SeaBiscuit

Motto: "You know, everybody thinks we found this broken-down horse and fixed him, but we didn't. He fixed us. Everyone of us. And I guess, in a way, we kind of fixed each other too." John (Red) Pollard

Vincent, I've seen seen the movie you told me about, Sea Biscuit (2003), just today, on the day when you left.

It is a very nice movie about a great horse, Sea Biscuit (1933-1947), the 1938 Horse of the Year (following the famous one-on-one match-up against War Admiral on November 1, 1938). It was directed by Gary Ross, with a great casting: Tobey Maguire star of Spider Man (as jokey Red Pollard), Jeff Bridges (Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard), Chris Cooper (Seabiscuit's trainer, Tom Smith) and Elisabeth Banks (as Marcela Howard).
You can read the Roger Ebert's review here (and another one here) and see some pictures here.
It is based on the book SeaBiscuit by Laura Hillenbrandt, a great read also. An interview with her is here.

Sea Biscuit was a hard-luck hero for Depression-era America being the first horse to top $400,000 in winnings. An unlikely winner with short legs, perpetually-bent knees, and an oddball gait, Seabiscuit became a national celebrity. In six years of triumphs and disasters, Seabiscuit compiled 33 wins, 15 second places, and 13 thirds in an incredible 89 races. You can hear the most important one's on radio and see some vintage photos on TIME.

Something I found about it:
"Initially dismissed as lazy, it took the understanding of trainer Tom Smith to bring out the best in Sea Biscuit - and create an American legend. He raced at a time when unemployment and poverty stalked the land, but his sheer will to win transformed him from mere horse to inspiration. He wasn't unbeatable, and at times it looked as though injuries might overwhelm him, but his fighting spirit saw him through, including spectacular wins over War Admiral at Pimlico and Kayak II at Santa Anita."
and
"In the spring of 1939 Red Pollard married his private duty nurse, Agnes Conlon, who cared for him after he shattered his leg. The two married at Charles Howard's ranch in Ridgewood, California. The movie unfortunately omitted Agnes, who did play a significant part in Pollard's recovery and return to the track. It was actually Agnes who hung the medal of Saint Christopher around Pollard's neck for good luck on the day of Seabiscuit's last race, not Charles Howard's wife. Agnes and Red had two children, a daughter born in 1940 and son born several years later."

Seabiscuit died May 18, 1947, at the age of 14.

July 18th - Mandela Day

This weekend, on July 18th, was Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday.

Some of the world’s top musical talent gathered in New York to put on a three-hour spectacle celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday and life as well as the launch of the Mandela Day initiative.

Mandela Day is about ordinary people being positive. In short, Mandela Day celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an imprint.

46664 (four, double six, six four) was the prison number of Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Cape Town where he was held in captivity for 18 years. The issue in South Africa then was Apartheid. The issue today across the continent is AIDS. 30 million people in Africa are currently imprisoned by the HIV virus, a death sentence among the poor due to lack of affordable medicines -- since the start of the pandemic 2 decades ago, 17 million Africans have died. You can make a donation at 46664.

Thank you Vincent for visiting me on this special day and for the Great Heart moments spent together.

Johnny Clegg

Jonathan (Johnny) Clegg, born 7 June 1953 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, is a musician from South Africa, who has recorded and performed with his bands Juluka and Savuka. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc ("The White Zulu"), he is an important figure in South African popular music history, with songs that mix Zulu with English lyrics, and African with various Western European (such as Celtic) music styles.

Already in his youth, Johnny Clegg, a white, English-speaking person with what he called a "secular Jewish" upbringing in the UK, Israel, Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), Zambia and South Africa, became interested in Zulu street music and took part in traditional Zulu dance competitions.

As a young man, in the early stages of his musical career, he combined his music with the study of anthropology, a subject which he also taught for a while at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he was influenced, among others, by the work of David Webster, a social anthropologist who was assassinated in 1989.

Clegg formed the first racially mixed South African band, Juluka (Juluka means "sweat", and was the name of a bull owned by Mchunu) , with gardener and Zulu musician Sipho Mchunu. In 1976 they had their first hit single Woza Friday. Because it was frowned upon (although not actually forbidden by law) for racially mixed bands to perform in South Africa during the apartheid era, their first album Universal Men released in 1979 received no air play on the state owned SABC, but it became a word-of-mouth hit.

