tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242237432024-03-13T16:05:26.130-04:00Cranial SoupPeas, carrots, green beans, and gray matter.Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-77657801979838591192010-02-07T13:12:00.002-05:002011-06-10T02:01:44.847-04:00Become a Jazz Fan<img align="left" alt="00007194" height="240" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/S28CfTv0T8I/AAAAAAAAA8A/y9S-rSg_e80/00007194%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="00007194" width="192" /> I wasn’t born a jazz fan, but I did form an instant “addiction” at age 13. How does that happen to some one? <br />
So you heard some music you liked and were told it was jazz, and you wanted to hear more, and you did. Bang! You’re a jazz fan! <br />
But that wasn’t the whole story. Many years later you wound up with a collection of thousands of albums by ten times that many musicians. And now you’re a serious jazz fan. “Back in the day”, that was a hit or miss proposition, but now there’s a mountain of resources to get you there. So here is the shortcut path. <br />
First, there’s radio. Chances are your area doesn’t have much jazz radio on the FM band, although there are many full-time jazz stations around the world. Many colleges in the US support part-time jazz programming, and if you live near a college or university, that may be a resource. Fortunately, many of these stations are also on the Internet and you can find them from New York to Vladivostok and Tokyo and many cities in between, all in a day’s search (or less). My smart phone has an application called <a href="http://www.wunderradio.com/" target="_blank">WunderRadio</a> [sic] that can pick up in excess of 35,000 Internet stations (I have managed to bookmark 27 full-time jazz stations, without having to even look hard). <br />
Unfortunately, fulltime jazz stations are usually listener supported and consequently have to appeal to the largest possible audience. As a result they tend to exclude almost all but the most widely popular music, which is not always the “best” in jazz. <br />
If you truly want to broaden your interest, you must dig deeper. One example of true excellence is WKCR (<a href="http://www.wkcr.org/" target="_blank">www.wkcr.org</a> Columbia University) that has had continuous jazz programming since the 1940’s (the oldest jazz station in America). Although they only broadcast jazz on a part-time basis, their programming covers the entire spectrum, and they run many specials where they sometimes focus on a single player for 24 hours straight or more. Their music is streamed over the Internet, and they also have archived music for your listening enjoyment. <br />
<a href="http://www.allaboutjazz.com/" target="_blank"><img align="right" alt="Screenshot - 2_7_2010 , 12_21_39 PM" height="145" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/S28CfhLVY1I/AAAAAAAAA8E/-30_Q6br_y4/Screenshot%20-%202_7_2010%20%2C%2012_21_39%20PM%5B5%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" title="Screenshot - 2_7_2010 , 12_21_39 PM" width="240" /></a> Another good starting point, <a href="http://www.allaboutjazz.com/" target="_blank">www.allaboutjazz.com</a> describes itself as the web’s premier resource for jazz-they are, without question, the largest Internet site devoted entirely to the music. They publish news and reviews and conduct forums and include a streaming service. AllAboutJazz also publishes an excellent hard copy jazz newspaper that you can subscribe to for the cost of postage. Like WKCR, they believe in a full spectrum approach. <br />
Internet jazz pages seem almost endless-and not just American music. Run searches for German Jazz, French jazz, Japanese jazz…-you’ll be amazed by how many countries you can come up with. Two of my favorites are Norway and Poland where jazz has really taken hold in a big way. <br />
Many musicians and groups now have their own web page, and, if you develop any favorites, be sure to look them up. In some cases you will find samples of their music along with complete discographies of all the albums they have performed on. <br />
You can also find tons of material on sub-genres of the music, all the way from Dixieland to free jazz and the avant garde…and, subjects you might think would be obscure, like who was the most famous bass clarinet player in jazz or what was The October Revolution of 1964. The answers to these and a myriad of other questions are usually covered in extreme and extraordinary detail. <br />
