I am happy to report I am now featured on www.viva-radio.com !!!  I am hosting, Dj-ing and producing, The Gallery of Gruvs, which airs Saturdays at 4-6pm EST every two weeks!  You can catch an archive of my first installment, The San Francisco Peace and Love Edition, which features some great underground psychedelic world and classic rock, along with other funk and classic grooves. www.viva-radio.com/gruvgallery.

Stay tuned for the next installment, the HOUSE VERSION, which I can't wait to bring to you and especially other house music lovers like myself!  It's great to be on the airwaves, albeit internet broadcasting this time.  As you may or may not know, I got my start in Dj-ing back in '97, then producing, hosting and Dj-ing Cybertraxx, the first radio show solely dedicated to eletronic music to air on WEOS 89.7fm public radio for the finger lakes region of New York: www.weos.org.

I can remember coming to WEOS studios, with a bunch of cassettes (yes CASSETTES), a few LPs and CDs of techno, trance, jungle, and house music.  Cybertraxx first aired Wednesdays from 11pm-1am and I was then going under the name Dj Venus Bliss! LOL Ahh those were the days!  Thank God the station was equipped with trusty technics 1200, I bought a numark mixer, and learned while doing the show which aired till June of 2000!

During my time at WEOS, I went from doing Cybertraxx, working as the RPM Music Director (RPM is the term used for the electronic music category by CMJ - the primary source for exclusive music charts of non-commercial and college radio airplay in the USA www.cmj.com ).  I interviewed artists about their new releases, rated new music and charted it on CMJ, and went on to become WEOS' Music Director!  Thanks to the opportunities at WEOS, I was introduced to other genres of music, got tons of free LPs and CDs, which led me to be the versatile multi-genre Dj that I am today :)

While the name Cybertraxx stayed till the end, I changed my name a couple of times, from Venus Bliss, to Dj Boa, to Lady Apostrophe, to the Sambarella you know today!  In 1999 and 2000, with WEOS support and funding, I went on to organize and Dj the first two raves at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Genesis and Electrikfest, which took place during the legendary spring Folk Festivals of the Finger Lakes. Radio will forever hold a soft spot in my heart and I am excited to be back at it again and thankful for my hosts at Viva Radio and American Apparel.

Check out the show, the next installment will air on June 21st, and the following two weeks after.  I plan to do different themes for each, showcasing the different musical genres that I love to play, with some commentary, news on events and other goodies by yours truly!  Show me some love people, your comments are always appreciated ;)

    And I love psychedelic music, I am into a lot of music, but something about the psychedelics that strikes a nerve in a different way.  Had I had my way, I would have been a teenager in the 60s man.  Peace & Love, delerium from the heavens above, I wish I could play bass!  So I can dance with my guitar and it will be lighter than with turntables ~!

Sambarella a Go Go, where my boots at

There is something about music, it can have physical effects on you. . .it can sweep you up with its infectous rhythm inducing a physical reaction, and making you want to sing and dance. . . I love playing it for you ;)

Shout outs to San Antonio, I am on my 4th day of my novena
San Antonio col El Niño by Marion Martinez

9-1-1 is such a strange number and for many, the date alone is of loaded meaning.  It is the number you dial when there is an emergency, the cops, or tragedy strikes.  It is the date when thousands in the US suffered loss, death, war and fear. 

My father, Salvadoran Poet Arnoldo Ponce suffered an aneurysm 3 years later on Sept. 11^th and my heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one on 9-11.

 

To my friend Manika Narula, may you rest in peace – I miss you!

Cantor Fitzgerald – World Trade Center

Thanks to everyone that donated, participated, promoted and supported the Great Charity Spin fundraiser for Leukemia!  The Transducer played for 72 hours non-stop the longest recorded dj set in NYC history and raised $20,318 in the process all for people suffering from Leukemia and for the Robert Di Libero Foundation.  The Robert Di Libero foundation is named after his first Dj partner, his cousin Rob who passed from Leukemia at age 25 in 1993.

The whole event was truly amazing, we had some great performers that donated their time and art to make this happen.  We also had wonderful volunteers who helped tremendously to make sure everything went smoothly.  And above all, the Transducer who went on and could have easily broken the world's record and chose not to because his aim was not the glory of being a world record breaker, but his aim was to raise awareness to a cause very dear to his heart and in the process motivate consciousness and young people like us to stand behind a cause to help those who need our help and we succeeded!

