Over paaseieren zoeken en de paashaas opeten

Pasen, de wederopstanding. Palmtakken en broodkippen. Bovenal staat het voor verdraagzaamheid en genegenheid naar eenieder die jij liefhebt. We leven te snel tegenwoordig, waarderen het kleine niet meer en winden ons op om de domste dingen. Moet dat nou?

Stichting SIRE begon vorig jaar een campagne tegen de ontluikende agressie van de Nederlandse samenleving. Je hebt er vast wel eens van gehoord, het korte lontje in ons landje. Het is terecht dat hier aandacht aan geschonken wordt, want je zou haast zeggen dat je tegenwoordig het incasseringsvermogen van een professioneel bokser moet hebben om je niet te ergeren aan van alles en nog wat. Dan komt de trein te laat, dan rijdt de bus niet, dan is het winkelpersoneel grof, dan word je nageroepen op straat..

Gandhi zei ooit; “Een zwakkeling kan niet vergeven. Vergevingsgezindheid is een eigenschap van sterkte.” Maak je niet zo druk, wees niet die zwakkeling. Er schuilt een bokser in ieder van jullie, en enkelen zijn haast zo groots als Mohammed Ali was. Qua vergevingsgezindheid dan.

Uit de nieuwjaarsenquête van Editie NL bleek dat de gemiddelde Nederlander voor 2008 vooral als wens had meer te gaan genieten van het leven. Mijn vraag aan jullie is: doen jullie dat ook? Zo nee, sta er eens wat vaker bij stil. Ook al heb je zoveel nare dingen meegemaakt in je leven, er zijn zoveel lichtpuntjes te ontdekken dat je daar vanzelf weer blij van wordt. Het leven is mooi.

De paus zal ongetwijfeld weer met zijn mooie zalvende woorden komen. Urbi et orbi, vrede op aarde, bedankt voor die bloemen..
Gelukkig geloven een hoop mensen in hem, in zijn religie. Gelukkig zijn zij bereid het goede te doen en het slechte te laten. Als heel de wereld dat eens zou doen..

Pasen is ook een moment van bezinning, een mooi rustpunt in een studiejaar of een werkperiode. Zet voor jezelf nou eens op een rijtje waar je heen wil met je leven. Wil je hamburgers bakken? Wil je carrière maken in het bankwezen? Wil je deze studie afmaken? Volg je hart, dat is wat telt.

Lach eens wat vaker. Om jezelf, om situaties, om anderen als je weet dat die anderen er geen problemen mee hebben. De profeet Mohammed vertelde aan Aboe Dzarr dat hij het lachen erg hoog in achting hield; “Onderschat niet de minste van de goede werken, al is het maar het glimlachen naar je broeder wanneer je hem tegenkomt.”
Probeer je niet te ergeren aan de kleine dingen, maar lach er een keer om en vergeet het daarna. Niets is zo vervelend als van een mug een olifant maken, voor jezelf en voor anderen.

Het was niet mijn bedoeling om als een welbespraakte Greenpeace-liefhebber over te komen. Het was ook niet opzettelijk mijn bedoeling om zo’n clichématig stuk tekst te schrijven. Het was mijn bedoeling om jullie aan het denken te zetten. Over jezelf, over anderen, over het leven in het algemeen. Wat wil je bereiken? Geniet vooral, dat is wat ik wil meegeven. Geniet, en zorg voor anderen. Je bent gezegend met dit leven.

Zalig Pasen.

It's Alive!

In the past couple of months, even the past year, boast-filled, bragging tracks with easy melodies and simple dance routines took over the radio. I believe you’ll all remember Soulja Boy with his ridiculous hit “Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em”, or Dem Franchise Boyz with their obnoxious “Lean with it, rock with it“, which even was a further parody of the once so blooming and booming US-rap scene. In a time where artists like Gang Starr, Kool G Rap and Rakim paved the way to mainstream success for conscious rappers like Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z or Notorious BIG, there was no time for nonsense. Rap was real. Rappers often came from the cold streets, lived a hard knock life, as “Young HOV” would say so.

Nowadays, this culture is changing rapidly. Everyone who thinks they can rap, who thinks they can create a beat, goes to a studio and records himself a demo. If it’s catchy, it’ll become a hit. Hey, why blame the record companies? They only supply the demand of the consumers. However, they are to blame in some way, because this commercial, blunt music was fuelled in the 1980’s by the same record companies. Remixes, bad synthesizers, large hair and fluorescent clothing, the 80’s were a disaster for the development of pop music.