There are also numerous discussion groups on the Internet devoted to jazz where you can meet other fans and musicians and chat about the music. Some of them can be quite informative, and you will also have a chance to ask knowledgeable people direct questions to broaden your understanding and interests. The largest and most active of these forums that I am aware of is on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/tag/jazz/forum/" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471768448?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0471768448" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Screenshot - 2_7_2010 , 12_24_23 PM" height="127" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/S28CgJIF2vI/AAAAAAAAA8I/AHfbAA1EfZw/Screenshot%20-%202_7_2010%20%2C%2012_24_23%20PM%5B8%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="Screenshot - 2_7_2010 , 12_24_23 PM" width="100" /></a> Want to read a book? You could start with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471768448?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0471768448">Jazz For Dummies by Dirk Sutro</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0471768448" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> . Beyond that, there are history books galore and encyclopedias, some of which categorize the music by sub-genres with discographies bursting from every page. If you need an exercise program and you don’t mind weight-lifting, you might want to build a reference library. <br />
Here are some books I have found useful over the years: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087930717X?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=087930717X" target="_blank">Vladimir Bogdanov - All Music Guide to jazz</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=087930717X" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826429726?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0826429726" target="_blank">Alyn Shipton - A New History of jazz</a> <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0826429726" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843532565?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1843532565" target="_blank">Ian Carr - Jazz The Rough Guide</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1843532565" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879100036?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0879100036">Nat Hentoff - Jazz Is</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0879100036" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195183592?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0195183592" target="_blank">Bill Kirchner – The Oxford Companion To Jazz</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0195183592" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019532000X?ie=UTF8&tag=freeprogeboo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=019532000X" target="_blank">Leonard Feather – The Biographical Encyclopedia of jazz</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=freeprogeboo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=019532000X" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> <br />
Even if you don’t read them, a collection like this will impress the hell out of any vagrant musicians who happen to be visiting you. <br />
So, after all these years, what are the resources I use most? Well, for one thing, whenever I run across a new musician I particularly like, I check out the other members of his group to see what they’ve recorded. I also look into what other musicians they have previously played with. <br />
My smart phone also has two Internet stations I find invaluable: <a href="http://last.fm/" target="_blank">LastFM</a> and <a href="http://pandora.com/" target="_blank">Pandora</a>. With both of these you can create your own “stations” by feeding in the names of a few musicians you like. These websites then stream back to you music that is similar to that played by the musicians you selected, often introducing you to players you never heard of that match your taste perfectly! (Personally, I think that what appeals to me about jazz is that it expresses the entire range of human emotion-the good, the bad, and the ugly-on a truly grand scale.) <br />
And last, but not least, there’s live jazz. I live near New York City so it’s easy for me to find entertainment that suits my tastes. I don’t travel much, but I still attend a festival occasionally where large groups of musicians get together to play-sometimes as long as a week or more at a time. Most large cities today have at least a club or two where live jazz can be heard. Some even have “house bands” that perform regularly. <br />
Jazz musicians often find it difficult to make a living and many of them teach at local schools or take on individual students. In any case I feel these guys deserve whatever support I can give them. They have given me so much. <br />
Oh, and in case you are wondering how a jazz musician can end up with a million dollars? The answer is, by starting out with ten million dollars. <br />
