Live From The Pacifika Coast

I have found the last few months very difficult to write something to share here in these Observations. These days and hours leading to today have been joyous, frustrating, rewarding and pensive. As the first month of the New Year is just about over I can feel the steam streaming around me from this welcomed pressure cooker I find myself in these days.



As I eagerly anticipate the birth of my first child in less than four months I find myself in familiar territory with unfamiliar feelings. Everything changes the experts all say and I can feel it already. I cannot tire of bonding with my wife’s Buddha belly and talking to my unborn child, sharing the sounds of Sade or The Beastie Boys, early music education with headphones. This is a beautiful time for the three of us.



Today from Phreeagent headquarters, the music of Vancouver based band Pacifika lends the rhythm to these observations. Pacifika recently shot a video for the song “Me Cai” which was directed by Phreeagent Douglas Thomson. The gorgeous video has already caught the eye of MuchMusic and the band is garnering major label attention with their great songs and musicianship, led by the sultry Latin vocals of Silvana Kane. Pacifika is rounded off with Adam Popowitz and Toby Peter, two brilliant musicians. The band has already uploaded their video to You Tube and can be found at their website myspace.com/pacifika

The band’s album Asuncion is to be released early this year and you can find out more information at www.pacifikaonline.com Doug has directed a beautiful and elegant video highlighting the musicianship and passionate stage presence of Silvana. Their songs are catchy, romantic and some of the very phreshest sounds coming from Canada.

I now find myself coming full circle with this last Phreeagent announcement regarding Doug Thomson and the video for Pacifika. We moved out here to the Pacific Coast seven years ago to set up new roots in the mountain air and haven’t looked back since. It has now been a year and half since Phreeagent officially went live and now things have come to somewhat of a close.

I am writing to announce that the Phreeagent Creative Group is going through some changes. I want to thank you ALL from the depths of my soul for your support, interest and taking part in my dream to start this company of creative Canadian artists. I am both honoured and very proud of the great work the agents have done in their careers over the last couple of years. With a baby on the way and new beginnings ahead, PCG will simply be an outlet for my own creativity, and possibly one or two other partners that may stay part of the group.

My passion for the Canadian arts will continue by highlighting different artists over time, featuring new music, new articles - all the same stuff, but I no longer can attempt to promote and market this fantastic group on my own. The website will be changed in the next little while to reflect this new direction.

As I move forward in search of a new working environment to contribute my skills and passion to create and communicate, I am very thankful for the journey thus far and I anticipate a new and challenging fresh start. With my next writing course scheduled for mid February maybe the writer’s dream will find a home once again.



Thanks for stopping by and reading. Hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Chico’s Observations.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised or S[no]w Luck Club Heats Things Up

I’m back! Chico’s Observations took a bit of a hiatus since the summer but I’m ready to bring these fingers to the keyboard again. Unfortunately the Observations are no longer coming from Granville Island as that full time contract came to a close this summer, but I’m still writing articles for them. The last few months I’ve been busy in school as I gear up to finish this business program in the spring. What else? Oh yeah – we’re having a baby!! Helloooo.
: )


So the last few months have been an incredible journey. My mind has been full of business plans, marketing strategies, cash flow statements and child education funds, images of the child’s first steps and first words - as I watch Keli transform into a beautiful, patient and happy mother. I’m very excited. Last week I put the headphones to her belly and I filled the womb with the soothing sounds of Sade. This week I’d like to introduce the belly to the sounds of Michael Franti and Spearhead’s new release – Yell Fire!



The last couple of weeks have been inspiring for new music. First I headed down to HMV and I picked up the new K-OS cd, Atlantis – Hymns For Disco, which I played the shit out of for a full week. In 2005, The Joyful Rebellion was my pick for album of the year and this year K-OS is again in my top 5 picks for 2006. Like Michael Franti, K-OS continues to communicate great songwriting, infectious melodies and the conscious words of a relentless generation. Songs like FlyPaper, Sunday Morning and Mirror In The Sky will leave you singing and humming for days, but hearing No Rain sent chills up my spine. Atlantis left me with Motown moments refueling my passion for Canadian talent. [Good thing you didn’t listen to that part of you telling you not to sing Kev]


Back in the 90’s when I was a radio dj at CHRW 94.7, my show always started with the Disposable Heroes Of Hyhoprisy track - Television, The Drug of a Nation. Last week the illustrious and infamous Victoria, the exotic belly dancer, was passing through Vancouver and stayed with us for part of her trip. While picking up some new torso thrusting Middle Eastern musical mantras for her upcoming shows, she also snagged the new Michael Franti & Spearhead release – Yell Fire. Well, I’ve listened to the album a good twelve times since she left. The best album of his career. Last year I was lucky enough to see Spearhead live with Xavier Rudd for an incredible show. The amazing positive energy emanating from the Commodore that night could be felt for days after. Franti’s lyrics like Bob Marley, Ben Harper and Buju Banton, continue to challenge and motivate us all to fight the good fight and clear the clutter that impedes us all from waking up to life.

A revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never sends you an omen
A revolution just arrived like the morning
Ring the alarm we come to wake up the snoring 


- Yell Fire by Michael Franti & Spearhead

So it’s obvious I’m hungry for music lately and I was fed more beaty morsels last night at the Media Club in Vancouver. I headed out into the ‘blizzard’ to hear the big daddy sounds of Calamalka, opening up for No Luck Club's cd release party. Mary Ancheta hit the stage first with her full band performing a funky and ambient set before surrendering to the lap tops and turntables that would be set loose by Calamalka and NLC. [I think I recognize Mary from my dayze in the music industry in Ontario – was she in a band called The Misunderstood?] As I write this, snow continues to dump on the streets of Vancouver and sticks around, unlike the usual one-day snowfall we see in the city that melts as it hits the pavement.

Calamalka started his set with some hefty beats from the get-go. Bopping heads were immediately sucked in to the new up-tempo drum and bass soundtrack that Campitelli would sew together over the next forty minutes. Calamalka mixed and swirled new material that made for a mystical musical score to the white winter wonderland that evening. Maybe a new album in the spring Campitelli?

After hanging out back stage with Calamalka we headed out front where the No Luck Club groove was drawing us in. It took me immediately to their merchandise booth where I took home their new cd, Prosperity. From the first few minutes of music I was hooked and I knew this was a cd I would enjoy. The instrumental hip-hop band including Trevor & Matt Chan and DJ Pluskratch turned up the heat in the room and had the audience shaking their feet.



As the snowflakes continue to fall today, I settle in to rub the buddah belly for some good fortune and prosperity. Judging from the experiences of the last three months, the last 24 hours - I’m already feeling pretty lucky. "Everyone deserves music."

Until next time – peace!
chico@phreeagent.com
www.phreeagent.com
Chico Observations


For more information on these great artists check out these websites.

CALAMALKA
K-OS
SPEARHEAD
NOLUCKCLUB
MARY ANCHETA

Return of the Raven

It’s been two weeks since I boarded a bus with 50 teenagers set out on a journey of discovery in the BC wilderness. As many of you know, I was a volunteer once again this year for the 17th Young Men’s Adventure Weekend (ymaw.com). I’ve also been working on an article about the organization and the people who founded the weekend. It’s a story that doesn’t know when to quit.

I first started on the article over a month ago when I was taking a creative writing class. My goal was to have the article finished in time to have it published before the actual weekend. That never happened. After our adventure a couple of weeks ago I finally realized that this story is developing and growing every day. This work never ends - it is part of us. It’s who we are. So the writing has been difficult, especially finding an ending and with the success of this years adventure, I see a few more pages being added once again.

I’ve been volunteering for YMAW for the last few years and have been fortunate enough to be part of the audio/visual team with Dorian Leslie. We have been documenting the event with photos and video footage, capturing the beauty of the great Canadian outdoors and the joyous mayhem of a hundred or so men working together in a wilderness adventure.

A couple of years ago we began adding interviews of the young men attending YMAW to our films, which opened our minds even more as we listened even closer to their words and their hearts. Words that would continue to educate and inspire us. This year we took it a step further and also interviewed the production team of men who volunteer each summer to produce the adventure.

So as I continue researching and writing for this never-ending story for it’s eventual publication, I wanted to share with you all this year’s audio/visual delights from the Young Men’s Adventure Weekend of 2006. I hope that this may inspire you all to get involved in your communities and work with our youth, our future. Each year everyone involved inspires me and I am rejuvenated with hope for our planet. A hope that is never-ending.

YMAW MOVIE
YMAW PICS
www.ymaw.com

Peace,
chico

p.s. You are now able to leave comments on the blogs without having to register and it is easy. Would love to hear from you all. Thanks.

The World Where You Live

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
- Martin Luther King

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. - Albert Einstein

It's time for greatness -- not for greed. It's a time for idealism -- not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action.
- Marian Wright Edelman

This friday I'm off to the wilderness for the 17th Young Men's Adventure Weekend www.ymaw.com
We have been preparing for the last 2-3 months and now we are just days away from producing an incredible event for these young men between 12-17 years old. This will be my third year and I'm truly looking forward to it. As my good friend Dorian says, "it's an incredible weekend of fun, competition and witnessing profound change."

