Monday, January 09, 2006
A Day with No Words
A day with no words
Eyes with no sight
Ears without sound
This is the day of darkness.
The shortest day of the year has past,
The light goes stronger.
Mellow January day but still
A day with no words--
This is the day of darkness.
Chemical imbalance?
Absence of light?
Winter blues?
A day with no words.
No tears, no fears,
No laughter, no hope,
No cares, no words.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Why I Love Jazz
It's great traveling music. I drive to work every day with the jazz station playing on the radio. 91.1 FM operated by Samford University. True it's light jazz, none of the old classic standard musicians like Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. ad infinitum. BUT it beats the heck out of everything else that's playing, including the standard rock/pop songs that I also prefer to the more modern "music" on offer today.
Note: one day rant on the pitiful stuff called music that plays today. Whiny, tinny, off key and depressing. Or just plain vulgar. Not a thought in its head.
Traveling music is music that has a lively beat, that seems to fit the very act of driving a vehicle. Other music that offers travel pleasure: the Viennese waltzes by Johanne Strauss. Of course with the waltzes, one can imagine riding in a coach drawn by beautiful white horses.
Back to why I love jazz.
Jazz is layered music. You get to multi-task with jazz. You can listen to the beat, to the rhythm, to the melody, to the vocal (if there is one), to the instrumentation, and finally just let the whole settle into your mind. Jazz isn't for the lazy listener.
Jazz is variety. You get big band, small quartet, vocal and solo instrument, swing, Latin, bossa nova, Dixieland, cool, hot, beebop, lazy, experimental.
What I don't like is jazz that is an amalgam of rock and jazz. I love real rock with a hard driving beat and I love most jazz. I just have this thing which is hate for combining the two.
Some favorite jazz artists:
enough already. I LOVE jazz. The artists are too numerous to mention, sadly a lot of them are deceased.
Who cannot sing jazz: Norah Jones, Diana Krall.
Note: one day rant on the pitiful stuff called music that plays today. Whiny, tinny, off key and depressing. Or just plain vulgar. Not a thought in its head.
Traveling music is music that has a lively beat, that seems to fit the very act of driving a vehicle. Other music that offers travel pleasure: the Viennese waltzes by Johanne Strauss. Of course with the waltzes, one can imagine riding in a coach drawn by beautiful white horses.
Back to why I love jazz.
Jazz is layered music. You get to multi-task with jazz. You can listen to the beat, to the rhythm, to the melody, to the vocal (if there is one), to the instrumentation, and finally just let the whole settle into your mind. Jazz isn't for the lazy listener.
Jazz is variety. You get big band, small quartet, vocal and solo instrument, swing, Latin, bossa nova, Dixieland, cool, hot, beebop, lazy, experimental.
What I don't like is jazz that is an amalgam of rock and jazz. I love real rock with a hard driving beat and I love most jazz. I just have this thing which is hate for combining the two.
Some favorite jazz artists:
- Sarah Vaughn
- Dave Brubeck
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Marian McPartland
- Paul Desmond
- Sting -- note: he doesn't make the mistake of combining rock and jazz, his jazz is pure and his voice a delight, I never realized how great a singer he is until I heard him sing "In the Moonlight" from the 1995 version of Sabrina
- Manhattan Transfer
- Keiko Matsui
- Glenn Miller
- Artie Shaw
- Duke Ellington
- Frank Sinatra
- David Benoit
- Acoustical Alchemy
- Eric Essix
- Stanley Turrentine
- Stanley Jordan
- Lyle Lovett -- didn't know he sings jazz, did you?
enough already. I LOVE jazz. The artists are too numerous to mention, sadly a lot of them are deceased.
Who cannot sing jazz: Norah Jones, Diana Krall.
Monday, January 02, 2006
The True Power of Water
I have spent the last week and a half reading a short book (paperback 145 small pages) titled The True Power of Water by Masaru Emoto (Atria Books, 2003).
The premise is that water at a certain temperature will form water crystals that can be photographed. The formation of these crystals will reflect a variety of conditions and can be influenced by
we feel when not in the presence of the particular water under observtion. I found it an interesting concept. The book contains photographs of water crystals observed under different conditions.
The most interesting theory in the book is that we can change the quality of water which in turn can be used for healing us. Emoto who is certified in Alternative Medicine tells us that, by changing the frequency of the water, it can be altered to fill in the gaps in our own bodily frequencies and thus heal the problem that is causing us physical distress at the cellular (water) level.
