Notes About ‘AMY’ | The Amy Jade Winehouse Bio-Doc Directed By Asif Kapadia

Prologue:

Long before the first frame of the Asif Kapadia film AMY found a home in the documentary tribute to Amy Jade Winehouse, the director’s team encouraged fans of the London jazz-singer turned international superstar to talk about what kind of movie they wanted to see produced. This egalitarian approach earned the filmmakers the respect and admiration of a good number of hardcore AJW fans, and may have yielded some worthwhile guiding principles for the film-team to consider. Since I and other AAN associates were among the fans that ‘lobbied’ for the kind of film that would be well received by us, it seems appropriate that my notes on AMY must be colored by my view of how well my own hopes for the film were met.

For what seemed like way too long, I looked forward to the film’s release. Then, when it came time to see it, I was overcome with the fear that seeing the Jade-Mermaid Princess on the big screen would be too emotionally draining. The vision of a grizzled old cowboy collapsed in a puddle of his own tears on the floor of a public theater was not pleasant. I had pretty much resolved to wait for the DVD and the opportunity to breakdown in private.

Nobody involved with AAN is a stranger to tears, or to that horrid sore-throat feeling that comes with the recurring realization of the loss that the world suffered four-years ago. Having manipulated more than 20,000 images of AJW, it may seem that we should be immune to the pain, but that is not the case. In fact, the constant exposure to the images has no curative properties at all; it may actually serve to keep the pain more alive and more intense.

After much encouragement from persuasive folks, I decided that I owed it to Amy’s memory – and to my own sense of paying tribute – to man-up and showup at the cineplex. What follows are my own respectfully offered and honest views on the film AMY, which I watched twice on consecutive days.

AMY Alt-Poster By Kleitson

Some Random Notes:

When contemplating the merits of a film, it is pretty easy to take the fast and easy way out by simply labeling it a ‘masterpiece’ or ‘junk.’ As an old guy, I avoid hating things but if I had to hate something it would likely be book, film, art reviews that reach rapid and simple conclusions; answers delivered without a full massage of the questions. While this entry could have been – and originally was – very much longer and far more detailed, obstinate editors decided to limit its length. I am consoled by reports that the AMY DVD will be released on October 26, 2015, at which time I will be given the chance to dissect and fully opine on each and every scene.

Within the first two-minutes of the film’s start, I knew that my breakdown barriers were not going to be breached. A strange sense of calm came over me as the face I have come to know so well filled the screen and seemed to be looking only at me. I felt that a friend I never met – and yet love as I do my grandkids – was telling me to relax and rest beneath the blanket of joy that she was about to unfold.

Folks who saw AJW perform in concert know that her stage presence was nearly unparalleled. No matter what else was happening upstage or down, the only thing you could look at was that tiny girl. So it is with the big-screen Amy, as her image seems to fill every inch of the real estate and everything else becomes invisible. Add potential movie-star to the list of things we lost when AJW made her final exit.

The early parts of the film are largely composed of never seen and infrequently seen vids and pics. But, there are many familiar images throughout the film that will make Amy fans comfortable and less fearful – more accepting – of what must inevitably come. The filmmakers showed respectful restraint in their selection of images. I saw none of the standard horror shots or bash-pics that are frequently used by the haters to wrongfully defame and discredit Amy.

Marketed and promoted under a ‘heartbreaking tragedy’ meme, AMY could have almost as easily been pumped as a ‘joyful celebration’ of the magnificent adventure that AJW – and her fans – experienced as she delivered the priceless treasures of her dynamic music and heart-melting personality. Just because we all know that the story ends in the worst possible way is no reason to allow maudlin expectations to diminish the fact that the film shows Amy in an extremely positive and uplifting light. AJW’s charm and humor are just two of the remarkable qualities shown that all fans should spend more time being grateful for having been allowed to adore when she was with us.

The first time the music got loud, I rejoiced that I had abandoned my plan to wait for the DVD. Big TVs and speakers are great, but AMY really deserves to be first experienced in a theater. While no fan ever gets enough of AJW’s music, there are ample tunes featured in the film for both newbies and oldtimers. There is small doubt that additional musical offerings – perhaps including some early live, and international performances – will likely be featured in the sundry DVD releases.

Though we all know that film is a ‘director’s medium,’ and clearly AMY director Asif Kapadia‘s vision is the loving and respectful one that appears on the screen, only the supreme skills of film editor Chris King could have delivered that vision. Because AMY is largely assembled from variations of the thousands of images that AJW fans have become familiar with, the task of assembling those pieces into a contiguous storytelling vehicle could only be accomplished by a genius assembler of celluloid jigsaw puzzles. King deserves mega-props for his spectacular achievement.

The powerful saga of AMY is told in a straightforward, right linear and fast-paced fashion. There are no boring parts; none at all, which is kind of rare for a two-hour movie. Nobody was squirming in their seat and nobody at either of the two screenings I attended took a snack or toilet break. [I know that because I always snake a backrow seat when I plan to write about the experience.] There was lots of appropriate laughter when Amy was being Amy, and a fair number of gasps at some particularly startling onscreen action. There was no talking, no ringing phones, everybody sat seemingly spellbound. There were a few Kleenex users near me, and when the low-lights came on just about everybody remained seated to watch the credits or, perhaps, to make sure their tears were properly dried.

While some folks have commented that the film is a bit long, and others that it is too short, the length felt right to me, but longer would have been fine as long as the pace remained the same. Are hardcore Amy fans really ready to see a nearly four-hour opus like Scorsese’s Dylan flick? Probably, but the newbies required to help expand the AJW fanbase and spur a new round of music sales ‘ain’t got half-a-day’ to spend learning every tiny-penny detail that the devoted worshipers and serious cultists crave. And, obviously, it is hard for a film to be commercially viable if its length radically reduces the number of times it can run each day. Novices want a spirited and fast-moving primer that is exciting, fun to look at, and feels jam-packed with info. AMY contains enough tidbits for oldhands and is short enough to capture and hold the attention of newcomers.

Folks who have found the film to be not comprehensive enough and/or not all-inclusive, neglect the fact that you cannot load 100-pounds of diamonds into a two-pound sack. With many hundreds of hours of material – and only two-hours to reveal it in an interesting and entertaining way – tough decisions have to be made. No one is more aware of that degree of difficulty than are the AMY filmmakers; by all traditional metrics, their challenge was remarkably well met.

My desire to see Amy treated ‘fairly and respectfully’ – as I alone define those concepts – is at the heart of my own criteria to determine whether or not this film has merit. I wanted to see AJW shown as a musical genius who altered the world of modern music; and, as a decent, honorable, and terminally ill human who was terribly and wrongfully abused by circumstance and society. In my view, AMY delivers magnificently on both counts.

For far too long, Amy’s life has been characterized as a matter of ‘great music and bad conduct.’ That half-right assessment is, of course, founded in disease chauvinism; the false and vile dogma that actually, in part, helped usher Amy’s unjust departure. AMY makes it sufficiently clear that the ‘conduct bashers’ are wrong in both their conclusions and their own despicable conduct. The conduct of humans suffering from the disease-ensemble that long plagued AJW is a symptom of those ailments; not a comedic topic and not a character defect.

It is also important to note that at virtually all of the dozens of post-screening Q&A sessions conducted by the filmmakers, the issue of the illnesses afflicting AJW has been discussed among the participants. Such public chats are extremely valuable in raising awareness and understanding of mental illness and its consequences.

Though I understand the magnitude of our collective loss as much as any longtime rank-and-file AJW fan, digesting the film has given me a minor sense of peace that I have not really felt since July 2011. I do not at all confuse that feeling with the myth of closure, but it is still welcome relief. Your results may vary, but at the very least you should feel that your fandom is fully vindicated when you see AJW so wonderfully exalted on the big screen by a world-class filmmaker.

Of the scores of AMY reviews published in the past two-months, I can just about count on one-hand the number of reviewers who correctly point out that the film is not just a funeral dirge or a loss lament. It is, in more than equal part, a celebration of the ultra-extraordinary human being that was AJW. Amy was not a ‘tragic figure’ and she was not harmed by ‘demons.’ She was a smart woman who excelled in her art and business, and suffered from a terminal disease that was never successfully addressed and ultimately claimed her life.

AMY Alt-Poster By Adam Cockerton

The Controversies:

Since a fair amount of publicity surrounding AMY has related to very nice folks who were not satisfied with the way they feel they were portrayed in the film, it would be far too politically correct, expedient, comfortable and cowardly not to briefly address that issue here.

There has been speculation about whether the filmmakers had a particular agenda from the outset of their project. A plan, if you will, to create a heroine that was vexed by evil forces and people who could be cast as caustic villains. To be polite in describing the nature of the ‘learning curve’ faced by the film-team when they began planning AMY, I’m not going to say they were ‘clueless’ about their subject matter. Instead, I’ll just say they seemed ‘not clue rich.’ Early on, AJW fans were asked questions by the film-team such as, “Who should we talk to?” It is hard to make a case that an agenda-driven film was in the making with such elementary queries being made.

However, in my view, the point and counterpoint are both moot. Quite simply, while some of the film’s content may make some folks uncomfortable, there are absolutely no allegations posed by the film against any of the persons featured. The film is only about Amy, and it tells the story of some of what was happening around her during certain points in time. Nothing in the film attacks anybody, no villains are specifically charged, and no individual blame is assigned.

Not being at all naive, I well understand that many viewers will infer certain things from the words and images in the film. But, as slight salve for that truth, I can offer my strong good-faith belief that there is nothing within the small complained of portions of AMY that was not long previously known to all serious AJW fans and YouTube scourers.

While I regret any ‘hard feelings’ that may have developed between some AJW fans during the promotional phase of the film, I do not regret supporting the only non-familial, major-media release to date that portrays Amy Jade Winehouse as the decent, humble, trusting and loving human genius that she was.

AMY Alt-Poster By Simon Carpenter

Conclusion:

AMY is, by any objective standard, a masterwork documentary. Kapadia’s ‘acquired love’ for his subject bleeds from every frame, and his only bias is revealed to be a fierce affirmative defense of Amy’s decency, artistry and innocence. He accomplishes his mission without once telling his audience exactly what they should think or believe. Pics, vids, music, lyrics, and voices take viewers on a strangely comforting mystery tour; while they wish they never had to make the trip, they will ultimately be glad they did.

Time will tell how long AMY can remain my pick as the definitive film-primer on the life and times of Amy Jade Winehouse. There will be future films, but Kapadia’s masterfully crafted overview will be very difficult to dethrone.

If for any reason you have avoided taking a looksee at AMY, you should remedy that circumstance now. Do not be afraid of the ‘sad meme’ that has prevailed; there is plenty of fun, excitement, joy and love in the mix, too. As ‘awards season’ approaches, numerous special screenings should be available hither and yon. Don’t cheat yourself; go see this film.

The Asif Kapadia gang is in the vanguard of a ‘new wave’ in documentary filmmaking. There is a longstanding reason that so many docs get made and so few attract a paying audience, and it’s not the absence of a secret sauce or the lack of interesting subject matter. Every aspiring doc-maker should go to school on both AMY and Kapadia’s previous film Senna. Forget film school, just employ AK’s anti-boredom techniques and you will have cracked the code.

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Brazil’s Kleitson: Amy Jade Winehouse Tribute Artist Interviewed

This week, Gisele Burjack, a reporter with T1 News Tocantins – BRAZIL conducted a very brief interview with the longtime Amy Winehouse tribute-artist known as Kleitson. They talked about the ongoing International AMY Film Alternate-Poster Competition, which closes on June 21; and about Kleitson’s love for Amy and his excitement at the prospect of the film coming to Brazil.

What follows is an AAN translated summary of that brief interview. The original interview in Portuguese is linked here.

Gisele Burjack: When will the film open in Brazil?

Kleitson: No date has yet been set, but we hope very soon. As soon as the poster contest is completed, I will turn my attention to helping to encourage the filmmakers to bring AMY to Brazil as quickly as possible.

Gisele Burjack: How do you feel taking part in an international competition?

Kleitson: Obviously, for me, it is a great honor to participate in the contest. Not only because my featured work is well received but because I can best express my love for Amy Winehouse through my art. Everyone in Brazil is super anxious to see AMY – due to their love for the singer and because of director Asif Kapadia’s ‘star status’ here – so I feel really lucky to be part of the art competition.

Gisele Burjack: Your admiration for Amy seems to go beyond your artistic work as a draftsman?

Kleitson: Yes. I can say with 100% certainty, I always keep Amy inside of me, in my heart. She inspires me, guides my art.

AMY Posters  –  By  Kleitson

Gisele Burjack: What about Amy inspires you?

Kleitson: Her spirit, sincerity, voice, talent and humility all inspire me. I think she was never fully aware of her own genius.

Gisele Burjack: Which side of Amy guides your designs?

Kleitson: Like many fans, I felt I ‘knew’ Amy even though I never met her. She was smart, funny, unique, sweet. Through her music, I feel she guides my desire to show those qualities in my art.

Gisele Burjack: How have people reacted to your AMY posters?

Kleitson: People from around the world have contacted me and expressed their appreciation for my art. I was so honored when even Amy’s mother complimented my skills.

Gisele Burjack: What are your expectations about the contest?

Kleitson: I think I have a chance to win. I believe a lot in my work because it is more conceptual than most.

Gisele Burjack: Have you received orders for your work as a result of the contest?

Kleitson: I have received some orders but have declined them all because I am totally focused on the current competition, and will be until it closes.

Gisele Burjack: How many posters have you entered in the competition?

Kleitson: I think I have the most entries. Thus far, I have 19 different posters in the competition.
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AAN Favorites

You can view the full Kleitson Poster Collection here.

You can read more about Kleitson and his posters at this previous AAN entry.

Additional media coverage of Kleitson in Brazil will be posted on this blog through June 22, 2015.
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Brazilian Artist Kleitson Enters ‘AMY’ Film Alt-Poster Competition

The folks at Altitude Film Entertainment – UK distributors of the new Asif Kapadia documentary AMY – have launched an Alternate-Poster Competition. Artists from around the world have been invited to submit their alternate designs for a poster to be used in the promotion and marketing of the film. Submissions are being aggregated on the PosterSpy website and will be judged by the filmmakers at the close of the contest on June 21, 2015.

Among the early entrants in the worldwide competition is Brazil’s Kleitson. A former teen-prodigy and a currently well known illustrator, Kleitson is a self-taught artist. As a youth, he was ranked among the Top 10 artists in the Corel International Design Contest. Kleitson’s work has been praised by the UK’s Prince Charles, and was honored by Brazil’s Federal Senate in 2010. The winner of numerous art competitions, Kleitson’s most important qualification to participate in the AMY Alt-Poster Contest is his “unconditional love” for Amy Jade Winehouse.

“It is always nice to win competitions, but I am honored just to participate in the AMY contest,” Kleitson said. “I draw Amy with love in my heart and soul.”

“If Beardsley or Lautrec saw this Kleitson poster outside of an entertainment venue, they would no doubt be compelled to go inside.” — AAN

Kleitson has been an enthusiastic friend of the Fan Club Trouble founding chapter in Brazil. His Amy-Tribute Art has been featured in Trouble Expositions that help preserve AJW’s musical legend, and promote and support the fine work of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

“The output of the highly-skilled and prolific Kleitson is eclectic. He can serve up multiple styles, each with its own charm, character and technical appeal.” — AAN

“I am not too good with words, but I hope my tribute art always shows the unconditional love and respect I have for Amy,” Kleitson said.

A humble guy, not comfortable with promoting himself, the exceptional artist is needlessly self-conscious about his “lack of English skills.” But, as AAN says daily: If any human speaks Amyish, their other lingos are irrelevant; they are Amyites, they are us, we are one in our love for Amy Jade Winehouse.

‘You Can’t Hide Your Flyin’ Eyes’  –  By  Kleitson

Brazil and its people were very special to Amy. She spent time and effort in Brazil building a base of loyal and adoring fans that have eagerly awaited the release of AMY. Kapadia’s previous film SENNA remains hugely popular in the country; a unique synergy of history and circumstance exists in Brazil that will likely help assure a very popular reception for AMY.

No one knows what the outcome of the current poster competition will be. But, in our view, there is no doubt that the filmmakers would well serve their own and fans’ interests by making sure that a Kleitson poster graces theater fronts when AMY opens in Brazil.

You can enjoy the large and growing collection of Kleitson AMY Alt-Posters at the link.

The Kleitson Collection

…

Artists wishing to participate in the Alt-Poster Competition can submit their ORIGINAL ART entries here: PosterSpy

Good luck to all the competing artists.

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AANPN Makes First Rev-Disbursement To Amy Winehouse Foundation

In accord with its published disbursement schedule linked below, AANPN has made its first annual distribution of page-generated revenues. The disbursement includes all of the tiny pennies earned through February 2013. As per our pledge, 100% of those funds have been transmitted to the Amy Winehouse Foundation USA.

Although the AANPN hobbyists are not about raising funds, we are still very pleased that our hobby pages raised a few dollars in their first year of service; all such funds were truly raised a tiny-penny at a time. The hobbyists are very grateful to the page viewers; without those visitors, the pages would earn no pennies. We are excited about the prospects of creating even better pages in 2013 and expanding the current fleet.

Most of the small revenues garnered come from ad-impressions that are determined by the gross number of views and clicks that a page generates. The formula to determine page revenues is complex and varies on each venue that AANPN publishes on. In some cases, way more than 100 page views are required to earn a tiny penny. In most cases, page traffic determines page ranking and the percentage of site-revenues received by each page.

Many of the subject pages have AMZN sales modules attached; small numbers of pennies are earned via the modules, but sales across the fleet have been negligible. Links to vendors supporting the AWF through the sale of merchandise are also incorporated in the pages, but there is no way to track the performance of those links and the AANPN does not earn any pennies from them. In 2013, we will be looking at better ways to encourage merch vendors to support the AWF in exchange for promotional links on our pages.

Because the AANPN gang is in the information delivery game, we spend virtually no time thinking about fundraising. Our mission is about raising awareness, not about raising funds. Most of our pages are published on venues that are not typically thought to be populated by Amyites; for that reason, we can judge that we have been successful in reaching readers that would have otherwise been unlikely to receive our message.

All of the AAN hobbyists are proud to be a miniature part in helping to preserve the legend and promote the philanthropic legacy of the JadeMermaid Princess. Raising a few dollars for doing something that we would gladly do for no money at all is a fun thing. We know that we are in the vanguard of a hobby that will continue to expand, and we are pleased to be able to create pages that can earn likkle residual revenues for the AWF for many years to come.

To learn more about how you can participate in the Amy Page Hobby and support the Amy Winehouse Foundation, read the AAN Disbursement Schedule entry and the many previous entries in the AAN blog. The AANPN helps promote all other respectful Amy Pages, and newcomers to the hobby are always welcome.

Thank you to all of our readers. We are honored by your continued interest in our pages and we appreciate your frequent visits.

The AAN Disbursement Schedule

The AANPN Website

The Jadeink Leafography

The Amy Winehouse Foundation Websites

AWF-UK

AWF-USA

Amy Jade Winehouse Tribute Art Featured On Zujava

The AANPN crew has published a new page to celebrate the extreme proliferation of tribute art that pays homage to Amy Jade Winehouse. The page will be frequently updated with new galleries that encourage fans to become more familiar with the artists that continue to provide terrific art for the enjoyment of all those who love AJW.

http://www.zujava.com/amy-jade-winehouse-tribute-art-educational-exhibit-list

It is also hoped that new artists will study the galleries and learn the techniques used by their more experienced peers in memorializing images of AJW.

Artists – of all skill levels – wishing to have their work featured in updated galleries are welcome to participate. All uplifting and respectful submissions will be published. Submit pics to amysarmynow@yahoo.com.

Amy Jade Winehouse: One Year Later, Tears Not Dry

Anybody expecting a long dirge here today will be disappointed. I just don’t have it in me to express the pain with dark words. I am not at all burned out, just badly burned.

As we mark the one year anniversary of the day that the JadeMermaid Princess left us, the temptation to be overcome by paralyzing pain and sadness is powerful. Counseling the avoidance of such feelings is easy, abiding that counsel is hard.

In the past year, those who love AJW have made great progress in helping to assure that the true legend of her life and music will long survive, and that her philanthropic legacy will grow for many generations. Yet, I must admit, the only bright spot I can clearly ascertain in her absence is that she is now forever safe from the hurt of the words and deeds of others that lacked her sublime decency.

We will continue to abide AJW’s call to “live the dream,” and we will keep moving forward. The notion of tears drying on their own has been given the lie, but we are grown and we will get through this desperately hurtful and empty time.

It is easy to allow the crushing sadness to wipe away the great memories. At the end of the day, we must be less sad that the magnificent adventure has ended than we are glad that we had a chance to experience that adventure. It’s not easy, but it’s doable; it must be.

We will never be the same after feeling a part of her life and suffering at her departure. We will always be better for having received the message she delivered, and we will always lament the brevity of her time with us. Fate dealt the hand ordained and we will play it.

If AJW returned to our realm, her first word to you would be, “Alright?” We have a duty to always maintain strong minds and bodies, to assure that our resounding answer would be, “Alright!”

I often acknowledge that I am the luckiest human on the planet; my entire life has been charmed. As I count good fortune, I place my discovery of AJW’s music – and seeing her perform it – at the top of my chip stack. No artist ever delivered more joy, to me. Now, harsh and lasting grief is simply the price I must pay. I will handle it, and you will, too.

Please celebrate AJW’s life responsibly today and be ready for the September birthday anniversary fun that is being planned everywhere. Thanks!

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For updates on Amy Winehouse Foundation activity in the USA, visit:

http://tinyurl.com/bw344ud

For an AANPN overview of the history of the AWF, visit:

http://tinyurl.com/cu2htwk

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Book Review: ‘Amy, My Daughter’

Absent a fiduciary relationship dictating to the contrary, no one has an obligation to favorably review the written work of someone they like and admire. The only duty of a nonobligated reviewer is to tell his own truth; here is mine.

To date, the long awaited Mitch Winehouse volume, Amy, My Daughter is clearly the finest written offering on the life and times of Amy Jade Winehouse.

The challenge faced by reviewers bearing warm feelings about the subject matter of AMD will be to remain focused on the style of the book and leave alone their personal views about AJW. That task will not be mastered by me; it is simply not possible for me to divorce my own feelings regarding AJW from anything I write about subjects related to her. I always like to review good books, and I never like to review the lives of the people who write them. Consider my comments herein with that in mind.

I often refer to AJW’s journey as a “magnificent adventure.” AMD gives readers an involved insider’s view of that trek, and does so in an interesting, engaging and powerful manner. The book is an entertaining pageturner and there are truly no boring parts. Constructed, in part, from event contemporaneous diary entries, the story is told in a straightforward style that is super easy to follow and encourages folks to absorb the book in one long read.

AMD paints the accurate picture of a loving and ordinary parent engaged in a good faith war to save his beloved child. The author admits his lack of knowledge in some relevant matters and the most sophisticated readers should remind themselves that, notwithstanding any contrary historical notions, ignorance is not a sin. The inevitable “why didn’t he?” questions raised by readers are largely based in cocksure arrogance and/or the questioners’ own ignorance. The simple fact is that no parent “knows the things they don’t know” during their engagement in an AMD-style crisis; most such parents become gropers and blindly rely on the “expert” voices they are offered. Such reliance precludes third-party judgements of failure and exempts the actors from all but the guilt they routinely and wrongfully foist on themselves.