<hr /><i><img align="left" alt="dan-bresnahan" height="50" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/S28Cgjc28MI/AAAAAAAAA8M/VUwUKfXlRs8/dan-bresnahan%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: inline; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="dan-bresnahan" width="50" /></i><i>This has been a guest post by Dan Bresnahan. Follow him on </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dmbtiger" target="_blank"><i>Twitter</i></a><i> or </i><a href="http://friendfeed.com/dmbtiger" target="_blank"><i>Friendfeed</i></a><i> and let him know if his article has helped you. You can also read and subscribe to his blog, <a href="http://outtolunchjazz.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Out to Lunch Jazz</a>.</i>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-1465120262224022302008-10-06T05:39:00.006-04:002008-10-06T07:10:13.251-04:00The Censorship Is Still Ringing In My Ears<img style="margin: 20px 10px 0px 0pt; float: left;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/SOnltoBYL7I/AAAAAAAAAew/lBdcLp5u_5c/s400/pf-money-cries.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253983012304465842" border="0" /><br />We are all familiar with the type of censorship that occurs on the radio with songs containing swear words being bleeped or blanked out. Plenty of artists have been subjected to this, and it seemed that no artist or swear word was immune to this type of censorship in America...except one.<br /><br />Ever since the release of "The Dark Side of the Moon" back in 1973, Pink Floyd has been oddly immune to the same type of censorship that has victimized every other artist.<br /><br />In their song "Money", there is a line that goes like this:<br /><blockquote>Money, its a hit.<br />Dont give me that do goody good <span style="font-weight: bold;">bullshit</span>.</blockquote><br />Never, since the 70's, when I first heard the song on the radio on 95.5 WPLJ New York (back when they had an album rock format), have I ever heard that song censored. I have heard it a million times over the years and heard "bullshit" in it, clear as day, each and every time.<br /><br />The Almighty Pink Floyd, was allowed to openly say what other artists could not.<br /><br />I do not know why...maybe it was out of respect. Maybe it was just overlooked (doubtful), but they were allowed to swear as much as they wanted.<br /><br />Even the song "Pigs", which contained the following lyric, was never censored:<br /><blockquote>Bus stop rat bag, ha ha, charade you are.<br />You <span style="font-weight: bold;">fucked up</span> old hag, ha ha, charade you are.</blockquote><br />Yesterday afternoon that all changed.<br /><br />For the first time in my life, I heard "bullshit" blanked out in "Money" on <a href="http://www.1019rxp.com/" target="_blank">101.9 WRXP New York</a>. That station did what no radio station ever dared to do before. They censored Pink Floyd!<br /><br />Omgwtfbbq!!!11one-eleventy-eleven!<br />Shameful! Shameful! Shameful!<br /><br />They not only totally ruined my listening pleasure, they ruined my day, as well. This has been bothering me for the last 10 hours. How dare they censor a song that has always been allowed to stand in it's entire artistic majesty, on the public airwaves, for well over 30 years!<br /><br />I am still in shock...stunned.<br /><br />They are an awesomely fantastic radio station (you can <a href="http://www.streamaudio.com/stations/player/pages/index.asp?headertext=WRXP_FM&Station=WRXP_FM" target="_blank">listen to their stream</a> and check them out for yourself), BUT...this incident is going to linger with me, bugging the hell out of me, for a long time.<br /><br />How dare they!Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-32052025847557141282008-09-06T13:38:00.000-04:002008-09-06T13:39:07.715-04:00Free MP3 Download: Eldad LidorOne of the great things about the internet, as a music lover, is that I get to discover all kinds of good stuff that I would not likely hear on the radio in my small suburban town in Northern NJ, or likely find a CD for, at the local mall.<br /><br />For artists, it allows them to reach out across the borders of their countries and find a new audience. It allows independent artists the opportunity to market themselves and their music, without having to resort to signing up with some RIAA record label that is more interested in money than artistic quality.<br /><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Eldad+Lidor" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 20px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qlCAUZtia6Q/SMK5SfZiunI/AAAAAAAAAd8/mhmqGiGFR8g/s400/eldad-lidor.jpg" alt="Eldad Lidor" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242956643530095218" border="0" /></a><br />One of these independent artists is <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Eldad+Lidor" target="_blank">Eldad Lidor</a>.