LOVE ANGELES

SENNA DOCUMENTARY

The Spirit of this man, along with the humility, purpose, courage and natural wisdom that poured through his words and presence, inspired so many. I highly recommend experiencing Ayrton Senna through the documentary which is playing at select theaters (LANDMARK in LA). You will be moved...

Before Gaga

Source: MTV - Aside from her meteoric rise to worldwide fame from seemingly nowhere, one of the most fascinating aspects of Lady Gaga's ascension to the pop stratosphere is how formerly unknown New York rock club singer Stefani Germanotta seems to have known all along that this was her destiny.

A just-published profile in New York magazine, written by Vanessa Grigoriadis and including an interview conducted in March 2009 — supplemented by recent quotes from people she knew during her early days, including songwriter/producer Rob Fusari, who sued Gaga earlier this month — the self-assured singer is depicted as already carrying herself like the pop icon she would soon become.

"I don't like Los Angeles," [frown] she told the reporter, insisting that she be addressed by her stage name and recoiling from the camera flashes of tourists taking pictures of each other than she assumed were meant for her. "The people are awful and terribly shallow, and everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to play the game. I'm from New York. I will kill to get what I need."

Though her path to six #1 singles, millions of album sales and a massive stage show appears to have happened in a blink of an eye, Gaga, 24, said the process took longer than it appears. "I went through a great deal of creative and artistic revelation, learning, and marination to become who I am," she said in the article. "Tiny little lie? I wanted to become the artist I am today, and it took years."

It began on the Upper West Side of New York, where she grew up in a duplex with her dad, whose company installed wi-fi systems in hotels, her mother, who was a vice president at Verizon for a time and younger sister Natali, now 18, who has a cameo in the "Telephone" video. The sisters attended the small Sacred Heart Catholic girls school near the Guggenheim museum, where the Germanotta's were a solidly middle class pair mixed in with the outrageously wealthy and those attending on scholarships. She began taking day-long acting classes on Saturdays at age 11 and by eighth grade was landing the leads in shows such as "Guys and Dolls" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at Sacred Heart's brother school, Regis High. Friends told New York that she insisted on being called by her character's names even then, refusing to answer to Stefani backstage during rehearsals and performances.

Gaga also held down a job as a waitress at a diner on the Upper West Side during her school years, using one of her first paychecks to guy a $600 Gucci purse, a preview of her later dive into high fashion. Though some jealous older girls sometimes referred to her as "the Germ," the article says, most classmates remember her as being popular and not the awkward outcast she has painted herself to be in interviews. Continue reading at MTV.com

The Perfect Visitor

Last week, in the middle of the night, I found myself in what seemed to be a dream. In the "dream," I was in my bed, under my covers, in the middle of the night and I heard someone turn my bathroom sink on full blast. Being that I live alone, I was startled a bit as I was sure that somebody was in my bathroom. My next thought, however, was that I somehow knew my visitor was neither an intruder nor an uninvited guest. I felt that it was my grandfather, "Papa" (read more about Papa here.) Although it what comforting that a burglar was not inside my home, my anxiety only decreased a little. I could feel a warm light coming from the bathroom, just outside my open bedroom door and when I tried to call out "Papa?," I realized that my entire body was in some form of paralysis - no matter how hard I tried, I could not make a sound louder than a faint exhale of breath. I became nervous and frustrated, struggling to break free from my bondage so I could get nearer to Papa...

What felt like the next instant, I was in my bed and my heart was racing. The good news was that I could move my body once again. I was aware of my heightened pulse and thought to myself, what a dream? A few minutes later, I dozed off once again. And once again, I found myself in what seemed to be a dream, in my bed, under my covers. This time, directly in front of me, above my window, was a large fluorescent purple holographic flower which  resembled something that one would find in the film Avatar. I got out of bed to inspect the magnificent flower and noticed that my entire wall was covered with flowers, although none of them were as brilliant and radiant as the main one...