The major import of AMD, to knowledgeable fans of the megastar, is to be found in confirmation and not in revelation. Experienced Amyphiles can, in my view, rely absolutely on the truth of MW’s account; many of those truths were largely long known to seasoned fans and having them confirmed by a close participant is valuable, but AMD is revelatory of old truths more than expository of new secrets. Newcomers to the subject will find the generously offered details fully satisfying.

Amyites looking for the all encompassing and definitive biography of AJW will have to wait for skilled historians to brew and bake a bit longer. AMD simply offers what I deem to be the true and accurate telling of the author’s observations and feelings about the events he experienced as the public and private drama of his daughter’s terminal disease engulfed him.

The author’s wit and charm are compelling inside of AMD and are likely to soften some folks’ perceptions of him; the sympathy you want to feel for him may flow freely. Except for the general circumstance of his saga, he is not likely to make you cry in his telling, but you may feel the pain of his experiences in a way that you have not before.

The volume is skillfully compiled to interest a mainstream audience. That demo is critical to helping the Amyites preserve the legend and promote the philanthropic legacy. The AJW aficionados simply have to accept that most early books, regardless of who writes them, are going to be rather “basic” in nature. The advanced analytical writings can come as interest in the subject increases; and, it will.

Though I kind of like the full expression of feelings and opinions, I also know that it is not necessary for a writer to say everything he feels and thinks about the real life antagonists in his work. Seasoned bashers of BFC will applaud MW’s verbally harsh treatment of the sick manchild that the equally ill AJW loved much. That AJW was fully energized with the decency gene and her cohort was imbued with likkle but pure and demented evil will always make the trashing of the latter acceptable to the vast majority of those who love her, but I find even the most justifiable after-action hate to be harmful to its bearers and avoid expressing it; even when I feel it beyond measure.

If AMD was a work of fiction, I would note that the BFC character should have been eliminated from the story – by any means necessary – long prior to his ever having established a dominant position in the tale. In real life, public post-outcome bashing is easy to advise against – and hard to rise above – but its vent value is, to me, unseemly and the currency of its truth is outweighed thereby. When a nonfiction villain is indeed fully illustrated to be a “lowlife scumbag,” his conduct speaks to that fact and even the most involved storyteller need not be redundant in restating the obvious. I well know that my view in this matter is that of a tiny minority, and I cite it merely as a small point in the AMD narrative that might cause a slight sympathy-losing chill among some readers.

[DISCLAIMER: I am not so straightlaced that I did not laugh heartily upon entering the search term “lowlife scumbag” and getting a page-one GOOG return of a picture of BFC.]

AMD offers a bit of insight into some minor details of AJW’s business dealings. Folks who have grown tired of her being falsely portrayed as a brainless dunce that knew/cared nothing about her business should be somewhat satisfied. Future biographers are given a good resource of names that will prove useful in their efforts to flesh out the totality of AJW as a real human being that is exponentially more than just a disease victim.

It is also interesting to have revealed some details regarding the insiders’ recognition of the serious war that was being waged against AJW by a corrupt and vile media. While fightback efforts were never really successful, fans will at least learn that the hometeam was far from oblivious to the evil works of the demoralizing defamation machine.

As a strident and militant warrior in the ongoing battle against the deadly dogma of “disease chauvinism,” I found only a slight and grossly understated bone toss at page 206 of AMD, where the author meekly notes:

“… I also began to realize that, for most people, addiction is an illness, an illness that needs treatment, just like any other. …”

In my view, that mostly true but overly reticent observation represents a lost opportunity for a widely respected person to further spread the truth that has been recognized by the USA Government, via the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse:

Substance addiction is a terminal brain disease, the components of which obviate the patient’s ability to adequately exercise freewill choice.

Story and Video Re: NIH/NIDA     http://tinyurl.com/7u6kknk

Until that scientific fact becomes the prevailing medical paradigm – and it will – every parent on the planet will remain vulnerable to the same heartbreak now being suffered by AMD‘s author. The corrupt dogma of disease chauvinism rends the credibility destroying and dehumanizing stigmatization that heaps shame and embarrassment on the sick and often precludes, hinders, or delays their successful treatment. Though understandable and completely expected, the author’s failure to forcefully attack the anti-science gangs in the context of the AJW story was personally disappointing, but does not harm either the biographical or entertainment value of AMD.

Picture lovers will be pleased with the selected offerings. Some of the photos are “new,” some are not. Hopefully, a future pictorial volume will incorporate all of the hidden treasures not shared this time out.

The inclusion in the book of what seems to be the full text of AJW’s early Sylvia Young entrance essay is a super nice touch and makes the popular pull-quotes even more powerful. Personal notes and greeting cards from AJW also add charm and tears to the mix.

Is AMD a strong enough vehicle from which to devise a major film? Absolutely, but, perhaps, it should be contemplated to be crafted as a story about MW’s travails in the saga and not as a straight-up AJW biopic. That formula might be slightly more palatable to the adamantly “no movies” crowd.

All things considered, it is very difficult to find any real fault with AMD. Fans of AJW will like it a lot and many new fans will be born among those coming to the subject for the first time. That we all desperately wish this book never had to be written is a given; that every fan and every parent read it is a necessity spawned by the most hurtful circumstance that many of us have ever experienced.

All author proceeds are pledged to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

New Amy Jade Winehouse Pages Continue To Launch: Promo Efforts Must Improve

Written By: Sandy Prezan

New Amy Pages are being launched each week, but efforts to promote them straight out of the gate are lagging production. The AANPN has expanded its reach and knows how to help get new pages in front of a broader audience and increase readership. But, if we don’t know that such pages have been published, we can’t help.

The likkle AAN crew does not have the resources to scour the internet everyday looking for each and every new Amy Page. Additionally, the indexing lag of the search engines is often too great to make such hunts useful. The fast solution:

If readers find a respectful new Amy Page, they should leave a link to the page in the comments section of the top post on the Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory:

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

The new page will be entered into the directory promptly.

………………………………….

My morning chat with Hank:

SP: Are we having any impact on page promotion?

HM: I dunno. I do know we are asking people to build pages and showing them how to do it. When we find new pages, we place them in the directory and if the page owners want us to help promote the pages aggressively, we will do so.

SP: Why aren’t more page publishers asking for promo help?

HM: Maybe some are just shy. As you know, we will help promote all respectful pages. The PAs need to ask for that help. We aren’t going to go entrepreneurial on every new page. If the PAs want assistance they need to ask and they need to furnish us the info we need to get the job done.

SP: What do you mean?

HM: I mean we need to know something about the hopes, goals and wishes of the PAs and their pages. We need them to tell us in writing about their pages and give us enough background info so we can easily build the kind of promo pages that we know will work. We can’t profile and promote pages, if the PAs can’t tell us their story.

SP: I think a lot of PAs want to remain anonymous.

HM: That’s fine and has nothing to do with promoting their pages. They can use a pen name – a pseudonym – but they have to tell us about their pages. We aren’t in the ‘page review’ business and we don’t have the resources to research and write profiles from scratch. The PAs have to tell us about their pages in writing. We can then rewrite and expand on what they have written and produce the promo pages.

SP: Any special requirements to get the free promo help?

HM: Treat the subject matter respectfully, and prominently feature links to stories about the activities of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Those are the only requirements.

SP: Realistically, how many pages can we actively promote?

HM: Most of them. If there are quality pages with PAs willing to tell their story, we can crank out nice promo pages on numerous venues. We know the formula for “pump pages” and nobody that wants to promote a nice and respectful page will be excluded.

SP: Is the current page directory getting the job done?

HM: Of course not. The changes to the facebook format are still a mystery to millions of users. Navigating the directory is no longer an intuitive exercise; as it was before the changes. Once users learn the new navigation scheme, the utility of the directory should be back to normal.

SP: Are you still building a freestanding directory?

HM: Yes, but I am surrounded by all of you lazy folks and the job is too ‘boring’ for you to do. (lol) Nobody wants to parse and edit the current directory so it can be alphabetized and replicated on a new site. So, I’m doing it myself, but it is slow going; on account of me being lazy and bored with it, too. (lol)

SP: Are some pages becoming overly competitive?

HM: No. Friendly competition between pages is making all of the active pages better. What we have to guard against and resist is the tendency for pages to become insular as they compete. What’s good for a single Amy Page is good for the Amy Page Movement. Competition does not preclude cooperation; when it does, pages will fall like dominoes and the APM will crash. Competition is always the greatest encourager of growth.

SP: What do you think of the content of the current APs?

HM: I like all respectful content. It doesn’t have to be slick or even unique, but it must be respectful for me to like it. I don’t like tabloid nonsense or nasty stuff, but any content that exalts AJW and promotes the Amy Winehouse Foundation is good with me.

SP: The AAN facebook page has lots of pictures on it now. How come?

HM: I am a fan of written content. I don’t particularly like pictures. The new facebook format and the interest of visitors have made more pictures appropriate. As time passes, a better content mix and a better balance will be achieved. Patience is always good.

SP: There have been questions about pictures of products on the facebook page and readers want to know where to buy some of the pictured items.

HM: Most of the pics are just for fun and to remind readers of the massive impact that AJW continues to have on popular culture. Unless the pictures are linked to a site noting that some of the proceeds from the sale of the merch are to be shared with the Amy Winehouse Foundation, readers can do their own online searches for the products they like. Unless the AWF benefits, we don’t promote any specific merch sales.

SP: Anything else?

HM: All good things Amy, all the time. Preserve the legend and promote the philanthropic legacy. That’s about it.

………………………………….

PAs of active Amy Pages on any venue – facebook, blog, website – are encouraged to let the growing AANPN help promote those pages. The network can profile your pages on numerous sites and help better position them in search results. If you want promo assistance, send an email with “promo help” in the subject line to amysarmynow@yahoo.com.

To learn more about the AANPN, visit:

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/index.html

To learn more about the Amy Winehouse Foundation, visit:

UK Website:  http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/

USA Website:  http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/us/

.

AANPN Begins Rollout of New Amy Winehouse Foundation Promo Pages

Following the launch of the LikkleJade pages, the planned expansion of AANPN pages is on schedule. All additional branded page series will be deployed before the end of 2012.

The LikkleLetters pages are expected to go live in May. As part of that series, AANPN is asking readers to begin submitting tribute “Letters To Amy.” Submitted letters will be presented in multiple volumes as their quantity increases.

Letter writers requesting the same will receive a byline and a backlink to their relevant online pages attached to their published submissions. Letters signed with “pen names” are welcome; writers may use their real name or a pseudonym. Multiple letters from one writer are welcome. Letters may be edited for clarity. Generally, letters should be twixt 300 and 500 words, but exceptional letters that are longer will also be published. All letters should be respectful in tone and content.

At the option of the writer, letter topics might include:

* Recollections about AJW, her music, her concerts, her life;

* Details of what AJW has meant to the writer;

* Details of how the writer is currently feeling about AJW;

* The writer’s hopes and wishes for the future of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

In short, writers may pen letters on any subject that they would if AJW was available to read them. It is hoped that this likkle experiment in letter writing will have a cathartic effect on letter writers. It will also allow readers to better understand that they are not alone in their strong feelings about AJW. And, it may even help educate some non-Amyites about the importance that AJW fans place on their feelings for the JadeMermaid Princess.

Letters should be submitted as “copy and paste” content to amysarmynow@yahoo.com. No letters should be submitted as attachments. Please place the words “Amy Tribute Letters” on the email subject line. Include the name you want on your letter and, if desired, a backlink to your own page.

As time passes, one or more “coolest letters” contests may be announced. All letters published from the launch of the LikkleLetters series will be eligible for entry into any such future contests.

………………………..

The branded expansion page menu is displayed here:

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/branded-pages.html

Very brief details about the expansion pages are displayed here:

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/about-aanpn.html

The initial pages in the new LikkleJade series are displayed here:

http://www.wikinut.com/author~qlskqm/likklejade/

Readers can help assure the acceptance and success of the expansion pages by clicking on the facebook, twitter, and google+ buttons displayed on all pages. Visits and clicks are used by the page venues to determine which pages might be moved to the frontpages of those venues. Such placement is very useful in exposing new audiences to the work of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Readers wishing to have the greatest impact on page promotion can take an extra minute and register at the sundry publishing sites; registrants are able to leave “internal likes” on the pages, which are very helpful in securing higher page rankings. As always, your help is needed and appreciated.

………………………..

Observers are now asking if the AANPN plans to launch:

* An online video channel.

* An online picture site that will aggregate and display properly credited pictures for use by Amy Pages and fans.

* An internet radio outlet that programs All Good Things Amy, All The Time.

The answer to all of the above is simple: If such projects can be accomplished in a totally not-for-profit mode, and will be beneficial to the promotion of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the likkle AANPN gang will act to expand its focus prudently and appropriately.

Stay tuned, be patient and of good cheer. Good things are on the way.

Amy Winehouse Foundation Juggernaut Lands in USA

On April 11, Mitch and Janis were on hand in NYC to establish a USA presence for the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Americans are excited!

As part of the USA launch, the AWF granted $10K to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, which works to preserve and restore music education for young folks. Unknown to most readers, AJW worked tirelessly to support and fund efforts to reopen music education departments in USA public schools; many such programs have been shutdown due to severe financial constraints. I guess the tabloids “forgot” to report that aspect of AJW’s life.

The first thing that bloggers and Amy Page makers need to do in support of the AWF-USA is to make sure:

1. That both the UK and USA AWF websites are linked on all blogs and Amy Page entries.

UK

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/

USA

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/us/

To date, the majority of traffic to the UK website has been from the USA. Yet, the site has barely three-dozen Alexa-recorded “links in” from credible and authority sites. While the likkle AANPN gang is very pleased to have contributed some of those links, the low overall count is not acceptable and must not be allowed to stand. Bloggers and pagemakers are in the best position to help remedy the problem. Now, today, is the time to act aggressively in the battle to substantially increase the AWF’s link count.

(NOTE: 48-hours following the posting of this entry, Alexa released a new audit that revealed approximately 400 “linking in” sites had been recorded. That new count is excellent and must continue to increase.)

2. That all future AJW/AWF-relevant entries to blogs and freestanding pages contain the TAGS “amy winehouse foundation” AND “charitable foundation.”

Until the AWF begins to earn its fair share of returns for the search term “charitable foundation,” the organization cannot reach its full potential. Your placement of the “charitable foundation” tag on your blog/page entries will help move us toward that goal.

All USA residents who love the JadeMermaid Princess are extremely proud that the AWF has landed on our shores. We are ready to help get the job done; anyone who doubts the American resolve in that regard should simply watch our actions in 2012 and beyond.

We enthusiastically welcome the Amy Winehouse Foundation to the USA. Thank you so much for coming!

New Page Series: Amy Winehouse Tribute Art Promos

As part of the AANPN growth scheme, a new series of pages will be devoted to original tribute art depicting images of Amy Jade Winehouse. The venue for the pages is currently undetermined, but will be one of the expansion sites and will be selected soon. The series will be widely promoted. If you are an artist creating respectful AJW art, your work can be included in the new series.

The page series is not a “talent contest” and all submissions of serious and respectful art – amateur and professional – will be included in the serial page set. There will be no written critiques of submissions; all art placed in the multi-volume series will be promoted equally. All art mediums are welcome.

If you have original art – created by you or your client – here is the submission protocol.

1. Submit a photo(s) of the art that you want displayed in the series.

2. Submit a full description of the art.

3. Include a brief bio of the artist.

4. Include any link(s) or contact info that you want included in the series.

5. Email to amysarmynow@yahoo.com.

Submissions that pledge a portion of sales proceeds as a timely contribution to the Amy Winehouse Foundation will be given placement preference in the series.

The page publisher will not take part in any sales transactions, so make sure that links to your sales venue and other contact info is included with your submission.

The purpose of the page series is to help expand interest in Amy Art, to assist artists in the promotion of their work, and to provide interesting content for AANPN readers. The first volume in the series will be published when an adequate number of submissions have been received; subsequent volumes will follow on the same basis.

Here are some of the new page brands that may be used in the series:

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/page-two.html

If you wanna play, let us hear from you.

Thanks.

AAN Page Network Primed To Expand

During 2012, the AAN Page Network will launch additional branded page sites. The new venues will present original content related to preserving the musical legend and promoting the philanthropic legacy of Amy Jade Winehouse.

As always, all original content featured on AANPN pages will be produced by unpaid volunteers and distributed at no cost for use by all Amy Page publishers. Skilled writers and other quality content producers will continue to be recruited to help assure that fans have a good supply of original and interesting material to enjoy.

Quotes From Hank:

“As the natural news cycle of AJW-centric stories winds down, I believe that the demand for additional original content will continue to expand. Our likkle crew hopes to help meet that demand.”

“All AANPN content will continue to promote the great work of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. We see the AWF as the backbone of the Amy Page Movement.”

“Aggregating readymade content was fun and easy for Amy Pages, while it lasted. Now, we must prepare for the next phase of our hobby.”

“Hopefully, we will find a good supply of talented writers and others that want to participate in our all volunteer efforts to help keep AJW a top-of-mind topic for a very long time.”

“Written content in each niche and genre will be rolled out. If it fits into our All Good Things Amy, All The Time motto, we want readers to have it.”

“We will continue to only use ‘free’ venues, as part of our serious effort to encourage new pagemakers to join the hobby. Obviously, we could have fancy pages built, but that would send the wrong message. We want to demonstrate that everybody can play in the Amy Page Movement, and that the only required investment is their time.”

“Every aspect of AJW’s life and times needs to be sensitively and positively explored and preserved in writing, if we are all to help meet the goal of keeping the JadeMermaid Princess alive forever in the hearts and minds of her fans and those who love her.”

“Our rodeo experience is substantial in managing the scale of projects. If we start to become overextended and lose the ability to do the job correctly, we will know it quickly and we will slow down. For now, it’s full speed ahead.”

“Since we have no need or desire to profit financially from any of our efforts, we have few restraints on the types of projects we can undertake. If, as some critics have alleged, we are ‘just propaganda hobbyists attempting to revise history,’ those critics may be very surprised by our ability to fight back. We don’t buy ink by the barrel, but we don’t need to.”

“At a time when our collective voices might have helped to alter the outcome of the AJW adventure, we feel that we shirked our obligations to someone who brought us great joy and we are not proud of those failures. We can’t change history, but we can make a meaningful contribution to ensuring that history gets the story right.”

“Folks participating in the Amy Page Movement are in the vanguard stages of building a great hobby that will be enjoyed by lots of folks during the coming decades. Our gang is thrilled to be able to make a small contribution to those building efforts.”

…

Readers can follow the growth of the AANPN at the linked page. As new venues go live, the likkle page will get bigger.

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/index.html

Everybody involved in the prospective expansion is very motivated to get the job done. Your participation in that effort is welcome, needed and appreciated.

Amy Winehouse SYTS Scholarship: Deadline Looms

On April 12, the window will close on a once in a lifetime opportunity for one lucky kid and their family. That day is the deadline for the filing of applications to receive the Amy Winehouse Foundation sponsored scholarship to attend the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London.

The scholarship is designed to allow a financially disadvantaged child to pursue his or her dreams of developing their natural talents in the area of drama, singing. and dance.

There is still time to submit a last minute application. If you are the parent of a “natural born star” – or know somebody who is – don’t sit on your hands; late applications cannot be accepted.

Full details about the scholarship and an application are at this link:

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/sylviayoungscholarship

Amy Jade Winehouse

When AJW was 13-years old, she wrote an application letter to the headmistress, Sylvia Young. That letter was preserved and reads:

“I want to go somewhere where I’m stretched right to my limits, and perhaps beyond to singing lessons without being told to shut up. But mostly I have this dream to be very famous. To work on stage. It’s my life long ambition. I want people to hear my voice and just forget their troubles for five minutes. I want to be remembered for being an actress, a singer, for sell out concerts, sell out West-end and Broadway shows, and for being just…me.”

For the education of the history buffs: The stories of AJW having been “expelled” from Sylvia Young are far from strictly accurate; tho, they do make for a fun and cool legend. During a time when one of the most talented students ever to present at the school turned 16-years old and became convinced that she absolutely could not continue with life unless she had her nose pierced, Sylvia Young became convinced that AJW was ready to meet the challenges that would be posed by William Ashton at the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. It was decided that Ashton would take over the duties of mentoring and educating the “self-determined and semi-unruly” genius. AJW simply moved to another venue; she was not run off from SYTS with a stick.

Next week, a youngster, not so very different than AJW was when she first sought to matriculate at Sylvia Young, will take the first steps in a life-changing adventure. That child could be someone you know and love, if you can meet the looming application deadline.

The pride and joy that AJW would feel watching the auditions of the kids vying to be educated in her name would be enormous. The awarded child will be watched closely and encouraged by AJW fans. We all wish them Godspeed and hope that their early promise will be fully realized in future years.

Regarding my own promise: Each time I post the above Likkle Mermaid’s picture, I promise myself and others that “this time, it will not make me cry.” One of these days, I will keep my promise; maybe.

Notes: State of the Amy Jade Winehouse Page Movement

A Transparency Note: As is sometimes the case, this brief summary has become a consensus entry. It was originally intended to be published in January, as a much larger and more detailed document. I wanted to be realistic and honest in the review, but I also wanted to avoid being either too optimistically positive or too cautiously negative. I wanted to cover lots of issues, but I didn’t want to bore readers with numbers and stats. I wanted to detail challenges, but I didn’t want to throw gasoline on them; to cast light, not heat. I didn’t want a Jerry Maguire document, just a constructive one that would be perceived as being offered in goodfaith.

Some yelling, lots of rewrites, major deletions, and last minute edits have led to this final draft. I believe it accurately – and in lay terms – briefly abstracts an overview of where the Amy Page Movement (APM) is today, and where the world of Amy Pages (APs) might be headed tomorrow.

The views of others will be different than my own; as you know, I’m OK with that. The views of my fellow volunteers and associates are important to me; if that was not the case, this would be a substantially “different” document. Hopefully, the subject matter is actually best addressed via a consensus derived summary.

______________________________

The overall state of the APM is very strong. Following July 2011, the proliferation of APs in all social media has been explosive; many hundreds of pages have appeared. The APM shows that it has ample room for expansion; that circumstance should persist through 2013. Demand from fans for additional quality pages continues to grow. Concurrent with that demand, the APM has now entered its first period of admin attrition.

Admin Attrition:

It is natural, as time passes, that some admins will lose interest in their pages, or be otherwise made unable to continue their efforts. Some APs will simply be neglected and others will be abandoned or deleted. There should be no recriminations against the retiring admins. The players are all hobbyists and when a hobby is no longer fun, other interests should be pursued.

Trying to separate the task of content assembly and creation from the emotional feelings that most page admins have about the subject matter is likely neither possible nor desirable. Those feelings help produce the best pages, but deliver the most pain to the admins. While readers may meet the sadness of a few posts, page admins feel the pain of reviewing, rejecting, assembling, writing many such posts each day. Thus, being angry with an admin who simply cannot handle it anymore would be unfair.

I know how difficult it is to maintain even a moderately well-frequented page. Finding or creating good content is a tough task and, often, an emotionally draining and hurtful one. There is certainly some satisfaction in keeping a nice page but, on balance, it is largely a rather painful experience.

Because my involvement in the APM is relatively atypical, it affects me in some fairly harsh ways. I often tell myself that I am in the hobby “for AJW and the Amy Winehouse Foundation.” But, the truth is more likely that I participate solely for my own selfish reasons of trying to hold onto the “closeness” I always felt to AJW when she was here. That selfish payoff has some personal value, but regularly delivers more pain than I can easily discuss.

The admins are all “grown” and they can either handle the downsides or they can quit the hobby. The strong admins will stand firm without being begged to do so. I merely note those downsides because I want readers to understand the circumstances and to avoid viewing the dropouts harshly.

