ACT UP Event I will be singing/talking at….FOR GIRLS/WOMEN…YESSIRREE! Pun intended…
March 31, 2008
The 6th annual Conference For
The Spiritual Transformation of Women and Girls
Saturday April 12, 2008
8:30 a.m. — 5:30 p.m.
St. Edwards University , Ragsdale Center
“THE KEYS TO HAPPINESS”
The Annual Conference for the Spiritual Transformation of Women and girls will include inspirational talks and practical workshops. There will be two programs running side by side, one for women and the other for young girls ages 10-15. The purpose of this conference is to gather women and girls together so that they may realize their unique spiritual station in the family and in society. Through recognition of their inner strength, they can be a source of enlightenment to each other, learn from each other’s experiences, and share information about spiritual healing of mind, body and soul.
Keynote Speakers: Robin Rathe;r ‘A life of Service to Humanity’
Jan Epton Seale and Avrel Seale; ‘happiness is … Creativity’
Workshops: Dawn Welch, (The Seven Keys to Vibrant Health)
Kimberly Smith Cavins, (Parenting from the Heart)
Joyce Beck, (Happiness is understanding, The Seven Levels of Consciousness)
Panel Discussion: JOY! A Practical Guide
The panelelist includes: Psychotherapist Gaea Logan and Richard Vogt (Richard From Texas of the book, Eat, Pray, Love)
Entertainment: “Sara Hickman” singer, songwriter, public speaker
“The Djembabes” twelve Austin drummers and singers
The 2008 ACT Girls Conference - ‘Being the Change’
This year’s ACT Girls Conference centers on Gandhi’s exhortation to ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ Through inspirational and artistic workshops, the participants in ACT Girls will become empowered to explore their true selves, and to become the change that the world is so desperately awaiting.
Visit http://www.actwomen.com/speakers.html for further information and registration
posted by Sara Hickman at 10:29 am
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Speak out/Show up/Get involved and Support Human Rights!
I am Yichin Chen, the local coordinator for Global Human Rights
Torch Relay (HRTR,http://www.humanrightstorch.org) in Austin. I am
writing today to ask for your support in raising the public awareness
of and stop China’s human rights abuses before the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime has over the years
intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other
religious groups. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens are held
as political prisoners without charge or trial. The CCP regime also
supports other totalitarian regimes in perpetrating slaughter upon
their own citizens‹in Darfur, Burma, Zimbabwe, and North Korea.
HRTR’s founding premise: The Olympics and crimes against humanity
cannot coexist in China. The HRTR torch will come to Austin, Texas on
April 20 and a ceremony will be held at Capitol. To raise people’s
awareness, my team is actively working with various groups and
individuals of The University of Texas at Austin to set up a rally on
April 4 on the UT campus.
We would love to have your support in any way you’d like. You and your
friends would be welcome to speak at the rally, sing HRTR theme song,
(http://www.humanrightstorch.org/news/theme-song), help to get the
word out in any way you’re comfortable.
Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Yichin Chen
512-266-9865
—
Austin Coordinator
Global Human Rights Torch Relay
http://www.humanrightstorch.org
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:43 am
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All God’s Creatures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE
I hope that she paints for the love of it, and not because she was forced or trained to do so.
Love,
Sara
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:26 am
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mady kaye, super pal!
March 29, 2008
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:40 pm
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And now…More response to George Will…
March 28, 2008
submitted in response to George Will’s column (link provided to Mr. Will’s column at the bottom of Rev. Young’s response.)
