New York is something awful, something monstrous.
I like to walk the streets, lost,
but I recognize that New York is the world’s greatest lie.
—Federico Garcia Lorca

And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it.
No urban night is like the night there…
Squares after squares of flame, set up and cut into the aether.
Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will.
—Ezra Pound

A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe and 50 times:
It is a beautiful catastrophe.
—Le Corbusier

The present in New York is so powerful that the past is lost.
—John Jay Chapman

One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.
—Georgia O’Keefe

It couldn’t have happened anywhere but in little old New York.
—O. Henry

Gargoyle Man

i didn’t make it, sugar
playin by the rules

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?
—Rumi

]]> http://missrosen.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/what-you-seek-is-seeking-you/feed/ 0 missrosen palm_tree http://missrosen.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/revoultion-graffiti-cairo/ http://missrosen.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/revoultion-graffiti-cairo/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:05:22 +0000 Miss Rosen http://missrosen.wordpress.com/?p=10779 ]]>

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
—John Bradshaw, inscription on his tombstone

I don’t care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting.
—Che Guevara

Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.
—Leon Trotsky

When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood
it is hard to shake hands with her.
—Oscar Wilde

Revolution is a serious thing, the most serious thing about a revolutionary’s life.
When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime.
—Angela Davis

The measure of the moral worth of a man is his happiness.
The better the man, the more happiness.
Happiness is the synonym of well-bring.

Do not have an attitude; open yourself and focus yourself and express yourself.
Reject external form that fails to express internal reality.

We can see through others only when we see through ourselves.

To understand your fear is the beginning of really seeing.

The question: I’m loved?

All quotes from Striking Thoughts by Bruce Lee

The figure on the Nine of Wands has definitely been through tough times.
This fighter has seen some battles. He’s hurt, but he’s not down.
When we have had a bad experience, we feel weary and battle-scarred.
Even if we aren’t hurt physically, our psyches are wounded.
Our openness, innocence and trust are gone, replaced by wary defensiveness.

The Nine of Wands can be a warning that you must proceed carefully.
Keep a watchful eye because there is the possibility that you will be hurt.
If you have already been burned, you know what this man is feeling.
Life’s lessons can be hard sometimes, especially when hopes have been dashed.
It is natural to feel defensive at such times, but try to avoid becoming bitter.
Your experience has wounded you, but it has strengthened you as well.

Strength is the other aspect of the Nine of Wands. This fighter is tough!
He has the physical stamina and the inner drive to persist despite all setbacks.
This card tells you to keep going no matter what.
Even if everyone and everything seems to be against you right now,
don’t give up. Within you are the hidden reserves you need to prevail.

If you added the words “Sad But True” at the end of any sentence u say..
sadly it will fit well..Sad but True

i believe happiness is a state of mind..which i’ll never reach..
thats why i dont even believe in happiness..
+ happiness the way u mentioned it..is way too selfish for me to try..
its not about the blessing I have..
and its not about ME being happy or smiling or not..
its more about how can i be happy while there r too many sad people around..
how can i smile while too many people are sad..
my sadness is not only personal..thats why everything makes me sad..
and even people who think that way..that as long as I can be happy or smile..
then its fine..
makes me sad..

Too much thinking… can kill you…

Everybody wants to be naked and famous!

sadly people likes to go check naked girls photos online..but in a dark room or when there family or parents leave the house..  and if someone asked’em if they do or not..they will deny it and might also get mad and say “asta3′far allah”..so for them..to see that..without that settings its scary..and to prove more TO PEOPLE that he or she dont check things like this..so they have to write comments like these to prove at they have never ever did this b4..which i find very sad indeed and thats why when they saw the link..with that name..they didnt just wrote something about it..no the entered the website and they r still checking it out till now..thats why the views scroll thing is moving like every second..which proves all these 1000′s of people..all check nudes anyways..and wanna prove to others that they dont

and on the other hand..if u wanna be free..be free..get naked..do whatever u want but u dont have to have others approval for that..u should get free for urself not for people.. and doing it and spreading it..means nothing but too much care about others and what others think..while supposedly ur wanna be free and get rid of THESE people..which u just sent ur photo to them..so its pointless..it killed the concept..Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery..

