I like apples. I don’t know if apples love me though. Wish apples could talk, then I’d just ask ‘em. Until the all-knowing gods give apples the ability to talk, I’ll just stick with eating them.

Ryan

Check out this work by Seek & Speak, aka Ben Scheafer. It is a project of uber-simplified movie posters in black, white and grey which capture only the basic components of these movies.

Reminds me of the I Can Read Movies book covers I posted about earlier.

Also be sure to check out his other work, which is also worth your while. Trust me.

Through Kitsune Noir

I’m thankful

…that my parents love to read and made sure I did too.

…that I always had books as a child.

…for my Karen, who’s always willing to analyze a good book for hours and hours.

…for my Lid and her crazy ideas.

…for our readers, who keep coming back to see what we have to say.

…that I live in a country that allows me freedom of blog.

…for bargain book racks.

…that my parents took the time to read to me when I was little.

…to have such fond memories of my Grandpa Mick’s book talks.

…that I’m from a family that values literacy.

…that my mother enthusiastically reads to her students.

…that I had teachers who read to me.

…for Barnes & Noble gift certificates.

…that Auntie Sherry handed me Speak.

…for Laurie Halse Anderson’s brain.

…for Ann M. Martin and Ann Brashares and Ann Patchett.

…for all the writers who make me think and urge me to be better.

…for you.  Thank you for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sorry for the late post. I had an appointment after school that kept me from posting until now.

Tonight’s Homework:

• Read To Kill a Mockingbird, chapters 1 to 8 (inclusive) for Friday. Literature circle roles and groups will be assigned tomorrow.
•  Complete any late assignments: Speak Double Entry Journals, Romeo & Juliet love response journal, and OSSLT news report on http://doyourbesttopassthetest.blogspot.com.
• Study for Romeo & Juliet Act One Quiz TOMORROW!

Hey there. My name is Ellis, and I’m a voice major. I love jazz, swing, all that stuff. So, naturally, I want to learn to speak jive. Since I need a way to keep myself committed to it (and since I certainly hope there are other people out there who want to be hep), I’m going to choose a jive word every day (usually from http://artofmanliness.com/2008/09/25/are-you-hep-to-the-jive-the-cab-calloway-hepster-dictionary/) to focus on memorizing…and I want to invite you to join me. So check in daily, get your word assignment, and have a good time confusing the world with how awesome your jive vocabulary becomes!

For several years, I’ve built a site with content from emails and online of interest to me and, obviously, others. Click the image to see the 92 posts I’ve saved there. Here, I will add other conversations.

WORDS.

What do they mean?

As a musician and wordist, I have the opportunity to communicate with lots of people worldwide about the challenges of artists in this present economy. Actually, very little has changed for most musicians. We “play” music, therefore the larger society doesn’t really take us serious. We’re expected to pay all of our bills, but we’re also asked to perform for FREE or next to FREE on more than one occasion. The account that follows speaks to this problem.

Heather,
I’m waving lots of flags. Here are some of them – www.floridajazznetwork.com
Here, the government is supposed to be “The People”. However, when parents allow the arts to be taken out of school and give their children drugs to subdue their creativity, we definitely have a problem. Obviously, it’s not just on this side of the planet. Your attestation confirms it’s a disease around the world.

Of course, Europeans appreciate the arts. Maybe we need to meet in Italy! Even there, they don’t have much money to pay anymore.

What to do? What to do?

Let’s keep talking and see if we can come up with a solution. We surely have a wide space in which to work. America ——— Australia.

Love and Music,
Joan

From: Heather
To: Joan
Sent: Sun, November 22, 2009 5:32:51 AM
Subject: Re: Music heals alllllllllllll!

Yes! There’s quite a number of us out there, so we’ll need to wave some pretty big signs…and ask for help from above!

Thank you for your email. It’s so weird to have this conversation with you, then have it in the park where I went for a picnic soon after!

Lobbying the government will be the hardest part – as usual.

