Special thanks and hugs to Bonnie L. for sharing this spectacular video with me.
Get ready to be amazed at how kite-flying master Ray Bethell "choreographs" 3 beautiful kites to fly, climb, swerve, twirl, and dive to music that sounds like it was made for this video! ("Flower Duet" from the opera Lakmé by 19th-century French composer Léo Delibes).
The setting is apparently Vancouver's English Bay Harbor. Looks like Heaven to me.
Hearing this little lady sing this inspirational song (written by her uncle) makes ME believe that angels do indeed live among us. For the first time in quite awhile, I'm literally speechless, and have nothing more to say about this except...
enJOY!
Biz Burnett
Jackie Evancho sings To Believe(this video includes the lyrics)
A few years ago, I created a Healing & Doctor mix CD as a birthday gift for my son-in-law, an M.D. (Internist). I'm posting those tunes here now so I can gift them to my sister and a dear friend, both of whom are recuperating from their respective recent successful surgery.
Seems like every time I listen to these tunes--even if I "have time" for only one or two of them--their vibes are extra-restorative. Maybe that's due to how much music makes me smile. Music feels like a "quiet cousin" of laughing, which Norman Cousins proved is the best medicine there is.
Ending this mix with Jerry Seinfeld's hilarious "The Doctor's Waiting Room" routine seems most appropriate especially because I strive daily to earn the reward already earned by one of the two folks to whom I'm dedicating this post. He is well-known for his extraordinary sense of humor and ability to get people laughing, to the extent that a mutual friend of ours gifted him awhile back with a small plaque that says: He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.(Anonymous)
A speedy and full recovery to all who are healing or who are praying for healing to begin!
enJOY!
Biz Burnett
Each song link below opens the audio player in a new window. All Songs (in a Google Drive folder)
(no Google sign-in required)
(Click in the bottom-left of the player screen to see an icon/link to each song in the folder.)
Something a little different today. It's so beautiful and memorable, I just HAD to share it here.
I just enJOYed watching the "stunningly beautiful" short film below on Gratitude and Happiness by award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer, Louie Schwartzberg. Louie shared his film in a 2011 TEDxSF talk.
Louie's short film includes Brother David Steindl's spoken words, Gary Malkin's musical compositions, and Louie's cinematography. They've crafted a "keeper" video that reminds us of the precious gift of life, and the beauty all around us.
Louie's notable career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries, and commercials. As a visual artist, Louie has created some of the most iconic and memorable film moments of our time. He is an innovator in the world of time-lapse, nature, aerial, and "slice-of-life" photography. He is the only cinematographer in the world who has literally been shooting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, continuously for more than 30 years.
Louie has many accomplishments and awards to his credit, including having been recognized as one of the top 70 Cinematographers for the On Film Kodak Salute Series. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Today, while creating a page about ThoughtPrint™ on my website, I thought about how we can intentionally and unintentionally use and misuse Language to build bridges, barricades, or bombs.
That reminded me of one of my favorite songs, Love Can Build A Bridge, by The Judds (Wynona and Naomi). That moved me to share below their "old" (and somewhat grainy but still inspiring) music video.
My Musical Minutes blog combines two of my favorite things: Music and Writing (Language). Music is a universal language that can bridge people together in ways that Language cannot. I've always been a language "buff" (English, Latin, French, Greek, Spanish, computer languages). But I love Music above them all for many reasons, probably #1 being because it cannot build barricades or bombs.
At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today, many Americans will put our busy lives on pause, to remember and honor the courageous life and leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As I pondered songs that remind me of his abiding faith in our ability to live together in peace and harmony, the first song that came to mind (perhaps because I took 9 years of piano lessons!) was Ebony and Ivory by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Watching the 1980s-something music video below really "took me back." And I LOVED how, at around 2:30, they're both actually sitting walking on a huge piano keyboard, and then they end up sitting on 2 black keys, next to each other!
While watching that video, I thought about and appreciated how much progress we've made since then. Yes, there's still much room for improvement. But I sometimes envy my grandchildren, who may take for granted their many opportunities to befriend so early in life this multi-color, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural world. That's about 180 degrees different from what I experienced during the first oh-so-homogenous 40 years of MY life!
