On the sixth anniversary of the poignant event of September 11, 2001, which sparked the war the United States is currently fighting, many peaceful spirits united to reflect on the meaning of peace. The event, (Being) Peace in Our World, held at the Coretta Scott King Center, was enlightening, refreshing, eye-opening, informative, majestic, and, well, peaceful. A table of light ’n’ splendid (non caf-affiliated) refreshments as well as a display of home-made thongs were readily available to all participants. The speakers included Jarens Banks, BarbaraO, Steve Fryburg, Sandra Piedrahita Sanchez of Colombia, and Ras Calhoun, each very well-versed in peaceful living and action.
The panelists were asked three main questions: Is world peace possible? How do you define peace? And, is it obtainable in your mind? BarbaraO took us off the beaten path and into our inner light to find the peace residing in our souls, enabling us to glow and illuminate others who are in the dark. With all the violence in today’s society, we could use some peaceful thinking, and according to Sanchez, Columbia desperately needs it. “It’s hard for me to talk about peace because I’ve never experienced it before. In my country, we are so war-driven that people don’t dream of being poets, engineers, musicians etc., they only aspire to be military fighters,” she said.
One of the many causes of national militaristic mindsets is lack of peace education. The vast majority of schools in Colombia, the United States, and abroad only teach the history of was. But when it comes to history of peace, the closest we get is learning about Gandhi and civil disobedience. War heroes such as Attila the Hun, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant, Genghis Kahn, and Alvin York get etched in history’s stone, yet “veterans like Desmond Doss (WWII), who refused to kill anyone because of religious views and thus received a medal of honor, are forgotten,” Fryburg informs.
The general consensus of the conference was that peace must first be wanted. “We have this view that violence is inevitable,” says Steve Fryburg. “All you have to do is say, ‘I want peace.’” Yet he realizes it’s not that easy. “If peace were easy, we would have world peace. The hard part is stopping yourself from strike-back violence and asking, ‘what caused this?’” he assures. Before hypothesizing world peace, the word “peace” must be defined, and if the discussion came to any kind of conclusion, it was that peace is different for everybody. “Peace is coming together for some, for others it’s a spa, a butterfly fluttering by, or for some, it’s when your children stop fighting,” states Jarens Banks. Even the smallest forms of peace are very important. “It’s very essential to greet people with smiles, hugs, positive words and an overall peaceful demeanor,” advises Ras Calhoun. “The small pieces together create the big picture,” says Sanchez. Banks builds upon this idea: “if you do one peaceful thing, other people will see it, feel more at peace, and in return perpetuate the peace chain.”
Peace manipulators cannot be forgotten though. In Colombia, the subject of peace has been manipulated by the president, Álvaro Uribe, who preaches peace but practices war. Sometimes the amount of disbelief of peace’s possibilities can overwhelm all hopes of its success. “Peace better be possible,” declares BarbaraO. “I believe it’s our purpose in life, so be as deep as you really are.”
If you missed the event and are interested in attending a similar one, there are a few to choose from. This Sunday, an Open Spaces Dialogue (Citizens’ Convention) is being held at the Dayton Convention Center, focusing on how to make Dayton an official City of Peace. Admission is free, and food is provided. For more info, call 937-227-3223 or visit www.daytoncityofpeace.org. There is also a Peace One Day Festival next Friday from 4:00-9:00 p.m. at the Courthouse Square, 3rd and Main, downtown Dayton, featuring live music, speakers, and various booths. For more info, email info@daytonpeacemuseum.org.
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Dispatches from Community Meeting
It was one of those community meetings where no one throws punches because the CMs broke up the fight before it could start, but props for showing up. Great attendance at this community meeting, I personally didn’t show up this week I just cribbed this from another reporter.
In short order: Andzrej had a conversation with Ruth in Pulse. Trivia came back to school with Beth. There were seven announcements and each was repeated twice. Rory explained that there’s $6,500 in CAB or CFB or whatever. According to their reports AdCil was a little off the chain, ComCil didn’t do anything but deem Fela chair, and GreenCil didn’t meet.
In Pulse Andrzej again stood in front of the community to play pitch and catch. He came prepared with some answers from last week’s questions.
Vegan Recipe of the Week – Pizza
Pizza
I am too impatient to watch dough rise, so I use this recipe for quick delicious pizza dough.
Dough Ingredients:
*1 ½ c flour (white, whole wheat, gluten-free, etc. will all work fine)
*1 tsp baking powder
*1 to 2 tsp dried herbs of your choice (oregano, basil, rosemary)
*½ tsp salt
*1/8 tsp ground black pepper
*1 egg equivalent of powdered egg replacer (substitute for an extra ½ tsp baking soda and splash of your choice of liquid)
*¼ cup oil
*½ cup vegan milk (soy, almond, rice, etc.)