Have a good week : )

2009/11/22

Understanding is a wonderful thing. See the new blog I started, based on an old site I’ve been building on my website for many years. www.wordswespeak.wordpress.com. Be sure to follow the link

I think all of what you’ve said is true about here too.

POPE is more like POOP, Place of ODD People is what a jazz space is now.

On Oct 17, we had 100 people at our jazz series #1.
Tonight, at #2, we had about 50 people. Why? Everyone in Florida is at the Classics.

Now, you would think that means a Euro-Music concert.
Noooooooooooooooottttttttt

Official Site Of The Florida Classic

Negroes really know how to reuse Caucasian terms. Here, it stand for Sports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go figure.

About medicine and music, did you ever see www.healingmusic.com
I pay $50 a year to be on this site. Joan Cartwright [North America, Florida, USA]

Maybe one day, the world will turn back from killing and competing to sweet soul music. Let’s hope.

JC

November 21, 2009 8:33:50 PM

Re: Music heals alllllllllllll!

Hahaha – what a response! How do I answer all that? Ah, see the responses in purple. Hope it makes sense. cheers, Heather

Heather,

This message is so full of FOOD FOR THOUGHT for www.musicwoman.ning.com

We need to break it down. From my point, here are some points to ponder:
I was so busy studying and stressed to the max with an ill man in my life! WHICH ARE YOU DOING NOW? Men tend to be a great obstruction to a woman’s musical career. Neither. Just finished study. Moved out in July, so the man is at arm’s length. In recuperation mode (for both of us) – altho’ he is still not at all well, and yes, I will look out for him but on my timetable. I’m now looking for permanent work, either in teaching or where I am in the Bureau of Statistics – Commonwealth job.

Dealing with one thing at a time and the job circuit and world is opening out. IS MUSIC YOUR CAREER? Please expand on “the is world opening out.” Kind of. To do music in this country, you need another job. For most, it’s instrumental teaching – or an office job. For me, doing classroom music teaching was to keep a foot in both camps. I put my teaching start date off until next year. At the moment, I’m working a bureacratic life in a government office but it keeps everything together while I get my creative feathers together again. (I stopped doing a lot of things musical for about 6 years.) So putting MY style of chart together has moved up the list, hindered a little by the fact that I used the piano as my tool, which was sold earlier this year. Right now, I’m in a home without a piano for the first time in my entire life. In a way, it’s OK ‘cos I have to clean up all the other mess in my life to make way, if you know what I mean. So it won’t be a distraction for a few months. Once I clear the hoardings away, there will be room for a piano in the basement. The man I ‘look after’ said I could have his lovely Ronisch. He nearly sold it. I begged him to keep it for me until I had room…and he did. He’s a good egg. His illness and side-affects filled my headspace with other angst that I truly didn’t need at the time. So now it’s up to me to get it all moving. It does depend a little on where the permanent work pops up! I’m breathing easy. For some reason, the universe has kept saying “sit tight”…so I’ll just do things bit by bit and do JUST that!

It makes sense but left my pal bitter about musicians and their carelessness. THIS IS THE BEAST WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH. How do we raise consciousness. I don’t know. The government heads and administrators talk but hardly put action or money where their mouth is…I’m kind of hoping that the medical science world is the way to get music back high on the agenda. You see, a lot of prominent people say ‘we all need music’, yet it isn’t reflected in attitudes among education or business people. The Arts is the first to suffer in the financial crisis, yet it is the substance that people need most at such a time. We don’t have philosophers like Aristotle around anymore, even Dewey, to raise the consciousness of the wellbeing of mankind – and music is a big contributor to the way our minds develop and process thought.