I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing Red Tails, the new movie about the African-American World War II aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen. I'm embarassed to admit that 'til now, my exposure to those valiant men and the effect they had on U.S. race relations has been limited to learning enough to pass a high school history test. I'm now eager to learn about these men and their commitment to prove that, as the movie's sub-title tells us, Courage Has No Color. This is also what Stevie Wonder's song Black Manreminds us of, as you'll hear in the great video below. It's long, but nowhere near as long as the history timespan it chronicles! Lyrics are below.
What a coincidence that the player image for this YouTube video is Rev. King!
enJOY!
Biz Burnett
Lyrics to Black Man by Stevie Wonder
First man to die
For the flag we now hold high
Was a black man (Crispus Attucks)
The ground were we stand
With the flag held in our hand
Was first the red man's
Guide of a ship
On the first Columbus trip
Was a brown man (Pedro Alonzo Nino)
The railroads for trains
Came on tracking that was laid
By the yellow man
We pledge allegiance
All our lives
To the magic colors
Red, blue and white
But we all must be given
The liberty that we defend
For with justice not for all men
History will repeat again
It's time we learned
This World Was Made For All Men
Heart surgery
Was first done successfully
By a black man (Dr Daniel Hale Williams)
Friendly man who died
But helped the pilgrims to survive
Was a red man (Squanto)
Farm workers rights
Were lifted to new heights
By a brown man (Caesar Chavez)
Incandescent light
Was invented to give sight
By the white man (Thomas Edison)
We pledge allegiance
All our lives
To the magic colors
Red, blue and white
But we all must be given
The liberty that we defend
For with justice not for all men
History will repeat again
It's time we learned
This World Was Made For All Men
Hear me out...
Now I know the birthday of a nation
Is a time when a country celebrates
But as your hand touches your heart
Remember we all played a part in America
To help that banner wave
First clock to be made
In America was created
By a black man (Benjamin Banneker)
Scout who used no chart
Helped lead Lewis and Clark
Was a red man (Sacagawea, a woman!)
Use of martial arts
In our country got its start
By a yellow man
And the leader with a pen
Signed his name to free all men
Was a white man (Abraham Lincoln)
We pledge allegiance
All our lives
To the magic colors
Red, blue and white
But we all must be given
The liberty that we defend
For with justice not for all men
History will repeat again
It's time we learned
This World Was Made For All Men
This world was made for all men
This world was made for all men
This world was made for all men
God saved His world for all men
All people
All babies
All children
All colors
All races
This world's for you
and me
This world
My world
Your world
Everybody's world
This world
Their world
Our world
This world was made for all men
Hear me out...
Who was the first man to set foot on the North Pole?
Matthew Henson - a black man
Who was the first american to show the Pilgrims at Plymouth the secrets
of survival in the new world?
Squanto - a red man
Who was the soldier of Company G who won high honors for his courage
and heroism in World War 1?
Sing Lee - a yellow man
Who was the leader of united farm workers and helped farm workers
maintain dignity and respect?
Caesar Chavez - a brown man
Who was the founder of blood plasma and the director of the Red Cross
blood bank?
Dr. Charles Drew - a black man
Who was the first American heroine who aided the Lewis and Clark
expedition?
Sacagawea - a red woman
Who was the famous educator and semanticist who made outstanding
contributions to education in America?
Hayakawa - a yellow man
Who invented the world's first stop light and the gas mask?
- a black man
Who was the American surgeon who was one of the founders of
neurosurgery?
Harvey William Cushing - a white man
Who was the man who helped design the nation's capitol, made the first
clock to give time in America, and wrote the first almanac?
Benjamin Banneker - a black man
Who was the legendary hero who helped establish the League of Iroquois?
Hiawatha - a red man
Who was the leader of the first microbiotic center in America?
- a yellow man
Who was the founder of the city of Chicago in 1772?
Jean Baptiste - a black man
Who was one of the organizers of the American Indian Movement?
Denis Banks - a red man
Who was the Jewish financier who raised funds to sponsor Christopher
Columbus' voyage to America?
Lewis D. Santangol - a white man
Who was the woman who led countless slaves to freedom on the
underground rairoad?
