‘Voltaire’ (FotoSketcher Emergence,) (My art collection)

‘Voltaire‘ (FotoSketcher Emergence,) (My art collection)

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make music part of your life series: Singer-songwriter Val Ghent at Cornelia Street Cafe Night of the Killer Keyboarders

[youtube.com/watch?v=FBEavSabvps]

Singer-songwriter Val Ghent @ Cornelia Street Cafe Night of the Killer Keyboarders

Day to Day Dream.http://www.valghent.com/ “Present Day Funk Sister” Valerie Ghent With Her Brothers Clayton Bryant, Tinker Barfield & Robin Macatangay. valghent.com

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Kimonos

A kimono is a T-shaped, straight-lined Japanese robe that falls to the ankle and has full-length sleeves that are commonly very wide at the wrist. The robe is wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right, and secured with a wide belt, an obi, that ties in the back. In today’s Japan, more Western styles of dress are the norm, but kimonos are still widely worn on special occasions. What personal information can be deduced from the style of a woman’s kimono? More… Discuss

make music part of your life series: Lullaby for String Quartet, George Gershwin, Members of the LA Philharmonic, Feb 10, 2013

[youtube.com/watch?v=F3Tq07BpKgo]

Lullaby for String Quartet, George Gershwin, Members of the LA Philharmonic, Feb 10, 2013

Lullaby for String Quartet, George Gershwin, Members of the LA Philharmonic: Mischa Lefkowitz, Violin, Minyoung Chang, Violin, Michael Larco, Viola, Jason Lippmann, Cello, Baxter Concert Series, Whittier, California, February 10, 2013

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word: ignominious

ignominious 

Definition:	(adjective) Marked by shame or disgrace.
Synonyms:	inglorious, shameful, opprobrious, disgraceful, black
Usage:	It was an old fisherman who, with immense difficulty, at last rescued us, and we were towed back in an ignominious fashion to the boat-yard. Discuss.

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Johann Joseph Fux. Ouverture in D minor. E 109

[youtube.com/watch?v=hFJnPkzrv2s]

Johann Joseph Fux

Ouverture in D minor. E 109

I. Grave – Allegro – Grave
II. Menuet
III. Aria
IV. Fuga
V. Lentement
VI. Gique
VII. Aria

Armonico tributo Austria
Lorenz Duftschmid, director
Recording; September 1997

make music part of your life series: Larry Coryell at the Jimi Hendrix 69th Birthday Celebration “Blue Monk” “Jam 292”

Larry Coryell at the Jimi Hendrix 69th Birthday Celebration “Blue Monk“. “Jam 292″ Video by Larry Blumnstein Video Productions.
—————————————-­—————————————-­—
(This an instrumental Jimi and Larry use to Jam together with back in the day and the final cut is called Jam 292 by Jimi Hendrix from the Blues album.)

Remembering “House M.D.” – A Tribute to the “king of tv shows”

Goodbye House. A show I will always remember.
Best viewed in 720p
Contains SPOILERS for House seasons 1 to 8
Music – Sunshine by John Murphy

ARTICLE: DUBAI

Dubai

Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the name of the emirate’s main city. Dubai is distinct from the other emirates in that oil revenues account for only a small part of its gross domestic product, although they did play a key role in transforming the sheikhdom into the international trade, business, and travel hub it is today. In recent years, Dubai has also made headlines for its ambitious building projects and now boasts what record-breaking structures? More… Discuss

Trust in Me (English)- Jungle Book ( Is this close to the global political reality….Or what!)

Uploaded on Jul 20, 2008 / views: 1,067,737

Kaa singing “Trust in Me” from the Disney movie: THE JUNGLE BOOK

QUOTATION: W. Somerset Maugham

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary, it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant, and kind. Failure makes people cruel and bitter.

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Discuss

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WORD: DOODAD

doodad 

Definition:	(noun) Something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known.
Synonyms:	gizmo, gubbins, thingamabob, thingamajig, thingummy,whatchamacallit, whatsis, widget, doohickey, doojigger, gimmick
Usage:	My twin sister and I have a special bond, so when she asks to borrow my doodad, I know exactly what she is talking about.Discuss.

