Sea turtles are such delicate and sacred creatures that to see them harmed puts a dagger in my heart. I'm not kidding. Something doesn't feel right about the picture at all.
When first I came across a large sea turtle underwater in Hawaii, I felt this wave of majestic energy swim by in front of me. Laid-back in its natural habitat, a sea turtle expels an aura of all-knowing wisdom and great inner peace. I love them because they seem so super-maintained under that hard-wrinkled surface, unless you box one in -- then it acts dumb as a nail.
So I stumbled upon this sight at a street market in El Manchaya in Alexandria, Egypt (see below). Terrorized by the sight, I asked my dad's friend, a native and a doctor of alternative medicine, why they chopped up the turtles. He told me they drain them to sell their blood to people as medicine to drink. He said turtle blood is said to have psychological and medicinal effects beyond standardized medicine. It is said to heal humans internally and externally, reverses illnesses and even aging.
Do your own research on the therapeutic benefits of turtles, and their blood. It seems to be an eastern phenomena.
I pass.
Turtle Bloodsuckers
Alexandria in the Summertime
My Alexandria
A Photo Essay
By Suzy Kassem
Alexandria, Egypt 2009
Copyright 2009, Suzy Kassem
A Night In the Egyptian Jail
I knocked out 3 dudes and one of their wives - in self-defense. Gave them all black eyes and cuts on the brows from my rings. They were all well over their forties, no children...so they should have known better than try to push around little ole helpless me!
I went to the police station to file a report, but ended up in cuffs and in a prison cell loaded with cockroaches and a woman slamming her head repeatedly into the wall until it was all bashed with blood. The place was a dirty toilet the size of a one-car garage with NO AIR!
I guess there's no such thing as self-defense in this country. Expesh, if it's a woman beating on men. No sympathy at all. Why? Because even though they attacked me first, it LOOKED like I did the abusing - regardless of witnesses. Women are supposed to be submissive in Egyptian culture, and one that can stand up for herself and do physical damage to a man (or men) is badly frowned upon and despised. Suzy is a record-breaker in that department. The women still have no rights in Egypt. And I told the cops, I'd do it again if ANYBODY laid a hand on me. The part that sucked the most is that I had no idea I was going to be the one locked up, so I never called anybody to let them know what happened or where I was, not even my dad. I had no way to. I thought the whole thing would take a half hour, sign the report and I go home. It never occurred to me that the situation would be reversed. So when they came at me with the cuffs instead - and I knew I wasn't in a boutique trying on silver bracelets - I went from being RAMBO to a 7-year old kid in seconds! I was so shocked and confused. And the whole night, nobody knew where I was. And for that, I will not let this go. Women should have the right to protect themselves ANYWHERE or there is no sense in one breathing.
Said the police captain to his men, "Contain the American. That one is a woman worth a thousand men! (marra alf ragl)".
...In America too, homie. Bring it.
EGYPT!
I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU.
To be continued...
Style of Egyptian Males
The guys in Egypt are lucky because even fashion is catered for them. The most awesome jeans for men can be found in Egypt. But it's not the clothes in my book that make them stand out, it's their overall presentation. Egyptian males rock the rectangular framed glasses and those instantly make any dude look hot.
My best friend Jeremy was just out here and we got him a prescribed pair. Picking out the frames was fun too because they had thousands in all colors. If you wear glasses, get the rectangles for added character. As far as t-shirts, gold foil prints on top of black is the going thing. Yet nothing written in English...makes ANY sense. Brands don't really matter either and it's not strange to see guys wearing the same outfit day after day. Guys do the same thing in Italy. Balance in your presentation creates sexiness. Everything else is irrelevant - unless you got no talent or mind.
HOT!
The Heat Burns My Eyes
At dawn,
The ghostly
Call for prayer
Resonates
Throughout
Cairo's
Ancient
Graveyard -
Stirring
A haunting,
Yet heavenly
Song
That moves
The roosters
And doves
To
Tears.
The start of
A new day
Has begun,
And the clouds
Humbly part way
For the majestic rays
Of the
Magnificent
Sun.
Yellows,
Reds and gold
Explode
Over the sedated horizon
And a child's
Bold smearing of
Peaches,
Mangoes,
And bleeding hibiscus -
Kisses a silhouette
Of minarets
From which the Angels
Come out to pour
Love into the skies.
The children
Of the Pharaohs
Rise and wash the sleep
From their eyes.
Then they synergize in line
And say thanks to the light.
Yes,
They say thanks to the light
Then they sip their tea,
With some olives
And cheese,
Before stepping out
To meet
The humidity
Outside.
Under
The blistering
Tableau
Above
The
City line -
One can see
The fiery strokes
Of a blazing fire.
Its reflection
Is detected
In the eyes
And hearts
Of
When the
Hustling streets of Cairo
Are bustling
With
Need and
Desire.
=Blue Panther=
"SKIES OVER CAIRO" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Spark in the Dark
SOUL SHINE
You know that thing
You do so well,
That little spark
You hide
In the dark,
That you think
Nobody
Knows
About
But
You?
Well,
You know there's
A sheen
That you beam,
When you talk
Or do
Anything,
That everyone
Knows
About
But
You?
=Blue Panther=
“SOUL SHINE” by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
The Language of True Artists
- Suzy Kassem
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Awe Them With Your Claws
They say that if you are
Ever confronted by
A lion or bear,
To never act scared
Instead act like
You are the greater animal
And that they're
The hare
That you are about
To tear.
This has been
Proven
And compared.
This is how presidents
Are loved
And feared.
Each one of us has an animal
Within us
That is armed with
Mental,
Physical or
Spiritual gifts
That could shoot spears
Through the air.
So next time
You are confronted in
A fight that seems unfair,
Just remember the lion and the bear.
MAGNIFY
Your greater animal
And all that feel your magnificence
Will step away
And disappear.
=Blue Panther=
“YOUR GREATER ANIMAL” by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You
The one who cares the most
Always loses the most
Because they care
In areas
Where others don't
And they offer help
While others won't
And in the end
While you offer your hand
With the purest of hearts
The land has gotten so bad
That it becomes
Each man for himself
And it all splits apart
They spit and flip the charts,
And forget about the love
And the art.
They forget the hand
That offered them a chance
And first gave them the part.
Now I know why
People walk on others
Right from the start.
Rats should
Be kept underground
Shooting pellets
Blindly at each other
In the dark.
Don't step on the hand
That feeds you
To make your mark.
It'll smack you
Back down like cement,
Flatten you,
And build your whole family
A memorial park.
=Blue Panther=
"UNREST" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
The Juice On Big Worm
Faizon Love is best remembered as Big Worm from Ice Cube's movie, Friday. So who's that big fat hunk of burning chocolate? And what's there to know besides the fact that he's an actor on the rise? For one, he's a cool ass down-to-earth muthaphucka.
Faizon is into the exact same shit as me. He collects Fat Albert memorabilia, bikes, Cuban cigars, jazz records, art by Justin Bua, Kung Fu and blaxploitation flicks and has more blaxploitation posters than anybody else I know! He's Cuban and proud of it. He also lives in a suburban house in Encino next to Sherman Oaks, and his best friend is Jon Favreau, that dude who did Swingers and that Elf movie. What else? He envies Bernie Mac, cheats on his wife and should be called Big Perv. Can't forget to mention, he's a hip-hop encyclopedia.
Faizon has a supporting role in my film, Cloud 7, which will resume negotiations when I get back to LA. All in all, he's 700% cool cat certified. No joke. Keep your eyes peeled for more memorable roles in the works from this dope artist.
Faizon on Egyptian Lover:
HE's still making music! Nigga just can't rap".
Float Your Boat
TRANSDIMENSIONAL
Close your eyelids
And just breathe.
Let the light
Flood out
From your third eye
To your spleen.
Tap into the tones of the universe
And become ONE with the unseen.
Let your mind travel between
Realities
Just don't let rampant thoughts
Intervene.
Stabalize your polarities
While crossing rotating fields,
Balance with the universe
Let the light be your shield.
When you step out of your vessel,
Know that your old portal is sealed.
You should now be travelling
Transdimensionally,
If you've truly
Trained your MIND
To YIELD.
=Blue Panther=
“TRANSDIMENSIONAL” by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Fuck Fear
KEY OF LIFE
The key of life
Symbolizes the map
Of existence.
Once you free yourself
From all resistance,
Your path will become white -
For the remainder of the distance.
-Suzy Kassem
=Blue Panther=
“KEY OF LIFE”
by Suzy Kassem, Copyright 2009
The Harmonic Chime
CIRCLES OF LIFE
Everything
Turns,
Rotates,
Spins,
Circles,
Loops,
Pulsates,
Resonates,
And
Repeats.
Circles
Of life,
Born from
Pulses
Of light,
Vibrate
To
Breathe,
While
Spiraling
Outwards
For
Infinity
Through
The lens
Of time,
And into
A sea
Of stars
And
Lucid
Dreams.
=Blue Panther=
“CIRCLES OF LIFE”
by Suzy Kassem, Copyright 2009
Start With the Children
-Ernest Hemingway
This Old Man
THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER
The man in the corner
Is dying with words
He's crying to be heard
His days are marked
And his only ears are birds
He knows the secret to peace
And his experience bleeds and hurts
Somebody stop and listen
Before he departs the earth!
Somebody write his thoughts
Before he hits the turf!
His eyes are closing their shutters
And he just dropped his
Beads and stick.
His breath is leaving us.
Please!
Somebody hear him out quick!
A little girl rushes to him and
Picks up his cane of wood.
The old man then turns to her
And faintly whispers,
"The key to peace is
To always stay fair
and be good."
=Blue Panther=
"THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER"
by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009, Awakened Press. All rights reserved.
True Majestic
I don't know if Mear is trying to go up against Retna and the Mac's divine Buddha murals throughout Hollywood, but this baby is worth an honorable mention. You can read more about Mear One and what I really think of him here. I love artists who take graffiti to a higher spiritual level to create awareness and beauty around us. Saying something using art to instigate a reaction, a feeling, is the master trait of a true artist. What is art if you can't feel it? Spread the beauty within - out. Wake up the dormant so they can quickly feel the pulse of life while it's still happening. Create and vibrate. Amen.
"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness."
-- Dalai Lama
"With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world."
--Dalai Lama
After School Special
AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL
Dear Mr. Schneider,
I attended your elementary
School almost thirty years ago
And I'm very sure that
You will remember
Me.
My name is Suzy.
I'm that hyperactive girl
From the Egyptian family
Who used to always play dead
On the playground during
Recess.
You used to keep me
After school a lot
And then my father would
Force me to make the long
Walk home in the cold or rain.
Sometimes I would arrive
After dark.
I'm writing to tell you
That I was bored as a kid.
I was bored by your class programs
And the way I was always taught a
Bunch of useless
Junk.
I did not like being locked up
In a prison of scheduled time
Learning about bullshit histories
And watching belittling cartoons and
Shows approved by academia that
Made me even more
Bored.
As a kid
Who was constantly
Growing, evolving, and
Being shaped by all around me
I wanted to travel, see other kids
In the world like me,
To understand what was going
On amongst us, around us,
To understand what we were here for
And what was our real purpose
For existence.
I have some questions
I would like to ask you Mr. Schneider
Now that I know that you are no
Longer a school principal,
But the new superintendant
Of the entire school
District.
I want to know
Why racism today
Was not clearly explained to me
Even though we covered events
That happened long ago.
I want to know why you
Never shared with us
Why other countries
Never liked us,
Why we are taught to compete,
To be divided in teams,
And why conformity is associated
With popularity, while
Eccentricity is considered
Undesirable?
I want to know
Why my cafeteria lunches
Were slammed packed
With bottom-tier
Processed junk food
Only suitable
For pigs?
And why is it
That whenever a bully
Slammed a kid into a locker,
You never explained
To us that ego battles
Were the roots
For wars and
Greed.
I want to know
Why we were never taught
To stick up for each other,
To love one another, and that
Segregation sorted by the
Occupations of our fathers,
The neighborhoods we lived in, our houses,
Choices of sport, wealth, clothing,
Color of our skin
And the texture of our hair
Should never, ever
Divide us?
And lastly,
I want to know why
Is it that whenever I pledged
Allegiance to the flag,
I was never told that I was
Actually hailing to the
Chief?
You used to say
I was a troubled child,
A misfit, and that I needed
Obedience training,
But you never acknowledged that
I was the fastest runner in the district
And that I took the school
To State and Nationals to compete
In the Spelling Bee amongst kids
Grades higher than me.
And that it was me,
Who won that big trophy
That sat in your office when you
Used to detain me for hours
And tell me I was no
Good.
Mr. Schneider,
If we are not taught truth as kids
Then how do you expect us to
Grow up to be truthful citizens?
If we are taught only the written way
And it has not shown positive effects
In societies of yesterday or today,
Then how can we progress as a
United and compassionate
Nation?
And finally,
I want to thank you for
I know you have a tough job
Dealing with troubled children like me.
Your job has not been an easy one.
And I congratulate you
On your recent promotion.
Thank you,
Thank you,
And thank you
For mass processing
The junk kids of America.
And I want to personally thank you
For always pointing out
That I was
Different.
=Blue Panther=
"AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL"
by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2009, Awakened Press. All rights reserved.
SPECIAL NOTE:
"RISE UP AND SALUTE THE SUN"
The first official collection of poetry by Suzy Kassem will be published in September of 2009 and will be released worldwide by Awakened Press in the beginning of 2010.
The Lady In the Water
That ain't me. But now I understand how sharks sometimes mistake humans for other stuff.
Scratch n' Sniff
When you don't have money, there is always so much you want. Your wants and needs are unlimited. You find yourself saying...'when I get money, I'm going to get this and this'. And then when you come into a lot of money, you find that you really don't want or need much of anything. If the money is new, you may splurge in the beginning, but then you find no real contentment. You quickly find out that that the things you really do need are free. And ironically, when you are broke and don't have money, without telling anybody, you find that people are less giving - period. Yet when you do have money where you can buy whatever you want, without telling anybody, you find out that more people are overly eager to pick up the tab, buy you unlimited gifts, fly you all over the place, and freely hand over big checks for projects you're unsure of. But before, when you would be so certain of the success of your proposed ventures, nobody wanted to give money to someone who had none."
- Suzy Kassem
Based on a True Story
in Motion"
Suzy's Script
by Nasir Gamall Dean
I was introduced to suzy for the first time at a cafe called space by its owner, a guy called Fahad. i did not know that i would be involved in such a bizarre, messy and hilarious affair. at first , i was curious about her and i wanted to get to know her, so we went out a few times and we talked. i found her to be very nice, shy and artistic. she asked me to write her a film script in arabic about a young egyptian man who drowns while trying to immigrate from egypt to italy illegally and blindly by boat, to show the suffocation of the egyptian people. as a writer with only two stories to my credit and not even published yet, i was scared shitless about writing it but somehow i started to write.
Fahad started introducing suzy to many different people from different professional backgrounds and they all happened to be interested in suzy's script. every night they meet with suzy at the cafe and talk about one thing, you guessed it, suzy' script. how it is progressing? how the story line is developing? they talk, chat and argue among themselves while drinking tea and coffee or even secretly smoking hash cigarettes at the cyber's loo. everybody has suddenly become a professional script writer, and everybody is adding new story lines, and suggesting new directions it should go to. everyone got involved, even the tea boy.
Artists and film professionals started arriving from everywhere. After one week, the whole neighborhood called Cleopatra was talking about suzy's script. And by the end of the month, all of Alexandria was also talking about suzy's script. everybody was waiting for suzy to inhale the smoke from her cigarette and speak her words of wisdom about what direction the story lines of the script should take.
Alexandria newspapers and TV stations also got interested, millions of people started phoning in and writing about their opinions in suzy's script. at the end, the Alexandria mayor ordered that suzy's script is to be a subject of national security interest, and ordered all schools and college students to start helping in writing suzy's script and that the government should ask the citizens of Egypt to vote on suzy's script and the question was do you like suzy's script? vote (Yes or No).
The USA oscar committee called the Egyptian minister for culture asking if suzy's script would enter in the oscar competition for the category of best foreign scripts.
