The Hippie-Chickie (Holiday) Shake
Seasons Greetings:)
Wishing you love and tenderness,
Peace and love today and always...
May the new year bring forth creative fulfillment and prosperity!
Liah
In this Happy Holiday Edition of the Hippie-Chicky Shake:
-Winter Soldier: New Song for the Holidays available now!
-New Century’s Women In Music Showcase: Featuring Liah Alonso
-Liah Alonso online and on TV:
NY ROCKS Television and Subway Performances of "Don't Think Twice" and "Winter Soldier"
-Holiday Travel, not so bad
(or) Everything is easy after India
______________________________
Winter Soldier:
I co-wrote and produced “Winter Soldier” with Kelly Halloran (violinist), after watching "Operation First Casualty", a film about veterans of war who re-enact, in public places, sniper fire, hostage take-downs and torture. It inspired us to honor these “Winter Soldiers”: brave men and women who testify to the brutality of war amidst the din of patriotism.
“Winter Soldier” has a classic theme: families torn apart by war. A wife misses her deployed husband during Christmas time. We believe the song could find a large audience, considering the holiday joy will contrast against our deepening anti-war sentiment. Our goal is to distribute this song as widely as possible in order to raise awareness and funds for "Iraq veterans Agaist War" and "Veterans for Peace".
You can listen and/or download "Winter Soldier" on myspace or nimbit.
Watch my performance of Winter Soldier on NY Rocks TV: "Winter Soldier"
______________________________
Join Liah and friends for an Acoustic Buzz at Gizzi’s this Saturday Night!!!
December, 29 2007 @ 10PM
16 W 8th Street, New York 10011
We will be doing a live taping of this event so please come ready to sing along:)
______________________________
Liah Alonso online and on TV:
NY ROCKS Television and Subway Performances of "Don't Think Twice" and "Winter Soldier"
See the show in its entirety: NY RocksTV Show or watch me sing "Winter Soldier"
I was invited to perform "Winter Soldier" on NY ROCKS TV for their Holiday Special. It was my first TV show promoting my own music and I was really excited about it. I was even interviewed and given the chance to speak about the Veterans and the upcoming album "Will Sing For Smiles". It was an honor to share the stage with some awesome musicians: Suzanne Gorman band and pre-teen rockers Reverse Order as well as Actor Nick Raio. Thank you Lou Lotto for being so awesome and supportive, Phil Fiumano for putting me on the show, Kevin, Ali, and all my new friends at Time Warner and NY Rocks for being so rockin'!
New YouTube Videos:
Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice"
film by Riccardo Elizondo
______________________________
The view from the top: Ladakhi prayer flags and mountains
Lord Shiva (Hindu God of Destruction) in front of Ashrams in Haridwar
Trekking in the Himalayas: Guitar and all...oh how I wished for a pony to carry all my stuff!______________________________
Holiday Travel, not so bad
(or) Everything is easy after India
I am stuck on a plane on its way to Mexico City. I write these words from a tight little spot where I sit squeezed between two men too big to be allowed to sit in the same row. Their elbows and shoulders extend into my small allotted space and so I’m typing with my arms awkwardly glued to my sides. Each time I doze off, the guy next to me sees it as a good time to chat and asks me an insightful question like “Isn’t this a long flight”? or “Bad weather, huh”?
I nod and smile back at him.
What else is there to do in this uncomfortable situation but smile and laugh about it? It feels much better than getting frustrated about something I cannot change. We are all stuck here on this rainy runway as we have been stuck for two hours already, with no foreseeable signs of flight.
So now is probably a good time to write this edition of the Hippie-Chicky Shake. Now when my pacience is tested by a long wait and the baby in the next row who just started screaming. It’s a good time because being a hippie-chicky (or hippie-chico) means seeing the good in the moment and letting go of everything else.
I am grateful to be on this airplane right now and on my way (sort of) to see family and friends in Mexico! Although we aren’t moving, it is a climate controlled air-plane and (yay!) they are passing out peanuts! (ooh but they have high fructose corn syrup in them so I’ll pass).
I take a mental trip back to India now, back to 20+ hour bus rides on bumpy roads made of dirt and cow-dung. The trip from Manali to Ladakh was the most difficult of these. That trip was so scary that I wondered if I would ever make it back to tell the story.
I remember staring out the window of a cramped van as it sped up through the windy Himalayan mountain ranges. The driver was smoking charas (hash) while dancing to loud, distorted Bhangra (Punjabi Dance music) coming from the front side speakers. The vehicle was filled with smoke and budget backpackers wondering what they had gotten themselves into.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, we passed a rainbow-colored bus hanging off the hillside by its left rear wheel. “That could have easily been us” I thought growing queezy. “Namasde” I shouted up to the driver in my broken Hindi “mera body naheen achah (translation-my body is not feeling so good).” Luckily he understood and quickly pulled over.
I ran outside to throw up. It started to rain then and breath steamed out from me like a boiling kettle. The van full of strangers watched and waited. I heard steps and a zipper and turned to see the driver peeing right next to me.
It felt like it couldn’t get any worse and that’s when I looked up to see the most amazing views of my life. We were on one of the highest roads in the world, overlooking the Himalayas, riding through crystal lakes and sand dunes, prayer flags fluttering from purple rocks blushing with a blue and pink fluorescent sunrise. It was all worth it for that view. It always is and every trip I have taken since India has been that way: a piece of cake or should I say, a piece of warm nan bread which I hold in my hands and say humbly-Thank you.
Note Worthy Links:
Tired of watching re-runs? no problem! Check out these cool indy-active videos:
www.meerkatmedia.org
and
The Story of Stuff
Help our Veterans:
www.ivaw.org
www.veteransforpeace.org
Phil Fiumano interviews Rock legends like Sid Bernstein and KISS and rising stars:
www.nyrockstv.com
posted by Liah Alonso @ 5:01 PM
0 comments
links to this post
