conscious

How to Rule the World from Your Couch

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Do you want to make a change in your life? Each December, as one calendar year ends and a new one is about to begin, most of us reflect upon where we have been and plan for where we want to be. If you answer yes to the question I pose, I highly recommend Laura Day's most recent book, How to Rule the World from Your Couch.

This New York Times bestselling author teaches the reader, as she has taught her students, to use intuition as a useful strategy to achieve change in one's life. Day explains intuition as the higher octave of your five senses. Intuition can guide you to your truest, best possible self. Each chapter begins with a Quick Hit Exercise. Her techniques for embodying the skills taught in this book will help you deal with stress, improve personal and professional relationships, and aid you in achieving your goals. Day guides the reader through each chapter by offering examples which are applicable to individual life as well as sharing personal experiences from her life. As Day advises throughout the book, do not over think the exercises. Intuition is a part of each of us. Some may be more aware of the skills of intuition than others. You may discover that you are already practicing these tools but address them by another name. By being an intuitive person, you are harnessing an often underutilized part of your brain.

Day encourages the reader to consciously create a sacred space, which can be a state of mind or a physical place, a sacred time, an actual time which you devote to connecting with your inner being, and a ritual, which is a repetitive and comforting routine that helps you connect with yourself.

By setting aside any preconceived ideas which the chapter titles may invoke, the reader can explore and experiment with the skills of intuition. Mediumship is a chapter on how to view the world by becoming someone or something else. Telepathy is the subject of chapter four, which focuses on the ability to guide the thoughts and behavior of others. At the same time, your own vulnerability can be manipulated by the telepathy of others. Body Heat Telepathy is the ability to exchange mutually attractive messages with another person but from a distance. Intriguing? I thought so.

Do you want to be more in control of your destiny? Chapters six and seven are a must read. Remote Viewing is the most detached of the intuitive states and involves perceiving the target while being separated from it by time and space. Precognition is the ability to move the target, which can be a person or situation forward in time, thus experiencing what will happen.

Each individual is unique and, consequently, each reader will have a personal level of involvement with this book.

Written by: Maryann Gromisch, December 29th 2009

k-os: Live at the 9:30 Club (2/21/2007)

admin — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:51:00 +0000

9:30 Club

If hip-hop is now comparable to a staid night of champagne swilling, high profiling, platinum-plated debauchery, then k-os is as refreshing as the hazy Sunday morning brunch spread invitingly along an island shore. Following in the tracks laid by former underground artists, Talib Kweli and Common, k-os is a creative contained energy wielding a socially conscious, reggae splashed mandate.

On February 21st, Washington D.C. welcomed the Canadian MC, born Kevin Brereton, to the hub of alternative music. Hundreds of hipsters and surburban b-boys lined V Street in anticipation of “Kheaven’s Original Sound” and the Daryl Hall for President Tour '07, which features acclaimed hip-hop artists Gym Class Heroes, P.O.S. and progressive, ska-punkers RX Bandits.

As k-os took the stage, in a pair of fresh kicks and worn hoodie, I felt that we had all been personally invited to chill on an all-encompassing collegiate futon while he tried to wax poetically over a groove infected live band. However, when his lyrics failed to scale clever peaks, k-os’ Trinidadian lilt, reminiscent of Wyclef Jean, carried us through the lull.

Playing his way through his third and latest album, Atlantis: Hymns for Disco, k-os certainly seemed to possess knowledge of himself… perhaps a tad too much. While it was refreshing not to have to bare witness to another slick, over processed, strobe-infused performance, I would have preferred to see less of the MC’s back. I would encourage him to toy with and play off of the energy the young crowd was so ready to give him. Yet, while I find k-os the performer a bit lackluster, k-os the musician is certainly a breath of hope-filled air.

When rap heavyweights claim that hip hop is dead, perhaps shot point blank by misogynistic dirty South bullets, I am charmed by k-os. In an industry that is prone with carbon copy chameleon heirs, k-os strives to bring some integrity back to the beat of the urban street. Unfortunatately, his 9:30 Club performance seemed somewhat locked onto the promise of securing the highly coveted MTV rotation currently being conquered by the main act.

I long for the golden era of old school hip-hop, and I think k-os is fervently trying to usher in some sort of renaissance, but this precarious position between artistic merit and mainstream success prevents him from blazing a well-known trail. Perhaps his position in this current tour will ignite a following, a cause and a re-birth of a creative hip-hop nation.

Written by: Pamela Wiley, April 6th 2007

Atlantis: Hymns for Disco

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:33:00 +0000

By k-os

Virgin Records

This is an impressive record. k-os is a rapper from Trinidad, who was raised in Toronto. His name stands for “Knowledge of Self.” The songs on this album steer clear of typical commercial hip-hop posturing. There is no talk of guns, gang violence or misogyny. In fact, on "The Rain," he openly reveals his pain over lost love.

k-os' honesty and workmanship shine through on every number. One of my favorites is "Sunday Morning." Here, k-os deals with the lonely quiet that is often the aftermath of a Saturday night at the club. His rhymes are clever, original and versatile. k-os is currently touring the United States after selling several platinum records in Canada.

I hope Atlantis: Hymns for Disco will give him the commercial and critical success he deserves. I will be interested to see how popular k-os becomes in the States. His refusal to make a quick buck pandering to hip-hop stereotypes is admirable. Overall, Atlantis: Hymns for Disco is a sign of change in the hip-hop game.

Written by: Steve Watson, March 26th 2007