This weekend marks a definitive break in the year for me. I return from the adventure each time simply beaming and full of renewed energy and excitement about life. I return with a spark of hope and faith in this world after reconnecting with the land and with fellow earth men giving back to the community. The time spent with the Room to Read charity and with YMAW ignites a fire within me that I look forward to keeping lit for a long time. Somedays it is a struggle, as we all know, to keep near what is truely important in this life. Let's simply not give up, let's keep trying, keep doing and don't settle for anything less than a peaceful and compassionate world to live in.


Our fearless leader at YMAW sent this little piece around today and it really resonated with me so I thought I'd share it with you all. I wish you all a great weekend and may you all continue on your great adventure on planet earth

**************************************************************************************************************

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the"Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are nosecond-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applausedies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificatesare buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?
The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the oneswith the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are theones that care.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrowin Australia." (Charles Schultz)

There is so much on my mind these days

I completed my course last night ending a good run of schooling since March. I will be taking the next course in the business program in the fall, but it was the writing class that came to a finale yesterday that was a huge eye opener for me. It was a straight up course about writing for magazines and getting them published, taught by someone who is actually doing it – right now.

Deborah Campbell was our instructor and she shared a ton of inspiring insight with a class full of some great writers. Much of her writing chronicles the people and experiences from her travels to Tehran, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Paris and the Gaza Strip. Deborah also writes about artists and has an article about Douglas Coupland’s sculptures coming out soon. She published her book on the conflict in Israel and Palestine called This Heated Place and her articles have appeared in magazines like the Guardian, The Walrus, Modern Painters and one of my favourites – Adbusters.

At the end of class last night, I recounted my story about Adbusters and how their offices are just around the corner from my house. How I sent Adbusters some articles and also walked straight into their offices with resume in hand looking for a gig. “Don’t stop trying,” she says. It’s not an easy business to get into. It is very competitive and writers need to be very disciplined, not only in writing for deadlines but also in fielding new assignments and contacts. It’s important to meet these people, get your name out there and open up those opportunities.

Last night was a bit of a reality check. My second article for the class was about the Young Men’s Adventure Weekend (YMAW) taking place July 14, 15 & 16. I was far too optimistic that I could get the article published in time for the event. I was definitely disappointed with myself, as the article still needed additional writing and tweaking before it is ready to be pitched. The class is part lecture and part workshop, so we all discussed my story and the suggestions everyone had were very important in making the story, a better story. So it was with mixed emotions that I said good-bye to everyone and headed home. We have set up a blog and hopefully we will continue to workshop our writing with each other and I’m sure there will be another writing class in the future.

My goal was to share the YMAW story here on my blog and then begin to pitch it to magazines and some newspapers. I think now that I will extend the scope of the piece with additional stories from this year’s event and submit it for publication afterwards. Still, I am ecstatic over the last couple of months where I have finally felt comfortable saying, I am a creative writer. I am still writing articles for the insurance website which will launch soon and I just picked up another writing gig as well. So I guess I’m actually doing it – right now, too.

It has been a very busy second quarter of the year and I’m looking forward to finally getting some relaxation this long weekend. Enjoy! GO PORTUGAL!! VIVA!

This has been another Observation from the Island.

peace,

Inconvenient Truths

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
Mark Twain

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding it.”
Upton Sinclair

The quotes by Mark Twain and Upton Sinclair are highlighted in Al Gore’s film where he takes his slide show on the road to cities all around the world. These words really resonated with me and stuck in my head until this morning so I could write the latest observations. I feel these quotes somehow shed light on just some of the reasons why our struggle continues and why we must stay committed to bearing and sharing the inconvenient truths found everywhere.

Back in April I wrote an article called “Love Your Planet” in which I spoke about a new documentary coming out called An Inconvenient Truth. Last night we went to 5th Avenue Cinema and watched this very informative and hard-hitting film about Al Gore’s mission to educate as many cities, towns and families around the world about the reality of global warming.
Judging from the amazing turnout at the box office so far, it looks like more and more people are finally tuning into the reality on earth and not the “reality” of wife swapping or living on Laguna Beach. In it’s second week, An Inconvenient Truth broke the top 10 at the box office. This week it drops to #11 but it is impressive to note that it is having this massive impact while only playing in 122 theatres compared to the 3,000-4,000 theatres featuring anticipated films like The Break Up or Cars.

So why were there only a dozen or so people at the theatre last night in Vancouver? Has everyone already had a chance to see it or was it because it was a Monday? Following the events of 9-11 many people continued researching and asking more and more questions about the truth. It lead to many so called conspiracy theories and it also resulted in a clamp down from the U.S. administration on any distracters to their policies. But it also resulted in a tenacious desire by millions around the world to find the truth.

