So while I wasn’t organized enough to pull off 10 days of Giving Thanks like the awesome Lisa D, I thought I would post an ode to some of my favorite actors, sports stars and singers that I’m incredibly thankful for whether it be their handsome bodies, incredible acting abilities, great knack for sports or voices that make me swoon.

Daniel Sunjata from Rescue Me and one episode of Sex and the City:

Gabriel Macht from The Spirit, an episode of Sex and the City and Because I Said So:

Johnny Depp, Sexiest Man Alive five times and counting

Derek Jeter, my favorite Yankee yesterday, today and tomorrow:

Dave Matthews, for his beautiful songs and romantic lyrics

Mick Jagger as bandmate Keith Richards, SNL ‘93

Dave Matthews as mumblecore pioneer Ozzy Osbourne, SNL ‘09

]]> http://lifeisaplaylist.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-mellow-show-with-jack-johnson/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:41:27 +0000 CJL http://lifeisaplaylist.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-mellow-show-with-jack-johnson/ http://volyymi.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/lie-in-our-graves/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:48:29 +0000 Tomi http://volyymi.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/lie-in-our-graves/

Dave tuli kylään Harmaakadulta. Älkää peljätkö, sillä hän ei tullut jäädäkseen, vaan vain kahdeksaksi minuutiksi ystävänsä Tim Reynoldsin kanssa. Jos pitäisi yhtäkkiä valita joku biisi niin ottaisin tämän. Lie In Our Graves New Yorkin Radio City Music Hallissa 2007 Dave Matthewsin ja Tim Reynoldsin esittämänä.

“Olen ihan hillittömän hurahtanut Dave Matthews Bandiin, koska ne on funky ja groovy ja melankolinen ja rikki ja elämäniloinen yhtä aikaa. Sellainen vetoaa.”

Näin  kirjoitti joku blogissaan taannoin ja tämä on aika hienosti kuvailtu. Odottelen tässä ekaa bändin keikkaani Tukholmassa helmikuussa ja DMB on oikeastaan ainoa bändi jota voin lähteä katsomaan kotimaan ulkopuolelle. Musiikki puhukoon puolestaan.

Check me out in the new Dave Matthews Band video!!

The song is called “You and Me.”

(I’m sitting right behind Dave, wearing a green t-shirt.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi4DZjiZEVo

Last night, the 2009 CMA Awards debuted on television. It was a memorable and incredible night for many country music stars. Outstanding performances were made by country stars including Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, The Eagles, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews, Zack Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Sugarland, Keith Urban, and The Wailers. My  favoritePerformer that evening was Taylor Swift. Taylor sung two songs that evening Fifteen and Forever and Always; named female vocalist of the year! I watched the entire award show and I was very pleased and agreed with the awards that were given.

I’m not a big country fan, but I am a music fan. I watched the CMA awards last night and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of genre mixing. There were some awesome performances. Here’s some of them:

I know some of you out there have some weird thing about not liking Daughtry because he was on AI the same season Taylor was. Let’s try to get past that. Open up your ears and listen to this, Vince Gill and Daughtry sound really good together:

Here’s another one. Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews.

Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson

And this…this was the best version I’ve heard aside from the original. These guys are very talented musicians.

I thought Carrie Underwood did a pretty decent job. A friend of mine told me a story this morning that her son was watching the CMA’s and said, “Wow. That’s Carrie Underwood? I guess American Idol can really change your life. She used to be just a normal girl and now she’s hosting the CMA’s.” Yes, it can change your life, if you play your hand right.

Taylor Swift is my secret musical love. I love her music and I think she’s very talented for as young as she is. So, of course, I have to include her. She is singing Fifteen, which really holds a special meaning for me.

Oh, and Sugarland. Love them too.

There is so much great music out there and it’s silly to limit yourself to one artist or one genre even. Let yourself go explore. You might be surprised at what you find.

Last night Taylor Swift dominated the Country Music Awards.  Even if you’re not a country fan, you gotta give it up for her. She is just amazing.  Dave Matthews also did a duet with Kenny Chesney on the show.  Thursday’s Radio Free lunch will be Dave-FM music with a country twang.  Lots of our artists use the lap or pedal steel guitar, the banjo or mandolin. If it’s got a country feel, we’ll play it!

