November 21, 2008 by Lance Bugle.

In a bit of irony that is just too much to let slide by, I came across this video of Sarah Palin. In the video she starts rambling on right after she just ‘pardoned’ a turkey for thanksgiving.


As she is talking on camera there is a guy in the background slaughtering turkeys. He kills two turkeys on camera as she holds her starbucks coffee and yammers on. Seems like a metaphor for her most recent campaign. Seeing is believing. Even if it is kind of gross. The turkey killing is gross too.

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November 21, 2008 by PT Rothschild.

THE LATEST IN THE ONGOING INVISIBLE CHILDREN CRUSADE

T-Town, CA – There is a big difference between the photos I see of missionaries in Africa (smiling white faces looking like a photo op in the midst of unsmiling little black faces) and the pictures I see of the Invisible Children crew/roadies there in Uganda (beaming white faces amidst laughing little black faces). While I can’t be God and tell you why the two sets of pictures are different, perhaps I can shed some light as to why everyone is smiling in the IC photos. Short answer, music!! I’ve been involved personally with Invisible Children for almost three years (see archives) after being moved to action by viewing the original documentary, ‘Invisible Children: Rough Cut’.

After attending their event, ‘Displace Me’, where I got to meet Jason, one of the three film makers and movement organizers, I was anticipating an end to the crisis through the sponsored peace accord. I admit that I was reliving the victory the youth of my hometown garnered against segregation decades ago. After all, this time some many more (grownup) people were involved, and on many levels, going all the way up to the President. However, when Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (the LRA) backed out of the peace accord process and started once again kidnapping children to turn them into ‘child soldiers’, I fell off the IC wagon and into a pool of despair. I still continued getting emails and updates about the IC movement but hardly bothered to read them, getting caught up instead in all the political hoopla of the local and national elections. Perhaps since all that has passed, the latest IC email update caught my eye and I read up on the guys, and the movement. I guess the first thing I noticed and was happy about was that the IC crew has not lost their edge, even with the downturn of events. Right now they are offering a free trip to Uganda through four different means.


The first is their ‘Schools For Schools’ program which rewards the schools who raise the most money with a free trip. The offshoot of that program is the addition of collecting books for the Ugandan schools. The school that collects the most books also will receive a free trip. The third way possible for a free trip to sunny downtown Uganda is to put up the coolest video about the IC movement on YouTube, but the fourth way is the one that recaptured my heart. Remember when I said that this wasn’t your granddaddy’s charity? Well, the guys dug back to something that was from your granddaddy’s day, or maybe at least from your father’s day. Inside three (3) copies of the latest documentary release entitled, Go, a film about a group of students traveling into the heart of Africa’s longest running war conflict, lies a Golden Ticket, just like the type found in the fabulous Willy Wonka chocolate bars of the movie. That’s right, Sports Fans. Order a Go DVD and you could open the case and find a ‘golden ticket’ that will give you free passage to Uganda and put you right in the center of the IC operation there. I love you guys, Jason. God bless you for putting the dream back into a nightmare, a nightmare that has been overlooked still by people now caught up in crushed economic hopes. But hurry, because one of the Golden Tickets has already been found. Now just two remain. The question is, will YOU be the next ‘Charlie’?

But wait, there’s more.

Don’t feel like trooping over to the dusty African plain to be among lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Well, Hollywood is much closer and maybe somewhat safer, depending on who you talk to. On December 19th, Dustin Kensrue from THRICE, Jon Foreman (SWITCHFOOT), Chris Conley (SAVES THE DAY) and Jim Ward (SLEEPERCAR, SPARTA, AT THE DRIVE IN) will perform a special acoustic concert to help raise awareness and support at West Hollywood’s legendary Troubadour club.  Sponsored by MySpace, Jedidiah Clothing and SocialVibe, the event will also jump-start multiple auctions for limited-edition and one-of-a-kind band paraphernalia including a Thrice backdrop from previous tours, Riley Breckenridge’s drum set, hand painted guitars from Circa Survive, miscellaneous equipment used by Fall Out Boy, and more to come. Dustin Kensrue will be performing songs from his brand new holiday album, This Good Night Is Still Everywhere (released digitally 11/18 on Vagrant) and his debut solo release, Please Come Home, which debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

“Musicians have so much potential to inspire their audience and include them on issues happening around the world,” says Kenny Laubbacher from Invisible Children, “it’s amazing to see this group of individuals embrace that power and act on it for a positive influence.”

Location: Troubadour - 9081 Santa Monica Blvd - West Hollywood, CA 90069, 7pm, December 19^th. Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/Invisible-Children-Benefit-tickets/artist/1270800. ($30)

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