There was a time when music escaped from the building.
It got out of the nightclub, out of the concert hall, out of the recording studio, and found itself in a field with several thousand people, a questionable electrical system, somebody selling handmade jewelry on a blanket, three dogs nobody could identify, and a distinct possibility of rain.
The open-air festival was one of the great inventions of hippie culture. Continue reading
Spent the night working out a plan for this morning in zoom. See you there! Continue reading
Stand back. They’re coming through.
Norton Street Brass Band takes the songs of Norton Street out of the theater, out of the studio, and straight into the street—where the horns are loud, the drums are moving, and absolutely nobody has a permit. Continue reading
Three voices. One microphone. And absolutely no intention of behaving themselves.
The Anders Sisters come roaring out of that wonderful musical territory where close harmony meets swing, boogie, novelty songs, torch songs, dance-band brass and sheer vocal mischief. Continue reading
Music can be used as an instrument of personal transformation if you listen to yourself as carefully as you listen to the music.
For your entertainment, I have for you several experiments you might like to try:
Wither thou goest, there also shall I wither. .. Shakespeare? Milton? Blake? Never mind — I have a little riddle for your entertainment:
Your body is walking down Broadway, but you may be somewhere completely different.
Your feet are in Manhattan. Your eyes are on a six-inch screen. Your attention is in a text conversation with somebody in California. Or watching a football match in Europe. Or reading about something that happened yesterday. Or worrying about something happening tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the biological machine is doing a remarkably good job of walking without you.
And that’s where it gets interesting. Continue reading
Some music is meant to entertain you.
Some music is meant to accompany you.
And some music seems to be asking you to go somewhere.
The KGOD Tibetan Songbook belongs to that third category.
Here the human voice meets drone, chant, bell, drum, horn and silence. Melodies emerge, circle for a while, disappear into the landscape, and sometimes return sounding strangely familiar.
Don’t worry about understanding the words. Continue reading
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Here’s the Bardo bus now! Continue reading
The Gizmo itself is almost ridiculously simple.
It’s a small temperature-sensitive bead or set of beads in the form of a mala, which is held gently between the thumb and forefinger or middle finger. A simple holder in the form of a dorje may be provided.
The bead changes color as its temperature changes.
That’s it. Continue reading
Here’s a conundrum for you: you’re all alone. you manage somehow to build a friend who cleverly mimics you. it’s silicon-based. you build another that is flesh-and-blood. does this affect your loneliness?
I think yes—but not because one is silicon and the other is flesh. The crucial question is whether there is someone there.
Suppose you’re utterly alone and you build two companions. Continue reading