm really excited about the new film, Marley: The Life, Music and Legacy of Bob Marley, which will be released this week.Friday (4/20/2012).

 Here are two trailers. In the first, Neville Garrick speaks about Bob's exile in London (1977) and Cindy Breakspeare gives background information about Bob's decision. I also learned about Bob's work habits and his creative process. 






Jimmy Cliff and Bunny Wailer talk about the early days of the Wailers. Jimmy Cliff also reveals a nugget of information about Bob that I'd never known before.





Release Date: April 20, 2012 (limited/VOD) 
Studio: Magnolia Pictures 
Director: Kevin Macdonald 
Screenwriter: Not Available 
Starring: Bob Marley 
Genre: Documentary, Musical 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/bobmarleymovie


Plot Summary: Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. "Marley" is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best. 

From Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland) comes the story of a towering figure of musical history, whose music and message has transcended different cultures, languages and creeds to resonate around the world today as powerfully as when he was alive.



***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 13, 2012

The Florida Poets Project: Geoffrey Philp




My heartfelt thanks to Professor Maurice O'Sullivan of Rollins College for including me in this project; Bill Dudley for shooting, editing, and directing the video, and the sponsors of this grant:


The Florida Poets Project has been funded by a grant from the
Central Florida English Speaking Union
Drey Endowment

Executive Producer Maurice O'Sullivan
Production Assistant Susan M. Fowler
Shot and Directed by Bill Dudley






***



If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!

April 11, 2012

New Book: Oh Gad! by Joanne C. Hillhouse





Oh Gad! by Joanne C. Hillhouse


Description


A stirring novel about a woman facing cross-cultural odds and redefining everything she understands about her family, herself, and the country she’s never really been able to call home.


Nikki Baltimore was born in Antigua but grew up with her dad in the United States. With each year, she’s grown further apart from her mother and maternal siblings, potters in rural Antigua.


Her mother’s funeral brings Nikki back to the island, and, at a professional and personal crossroads, she makes the impulsive decision to stay after being offered a job by the ruling government. Soon, Nikki is embroiled in a hurricane of an existence which includes a political hot potato, confusion in her romantic life, and deepening involvement in the lives of the family she left behind. Will Nikki eventually find her place in the chaos and begin to plant the roots that have escaped her all her life? 


Product Details
Strebor Books, April 2012
Trade Paperback, 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1593093918
ISBN-13: 9781593093914



Oh Gad! is also available through Amazon and other booksellers
I also invite you to visit her online pages: http://www.jhohadli.com and http://www.facebook.com/JoanneCHillhouse




***




If you enjoyed this post, check out my page on Amazon. I’d also be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook.


Follow Me on Pinterest


Thank you!