All this was happening while suzy was still stuck in the cyber's loo inhaling the last breath of her hash stuffed cigarette.."
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU HAVE PASSION.
Class Assignment #2
WRITE TO THE LIGHT
I do believe in a higher power composed of light and I do believe that this light that surrounds us all the time has eyes and ears.
Around September, I wrote about 5 pages of everything I wanted and all that my soul desired and feared. I wrote a super long list and even gave details of everything and repeated all that mattered most. I read the list everyday for about 5 days until my computer got hit by a virus. I lost my wish list but my thoughts had already been thrown out into the unknown.
It is now halfway through March and everything on that list has surfaced already. Now everything I imagined is coming to reality right down to physical detail.
I encourage all who read this to take time out to really throw your thoughts, dreams, desires and fears all down on paper. Vibrate as you write and your message will resonate to reciever. Ask the light to remove all that is bothering you, bad people from your path, evil friends, bad luck, poor communication, envy...anything that is negative. Ask for good health for you and yours and to protect them from the evil eye. Ask..ask, and ask and don't feel ashamed. If you hide what is in your heart, the light will know. However, only when you amplify your desires, will they stand out amongst the noise only if they are true.
Try it. Imagine your mind flooded with light or sit in front of a strong light force. It does not matter as long as you can reflect a strong image of WHITE LIGHT. Anybody can do this regardless of religion because this white light is part of the ALL and it is the dominate force in ALL spiritual teachings. And scientifically, it is the energy that gives us energy.
Ask the light to heal you. To regenerate you. To erase all traces of frustration and pain. Remove dark patches and gray areas, shady people. Imagine this light take over your entire soul and wash away all that bothers you. Write and write and write it all out. Be true to yourself and don't hold back. Keep referring back to what you wrote and bask yourself in white light as you reveal yourself to truth. All that you ask for will come, but there is a test.
The true test of being true is acknowledging your granted wishes as blessings, and not just coincidences. Worse, is stating that your blessing(s) is not exactly what you asked for. Did you really mention in detail what you wanted or was it a general request? Are you grateful or undeserving? Take this test to learn more about yourself. It will reveal alot about the truth in you.
Do it. Whatcha got to lose?
Words to the Wise
Starting today...
- Today, before you say an unkind word, think of someone who can't speak.
- Before you complain about the taste of your food, think of someone who has nothing to eat.
- Before you complain about your mate, husband or wife, think of someone who's crying to God for a companion.
- Before you complain about your children, think of someone who desires children but cannot have them.
- Before you argue about the size or cleanliness of your house, think about the people living in the streets.
- Before whining about the distance you have to drive to work, think of someone who walks the same distance on their feet.
- When you are tired and complain about your job, think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.
- Before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another, remember that not one of us is perfect and without sin.
- And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down, put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around.
Last 48 Hours
This last picture is the granite and marble floor of Akhenaten's palace in Armana. This was created BC and look how bold and solid the color still is. It is in better condition than a mural painted outside on the wall of a carryout store in an urban neighborhood. I took this picture through two layers of glass with camera set on museum mode with no flash. To imagine that this belonged to a building buried deep under water and sand for over thousands of years and still vibrant in detail and color is beyond words. That is one thing that blows my mind about many of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, coffins, and chambers. The colors. So fresh looking. So new. Yet so ancient and unreal.
Photos taken today and yesterday.
A Project Worthy of Imitation
DIVINE FORCES MEDIA
presents - PROJECT ONE
*10AM - 1PM / 9AM Registration
Calling on L.A County youth ages 14-18 - Rappers, Mcees, Singers, Songwriters, Poets, Beat Makers, and Musicians
--We Want Your Songs!
Project One aims to promote social justice through music and encourage LA County youth to promote peace and speak out against and learn about racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and overall hatred towards others.
What: Project: One, a county-wide search for musically talented youth, ages
14-18.
Who: Calling on all Rappers, Mcees, Singers, Songwriters, Poets, Beat Makers, and Musicians.
When: Phase 1: "Music and Dialogue" sessions, where youth learn the power of using knowledge and life's experience into the music they produce. Hosted by Human Relations Specialists and professional recording artists and producers.
You must attend at least one Phase 1 session to apply and qualify for Phase 2.
All sessions are FREE.
6 Dates To Choose:
*February 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2009
*10AM - 1PM / 9AM Registration
Phase 2: Songwriters' Workshop, where selected students will create songs with Award winning Artists and Producers to inspire the ideals of understanding, mutual respect and human dignity.
Phase 3: Project One Concert, featuring music written and performed by youth from Project One and special guest artist performances.
How: For info on locations, attending and to rsvp for Phase 1
call (213) 974-7615 or email: projectone09@gmail.com
Also log onto: www. zerohour. com/projectonela
E Money, Mc.Amin, and Killa
Chillin With EGY-CREW @ Bazoka's House 2
If music on this page clashes with this video, watch it here.
You don't have to understand the words because they roll out the vibe on point. And they don't have to pull an image because they serve the goods tight. Egyptian music and the roll out of Egyptian hip-hop show that Egypt will always have one strong asset always going for her, the vibe and the electricity that flows through her people. Just feel these guys out and you will know what I mean. These two have that slickitty slickness. Believe me.
BTW, they aren't Ghost or Rafiq.
We Are All Human
-- Suzy Kassem
In the Clouds
This is my most favorite stencil piece ever, rocked by Banksy. Beautiful in its simplicity. Beautiful in thoughts. Beautiful.
City covered it up.
Women Are Heroes
Somebody bring me this artist so I can personally meet him and tell him he is beautiful. JR.
Or watch it here.
More images here.
Very beautiful project.
The "WE" Hour
The time has come. The hour is here. The signs of the Time are all around us and they are no joke or set of coincidences. We are at a point in our cyclular evolution, where how we proceed from this moment onward, will dictate whether we become a united world living in harmony at a higher vibration OR become bored mindless savages.
Believe it. Where we go from here (February 4th, 2009) has serious consequences to our future, your kid's kid's future and history. I have seen enough signals pulsating on the streets of so many countries and the sentiments are all the same. Things are going to hell overall and it is very, very serious. Corruption is at its highest. Greed is at its finest. So many imbalances all over the place. Earth has an ulcer and its tearing at its ozone. Our crops and weather are being manipulated. We are forcing ourselves into the future before we are ready. More and more people I know are becoming miserable with where their lives are, feeling trapped, suffocated, and increasingly frustrated. There are people who can't go out and enjoy simple pleasures due to financial constraints, while on the other hand, you have a tier that goes on shopping sprees with puppies around the world.
We are far from achieving harmony because there is no balance. No Truth. No justice. Instead of thinking of just "I", self, we need to think as a group, "WE". One person can instigate change. One person can create opportunities for others and one company can build jobs for others. In other words, we need to think of each other as brothers and sisters and take care of as many under our umbrellas because there are many people being left out in the rain - and in the cold. We don't want that. That's how crime grows and savages come out of the woodwork. It's how boredom allows us to cheat, steal and kill one another.
NOW is the time to share and spread wealth. If you can create opportunities to engage and employ others, do it. Think big. Take care of each other. Build and keep building. Build farms, gardens, market-proof companies, bridges, charities, libraries. Build hope and build peace. Don't just think about yourself and your loved ones. Think of everyone you meet as part of the same unit. Help the strange and deranged. Make sure not a single soul goes to sleep hungry. Help friends and strangers find jobs. We MUST make sure the basic needs of every woman, man, and child are met or we are looking at some seriously dark days ahead. Again, this is very, very, serious. Look outside your current comfort zone and through the window of the world. People are seriously struggling and eventually their struggle will affect you. Believe it. Do what you can within your reach to alleviate another man's burden. Eliminate the "I" now and replace it with "WE" right away.
By Suzy Kassem
PASS THIS ON.
The Greatest Wonder of the World
The Harmonizer. The motherboard of an advanced fertile world. See how it worked here. Keep it in your records. Magnetic energy when synthesized opens the key of life.
In Gold We Trust?
I unexpectedly sold this painting for $7777 at an art show called PUZZLES which I held in January of 2007 in downtown L.A. It was created on [4] 12X12 pieces of wood using 24K gold markers, acrylics, nail polish, and foil. An elderly Asian man bought it because he said he understood the formula I scribbled in the upper left corner.
What is it? It's the formula to creating a world resonance that will re-trigger the grid that surrounds our planet to fuel the earth with natural energy via harmonic magnetics and bring synergy to men. It describes the day of the Great Awakening when the true light citzens of the Earth will all unite one day again at the foot of the pyramids, just as it happened before on the day of the Great Floods and they were all saved by the boats to the stars. This painting sure as hell wasn't made in pure gold, but the message underneath is worth all the gold in the world. I'm sorry I don't have a better picture.
-Suzy Kassem
WasSsup WasSsup?
So I was in a crazy rush to catch a train back to Alexandria yesterday. I had two bags with me and I was running down the street trying to flag down a cab. While in a frenzy, I accidently threw over a vendor's donkey cart holding cucumbers. My bag must have hit it and it sent hundreds of cucumbers to the floor. I turned around and saw the mess but because I was in a hurry - kept going.
When I missed the train and went back home to chill out for a bit to catch the later one, I ran into the cucumber guy who cut my path by standing in front of me, studying me boldly in the eye.
(In Arabic)
"YOU. You kicked my cucumbers on the floor and did not have the decency to take the blame! All those cucumbers got thrown in the trash!"
I felt myself shrink. He scared me with his tone. But I knew for a fact that this guy did not throw out his cucumbers. I did not like his style of slurs and language with me. So in defense, I flipped channels on him.
"Oh, I'm sorry", I said innocently.
"I have mild schizophrenia and right now you are not talking to the right person who could have done it. She is not here right now."
(Long pause)
Everytime he is about to start a sentence, he sinks away in contemplation. He studies my eyes. Paces his thoughts. Then...
"Well, when is she going to come back so I can have her pay for all my lost cucumbers? This is a problem that has to be solved between her and I at once."
Surprised by his answer, and in a soft trance, I asked, "Who?"
"Your friend", he replied.
I was so stunned that this guy even bought it. I was just throwing shit out there like I do whenever I'm in a jam. Then he pauses again shaking his head, pats me on the back, and says...
"Come. Let's go get some guava juice because I'm thirsty. I did not have any juice today and when I do not drink my juice, I cannot think properly. I invite you for a cup...
And we can wait for your friend to come."
WasSsup WasSsup?
Open Books Around Us
One major mistake that we have made as a modern race is that we have failed to recognize the Truth and wealth of knowledge that is openly accessible in nature. Our ancestors knew this and embraced the natural cures found in our environments and studied the lessons to be learned from animals. Much of human behavior can be explained by watching the wild beasts around us. They are constantly teaching us things about us and the way of the universe but we are too blinded to watch and listen. If some ancient civilizations were considered to be more progressive than us today, and yet they glorified animals to varying degrees, perhaps these real and sometimes mythical creatures symbolized more than meets the eye. Given. And are we truly the superior race? And if so, what role do animals really play in the overall picture? If not, what are you currently using as the basis of your measurement: spiritual, technological, or by type of suit? Feed your mind and sharpen the focus.
-Suzy Kassem
Cure for All Diseases
What do you think?
The Cure for All Diseases
I do believe though that a harmonic resonance amplified to a calculated frequency can polarize any moving or cycling object by vibrating or pulsating its energy around cross-rotating fields -- at a figured speed. If that makes sense to anybody. So yes, electromagnetic frequencies can heal almost anything. Nowadays, they market it to us in small gadgets called lasers. You hear laser this, laser that. What if we walked into a box created by natural night and bounced light to create the synergy we needed. In an essence we can say light heals too. We are created from small circles of light that spiral outwards into a sea of stars and lucid dreams. Everything turns. We are energy. I'm ready to start a school on electromagnetic healing and study and teach people how they can heal themselves.
Who is down? Fuck health insurance and insane medical bills. Fuck corrupt doctors and BigPharm. Fuck all the bullshit that comes with a prime necessity to survival - to heal. People should not take money for healing others. I understand there are hospitals to run and nurses to pay, but fees should not be exagerrated. People should not be manipulated and pharmaceutical reps should not be bribing doctors that yield high prescription referrals with free weekend trips to Vegas. Soon you will not know who to trust with your medical emergencies. Heathcare is mega mega zega business and you are just another statistic who bares a folder with a name sticker containing insurance information and, if you are lucky, detailed health records. Personalization and compassion from the days of old Dr. Brown are almost gone. Nobody is coming to visit you with a leather medicine bag.
-Suzy Kassem
In the Name of Love
"Love is not a word or thought. It’s the name for an action that breathes from its light. Tell me. What do you do in love’s name? And is it only done outside in the light, or with an inner flame illuminating Love’s TRUE name??"
-Suzy Kassem
These Kids Say Hello To You
They've never been to see a movie.
Or been to a fair.
Or even seen a mall.
Or stepped outside their neighborhood square.
Yet they laugh and play
Oblivious to all else thats there
They dance and chase
Free and without care
What more do you need
Than happy moments
Shared?
Living in the moment
Grateful and not scared.
-Suzy Kassem
International Talent Support (ITS)
It's that time again for those in the know. Now in its eighth year, the International Talent Support (ITS) competition kicks off today with a call for entries. This worldwide design competition allows for winners in three categories: fashion, accessories and photography and is open to final year students or young designers and photographers. Over 787 schools in 60 countries compete for cash prizes and real life opportunities.
Finalists are flown to the seaside town of Trieste in northeast Italy July 10th and 11th, 2009 to present their work to an international panel of renowned fashion editors, buyers and fashion influencers. Diesel, the main partner of the fashion competition, guarantees concrete support to a young talent with a cash prize of €50,000 and an internship within the Diesel creative team, based in Italy. Check out their web site, pretty much anybody with skills and talent can compete. Big cash prizes and you get paid in sterling!
Coltan in Your Celly
If you use a cell phone, you have in your possession a metal called coltan, a component that's essential to the phone's function. Most of the world's coltan comes from the Congo, and is mined by Rwandans who survived their country's genocide in the 1990s. They often work for militias that sell coltan illegally to finance their military operations. It so happens that the main area where Coltan is mined, also contains the Kahuzi Biega National Park, home of the Mountain Gorilla.
In Kahuzi Biega National Park the gorilla population has been cut nearly in half, from 258 to 130 as the ground is cleared to make mining easier. Not only has this reduced the available food for the Gorillas, the poverty caused by the displacement of the local populations by the miners has lead to Gorillas being killed and their meat being sold as "bush meat" to the miners and rebel armies that control the area. Within the Dem. Rep. of Congo as a whole, the U.N. Environment Program has reported that the number of eastern lowland gorillas in eight Dem. Rep. of Congo national parks has declined by 90% over the past 5 years, and only 3,000 now remain.
Keep this in mind the next time you call a friend.
Posterboy NYC
New dude popped into the woodwork. Some demented stuff, some cool.
Woooooo. And I can pick him out from the street. Look ma, he has a camera crew and everything. Very concealed - nah' mean?
WasSsup WasSsup?
So I stumbled upon these kicks by Jim Lasser called the Obama Force Ones, OB1s.
When you press your foot in the dirt, mud, asphalt, dog shit, whatever...you leave behind a print by the left shoe that reads, A BLACK MAN RUNS AND A NATION IS BEHIND HIM.
The idea is neato, really. But how about, A BLACK MAN -- LEADS...?
And something just seems wrong about stepping on someone's image in the dirt.
But don't worry, the name of the shoe can stay. Just change tweak the face to look more like O.J.
Hint of the 1930s
If I had to choose one person from history to bring back into the present, it would be Nikola Tesla. I have thousands of questions to ask, that only he died knowing the answers to. No joke. He was beyond this plane.
Here is a toy that came out during the Depression when Physics was hot.
The Electric Eye Set
This is an Electric Eye Set that only a small number of well-to-do boys had.