If you love Dave-FM music with a country feel—don’t forget to check out Dave Roots!!  Margot does an amazing job programing our Americana station.

Update:  Today’s Playlist

Far Away Eyes, Rolling Stones

What Light, Wilco

Take It Easy, Jackson Browne

Strong Enough, Sheryl Crow

Two, Ryan Adams

Squeeze Box, The Who

Rich Woman, Robert Plant/Allison Krauss

McDonald’s Daily Cheese

A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock And Roll, Donnie and Marie

Beautiful Wreck, Shawn Mullins

Heart Of Gold, Neil Young

Copperhead Road, Steve Earle

This Is Us, Mark Knopfler/Emmylou Harris

I am not exactly a country music fan. However, I did grow up in Wyoming for a time, and can attest to spinning George Strait and Patsy Cline LPs (yeah, as in actual records on the record player). Therefore, when I came across the Country Music Awards on the TV tonight, I paused. And listened.I was surprised to see how much pop has infused the country genre. Guest spots included Dave Matthews, Kid Rock and Daughtry. The always-entertaining Carrie Underwood has always had a good deal of pop in her style.

But perhaps the biggest surprise was how well Taylor Swift did! She won Entertainer of the Year (among several other awards) – as the only female nominee (and the youngest winner ever) – beating out the older, more experienced and all-male competitive list of George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban.

I have to admit, until now, I had never sought out her music, although I enjoyed it enough when I heard it on the radio. But after this impressive win (yeah, women!), I downloaded her new album, Fearless, and have to say – although I’m certainly not the target audience – I enjoy every song. Not only does she have a beautiful voice but she wrote all of her own songs “each in about 1/2 hour” as she told Ellen DeGeneres recently.

Impressive. Inspiring. Congratulations.

November 12, 2009 by markpires
Get your tickets now for Mark Pires next show at the Fairfield Theatre Company on Saturday December 5th at 8p.m.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see Mark at this amazing music venue! Buy your tickets for $12 at www.fairfieldtheatre.org

Get excited and watch video from Mark’s last show at the FTC Stage One…
www.youtube.com/markpires

Live at FTC Stage One 8/27/09

Get your tickets now for Mark Pires next show at the Fairfield Theatre Company on Saturday December 5th at 8p.m.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see Mark at this amazing music venue! Buy your tickets for $12 at www.fairfieldtheatre.org

Get excited and watch video from Mark’s last show at the FTC Stage One…
www.youtube.com/markpires

Dear Anti-Phish Fan,

Thank you for introducing me to this video. If it wasn’t for you I don’t know when I would have come across my two favorite men performing on stage together and being absolutely ridiculous. Everyday & Bathtub Gin?!.. boogying around the stage.. Trey’s pinky tap.. Dave’s deep sexy voice.. the giggling.. everything. Ah simply brilliant.

Much Love Jaime

In this world that we live in today it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the life we have created for ourselves. We become so focused and entrenched in our work, relationships, and personal life that we sometimes lose sight of life’s big picture. This is not a relatively hard thing to accomplish as the picture is so big and detailed that it is very easy to fixate our attention in one area, forgetting that it’s just a tiny fraction to the whole masterpiece and in fact, the entire picture is just one among endless amounts of other pictures hanging on the wall. As we step back, divert our attention elsewhere or even analyze the very fabric for which the picture was created on we might find that “what ‘matters’ most” is nothing more than the thought we put behind it into making it a reality.

All that exists in this physical world we live in is made up of matter. Protons, Neutrons and Electrons are of course made up by quarks (to over simplify the process) and this is what makes up every thing that exists. Modern physicists are now supporting that these basic building blocks for matter are in fact NOT solid. In fact 99% of an atom is empty space. Countless experiments have been conducted to show that solidity is only a trick of the mind at the macroscopic level.  This was first brought to the public eye by a scientist named Ernest Rutherford in an experiment he did passing particles through gold. I am sure we will be hearing even more about this concept as CERN (Council for European Nuclear Research) is about to kick off its billion dollar project to further investigate the fabric of existence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4484053n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

For those of you whom this is a new concept to, I can imagine that you are skeptical to believe that something you can touch is not solid. This contradicts everything we’ve learned throughout our lives. However, modern science is beginning to expound into the “paranormal” and “unexplainable” to possibly repeat history and as time showed the world is not flat and the sun does not revolve around the earth we shall begin to become conscious that what you see and touch is not the end all be all for what exists and who/what we really are.

