Musical Connections

I was going through my friend, Terri's blog, and found something neat. Her blog (all about jazz and jazz viewing opportunities in NYC) also mentions Transformation. Now Terri is a lovely woman, very kind & self-effacing. But I can't say I knew much about her, other than that I liked her & that she had traveled to Italy recently. Reading her blog, however, I got to meet her in a whole new way. And I am bowled over by her passion for music!

Also, since she is traditionally quiet during our Monday Night Alive discussions, I never knew what impact they had on her life, but I have always been happy to see her friendly smile amid the company of our friends. It was so cool to read about her experience of Transformation in her own words. I recommend Terri's blog in general for anyone interested in the NY music scene. And check out this post to read someone else's perspective on Transformation and self-discovery.

Happy Thanksgiving

For a few Thanksgiving chuckles, check out this very funny video on UTube. It is of a turkey singing a parody of Gloria Gaynor's disco hit, "I will survive." It is quite hysterical and a real crowd pleaser.

I'm very excited to celebrate Thanksgiving at my Mom's house. We will be celebrating with my Aunt Joanna & my cousin Giorgia, who drove up from Maryland. My cousin, Gayleen, her husband, Skippy & their son, Dakota also joined us.

My Mom & Aunt took over the kitchen & sent Giorgia & me out for a walk. I am doubly blessed because one of my favorite family memebers is also one of my dearest friends. Pretty convenient, because it makes family reunion time very warm & fuzzy. I admire Giorgia because she is always true to herself & has her attention on others rather than herself. She is a generous listener and genuinely invests herself in making the world a better place. We had such a wonderful walk & talked about so many things. We discovered a beautiful tree in the neighborhood. The leaves looked on fire and capped a strangely braided trunk.



By the time we got back from our walk, it was tme to set the table and make the salad and other last minute details before the rest of the family arrived. We did not overeat, but enjoyed small portions of varied grub. After dinner, we had a family game of Scrabble. Here is a picture of a portion of our large dinner table.

So what are you grateful for this year? Big or small, what about your life in this moment do you want to celebrate? Is it your health? A loving relationship? Your job? Family? Wonderful friends? Do you have a great vacation planned? Did a child trust you with a secret? Does your favorite pair of pants fit again?

I'm grateful for my supportive family & amazing friends. I'm so happy for the guidance of my life coaches, Ariel & Shya Kane, and the entire Transformational community. My life is very wonderful and it's nice to take a moment and give thanks for that.

Comet Holmes

My friend, Eric, an astrophysicist at Columbia University, has been tracking a very interesting phenomenon: a very bright comet visible with the naked eye, named Comet Holmes. Latest update from Eric: the Ever Expanding Comet Holmes is now Bigger than the Sun!

You can find out more about Comet at the nasa website here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
or view more pictures at http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page20.htm?PHPSESSID=3dgje7n9jm4l23gk9pi5tsl135

To learn more about the origin of the comet, you can check out these earlier links he sent me.

Eric wrote:
Comet Fans!

Follow the amazing explosion of Comet Homes with this series of photos and short explanations from Astronomy Picture of the Day:

APOD: 2007 October 26 - Comet Holmes in Outburst

APOD: 2007 October 29 - A Telescopic View of Erupting Comet Holmes

APOD: 2007 November 3 - Golden Comet Holmes

APOD: 2007 November 5 - Comet Holmes Grows a Tail

Currently, Comet Holmes is about 1/3 the size of the moon and has started to grow a tail. It's moving away from the Sun and is now almost 3 times the Earth-Sun distance, but still bright enough to see by unaided eyes from Central Park in NYC last night!

This is all happening now, so go out to a dark area tonight (or the next cloudless night) and look for the fuzzy apparition in the Constellation Perseus (named after the Greek hero who slew the monster, Medusa.)

Here's where to look: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10862521.html

Enjoy,
Eric

Many thanks to Eric who is always ready to share his passion for the heavens & his zest for life with the rest of us. He is one of the most consistently present people I know and a delight to be around. To read another adventure starring Eric, check out this earlier post.