Local government laws which abandoned the licensing of live music venues. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Musicians are facing real challenges in society today. Our local government decided that if places were to put on live music, they needed to be licenced for such a purpose, as a POPE: Place of Public Entertainment. See: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/live-music-gets-a-boost-in-nsw-20091023-hcgw.html

I’ve gotta choof off for some FREEEEEEEEE creativity. WHAT’S CHOOF? Run/go. I’ve gotta run, or I’ve gotta go. Taken, I think, from the sound of a choo-choo train moving out of the station. Gotta choof! (Aussie slang, from Queensland, I think…where I grew up.) I could be wrong but I haven’t heard of another explanation.
: ) Heather

Joan

November 21, 2009 1:47:19 AM

Re: Music heals alllllllllllll!

Yes, Joan.

You are SO right.

It’s taken me 20 years to learn that lesson. Worse still, there have been open-minded (men) players around who said they are available for me! So I really need to get my shit together. I was so busy studying and stressed to the max with an ill man in my life! Dealing with one thing at a time and the job circuit and world is opening out.

I also need to learn how to have valuable time for me and my energy so there’s enough there for the creativity!

As said before, I’m co-writing with a VERY talented individual. I think he and I are coming from the same page. Unlike me, he didn’t stop doing music. However, he was burnt by a “starlet” – who rushed off to make $’000’s (supposedly) at the drop of a hat after his composition, energy and production time put her where she is today. THAT to me is poor taste – no matter how hard everyone is trying for a paid gig.

In a way, I guess it suits her – because she’s the crowd control performer…not really creative. So it makes sense but left my pal bitter about musicians and their, shall we say, carelessness.

Meanwhile, more Sydney venues have ‘closed out’ (as opposed to “shut down”)…despite a change in local government laws which abandoned the licensing of live music venues.

More later, I’ve gotta choof off for some FREEEEEEEEE creativity. : )

Heather x

2009/11/19

Heather,
First, let me say that your messages bring me such LIGHT! and I appreciate you even more than words can express.

Next, I sent you an invite to a private ning network, www.this-is-jazz.ning.com
Please join and CAREFULLY invite other jazzers in Australia to join IF YOU KNOW THEY UNDERSTAND WHERE REAL JAZZ CAME FROM.

Finally, I’ve passed up lots of opportunities to teach in the school system here for one reason – I refuse to subject myself to the narrow views of school officials and the outright disrespect of students. At 61 (62 on Dec 7), I’m not in the frame of mind to be insulted on a daily basis.

What I’m doing is promoting THE LAUDERHILL JAZZ SERIES and soliciting ads and sponsorship for this program so badly needed here since most of the jazz venues have become parking lots. I just put up new videos from our concert on Oct 17. See www.floridajazznetwork.com/fjnvideos.htm

About your band and music selections. The first group I worked with was Siembre, a latin jazz band of 8 men and me. I was with them for 1 year in Philadelphia. I loved being the center of attention, however, after one year of them doing conga solos on EVERY SONG I SANG, including ballads like My Funny Valentine and In A Sentimental Mood, I decided to leave the band and form my own jazz group – Take Five with piano, bass, drums, sax and me. I got to pick all the music we did and sang my original lyrics and songs.

This is what I’m teaching women to do – BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. If the musicians don’t want to do your material, get some more musicians.

Please let’s continue this conversation on the ning network. It’s very very important.
Love
Joan

November 18, 2009, 3:32 AM

Joan

Thank you, thank you so much!

I’m reading the book: The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidges.

It’s about neuroplasticity…and he is forever referring to cases about music and education.

For the same reason, I have every hope for the siamese twins that were just separated at the head. Now that the medical world and psychologists are recognising how we can shape our brains to shape ourselves and the information it absorbs, there are many ways to repair lost, damaged or traumatised cells.

Ah Joan,

I’m not sure why but I’m letting music teaching jobs slip by! I’ve passed with flying colours (100% for both assessments in my final semester). At this point, all I hear the univers saying is “sit tight”. I have no idea why yet. I sit quite content in a government bureaucratic job. Either way, there is room for developing my own music – so it’s like I would be juggling which path I travel down now.

