music

Bruja Full Moon Magic Playlist

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Bruja Full Moon Magic Playlist

Between this being Palindrome Week, with Friday the 13th yesterday, the full moon today, and my birthday being this past week, it’s been feeling like a magical time.

Also, there were lots of sudden out of the blue endings and beginnings in my life during this time. Something is in the air.

I have a playlist on Amazon that I listen to while I’m driving. Several of the songs I found on my monthly Cosmic Playlists by Chani Nicholas. I listen to Virgo, my sun sign and Taurus, my rising sign. It’s a great way to find new to me music and inspired me to create a new playlist.

There were some witchy songs that I took from the driving list and moved to a separate playlist celebrating the full moon mood and bruja magic. Below is a list of the songs and a link to it on Spotify if you’d like to listen to it too. The 17 songs take an hour and twelve minutes to play. Enjoy!

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  1. I Put A Spell On You – Nina Simone
  2. Witchcraft – Frank Sinatra
  3. Moondance – Van Morrison
  4. Black Magic Woman – Santana
  5. Brujas – Princess Nokia
  6. Sufi Woman – Jidenna
  7. That Magic – India.Arie
  8. Primavera – Santana
  9. Strange Magic – Electric Light Orchestra
  10. Pink Moon – Nick Drake
  11. Equinox – John Coltrane
  12. Shanti /Ashtangi – Madonna
  13. Witchy Woman – Eagles
  14. Destiny – Zero 7, Sia, Sophie Barker
  15. Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac
  16. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
  17. Incantation – Deva Premal

Subway Stories: These MBTA Days

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MBTA Sign for JFK/UMass station.

Tuesday morning I got a text from a friend warning me about the Red Line because of a derailment. The T is always a mess and the Green Line had just derailed a few days before. Unfortunately, this has become a regular thing. So I figured more of the same.

Then I looked at Twitter and saw MBTA and Red Line trending, but not just locally in Boston. Nationally. That’s never good.

Because of the Wollaston Station renovation, for more than a year my commute is negatively impacted and each additional situation makes it that much worse. It’s so frustrating that the powers that be, who could change things, don’t seem to care at all.

Each time something happens, they talk about how things are improving and for us to be patient. But they are not taking the train. It’s also dangerous. Is it going to take a mass casualty situation with  multiple people killed and injured for something to really change? I really hope not.

It’s that much more of a slap in the face, when we are told to seek alternate transportation. If we had alternate transportation, we would use it! Now! If parking downtown were more affordable and the traffic were not so bad, I would drive. Every day!

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A Song Is Born

Anyway, yesterday morning I woke up and the theme from All in the Family was in my head for whatever strange reason and I kept humming it.

Then I started thinking about the horrible commute I would soon be facing and the words to the theme song – Those Were The Days.

“Someone should switch the words to something about the T,” I thought. Then I started thinking about lyrics. Long story short. I am a writer. However I never thought of myself as a song writer.

But when words start swirling around in my head and I can’t get them out, the best way to stop the chatter is to write them down and do something with them.

So I wrote lyrics for a song called These MBTA Days to the tune of Those Were The Days for my own sanity and amusement. Hope you enjoy them too! 🎶

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Mixed signals you do send.
I hope we don’t have a tragic end.
You make me wait over and over again.
These MBTA days.

Me with an awful hangnail.
So of course you decide to derail.
We could use a leader like Elizabeth Warren who always has a good plan.

Remember the three days the T ran great?
Now I try to contain my rage.
When I get home, I’ll burn some sage.
To wipe away these MBTA days!

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The New 97.7 Radio Station Mutes R. Kelly

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For decades I’ve heard the stories about R. Kelly. Allegations of his abuse of underage girls have only increased over time.

I don’t have cable, so I haven’t seen Surviving R. Kelly but many that I follow on Twitter have been watching it. From what I have read, R. Kelly is a monster with no conscious. I don’t understand how he has gotten away with so much for so long. Maybe now a turning point has been reached. The docuseries has been widely watched.

A ThinkProgress story about the success of the programs describes how part of the problem with R. Kelly is that people literally keep listening to him and not the victims.