We are all energy. Our bodies emit light and heat. Our brains produce thoughts that emit waves that manipulate the “physical” world in which we live.  This is not such a strange concept when you think about the fact that our bodies are coexisting with all kinds of different frequencies such as television, radio waves, numerous other frequencies, some probably still undiscovered. Just because you can’t see them at the moment doesn’t mean they do not exist or are not present.  They exist in the same space the mind and body does. One must only find the proper medium to access the information and decode it into information our brains can interpret.   There is more to the human being than the physical bodies in which we live because in fact the majority of our body is once again just a bunch of nothing. We exist on many different levels, dimensions and frequencies. For numerous reasons we have lost touch with our ability to realize our full potential as beings and have forgotten that we are eternal and have always been.  Our minds and bodies vibrate at different frequencies corresponding with the thoughts and emotions we are feeling at the time. This might sound like a bunch of spiritual pish-posh and may make one uncomfortable but if you allow yourself to lower the predetermined constructs of your mind it will all make sense, even logically.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/biggestsecret/andtruthfreebook/truthfree00.htm#introduction

Our thoughts are our most powerful and equally crippling tool we possess. Our thoughts define our actions and our actions shape our experiences in this reality.  Our “reality” is a reflection of what we think about ourselves and what we hold onto dearest. It is this great ability to think that we can manipulate to make our lives more pleasant or less favorable.  This is a beautiful thing because once you realize that this is true and is a universal law that we are not taught in school or church (coincidence?), you begin to look inside yourself and out at your current situation and see that it is only you that has put yourself where you are,  and it is only you (and a good thing too since you won’t have to worry about anyone else letting you down) who can use that information to bring about desirable changes. Once we realize that the only one to blame for our problems and our unhappiness is ourselves (not anyone or thing) we can begin to take responsibility for our actions, learn from our mistakes, change our thought process and continue in a new found direction.

This law works simply by like attracting like. Positive attracting positive. Negative attracting Negative. This is the one rule to making this work. The law does not care whether you are emitting positive or negative energy, it will bring you what you desire. Now one might say, no one would want to attract negativity into their life, however, there are people who are consciously making the world a more negative/worse place, but for the moment I am speaking of the people who are probably not aware they are attracting negativity with even the tiniest negative thoughts. One rule that I find works for me, is think simple. If you can apply something on a small-scale and it works, then it will translate to the big picture. It is because of this that we must be careful with what we say and what we are thinking. Little things, eventually add up to big things, good and bad. Think about what you think about yourself and where the majority of your thoughts lie. Are you constantly saying things like “Nothing good ever happens to me”, “I hate…”, “I can’t…”, “Oh woe is me, I’m just a little nobody, working at a job I hate, to pay rent in a too small of house, with a nagging spouse, and too many bills, and I just can’t ever seem to get anything right”, “Nobody likes me” blah blah garbage!! If you think like that you will only be focusing on the negative things in your life, and the positive ones, which still exist will be phased out by your focus on negative ones thus attracting even more negativity into your life. However if you always choose to look at the positivity in things (even though negative ones still may exist) they will be phased out and you will attract even greater happiness into your life. I could not even begin to tell you the thousands of people and things big and small, that I have attracted into my life since learning about this universal law.

I encourage anyone interested in this to check out this movie and research “The Law of Attraction”

People are skeptical to think that you can get whatever you want in life or change any situation you are in simply by thinking about it because a lot of times they don’t realize that although 90% of it is just knowing what you want and thinking about it you still have to put that positivity in alignment with your actions. When those two things are in perfect harmony: 1. knowing what you want, 2. and taking the proper actions to get it: you can literally do anything or recieve anything! Thoughts become things!  The beautiful thing is that no one can stop you but yourself. You just have to stay positive and keep believing that good things will come because they will. The law is always at work. It seems so simple and logical when you break it down on an individual level, however most people in the world are completely oblivious. [I will write a full blog post on this subject with examples from my life and others at a later date]

