This one is London from the Bay. You can check out another video at Sef Diggys site.

Our friend Bay area specialist Raashan Ahmad does it again.

There are those groups who you wish came out with more music so you can fill your soul up and Soulstice is one of those. New album dropping May 17th, please stay tuned and until then check the teaser.

Traynor has spent years documenting hip hop culture but after a chance encounter with a Lowrider car club he has now turned his lens toward this historic subculture. Last Cinco de Mayo he jumped in the back of a flan colored 69 Buick Skylark convertible and documented his first cruise. (The video is linked below) Trevor elaborates, “Since that day I have been hooked. My eyes are wide open to the Lowrider Lifestyle. I have been studying the culture and documenting different chapters and car clubs. My goal is to showcase the riders and their cars, the passion and the pride that are a part of Lowrider living.”

In addition to Trevor’s limited edition prints a limited run of Low Life gold keychains and Trevor Traynor X Cukui T-shirts will also be available for sale opening night. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch the premiere of this new body of work.

Cinco de Mayo Cruise: vimeo.com/ishoot/lowriders UPCOMING SHOW DETAILS Featured Artist: Trevor Traynor Date: Friday, April 8th, 2011 Time: 7pm – 10pm Venue: Cukui, 229 Jackson St. San Jose, CA. 95112

Via the New Rules website. To read it all please visit the Muninetworks website.
Around the United States, hundreds of communities have made substantial investments into telecommunications networks. These investments range from the nation’s largest FTTH network in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the hundreds of local governments that built networks to connect schools and community anchors.

This is the first map to comprehensively show the broadband networks that are structurally designed to meet community needs first. Most of the networks are owned by local governments, but nonprofit networks will also be incorporated over time.

Currently, the map shows communities that are offering FTTH on a citywide (or close to it) basis to residents and businesses (red markers). Additionally, it shows the cable networks owned by local governments across the nation (blue markers). In due course, the map will show fiber-to-the-business networks owned by the community, broadband stimulus projects with a community focus, and community wireless networks.

Jesse Boykins III
Shot, Directed & Edited by @DrWooArt for @LightUpFilm

http://jbiiimusic.com

http://lightupfilm.com

ZO! – GREATER THAN THE SUN FEAT. PHONTE
Directed by Phil The God | Produced by Kareem Johnson for triggerhappy | Girl: Jacinte Blankenship | For more information, please visit http://www.theforeignexchangemusic.com

Here’s what I mean. Can you imagine someone using a telegraph to sale products? A receiver on the other end transcribing a note that the local pub had pints for half off? Of course note this would take too much time and effort on both parts (the sender and receiver). But as mediums have become more accessible to more people and less labor intensive to operate more people are able to engage. Telemarketing is still the backbone of corporations the world over but the phone was also not invented for business purposes.

You see the medium is still the message and where the phone is still one and one two way communication and the radio and television or one to many one way communication the new mediums are one to many, many to many and always two way.

This is what makes it the gift and the curse that it is to most small businesses. There are some businesses that are made for more interaction with clients. Consulting firms of all kinds should be encouraging questions via twitter and Facebook so that they can forward answers and therefor their expertise on to others. However if you own a high volume retail establishment like a coffee shop replying to all of your customers or even having a free intern to do so might only cause frustration as there is not genuine need (although there maybe be a want) for the coffee experience to linger beyond the last sip. It’s great to get kudos or complaints of how to make your coffee and the experience of being in an establishment but this service is already being performed by the droves of review sites that are in existence.

So what does this mean to you? Be genuine. start conversations and be social when you feel there is a genuine need to be. Talking and engaging because you can can be just as deadly as ignoring your consumer base all together. To help you get some idea of the the good what mediums are working well Mashable has made this info graphic that will should encourage you to figure out if you want to engage, how and then choose a medium that fits your needs. That same way you would with deciding between TV, radio, telemarketing and bill boards.

Independents are what you should be looking at for inspiration not corporations. But don’t just take my word for it. The New Rules Project have researched exactly how good independents have been doing and are sharing the results with you in the “Localism Index”. Localism has been on the rise in America in all categories, take a look at why below.

Number of new independent bookstores that have opened since 2005: 437

Increase since 2002 in the number of small specialty food stores: 1,414

Increase since 2002 in the number of small farms: 111,839

Number of farmers markets active in 2010: 6,132

Percentage of active farmers markets started since 2000: 53

Average percentage of shoppers at a large supermarket who have a conversation with another customer: 9

Average percentage of shoppers at a farmers market who have a conversation with another customer: 63

Percentage of bank assets held by small and mid-sized community banks: 22

Percentage of small business loans made by small and mid-sized community banks: 54

Growth in deposits at small banks and credit unions since 2008: $77 billion

Number of chain pharmacy locations that opened in 2009: 177

Number of independent pharmacy locations that opened in 2009: 474

Number of Independent Business Alliances and Local First groups in 2005: 30

Number of Independent Business Alliances and Local First groups in 2010: 143

Percentage change in 2010 sales for independent businesses in cities without a Buy Local First initiative: 2.1

Percentage change in 2010 sales for independent businesses in cities with a Buy Local First initiative: 5.6

Increase since 2002 in the number of Starbucks company stores: 3,297

Increase since 2002 in the number of independent coffee shops: 4,923

Average portion of $100 spent at a Target store that stays in the local economy: $16

Average portion of $100 spent at independent retailers that stays in the local economy: $32

Average amount of local wages paid for every $100 spent at a full-service chain restaurant: $18.68

Average amount of local wages paid for every $100 spent at a full-service locally owned restaurant: $28.46

Minimum amount having a grocery store, bookstore, coffee shop and restaurant within half a mile of a house increases its value: $21,000

* Sources: American Booksellers Association; U.S. Economic Census; United States Department of Agriculture, National Directory of Farmers Markets; Robert Sommer, John Herrick, and Ted R. Sommer, “The Behavioural Ecology of Supermarkets and Farmers’ Markets,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 1981; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; National Credit Union Administration; National Association of Chain Drugstores, 2010-11 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile; American Independent Business Alliance; Business Alliance for Local Living Economies; Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2011 Independent Business Survey; Starbucks annual reports; U.S. Economic Census; Civic Economics, Thinking Outside the Box, September 2009; Civic Economics, Local Works! Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy, Sept. 2008; CEOs for Cities, Walking the Walk, August 2009.