Contents of the Set -- Looks Scientific
The Instruction Manual -- the All-Seeing Eye
Photocells and Relays -- no Amplification Using Tubes or Transistors
The Circuit Diagram
"Batteries Not Included" is an exaggeration here -- the thing needs a 22 volt dry cell! Two "C" Cells in the Power Pack operate the low voltage relay, but the 22 volt battery is required to operate any kind of apparatus. The switch between the low voltage (sensitive) relay and the operating (power) relay) is a primitive form of amplification.
The Circuit Board (schematic)
Support "Legs" for the Circuit Board
Knife Switch for the 22V and 3.5 Volt Power Sources
The 3 Volt Power Pack
The 5 Inch Flashlight (Light Source for Some Experiments)
The Exterior, after restoration
The manual is a real hoot. Below, you will see some uses of the Electric Eye to make a Christmas Tree revolve or to automatically turn the radio on in the morning "..for your morning exercises.."
Various Uses of the Electric Eye
Jewish Kids Could Substitute a Menorah...
The set contained another booklet entitled "Fun With Electricity" that described a wide variety of experiments involving electricity. I believe that this was intended to accompany a Gilbert Set that dealt with electricity. You had to have lots of batteries.
The "Fun With Electricity" Booklet
Out With the Old
Go to this event if you are in the hood and say hello to Jeremy. I love that kid. He is so beautiful.
Break This Riddle
LENSE OF TIME
Time is irrelevant
It confines the experience.
Time is a scheduled measurement
You could break the experiment.
=Blue Panther=
"LENSE OF TIME" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008-2009. All rights reserved.
The Writings of Suzy Kassem
New web site going up in less than 2 weeks. It'll be super basic and strictly reserved just for my writings. Keep checking it.
SUZYKASSEM.COM
As for BLUPANTHA.COM, it will finally be opened back up and my music will be posted on it when I do return back to the States. I lost so much work in 2008 that I'm ready to just throw everything out there now.
Tacos Baja Ensenada
SOUTH LOS ANGELES
Write this down.
If you are ever in L.A, you have to go to Tacos Baja Ensenada on the east side. Go on a Wednesday and get their fish tacos. They are the best things in the world man I swear. I'm like on the other side of the fucking planet right now and I'm craving them. I'd pay someone $2000 just to bring me some.
Class Assignment #1
THE LAPIS TEST
If you should stumble upon this posting, consider it meant for you.
This year, keep a journal. From now until the second week of February, write every day. Write random thoughts, prose, ideas, or eliminate fears and anxieties on paper - or on your screens. Write about health problems and anything bothering you. Or get yourself a blog as a record keeper. Believe me, it's a good way to see yourself grow or fall. It's a good way to release and delete. Just do it.
Then, by the end of the second week of February, I want you to start hunting for the best lapis lazuli that is accessibly cheap. If it's pulled near water based regions, better. Otherwise, Russia, Brazil, or Afghanistan will do. If it has no grainage in it, kick it aside. Get a rock to put under your bed, under your mattress, under your pillow, in your shower, in your car, at your work, everywhere you occupy time.
You are to never stop writing from the moment you pick up a pen until the end of the year. Just in Feb, I want you to arm yourselves with lapis for the remainder of 2009 and see if you notice any differences. I guarantee you will. Record it.
*Make sure the rocks are pure as they are often imitated. Most stones found in the market are dyed howlite. The best lapis is from Badakshan, Afghanistan -- but even there you can get the fake stuff. Lapis is the real gold. The true gold since the days of the Pharaohs was lapis, and even the gold that was glorified back then, was used as a royal metal simply because it mirrored the image of the sun. However, for its properties that far exceed the material, lapis is the real gem of the universe. It will bring balance to your spirit and open portals in your mind. It will give you clarity and even reduce the pain of a toothache. If you are depressed or knotted inside, bask in the energy of lapis. It works for me. It will will cut through all the chaotic currents running inside you.
With that said, start your assignment, get writing and start looking for lapis. Arm yourself. This is a strong year for your mind to share secrets with your soul.
*Do not mix lapis with any amethyst, diamonds, or any type of clear quartz. It will make you mental. If you have amethyst, make sure you don't keep a ring on or have a rock in your living space for long periods of time, it works in the reverse after awhile. The energies emitted from amethyst are to be controlled and accessed in limited squirts - a week at a time, no more than a month. People that don't understand it, don't mess with it. It will make you lost, confused, depressed, and unstable if exploited. It can fuck you up. It's why I had my huge bracelet taken off. Big difference.
Living Large
I live in an animated world
Where neverending stories are told
Tales of princes and saints
And glorious knights and heroes
Homes are made of glass
And castles filled with gold
With signs outside on the grass
That read,
Seized, Foreclosed, or Sold.
There are Kings and Queens
And pimps, nymphs, and hoes
Elves and thieves
And even fairies that glow.
Welcome to my magical kingdom
Just follow the yellow marks on the road
There are enchanting chemical trails in the skies
And colorful rainbows that explode
We give names to our hurricanes
And even to our deadly blizzards
And honor our cult witches
And even glorify their lizards
Once upon a time
There was a chiseled land of Truth
That has since drowned and fizzled
And now we have cities loaded
With buck-tooth bitches
And fat mice playing
Sorcerers and wizards.
Instead of seeds, buns and rice
Our monarchy feeds us
Tagged guns and knives
They ask us to go, run and protect ourselves
In case the pirates should ever strike
They even have wands for everything
And potions for all
Pop this pill to make you taller
And this one –
This one drink will make you lose weight
And feel small.
I live in a colorful world of make-believe
Everyone dresses in costumes
And weaves what they want you to percieve
Hear what you want to hear
See what you want to see
All sets are carefully crafted and
Controlled to decieve
Those that perceive this illustrated dream as reality
Go on to really achieve --
But those that see the insanity
Fall through the rabbit hole and bleed.
There are poisons not just in our apples
But in all our water and foods
No doves or saints seen in our chapels
And prices are high and crude
There are Dumbos everywhere
And dwarves galore--
They all have different names
Yet they all complain of the same sores
But not a gnome in my fortress
Will stand up to flip the score
They'd rather live in the same rerun cartoon
Than fight to change the storyboard.
Take my friend Anton,
Whom I had caught him on my way
To the store:
Yo! I got my Mickey Mouse hat on
And my I-Pod is blasting the latest hits --
Goofy's going to pick me up
And we're hitting the mall to pick up chicks
I'm straight up O-G, Dawg!
I'm living large
I'm living Disney
I'm flashing da bling bling with my ghetto swing
And the shortys are gonna dig me!
=Blue Panther=
"LIVING DISNEY" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008-2009. All rights reserved.
The Taste Fakers
This article is a very good example on how people today need to be told what is good, what to like, what is pretty, what is cool, what sounds good, what is real and what is fake. This shows that we live in a dumbed down world full of retarded robots. Seriously, I dig this experiment. Thanks to Andrea for sending it.
Violinist in the Metro--- Wash, DC
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that a thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Little Boy War
A drip of fear
Suffocation Nation
I get frustrated when a guy
Don't speak his mind,
But at the same time -
I get suffocated when a guy
Reveals too much.
I want the guy
Who stays away,
But those guys that
sway too close -
I want on the next flights
Out to Bombay.
So how do you persuade a girl like me?
Just play it straight until my mind is made.
Don't get in my face every day
Or try to contact me every hour
The irritance will only make me want
To erase your name.
The essence of you will grow cold
And sour
Let me miss you
And crave your voice
Just don't be pushy
And try to force
My choice
Give yourself a chance -
To make way into
My wildest and wettest
Dreams
Because only when you're faraway
I can feel what your absence
Really means.
=Blue Panther=
"SPACE INVADERS" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008-2009. All rights reserved.
Eye In Iraq
"I cannot understand how a god could allow anyone to massacre his own creation."
-Akhenaten in Naguib Mahfouz's book, Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth
Around the World in 80 States
THE DREAM:
Grand Circumnavigation World Cruise (on permanent loop)
Los Angeles → Cross The Equator → Nuku Hiva → Papeete → Moorea → Bora Bora → Cross International Dateline → Rarotonga → Bay Of Islands → Auckland → Cruise White Island → Picton → Akaroa → Lyttleton (Christchurch) → Port Chalmers (Dunedin) → Hobart, Tasmania → Sydney → Melbourne → Adelaide → Albany → Fremantle (Perth) → Exmouth → Padang, Bali → Manila → Shanghai → Hong Kong → Chan May (Hue) → Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) → Singapore → Penang (Pulau Pinang) → Phuket → Colombo → Cochin → Mumbai (Bombay) → Abu Dhabi → Doha → Dubai → Fujairah → Muscat → Salalah → Safaga (Luxor) → Aqaba (Petra) → Sharm El Sheikh → Suez Canal Transit → Alexandria (Cairo) → Rhodes → Bodrum → Istanbul → Kusadasi (Ephesus) → Giardini Di Naxos, Taormina → Sorrento → Civitavecchia (Rome) → Ajaccio → Barcelona → Cadiz (Seville) → Funchal → Hamilton → Ft. Lauderdale
I want to live eternally on a boat. Never stagnant. Always exploring, learning, reflecting, creating, initiating, vibrating, collaborating. To go wherever life takes me without a care if the boat sinks or not. To be liberated and fearless and free to hustle as I roam. Not tied down, restricted, bored, mentally enslaved, trashed, and taxed to my grave.
I'm going to to do it. Keep doing it. Create, vibrate and scribe along the way. There is nothing in life that provides more food to the soul, eyes, and mind - than to travel. It is the only thing in the world that I think is worth investing in. If you can't afford a trip around the world, break it down and do it step by step. Forget about your gadgets, toys and accessories. Travel any chance you get to go somewhere new. You never know what fate will have in store for you, what you will learn, or who you will meet. Take a journey. Expand your mind. With it comes an awareness that is priceless.
-S.K
The predictable leads to stagnation, boredom and depression. The unpredictable is always a stimulating adventure. We were created to keep lifting (the mind), not to stay constant and in repeat. Get out there and feel the fire of living.
Happy New Year From Blue Panther
Congrats! You made it through yet another year of hustle and you're still standing, breathing, and dreaming. Infinite blessings for the new year and may you finally discover your spiritual calling in the insightful journey which awaits you up ahead. Keep your head up and continue to evolve.
~The Queen B.
Belgian Chocolates
Here are a couple of photos my friend Olivier sent me months ago that I just stumbled upon fresh. He and his homie Bizzy Biz both run streetwear companies out of Belgium mostly geared for men and kids. To get me down into their threads, Oliver aka Ofcors, modeled the female tees he had printed up for me. This clan is comprised of some of my most favorite brothers on the planet to date. Naturally, naturally slick. So slick. Oh so slick. And oh so sweet. So so sweet.
-BP
7 Streaks Bright and Rising
Blue Panther's Mantra
The Egyptian
Has Risen
With one mission
And one vision
To heal the world’s condition
United in love
With no division.
In addition,
I’m here to subtract
All the corrupt supervision
From venomous politicians
Raping Mother
Earth
Into submission
So, let’s light up the ignition
To the 7th superstition
And stop the evil forces
From spreading lies through sedition
No more controlled radio,
Poisons in our foods,
Nor hidden messages
In our kiddies' televisions.
And that’s the decision
From the highest order
I ain’t kiddin.’
Truth has been overwritten
By suspicious chickens
Acting publicly like kittens
So why sit and wait to be bitten?
-- Stop, look, and listen. --
How we livin' just ain't livin.
We may win an unjust war
But its only the snakes
That are truly winning.
So instead of lippin', spittin'
Bitchin' and grinnin',
Let’s synergize and form
The tightest of all coalitions.
A brand new edition
Free from competition
And senseless repetition.
And no negative opposition
From shady cats and fallen women.
Blue Panther’s intuition
Marks the last of the
7 ancient metaphysicians
So what's the hold up?
And what’s the decision?
Let’s load up
And spread the knowledge
And hit ‘em
With the supernatural
Ammunition.
Fuck the system and all these wars
Over money and religion
While the poor children of the world
Are dying from bullets and
Malnutrition.
The Egyptian has risen.
777
=Blue Panther=
"SEVEN STREAKS BRIGHT AND RISING" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
2009 is the Year of Greatness
2009 is the Year of Greatness and Discovery. You will run into many trials and revelations and you will undergo long periods of reflection. It's a year of self and world discoveries and each and every one of you will evolve more in 2009 than you ever have in the past 5 years.
Now is the time to assess your skills and merits and discover how to make them valuable towards contributing to the world and in your communities. The Year of Greatness is not about revealing what makes us so great individually, but more about learning how you can make the world a greater place for all of us.
Be great in every measure. Now is your time to discover how you can really make a difference and model that light and truth onto others. This will be a year about revealing and sharing your spiritual greatness with the world.
Just spread your wings, let your heart flow, tell the world what you know, and watch that vibe grow.
Dissect, detect, and reflect...your inner best.
-Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
One For My Brothers
YA SALAAM YA SALAM
Ya chabab ya chabab!
Atalimu il adab!
Bit igru wara il shaytan
Wa nisitu al Islam.
Ya chabab ya chabab!
Islam gay min kalam
El salam
Mish min il fadeha,
Il esrar,
Wa il seret il ahlam.
Ya chabab ya chabab
Gayili ishal
Il alim be moot odamkout
Wa intu maghadareen zay il tamsal.
Ya chabab ya chabab!
Balad il Arabe wa il helal!
Omokoum wahad-
Wa into akhwat!
Ya Ayal!
Ya ayal!
Omou --
Ya Ayal.
Khoudu balkoum min baad
Wa saadu il naas...
Opfu ma baad
Wa mekhaloush ayahad ey das.
~Suzy Kassem
Il Bint batah zamman…
=Blue Panther=
"YA SALAAM YA SALAM" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved
WasSsup WasSsup?
So I grabbed a dozen of cakes from a local bakery called HORUS SWEETS. It surprises me that in a country proud of its ancient culture, that the copywriter or designer didn't even bother to invest 2 minutes to confirm the spelling of one of the most prominent names in Egyptology. Notice how it's spelled differently twice on the package. Egyptians are like that though - laidback. Way, way laidback about everything. I ain't one to talk either in the grammar department. Nah' mean?
WasSsup WasSsup?
Back In Alexandria
Taken yesterday. I really, really love this place. It's Miami, Barcelona, Rome, and Cairo put together in a blender. So much beautiful decay against the contemporary. So much history and amazing architecture everywhere you go. You see those whitish tannish buildings facing the water...my family owns a few of them. I live on the top 14th floor of the one facing the water. You can see everything from there and when I wake up, I have a huge wall window in front of me that makes it feel like I'm sleeping on top of the sea. I see all the greens, turquoise, and all hues of blues and marine. It's so serene. My favorite body of water and my favorite place for the best vibe and energy. Alexandria.
Paradise On Earth
By far, one of the most beautiful heavens on this earth is Moorea. That is one place I wouldn't mind just staying there by myself for the rest of my life. So many friends of mine have been to Maui this year. Every time someone tells me they are off somewhere, it's always Hawaii it seems. Change it up. You guys need to go to Tahiti, man. That place is nirvana for me. You will fucking love it.
Drink Up!
There is a lot of Truth and gold to be found in these timeless and timely books. Grab 2 or 3 for loved ones.
2. Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
3. The Words of Peace: Selections from the Speeches of the Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize by Irwin Abrams
4. The Merck Manual of Medical Information
5. The Eye of the Prophet by Khalil Gibran
* Get the medical manual. It's what doctors all look at when they leave you in the room and disappear for half an hour.
The Verdict
"Know that Truth sees through bullshit. So if you can't handle looking at Truth, you must a Devil's culprit."
-Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther 777
* Photo contributed by Luke Bohnett
I Am I
WHO AM I?
I have seven heavenly panels
Leading up to a pointed sphere
I’m multidimensional like a crystal
But my center is never clear.
I’m an inventor and pioneer.
A mentor to my peers
...
But I'm not as sound as my shell reveals
Because I’m tormented by my fears
That may appear to be grounded
But my insides are filled with tears
And the sadness is well-founded
From
Years and years
Of traumatic experiences
Compounded
In the most demented
Atmospheres.
I talk but feel like nobody hears
Has reason disappeared?
And, God, are you near?
This is
And I'm asking you to interfere.