None but ourselves can free our minds.

I wanted to prove that people make a certain meaning out of everything and lots of things don’t have an actual meaning in the first place. It’s the same thing with colors, Black is a sad color, Red is the color of love and blood at the same time, and how does that work? What I tried to do is to make something that has no meaning between everything that has a meaning. People could create a meaning out of a blank paper.

I’m not literally living in Egypt, I live in my room most of the time.
It’s difficult for me to mingle with people; things became very sad out there.
I deal with people only when I must.

I’ll kill it and paint blood all over the Sad Panda paintings.
There is a really funny story, when I once told a journalist about this.
She told me that it won’t be a good idea to kill it
as artists like me are changing the history of the art scene in Egypt.
If painting a panda on the walls of Egypt will change the history of art
that would be very sad.

All art and quotes courtesy of the Sad Panda on Facebook

Abdullahi Ahmadu was 15 years old when he joined his father’s business in the small town of Malumfashi in Katsina State, Nigeria. This meant that he had to acquire his own hyena, as his family made their living as entertainers accompanied by hyenas, snakes and monkeys, in addition to selling the fetishes and herbal medicines that are popular in Nigeria.

Abdullahi’s grandfather, Nalado Ahmadu, taught him how to catch and control the animals, and introduced him to the charms that help subdue the creatures and protect their captors from harm.

Today Abdullahi is an experienced animal handler in his early thirties, who travels across Nigeria as part of a troupe of entertainers including his younger brother, Yahaya, and other members of his extended family. Together they work with three hyenas, two rock pythons and four baboons. According to Abdullahi, this is a tradition exclusive to his family, and only they are taught the secrets of how to trap and take care of the creatures.

The first time I met up with the hyena men, as they have become known, the group was staying in a ramshackle three-bedroom apartment in Dei Dei Junction, a suburb of the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The animals were housed in specially constructed boxes. Every member of the party had sores and scars on their faces, legs and hands – legacies of times when the animals suddenly turned hostile and pounced on their handlers with their teeth and claws.

‘We use a heavy stick to hit the hyenas on the head when they misbehave,’ Abdullahi said. ‘We knock them down on the ground. All of us hold the sticks in case the animals become aggressive.’

However, Abdullahi’s daughter, six-year-old ‘Mummy’, played with the animals with no sign of fear. She even rode a hyena as if it were a miniature, slope-shouldered pony. ‘She cannot be harmed,’ said Abdullahi. ‘It’s the same thing with the snakes and monkeys. She has taken a potion of traditional herbs and has been bathed with it. So her safety from the animals is guaranteed for the rest of her life.’

The animal handlers make use of herbs, concoctions, powders, amulets and esoteric incantations to catch and train their captives, protect themselves against harm and build up their own confidence. Amulets are also placed into ‘akayau’, metal rings tied around the men’s ankles, to enhance their dancing skills. The handlers believe that humans are capable of transforming themselves into animals such as hyenas, hence the need for powerful voodoo charms and incantations as protection.

When setting out on an expedition to capture a hyena, Abdullahi and his partners drink a protective potion and also bathe themselves with it. They travel to the caves and forests of northern Nigeria accompanied by hunting dogs which assist in sniffing out the animals. The young men use a powerful torch to light their way through the darkness, believing that the potion they drank has made them invisible to the animal. At the entrance to the animal’s lair, they chant incantations and blow clouds of white powder, a traditional African tranquiliser, at its face, rendering it senseless and easy to subdue. Sometimes, the powerful light from the hyena’s eyes might damage the bulb of the torch, but the men eventually have their way.

‘After bringing the animal out of the cave,’ said one of the handlers, ‘it will fight, since it’s not familiar with humans. A traditional medicine is administered to its body so it automatically becomes obedient to us. It begins to obey all our commands.’

The animal is subjected to one or two months of training. It must learn to live alongside other animals and humans, and to engage in different kinds of play without becoming violent. In return, the handlers feed the hyenas with scraps purchased from abattoirs (a goat every three days or so helps prevent the animals becoming aggressive). Maintaining good relations with the animals, said Abdullahi, requires both skill and tact.