The Foreign Exchange- “Authenticity” (official music video) from The Foreign Exchange on Vimeo.

James Paul Schwartz as Conner
Amanda Schafer as Beverly
Ciera Payton as Girl 1
ViDonna as Girl 2
Olivia as Girl 3

Matthew Cherry, director
Scott Hebert, producer
James Bland, 1st AD
Richard Vialet, director of photography
Reginald Harrison, editor
Cameron Shaw, 1st AC
Nikki Gray, 2nd AC
Dan Schmeltzer, best boy
Charlie Cooper, gaffer
David Tayar, key grip
Starlynn, makeup head
Lyric, hair head

A couple of weeks after I came up with the WINEandBEATS concept in May of’ ’06 I ran into a friend Billy Lane. He was a local deejay I had met years before and who’s word I respect because he seldom endorses anything. He was setting up to play at a local night club and I saw him with a glass of wine. Like anyone I thought “great opportunity to tell someone about this idea and see what they think”.

So I proceeded to tell him about my idea of pairing wine and music, more specifically WINEandBEATS. He gave me a face that told me he was really thinking about what I told him in regards to using music to get more people into wine and said “man that’s going to blow up”. I couldn’t have been more excited but what I didn’t expect was his next line. “Have you heard of Gary Vaynerchuk? He does this video wine show and it’s not pretentious like most things that have to do with wine. He talks about things tasting like jolly ranchers and dirt and has a New York Jets spit bucket”. I told him no but my curiosity was peeked.

Now I was never a wine coinsurer, I just like what I like, but if you were drinking wine at the time and needed ways to learn more without feeling like you had to go into venues that just didn’t feel welcoming or read a lot of text on tannins and terroir, then this sounded like gold.

Indeed it was gold. Gary seemed to have this energy that flowed through the screen and it was something I identified with. I saw myself doing what he was doing. Just being himself and sharing his passion. More importantly at the time I felt like I found someone who got what I was trying to do with my new concept. Take the starched pressed suit feeling out of sharing wine.

However, after a couple of months I found myself getting bored of “The Thunder Show”. I mean I didn’t have the money to buy tons of wine and the sheer volume that Gary put out meant I wasn’t going to ever have to try and “catch up” with his show. After feeling disappointed that one of my fravorite shows just didn’t have that thing anymore, I saw Gary speak about why he did what he did. He talked about being true to his self and getting in touch with his own DNA.

Immediately I knew Gary was meant for more than selling wine and more importantly I knew he knew that as well. You see, guys like Steven Covey were my mentors for years. First Fhings First, Good to Great and all the other great “self help” books were my replacement for not knowing alot of people whom I felt I could draw inspiration from. I began to feel this same affinity towards Gary V.

The first thing I did was reach out to his team and ask for an interview for my then budding publication LEGENDmag. We were working on our new print issue and Gary was a must have. I felt like I had to get him in before he blew up and became unreachable. To my delight he not only answered emailed questions but also did a personal video for LEGENDmag. Say what? Gary V did something just for me…I mean us?

Yes he did and that is why I think it’s imperative that today, the day after Gary’s book called the The Thank You Economy is rising like a rocket on the book charts, that I say THANK YOU, to Gary.

I’ve always had great ideas and being an entrepreneur runs in my blood but there was always disconnect between making a great product and selling that product. How do you have a marketing campaign that’s bland enough to talk to lots of people and still is truly authentic? The answer? Don’t! I now had example of what I could do. Be myself…it’s universal and never sleazy. It’s what speaks to everyone and makes them love or hate you but feel something either way which should be the point.

I’ve learned from a lot of people in my life and I hope to learn from a lot more but this is what I learned from Gary. Thank You Gary, Truly!

I think part of the answer is in knowing what it is about Independents that make us a “force” as we are often called by indie political movement leaders.
1. Independents are the biggest voting block in the country. This point it always brought up in independent circles because without understanding this point you might miss the bigger picture. Independents “can” make most anything happen if galvanized as  we were for Barack Obama or when we republicans into office after feeling disappointed by Obama’s first years as president.

2. Independent leaders are not trying to form a party. They actually tried this already  and no longer believe it is the right course of action. Because they do not seek to become a party they allow independents to make up their own minds on political issues and still be united by values and principles all can agree on, mostly.

3. Independents believe that changing the system is more important than changing who gets voted on in each election.

These points taken separately would not mean as much, but taken together they bring to the forefront the possibility of real and lasting change. No Obama “change” or any other politician seeking office for that matter. Reform, change. Reforming America’s political system bit by bit is exactly what independentvoting.org and its members seek to do.

The importance of open primaries, gerrymandering reform and independents registering as independents are at the for front of the independent agenda. This is why I feel makes indies are different in all their manifestations across the country. They still put the importance on the values of how things should be done, not who does them. The question is not can independents reform America but will they?