Photographer Ken Regan offers a private glimpse of public figures in his new book...

A smoking Bob Dylan during his Rolling Thunder Revue, 1975.

Jim Morrison and The Doors at the Westbury Music Fair, January 1970.

People magazine cover shoot with Madonna, February 1985.

Bruce Springsteen on location for the “Streets of Philadelphia” video, December 1993.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr in Central Park, February 1964.

Rolling Thunder Revue tour, fall 1975 - Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg
at the grave of writer Jack Kerouac.

Janis Joplin at the Fillmore East, March 1968.

Keith Richards with his first daughter, Theodora Dupree Richards, in 1985.

Stones Tour Party, 1972 - Mick Jagger at Michael Butler’s house.

Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore East, March 1968.

Keith Richards cooking breakfast in Montauk, 1975.

Text & Captions by Jakob Schiller/WIRED magazine

Ken Regan tells the story like this. It’s 1974, he’s on assignment for Time magazine and is photographing Bob Dylan in Chicago. It’s the first time he’s photographed Dylan (who is notoriously private) and doesn’t want to screw it up.

While standing in one of the stage wings he turns his camera on the audience.

“In the second row was this woman, she’s probably in her sixties, gray hair, surrounded by all these teenagers,” says Regan. “And she was standing up and she was clapping and she was cheering and it was such a good photograph because of the contrast between her and all the kids.”

The same woman is in the audience the next night so Regan mentions it to his friend Bill Graham, the famous music promoter, who originally got him in the door with Dylan. Graham immediately tells Regan he can never use the photos. Turns out the older woman is Dylan’s mom, and Graham knows Dylan doesn’t want those photos published.

Time magazine runs three pages of photos but Regan never lets on about Dylan’s mom.

Fast forward to 1975. It’s 2 a.m. and Regan gets a call from Bob Dylan and his promoters. They’re excitedly putting together a plan for Dylan’s upcoming Rolling Thunder tour. Dylan had found out about the photos of his mom and knows he can trust Regan. He wants Regan on the tour and tells him he’ll have full and unprecedented access.

Regan ends up following the entire tour and comes back with 13,750 frames, including several of the most intimate and personal photos ever made of Dylan.

“I’m saying to myself this is like a dream, having this access to Bob Dylan which no one has really had before,” Regan says. “He kind of came out of his reclusive shell on the whole tour.”

The story is just one of many Regan can recount after more than five decades of photographing the world’s most famous rock musicians. He’s got photos of, and anecdotes about, everyone from the Rolling Stones to Madonna and for the first time has published them all in one place — his aptly titled music anthology, All Access.

The book, which is nearly 300 pages long, is an exhaustive look at one of the world’s most important recent cultural movements and provides proof of what happens when you spend years developing relationships with people who are notorious for hiding their personal lives.

[Read the rest here.]

Ken Regan was born and grew up in the Bronx. He studied journalism at Columbia and attended New York University's Film School. His early photography career began in the sports arena where he covered the World Series, Super Bowls, the Olympics, heavyweight championship fights, Hockey, Basketball, Tennis, Auto Racing and other professional sports for Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, and Newsweek.

In the 70s, Ken founded Camera 5, his own photo agency which represented 15 photographers who covered riots and demonstrations in the United States and wars in Vietnam and later in the Persian Gulf and Bosnia. Photo essays about gold mining in Brazil, the Columbo family's involvement in the Mafia, poverty in Harlem, Vietnam Veterans, and a scientist on the Amazon are among his favorite assignments. He has also toured with some of the most renowned musicians in Rock'n'Roll history. In 1975, he did back to back tours with Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. He covered the Band's Last Waltz, and George Harrison's benefit for Bangladesh amongst many other Rock festivals and events. He worked closely with renowned concert promoter Bill Graham and was the main photographer for his biggest events such as Amnesty International, Live Aid and others.

By the late Eighties, Ken had over 200 magazine covers to his credit, as well as numerous awards from the Missouri School of Journalism and World Press Photo to the New York Newspaper Guild.

Consumed with a passion for images, Ken continues his tireless pursuit of hard news, sports, and human interest stories for Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Paris Match, Time, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, People, U.S. News and World Report, Good Housekeeping, and the Ladies Home Journal.

