Ah, how I so love my own city… The little shops, the streets, alleys… The people that hastily walk over the streets. The sounds, the buildings. Everything. No word is able to describe what it is like, to walk through it, my admiration for every single part of it. I love it. However, that is merely a weak exclamation of what it feels like, to me, to be here.

Today I’ve been roaming around the city since about 11 am. With a very good friend. First, we walked around the station a bit, only to decide that we would take the bus to the centre. A hand touched my shoulder, I flinched at first, but when I turned around I saw a friendly –or so he appeared to be, furthermore his voice sounded very gentle when he called out to me- older man, he wore a large black coat, wasn’t that tall, and a big black hat stood proudly right on his head. He helped me to get a ticket when the machine that normally is supposed to give them once again refused to listen to me. I seem to have a special gift, or curse, on that account; machines never do what I ask them to do. Ah well… So, we got on the bus. There I lost the ticket, suddenly noticed that I couldn’t find it again, but as expected, nobody checked the tickets and we simply talked the remaining time. To be honest, I actually never pay for a ticket when traveling by bus. They never check. It was nice, although it was full of people and some guys started to push around a bit. I guess that’s a normal thing.

We arrived at the Justice Palace, or whatever way you write that in English, and decided to walk to the other side. Normally, we go to the large shopping street. It is full of magazines and very pleasant, even for someone like me, who generally dislikes shopping. I can’t really stand to slowly zigzag from shop to shop. Argh. Drives me insane at times. But, not today. So, we walked over the bridge, I stopped for a second, gazed over the water. I like the bridges here, and obviously the water that comes with it. I don’t really know why. The pigeons are also funny. I think they are suicidal; they kind of flap down in the middle of the street, doesn’t matter if a bus or car is advancing towards them, and only quickly fly away when it’s almost too late. I once saw one that had only one leg. I found it sad; it hopped from stone to stone, wings uncontrollably -or so it seemed- moving through the air as it desperately tried to hold itself right. It worked though. I gave it some bread. Happened years ago. Where was I… Oh, we were walking over the bridge, crossed the street. Then I jumped in the air, screaming “YES!” (literally) when my favorite small comic store came in our sight. I could almost see my friend sigh and shake her head at me. I know she did. Mentally. We stayed in the warm shop for about 45 minutes. I told her, my friend, that I somehow felt there was a book calling out to me in the store. In the end, when we both realized we actually were very hungry, I decided that that particular book was the 7^th volume of Death Note. I’ll return another time. We crossed the street again, walked further to the left. Until we arrived at ‘The Green Way’. Always reminds me of ‘The Green Mile’, that movie. It’s for veggies. I’m not vegetarian, mark my words, but they got nice food. And it was the closest restaurant.

We both ordered a Pesto Genovese. She bought a Ginseng drink, after I admitted that I suspected it to be poisonous. She sadly didn’t die. I myself took a blueberry thingy. I like blueberries. It was nice, the pasta, though the large amounts of cheese made it really dry to eat and gave us a lot of thirst. Luckily, the bottles of juice were large enough. Once we left, about an hour and a half later, we noticed that the spaghetti in fact wasn’t as light as we first hoped it to be. We both felt as if a brick or something had somehow hidden itself in our stomach. But, nonetheless, I enjoyed the food.

We then walked further, eventually arrived at the shopping street. (yay…?) We first went to the ‘Horse of Troy’, an awesome book store. It’s small. It’s cozy. The people there are friendly, in for a talk and nobody disturbs me. Everything I like. I didn’t have enough money to buy anything, however my friend bought ‘My friendship with Jezus Christ’. It is an awesome book. Perhaps this will sound familiar; at times, a book just screams that it’s pure awesomeness. I can borrow it once she has completely read it.

After the book store, we stepped to ‘Dille & Kamille’.

Also another awesome magazine. There I couldn’t resist the smell, and bought, I quote, “Black tea, accompanied with a lovely rose aroma”. I might be too naïve. Though I think I’ll like it. Well… It smelled good… There is one other thing that managed to completely make me forget my promise of not spending all my money. (I had €20) It was cacao powder with caramel. GOD that made my mouth water. Rivers, seas and oceans. So, I obviously bought it. Tomorrow morning I’ll be able to fully enjoy a nice warm heavenly cup of hot chocolate. Hehee..

Afterwards, we made a promenade, as they say, and arrived at the ‘Glass House’ from Studio Brussel, and their action: Music for Life. This time, it’s against malaria. It’s awesome, last year it also was in Ghent. They normally never stay in the same city twice. However… This time… I find it awesome, the mood there is great, everyone laughs, makes fun. There’s music, little acts, people out of many different regions, etcetera. I and my friend decided to also support the event, and sent a little message that then -hopefully- would appear on the big screen. It is live, they constantly send it out. Also during the night. There are three persons in the glass house, they stay there for a week, making radio, while they live on juice. It was incredibly funny, after a while, she tapped on my head (I groaned) and pointed towards that screen. There it was! My text message! And hers, right after it.