It is because of this great law and our true “freedom”, which unfortunately I am not talking about the freedom we think we have as Americans, but our true freedom is the power of choice. At the end of the day, in any situation, rational or irrational, it is oneself who always has the ability to make a choice. That being said, those choices always have consequences of less favorable outcomes or favorable/tolerable outcomes but each person always possess the power to choose.  At the end of the day no one can make the decision but themselves. This is something I have had a hard time accepting but now better understand that happiness and fearfulness are choices. Choices that we each make each day, defined by our thoughts, carried into actions, actions that shape the outcome of our life and influence the state of the world. The world is the way it is today because of the thoughts that others before us and now us have had and turned those thoughts into actions or done nothing while our world was manipulated into a state of fear.  It is us who have chosen to live in this world of fear, to accept that it is inevitable that the world can only get worse.  It is us who have so quickly fallen to our knees in looking to the sky for answers to problems, all the while there are people among us whom we’ve never met that are manipulating this false movie-like reality we call life, while we tune out, obey, be silent and do nothing.

The human brain is a very complex and magnificent organ that functions on so many levels most of which we have barely even begun to tap into. However most of us tend to not ever put it to good use and instead allow pop culture, the media and movies to program how we think. There is a small part of our brain called the reptilian brain which functions on basic instincts and survival that most of us never allow ourselves to think outside of. This part of the brain is very primal in that, it allows us to let things like fear, selfishness survival, dominance, and sexual thoughts govern our life. The mainstream media, movie producers and global elite know this and have set our worldly lives up to be stimulated and manipulated like this. It is so much in the forefront of our society that you almost can’t see it because it is in just about everything and we have let ourselves become blinded by the overwhelming exposure to it, accepting it for “just the way it is, honey”, or “always has been always will be.” garbage.

This powerful weapon of manipulation can be seen every time you watch the news, hear a commercial, drive past a billboard, rent a movie, go to war, vote for political figures, listen to the radio, or surf the internet. It’s just about everywhere and it is not by coincidence. Fear is an immobilizing thing. Fear can cripple a person keeping them from ever really doing anything. Fear is a good way to keep people out-of-the-way and influence them to do what you want. However, Fear isn’t real. It is true, the only thing to fear is fear itself. Fear is nothing more than a product of unfamiliarity. A mental road block in your mind. We are afraid of things we do not understand and unfortunately in today’s society we have such a go-go mentality that we don’t take the time to understand or figure out why we’re afraid or what there is to even be afraid of.  We are such a society full of repeaters that world society as a whole never stops to critically analyze happenings in the news around the world and how they are connected. You have to look extremely hard to find a true journalist, or true news source. And of course people have been programmed not to accept an alternative because it is not a “credible” source, most certainly lacking the fancy cameras, graphics and people we’ve become accustomed with.

Here is a good example of how the media works:

If we want to talk about the real fear in this world and the people responsible for this false sense of reality, after we point the finger in the mirror we need only look to the little picture box that sits at the center of our favorite rooms. This must have item was designed for nothing more than programming of mass numbers of people into fearful, insecure, subordinate, consumers and is responsible for the numbing and culturing of misinformed sheep people (sheople). TV has convinced everyone that what you see on it is reality. That you are not this or that if you don’t have this thing or that thing. It has given us all programmed memories. I can’t remember a lot of days from my past but I remember just about every episode of Fresh Prince, Family Matters, Full House and Boy Meets World. I remember how quickly a life changing story breaks on the news, watching the hours of coverage and hearing the story change and everyone accepting the new version and carrying on with their daily lives. The majority of us accept what we hear and see on TV and take comfort in it.  A little something like this:

Pardon his language, but as Gandhi said “Even in a minority of one, the truth is still the truth”.

