Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Clive - A Review

Listening to Clive, an Acoustic/Folk Rock/Pop band out of Wilmington Delaware, I am reminded of earlier years and the music you and your friends gathered to hear in coffee houses. The tunes are catchy; the lyrics tell stories and ponder the questions of life............

"Do you ever wonder whats been burried under your shoes
Do you ever wonder why troubles come in twos and threes and still
all of our days are filled with joy and laughter
Its just a taste of the sweet sweet hereafter...
"

This is part of the lyrics of my favorite song from Clive's MySpace page, "Sweet Sweet Hereafter."

All four songs available to hear are really good. I like the melodies, the lyrics, and the instruments heard in the pieces. I also like the fact that it brings back fond memories of times long gone.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Twitter and the LoveDAQ

In time for Valentine's day, here's an explanation of what Twitter is, what it does for you, how you do it and what you might get from it.

Twitter is

A thing that takes you from one place to another, in this case, from the land of "where you currently are" - to the land of "I know Kung Fu!"

Twitter gives you:

The ability to learn from people you would never normally meet.

How do you twitter?

In order to Twitter - you have to buy into the concept of:

"You only get what you give"

Once you have that down - it's easy. When you're at your computer, or you have your cellphone on you - write what it is you are doing. It doesn't make any sense until you start, but if you truly believe that you get back what you give, you'll do fine. Don't worry about what you write, how you write it, what you write it with or where you write from - just write. If you continue doing it, you'll get better at it - just like learning how to read when you were a child or like learning how to walk, even if your legs are a bit wobbly! There are many tools that make it easier to do like:
Flock - it's a browser with Twitter built in - I'm blogging with Flock right now
Foxytunes - my favorite tool - one click and you're away - highly recommended for Music types.

What's in it for you?

Information in bite-size, easily digestible chunks. Not just the usual suspects either, but cool things like missrougue's original post. I wonder what the world would be like with a LoveDAQ - I don't know - it feels a bit wrong to me - but then I'm a hopeless romantic.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The Essentialness of Music

About 14 years ago, after my mother died from cancer, I needed the help of a grief counselor to get through the grief process and be able to move on with my life. This led to me spending the next four years doing volunteer work in the Grief Center at the local Hospice. I basically did whatever needed to be done – filing, copying, etc., but also ended up helping with weekend Grief Camp for individuals and families who had experienced a loss, and leading grief groups.

Last week I was asked by the grief counselor with whom I had done my own grief work – he is now head of the Counseling Dept at a local college – to speak to one of his classes. As part of this course, he wanted them to hear from people who had experienced loss, about their own particular struggle and path to healing. I was one of several people who told “my story” to these students.

Another part of this class focused on the benefit of music and grief. The students were asked to bring in a song or piece of music that they had found helpful in times of loss and grief – music that brought peace, comfort, hope, etc. I, of course, told them about Music2Work2. When I lost my beloved dog, Cassie, shortly before Christmas 2006, Andrew had composed a piece of music in memory of her. It made me feel cared about that he would give me such an awesome gift, and it helped me to remember the joy she had given me, the times of her playing and running about - - it replaced the painful final picture I was left with of her lifeless body lying in her bed, with happier memories of the wonderful 15 years she had been a loving and loyal companion.

Following the class, one of the students gave me a cd of piano music that he had recorded. The songs are a variety of classical pieces, movie themes, and instrumental versions of music made famous by pop artists. The title of the cd is “Music For Reflection & Healing” by Rickey D. Johnson. Mr. Johnson is a talented pianist and I very much appreciated his gift of the cd.

Not just for the fact that it confirms the basic belief upon which Music2Work2 is built - - that music is helpful - in almost all aspects of life, I am very glad that the benefits of music are being recognized more and more. Music has certainly been an important part of my life; different songs or pieces of music elicit memories of events or people in my life as far back as I can remember, and evoke a variety of feelings and emotions. For me, it is one of life’s essential elements.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Dumb Pipes

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/012808isp

How do you feel about Dumb pipes?

I personally like the idea of dumb pipes - I think it benefits us

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