"Laurel Halo is a songwriter and producer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Growing up immersed in piano, singing and violin, Laurel spent summers on the Great Lakes, listening to waves, tapes on the beach and outdoor concerts. Later on, she was drawn into the diverse music scene of Ann Arbor, with its ethereal folk, free jazz and noise, and was also taken by neighboring Detroit's techno and house. From these beginnings, she self-produced her first EP in 2007. Soon after, Laurel moved to northern Thailand, where she accumulated mixtapes of Thai folk and pop and learned the Thai mandolin. Upon her return, she wrote "Future Fruit" for her best friend's birthday, got together a band of jazz musicians, and recorded the Ambrosia EP. Now based in Brooklyn, Laurel plans to explore progressive, psych house, and orchestral sounds."

[Future Fruit/Laurel Halo]

[Image/Reed+Rader]

['American Nightmare/Mikah 9]

Of course I’m crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

[Image/MrMadeOfCodes]

"We are always dealing with multiple and conflicting claims of truth, none of which can be conclusively established. We choose what to believe based on what is useful for us to believe."

Richard Rorty

“The tingle in your crotch and the flutter in your heart are revolutionary acts. They are the first shots fired at the Bastille. They are the match that burns the flag. They are levers that can be used to control you, or levers you can use to control the world."

Claton Cubitt [More+]

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Born for this, into this.

[Images/Roy Decarava [Wikipedia]]

You dates women?? - well there you are, we gots something else in commons.
I dates womens too.

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['Clutter'/Ronald Jenkees]

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"... Consider that this is God’s world and that it is the best of all possible worlds; that he has brought it thus far toward completion by the processes of organic, social, and industrial evolution, and that it is going on to greater completeness and harmony. Consider that there is one great, perfect, intelligent Principle of Life and Power, causing all the changing phenomena of the cosmos. Think about all this until you see that it is true, and until you comprehend how you should live and act as a citizen of such a perfect whole..."

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.

Everyone I know, goes away in the end.

[Images/Monica Cook]

['La Vie En Rose'/Grace Jones]

The truth is - most people don't give a flying Siamese shit-shit about the imminent threat to our environment. It's not part of their agenda to deal with climate change - besides the general consensus is 'what difference can one person really make?' That's the point though, one person makes all the difference - you are the only one that counts. Each one of us can make a big difference.

This is turning out to be some party!

['Six Feet Deep'/Black Moon]

we are always asked to understand the other person's viewpoint
no matter how out-dated foolish or obnoxious.

one is asked to view their total error their life-waste
with kindliness, especially if they are aged.

but age is the total of our doing.
they have aged badly because they have lived
out of focus, they have refused to see.

not their fault?
whose fault? mine?

I am asked to hide my viewpoint from them

for fear of their fear.

age is no crime
but the shame of a deliberately wasted life
among so many deliberately wasted lives
is.

['Be Kind'/Charles Bukowski]

['Imitation Of Life'/1953]

The untroubled state of mind is best achieved by avoiding coming to any conclusions.

[Image/MrMadeOfCodes]

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Marbleous!

[Fabio Viale+]

['Ballad Of Gloria Featherbottom'/Mux Mool]

The Very Best[More+]

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Here's a preview of a three-part photo essay I have been working on for the last few months. The project focuses on the complex economic, political and social issues facing the modern Nigerian man. Presented through masking and the conventions of portraiture, the concept explores the idea that people have an exaggerated and misleading idea of freedom - a "freedom" most people know nothing about. Exploring what it really means to be free and understanding freedom in its rawest form, the idea compares notions of liberty [from a western perspective] and the reality of freedom, in the eyes of the average Nigerian male.

The photo series will be unveiled in full early 2010, you can have a look at a few more teasers here[+]. If you would like to be notified about the launch please visit MrMadeOfCodes and submit your email address.

Liberation