Then, a new phenom showed up. Rap was something for ethnic minorities to escape their everyday problems, to let out their aggression about society and everything around them that bothered. It became an instant hit. The sound was so refreshing, so unique, often catchy and yet full of things worth saying. The early 90’s were part of hip hop’s Golden Age, featuring artists like the aforementioned Kool G Rap, but also Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Big L, Big Punisher, Nas’ great debut album Illmatic, and so on.

After this, hip hop got too commercial, too “gangsta”, as mentioned by a lot of critics. There was space for goofing around, for meaningless brag and boast songs that were only held together through the beat. At this point, the underground scene played a big part in the development of a new wave of top class hip hop, with a load of conscious rappers. The group held responsible for reviving hip hop would be the Native Tongues Posse, with long-time members De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and now-mainstream actors Busta Rhymes, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Philly-based hip hop band The Roots. Later that decade, most of the members of the Native Tongue Posse went on to form a new hip hop collective, that was influenced by jazz and soul and was distinguished by offbeat rhythms and eerie noises. They called themselves the Soulquarians, and were backed up by mastermind DJ J Dilla, who, unfortunately, died in 2006 due to cardiac arrest.

With the Soulquarians, hip hop received new blood, a fresh face and (again) a lot of mainstream support. This is acknowledged by the success of rappers Common, Mos Def (who pursuits an acting career, appearing in the new Michel Gondry-film “Be Kind, Rewind” (a must see!)), Grammy-award winning band The Roots and the reviving success of old school heroes Wu Tang Clan and KRS-One. Also, the argument that every rapper should be black doesn’t apply anymore. Rap collective CunninLynguists (with the Caucasian DJ Kno) received great critical acclaim with each of their albums, their most recent being 2007’s Dirty Acres. And what about rapper and producer Eminem? He may be goofing around sometimes, but he has written some excellent stuff and is marked as one of the most selling rappers of all time. Or a relatively new face, Brother Ali. Ali is a white albino with a soulful voice and really good lyrics, you should check him out sometime.

Please, don’t listen to the crap that the Billboard serves you. You’d rather begin a search on hip hop websites to learn about real hip hop, real stories and real people.
Hip hop is long before dead, it’s alive and kicking.

Marketing an Athlete: Some things just fit

In the search for a sponsor object, corporations often see sport as a perfect way to embody their vision or business ideology. The reasons for that decision are quite simple, sport is emotion, it attracts a large public and if winning, sport will get you lots of rewards and respect. Companies love to grab something from that amount of respect, in order to boost their image. What’s even more interesting, is not just a specific sport, but a specific player who stands out due to his specific qualities. Or even a player who dominates a whole sport, for example Roger Federer, who has an endorsement deal with Nike.

The same goes for sponsoring Tiger Woods, but not only because he is the best in his sport. He’s the first ever coloured person to dominate such an elite and “white” sport as golf. This gives people the image that his sponsor, Nike, sure does care about integration and the race-issue, thus adding an “awareness-factor” to their already positive image.
Adidas countered this when Champion stopped providing clothing to the NBA, the world’s leading basketball league. They stepped in, in order to compete with Nike to show that they also care about equality, but also because the mentality in sponsoring is changing. It’s less but bigger objects these days.
That would explain why Puma, the German sports brand, did sponsor all of the African teams in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and 2006 World Cup Soccer. This is what we call a natural fit. The corporation is called Puma, named after a cat that lives in Africa, and the sponsor objects in this particular case are all nations in Africa. What better way to identify yourself with merchandising than through a creature from the continent? It’s bound to get a lot of media exposure.

Back to sponsoring a single player. In this category, there are also some natural fits. We’ve had Michael Jordan endorsing Nike, which fitted perfectly with his nickname “Air Jordan”. Subsequently, Nike produced a clothing line under this nickname, with Jordan signature products.

Also in the NBA, more recent, we have a young Slam Dunk-champion, Gerald Green, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics. Doesn’t ring a bell? Well, the main colour in the Celtics’ jersey is green, hence the fit. It’s too bad he was traded to the Timberwolves in the half year after that, and now he plays in his hometown, Houston. Maybe, at the end of this season, when he’s a free agent, he’ll return to Boston in order to attract more sponsordeals.

To conclude with one of today’s most admired young players in the NBA, besides wonderboy LeBron James, Dwight Howard. Howard is a 22-year old center from the Orlando Magic, most famous for his outrageous dunks. He came in 2^nd behind Gerald Green in 2007, but managed to snatch the title in front of him this year, in 2008. Howard showed off a couple of incredible dunks that have never been performed before on national television. This kind of creativity, and the positive way in which he presents himself (he’s also a devoted Christian), make him a very, very wanted player for sponsors and teams alike. Just look at him in the two Slam Dunk competitions:

2007

2008