 

ARTICLE: GEISHA: “ART PERSON”

Geisha: “Art Person”

A geisha is a traditional Japanese artist-entertainer skilled at conversation, singing, and dancing. The geisha system likely originated in the 17th century to provide a class of well-trained entertainers separate from courtesans and prostitutes. Even though geisha are usually women, the first ones were actually men. The numbers of geisha have declined from some 80,000 in the 1920s to a few thousand today. Why did geisha often paint their teeth black as part of their formal make-up? More… Discuss

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Romanian Spring Traditions – Martisor – MARCH 1(PRON. MARTZISHOR)

Romanian Spring Traditions – Martisor.

 

Dan Spătaru – Ţărăncuţă, Ţărăncuţă

 

All That Jazz ” Everything Old Is New Again “

[youtube.com/watch?v=nL22e30bFic]

 

Cover of All That Jazz

 

All That Jazz ” Everything Old Is New Again “

 

All That Jazz 
Erzsébet Földi & Ann Reinking
” Everything Old Is New Again ” Peter Allen

 

Great Compostions/Performances: Rhapsodie D’Auvergne for Piano and Orchestra By Saint-Saens

Rhapsodie D’Auvergne for Piano and Orchestra By Saint-Saens

(2008 Annual Concert at Glenn Gould Studio Toronto Soloist:Emily Pei’En Fan Conductor: Tony Fan with Chinese Artists Society of Toronto Youth Orchestra)

Saint-Saens: Later years

Camille Saint-Saëns, 1915.

In 1886 Saint-Saëns debuted two of his most renowned compositions: The Carnival of the Animals andSymphony No. 3, dedicated to Franz Liszt, who died that year. That same year, however, Vincent d’Indyand his allies had Saint-Saëns removed from the Société Nationale de Musique. Two years later, Saint-Saëns’s mother died, driving the mourning composer away from France to the Canary Islands under the alias “Sannois”. Over the next several years he travelled around the world, visiting exotic locations in Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Saint-Saëns chronicled his travels in many popular books using his nom de plume, Sannois.

In 1908, he had the distinction of being the first celebrated composer to write a musical score to a motion picture, The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (L’assassinat du duc de Guise), directed by Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes, adapted by Henri Lavedan, featuring actors of the Comédie Française. It was 18 minutes long, a considerable run time for the day.

In 1915, Saint-Saëns traveled to San Francisco, California and guest conducted the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, one of two world’s fairs celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal.

Saint-Saëns continued to write on musical, scientific and historical topics, travelling frequently before spending his last years in Algiers, Algeria. In recognition of his accomplishments, the government of France awarded him the Légion d’honneur.

Saint-Saëns died of pneumonia on 16 December 1921 at the Hôtel de l’Oasis in Algiers. His body was repatriated to Paris, honoured by state funeral at La Madeleine, and interred at Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.

Relationships with other composers

Saint-Saëns was either friend or enemy to some of Europe’s most distinguished musicians. He stayed close to Franz Liszt and maintained a fast friendship with his pupil Gabriel Fauré, who replaced him as organist and choirmaster when he retired. Additionally, he was a teacher and friend to Isidor Philipp, who headed the piano department at the Paris Conservatory for several decades and was a composer and editor of the music of many composers. But despite his strong advocacy of French music, Saint-Saëns openly despised many of his fellow-composers in France such as Franck, d’Indy, and Massenet. Saint-Saëns also hated the music of Claude Debussy; he is reported to have told Pierre Lalo, music critic, and son of composer Édouard Lalo, “I have stayed in Paris to speak ill of Pelléas et Mélisande.” The personal animosity was mutual; Debussy quipped: “I have a horror of sentimentality, and I cannot forget that its name is Saint-Saëns.” On other occasions, however, Debussy acknowledged an admiration for Saint-Saëns’s musical talents.

Saint-Saëns had been an early champion of Richard Wagner‘s music in France, teaching his pieces during his tenure at the École Niedermeyer and premiering the March from Tannhäuser. He had stunned even Wagner himself when he sight-read the entire orchestral scores of Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, andSiegfried, prompting Hans von Bülow to refer to him as, “the greatest musical mind” of the era. However, despite admitting appreciation for the power of Wagner’s work, Saint-Saëns defiantly stated that he was not an aficionado. In 1886, Saint-Saëns was punished for some particularly harsh and anti-German comments on the Paris production of Lohengrin by losing engagements and receiving negative reviews throughout Germany. Later, after World War I, Saint-Saëns angered both French and Germans with his inflammatory articles entitled Germanophilie, which ruthlessly attacked Wagner.^[2]

Saint-Saëns edited Jean-Philippe Rameau‘s Pièces de clavecin, and published them in 1895 through Durand in Paris (re-printed by Dover in 1993).