The next morning I called my father to tell him about my "dream." Five minutes later, my mom called me and asked "could you tell me about the dream you had last night?" I did. My mom said "well, you're not going to believe this." In the middle of the same night, my mom had trouble sleeping and for some reason or another began talking to Papa. She said, "Papa, it's been a few months now since you passed on and you have yet to come into any of our dreams. You know that I would like you to come into my dream, but I realize that I wasn't the nicest person to you in the last few months or so. Could you then visit Forrest in his dream tonight?"  

I love confirmations, don't you?

Mastin Kipp and The Daily Love

Source: TheDailyLove.com - It's no mystery anymore, Love is in the air!!! I bumped into an amazing woman the other day in Venice who let me know about the "free daily e-multivitamin for the soul" known as The Daily Love. You can imagine how excited I got to know that people all around the world are truly opening up to Love and I mean the true Spirit of Love!! And as we step further into the powerful lovolution taking place on the planet, one by one, the love will begin to flow through each and every one of us, and Harmony will be restored amongst the human race and Mama Earth!

According to their website, "The Daily Love was created by Mastin Kipp in 2005 under the original name "Thoughts for the Day." Kipp, who is also the CEO of The Love Yourself Company (www.LoveYourself.net), embarked upon a journey in 2004 to find his true purpose and figure out the techniques to best manifest Highest Potential. Along the way he figured there must have been other people who have come before him who've were met with the same challenges he was facing to find true happiness and inner peace." Kipp went on a journey to find the fruits of unconditional love, wisdom, health and balance to bring to the world through a daily e-newsletter of inspiration which soon became known as The Daily Love. What's not to love?

Ms. Spider & The Case For Expressive Arts

Source: JenniferLothrigel.com - As many of you know, art is a very important part of my life. The creative process has always been one my most dear methods of transforming the unconscious material that can sometimes come up to 'bite' us. Last year I completed my certification in Expressive Arts and through that process I began to integrate art into my work more and more. When I say art, I speak of creative expression in all of its many forms. I view creative expression as an essential part of being a whole individual. Further, I would say that I view the creative process as a powerful way to obtain wholeness. It has certainly been so in my personal experience. I wanted to share an example of this with you from a recent 'Intuitive Painting' experience that I had. You will find the painting below (at the end of the note) along with the writing that I did about the painting (this is a way that I process what has 'shown up' through my intuitive creative expression.) Following, the writing I share an example of how I work with the creative process when working with clients and in workshops.

This is the writing that I did about her. What I do, is once I have painted I sit down and dialogue with the painting. I simply ask that the painting reveal why it has come to me. I don't try to 'figure it out' rather, listen to what it has to say as if it is a wise messenger who has come bearing valuable information.

This is what Ms. Spider had to say: "I have come creeping out of your unconscious womb space to let you know that there is debris down there that is getting in my way of maintaining a beautiful and vibrant web. I want this cleared because my web is being weighted down.

Please listen to me seriously, because if you do not, I will bite. And my bite is very painful. I am not afraid of dark places, or what I find there and this is how I am a gift to you. I do not fear what I may find or doubt my ability to face what seems to be too scary to look at. I do not doubt my ability to take on the largest of monsters. I can see in the dark. This is my advantage."

Additionally, I had been having dreams that mirrored the message of this painting. The process that I used with this painting is what I teach in my classes when we use 'Intuitive Painting'. Everything is energy and symbols hold so much energy for us. There is so much in symbols for us to dive into. In intuitive painting, I teach how to pay attention to energy and then the painting process becomes a listening exercise where we listen with our hands. In this process, we are following the energy throughout the entire painting. It is very exciting and curious to wonder what will appear. What symbols will reveal themselves to us? In the painting above, I had no intentions and this wonderful, very feminine spider came with such a valuable message for me.

I should add that prior to painting this, I prayed, I meditated and I did a ritual to connect with my deepest aspects of myself as well as my most Spiritually connected parts of myself. I use this process also in my classes and my individual session work. Following the dialogue with the painting there is much more exploration to be done. I often will use Voice Dialogue with painting and discover parts of myself or my clients that are similar to the painting and listen to what they have to say. I often will have clients dance the painting and discover how it feels in their bodies. Or write a poem about the painting.