WE MUST CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY

As a whole our society is afraid of numerous things: terrorism, violence in our neighborhoods, flu, death, our safety, other religions, communism, people with brown faces, socialism, drugs and endless other things. TV has systematically instilled prejudices and for many people have given them their opinion on certain ethnic groups, religions, and countries before we even take the time to see experience the world with our own eyes, ears and feet. This is something traveling the world has brought to my attention. As Michael Jackson once said “never ever pass judgment on anyone or believe anything you hear on TV until you’ve had the chance to sit down, look the person in the eye and hear what they have to say for themselves.” And based on personal experiences he couldn’t have been any more right. There are a lot of misconceptions about the world that we average Americans hold. Instead of believing this capitalist/nationalist propaganda, that we are the greatest country ever and its our way or the highway we need to take the time to think about where these easy sayings and programmed responses we recite come from.

In the early 1900’s a psychologist  by the name of Edward Bernays changed the course of modern human history by taking his knowledge of psychology and teaming up with big corporations to what would inevitably become the market and advertising scam as we know it today.

The people at the top are not stupid. They know exactly what they are doing and it is only by playing dumb and taking advantage of people’s trust and ignorance that we let them accomplish the evils they do. But the time is coming when they will be exposed and will be held accountable.

How is it possible that they could get away with these acts? The simple truth is because each one of us allows it to happen. The global elite have successfully created a system in which we are all born into to enslave the population. They accomplish this because they have managed to create a prison that you can neither see, touch or taste: A prison for our minds. They have turned society as a whole into a flock of sheep.  Only they have done one better. Sheep at least still need a sheep dog to keep them in line and move them where necessary. We are one worse than sheep in that we don’t need a visible sheep dog (or tyrant) to constantly keep us in line. The elite have managed to ingeniously program the very sheep themselves be their own sheep dogs. We police ourselves.  It is now a crime in this society to be different or speak out against the herd. People are so concerned with what the Jones’ will think if they do this, or say that, or don’t have this, that we refuse to speak up, about what is really on our minds to do/be something unique. Instead we are more concerned with the weather and who’s gonna win the super bowl this year that generations let time pass and the world worsen, never doing a thing about it. Dave Matthews hit the nail precisely on the head.

We must wake up from this long slumber our people have been in and realize the truth: that there is something bigger going on in this world and it is sinister and evil; and that the only reason it continues to happen and worsen is because we let it. We must get off of our knees, stop thinking with a small-minded brain centered on fear, and expand our conciousness to channel the infinite amount of love that is available to free ourselves from fear, hate, perversion and bondage that 90% of the world is trapped in right now.  We must not fear the quest for truth, even when the truth turns out to be stranger than fiction.

“People avoid the truth because the first bit of truth uttered and lived would draw more truth into action and so on indefinitely and this would rip most people right off the customary track of their lives. But people, basically, know what is true and what is not, even if they so often render help to the lie. They support the lie because the lie has become a crutch. Therefore, in common human intercourse, the truth and not the lie is suspected as being phony.”

-Wilhelm Reich, “The Murder of Christ”

We must collectively raise this world from vibrating lowly in a state of fear to soaring high in a state of love and happiness.  The answer starts right at home. What can I do?  Once we begin to change our thought patterns this physical world around us will realign itself with a positive outlook. We want to make the world a better place for those that will be arriving here after we’ve left our physical bodies. Remember that we are not defined by our name, occupation or financial status. We are infinite consciousness experiencing life on planet Earth in the third dimension.

INFINITE LOVE IS THE ONLY TRUTH EVERYTHING ELSE IS ONLY ILLUSION.

(more to come next monday…)

LET THIS SONG RING TRUE!

Jim DeGraff sketches at a Technicolor Trailer Park show

The sound of squeaky wheels and rusted metal screeches gratingly as Jim DeGraff pulls his wagon along the edge of the Chemung Canal Trust Company parking lot. Once red, the wagon has worn to a faded brown from years of abuse. Tattered boxes stacked to capacity with tubes of paint, a jug of Poland Spring water and a canvas roll-up of paintbrushes barely fit into the cart.

Pausing briefly, he lights up a hand-rolled cigarette. Today is the first annual Rhiner Festival, a day of music and historical reenactments in Ithaca’s Waterfront District, and DeGraff is anticipating a lively day of painting and honing his craft.

The self-taught painter and former bouncer has been sketching and painting live concerts for nearly five years, and his hulking, paint-splattered form — with accompanying easel and rusted wagon — has become a common sight at Central New York concerts, especially in the Finger Lake region.