On 29 May 1913, Saint-Saëns stormed out of the première of Igor Stravinsky‘s Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), allegedly infuriated over what he considered the misuse of the bassoon in the ballet’s opening bars.

 

Mylène Farmer performing Je M’Ennuie (Live From Stade De France). © 2010 Stuffed Monkey

Mylène Farmer – Je M’Ennuie (Stade De France DVD)

Music video by Mylène Farmer performing Je M’Ennuie (Live From Stade De France). © 2010 Stuffed Monkey

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Great Compositions/Performances: George Enescu – Romanian Rhapsody n° 2 in D major, Op. 11 (Orchestre de Montbéliard, Paul Staïcu)

The first Romanian Rhapsody composed at 19 years (together with a second one, both bearing the opus number 11) gained a worldwide fame for its lovely folk tunes (in fact, all Enescu’s works are imbued with such folk lightmotifs) and vivid Romanian rhythms, becoming definitely the best known of all his compositions. Here the Rhapsody No.2 is performed with an infectious empathy by the Romanian conductor Paul Staïcu along with his outstanding musicians of Montbéliard Philharmonic Orchestra.  The performance reveals a mighty symphonist with a keen sense of colours and orchestral textures, a rigorous and honest one devoted to principles and truth, extracting the sap of his composition from folk melodies of his people.  The reputed conductor Paul Staïcu has signed a series of recordings devoted to the complete orchestral oeuvres of his fellow compatriot.  The celebrated Romanian Rhapsody in D major op.11 , more reflexive than its pair no.1, the second Romanian Rhapsody is also a youthful work (written in 1900, when the composer was 19) with persistent folk aromas and picturesque suggestions, aiming at fructifying the popular Romanian musical treasure and meditative side of its sentimentality. The rhapsodic character compounds its appeal and favours its reception by audiences. It is a composition putting grave questions and depicting outrageous realities, filtered through a sensitive conscience. It conveys the sufferance of a moral man facing the immorality of a corrupt and pointless world, reflecting on duties and faiths, on life’s sense and destiny. The torturing mood is magisterially recreated by the inspired baton of Paul Staïcu, the main themes flow unceasingly with a desolating vigour and reach finally a concluding climax affirming an undefeated hope in the majesty of mankind.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  

The Romanian Athenaeum, at about the time of the Rhapsodies’ premiere there in 1903

The two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, for orchestra, are George Enescu‘s best-known compositions. They were both written in 1901, and first performed together in 1903. The two rhapsodies, and particularly the first, have long held a permanent place in the repertory of every major orchestra. They employ elements of lăutărească music, vivid Romanian rhythms, and an air of spontaneity. They exhibit exotic modal coloring, with some scales having ‘mobile’ thirds, sixths or sevenths, creating a shifting major/minor atmosphere, one of the characteristics of Romanian lăutărească music.^{[1][not in citation given]} They also incorporate some material found in the later drafts of his Poème roumaine, Op. 1.^[2]

The stage of the Athenaeum in Bucharest

The two Romanian Rhapsodies were composed in Paris, and premiered together in a concert at the Romanian Athenaeumin Bucharest which also included the world premiere of Enescu’s First Suite for Orchestra, Op. 9 (1903). The composer conducted all three of his own works, which were preceded on the programme by Berlioz’s Overture to Les francs-jugesand Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, both conducted by Eduard Wachmann. The concert took place on 23 February 1903^[3](according to the Julian calendar in use in Romania at that time; 8 March 1903 Gregorian).^[4] The Second Rhapsody was played first, and Enescu maintained this order of performance throughout his life.^[5]