By spending time with the painting we can see where there is personal growth that is beckoning us. And this gives us a place to work from. With this, I may then, use Shamanic work such as Soul retrieval. And I most always do a ceremony to initiate the arrival or the exit of what has been painted in or out of my life. Sometimes paintings are parts of us that are dying and other times, they are parts that are being born into our experience.

In individual sessions we don't do large paintings such as the one above due to time constraints but we will use watercolors or acrylics and then work much like what I described above.

Thanks for allowing me to share in my process. If you have any questions about the process or working individually this way I am happy to answer. For more visit www.JenniferLothrigel.com

Jimi Hendrix Fans Have a New Experience in Store

Source: LA Times - The late musician's half-sister is overseeing the release of a 'new' album of previously unreleased material.

With the exception of James Dean, who made only three films, there might be no pop-culture icon who has done more with less than the late Jimi Hendrix. The ultimate guitar hero released just three studio albums before his death in 1970, but new generations of music fans keep plugging into his amplified legacy.

The volume of Hendrix's music is about to get turned up.

Today, the Hendrix estate and Sony Music Entertainment will announce the March 9 release of a "new" Hendrix album, "Valleys of Neptune," which will feature a dozen unreleased recordings.

The late star's sister, Janie Hendrix, calls the material a "major revelation" about her brother's musical directions at the time of his death, but the project and Sony's intense interest in it also reveal plenty about the modern music marketplace -- namely that proven stars of the past, even the dead ones, are growing more important to an industry facing an uncertain future.

At last week's massive 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer opened his company's presentation by talking about Sony's Legacy Recordings and its licensing agreement with Experience Hendrix, the Seattle-based company that acts as steward of the estate.

That partnership was first announced last summer, but today marks the real rollout of Sony's venture into the Hendrix vault. The company also will re-release familiar Hendrix albums bundled with new DVD documentaries, take the star into the online sector aggressively and look for synergy opportunities with the biennial Hendrix all-star tribute tour that begins its national run March 4 in Santa Barbara.

"It's an auspicious start in fulfilling a shared vision for the Jimi Hendrix catalog going forward," Legacy general manager Adam Block said.

Perhaps, but it also offers insight into the mind set at the major record labels. There was a major scramble among Sony's rivals to land the Hendrix deal for the simple reason that icons of the past are viewed as a particularly good investment at a time when CD sales of new music are in continued decline and up-and-coming acts represent limited upside amid the shifting profit realities of the digital-download era.

In other words, the rewind button looks like a safer bet these days.

Nostalgia sells

Warner Music Group has undertaken a major Frank Sinatra revival that is both archival -- with the release of vintage recordings -- and entrepreneurial with new ventures in advertising, film and perhaps a Las Vegas casino. Michael Jackson was the bestselling artist of last year (8.2 million albums sold in the U.S. alone), and the Beatles came in third (3.3 million); country crossover singer Taylor Swift finished between the two with music that was actually recorded in this century.

The Fab Four also hit the video game market with their Rock Band game, the latest of their seemingly seasonal encores as a pop-culture force.

And now, Hendrix is warming up as a 21st century enterprise.

Born in Seattle in 1942, Johnny Allen Hendrix would take on a persona that matched his trippy guitar feedback. His persona -- part gypsy mystic/part cosmic visitor -- made him seem somehow both earthy and otherworldly, a combination that made him a touchstone figure for a tie-dyed generation.

When he set his guitar on fire on stage in 1967 at the Monterey International Pop Festival he truly ignited his career. The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded signature 1960s tracks such as "Purple Haze" and "Foxey Lady," but their frontman's fashion influence and guitar innovations made him greater than the sum of those hits.

Hendrix died in London after a night of barbiturate use in September 1970. He was 27 and had no will. His estate, which is now valued somewhere north of $80 million, was caught up in legal battles for years; initially, control went to his father, Al Hendrix, but over the next decade he ceded it to others with results that left Hendrix devotees grumbling.

