Skyeview

05.25.08
JazzReggaeFest at UCLA | Sunday & Monday
@ UCLA INTRAMURAL FIELD

The 22nd Annual JazzReggae Festival at UCLA, a Weekend of Peace, Love, and Music, is rapidly approaching Memorial Day Weekend. The student-run festival attracts over 30,000 attendees annually and features some of the most prominent artists from around the world, an international food, arts, and crafts fair, and the warm LA sun, creating an experience like none other. This year’s festival features The Roots, Stephen Marley, John Densmore from The Doors with Tribaljazz, Capleton, Mr. Vegas, Goapele, Immortal Technique, Alaine, Amos Lee, Selena Serrano, MC Commander, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. KCRW DJ and Entourage Music Supervisor Garth Trinidad will host the Jam Day.

Event Information:
Sunday, May 25, 2008
2 Day Event
11:00 PM – 7:00 PM
All Ages
cover: $25.00 | Advance Tickets:$25 Day of Events: $35 Two-Day Presale:$45
music: Reggae & Hip Hop

Venue Information:
UCLA INTRAMURAL FIELD
308 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90024

The Amsterdam Roots Festival is an ideal travel destination especially for a short 3-4 day trip. Europe bound travelers should definitely consider this festival as a way to stretch your travel dollar and enjoy the excitement of summer fun on the continent!

Budget Traveler Tip
To offset the weak US dollar consider prepaying lodging and ground transportation expenses. Take particular note of the FREE open-air festival at the Oosterpark in the forwarded announcement below. Come on you can do it!

—

Amsterdam Roots Festival 2008
June 14-21, 2008

African stars Baaba Maal and Oumou Sangare at 11th edition

11th edition of Amsterdam Roots Festival
The Amsterdam Roots Festival has been one of the leading international music festivals for ten years now. The festival presents pioneering developments within world music for a large and varied audience. The mix of ethnic backgrounds, music styles and the contact between the different population groups has become essential for the festival.

From Saturday 14 through Saturday 21 June 2008 the 11th edition brings around 60 concerts at the Concertgebouw, Tropentheater, Melkweg and Paradiso and a large-scale free open air festival at the Oosterpark: Roots Open Air. In addition there is a supporting programme (films and photo exhibition) and an Off-Roots programme. In 2007 the festival attracted 65,000 visitors; 58,000 of which for Roots Open Air.

The goods were delivered last night at the SF Citadel! The much anticipated annual fundraiser event would haven been an excellent subject for research on sex positive women’s space, particularly as it relates to the visibility of lesbians of color in this type of environment. Kinky colored gurls were in the da haus. The majority I identified was of African descent, East Asian descent, South Asian, and some Latinas.

 I didn’t get the impression there were many wallflowers in attendance. Novice and seasoned kinsters alike were sociable, flirtatious and many appeared to be excited about attending the de facto spring/summer kick off event for the Bay Area women’s play party scene.

The event was skillfully and expertly produced. The MC’s Indigo Blue and
Midori demonstrated their many years experience in producing this type of event. They kept everyone on a slow but steady simmer. A ton of money was raised, the event sponsors donated LOADS of first rate and high quality raffle prizes, the Selector played an excellent set during the
erotic dance performances that got everybody in the mood for sump’ting.
Delicious eye candy on both levels of the very well equipped safer sex space.

There appeared to be a range of sexual expressions amongst the folks but clearly FEMME TOPS in DELICIOUS and SEXY attire dominated (pun intended) the play space at least during the couple of hours I was there–which is just fine with me because noting melts this switch butta more than the undivided attention of a hot femme top. Yum!

Big Up SF Citadel for maintaining a safe and fabulous space for kinsters.

I LOVE the bay area.

[sw 4.26.08]

Come Play With Us!

The launch of Drum Sunday’s at the OPCM in downtown Oakland on 4/20 was a huge success. Perhaps you’ve heard of the circle but wasn’t sure if you’d fit in or have the “right” drum. No worry check out the slide show on the Women Drummers International web page and just take a look at the varied women and drums (conga, djembe, dumbek, ashiko, dun dun, and more). A limited number of loaner drums are available on site.

My buddy brought her 86 year old aunt who had the notion she would just sit in and listen, but couldn’t resist picking up a drum and joining in the fun. The group is lead by teachers who have experience leading players of various levels. A real talent too.

