From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
A classical quartet gets the prime spot between the swearing-in of Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and that of President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday. And along the way, a 56-year-old musical injustice will be rectified. Two of the nation's most familiar classical artists -- cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman -- will be joined by Metropolitan Opera clarinetist Anthony McGill and Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero in performing a new piece by composer John Williams.
(Mr. Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including the Indiana Jones series, Star Wars, Superman, Born on the Fourth of July and Harry Potter. )
It's called "Air and Simple Gifts," the centerpiece of which will be "an exuberant rendering," in Williams' words, of traditional Shaker hymn "The Gift to Be Simple," which Aaron Copland made famous in his 1944 ballet "Appalachian Spring."
Williams surrounds "Simple Gifts," as the tune is also called, with an original, hymn-like theme.
The president-elect asked Perlman and Ma to perform, and they in turn called Williams -- a frequent collaborator with both artists -- "to help them prepare something to play." Ma chose the other two performers, Williams told Daily Variety.
Knowing of Obama's appreciation for Copland, they chose the Shaker hymn, which Williams arranged for this unusual quartet, and then composed "a reflective and prayerful theme" as musical bookends.
Since Ma was in L.A. last week to perform with the Philharmonic, he visited Williams on Saturday to run through the piece. The quartet played it for the first time on Tuesday in New York and will rehearse again and record it with Williams on Sunday. Chamber groups are not usually "conducted," so Williams will not be seen on Tuesday (although he said he may attend as part of the crowd).
In January 1953, Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was scheduled to be performed at Dwight Eisenhower's inaugural concert but was banned at the last minute when an Illinois congressman complained about Copland's liberal politics. Later that year, Copland became a target of Joe McCarthy's Communist witch-hunt.
In time, Copland was "completely rehabilitated," Williams noted, performing at the White House and eventually receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. The performance at this inauguration of "Simple Gifts," a piece widely associated with Copland, "describes a completed circle of events that is nice to think about," the composer said.
"We all feel a sense of great privilege to be able to contribute in a very small way, musically, to an event like this," Williams added. "It's a great moment in our history."
This was not the first President for which Yo-Yo Ma has performed. At age seven, he played for President and Mrs. Kennedy in a televised concert hosted by Leonard Bernstein.
Judson Laipply is back with the official sequel to "Evolution of Dance" - one of the most watched Internet videos of all time!
(You can view his new dance in a higher quality video and learn all about Laipply and his charitable giving here.)
Evolution of Dance 2
Here's his first Evolution of Dance from 2006
About Judson Laipply:
Since 2000, Inspirational Comedian™ Judson Laipply has been educating and entertaining audiences all over the world. After earning his Masters degree from Bowling Green State University and his B.A. from Bluffton University Judson embarked on mission to make people laugh and think. Working full time with Certa-Pro Painters for the first two years Laipply slowly began to build a following while crafting his style and content. After moving to Cleveland in 2002 and going full time Judson has never looked back and currently averages over 100 shows a year. His shows are funny and reverent, inspiring and comical, casual and poignant, and audiences are left feeling energized and inspired. In March of 2001, Judson performed for the first time in public a finale that would one-day take the world by storm. After mixing together 12 popular dance songs from the last 50 years Judson debuted “The Evolution of Dance” and it instantly became a crowd favorite. 5 years and 18 songs later, Laipply placed a video of the 30 song six-minute “The Evolution of Dance” on little know site called YouTube. No one could have predicted what followed. In the next few months the video became a viral sensation and was passed from email to email, posted in countless blogs, discussed on endless talk shows and podcasts, and the entire world watched as the video amassed over 70 millions views in under 8 months and helped propel YouTube to the status it has today. To date it is the single most watched video in the history of the Internet and has been viewed over 150 million times and is the single most popular video on YouTube. The popularity of the video lead to appearances on the Today Show, Ellen, Inside Edition, E!, Oprah, and hundreds of other media outlets around the world. He has been in 2 music videos, one for Bare Naked Ladies, and one for Weezer, performed at halftime of the NBA finals, and continues to bring laughter into the lives of all those who watch it. Laipply continues to speak to a wide range of audiences across the globe and currently resides in Cleveland Ohio.
Moyers talks with Mark Johnson, the producer of this remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music. Listen to musicians from around the world perform "Stand By Me" and "One Love".
The 1966 Stax-Volt European Tour contains performance footage of the first major multi city tour of America's R&B superstars.
Superb performances by Sam & Dave and Otis Redding hypnotized the European kids again opening up new audiences for them and propelling them to stardom.Features Booker T. and the MG's and The Mar-Keys.
Doug Sahm - Sir Douglas Quintet - SHE'S ABOUT A MOVER
(In 1973, Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records bought Sahm's contract from Mercury and produced Doug Sahm And Band, a "supergroup" album featuring Bob Dylan, ..........)
The video below is just amazing. It's performed by 21 deaf and mute girls and boys from China's Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe and is called "Thousand-hand Guanyin" or thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance. Guanyin, in Chinese Buddhism and Daoism, is the Goddess of Mercy, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Her full name, Guanshiyin Pusa, means "bodhisattva who observes the sounds of the world"
As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart A thousand hands will naturally come to your aid As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart You will reach out with a thousand hands to help others .Guan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion, revered by Buddhists as the Goddess of Mercy. Her name is short for Guan Shi Yin. Guan means to observe, watch, or monitor; Shi means the world; Yin means sounds, specifically sounds of those who suffer. Thus, Guan Yin is a compassionate being who watches for, and responds to, the people in the world who cry out for help.