Harriet Tubman - a black woman
It was a bittersweet experience the past three days, as I listened to The Story on WUNC 91.5FM (my local [Raleigh/Durham] NPR affiliate). Dick Gordon's 3-day"Re-Inventing Haiti"series moved me to tears, some of which were joyful...almost as joyful as the spirit of many amazing Haitians who have literally "lived to tell about" the horrific 2010 Haiti Earthquake and its aftermath. Their steadfast conviction that this event occurred to provide the opportunity to rebuild EVERYTHING in Haiti literally from the ground up reminded me of one of my favorite songs,Life Holds Onby the awesome Beth Nielsen Chapman. (The video is embedded below.)
Today is an "Hallelujah Amen!" day in my professional and spiritual life! I and some virtual co-workers have finally completed an intense piece of a project that will literally createa new "financial aquaduct system"for every U.S. nonprofit, the millions of people and other good causes they serve, and hopefully millions of small- and mid-size U.S. businesses who would love to financially support those nonprofits more than their current cashflow allow. I will soon post more here about this revolutionary newno-cost noprofit fundraising system, but in the meantime, the image below says it all about where we've ALL been economically for over 3 years. And it PROVES to me that life does INDEED "..hold on...given the slightest chance." It proves to me that if we just "Keep the faith, Baby!"and work cooperatively together, we CAN accomplish ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!
I was swinging on the swings when I was a little girl Trying to get a handle on the big, wide world When I noticed all the grass in the cracks in the concrete I said, where there's a will, there's a way around anything
Life holds on Given the slightest chance For the weak and the strong Life holds on
There was a third-grade boy that we knew in school He was found face down in a swimming pool And as they worked on that kid every minute was an hour And when his eyes fluttered open we could feel that power
Life holds on Given the slightest chance For the weak and the strong Life holds on Life holds on Life holds on
Sirens screaming down my street Fading as they go Whining somewhere far away To someone I don't know Still, I say a little prayer There's always hope Life holds on
Through the window in the kitchen I can see outside My kids taking turns coming down the slide And I try not to worry as they grow a little every day No, I've just gotta believe they're gonna find their way
And that Life holds on Given the slightest chance For the weak and the strong Life holds on Life holds on Life holds on Life holds on
Thanks, Jenn Elkin, for brightening up my day--and my next decade--by sharing with me today this great song/music video by Danny Gokey. I consider it an early birthday present. So Thank You Very Much!
Today, I'd like to share Swimming to the Other Side, a simple but profoundly inspirational song written by Pat Humphries.
Below, you can hear this song performed by David Grover and The Big Bear Band. On this group's website, they describe their music as follows:
Original and Traditional music for kids of all ages. We call it folk music, but the influences behind the music are the performers and writers we love. It's Pete Seeger and the Beach Boys … it's the Beatles … and Harry Belafonte. Paul Simon and Kermit the Frog. It's Broadway and the Carpenters, Peter Paul and Mary and the Grateful Dead. And it's Woody Guthrie and Martin Luther King. It's folk music of the 21st century. It's real people playing real instruments playing songs we love, to people we love.
Through the wonders of the I-net and other global communication technologies, we can now see first-hand that millions of people riding this rock understand and live by the words in this beautiful song (complete lyrics below).
EnJoy!
Biz Burnett
To listen, click on the >(PLAY) symbol.
Swimming to the Other Side written by Pat Humphries performed by David Grover and The Big Bear Band
Swimming to the Other Side Lyrics Refrain
We are living ‘neath the great Big Dipper
We are washed by the very same rain
We are swimming in the stream together
Some in power and some in pain
We can worship this ground we walk on
Cherishing the beings that we live beside
Loving spirits will live forever
We’re all swimming to the other side
I am alone and I am searching
Hungering for answers in my time
I am balanced at the brink of wisdom
I’m impatient to receive a sign
I move forward with my senses open
Imperfection, it be my crime
In humility I will listen
We’re all swimming to the other side
On this journey through thoughts and feelings
Binding intuition, my head, my heart
I am gathering the tools together
I’m preparing to do my part
All of those who have come before me
Band together and be my guide
Loving lessons that I will follow
We’re all swimming to the other side
When we get there we will discover
All the gifts we’ve been given to share
Have been with us since life’s beginning
And we never noticed they were there
We can balance at the brink of wisdom
Never recognizing that we’ve arrived
Loving spirits will live together
We’re all swimming to the other side.