I can no longer walk amongst the blind and dead
With open eyes and ears.
I’m trying to maintain my sanity
And to straighten up my veneer
As I roll amongst the growing calamities
Flowing on Earth’s severely trashed
Frontier.
The Taxi Man Can
This year, my worst enemies were cab drivers across the many countries I visited. With my experiences, I share these words of wisdom.
Never get into a taxi, if they don't have a properly functioning meter. If they don't have one, ask him for the price of the trip before you even get in. Then if they have a meter, go a block and see if it's working like a saint. If it ain't, get out right away.
In Morocco, I jumped into a cab by myself to take me to a market to check out these lights I was considering buying. I had made the same trip back n' forth several times over a three day period. The lamps I wanted were super huge and I knew transporting them to Spain, back to America, or Egypt was going to be a hassle. So I kept going to the market changing my mind over and over again. I knew the cab rate by heart, so when I stepped into a cab and saw the meter spinning over at super rapid speeds, I knew I was about to get scammed, and Suzy ain't one to let anybody scam her. No, ma'am and no way, Jose.
So this meter was spinning over like a jackpot machine in Vegas, and I ain't fucking kidding. I asked the guy whether his meter was working properly and he said yes. Go figure. I was about to pay 22 times more than the usual. So when the cab pulled up in front of the hotel, I told him it was the wrong one and to pull up another two blocks further. Then when he stopped, I got out of the car and bolted. Can you believe the guy, in his 50s to mid 60s, ran the fuck after me?
So I'm running down the street and he's yelling, "Haramaya! Haramaya!" Thief. Thief. And he's pointing at me on this super busy street making all heads turn. So I keep bolting and extend my hand pointing in the same direction, yelling the same thing, Haramaya! Haramaya! It confused the fuck out of everybody! People would look at me and I'd point that the "thief" was ahead of me and made it look like I was running after "it". Little did they know that the real thief was the old bastard running behind me.
In Cairo, I jumped into a cab with busted windows. Even the knob that pulled down the windows wasn't there. So I was sealed up in this smoky ride where the driver was obviously blazed on hash because its scent was so strong, and powder, because he kept slurping his hand up his nose. He had his Shabi music blasted to the max and was singing along like they were Christmas carols. We almost crashed into other vehicles at least 9 times. On top of that, he kept staring at me through the rearview mirror like I was Anna Nicole Smith. So I tell him to pull over because I wanted to get out. I feared for my life, man! Then he says in Arabic, "Go where? The party has just started". Then he locks all the doors and slams the speed to over 100. To avoid traffic, he goes up the sidewalk and people are jumping and flying all over the place. He's about to hit a car so he reverses and slams into another one. I can't roll down the windows or open the doors. I had no idea where he was taking me because were going in the opposite direction. Then he pulls out a knife and has it horizontally hanging in his mouth and flashes me this wicked smile with gleaming eyes.
So instead of acting scared, I smiled back at him and motioned for him to turn down the music. I told him I liked his style and that he reminded me of an old boyfriend. He got excited. Then I asked if he had anymore blow on him, he said no but that he could get some. I told him I had been depressed and needed a drink and if he knew where we could get some. He got even more excited. We exchanged names and I told him I was getting away from my crazy family so I could breathe. He then told me how his dad left his mom penniless after he died. So I told him that my dad had also left my mom penniless after he died too. He then said his sister took off with a German guy. I told him that my sister had also taken off with a guy but he was Russian. He said his mother was a tailor working long hours and broke her back so he works double shifts. So I told him my mom cleaned houses and lost her vision so I too work more than I used to. And like that, we became friends. So then he asked what I did for work and I told him I worked for this casting agency in the States and that he would be perfect to play this drug dealer in a Deniro film. He got so happy I thought his eyes were going to pop out. I told him not to worry about a visa and that he would be paid $10,000 a day. He could barely control the wheel. He kept saying The Godfather was his favorite movie.
I told him that we should go to a bar or a club and talk about it some more, but first I needed cigarettes. He says he has some but I told him I only smoked L&Ms otherwise my lungs would bleed. So he pulled over to this convenience market and is about to get out and get them for me. Innocently, I tell him he is my guest and my new star and to let me buy us the cigarettes and some munchies too, because I said I had just blazed too and that in the meantime, to call up his contact to get us some blow. I said I wanted 200 dollars worth and that I'd pay in cash. He was thrilled! He opens the door for me from the outside like I'm some kind of queen. I go into the store and right away ask the owner if there was a back door because this crazy drugged up cab driver wanted to rape and kill me. He asks me where he is and I point him out. He points to a door for me to disappear out of and I turn to watch him signal to three other men vending fruit across the street and they all head towards the cab. It's then that I bolt off.
In Senegal, I had just gotten off a plane and am standing outside trying to decide which cab driver looked the safest. I had two bags with me and my camera bag was hanging safely under my arm. Right away, this tall scary looking fella pulls up in front of me and goes to grab my bags. In French, I tell him I was waiting for a ride but he was so insistent that I just gave in. As he drops me off and I go to retrieve my second bag that he put in the trunk, he drives off so fast before I could get it. I quickly took a picture of his license plate but it came out so blurry. Always make sure your bags are close to you. I should have known better because that same thing almost happened to me in New York. The bag he took had a large heavy Isis statue made of carved Lapis that I had wrapped in sweatshirts to give as a gift to a friend. No gold in there. But it was gold to me.
If you get into a cab and the driver won't answer any questions and isn't talkative like the rest, know that you are about to get ripped off. They do that so there isn't a friendly vibe between the businessman and paying client. That way they won't feel bad for jacking up the price. Driving cabs all day is lonely and boring, I've rarely met a cabbie who didn't ramble throughout the ride. They like pointing out attractions or discussing politics and life. If you meet one that doesn't, bounce.
I always haggle cab rates wherever and whenever I can. I've been in over 400 cabs in 2008, and the above mentioned were my most memorable experiences, not to say there weren't others. I have my own driver now in Egypt named Ahmed. I pay Ahmed 20 pounds an hour which equals to less than 4 bucks an hour. He'll drive me wherever I want to go, even between Cairo and Alexandria within the same day or to neighboring cities close to Alexandria which are like the Caribbean. The only problem with Ahmed is that now he's begun to think he's family. If I go to my favorite restaurant, Balbah, with some friends, it would be heartless of me to leave him outside in the car while we dined. So I invite him too. Now, it's become unmanageable. Sometimes when I get into the car he'll ask right away if I want to go to Balbah or Shaban, my other favorite place. Or he'll ask how my friends are doing and request for their numbers. It's my fault. There should always be a line between businessman and paying client. Not too far a line and not too much of a close one either.
It's OK though when it comes to Ahmed. He hasn't accepted payment for most rides now and has pretty much stopped charging me altogether...
Ever since I told him he was going to marry my sister.
-Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
Run! Run! As fast as you can. You can't catch me, nor could a taxi man can.
Rezine 69
King of light graffiti and the innovator of, is my boy Freddy from Lyon. Check out his exhibition if you are in his area code. He does super stellar work. Full of range, talent, and heart.
121 grande rue de la guillotiere69007 lyon france
Saturn's Symphony
SATURN'S SYMPHONY
Lady Harmony
When she rests her hand
Between you and me-
Blue and green
Sand and marine
Swimming in a wave
Of reality
Drowning in
Amarna's distant dream.
An ancient Queen
And her
King supreme
Two immortal souls
Of the 5th beam -
Flowing in the 7th stream.
Slipping in each other’s sweat
And bathing in
Breaths of steam.
Feet to feet
Two cats in heat
Dancing like wild savages
In a sacred desert retreat
Two souls merging,
Into
ONE
Sublime
And divine
Entity.
I can feel your hearts beat.
Says Lady Harmony.
She then throws us
Into thunderous throes
Complete with pounding wind
And animalistic tones
She watches us moan -
In the flame of twins
Shin to shin
Skin on skin
Pouring light made of crystalline
Salt mixed in with
Musk and leather
Creating our own
Pharonic storm -
Our own bionic
And sonic weather
Fully blown
On a horizontal throne
Full of turbulence
And aural pleasures
Her hand caresses our vessels
Like the blessings from
A falcon’s feathers
Sending us to galactic heights
Mending our lights together
Forever
Then while pulling on Passion’s lever
She reveals
Box filled with
Erotic and oral treasures
Lips crushing
The
In a moment
Blushing
And complete.
Lady Harmony -
She always charms me
Whenever we do meet
In repeat.
Her moves are fleeting
When two souls are
Greeting
In Saturn’s sensual
Symphony.
=Blue Panther=
SATURN'S SYMPHONY by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved
The 7th Legion
There is a group of influential trendsetters in their 30s, scattered across the globe, whom have taken on the identities of at least 8-17 people each.
These peace soldiers are influential, extremely multi-talented, speak in several tongues, very educated and are beyond intelligent. Their families are considered the creme de la creme of the social stratosphere. They are the sons and daughters of clothing titans, prominent European hoteliers, prime ministers, ambassadors, Saudi royalty, film directors, the Mafioso, political advisors, international actors, top-tier consultants, luxury car manufacturers, and even candy companies in South Africa.
For years they congregate in alternate cities across the world, sometimes weekly, monthly, or depending on schedules, twice a month. They are system busters and resonators all working together towards one common objective - to spread light and unite people across the world using different media vehicles, or by gaining prominence in different industries. By assuming different identities, they fuck with the media and multiple systems by passing on their attitudes through different personas and voices. When they meet, they exchange their contact lists, cross-connect, and make plans on how they can synergize to instigate greater impact than their last meeting.
For instance, X Fujiwara may be known in Japan and amongst his friends as a radio DJ at night and hustling albums for a music distributor by day. In truth, X has enough skills to assume the roles of an MC, artist, stock trader, managing editor for a teen publication, columnist for a political magazine, and host his own TV show for Rap videos on the weekends. He may pose with different names within Japan and his friends will never know about his recognition across many lands.
X takes on different names and through these mediums, he creates enough avenues to share his opinions and views amongst different target audiences. Sometimes, if a paper in the UK, or others, wants to do an interview with him for his new book on something like adapting Keyenes methodology in Asia, and he wrote it as a female Chinese writer, versus Japanese, he will hire a Chinese actress in the UK to hold the interview as him and vice-versa.
The systems of the world are being fucked with and messages of peace are being spread by genuine cool cats around the world that have infiltrated even the most corrupt circles. For those that read this, you will look at names and faces you see on the TV, in print, and on the radio way different than before. Many of them are imposters, for the real talent behind the songs, products, and issues they represent, are way dormant in the background doing other things or juggling other identities around the clock. These peace soldiers can be found working for governments, news agencies, so many different media avenues and pop culture outlets to even want to waste time in the spotlight. They pay others to do the acting for them, while they strategize their next moves and projects for tomorrow. Are they cheating Truth? No. In a poisoned world, they are playing Satan's game with the hand of illumination.
You may know of cults that are dark and made of skulls and bones, but there is a clan growing in power that is made of light. This selfless group uses whatever profits they make to invest into the greater good, in greater causes, and to fight corruption in the courts and to stand up for the disadvantaged people around the world.
Is this all fact or fiction?
A little birdie told me about this legion a little while ago and ever since then, I really, really started paying attention. And you know what? In time, I began seeing its influence everywhere. It's no joke.
-Suzy Kassem
Swings of Death
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Tape that to your wall, computer monitor, mirror, or door. Tape it to your head and pass it to your friends.
Every friend of mine who had taken their own life showed no unusual signs of helplessness or hopelessness days before they committed the act. In fact, they were all beyond brilliant personalities, full of charisma, love, and humor. Some of my favorite people on this earth are no longer with me. At least, not in the physical.
When you go against the flow of nature and betray the spiritual laws existing within, there is, and will always be, a negative reaction. Those who try escaping life before fate shakes their hand, will forever be stuck on earth, chained to the place they so badly wanted to leave. What a complicated misery? I guarantee you it will be torture to be invisible and ignored by those you love when you can see them but you are already dead for them to hear you utter another word. Talk about agony. More so, than remaining on this plane and continuing your spiritual cycle as it was written to be lived.
Remorse. Regret. Loneliness. Isolation. Misery.
Those are what you get when you take your life before your time is naturally up. Believe it. I have lost dozens of friends to overdoses. In desperation to communicate to them after death, I went to see mediums who could talk to the deceased. I was greeted by spirits in tears, crying about the mistakes they had made, the misery of walking alone, of not being able to communicate or say they were sorry for what they did. Each and every one of them said they never meant to really go through with it. Their actions were just cries for help or they had fallen prey to their moods of the moment.
The mood you have now will be different than the mood you have tommorow. Moods pass just like the clouds above our heads. Prescription drugs, street drugs, and alcohol alter our states of mind and throw us outside of our current realities or push us deeper into them. I may feel suicidally depressed one moment and feel my situation is hopeless, but then the next day I'm happy as if nothing ever happened. Don't let your moods put you on the swing of death. Don't ever give in to your moods. Problems eventually mend themselves over time, the same way the clouds always part for the sun to shine through. Have faith and the light will come.
SUICIDE IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO A TEMPORARY PROBLEM.
When you cheat death, it will slap you with a sentence of misery for trying to defeat it.
Remember that and pass this to all your friends.
-Suzy Kassem
The Light Brigade
With utmost respect,
S.K
WasSsup WasSsup?
I tell my friend Hamada about what keeps happening to me. No matter what I dress like or how I present myself, the homeless, distraught and the penniless keep flocking to me like flies. What the hell am I doing wrong? Or right?
He thinks for a moment then asks me, “Did you have money on you? And if so, how much?” I tell him I had just withdrawn a few hundred from the bank for a rug; hence, making it about four thousand Egyptian pounds in conversion. He tells me, “That’s a lot of money for here! They can smell it! To them that’s $4,000!”
How could that be? Money has no smell to it and it’s not like I whip it all out at once or pull more than 10 pounds from my pocket. There’s nothing about me that reveals I have enough to pay for even a bottle of Coca-Cola on the street. Yet I keep getting stopped by women carrying sickly babies, men with burned arms or no arms at all. Why me?
So to make a point, Hamada told me to hand him my money as we jumped into a cab to take us to the downtown area. When I got out and walked around ahead of him, nobody came up to me for several blocks. I mean NOBODY. So when I made note of the discovery then turn around to look for Hamada, I find him a couple of blocks backward. I stroll up to him and find a man in his 70’s reciting Quranic verses to him with one hand forward followed by another woman telling him she needed medicine and couldn’t afford it. We exchange glances and he smiles, pointing out to me that he had made his case.
The smell of money. It’s no joke. People need to check and see what the hell they press into the inks of bills. Better yet, why not roll down to Mexico and pull the test yourself? I assure you all that it was a real eye opener for me and has got me thinking. I’m sure they don’t weave the scent of jasmine petals into money. Or steak. Or buttered popcorn. So what else could it be?
Beats me. Go ask the eye on the pyramid. It will tell you. After all, it sees and knows everything.
WasSsup WasSsup?
My Mirror
Re: Truth Reflected, Truth Rejected
Hi Suz, I took interest in this....you know, this was something I always admired in you, your truthfulness, I thought it was great the way you'd tell people like it is including your father, who at times could be intimidating and domineering, he tried to hold the iron fist over you but all it did was make your rebel more. I remember one time when I came over to your house, your dad answered the door and told me you were not home. I was like what the fuck, I just talked to her?! But you came running down the stairs yelling and screaming at him, he looked slightly humiliated. lol so many times I would watch in amazement you calling people out, your mom, your sisters, brother, friends, strangers. It was and is freaking great. I enjoyed this story, it brought back many good memories from when we were kids, running around like little punks. Good times my friend, good times.
miss ya sista.
Angie
Messages From Beyond
Know that:
1) When you are sitting alone at your desk, in front of the TV, lying on a couch, comfortable in your own space and suddenly smell the sweetest fragrance as that from the heavenliest garden...know that you have just been visited by a departed loved one. The scent usually lasts only seconds and you may think you imagined it. Know it was very real.