Run's House Rules

I was draped on my couch feeing sorry for myself because I woke up with a bad cold and had to cancel Marathon brunch plans, when inspiration came in an unusual form. I was flipping through the channels and paused on MTV. The network was displaying a marathon of its own of episodes of "Run's House," a reality show featuring ex-rapper turned reverend, Joseph "Run" Simmons of Run-DMC. Now I was a Run-DMC fan back in the day (Remember "Walk this Way", "Mary, Mary" and You be Illin' "?) so I thought I would check the show out. Run, his wife Justine, and their 2 daughters (Angela & Vanessa) & 3 sons (JoJo, Diggy & Russel II) live in a Mc Mansion in suburban New Jersey.

On the episode I was watching, the youngest boy, Russel II, kept swiping his older brother, Diggy's clothes. He would then stroll around the house in them. Run & his eldest son, JoJo, thought that the baby was jealous of Diggy's newfound popularity with the ladies. And by ladies, I mean middle-school suburban NJ girls :-) While he & Russel II were trying to play video games, a half dozen girls called looking for the very suave Diggy.

Run tried to cheer up his youngest son by taking him on a shopping trip to "Diggify" his wardrobe. He was careful to stay within a reasonable budget, and it was refreshing to see that there are celebrities who sill understand the value of money and are willing to impress this lesson upon their children. Score one for Reverend Run.

Back home, Russel II swaggers into the living room to the delight of his very supportive family. But Diggy gives his brother the benefit of his wisdom. He tells him that he gets that it's not about the ladies, but that Russel just wants to fit in at school and be popular like Diggy. He tells him, however, that he has to do it by being himself & not by copying anyone else. Score one for Diggy.

They have different family sayings like, "Squashed." Angela & Vanessa have a disagreement over their collaborative work for the family's clothing label. These two young ladies express themselves directly & honestly & with respect for each other. At the end of their discussion, they make sure that the topic is now "Squashed," which means their disagreement is truly resolved b/c it is forgiven & will be left in the past. They have a little hand gesture routine that goes along with it. Score one for Angela & Vanessa.

The values this family has and the way the members communicate & show their caring was absolutely inspiring. In a world where swag reigns and Sweet Sixteen is anything but, where celebrities encourage their children to run wild and conspicuous consumption has reached obscene heights, it is reassuring to know there are families like Run & Justine's. I can't wait to see what happens next week!

The Police concert at MSG

I only really discovered The Police just as they were breaking up. The Fall of '87 Columbia University freshman facebook poll listed U2, The Police, and Madonna as our class'es favorite artists. But I attended my first Sting concert a year later, for the tour for his first solo record, "The Dream of the Blue turtles," still one of my all-time favorite albums. In the interrim, I have made up for lost time & now own every Police album, single & DVD you could imagine. I know the words to pretty much every Police song ever written by Sting and have seen him perform in a Broadway musical. So when I recently heard The Police were getting back together and were touring, I knew I had to be see them.

While spiraling up the stairs at MSG at a casual 8:10pm last night, my friends & I thought for a moment that Sting had gone on early, so we started sprinting to our seats at the top of Tower D. Then we realized we did not know the tune, and realized it had to be the opening act. It turns out, our confusion was justified as "Fiction Plane," the band opening for The Police, is fronted by Sting's son, Joe Sumner. There is a raspy, pregnant quality to Sumner's voice that really sounds like his delicious Dad.

My group felt Sumner did better on the ballads than on the heavy rock songs his band played. But his voice really is quite wonderful, and his lyrics are quite meaningful. Unfortunately, I could not understand him during the concert. It was only when I googled him today on My Space, that I got more of a feeling of what "Fiction Plane" is all about. He ended the set with his hit, Two Sisters which seemed to suit his voice very well. The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, and Sumner is committed to social & political commentary. His tracks Hate and Death Machine remind me of the pointedly barbed Invisible Sun. Sumner doesn't quite have the presence or the personality to carry off MSG, yet... but I would love to see where this fellow's music is headed and feel that I will very much enjoy witnessing the journey.