I won't go further into Emoto's theses. If you're really interested in his ideas, find a copy of the book and read it. It's concise and well-translated into English from Japanese. There are ways to experiment with his ideas contained within and might be entertaining/enlightening.
The premise is that water at a certain temperature will form water crystals that can be photographed. The formation of these crystals will reflect a variety of conditions and can be influenced by
- our words
- our prayers
- a printed label (which the water "reads")
- a musical composition
- and even emotions
we feel when not in the presence of the particular water under observtion. I found it an interesting concept. The book contains photographs of water crystals observed under different conditions.
The most interesting theory in the book is that we can change the quality of water which in turn can be used for healing us. Emoto who is certified in Alternative Medicine tells us that, by changing the frequency of the water, it can be altered to fill in the gaps in our own bodily frequencies and thus heal the problem that is causing us physical distress at the cellular (water) level.
I won't go further into Emoto's theses. If you're really interested in his ideas, find a copy of the book and read it. It's concise and well-translated into English from Japanese. There are ways to experiment with his ideas contained within and might be entertaining/enlightening.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Soap Operas
I am currently not watching AMC. On the other hand I am watching video clips of certain portions of AMC (commonly known as All My Children). The clips I view are those featuring two currently popular characters: Zach Slater played by Thorsten Kaye and Kendall Hart played by Alicia Minshew.
I post on several forums (which I sometimes refer to as bulletin boards) which have threads discussing these characters and their storylines on the venerable soap opera. We have heated discussions about the way the writers treat our favorite characters and how the writing often makes no sense. The characters are treated as carefully as living creatures. Such is the power of the word. The power of imagination.
I wonder if humans move beyond the printed word, will the spoken word also drift towards disappearance?
Words to Go
January 1, 2006
We live in interesting times.
Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am female way over the age of consent. In my life I have been a daughter, a friend, a cousin. I have been a student and love learning still.
I live in the Heart of Dixie. The climate is moderate. My natural surroundings are beautiful. I love animals, cats in particular, but dogs are nice, too. I love nature and movies and music (jazz, show tunes, some pop music of eras gone by) and some people. I love the ocean and the mountains, have yet to see the desert firsthand. And my soda of the moment is Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.
I have gone to school long enough to get a Master's Degree in Library Science. And even worked as a librarian for over ten years (including the student work I did as a teenager). I have owned a small business (which went bust way before I was ready to give it up) and had some of the best months of my life working fourteen hour days.
I'm currently employed by a manufacturer of high voltage testing equipment. You could say I like to live dangerously. Others would say I play it too safe with my life. Both would be right.
My biggest challenge at this point in time: learning to live in the here and now. As life grows shorter, I find this to be of more value.
Do you think there will be a day when humans move beyond print? Do you think there will be day when animals -- say other primates -- move up to the printed word to communicate?
The purpose of my blog is to communicate. If you wish to comment, I ask only that you please refrain from cussing too much. Excess can be so boooorrrinnng.
Feel free to free associate. Amuse me, because I surely love to laugh. Talk seriously at me. Teach me something.
We live in interesting times.
Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am female way over the age of consent. In my life I have been a daughter, a friend, a cousin. I have been a student and love learning still.
I live in the Heart of Dixie. The climate is moderate. My natural surroundings are beautiful. I love animals, cats in particular, but dogs are nice, too. I love nature and movies and music (jazz, show tunes, some pop music of eras gone by) and some people. I love the ocean and the mountains, have yet to see the desert firsthand. And my soda of the moment is Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.
I have gone to school long enough to get a Master's Degree in Library Science. And even worked as a librarian for over ten years (including the student work I did as a teenager). I have owned a small business (which went bust way before I was ready to give it up) and had some of the best months of my life working fourteen hour days.
I'm currently employed by a manufacturer of high voltage testing equipment. You could say I like to live dangerously. Others would say I play it too safe with my life. Both would be right.
My biggest challenge at this point in time: learning to live in the here and now. As life grows shorter, I find this to be of more value.
Do you think there will be a day when humans move beyond print? Do you think there will be day when animals -- say other primates -- move up to the printed word to communicate?
The purpose of my blog is to communicate. If you wish to comment, I ask only that you please refrain from cussing too much. Excess can be so boooorrrinnng.
Feel free to free associate. Amuse me, because I surely love to laugh. Talk seriously at me. Teach me something.
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