It more or less ended then. We stayed there for a while, listening to music. We took the bus to the station again. There she waited for her train to come, I waited for my dad. Who arrived 45 mins too late. But okay, I expected that. We quickly drove to the cinema, where we were going to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ with some other friends. It was awesome. I had forgotten how much I actually like Charles Dickens.

Yes, today… It was a nice day.

I thought I could show some pictures, of places where we walked today. And places I like in general.

A misty Ghent, I adore this place. The mist gives it such a.. Surrealistic and mysterious, perhaps, feeling.

This is one of my absolute favorite places to sit…
If you ever were to come here, there’s a lot of chance you’d find me there.

Now a less misty picture of the old centre, the towers. To me, they have that majestic appearance, when you walk aside the old stone. It is strange, how I walk here, watching these cathedrals that people hundreds of years ago have built.

This is what it looked like yesterday and this weekend. Now it sadly is melting away already and has become its less pleasant brown variation, though they say there is a huge chance that Thursday there will lay an enormous coat of snow over the buildings, the landscape… It’s been a long time since it snowed this much.

And here, a picture that I found nice when I saw it about five minutes ago. Ghent by night is absolutely wonderful. I myself really like the style the houses were built in.
Let’s ignore the tourist boats.

Leven, dat willen we allemaal! En voor diegenen die de voorbije dagen ergens op Mars zaten, Music for Life van Studio Brussel en het Rode Kruis is weer van start gegaan. Nog meer dan vorig jaar zijn online de initiatieven bijna niet meer bij te houden. En omdat er zo veel mensen met leuke ideeën op de proppen komen en vragen of ze een beetje aandacht kunnen krijgen, maak ik een lijstje op (die dagelijks geupdate kan worden).

• Judith die graag jouw ‘housewife’ wil worden!
• Tweet for life
• O, Denneboom << doe life een lampje branden en steun zo Music for Life
• These Days for Life
• En nog een tweede à la These Days
• En inderdaad, gewoon een plaatje aanvragen!
• Keukenverhaaltjes for Life

Lanciato in UK e denominato Music For Life ha queste caratteristiche:

- più di 6 milioni di brani in catalogo
- DRM free
- 4 abbonamenti mensili disponibili: da 9,99£ (24 download) a 24,99£ (75 download)
- l’iscrizione da diritto a due settimane e 50 download gratuiti

Ich muss einem Menschen danken, der mich auf Philipp Poisel aufmerksam gemacht hat und auf einen Song von eben diesem Interpreten. “Mit jedem Deiner Fehler” heißt das Liedchen…und haut mich ziemlich vom Hocker. Ein bisschen umgeschrieben auf die eigene Situation, passt es mal wieder perfekt:

Ich will nicht bei Dir durchklingeln, und ich tu es doch…
Ich will nicht an dich denken, und ich tu es doch…
Ich will nicht von dir reden, vom schwärmen ganz zu schweigen…
Schäm dich was, dass du dich nicht aus meinen Gedanken schleichst!
Ich hab versucht mir, mir einzureden, dass du ja eigentlich gar nicht so schön bist,
dass du bescheuert bist und nichts verstehst, dass wir nicht füreinander bestimmt sind..
Mit jedem deiner Fehler mag ich dich mehr.
Du bist so herrlich überheblich, so wunderbar arrogant..
Ganz schön eingebildet, dafür ernenn’ ich dich zum König von meinem Land.
Dafür, dass du ständig lügst und die Frauen betrügst, siehst du verdammt unschuldig aus
Es ist deine Art, ich kann dir nicht böse sein.

Het zijn een beetje vijgen na pasen, ik weet het, het is al bekend van vorige week. Maar toch herhaal ik het hier graag nog eens: Music for Life vindt dit jaar opnieuw plaats in Gent. Hoera!

Dat doet me echt plezier, want vorig jaar was het toch dikke fun. Het is zowat het enige minpunt van de verhuis van het werk naar de Dampoort: nu passeer ik niet meer aan de Zuid. Kan ik de opbouwwerken niet volgen, en passeer ik er niet meer als Music for Life volop in actie is. Beetje jammer wel. Maar ik zal er wel eens speciaal naartoe trekken. Ik kijk er al naar uit, en ben benieuwd wie de presentatoren zullen zijn.

Stanford study finds it helps the understanding of language

cited at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/17/MNGQ9FPODP1.DTL

Stanford University research has found for the first time that musical training improves how the brain processes the spoken word, a finding that researchers say could lead to improving the reading ability of children who have dyslexia and other reading problems.