Thank you,
Sara
To quote Benjamin Disraeli: “There are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies and statistics.” In his column, March 27, George Will
used all three, but mainly statistics, to argue that conservatives are
more generous than liberals. Reading between the lines, what his
argument really shows is that religiosity correlates with charitable
giving. But since charity includes contributions to churches, there
is no direct correlation between the contributions one claims on a tax
return and the alleviation of suffering in society. Churches provide
wonderful spiritual, emotional and social benefits. But they’re often
very inefficient conduits of human services. $100 that a
religious conservative sends to Bennie Hinn likely has much less
direct social benefit than $10 a secular liberal contributes to
the United Way. Is the conservative ten times more compassionate? I
think not. The conservative dogma that religious institutions should
supplant government in providing the social safety net is a cruel and
cynical farce. The famously erudite Mr. Will would do well to put down
that thesaurus and pick up a book on critical thinking.
Rev. Bill Young
Associate Pastor
Metropolitan Community Church of Austin
LINK TO GEORGE WILL’S ARTICLE:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1083043&srvc=rss
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:03 am
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the danger of putting people in boxes with names
those who give and those who do not give based on
politics/wealth. albeit there are “facts” based on
polls, i’m sure, and people now say that austin is 48
out of 50 in giving, i say let’s not lose sight that
there seems to be a growing movement to give/share,
even if only in 2 % of those people… at least that
is what i see, and perhaps, yes, i am surrounded by
folks who have the same philosophy of love and life as
i….however….
i think it is best to start thinking of how people
CONSUME CONSUME AND CONSUME and how THAT is detracting
and distracting from /discouraging the idea of
seva/giving as a way of living.
true giving is like breathing. it is not a thought, it
is an action that creates thoughtfulness.
i wish christmas, for example, was celebrated around
the real birth of christ—-in the summer——and that
instead of raising children to expect to GET, they
were raised with the thought of action to GIVE.
how beautiful to rise on the day of christ’s birth on
a sunny summer day and hear children say, “i’m so
excited! i can’t wait to go serve the homeless….” or
sing for the elderly, or mow a neighbor’s lawn or
whatever kind act that would extend outward to giving.
i just use christianity here as an example because it
is the religion i was brought up in and still adhere
to….
and i still hope that eyes and hearts can be opened to
the here and now of really SEEING what needs to be
seen and giving what needs to be given….not only in
christianity, but in all religions where ever there
is a need for understanding, growth or compassion.
i have great faith in humanity. i will hold on to the
hope that
we can all one day be a brother and sisterhood of
man….by practicing what we preach…as individuals,
as collectives and as societies….
love,
sara
posted by Sara Hickman at 05:54 am
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International Airplay…Woo—hoo!
March 26, 2008
I wanted to share where my music has gotten to go in 2007 (2008):
Highest amount of airplay: JAPAN
Smallest amount: IRELAND
Other countries: AUSTRALIA, CANADA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY (second to Japan!), GREECE, HONG KONG, HUNGARY, ISRAEL, ITALY, MEXICO, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, SWEDEN, UNITED KINGDOM
It still blows my mind after 18 years to know that my music can go on and travel the world and LIVE! Thank you, world DJS! Bless you for playing my music! And thanks to those of you in those countries that support my music, too. You all bring me such deep and thrilling joy.
posted by Sara Hickman at 10:46 am
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FREE TIBET!!!
After decades of repression, the Tibetan people are crying out to the world for change. The spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games is now on China, and Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner the Dalai Lama is calling to end all riots and violence through restraint and dialogue—he urgently needs the support of the world’s people.
China’s hardliners are lashing out publicly at the Dalai Lama—but we’re told that President Hu Jintao may believe dialogue is the best hope for stability in Tibet. China’s leadership is right now considering a crucial choice between repression and dialogue that could determine Tibet’s—and China’s—future.
We can affect this historic choice – for President Hu, China’s global reputation matters. He needs to hear from us that the ‘Made in China’ brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing will succeed only if he chooses dialogue over the hardliners’ repression. An avalanche of global people power is moving to get his attention. We’re closing on our goal of 1 million signatures and the largest global online petition in history - click below to join the global outcry, and then forward this email to friends and family right away:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/53.php?cl=66113239
China’s economy is dependent on “Made in China” exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new and respected China. China is also a sprawling, diverse country with much brutality in its past, so it has good reasons to be concerned about stability — some of Tibet’s rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development today comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from those Tibetans seeking dialogue and reform.