2) When you are alone in your own space and suddenly feel something wrap around you like it came in with the soft wind from an open window, and you sense this indescribable feeling of warmth encompass you that brings unexplainable tears to your eyes. Know that a deceased loved one had just come to tell you they love you. It is very real. You have just been visited.
3) When you notice a bird outside your window, on your front door step, somewhere in front of you, observing your every move, watching intensely, studying you, making you very aware of their presence and once you acknowledge them, they fly away towards the sky. Know that a loved one was checking up on you. It is very real and no coincidence. Send a verbal or telepathic message to the bird to deliver to a loved one for I promise you they will. Throughout history, birds have acted as messengers between the living and the living and deceased. If a bird should make its way into your living space, let them know you are alright and send it peacefully on its way. You have just been visited.
4) When you are in bed , in a chair, or resting comfortably in your own zone and feel the soft weight of a hand resting on your cheek, shoulder, knee, arm, back, or elbow, or even just a faint prickle of energy caressing your skin, pillow, or even feel a sense of weight resting on your bed, know that a departed loved one is reaching out to you. You are not imagining things. You have just been visited.**
5) When you are alone and the TV or radio flips on by itself, or your computer flickers intermittently, or mouse moves across the screen on the automatic (and it’s not a Dell PC or hacker), know that it is only through energy a departed loved one can signal they are with you. If you find yourself questioning the situation, know it was very real. You have just been visited.
6) When you are filtering through photos and one falls out and it happens to be one of a deceased, know that they are telling you that they are around you and still with you. It is very real. Take the photo and frame it. The dead want to be remembered. If the photo is on a computer screen and the mouse locks up, have the photo printed and framed. You have just been visited.
I share these 6 points from personal re-occurring experiences and know, without a doubt in my mind, that they were all actual visits from the departed. Now imagine yourself dead and now exposed to the spiritual realm ruled by cosmic law which forbids the deceased from verbally communicating or materializing before the living. Ask yourself, how would you communicate to your loved ones? Without words? Without scaring them? Without making them paranoid? I'll admit that the fluttering vibrations I feel sometimes on my pillow at night do scare the living shit out of me. I sometimes mistake them for something dark. How would you distinguish your presence from the jinn or others whom have also passed? Think about it.
Even though I tell my family and friends to come and visit me if they should die first, differentiating their true presence from the noise is a tough task. The only way you would specifically recognize someone is through articles of clothing or possessions they owned that cross your path, sounds they liked, scents, symbols and the repetition of certain behaviors they once employed while living. The rest is intuition. Fact, the dead do want you to talk to them. Fact, they do like it when you play their favorite music. Fact, they do come around us from time to time and some are around us every day living amongst us and our families as though they had never died.
**There are times when a living person can think about you so hard: hugging you, kissing you, or even touching you that you can feel the vibes they are transmitting from afar. Sometimes I feel a tornado of passion coming at me and I don't know from which direction, but I feel it. Most of the time, you don't know where the energy is coming from at all. However, sometimes if someone is thinking about you, images of them will flash through your head and you will start thinking about them. That person over there, somewhere, won't know that they transported their thoughts to you and you won't know how they even popped into your mind to begin with. That's the mystery behind human nature. It's no coincidence when you think of someone you haven't talked to in a long time, then suddenly they call you or you run into them the next day.
Conclusion:
The truth, we were all born with telepathic minds. The majority of us use less than 20% of our mind's true potential. If we used 40%, all of humanity could communicate telepathically in unison. We would no longer need cell phones. If we used 60%, we could all live to be 200. Believe it. If we used our minds to their fullest capacity, there would be peace amongst brothers. An elevated world would reside on a protected earth. With all the static thrown at us on the daily, twisted realities, false perceptions on TV, and so many distractions building upon the mental traffic already in our brains trying to survive, you can't blame the common man for not being able to see the simplicity in Truth. Our hearts give us life, but it is our minds that drive our bodies, translate messages from the soul, and are capable of pushing us to do the unthinkable. Your mind can cure or kill you. Your mind is capable of creating peace in the world and within yourself. Your mind can transport you to go anywhere you want to go and can drive you to achieve anything your soul desires. Sadly, fear is instilled in us everyday. Our schools limit the levels we were created to achieve and our world needs scientific validations to find reason rather than spiritual truth. We limit ourselves because we allow it. Our systems limit us because they know they can control and manipulate our minds. Mind control -– welcome to the New World Order.
Your heart, soul, and mind are all interlinked and a healthy body cannot function with one missing from the mix. Evil is the only body of mass that can function on mind alone. Preserve your mind. Preserve your soul. Preserve your heart. If you lose your mind, your soul will guide you. Preserve your soul, if it is weak, then keep your mind sound for it can still illuminate your heart. Preserve your heart, for without it you would have no pulse to charge your mind and your soul will be forced to escape your body. Your ultimate reason for existence is to expand the limit put on your mind. Feed it and nurture it and never think of aging unless you really want to get older. For whenever you do, you will. Your soul listens to your mind and if you hide age from your soul, you will never get old. Turn off the poisons that surround you and venture into the world of self-healing and infinite knowledge.
First, know that nothing is impossible and to always listen to your own heart, mind, and soul.
By Suzanne M. Kassem
Them Croatian Cats
THE RISE OF MULTI-CREATIVES
Talk about inspiration. My friend Slaven aka Lunar of the YCP crew in Croatia just landed the front cover of Forbes Magazine in his country. While just a couple weeks ago, he sent me flicks of the latest wall he painted with his brothers.
Now, how could a bunch of graffiti writers land on the cover of a serious money magazine? How could that BE?
Slaven's response (as is):
"You know how I see it, gotta pay da cost to be free in creating what I love. Paying the cost in my case is 9-5 at the agency. Try to get the best of it and after it, second shift is only for my own sake. This made me enjoy what I'm doing even more. and for forbes, I'm very glad for them recognizing love and dedication, not only greedy and businessmen who step over people's heads to get to the next level who are usually on their covers...
They had a theme for this issue, called 'croatian dream' (hrvatski san). Croatian dream is a bit different than American one, in first place we do care about family and close friends and enjoyment in life, not only running after the money like most western world. they thought my career was the good example so they requested the interview and illustration for the cover. also a recommendation for several people from last exhibition (10 years anniversary of first official group graffiti exhibition organized now by croatian ambassador in morocco) who i thought had sucessfully transferred from graffiti to business. I guess it's a cool step forward..."
Whatevs.
Talk about the infiltration of Cool.
What Kind of Music Do You Listen To?
I would ask guys that question throughout my teens and into my twenties. It was my way of sorting them out. If a guy told me he liked hardcore gabber, I knew he was a candy flipper and too cheesy for me. If he told me he liked ICP, then most likely he was a lush, liked drinking Faygo, and listened to Kid Rock, Hesham, and Too Short too. If a guy told me he was into the Grateful Dead and Phish, I knew he probably carried a hacky sack in his pocket, was out of a job or working at a bagel joint, and that I could swing with him for a wee bit only because I knew that he would always have weed on him. Stereotypes were fueled by music only because people allowed themselves to be labeled that way. Crossovers were too far and in-between.
I like a little bit of everything so I never fit ito just one class like those who like to label themselves by their dress style and music. Some people listen to things only because friends within their group listen to the same stuff. So I could quickly pull out the cats that didn't have an opinion about anything. At the same time, when a guy threw at me a diverse list of bands and singers, DJs and MCs, listing the best in jazz, the best producers in deep house all around the world, knew the good in dance music inside out, his record labels, the best in hip-hop, punk rock, lounge, eclectic shit, reggae, ska, UK groups that kicked it in the 80s to early 90s, and everything in-between, that guy got my attention fast because those kind of guys were rare. His selection told me he was open-minded, had an ear for good music, was well-rounded and so must be his personality and outlook on life.
Same with girls. If I met a girl who told me she was into Ani Defranco, Sarah McLaughlin, Portishead, AND Siouxie and the Banshees, then I knew right away that the girl would be hitting me up with relationship issues -- or hitting on me. Either she had a sexual identity crisis or was insecure. I was always right. If a guy told me he liked Tori Amos, McLaughlin and Ani Defranco, and shit, throw in some Celine, I knew he was gay. Sorry, but it's true. If a straight guy liked those acts, then it’s probably because he had a girlfriend who dug that music, had him leashed in a push me-pull me relationship, suffered bad times in love, or experienced a severe loss. Pick one or two.
You also knew who the real hip-hop heads were because they not only listed Wu-Tang, but also could name Ali Shaheed Muhammed, GZA, and Pioneer as the best producers, and they knew their MCs in the game too. AND, they’d throw at you the fundamental musicians from the 60s and 70s, blues and jazz legends that prompted their initial interest in music in general and the whole hip-hop movement. Those same cats are still listening to the same good music today even if the groups have dissolved and new sounds and voices in hip-hop have emerged. That’s what old school is about. Hip-hop of yesterday is nothing compared to what it is today.
Then things changed. When I lived in DC in my early 20s for a short stint, I discovered a cultural shift from the aural perspective. I was at a house party at a friend’s and this little scrawny kid, who looked no older than 12, with nerdy glasses and a striped polo shirt rolled in the door with a crate full of records. I did not expect this fella to drop the illest shit. He was dropping hip-hop, broken beats, mixed with funk and house. He did it all with long tricky fingers. I would have never given that kid a second of my time back then, until I heard the music he slammed. Then I noticed that the house kids in DC listened to the cheesiest house on the planet, unlike the kids in the Midwest, and that I preferred hanging out with the punks because they knew what was seriously good in the land of Fugazi. Every city had a specialty when it came to music. Every city had a specific music scene that dominated over the others. In DC, I realized that as we moved on to the mid-90s, classification by music was suddenly becoming a blurry assumption. While before, it was clear as glass.
It wasn’t until my mid to late 20’s that I finally stopped asking people what they listened to. And instead, I’d ask, “What’s good in the player these days?” I had gone across continents by then and trying to find the cool cats in every city was starting to get harder and harder. Something was changing in the air. Scenes were dying and new ones that defied genres were starting to emerge. People were also crossing dress styles and embracing all kinds of stuff, unlike before, where everything was more genre specific and based on stereotypes.
Anything you like, I can list the good songs, without saying I necessarily like the whole band. Not everything a band kicks on their label is intended to be gold, as they do have contracts to fulfill and those albums all need songs to meet deadlines. So even today, I don’t like someone naming a band, I’d rather they kick me a song. Commerici-Cana (Commercialized America) has killed most scenes when they went popular, and with popularity comes a slew of acts that jump in whether they are good or just fillers. Wherever there is hype, there are always trendy followers. The distortion kills it for the true heads that once enjoyed the exclusivity, so they move on to other stuff. That's how house music died as well as many other music crazes. You can’t say you like one branch of music anymore. Music is evolving. The internet had a lot to do with it because it gave people a means of discovering and exploring different music. Now it’s hard for me to tell what the fuck, when a 16-year old tells me she listens to The Germs, Lil’ Wayne and Deathcab for Cutie. The lines are all distorted.
Before you cast judgment, know that music fits certain moods for a listener, appeals to a thought or feeling indescribable in their own words, or matches a stage in their life. And that sometimes, some music is devoted to appeal to a specific lifestyle only because it was created by a scenester who was known in a specific scene from which his/her music now thrives. Instead of punk rockers, we have punk rockers who like hip-hop and new wave. And instead of just alterna-queens, they also like new wave and sappy songs thrown over tight beats. The world has gone eclectic so get with the new times. Don’t judge someone by their music, ever. I’ve found that the guys that like classical stuff mixed with a super buffet of assorted junk, are actually pretty interesting, sensitive, and very intelligent. You simply can’t really judge nowadays. If you do, you’ll miss out.
-Suzy Kassem
Child of Aten
FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUN
For 33 years, I’ve been searching around the world,
Year after year,
Face after face,
Probing through the eyes of every stranger,
Every acquaintance
And every man I have ever known.
I will never settle or
Ever know true happiness
Until I have found
The Yang to my Yin
-= My Sun King =-
We once were one
In a vision of white
And rays of sunlight
Poured from our minds,
-= Souls =-
Eyes and hearts.
But then fate took you away from me
Back on the silver boat
Returning you to the brightest
Of all the stars.
Meet me and complete me.
My one and only
-= True =-
And eternal love.
Feel the heat in me
In solar synergy
My pure
And tender
Radiant
-= Dove =-
"FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUN" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.
Camera Eye Warriors
Sometimes words are not enough to speak for your eyes, let alone your emotions. The English language is so powerfully rich in words of expression, yet so weak and limited for those which describe how we really feel. Nowadays, there seems to be a cliché to describe every situation, a phrase to sum up every trauma, and a line already designed to manipulate every action. There are many ways to describe the feelings we experience when we fall in love; however, the adjectives are so limited to describe the way we feel when we lose a loved one. Language is such a powerful means to express what can't be told by our eyes and our hearts and only through language can we share what cannot be seen by the outer shells of our being. Our world is not supposed to be so predictable and boring. Yet it only seems that way because society likes to move away from the dark clouds and grayness that sometimes fill up our skies and lives, and tends to drift more towards the sun to keep the masses interested and entertained. What our society does so well is orchestrate its own productions to hide Truth, for it comes in a multitude of colors that would only distort us from the reality our systems try so hard to hide from us.
What is really ignored these days is the truth that lies behind a passerby’s eyes, the library of experience that amasses with age, a soul with their own unique story –- protected by a shield of emotions hardened over a lifetime. How can one mix colors that can paint a tableau of their being without words? If so can be done, then how many people walking by you on the streets have paintings made of pure yellow, compared to those of pitched blackness? What color are you and do the plethora of colors that make up your persona even generate a shade other than gray, brown, black? Or white? White is strictly reserved for infants with clean slates, empty canvases yet to be drabbed by color. And yellow? Yellow is only for the souls who disguise their true feelings the same way America reads like a greeting card. When you mix your world of feelings using colors, you are bound to come up with a murky color in the end. So in an essence, we do live in a black and white world and the colors that make up our experiences, that label our personal tales, and reveal the emotions behind each of our chapters is only for you to write about and share, to reveal the true being behind your dark essence that is covered in layer upon layer of paint masking your history. Nobody will ever know who you are or what you are really about, until YOU and only you reveal the truth behind your painting. Truth will never be visible to the world until enough of us share the majestic compositions that play loudly in our souls.
Can you honestly say you can read a man by his eyes? Can you predict the happiness of a woman's marriage by the creases around her eyes or lips? Only a fool will believe they can for every crease comes with a story only to be revealed by characters within the script. From the outside perspective, we are quick to assume the cause of scars and lines without hearing truth circling from the lips of those who contain it. We are so trained to look at everything as entertainment that assumptions feed the fire of bored gossiping fools. What about you? Yes, YOU with the eyes that reveal whirlpools of splendor, wisdom, suffering, and pain. You with the history, his story, of experiences filled with happiness, sadness and madness? When will you share the story of your life or use your experiences to teach others the knowledge amassed by the experiences of your journey? Only the dormant, and without opinion, stay within the safe boundaries of the black and white world where they find safety hiding behind empty pages revealing nothing. Why allow people to assume what it is you stand for – if anything at all? Why allow others to tell stories about you, or speak on your behalf, and assume the shapes and shades that define who you are without telling them yourself? What a sin that is to prevent sharing your true colors with the world. What a sin it is to trap colors within your being and prevent them from reflecting in unison with your multidimensional equals who don’t know where you are because your prism is reflecting nothing to them from afar.
I ask people of the world and children of light to start reflecting the stories of their souls to vibrate wisdom around the earth. Pick up a paintbrush or microphone. Press the inks of your pens to paper, tap words onto your screens and start sharing what you know and have learned with the masses. Turn your personal painting into a piece of the earth’s puzzle so that our unified assemblage of thoughts, stories and lessons reveal Truth. What if the world suddenly spoke real loud, the unconventionality of the words were strong enough to melt paper? Imagine what Truth could do to neutralize the clutches of evil once this black and white world suddenly became embraced by a strong rainbow of loud powerful voices. What if words started becoming so bold and deep that they defied the conventionality of our current world and standards set within it? Flip the script even in your daily interactions. Instead of saying, I love you, you would hear phrases like…I can’t believe you picked me. We are all born poets. We are all born storytellers and our minds were created to be boundless and never to be limited. Defy the norm and exploit all mediums to share your stories. All of you, and especially YOU. To die with a best-selling story trapped within your being is a sad gift to your maker who set experiences on your path so that your evolution could be shared in synergy with others.