The study, made public Wednesday, is the first to show that musical experience can help the brain improve its ability to distinguish between rapidly changing sounds that are key to understanding and using language.

The research also eventually could provide the “why” behind other studies that have found that playing a musical instrument has cognitive benefits.

“What this study shows, that’s novel, is that there’s a specific aspect of language … that’s changed in the minds and brains of people with musical training,” said researcher John Gabrieli, a former Stanford psychology professor now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

“Especially for children … who aren’t good at rapid auditory processing and are high-risk for becoming poor readers, they may especially benefit from musical training.”

What’s promising about the study, researchers believe, is the notion that the brain isn’t an immutable organ fixed at birth but is adaptable — that, with training, people can change their mental agility. The study focused on adults, but researchers want to expand the scope of their work to children as early as next summer.

One education observer cautioned against pinning too much on the research until it’s proved that music actually helps children read better. No other studies have shown that music has any real impact on reading ability.

“We need to make sure we’re not promising parents and kids there are these magic bullets they can rely on — that they don’t have to work at learning to read, that they can play music,” said Michael Kamil, a Stanford education professor who has not yet read the study.

All the research was performed at Stanford in 2004 and was presented Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. It will be published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in December.

The researchers used adults — from 28 to 40 individuals, depending on the part of the study — divided into musicians and non-musicians matched by age, sex, general language ability and intelligence. To qualify, the musicians must have started playing an instrument before age 7 and never stopped, practicing several hours every week.

Researchers first had the two groups listen to three tone sequences of different pitches in rapid succession. As the various tone sequences were played faster and faster, the musicians outperformed the non-musicians in their ability to distinguish among the tones. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scanners, or fMRIs, showed that the musicians had more focused, efficient brain activity as they did this.

The researchers then examined how musicians and non-musicians processed similar word syllables, like “da” and “ba.” A person has only a 40,000th of a second to differentiate between the two sounds when the physical signal hits the ear, and the musicians made those rapid auditory distinctions more accurately and quickly than non-musicians did.

When the two sounds were clearly different, like “da” and “wa,” the two groups performed similarly, the differences emerging only in the finer distinctions.

“The musicians are better able to detect small differences than the non-musicians, which is surprising,” said Nadine Gaab, a postdoctoral associate who moved from Stanford to MIT with Gabrieli. “Non-musicians have the same experience with syllables as musicians.”

Other research has shown that musical experience improves the ability of people to hear pitches and increases verbal memory. But until now, no one has explained why mastering a musical instrument plays a role in that, Gaab said.

Many children who become poor readers have a trouble making rapid auditory distinctions, Gabrieli said. That becomes a reading problem, because when the teacher explains that this letter is a “p” and this one a “b,” a student with poor processing ability might not hear the difference.

“Once they don’t hear the difference, the thought is that they’re going to have a hard time” understanding the difference when the letters are written on a page, Gabreli said.

He and the other researchers would like to do a study as early as next summer involving children with auditory deficiencies who are struggling to read to see whether a summer of musical enrichment hones their language skills and helps them hear language better.

That is the kind of study that needs to be done, said Kamil, the Stanford professor who urged caution in looking at the latest study.

“Unless he’s demonstrated that it makes a difference in the real world, and you have some kids there and they learn to read better, I would be reluctant to attach any real significance to it at this point,” Kamil said. “I’m not saying it won’t work, but we really don’t know.”

Voor den Triangel hebben we een fotoreportage moeten maken van ‘Run for Life’ op het Mechelse Plein in Antwerpen, een zijproject van Music For Life, de benefietactie van Studio Brussel. Op zich was dit al een zeer aangenaam evenement om te bezoeken, we hebben een klapje kunnen doen met radiopresentator Christophe Lambrecht en nog een optreden van Admiral Freebee meegepikt. Omdat het evenement 24 uur duurde hadden we meer dan genoeg tijd om veel foto’s te nemen, zo hebben we achteraf de beste foto’s er uit kunnen halen. Omdat dit een ‘feel good’-geval waren de mensen heel gewillig en enthousiast om op onze vragen te beantwoorden. Uiteindelijk heb ik me goed geamuseerd op het evenement en van de foto’s ben ik ook meer dan tevreden.

Nem tão novo, mas definitivamente incrível é esse trio de Portland. Uma formação não convencional (vocal+sax Barítono+samplers, bateria & guitarra+teclados+vocal), não é a única coisa que faz essa banda soar como novidade. As músicas e suas estruturas vão na contramão da música pop e fazem saltitar corações cansados de não se surpreender com as “novidades.

essa banda me foi apresentada pelo Giordano (incrível baixista do Stereotáxico) que toca hoje no lançamento da YES WE CAN. 

confiram a banda tocando no programa Juan’s Basement, da Pitchfork TV:

espero um dia poder trabalhar com eles, quem sabe um bom videoclipe para a faixa “My My” (escutem o album!)? ou um cartaz para um vinda ao brasil? Fiquei um pouco triste de saber que eles estão abrindo para o Bloc Party, que é uma banda que eu curto o som, mas que perdi total o respeito.