We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in New York, London and Beijing, but it we must reach our goal of 1 million signatures first. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book—it will come up after you sign.
The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak—we must help them be heard.
With hope and respect,
Ricken, Pascal, Graziela, Iain, Paul, Galit, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
posted by Sara Hickman at 05:25 am
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Super Pal Super CD Super Release Super!
March 23, 2008
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:37 pm
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ECHOES past/present/future
March 20, 2008
dwarf from “Lord of The Rings.” Where someone sent me a letter three years ago telling me that they had some of my college paintings and if I would send them a check for $4870
dollars they would make sure I got them back. Where I used to ride a blue motorcycle with a boyfriend.
I’m working with Carl Finch, who first saw me on a cable access show called “Dr. Fangus”, called me up, and told me I should make records.
We are making dance/trance/disco/pop music, and it is very, very fun and very, very challenging. Some of you may remember we started this collaboration two years ago, around the time of Glenn Mitchell’s death. I wrote about it in here then, too.
I have been cramming and writing and memorizing and writing out charts and practicing non-stop in my La Quinta hotel room. There is a very nice mom and pop Greek restaurant next door. There is a pool, but I just pass it by. Tooooo cold.
Today we are working on “Echo”, a trance/disco song. Yes, really. Europe, look out!
We are also working on laying drum tracks/acoustic/electric guitars/keys vocals today on other songs.
Ok, I have to go back to work on memorizing some melodies.
Oh, the studio we are at, Black Bottle Recording, has some very nice dudes. Richard Haskell, who I swear I’ve met before, but he’s only 23…he has an interesting moustache and a big heart. And bed head. And has a lot of posters of death metal bands.( I think that’s what they are called.) I dubbed him Honey Bear.
And then there is Phat. He served in Iraq and has a nice shrapnel scar on his forehead. He is 24. He is doing the bulk of the engineering. He has an enigmatic, impish smile and he is very, very calm. His real name is Nagaras. It says so on his shirt. Phat is where it’s at, and I just want to dance with him. He’s very sturdy!
Carl is working hard and it is always so so so engaging to watch him record cuz he puts every ounce of himself into whatever he is doing. I could just watch him all day!
I went to Dan’s Silver Leaf on Tuesday night and sat in with this large jazz band. I sang “Fly Me To The Moon.” Talk about a blast! And then I waltzed with a man named Randy and that was wonderful because I had my very first waltzing lesson just the night before that with LANCE up at U.T.!!!!!! Synchronicity.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:14 am
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Some of my art MIGHT be on t.v. tonight…
March 19, 2008
I handpainted 10 river rocks with 10 different tiny chairs with words painted on the back.
For those of you in Austin there will be a segment on the 10:00 news
tonight about the chair project. It is on Austin channel 36, NBC.
Watch for the Jim Swift segment. If you miss it tonight there will
be a link to it on their web site kxan.com starting tomorrow.
Love,
Sara
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:51 pm
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David LaMotte Show will Benefit Guatemalan children…
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
7:00 pm
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
700 Whitestone Blvd
Cedar Park, Texas
This is a family concert with a $5.00 per family ticket price. The
catch is that this show is truly a mission concert to benefit Guatemalan children.
Please, Please take 10 minutes and click on this link http://www.pegpartners.org/ to
see what and WHY this concert is so very important. We will have a free-will
offering to benefit the children and donations are encouraged. 100% of these funds will go
to the children.
I am so very passionate about this mission - helping children who do
not yet have a voice. Please take the 10 minutes…see what is going on and come
join us!
This is David’s only show in our area this season.
Some of you have very extensive email lists of your own. This event is
open to the public so please pass it on.
Thank you for all you do,
Ann Block
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:46 pm
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Super Pal Universe at Auditorium Shores/Saturday, March 15 and Bad Words…
March 17, 2008
/Super Pal Universe was superfly superfine super-super on Saturday!