[Source: SNAP Galleries]

Imagine being a 21st century slave: 3 case studies of Burmese workers in Malaysia

John is a 23-year old ethnic Karen from Burma. He came to Malaysia about two years ago, and has since been working in restaurants around Klang Valley. John took up his first restaurant job about three months after his arrival. His main job was to wash the dishes, but he also had to do other cleaning chores at the restaurant, including cleaning the toilets. “I washed and cleaned everything they ordered me to.” He kept the job for about 8 months until he went to try to register for a UNHCR refugee card. “I was scolded afterwards. The boss didn’t want me to register with the UN—he just wouldn’t allow it. Some employers are afraid of the UN card. They don’t like it if we are registered with the UN refugee agency and have refugee cards.”

At present, John works in a food court in Sunway. On average, he works about 12 to 13 hours every day. The employers do provide him with three meals daily, but they take fresh ingredients from the fridge and cook for themselves—we are given stale food.” John mentioned that he does get one day off each week, but to his dismay it is not on Sunday so he is not able to not attend church.

John remarked that there are also documented workers from Vietnam where he works. John mentioned that these workers do not get scolded as much as the workers from Burma. John said it is the verbal abuse that hurts him most. “The employers often pick on us, saying bad things about us, saying that we are lazy people, things like that.” John said his working experience thus far has made him feel downhearted. “I feel ashamed for being here, I feel like my presence in Malaysia is a bother, it’s like we have interrupted the lives of people here. It’s not that I want to disturb the Malaysians. If I could, of course I would choose to work in my own country.”

18th century African slaves in Missouri

Confinement is also found in the service sector, and can be done by agents. San (32), an ethnic Burmese asylum seeker, recalled how he was once confined by agents who promised him a job at the hotel. “He kept me at a house with other people from Burma and Indonesia, including 3 women. We were locked in when they went out. The agent said he would give me a job if available. There were three guards in the agent’s house.” Workers are usually shuttled back and forth from the restaurant to their living quarters. John is housed in a place he refers to as a “hostel,” where he is not allowed visitors. He has to share a small room with five other people.

Similarly, Mei (22)—an ethnic Shan—was also confined at the agent’s place. Every day, she would be brought by the agent to a restaurant where she was put to work as a dishwasher. She was never allowed to go out, and only knew the restaurant and the agent’s place. “I only knew work, and off-work. Work, and off-work. I just followed the agents, wherever they took me to, I followed. I didn’t think of disobeying. If I didn’t follow… I don’t know what would happen.”

John recounted that his prayers were important in helping him to cope, but says, “I am usually in tears after I say my prayers.” He also gets by with support from some friends - fellow Karen refugees in Malaysia. Mei relies mostly upon herself, but feels alone and without anyone to turn to. Trying to avoid feeling upset or distressed, she says that she tries to “suppress her heart,” because crying only makes her feel worse. She also reminds herself that it could be worse, “because I still have my legs and my hands. […] There are people who are richer, they face more challenges. And then there are also people who are worse off, those who have it worse than me. I tell myself don’t think of bad things… think of happy things.”

Experiencing forced labour is a traumatic and stressful experience. Those who have to work in these conditions are able to cope, and keep their humanity, but the toll on their mental health is evident.

[Source: Health Equity Initiatives]

PLEASE SIGN PETITION TO MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT ON THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

Brutal treatment caused immigration detainees to riot

Refugees in a Malaysian immigration detention center outside Kuala Lumpur (AP)

WIKILEAKS: IMMIGRATION DETAINEES RIOT AFTER RELA BEATS PRISONERS

Classified By: POLITICAL SECTION CHIEF MARK D. CLARK, REASON 1.4 (B AND D).

Summary

1. Some 60 to 70 detained suspected illegal immigrants rioted at Lenggeng Immigration Detention Center (IDC) on April 21 [2008], setting fire to the temporary administration building according to press and firsthand accounts. Malaysia's Head of Immigration Enforcement claimed the riot started after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refused the refugees' applications for resettlement, an allegation denied by UNHCR.

Based on multiple witnesses' accounts, the riot's catalyst was the severe beatings of detainees by Immigration Officers and People's Volunteer Corps (RELA) members assigned as guards to Lenggeng. The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) told us deplorable conditions, overcrowding and alleged abuses by RELA all contributed to the riot. We continue to express concern to the GOM regarding RELA's increased authority over immigration enforcement. End Summary.

[Read the full report here.]

PLEASE SIGN PETITION TO MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT
ON THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

Forced to work 12-hour days, 7 days a week, for RM420 a month...