“For me, going to a concert, it’s hard unless I have something to do,” DeGraff said. “If I have a sketchbook with me, it enhances the whole experience. Artwork is like catching a moment.”

CATCHING MOMENTS

DeGraff is catching a lot of moments at the Rhiner Festival.  The first venue he hits is located at the Chemung Canal Trust Company, an unusual bank branch located in an old train station — complete with passenger cars and a locomotive. Here on the rail platform, Long John and the Tights, a 5-piece bluegrass band, are plucking and buzzing in front of 15 forty-somethings and little kids. Though it’s chilly under the drive-thru, DeGraff sets up his skinny easel and secures his wooden canvas. While others came to watch Long John and the Tights on a sunny Saturday, DeGraff came to paint.

“Bluegrass is probably easiest to paint, because they don’t move much,” DeGraff laughed.

As the band plays on, DeGraff stands alone with his brush in hand, focused on and entranced by the wooden board in front of him. A dab here, a stroke there and the music comes alive in bright color as DeGraff sees it.

Ever since a 2005 benefit show at the Ithaca State Theatre for Hurricane Katrina victims, DeGraff has never put down the brush or pencil at concerts. That night, DeGraff completed five paintings before the end of the show.  He pushes himself to finish one painting per band, no matter the circumstances — when it comes to concerts, it’s a ritual.

A NATURAL GIFT

As a kid in the 1970s, DeGraff’s first inspiration to draw came from reading old Conan the Barbarian comic books. By his teenage years, he had begun to sketch skulls and crossbones.  It wasn’t until the 1980s, however, that DeGraff saw the old HBO documentary Jimi Hendrix: Live at Monterey, 1967 and was exposed to the idea of painting live bands.  In the film, painter Denny Dent splatters paint against a brick wall, magically shaping an image of Jimi Hendrix’s face. DeGraff still name-checks Hendrix as an artist he would have killed to get a chance to paint, if he weren’t four decades late.

Even with that inspiration, however, DeGraff didn’t pursue painting full-time.  He eventually took a job at The Nines, where he worked as a bouncer and sketched during his shift.  Later, he began working for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, a local non-profit.  But painting was always in the background, said DeGraff’s father Tim.

“I think painting was something he wanted to do, but didn’t have the training,” he said.  “He learned the hard way. He has a natural gift.”

DeGraffe’s gift tends toward the gestural, even abstract.  Because his work relies so heavily on his emotions, DeGraff usually has to really like the show. Nonetheless, if he thinks the band really sucks he’ll paint them out of spite — like a Dave Matthews tribute band that he hated.  His exact style varies according to his mood.

“I bounce around with different styles like splatter work when I’m having a bad day,” DeGraff said. “It’s really messy, but it’s a lot of fun, or I’ll see some image stuck in my head and I’ll paint it from memory.”

HIS BIG BREAK

There can also be a certain darkness and violence in DeGraff’s work, a style that his father Tim attributes to his son’s troubled past.  Jim’s parents divorced during his childhood, and he remained distant with his father afterwards.  He recovered from alcoholism 12 years ago.

“I don’t know about artists, because I’ve never been one,” Tim said. “He has a dark sense of style in his paintings.”

But no one who has seen DeGraff in action — poised in front of his easel, or with pencil and sketchbook in hand – would ever accuse him of being “dark.”  In fact, painting shows has become a kind of a catharsis for the self-taught artist, a growing process that allowed him to realize his childhood ambitions and reconnect with his father.

In the past year and a half, DeGraff has begun showing his work at local galleries, though painting remains his passion and not his career.  His big break came from the local restaurant/art gallery Moosewood, which is renowned for its art shows. The director of the Moosewood gallery, Ned Asta, took notice.

“If he keeps at it, he’s got so much potential,” Asta said. “It’s really psychedelic with all the oranges and blues. It’s really trippy.”

NOT JUST “SOME FUCKING KID”

Several promoters and bands have also invited DeGraff to paint their shows.  Lisa Gould and boyfriend Jerry Ponner met DeGraff at The Nines when Ponner was a cook there and DeGraff was a bouncer; later, when Gould and Ponner formed their own band, Technicolor Trailer Park, they asked DeGraff to paint them.

