Storydwelling

Stories are so important aren't they? We grow up reading stories, making up stories, and perhaps even writing our own stories. If you are like me, that's one reason that I like to blog and like to read other people's blogs. We all have our own stories and blogging is one way to share those stories with the world.

Another way to tell stories and hear another person's story is through music. I am such a lover of music. Although times of silence are nice too, there are rarely moments in my life when I do not have some kind of music around me... whether it be listening to other people's creations or making music myself, even if it be humming a tune in my head. There are so many stories over the years that I have forgotten, but I hardly ever forget the words to a song once I learn it. Its like once those words are put to music, the message is permanently etched in my mind (which was a great tool for studying in grad school, I'll tell you that!). And that is another reason that I love to listen to good music with a great message... and why I am so excited to tell you about what I'm currently listening to. Its the new album by Heatherlyn called Storydwelling.

If you aren't familiar with her music, Heatherlyn is an acoustic soul roots singer song artist from Minneapolis MN, selected as a Midwest Regional Finalist and awarded the Midwest “People’s Choice” of NPR’s Mountain Stage Performance Contest. Her soulful, honest voice resonates with people from many various walks of life. In Concert, Heatherlyn leads participants on a refreshing journey of connection – from whimsical laughter together to deeper thoughtfulness about life and love, considering how we each are conduits of peace and hope in our world.

In her words, "Storydwelling is about cultivating courageous and compassionate curiosity for each other by deeply listening to and authentically sharing our stories with one another, thereby healing ourselves and our world. Storydwelling, the album, is a collection of songs from our shared human story, deeply personal songs from my story, and songs with imagination for the story we will write together with our lives... "

One of my favorite songs is number five on the album and its called "Be the Love". This is what she has to say about it:
Inspired by Gandhi's famous quote: "Be the change you wish to see in the world"; this song is a reflection of what I would like to BE in the world. What we do matters. How we BE when we're doing what we do matters more. Our presence in this world, how we carry ourselves with kindness, how we express ourselves with respect, how we live with authenticity and demonstrate with our feet the values of which we speak through our mouths - these will effect more positive change than good action alone.

"...Be the healing for the orphan born with AIDS, be the strength -- a neighbor's burden raise, be the star that guides us through this haze, be the love."


Well, I'll let her music speak for itself.


To read more about the album, there is a great review in the Huffington Post. The CD will be officially released on sites such as iTunes and Amazon on September 13th. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

PS. Heatherlyn is also a blogger! :)

A Whole Lotta Love and Music,

Adrienne

A Christmas Giveaway to All

In celebration of the Christmas spirit, I want to offer that anyone who would like to advertise on my blog can do so for free for the entire month of December. If you have a store or etsy shop, I would love to give you the opportunity to share what you do or make with others. I know that this time of year can be often so commercial, but I do like to support small businesses or people who are making hand-made items. 


The only thing I ask is that you write a post for either the Love Train or the Peace Train (which could also be thought of as free advertising for you as well) and to share about it on your blog. You don't need to be a follower of any of my blogs, but if you are, than I will put your advertisement towards the top, as I do want to thank you for your friendship. Advertisement badges need to be smaller than 150pixel width and 100 height. I don't know how much interest there will be in this, but I will say that I will have to limit this to the first fifty people, since this is open to ANYONE. Also, if for some reason I feel like there is something inappropriate, I will also have discretion there. So, if you are interested, just leave a comment with a link to the post you have written or email me at awholelottalovetrain@gmail.com.

Also, I wanted to share with you my Youtube Christmas playlist. I have put together 200 songs, which I hope you enjoy. I know that there are always Christmas songs playing on the radio at this time of year, but I personally enjoy not having to listen to 'Santa Baby' twice in one hour. There is also little or no advertising interruptions, which is also a bonus. 

I love this cozy Christmas scene, don't you? 

Have a wonderful Thursday!

A Whole Lotta Love,

Adrienne

Peace Through Music

Have you heard of Playing for Change? It's a project that was started in 2004 with the goal to "inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music". The creators of the project traveled around the world to places such as New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East and Ireland. Using a mobile recording equipment, they recorded local musicians performing the same song, interpreted into their own style. A CD was released last year, as well as a documentary entitled Peace Through Music. I haven't seen the documentary yet, but I just stumbled upon these videos on YouTube and I love them. I hope you do too!

Also, if you want to find out more about them, it appears that "playingforchange.com" can harm your computer. Their real address is www.playingforpeace.org

The Storm

We had an incredible storm last night and the power was knocked out until just recently. It's amazing how I so often take electricity for granted! 

I was just listening to this song by Yanni called The Storm. It's one of my favorites and thought I'd share it. I hope you enjoy it too.

Water water everywhere...

Its raining again today. Well, thats March - and I'm thankful for it because I know that it will bring out the blossoms I crave even sooner... so I can live with a few days of rain. Also, I recently watched the most amazing documentary, called Water, the Great Mystery.