It's a challenge to keep in mind how beautiful and safe we are on this planet when news reports show us mostly scenes of natural disasters and hateful local and international acts. This is where we get to exercise our gift of free will. In every second of every day, we have the choice to hold in our minds--and anchor with our hearts--the vision of peace and serenity we say we want to experience individually and collectively here. Yes, many are truly suffering from the lack of what we all want and deserve. But at least 51% of us are always happy and healthy. If that were not true, this planet would have self-destructed by now. When too many of us believe that the cup is half empty and it will certainly never be running over, we unwittingly tip the scales to our individual and global disadvantage.
When I start feeling 50/50 or worse, I listen to some music, and soon "all is right with the world" again (i.e., +51 or more). My music-refreshed self can again see, hear, and feel what a WONDERful world this is. Louis Armstrong's classic song What A Wonderful World as the soundtrack for the short and uplifting video below is my kind of medicine! And offering such a cure was the intention of this video's creator, Geneticc. Thanks!
EnJoy!
WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD sung by Louis Armstrong (video by Geneticc)
Yesterday while talking with my brother Tom, he got a little tongue-tied and said, "...he's a magician -- er, I mean, he's a musician...." I interrupted him and said, "Yes indeed! Anyone who's a musician is definitely also a magician!" We laughed.
This got me remembering one of my favorite songs from the '60s: Do You Believe in Magic by The Lovin' Spoonful. Below, I link to a full-color video of that group performing that song live on The Ed Sullivan Show on March 19, 1967. Lyrics are below the link to that video.
Wikipedia says this song has been enJOYing successive generations, including being recorded by BBMak for the score of Return to Never Land, a sequel to Disney's 1953 classic Peter Pan. (one of my FAVORITE childhood stories). And it was ranked #216 on Rolling Stone's (November 2004) list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
My brother's linguistic "mix up" is just one more clue in our quest to solve the mystery of life. It's not a meaningless coincidence that our words for magic and music are so similar. (I wonder if that's true in other languages.) It's intentional languaging, like Hansel and Gretel left pebbles for themselves to find their way back home when in the forest. But the day they didn't have time to collect some pebbles and had to use bread crumbs instead (which the birds happily ate), Hansel and Gretel couldn't find their way home, and ended up caged inside a wicked old woman's house. (The symbolism in that fable is a topic for another post entirely!)
May the magic of music enJOY you and set you free! (Complete lyrics below.)
The Lovin' Spoonful performing Do You Believe In Magic in 1965 on the Hullabaloo show.
Do You Believe in Magic lyrics
Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll
If you believe in magic don't bother to choose
If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind
If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until morning 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me
Yeah, do you believe in magic
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Ohh, talking 'bout magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe, believer
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
May the HAITI earthquake be the what finally ends HATE among the clans on this planet. May this be the last labor contraction in birthing the "thousand years of peace" on this beautiful planet. (Don't worry: If we can all live in total peace for a thousand years, there will be no going back!) May this indescribable grief and desperation be quickly balanced and then totally transformed by a bizillion acts of kindness and generosity from all who understand that, as President Obama reminded us yesterday, "There but for the grace of God go we." May this and all crises past and future help us remember The Power of One.
EnJoy watching and hearing Bomshel sing The Power of One below!
Today, I'm sharing Listen To The Music by The Doobie Brothers. The lyrics are below the 1975 (!) music video. I hope you'll sing along!
I'm also introducing my new e-sig icon. I think it perfectly depicts how music uses our ears to paint a rainbow in our heart!
Rainbows are one of my favorite natural phenomena. This rainbow icon will help me remember that I don't need to wait for an intense rainstorm--physical (rain, thunder, and lightnening) or metaphysical (life stress or a crisis) to get my hopes up of seeing a rainbow.
Music enables me to consciously and proactively change the weather in my life, to end a cloudy day or tumultuous storm, and instead "see" (hear --> feel) a rainbow ANYtime I want to. Rainbows aren't pointing the way to a pot of gold. They ARE the pot of gold!
EnJOY!