Page Adoption:

As admins retire, there will be substantial opportunities for newcomers to “adopt” the pages of the retirees. While the creation of new APs remains the optimal goal of the APM, it is worthwhile for prospective new admins to consider the option of simply adopting an existing page. Many retiring admins will likely be amenable to transferring their neglected or abandoned pages to competent and earnest beginners.

Newbies wanting to play in the hobby should consider looking for an AP they like – that appears to be inactive – and simply asking the current admin if he/she would allow their page to be adopted. The adoption scheme has some advantages. Such APs are ready to roll and require less work than a fresh startup page does, and they usually come with at least some existing readership and traffic.

Page Consolidation:

The urge for multiple pages to “consolidate” with each other is a bit tempting, but it will mean the collapse of the APM and must be avoided. The demand for additional high quality pages exists; consolidation does nothing to help meet that demand.

Consolidation lightens the workload for admins, but delivers no material gain in traffic; due to the huge number of readers who frequent multiple APs. For purposes of preserving the legend and promoting the philanthropic legacy, any consolidation is destructive. It is better for both fans and the APM to have many active pages with light traffic, than it is to have just a few pages with relatively heavy traffic.

Competent large pages serve a fine purpose, but they cannot and do not meet the demand for All Good Things Amy, All The Time, in the same way that the smaller pages can and do. In the distant future, some consolidation may well serve the APM; we are not yet near that future.

Demographics:

I am not hoarding any secret math, but most of it would only bore readers. I can report that the average page traffic:

* Is just a likkle older than most folks imagine it to be;

* Is mermaid dominant by a fair margin, but sailor interest is increasing;

* Is majority fluent-English speaking by a rapidly shrinking margin;

* Is usually fonder of videos and pictures than it is of written content;

* Is willing to view both properly aggregated and original written content;

* Is “shy to engage” – leave comments and content “likes” – on even the friendliest pages, by a huge margin;

* Is a movable audience that wants current/interesting info/views, and will search for the commodity with fast clicks across multiple pages and venues;

* Is willing to display loyalty to the multiple pages that best meet their needs;

* Is, by a very large majority, willing to visit and “like” multiple APs.

Competition and Cooperation:

It is undeniable, understandable and fortunate that competition exists and will continue to exist between APs. The spirit of reasonable competition results in better, more interesting, and stronger pages. But, currently, cooperation rates remain inadequate between page admins. There are some admins who see the APM as a cooperative hobby, but far too few.

Obviously, it is not desirable that all APs should be working on the same projects all of the time. However, it is desirable that all AP admins, when possible and reasonably practical, support and promote large polling/voting projects, event projects, and other worthwhile efforts that are brought forward by their fellow admins and readers.

The divide between APs published in English and those administered from non-English speaking countries is particularly large and is likely the greatest weakness of the APM. The circumstance has the potential to prevent dynamic page increases, cause a hike in admin-attrition rates, and shorten the natural lifespan of the APM.

An impediment to worldwide growth rates is the misguided notion of “ownership rights” to the AJW legend and legacy by any segment of her fans. When such claims are advanced by admins in any nation, they are disregarding the fact that AJW invested thousands of hours – and big money – building an international fanbase. Without doubt her primary motives for the build were economic, but she likely also envisioned at least some sense of unity between global fans.

Claims by any nation’s citizens of an absolute proprietary interest in what AJW created are unfounded and serve only to weaken the APM, shrink the fanbase, and unravel the worldwide work she accomplished. In life, AJW “belonged” to the entire world; that the ages have her now, does not change that fact.

Folks who doubt the value of the international concept should chat-up some record execs and concert promoters, to better understand its importance. Cooperation – in all worthwhile projects – between page admins in all nations must increase substantially, if the APM wants to best benefit from and help preserve what AJW built.

Page admins from all nations should be made to feel welcome, and should be supported and promoted. Readers should be made to feel welcome on all APs, regardless of what their primary language is. If any human speaks Amyish, their other lingos are irrelevant; they are Amyites, they are us, we are one in our love for AJW.

…………………..

Nota: para Administradores de habla hispana y lectores.

Lo mismo se advierte en contra de las nociones nacionalistas se aplica igualmente a los administradores en los terceros países de habla inglesa. Se sirve bien a sus intereses para asegurarse de que los lectores de habla inglesa son bienvenidos en los puntos de acceso.

Administradores de página en todas las naciones deben hacer sentir bienvenidos, y deben ser apoyados y promovidos. Los lectores deben hacer sentir bienvenidos a todos los puntos de acceso, independientemente de cuál sea su lengua materna es. Si cualquier ser humano habla Amyish, sus Lingos otros son irrelevantes, sino que son Amyites, ellos son nosotros, somos uno en nuestro amor por AJW.

…………………….

For some admins, the use of the “sister page” concept is worth considering, to help increase cooperation between APs in diverse countries. Such cooperation does not preclude vigorous competition to produce quality pages, but allows admins to work together on projects that benefit their mutual goals of maintaining and expanding interest in AJW and the AWF.

The cooperation deficit is not only evident among smaller pages. The large pages also need to step-up their support and promotion of projects that are brought forward by the grassroots AP admins and others. Such support and promo is particularly important in the areas of sundry polls and small events.

Any consideration of an “AP Association” to offer support and guidance to the APM should be quickly rejected. While the concept is likely offered in goodfaith, it would be a de facto consolidation, would splinter the APM and, ultimately, lead to fewer and weaker pages. Strong independent pages are the future of the APM and they will be created by determined individuals; not by a collective aparat.

Page Content:

Page content is king and every admin has to make their own decision as to what kind of content will best appeal to their known and hoped for audience.

Skilled content aggregators have been at an advantage during the past eight months. That advantage is very rapidly vanishing; interesting and legit news content is in an irreversible downtrend. Soon, relevant and worthwhile readymade news items will be much more difficult to find.

Tabloid and gossip/trash “news” will soon dominate the available supply of easy to aggregate stories. Admins who use such material do a disservice to their own pages and weaken the APM, but they have an absolute right to feature whatever content they choose.

While current numbers show that videos and pictures are very popular, there is both a theoretical and actual limit to the number of times an audience wants to see the same vids/pics. Additionally, growing copyright issues could easily derail the future use of large amounts of such content.

Original content – created by page admins, their associates and readers – will become much more critical in page operation. Analysis of present/past news and music and performances, editorial style issue examinations, and current/historical reviews will be in demand. By late 2012, the “fan fiction” genre is likely to see both quality and trashy content rolled out. Pages that make wise picks from a growing supply of original content will do well and attract visitors.

Niche pages that deal with very narrow and specific aspects of their subject will likely become small but important parts of the APM. The tight focus of such pages will enhance visitor experiences and will have a growth impact on the entire APM. The niche pages will have a relatively small audience, but they will find a constant and stable readership.

Hybrid and Commercial Pages:

While most APs are nonprofit by design, it is likely that hybrid and commercial pages will begin to emerge. The hybrid pages will have components that benefit the Amy Winehouse Foundation, and will also generate revenues on their own behalf. There will also be purely commercial pages joining the mix. All appropriate and respectful pages can be sustaining forces for the APM.

New Pages:

New and worthwhile APs continue to arrive on the scene; there is room for many more. Fans that want to newly participate as publishers in the AP hobby will find some basic guidance herebelow.

* The easiest and fastest venue on which to launch a new AP is facebook. Simply click on the “create page” tab on your personal page and follow the simple instructions.

* Take a look at the Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory. Exploring the listed pages – large and small – will help you decide what you want the style and feel of your page to be. You will also gain an understanding of what kind of content is most popular. The AJWPD – and other AAN pages – will help to promote all pages that are appropriate and respectful.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

* Resist any desire to include the acronym “RIP” – or any other morose phrases – in the title of your page; there are more than enough nice pages with mournful tags. If you want your page to have long legs that will carry it deep into the future of AJW’s popularity, launch it with a positive and forward looking title.

* Decide what niche you want to participate in. Most existing APs are aggregators of general content and are not tightly focused. There is an unfilled need for pages that focus solely on ONE or TWO elements of AJW’s art and life.

* You will need some initial content to get started. The internet is full of great music videos, pictures, artwork, articles related to AJW. Choose content that you like, populate your page with it and the chances are good that your visitors will like it, too.

* Original content is the best draw for any new AP. If you can create such content – either with writing, music, artwork or videos – you will have an advantage in the game.

* If AJW is the heart of the APM, then the Amy Winehouse Foundation is its backbone. Make sure you “like” the AWF FB-page and adjust your “featured settings” to always display the AWF avatar on the “likes panel” of your page. Here are the easy how-to directions:

English:

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/note-to-facebook-amy-page-admins/

Spanish:

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/nota-para-facebook-pagina-amy-administradores/

* Once your page is online, you will want to get some folks to “like” it. The easiest way to get some early “likes” is to “like” some of the pages listed in the AJWPD linked above. Many admins will leave a reciprocal “like” for your quality page.

* Make sure you also “like” the comments on other pages and leave relevant comments about the content on those pages. Such engagement will generate “likes” for your page and its contents.

* Start following the AJW fans on Twitter. Place a link to your AP on your Twitter profile. Send appropriate and sparing tweets informing folks about your page; be polite, don’t be a spammer. You will gain some followers and some of them will “like” your AP.

* If you post on forums, bulletin boards or blogs, place a link to your AP in your sigline on those venues.

* If you comment on youtube videos, leave a link to your AP along with your comments.

* If you are a blogger, write some Amy-related content and link it on your FB-page. Be sure to place links to your AP and your Twitter profile on your blog. This kind of multiangular crossfire is a very powerful tool to help boost traffic to all of your pages.

* If you start volume blogging, join Digg and Stumbleupon. Both are excellent spots to promote your blog entries and will help lead readers to your AP.

* Join Squidoo, Zujava, HubPages, Wizzley, Infobarrel, Seekyt and create an AJW-centric page to promote your facebook page and other APs that you like. The backlinks on such pages are a very valuable part of your promotion efforts. Post your eligible content on Lensroll, Lenslike, and SpicyPages.

* A free website can be easily built/hosted on Weebly. A simple page linking to all of your other pages will help build your AP traffic.

* Many experts think that fancy templates help attract readers. I find that “fancy” is irrelevant, unless you are already a superstar that needs to have a slick page to rival that of your peers. Plain pages with good content can perform well without the glitz and flash.

* Many experts think that you need a “landing page” that requires visitors to “like” your page before they are allowed to view it. I find that concept ridiculous, unless your name is already known to everybody on the planet. Your only landing page should be the wall of your AP.

* Keep the tone of your page upbeat and informative. Negative items turn readers off and will hurt traffic.

* Unless you want a gossip page, avoid aggregating sensational or tabloid trash on your page.

* Some engagement between yourself and your visitors is critical to making your page work well. Make sure to “like” readers’ comments and respond when appropriate.

* Unless your page is a “directory” of other pages OR a “museum page,” be sure that your settings allow visitors to make new posts of their own.

* If someone posts an inappropriate item, uses gratuitous profanity, insults your subject matter, is mean to your other posters, or bashes your page simply delete the offending content and block the poster. Don’t get into flame wars with trolls; your readers won’t understand such fights and they will flee your page. It is not possible to “win” an argument on the internet, but you can easily “lose” one by arguing with evil or demented folks.

* If you have opinions about subjects not related to the topic of your page, keep them to yourself. Half of your readers will agree with such opinions and the other half will abandon your page. All Good Things Amy, All The Time is the only appropriate moto for an AP.

* Build cooperative relationships with other page admins. They will help you promote your page and you will help them promote their page. Developing this synergy is probably the most effective way to get your AP in the mix and keep it there.

* Always be respectful of other admins’ pages. Do not be a spammer on those pages. Don’t use gratuitous profanity on other admins’ pages; some admins and their readers don’t like it.

* Facebook “likes” come and go. If you see a precipitous drop in your “like” count, examine your content and review your “insights” panel. If you cannot identify a problem, you are likely just experiencing the natural ebb/flow pattern of facebook popularity.

* Never beg folks to “like” your AP. Begging makes you look weak and will hurt your page. Present nice content and page “likes” will come.

* Never “like” your own posts. Doing so is redundant and makes you appear weak and, worst case, not very bright. If you did not like the post, you would not have posted it.

* Remember, while it is fun to see your “like” counts rise, it is better to have 100 dedicated/consistent readers than it is to have hundreds of “likes” from folks who seldom visit your page.

* Be patient. Throw out your notions of “build it and they will come.” Your content and your promotion efforts will determine your traffic. Experiment until you find the right content mix and your well run AP will slowly and steadily grow.

* Most Importantly: Have fun helping to preserve the legend and promote the philanthropic legacy. If the hobby stops being fun, let someone else adopt your page.

……………

Conclusion:

AJW fans do not need to worry. There is plenty of news and content on the horizon to last a very long time. There will be lots of folks ready to pick up the slack when the current admin crews grow weary. Our hobby should be going strong for as long as we want it to.

A lot of folks wanna know how long the APM can be kept alive. I dunno the absolute answer, but I do know that when I google the phrase “Anastasia Romanov Dynasty,” I get more than 640,000 returns. Many such entries sing the modern loyalists’ loud praises of their royal lady.

I suspect that the APM players and their future recruits and successors will be able to keep our JadeMermaid Princess close to front and center for at least as long as the Russian’s have been able to do it for their gal. You better start preparing to get your grandkids up to speed on the legend and legacy of Amy Jade Winehouse; there will be a great hobby waiting for them.

Use Page Publishing Venues to Promote and Support Amy Winehouse Foundation

The following page publishing venues are ideal platforms from which individuals can easily promote and support the Amy Winehouse Foundation. There is no charge to use the venues and you will be paid a share of any revenues generated by your pages; you can then transmit such monies to the AWF.

Squidoo; Zujava; HubPages; InfoBarrel; Wizzley; Snipsly; Seekyt; Wikinut; RedGage; Weebly.

Pages are very easy to build; no advanced computer knowledge is required. If you know how to play on facebook or twitter, you will have no problem making a nice page.

_________________________

An AAN Transparency Note:

All AAN pages – whether there is one or 100 – will always remain not for profit and will be operated as a hobby, by unpaid volunteers. All AAN pages are promotional and informational vehicles only. No AAN pages are designed for fundraising purposes.

The AAN aparat supports the hopes, goals and wishes of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, and has no fiduciary relationship with the AWF,  and never acts – nor claims to act – for or on behalf of the AWF.

AAN pages will never solicit or collect funds on behalf of the AWF, but will encourage and help to enable readers to make direct donations to the AWF, via the AWF website or through other official AWF venues.

AAN pages that are published on venues with commercial components will be operated in one of the following ways:

1. Publishing venues upon which the AWF has been deemed an approved charity, will transmit 100% of any revenues generated by AAN pages directly to the AWF.

2. Publishing venues upon which the AWF has not been deemed an approved charity, but which venues have their own internally administered omnibus charity fund, will retain 100% of any revenues generated by AAN pages. The AAN aparat will, at least once annually, transmit an amount equal to the amount thusly retained, directly to the AWF.

3. Publishing venues upon which there is no official charity component, will, in the ordinary course of their business, either disburse to or hold in reserve for the AAN aparat, 100% of any revenues generated by AAN pages. The AAN aparat will, at least once annually, transmit an amount equal to the amount thusly disbursed or reserved, directly to the AWF.

Currently, based on:

1. The number of AAN pages with commercial components; and,

2. The past revenue generation of existing AAN pages,

it is not anticipated that revenues derived from the subject commercial components will, in the foreseeable future, be substantial. That circumstance could change in the event that the number of AAN pages was increased, and/or if other publishing venues were employed. In no event will the AAN aparat ever hold an amount of page generated revenues that exceeds, in the aggregate, $500.00 US. If said amount is reached, it will be immediately transmitted to the AWF, notwithstanding the previously noted annual transmittal pledge.

To learn more about the AWF, or to make a donation to the AWF, click the link:

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/

_________________________

If you are looking for a way to build a fun internet page that has the potential to raise some tiny pennies for the AWF, please consider building a likkle page on one or more of the above referenced venues. Such pages do not have to be AJW/AWF centric. Pages in any category and about any subject can be built. Simply place a promotional link to the AWF website on the page, and pledge any page revenues to the Amy Winehouse Foundation. When such revenues are received by you, simply transmit them to the AWF.

Don’t be shy. Jump in the mix. You’ll have fun and you can help with the important task of building awareness about the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Thanks.

Job One: Help Build Awareness | Amy Winehouse Foundation

 

The likkle AAN gang is pleased with the number of nice AWF promos we have recently garnered from third-party sources. But, we are all suffering from a slight case of We Can Do More and We Can Do It Better Syndrome. Modern life and laziness are both enemies of greater and more energetic efforts. The tiny AAN crew has all promised, once again, to devote more time to our Amy-Page hobby and less time to the stuff we don’t really want to do.

Sometimes, trying to build awareness about worthwhile causes and ideas seems as though it is futile. All efforts can appear to be never ceasing and without results. Often, observers think that what the pumpers do amounts to nothing, but while we often don’t do our work as well as we should, we have, over many years, learned a few things:

1. All pumping is cumulative and your efforts can remain invisible, until “critical mass” is achieved and your results seem to become visible “overnight.”

2. Some techniques fail and you must constantly experiment with new ones.

3. If you quit in the face of disappointing results, your chances of winning are reduced to less than zero.

4. Persistence does, indeed, breakdown resistance.

The AAN group is a very long way from reaching critical mass, but we are moving forward and making some progress. We will never quit pulling, pushing, and beehive-tugging the AJW/AWF train. And, we are among the most persistent creatures that have ever inhabited the planet.

Some recent promos that the AAN pumpers have picked up:

http://tribook.hubpages.com/hub/Amy-Winehouse-Foundation-AAN

http://zeabiii.hubpages.com/hub/Jadeink-Zujava-Pages-Promote-Amy-Winehouse-Foundation

http://www.squidoo.com/amys-army-now

http://www.squidoo.com/aan-blog-promotes-amy-winehouse

http://dmcgaw.hubpages.com/hub/Jadehorseshoe-Promotes-the-Amy-Winehouse-Foundation

http://www.squidoo.com/jadeink-on-zujava-supports-amy-winehouse-foundation-and-amys-army-now

Note To Readers: You have a critical role in helping to assure that promo pages such as those above are widely distributed and seen by a large audience. Simply clicking on the facebook button, the twitter button, and the google+ button will help advance such pages in the search-engine rankings. Your clicks will also move the pages up in rank on their own sites, which can result in the promos being featured on the sites’ front pages. As you know, we are in the “impression collecting” game. The more simple impressions that we collect, the easier it will become for the AWF to succeed in its own promotional and fundraising efforts. Your help in this regard is needed and much appreciated.

Only our own reticence and “organic growth” strategy have kept AAN from connecting with more of the “influencers” that are eager to write about and promote subjects that may be interesting to their readers. We won’t be making any more mistakes in that regard.

Today, I asked my associates this question:

“If we were pumping a profit-making enterprise for ourselves, what techniques would we be employing to get the job done?”

I saw all of the “lightbulbs” go on in the room. We get it. If we are going to accomplish our mission, we simply must be much more aggressive, much less insular and parochial, and totally relentless in reaching out to new promotional resources. This tactical reinvigoration will not become visible to all in the short term, but it is now underway and we expect it to yield results in 2012.

Our still tearful mini-covey of typing-pumpers thanks all of our readers for their friendship. We promise not to rest until the day comes when a  google/yahoo/bing searcher types in the words “charitable foundation” and finds that the AWF is permanently in the page-one mix. We love and respect AJW and we are much honored to be an ultra-miniature part of helping to promote the construction of what we strongly believe will become her most important legacy, the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

To learn more about the AWF, please visit their lovely website:

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/

To view the infrastructure of the AAN pages, visit this roadmap:

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/roadmap-the-aan-infrastructure/

Visit the AANPN Website:

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/index.html

Thanks.

Amy Jade Winehouse: Quiet Generosity

When the general public contemplates Amy Jade Winehouse, they ordinarily think of her as a world famous artist, living an extravagant lifestyle; surrounded by wealth, security, paparazzi and controversy. Seldom does that public think about AJW in the context of what she always held as a top-tier tenet of her life: Giving back via generous support of sundry charitable causes.

AJW never stood on mountains and shouted, “Watch me be charitable.” She did most of her good deeds in the closet, as the maxim of all higher-powers dictates is proper. Tax deductions and public praise were never any element of her quiet generosity; she was compelled to help by the innate decency and compassion of her heart, mind and conscience.

History will be hard pressed to find honest philanthropy mavens who can testify that AJW ever said, “no, no, no,” when she was asked to be supportive of worthwhile charitable endeavors. She was known in many circles as a soft touch. “Ask Amy, she’ll do it,” was a common refrain inside of the charity community.

When breast cancer awareness needed a bump, AJW bared it all for the cause. When Nelson Madela’s 90th birthday charity-concert asked, AJW rose from a hospital bed to perform. When Caribbean groups needed help encouraging young musicians, AJW got it done. When hearing loss became an issue in developing countries, AJW’s cash could be heard loud and clear. When the Born HIV Free campaign needed a soundtrack for its award winning film, Baby In The Sky, AJW delivered Back To Black at no charge. When stalking paps discovered that AJW had repeatedly donated scores-of-thousands-of-dollars worth of designer clothes to thrift shops in poor neighborhoods, some in the media simply noted that she had “too many clothes, anyway.” When AJW encountered sick folks unable to pay for medical care, she picked up the tab and shunned any thanks for the kindness. When there was pain and a chance to heal it, need and a chance to meet it, AJW was the go-to woman. Yet, who knew?

AJW Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

Some of the philanthropic causes that AJW quietly supported:

21st Century Leaders  –  Helps support the philanthropy of  Whatever It Takes, a charity artwork project that gathers art from leaders in all fields – royalty, film, music, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, sports, literature, theatre, media – and sells it to raise funds for nonprofits chosen by each contributing leader. Organizations supported include: Adopt-A-Minefield, Anti-Slavery International, Breast Cancer Campaign, CARE, Children of the Andes, Children’s Medical Research Institute, Christian Children’s Fund, City at Peace, Comic Relief, Dreams Can Be Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Greenpeace, Healthlink Worldwide, Heifer International, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, Red Cross, LIFEbeat, LifeLine & Rape Crisis PMB, Opportunity International, Oxfam, ROTA, Rights and Humanity, S.A.F.E., Save the Children, Sharon Osborne Colon Cancer Program, Snoop Youth Football League, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Teenage Cancer Trust, The BRIT Trust, Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, Little Dreams Foundation, Lotus Outreach, Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Toothfairy Foundation, Trade Plus Aid, UNHCR, UNICEF, WaterAid, World Neighbors.

Global Fund  –  Has committed more than $5.4 BILLION – in 150 countries – to fund the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria.

Hear The World  –  Is an initiative by hearing aid manufacturer Phonak that works to raise awareness about hearing loss and to promote good hearing around the globe. The goal of the organization is to educate the general public about the importance of hearing loss prevention, the social and emotional impacts of hearing loss in third-world countries, and the solutions available for persons suffering hearing loss.

BID 2 BEAT AIDS  –  Is an annual entertainment memorabilia auction, with proceeds going to LIFEbeat. Among the hundreds of items available for bid are signed photographs of stars, original art, costumes and props, signed CDs and memorabilia, and celebrity meet-and-greet opportunities at many exclusive events.

LIFEbeat  –  Is dedicated to reaching America’s youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. The organization mobilizes the talents and resources of the music industry to raise awareness and to provide support to the AIDS community.

