Monday, November 12, 2007

Cute or Mean & Selfish?

I happened upon this picture...

The first thing I thought was, how cute love conquers all. Then I looked again and said, how selfish...they survived but most of the others will die in the pit! What are your thoughts?

Original site

Smooth Jazz Pianist: Keiko Matsui

Keiko Matsui is my all-time, favorite smooth jazz pianist. Born July 26, 1961 in Tokyo, Japan, she is married to Kazu Matsui, himself a talented musician, and they have two children.

Matsui received the Oasis award for Best Female Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year in 1999 and again in 2000.

From Wikipedia:

Matsui’s music is powerful and introspective, blending both Western and Eastern musical influences. She has a very spiritual view of composing music, feeling out each composition as though it were, in her words, “coming to me from another space, another dimension,” and “catching notes from the silence and then simply placing them together.” Matsui sees music as “the great gifts from the human souls from the past, for the children of the future.” She believes that music has a power to bring people together and change their lives. “We are connected by music,” Matsui wrote, “as the Ocean connects the continents.”

A lover of nature, Matsui often makes reference to plants, animals, the elements, and other natural features and phenomena in her song titles. She shows an especial fascination with the moon as a number of her compositions refer to the moon in their titles.

Matsui’s music shows signs of evolving over the years. Her American debut album A Drop of Water showed a promise of east meets west with a jazz fusion flavor. However, her recordings for MCA Records in the early 1990s lacked this appeal and, for many, sounded indistinguishable from the rest of what is now known as smooth jazz. Starting with Cherry Blossom, though, her music increased in popularity as she differentiated herself from the rest of contemporary jazz. By the time Sapphire was released in 1995, her music flirted with everything from funk music to Latin and world music.

Whisper From the Mirror from 2000 showed Matsui leaving the smooth jazz style and moving towards new age with a soundscape sound. A number of her fans had a problem adapting to her new style of music (though she continued to play smooth jazz at her concerts). But many welcomed the change. Over time her post-2000 albums show a more worldbeat flavor to them. Her 2005 release Walls of Akendora, however, is a return to her pre-2000, smooth jazz days.
I hope you enjoy her music/videos as much as I do!

Beyond the Light
Bridge Over the Stars
Bridge Over the Stars (live)
Bronze Casting
Doll
Foot Steps
Forever, Forever <--one of my favs!
Kappa
Light Above the Trees
Meadow
Night Hawks' Dream
Night Waltz
1942, from Russia
Ruins of Sonora
Safari
Tears from the Sun
Water Lily
Whisper from the Mirror
White Owl
Wildflower


Official Web site: www.keikomatsui.com

Photo: Keiko in Seattle after concert at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, August 2007.
Photo Credit: Takatakatang

Every Moment Is Precious

Every Moment Is Precious
(Author unknown)

To realize the value of ONE YEAR
Ask a student who has failed his exam.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE DAY
Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet or...

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
Ask the person who missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND
Ask the person who won a “silver” medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have,
because you never know when time may run out...

Fascinating Stories: Threads


Threads is a 1984 television docudrama depicting the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom and its aftermath. Written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson, Threads was filmed in late 1983 and early 1984.

The premise of Threads was to hypothesize the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom after an exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States escalates to include the UK. [1984, Length: 1:47:45]

Laugh of the Day

T-Shirt of the Day




The t-shirts are ONLY $16.99 for Sm-XL and $19.99 for 2X-4X Large;
You can order by clicking on the image.

Other colors and products with the “Girlfriend was wearing” design can be found here: www.cafepress.com/jabetasresale/1242254

All designs can be found here: www.cafepress.com/jabetasresale

Photo of the Day


This remarkably beautiful photo was sent to me in an email that read, when God paints he uses all His colors. There were a total of nine wonderful photos included—I’ll post each one in the following days (this is photo #5). If anyone knows anything about these photos, please leave a comment as I would love to credit the photographer. Thanks!

Today's Words: plagiarize, plasma

plagiarize
plasma

plagiarize: \plā'jə-rīz'\; to use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own; to appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another).

plasma: \plāz'mə\; the colorless watery fluid of the blood and lymph that contains no cells, but in which the blood cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes) are suspended; an electrically neutral, highly ionized gas composed of ions, electrons, and neutral particles; it is a phase of matter distinct from solids, liquids, and normal gases.