<br /><br />There isn't much information available in English about this artist, but it seems he is a relatively famous one within his own country of Israel, having composed the musical score for some movies and television programs, among them a 1989 Israeli film called <a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D91026" target="_blank">Crossfire (Esh Tzolevet)</a>.<br /><br />He has also been the executive producer of at least one movie, a 1999 Israeli film called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205407/" target="_blank">Shiv'a Yamim Be'Elul</a>.<br /><br />He's a real go getter, and puts a lot of effort into reaching out to potential fans on Last.fm. It was there that I was contacted by him and asked to listen to his music and tell him what I thought. (I love when artists spam me with their tracks, especially when they are really good.)<br /><br />But being on a slow computer and connection, I can't stream audio and can only listen if there is a track I can download. After explaining this to him, he pointed me towards the only tracks he has available for download on Last.fm.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Eldad++Lidor/_/GOING+ON" target="_blank">Going On</a> is a short (2:18) but very good instrumental, a lonely highway kind of tune that I could imagine as the background music of a modern western movie, as the hero rides off into the night in an old beat up convertable. Or maybe playing as one stands alone, on a subway platform in New York City, in the middle of the night, watching the empty trains go by.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Eldad++Lidor/_/my+father+memoris" target="_blank">My Father Memoris</a> - I am not too sure how to describe this one except to say it reminds me a bit of a cross between Mike Oldfield, Yanni, and an 80's electronica style commercial for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_%281960_film%29" target="_blank">Bates Motel</a>. It's a little bit spooky in some parts, and the percussion gets rather interesting towards the middle of the track.<br /><br />Eldad also has another track available for download called Relationships, along with a number of others you can stream on <a href="http://www.myspace.com/eldadlidor" target="_blank">his MySpace page</a>. You will need a MySpace account to download, though.<br /><br />If you like what you hear, please consider supporting artists by buying an album, seeing a concert, or telling a friend, especially when you find a really good independent artist like Eldad Lidor. Let's all help artists like him become successful, worldwide, without them having to resort to selling their souls to an RIAA affiliated record label.Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-27088152379635468932008-02-10T15:38:00.003-05:002009-01-28T19:47:32.535-05:00Children of the CPU<p><a href="http://www.childrenofthecpu.com/" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0px 25px 0px 5px;" alt="Children of the CPU - Back to BASIC" src="http://lh6.google.com/omgplzstfukthx/R69gxK0uTLI/AAAAAAAAAR0/HsK-kiqzMEE/basic%5B7%5D" align="left" height="176" width="175" /></a> Hailing from Vancouver BC, <a href="http://www.childrenofthecpu.com/" target="_blank">Children of the CPU</a> is the electro-pop duo of Cameron Shay and Veronica Rossos.</p> <p>What is there not to love about this artist?</p> <p>First of all, great name...but it gets better...</p> <p>Their first album is called <em>Back to BASIC, </em>as in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC" target="_blank">programming language</a>, of course. </p><p>And the album cover is awesome, featuring a drawing of 2 children playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q%2Abert" target="_blank">Q*bert</a> on an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600" target="_blank">Atari 2600</a>!</p> <p>Their music is pretty cool too. It's kind of like funky game music combined with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Danielewski" target="_blank">Poe</a>.</p> <p>And just when you think they couldn't get any better, I have saved the best part for last...</p> <p>You can download the entire album for free, in (DRM free) VBR MP3 format! </p> <p>All 12 tracks!</p> <p>Why? </p> <p>In Cameron Shay's own words:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>"Some people have questioned the wisdom of giving away our entire album for free on our website, but don't worry Mom and Dad, we are still eating well and making rent every month! They got me wondering, though, where my desire to share our music comes from and I realised that it is a direct result of my parents having bought me my first computer, a VIC-20, and then later a Commodore 64 in the mid-80s. Having a C-64 in particular triggered a couple of things: it fostered a DIY attitude because I was able to teach myself how to program games (Lawnmower for the VIC-20 and Tricycle Derby for the C-64 ;) and make electronic music (albeit rudimentary), and it opened the door to a vast community of sharing