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Pastimes : The new NFL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nicewatch who wrote (72524)	1/22/2023 10:20:04 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	2 Recommendations Recommended By Glenn Petersen nicewatch Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 87938

I don't watch that show either, but for sure I was quite impressed with Mailata's singing. The music industry is indeed insane, and given the lifestyle of the musicians themselves, it goes both ways lol. Given my strong ties to American Samoa, I always root for athletes of Samoan descent. Permit me to sneak in my own crazy music industry story... Circa 2012 when I first got involved with the music scene in Myanmar, I took a liking to an activist "punk" band called Side Effect. Who knew that a miliary led country that restricted public gatherings, censored lyrics, and could toss anyone they wanted into prison could even have a music scene let alone that type of band? The band was so poor they had to borrow a drum set to play, so had the brilliant idea to turn to the then brand new concept of online crowdfunding. They raised enough money, but US sanctions against Myanmar prevented them from collecting the money. That's how I noticed them and got involved. Myanmar then slowly democratized, putting the country in the news... to the point the late Anthony Bourdain chose Myanmar as his very first destination in his award winning Parts Unknown series on CNN... and chose Side Effect to be the very first band he featured! After I got Side Effect booked at SXSW and secured them visas, Tony contributed signed CDs of that episode to auction off. After returning from Austin, Darko, the lead singer, was hired to run the Myanmar affiliate of Turning Tables, a non-profit that helps marginalized youth through playing music where he became an outspoken critic about inequities in the country. Sadly, Myanmar recently had a coup and began killing or tossing in prison anyone who dared criticize the government, with Darko clearly being on their radar (they ransacked his apartment). Long story short, let's just say Darko and family thankfully were able to make their way to Thailand where they thankfully then got legal permission to relocate to the US. Darko, completely on his own, was just able to secure a second gig for Side Effect at SXSW in March! - Jeff