I was just taking a look at my twitter feed and noticed this tweet from Live Nation.
@LiveNation Berthold Auerbach once said, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” What song takes you to another place?
The first song to pop into my head was Phish’s You Enjoy Myself
Thought I would stop by today to post a link to a website where you can download my music for free.
There are currently 3 albums of my work available for free download here
Each album is a bit eclectic and I tend to experiment with multiple genres.
Enjoy!
This is a post from the first incarnation of my company’s blog (of which I author) about something I have become passionate about. Please read the post below about the dangers of e-waste.
The green movement is considered by some to be a fad or sales gimmick. Others know that it is in fact very important for ecological as well as financial reasons. However all other reasons aside I would like to divert your attention to the article below, written by guest blogger Amanda Brand (Go Green – N – Save Blog) from Jetscape Copier and Cartridge Warehouse in Fort Myers, Florida.
Technology is ever changing and growing. What is new today, is old hat tomorrow. Americans always want to be on the cutting edge, but what happens to the old technology? Many places have “e-waste” drop off points, and most of us assume that the computer, toner, or cell phone we drop off will be responsibly recycled.
Sadly this is not always the case. Monitors, motherboards, and toner cartridges are extremely difficult to recycle due to lead, mixed materials, and hard plastic parts. Many recyclers have a hard time turning a profit by actually recycling these components due to the extremely technical nature of the process and the equipment that much be used. It is much easier to sell the waste to “recyclers” in China illegally. This just passes the problem to people who are much less equipped to deal with the recycling process.
The town of Guiyu, China seems to be an end of the road for much of this waste. The streets are littered with piles of monitors, toners, cell phones, and other technological waste. The toxins in the land and water are so bad they need to have their water shipped in. The air is leaden with lead and other carcinogens. Those who live here attempt to reclaim the usable materials from some of this e-waste by burning the plastic away causing toxic clouds of smoke and fumes. Children play barefoot on piles of obsolete and broken technology.
How can you help? Instead of recycling, we can all cut down our waste by reusing materials. Find a responsible re-manufacturer for your computers, toner cartridges, and other out of date technology. If you don’t know who re-manufactures your materials, call someone who repairs it. If they don’t take it, they will know where to send you. For those things that cannot be reused, take the time to look at the processes of your recycling plant. Ask your local place for a walk through, or at least do some online research.
A new comment on my blog this morning (Hello David!) has caused me the need to post. I have not posted here for sometime as to how the time I have to blog for personal reasons is minimal. I just wanted to let those who have read the posts here know that I will be making an effort to post here more often.
Also I must point out a great new blog about faith, music and other such feasts of food for thought. One of my favorite bass players Oteil Burbridge has entered the blogosphere and if you enjoy the content here I believe you will also enjoying reading posts at his blog. You can visit his blog here. I will be adding his blog to my blogroll as well.
Cheers.
As as a fan of sushi and sashimi I have had my share of toro, and the many delights of thinly sliced raw fish presented in dazzling arrays of floral sculpture presented on plates made to look like ethereal Japanese gardens.
Many times I have also indulged in the creamy goodness of uni or for those of you outside of the know, raw sea urchin. This delectable creature tastes like the like ocean with a notably intense richness of flavor comparable to the finest clams.
Why it took me so long to also ask for this delight to be topped with the quail egg (as is offered in any respectable sushi establishment) I do not know. What I do know is that the taste of the raw quail egg and uni together provide a rather transcendent experience for those who already love uni by itself. Having finally tried this mind bending combination of sea and air creature features at Kaizen sushi bar and grill in Sturbridge, Massachusetts I must say, I regret waiting.
Perhaps it was one of several episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” where I watched him devour the same sublime combination that inspired my last minute reaction at Kaizen to reply to the waitress, “yes I will have the quail egg with my uni”. Regardless of why I made the decision I realized from the first bite, my uni ritual was forever changed.