Topping and Sauce Ideas: marinara, vegan pesto, olive oil, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, corn, beans, avocados, figs, all the fruits and veggies you can think of, nutritional yeast, fake meats, soy cheeses (my favorite’s the gourmet brand)
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix dry and then wet ingredients, using your hands to kneed together. The dough can be stretched or rolled in a variety of ways. I like to flatten the dough with my hands on a floured surface, place in an oiled glass pan, metal cookie, pie pan, or whatever is around and continue to flatten to about ¼ inch thick. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until light brown. Add sauce and toppings and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. And now the fun of trying to cut the pizza without burning your fingers.
I’ll be making Pizza for Vegan Potluck this week, Saturday 6pm Mills Kitchen.
Good vibes at Blues Fest regardless of rain
Once a year, banjos, guitars, violins, and harmonicas are a common sight along with plates of Cajun food and voluminous cups of fresh lemonade. For the 10th consecutive year, the sweet sounds of live music and the scent of BBQ floated across the Antioch College campus.
Through the efforts of a dedicated team of volunteers, African American Cross-Cultural Works presented Blues/ Jazz Music Fest ’07 to southwestern Ohio. Residents of the village of Yellow Springs, that hosted the event, as well as festival goers from other parts of Ohio and beyond converged on the west edge of the college campus to enjoy a weekend of live blues and other music.
Guy Davis, a blues performer, has been a part of the festival since its inception 10 years ago. “It’s a small-town festival, sometimes with big members,” he explains. Even so, within the relatively small grounds allotted to the festival, everything from ‘Big Mama’s Bar-B-Que Ribs’ (“Ribs so good make you wanna slap your mama”) to jugglers, to Antioch McGregor recruiters, managed to find a place on the grass and along
the pathways.
The blues festival kicked off on Wednesday the fifth in the elegantly wood panelled sanctuary of the Central Chapel A.M.E. Church. A standing-room-only audience enthusiastically enjoy an evening of soulful gospel music. Everyone from small children to elderly villagers tapped toes, swayed to and fro, or clapped fervently to the lively melodies. An offering was taken and Pastor John Freeman led a prayer. “There are a lot of storms right now that aren’t related to the weather,” the pastor said.
But it is events such as the blues festival that respond to such storms by bringing people together. Sparky Elliott, a former student at Antioch College and guitarist in The Ark Band, cited the community as one of the aspects of Yellow Springs that he loved most. “I’ve had the best two years of my life in this place,” he said, “and it’s because of the people.” And the people are what makes the blues festival such a hit.
“It’s a place where “people rub shoulders with each other,” said Guy Davis. He opened up the Saturday festivities with a small group on the Innovation Stage. No more than a slightly raised platform, the stage, covered by an awning, hosted some of the most impassioned and diverse music of the weekend. From turntabling, to blues, to rap backed up by a harmonica, the Innovation Stage was the place for down-home, spontaneous music.
Both Friday and Saturday turned out to be something of a disappointing for many of the fans who had come to hear headliners like Al Caldwell and The Travelling Hillbillies and Magnolia Bolthead. Rain and overcast skies plagued both days and left the grounds only sparsely occupied. The weather went so far as to force Friday’s music to be cancelled completely. This year was the first time in the festival’s history that it had rained, said Elizabeth Tobey, a 10-year-veteran of the festival.
The sentiment on Saturday afternoon however, was one of pertinacity. As the sky erupted with rain, showgoers took refuge beneath trees and musicians continued to play as they moved under tarps Minutes before the rain, one musician announced “We don’t know if it’s going to rain or not, but if it does, we’re going into the theatre. It’s the blues either way.”
By evening, the theatre was indeed where most of the day’s headliners ended up. The show’s move inside created a logistical quandary when the maximum occupancy of the much smaller theatre was reached and a security guard posted outside the main door to keep further blues fans out. Those wishing to enter were told the crowd inside would be sent out around 9:30pm and a new batch would be brought in. It was a discouraging end to a gloomy day for many at the festival who had persevered in spite of the weather.
Turnout on Sunday, the last day of the festival, was a marked improvement. The presence of sunshine helped fans get into the mood for an afternoon of life music and dancing. Headliners returned to the amphitheatre and bands like The Ark Band with their reggae and calypso music created the perfect atmosphere to get the audience off their seats into the open air arena. Festivalgoers of all ages took to the dance floor to enjoy the music and weather.
