Larry “Bucketman” Hunt is homeless again but it’s not because he couldn’t afford to pay his rent. It’s because it was becoming increasingly difficult for him and his girlfriend to get a good night’s sleep because of a bedbug infestation that the landlord didn’t care to do enough to eradicate. When one night Larry’s girlfriend got bit, he had just about enough of it. He decided he wasn’t going to spend another dime for that place and decided it was preferable to live on the streets, till he found another home, rather than stay in that place another second.
That decision wasn’t without peril. Some of his buckets and drums were stolen and the winter nights are harder to bear under the bridge out in the cold. On top of that, Larry got dragged to court unfairly by being falsely accused by the Union Square workers and merchants of using an amplifier, a case which he subsequently won and is now going on the offensive by suing the Union Square workers and merchants for unwarranted harassment.
Despite the hardships, Larry and his girlfriend are determined to find a better home that would allow them to at least not have to worry about getting a good night’s sleep. He’s looking for a home in downtown San Francisco where he could live with his girlfriend that would be clean, have its own kitchen, bathroom and shower and would go for not more than 485$. If you know of any such place and are willing to help, please call him at (415) 574 8641.
To help out financially so Larry can buy back the drums that were stolen from him or help him amass enough money for the security deposit that a new landlord would request, please donate using the paypal link below or purchase some of his songs in his myspace page.
Greek entrepreneur turned activist Theodore Tenezos has been on hunger strike for 148 days protesting against unfair business practices by the steel cartel in Greece. Here’s a BBC News video that summarizes his situation:
I sit here
At the window
Waiting for you
To come jogging past
In your crucifix uniform
You remind me of myself
Perhaps (I wonder aimlessly)
I could comfort you
I love the furrows between your eyes
And the ravages of anxiety
Across your clenched expression
You have the new face
The coming face
The face of no objective experience
And you have chosen the path of muscle
Toward your sorrow
How private you are
In the minds of everyone
I salute you
Brave spirit
Who has swallowed so much
And tasted so little.
We finish high-school and know more about math than we do of ourselves. Yet knowing ourselves is more important than algebra. Current education does not create free, creative and wise individuals, but workers for the requirements of the market. Most universities give you an education that will supply you with a career – not a good life. But careers, as the etymology of the word betrays, are roads for carts – not for human beings.
I wrote that quite some time ago. It’s still an apt criticism but it falls short from providing an alternative to current education. I always wanted to build one but thought it was too big a project to take on, till my current girlfriend Elektra indepenently suggested we start a school. Then it hit me: Why not? So we started thinking. If we were to create a University of the Future for today what would it look like? Here’s where we believe the emphasis should be on:
Development of skills instead of the memorizing of information. For example, teaching you how to think, not what to think. Pieces of information become outdated more easily than an array of skills.
Renaissance style Curriculum: Excessive specialization would be discouraged in favor of a more well-rounded approach. Philosophy, Music, Arts and Sciences as well as physical activities will make an essential part of one’s development as well as real life skills usually neglected at mainstream educational institutions, like:
The Art of Love & Seduction
Knowing Yourself
The Art of Listening
Understanding Women (30-year course. Pre-Requisite: The Art of Listening)
Understanding Men (30-minute course)
Project Based learning – You’d learn by doing not by regurgitating what other people have done. Your projects would be aimed to be as “real world” as possible, legitimate enough so that they can become part of your future CV. By the time you’re out of school you already have a “track-record”.
Entrepreneurship: The approach: “I get an education *then* find a job” is outdated. Every week you will be encouraged to create your own company with the assistance of mentors who are successful in the real world giving you cutting edge advice on how to build and grow your idea into a business, whether profit or not profit. By the time you’re done with your degree you wouldn’t need to find a job because you would already have one.
Online Tools: The university would employ the latest array of Web 2.0+ tools for harnessing the collective intelligence for the benefit of all. Use the ideas of Bootstrapping as suggested by Doug Engelbart. The scope should be global and scalable.
Directed at All Ages: Learning is a life-long process. It’s not something you do when you were young and then are done with it. Older people need to have a way of re-educating themselves without leaving their current job & responsibilities. Multi-age classes sometimes make for a much richer learning experience for all.
Based on Alternative Business Models: Education should be accessible to all for free while at the same time being economically self-sustainable. Alternative business models are essential for achieving this vision. For example, students could pledge that a certain percentage of the profits (1%-5%) that would come from their future activities will be donated back to the University that enabled them to pursue them.