Save The Music Foundation  –  Works to help improve the availability and quality of music education in America’s public schools, by funding the restoration of music programs in cities across the country, and by raising awareness about the importance of musical training to our nation’s youth.

V-Day  –  Is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. It promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day draws attention to the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation, and sexual slavery.

The stories of AJW’s generosity to her friends in need – as well as to total strangers – are legion. Any mention of such kindness in her presence was likely to be met by her with “shadup,” or “intnuffin,” or “fugedaboutit.” The next time that those who know slight truth of AJW write a check to their fave charity, they should contemplate that charity never walks alone. And, perhaps, note that Amy Jade Winehouse had much more in common with each of them than they had ever imagined.

AJW does not need to be recalled as greater in the arms of the angels than she was when she walked with us. There is no movement to create Saint Amy in the public mind, but a tiny penny’s worth of recognition for her unheralded and never promoted giving nature is warranted. Those of us who love her and think of her as the JadeMermaid Princess do so not only because of her great artistic achievements, but also because she was graced with the “generosity and decency genes.” She made us all strive to be better and more compassionate humans.

Now, in her absence, many are engaged in efforts to continue the construction of what is destined to become AJW’s most important legacy: The Amy Winehouse Foundation. Those of us who work from the sidelines to cheer and encourage that organization, respectfully request that celebrities who worked with AJW on behalf of their own favorite charities, now step forward and lend their public support to the AWF.

Some high-profile celebs have already been extremely generous with their names and resources in support of the AWF, and many more are needed to help build awareness about the foundation’s great work. If you know any celebs who might want to help the AWF grow, please don’t be too shy to chat them up about the opportunity. If you are a celeb, large or likkle, please step up. AJW would say, “Fanks!”

Here is a link to the AWF website:

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.org/

Celebrity or fan, please visit, learn and step up.

 

Banner Changes Coming To AAN Facebook Pages

With the new format of all facebook pages fast approaching, AAN’s prefered page banners will be replaced. On or before April 1, 2012, new interim banners will be uploaded onto the reformatted pages; these banners may or may not be subsequently updated.

The Interim Banners:

Amy’s Army Now Facebook Page

Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory Facebook Page

Dionne Bromfield Page Directory Facebook Page

It is not clear that in the new format the directory pages will have the same utility that they currently have. If it becomes necessary, the directories will be moved to another site; possibly to WordPress, possibly to our own server. Such a move would allow for the directories to be alphabetized and would provide potentially more valuable backlinks to the listed pages.

While we very much regret that any format changes are being implemented, there is, obviously, nothing we can do about it. Such is life.

Belgrade: Final Notes

This brief entry is the kind that I really hate to pen. I will speak of these things now – from perceived necessity – and not chat of them again. In the future, when the subject comes up and a response is deemed appropriate, I will simply provide a link to this entry.

The tragedy of Belgrade continues to be used by the bashers and their disease-chauvinist allies, in ongoing attempts to discredit Amy Jade Winehouse, cast shame and embarrassment upon her memory, and diminish the fabulous recall that those of us who love her will always retain. The primary weapons of the trashers are, of course, the despicable and scandalous videos of AJW’s final public concert on June 18, 2011, in Kalemegdan, Belgrade, Serbia.

Like all AJW-bashing vids, the Belgrade films tell us nothing at all about her character, but well serve to reveal the lack of character possessed by their exploiters. There will be no vid links in this entry; the ghouls and the haters can find their own. A simple picture of horror, displayed on the wholly innocent and terrified face of a decent and broken human will justly suffice to illustrate tragedy and distribute guilt, without satisfying the subhuman bloodlust of the hateful.

On that dark night, barely a month before the JadeMermaid Princess made her final exit, humanity took a vacation and savagery took the eve. A terminally ill SuperStar took the stage, and the decency of thousands of ordinary folks vanished; replaced by outrageous conduct, shameful inaction, unparalleled greed and pure evil.

What happened on that awful night?

* As AJW’s inability to perform quickly became obvious, a de facto “kidnapping and hostage holding” incident unfolded.

* A cruel, backward, ignorant and disgusting mob of audience miscreants booed, screamed curses, and attempted to throw objects onto the stage.

* A group of trusted friends and close associates failed to summon the modicum of moral courage that would have been required to rescue their loyal friend.

* A gang of greed-directed shotcallers became determined that “50-minutes or more” was to be the ORDER of the night.

* A story of modern-day slavery – perpetrated by above-the-law gangsters in Savile Row suits – was revealed.

* An orchestrated attempt – directed from the heights of power – was immediately launched to prevent the wide distribution of video records documenting the sordid affair.

In some USA jurisdictions, the events of that horrible night could have resulted in the criminal prosecution of some of the participants. In many USA venues, successful civil litigation against those actors would have been a slamdunk. Yet, in the instant circumstance, all that was delivered was a tragic outcome, with no justice for the victim.

That the corruption-based campaign to conceal the video record of the outrage failed, yielded two results:

1) Haters got a useless – though irritating – bashing tool;

2) Good folks got a perfect record of the civil and moral crimes that went down.

The “coverup” campaign was never about preventing the artist from being shamed and embarrassed; it was designed solely to conceal the bad acts that were committed on behalf of the powerplayers.

While I despise the videos and rarely view them, it is appropriate that they survived. Let everybody look at them. Let the decent folks dissect them – a la Zapruder – to see exactly what a de facto “kidnapping and hostage holding” really looks like. It’s an ugly picture, but it happened and the vids assign blame where it belongs.

AJW was no stranger to “playing hurt.” Every athlete and performer is always ready to play. Yet, an ill or injured human is the least qualified to determine their own readiness. For that reason, there are strict rules and protocols in the sports world to help prevent disaster; similar schemes should be mandated to help protect our non-sports entertainers.

Since the “industry” refuses to act responsibly in these matters, the respective government regulators should now intervene. The delay of such intervention will yield only more tragedy, more heartbreak, and more dead songbirds.

Prospective regulations might mandate, among other things, that:

* “Properties” arriving at a venue via ambulance, cannot be allowed to take the stage.

* “Properties” that cannot engage in a cogent pre-show chat with the promoter or his responsible agents, cannot be allowed to take the stage.

* “Properties” that are obviously impaired, cannot be allowed to take the stage.

* Strict civil and criminal liability shall attach to violations of the regs, and the same shall be applied jointly and severally to promoters, record companies and their agents, talent managers and agents.

* Strict civil and disciplinary liability shall attach to legal practitioners that negotiate or facilitate contracts on behalf of “properties” that they know or should know are incompetent to either lawfully enter into or perform upon such contracts. All such contracts shall be deemed avoidable by any principal party thereto, without penalty or recourse. Attorneys and solicitors that participate in the making of such unlawful contracts shall be liable for any and all damages arising from breaches proven to have been committed by their incompetent clients. (This provision will put the insurance gangs on notice that they better be very certain of the “mental and physical soundness” of the contracting parties being represented by their insured attorneys/solicitors.)

In the early days of this new scheme, all of the gangsters will lose some money; refunds will freely flow from the pockets of the unfeeling, into the hands of the disappointed. Such reverse commerce will not last long. The gangsters will quickly cease their exploitive and blind-eye routines, our precious artists will be protected, and fans will get the highest value of their ticketed contract.

Fans also have a decency-based obligation in such remedial efforts. As bodyguard Raymond Watson fervently requested from the funeral pulpit of Whitney Houston:

“Please stop ridiculing our entertainers for their personal troubles. We must love our entertainers and protect them and support them when they are in trouble. They devote their lives to bringing us joy. We owe them much more than the price of a ticket.”

Watson is a bold, brave, righteous man, and his words should be abided.

AJW had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in her swansong appearance; she was simply abused as chatel by the forces of ignorance, cowardice, and evil that surrounded her. Reasonable people making good-faith contemplations can only conclude that the vile vids point the finger of shame correctly — away from Amy Jade Winehouse and toward those who betrayed her trust, confidence and love.

Our dear likkle princess rests now and no one can hurt her anymore. But, sundry other entertainers remain vulnerable. We collectively abandoned the moral imperative to defend and protect AJW, when it might have made a difference. We must now resolve to never again sacrifice our own humanity to the greatest servant of all things evil — our own silence.

Roadmap: The AAN Infrastructure

A fair number of folks have asked for a closer look at the AAN infrastructure. As a promo – and in the interest of slight transparency – the complete roadmap is linked below.

The handful of folks involved in the likkle AAN piece of the Amy Page Movement are a slightly motley but united bunch.

1. We have collective backgrounds in legal services, governmental relations, media relations, and print publishing.

2. We are guided by the AAN Mission Statement:

The mission is to help preserve the legend – and to help promote the philanthropic legacy – of Amy Jade Winehouse, the most accomplished Jazz Singer of modern times.

3. We love AJW, we have loved her for a lot of years, and that love will not abate.

4. We support the hopes, goals and wishes of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

http://amywinehousefoundation.co.uk

5. We share a simple vision of what makes good Amy Pages:

“All Good Things Amy, All The Time”

6. We will not – not ever – be disrespectful to AJW; nor countenance those who fail to abide by that maxim.

7. We do not hate drama, but we are not presenting soap operas and we will not bite at every piece of nonsense tab-trash that is thrown out as bait.

8. We believe that the historical record regarding AJW and, thus, the public perception of AJW are largely inaccurate. When appropriate and in the proper context, we will work to rehab that record and that perception.

9. We are volunteer hobbyists and have neither the need nor the desire to profit financially from our Amy Page hobby.

10. We rarely work as hard as we should on our hobby, but we pledge to work harder in the future.

11. We will help promote all Amy Pages that subscribe to our notion of treating our shared subject matter respectfully.

12. We are in the mix of the Amy Page Movement for the long haul, but have no competitive interest in being “a big player.” We just want to provide good and fun and interesting AJW/AWF-centric material for folks to read and enjoy.

If news items and editorial opinions do not fit inside of our parameters, they will not appear or be discussed on AAN pages. While some folks may think we have “too many pages,” we strongly disagree. As time passes, we expect to expand our efforts in a number of exciting new directions; the AAN footprint is slated to grow just a bit.

Roadmap: The Current Likkle Fleet

AAN Blog

The blog is designed for us to present our views on news and events; both past and present.

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/

……….

AAN Facebook Presence

The Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory

The AJWPD is our favorite page because it contains so many great Amy Pages. Readers must now scroll down “forever,” to see them all; new pages are regularly being added.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

The AAN Facebook Wall

The AAN FB-page is an aggregator and an originator of “All Good Things Amy.”

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

The Dionne Bromfield Page Directory

The DBPD is a joyful assumption of our partial responsibility to help fulfill some of the very minor duties that AJW can no longer perform.

http://www.facebook.com/dionnebromfieldpages

……….

The jadehorseshoe Pages

The jadehorseshoe pages are intended to provide useful information about AJW and the AWF.

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/jadehorseshoe

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The jadeink Pages

The jadeink pages are intended to provide useful information about AJW and the AWF.

http://www.zujava.com/users/jadeink

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The AANPN Website

http://aanpagenetwork.weebly.com/index.html

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We value each and every person who reads the AAN pages and we hope that those readers will continue to find some value in those pages. As the fleet grows, this entry will, of course, be updated.

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zujava: A New Page Publishing Platform

A new online platform from which you can help build awareness about the Amy Winehouse Foundation has now gone live. Registration is fast and easy.

http://www.zujava.com/

Still in BETA, the platform can be expected to have a few bugs, but I was able to publish this sample page fairly quickly and with a minimum of “learning curve” blues. The building blocks are simple; after the first page, you should be able to go into high-production mode.

Sample Page:

http://www.zujava.com/ten-faves-amy-jade-winehouse-pages

The Likkle Page Fleet:

http://www.zujava.com/users/jadeink

The site has a “money making” component and any earnings can be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, or retained by the page owner. Backlinks to your pages on other platforms can also be included in your zujava pages.

It is always good to find a new place to help promote the AWF. Take a look at zujava, if you want to painlessly help spread the word about the foundation’s great work.

Thanks!

2012 Squidoo Campaign: Promote The AWF

The focus of this campaign is to deploy Squidoo Lenses to help advance the Amy Winehouse Foundation across all search engines; to help radically increase the number of backlinks to the AWF website; to help create more AWF-page returns for the search term “charitable foundation;” and, of course, most importantly, to help build general awareness about the hopes, goals, wishes and goodworks of the AWF.

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Step One:

Join Squidoo. It’s FREE and it only takes a minute to register.

http://www.squidoo.com/

Step Two:

Study the material at the AWF website and Facebook page. Choose one or more aspects of the foundation’s work that you would like to build your Squidoo Lens around.

AWF Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousefoundation

AWF Website

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.co.uk/

There are many possible topics that will make for an interesting lens. You might highlight one or more of the charitable organizations that are being supported and funded by the AWF. Or, you might choose to focus your lens on other aspects of the AWF that are covered on their website. If a topic seems interesting to you, it will likely be interesting to other folks, too.

Remember, we are not creating great literature with this effort; you don’t have to be a skilled writer to tell your story. You can use youtube videos and pictures to add interest to your story.

Step Three:

Build your first Squidoo Lens. The pages are built with modules and it will take you less than an hour to construct your first one. If you can read simple English instructions – or translate the instructions with google translator – you can build a fast lens without any special computer skills.

Here are some sample lenses to help guide your first efforts:

This lens is part of the JadeHorseshoe Loves series; it is in the charity/nonprofit category and offers sundry links to the AWF and a few stories.

http://www.squidoo.com/jadehorseshoe-loves-the-amy-winehouse-foundation

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This lens is in the music/musician catgeory and is about the campaign to encourage Dionne Bromfield to plan a USA tour and hold an opening night concert in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Fox Theatre, for the benefit of the AWF.

http://www.squidoo.com/dionne-bromfield-quick-news-and-views-issue-1

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This lens is in the entertainment category and is part of the JadeHorseshoe Loves series, which recognizes public-figures and entertainers – like Dana DeLorenzo – that support the hopes, goals and wishes of the AWF.

http://www.squidoo.com/jadehorseshoe-loves-dana-delorenzo

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This lens is a fan/tribute page, in the music/musician category and features numerous AWF related links and some AWF news/views.

http://www.squidoo.com/amy-jade-winehouse2

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This lens is an unpromoted tribute page, also in the music/musician category.

http://www.squidoo.com/amy-jade-winehouse3

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It is pretty easy to make a “connection” between lots of subjects and the AWF. This means that even if you are not interested in building a lens that solely features the AWF, you can still help both the backlink campaign and the general awareness-building efforts by simply linking and mentioning the AWF within you lens.

Here are a few academic examples of “AJW centric” topics that can easily be connected to the AWF. These are not suggestions; just some simple examples that might help get your creative brain cooking.

1. A detailed lens in the fashion category about AJW’s tastes in designer wear, or ballet slippers, or high-heel pumps.

2. A detailed lens in the fashion category about Disaya’s donation of the Back To Black dress to the AWF and its purchase at auction by a South American fashion museum.

3. A detailed lens in the fashion category about Fred Perry’s AJW clothing lines.

4. A detailed lens in the cosmetics category about AJW’s progression of makeup styles.

5. A detailed lens in the hairstyle category about AJW’s progression of hairstyles.

6. A detailed lens in the art category about famous artists/photographers that have donated proceeds from the sale of their work to the AWF.

7. A detailed lens in the travel category about AJW’s world travels; simply look at the online setlists and layout the travel itinerary in pictures and videos. Such a lens would be best if produced as a “series;” indexed by year of travel.

8. A detailed lens in the travel/places category about the sundry locations where AJW lived.

9. A detailed lens in the collectibles category about the jukeboxes, records, and other items that AJW liked to collect.

10. A detailed lens in the music category about musicians who have created and/or delivered musical tributes to AJW.

11. A detailed lens in the fashion/beauty/bodyart category about the tattoo art that adorned AJW.

Any of those subjects – and hundreds more that are not necessarily “AJW centric” – will allow you to easily and logically integrate links and stories about the Amy Winehouse Foundation and its work. Just choose a positive and uplifting subject, present it in an informative manner, insert the AWF into the mix, and your lens will be a winner.

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Make sure that you place your lens in the proper Squidoo category. If you make a music/entertainment lens, don’t place it in the charity/nonprofit category. If your lens is solely focused on some aspect of the AWF, it can go in the charity/nonprofit category as a “support” page. If your lens primarily features, for example, a musician, it should go in the music category; you can still load such a lens with AWF links and info.

It is also important not to allow your lens to be seen as a “direct fundraising” vehicle. Your placement of links to the AWF pages is not an attempt by you to fundraise and is permitted. Don’t make any “direct” appeals for donations; using the word “support” is not an appeal for funds and is permitted. Your readers will follow the links in your lens and they can decide for themselves if/how they want to “support” the AWF. The job of your lens is to raise awareness and increase the backlink count; not to engage in direct fundraising.

NOTE: Obviously, if your lens is about a fundraising event that you are authorized under the AWF guidelines to conduct, you should include details about the relevant ticket/donation scheme. Be sure that you also place links – in your lens – to your other “event pages.”

When building “music related” lenses, feel free to use the AMZN modules to link items for sale. Do not include any “unauthorized” or “pirated” items in your link lists. If someone buys an item via your lenses, you will receive a small amount of money from the transaction. If you register on Squidoo using the same email-addy that you use at PayPal, the cash will be direct deposited into your account; you can keep it, OR better yet, send it to the AWF.

“Tags” are words/phrases that help readers find your lens, and can help the search engines find/index your lens. In some instances, more than FIVE tags may handicap your lens; relevance is more important than quantity. In addition to any other lens-relevant tags, your tags should include:

Amy Winehouse Foundation

and

Charitable Foundation

After you hit the “PUBLISH” button and your lens goes live, DO NOT make any efforts to promote it online until AFTER it has been indexed by google. That will usually take a day or more; sometimes less, but be patient. When you find your lens on google, post a link to it on the AAN Facebook Page.

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

Our resident “Monkey Man” – aka Pumper Dude – will help you to start spreading the word about your new creation. Don’t expect to exceed the readership of The New York Times – that might not be the best example – but he will help get your publication into the mix.

During the next few weeks, watch this blog for an entry entitled something like: How To Promote Your Amy Pages. It will show you – via a directory of aggregated links – how to make sure that some humans take a gander at your Squidoo Lenses and your other “Amy Pages.” As some of you know, AAN is not a good “hand holder;” we can show you how to promo your output, but you gotta do the hard work yourself AND you gotta be patient as your efforts begin to take hold.

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As noted here many times, we are all in the serious game of “building awareness” about the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Each day, everything we do must move us toward collecting more “positive impressions” than we had yesterday. The FREE Squidoo Lens platform is a powerful arrow in our quiver; in early 2012, let’s start using it like Cupid would.

Thanks!

Happy New Year To AJW’s Troops

The AAN gang wishes its friends a great 2012. We hope that you all find peace, happiness, and prosperity in your lives during the coming year.

The past year has brought us all much pain and suffering, but we are still standing and we will continue moving forward. We will endure our harsh and lingering grief, and prevail in our efforts to increase awareness about what will become AJW’s greatest legacy: The Amy Winehouse Foundation.

We resolve that our desperate sadness will not be used as an excuse to avoid the hard and important work that confronts us. The JadeMermaid Princess would understand and be comforting of our sorrow, but she would never abide our grief-induced inaction or surrender.

My GF tells me that I use the Shakespeare Mashup waaayyy too frequently. She is, of course, correct, but it somehow seems to give me slight guidance about how I need to make sure that “perspective pushes through.”

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They are but beggars that can count their worth;

but our love for her had grown to such excess, we

could not sum up sum of half our wealth. Yet, our

sorrow must not be measured by her worth to us,

for then our pain will have no end, and we, no peace.

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AJW loved and valued her fans; even when she feigned belief that she had “no fans.” I know that she would wish us all a Happy New Year and ask that we make a worthy effort to dry our tears and redouble our determination to help make the AWF all that it can be in 2012 and beyond.

Let’s get busy. Thanks!

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Disease Chauvinism: A Deadly Menace

ADVISORY: This entry deals with a controversial and sensitive topic in a blunt and direct fashion. It expresses my views, opinions, thoughts, feelings and knowledge about the subject matter. Many readers may have alternate views and I respect their right to do so. It is a long and winding entry and might be judged to be only tangentially related to the usual subject matter covered here.

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As a grossly over-educated fellow who happens to be ignorant about a few things – like nuclear physics and most aspects of rocket-engine design – I tend to be fairly tolerant of nice folks who simply do not know the facts of a circumstance and proceed to make incorrect judgments in good faith. But, such tolerance vanishes in the face of the mean-spirited ignorance of the “disease chauvinists.”

The bogus doctrine of disease chauvinism dictates that, for example, heart ailments and cancer are legitimate diseases, but that persons who contract the disease of “addiction” do so by their own “freewill choice.” This ignorance-based maxim is still extremely widespread. Because it is anti-science, illogical, and leads to death and misery it must not be tolerated by a civilized society.

The “disease or choice” debate is being kept alive by a few greedy insurance cabals, the Prison Industrial Complex, governments that seek to divide their subjects, and the remunerated and corrupted quacks that serve each of those entities. These evil chauvinists claim self-serving and archaic opinions to be “facts;” they get away with it because most folks are ignorant of modern science and will buy any view that the loudest and most authoritative sounding voice publicly pronounces.

A Fairness Disclaimer:

There are certainly some well-meaning experts who have a good-faith belief that the “choice” label is both a deterrent to “first use/abuse” and an “aid to recovery.” They are totally wrong, but the harm they cause, though via intentional acts, is not willfully brought nor evil-based. These good folks simply refuse to accept the very science that they claim to believe rules the universe. How many more lives will be destroyed before these folks “get it,” and how will history view their obstinate ignorance? We should soon know.

Broadly-accepted science defines “disease” as follows:

Any deviation from or interruption of the normal structure or function of any body part, organ, or system that is manifested by a characteristic set of symptoms and signs and whose etiology, pathology, and prognosis may be known or unknown.

General Elements – Addiction: A Lifelong Terminal Disease

It produces diagnosable symptoms.

It is chronic and does not time expire.

It is relapse common.

It is progressive, until death occurs.

It is treatable by known medical science.

Using that definition and those elements, even the least swift folks among us should be able to reach an appropriate verdict in the case of Disease v. Choice. Yet, the controversy lives, spreads, and continues to render suffering and death everyday.

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We all know that just shy of about 10% of cigarette-smokers will contract lung cancer, but we don’t hate them if cancer strikes; we treat them. We all know that many instances of coronary-artery disease are delivered to folks who eat too much fat and rotting dead-animal flesh, but we don’t hate them when they collapse with a heart attack; we treat them. We treat the skin cancers caused by avoidable sunshine and we never hate the sunbathers. We all know that poor dietary habits are contributory causes of diabetes, obesity, and a myriad of other diseases; but when such ailments strike, we deal the treatment card, not the hate card.

Though each of the patients above described made a “free choice” to indulge in the initial behavior and conduct that, in part, led to their afflictions, they all get a free-pass on the blame-game board.

Yet, the collective humanity of many folks – even their common decency – is prone to vanish in the face of a human bearing the socially unacceptable disease of addiction. The addict is viewed as subhuman and criminal and trash that deserves whatever happens to it; after all, it chose to sicken itself. It knew what would happen, but because it is an immoral and bad creature it chose to engage in foul conduct. If it was of decent moral character and not a degenerate – and had just a little bit of willpower – it would not be sick; it got what it deserved.

There are three primary reasons for the double-standards maintained by the rank-and-file disease chauvinists.