The album "Work for All" picked up on South African trade union slogans in the mid-80's. Even more explicit was the later Savuka album Third World Child in 1987, with songs like "Asimbonanga" ("We haven't seen him"), which called for the release of Nelson Mandela, and which called out the names of three representative martyrs of the South African liberation struggle - Steve Biko, Victoria Mxenge, and Neil Aggett.

Juluka were able to tour in Europe and had two platinum and five gold albums becoming an international success. Juluka was disbanded in 1986, when Mchunu was asked by his father to return home and herd the family goats, although Mchunu made some solo recordings afterwards. Clegg went on to form his second inter-racial band, Savuka, continuing to blend African music with European, especially Celtic, influences. Savuka is based on the Zulu word for "we have risen" or "we have awakened".
The Savuka albums Shadow Man (which sold 250,000 copies within a week after its release went on to sell more than 1,000,000 copies in France alone), and Cruel Crazy, Beautiful World were dealing with more romantic topics, including "Cruel Crazy Beautiful World", where a father gives a message to his son, "Dela" where the essence of love is explored.

His song Scatterlings of Africa was featured on the sound track to the 1988 academy award wining film Rain Man starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.In 2002 Clegg provided several songs and incidental background music for Jane Goodall's "Wild Chimpanzees" DVD.

In 2007, Clegg received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of the Witwatersrand. “It was a wonderful moment for me,” says Clegg. “The great irony for me is I don’t read a note of music! My music comes to me like it does to many Africans, through ear and feeling.” You can read an interview with Wits’ music man Johnny Clegg (or here).

46664 (four, double six, six four) is a series of AIDS charity concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African musicians in the 2000s.

2nd 46664 Concert 19.03.2005 in Fanfourt, SA

You can see more concert photos captured at Fête de l'humanité and at the Festival of World Sacred Music 2007.
On YouTube you can enjoy IMPI, Scatterlings of Africa, Great Heart, Dela (It means "Come Closer" in Zulu), Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World, Asimbonanga, Zulu Dance (Isoka liyatatazela'), December African Rain, In my African Dream, Siyayilanda and Kilimanjaro.
And others: Circle of Light, Devana, I Call Your Name, Inkunzi Ayihlabi Ngokumisa, Gijim'beke, Makhabeleni, Moliva, Sonqoba, Thula 'Mtanami, Unkosibomvu The Red King, Uwinile Unumber One, Wangizonda, Woza friday.

I enjoyed the most the documentaries and interviews Un Zoulou Blanc - The Dancer, Chez Ses Freres 1987, Zulu Street Guitar Songs, Interview 1 & 2, Interview Australia Tour 2005 1 - 2 - 3, Interview La Voix De La Liberte 1988, Report Festival 'Fiesta Sète' 2007, Asimbonanga & Nelson Mandela, Dis Hoe Dit Is, docu from Renaud 1987 (2), Interview France 12/2007, Oor Die Kole 1 & 2 and Scatterlings of Africa.

You can find more informations about him on the Official Johnny Clegg Website, Johnny Clegg Blog, Scatterlings Club, johnnyclegg.de.vu and In my African Dream website.

Labuat - Soy tu aire

Herraiz & Soto y Badabing! han creado el site promocional del primer single de Labuat, ex cantante del programa OT, llamado Soy tu aire. Un site interactivo bajo un estilo limpio y efectivo. Y premio FWA!

Soy tu aire, soy de agua
hago surcos pequeñitos en la cara
derretida de tus canas
y voy entrando poco a poco,
muy poquito en tus cosquillas,
me acomodo, te incomodo, pa' que rías
y me cuelo en este enredo sin llamar,
sin avisar.
Soy tu aire, soy tu agua,
te me bebes, te atraganto
me respiras te salpico
te me tragas
y me entretengo juego un rato en tus recuerdos
me los pongo en mis enaguas,
hago trizas tus lamentos, creo fantasías locas
y confundo tu memoria con la punta de mis besos.

soy del aire
soy del agua
soy del aire
soy del agua

Pues lo dicen no me ates que me escapo entre medio de tus dedos
impasible te convierto lo imposible en impensado
y construyo entre un seguro un futuro improvisado
en que uno y uno no hagan dos
y los demás estén de mas
ya no sea nadie nadie nadie nadie nadie.

soy tu aire
soy tu agua
soy tu aire
soy tu agua
soy tu aire
soy tu agua...