Hmmm. What your book can’t address is when singers (namely me, on this occasion) have a dummy spit because the band boys are being too patronising, deceptive, controlling over the artistic output. Needless to say, the band I joined at the beginning of the year (with a view to Christmas functions work etc once we were out and about) is not on my agenda anymore.

So. I’m back to square one. Well, not quite. I’ve found another interesting avenue writing lyrics/melody with a great musician who’s put some soundtracks together. He and I have the same influences, so that’s really special. He’s got the best Blue Note collection I’ve seen in Australia. He totally loves Cuban to Brazilian music. And he’s quite eclectic as far as world music goes.

I know I’ve come full circle now and ready for the next phase because all the degrees of separation have kind of “imploded” down to ONE – no more than two, anyway!! I don’t know if that’s a good thing. We’ll see.

How are things for you?

Cheers, Heather

2009/11/18

Patrick plays!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xwCG0Ey2Mg

Diva JC
www.wijsf.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/musicwoman
www.fyicomminc.com

Dear Caledonia,

This is your daddy. You won’t remember this, but we started a tradition today. Mummy took some time to herself and you and I went on our first ever date night. You slept just long enough so I could eat my dinner. I must have looked a little funny, sitting there with my Seattle Sounders shirt on, all alone, with just a baby for company. When you woke from your nap, I opened your car seat up so you could see everything. You sat there patiently while I finished. Then, I sat some more and fed you. When we were both full, we left the restaurant, braved the windy rain, and drove to the movie theater to wait for Mama and her mama to get done watching their movie. We listened to music a while. One of the pieces was “The Gravel Road”, a beautiful orchestration featuring the violin, from the movie The Village. Caledonia, you will love music. It can lift you up from anything you experience in life. There will be moments you don’t think you can go on. That’s when you turn the music on and remember that life is beautiful.

While we sat there waiting for your mother, I told you I loved you for the first real time. When you learn to speak, Caledonia, you will speak many words. I pray that the words you say will be God-infused, bringing life to the people around you. You and I communicated for the first time tonight. We didn’t use words – just sounds. You made it, I made it, and we repeated, looking into each other’s eyes eagerly and intently. And of course, your smiles. I held my little camera up to capture them. Hi! Click. Hi, Baby! Click. Silly Daddy!

Your mother suggested we have our date nights once a month until you are eighteen years old. Thinking about that makes me excited and sad at the same time. You will learn, Caledonia, that loving a child is an exercise in letting go. The more I love you, the more it will hurt when you leave one day to continue your life. But all of that is the stuff of life. We are here on this planet for a short time, just enough time to learn how to love extravagantly as He first loved us.

You are almost three months old. Here’s to the next two hundred and thirteen.

With all the love I’m learning,

Daddy

WORDS.

What do they mean?

People speak all kinds of things into existence, every minute, hour, day. We create the world with the words we speak, hardly understanding that instead of creating turmoil, angst and chaos, we can create peace, harmony and prosperity, simply by changing the WORDS WE SPEAK.

My newsletter is a commentary on numerous subjects from spirituality to homelessness, racial profiling and the President of the United States.

Go there - WORDS WE SPEAK - pick one or more of the pages (93) and leave your comments here.

Thank you,

JC

Hello Everyone. I’m pretty new to this whole blogging thing, so I would like to take a couple seconds to introduce myself.  I go by the name of Annie and I am nineteen years old. I’m pretty down to earth, and I’m nice to everyone. Don’t get me wrong, but I speak my mind. Sometimes people think that I am ignorant, but it’s just me being straight-forward.

Anyways,  I work in a nail salon, so I always have something to talk about. One thing that really gets me is how people can ask me something completely stupid and be really serious about it. For instance, one lady who was in her thirties asked me ,” So are you Asian or Chinese?”  I was sort of stunned because I thought she was seriously joking around, but I guess not. I looked at her thinking that I really have to school her. I didn’t want to be ignorant, so I tried my hardest to explain that “Asian” usually refers to something or someone from Asia.On the other hand, Chinese is basically anything pertaining to China. For example, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Cambodian are all different Asian ethnicities.  She had a dumb look on her face, but she said she understood what I was saying. I got sick and tired of explaining so I was basically quiet the whole time I did her nails. Please people. Stop asking me dumb questions and you just won’t get dumb looks.