If my eyes could talk, film would be pouring down my cheeks; however, they stay trapped behind shutters with tinted lenses. Surely, if I kept the cinema in my mind trapped for too long, eventually the film would turn into tears that would choke the well in my throat right down to my very soul. And in the end, I would die with records of knowledge never to be shared and my camera eyes would remain forever capped as soon as the hands of death slid past my lids for once and forever. What a shame to silence my soul or to hear your soul silenced without ever knowing you, my love, my brother, my sister, my father? I call out to the elevated of the world to start sharing. To start putting words into action in front of all to bear witness; to Life’s animated airport where we sit on benches witnessing sadness in motion, laughter in rewind, and time in fast-forward. To the ones that choose to stay compressed, repressed, and blank -- stay put, and do please feel free to trade lenses if need be. It gets rather boring keeping the same perspective so rotate them around as much as you like. I welcome you all to the Great Awakening where everyone has a story to share, words to pour, and wisdom to elevate the masses. Choose your own personal theater to roll your tape as mediums nowadays are plenty.
Camera rolling, take seven.
By Suzanne Mahmoud Kassem
Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
November 21, 2008
* Write and people will come to read. Write and people will heed to your words and share them with others. Not all may relate, but wait, and those that were meant to see it eventually will find it, for truth waits to be found. It searches for no one.
**Image by the amazing Alex Grey
Truth Rejected, Truth Reflected
I did not fully understand what she was telling me and for a long time afterwards, I thought my mom was the devil and preferred other people over me, her own daughter. How could she tell me to lie to people or “bite my tongue” from telling people the truth? What was so wrong with being truthful and why would the truth hurt other people?
By that time and in all my years leading up to it, I had caused so much grief in my family because I always bluntly told people what I thought of them or was thinking at any given moment. In social situations, in front of my mom’s friends, if I thought a lady looked like a dog, I would point to her and say, “dog”. If I thought a man had the evil characteristics of a snake, I would point my little finger at him and call him “devil” or “snake”. If people asked me how I was doing, I would tell them I was bored, cold, hated being around them or was scared of my dad or hungry. If I heard my mom or dad bending the truth about anything, I would point out they were lying. If a woman called asking for my mom or dad, I would tell her they were fighting and to call back later. If someone knocked at the door and my mom told me to tell them she was not there, I would tell the person she was either watching TV upstairs, in the bathroom, or putting on nail polish in the kitchen and to come back later. I was so uncontrollable and the cause of so many disputes and gossip, that my mom would lock me in my room whenever guests came and alerted my siblings to never allow me to answer the phone.
Over time, I felt my parents preferred their shady friends over me, their own daughter. I watched them all sit and lie, brag, and act fake in front of me. I could see through everything. If my parents attended a dinner function and brought along a present or a dessert cake, once we got back home and my mom came by my room to turn off the lights, she would discover the flattened cake placed beside me as I slept next to it protecting it. She would panic and take it back to the home we visited apologizing for her daughter’s innocence. Was I selfish? No. If I sensed the guests were not worthy of it, I always took my parent’s gifts back home with me, sometimes unnoticed and sometimes discovered. I did not understand why people were rewarded for being liars. How come I never got a cake for telling the truth? Why was I always punished?
Times don’t change as time has proved. Over 20 years later, I find that I am still punished for always telling the truth. Regardless of my mother’s early advice, I always tell the truth regardless of how bold, blunt, aggressive, or hurtful it may be. I never hide my feelings about anything and there are many who can contest to that. I always felt alien in a bullshit world, until the day I watched the movie Splash where Daryl Hannah plays a mermaid. She is walking the streets with Tom Hanks and someone asks him how he is doing. He says fine or well or something positive like that. And that is where Daryl Hannah says something like, “Why do you humans lie like that when it is evident you are not doing fine”. I jumped up from my seat in the movie theater and started clapping and screaming, “She is RIGHT! Good for you! Woohoooo!” I was booed at and told to sit back down and shut up. I didn’t care because for once in my life, FOR ONCE, I felt Truth reflected back at me. And ever since then, I wanted to be a mermaid because only mermaids understood truth.
-Suzy Kassem
A Question of Ethics
If you are Egyptian, as many Egyptians from my generation read these posts, then there is a high probability that you or someone in your family knows of or has been treated by the hands of an Al-Zawahri.
The Al-Zawahari family is a very reputable Egyptian family in medicine. For generations, every member of my family has visited and relied on a Zawahri family member to cure them of some particular ailment. In the 50s, my grandfather had to wait at least 1 year to be treated for a nervous condition because the original Zawahri had a super long waiting list. My mother was treated by his daughter in Abassaya as a teenager. My sister by his son. Me as a kid, by his brother in Switzerland where he attended to me as my own personal doctor. That same one who treated me back then, is now on the terrorist list for being a sidekick to Bin Laden. Look him up. That guy was my doctor and I only have fond memories of him as a kid.
The Zawahris were the best in their fields. No matter what your symptoms, there was a Zawahri out there who came with super high recommendations. Yet sadly, every family has a couple of bad apples in their bloodline. So it’s a shame when a flunky like Abdel Salam Zawahri, uses his great family name and tarnishes it with foul medical practices and exploits an honorable legacy to make quick mega bucks on the automatic. He’s been doing it for years, but this year, I nailed that bastard. Let me tell you my story.
When I was in California, I had my bed positioned next to the window, like I always did for years, so that I would wake up with the sun pouring its light on my face every morning. I never in my life wore sunscreen, and still don’t, even though I would fall asleep outside in the sun at a park, on a beach, anywhere with the sun on my face for hours. On top of that, I’ll share with you a secret. I have a severe addiction to intense light. It’s like crack for me. I used to visit sun tanning salons on the daily, not for the tan, for the intense exposure to light. Every tanning salon in Los Angeles knew me by name. When friends called me on my cell phone and my messages got backed up, that was where Suzy was. Hanging out under massive heat lamps with no sunscreen. Every day. Either that or with my headphones strapped on working on beats. I was so ashamed of my addiction that I wouldn’t tell anybody because I couldn’t explain it. I knew I would get lectures and I didn't want to hear any of it. When I was under all those heat lamps, I was happy. It felt like I was sleeping inside the sun. As soon as the timer went off and I walked outside, I was down. Super depressed. For that reason, I only wear sunglasses with a yellow tint to make my days seem brighter. Light equals happiness for me.
To make matters worse, my skin is the most sensitive and delicate skin in the world so I can’t apply simple creams like normal people unless they came with a doctor's blessing. So months before I left California, I went to see Dr. Obagi himself in Beverly Hills -- at my mom’s repetitive insistence. I had developed uneven skin tone and it wasn’t that obvious but everybody I knew would say I looked tired all the time because it looked like there were constant shadows on my face. The doctor said it was hyper pigmentation from intense exposure to the sun. My forehead had a different shade than half my face and so on. So when I took off overseas, I knew very well what my condition was. I spent over $2000 on Obagi creams prescribed by the man himself.
I called and made an appointment. When I arrived at his office, I wasn’t surprised to see hundreds of people waiting for him, with lines pouring outside the door. I left right away because I’m not one to wait in lines. After returning to my disappointed mother, she took me to see him again the next day, but this time we were the first ones there. I walked into his nicely furnished office stacked with libraries upon libraries of books, certificates, honors, and flashy advertisements announcing the days and times of his television show. He took one look at my face and said it was very minor, handed me a prescription and I was happy to be out the door within 5 minutes. I was told to get the medicine he prescribed and return the next day for crystal treatments. I was like, “Wow, he treats people with crystals? Cool!”
So I went back and sat down in a chair. He pulls out this massager thing that blows out small crystals and ran it over my face. Right away I knew he was doing microdermabrasion, and from western experience, he was doing it wrong. They have ads on late night TV that sell that same gadget he was using for $29.99! He was charging a common Egyptian man’s one month salary for ONE session. I thought it was the biggest joke. Two, the pricey creams he prescribed to me were purely cosmetic and they came without instructions or any lists of ingredients. I asked him what was in them and he smiled and told me they were his secret formulas. So just like Obagi, he was also pimping his own creams. My mom told me to be patient so I endured the number of sessions he said I would need.
In my mind, I was thinking about all the helpless people waiting outside his office. Had he cured them? He must be doing something right to have his own TV show and lines of people coming to see him. So unannounced and before heading to my uncle's who lived nearby, I returned to his office on a busy Thursday and sat amongst the men, woman and children. I interrogated most of them. Many were there for scarring, hyperpigmentation, breakouts, and rashes. I found out quickly that he prescribed almost everybody, regardless of ailment, the same creams he advised to me. His own!
Turns out, the poor woman was divorced, working all day, barely making ends meet, and behind on repaying her debts to relatives whom she borrowed from to heal her son of his “curse”. Yet she was desperate and I saw my own mother in her. I understood the prices parents pay to cure their children of anything at any cost. I understood it all too well just by observing my own parents. I told Amira that it was vital for her to get receipts for all the visits the boy had. In the future, if the boy got any serious skin or cancer conditions, it could be traced back to Zawahri. She asked the doctor’s aid in front of us for them and he snickered and refused. He said they don’t give receipts. I got angry. You have to question a business that refuses to give customers records of their sales.
Then I met a woman who had the same situation as me, yet far graver, who had been coming to see him for 2 years now. She said the healing has been super slow and his creams have had no effect yet he kept advising her to be patient. She told me she thought about quitting his visits but she had already invested so much money that she would regret it later as he told kept telling her she was closer and closer to recovery. I asked them all why they kept returning, and they all said hope – he was supposed to be the best. Best by who? I asked that question and they all said he came from a reputable family. I went on to interrogate more people and more families were anxious to share their stories. I heard more sadness pour from people of all walks of life. I found trends and commonalities in all.
Then Tarek was called in. By that time, I had the entire place chatting up a storm and complaining to each other with their grievances. Some women started crying, including Tarek’s helpless mother who realized she had just sent her son in for an early death sentence. I told her to be patient and to get the numbers of the women around her to act as witnesses in case anything bad happened in the future. Then Zawahri’s personal aid came to me and said the doctor wanted to see me right away. I had no appointment so I knew what it was about and when I went in, the entire place went dead silent.
Z: Suzanne! Have a seat! Have a seat! How are you? You look good? I see an improvement! Sharaftina! Narwartina! What is the reason behind this pleasant visit?
I sat down in front of him and noticed he had 4 young doctors in training seated behind his desk taking notes. I realized it was a good day to have come. I also noticed in the corner of my eyes that Tarek was lying quietly in what looked like a casket in a dimly lit room off to the side.
Me: Doctor. I have great respect for your family and for that reason I was advised to see you. However, I am deeply disturbed by your negligent practices and the way you exploit the trust and faith of your patients. You have proved to me that you are not a doctor, but a crook in a white coat.
Z: Did you come here to create trouble for me? If you have no faith in me as a doctor, then why did you keep coming to me?
Me: It was not my choice. I came to make my mother happy for as you know parents sometimes exercise desperate measures to heal their children. Outside of this room, there are countless parents like my own that have given their trust to you based on what your relatives have been known to do. You have abused your family’s name and and without noise, I request you return everybody out there their money before I disgrace you in front of your colleagues and create a scene that will be talked about for years!
Z: You came here to threaten me? Do you think you are in America? Do insurance companies there return money back to people if their doctors can’t cure them? Where do you think you are? This is Egypt!
Me: Exactly. And for that reason I would have never expected to see the land of medicine corrupted by money hungry fools like you. It’s a shame that our ancients gave birth to the formulas that are now being used by the biggest pharmaceutical giants in this modern world, in addition to, Egyptian doctors are still the best in their fields around the world, that someone like you would give this country a bad name and rob the poor and the trustworthy of their hard earned salaries. It’s an embarrassment that you are an Egyptian and you are a disgrace to your name. Because of you, your tarnish the medical excellence your family has built strong all these years. I stand firm on my request and let it be known, doctor, that you know nothing of what I am capable of doing, and of my own professional experience, merits, and contact base. I will rip you out of your profession. Yet out of respect to your uncle who was good to me, I spare you a choice.
Z: Let me ask you something then Suzanne. If your own doctors in America failed to heal you then why did you come to see me?
Me: Because, like I mentioned before, Egyptians are the best in medicine and your family name earned you my trust.
Z: And in America, you mean to tell me, they give people their money back? A baker on the street here will not return a customer’s money for hard bread. We do not have that system here!
Me: Let me put it this way, in America, we do have multiple systems in medicine that deserve attention here. First, there is a system of ethics. Second, we have an administrative system made up of medical boards that review faulty doctors such as yourself. And third, we have a judicial system to protect the rights of patients and customers. If you had plans of going into practice in Europe or America, prepare to be jailed for you will be.
Z: Jail? I am the law and I set the laws of my practice! Here we do not have such systems! If a patient does not have respect or patience with their doctor, they can go elsewhere. That is the only system we need.
Me: Without ethics, doctor, you shouldn’t even be in business. Without a moral system, you shouldn’t be allowed to take money or give advice to anyone - period. Yet what does the patient do when the doctor has no respect for their time, money, or trust and faith they store in him? What if I was your sister, doctor? What if I was your wife or mother and I wasted my efforts and money on a magician like you and saw no results. After pouring so much fuel in soil, only a fool would walk away without seeing the fruits of their labor. In this situation, it's money. Surely you understand that anger and frustration are natural emotions that flow through our nervous systems. That is another system you understand, don’t you?
Z: I admire your thinking Suzanne. How do you know what I tried on you is not working on others? Everybody’s case is different.
Me: That I know. However, I talked to more than enough. You know everyone's case is different but there is evidence that you have been giving them all the same standard treatment. They are humans that need personalized attention. They do not come to you to be treated as mere statistics. If you want to treat them as cattle, go start a farm and be a farmer. You are in the wrong profession. I interrogated everybody outside your office and it’s unanimous that you are a flunky.
Z: A flunky? Do you use this language in your professional field?
Me: Let’s just say, that I could be…could be…a reporter for a reputable medical journal, newspaper, or magazine. And let’s assume that I could be…could be…investigating healthcare in the Middle East…and could be acting as a patient to write a well documented article about my experiences dealing with Egyptian hospitals and physicians in particular. Let's say also, that I may use you as an example for negligence, misdiagnosing and abusing patients. Can you imagine what such an article would do to your family’s reputation and yours in front of the international medical community? Would you still have a TV show? A busy office with anxious patients? A Benz? NO. And if you don’t return money to the people waiting outside for their refund, I will particularly write about that poor boy who has pigmentation disorders that you have held up in a box with extensive exposure to UV rays for 2 hours each time, weekly, and for months. Even a rat would have died by now!! You get that boy out of that oven right now before he turns into a burnt sweet potato.
Z: You do not give me orders in my office! You get out of here! Get out of here!! Barah!
Me: In front of your doctors in training, let this be a grave lesson to their future careers. Take what you learned here today and report it back to your learning institutions. This man is a crook and I will not leave without seeing refunds issued to all the people out there RIGHT NOW. I even took pictures of that poor boy’s face, written accounts of all those outside, and will be in contact with them regarding their progress and treatments. I will no longer tolerate doctors like you who abuse helpless patients and I am not leaving without justice. So let it begin!
He picks up his phone and talks to some man or woman. He tells them he has a violent patient and to come help him.
Me: Don’t forget doctor that I am not like the others out there. They are my equals, yes, but I come from your sweet America. The police will arrest you first based on my account and those people outside will all stand up to be my witnesses. Do what you want, but you have yet to see the rage brew from me and see what I'm capable of doing! AGAIN, GIVE BACK THEIR MONEY!
He gets up and opens the door of his office. His aid rushes to him and they exchange words. Immediately, the aid announces that the doctor is not seeing anymore patients for the day and right away people start getting upset and many turn to leave. I tell everyone to stay put and that the doctor agreed to return all their money back and they will be reimbursed for the creams they purchased and their last 3 visits, which I thought, was fair to him, but not fair enough.