While this year’s festival was neither as well attended nor publicized as the previous when comedian Dave Chappelle hosted the show, most people left pleased. Fans of the blues came for the event itself and they got what they had come to hear. “We mostly come to hear who’s here,” said one festivalgoer from Springfield.
Fans of the blues must now wait another year to enjoy the varied pleasures of the AACW blues festival once more.
Sex Toys on a Budget
Sex toys are great. They are fun for personal use or to use with friends and partners. They can help you act out fantasies, spark sexual creativity, explore sensations, and find sexual satisfaction. Some folks have impressive sex toy collections which are a great source of pride – similar to an art collection. And how does one acquire such a collection, you ask? Well, some pieces are probably negotiated into the collection when dividing the assets in a break-up, but generally it’s through money. Good dildos can cost upwards of $50, and I’ve heard of people spending hundreds of dollars on hand-crafted leather pieces (like floggers). Even if you aren’t interested in hand-crafted leather pieces, you can still spend a pretty penny on the most basic of sex toys. I spent $108 on my first dildo and vinyl harness. That’s a lot to spend when you’re a college student making FWSP wages (and haven’t even received your first meager paycheck yet). Never fear! With a little creativity and resourcefulness, your world can be rife with sex toys!
Striking Instruments
If you are interested in play that involves striking or being struck by your partner(s), as in with a paddle, the kitchen (or the kitchenware section of the nearest thrift store) is a great place to look. Try wooden spoons or plastic or rubber spatulas. For variety, try whisks, slotted spoons, tongs, or even ice cube trays (straight from the freezer, sans the ice). Remember, however, that anything porous (like everything listed above) needs to be covered with a condom or designated for use with one person only, which is why checking out the thrift store and investing in cheap items designated for sexual use only is a good idea. Multiple partners? Buy a $0.25 wooden spoon for each of them. How thoughtful! Books as paddles pack an intellectual punch and every college student has books. Another favorite striking instrument of mine is a classic – the paddle or oval style hairbrush. It’s useful for fantasies involving punishment/spankings, as well as hair and hairbrushing (yes, there are people with hair fetishes). My favorite use of the hairbrush, however, is when using hot wax. Once your lover is covered in hot wax, you can remove the more troublesome bits that won’t peel off by running a wire-bristled hairbrush over them in a circular motion. It will be particularly painful over your lover’s sensitive, hot wax covered skin, so if that’s what you’re going for, it’s the perfect tool. Another classic is the belt, though be careful with this one as long, loose ends can hit parts of your lover’s body other than the ones you were aiming for. Practice on a pillow or chair first to perfect your aim. Also, a word of caution with all sex acts involving hitting and striking: as with all things, you MUST communicate with your partner(s) about it before-hand and make sure that everyone clearly understands and consents to the activities. Also, hitting can be dangerous, and you MUST know what you’re doing. The fleshy parts of butts and thighs are generally safe, but be sure to look it up on the internet, ask an expert, or take a class before attempting a potentially dangerous activity.
Dildos
Break out the lesbian jokes, because here it comes: vegetables. It’s funny, but it’s true that vegetables make excellent inexpensive dildos. Many, such as cucmbers, squashes, and carrots come in a shape convenient for insertion into vaginas (though not anuses, as they generally do not have flared bases and could actually get “lost” inside, which is damn near impossible in a vagina). A friend of mine swears by a peeled cucumber, microwaved just enough to make it warm and malleable. “Decorative gourds,” sold practically everywhere in fall (especially closer to Halloween) come in lots of interesting shapes and textures. Again, make sure you cover all your vegetables with a condom and, actually, wash them first just to be sure your important parts don’t meet with any nasty pesticides. Also, try looking around your room for things that look insert-able. Use some common sense, but remember that barriers are your best friends and small lotion bottles or Ken dolls with molded plastic hair can be covered with condoms and take on valuable new meaning. Do make sure, though, that your found-object dildo is without sharp edges and that anything you insert anally has a flared base and, if you can, a handle.
Vibrators
Get this: anything that vibrates can be a vibrator. Of course, the obvious choice is a vibrating back massager. Some of the products sold as “vibrators” in sex toy stores are actually packaged and marketed as back massagers. These can be comparable in price to sex-toy-vibrators, but the benefit here is that you may already have one that you’ve just never looked at that way before. Another good option is the electric toothbrush. Put a condom on that sucker and you’d be amazed at how oral hygiene can enhance your sex life!
There are many more possibilities for cheap, free, and DIY sex toys, but that’s where we’ll stop for this week. Be creative, use lots of condoms and common sense, and see what you can come up with!
Lusting For You,
Levi B.