My boyfriend and I recently watched the movie “Away We Go.”  Toward the end of the movie, main characters Burt Farlander and Verona De Tassant, who are expecting their first child any second, exchange some impromptu vows.  One of the vows Burt pitched to Verona was this:

“Do you promise to let our daughter be fat or skinny or any weight at all? Because we want her to be happy, no matter what. Being obsessed with weight is just too cliché for our daughter.”

“Say no!” I wanted to yell.  But instead I hit the pause button and editorialized for a while.  (Just a little service I provide for free to my family.  They love this about me.)

On its face, these two sentences sound innocent enough.  I mean, who wouldn’t want their daughter to be happy no matter what?  And only the most shallow, pageant-pushing mom would want her daughter to be obsessed with her weight, right?

The El Paso Times alerted us to this new photo campaign put together by David Quintanilla targetting discrimination. We had to tip our hats because its the right anti-dote in what many see as an increasingly volitile climate. Sometimes you have to do something bold and creative to shock people and get them to think... Quintanilla hits the mark.

His campaign reminds me of two other well recieved photo campaigns. One was out of Los Angeles started by photographer/ DJ Azul. He had folks hold signs that said 'Stop the War in Iraq' or Peace in Iraq...

Ground breaking music video were rapper Swindoe guides a group of 'illegal' immigrants across the Arizona Mexico border. In the blistering 123 degree Arizona heat Swindoe and his group has to out smart the Border Patrol. Climatic ending. It's the real life roadrunner vs. Coyote. The name of the track is 'Phony People' I hope more artist step up and put forth some compelling messages about this situation

As you read this story about Conan O’Brien for those who are in the music biz, keep a couple of things in mind 1-) Jerry Del Colliano the author of this piece’s expertise is the music industry. He’s a ‘G’ in that world and has been dead on with his assessments and analysis.. He’s  been preaching to folks in this crumbling industry to make some moves and think outside the box. What Conan is doing is something many of us need to be looking at in terms of identifying audience, owning them versus renting them and then being shrewd enough to set up shop and go in deep where they are at… It’s still baffling to me that in 2010 I still run into cats who are gung-ho trying to get signed or get their songs on commercial radio. It's 1996 game that has come in gone.. In the next few days we’re gonna be posting a series of interviewsfrom our Southern Shift Hustle and Grind Panel from SxSW  that focus on this aspect more. In the meantime,  wet your palettes with this article below and we’ll build later

-Davey D-