AWOLNATION

LA based blitz pop AWOLNATION is the new solo project of my friend Aaron Bruno, previously the frontman of Under The Influence Of Giants. I caught their show at the Viper Room last night and I was totally blown away. A furious mix of hip hop, electronica, dance beats, rock and a variety of other sounds, coupled with Aaron’s infectious energy had everyone moving. The band just finished a U.S. tour supporting Weezer, in anticipation of the release of their debut EP Back From Earth through Red Bull Records later this year. The opening track from the EP, "Burn It Down," and a remix of the same track by Innerpartysystem, are available to download for free (in exchange for your email address) from www.awolnationmusic.com where the EP itself is also streaming in full. Check out my fave song “MF” it’s addicting.

"MF" by AWOLNATION

PAMELA ANDERSON DOES GOOD

Pamela Anderson was in New Orleans earlier this month to assist in relocating fifty dogs from shelters in Louisiana to Virginia, in hopes of improving their chance at adoption. Since the BP oil spill, shelters in the area have become overwhelmed by unwanted dogs. "People can't afford to feed their families, so the family member that gets left behind and has to go is the pet," Anderson explained.

Pamela wasn’t there just to lend her fame to the cause, she is leading by example and has adopted two dogs and named them after actresses Gina Lollobrigida and Brigitte Bardot. She must like naming pets after celebrities because when I got my black pug a few years ago while living at the Playboy Mansion and was still deciding on a name for him, Pamela suggested I call him Cash, short for Johnny Cash. I named him Bogart, after Humphrey Bogart, but I like her suggestion and I’m saving it for my next mutt.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Live with intention.

Walk to the edge.

Listen hard.

Practice Wellness.

Play with abandon.

Laugh.

Choose with no regret.

Continue to learn.

Appreciate your friends.

Do what you love.

Live as if this is all there is.

A ZEDONK?

For the first time in 40 years a Zedonk, a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey, has been born at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Lumpkin County, Georgia. The four day old stands next to her mother in the photo below. Precious.

UNLONELY

THE LIFE THAT I HAVE

Chelsea Clinton and her now husband Marc Mezvinsky are said to have read this poem, The Life That I Have by Leo Marks, during their recent nuptuals. I enjoy poetry but have never read this poem before, and think it’s worth sharing:


The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause

For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours
And yours.


ABOUT LEO MARKS:

Leo Marks, the son of a Jewish bookseller, was born in London on September 24, 1920. He was first introduced to cryptography when his father showed him a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's story, The Gold-Bug. From this early interest, he demonstrated his skill at codebreaking at an early age by deciphering his father's secret price codes that he wrote inside the covers of books. Marks joined the British Army in January 1942. Trained as a cryptographer he was assigned to the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Marks became an expert in cryptanalysis (making and breaking codes and ciphers) and eventually became head of SOE's codes and ciphers with a staff of 400 people. It was Marks's responsibility to provide agents with the ciphers with which to send information to London by radio. These ciphers were often based on famous poems or brief passages of memorable prose such as the Lord's Prayer. Marks argued that the enemy might know the poem or the prose passage and would then be able to break the cipher. To overcome this problem Marks provided unknown poems for his agents. This included the poem The Life That I Have, that had originally been written for his girlfriend, Ruth Hambro who had been killed in an air crash in Canada. He later gave the poem as a cipher to the SOE agent Violette Szabo (whose story is tragic and admirable) when she was sent to France during the war. Leo Marks died on January 15, 2001 in new York City.

I WANT