Me: Should I call all the rest of the doctors in the building and tell them all to come and see what your patients are angry about?
He gives me the ugliest evil look and signals for his aid to get moving. His aid flips open a notebook with patients' names, visits, and dues paid to date. Ironic, that with such records, they don’t give out receipts? A long line formed before him.
I grabbed his stacks of cards on the desk and threw them in the air and left. A crowd of people came after me kissing my hands, asking for my number, to come over for dinner, or lunch, or whatever. I didn’t even care to be compensated because I felt like I had been compensated more than enough. When I left the office, I went to my uncle’s and my cousin Amr told me about a skin cream that gets rid of everything, called Dermatin. I asked for it at the pharmacy and it costed less than the equivalent of 2 bucks. Three days later, my face was restored to its youthful appearance and it was uniform in color. TWO BUCKS AND JUST THREE DAYS LATER! It’s sad that cures to conditions we consider serious are actually all cheap, easily accessible or naturally available. I glowed and the lights beamed again from my eyes from my quick recovery. Obagi and Zawahri are just two crooks in a savage world filled with others like them.
It is possible people, to stand up to corruption through the power of words alone – on any level. I have never lost an argument with superiors across professions because of my strategic tongue and training in management. Yet you do not need to know management or strategy to fight for justice on any scale, for you only need to speak the voice of reason. I’ve been in over 41 fights this year in many countries. Men will intimidate me with their guns, badges, or credentials, but know this, there is always a way to reverse any situation if you see the hole, their weakness, their fear. Every situation has a hole and every man has a weakness no matter how strong and firm they seem to be.
Fear something and the vulture will come. Fear nothing and you are the vulture.
--Suzy Kassem
To My Homies
I'll be back in Alexandria tomorrow, should get there by sunset. So don't call the Cairo place no more. On Monday I'm taking off to Sharm El Sheikh to look for a place to rent for the remainder of the month. I love that place, man. I love windsurfing and diving. I love the nightlife. I love the mix of cultures. I love the fish.
I'm going to work on music and writing, swim all day and dive away from the sharks. Everything that I lost in creative work, will be recreated. Don't stop. I won't stop. BTW, I got tons of spices, oils, mad jeans for the fellas and sneakers for all. I say everyone stop paying rent where they're at and come to Sharm. It's where it's at. It's hammerhead central, but the vibes are good. I meet so many freaks there. Ferreal.
A World of Savages
We will never know peace in the world without balance. And we will never know balance without justice for all. Yet, justice exists only where there is fairness and equality -- when every man and country is treated and viewed equally. My father believes that there is no such thing as justice because all his life he has witnessed the tipping of the scales. We must change this widespread mentality by making equality a reality, not just something we read and hear about on the TV and in literature.
How so?
First, no country should be given power over another. In addition, no country should be granted privileges that are denied to others. No one country has the authority to decide which country will be embargoed, denied to protect itself, and will be favored based on the weight of their resources. Eliminate the hypocrisy.
Second, no one man should be viewed as having more to offer the world than the other. We are all equals and every human being has something of value in their composition which makes them unique such as every country has their own unique resources to share with the world. Never discount somebody based on material wealth, true wealth is what cannot be seen. Never discount a country by what they can't provide your country, while their resources may benefit other lands in need.
Third, we need to eliminate the concept of division: by class, skills, race, income, and nationality. Every human requires food and water to survive. Every man has a dream. Every man suffers and every man loves. We are all equal. Period.
Fourth, pay no attention to pop culture for it is what poisons our minds and divides our children. Without pop culture, we wouldn't have unrealistic icons to compare ourselves to that also thwart our perceptions and standards. They are the modern day animal gods. The real role models our children, friends and families need are all around them if they look hard enough - not on TV. Materialism leads to selfishness and egotism. Eliminate all of it. It is the plague of Big Business.
Fifth, globalization is pushing our societies forward into the future before their time. Globalization also annihilates ma and pa shops, the independents, and contributes to mass waste and mass consumption. They create unfair competition in the marketplace and soon the world will only be dominated by big chains and crappy franchises. This is a severe imbalance that needs to be controlled. Stand up against Big Business. Support independents and small businesses.
Sixth, the imbalance in our ozone is poisoning the energy grid that surrounds our planet. Our environment is being forced to consume more than it can handle. Follow each point wisely as they are all interrelated. The greed of man and Big Business is wiping away our forests and trees. And it is trees that we need to clean our air.
All these imbalances are going to lead the world to its ultimate destruction and once again, we will be driven into another Dark Age. Yet this time, this new dark era will be flooded by ignorant, selfish mass-consumption savages. I see it already happening all around us and it is evidently corrupting our youth. The Dark Age is approaching fast and no one man is going to stop it. Put down your remote controls and take initiative.
THINK. Spread the message. But first, eliminate the hypocrisy.
-Suzanne Mahmoud Kassem
Yes, that's my real name in full.
Egyptian Hip-Hop
Imagine running into a fella that looks exactly like Mos Def and can drop the deepest rhymes in the same tone - yet 7X better in slickness. That's my boy, Ghost. He's Egyptian but was raised in Dubai. His dad is an ambassador so I would expect the kid to be somewhat conservative, but it's the opposite. Ghost can name the hottest clubs around the world in less than 3 minutes. It's all he spends his money on. He's a hash smokin' gangsta pourin' rhymes non-stop with a plan to dominate the hip-hop world. Now, meet Rafiq. Egyptian too, but born and raised in Montreal. He fled the cops by returning to Egypt and can tell you all about the Russian prostitutes along the Red sea where he says he gets them hot and juicy for less than the price of a beer. During the day, he's a financial analyst - homie at night.
Rafiq can roll rhymes in Arabic, English and French and has already made albums in France. Isn't it weird how one day I lose all my music, and then a week later meet the fattest cats on the planet! I've reformatted my hard drive, upped the sound, and have been whipping out beats even better and tighter than before!! Everything does happen for a reason. The Egyptian invasion is coming soon. I'm not fucking around. I'm starting all over but I'm not leaving until I have an album ready to pimp and cameos introducing some really dope dudes. I'm not kidding. They are dope.
Hip-hop has always been popular amongst the Egyptian youth. But now, it's our generation that are bringing it, changing it up in twisted tongues to spit out to the international arena. Man, I'm so happy I met those two. It was a confirmation for me that our slickness is for real...and again...everything happens for a reason.
BP*
Africa is Bangin'!
Coming UP! Coming UP!
The sounds of Nigeria for the world to discover! Nigeria, as well as, Mali and Cameroon, have mega talent busting out of their borders with sounds more harmonic and competitve than anything currently coming out of the west. It is no joke. If you're working in A&R, you need to be focusing on locating the talent creating hits in Africa before your competitors do. You will never find such a wide range of catchy flavors: from reggae, hip-hop, gangsta rap, blues, tribal, and world riddims. The sounds are catchy and super harmonic. Look what Akon did in the American market and in Africa, where his resonating voice is very, very common. Believe it. Go explore. I love it all. Good, good vibes.
There is something for everybody.
Cleopatra WAS a Goddess
Last year, I was driving in my car when I heard a live report on NPR saying a coin was found depicting Cleopatra as being ugly. Not true. Not true at all. That coin they found was Roman made. And anybody that knows the true story of Cleopatra knows that she was HATED by the Romans and was known to the Italians as, The Egyptian Whore.
Let truth be told as it is widely known, that Cleopatra seduced two Roman emperors, the great Caesar AND his predecessor, Marc Anthony. So much hatred was brewing amongst the Romans because their leaders abandoned their native posts and spent most of their time in Alexandria. I've seen Egyptian coins and statues of what Cleopatra really looked like. She had the body and looks of a regal Goddess and she used her assets to save Egypt from the occupation of Rome. It is no secret amongst the Romans, that she was hated, hated so much that she was the cause of Caesar being assassinated, but he loved her so much that he did claim the son he had with her before he died, even if it morally killed the Romans.
I have a coin in my hand right now that shows her in a falcon headdress. When I had a debate with the old men in Alexandria about Cleopatra, they laughed at me when I told them the NPR report and showed them a picture of the coin that revealed her likeliness as depicted by the Romans. They laughed and laughed at me. First, they said the coin revealed her as being in her 40s and 50s when in truth Cleopatra died an early death in her late 20s. Even in movies, they reveal the same. She died young.
All around Egypt there are Roman tombs and columns that stand under gravel and dirt that the natives kick around and treat like trash. It was the Romans, that burned down Cleopatra's house of records, the largest library holding books of knowledge of our universe and the history of Egypt. Today, the largest library in the world now stands two blocks from my building, in homage to the Queen who saved Egypt from the Romans. So you have to understand the local Egyptian sentiment on why they trash Roman artifacts, and in return, you have to understand why the Romans hated Cleopatra who managed to steal the hearts of two prolific leaders of a strong empire that was trying to dominate the world. They didn't stand a chance with Egypt. Come to Egypt and see what she really looked like. She was beautiful.
Cobra Oil
Close Encounters of the 7th Kind
One day I'm crying, next day I'm smiling...
I was in an elevator at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cairo earlier this morning. It was crowded with a pack of freaks from the States and one Dutch couple. I was heading to the lounge area nested between the floors to meet with an old friend who had flown in super early in the morning from Japan. I was feeling depressed and empty but still wanted to catch her for a moment before our planned dinner date and tour after she had gotten some rest.
Estimating how the kids looked, dressed and talked, I can safely say they were from either Seattle or the Portland area. I was dressed in black jeans, a black shirt with yellow print, and a pair of yellow Turkish Adidas with black stripes. My hair was beige and brown. I would say, I was recognizable based on just pictures.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" asked this blonde dreadhead in his mid 30s rocking an Obama t-shirt and checkered slip-on Vans.
"No. Go ahead", I replied.
"Are you that Panther lady?"
"Who?" I said.
"777-777!" He threw out his hands with this dazed Ozzy look.
"No." I replied innocently. "My name is Noor"
"Oh. I apologize about that. There's this girl that looks exactly like YOU that writes about this insane intense shit and she calls herself PANTHA 777!777!
"Where is she from?" I asked.
Dreadhead looks back at his friends with this twisted look and one of them replies,
"Egypt, jackass."
I try hard to keep from smiling and let the Dutch couple pass by to get out when the elevator stopped at their floor.
Dreadhead goes, "Yeah, that's my boy Jeff. He's been on the lookout since the plane pulled up to the gate."
I felt my face turn red. In an attempt to switch the subject, I slipped.
"So....elections are tommorow.
You guys must be heading up to the top of the building so that Scotty can beam you fellas to the polls in time? Hmm?"
-AWKWARD SILENCE-
Then I felt all of them staring at me as I tried keeping my eyes peeled to the escalator numbers counting the remaining floors. They were studying me up and down, up and down, nudging...I could feel it and it made me uncomfortable.
Dreadhead, "Nah, it's cool we took care of all that ahead of time. We have friends that were not planning on voting so they got us covered."
I try hard not to smile again. It was a silly response. Then some girl in the back says something in almost the same exact words as I had once written in one of my posts,
"If Obama don't make it, none of us are going back there!"
The doors opened for a guy to get in. It wasn't my floor but I hauled ass out of there anyway. I freaked out. On my way, and as the doors were sliding shut, I turn around real fast and flash them a SEVEN and smile. Then I hear, "YOU FUCKING IDIOT I KNEW THAT WAS HER! I FUCKING KNEW IT!! WHY THE FUCK YOU GOTTA SAY STUPID SHIT, DUMBASS!"
Then the girl's voice, "YOU HAD TO WEAR THAT STUPID T-SHIRT DIP SHIT! I want to talk to her! Stop the elevator." Then somebody else, "Can't stop it! There's another dude in here now. WE can't just stop it." Then the voices trail and fade upwards.
Gladly, the elevator never returned with the new guy onboard. I went and took the stairs instead. Those kids though, had massive baggage as if they were seriously planning on staying a really long time.
You guys are cute though and cheered me up when I needed it. I'm sorry I wasn't cooperative. I lost all my work and wasn't in a good mood at all.
Enjoy the journey!
If you ever need anything, I'm less than 40 steps away next door.
BP*
Content Protected
All content on this web site is written and copyright protected by Suzanne Kassem aka Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther aka Blu Pantha, All rights reserved. Please contact author for permission to reproduce any material at: styleisking@gmail.com
WasSsup WasSsup
So I'm standing in front of Ramses train station eating a grilled corn cob that I had grabbed off a street vendor for less than 20 cents, when this homeless guy who blended in so well with the surroundings, steps out from some corner and says to me in Arabic, "Feed me, so you embarass my desires".
I hand him my corn cob and he eats it like he had never eaten anything in his entire life. So I felt bad and hand him some money. He takes it and thanks me like nobody had ever given him anything in his entire life. Then, he steps away and the unexpected happened.
His cell phone starts ringing.
He pulled out this flashy thing and talked on it like he had been on the same phone call his entire life.
WasSsup WasSsup?
There Once Was a Man
In high school, Gandhi felt left out. He struggled to stay afloat but failed time and again. When he finally passed as the oldest in his class, he went on to college to study medicine. After just 5 months, he was forced to quit because he wasn’t pulling the grades. Whatever confidence Gandhi had left in himself, quickly evaporated. He was an embarrassment to his middle class family where reputation and bragging rights were everything.
To get their son out of India, they pooled their resources together, borrowed money, and sent him to a school in the UK to practice law. Gandhi was happy to move away from his disappointing past and embraced his chance for a new life with fire. Yet when he arrived to the cold country with his eastern style of attire and quirky accent, he found himself isolated again. But this time, he tried hard to excel and took on activities with extreme passion. His efforts were sadly short-lived as he failed in all he strived to do. On top of that, he was running out of money. He knew he was going to be an even greater embarrassment than before.
To save his parent’s hard received funds, Gandhi moved into a tiny room of a small flat instead of his usual bunk at a hotel. He replaced costly meats from his diet with vegetables and grains. He walked long distances instead of using cabs and buses. These habits that came about in his shift in lifestyle have become staples in his lessons of health and simple living today.
After a serious struggle, Gandhi finally finished law school with blistering grades. When he returned to India to begin working as a lawyer, he failed at finding clients for he was poorly versed in Indian law. And when his family arranged for him to take a case, Gandhi was stricken with severe stage fright; he hid from the judge by abandoning the courtroom abruptly. It was a disgraceful debut and Gandhi had finally confirmed to his city and family of the coward he really was.
His failures led him to take a clerical job in South Africa with his brother and so he went and left his wife and two sons behind. The job proved to be too tough for Gandhi to manage. He had poor accounting skills and any matter which commanded a detailed legal analysis was too overwhelming for him to handle. In addition, he felt segregation all over again. After a short stint, Gandhi was ready to bail out of Africa as a flop, until something happened to him.
While riding a passenger train in Africa, he was asked to leave his upper class compartment even though he had a ticket. After he repeatedly refused to move, he was thrown off. At the next station, Gandhi had a revelation, an epiphany. All his life he was isolated from the rest. All his life he scrambled away from situations that required thinking and action out in the open. At this point in his life, he was angry. He was tired of being bullied, disrespected and ridiculed. And since he was finally ready to stand up for himself, why not stand up for others like him, Indians in Africa, Indians of his nation?
Gandhi returned to his job and took a fragile legal case that yielded him a favorable impression. He studied its details inside out. He convinced both parties to settle out of court and his handling of the delicate situation earned him more clients. His conviction of himself had finally paid off. The Indian community in Africa pleaded with Gandhi to stay to take on an even greater case for their rights in an alien country. Gandhi took the case and tackled it with shrewd genius. He saw his passion for sticking up for people grow and blossom into the hallmark of his very essence. In no time, Gandhi was soaked in politics for his people as he stood up against the British and brought harmony amongst people of different classes, religions, and nationalities for a peaceful co-existence. He proved that any person can change from within in pursuit of what is right.