Today, many of the stories now coming to light, whether it is the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war or subtle mistakes like not finding any weapons of mass destruction, are stories that had been documented and shared long before it hit mainstream media. Take for instance the underground film Loose Change. This film combines all the information of other smaller films and all the stories in relation to 9-11 and brings it together in one of the most concise and informative documentaries on the subject.

Watching An Inconvenient Truth last night I was not shocked or surprised. This film did what Loose Change did by bringing the entire global warming debate into another concise, informative and moving film. When I started reading David Suzuki books like Sacred Balance, I began having a stronger understanding and relationship between my own choices and their affects on the world around me. “Live locally” he always said and watch your imprint on the earth have less of an impact. Support your local grocer and restaurants and watch your local economy strive. Making the changes within yourself first then watch it grow as you share it with others.

It is very promising that some of these uncomfortable realities are being discussed and debated with more and more people each day. The reality is that life is always, always changing. No matter how hard you may try to hold on to all things of the past we must come to that pinnacle decision and understanding that many things are not working any longer.

So I have this challenge to you all. Take your parents to see this movie. Take your father for Father’s day. You’ll be surprised by what you don’t know. Last night we brought a friend to the film and you could see how the film affected him as he felt compelled to ride his bike and discuss hybrid cars. In many respects none of this is new because we have been told for decades that if we don't change, this is where we are headed. Well, here we are....so what are you going to do about it?

This has been another Observation from the Island.

peace,

A Better Life?

Life has been good to me and I’ve been good to life, I can’t complain. Well, maybe I can complain for others who cannot. People less fortunate, those who are oppressed and misguided by corruption and greedy power, how are their voices heard? Like the 11 people found dead on a rusty small boat, four months after they had left Africa on Christmas eve in search of a better life in Europe.

My grandfather left Portugal to look into Canada as a possible new home for his growing family. Under the ruling regime of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, who was Prime Minister from 1932 to 1968, my grandfather had finally lost faith in little mighty Portugal. Salazar developed the “Estado Novo” which literally translated is the New State. Portugal was in the midst of massive change. Salazar’s new policies and reforms simply priveleged the upper classes to no limit while the poorer sections of society were left to rot. Education wasn’t a priority so it wasn’t invested in, instead more money would fund PIDE, the secret police repressing, torturing and murdering anyone who opposed the new state.

Today when I was reading the news article about these eleven people from Africa in search of a better life, I immediately started to remember the story of my parents and their immigration to Canada. My parents sadly left Portugal when they were young children. My father from the northern region near Braga and my mother left behind her friends in the middle of Portugal near Aveiro. My father landed in Quebec where my grandfather had set things up to bring the entire family over one by one, as he raised the funds to do so each time. Through this period of time his youngest son was born back in Portugal while he was still in Quebec. They wouldn’t meet until years later. Oddly enough my parents would both land first in Quebec before finally meeting each other in southwestern Ontario.

Many of the family stories I have been told are definitely classic tales of crop sharers who wanted more education, more opportunities, simply more than a small percentage of someone else’s share. In Salazar’s world, they were nothing important, nobody. Were these Africans nobody too? What were they escaping? How much do we really know about what is happening in these African countries?


Although there were eleven bodies found on the tiny boat it had originally left with 54 people. Setting course for Spain, the boat would lose most of its passengers and eventually run adrift where it was finally found off course near the Barbados. It is still unclear exactly where the passengers were from but officials presume they were from Senegal. Authorities are investigating into a Spaniard living in the Canary Islands who may have organized the deadly trip charging passengers between $1,200-$1,500 USD.

Canary Islands authorities have intercepted nearly 7,000 migrants since January, compared with 4,751 in all of 2005. More than 1,000 are believed to have fallen to the brutal power of the sea attempting the journey from Africa to the Canary Islands since December. Last month 600 people were found in crowded boats after the week before when 1,000 were intercepted in one weekend. The numbers are staggering.

Fifty years have passed since my parents made their voyage and still people from all around the world are leaving their homes, their countries, for a mysterious promise of something better. Some of them are fleeing to Canada and we all have heard of the immigration stories coming from the United States recently as well. Unfortunately the stories are summed up into authority headlines announcing sweet victory of their captures, their intelligent investigations and the record numbers rescued, only to be shipped back again.

The things my parents stressed growing up were education, education and education. Maybe some of these people would have thought twice about taking on this journey if they truly knew what they were getting into. Or maybe no education would stop them from leaving absolute death, corruption and destruction. How are we to know?

The real stories are lying on the bottom of the sea, thousands of untold stories that could reveal more about this unbalanced world we live in. These stories could give us a glimpse into today’s new search for a better life for all.

This has been another Observation from the Island.

peace,