Irmandade de Boa Morte /Sisters of Good Death

 

On my first trip to Brazil whilst travelling from the capital Brazillia to Salvador and hot on  the heels of my visit to "The Valley of the Dawn" (Vale de Amanhecer) I visited a small town in Bahia called "Cachoeira"  famous for its "Sisters of  Good Death " who tend to be of Afro Brazillian heritage and have a devotion to Our Lady  (Nossa Senhora de Boa Morte). Every  year on Aug 15th (Feast of Assumption) after Sunday Mass, the town led by the Sisters hold a procession (dressed in white) with their statue of Nossa Senhora.The significance of the colour white is linked to the purity of Our Lady and that of the Orixá "Oxala" Afterwards in the town there is Samba dancing and in the evening their are further ceremonies in the Afro Brazilian spiritual tradition. I attended one of these in which there  was a dance in honour of the Orixa "Omolu"  and popcorn was thrown on the ground.

Omolu / Lazarus / Sao Bento

 

Omolu ( Babalú Ayé )

St Lazarus the Leper

Sao Bento

Trojan

 Trojan Records

SHARP

Trojan Free Fighters

Sharp

 Fix up look SHARP - Dizzy Rascal

Super SHARP Shooter - DJ Hype, Tru playaz,  Ganja Cru, DJ Zinc

SHARP - Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice

Sherman

 I remember reading the column "Sherman at the Controls" in NME which at the time was a trailblazer for dance music, hip hop and reggae in the rock and indie oriented music press.It was around this time I first read about Shamanism.

At the time I never associated him with the Ben Sherman clothing brand , which was not really on my radar as I was more a  into the metal/ goth/ punk /indie and rave subcultures as a teen. 

I swerved the mod and skinhead scenes as a teenaged as I associated it with a far right presence in my home city . But  I remember years later talking to Sherman about Oasis, Paul Weller, Quadrophenia and the mod asthetic.

It was whilst living a Clays Lane I met Sherman He was a friend of my neighbour "Lovely John" the Bass Bin Brother ,who with Alex Shaolin introduced me to the Mega Dog,  Sabres of Paradise , Cloak and Dagger and The Bad Orb.

Sherman nudged me to think outside my comfort zone in terms of rock. He helped me connect the dots between electro and reggae at Electrocuted and  we monitored  the emergence of Dubstep together at Dubstation , He assumed I was a reggae guy due to my interest in Jungle/Drum and Bass

Shermans Protégé  Carl Loben,  journalist, DJ,  Drum monkey and "Jack said what ?" label owner was in the mix when I discovered The Dub Pistols who sporting their Ben Sherman polo's and sharp suits  brought members of The Specials on stage at the "Rise" Against Racism Festival and the circle was compete.

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Underground Sound

Sub Base records

Subterrain

Submerge 

Click the links for more Subs

Time

 Timelord - Dr Who

Krome and Time - Suburban Base

Old Father Time - Kalachakra

M.C. Rhyme Tyme

KLF What Time is Love

Proud Boys

I have written elsewhere in "K Resonances" about how certain symbols/words etc are appropriated by far right hate groups and the attempts to reclaim the same symbols/words by others.

When the far right "Proud Boys" adopted Yellow Chicken symbolism and the Black & Yellow  "Ben Sherman" classic polo shirt, a blog post was inevitable. I was heartened to seek a swift reaction by LGBTQ+ "Proud Boys"  flooding the hashtag with more Liberal images.

Rainbow

Black and Yellow

Rhyme Time

 Steve Wright

When in the late nineties my kung fu teacher nicknamed me "White Steve" I immediately remembered the line from The KLF's  - What time is Love  "Steve Wright pass the mike" and thought I could easily substitute "White" for "Wright" and steal the rhyme.

Back in the day I was fortunate to hear inspiring Jungle  MC's on Kool Fm  including M.C Rhyme Tyme  "Stevie Hyper D"  and M.C Navigator (Steven Harris). 

So when thinking of how to announce my arrival as an  M.C. I  considered the Dick Van Dyke's classic "Step in time" It occurred to me to use a wordplay on "Steppin Time"  

"Step in time , it's Steppin time, Step hen   Stephan,  Steven time ! "

Apes

 Planet of the Apes

King Kong

2001 A Space Odyssey

King Kong

 King Kong

Master Axe vs Mestre King Kong

Donkey Kong

King Kong - Topazio

Urban

I first became aware of the use of term in the late nineties. I was invited to take part in a capoeira performance at the Sprite "Urban Games" it was predominantly a BMX and Skateboard spectacle with lots of high airs. There was however a significant amount of Graffiti  and there was a tent where various capoeirista's & breakdance crews and including the Sinstars had been asked to perform. My friend Guy a capoeirista and skater who had organised the capoeira  told me of his idea for a brand "Urban Ritual" which would be aimed at  connoisseurs of the Urban Arts. The capoeira at the Urban Games was probably the first Urban Ritual capoeira roda though it was not branded as such at the time.

I think this was around the same time "dream team" ( UK Garage DJ's) had taken a show on Radio 1 and along with Trevor Nelson were pushing  "Urban Music " as a genre I remember seeing Spoony DJ at the Apple store my wife was quite impressed with his selection and skills.

Urban Ritual

Black Madonna

 Isis

Black Madonna

Madonna

 Virgin

Mother

Crone

I've followed Madonnas career since the beginning of her career.I have too say like most artists I think the best stuff was towards the beginning. She was amongst the first of the pop cultural icons to rock the Illuminati symbolism.

I try not to regret much in life, but I do remember one lady Sunday morning whilst at Uni  with nothing much to do  deciding to take a stroll to the local shop to buy a pint of milk, whilst I was out a rather attractive female friend I had been pursing knocked on my door she had a spare ticket to see Madonna in concert which she was going to offer to me, since I wasn't in it was quickly snapped up by someone else!

I did go and see Prince with her later than year so all was not lost.

The Noble Eightfold Path

 

Click the links for more posts on 

8 directions  , 8 values of judo , 108 , 108 and The Golden Ratio  ,  808  States , The Lions G8  and 888 Starg8's