LAUREN ATCHITY SCHUMACHER WEB EXPERT ON 'AMERICAN IDOL' [via Vincent Atchity]

Michael Sarver talks about his Idol exit

By Lauren Schumacher

The oil rig worker was eliminated from American Idol last night, but he isn't going back to Texas Gold just yet.

Michael Sarver
, the latest contestant to get the ol' heave ho from American Idol fans this week and one of the classiest contestants on American Idol since Sanjaya (that's a joke, people), talked to us in a conference call Friday about his priorities, his future music career, and the warm and fuzzy feelings he surprisingly still has for the judges.

Sarver, the married father of two and a former oil rig worker, doesn't plan on going back to being a roughneck (surprise, surprise). Instead, Sarver said he plans on taking some time off to spend with his family before the rocktastic American Idol tour this summer.

"I have learned just how much I love my family through this experience because I have never been away from them this long. They are my number one priority," he said.

A seemingly unlikely contestant, Sarver brought his Texas charm and politeness to the stage, a striking contrast to the likes of Simon Cowell. But, Sarver said he was never insulted by the judge's comments or their most recent childish antics during deliberation (Simon drawing a mustache on Paula's face is an example... they have to give us something to laugh about ever since Ryan Seacrest got rid of his highlights).

"Personally, I enjoy that. What people need to understand is that this is supposed to be fun. Overall, the fun that they're having is making everybody smile," he said. "America listens to what the judges have to say. They are in those four seats for a reason. They are smart. They don't get it all right but they do get some things right."

Phew. Finally a contestant with some perspective.

But, despite the judge's critique's, Sarver said he plans on hitting the music scene on his own after the summer tour is over.

"I believe in myself and what I'd like to offer to the music world," he said. "Something people don't know is that I have written over 890 songs since I was 14. There are a lot of stories from a good lived life, a lot of stories and I want to share them."

Ah, the wisdom of a 27-year old.

Who will be voted off next week? How many more innocent songs will Megan Joy butcher before she gets the guillotine?

Aubade By Vincent Atchity

Youth was my sprightly joy,
all that I could and would be,
my kingdom on its way.

At forty-three, while cashiers
still require proof before
selling me their ten dollar wines,
I find myself in the
quickened interstices,
letting go of could and would.

Here is our companionable
morning coffee, later I'll pause
for a sight of the bridge at the
rim of the mountain-held bay.
I'll ride my bike alongside bobbing
coots and mirror-winged crows
edges flashing white with light.
The bulk of the day will be a service
to humility, absorbed in a crotchety
machinery of function. All this inner
music silenced to a hum.

Five o'clock will whistle me back to you.
I'll fly downhill into the setting sun
toward the shoreline. The light on the water
will be an orange silver shimmering,
a defiance of representation, an evocation
of the painters who've taken the best measure of time
and tried to keep it.

We'll have our wine and we'll toast the antioxidant properties.
We'll inhabit the evening as fully as moons
before our faces ever wane.
You'll push up against me on the sofa.
I'll feel your warmth here
in my kingdom come.

Black Dog Yoga supports microfinance

On Saturday April 11th, the Sherman Oaks yoga community banded together for a yoga fundraiser held at Black Dog Yoga benefiting Yoga Gives Back, a Los Angeles organization that raises money and awareness of micro loans in India, the birthplace of yoga.


Micro loans are small amounts of money, sometimes as little as $25, and are invested in people, mostly women, who suffer from extreme poverty. Kicking off the workshop/fundraiser, Joel Bender, one of the founders of Yoga Gives Back, explained how Yoga Gives Back started and how the loans, about the cost of two yoga classes, make an enormous impact on peoples’ lives by helping them start, sustain and grow their small businesses.

In 2006 Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economics professor, won the Nobel Peace Prize
for his revolutionary work in microfinance through the Grameen Bank, a bank he fo unded to administer the loans. Yunus is changing the face of the poor by making them credit worthy. Generally, it takes money to make money. In order to get a loan, one has to put up collateral. Impoverished people usually don’t have any collateral, thereby increasing poverty’s vicious cycle.

If a woman wants to invest in a rickshaw her husband drives, or invest in a sewing machine, or parts for the sewing machine, they might need $20 or $40. When a bank doesn’t entertain their business needs they will go to a lender of last resorts. Micro loans through the Grameen Bank
eliminate the security risks involved with these transactions. As the loan recipients repay the loans, they begin to take their first steps out of poverty.

Yoga Gives Back co-founder, Kayoko Mitsumatsu, a documentary filmmaker traveled in India and has interviewed Dr. Muhammad Yunus on various occasions. Seeing the immense poverty after a beautiful yoga practice, Kayoko said she “felt a strong obligation to give back to the country that has given her the love of yoga.” She hopes that the Western yoga community will donate their time, money and passion to help the Yoga Gives Back cause.

Black Dog Yoga owner, Peter Barnett, who helped organize the event, galvanized not only an incredible group of teachers but also the yoga community for a workshop filled with asana,
amazing Indian music, sweat and laughter. Over 30 students donated their time and money to support this cause. A talented group of 10 teachers taught the three-hour yoga fundraiser in fifteen-minute increments, each volunteering their time and their own perspective into how with yoga we can effectuate change. The event wrapped up with a raffle of yoga gear and good food.

To hear about more upcoming workshop fundraisers visit yogagivesback.com.