The Robert Di Libero foundation offers wonderful services to patients suffering from leukemia, like stipends for wigs, treatment, a Night On The Town and other recreational services to lift the spirits of those battling for their lives.  It was my honor to be a part of this and I must say that the whole experience was something that I will never forget.  It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity, that will stay with me forever, especially that last night!  Man, I tell you the spirits were in full effect and out!!!  And yes, we were all delirious by that point, especially the Transducer who I must say did a better job of staying sane after not having slept for almost 4 days, than Renee and I! LOL

I feel extremely lucky to have been a part of it, and the experience of it all, even surreal and out of this world at times, will stay with me forever.

Amor y Paz,

Sambarella

Ps. Pictures coming soon!

That's crazy that James Brown passed man, Nevachange and I were just watching him loaded on tv, talking about . . .It's a Man's world! . . Much respect to the Gofather of Soul.

I am really looking forward to 2007 baby!  27 is my number and I can only wonder what is waiting up ahead.    Much love and sweet wishes to all, hope everyone has good year :)

Don't Let No One Get You Down

Dear friends,

Last night I attended a screening of Robert Greenwald's "Iraq for Sale" for more information: www.iraqforsale.org This film is a must see for anyone that has loved ones in Iraq!

Our government has awarded BILLIONS of USD (Your taxpayer money!) to companies like Halliburton (Dick Cheney was the ex CEO), Blackwater, Titan and Caci. These companies are sub-contractors that provide services in Iraq that our soldiers are there to do.

To give you an example, Halliburton has been contracted to provide for food and potable water for our soldiers. The company overbills the government (You the taxpayer) millions of dollars for things such as:

Feeding soldiers - as it is because they make more money having set feeding times, they do not offer soldiers the opportunity for 24 hour food, which then resulted in the successful attack on the military base during lunch hours.

If the insurgency knows what the eating schedule of the troops is, it is only natural that they would attack during this time. If the company allowed for soldiers to be able to eat throughout the day it could have saved the lives of those that perished in that attack.

There were interviews with previous Halliburton employees on how the company did not purify the water the soldiers were to use for showering, cleaning, drinking. Although they continue to bill the Govt (US) billions of dollars for doing so. This means that many soldiers will come back from Iraq being exposed to viruses such as typhoid, malaria, hepatitis, parasites, etc. without them knowing because they used contaminated water that Halliburton was contracted to decontaminate. The worse part is that Halliburton is aware of all of this, and so is congress and nothing will be done!

Information processing companies such as CACI are being contracted to conduct sensitive intelligence interviews to detainees in Abu Ghraib (where most Iraqi POW are being held) meanwhile they have no proper training, instead of having our soldiers conduct these interviews. This is a serious intelligence problem!

The list goes on and on. Aside from our military and navy suffering the consequences of US corporate greed and a government that sees american lives as expendable, you have people like truck drivers from accross the US going to Iraq to make money by driving supplies trucks from these companies, many on an unknown death sentence since if their lives are lost then they need to be replaced which means additional contracts and funds for these companies.

Not to mention that these sub-contractors are getting paid 3 X as much as our military personnel is for sometimes doing nothing! Even worse was that many soldiers interviewed, spoke about how they have to train these contractors to perform the jobs they (the soldiers) were responsible for.

Check out www.iraqforsale.org for many FREE screening accross the US. If we dont spread the word and demand our government to change, we are just vulnerable sitting ducks with ideals of an America that is by the people for the people when it is really by the corporations for the money.

Julia
aka Sambarella

So I crashed Moet's party at fashion week and it was a delightful experience indeed. . . There is something about sipping 10+ glasses of champagne that makes the heart grow fond, even better when you are not even done and there is a hot bottle boy ready to refill your flute.

The heatherette party had to be the most fun with the wide and super fab assortment of in-the-scene drag queens with better make up than some of the runway's favorite skeletons.  Why is it that designers do not follow their own fashionista agenda and show up in less than noticeable garbs?  Though Richie Rich seems like a character. . . I was diasppointed at the lack of glamour which seemed only natural for such a high press event. . . though I must admit I do love flashing lightbulbs at a grand entrance even if mine is premature. . .I can't lie but I have a weakness for the lens.

Thanks to Ary for provinding unlimited access to this fashion elite gala of which the most fashion conscious still manage to make it to a poor man's worst dressed list.  Yet the question remains, what was inside the UPS man's short shorts that made his "package" ever so ready to deliver?  How did they manage to get a booth?