Category: Music

In response to the Age Gap!

Too easy to take a blanket view on life!

Yesterday, the Post was a humourous interlude on the week and, hopefully, it raised a smile on many faces.  But it was, nonetheless a dig at young people so if felt appropriate to present one of the finest examples of endeavour and professionalism of young persons, courtesy of a recent major production by the BBC.

A couple of weeks ago, on Sunday, June 3rd, came the final of a contest to find a singing ‘superstar’.  It was called The Voice UK and as the website explains,  “Four of the biggest names in music are looking for incredible singing talent to compete for the title of The Voice UK. They will be chosen purely on the quality of their voice.”  Many of the contestants were young persons.

Young persons singing their hearts out.

The four ‘biggest’ names were, indeed, very big names: Danny O’Donoghue, Jessie J, will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones.

So let me leave you with a reminder of the young person who won!  The fabulous Leanne Mitchell.

and if you want to hear (and see) the stunning performance that won it for Leanne, here it is,

A lovely week-end interlude

Big thanks to John H. for forwarding this to me.

Sit back and relax.

Nothing more except to wish everyone, wherever you are, a peaceful week-end, above or below the surface of the ocean!

A Ray of Sunlight

Great reminder of the power of a smile and a laugh!

With grateful thanks to Merci O. from here in Payson who emailed the link to me.  Apologies if you have seen it before; well over 1.8 million have!

To take your breath away!

Dancing like you have never, ever seen it before!

Unless you are one of the several million that have watched a couple of versions on YouTube.

Anyway, the YouTube link was sent to me by Katie S.

Watch and be overwhelmed.

Duo MainTenanT

Composed by Nicolas Besnard (former guest hand to hand of Cirque du Soleil “Zumanity” 2005-2009) and Shenea Booth (formerly of Duo Realis and two time Sport Acrobatic World Champion).

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Nicolas Besnard developed his art at National Circus School and at the University of Dance of Montreal. In 2005, Nicolas was invited to be a guest act in the sexiest production of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas – Zumanity where he performed over 2000 times in four years.

He has performed all around the globe and has appeared in many different TV shows: Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde, Benissimo, …

He also won the Silver Medal in Paris at the most recognized Circus Festival in the world – 31st Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain and made it to the finals of French Got Talent.

Shenea Booth is a former two time World Champion in Acrobatic Gymnastics, and is a recent USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Inductee.  In 2004 she retired from the competitive arena and evolved into a world renowned artist, creating a groundbreaking genre of entertainment as an acrobatic duo.

As an entertainer, Shenea has made special appearances on Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Cirque Du Soliel premier special events, NBC’s Ice Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular, and was a finalist on Americas Got Talent.

Today, Shenea and Nicolas have come together to combine their unique and original artistic knowledge of acrobatic dance and create a breathtaking master piece.

Buddy Greene, a harmonica and Carnegie Hall

Just be amazed!

Another gem sent to me by friend, Dan Gomez.  Make sure you watch/listen to the end!

Have a great Boxing Day! (the Brits will know what I mean!)

Happy Christmas to you!

Enjoy!

The following video was sent to me a week ago by Cynthia S.

The Carlson School of Management received a surprise visit from a saxophonist…and nearly 300 of his friends from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music this November.

“Deck the Halls” arr. Francisco J. Núñez and Jim Papoulis from “Coolside of Yuletide”

Special Thanks To: Greg Wrenn (saxophone), Campus Singers Maroon, Gold, and Mosaic; Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, University Singers, Kathy S. Romey (coordinator), Judy Sagen and Kelley Sundin (choreography), Phillip O’Toole (audio), Boosey & Hawkes, Northern Lights Video, Michael Teachout, Bryan Koop (director of photography), Steve Rudolph (producer)

And my second contribution for this Christmas day was sent to me by local roofing contractor here in Payson, Bill Shreeve (greatly recommended, by the way!).  Here’s what Bill sent,

The Amazing Grace Christmas House. Designed and programmed by Richard Holdman in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

FAQ
The display uses about $130 of electricity per season.
It has raised over $40,000 for the Make-a-wish foundation.
There are about 60,000 lights and located in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Traffic at one time was backed up over a mile for people waiting to see it.
It takes about 4 people to manage the traffic.
Music is transmitted over the radio while people view it.

Wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful, loving and peaceful day.

Second message in a bottle

Continuing the advice you might offer to the next generation?

On the 1st December I published the first message.  It had been inspired by a conversation with Peter McCarthy, who lives and works in Bristol, England.  Here’s a little of what I wrote,

Anyway, Peter and I were talking about the sorts of qualities that enable some young people to take a risk-based entrepreneurial approach to life.  Peter gave me the links to three videos that he thought were especially relevant to the notion of achieving success in life.  So over the next few days I want to share those videos with you, dear reader.  To me, these videos are, indeed, the essence of the messages that any person, especially those the wrong side of 60, would wish to leave in a bottle floating down the river of life.

So to the second message which is a recording of the talk that Sir Ken Robinson gave to the TED Talks conference in Monterey in February, 2006.  It has been widely seen for all the right reasons; Sir Ken offers some powerful common-sense and a wonderful message for all the young people out there.  As Sir Ken’s website says,

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation.  He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere.  The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been seen by an estimated 200 million people in over 150 countries.

Read the rest of Sir Ken’s background here.

So with no more ado, here’s the film, watched by nearly 3 million people!

 

The power of truth

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

The above is a quote attributed to the Buddha.  It is perfect as an introduction to today’s piece.

When I sat down at my PC yesterday afternoon I was planning to finish off a Post about the BBC’s fabulous Frozen Planet TV series.  But a check of my email changed all that.  Because there was an email from Merci O., someone in Payson that Jean and I know well.  Merci had sent me an email with a link to the following YouYube video.

Watch and be moved.

This is a non-commercial attempt to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless ‘consumers’ are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (www.sanctuaryasia.com).

Content credit: The principal source for the footage was Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s incredible film HOME http://www.homethemovie.org/. The music was by Armand Amar. Thank you too Greenpeace and http://timescapes.org/

A Reflective Thought

Another musing from Neil K.

I want to write a little more about Neil but, first, let me show you what he passed to me a few days ago.

 Ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Jimmy Saville; now we’ve no jobs, no cash, no hope and no one to fix it.

I’m aware that there will be many people who read this who may not be familiar with Jimmy Saville and his long-running television programme Jim’ll Fix It.  Here’s a taste of that programme,

Sir Jimmy was an amazing man and natural performer.  More on his life later.  Let me turn back to Neil.

Those of you who are regular readers of Learning from Dogs will have seen over the last few months a number of entries from Devon friend of many years, Neil K.  Neil’s surname is Kelly, no relation to the infamous Ned Kelly!  Do a search from the home page of the Blog for more of Neil’s contribtions.  Or try this one, The Story of Adam & Eve’s Pets.

Anyway, Neil has very kindly offered to contribute on a regular basis and, of course, I welcomed that with open arms.  So a big ‘thank you’ from me and I’m sure many others will look forward to Neil’s contributions.  Neil is updating his website, at which point I will ask Neil to say a little more about himself.

Back to Jimmy Saville.

Continue reading “A Reflective Thought” →

Enjoy the ride

Two moving films.

I am indebted to Merci O. who regularly comments on Learning from Dogs for sending me the first film, see below.  In my efforts to find a YouTube link (there didn’t appear to be one) I came across the second film.  Both are good for the soul.

So click here to watch the first film.  The film is comprised of a series of slides melded together with a beautiful music track. Do watch and listen.

Then here is the YouTube video, Morcheeba’s Enjoy The Ride.

Have a peaceful day wherever you are in the world.