1. Some cling to the peasantine cloak of “minimal superiority” awarded to their ancestors by every despotic ruler for the last 3,000 years. That garment was figurative and allowed that while the peasants themselves were scarcely human, they were “more human” than those among them who overindulged in the spirits of the grape and the grain and brought “disorder” to the system of things. The need to feel superior to something is a base but powerful force that resides within most humans; it can uneasily be overcome, but is ever so easy for tyrants to manipulate and exploit.

2. Some fear that their share of a socialist government’s – or a capitalist insurance company’s – healthcare benefits will be reduced, if addicts are treated as the disease burdened persons that they actually are. The irony of such ignorance is fun: It costs a government much more to criminalize addiction than it would cost to medically treat it. And, of course, the insurance companies and private-prison operators are thrilled to have the ignorant cheerleaders in their corner, too.

3. Some merely subscribe to the politically and financially motivated opinions espoused by their own physicians simplistic nonsense that addiction is a “disabling disorder, but not actually a disease, as such.” Thankfully, the ranks of such quackery dispensers are thinning under the reality pressures of modern science.

Very simply put, just what does this so called “modern science” say?

Substance addiction is a disease; caused by a combination of genetic predisposition – and/or a cell-division related anomaly – and irreversible alterations in brain physiology and chemistry triggered by and/or resulting from the use/abuse of coping-mechanism substitutes like alcohol and other drugs.

It turns out that your government was right when it proclaimed that an egg frying in a pan was kinda like “your brain on dope.” Once those “alterations” have occurred, the addict is no longer acting as a freewill chooser; no amount of “moral character and will-power” is capable of “curing” the disease.

Once the disease takes hold, only medical/pharmacological treatment – combined with “talk it out” psychiatric care – can save the patient from the chronic and terminal disease of addiction.

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I well realize how much modern humans hate to read “dry material.” Even so, I must suggest that you take a serious read of the material at the following links.

This info will reinforce the fact-based beliefs held by the anti-chauvinists. If it does not change the minds of the chauvinists, it should at least let them know for sure that they are on the wrong side of both science and, ultimately, history’s harsh judgment.

The links are not in any particular order. Some of the information is presented in an elementary manner; some is moderately high-end academic and clinical material. You can start reading anywhere and follow your curiosity.

Definition: Disease of Addiction

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Addiction: Disease of Compulsion and Drive

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Addiction: A Chronic Disease

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The Science Of Addiction

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Addiction As Disease

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Alcohol Addiction: A Brain Disease

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The Disease Concept

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The Disease of Drug Addiction

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Addiction: A Primer For Young Teens

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Genetics of Addiction

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Addiction: A Brain Disease

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Addiction: Neurologically Based

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The Elementary Wiki View

This one is included not because it is dispositive to the argument, but because it so charitably treats the bogus arguments of those who are so completely wrong. The mere use of the word “theory” always reveals upon which side its users’ bread is buttered.

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The Causes of Cancer: Genetics

This one is included for folks who are particularly interested in the genetic factors inherent to virtually all diseases.

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Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse, explains:

Addiction Is A Disease, Not A Character Defect.

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In less than 20 years, all doubt will be removed and the manufactured controversy will be quelled. In the meantime, countless more lives and families will be destroyed by an ignorance constructed and maintained to serve the corrupt interests of a few evil corporations and vile governments.

This too lengthy screed was spawned by a “spirited” discussion that occurred on facebook a few days ago. Some of the militant chauvinists were lamenting that any financial resources would be “wasted” on treating addicted persons when people with “real diseases” allegedly received short shrift. Since facebook is a poor place to pose an extended argument, I decided to make it here; lucky you.

My Own Personal Experiences and Conclusions

It is no secret that my views on addiction are both radical and controversial. Those views were all formed during many years of direct, personal and firsthand experience in dealing with affected persons; both addicts and those closest to them.

So, what are my solutions?

1. Promote United Nations advisory action to:

A: Encourage all countries to proffer that addiction is a disease mandated to be clinically treated, with the respective governments to be “last resort providers” of such treatment.

B: Encourage all countries to provide litigation venues within which family members and/or close associates may seek and receive – by judicial order – full and complete conservator/guardian status over addicted persons who refuse to be medically treated for their disease.

In the USA, many jurisdictions already provide for such process, but it is expensive, complex, and requires sophisticated legal representation for the petitioners. Well-funded respondents can often prevail in such proceedings; many such “successful” litigants subsequently die of their disease. The processes should be uniformly simplified, the burden of proof should be lessened, and the sundry governments should be more easily able to insert themselves into litigation on behalf of the good-faith petitioners.

Folks who are uncomfortable with even slight UN involvement in this issue should be aware that the UN is in the mix of many international “social issues.” For example, the body even contemplates “worldwide firearm regulations.” Addiction destroys many more people than do privately-owned firearms.

2. Educational efforts must be made to eliminate the false notion that “you cannot help an addict that is not ready to be helped.” That pop-psych myth has probably killed more addicts than have the disease chauvinists. Trust me when I tell you that once the handcuffs are on the recalcitrant addict and he is involuntarily dispatched to a locked-down, medical-treatment center, he will, eventually, and sooner rather than later, be “ready to be helped.”

Family members contemplating involvement in “militant intervention” efforts must disabuse themselves of the fear that their addict will “hate them forever.” You are literally engaged in a life-and-death struggle; your addict may indeed hate you for a time, but you will have saved his life.

3. Legislation must be sought to hold parents criminally liable for negligently allowing their children to engage in drug use. Specifically, marijuana use must be targeted; this is not a “gateway drug” issue; it is a life-ruination issue. The naturally acquired coping skills that “normal” kids build are severely inhibited/blocked when a young teen uses weed. The absence of those skills in young adults is a primary cause of the conduct that allows addiction to occur.

Folks who fear the concept of such parental liability should note that the mere “negligent storage” of a firearm is now a criminal offense in many USA jurisdictions. Dope is far more likely to end the future of your child than is a carelessly stored firearm.

4. Support charitable efforts that help fund the medical treatment of addicted persons, who have been forgotten by a busy and self-absorbed world.

5. Elect public officials who oppose deadly disease chauvinism. You may have to explain the details to your politicians to get them on board, but do not support any pol that does not fully understand and embrace your position

6. FIGHT BACK against the social stigmatization that inhibits addiction sufferers from seeking timely treatment for their disease. Such stigma has destroyed countless lives and it must be halted. Stigma attachment is tantamount to a “hate crime” being committed against a person for reason of disease or disability; it is illegal in some circumstances/jurisdictions and should be universally unlawful.

When I was very young, there was an ignorance-based stigma attached to cancer; to some relatively minor degree, that stigma remains intact. If you doubt that fact, look at this link:

The Stigma of Cancer

We now know the degree of shame and embarrassment that AJW suffered in her losing war against the disease that plagued her unto death. The “pride” she disclaimed in song, remained with her always and she felt “ashamed” that she was sick. How heart wrenching is that? Her illness may well have had a different outcome, if the “stigma” of it had not been part of the process of dehumanization that addiction sufferers must endure.

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As we all know, addiction is no respecter of social status or wealth; it attacks the meek/powerful/rich/poor with equally devastating results. At least the poor can play out their painful drama in private; not so for the celebrated and the pap-stalked.

There is a particularly disgusting video on youtube that almost perfectly illustrates the evil that disease chauvinism delivers to the innocent. Some time ago, when I first viewed the video, it sickened me and I wanted to scold those responsible for it. Now, while watching it further breaks my heart and makes me cry, it also harshly hardens my resolve to aggressively fight back against the dehumanizers, the stigmatizers, and the chauvinists.

The video shows a desperately ill and wounded human – known to us as Amy Jade Winehouse – in a death-precursor predicament. AJW is shown unconscious and sprawled immodestly on an outdoor bench; she is alone, vulnerable and in trouble.

If a decent person saw a fellow human thusly downed, he would render/summon immediate aid. Here, the disease-chauvinism maxim dictated that the stalker simply push the start-button on a video camera and record the scene as numerous passersby gave a glance at the dehumanized curiosity and kept on walking.

When Benito Aquino was assassinated, his wife demanded an open casket funeral. “Let them see what they have done,” she told her countrymen. When JFK was murdered, his wife refused to remove her blood-soaked dress for many hours after the killing. “Let them see what they have done,” she told the world.

To the disease chauvinists, I wanted to say, “Look what your bigotry and ignorance did and contemplate the final outcome that your hatred helped to render.” I wanted to say that and more as I posted the scandalous video for all to see, but I could not bring myself to promote a horrid and painful public spectacle just to further an academic point. People who love Amy have likely seen enough of that nasty video, and the deranged people who promote the hatred of the sick would only relish viewing it again.

Now, if you can, imagine that the sick child on that bench is your friend, your relative, someone you love. What would you “hope” that any observer would do upon seeing the described circumstance?

Each day that the disease chauvinists’ position is allowed too prevail, the chance that your hoped for remedy would be delivered is substantially reduced. Each day that the dehumanization dogma that is the chauvinists’ stock-in-trade is allowed to exist, your prayers for the health of your children are at risk of going unanswered. Each day that the hateful stigma goes unchallenged, we are all less safe and secure in a world that is capable of delivering the kind of medical miracles that the chauvinists would deprive us of.

Please FIGHT BACK against the ignorance that diminishes our humanity. And, please remember that while the conduct of the disease chauvinists is hateful and deplorable, we must struggle not to hate them. Haters risk becoming that which they hate, and we must never allow that to happen to us.

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2012: AWF Benefits Planned Worldwide

Supporters of the Amy Winehouse Foundation from around the globe are starting to plan and promote their 2012 benefit events.

As time passes, this entry will be updated to include many of the other events that are being organized.

If an event is being planned near where you reside, please support it and plan to attend.

If you want to plan your own event, please read the “AWF Fundraising and Event Planning Guide.”

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AWF Fundraising and Event Planning Guide

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.co.uk/how-to-fundraise

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Seattle, WA (USA) – A Benefit For Amy – Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Benefit-For-Amy/303739076320587

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Netherlands – Amy’s Style Angels – Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amys-Style-Angels/286724264698495

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Netherlands – Amy’s Style Angels – Website

http://www.amy-style-angels.com/

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Please check back often for updates.

If you have an appropriate benefit-promo page that you want listed here and on other venues, just let me know and I will add it.

Thanks!

Atlanta, Fox Theatre: Perfect First Stop For A Dionne Bromfield USA Tour

When the time is right to commence an extended Dionne Bromfield tour of the USA, the perfect launching pad will be Atlanta, Georgia. The city will easily support a two-night schedule; opening night at the Fox Theatre; second night at Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

Ideally, the Fox show should be a charity benefit on behalf of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. The majority of tickets should be sold at high-retail prices and the balance should be radio-giveaways to inner-city youngsters and their parents. If Zalon and Heshima are available, they should definitely be featured at the Fox show.

The second night at Chastain should offer medium-to-high retail tickets, with limited radio-giveaways. This scheme will satisfy the need to pay the bills and make some money.

While such a “plan” is the right and smart way for Dionne to play Atlanta, it may not happen. Historically, many handlers have steered their “properties” straight to Chastain and bypassed the Fox. It’s a “money thing” and has deprived countless young artists of a chance to make history by adding their names to the prestigious list of “Fox Players.”

When Amy Winehouse was penciled-in to play Atlanta, her reps were aware of the “likkle campaign” to steer her into the Fox, but they ignored the opportunity and only made plans to hit Chastain. Frail efforts were made to semi-directly inform AJW about the opportunity at the Fox, but it is unknown as to whether or not “her people” ever gave her the heads up.

It is a well known saying among promoters and bookers that, “History is made at the Fox, money is made at Chastain.” The slogan is not entirely true, but it might as well be; it steers many acts in the wrong direction.

The interior of the Fox looks and feels much like London’s Porchester Hall; on steroids. It is decadently luxurious and its acoustics are magnificent. A perfect spot for Dionne to greet America.

Decades ago, many famous acts understood the merits of “smaller venues.” Were the Stones deafening at the 4,000 seat Fox? Yes, and unforgettable, too.

Rolling Stones – 1981 Live At The Fox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQwdCt00hoY

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The Fox Theatre:

Fox Theatre – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Theatre_(Atlanta,_Georgia)

Fox Theatre – One Minute Tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=883Is-vuwc4

Fox Theatre – Some History

http://www.foxtheatre.org/foxtimeline.aspx

Fox Theatre – Facebook Info Page

http://www.facebook.com/TheFoxTheatreAtlanta?sk=wall

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Chastain Park Amphitheatre:

Chastain Park Amphitheatre – History

http://www.classicchastain.com/about/history.php

Chastain Park Amphitheatre – Notable Concerts

http://www.classic-rock-concerts.com/venues/1328

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The Players:

Dionne Bromfield  – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Bromfield

Dionne and Amy – Nostalgia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R61DDCzyub0

Dionne and Amy (AJW’s Final Stage Appearance)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaTTI5sobgI&feature=related

Dionne and Zalon – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYOSZSSjCcg

Dionne – Ouch – Featuring Mz Bratt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNpMvbjQE8

Dionne – Yeah Right – Featuring Diggy Simmons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiXCpP-B7bU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Lioness Records – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lioness_Records

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Zalon Thompson – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalon

Zalon – What’s A Man To Do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrjVsX2LW4c

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Heshima Thompson  – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heshima_Thompson

Heshima – Tears Won’t Dry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dfkw1Ddy6c

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If you are a Dionne fan, please encourage her to personally get the full story on the benefits – present and future – of launching any USA tour in Atlanta; and make sure she knows that the Fox is the right venue for opening night.

If you love Zalon and Heshima, chat them up and ask them to get behind the push for a “Dionne AWF Night” at the Fox.

Atlanta loves Amy Jade Winehouse, Dionne Bromfield, Zalon, Heshima, and Lioness Records. The Fox Theatre is a great spot for the crew to love the city back, as any USA tour begins.

More Notes On The “Amy Movie” Issue

As the “will there or won’t there be an Amy-biopic” drama unfolds, it seems appropriate and fun to revisit the issue of who the ideal lead actor might be. Folks who missed my original speculative thoughts on that subject – and other movie related matters – can read them here:

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/notes-on-the-contemplated-amy-movie/

Proponents of a quality biopic who are watching the current yes/no drama likely have little to worry about. Once the conditions – some of which I previously speculated about – are met to the satisfaction of those in control of AJW’s music, a positive outcome is probably near certain. It’s nice that fans are privileged to watch the earliest stages of the “decision making” process, even if the skillful moves become confusing to some. One likely certainty is that there are currently no plans for a movie.

So, let’s talk about actors.

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My Lead Actor Shortlist:

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Lea Michele

It’s no secret that I have been a Lea booster since long before GLEE was ever contemplated. I told you years ago that she had destiny’s starlight shining on her; when she steps on stage, everybody standing near her goes into soft focus and the Lea Star is the only one you see blazing.

In my view, Broadway has not produced a greater talent in decades. Lea has the potential to be as big as Streisand; her choices and time will determine the outcome of my predictions. Lea’s inclusion in my short list has nada to do with my high regard for her; she is a legit and rightful member of the mix.

Lea Michele – Background Details:

Lea Michele – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lea_Michele

Lea Michele – IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584951/

Lea Performs “I Dreamed A Dream” – GLEE Featuring Idina Menzel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp7ARm2Lwdo&feature=related

Lea Performs “Don’t Stop Believing” – GLEE Ensemble

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxPyUzWSPA&feature=related

Lea Michele – Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/leamichele?sk=wall

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Dana DeLorenzo

Some folks know Dana as a previous ensemble player on Mancow’s Morning Madhouse radio show, but she is actually an experienced and skilled actor, singer and comic. She is best know to Amy fans as the actor/singer who portrayed Amy in the House of Winehouse tribute band.

Dana’s experience in “parody” has been seen as a negative by some playing the “pick an Amy player” game, but most such critics seem to have no grasp of what “acting” is really about. Actors are cast based on a belief that – with experienced guidance – they can deliver the vision of writers and directors; not according to what other genres they have performed in.

Dana DeLorenzo – Background Details:

Dana – IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632536/

Dana Photo File – House of Winehouse Website

http://houseofwinehouse.com/index.php/photos/

Dana Performs “You’re Wondering Now”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRRcwkRfjGc

House of Winehouse – Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/houseofwinehouse

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Stefani Germanotta – aka “Lady Gaga” – Background Details

Stefani Germanotta – wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefani_Germanotta

Stefani Germanotta – IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3078932/

Stefani Performs “The Edge Of Glory.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_GMgkcc2KM

Stefani Performs “Merry The Night” – Official Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cggNqDAtJYU

Lady Gaga – Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/ladygaga?sk=wall

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To anchor the “Amy Franchise” firmly and in a manner that will guarantee its value to the Amy Winehouse Foundation for decades, the first biopic must:

1. Tell the story with integrity, respect and truth as its primary watchwords.

2.  Be presented with a reasonable and appropriate amount of artistic style.

3.  Be a commercial success.

Absent the first element, the film should not – and likely would not – be made.  A box-office hit, bearing reasonable artistic merit, will pave the way for subsequent “art flicks” that will explore different aspects of their subject. A box-office flop will destroy the franchise and preclude or long delay any future attempts at “art.” Thus, the challenge out of the gate is to make an artistically sound film that gauges its success in commercial terms.

Great scripts – in the hands of experienced directors – can often overcome the weaknesses of mediocre actors, but competent actors cannot often overcome a sloppy script and incompetent direction. When we contemplate “the players” in the first AJW-biopic, we have to suppose that both the script and the director are worldclass-perfect; there is no reason to suspect that will not be the case.

We must also note that trying to get close to a completed shooting-script prior to the publication of the Mitch Winehouse memoir, Amy, My Daughter would be imprudent. (All proceeds from the book’s sales are pledged to the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Hopefully, the film rights can be “leased” and not sold; another near-permanent cash cow for the AWF.)

The details in that book will likely be so additive to the truth of any existing record that to produce a film without them would be foolhardy. The book will not be published until late 2012; a waiting period that should help calm the fans who are lamenting that it is “too soon” for a movie. Between late 2013 and late 2014 seems about the right time for the flick to hit screens.

Each of the actors on my shortlist love and respect Amy and would do NOTHING to dishonor or wrongfully exploit her memory. They each understand that the real and true story is one of an artistic genius in search of emotional completion; not one about the physical symptoms of a disease. Stefani is the ONE actor short-listed with the “power” to help guarantee that such a maxim is strictly enforced from start to finish.

Folks who think that an actor who bears the “Gaga persona” is not perfectly appropriate to capture the essence of Amy, lose site of the fact that the “Gaga character” is the creation of a skilled business-person, a competent actor and a highly-trained musician. We call the craft “acting” because it is about transformation and mirroring; it’s about “pretending” so well that the results become convincingly real. Previous roles played are largely irrelevant to all but the most lazy casting directors. With Stefani in the lead, the audience WILL see the “essence” they expect and have a right to demand.

Stefani on The View; hear the words, absorb the unsubtle fashion clues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkQWnzqVGNU&feature=fvsr

Stefani’s de facto pre-audition for her first major film role played out adequately on the 2011 MTV-MVA Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaD8aEVQaMc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN5RaLyqPEU

The process of “mainstreaming” Stefani began with Duets II.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvjGe_j6yR8

Stefani’s mainstreaming campaign collected big-time on Thanksgiving night. Americans in “flyover country” watched and fell in love with a new sweetheart. She can now deliver demographics to an Amy-project that no other actor can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usj9OvGh-8c&feature=related

Because the “Amy Franchise” cannot grow and prosper without its first film effort performing very well at the cash register, Stefani is the only safe pick to lead the charge. While NO actor can guarantee a money maker, Stefani is as close to such a guarantor as can possibly be found.

To those of us who love Amy, she is “everything” and it is easy for us to assume that everybody else must feel the same way; that assumption is faulty. While the Amy legend now has tremendous momentum, it is uncertain that such “Big Mo” – on its own – will translate into a solid box-office success two-years+ from now. Remember, if only every AJW fan queued up for the first big-budget film, the chance for a massive commercial success would be diminished. The first movie needs the power of a “Super Star” to deliver the greater demographics that will earn the financial win required to help permanently secure the franchise.

Folks who want to experiment with lesser-known actors in the lead are promoting a risk that, in my view, the franchise simply cannot afford to take. A failed effort on the FIRST shot may long preclude future shots; maybe forever.

Following the commercial success of the initial film, the creative doors will open wide to many fine actors, writers and directors; in many venues. Stage plays, musical revues, additional films, BBC/PBS productions, even Cirque Du Soleil resident and touring companies are all in the deck, if the FIRST cards dealt are winners. Stefani is the right actor to help stack that deck and mark those cards in favor of the franchise‘s longevity.

During the balance of this century, the Amy Winehouse Foundation has the opportunity to better the lives of hundreds-of-thousands of young people. Aside from the strong commitment of the AWF’s founders, operators and volunteers, the greatest asset the foundation has is the “Amy Franchise.” That sacred treasure must be guarded as closely as any golden goose and it must be kept in maximum productive mode forever; a commercially successful initial biopic will help assure that result.

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In time, an entry here will speculate about the potential merits of sundry other players and directors that might be contemplated to work on any prospective first “Amy Movie.”

Stay tuned for updates.

Urgent Appeal For Amy-Poll Help

As a few of you know, I am pretty skilled at herding cattle. Trying to herd cats is much harder and I am not good at it; feline-herding is what the ongoing effort to advance Amy Jade Winehouse in the Virgin Media Legend of the Year Poll is starting to feel like. Thus, this urgent appeal for assistance.

http://www.virginmedia.com/music/awards/legend-of-the-year.php

The only way we have any chance to prevail in our current campaign is for the heavy hitters in the “Amy Page Movement” to get behind the effort and promote it front-and-center on their pages.

While the small-page admins have devoted countless hours to both promoting and voting, they simply lack the “reach” needed to secure the kind of voting force that is required to win this campaign. We cannot win without help from the BIG pages.

The campaign now needs troops to man the voting terminals; their own computers. Single votes are of ZERO help. We need many multiple recordings of 100-vote blocks, if we are to have any chance of turning the tide in this poll. The BIG “Amy Pages” can help deliver that resource, if they will simply “status” the voting link on their pages, keep it visible, and explain the urgent and immediate need for 100-vote blocks.

Every poll win for Amy accrues to the benefit of every “Amy Page” and helps us build positive awareness about the Amy Winehouse Foundation. A win in the current campaign will be an important victory for all concerned.

AJW worked very hard to create an international fan base; it is time for that base to join forces in this campaign. Any temptation towards parochialism among the “Amy Page” admins is misguided and will, ultimately, collapse the entire page movement. Now is the time to show the world that Amy knew exactly what she was doing when she built her international infrastructure: She created a virtual army that – when united – can be among the strongest forces in all of fandom. We can show a united front that fulfills the hopes, goals, and wishes of the JadeMermaid Princess; or, we can selfishly work at cross-purposes and squander AJW’s dreams of unity.

There are now many new members of the “I Voted A Hundred Times” club, but we need hundreds more. Please promote and join the club, and help us all go in for the big win in the current campaign.

Thanks!

Pro-Amy ‘Guest Bloggers’ Wanted

On the off-chance that some folks get tired of reading material written by the same few providers, the Amy’s Army Now blog is launching a “Guest Blogger” scheme.

If you have original, positive and uplifting stories and views that you wish to share about Amy Jade Winehouse, write them down and become a Guest Blogger at the Amy’s Army Now blog. Your accepted submissions will be published with your byline and will be read by a growing audience of AJW fans.

All accepted submissions will remain the property of their authors and may be used perpetually by AAN for non-profit purposes.