Power struggle

Eventually, Al Hendrix wrested control back, leading to the 1995 creation of Experience Hendrix, but his 2002 death led to more court conflicts. Janie, the half-sister of Jimi, emerged as the victor when the dust settled in 2008. She says that now, finally, the obstacles have been cleared and "Valleys of Neptune" is part of a major cache of material that will be tapped.

"There are things that were acquired through the years, both music and film footage and home recordings, or things that were left behind by the old administration not taking care of things," she said. "We have material for a decade's worth [of new releases]."

Janie Hendrix added that "Neptune" has some familiar songs -- die-hard fans might have heard some of these tracks on various bootleg recordings that have turned up over the years -- but these versions are startling.

"It sounds," she said, "like Jimi could have recorded them yesterday."

Any new release will face withering inspection from Hendrix scholars. One of them, Charles R. Cross, author of the acclaimed 2005 Hendrix biography "Room Full of Mirrors" and an occasional critic of the Hendrix estate, said the track listing comes with the promise of pristine presentations of long-muddied material.

"With so many different 'official' albums so far and hundreds of bootlegs, very little Hendrix is truly 'unheard' or 'unreleased' these days," Cross said Sunday. "But to listen to some of Jimi's final Experience recordings in their original versions, with quality remastering, is enough to get any Hendrix fan excited, particularly when the songs are as good as 'Hear My Train,' one of Jimi's best-ever tracks."

South African native Eddie Kramer was the lead producer on the album, and he was also the engineer in the studio with Hendrix during the original sessions. Kramer spent months using vintage analog approaches and the latest digital tools to excavate the material. "I felt like an archaeologist using a brush who finds, underneath the dust, this marvelous gold artifact," he said.

'A new direction'

Kramer said the music of "Neptune" comes primarily from 1969, a time of "both frustration and real excitement" for Hendrix as he pushed his way toward "a new direction." The guitarist had brought in an old friend, bassist Billy Cox, to play on some of the tracks; on Friday, Cox, now living in Nashville, said he is giddy at the prospect of hearing the results of his work with Hendrix.

"I can tell you that Jimi was on his way to a powerful new thing, a new direction completely, he was going back to his roots and he wanted a sound with more soul," said Cox, later in Hendrix's Band of Gypsys. "Who can say where it would have led him if he hadn't died?"

Cox chuckled when asked about the sway Hendrix has on young rock fans and new generations of artists. People who were born after Hendrix was buried seem to view him as a wizard who wasn't quite real.

"Jimi was a complete original and a visionary," Cox said. "Every 10 years a new generation finds him. There are only two kinds of guitarists in the world. The ones who talk about how they were influenced by Jimi Hendrix and those who were influenced by Jimi Hendrix but won't admit it."

Film as a Medium for Consciousness Transformation

This Sunday, January 10, 2010 7PM-10PM -- Project Butterfly, the Funkmeyers and Royal/T present an intimate evening with our good friend Mikki Willis, award-winning filmmaker and Founder of the Elevate Film Festival.

Hosted by Jenny & Otis Funkmeyer, the evening will focus on new Paradigms for Transformational Media as we embark upon the second decade of the 21st century.

"Our communication systems and media technology have reached a level never achieved before. The technology to assist in planetary and spiritual elevation is here. The question is how are we to harness these communication systems in a new way, with greater respect, responsibility and intention? How can we forge this new path? What are the obstacles? What are the next steps to be taken?"

You are invited to join us to engage more deeply in this discussion. Mikki Willis will be the keynote, where he will be sharing what he's learned through Elevate about the power of film to transform our world....

There is no better time to learn, share and discuss with a true leader in the world's greatest Lovolution! Personally, I wouldn't miss it to see Avatar for the second time!

When?

Sunday, January 10 7pm-10pm

Where?

Royal T Cafe - 8910 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Contribution:

$35 - Which includes a delicious dinner and a glass of wine or pot of tea.

If you have not made your reservation we recommend you do so asap, seats are filling up fast. Click here to RSVP now!

For more information about the event please visit: www.projectbutterfly.org
or feel free to email info@projectbutterfly.org