If there’s one thing I can turn to for warmth and comfort for the soul, especially with the plummeting temperatures here in Chicago, Playing for Change is it. This is a wonderful organization i came across a year ago that brings the world together through the universal language of music. To record a guitarist in 1 country, a drummer in another, and a trumpeter, a saxophonist, a choir in many more and then put them together into 1 music piece… that’s both brilliant and beautiful.
So what started out as a cool music project 4 years ago is now helping to raise funds to promote music education through the Playing for Change Foundation. Just in spring, they opened the doors to their first completed music school in South Africa! Now that’s music to my ears!
See and hear the magic for yourself!
It’s inspired me to try a mini-version of my own when i return home to Singapore too… how awesome would it be to bring together the musicians and street buskers of Singapore? From little drummer Ethan Ong to the uncle who’s been playing the keyboards in the Orchard Road tunnel for decades… oh, the possibilities! How exciting!
I was very fortunate to have been asked to edit the footage my bosses shot at The Social Venture Network Conference back in Spring. Sure, it meant sitting through hours of speeches and forum discussions, but i loved every minute of it. I learned so much from hearing the country’s pioneers of socially responsible businesses discussing and debating issues. It was absolutely exciting to see the CEOs of companies like Stonyfield Farms and Honest Tea – brands of products i have in my refrigerator – dispensing advice and sharing their business experiences. Definitely one of the most enjoyable pieces I’ve edited.
Witness the power of collaboration as the country’s pioneers of socially responsible business come together to discuss and debate issues, to inspire and aid business growth, and to build lasting friendships. The Social Venture Network is your connection to knowledge and resources from a community of the most innovative social entrepreneurs on the planet.
Edited as part of my work for Conscious Planet Media.
Just this past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of the largest African-American parade and the 2nd largest parade in the US! The Bud Billiken Parade is into it’s 80th year this summer and it’s a great opportunity for underprivileged children to showcase their talents & be in the limelight. It’s also been a long-standing tradition to celebrate the summer school holidays coming to an end and to gear kids up for the start of a brand new school year.
I was there with a HVX200 in hand to film the participants of Project Green Heals Chicago making their march down the road together with the Chicago Public Schools contingent. We were there loud and proud to spread the message of going green to the 1.5 million people who came out to watch the parade and show their support! Mayor Daley was on board the float that spearheaded the entire parade of over 75,000 participants.
It was also my first time participating in a major African-American event and it was truly great getting to learn more about the culture. I loved how families just lined the street for what seemed to be 15 to 20 blocks, armed with picnic baskets, lawn chairs, bbq grills and the company of their loved ones. Lotsa ice-cream/refreshment sellers people selling Michael Jackson/Barack Obama souvenirs took the chance to come out as well. I could really feel the spirit and the soul of the event watching students put their hearts into their performances. With so many marching bands, dance groups, socially conscious organizations and colorful floats out, it was wonderful entertainment for everyone along Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Drive that day. :)
I love how there’re such events to empower the youth. I’m sure it was a breath of fresh air for the residents in the south side of Chicago. I’ve only been down south a handful of times, so I took the chance to slow down & take in the sights around me. While the residential buildings were beautiful, it’s hard to imagine what life must be like living there with only 1 bus service serving the neighborhood and the nearby grocery store looking rather run down. Wish i had the chance to stay a little longer to see what life’s like without the parade, to take a moment to talk to people and do some reflection. Either way, it was a great chance for me to step outside of the Northwestern/Evanston bubble and i’m certain it won’t be my last. :)
Whether you’re a writer, painter, filmmaker, musician or just someone who enjoys creating art, I’m sure you’ve run into the stifling barrier of copyright protection. Think the indie band that has an awesome idea for a cover of a Bon Jovi tune but with a jazz twist, or the student who needs that ten-second scene from a movie to demonstrate his point more effectively, or the filmmaker who has to remove an entire scene that was crucial to his documentary because a radio in the room was playing a piece of copyrighted music in the background.
There’s now a silent version of my RTVF380 final project, Messages, on YouTube. YouTube removed the audio because we used a copyrighted song in our class project. Didn’t matter that we weren’t going to make money off it. What were we supposed to do? None of us were musically inclined enough to write an orchestral masterpiece to suit the mood of our film… and none of us had money to pay a composer to do it for us.
Truth is, whether we like it or not, anything tangible we create, any expression of an idea, is automatically copyright protected. That’s right… that doodle on your writing pad… that’s copyright protected. No need for any registration, no need to print a little circle with a letter c in it. But what if you don’t want to keep your work all to yourself? What if you want to enable people to enhance their work by making use of yours? What if we can build a rich culture of creative sharing and a vibrant exchange of ideas?
I first came across Creative Commons 3 years ago in my Media Law class (thank you Mr Sabnani!) and was instantly swept away. I got so excited about this door-opener that my partner Rachel Fun and I did a news piece on it for broadcast on Radio Singapore International. We went all out for that radio journalism assignment… even made a phonecall to Germany to speak to the Executive Director of Creative Commons International at that time, Christiane Henckel von Donnersmarck. This was her take on it:
I think originally copyright was invented to foster creativity and to have artists get reimbursed for their work. But this was before the digital age. Now the artists and the users of the internet and digital media have such great and powerful new possibilities to be creative …And it just became obvious that the international copyright system is not sufficient at the moment.
Where copyright is all rights reserved, Creative Commons is some rights reserved. CC works with copyright to let you, the copyright owner decide how you want to share your work. So instead of leaving your work completely untouchable by others when it’s automatically copyrighted, simply tag on options to your free CC license to decide things like whether people:
can/cannot make money off the work they’ve used your stuff for
need to credit you for your work in their piece
need to pass on the kindness by sharing their piece with others too
can modify your work or if they need to use it whole
Let this video explain it to you in 2 minutes.
I love what CC is trying to achieve. When more people are aware of their ability to share, it becomes a huge community of exchange. Witness the power of collaboration. Spread the word. Help save the world from failed sharing.
can/cannot make money off the work they’ve used your stuff for
need to credit you for your work in their piece
need to pass on the kindness by sharing their piece with others too
can modify your work or if they need to use it whole
Shuling Yong 