Small College closes leaving small town in crisis. Seeking creative visionaries to inspire hope, collaborate with locals, and create new ways of learning and living.

On June 29, 2007, Sheldon Jackson College closed its doors, terminating its employees with less than a day's notice. The 130 year old historic campus is at risk of being demolished to make way for new development, and dedicated students, faculty and staff are searching for a new ways to teach and learn.   Read more...

Who would have thought there are bagpipes in Iran? I certainly didn't. Thanks to Womex, this piece of ignorance is a thing of the past. Saeed Shanbehzadeh and his troupe from the south of Iran played a dazzling set in the Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville last Thursday. In ages/exchange/postings/PA253754-2.jpg" class="imageLeft" align="left" />contrast with the subtle melismatics of Persian classical music, the combination of repetitive drum patterns and ecstatic dancing gives their music an almost African flavor. Saeed started the performance with a solo on the neyjofti (a double flute), using his own cheeks as a "bag" for these "pipes".   Read more...

Since last Tuesday I am in Seville, Spain to attend the annual World Music Expo (Womex). This year's crop was indeed very good, with some spectacular highlights that will no doubt make their appearance on many world music festivals around the globe.   Read more...

For those of you who haven't caught on to the MP3 wave and still enjoy a nice CD, I recommend that you check out CDBaby.com. It's my all time favorite music store, next to Tower Records, that is.

I grew up in Sacramento, CA where the first Tower Records was established. They later took over a whole neighborhood block and added a Tower Books, Tower Records, Tower Video and even a Tower Theater & cafe! It was a great place for a teenager, at the time, to hang out. I later got a job there that I loved. I remember the excitement I had every time I would sift through the CDs and find some rare album. Tower also turned me on to new music when they introduced their listening stations. I always felt like they kept true to their musical roots, so I was saddened to see them lose their business.   Read more...

Sometimes I have the best intentions of "saving the environment" but I never really know where to begin. I've tried turning off my lights when I leave a room. I've tried raking my leaves instead of using my leaf blower, but my back always gets sore. I've tried not running my air conditioner, not driving my car, not using poison to kill my kitchen mice, not leaving my oven door open too long. I've even tried using a carpool, but my neighbors get annoyed with my constant singing.

I've tried everything. The only thing I've been successful at has been my constant obsession with email. My argument is always that I'm trying to save the environment, get off my back!   Read more...

During a recent trip to Italy I had the pleasure of being introduced to two great musicians who not only treated me to a wonderful Sicilian meal, but also taught me a few things I had been completely unaware of. The Mancuso brothers hail from Sicily, but emigrated to England in their late teens, where they worked in various factories to escape the poverty of their home village. It was there, and later in Spain, that they started to explore the possibility of blending the vocal tradition from their roots with various other genres and styles, such as Andalucian music and jazz.   Read more...

Today is Bosses Day in the US, which in fact (to my surprise) is a national holiday. It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their superior for being kind and fair throughout the year. Some would also say that its a great way to score points with your boss. But isn't this expression of gratitude also solidifying the gap between the "workers" and the "superiors"?   Read more...

When industrial engineer Ernie Meadows and wife Marj lost their daughter Ellen in a car accident, they created a legacy in her memory, the LN-4 Prosthetic Hand. The hand, a simple mechanical device, is being used to fit victims of land mines in Africa and Asia. Nearly 2000 people are involved in land mine accidents every month. 95% are civilians, most are children. Two movable mechanical digits interlock between three immobile digits. A ratchet mechanism causes the movable digits to grasp. The hand is simple and inexpensive. Many amputees have been able to return to work. They feed themselves, tie shoelaces and live full lives. Funds are needed by the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation for production; the hands are delivered and fitted personally by medical members of three Rotary International Districts in Oregon and California.

For more information: www.LN-4.org. Donations are tax deductible.   Read more...

Today, October 15th, is the first ever Blog Action Day where bloggers around the web are uniting to put a single important issue on everyone's mind. This year, the focus is on the environment. The aim of this project is to get everyone talking towards a better future. We've invited Ode's own Readers Bloggers to participate in this worldwide discussion on the environment. Check out our Readers Blog for the latest entries.   Read more...