Everybody is born with the ability to instigate change. If it were not for that instance on the train, Gandhi may have never realized his destiny until later in life – yet eventually. If it were not for his episodes of experiencing isolation on all levels, he may have never been able to relate to classes and religions divided. If he had never been bullied, he may have never found a reason to stand up for himself or sympathize with the struggle of others. His experiences had turned him into the light he was meant to be and we all have our own divine timing that can spark us to act at any age depending on our breadth of experience and level of passion. To be a warrior of light, you must have passion and true dedication to your ultimate cause. The story of Gandhi should ring tones of familiarity to everyone, for we have all experienced some degree of ridicule, prejudice, failure, or injustice of some kind. Some people have their true passions ignited and come to acknowledge their reason for existence at differing points of their lives. It is part of our personal evolution. To become the lights we were meant to become.
-By Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
One For the Clowns, Two For the Slow
If you are pushy
Clingy
Negative
Superficial
Whiney
Two-faced
Or are a constant
Take, take
TAKER
Don’t talk to me
If you are grown up
And everything
Pink n' pretty
Stuffed animals
Dangly things at the end of your pens and pencils
And annoying little dogs that look like
RATS
Get a reality check.
Don’t call me
To gossip
Or for empty
Bullshit
Chit chat
I get bored
By you fluff whores
It's why I don’t answer
Phones
If you cant stimulate
My mind
Don’t
Waste the time
I need to unwind
Yours may be worth
But not mine
Not mine
I'm FINE
I don’t like folks
Who are like
Washing machines
Wishy washy
Goin' back n' forth
Round and round
Indecisive
Repetitive
Not worth the detergent
I throw them in
Shake wring shake
Slap slap wring
And throw them out
They won't clean up
No matter how long
I leave
Them in
Don’t talk to me
About your pop tart
Idols
And your animal gods
I have no patience
When the world outside is
Dying
And the children are crying
Without heat
To eat
To care who is doing what
And for what?
What the hell are you bozos
Doin' about anything relevant?
Only the irrelevant.
So fuck you
and your pop culture
CARTOON
So don’t talk to me
If you're
Depressed
Compressed
A mess
A follower
A coward
A hater
Insensitive
Selfish
Egotistical
Ignorant
Flashy
*click*
TRASHY
And don't hover around
When you need something
See opportunity
Smell green
Or simply want kush.
I ain't no fool, fellas
So DON'T
Backstabbers
Money grabbers
All junk and no swagger
Materialistic dipshits
With the evil eyes
Of envious pricks
They not only want ONE
But all my lipsticks!
Your words are never bond
And that’s why you're
Bashed
Be gone
Be gone
*Poof*
GONE.
Look what you started.
Couldn’t help it, man.
I think you are all retarded.
Oh no!
What did I do?
Now there ain't shit to talk to
That’s right.
*Shit*
Tightly compacted like
Hash bricks.
Throw some in foil
Melt the oils
Burn it up and
smoke the soil
The whole world is falling
Down
Down
Down
And all they care about is
Britney
Let Truth be heard
Are being killed and
Tortured all around
And their hearts
Little hands and feet too weak
In which they
- six feet -
Because he's managed
to blind and dumb down
the world
and fill it
with all these
Self-centered
Pathetic
CLOWNS.
=Blue Panther=
Duke of Cool
After awhile, those same racists were among the hoards of fans that not only waited for him at the FRONT door, but held the door for him and rolled out the red carpet. Yeeaah that's Cool! He was a SIRIUS Warrior of the spirit because he kept his Cool and didn't respond to the little shit, but rather chose to go home and sharpen the blade.
If you don't announce your arrival, they won't see you coming."
City of the Dead
Do I plan on being buried there? No. After hearing the news that one of my uncle's remains were not found when it came time for his wife to be buried next to him, my dad bought the family private grave plots in Alexandria next to the sea. I, however, plan and wish to be buried in Aswan, upper Egypt, the most peaceful place in the world. And where I have found the people there to be ideal role models for the rest of humanity.
Are You Cool Cat Certified?
- Unique and unconventional. Leaders not followers. Have a unique signature flair attributed to their persona.
- Deep thinkers. Always active in thought. Awake while others are sleeping.
- Don’t brand or label themselves. Refuse to be tied to one sub-culture and don’t buy into pop culture.
- Elevated and always evolving. Stagnation causes them to break.
- Intellectual – whether schooled or street-trained.
- Innovators vs. traditionalists.
- Adaptable in all settings. Can communicate with people of all languages, backgrounds, religions, occupations and income strata with ease.
- Observant and all knowing. Very intuitive and perceptive. Has the alertness of a cat even when they seem dormant.
- Have crossed through all sub-cultures during their evolution and are on top of all the slangs, trends, and styles attributed to each.
- Always in the know of styles and trends years before they hit. Cool cats make great leaders in business, but often find themselves ahead of the wave with their ideas and projects that after they move onto something else, it is the followers who often enjoy the rewards years later with the same ideas and projects.
- Usually possess strong intimidating auras and strong personalities or personas that make people either love them or reject them out of fear or envy.
- Need alone time to regenerate. If they are surrounded by too many chaotic personalities, they snap when they feel suffocated.
- Aren’t frequent daters and are very selective. They fall in love rarely but love harshly.
- Extremely gifted and multi-talented beyond the norm. Prone to severe depression when their talents are not released. Often they are so scattered with their turbulent energy that they rarely finish projects, and even sentences. Their talent cannot be contained, therefore it may never see the light to be packaged or shared with others. Cool cats may work on projects for years even though they may be seen as ‘market ready’ in the eyes of others. Yet to the cat, it is never ready. Nothing is perfect enough, though their quality of work may outdo anything done by established icons of the past and present.
- Many commit suicide in their early to mid twenties, and a majority rarely live to see forty. They have a sharp sensitivity to everything happening in the world at large. Their sensitivity to everything around them is their curse. Those who survive, become closet eccentrics or rise to become influential people. Almost all, are prone to substance or alcohol abuse to dim their lights or tame their energy.
- Cool cats have no patience for liars, hypocrites, and corrupters as they see themselves as warriors for Truth. They are forgiving and will allow you to lie to a limit. But once they cross you off, they will never give you the same chance again. They are patient and extremely giving, but do not tolerate people disrespecting them or taking them for fools. They never forget. Try taking them for granted and exhaust their patience and you’ll unleash a hurricane. If you preach as a Truth warrior or someone who cares for a cause, and they call you out as a phony for trendy showmanship, you probably are. For a cool cat has already seen it all and sees through all.
- Have tons of acquaintances, large networks of strong affiliates, tons of admirers, but keep their personal circle of close relationships small. They don’t allow too many people into their world and are often very private. They may share their experiences openly to a degree, but they guard many details with secrecy and ferocity.
- Have the eye to detect talent in others and will often push others to succeed in various industries, often forgetting their own talents in the process. They are very selfless. They also have no problem offering multiple solutions to the problems of others, but ironically, are one-dimensional in solving their own problems.
- Are very well-traveled which gives them the compassion and deep understanding to become great leaders. They are masterminds with minds that have tolled a life of suffering, pain, and enumerable experiences to evolve into masters of the world. They have mastered all perspectives and are constantly shifting perspectives to understand all views in every problematic situation. Behind their words, is a book of experiences. They speak for their eyes and ears.
- Are fiercely protective and generous with loved ones and are self-sacrificial to the less fortunate. A supreme giver never wants anything in return.
- Short-tempered. Piss off a cool cat and you will go up against something with the strength of someone on PCP. A cool cat fights exactly in the same manner of a wildcat.
- Cool cats are the true visionaries of the world. They are often found behind the creation of great people, ideas, businesses, policies, and smart children. They have the power to influence and the power to bring out the best in others.
- They are first and foremost, natural slicksters. They are the reason the word COOL was even created. Their compassion, sensitivity, skill in dealing with all kinds of people, versatility in creative efforts, and talent in detecting and forecasting trends, often lead them to boredom and the internal justification that they do not have to prove anything to anybody for they have seen it all and can do it all.
- Are often regarded as being rebellious, anarchists, societal misfits, and problem children to systems of all kinds and governments.
Results: If you made at least 3/4ths of the qualifications on this list, you may very well be one. Cool cats lead unpredictable lives, hate routines and are very spontaneous in their actions. Is a cool cat the same as being a hipster? No. Nowadays, hipsterdom is a term used to describe trendy commercialized freaks that roll in packs. A cool cat has a mind of his/her own and hates stereotypes and engaging in groups. They are very anti-group, anti-segregation, and against division of any sort -- except for dividing truth from fiction, good from evil, real cool cats from the fakers.
-Suzy Kassem
* Photo contributed by Enrico Watson
The Butterfly
A man found a cocoon.
One day a small opening appeared so he sat and watched a butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making progress. It appeared as if it had gone as far as it could go and could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly could now emerge from the cocoon easily, yet something was odd. The butterfly had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly, because he expected that at any moment, it's wings would expand and enlarge to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Yet neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restriction of the cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it is ready for flight as soon as it emerges from its cocoon.
There are many lessons to be learned simply by observing nature. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If nature and spiritual law allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, we would remain crippled, lack depth and understanding, and our chances to grow and evolve would remain stagnate. We would not be as strong as we could be.
Not only that, we could never fly.
Truth
"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth."
--Benjamin Disraeli
To Nepal
I'm leaving in the morning for Kanpur where I'm trekking to Nepal on foot with Dr. Fung and a monastery that once took care of her brother as a kid. I'm still fasting tomorrow so I'm dreading the first part.
I'm tired and almost expired already. I wrote a longer post, but the connection here reset so I lost all I wrote. This will have to do for now. Until next post...
x
8 Reasons to Bust a Move
"A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place." — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
One Year
ONE YEAR
Helpless and Hopeless?
And look outside from your distorted mind.
What you see outside will make you cry.
The world is getting so ugly
So allow me to adjust this signal to make this message clear.
I would be lying to tell you that I'm not scared.
And I think it's only fair
That while you take off your glasses
I can now put on mine.
Just for one year.
"ONE YEAR" by Suzy Kassem
Copyright 2008, All rights reserved.
Maharashtra
On the 23rd, I'm taking off to Mumbai for a spiritual tour that lasts 6 days. I'm going with my friend Dr. Fung to see about setting up a peace camp for children around the world. India is a place I would like all children to explore for its ancient roots in spirituality and vast genres in music.
Dr. Fung has a friend in Maharashtra who is offering us a building with teachers willing to volunteer their services to educate incoming floods of students of all ages. I also want to see the Taj Mahal and get some cool saris, spices, and music vocals to sample.
After the tour, I'm going to see two of my childhood friends, Nilima and Namarata, who live in Bombay and come from the Bachchan family of Bollywood fame. I'm finally going to get to check out Indian cinematography right on location! It's a dream for me! Indian cinematography is top-notch and the stories in Bollywood films always keep me mesmerized. I'll be back in Egypt for the next round of homies mid-October and then I take off to Turkey and Iraq around Christmas.
In all, I think after this year I'll be ready to settle down. I got a call last night, Egypt time, about returning back to L.A for serious work. Good news on a project but I can't go back there. I may have to find a place to live along the west coast where I can commute to work on the daily. I'll know more later as I said I have to seriously think about it. Maybe Costa Mesa - OC area? I'm hoping it would be a seasonal thing just for production, but man, I get anxiety just thinking about it. L.A is a spiritual drain. Big time! It ain't definite. I'd rather live in Spain or go back to NY. We shall see...
Moonlighting For Mystics
Good Leaders Lead Future Leaders
Never Limit a Child
With Love
"You cannot change someone using fear, degradation, humiliation, or by comparing them to others. It can only be done through love, with love, for love. Love."
--Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
Da Panthalasha
Watch me
throw
you
RAW.
=Blue Panther=
"DA PANTHALASHA"
by Suzy Kassem, Copyright 2008
Points of Light
"I truly believe that all religions were descended to man in different styles and languages so that natives in each land would be able to understand them. The underlying principles of all religions are the same even though their messengers came in different colors and voices. Today, I believe that amidst all the noise and distractions, an old seed of transcultural light messengers has re-appeared, and like chameleons these beings are transformed to convey the message of peace to different sub-cultures across various industries, using voices and images their targeted audiences will understand. The one thing many of these peace soldiers seem to forget, is that their lights shine brighter when they synergize (1 + 1 > 2) with each other and that an even greater illuminating effect is produced when they resonate in unity from each of their appointed territories. What's the point of a spark of light if it stands alone? The key is, and will always be, synergy. Without it, each and every light being will forever feel broken, misplaced, and internally crippled."
-Suzy Kassem aka Blue Panther
Why I Love Shin Tanaka
Shin Tanaka is one of the most inspirational people I've met in the last decade. So many people of all ages have been inspired by his urban origami. Thousands of artists of all levels have created artistic masterpieces based on his templates which he makes easily available via his web site. I've seen his blueprints for sneakers turned into costumes, sculptures, furniture, and toys by teenagers and professional artists alike. No other human that I've come across has inspired so many people to be creative. He is a creative saint, an artistic genius, and a first-class cool cat.
Last year, Shin sent me a case of some of his popular paper creations. When I opened it up I didn't know what to expect. There were a hundred 16" delicately packaged boxes neatly stacked like Legos. Delicate is the word quite like any refined Japanese presentation. Inside each one was this paper character so light it felt invisible in my hand. Wow! Everything was meticulously pieced together as if it came from one super polished sheet of paper. Shin markets his creations as toys but this was no ordinary toy. It was a sculpture, a fragile piece of art made by one super interesting person. Shin can create just about anything out of paper and his attention to detail is comparable to none in this day in age.
I'm not into the whole Kid Robot craze or the toy madness, but Shin's pieces are one-of-a-kind gems. I'm not kidding. On top of that, he's one very cool dude and very easy to work with. I'm so impressed by him overall, I send out a SIK recommendation on his behalf to the entire world. Shin Tanaka is an innovator. He's taken basic origami and skyrocketed the art to a whole new level and he shares his talents to get others to do the same by always pushing out challenges for them to do. That kind of out of box thinking is getting rare these days. You know how I feel about synergizers, I'm blessed to know this kid.
If you don't know, now you know.
I Miss Home
Cairo, Egypt. That's old Cairo in the front where my mom and dad grew up and new Cairo is in the middle. What you see here though is only 20% of the city. Cairo is gigantic and it's population density is 12 times that of New York City. If you think NYC is too big for you, you won't handle Cairo.
Egyptians are the craziest drivers. You don't want to drive there - period. Nobody sticks to the lanes, 5 cars driving parallel to each other on the freeway, and every time you get into a car you think you're going to die because other cars are driving too close, drivers aren't paying attention, are super high, or too busy singing. I've had 2 relatives get hit this year and both are dead. Both were city natives. My dad got hit hard too earlier this year in Alexandria and it sent him flying. The driver was busy on the cell phone. Also, I was coming back from a market with a little kid one day, and this guy drove tightly around me in circles 4-5 times. I couldn't get out or move because I was afraid I'd get hit. He stopped then blocked my path walking home. I took a huge rock and threw it through his front window. It caused a scene but the storekeepers watching the whole thing stepped in. There are crazy people...everywhere.
Take the tram everywhere. If there isn't one around, take a cab or microbus. Egypt is worth exploring, but go with a native or have someone available to you that can navigate you through all the different worlds and lifestyles. There is more to Egypt than ancient artifacts. Seriously, I feel so sorry for tourists when I see them pouring over maps and guidebooks. Those books don't tell people how to really get around the right way or enough about the street culture, customs, and overall vibe. Details are very outdated regardless of your edition. You can't expect one of the most bustling cities to be stagnant and constant. Have a plan before you go.
Giza
Have Faith in Your Skills
...negative thoughts kill...
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent. "
- Sophia Loren
Photographer Theo Jemison
Last year, Theo Jemison took off to Indonesia on impulse in search of inspiration. The trip worked wonders to expand his mind and helped him re-connect with his art and work flow. He returned with some of the most amazing photography of his career thus far.
On August 21st in Los Angeles, Theo will be exhibited in a group show at the Upstairs Gallery inside the X-Large LA Store on Vermont.
Theo Jemison is definitely someone to watch out for as his evolution continues. For his client list and portfolio, visit his web site.