What do we do with the theoretically singular and indispensable gifts of men who also happen to be predators? Among diehard fans of some artistic icons, a belief persists that the talent of one man is such a rare and precious resource that must be preserved at any cost. “Separate the artist from the art,” they advise. As if it were so simple, like the latter can be surgically extricated from the body that produced it so as to be cherished all by itself, stripped of its context and consequence.

But with Kelly, the idea of such clean division feels particularly absurd. His music — and the success it brought — lured in victims, charmed a distractible press, and enabled his reportedly prolific and ongoing violence. His art acted as a smokescreen and a bluff.

The #MuteRKelly Movement was started in July 2017 by Oronike Odeleye, when he started a petition to get R. Kelly’s music off the air in Atlanta. The movement has spread and more stations are taking his music off the air.

My favorite local music station here in Boston is The New 97.7. In the past they have played R. Kelly. I admit to enjoying his music over the years. It’s been a standard at parties and weddings for so long. Many of us have good memories tied up in his music. But this man and his music can no longer be celebrated. The more I learn about him, the more it feels wrong listening to him.

A couple of days ago I tweeted at the station and it’s parent company iHeartRADIO asking why they are still playing him and expressing my feelings about his music. Today I received a tweet in response stating, “We have officially pulled R. Kelly from our playlist.”

It’s not a huge consequence. But it’s something. And I’m very appreciative that The New 97.7 has taken a stand. We’re moving in the right direction.

{You Pick Six} An Interview with Entrepreneur: Darryl Settles

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You may not recognize his name right away. But if you’ve been in the Boston area for any period of time, it’s virtually impossible not to know the work of Darryl Settles. His company, Catalyst Ventures Development (CVD) is the umbrella organization for his many business ventures.

For years, Darryl has had a hand in shaping the landscape of Boston’s food and entertainment scene, including being the creator and founder of the Beantown Jazz Festival back in 2001.

Boston’s iconic soul food restaurant Bob the Chef went through lots of name changes and ownership over the decades. Yet, the spirit lives on. Transformed by Darryl, he brought it to the 21st century as Darryl’s Corner Bar and Kitchen, where new generations and old continue to enjoy southern comfort food, cocktails and jazz.

He’s part of the new ownership of Slade’s Bar & Grill and though no longer affiliated, he’s a founding partner of Beehive Boston.

Anyone who follows the food business sees restaurants quickly come and go. I was curious to learn more about someone with such success and longevity in this industry and Darryl was nice enough to oblige. So, let’s resume this ongoing series with the 18th interview of You Pick Six.

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What is a favorite dessert?
Red Velvet Cake

What is some of the best advice you’ve ever received?
Hang around smarter people and LISTEN!

What three people do you admire most?
That is hard to narrow down, but Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, and Nelson Mandela come to mind. Each were/are great, respectful, and smart men whom took a lot of “heat” but always kept their focus and helped make the world a better place!

What do you think that most people don’t understand about food?
Food always tastes better when you are happy and with family and/or great friends.

Tell me about what you’re working on now.
I am developing an online platform to connect scaled minority businesses to both private and public sectors to help level the playing field and build wealth in our communities of color.

Tell me about where you grew up.
I grew up in Aiken, S.C., a very nice community, but worked on weekends and during the summers on my grandfather’s farms in the country. He was my hero and helped develop my work ethic.

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Thank you so much for participating Darryl!

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Photos: Provided by Darryl Settles.

May Your Saturday ….

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Saturday blog post. Collage from Hymn by VeilHymn.

Be filled with peace and blessings. Because it’s been a week. So grateful that it’s Saturday, so I can rest and gather my reserves.

One of my favorite tweets from yesterday said that this week has been a very long month. That about sums it up for me on many fronts. From the political to the personal. I’m waiting on some test results and hope for so happy that I got good news next this week!

On the blog Swissmiss, I recently found a video called Hymn by VeilHymn. What a beautiful piece of art.

The visuals are stunning and the music is mesmerizing. Hypnotic. Soothing. Gentle. Everything this week was not. If you have a few minutes, take a look and get lost in it. I really like the chorus.

It’s in your mind
And who knows if that’s the thing that’s right
All you know is what you think is inside
You just might lose your mind
Better just forget it

Today is also a new moon, so it’s also a great time to set intentions for the future.

Happy weekend to you.

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Photo Credit: VeilHymn