‘They’re alert and the slightest sound keeps them awake,’ he said. ‘They hate hot environments so they’re kept in a cool place. When necessary, cold water is sprinkled on their bodies to comfort them. They’re very sensitive creatures.’

Galadima Ahmadu, who controls a hyena named Jamis, explained that the handlers wear ‘bante’ dress and charms. ‘If we give onlookers the charms, they can play with the animals as well and they won’t be harmed,’ he said. The concoctions sold to the public are meant to protect against snake, hyena or monkey bites, while the charms and amulets shield people from the antics of witches and wizards, which many Nigerians believe are responsible for their misfortunes.

The animals are good business. The family has sold traditional potions and charms for many years, but trade increased dramatically after the acquisition of the hyenas and other creatures. ‘We parade the animals on the streets,’ said Mallam Mantari, the owner of a 13-year-old hyena named Mainasara. ‘They can be very funny and the public showers them with money.’

As unemployment and poverty continue to bite in Nigeria, youths in particular must devise inventive ways of making money for survival. ‘I’ve been in this business since childhood,’ said Abdullahi Mohammed, a quiet young man who is responsible for a baboon called Frayo. ‘This animal has helped us. The money we make gives us food every day. This runs into a few thousand naira.’

I travelled with the group from Ogere-Remo to Bar Beach at Victoria Island in Lagos, and watched as scores of fascinated people were entranced by the spectacle of the hyenas, monkeys and snakes being paraded through the streets. Commercial buses and private cars stop, causing a traffic jam, while passengers gape at the animals as they perform their tricks. Within seconds people start to gather and a crowd forms, everyone staring in wonder.

Yahaya Ahmadu explained how they operate: ‘When we get to a place, we make the baboons do somersaults, jump on the back of motorcycles and shake people’s hands. Those watching are impressed with our animals. Before you know it, naira notes start to fly here and there. Some throw them at the baboons, others give directly. The baboons bring the money to us and we put it in the common till.’

Important members of the troupe include the drummers, Nura Garuba, Abdulkarim Lawal and Sanusi Ahmed. They follow the hyena men as they travel from city to city, beating the traditional Hausa drums that are the signal for the baboons to start dancing.

Others in the group are traditional healers. According to Yahaya, ‘They make herbs to take care of snake bites, scorpion stings and other animal problems. We also have herbs for spiritual problems, and illnesses such as typhoid fever, malaria and syphilis. When we get to a market, street junction or public place, people gather to watch us. We use the opportunity to sell these herbs to them.’

In addition to street shows, the animal handlers take part in film projects and make money from the sale of wild animals. ‘Any animal that people want, we can get for them,’ said Yahaya, who claims that they have supplied hyenas, pythons and other animals to zoos in Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Benin. ‘A mature hyena is sold for one hundred and fifty thousand naira, but a cub is more expensive at two hundred and fifty thousand naira. This is because a cub can be trained. An adult baboon goes for fifteen thousand naira, a young one for eight thousand. A python goes for eight to ten, depending on the size.’

The hyena men use the hunting dogs that accompany them to trap smaller animals for food. Konyami Murtala, who handles a baboon called Mora, said the dogs catch rabbits, grass cutters, antelopes and other small animals in the forests surrounding their camps. These animals are skinned and eaten or offered for sale.

People who benefit indirectly from the hyena men’s business include the bus drivers who transport the animals from town to town. According to Lekan Fabuyi, who plies the Ogere-Remo/Lagos route, the drivers charge higher than usual rates for carrying the wild animals, making the animal handlers their preferred customers.

Other beneficiaries are the provision store owners and food vendors who locate their small businesses at the outskirts of towns, where the hyena handlers usually set up their makeshift wooden huts amid abandoned houses, cluster of shacks and the inevitable cattle markets. Store-owner Biola Adekumi said: ‘When they’re around we sell more. Also, they give us fun, especially the younger ones. Their animals make us laugh and feel lively.’