The stadium once again grew dark and the crowd shushed before exploding in screams as bright white spotlights fired up the stage and two well known figures came up and took their places - Andy Summers at stage left and Stewart Copeland on his platform behind his drum set. The cheers and roars reached a crescendo as Sting walked onstage in a white tank top. The Police opened with Synchronicity II and the video screens popped with the primary colors that dappled the covers of the LP. They then segued into Message in a Bottle.


Most of the crowd seemed to know every word of every song by heart and was happy to oblige Sting's request to chime in. The consensus was that he played EVERYTHING. You name any popular police tune; he played it. Don't Stand So Close to Me, Walking in Your Footsteps, Driven to Tears, De Do Do Do, De Da da da, Voices Inside my head, So Lonely...

The video display editing was very well done. There were a number of screens displaying 3 separate images from the different camera feeds at any one time. I must confess, I was glued to the Sting cam, but I managed to tear myself away when the focus shifted to a close up of Andy Summers' hands during a particularly strong solo riff.

Stewart Copeland's strong performance belied his anemic look. At times, we feared he was going to explode or faint. But as usual, he provided the amazing backbone of the performance. The audience cheered when he moved to another platform to use a different drum set-up for "King of Pain" and "I'll be Wrapped Around Your Finger" that allowed him to produce those unmistakable xylophone-y sounds.

"I'll be Wrapped Around Your Finger" was probably my favorite number. If you know the video, you will remember the gorgeous effect of the spiral candle display that completely surrounded the musicians. The lighting design team should be congratulated for recreating a similar effect with circular spotlights. They swirled on the floor & just looked amazing.

The Police played Roxanne during the end of the concert and drove the audience wild. The band played 2 encores. The first encore brought us Can't Stand Losing You. The second encore delivered Every Breath You Take. They ended with the interesting choice of All I Want is to Be Next to You. It was bittersweet for me to see the video display during the last encore set. Some of the screens played footage from the Synchronicity video and showed a much younger trio.

They are obviously in great shape to have played two solid hours without a break. Sting treated us to a few of his signature jumps, and he graciously allowed Andy Summers to take the final leap off the drum platform. Then they all walked to the front of the stage and held hands as they took their last bow.

It had all the elements of a fantastic concert: performers with enormous talent, an awesome repertoire, amazing visuals, a charismatic and gorgeous front-man. Everyone in my group felt that it was one of the best concert we had ever seen in our lives. Except for Rudy. It was his absolute favorite. But, then again, it was his first concert ever!

Wintuk Wow

Tonight, my dear friend, Micheline, invited me to see the newest Cirque du Soleil production, Wintuk. The show was an acrobatic circus performance about a little boy who goes on a magical journey to strange lands in order to see snow.

Everything about the evening was magical. The show was amazing. The skill of the acrobats and their generous performances were tremendous.

Each movement of the performers was so intricate that they could not afford not to be present. One mis-step and they would injure not only themselves but their fellow performers as well. Being in the moment for them is not optional, but rather a requirement in order to operate at the level of mastery which they need to accomplish their acrobatic feats. In the beginning of the show, for example, a robber steals a package and runs away. He is chased and caught by a policeman on a bicycle. The cop & robber perform an intricate dance in which the cop goes on one tire & jumps around the torso of the robber who is on his back on the floor. At one point, the cop on the bike jumps around the thief's torso and hops on his front tire from one side of his head to the other, over his face!

It was quite engaging to be in the presence of so many gifted people totally vibrant & completely in the moment. They gave so much of themselves, and I was moved by their artistry and spirit.

Miche & I found the audience amusing. A typical jaded NY audience sat while onstage, performers jumped backwards & forwards, juggled 7 pins, leapt into the air. The smaller children were enraptured, but many of the older children and adults seemed unfazed by the magic going on in front of them. At one point, Miche asked me "What do they have to do to get real applause from this NY audience?"

At the end of the show, paper snowflakes floated down over the entire theater, covering performers and audience members alike. Just then I felt about six years old, and I'm not too proud to admit I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

I am so grateful to my friend, Micheline, for inviting me. Truth be told, she had to ask me twice. At first, I believed the story that I was afraid of the circus, but then I chose to put that aside and boy am I glad I did!