Friday, January 11, 2008

music crosses all boundries.

The Klog and Rant is a communal effort and all posts must be approved by a majority at KijiK. It is meant to be as simple and painless as possible. To relay ideas, stories with as little influence as possible, without prejudice. But I wanted to relay a story that happened to me while I lived in Italy. One night I went out with some Italian friends, partying, playing, drinking and we ended up in the apartment of an Italian artist doing much of the same. Someone pulled out a guitar and began playing songs; old ones, new ones, The Eagles, Nirvana, even Tu Pac. And most in the room sang along, regardless if they understood the language...in perfect English. Hotel California, Smells Like Teen Spirit (we tried our best), and California Love, all in one night, cutting across genres, generations and boundaries in one evening (the drinks did help quite a bit). This experience stuck with me and I think about it from time to time and quite often in time. We were all from different countries, different backgrounds, even different continents. Africa, Asia, America(s) and more, but were unified that night. Now I don't feel music is the cure all for the worlds ill's, to the contrary there are so many issues that I would be hard pressed to even take a stab at where to start. What I do know is we were unified in that room, that night and it was magical, almost surreal. So, here is a video, an artist that was sent by a friend online to our Jango site. One man in a chair giving his soul. Jorge Ben fills the screen with less action, but more emotion and energy than the most visceral video game going today. At least in my humble opinion. He tells a compelling story and relays it with passion and conviction. It's not in my birth language, but I feel the energy translates regardless of language barriers. So thank you, my i-friend for reminding me of that night and what can happen when boundaries are cast aside and a few people from different backgrounds unify without prejudice.

Kevin KijiK


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