Biz Burnett
Lyrics of Listen To The Music by The Doobie Brothers
Don't you feel it growin',
Day by day
People
Gettin' ready for the news
Some are happy,
Some are sad
Wo, we got to let the music play
Wo, oh yeah
What the people need
Is a way to make 'em smile
It ain't so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message
Get it on through
Oh now mama's goin' to after awhile
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Well I know,
You know better
Everything I say
Meet me in the country for a day
We'll be happy
And we'll dance
Wo, we're gonna dance the blues away
If I'm feelin' good to you
And you're feelin' good to me
There ain't nothin' we can't do or say
Feelin' good,
Feeling fine
Wo, baby, let the music play
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Like a lazy flowing river
Surrounding castles in the sky
And the crowd is growing bigger
List'nin' for the happy sounds
And I got to let ‘em fly
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
God, we gotta let the music play!
music.wikia.com describes Ray Stevens as "a two-time Grammy-Award winning musician, singer, composer, producer, and arranger. He's probably most well-known for his comedy recordings and his music videos, although his biggest chart hit was "Everything Is Beautiful", the gospel song he wrote and performed. This song won him a Grammy (his other was for best arranger of "Misty"). I think Ray Stevens is one of the most creative songwriters of our time.
Here's Ray singing Feel The Music. I wonder if he might agree with me that this song is a "sub-track" in all of his songs?
It's never too late to act Thanksgiving-y, and so I'll do that here and now by sharing I Say the Grace by Victoria Shaw. This song reminds me of how blessed I am to be married to my best friend, and how well we complement each other. It also reminds me of my "we go way back" friend, Nicki, whose friendship helps make my life even more complete.
If I could give everyone in the world (or even just one person, and that would be Nicki) a gift this Christmas, it would be the gift of their perfect soulmate. Life with one's soulmate is not only more fun, it helps answer Life's #1 Question: Why Am I Here?
Many people around the world are scurrying to finish their Christmas gift shopping this weekend. This inspires me to share It's The Thought by Twila Paris because I think it conveys the ultimate meaning of Christmas. Regardless of your religious beliefs and in every minute of every day, it's ALWAYS the thought of LOVE that counts.
I wish to all who land here a life that feels like Christmas every day!
I haven't posted here for quite awhile because after Yahoo! discontinued their Music Unlimited online music subscription, I didn't find a replacement subscription until about a month ago, when I joined Napster. I'm back on soundtrack, and it feels very good!
Posting on this blog is like free (and much-needed!) therapy for me. I have several songs that I want to post here, starting with...
...Ricky Skagg's Spread a Little Love Around. This song pretty much summarizes the way I try to live my life. I think the world would more enjoyable if everyone on the planet would agree to listen to this song at least once a day. (In my dreams!)
The other day, I took advantage of my Yahoo! Music Unlimited (YMU) subscription to listen to all of ABBA's most-popular songs. Hearing them all back-to-back like that made me realize what a HUGELY successful group ABBA was during their heydays (1972-1982).
As I browsed the long list of ALL of ABBA's songs, I found one that I don't remember ever hearing before: Thank You for the Music. I guess this song was never released as a single because it probably appeals to a smaller audience: People who LOVE music of ALL kinds, not just ABBA's music.
This song's lyrics (below) express exactly how grateful I AM when I hear and see singers whose passion is obviously due to how grateful they are also for the beauty and joy music gives us all. (Edit January 14, 2012: I just realized that I originally posted this on what would have been my parents' 61st Wedding Anniversary. How perfectly appropriate!)
I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
'Cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I'm so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud
So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
(M'M)She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I've often wondered, how did it all start
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan
So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
I've been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
I've recently discovered a fabulously talented vocalist and entertainer named Eric DeGray. The 6-minute video below shows Eric charming and wowing his audiences as he performs portions of several different songs. And further below is a playlist of 6 songs from Eric's Bound For Broadway CD.
Enjoy!
Now, for your listening pleasure, here a playlist of 6 songs from Eric's Bound For Broadway CD. To get the playlist started, click on the >(PLAY) symbol below. You can also select individual songs by clicking on the song title you want to hear.
I started this (my first) blog to combine two things I love: writing and music. I hope my posts and the music I share here will bring you as much joy as they bring me.
My annual subcription to Yahoo! Music Unlimited (YMU) allows me to listen to the full version of about 2 MILLION songs! I feel like a kid in a candy store when I search for an artist whose music I'd like to hear more of, or for a song that contains a specific word or phrase.
Tonight while browsing the Folk music genre, I discovered the music of Kate Campbell. YMU includes her in their Folk, Country, American, and Adult Alternative genres, but she should also be included in their Christian music genre because her Christian spirituality is evident in most of her music.
I think Kate Campbell's song Add Some Music To Your Day (listen below), is just PERFECT for this blog's first post! Thank you, Kate!