Drum Sundays
Come Participate In A Fun Afternoon Of Solo Performances And Drum
Dates: MAY 18 * JUNE 15 * 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Where: THE OAKLAND PUBLIC CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
1616 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94610
Cost: $10.00 – 25.00 Sliding Scale
APRIL 20th:
We had a great time with AFIA WALKING TREE & CAROLYN BRANDY

Come Play With Us!

The launch of Drum Sunday’s at the OPCM in downtown Oakland on 4/20 was a huge success.  Perhaps you’ve heard of the circle but wasn’t sure if you’d fit in or have the “right” drum.  No worry check out the slide show on the Women Drummers International web page and just take a look at the varied women and drums (conga, djembe, dumbek, ashiko, dun dun, and more).  A limited number of loaner drums are available on site.

My buddy brought her 86 year old aunt who had the notion she would just sit in and listen, but couldn’t resist picking up a drum and joining in the fun.  The group is lead by teachers who have experience leading players of various levels.  A real talent too.

Drum Sundays
Come Participate In A Fun Afternoon Of Solo Performances And Drum
Dates:  MAY 18 * JUNE 15 * 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Where: THE OAKLAND PUBLIC CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
1616 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94610
Cost: $10.00 – 25.00 Sliding Scale
APRIL 20th:
We had a great time with AFIA WALKING TREE & CAROLYN BRANDY

Lawd have mercy when I opened this file I didn’t know whether I wanted to touch, kiss, caress or SUCK this flower.  Lucious!

From the photographer:
I loved this flower when I was shooting, I love it even more now because it reminds me of a verse from Blake “to see beauty in a grain of sand and eternity in the palm of your hand”.  
© 2007 momo and momofoto. All Rights Reserved. Posted by Permission.

AfriScope

A free cultural events publication distributed in Paris and PDF versions available on-line.

——————

Confluences Maison des Arts Urbains
 

I discovered this place in February when I went to check out the “Mirage d’Europe” photography exhibit. The venue is a multipurpose exhibit, concert, film screening, theatre space and coffee house with a lively and welcoming art collective vibe.

I recommend visitors drop by Confluences to peruse the events flyer table. The table is actually a cleverly converted vintage soundboard.

Photo album

——————

Espace Canopy

My visit to Espace Canopy (2/26) provided me with an opportunity to engage in a very STIMULATING discussion that focused on the “Precious Cargo” exhibit installed by African American expatriate Cheryl Ann Bolden. I found Cheryl to be a fascinating woman who has lived in many countries and describes herself as a healer through her art, acupuncture and her life. She told me she traveled to the Europe to follow her man, but eventually moved to India to raise her daughter as a single mom. She is originally form the East Coast and has lived in Alaska, Portugal, England, China, and Australia.

 I can’t even describe how energizing it was for me to engage in such a provocative discussion on race matters, ethnic notions, artistic expression, and spiritual healing all in one evening with such an expressive group of people. The discussion was conducted in French and Americaine that allowed me the opportunity to practice my French listening comprehension and engage in conversation. I thought it rather amusing that folks wanted to hear me speak because of my African American west coast accent.

 
Afterwards I enjoyed a leisurely Indian dinner with the artist, friends, and gallery owners Mari-lène and Charlotte. What a splendid evening in Paris!

Photo album

 Location: University of California Santa Cruz

http://humwww.ucsc.edu/CultStudies/EVENTS/Spring08/FemandPorn.html
Feminism and Pornography Seminar Series
College Eight, Room 301
This Spring, the Feminism and Pornography Research Cluster will host a series of seminars featuring prominent feminists who have written about or worked within the fields of pornography and erotica. Annie Sprinkle, Susie Bright, Carol Leigh, Ann Simonton, and Diana Russell work with, celebrate, and are critical of pornography and erotica in very different ways. They represent classic voices in the feminist pornography debates of the 1980s and 1990s although they hail from opposing factions of this contentious exchange.

Friday, April 18, 3:30-5:30pm
Ann Simonton is a writer, lecturer, and activist in anti-pornography feminism. More than twenty years ago, she founded Media Watch, a non-profit group that advocates against sexism and racism in media of all kinds. Simonton’s lectures and her work with Media Watch have helped to educate the public about feminism and to foster media literacy and critical consumerism.

