"Glorious Dawn" from Symphony of Science

"Glorious Dawn" - I think this was the first music video posted at  http://SymphonyofScience.com which is a very cool site.  Check it out! You can find the Lyrics there as well. I have two other of their videos embedded here also.  You can see by watching their videos that outdated concepts of the supernatural are not needed for awe, wonder or mystery in this amazing universe of universes in which we live.

http://www.youtube.com/v/zSgiXGELjbc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

Russian pianist, woodsman, rascal: Sergei Vladimiroff's 70th birthday recital

Sergei Vladimiroff is a man who likes to lead hikers into the woods. He also likes to take listeners on excursions into the hills of music - music of many kinds, from the careful weavings of Bach to the wry shtick of nightclub-style comedy at a party -- but he especially loves the high cliffs, dark woods and turbulent weather of the romantic composers. Saturday he gave a classical recital in Brookfield (at Valley Presbyterian). It was 70 minutes of music played from memory on his 70th birthday.

The first half of the program was all Bach: a partita, two preludes and two concertos. The second half was the pianist's favorites: the romantic era composers: Czerny, Liszt, Chopin, Scriabin and Rachmaninov. His love of this music, and his expertise in rendering its emotive breadth were evident. During his first encore,

Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto, Vladimiroff Sr. couldn't help himself and began to sing the cello part as he played,  surprising and enchanting his audience.  For a second encore he played and led recital-goers in singing America the Beautiful.

There were flowers and a birthday cake afterward along with a four-part rendition of Happy Birthday. 

See also: Memorial for Sergei & Concert, 2 Vladimiroffs

........... - MM Walker

Poetry & Music: Smypetalous & friends in sync for mind-flight!

  Wednesday (Jan 20, 2010): It was a wild and crowded night down at the Blue Z Coffeehouse in Newtown, CT.  Performance poet Sympetalous with his brand new backup band (called Be Here Now) took listeners on a drugless, trippy dip into the cool pool of the 1960s beat poetry mindspace!
     The players were:  Stan "Sympetalous" on the wild words, Martin C. Earley on electric guitar, Rob Dauphinais on acoustic bass guitar and finally Evan Foreman on percussion and special effects. Along with the low bass notes and the surreal electronic guitar sounds and smooth riffs, Evan's custom percussion tools included (but were not limited to) something that generated a thunder-like sound, a conch shell, zen bells and the hollow box he was sitting on which substituted for congas.
 

  Sympetalous gives a five star performance even without music -- but with this addition - I have one word for the totality: Wow!  The band created a time-warped, alternate reality mood that supported the poetry performance in an incredible way. These guys have really hit their stride!

     "They took me back 35 years," said Alex, a WNPS regular. Indeed.  It was old-style but it was also so present tense.  The open mic was a wild one too with performances by more than a dozen poets including J-Cherry in a performance piece about the Belly of the Beast, and Victoria Munoz with a historically funny piece spoofing the Bachelor.

For information about upcoming  Wednesday Night Poetry Series events, check its website at http://wedpoetry.wordpress.com

Stone Mountain, Georgia: Solitude (circa 1985?)

Sometimes you have to sit apart. There are times that being with the "group" distracts you from your tasks, clouds the mental air with static.  I took this photo many years ago on top of Stone Mountain in Georgia. It's fiddled with in Picnik.

Molten Java Jazz Jam - cool jazz, hot coffee!

What a great night. I ducked out a bit early from Wed Poetry at the Blue Z in Newtown, (where a cool and crowded "Found Poem" workshop was in progress) and stopped at our old venue Molten Java (102 Greenwood Ave, in Bethel) which now has a Jazz Jam every wednesday night.  The music was great. It made me forget my worries, kept me tapping my foot. There were lots and lots of very talented folks of varying ages who took their turns playing sax, guitar, standup bass, drums and a keyboard player too. The pics represent just a few of the many players who shared their musical gifts!

Could psychic powers could help find the injured in Haiti? (if psychicpowers existed)

Ben Radford - a paranormal investigator who says he has yet to find a "real" psychic, has issued a plea for psychics to step forward and help find the injured in earthquak-stricken Haiti.

You would think some would have made news already doing this. After all, we see psychics and mediums constantly both on talk shows and TV dramas. This would be show so much "love" to the world and they seem to talk about this a lot. What better way to help the helpless, prove your claims are true and save lives in the process.

 So, if you are a "real" psychic, please read this article. Ben's story is at:

http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blogs/entry/a_plea_for_any_real_psychics_to_help_haiti/

Perhaps a financial contribution to Doctors without Borders would be a bit more realistic....

"Our Place in the Cosmos" a music remix from Symphony of Science.com

I am hooked on the concept of setting science to a beat with gorgeous pictures. Here is another video "remix" from http://SymphonyofScience.com