When I saw the gianormous stage, the first thing I said to the kids in the band was, “Oh, I’m sorry the stage isn’t BIGGER!!!”
The kids rocked in the morning sun to about 350 people, many dancing and boppin’ to the pop driven activism music, the fun bantering, and the utter electricity of watching teens make music on stage. And a big shout out to BORIS, our keyboard player, who may have hairline fractures in both feet!, and still managed to show up, play the gig, dance around, rock the crowd, wow ‘em with his smile. INCREDIBLE!
The crew thought the kids were great, too…and, right now, right this second, I’d like to THANK THE CREW for being courteous, professional and patient. What a great group of stage hands, sound men (stage and front of house). They made the kids sound ENORMOUS with the delays/reverbs and I had HUGE tears of PRIDE in my eyes, watching Sam (drums) pound it out with all he had, Julee singing/playing guitar/jumping over to bass (!!!), Nadia calm and confident on bass and vocals, jammin’ away with Boris on his song, “What You See is What You Get” and Evan, keeping his cool, playing solo after solo, smiling his mysterious smile. What a super-duper group of hard workin’ kids!!!
The cds are supposed to arrive today for our CD release party this Saturday at Rutumaya, South Congress, 4 pm….I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!
Stingray (the design group Lance, me, Todd and Neil own) did the design for the packaging, and, of course, Marty Lester did the engineering and co-producing with me….I am so proud of this project!!!! If you want to sample the kids/their music, go to http://www.superpaluniverse.com
AND NOW…THE BACK STORY ON SATURDAY’S GIG: Things a manager must do!
Our sound check was supposed to be at 11 am, but Ice Cube’s folks went on…and on….and on….and we were all patiently waiting, so at 11:30, I walked up the catwalk to the head
stage manager, Chris (super nice) and asked what was up and that we needed our check before doors opened at noon….He said he thought Ice Cube’s dudes were almost done.
They were singing to tracks and a DJ, so really, it sounded done to me, but at 11:40, I walked over to two large (and I mean SUPER LARGE) dudes with the Cube clan, (complete with
giant bling and one in a Lakers shirt) and I introduced myself:
“Hey, there! I’m Sara Hickman, and I’m manager for Super Pal Universe…our sound check was supposed to be at 11…and doors open in twenty minutes…could you ask your
artist to wrap it up?”
Big smiles from the dudes. Sure, sure, they said.
Again. Nothing. Just more SEVERE, and very loud, musical cursing about BITCHES and “Muthaf*****” this and “Muthaf*****” that and I was just feeling my skin peel off my face.
And my blood boiling. But I stayed calm. Ya gotta stay calm!
So, at quarter to noon, I walked back up on the stage, right up to the Ice Cube poser (Ice Cube wasn’t actually doing his own sound check), stuck out my hand, shook
Ice Cube imposter’s hand and said,
“Hey, thanks for ending your soundcheck so my band can come up and do theirs now!”
And he said,
“Yo, baby, what’s your name?” as he picked up my SXSW tag and studied my name.
He continued with, “Hey, Sara, this your band? You got records out?”
And I said, “This week their first cd comes out, and this is a big gig for them, so I’d like to get them on stage.”
Then he said, “Yo, maybe I’ll see you at the Grammys…”
I said, “Are you on the board?”
And he said, “No way they letting someone like me on the board!”
And I said, “Well, I’m a board member, and you could get on the board. We have Beyonce’s dad on the board. He’s quite a gentleman!”
And he says, “No way, we say “F*** the police” and s***!”
And I said, “I think, perhaps, if you didn’t say BITCHES so often, it would help getcha on the board.”
And he just grinned and I reiterated that I thought the word BITCHES should go.
Then I called down to my gang and told them to start on up to the stage.