Rhapsody No. 2 in D major

The Second Rhapsody, like the first, was completed in 1901,^[14][7] but is more inward and reflective. Its essential character is not dance, but song.^[15][5] It is based on the popular 19th-century ballad “Pe o stîncă neagră, într-un vechi castel” (“On a dark rock, in an old castle”) which, like the opening melody of the First Rhapsody Enescu may have learned from the lăutar Chioru,^[1] though again there is some doubt whether Enescu actually remembered it from Chioru.^[10] After a development culminating in a canonic presentation, this theme is joined by a dance tune, “Sîrba lui Pompieru” (“Sîrba of the Fireman”), followed shortly afterward by the second half of a folksong, “Văleu, lupu mă mănîncă” (“Aiee, I’m being devoured by a wolf!”), which is treated in canon.^[16] Toward the end there is a brief moment of animation, bringing to mind the spirit of country lăutari, but the work ends quietly.^[17]

Unlike the First Rhapsody, there is no controversy at all about the scoring of the Second, which is given in the published score as: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, 2 timpani, cymbal, 2 harps, first violins, second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.^[18]

 

Great Compositions/Performances_ Ottorino Respighi_02 Pines Of Rome

Title : Pines Of Rome
Composer : Ottorino Respighi
Music : James Levine (with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Titre : Les Pins de Rome
Compositeur : Ottorino Respighi
Musique : James Levine (avec l’Orchestre symphonique de Chicago)
Copyright : Disney Music Group / Walt Disney Records
Year : 1999

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ANOTHER WAY TO SAY YOU’RE MISSED – PHOTOSKETCHER- EMERGENCE 2 (MY ART COLLECTION)

ANOTHER WAY TO SAY YOU’RE MISSED – PHOTOSKETCHER- EMERGENCE 2 (MY ART COLLECTION)

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Great Compositions/Performances: Leonard Cohen – Story of Isaac (live performance 1985)

“The Story Of Isaac”, by Leonard COhen

Well, the door it opened slowly,
my father he came in,
I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
and his blue eyes they were shining
and his voice was very cold.
He said, “I’ve had a vision
and you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told.”
So we started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
and his axe was made of burning gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
yes, the lake a lady’s mirror
when we stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over,
broke a minute later
and he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
he looked once behind his shoulder,
I guess he knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
to sacrifice our children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
your hatchets blunt and bloody,
you were not there before.
When I lay upon a mountain
and my father’s hand was trembling
with the beauty, I mean the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
forgive me but I must inquire,
“Just according to whose plan?”
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I’ll kill you if I can.
And mercy, mercy on our uniform,
man of peace, man of war,
the peacock spreads his deadly fan. 

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Great Composers/Compositions: Edvard Grieg. Symphonic Dances No.1

Youth Symphony Orchestra Mussorgsky College of St. Petersburg
Conductor Lev Dunaev
Молодёжный симфонический оркестр музыкального колледжа им.М.П.Мусоргского (Санкт-Петербург)
Дирижёр Лев Дунаев
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Great Performances: El amor brujo – Manuel de Falla

Choreography of the film – El amor brujo – Carlos Saura – Antonio Gades
– To buy – comprar:
http://www.esflamenco.com

 

Fabulous Music: Regina Spektor: Far (Full Album 2009)

Cover of Far (Special Edition CD/DVD)

Regina Spektor: Far (Full Album 2009)

Blue Lips 0:00
Dance Anthem of the 80’s 3:34
Eet 7:17
Folding Chair 10:18
Genius Next Door 13:53
Human of the Year 19:00
Laughing With 23:08
Machine 26:26
Man of a Thousand Faces 30:21
One More Time With Feeling 33:32
The Calculation 37:33
Two Birds 40:42
Wallet 44:01
“Far” is available on Amazon and iTunes.

• Regina Spektor

  Singer-songwriter

• Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City’s East Village. Wikipedia

• Born: February 18, 1980 (age 33), Moscow, Russia

• Height: 5′ 2″ (1.58 m)

• Parents: Ilya Spektor, Bella Spektor

• Songs
   

  The Call	2008	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
  Fidelity	2006	Begin to Hope
  You’ve Got Time
  Samson	2002	Songs
  Us	2004	Soviet Kitsch
  Don’t Leave Me	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  How	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  Eet	2009	Far
  Hero
  On The Radio	2006	Begin to Hope
  Blue Lips	2009	Far
  Laughing With	2009	Laughing With
  All the Rowboats	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  Hotel Song	2006	Begin to Hope
  Après moi	2006	Begin to Hope
  Real Love
  Folding Chair	2009	Laughing With
  Firewood	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  One More Time With Feeling	2009	Far
  Dance Anthem of the 80s	2009	Far
  That Time	2006	Begin to Hope
  Two Birds	2009	Far
  Better	2006	Begin to Hope
  Lady	2006	Begin to Hope
  No Surprises
  My Man
  Genius Next Door	2009	Far
  Consequence of Sounds	2002	Songs
  The Party	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  Music Box	2006	Begin to Hope
  Oh Marcello	2012	What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
  Human of the Year	2007	2007-04-25: The Moore Theater, Seattle, WA, USA

