The combination of social movements or advocacy and music isn’t anything new…. as long as there have been causes people are passionate about, someone will be right there to write a song about it.  Sometimes though, the meaning behind a song as the original lyricist wrote it isn’t always the way it will be most remembered.

For my birthday this year Lydia got me tickets to “The Killers” concert in Seattle coming up later this week.  The Killers have become a favorite of mine over the last few years, often being my “go to music” regardless of mood or setting.  If you haven’t heard the band’s newest album “Day in Age“, go take a peek, every song stands on its own and is fun to listen to. It should be a great show…. you’ll have to ask me how it goes!

The social justice movement “Invisible Children” is focused on exposing atrocities around the world, specifically the exploitation of children in third world countries.  One of their main focuses and subject of the film that initially launched the whole organization is regular abduction of children in northern Uganda by a local terrorist group. This group then uses these children as soldiers in their long running conflict with the Ugandan government. As a response children between the ages of 3 and 17 will walk up to 12 mi daily from internally displaced person camps to larger towns in search of safety. In 2006 Invisible Children organized an event across the United States in order to draw US Foreign Policy attention to this issue, thousands of people in over 40 cities commuted to a central location in their town and slept outside. The demonstration drew significant media attention and was a powerful kickoff to the groups new voice in advocacy.

Merging the two: After the 2006 event Invisible Children created a online video to connect with those who participated, and recap what had been done. The video features a Killers song entitled “All These Things That I’ve Done” in which the anthem line ‘I got soul but I’m not a soldier’ is lip-synced by students in the US, along with children in Uganda. It takes the song from being background music to becoming the driving force behind the video, giving new meaning to the lyrics as it goes – making the song about the children in Uganda who struggle every day to avoid becoming a soldier in a war they don’t want to fight. Watching this video on the Invisible Children website a few years back was the first time I had heard the song and was thrilled a few months later when listening to “Hot Fuss” and realized what the connection was.

Take a look at the video below, its pretty sweet.

links:

(click here) for more info on Invisible Children, their movie and upcoming events

(click here) for full lyrics to “All These Things that I’ve Done” by the Killers

(click here) for more info on the band “The Killers”

I seem to have hit some type of internet treasure cove of comedy this evening, lots of quality stuff….  why not share?

“Look Around You” (Video)

A 2005 BBC comedy that poses itself as a 1980’s science and technology educational program… It’s like the Office meets “321 Contact”.  It’s been shown recently on Adult Swim as well.

“Dynamic Pawn” (Video)

A hidden web gem, this amazing Pawn shop commercial must be from another decade itself, but don’t take it’s advice on how to choose a gift for your loved one. (Crazy Bruce’s Liquor also gets a nod for amazing commercial).

“You Look Nice Today” (Website)

It’s always good to find a quality podcast, and I think this one might be going on heavy rotation on my iPod soon.  The website describes the show this way; “You Look Nice Today is an audio-based Journal of Emotional Hygiene… The three hosts met on Twitter.com, and soon realized that none of them had anything better to do than this. And Twitter.”  If this just sounds like a few nerds recording a podcast, you’re right… but its very funny, and occasionally/regularly features John Hodgeman.

“Stuff That Insists On Being Looked At” (Website)

A Cool photoblog

Funny Newspaper Ad Parody (Video)

Ok, this one somehow makes me very happy, and is incredibly funny…. but it isn’t a video about “Kittens inspired by Kittens” so I don’t get it.  Maybe its because I want to have a snobby East Coast sense of humor – I think this might fall into that category. Regardless, it makes fun of newspapers – and features Michael Ian Black, along with Paul Rudd… so it must be good.

“Japanese Dole Banana Commercial” (Video)

Late addition to this evening’s list – but talk about hidden internet jems, this video probably isn’t even very searchable in YouTube because the entire description and title are in Japanese…. but its one of the greatest commercials in all time.  If all retailers in the US could advertise like this, there would be no recession.

Man, more food posts – it really has been a fun month experimenting with cooking at home more and messing around with recipes.  We made this latest meal for our small group bible study on Tuesday night because we had most of the ingredients already at home. Good thing it worked out and tasted great… otherwise we might have been banned from bringing dinner again.

• 1.5 lbs bulk Italian sausage or lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 2 dried)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or 2 dried)
• 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 Cans (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 Cans (10 oz) tomato puree
• 1/4 cup water

• 2 eggs
• 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese (or 2 cups small curd cottage cheese)
• 1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano

• enough lasagna noodles to make 3 layers in a 13×9 pan (8 or 12 noodles, depending on brand)

1. Cook beef, and onion in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until brown; drain, set aside
2. Brown garlic, Mix Tomatoes, tomato puree, water; stir.  Add 3 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, red pepper, and sugar, simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
3. Combine half of tomato mixture with cooked ground beef or sausage.
4. Cook lasagna noodles as directed by the box (or set aside noodles that don’t need to be pre-cooked)
5. In medium bowl, beat eggs. Sir in ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, oregano, and remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley.
6. Spread 1/2 of the meat&tomato mixture (about 2 cups) on the bottom of a 13×9x2 baking dish. (Leaving 1/2 meat/tomato mixture, along with all of the “just tomato” mixture).
7. cover sauce with one layer of noodles (approx 4 noodles)
8. spread one half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add 1/2 of the “just tomato” mixture, and sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella, add another layer of noodles.
9. spread second half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add the second half of meat/tomato mixture, and add final layer of noodles.
10. spread second half of “just tomato” mixture over noodles, sprinkle with final cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
11. Bake, covered with foil at 350 degrees, 30 minutes for boiled noodles – 50-60 minutes for uncooked noodles until bubbly.  Uncover, and continue cooking until cheese is melted.  Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.  Makes 10 servings.