Zalig nummer van Paul Kalkbrenner , genaamd Sky and Sand. Het lied komt uit de soundtrack van de film Berlin Calling , die tevens door die zelfde Paul wordt geproduced.

Meteen ook verkozen tot Hot Shot van de week door Studio Brussel.

De benefietactie ‘Music for Life’ van Studio Brussel is ook dit jaar weer niet ongemerkt voorbijgegaan. Zelfs niet-radioluisterend Vlaanderen wist van de actie en haar nobele doel: het lot van moeders op de vlucht voor oorlog en geweld in de aandacht brengen en verbeteren.
Studio Brussel doet dat samen met Het Rode Kruis dat wereldwijd al jaren vluchtelingen opvangt – vaak vrouwen en kinderen – die tijdens hun vlucht aan heel wat ontberingen en gevaren worden blootgesteld zoals honger, ziektes en agressie. Nergens zijn ze welkom en vaak verblijven ze in kampen zonder hoop op een toekomst.

Deze problematiek liet ook enkele Lierenaars in de donkere dagen rond kerstmis niet koud.
Daarom sloegen zij na het succes van de vorige editie ook in 2008 opnieuw de handen in elkaar met vrijwilligers, de Stad Lier en het Rode Kruis Lier voor een tweede en minstens even hard knallende editie van ‘Lier for Life’.
Tom Wuyts, Peter De Bruyn en Pieter Dom zijn de motor achter het initiatief en engageerden zich om geld in te zamelen voor dat goede doel en boden de Lierse jongeren tegelijkertijd een erg entertainend evenement aan.

“Dit jaar trokken we op 19 december naar de Grote Markt die omgetoverd werd tot een grote dansvloer. De stad ondersteunt de actie door logistieke steun te verlenen”, licht schepen Els Van Weert de actie toe.
Al om 16 uur in de namiddag barstte ‘Lier for Life’ los met dj’s Wout en Ax (Axel Daeseleire). Later kwamen Sven Van Hees, Groove Merchant, Laston & Leo, Lextravaganza en Geht’s Noch. “We hebben ook tentjes opgezet zoals in een vluchtelingenkamp en er waren drank- en eetkraampjes”, legt Peter De Bruyn uit.
Na een spetterend muziekfeest werd om 23 uur de stilte teruggegeven aan de Grote Markt en ging het feest gewoon verder in Jeugdhuis ’t Moevement.

Om zoveel mogelijk jong volk op de been te brengen was de toegang tot Lier for Live gratis.
De inkomsten kwamen o.a. uit de verkoop van drank en van een hoop gulle sponsors.
Ook de veiling van gouden platen gesigneerd door o.a. Regi van Milk Inc., Geena Lisa en Gunter Lamoot heeft nog heel wat opgebracht.
De Lierse ploeg heeft in het totaal € 7729,61 kunnen overhandigen aan de glazen huisbewoners in Gent.
Prociciat!

In deze tijd van vetopstapeling en leververzadiging is elk goedbedoeld initiatief welgekomen. Neem nu Music For Life, jaarlijkse de StuBru-actie, met ditmaal het epicentrum in Gent. Een memorabel mediamoment toen burgemeester Termont de boel in gang stak met een verzoekplaatje van 5 euro. Toen enige tijd later een 4-jarig meisje de totale inhoud van haar spaarpot schonk (15 euro), zakte mijn broek af (en steeg hopelijk het schaamrood bij de burgervader). De man zijn functie brengt namelijk maar liefst 119.391,03 euro/jaar op (loon op 1/11/2008, geïndexeerd/belastbaar). Maar vermoedelijk zal hij dit niet in zijn spaarpot steken. Gelukkig was Vlaanderen weer ontzettend creatief in het zoeken naar acties en gul in het geven van geld. Meer dan 3,5 miljoen euro! In Gent zeggen ze ‘vree wijs’.

Als we vervolgens de grote oversteek wagen, dan komen we in het land van de onbegrensde mogelijkheden…zolang er maar grenzen zijn aan die mogelijkheden.  En juist hier, meer bepaald in de buurt van Los Angeles, moordt een kerstman een groot deel van zijn ex-schoonfamilie uit, steek dan hun huis in brand om vervolgens zelfmoord te plegen. The American Dream als het ware, ware het niet dat de overlevenden getormenteerd achterblijven en hun verdere leven verwoest zien. Om dan nog maar te zwijgen van het feit dat niemand nog de deur voor de kerstman wil open doen.