Indeed it takes a certain kind to enjoy uni as it is even for the novice sushi lover a new level of extremes within the realm of consuming raw fish. However if you are already there and enjoy the delicacy as is and have not experienced the magic that is the marriage of quail egg and uni I digress,
taste and be amazed.
While reading some posts on “Mike in progress Blog” I came across a quote that I have tried to communicate myself and at times did so with far to many words. It is simply excellent as a reminder to those who claim to be christians.
“While most of us know this, we still need to be reminded that the church is not a specific building or location. Our buildings and programs create environments for church to happen but they are no more or less sacred than our living room or the neighborhood pub.” –Brad Ruggles
Indeed, Church is the grand collective of all those who believe in Jesus Christ as lord and savior…. Church is not a building.
At the age of 26 I find myself more comfortable in my own skin in regards to my faith as a Christian. For years I found it hard to speak to many of my friends about my spirituality other than those specific concepts that fit nicely with their religious or spiritual views. Mainly because as an artist and musician most of my closest friends have Esoteric, Agnostic or Atheist views on life and matters of a spiritual nature.
Exoteric Christianity can be very off-putting to folks who would describe themselves as open minded individuals and even as a christian there were times in my youth that I would question my faith while becoming rather fond of the outward fruits of their belief systems. However with age and earnest seeking God has revealed his truths to my heart, mind and soul time and again, often times in ways bearing significant resemblance to synchronicity, although such a phenomenon touched by the holy spirit has a specific light about it not found with its secular counterpart.
With that being said I have found that many of my fears as a teenager, such as being ostracized for my belief in Jesus Christ as the sole mediator, path and way to God and heaven, has fallen by the wayside even with the threat of loss still peaking its head into my daily life in regards to my relationships to those who disagree with such a concept. I attribute some of this to the fact that many of my friends who disagree, dislike or even abhor the Christan faith see me and my actions towards them as kind hearted and open minded. Indeed as I write this the very thought still bears the marks of personal epiphany.
What I mean to express here is that there are many Christians such as myself who exist outside of the hypocritical, cookie cutter, plastic smile televangelist fold. Sadly many folks especially those who like myself are drawn to the art and music of Psychedelia, Bohemian, or Counter subcultures view Christians as a whole, little more than clones of the character types described above.
My hope is that if anything, this post establishes the fact that not all Christians are products of what mainstream culture sees Christianity to be. As a young man of faith I can attest to the fact that at first glance you may very well assume me to be a liberal hippy. In many ways that description does fit me however I would like to point out I am also many other things including a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a Husband, a political independant, a cigar enthusiast, a lover of fine wine and craft beer, a dead head and a person who loves to discuss world faiths and believes in tolerance and respect for others, in addition to so many other things.
Over the weekend while enjoying some craft beer and playing tony hawk 4 on my nintendo gamecube I found myself pondering the memory of an article I had read about rapper “ghostface killah”. While I know nothing of his work as a recording artist I recalled the article due to some of GFK’s comments.
GFK had said in the article he enjoyed reading his koran at breakfast and found what he described as “a little spark of joy” from small pleasures in life such as getting a shave. While you won’t find me at the local barber shop I can say that I fully understood what he meant.
For GFK getting a shave is akin to what I find enjoyable about a fine cigar or reading a good book in my favorite chair with just the right amount light from the lamp nearby. Indeed these are small pleasures that provide a “little spark of joy”
What I mean to express by this commentary is that people who can relate to the idea of pulling true joy from small moments such as these understand the art of truly enjoying life. Happiness so to speak, truly can be found in small inexpensive or free moments of time and actions on a daily basis.
So in closing I invite you to take note of your self and discover the small things in your life that provide you with that “little spark of joy” and to hone those moments on a daily basis so that you may see for your self, this concept in action.
Here we go with round 3 of the amazing guitarist series of posts. Honestly each of the guys are just off the hook incredible. Enjoy!
Django Reinhardt < Only had two working fingers on his fret hand!