“Never seen guys do [what Jim does] before, but he’s good at what he does,” Gould said. “The work I’ve seen is fabulous. He does it with so many different mediums.”

DeGraff has also painted big artists like Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez when they came to Ithaca. In fact, after the Joan Baez show, DeGraff stopped by to show her his painting while she was signing autographs – she said it was nice.

But the best show for DeGraffe was Ithaca’s Positive Jam, the first show his father attended with him.

“He saw me in a different light,” DeGraff said, “and not just some fucking kid.”

Back in the bank parking lot, the show is just beginning to wind down.  DeGraff dips his brush into a cup of red paint one last time in order to slither a distorted signature on the top left corner of the painting. He takes a step back, looking it over, and rolls another cigarette.

“That’s as good as it’s gonna get,” he says.

– Story by Jett Wells
– Photos by David Korman and Blake Rong

Mobiles may click here for I’m Alive.

Chart Position: 35

• Written by James Brown and Dave Matthews

So if you see my header and read my about you will realize that I love the guitar but suck at it, and am kinda lazy about it. I read an article this am about Dave Matthews (who I was already a fan of) and he pretty much has the same attitude about his playing (although he admits to being lazy and about his playing, he dosen’t suck!) So I am kinda re-finding DM in a different light.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND | SOUNDS.

Take me back, ’cause just before I was spinning

Take me back, just before I got dizzy

Take me back, amazing what a minute can do

Just like you

(Dave Matthews: So Damn Lucky)

We go through life trudging heavy on solid ground until the day the Earth gives way and we find ourselves on a skid of ice, dark water below.  To take one last breath of fresh air…  To see the sun rise again with these eyes…  To tell my family one last time how much I love them…

The spirits of the departed call to us to honor them by celebrating their memory, what’s left of them in time.  We are the ones who living and yet asleep, wallow in the grave, unaware of the earth falling around our heads.  Awake, the souls of those we cannot see smile down upon us, the unfortunate inhabitants of these bodies.  Open these old eyes and make them new again.

Moments of intense happiness and absolute sorrow punctuate long monotonous periods of toil and boredom we call living.  But you, you were alive.  Now we live and remember you.   We feel the coolness of the air on our skin, the warmth of the sun on our face, and the love for those we’ve lost alive in our hearts.  Live life today and take nothing for granted.  Nothing is guaranteed and everything is a gift.

You'll be missed Brian

]]> http://longroadtonashville.com/2009/10/29/today-in-review-kenny-chesneyim-alive/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:46:06 +0000 Jonalee White http://longroadtonashville.com/2009/10/29/today-in-review-kenny-chesneyim-alive/

Howdy Ya’ll!

Beautiful sunny day in Cincy so I thought I would take on a little Kenny Chesney and his video featuring Dave Matthews “I’m Alive”.  I must start by saying that when this video first started playing on Yallwire, my speakers were not plugged in and it took me a little time to figure out the problem.  Never hearing this song before, I watched the video expecting an upbeat, rockin’ calypso sounding tune…..WOW was I way off!  From all the live footage,  Kenny looked like he was having a great time celebrating life, but watching it again there are a lot of solitary quiet moments too.  I give this one a 6.

Check out the video @
Kenny Chesney – I’m Alive (featuring Dave Matthews)
Free Music Videos at www.yallwire.com

Country Rocks!

JW

I’m Alive – Dave Matthews & Kenny Chesney

So damn easy to say that life’s so hard
Everybody’s got their share of battle scars
As for me I’d like to thank my lucky stars that
I’m alive, and well

It’d be easy to add up all the pain
And all the dreams you sat and watched go up in flames
Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain
But not me, I’m alive

And today you know that’s good enough for me
Breathin’ in and out’s a blessin’ can’t you see
Today’s the first day of the rest of my life
And I’m alive, and well
I’m alive, and well

Stars are dancin’ on the water here tonight
It’s good for the soul, when there’s not a soul in sight
But this boat has caught its wind and brought me back to life
Now I’m alive, and well

And today you know that’s good enough for me
Breathin’ in and out’s a blessing can’t you see
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
Now I’m alive, and well
Yeah I’m alive, and well

“And if you hold on tight to what you think is your thing you may find you’re missing all the rest… “

~ Dave Matthews