Although the number of refugees and asylum seekers working in [Malaysian plantations] is not as high as those working in other sectors, Health Equity Initiatives’ research shows that those who have worked in plantations show more significant symptoms of anxiety compared to other sectors. The most worrying aspect about forced labor in the plantations is that it can often last for years, longer than in other sectors. Plantations are usually located in remote places, making it easier for employers to confine workers without being noticed. Forced labor with physical confinement is probably the worst – as it is very difficult for victims to look for help and employers can impose more penalties...

 Burmese refugees approved under the Malaysia solution arrive in Melbourne (pic by Stuart McEvoy)

Kyawt is a 24-year old ethnic Chin refugee from Burma and a mother of two who first came to Malaysia four years ago. Through friends, she found a job at a flower farm in Cameron Highlands, unaware that she would have to spend two years confined there.

There were many workers of different nationalities at the farm. Bangladeshis, Nepalese and Indonesians were allowed to go outside of the compound, because they had passports. The undocumented Burmese were specifically ordered never to go out. “The boss locked the gate, he’s not nice,” Kyawt recalled. “He wouldn’t even allow family visits and deducted my salary when my brother came to the farm and tried to see me.”

A flower farm in Cameron Highlands (pic courtesy of Random Shots)

Kyawt had long working days of up to twelve hours, seven days a week, with a wage of only RM14 per day. She was never given off-days even when she was sick. “The boss and his children were bad people. They shouted at us and always threatened to cut our wages when we made mistakes.” Kyawt said she felt very sad during the time she was in forced labour, but she felt like she had no choice.“Sometimes I wanted to quit. But […] I asked myself, if there’s no job, should I live unemployed?”

Detention camp in Malaysia (Reuters pic)

Like Kyawt, Min was also confined in the plantation where he worked. He previously worked at a restaurant, but his boss decided that he was not presentable to work there. He then sold Min to a plantation owner in Alor Setar for RM1,000. “I was not aware that I had been sold [but] the boss always said, ‘I have paid RM1,000 to your boss, so you must work for a year. Until then, you cannot quit.” He never received any wage. “While I was there, the compound was locked and […] surrounded by sharp metal wires. [It] was very remote and I couldn’t even see any vehicles around. I couldn’t go anywhere …” As in Kyawt’s case, other documented workers were able to move freely. The plantation owner threatened that if Min ever tried to run away, he would call the Immigration authorities to arrest him.

Min worked 11 hours a day, even when it rained. He was given only two meals every day, usually only rice and leftover vegetables from the plantation. “The boss gave me a container for me to collect rainwater for bath and other purposes.” His main job was to spray insecticide, but he was not given a facemask. He even had to use clothes left by previous workers because the boss refused to “spend more money” on him.

Helpless and hopeless in Malaysia
(courtesy of AP)

Min said that the experience was really hard for him. “At that time, I couldn’t even see myself as a human. The situation really drove me crazy and I felt like I wanted to die.” It was also during this time that he heard about the deaths of his mother and younger sister. “There was no one for me to speak to. The pain I felt was unspeakable.”

Although he eventually managed to escape from the plantation compound, Min said that he continues to feel gripped with fear. “I don’t feel safe. I always feel like the boss will come and do something to me.” There is never a night when he can sleep well and he always wakes up startled. He has trouble distinguishing dreams from reality. “When I sleep it doesn’t feel like sleep, and everything I have experienced comes to my head.”

Min’s testimony is sadly common, showing how hurtful effects on mental health last long after experiencing forced labor.

[Source: Health Equity Initiatives]

THE WAY THE WEAK AND HELPLESS ARE TREATED IN MALAYSIA IS A HORROR STORY SCARIER THAN ANY HALLOWEEN TALE...

New doco on human trafficking ~ NOT MY LIFE

Click here for preview and background info.

How is it possible that such cruelty and insensitivity can exist in the human world? It seems the dark underbelly of our reality is like a writhing viper pit of vampires, ghouls, parasites and predators disguised as human beings. They often work in cahoots with corrupt regimes and have agents planted in immigration departments.

Malaysia is among the most dangerous countries in the world to be a refugee.  

Unknown thousands of unfortunates have been captured and sold to slave traders across the border or kept under conditions that would appall and outrage animal lovers if such treatment was doled out to zoo animals. The BN regime does almost nothing about the refugee issue apart from deny, deny, deny - and then engage expensive public relations consultants to restore its dented image.