Its an incredible molecule that we take so for granted! Life would not exist if it were not for water and we humans are mostly made from water. And even though it is the most basic and common thing on earth, it is still not truly understood. There are some pretty strange claims in this video, especially that water has a 'memory'. This is a fascinating thought. Also, one thing it talks about is the research of Dr. Emoto, who studies the effect of human conscious thought, music, or the environment on water. He fast freezes the water and then observes the crystals that are formed.

There are many images of these and more on the net, but I got this image at detoxifynow.net and there are more images there if you want to see them.

Another interesting thing that the documentary talks about is the power of prayer on water and why it is important to give blessings for the food and water we ingest. Anyway, I encourage everyone to watch this video. As a scientist, I'd like to see more data on the experiments and I don't want to believe something just because a "Dr." says it is true (the white coat effect).. but as a spiritual person and a scientist, I believe that there is much more in this universe that meets the eye and I am intrigued by the research put forth here.



You can watch the rest here or directly on my music/video page under science documentaries.

This statement is false

Last night I picked up the book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (A Metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll) by Douglas R. Hofstadter. I had recently watched a documentary on the study of infinity and one of the four mathematicians featured was Kurt Gödel. I love the work of M.C. Escher, Bach, and Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), so when I saw all four of these names mentioned within a single title I was fascinated. The book is quite a tome, and I've only read the first chapter thus far, but it is very insightful, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest! Hofstadter's aim is look into the nature of infinity and contradiction. Within the universe there exist 'strange loops' that defy our understanding. Simple statements such as 'this statement is false' or 'The following sentence is false. The preceding sentence is true.' can be eerily complex.

Here are some works by M.C. Escher that play along this theme. There are plenty of places you can read about the man and his works, so I'm not going to attempt to put it all here, but you can read about him on plenty of places on the net. There's a good article on Squidoo.

Escher did a number of pieces displaying the Moebius effect. In 1858, two German mathematicians, August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing, independently discovered what is popularly known as the Möbius strip. The characteristic feature of Möbius strip is that it is a surface with single side. In its most simplest form a Moebius strip can be constructed out a a strip of paper which is twisted halfway and the ends joined together. If one were to start tracing a surface, by the time they complete one trace they find that they are tracing the opposite side of the paper than the one from which they started. Go another round and you come back to the same side.

All of this strangely reminds me of the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake swallowing it's own tail.

Anyway, the third person that Hofstadter focuses on is Bach because he had a way of showing the infinite within music. Here is one piece that is referred to in the book, from Bach's A Musical Offering.



The fourth person (who is mentioned in the subtitle) is Lewis Carroll. I love Carroll (or should I say Dodgson), and I am very much looking forward to the new Alice in Wonderland movie that is coming out soon (all the more so because Johnny Depp is my favorite actor of all time).

I had just put the following quote on my facebook status the other day and I think it very much sums up the book I am about to delve into:

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”–Alice, Alice in Wonderland.

Just monkeeing around

Last night we were at restaurant in Turner's Falls, MA, where they were having a fundraiser for The Brick House, which is a community center there. Peter Tork, from the Monkees, was performing.


I loved The Monkees show growing up. I know it was before my generation, but it was played as re-runs, and I always thought it was hilarious. Anyway, it brought back some memories.



The above video is not very good quality, so here's the theme song again:



Peter also played 'Daydream Believer' and the crowd sang along.



Another of my favorites of theirs is this song:


It was later in the movie Shrek, re-done by Smashmouth.



This was the info about the night:
PowerTown Music will present a fund raising concert for the Brick House Community Resource Center. The show will feature Peter Tork from the Monkees, Folk legend Cliff Eberhardt, Ray Mason and local rising stars Katie Sachs, DeAngelo Nieves and Brooke Brown Saracino.

Peter Tork was the most accomplished musician of The Monkees, Tork plays 12 different instruments; his choice "depends on what kind of music I'm playing." He Performed as a folk musician in Greenwich Village and Los Angeles before being selected for the Monkees TV show. He made 58 TV episodes 6 albums, a TV special, and a movie before leaving the Monkees. He now Travels the world with his band Shoe Suede Blues.

Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. A driving force of the Greenwich Village New Folk movement and well known among his peers, Cliff s songs have been covered by the likes of Richie Havens, Buffy St. Marie, Erasure and Lucy Kaplansky.

The event will also feature valley legend Ray Mason and his road-worn 1965 Silvertone guitar. Ray Started his first band in 1966 and averaging over 100 shows a year. Brooke Brown Saracino has been honored in the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Singer/Songwriter Showcase every year since 2005, and was selected to perform in this year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase..The event will also showcase two local singer songwriters Katie Sachs and DeAngelo Nieves.

All funds will benefit the Brickhouse Community Resource Center and their efforts to create green jobs, sustainable jobs and jobs in the music industry.

The mission of The Brick House is to support individual, family and community well being through collaboration on economic development, youth development, leadership development and education.