Last night I traveled to Rotterdam to see Hamilton de Holanda and his quintet from Brazil during their brief tour of the Netherlands and Belgium. This was the second time I saw them live; the first time after their spectacular showcase at last year's Womex (World Music Expo) in Seville. They played only new material from their forthcoming album. The tightness of the performance became even more impressive when Hamilton told me afterwards that this was just the third time they had played the new pieces live.   Read more...

From the Near East and North Africa, the Arab and Muslim worlds, Israel and Palestine come stories of nonviolent action and resistance to oppression. "As the pages of this year's War Resisters League calendar turn, we must continue to listen and narrate the stories of those who've borne, most directly, the consequences of war. The stories herein help us imagine new and life-giving history," writes Voices for Creative Nonviolence's Kathy Kelly in her introduction. "The individuals and projects included in this calendar show that people in the Middle East have not given up on each other or on the desire to live in peace with each other and everyone else," continues the calendar editor, Jim Haber in the preface. Stephen Zunes concludes in his afterword, "As the United States continues to make war against peoples and nations of the greater Middle East, it is incumbent upon nonviolent activists in the United States to familiarize ourselves further with this impressive and ongoing history of nonviolent resistance by Middle Eastern peoples."

Inside WRL's 2008 Peace Calendar you will find contemporary and historical profiles and stories about:   Read more...

Life as a Muslim in post 9/11 America - challenging to say the least! It's an uphill battle to counter the stereotypes perpetuated by a xenophobic media whilst simultaneously countering the narrow, intolerant version of Islam perpetuated by some fanatical Muslims and mosques in America!

My family decided to take some positive steps to make sure our voice, the voice of Moderate Muslims, was heard - we decided to write a book - entertaining, educational, and empowering for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Hence 'The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook' was born - please visit www.theamth.com to read the reviews and feedback. Librarians and educators have welcomed it as a much needed resource to combat ignorance & shatter stereotypes about Muslims in the West.   Read more...

A Bulgarian teacher is using the country's teachers' strike which started early October (2007) as a case highlighting citizens' rights in so-called "Street Law" discussions with her 10th form pupils.

"Our strike is clearly connected to the future of education in Bulgaria," says Mariana Ivanova (bottom right in the picture) of Emilian Stanev high school in Sofia.   Read more...

It's that time! Announcing the special collaboration between myself and online green fashion source Greenloop for the upcoming Portland Fashion Week (which I first mentioned last week in my exclusive interview with PFW's Executive Director). Take a gander at our press release and find out all the juicy details.   Read more...

On September 25, 2007, Ode celebrated its 100th Dutch edition with a party in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Since Ode’s inception in 1995, the magazine has spread worldwide. Ode editors comment on the event...   Read more...

I wanted to share with you these folks who are with Public Access TV in Burlinton Vermont.

"I want to let you know that my colleague, Nat, and I are traveling to Cape Coast, Ghana in November. We will work with the first and only independent community access station in the country. The access station, Coastal Television, has been on the air since May. We will teach at their "Television School" and encourage community members to take advantage of this new great asset in their community. Since they are far from the "major" television stations in the big city, the stories of the folks in southern Ghana are rarely told. The advent of this station in southern Ghana has revolutionary value and is very exciting!   Read more...

What if your favorite charity got a penny every time you searched the web...without even opening your pocket? Today I just came across a new search engine called www.goodsearch.com that thought of a brilliant way to use advertising money - that is currently flooding the web - to good use. Ken Ramberg (the former founder of JOBTRAK, now a division of Monster.com) and JJ Ramberg (an MSNBC anchor and the former Director of Marketing at Cooking.com) have set up a new search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue to charities of your choice. Better yet – the search engine is powered by Yahoo!, so you know you are getting good search results.   Read more...

Randy Pausch, a 46-year-old computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has terminal cancer and expects to live for just a few more months. He gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.   Read more...

I know it's a little early - and I don't even celebrate it myself! - but Christmas is not far off now. There are various reasons for not celebrating it, but the main ones are:

1. It is presently a celebration of the misunderstood teachings of Jesus, which are in fact (as the Gospel of Thomas points out) an attempt to awaken consciousness in everyone;   Read more...