Submissions may be edited for style, form and content prior to publication. Essays and articles of 500-words or more are preferred. All content must be original, and written and owned by the submitter. Be sure to submit the name you want to appear as your byline; along with any biographical and contact information that you want to be published.

Two ways to submit your Guest Blogger content:

1. Simply copy and paste the content of your document into the form at

http://www.twitlonger.com/index.php/main_new

and tweet it as a Private Message to @amysarmynow.

OR

2. Simply copy and paste the content of your document into the body of an email message to amysarmynow@yahoo.com. Do Not link your document to the email.

Being a Guest Blogger is a good way to get your written material in front of a larger audience, without having to maintain and promote your own blog.

Don’t be shy; show us your best stuff.

 

 

LHT: A Few Words

It is certain that my sure to be glowing review of Lioness: Hidden Treasures would be received as “biased.” Thus, I will just deliver a few words on what the album means to me and what I believe it will accomplish.

Since I am in the USA, I could not get my claws into the cellophane until this morning. I hit the big-box stores and did more than my share to run-up the chart numbers; my multiple AMZN preorders should be in the mail by Wednesday or Thursday, but I needed some extras for gifts and prizes, anyway. And, of course, I wanted to gauge the traffic for myself.

At both TGT and WMT, there was brisk business in the music department. Lots of folks had Amy merch in hand. I was pretty sure I was going to cry standing in the lines – had that bad “hurt feelings” burn in my throat – but I managed to keep the dam standing.

Anybody who thinks I didn’t crank-up the music before I cranked-up the car is not thinking clearly. Driving back to the ranch, I relished every note and cried more than a bit. Safe at home, I unwrapped another and slid it into the big machine; it sounds great and it makes me both happy and sad.

I fully understand the primal need of reviewers to attempt to compare and contrast LHT with AJW’s two primary previous offerings, Frank and Back To Black. But, those critics who succumb to that need are cheating themselves and their readers.

If I was going to review LHT, I would ask only one question of myself:

Would this album stand on its own as a premier sampler, if I had never heard of AJW?

My answer would be a very loud “YES!”

Lioness: Hidden Treasures is, all at once, the ultimate style retrospective; the greatest diversity menu; the most touching historical record; and, the finest primer on the whole of the genius that is Amy Jade Winehouse. Her love and respect for the past is clearly outlined, her eclectic tastes are detailed, her massive skills – both dynamic and subtle – are exposed, her life-journey is superbly mapped, and her huge enduring promise is revealed in a way that even the most unknowing listener should find impossible to resist.

Henceforth, when a potential Amy fan asks me which album I recommend that they start with, I will tell them, without hesitation, LHT is the pinnacle of primers. Lose your cherry on LHT and only then will you really be ready – and likely desperate – to get down heavy with Amy.

While those of us who love AJW will swim in tear river while LHT plays, her future lovers will be intrigued by the sweet offerings, and many virgins will surely be driven into her arms for life. No artist has likely ever had a better promotional commercial for previous works than is provided by Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

Though I am sadder today than I was on the day she went away, I am happy that the acceptance and success of LHT will help assure new audiences for the works of the JadeMermaid Princess for decades to come. Obviously, no album is adequate solace for the unspeakable loss we have suffered, but we should all be grateful for LHT and proud that we are privileged to be forever devotees of our magnificent Lioness.

Hat Tip To: Remi, Ronson, and AJW’s family for delivering LHT to us. Thank you for a fabulous gift from the heartbroken to the brokenhearted.

History: The Valerie Files

Here is the wiki background story of Valerie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_(The_Zutons_song)

No point in me trying to restate the facts of history, when I could be gathering music-video links instead.

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AJW – with more than a likkle help from Ronson – took a grossly under appreciated song, made it her own, and earned The Zutons much more money than they had previously seen for their diligent creative efforts. Along the way, Valerie expanded Amy’s fan base and encouraged the newcomers to both explore the “real” Amy music and discover their own creative performing abilities.

The song means many different things to different folks. Many see it as a semi-optimistic and slightly celebratory anthem. Some, me included, see it as a pain-filled ballad that sadly – by coincidence or kismet – documents a pivotal phase in the life and times of Amy Jade Winehouse.

The song makes me smile and it makes me cry; it makes me happy and it makes me desperately sad. Often, that dichotomy brings me much more pain than it does pleasure, yet it is simply not possible for me to set the song aside and move on. Wherever Amy takes me, she always brings me back to Valerie. That may say more about my shallow and masochistic nature than about the song’s depth, but for whatever reasons, “to walk away from Valerie, I have no capacity.”

Here below is a non-comprehensive sampling of links to sundry performances of Valerie. The first section is mostly all Amy all the time. The second section contains performances by the artists that embraced Amy’s Valerie and will continue to pass her from one generation to the next.

When I first contemplated this entry, I thought I should tell readers all that I know about the “moods and circumstances” that helped form the gestalt of each performance. I could paint a picture with lots of titillating words, but such fleshed-out details could yield a book and not add any real value to the “it is what it is” tiny titles that I have given each link.

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Section One: The Amy and Val Chronicles

The Inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xpmfJp0Xc&ob=av2e

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The Pure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqSKVv6YO8g

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The Manchild Serenade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=namFjcOgHSE&feature=related

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The Famous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbX9I605PkQ&feature=related

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The Birthday Party Ambulance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQAovGUcJo

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The BBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qTpv2RDw8E

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The Pain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enLZ2hY0Jrc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL3C4180571A7D2279

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The Stylized

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4o_r5fAFLo&feature=related

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The Lollapalooza

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R9lPutLMiA&feature=related

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The Festive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVUvA_BOzs&feature=related

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The Unfestive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgHnF-gRY0s&feature=related

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The Tribulations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5RKTGxfaLw&feature=related

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The Crushing Aftermath

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H0rXq-tI3U

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The Tears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdRzAulUQFY&feature=related

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Section Two: The Past Is Always The Future

These inclusions are here not because they are all great, but because they all exist. Though I tried to pick fun ones and good ones, my daddy’s notion that it is better to be a bad artist than a great business master may remain alive and well in some of the selections.

Glee TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STo1d-ZTzqU&feature=related

Glee 3D Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4Zail3FQA&feature=share

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UC Berkeley’s DeCadence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTCFCuo6P18

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Tonal Ecstasy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7VW_ulIKPo&feature=related

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On A High Note

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9caLwY7aLwY&feature=related

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NH Notables

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cbZxuzUyKk&feature=related

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Dutch Vocalicious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuBu3F2PXY&feature=related

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The Vocables

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QIoz70ZF38&feature=related

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Bates College Crosstones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6irDUVqsQtU&feature=related

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Mount Holyoke V8s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88THAbPlXN0&feature=related

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ConnChords

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0r7Q7mG8OA&feature=related

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Victoria Justice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95dPNXYwxsM

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Wyatt and Landen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xemPQ6FV08

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I could list DOZENS more – and as time passes there will be HUNDREDS more – but the point is made: A working-class song was transformed into a piece of music that truly captured the imaginations of young folks around the world and will likely continue to do so for many decades. The utes not only wanna listen to Valerie, they wanna sing about her out loud.

A cool likkle Brit chick made that happen; not because she was the JadeMermaid Princess, but because she was a great artist with an inclusive style and a long-burning fire in her belly that compelled her to touch and move everybody. She told you about that blaze 15-years ago, when she wrote to the headmistress at her performing arts school, in the letter I often recite and weep over:

“I want to go somewhere where I’m stretched right to my limits, and perhaps beyond to singing lessons without being told to shut up. But mostly I have this dream to be very famous. To work on stage. It’s my life long ambition. I want people to hear my voice and just forget their troubles for five minutes. I want to be remembered for being an actress, a singer, for sell out concerts, sell out West-end and Broadway shows, and for being just…me.”

Right now, even as you read these words, there are young guys and gals that sit in the family home – guitar, piano and notepad at hand – and dream about delivering their art to us. AJW drew parts of a fantastic roadmap for those dreamers and Valerie helped inspire a generation to seek direction from that map. Amy’s message to those kids would be to keep singing loud – even when others tell you to shut up – and always be prepared to live the dream.

The ‘Amy Polls’ and Why They Matter

Those of us working the ground-game in Amyville are starting to feel like players at Election Central. So many votes to cast in so many polls, and so likkle time to get the job done.

A number of folks have asked: Why are we spending so much time and effort hustling the polls and what do the polls have to do with “preserving the legend and promoting the philanthropic legacy” of  AJW?

The single most important element in the success of our mission is sustaining – and radically increasing – the “Name ID” of Amy Jade Winehouse. That name is our product and it has been left to US to be preserved, spread throughout the world, and kept alive for all time.

We are in the “impression creating” business. Each time someone sees a positive story about Amy Jade Winehouse – like a win in a poll – we have created an impression. The effects of such impressions are always cumulative; each builds upon itself and increases awareness of both our legend preservation efforts and our efforts to build Amy’s philanthropic legacy.

These positive impressions lead to increased sales of AJW’s music and merchandise AND hike our cadre of supporters. All such boosts accrue to the benefit of the Amy Winehouse Foundation and serve to keep the legend alive.

And, of course, the best part of these efforts is that they cost us nothing except our time and effort. They all involve “earned media,” which is FREE; a price we can all afford to pay.

We all know that Amy was a kind and generous human. Those qualities should not be presumed to have precluded either a fierce competitive nature or a determined business ethic. Anyone who saw Amy on the “promotion tours” knows that she was among the most aggressive promoters of her own – and others – art. She was relentless in those efforts and they all paid handsome dividends.

There was a reason Amy was called a “Lioness.“ AJW did not become “rich and famous” by being a milquetoast wallflower; she did it by working hard to promote her art, her product. If Amy was here, she would be pushing harder than she ever did before towards winning every promotional project that we are now engaged in.

“If you already bought this album, please buy another one for each member of your family.”

If that sounds familiar, it is because AJW used it repeatedly in her efforts to win. Now, the winning is up to us; our efforts will determine whether or not we are worthy of our inherited obligations.

Every poll is a crucial part of our “earned media” campaign.

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UPDATE:  12-8-11

The Metro Poll is now closed. Amy Jade Winehouse has won the polling.

Thank You to all of the voters!

The Metro 2011 Celebrity Poll is time critical. We do not know when it will end; “before Santa arrives.” We have a very tenuous lead here; we need to establish a massive reserve to withstand any coming voting blitz.

http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/880509-vote-for-metros-celebrity-of-the-year-2011

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The Respect La Diva Poll is still Amy’s to lose. Due to low voting totals, AJW’s lead is very deceptive; other campaigns are now making substantial gains. The winner receives the Special Gold Diva Award and the poll closes on January 31, 2012. A win here will likely result in one or more of Amy’s songs being included in the next run of the totally excellent Respect La Diva show. We must continue to maintain Amy’s lead, or we will risk being swamped in the final days of the poll.

http://www.respectladiva.com/poll/

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As we play the “polling game,” there are a few important rules and guidelines that we must follow, if we expect to win.

1. Perhaps the most important “rule” in these campaigns is being frequently violated. DO NOT – not ever – publicly bash or trash or speak ill of the other candidates in the polls. Such rude behavior is counterproductive; it makes Amy and her fans look bad, motivates voters in the other camps, and can lead to major losses.

2. Remember, the other candidates in the polls are NOT our opponents and NOT or enemies. Our opponents are time and the counter; our only enemy is our own sloth and laziness.

3. Vote Early and Vote Often. One vote per-day, from each computer you touch is appropriate. You can also vote from coffee shops, offices, libraries, and department stores.

4. When you leave home, always take the URL addys of the polls with you. When you pass a computer, enter the URLs and vote.

5. If you post comments on blogs or youtube videos, leave links to the polls with those comments.

6. If you have an “Amy Page” on facebook or another venue, make sure that the polling links remain front and center.

7. Ask your friends – virtual and actual – to help you win.

8. DO NOT SPAM the folks you want to support your efforts. Space your voting reminders respectfully, when you are posting on other folks’ pages AND when you are Tweeting. Be persistent, don’t be obnoxious. (If you get scolded for being too aggressive, apologize quickly and move forward; never be rude to the unhelpful.)

9. Don’t think “nationally” when looking for support; think internationally. AJW built a huge base of support in parts of the planet where English is a second language. We will not succeed in any of our efforts, if we fail to include everybody who loves Amy.

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A SPECIAL NOTE Regarding the Metro 2011 Celebrity Poll:

If anybody is friends with Lady Gaga – or her people – consider requesting that she ask her Little Monsters to throw their votes to Amy Winehouse. Gaga does not need a win in this poll and it is doubtful that she thinks otherwise. LG loves Amy and if she is approached respectfully, she may well grant the request.

By throwing her support to Amy, LG could become a primary procuring cause of Amy’s win. This would earn LG a HUGE amount of goodwill among Amy fans. She will want that goodwill, as the decision making process in the matter of the “Amy Movie” progresses.

If LG has already given her “assurances” to another candidate, she would simply decline such a request. No ill-will should be cast toward LG, if she must decline to help us.

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There are many other tips, tricks and traps that could be recited here. But, there is no point in telling the other campaigns everything we know. We all know enough to proceed to victory in every game we play. If we wanna win badly enough – and are willing to work hard enough – we will win.

As freelance ambassadors of the AWF and the JadeMermaid Princess, we have an obligation to proceed respectfully and in a manner that well reflects on both. We must work hard to win, but we must also be cautious not to alienate anyone who might support us in future projects. In short, we must conduct ourselves like well-mannered politicians. We must “fight” hard, but we must do it with the kind of decency and dignity that AJW would demand.

I know that we can succeed in all of our current and future endeavors. Now, let’s do it; let’s win each and every poll for our dear and darling Amy.

Thanks!

Amy: The Girl From Ipanema

In two weeks, AJW fans will have a chance to declare the new “standard version” of a 50-year old classic, The Girl From Ipanema. The track appears as a cover on the December 5, 2011 UK-release of Amy’s third album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

Here is some very brief background detail, with performances by sundry great artists. I believe that I know which performances greatly influenced Amy, but I am willing to be surprised.

Written in 1962, by Antonio Carlos and Vinicius de Moraes, the song was awarded a Grammy as Record of the Year in 1965. Norman Gimbel wrote the English lyrics. Pery Ribeiro made the first commercial recording of the song in 1962. In 2004, the Library of Congress inducted the song into the National Recording Registry.

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Pery Ribeiro – Garota de Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfYTU2vuwqo

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Ella Fitzgerald – The Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZjLz6o7uZM&feature=related

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Nat King Cole – Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPN7dqOZdO0

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Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz: THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA – 1964

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJkxFhFRFDA

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Andy Williams & Antonio Carlos Jobim – Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKfl15c-Kh0

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Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto Reunited – Girl from Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmV0TcTNJ3o

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FRANK SINATRA – THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NldPFVKYmiw

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Al Hirt – The Girl From Ipanema – 1970

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp3PjYgTUyA&feature=fvsr

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Lou Rawls – The Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqE7RuIbfjE

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Cher – The Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjPK7Qc0ZXE

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Sammy Davis Jr – The Girl from Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjFqTMpG9KU&feature=related

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Ivete Sangalo and B.J. Thomas – The Girl from Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooeQRcB71-U&feature=related

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Diana Krall – The Girl From Ipanema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDMSh91tnQ8&feature=related

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Amy Jade Winehouse  – The Girl From Ipanema

????????????????????????????????????????

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Amy fans have high hopes and great expectations, and no worries. They know that their JadeMermaid Princess always makes the songs she covers her own; TGFI will be no exception.

Notes On The Contemplated “Amy Movie”

Each day delivers more obvious clues that the first movie about the life of Amy Jade Winehouse is close at hand. Many folks disagree with my views on the matter and I respect their right to do so. My views are as follows.
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Note To The Moviemakers:

Production teams should consider themselves on constructive notice that any film which seeks to profit by unfairly exploiting AJW – or by reinforcing the false narrative that has been constructed by the corrupt media – will not succeed at the box office. If Amy fans become aware that the filmmakers have – to any degree – failed to regard this simple and good-faith advisory, such fans will work fulltime to assure that the resulting film fails and that those funding it lose their investments. Amy was bashed and trashed quite enough in life; fans will not tolerate a “hater bait” movie, now that she has left the stage.

If the filmmakers decide that a movie sympathetically and sensitively exalting a great artist suffering from a dreaded disease is not “sexy enough” to create adequate profits, they should simply abandon the project. While she was alive, Amy’s fans were foolishly silent during an evil media’s assault on her decent and sensitive character; they will not make the same mistake in her absence. A respectful representation is expected and nothing less will be acceptable.

All elements of “disease chauvinism” must either be excluded from the project, OR they must be exposed as the deadly “blame the victim” elements that they actually are. Civilized folks don’t hate sick folks and they don’t tolerate those who do so. If the prospective makers of any Amy movie do not yet fully grasp this concept, they must employ competent medical professionals to consult in the matter.

Amy’s story is not about the symptoms of the disease that afflicted her; it is about her artistic accomplishments and her constant search for friendship and unbreakable trust. Her story is that she knew she should be her own best friend, but was unable to do so. She searched for, experimented with, and gambled on the non-career puzzle piece that would have completed her. Try as she did, that missing piece long eluded her and when it was finally within her grasp, a vile disease cheated her of the prize.

Amy’s fans – currently heartbroken and in great despair – expect a fair, balanced and positive message to be conveyed in any AJW biopic. They will support nothing less.
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Note To Amy Fans:

If we want our opinions taken seriously in the process that will lead the first Amy film to the screen, we will have to partially cede “ownership” of Amy. Now, “our girl” belongs to the ages; we can influence the maintenance of her legend, but we cannot “own” that legend.

Our constructive input is entirely indispensable, but we will squander the opportunity to render it if at every turn we simply shout, “No, No, No!” We must help guide the process by respectfully influencing and educating the artists and business people involved in the project. That is the path to assuring that the movie is the best that it can be.

The filmmakers have a clear self-interest in seeking both preproduction and postproduction input from Amy’s fans. Intransigent fans can thwart that interest, but the result will be the release of a movie that will not make a satisfactory contribution to preserving the legend and promoting the legacy of its subject.

Hopefully, most fans will decide to act prudently and speak frankly and constructively about their hopes, goals and wishes for an appropriate and successful film. To do any less in the face of inevitability would, in my view, be a betrayal of the obligations we have to AJW.
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Note Regarding The Lead Player:

Many fans are worried that “nobody” can adequately represent Amy’s “essence” in a biopic. Those worries are largely misplaced. Film remains a medium of writers and directors. Given the right script and a skilled director, Amy’s “essence” will appear on the screen; regardless of the lead player selected.

A large number of actors have been contemplated for the role. Among the leading contenders have been Lea Michele and Stefani Germanotta. Some prominent notice has also gone to actor/singer/comic Dana DeLorenzo.

Lea Michele is a highly-skilled actor and she is one of the most talented vocalists that Broadway has produced in decades. In films subsequent to the first one, Lea will be an ideal choice to portray Amy and there is no doubt that she is super-qualified to get the job done.

Dana DeLorenzo is also multi-talented. While some have expressed concern that her past “parody” performances might interfere with her ability to take dramatic direction in the role, I totally disagree. She is an experienced actor, understands how to meet a director’s and writer’s expectations, and might well bring a fresh and fun perspective to subsequent Amy movies.

In the first “big budget” theatrical movie, Stefani Germanotta is both the logical and best choice to portray AJW. Her demographics are both homogeneous and additive; she reinforces Amy’s natural box-office base and she substantially expands that base in demos where AJW has historically lacked support. SG’s participation will attract existing Amy fans and draw a massive crossover audience to the project.

Stefani has very high-end vocal skills and her acting abilities will be expanded in the hands of a sensitive and experienced director. In the search for Amy’s “essence,” there is no more trustworthy vessel than Stefani. Her respect for Amy is well known and she bears an understanding of AJW’s circumstance that few other candidates possess.

Sometimes, a sporting coach will allow a “player to play” just because that player “wants it more” than any other team member. In making the choice of Amy’s onscreen representative, the shot-callers should understand that nobody wants this role more than Stefani Germanotta does. Stefani – aka Lady Gaga – is the correct pick.
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Notes On The Money:

Moviemaking is ONLY about an effort to make money for its participants. If they make good movies, they make good money; if their movies are junk, they lose money. Moviemakers risk large fortunes to earn their profits and they are entitled to apportion those earnings as they choose.

In the instant circumstance, it is wholly in the interest of the film creators to be extremely generous with the primary beneficiary of AJW’s legacy: The Amy Winehouse Foundation. Such generosity will help garner great support for the movie.

At both the front-end and backend of the project, ALL participants should be as generous as they possibly can in their dealings with the AWF. Any sense to the contrary perceived by Amy fans would be a severe and destructive impediment to the film’s success.
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The first movie may or may not be the “best one.” As time passes, other film projects will present and new players will have their chance to add to the legend-preserving and legacy-building of our JadeMermaid Princess.

I respectfully request that Amy’s fans approach this film project with a combination of optimism and realism. We want a great movie and Amy deserves no less. Let’s act both reasonably and prudently to help assure a positive outcome for all concerned. Thanks!

Sam Shaker and His JadeMermaid Muse

Sometimes, I want to conclude that Sam Shaker is “only” the greatest maker of modern “folk art” I can name. Other times, I feel like I am looking at art made by a cloned descendant of Matisse, Manet and Picasso. My confusion would disturb me, except that I can always take refuge in the obvious: Shaker is a highly-skilled portrait artist; certainly one of the best working today.

Shaker can deliver what any modern camera can, but he can add the fun, the mystery, the emotion that even the best photography usually lacks. He shows me fun and sparks me to simultaneously wonder, “What was he thinking?” and “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Shaker’s relentless mashup of styles can delude the uncritical viewer into thinking that the artist lacks focus, when the fact is that he merely sees “more” aspects of his subjects than the average artist. There is “stuff” in Sam’s head and he spits it out through a brush; whether the viewer is ready for it or not, whether the context is immediately certain or not. It may be that quality that will force history to judge that Sam Shaker was actually among the grandest makers of “fine art” in his time.

That Amy Jade Winehouse and Sam Shaker stumbled upon each other was neither an accident nor an element of a teenager without a “tiny penny” wanting to play with folks she fancied to be the big kids. Kismet never errs and it always seeks to pair geniuses; so it did with the Jazz Singer and the Jazzy Painter.

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____________________________

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Sam Shaker’s Website

http://www.artbysamshaker.co.uk/

Fine Art By Sam Shaker

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/sam-shaker.html?page=1

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Red Violins and Polka-Dot Dresses

What do you do when the thing you most wanted, so perfect, just comes?

So inquires Charles Morritz, a primary player in The Red Violin, the 1998 film saga that traces the 300-year+ history of a “magical” violin that has been played by – and “played” – a large cast of saints and sinners.

On November 29, 2011, another inanimate object with a “Lazarus Soul” will continue upon its path to fashion immortality. Now known as “Kerry Taylor Auctions Lot 178,” the iconic offering is the Disaya-print chiffon dress worn by Amy Jade Winehouse on the cover of her 2006 album, Back To Black.

Before getting deeper into the weeds, it is important to praise the decency and generosity of designer Disaya Sorakraikitikul. As Ruselsky sought to hoard the magnificent violin for vain pleasure, so too could DS have done with her world-famous dress. Instead, she chose to send the dress on the next step of its date with destiny. All proceeds from the sale accrue to the Amy Winehouse Foundation. All Amy fans owe Disaya big-time and we should never forget the designer’s role in building the legend.