• Albums
  

  What We Saw From the Chea…

  2012

  

  Begin to Hope

  2006

  

  Soviet Kitsch

  2004

  

  Songs

  2002

  

 

Great Composers/Compositions: Alexander Glazunov “Ruses d’Amour” Op.61, Yevgeny Svetlanov

Alexander Glazunov Ruses d’Amour Op.61

1. Introduction 
2. Scene 1 
3. Mimic Recitative
4. Gavotte
5. Sarabande 
6. Farandole
7. Scene 2 
8. Puppet Dance
9. Scene 3 
10. Scene 4 
11. Scene 5
12. Variation 
13. Scene 6. March
14. Scene 7. Grand waltz
15. Scene 8 
16. Scene 9
17. Scene 10
18. Scene 11
19. Short Peasant’s Dance
20. Dance of the Groom and the Bride
21. Variation
22. Fricassee

Yevgeny Svetlanov,  Conductor

For  a complete  list of Glasunov’s composition visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Alexander_Glazunov

Great Performances: Brahms, Symphony Nr 3 F Dur op 90 Leonard Bernstein, Wiener Philharmoniker

 

Deus In Adjutorium – Monteverdi Vespers 2007

Domn,domn sa-naltam

COLINDA 2 – Domn,domn sa-naltam

 

Valentina Lisitsa plays Adinsell’s Warsaw Concerto

DURATION: 08:47
Keith Lockhart conducts Valentina Lisitsa (piano) and the BBC Concert Orchestra in the Film Music Prom.
This concert was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday 31st August 2013. Recorded for TV broadcast on BBC Four.
Also compare http://y2u.be/AoLvhHjacMw where Valentina shows how she first began to learn this piece. Very interesting.

 

Pachelbel – Canon In D Major.

 

Beethoven Sonata Op 106 “Hammerklavier” Part 1 Valentina Lisitsa

Recording in Hannover Germany
Beethoven Sonata Op 106 “Hammerklavier” Part 1 Valentina Lisitsa

 

New Widget at EuZicAsa – New resources: The Smithsonian: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE – Collections of Sounds

 Encyclopedia of Life

The Smithsonian: Collections of Sounds

Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain (full album)

Concierto de Aranjuez 00:00
Will O’The Wisp 16:25
The Pan Piper 20:14
Saeta 24:10
Solea 29:17

BeethoveBeethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 – Julliard School (Live)

Beethoven String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 performed by Julliard School (Live). Filmed live in The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in New York for WQXR‘s Beethoven String Quartet Marathon on November 18, 2012.
Siwoo Kim and Francisco Fullana, violins
Danny Kim, viola

 

Doină de jale – Ciocârlia / Sad Song – The Lark

“Doină de jale – Ciocârlia” performed by Gheorghe Zamfir at panflute (“nai”). Adapted from a Romanian traditional folk song.

 

Edvard Hagerup Grieg: Peer Gynt – London, 1957 (Hollweg; dir. Sir Thomas Beecham)

Ilse Hollweg, soprano
Beecham Choral Society Chor
Royal Philarmonic Orchestra
dir. Sir Thomas Beecham
rec. november 1956 to april 1957

 

Franz Schubert String Quintet in C major D956 op posth 163 Villa Musica Ensemble

Franz Schubert:
String Quintet in C major, D. 956, op. posth. 163:
00:00     I. Allegro ma non troppo
19:54     II. Adagio
34:54   III. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. Andante sostenuto
45:42   IV. Allegretto

[Villa Musica Ensemble]

Photography: Wu Kai Sha, Hong Kong, by Lifeguard.

 

Just a Thought: “Let’s learn to appreciate more Chamber Music…beside the full orchestra compositions…So continue to stay tuned for newly posted extraordinary performances…and Thank You!