(these dancers rely only on signals from trainers at the four corners of the stage)
Read about the man responsible for this production - Zhang Jigang.
He is an internationally acclaimed Chinese choreographer and a Lieutenant General in the People's Liberation Army. He was the former director of the Song and Dance Ensemble with the People's Liberation Army before promotion in 2006. Zhang Jigang now holds the highest non-combat military officer rank in China.
On August 8th 2008, Zhang Jigang co-directed and choreographed the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing, China.[2] Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the XXIX Olympiad, called the ceremony "a grand, unprecedented success."[3] The AFP called it "a spectacular opening ceremony."[4] The BBC and The Times concurred by calling it a dazzling and spectacular show in Beijing.[5][6]
Zhang Jigang's most famous and influential production was the thousand hand dance. The piece features 21 hearing impaired dancers who form remarkable arm and hand positions by standing behind each other in a perfect column. Breathtaking images are created as the dancers produce perfectly timed and choreographed movements. The show quickly became a national treasure and overwhelming domestic success. It was first performed internationally at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. in front of former President of the United States Bill Clinton, senior White House staff and spectators. It generated rave reviews and was showcased shortly thereafter around the world in countries including Australia, Japan, North Korea, Egypt, Turkey and Italy. In 2004 it was performed at the Closing Ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece (see it here) and Miss World 2004 pageant held in Sanya, China[7]. The primary filmed version was captured in 2005 at the Spring Festival in China on CCTV. It subsequently spread across the internet on such sites as Google Video and YouTube (see it here). It is widely estimated that hundreds of millions of Chinese and international viewers around the world have viewed the videos online.
1. Dancing Queen ABBA 2. Blue Bayou Roy Orbison 3. Take a Chance On Me ABBA 4. If We Make It Through December Merle Haggard 5. As Time Goes By Dooley Wilson 6. Good Vibrations The Beach Boys 7. What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong 8. I've Got You Under My Skin Frank Sinatra 9. Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond 10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes The Platter
Barack Obama's Top Ten
1. Ready or Not Fugees 2. What's Going On Marvin Gaye 3. I'm On Fire Bruce Spingsteen 4. Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones 5. Sinnerman Nina Simone 6. Touch the Sky Kanye West 7. You'd Be So Easy to Love Frank Sinatra 8. Think Aretha Franklin 9. City of Blinding Lights U2 10. Yes We Can will.i.am
If you attended at a whatever drums performance you know how the sound can kick your body and take you to the sky (or drown down to hell). I was wondering how i’d felt listening 2008 Fou ancient drums (reloaded with latest tech) playing in the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing for the Olympics opening ceremony. In that stadium we saw a part of the China we love, without forgetting China that we cannot forgive. And without forgetting that we too have something to make us forgive.
Besides all, it seemed to me that those 2008 Fou drums were putting the world on a common ground, at least for few minutes, ‘cos nothing more that beating a drum and dancing comes from deepest fields of our souls. I think that those drums changed the mood of the ceremony: as they were saying to humann beings ‘remember what great you can be when you play’, beating a drum, hitting keyboards running or swimming or competiting fairly.
Are you lovin' some of the commercials (olympic sponsors) that have been playing?
A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not. Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others. And we're pretty sure the whole deal is just getting started.
So, we hope to get this “blog thing” started right here at NHSME. Well, we actually did and you’re here already -- it really was quite easy! This will be a blog for all parents, students and teachers to share their world of music with each other. The website will be maintained by the Performing Arts Music Booster Club and be open to anyone who wants to participate. Our main purpose is to get a handle on our kid’s schedules (the ones that never make it home in the backpacks) -- practice times, rehearsals, concert dates, trips, fundraising info, and so on. Our other goal is to come together as a group to assist our music teachers.
As you know, our music teachers go over, above, and beyond the call of duty in providing our kids with the music environment they are fortunate to be part of. Budgets are stretched everywhere and the majority of clubs and sports teams are now supported by the parents paying fees to participate. We would be in great shape as a Booster club if every music family paid the membership fee. This is not a requirement to participate in the music programs though. We send a letter home in the mail every September asking for parents to join, but our response isn’t usually very large. So, we do need help with our fundraising goals and this Blog will hopefully help us accomplish them. Also, it will provide parents with up to date information on what’s going on in their kid’s world of music - since we have to get them there.
Put NSHME on your favorites today. Now you can be the first to know.
Enjoy your new music blog!
(See the post - “How to use this blog” for further instructions)
on how to post comments. If you have information that you would like us to post, you can e-mail the info to ________________________ and we will add it to the blog asap.
As we get things going, we will need the kids who are section leaders and officers in their respective groups to make sure they post all announcements as soon as possible. We can even set up separate sections on the blog site for teachers to add information if they want.
The purpose of The Music Boosters is to assist the music teachers in providing our children with the wonderful world of music.
No more searching through the backpacks in hopes of finding info on music events, rehearsal schedules, concerts, fundraising info......It's all right here along with many other music related features.
All parents are welcome to post items of musical interest.