To learn more about Disaya, see her nifty website:

http://www.disaya.com/aw11/

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Excerpts from the Kerry Taylor Auctions catalog:

Item Description: … with engraved gilt metal Disaya label, the short dress printed with bands of graduated dark-red polka dots, the corset-like bodice with under-wiring and central lace bow insertion and waistband, elasticated puff-ball skirt, UK size 8, bust approx 82-86cm, 32-34in, the high waist 71cm, 28in; together with a letter of authenticity signed by the designer – Disaya.

Item Provenance: In 2006, the young St Martins trained, Thai based designer Disaya was approached by her British PR agent with a request for the loan of a dress for Miss Winehouse’s photo-shoot. This request came via his friend – Louise Winwood who was Amy’s stylist at the time and was working on the album cover project for Universal Island Records.

Although this was Amy Winehouse’s second album (she was re-launching her career after a break) there was reluctance on the part of many of the leading fashion designers initially approached to assist. However, Disaya was happy to help as she was launching her new label in the UK and felt that the young, innovative designs would be a good match.

The photo-shoot took place in the photographer Mischa Richter’s house. Louise took over a selection of clothes for Amy to try, and they both agreed that this dress suited her best. After the photo-shoot the dress was returned to the designer and carefully stored in the Disaya archive.

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Not included in the KTA literature are these fun details and pics related to the famous photo-shoot:

http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2011/11/11/amy-winehouses-stylist-tells-us-about-dressing-amy-for-back-to-black.htm

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The high-bidder will own the dress and may do whatever he or she chooses to do with it. The internet is alive with “suggestions” on what the new owner “should do” with their new acquisition. No point in missing my chance to opine on the matter.

First, the new owner should do that which suits and pleases them to do with the dress. There should be no recriminations from fans; no matter what that owner’s choice is.

If I were to buy the dress:

I would retain ownership of it and seek to acquire additional high-profile Amy fashions to build the finest quality collection extant. The entire collection would be put to work in service to the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Items would be loaned to responsible event organizers around the planet to feature as exhibits at their sundry AWF-fundraising events.

When I joined AJW, the items would all conditionally revert to the AWF; in the hope that the cycle would continue “forever” and that the collection would always remain together.

Having owned a number of high-end collectibles, I can report that – after a short period of selfish “love” for the items – the only genuine joy from owning such things comes from sharing them with as many other folks as possible. In the case of the instant dress, millions of people likely eagerly await an opportunity to view it up close and in person. Our hope should be that its new owner wants to, in whatever ways they choose, provide for at least some elements of that demand.

The “White Dress With The Red Polka Dots” is about to continue its journey into history. In 100-years, Amy’s dress will have one-third as many stories to tell as the fictional violin did. We will not know those stories, but we will always be connected to their earliest chapters. That is a very cool thing.

Now, we must hope for a winning bidder with the semi-pure heart of Morritz. I am pretty sure that the JadeMermaid Princess would prefer that bidders with the heart of Ruselsky not own the treasure. Yet, I wish all of the bidders the best of luck as they each attempt to be the next to add their own chapter to what will become the forever legend of Amy’s ever so marvelous dress.

 

Make An Easy Contribution To The Amy Winehouse Foundation

As most of you know, the AWF has been established in Amy’s memory to support charitable activities in both the UK and abroad that provide help, support or care for young people; especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.

The lifeblood of the AWF is public awareness. Now, you can easily help boost that awareness AND earn some “likkle” financial contributions to help build Amy’s philanthropic legacy.

If you have ONE HOUR to contribute to the AWF’s important work, simply follow the instructions below:

1. Join Squidoo:

http://www.squidoo.com/

On Squidoo, the pages you create are called “lenses.”

2. When registering, you will be asked how you want to be paid for ad-revenues generated by your lens. Until the AWF can be listed as one of the charities on the Squidoo menu, just have your mini-monies sent to your PayPal account. When the pennies start to add up, simply make your direct contribution to the AWF.

NOTE: Be sure to use the same email addy to register on Squidoo that you use at PayPal. This enables the seamless payment of ad-revs to your account.

3. Follow the “lens building” screens and create a simple lens that features your positive thoughts about AJW and the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Your own original content is best – poetry, songs, pictures, art, stories, articles – but you can also thoroughly rewrite other material and post it in your lens.

You don’t need special writing skills to build a good lens. Just write what you think, feel, believe; folks will find it and read it.

Here is a sample lens that I put together – using existing content – in 37-minutes. You can likely build one a lot faster than I did. They are MUCH easier to build than a facebook page.

http://www.squidoo.com/amy-jade-winehouse2

4. The lenses are simple to build, using the “modules” provided. After your first lens, you should have the process down and be able to quickly make more lenses about other subjects if you want to. Lens building is sort of addictive, so pace yourself.

Your “Amy Lens” can be updated just like you would update a blog; simply add a new text module and enter your new content. Frequent updates will keep both Squidoo’s indexing scheme and the search engines interested in your lens.

Some Squidoo Modules You Need To Use In Your Lens:

A: The Introduction Module: This one is required so that google and the other search engines can find and index your lens. In the sample above, this module is labeled “The Mission.”

B: The Text Module: This is where you write or paste the body copy of your lens. It includes a title box that tells folks what your story is about.

C: The Amazon Module: This box allows you to place a direct order ink to Lioness: Hidden Treasures. If someone uses the link to place their order, AMZN will pay some pennies directly into your account.

D: The All Links Module: Here, you can place links to the AWF site, the AWF facebook wall, your own or others’ blogs and facebook pages, and any other relevant links. In the sample lens, the module is labeled “Useful Amy Page Links.”

I Told You It Was Simple, You Know I Told The Truth.

You will want to use “tags” on your lens. This helps Squidoo readers and the search engines find the lens. The tags used in the sample above are labeled “Related Tags.” You can use any relevant tags that you think a searcher might use.

You should make your titles and copy “keyword rich.” This means you want to use words that searchers might use. Amy Jade Winehouse, Amy Winehouse Foundation, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, are examples of keywords that are useful for our current purposes; you may think of many others — use them.

If it looks like there are “too many” ads on the sample lens, that is a good thing. Demos are tracked and the ads on your lens will, eventually, be ideally suited to your average readers. The more ads on your lens, the more cash you will have a chance to earn for the AWF.

If English is not your first language, you can build a lens in your own language but you will get many more readers – and link clickers – if you run your copy through a translator tool and convert it to English before you publish your lens.

NOTE ON CLICK ADS: Never click the ads on your own lens. NOT even to test if they are working; they all work fine. If you are seen clicking the ads on your lens, your account will likely be cancelled and you will be out of the game.

As noted above, “building awareness” about the AWF is Job One. Each time somebody discovers your lens, an AWF “impression” will be created in their mind. We are on an “impression collecting” mission and we want to get as many as we possibly can. As top-of-mind awareness increases, donations to the AWF will increase, too.

The placement of outbound AWF links in your lens is also an important element of this project. Such links make it easy for readers to explore the AWF pages and may help advantage the AWF pages in search-engine indexing.

While the ad-revenues from our individual lenses will not make the AWF rich, collectively our lenses might raise a fair bit of cash each year. At the AWF, every “tiny penny” counts and every contribution is important.

If just 50 folks would volunteer to help promote the Amy Winehouse Foundation via a Squidoo lens, we would be well on our way to creating a significant addition to the large and growing “Amy Page Movement.”

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To help encourage folks to create 50 lenses quickly, Amy’s Army Now will start a new contest. The makers of the TOP THREE lenses – out of the first 50 lenses – will each be awarded a factory-sealed copy of Lioness: Hidden Treasures. Yours Truly will choose the TOP THREE lenses. If we cannot make it to 50 qualifying lenses by December 31, 2011, there will be no contest and no awards.

When you publish your lens, place a link on the Amy’s Army Now facebook Wall.

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

All adequate lenses will be listed in the AJW Page Directory on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

If you have just ONE HOUR to invest in service to the JadeMermaid Princess, this is your opportunity to help build awareness about the AWF and help them raise a few extra bucks. And, you might win a factory-sealed copy of Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

Thanks for reading; now, go build Amy a new lens.

Amy’s Image: Not ‘Reinvention’ – Only Tardy Fairplay

Under a semi-bombastic headline, in today’s Fashion Section of the Telegraph, Lisa Armstrong raised the notion of “reinvention,” regarding the public image of Amy Jade Winehouse.

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/lisa-armstrong/TMG8881389/Amy-Winehouse-the-reinvention-starts-here.html

While I dismiss as total speculation some elements of Armstrong’s editorial recounting of “events,” the notion that AJW’s public image is being “reinvented” has some merit. Though, the word “reinvented” is more than slightly gratuitous – and quite inaccurate – there is little doubt that a large wave of “setting the record straight” efforts is underway.

Following years of seeing Amy trashed and slimed – for money – by some mean-spirited paps and all exploitive tabs, it is wholly justified that fans and others are taking another look at precisely what went down in the media campaign that resulted in the public dehumanization of AJW.

Some in the media-class will continue to call this rehab process “reinvention,” but many of Amy’s fans – and other fair-minded observers – see it simply as fairplay and decency arriving far too late to render justice and preserve life.

The current pushback, wrongly branded as “reinvention,” is certainly reactionary in nature. But, if such reactions had come sooner, the subject might well be moot. Speculating about the unknowable – the what might have been concepts – is a deadend path. But, still, the brokenhearted and the decent must wonder if a different outcome was ever possible. Did the good people do enough and are their present “image rehab” efforts largely elements of guilt? I dunno.

That AJW benefited greatly from a stalking media’s attention is undeniable; that some of that attention was extremely hurtful and damaging to Amy’s feelings as a human being is equally true. Noting that “you take the good with the bad,” is too cavalier a position in light of the outcome that was ultimately visited upon Amy and those who loved her.

The profiteers are still standing and they worry that some fans are engaged in revisionism. I delight in their worry and advise that they have not seen anything, yet.

Amy’s fans relish the notion that her art was always honest. They love that she said what was on her mind. They fancy that “she didn’t care” what other folks thought of her. While Amy’s honesty in her art was unparalleled, much of her bravado in the face of pain and abuse was likely merely the public mask she wore to maintain a defensive illusion of strength and power; humans are like that.

Like most artistic geniuses, AJW was a fragile-hearted human with ultra-sensitive feelings; subject to being easily crushed and demoralized by the criticisms, judgements and exploitations of other humans.

Hunters stalk a wounded animal to retrieve their prey and end its suffering. In life, Amy was stalked by opportunists that sought only a “money shot” that could be sold as representative of “truth.” Such shots often represented accuracy in the moment, but seldom delivered any “truth” about AJW. Such shots were used to create an impression that was neither fair, nor honest, nor decent; the only “truth” delivered was the shocking savagery of a greed-driven media preying on a mortally wounded human. A human with a disease that it is still more acceptable to mock and exploit than it is easy to cure.

Such disease chauvinism profits the exploiters and destroys its victims. If AJW had contracted cancer and departed, would a vile media raise the issue of “reinvention?” Of course not. If a false narrative of Amy’s life had not been largely created by a money-corrupted media, would the alleged “reinvention” even be required? Most definitely not.

Now, with blood still wet near where they stand, elements of the media will accuse Amy’s fans and supporters of attempting to “reinvent history.” The contrary is the truth. We are simply seeking to undo some of the wrongful damage done by a media paid so handsomely – and for so long – to construct what we view as a false and hopelessly biased “history.”

If those who seek to have AJW remembered as a great artist and a good and decent human – with the same frailties and troubles born by many others – are to be cast as “reinventors,” how will history view those who made such “reinvention” necessary? I am pretty sure that I do know the answer to that question.

Fans: Don’t Help Pirates Steal From Amy

The evil graverobbers are out in force. Pirated and hodge-podge CDs and DVDs are popping up for sale on many online retail venues. NONE of the proceeds from the sale of such material flow to the Amy Winehouse Foundation or to AJW’s estate. Buying such items is tantamount to suborning stealing from Amy.

It is easy to understand the great thirst that fans have for more Amy music; the temptation to buy dodgy items is powerful. Each time you succumb to that temptation, you help delay the release of additional legitimate material and you diminish its value. It is righteous to be patient and to wait for the “real thing.”

During the next decade, it is very likely that substantial quantities of legitimate, unreleased AJW music will surface. If you love Amy and respect the sacrifices that she made to create that music, you will wait for it and avoid the quick-buck scammers that care only about counting stolen money.

Just today, it is being reported that Remi has a nice stash of material that will likely eventually be released.

http://www.hiphopblog.com/news-mainmenu-35/26802-nas-a-amywinehouse-tracks-may-surface.html

Over time, there will likely be LOTS more; wait for it.

Currently, the ONLY authorized new release is Lioness: Hidden Treasures. Support LHT, help drive it to the top of the charts, and you will be well rewarded with many future opportunities to own more of the great music that YOUR JadeMermaid Princess devoted much of her life to creating for YOU.

Thanks!

Art Contest: Draw An ‘Amy Statue’

As most AJW fans know, the Camden Council is considering a potentially appropriate, permanent memorial for placement in honor of Amy Jade Winehouse.

http://tinyurl.com/6vvtlfr

Please read the article and vote in the poll featured in the above link.

This first in a series of Amy’s Army Now Art Contests offers amateur and professional artists the opportunity to submit a drawing or a painting representing their vision of a permanent memorial statue depicting Amy.

Entries will be widely circulated and their merit will be voted on by readers of many facebook “Amy Pages,“ and by the page admins at Amy’s Army Now.

The Prizes:

Submitters of the Top-Three selected entries will each be awarded a factory-sealed copy of AJW’s latest album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

The Process:

1. Entries must be posted on the Amy’s Army Now facebook-Wall, not later than Midnight (USA-EST) on December 15, 2011.

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

2. Any art medium in any style may be submitted, but drawings in a traditional and realistic-style are most likely to score the highest. (No stick-figure drawings, please.)

3. ONLY ONE submission from each artist may be entered.

4. All entries remain the property of their submitters. The Amy’s Army Now pages will have the perpetual right to publish all submissions for any non-commercial purpose they may choose.

5. Submissions may be entered by artists from ANY country.

6. Readers will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite submissions. “Likes” from readers will be counted as votes for the submissions.

7. Submitters and their friends MAY vote for their own submissions. Any paid-voting or incentive-voting promotion will be cause to disqualify the affected submission.

8. Awards to the TOP-THREE submissions will be determined by a weighting scheme as follows:

50% based on the number of reader “Likes” placed; and,

50% based on the vote of the Amy’s Army Now admins.

9. Voting closes at Midnight on December 20, 2011. Awards will be announced by on or about December 25, 2011.

10. Awards will be shipped to the TOP-THREE submitters by on or about December 31, 2011, via USPS insured mail.

11. In the event of an unexpected flood of submissions, a new page may be created to best feature the art and better facilitate the voting scheme.

12. In the event that only THREE (3) submissions OR fewer than THREE (3) submissions are entered, each such qualifying submission will be awarded the contemplated prize.

While the admins at Amy’s Army Now have frequently expressed their vision of the “preferred” statue,

“…a life-size bronze statue, on a large pedestal no higher than 18-inches; featuring AJW wearing a flare-dress, with her right arm extended – a la the “Look Across The Water…” stage gesture – and facing in the direction of the AWF headquarters,”

artists are NOT required to comport their submissions to that vision. If our vision appeals to you, draw it; if not, your own creative vision will likely best serve your submission.

As noted, this is the first art contest Amy’s Army Now has conducted. If it proves popular with submitters and readers, there will be frequent contests with different themes and prizes.

Have fun and create something that you would be pleased to see standing in Camden for a very long time. Best of luck!

“Amy Pages” Can Help Move “Amy Projects” Forward

As time passes, the basket of “Amy Projects” will become more full. These are some of the APs currently at the top of the basket.

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Amy Winehouse Foundation:

The AWF is the backbone of efforts to build Amy’s philanthropic legacy. All of our work should be done with the understanding that building awareness about the AWF is our primary mission; all projects should further that mission.

AWF Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousefoundation

AWF Website:

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.co.uk/

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Lioness: Hidden Treasures:

The release of LHT on December 5, 2011 is a major component in the funding of the AWF. Approximately $1.60 from each unit sold will go to the AWF. Our pumping efforts need to be spirited, to help assure that LHT tops the charts and yields strong returns for the AWF.

How To Order LHT, Now:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-releases/music#zg_learnMo

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=&x=12&y=25#/ref=sr_pg_9?rh=n%3A5174%2Cp_n_date%3A1249114011&page=9&bbn=5174&ie=UTF8&qid=1320683662

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?pPageID=4906

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Respect La Diva Poll:

The RLD-Poll asks respondents to vote for their “favorite female singer of all time.” The Poll is now open until January 31, 2012. The Winner will be honored with a special Gold Diva Award.

http://www.respectladiva.com/poll/

While AJW currently has a large percentage lead in the polling, the low total vote count leaves us very vulnerable to a late voting effort by another camp. One vote per day from each computer that you use is appropriate.

If Amy is selected for this award, it is likely that an AJW song will be written into the RLD show. A win here will help boost MANY other current and future projects.

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Camden Square Memorial:

The politicians in Camden are debating what they call the “sensitive issue” of placing a permanent Amy-memorial on the Square. The job-creators in the area will receive a major biz-boost from the many thousands of tourists that will flock to the memorial annually. Any extended debate of the obvious should be seen as inappropriate.

My personal preference is for a life-size bronze statue, on a large pedestal no higher than 18-inches; featuring AJW wearing a flare-dress, with her right arm extended – a la the “Look Across The Water…” stage gesture – and facing in the direction of the AWF headquarters.

Whatever the Camden pols decide, they should do it quickly; before some other city beats them to it. You can help encourage the pols to act prudently and promptly by casting your vote in this poll.

News Story and Poll:

http://tinyurl.com/7hrc2q5

Check Here For Updates:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Camden-Square-Sign-amy-winehouse/247122268649656

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Hollywood Walk of Fame STAR:

Momentum is on the build in this campaign, but there is still much work to do. Very simply put, the challenge is to encourage the Walk of Fame Committee to waive the “five year rule” governing posthumous inductions. The Committee needs to see a groundswell of popular support, prior to their final consideration of granting such a waiver.

Background and Talking Points:

https://amysarmynow.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/amy-merits-a-star-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame/

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Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame:

This will happen, but it will require time and a great deal of hard work. Under current rules, the first year that AJW will be eligible for induction is 2028/9. Obviously, we have no way to predict whether the process will be altered between now and then, but we should make sure that the promotional infrastructure is in place for use – whenever it is needed – by us or by those that will come after us.

Another possibility is that the Hall could establish a new series of awards that would serve as “interim indicators” that an artist might be favorably considered for induction when current time limits had been met. This could serve to build excitement about numerous artists and give fans something fabulous to look forward to.

In the foreseeable future, any external efforts to encourage rule changes that might expedite an induction vote would be inappropriate and would fail. If new rules are implemented to govern posthumous inductions, we will be ready. If the process is modified to be “fan centric,” we will be ready. If tradition prevails, we will be ready. Whatever the circumstance, we will, eventually, work to help make the high honor a reality.

Background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame

Process:

http://rockhall.com/inductees/induction-process/

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Marketing Original “Tribute Music” To Benefit The AWF:

A number of talented musicians have produced music that they wish to market for the benefit of the AWF. The best, cheapest and easiest way to organize this effort is for one of the participating musicians to create a single facebook-page to aggregate the offerings of all such musicians.

Since most of the music will be offered in electronically deliverable formats, the task of helping to promote sales can be substantially aided by the sundry “Amy Pages” posting frequent download links.

Experienced operators of this type of fundraising have found that noting “100% of gross proceeds from the sale of this music” will be donated to the applicable charity, ensures the highest unit sales. Creating “math problems” for potential buyers by noting “profits will go to the charity” does not drive sales. The benefit for participating musicians is being able to help the AWF, while expanding their own listener base; trying to reap any financial reward or recoupment at the front end is not effective.

The same general scheme could be employed by artists wishing to market “Tribute Art” for the benefit of the AWF.

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Organizing “Local” Fundraising Events:

A lot of folks – in diverse locations – want to hold small fundraising events, with all proceeds going to the AWF.

The best, cheapest and easiest way to organize such efforts is for one of the participating volunteers to create a single facebook-page to act as an aggregate directory for such events. Potential attendees could be driven to the directory by the admins of the many other “Amy Pages.”

Trying to organize a hundred different events via a hundred different pages is a cat-herding project. Consolidating organizational efforts would deliver the kind of synergy that is needed to make LOTS of diverse events successful.

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So, some of the “Amy Projects” are well baked and some are only partially baked, but we will get them all accomplished. And, there will be MANY more projects coming online in the future.

The “Amy Page” movement is fast becoming a very powerful tool that will help us all realize both our collective and individual visions of “tribute offering and legacy building.” As that power consolidates into the very loose confederation that is now being built, there will be no stopping us. As has always been the case, it is an exciting time to be an AJW fan!

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For the convenience of readers, here is a link to the Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory, which lists many of the scores of online “Amy Pages” from around the planet.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

Some pages are more developed and active than others. ALL pages are created with the respect and love that their owners feel for the JadeMermaid Princess.

.

Our Day Will Come: Brief History, Mini Review

Here is a non-comprehensive sampling of artists performing Our Day Will Come.

Ruby and The Romantics (1963)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–8Ju1jb8Bw

____________

Julie London (1963)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgxDHSlvlwA

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Isaac Hayes (1970)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08r2OMKC5ho

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The Heptones (1971)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8brZFA703o&feature=fvst

____________

The Carpenters (1973)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ba8XDbh2FA

____________

Johnny Mathis (1974)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoqNRLh7aAA

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Amy Jade Winehouse (2011 Release)

http://www.nme.com/news/amy-winehouse/60185

____________

Very Soon, when music fans think of the “standard version” of Our Day Will Come, it will be the AJW track that is playing in their heads. That is NOT to say that Amy’s cover is “better” than its predecessors; only that it is destined to become the definitive interpretation for many future generations.

The understated power of Amy’s voice in this rendition exalts the song and shows the sincere high-regard that she had for ALL of those who have performed it before her. That Amy’s covers “always become her own songs” is certainly an element of her skill, but more so defines the respect she has for the original music that is her inspiration.

There is now NO doubt that Lioness: Hidden Treasures will be at Number One on many charts before the end of 2011. After today’s sampling, we should all understand that it will not be the “buzz” or the “Amy Momentum” that will make LHT a chart topper. If you did not know that you were a fan of a true musical genius, the world will soon inform you of that fact.

Simply put, the JadeMermaid Princess was the greatest cover artist that has ever graced our presence. On July 23, 2011, Las Vegas history was robbed of a STAR that would have ultimately become the resort’s greatest headliner. But, history will be kind to Amy and her day will come; we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The legend marches on and the true legacy has only just begun construction.

A ‘Likkle’ Fun Music For ‘Amy’s Bucket Brigade’

While all charitable institutions must covet “wealthy donors” and “major projects” to further their service goals, the lifeblood of a philanthropic enterprise is “awareness” among average citizens. Absent such awareness, it is extremely difficult for any nonprofit organization to become “a household name.” At the heart of efforts to raise this critical awareness are the “bell ringers” and the “bucket shakers” that volunteer their time to build “name ID and excitement” about sundry charitable ventures.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation is very fortunate to have a great reserve of troops ready to volunteer for “Amy’s Bucket Brigade.” These frontline troops are honored to “Shake A Bucket For Amy” and must always be encouraged to have fun and remain motivated in their duties.

For fun and motivation, a great Charlie Pride song – Kiss An Angel Good Morning – has been modified for “Amy’s Bucket Brigade.” Sung to the tune of KAAGM, the song is titled Shake A Bucket For Amy.

With the refrain lines on their tongues – and memories of AJW in their hearts and minds – Amy’s greatest ambassadors should be able to weather the harshest cold and the most sweltering heat as they perform their important duties.