Main Ability Cultivated: The ability to create value and provide it to your fellow human beings in a form they can recognize and are willing to reward you for it so you can keep providing it. That reward need not be exclusively monetary.
Ultimately, a proper education should help people become the best human beings they can be.
Let’s make it happen. I will be talking about it at the BIL conference in Long Beach, CA on Feb. 7-8. If you’d like to hear the presentation on the main hall, please vote for it here by adding it to your favs. Whoever wants to help in making such a university a reality, contact me at change [at] changeyourreality [dot] com or use the contact form
I recently watched Katie Couric interview Sarah Palin. I believe the notable visceral pain I felt during the interview is probably a general phenomenon that makes its unique appearance when you realize that matters of great importance may befall hands of great incompetence. It was as if my brain felt it necessary to cause nauseous discontent throughout my whole body to send a strong clear warning for what may happen should this person become the Vice President of the United States (the possibility of her being President, was probably not consciously considered at the time out of the instinct of self-preservation).
I submit the videos with a warning. If you are intelligent with a faint-heart, Republican or Democrat, you might be better off, for health reasons, reading the transcript instead, or Fareed Zakaria’s obvious conclusion.
Part 1
Part 2
For the good of the United States and the world, this person should step down from the Vice Presidency, and leave it to someone more qualified. Running a world power is not like running the state of Alaska or a small town in it. It takes a lot more and she doesn’t have it. And NO, being close to Russia DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN EXPERT IN FOREIGN POLICY. Such things are not gained by osmosis. That’s like saying I have experience in physics because my neighbor is Stephen Hawking. So do the Republican party a favor and step down. This would constitute a bipartisan act of compassion by reducing the agonizing pain both Democrats and Republicans feel when watching her interviews, but it would also be religiously considerate: It would keep God less busy by reducing the number of believers who ask God what the Hell was McCain thinking when in times of severe economic crisis Palin was preferred over someone like Mitt Romney. And because people are going to be asking such questions, I think McCain will lose a lot of credibility over his VP choice, as time goes by and people realize just how unsuitable Sarah Palin really is. If McCain did not know she wasn’t qualified for the job – it casts doubt on the quality of his judgment. If he did, then it casts doubt on his motives because it seems he did it out of political expediency in the hopes of providing a surrogate Hillary Clinton (though it’s insulting for Clinton to be compared with Palin) that would woo Clinton voters who don’t want to vote for Obama and in order to excite the Evangelicals who were not that enthusiastic by his relatively tepid religiosity and disagreement on certain issues they consider sacrosanct.
Jack Cafferty said it as it is:
Sarah Palin, be a maverick. Step down…before you’re kicked out.
Every Thursday through Sunday at approximately 8.30 p.m. at the corner of Geary and Powell in downtown San Francisco, Larry Hunt and Brian Compton electrify the streets with their funky music. I was out there the other day and recorded a part of their concert. I still think these guys need to get a proper recording. If you know anyone who can help them get one, just leave a comment, contact me or give Larry a call directly at: 415-574-8641.
Another thing I thought deserved its own blog post, is the fact that Larry is gives drum lessons for those who are interested in learning. Larry has extensive experience in playing drums not just buckets. Here’s a little bio I picked up from him the other day:
I was born in Leavenwork, Kansas. I started playing drums at the age of 3, and then owned my first drum set at the age of 4. Over the years, I have worked with many top artists and different bands. I also had my own bands, like “Larry Hunt and the Blue Flame band” in the past, and “New Funk Generation” in the present. In 1960, I had my first show with some big name artists such as Brother Jack MacDuff, and Three Sound. In 1966, I played for Senator of Kansas, Senator Reily on television with Christ Unlimited. In 1974, I met Louis Bellson, at the Starlite Theater in Kansas City. Through 1976-79, I played with “The Drifters”, “The Tam’s”, “Round House Band” and “Little Royal” from Georgia, “Pandall” and “Badge” from North Carolina. In 1979, I worked with Larry Sharp and Gregg Lomt trio. In 1983, I drummed in the Black Star Lite Band. In 1986, I joined Intervission from Oakland. In the years between 1989-2002, I met Cool Papa on television with Bay Area Back Roads. I also played with John Lee Hooker, Deacon Jones, Gregg Allmar, Steve Ganna, Al Von Johnson, Rocken Earl Brown, Ron Steward of Blue Society, Lady Margaret and the Gentlemen, Perry Walker, Survival Band and Steppen Stone.