On Monday, 31 October 2011, a week-long campaign kicks off to alert Malaysians to what is happening right under their noses. It isn't hard to believe - we've all seen what happened to young men like Ananthan Kugan and Teoh Beng Hock who both died in custody under unexplained circumstances. Their killers have been protected by the ruling regime. Only under heavy pressure from the public do they make a show of initiating inquests and inquiries that drag on for months, even years, and lead absolutely nowhere.

It's time to tear the mask of fake respectability off their hypocritical faces!



Among the worst off would be the Burmese refugees in Malaysia...
Watch this 3-minute video and sign the petition, please!

First there was BERSIH 2.0... now rally around EARTH 2.0!

EARTH 2.0™ is an exciting and ambitious collaboration of innovative and far sighted developments in science and technology combined with the visualisation, imagery and stimulus achieved through the medium of film and interactive technologies to alter thinking and create a movement for change to deliver the sustainable world of the future.

Earth 2.0's premise is that it is the interchange of ideas through engagement, participation and interaction that will change peoples' minds, and motivate and inspire individuals and communities to deliver the change that is required for us to create a global and sustainable future for the earth and therefore humanity.

Earth 2.0: Initialization series of short films marks the beginning of this ambitious undertaking and also serves to convey the innovative look and feel of Earth 2.0's media output aiming to re-establish a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature, using art, science and digital creativity.

For more information, please visit http://earth2hub.com
Find us on Facebook at: http://facebook.com/earth2.0
Follow EARTH 2.0 on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/earth2hub

Signs of the Times ~ Writing on the Wall

 

Learning a fiscal lesson from America's "debt crisis"...

Our sovereign currency and credit has been usurped for private gain instead of public good. Let's take back control of our money from Wall Street and build prosperity on Main Street by creating state, county, and municipal public banks. Public tax monies should be leveraged by public officials, not speculators and swindlers. Check out the Public Banking Institute {not to be confused with Public Bank Berhad!)

A message to the world from Occupy Wall Street...

Two major happenings are going on at the moment. While the #Occupy movement is emerging all over the planet, the Galactic Federation is shutting down underground bases of the Dark Cabal. In other words: the people on Earth are rising up, and our galactic friends are coming down. It's just a matter of time before they come together! [Source: Galactic Channelings]

Beautiful humans embodying the spirit of joy and freedom...

Thanks to Malaysiakini for documenting the Occupy Dataran event on 15 October 2011. I was there with you all... and have been since the beginning of time... and I shall be with you too at the end of linear time (on 28 October 2011 or 13 Ahau).

Playing For Change ~ Songs Around The World

As we made our way around the world we encountered love, hate, rich and poor, black and white, and many different religious groups and ideologies. It became very clear that as a human race we need to transcend from the darkness to the light and music is our weapon of the future. This song around the world features musicians who have seen and overcome conflict and hatred with love and perseverance. We dont need more trouble, what we need is love. The spirit of Bob Marley always lives on.

This is the fourth Song Around The World video released from the CD/DVD Playing For Change: Songs Around The World and the follow up to the classics "Stand By Me," "One Love" and "Don't Worry." This unforgettable track was performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe.





From the award-winning documentary, Playing For Change: Peace Through Music, comes an incredible rendition of the legendary Bob Marley song "One Love" with Keb' Mo' and Manu Chao. This is the third video from the documentary and a follow up to the classic "Stand By Me" and the incredible "Don't Worry." Released in celebration of Bob Marley's birthday on February 6th, this tribute to the legend is performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe.





"Gimme Shelter" is a track we have wanted to record for years and today we can finally share it with all of you. This song expresses the urgency we all face to unite together as a planet and offers us wisdom with the words, "War, children, it's just a shot away... Love, sister, it's just a kiss away". It really is that simple. We dedicate this song to all the lost, homeless and forgotten people in this world. It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.





We met Robert Bradley while shooting our first film, Playing for Change: A Cinematic Discovery of Street Music. Robert is originally from Detroit, Michigan, but we filmed this song in Los Angeles in front of a Playing For Change graffiti wall painted by a local artist. We had just finished a take of Robert singing "Playing For Change Blues," a song we created while filming across America, and were beginning to interview him. All of a sudden he started speaking the lyrics to this song... We immediately grabbed another mic for his guitar, plugged it directly into the camera and asked him to perform it for us. Enjoy!

Order the CD/DVD Playing For Change: Songs Around The World now at amazon.com!

[Thanks to Brigitte Neubacher for alerting me to these funky and uplifting videos, inspired no doubt by the celebrated 2001 CD/DVD project 1 Giant Leap by Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto.]