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Here is the fantastic original Charlie Pride song:

Kiss An Angel Good Morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0DI8jjm8E

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Here are the modified lyrics, sung to the tune of KAAGM:

.

Title: Shake A Bucket For Amy

.

Whenever we chance to meet

Some new friends on our beat

They wonder how we ever got to be this way

We’ve always got a smiling face

Anytime and any place

And everytime they ask us why

We just smile and say

.

You’ve got to

Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her know you think about her when she’s gone

Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her see you helpin’ sow her seeds of love

.

People may try to guess

The secret of our happiness

but some of them never learn that it’s a simple thing

.

The secret we’re speakin’ of

Is the only things we ever keep

Are those we give away AND we always sing

.

We’ve got to

Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her know we think about her when she’s gone

Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her see us helpin’ sow her seeds of love

.

Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her know you think about her when she’s gone

So Shake a bucket for Amy

And let her see you helpin’ sow her seeds of love

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Some amateur “karaoke style” videos might soon be produced and “Amy’s Bucket Brigade” troops might have fun with them. While their work is very serious, doing that work without joyful singing is not the way of those who serve the legacy of the JadeMermaid Princess.

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All music and lyrics hereinabove are owned by their respective copyright holders and are published here solely for non-commercial purposes.

Nota: para Facebook “página Amy” Administradores

Si usted es el administrador de una “página Amy” en Facebook, por favor, ajuste sus “destacados” ajustes para asegurar que el Amy Winehouse Fundación FB-Página avatar siempre aparece en el panel izquierdo de su propia página. Este ajuste de configuración es fácil de hacer:

En la parte superior derecha de la FB-Muro de la página: Haga clic en “Editar página”

En el menú de la izquierda: Haga clic en “destacados”

A continuación: Haga clic en “Editar destacados Likes”

Usted puede seleccionar hasta cinco avatares de su “Me gustó” lista para aparecer permanentemente en el lado izquierdo de su FB-Wall. Si selecciona menos de cinco “destacados” los avatares, los “blancos” seguirá siendo ocupado por selecciones al azar de la lista de “Me gustó” páginas. Estos ajustes se pueden modificar fácilmente en cualquier momento.

Cada vez que un visitante de la página ve el avatar AWF en su página, una “impresión de la toma de conciencia” se crea y los beneficios AWF de ella.

En una campaña de concienciación, todos los pasos hacia el éxito son acumulativos, a menudo, los más pequeños esfuerzos grandes dividendos.

Gracias por tu ayuda!

Help Drive “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” To #1 With Crossovers

Our Goal: Lioness: Hidden Treasures @ Number One By December 25, 2011.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation will receive approximately $1.60 per LHT unit sold. Do the math and you will understand how important it is that we do all we can to make sure LHT soars to the top spot on the charts.

By the end of November 2011, there should not be ONE fan of the songs and artists noted below that is not almost as excited as we are about the pending release of AJW’s Lioness: Hidden Treasures. (Release Date: December 5, 2011)

Below is an outline of some “fanbase-farming and crossover-driving” opportunities that can be exploited quickly. This is not a comprehensive list of our targets, but it is enough to get the game started.

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Song Title:

OUR DAY WILL COME (Reggae Version)

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=our+day+will+come&aq=f

Fan Page Targets:

Ruby And The Romantics

The Carpenters

Johnny Mathis

The Heptones

Isaac Hayes

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Julie London

Cher

ALL Reggae enthusiasts

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.
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Song Title:

WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW

Shirelles classic, written by Carole King.

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=will+you+still+love+me+tomorrow&aq=0&oq=will+you+still+love+

Fan Page Targets:

The Shirelles

Carole King

James Taylor

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.
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Song Title:

VALERIE

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=valerie+zutons&aq=0&oq=valerie+zu

Fan Page Targets:

The Zutons

Bruno Mars

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.
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Song Title:

GIRL FROM IPANEMA (A Bossa Nova classic)

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+girl+from+ipanema&aq=f

Fan Page Targets:

Stan Getz

Astrud Gilberto

Frank Sinatra

Lou Rawls

Julio Iglesias

ALL Bosa Nova Fans

(Amy fans in Brazil should work their “local” lists.)

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.

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Song Title:

HALFTIME

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+roots+&aq=f

Fan Page Targets:

The Roots

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.
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Song Title:

A SONG FOR YOU

(“Who is Mr. Hathaway?” Definitive answer on the way.)

A youtube Menu:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=a+song+for+you&aq=f

Fan Page Targets:

Donny Hathaway

The Carpenters

Ray Charles

Leon Russell (writer)

(There are other cover artists that have done this song, but some may have their own “Christmas Records” coming, so tread especially cautiously with their fans.)

Find the Fan Sites, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, Forums, and Blogs that feature these artists. Communicate with them and let them know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is coming AND why they should be as “excited and thrilled” as you are.

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This kind of “fanbase-farming and crossover-driving” is also a good way for Amy’s fans to help build a new fleet of Amy enthusiasts. To hear her is to love her, and we can give “new folks” an opportunity to do both.

Here are two samples of general messages to our targets. Change the names when appropriate. (If you think that last line is “obvious,” you would be mistaken, but that‘s another story.)

“If you love the Shirelles’ original recording of ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,’ I know you will really enjoy the tribute cover that is on the new Amy Winehouse album, “Lioness: Hidden Treasures.” Please watch for its December 5, 2011 release.”

OR:

“If you love Lou Rawls’ cover of ’ Girl From Ipanema,’ I know you will really enjoy the tribute cover that is on the new Amy Winehouse album, “Lioness: Hidden Treasures.” Please watch for its December 5, 2011 release.”

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IF any Amy fan has the time/skill to RAPIDLY compile a relevant “Fan Page Directory” for use in this campaign, it will be widely/quickly circulated AND its compiler will get full public credit for the effort. A “good list” could markedly increase the chances of our efforts yielding fast and positive results.

If you want to make a list, let amysarmynow know. Then, do it fast and the list will go wide VERY fast.

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

Absent a targeted list, pumpers should simply find the relevant pages and work them. Facebook and Twitter “search,” and google are good places to start. (Be sure that you keep a record of what pages you have posted on. This will help prevent overly repetitious posts from becoming “obnoxious.”)
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When pumping a cover to a fan of the original, the most important step is to “exalt the original.” NEVER claim that your artist’s version is “better;” owning the cover is “merely complimentary” to the collections of the fans who love the “fabulous original” OR the “fantastic previous cover” of that original.

Your crossover target does NOT want to hear what is in it for you or your artist, if they buy the album bearing their fave song; they ONLY want to know what is in it for THEM and THEIR artist. Your artist’s cover should be cast as their “tribute” to the version that your target already loves.

A new cover provides fans of the original with an opportunity to expand their collection, spread the original music, and renew recognition of THEIR favorite artists. ALL covers lead to new discoveries of the original works and previous covers; buy the new cover and your favorite artist will benefit and his/her fanbase will be expanded.

The above info is more than enough to get us started towards doing our share to pump “excitement and anticipation” to fan segments that are a NATURAL – but potentially neglected/ignored – market for Amy’s coming album.

If chasing this market segment does not interest you, you can still do more than your share to promote the new album among your friends, associates, and other music enthusiasts. Even the most generic pumping can have great cumulative value. The important thing is NOT “how you serve,” only “that you serve.”
___________________

ALL promotion efforts must be RESPECTFUL; do not SPAM or be overly aggressive, but don’t be shy either. Contact your targets like YOU would want to be contacted. Be relentless, but not obnoxious; if you don’t know the difference, please sit this one out.

While the fan pages on Facebook and Twitter are our prime targets, we must also work ALL of the relevant forums and fan sites, and contact ALL appropriate bloggers. If you comment on any youtube versions of the songs, you can also let readers know that Lioness: Hidden Treasures is on the way.

Your local radio stations that play any of the original songs, will be “happy” to get some polite emails and postcards telling them how excited you are about the coming release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures. They will be very likely to share your excitement with their listeners.

___________________

“Number One By Christmas Morning” is NOT a slamdunk, but if we cannot deliver it we should ALL retire from the promo-game. NEVER has a gang of wildcat promoters had more ammunition than we have with this release. If we cannot win with this one, we can never win with any other disc.

We should expect great efforts from the record companies on this album. We won’t be happy to see them rely on “Amy Momentum” to take this release to #1. If they think Numero Uno is “guaranteed,” that’s fine. Then, there job must be to make LHT a MASSIVE #1 by a HUGE margin. A lesser effort by the pros should not be expected or accepted.

The beneficiaries of the work being done by the Amy Winehouse Foundation deserve a grandslam from this project. While there will be MANY more opportunities to help well-fund the AWF, Lioness: Hidden Treasures is a BIG ONE and everybody in the mix needs to help make it all it can be.

We know what we need to do, in order to win this one for Amy. If you get tired of pumping, pump some more and your weariness will pass. Let’s get started today and not stop until we KNOW that on Christmas morning of 2011, we can give our JadeMermaid Princess a suitable and appropriate holiday gift:

The Number One Record On The Planet.

Thanks For Your Help! Now, please, let’s go get the job done.

Note To Facebook “Amy Page” Admins

If you are the admin of an “Amy Page” on Facebook, please adjust your “Featured” settings to assure that the Amy Winehouse Foundation FB-Page avatar always appears in the “Likes” panel of your own page. This setting adjustment is easy to make:

At the Top-Right of Your FB-Wall Page: Click “Edit Page”

On the Left-Side Menu: Click “Featured”

Then: Click “Edit Featured Likes”

You may select up to FIVE avatars on your “Liked” list to permanently appear on the “Likes” panel of your FB-Wall. If you select fewer than five “featured” avatars, the “blanks” will continue to be filled by random selections from your list of “Liked” pages. These adjustments can be easily modified at any time.

Each time a page viewer sees the AWF avatar on your page, an “awareness building impression” is created and the AWF benefits from it.

In an awareness campaign, all strides toward success are cumulative; often, the smallest efforts pay BIG dividends.

Thanks for your help!

Building Awareness: The Amy Winehouse Foundation

The Amy Winehouse Foundation has been established in Amy’s memory to support charitable activities in both the UK and abroad that provide help, support or care for young people; especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.

Amy’s fans now have a unique opportunity to help build what could become her most important legacy; in the field of philanthropy.

The legend of Amy’s remarkable life will be with the world forever, and it is a powerful base upon which we can help to build a strong and loyal following of support for the AWF. Through the AWF, we will have a chance to help better the lives of MANY thousands of people in need. And, we will do that in the name of someone whom we all love, adore and admire.

We all wish that Amy was here to lead this effort, but we cannot forsake this critical and worthwhile task due to our own sadness. Now, in her absence, Amy’s work must truly be our own.

Here are just a few “brain dump” tips that may help us get started in our longterm task of building awareness about the AWF.

__________________

* If you have not yet “Liked” the Amy Winehouse Foundation’s FB-Page, please do so now.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousefoundation

__________________

* If you are not following these Twitter accounts, please do so now. They will help you stay up to date on events. Please retweet as appropriate.

https://twitter.com/#!/AmysFoundation

https://twitter.com/#!/search/mitchwinehouse

__________________

* If you have not been regularly placing links to both the AWF FB-Page and the AWF-website on YOUR OWN FB-Pages, please begin to do so now.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousefoundation

http://www.amywinehousefoundation.co.uk/

__________________

* If you post on any “Amy-Forums,” please consider placing a link to the AWF FB-Page and/or the AWF-website in your forum sigline.

__________________

* If you comment on any Amy blogs or youtube videos, please consider including the AWF links along with your comments.

__________________

* If you have “Liked” any “Amy Pages” on Facebook, please consider respectfully asking the owners of those pages to begin actively promoting awareness about the AWF.

__________________

* If you are the admin of an “Amy Page” on Facebook, please consider adjusting your “Featured” settings to assure that the AWF FB-Page avatar always appears in the left-hand panel of your own page. This setting adjustment is easy to make:

At the Top-Right of Your Wall Page: Click “Edit Page”

On the Left-Side Menu: Click “Featured”

Then: Click “Edit Featured Likes”

You may select up to FIVE avatars on your “Liked” list to permanently appear on the left-hand side of your FB-Wall. If you select fewer than five “featured” avatars, the “blanks” will continue to be filled by random selections from your list of “Liked” pages. These adjustments can be modified at any time. Each time a page viewer sees the AWF avatar on your page, an “awareness building impression” is created and the AWF benefits from it.

__________________

* Please consider contacting all of the “Amy Pages” in this directory to respectfully encourage their admins to begin promoting awareness of the AWF.

http://www.facebook.com/amywinehousedirectory

__________________

* If you live near a location where “Amy’s Bucket Brigade” is collecting donations for the AWF, please consider volunteering to “Shake A Bucket For Amy.” You will have a lot of fun, raise awareness about the AWF, and FEEL the love that the donors have for Amy.

__________________

* If you are an online retailer, please consider promoting one or more of your items on the Amy’s Army Now FB-Page.

http://www.facebook.com/amysarmynow

Any general-audience merchandise can be offered, provided that a minimum of 25% of the gross-sale proceeds are pledged as a direct and prompt donation to the AWF.

Amy-related items would likely be great sellers, but other merchandise may do well, too. Many thousands of people view the scores of “Amy Pages” each day and a good many of the page owners will be pleased to help you promote your business in exchange for your generous support of the AWF. Even one item listed to benefit the AWF may lead to numerous crossover sales.

If there is a demand for this concept, the admins at the Amy’s Army Now Facebook Page can provide a standalone “store-page” on Facebook. Participating merchants would list their own items, collect payment for their merchandise, ship the merchandise to their buyers, and promptly fulfill the direct AWF pledge noted in their listings. Such a venue would likely be heavily promoted by many of the sundry “Amy Pages.”

__________________

* If you are a blogger or a writer of squidoo-lenses, please do some research on the internet and write something nice about the AWF. Every single extra positive story on the web about the AWF is a brick in the “awareness path” that we must build.

__________________

* As awareness builds about the AWF, please be ready to step up and do the things that must be done to make our legacy-building efforts a success.

__________________

The world’s economy is in the toilet. Many people are hurting and troubled. It seems like a tough time to embark on building a philanthropic enterprise. But, tough times are when such an effort is most needed. If the army of fans that Amy built fails to answer the call, who will?

That we currently feel a collective sense of overwhelming loss and grief – and likely will for a very long time – cannot be employed as an excuse for our inaction. When Amy was with us, she gave us everything that she could give. Now, it is our time, heart crushed though we are, to pay forward some of the joy that Amy gave us.

Together, we can help build the kind of world-class philanthropic legacy that is fitting for the likes of our JadeMermaid Princess. Let’s do it well and be honored that it is left for us to do. Let’s get started, today. Thanks!

Easy To Look Back In Anger; But Useless

DISCLAIMER: There is nothing profound herein; just a few random thoughts by the heartbroken, for the broken hearted.

“The blood-alcohol level was not compatible with life.”

The verdict of “death by misadventure” bears both gifts and harsh arrows. We can all live with and learn from both offerings.

First off, we should be more than a “likkle” pleased that contentions that Amy had long ago stopped using socially unacceptable and illegal drugs now appear to be largely supported by science. Yet, we are sad that one false agent of relief simply replaced another; that tells us that the pain never really left her and it hurts us to know that she was still hurting so badly.

Naturally, we are more than a bit angry at Amy. We have been and will long remain in severe pain; it seems not unreasonable to be mad at Amy for doing something that left us so much pain. But, while sound minds think of the inevitable consequences of actions, we must recognize that minds in turmoil seldom do. Thus, such anger must be quickly quelled and any imagined transgression forgiven.

Some of us are also still angry at ourselves. The collective WE knew she was in trouble, and while we are not sure what we could have done to save her, we are tormented by thoughts that we “should have done something.” While this anger is the hardest to tame, it is also the most crippling and self-destructive. That there is enough blame to distribute generously is likely true, but dwelling on our share – and that of others – in it, leads down a rough dead-end path that only delays our own recovery journey.

************************

As a nearly lifelong teetotaler, it might be easy for me to launch into an “anti alcohol” tirade and wonder aloud why the most dangerous psychoactive drug ever created is the ONLY one that is socially acceptable and legally vended almost everywhere. Such a rant would be silly and would teach us nothing.

In fact, blaming alcohol for the disaster is likely akin to blaming a firearm maker for the misuse of his product. Both commodities can be used safely, but many times neither are. In an exam of either, early education as to their inherent risks remains the best defense against calamities like the one we acknowledge today.

In the USA, about 300 deaths are recorded each year to be the result of alcohol poisoning. Such poisoning is noted as a “contributing cause” in ten-times that many non motor-vehicle fatalities. And, about 50,000 folks present at USA hospitals for the syndrome annually.

The actual number of deaths from the condition is likely very much higher than reported. Most are noted as “death by natural causes,” due to a lack of sophistication in medical examiners; and, due to many physicians seeking any device by which to shield survivors from added pain.

It is now estimated that upwards of 200,000 USA college students are regularly harming their physical health via “binge drinking.” Such folks are the most at risk of dying from their misadventures and are the least likely to seek and receive professional help to identify the causes of their behavior. That circumstance must be reversed and the easiest way to do it is to assure, by any means necessary, that the “reasons” for such potentially self-ending conduct are identified and treated long before a frantic 911 call is placed by a shocked friend or relative.

Obviously, since more than 40% of traffic fatalities are caused by folks exhibiting some symptom of alcohol poisoning – confusion and loss of normal reflexes  – every safe driver and cautious pedestrian has an interest in solving the problem. Please wait until your friend or relative is killed by such an impaired driver, before you suggest that “it is too expensive” to identify and treat such roadway time bombs. Having the means to solve the problem and not employing it borders on being sinful; no point in sinning, just to save a few bucks.

If you are reading this from outside of the USA, please note that many studies now indicate that “the problem” is actually much greater in South American and European countries than it is in the USA.

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Folks who expected “closure” from today’s verdict are likely not feeling fulfilled. When a loss is so monumental, closure is elusive and may, in fact, be mythical. Our challenge remains to avoid the measuring of our sorrow by the worth and value we have placed upon the one we lost. As the “Shakespeare Mashup” notes:

They are but beggars that can count their worth;

but our love for her had grown to such excess, we

could not sum up sum of half our wealth. Yet, our

sorrow must not be measured by her worth to us,

for then our pain will have no end, and we, no peace.

  

For many, the pain of such a stunningly immeasurable loss would not have been cured by any “verdict” other than that the whole episode was something that had visited our sleep as a nightmare. Thus, all we can do is keep moving forward, always carrying the pain, while trying to leave the anger behind.

Her soul slid away, but don’t look back in anger. At least not today.

New On Facebook: Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory

A new Amy Jade Winehouse Page Directory has now gone live on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Jade-Winehouse-Page-Directory/304144209602839?sk=wall

The directory contains links to AJW pages on numerous general-audience venues. Facebook fan pages, forums, blogs, websites, photo/art/video sites are all welcome to have their links included.

Pages from all nations – published in all languages – are invited to include their links in the directory.

Page admins and users can submit their links on the page’s “Directory Thread.” The directory will be updated, as new links are submitted.

Some linked pages are more active and developed than others; all are respectfully presented. Users can bookmark the directory and have fast access to their favorite pages.

AJW wanted all of her friends to “live the dream.” Now, it is OUR job to “keep the dream alive.” Hopefully, a perpetual directory of “Amy Pages” will, in a tiny way, contribute to that effort.

Can Amy’s Fans Die From Sadness?

Nearly 50-years ago, the King of Late Night Television, Johnny Carson (1925-2005), predicted:

“We are approaching a time when Americans will live in a nearly perpetual state of grief over the loss of people whom they have never met.”

The King went on to explain his view of the power of television to build “connections” between entertainment fans and the celebrities they love. He noted that, in past generations, there had been a “barrier” between fans and their celebrities that would vanish as the power of television created virtual relationships between fans and their favorite entertainers.

“Celebrities are now brought into the living rooms and the bedrooms of their fans. The bonds that will grow between entertainers and their fans will be similar to those between family members. When those celebrities pass away, the sadness fans experience will be enormous.”

Carson’s sophisticated and prescient predictions were based in his understanding of what he saw as the ultimate media. Absent from the formation of his view was the internet, near perpetual touring by entertainers, the constant news-cycle, a ubiquitous entertainment and gossip press, fleets of video-paparazzi stalkers producing endless youtube videos, and the willingness of many modern celebs to circulate and live among their fans.

Nowhere has the truth of Carson’s speculation been recently more evident than in worldwide fans’ emotional reactions to the death of songbird Amy Jade Winehouse.

Amy, once considered the Queen of Camden – subsequently, the world’s Princess of Jazz and Soul – was arguably the most accessible and egalitarian entertainer of modern times. She personally met with and was chatted-up by many thousands of her fans and she always wanted to know their names.

Her autograph hand was virtually always generous, and even her wisecracks were felt as sweet kisses by their auto-hound targets. Day after day, through joy and pain, fans were glued to youtube; living their lives punctuated by Amy’s adventures. Princess Amy was “of the people” and her people loved her for it.

Combine the open and public nature of Amy’s life with the extreme power of her musical art, and it is easy to understand the “relationship” that her fans developed with her. That closeness can be dismissed by some distant observers, but it is very real to Amy’s most ardent admirers.

When Michael Jackson passed away, the grief of his fans was seen across the planet. A sense of “closure” was delivered to MJ fans via an understandable explanation of what had happened and by a spectacular, stunning and beautiful memorial service broadcast to every corner of the world.

Amy’s fans were granted no such professionally managed closure. They have been forced to rely on their own devices to assemble pieces of an elusive grief-management puzzle. Some have done relatively well with their self-directed grieving; aided by each other, via internet connections and the willingness to “talk it out” with fellow fans. But many are left stunned, dazed, confused, and broken hearted; with a feeling of hopelessness that is not fully recognized until they summon the desperate courage to openly state their feelings to strangers on internet message boards.

Many of the grievers are extremely young; their coping skills are not finely honed and they are showing sundry signs of lapsing into states of severe and dangerous depression. Because young people tend to view their present moods and feelings as “everlasting and never-ending,” they are at particular risk of being unsuccessful at trying to self-manage their grief.

Because the adult concept that “this too shall pass” is foreign to youth, many young fans are openly expressing their desire to “join Amy.” Such suicidal ideations are terribly dangerous and must not go unaddressed by friends, families, and mental-health professionals.

Amy would be totally mortified to know that any of her fans would even consider harming themselves to escape their grief. The JadeMermaid Princess was all about “living the dream,” not ending it with a nightmarish “solution.” AJW knew a lot about pain and she understood that it was a natural and unavoidable part of living. Amy would understand how her depressed fans feel and she would demand that they buck-up and get professional help to deal with their feelings.

If you are having trouble dealing with Amy’s passing, do not be ashamed of your feelings; they are common and natural. Tell your family and friends how you feel and ask for their guidance on how to best get through this very difficult time. If you are having symptoms of clinical depression – can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t focus – seek immediate professional help. If you are in school, talk to your teachers and guidance counselors; they will know how to help. If you lack financial resources, simply present at a hospital emergency room and tell them you are in trouble; you will not be turned away and the pros will help you.

Amy’s troops – you and I – have a lifetime of work to do. Preserving her legend and establishing her philanthropic legacy is going to be a long and hard task. We cannot afford to lose even one of US. Please don’t add more grief to the world by contemplating leaving it too soon. Please don’t dishonor your JadeMermaid Princess by giving up. You will only die of sadness, if you allow it to happen. If your tears won’t dry on their own, seek help and do it today.