and trading and making friends. In a way this website and album are simply the extension of those times and attitudes. I spent hundreds of hours on this album over the past couple of years learning how to program the synths and record the midi and live instruments and vocals and mix the tracks and improve the sound and master it all, and then I spent many more hours designing and building cover-art and the website, and it was just like all the hours I spent figuring out how to draw sprites and get them to move around in a game on the C-64 with music and sound effects, and now that it's done I just want to share it with people, just like we used to do back in the day through BBS networks and with our friends. So thanks Mom and Dad for starting me off with those computers, I know you were worried about all the time I spent in my room on those things and I guess that hasn't changed much, but it's all a learning process and that's fun and it makes me happy and now it is making a whole bunch of our new friends/fans happy too!" </em></p></blockquote> <p>Like I said before...what is there not to love?</p> <p><a href="http://www.childrenofthecpu.com/" target="_blank">http://www.childrenofthecpu.com</a></p>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-75810808849852997742007-04-02T04:00:00.001-04:002009-04-25T08:22:32.775-04:00Halo theme: Corpomix<p>If you didn't get enough of Corporeal in my last post, here is some more:</p> <p align="center"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VLt5_ME_2_M" width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></p> <p align="left">If you would like to download the MP3, of this, they have it here on their website: <a href="http://www.corporealmusic.net/forthehalofans" target="_blank">http://www.corporealmusic.net/forthehalofans</a></p></embed>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-59277345088169926302007-04-02T02:38:00.001-04:002007-11-18T01:16:48.712-05:003 Guys, 1 Guitar<p>This 3 members of the progressive rock band Corporeal, from Libertyville, Illinois...all playing the same guitar at the same time. </p><p>The song is called 'All We Got'. </p><p>Pretty cool stuff!</p><p align="center"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lrpwDvuNWro" width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></p><p align="left"> </p>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-5754916363904318302007-01-15T23:18:00.002-05:002009-04-25T08:23:59.785-04:00Tons of Free Legal Music MP3's<p><a href="http://www.mikseri.net/artists/search.php" target="_blank"><img alt="www.mikseri.net" src="http://lh4.google.com/omgplzstfukthx/R3I1jtifsHI/AAAAAAAAAO0/8k_6ZCtlZMM/SNAG-0166%5B5%5D" align="right" height="152" width="200" /></a>In an effort to broaden my musical horizons, and discover stuff I may never have heard or heard of before, I have been wandering around on <a href="http://last.fm/" target="_blank">Last.fm</a>.</p> <p>I discovered a few .mp3 downloads on my suggestions page and decided to look up the artists on <a href="http://last.fm/" target="_blank">Last.fm</a>. One of them had a link to their page on another site. </p> <p>A marvelous discovery!</p> <p>Some of these artists have their stuff covered under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a> license that allows you to share them freely. So download what you like and fire up your favorite P2P application and share them with your friends, if you want.</p> <p>Try this:</p> <ol> <li>Where it says "Bändin nimi:" type in something you already like. </li><li>You will get a short list of results of artists that list them as an influence. </li><li>Go click where they put your artist's name as a link. </li><li>You will get a whole page of results. </li><li>Click a link from the left column. </li><li>On the artist page, click where it says 'download' at the top. </li><li>You will get a .zip file full of mp3's.</li></ol> <p>Enjoy! </p><p><a href="http://www.mikseri.net/artists/search.php" target="_blank">http://www.mikseri.net/artists/search.php</a></p>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-68467518093768574242007-01-03T20:49:00.000-05:002007-11-18T01:16:48.721-05:00Stick Magnetic Ribbons On Your SUVThis one is for you, Cailin!<br />I thought of you and your night time magnet stealing adventures when I saw this one.<br /><br />And I am still trying to think of who the guy singing it reminds me of. It has to be someone that we all know because Steph says he reminds her of someone too...and she can't figure it out either!