 

Regina Spektor – Interview (There is a lot for every ear, in this interview!)

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (Russian: Реги́нa Ильи́нична Спе́ктор, IPA: [rʲɪˈɡʲinə ˈspʲɛktər]; /rɨˈdʒiːnə ˈspɛktər/; born February 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City‘s East Village.

Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor playing an electronic piano in 2006
Background information
Native name	Regina Ilyinichna Spektor
Born	February 18, 1980 (age 33) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Origin	New York, U.S.
Genres	Anti-folk, indie folk, baroque pop,jazz, indie pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Sire/Warner Bros. Records
Associated acts	Only Son, Sondre Lerche, Ben Folds, Kill Kenada, The Strokes,Dufus
Website	http://www.reginaspektor.com
Notable instruments
Steinway & Sons piano Epiphone Wildkat guitar

The Nice Guy

In pop psychology, the nice guy is an adult male who is friendly yet unassertive in relationships with women. He gives emotional support, avoids confrontation, puts others’ needs before his own, and generally treats women well. Despite these good qualities, many women, even those who claim to want a nice guy, actually choose to date men who are less considerate, likely because they are attracted to the overt sexuality of such “jerks.” Who first used the phrase “nice guys finish last”? More…

 

Leonard Cohen – Story of Isaac (live performance 1985) (…”a scheme is not a vision…”)

LEONARD COHEN LYRICS

 Send “Story Of Isaac” Ringtone to your Cell 

“Story Of Isaac”

The door it opened slowly, 
my father he came in, 
I was nine years old. 
And he stood so tall above me, 
his blue eyes they were shining 
and his voice was very cold. 
He said, “I’ve had a vision 
and you know I’m strong and holy, 
I must do what I’ve been told.” 
So he started up the mountain, 
I was running, he was walking, 
and his axe was made of gold. 
Well, the trees they got much smaller, 
the lake a lady’s mirror, 
we stopped to drink some wine. 
Then he threw the bottle over. 
Broke a minute later 
and he put his hand on mine. 
Thought I saw an eagle 
but it might have been a vulture, 
I never could decide. 
Then my father built an altar, 
he looked once behind his shoulder, 
he knew I would not hide. 

You who build these altars now 
to sacrifice these children, 
you must not do it anymore. 
A scheme is not a vision 
and you never have been tempted 
by a demon or a god. 
You who stand above them now, 
your hatchets blunt and bloody, 
you were not there before, 
when I lay upon a mountain 
and my father’s hand was trembling 
with the beauty of the word. 

And if you call me brother now, 
forgive me if I inquire, 
“Just according to whose plan?” 
When it all comes down to dust 
I will kill you if I must, 
I will help you if I can. 
When it all comes down to dust 
I will help you if I must, 
I will kill you if I can. 
And mercy on our uniform, 
man of peace or man of war, 
the peacock spreads his fan.

 

Deep Purple Bio: from Planet Rock “Where Rock Lives” (also Black Nights and

Deep Purple Bio_from Planet Rock (where rock lives) (Click here to find out more from Planet Rock)

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Taiwan museum unveils controversial Ai Weiwei art (from France 24 International)

Taiwan museum unveils controversial Ai Weiwei art (from France 24 International) (click here to follow the story at France24 Intenational)Ai Weiwei " Forever Bicycles"

 

Leonard Cohen: Story of Isaac (with Suzanne Vega) “A scheme is not a vision…”

The door it opened slowly,
My father he came in, I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
His blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold.
He said, I’ve had a vision
And you know I’m strong and holy,
I must do what I’ve been told,
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
The lake a lady’s mirror,
We stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over.
Broke a minute later
And he put his hand on mine.
Thought I saw an eagle
But it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an altar,
He looked once behind his shoulder,
He knew I would not hide.

You who build these altars now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before,
When I lay upon a mountain
And my father’s hand was trembling
With the beauty of the word.

And if you call me brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
Just according to whose plan,
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan.

W. Somerset Maugham – On Human Fate

The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.
(From: “Of Human Bondage” (1915)
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Discuss

Lucian Freud – British painter of the human form – dies at 88, The Washington Post

Lucian Freud – British painter of the human form – dies at 88             (click on picture to read the article at The Washington Post)