I never felt like anything but a woman taking care of her clan. I’m so tempted to make a shirt that says:
I don’t call you a****** so don’t you call me b*****
Or I don’t know. I have to think about it. I just don’t get it, though, how people understand that using the “n” word is
demeaning/refers to slavery/refers to another time/refers to oppression, but this African American male using the word “bitch” is ok/not harmful/cool/musical and he is
making millions of dollars off of demeaning women/oppressing women/encouraging others to belittle women/little girls.
It is NEVER alright to demean ANYONE, and on behalf of my gender, it is NEVER ok to call us bitches.
EVER.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:05 am
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Ken Saro-Wiwa
March 14, 2008
On November 10th 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni colleagues were executed by the Nigerian state for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell and Chevron. I called up Shell to cancel my credit card, and when the guy on the phone asked the inevitable, “Why are you cancelling your card?”, I told him about Mr. Saro-Wiwa. There was a long, silent pause, and the man quietly said, “I had no idea…” So, always speak about injustice because you never know whose heart you might touch, whose mind you might get to turn towards justice, as well.
My mother-in-law just sent me the following, so I thought I would share it with anyone who reads my blog….pass it on.
WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON
Gas rationing in the 80’s worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.
An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don’t import their oil from the Saudis.
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know wh ich oi l companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell……………………… 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco……… 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil…………… 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway… 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco…………………… ….62,231,000 barrels
Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco………………0 barrels
Conoco………………0 barrels
Sinclair………………0 barrels
B P/Phillips…………0 barrels
Hess………………….0 barrels
ARC0………………..0 barrels
If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers.
It’s really simple to do.
Now, don’t wimp out at this point…. keep reading and I’ll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I’m sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) …and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)… and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excit ed and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have be! en contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it ….. THREE HUND RED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take?
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:15 pm
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Million Musicians March for Peace/Austin, TX March 15, Noon-4ish pm
March 06, 2008
saturday, march 15th, will be the 3rd annual million musicians march for peace. this is timed to commemorate the invasion of iraq,
and also to show all the music folks in town for sxsw that they can go home to their communities and put their music to work for peace
and have a good time at the same time.
the parade is a blast. for those of you in marching band, this is nothing like that. no rehearsals, no uniforms, no straight lines, not even
if you try could you make a straight line happen, trust me! we only play a few tunes and they repeat a lot so you can pick them up by ear, or you can
click on the link below where the music is now posted on the website and practice up before you come. that is the music for the jericho brass band, which heads the parade.
it’s crazy and fun!
there are many other ways to participate. make a sign, make a float, bring your own band, load a battery powered
pa in a shopping cart and march with your guitar, or join bill oliver and his otter space band, who will be doing that very thing.
wear crazy clothes, do anything you want, just join us if you feel moved. it’s a blast. there will be music and speakers at the beginning of the parade,
at the rally at the state capitol from noon to 1, and again at the end of the parade at the city hall whenever we get there till about 4:00.
great musicians like carolyn wonderland, guy forsyth, barbark k, jon emery, i don’t even know who all is scheduled to play or speak at this point.
> NOW ENLISTING:
> Marching Musicians of all kinds!
> Drum Groups! Fife/Drum/Flag trio(s)!
> Molly Ivins Pots and Pans Brigades!
> Church choirs! More Flags!
> Bagpipes, ukes, mandolins, accordions, guitars, fiddles, kazoos!
> Bring your band….or join another! You name it!
> Support the troops. Support the innocent civilians. Support the
majority for peace. Have fun and show the world you still care.
If you want to march, endorse, or volunteer, please register at
http://www.InstrumentsForPeace.org.
Marching band charts are on the website at:
http://www.InstrumentsforPeace.org/MMM-charts.pdf
Or just show up and play your heart out!
love,
sara and fabulous flautist, beth galiger
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:39 am
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Rockin’ in Rockdale on my 45th Birthday!
March 03, 2008
wa-hoo….only two days old!
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:26 am
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