<br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KmsOIjzQ1V8"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KmsOIjzQ1V8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></div>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-1163858760396012042006-11-18T09:06:00.000-05:002007-11-18T06:30:20.462-05:00Free Hugs<div align="center"><object height="329" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vr3x_RRJdd4"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vr3x_RRJdd4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></div><br /><br />The story behind the Free Hugs Campaign and how it all began is heart wrenching:<br /><br /><blockquote><br /><em>"I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.<br /><br />Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me. "</em><br /></blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/freehugscampaign" target="_blank">Read more...</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><u>Sick Puppies - All the Same</u></div><br /><br /><div align="center">I don't mind where you come from<br />As long as you come to me<br />I don't like illusions I can't see<br />Them clearly<br /><br />I don't care, no I wouldn't dare<br />To fix the twist in you<br />You've shown me eventually<br />What you'll do<br /><br />I don't mind…<br />I don't care…<br />As long are you're here<br /><br />Go ahead tell me you'll leave again<br />You'll just come back running<br />Holding your scarred heart in hand<br />It's all the same<br /><br />And I'll take you for who you are<br />If you take me for everything<br />Do it all over again<br />It's all the same<br /><br />Hours slide and days go by<br />Till you decide to come<br />And in between it always seems too long<br />All of a sudden<br /><br />And I have the skill, yeah I have the will<br />To breathe you in while I can<br />However long you stay<br />Is all that I am<br /><br />I don't mind…<br />I don't care…<br />As long are you're here<br /><br />Go ahead tell me you'll leave again<br />You'll just come back running<br />Holding your scarred heart in hand<br />It's all the same<br /><br />And I'll take you for who you are<br />If you take me for everything<br />Do it all over again<br />It's always the same<br /><br />Wrong or right<br />Black or white<br />If I close my eyes<br />It's all the same<br /><br />In my life<br />The compromise<br />I close my eyes<br />It's all the same<br /><br />Go ahead say it, you're leaving<br />You'll just come back running<br />Holding your scarred heart in hand<br />It's all the same<br /><br />And I'll take you for who you are<br />If you take me for everything<br />Do it all over again<br />It's all the same </div>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-1162062346888473772006-10-28T15:05:00.000-04:002007-11-18T01:16:48.727-05:00Some really cool soundsThis guy is damn good.<br /><br />Simon Davies - Big Love (Lindsey Buckingham cover)<br /><br /><div align="center"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ns_GIv2AEE" width="400" height="329" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><br /><br /><br />If you want to see & hear even more: <a title="Simon Davies Videos on YouTube" href="http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=simondavies86" target="_blank">Simon Davies Videos on YouTube</a>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24223743.post-1159933613605103262006-10-03T23:46:00.000-04:002007-11-18T02:06:40.096-05:00The Song of LifeI thought the following story was very sweet, but almost too incredible to be true...like a fairytale. I'd love to verify it.<br /><br /><blockquote>There is a tribe in East Africa in which the art of true intimacy (I would call it bonding) is fostered even before birth. In this tribe, the birth date of a child is not counted from the day of its physical birth nor even the day of conception, as in other village cultures. For this tribe the birth date comes the first time the child is a thought in its mother's mind. Aware of her intention to conceive a child with a particular father, the mother then goes off to sit alone under a tree. There she sits and listens until she can hear the song of the child that she hopes to conceive. Once she has heard it, she returns to her village and teaches it to the father so that they can sing it together as they make love, inviting the child to join them. After the child is conceived, she sings it to the baby in her womb. Then she teaches it to the old women and midwives of the village, so that throughout the labor and at the miraculous moment of birth itself, the child is greeted with its song. After the birth, all the villagers learn the song of their new member and sing it to the child when it falls or hurts itself. It is sung in times of triumph, or in rituals and initiations. The song becomes a part of the marriage ceremony when the child is grown, and at the end of life, his or her loved ones will gather around the deathbed and sing this song for the last time.<br /><br />(From <a href="http://www.birthpsychology.com/violence/verny.html" target="_blank">Birth and Violence</a>)<br /></blockquote>Apphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04973805741360160102noreply@blogger.com0