Statement released by Occupy Wall Street movement

My internet connection has been down since Friday, 7 October. I just received this link via email and was so impressed by the clarity, profundity and power of the message from those spearheading this global revolution against money politics, I just had to blog it immediately from a cybercafe in Kuala Kubu Bharu. Powerful multinational corporations and their unwritten policy of "profits before people" have ruined ecosystems around the planet and triggered the extinction of countless species, including marginalized human communities.



Greedy corporations like Lynas don't give a shit about the long-term consequences of their money-grubbing, toxic activities - why should they bother, when they are offered 12-year tax holidays by the morally degenerate Barisan Nasional government. Lynas is perfectly happy to pay out several billion ringgit in bribes to push their rare earth processing project through - because they're counting on raking in at least RM8 billion a year, tax-free profits, once their plant is in full operation.

28 October 2011 marks the end of linear time - and along with it the ludicrous notion that TIME IS MONEY.

Linear time is an illusion, just as artificial clock time is useful only to control the behavior of human populations on a massive scale. After 28 October 2011, all of us will be able to access reality beyond the limitations of the 3D Matrix - and rediscover our cosmic, divine origins and destiny. When this happens we will no longer be content to accept our slaughterhouse destiny as sheeple, as mere consumer statistics - at the mercy of faceless corporate boards, the corrupt governments in their pockets, and the crowd control machinery paid for with taxpayers' money.



15 OCTOBER 2011 HAS BEEN DECLARED GLOBAL REVOLUTION DAY. WAKE UP... UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE CORPORATE "TIME IS MONEY" MATRIX... AND RECLAIM YOUR FREEDOM AND SOVEREIGNTY - FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, IF NOT FOR YOURSELF!

iProtest: with Steve Jobs gone, will the worm in the Apple begin to turn?

Even as the world mourns the passing of Steve Jobs - a visionary inventor and also the true-blue American entrepreneur who gave us the Apple computer, the MacBook, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad - there are others, like Debby Chan, who are less concerned with saving to buy the latest iPad, and more concerned about the sorry plight of thousands of Chinese factory workers who manufacture these iconic brand products under less than ideal conditions.

[Source: Al Jazeera's Activate series]

One last dig at Steve Jobs....

Steve Jobs & Bill Gates in Conversation

[Forwarded by Shanghai Fish]

Steve Jobs
(24 Feb 1955 - 5 Oct 2011)

Walt Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew

That Steve Jobs was a genius, a giant influence on multiple industries and billions of lives, has been written many times since he retired as Apple's chief executive in August. He was a historical figure on the scale of a Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, and set the mold for many other corporate leaders in many other industries.

He did what a CEO should. He hired and inspired great people; managed for the long term, not the quarter or the short-term stock price; made big bets and took big risks. He insisted on the highest product quality and on building things to delight and empower actual users, not intermediaries like corporate IT directors. As he liked to say, he lived at the intersection of technology and liberal arts.

And he could sell. Man, he could sell.

[Read more here.]

STEVE JOBS: HOW TO LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE

courtesy of Jonathan Mak Long

HAPPY EQUINOX, EARTHLINGS!

Jean-Michel André Jarre (born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, synthpop, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.

Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and grandparents, and trained on the piano. From an early age he was introduced to a variety of art forms, including those of street performers, jazz musicians, and the artist Pierre Soulages. He played guitar in a band, but his musical style was perhaps most heavily influenced by Pierre Schaeffer, a pioneer of musique concrète at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales.

His first mainstream success was the 1976 album Oxygène. Recorded in a makeshift studio at his home, the album sold an estimated 12 million copies. Oxygène was followed in 1978 by Équinoxe, and in 1979 Jarre performed to a record-breaking audience of more than a million people at the Place de la Concorde, a record he has since broken three times. More albums were to follow, but his 1979 concert served as a blueprint for his future performances around the world. Several of his albums have been released to coincide with large-scale outdoor events, and he is now perhaps as well known as a performer as a musician.

Jarre has sold an estimated 80 million albums and singles. He was the first Western musician to be allowed to perform in the People's Republic of China, and holds the world record for the largest-ever audience at an outdoor event. [Source: Wikipedia]

Interesting footnote: Jean-Michel's father happens to be Maurice Jarre - a prominent composer of movie soundtracks who won Oscars for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India. Maurice Jarre married four times, his last wife being a Malaysian from Perak. Maurice died of cancer at age 84 on 28 March 2009.