Hey Guys, I’m Back If I Didn’t Tell U Already!!!!! My Computer Had To Go Get Fixed! Anyway…The Blog DID Just Get Hacked! We Lost All Our Posts & Pages! I’d Like To Speak To Penguitt Please,So If  U See Him Tell Him To Go To —> Http://Xat.Com/PandaHangout <—
I Would Alos Like To Say To Him Why He Went And Gave This Blog Such A Crap Domain Like “PDPandandaCheats.Com” We Actually Both Agreed On “PandaCheats.Com” But He Just Went And Gave Us A Really Long Crud Domain… I Would Also Like To Point Out That This Is MY Blog! I Actually Made This, But Penguitt Is Taking Over And Taking All The Credit! If You Were A Previous Author/Editor Please Comment Me Your Email & UserName

Thanks
-MegaMuffin

რამდენადაც მძიმე იყო წინა კვირა იმდენად ზეაღმაფრთოვანებელია ეს…. ჩემი ცოდნის კოეფიციენტი მაღლა იწევს და მეც თავში მივარდება…გაბღენძილი დავდივარ და არავის ვკადრულობ..არავის ვეხმარები და სახლში მოსული ვუყურებ ფილმს Speak რათა სულში მიმალული ლუზერი გავამხნევო…გახსოვთ ეს ფილმი? კრისტენ სტიუარდის გმირს სულიერი ტრამვა აქვს, რაც სკოლის უზენაეს ლუზერად აქცევს…მაგრამ ყველაფერი დაძლევადია………….
ქრისტი აუ, რა ვიბოდიალე…გამოძვერი კომპიდან და შემომკარი ლოყაში კიარადა ……..მგონი უშვილო ვარ.
ჰაჰააა სუ;ლ გამოვთაყვანდი…..გინახავთ გაბღენძილი და თვითკმაყოფილი იდიოტები მცირე წარმატებით , რომ კმაყოფილდებიან და საკუთარ თავებში აინშტაინებს და მიქელანჯელოებს პოულობენ….მეც მინდა ასე…დღემდე მგონია , რომ მხოლოდ მიმართლებს და ესაა…ცხოვრება სულ დამცინის , ახლა ცამდე ამიყვანა , თუმცა ეს არ ნიშნავს არაფერს …არა…ეს ჰალუცინაციააა …და იმედია ჯერ არ გაქრება.

Michael Olatuja has taken be by complete surprise with his debut album. Up until a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of the British/Nigerian bassist (who also happens to be a composer and producer), but I had been hearing whispers that his project was well worth a listen and so I decided to take the plunge and purchase Speak.

Due to the sheer amount of music I listen to, blind (well almost except for a few snippets) purchasing is not a regular occurence over here, however a quick look at his bio information informed me that he has worked with some of THE greats, including Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, so he had to have a certain level of musicianship (by association). I was in for another pleasant surprise when I took a look at the tracklisting for the album as it features some of the ‘best of British’ on vocal duties, including Eska Mtungwazi, Ty, Terri Walker and the late Lynden David Hall, amongst others. This was enough to convince me it was worth a listen.

Well I think I can safely say it was worth the purchase, and then some. The album blends jazz, traditional Nigerian music, gospel and blues but what really binds the album together is it’s underlying soulfulness and Michael’s ability to craft a great song. Snippets of two of my favourite tracks on the album are available below, however this is one of those albums where to get a true picture, you need to listen to the album as a whole.

For a full review of Speak head on over to SoulCulture, and for more information on Michael check out his website.

The album is available via Amazon and iTunes so you have no excuse