Not everyone views the hyena men in such a favourable light. Although they have licenses to operate their business from a number of states in Nigeria, officials occasionally harass them and prevent them moving their animals about. One official commented: ‘These animals are wild. No matter how you handle them, an animal is always an animal. Tame an animal for ten years and one day it’ll behave like an animal. For instance, if a hyena breaks loose it can attack and kill people. I don’t think these people should be allowed to carry these animals about.’

The entertainers have also been accused by the Nigerian police of using the animals to threaten or intimidate members of the public into parting with money or possessions. In June 2004 a report in Lagos newspaper This Day claimed that an armed ‘gang who used a hyena and a monkey to rob their victims’ had a shootout with police. The paper reported that two gang members were killed and four arrested, while a policeman ended up in hospital after being bitten by a hyena. The hyena and a monkey were shot.

Abdullahi Ahmadu gives a different side of the story: ‘We refused to stop at a police checkpoint, so the police opened fire on us, killing two hyenas and two fellow policemen. To protect themselves, they fixed a charge of armed robbery on us. Thank God, the case has died a natural death.’

The bus driver, Lekan Fabuyi, defended the hyena men, saying: ‘They eat by taking these animals around. Stop them and they take to criminality. Those criticising cannot give them another job.’

Indeed, the troupe’s diverse activities generate enough money for their daily survival and to establish maize and yam farms. Abdullahi Mohammed, for example, owns a farm in Danja in Katsina State, and Yahaya said the group has plans to establish a cassava farm in Ogene-Ofada in Kogi State.

After three days of following the group, I was preparing to leave when the hyena men brought their menagerie of animals to the side of a road in Lagos. The drummers struck a beat and the baboons pranced about and jumped. Passing cars stopped and their passengers craned their necks through the windows and gaped. Motorbike riders parked at the fringe of a gathering crowd and stared in fascination. The handlers shouted at the baboons and they somersaulted and performed several acrobatic movements. Before long naira notes started being thrown at them. As one onlooker commented, ‘Though their way of making money is odd, these people are in real business.’

Text by Adetokunbo Abiola
All photographs by Pieter Hugo

Photograph by Alix Dejean

Word from Curtis Stephen is the first Alix Dejean show since the 1980s opens on Wednesday, February 1 at LIU’s Selena Gallery (BK) and features shots ofAretha Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Stokely Carmichael, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Phyllis Hyman, and Michael Jackson on stage with Gil Scott-Heron … amongst countless other treasures. The show is free and open to the public, running through February 29.

Here’s the word from the Niko Koppel for the New York Times back in 2008…

Toting a leather bag, in which he carries his 35-millimeter Nikon, Mr. Dejean wanders from block to block, ready to snap portraits during the day and pictures at parties and other celebrations at night. “I’m the people’s photographer,” he said.

Mr. Dejean often photographs people in parks, on brownstone stoops, hanging out at street corners and philosophizing in barbershops. A self-styled entrepreneur, he prints his pictures on glossy paper and offers to sell the images to his subjects for about $20 each. That price is negotiable, however.

The images taken by Mr. Dejean, who said he was influenced by the photographer Gordon Parks, are reminiscent of those of James Van Der Zee, who documented Harlem during its renaissance, and Jamel Shabazz, who recorded the early years of hip-hop culture. Although his works have never been publicly exhibited, they are prized by Harlem residents, tucked in family albums and in frames on apartment walls…

Check Out the Full Story Here

You thought you lost, cause you felt apart,
But now you really know that it is true: it never left you.

Follow the flow of awareness. Open yourself to the unknown.

The universe is a mirror of consciousness.
The events in your life reflect who you are.

Everything is possible. When you make choice, you change the future.

The measure of your enlightenment is the degree to which
you are comfortable with paradox, contradiction, and ambiguity.

Forgiveness of others comes only when you can let go of your own hurt.
The more complete the release, the more sincere the forgiveness.

When you are a child you play .. joyfully with everything, come what may.
No intention, no desire, beautiful energy, always on fire.
To live in this simplicity again.. will fulfill your every desire and intention.

An exceptional life is one that reaches for the highest possibilities.
The secret to this can be named in one word: Vision.

What makes you truly happy?

Quotes by Deepak Chopra
Photographs by Ryan McGinley