Here is a video of Larry Hunt playing drums on a real drumset:
For more information you could either call him at: 415-574-8641 or meet him personally when he’s out playing with New Funk Generation at Powell and Geary in San Francisco Thursday through Sunday nights at approximately 8.30 p.m.
A lot of things have happened since the last time I wrote about Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt. The myspace page we put up for Larry and his music, had its first success story. Apparently, Larry mentioned that someone from the Jason Roberts Cook Show (a cable program on television) came across the website or blog and offered Larry a gig as a guest star entertainer on the show! This included a free flight to Cleveland where the shooting took place and a fully catered hotel stay for the duration of the shoot, plus a payment of 1500$.
Which brings me to another point that was raised by one commentator of my original blog post about Larry. Here’s the comment I’m referring to, with the title “Really?”:
Really? You thought that somebody trying to earn money on the street needs a website? Give him some money. Why is it acceptable to say that in a city with so many web developers he should have a website but not to say in a city with SO MUCH MONEY he should have some money?
First of all to generalize someone out of his individuality by making him just “somebody trying to earn money on the street”, is not only undignified, but also erases Larry’s particular situation. Larry is not just “somebody trying to earn money on the street”, he’s a talented musician and entertainer [1], and in the times we’re living, having a website is essential for a variety of reasons. It keeps you in touch with your fans, makes it easy for people to find you, enables you to sell your music online with literally no cost, and provides unexpected professional opportunities as the Jason Roberts case showed – which, as it was demonstrated, culminated in 1500$. Not bad, for a website it took me a couple of hours to build and cost no money. So in response to this comment I reply: Yes. I do think that a talented musician like Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt needs a website. It’s a vehicle for him to put out something that’s valuable (his music) and give people the chance to reward him for it, and allow him to continue doing it. To me it’s like that Chinese proverb which says: “Give someone a fish and you feed him for one day, teach him how to fish and he can feed on his own for a lifetime.” I’d rather help someone make his own money than give him some cash and walk away. That way he earns the self-respect that comes from being self-sufficient. I even met him a couple of days ago to ask him about the importance of money and the website and here’s what he had to say:
As for the second part of the comment,
Why is it acceptable to say that in a city with so many web developers he should have a website but not to say in a city with SO MUCH MONEY he should have some money?
I don’t see why being in a city that has lots of money automatically entitles you to any of it just because you’re physically in it. Sure, when there’s a lot of something going around, be it money or whatnot, it is good if it’s shared with people that need it. But I don’t think San Francisco has such a bad reputation when it comes to sharing and helping people that it warrants that comment. In fact, it has a solid reputation for the opposite. Also, if you read my original blog you’ll see that the word “should” is not present in it even once. I don’t like forcing people with guilt-trips to do what’s right. In fact, I think such an approach can be counter-productive. Give people an opportunity to be good by doing something constructive and they might surprise you. For example, look at the success of Wikipedia. Nobody paid them.
By the way, there is a PayPal donate button on the original blog post for people to donate money. Nobody has donated any – not even the person who made the comment. But people did volunteer to help in building the website. It gives you a little hint about the merits of the two approaches: Giving people the opportunity to help in constructive ways vs. asking them for money. In the former case they can actively participate, in the latter they are just passive contributors. It doesn’t touch people the same way.
Some additional news:
Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt, appeared in First Sunday.
He also got a job as a teacher of drums at the Miraloma Elementary School (175 Omar Way) every other Friday under the San Francisco Arts Education Program I think that’s a great job for him since children are especially captivated by his music and personality:
On the 23rd of September, he’s going to be appearing on a show about street musicians on channel 11 in CA.
In closing, here’s a video of him playing with his drumsticks on fire on Geary & Powell a couple of days ago:
Notes:
[1] Incidentally, the adjective “entertainer” is not my addition. Larry himself insists on the role of entertainer in addition to that of musician. He doesn’t believe the adjective as denoting something that an artist ought to look down on. He likes entertaining people and he thinks in order for you to be able to do that, you need to put *more* of yourself in your performance rather than less. Which is a view worth thinking about given that it comes in direct opposition with what most artists think, when they think of art as “entertainment”.