Friday, May 2, 3:30-5:30pm *Advance registration is recommended
Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D., is an author, artist, and sexologist as well as a former pornography performer and sex worker. She was a pivotal figure in the feminist sex-positive movement of the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, Dr. Sprinkle lectures widely as a sex educator. Her books include Post Porn Modernist and the award-winning Hardcore from the Heart: The Pleasures, Profits and Politics of Sex in Performance.
Carol Leigh (aka Scarlot Harlot) is a sex worker, artist, and activist who has been prominent in national and international sex work debates since the 1970s. Leigh is also a co-founder of BAY SWAN, Bay Area Sex Workers Advocacy Network, which organized sex worker rights advocates employed as outreach workers at various agencies. She has also been a spokeswoman for the sex workers’ rights organization COYOTE.

Friday, May 16, 3:30-5:30pm
Susie Bright is a sex educator and erotica author known as a pioneer of the sex-positive movement. She was co-founder and editor of the women’s sex magazine, On Our Backs, and currently hosts the weekly audio show, In Bed With Susie Bright. Her books include Mommy’s Little Girl: Susie Bright on Sex, Motherhood, Pornography, and Cherry Pie and Full Exposure: Opening Up to Sex and Creativity. Bright taught the first university class on the aesthetics and politics of pornography at the California Institute of the Arts in 1986, and she has taught courses on sexual representation at UCSC. Bright was the first female critic of the X-Rated Critics Organization in 1986; she wrote feminist reviews of erotic films for Penthouse Forum from 1986 to 1989.

Friday, May 30, 3:30-5:30pm
Diana Russell, Ph.D., is a renowned scholar and activist who has dedicated her life to combating violence against women and girls. She has written extensively on pornography as a cause of rape and sexual victimization and has been a central figure in anti-pornography feminism for decades. Her books include The Epidemic of Rape and Child Sexual Abuse in the United States; The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women; Dangerous Relationships: Pornography, Misogyny, and Rape; Against Pornography: The Evidence of Harm; and Making Violence Sexy: Feminist Views on Pornography.

We will read the books, articles, films, and other work produced by our speakers and will invite them to converse with us about their experiences of activism and scholarship as feminists working with, in, and against different pornographies. Contact Natalie Purcell at npurcell@ucsc.edu to join the Feminism and Pornography Research Cluster or to obtain more information about our Spring Speaker Series.
*We anticipate a large turnout for our May 2nd event, and space will be limited. Advance registration is recommended. Unregistered and/or late guests will not be admitted if space does not permit. E-mail npurcell@ucsc.edu to register.
Sponsored by the Feminism and Pornography Research Cluster
Please send your comments to the Center for Cultural Studies, cult@ucsc.edu.

It’s spring!  Come out and play!

Cheers!

——————-

Women’s Play Party April 25th

 Pleasure and Debauchery!

SEX & PLAY PARTY SAN FRANCISCO, CA

The chairs clear out, the lights go down, and the night gets naughtier! Two floors of sex and pervy play space with exotic furniture and kinky play things.

First time at a naughty party? Party Ambassadors will be there to answer your questions, show you around and help you make the best of the evening. Safer sex supplies and lube provided. Click HERE for tips and suggestions on what to expect from a women’s sex party.

Big Bang Ticket Bonus: Special play area reserved and open from 8pm, just for you!

——————-

Bay Area Women of Color Photo Project

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the “Bay Area Women of Color Photo Project”  is to expand the aesthetic and cultural perception promoting artistically tasteful photographic images of Women of Color in the fine arts and elegant lifestyles.

OUR VISION
We are bringing experienced Women of Color models together with fine art & elegant fetish professional photographers to facilitate the co-creation of images that demonstrate our strength, beauty and diversity.

Woman of Color models involved in various artistic and lifestyle communities are not coming forward for a variety of reasons, but chief amongst these is the fact that the images most commonly presented are of people unlike themselves. If Women of Color that are actively involved as Fine Art & Alternative Lifestyle Models could see other Women of Color participating, they would feel included and acknowledged.

Images have the power to shape our consciousness. These artist inspired images will represent diversity and demonstrate us in a positive and exciting manner.

By encouraging and facilitating the participation of fine arts photographers, elegant fetish photographers and experienced fine arts models there will be a higher quantity of high quality artistic images of Women of Color represented in fine arts and alternative media.

http://www.bayareawoc.com/GALLERY.html

When:
May 4th 4 p.m.

What:
Afternoon in honor of Barbara Christian and her writing: Gloria Bowles, Arlene Keizer, Thalia Kitrilakis, UlaTaylor and Marvina White will read from these passionate essays and remember with you Barbara’s legacy.*
*All royalties go to a scholarship in Barbara’s name for a student
Of Afro-American literature at UC Berekeley.

Where:
Cody’s Books
201 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley CA 94704
510-559-9500