At last! Another posthumous album from the one and only Jimi Hendrix is set for release on March 5. Thanks to Rolling Stone, we get a little preview of a tune from the collection called “Somewhere.” Legally, I am not able to embed the tune, but Consequence of Sound has the magic here 
“There are no borders between humans.”
After researching up on the amazing Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, I discovered his son, Vieux. Another incredible musician, Vieux spontaneously partnered with Israeli pianist Idan Raichel to create a masterpiece project entitled The Touré-Raichel Collective. This is why music is powerful and how it can change the world. Enjoy.
10,000 Working Class Americans Come Together
I had the pleasure of traveling to Michigan on Tuesday, December 11, to attend the protests in Lansing against Gov. Rick Snyder’s right-to-work legislation. Politics aside, this was an amazing sight as more than 10,000 people, both union members and non-union members alike, came together to exercise their rights. I was floored by the energy of the crowd and couldn’t wait to come back home and share what I had seen. So here is a video I composed from the day. Goooo team!
Watch this video and smile.
As we approach the holidays, I hope we all take time to look at our lives as a crazy gift from the universe. Watch this video to gain an eye-opening perspective
Greatest Anthony Bourdain Quote
I try to live by this every day. Because one of the coolest men alive says so:
“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody.
Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.”
Watch the final clip here:
Every Moment of Life is Art
As a newcomer to the Buddhist world, I subscribe to many different publications and blogs. One of these includes Molly Hahn’s daily Buddha Doodles. Instead of being slammed with spam emails, I repeatedly open my inbox and find motivational quotes alongside Hahn’s accompanying artwork. Recently, one drawing and wisdom of the day said: “Every moment of life is art.” Today, I pass on the wise words to you. Namaste.
Musician Tattoos: A Collection
My two favorite things…music and tattoos. A way to combine them? Tattoos of musicians.
Here is a montage of musician tattoos I have found online. I am going to use these as inspiration for my first big ink of the one and only Amy Winehouse (pic to follow)!
We Only Said Goodbye With Words
Although she is no longer with us, I will never say goodbye to the musical genius of our generation. This past week brought us the release of the much anticipated 4-disc boxset of Amy Winehouse at the BBC. Here is a short preview for your viewing and listening pleasure. Make sure to get your butts to the BBC Store now to purchase it- you know I already have!
Global first: Brit visits all 201 states without flying
By: Mike Pflanz
A British adventurer has become the first person to travel to all 201 sovereign states in the world without flying, ending his four-year odyssey early Monday when he arrived in South Sudan, the world’s newest nation.
Graham Hughes has used buses, boats, taxis, trains, and his own two feet – but never an airplane – to travel 160,000 miles in exactly 1,426 days, spending an average of less than $100 a week.
“I love travel, and I guess my reason for doing it was I wanted to see if this could be done, by one person traveling on a shoestring,” Mr. Hughes tells the Monitor Monday by telephone from Juba, South Sudan’s capital. “I think I also wanted to show that the world is not some big, scary place, but in fact is full of people who want to help you even if you are a stranger.”
Hughes, 33, set out from his home in Liverpool in northern England on New Year’s Day 2009.
Since then, he has visited all 193 United Nations member states plus Taiwan, Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara, and the four home nations of the United Kingdom.
GUINNESS CONFIRMED
Guinness World Records have confirmed that Hughes, who has been filming the trip for a documentary and raising money for a charity called Water Aid, is the first person to achieve this feat without flying.
“The main feeling today is just one of intense gratitude to every person around the world who helped me get here, by giving me a lift, letting me stay on their couch, or pointing me in the right direction,” Hughes said Monday. “There were times, sitting in a bus station in Cambodia at one in the morning, riding some awful truck over bad roads, when I thought, why am I doing this? But there was always a reason to keep going.”
Highlights were swimming in a lake of jellyfish in the Pacific archipelago of Palau, watching one of NASA’s last Space Shuttle launches, and dancing with the jungle tribes of Papua New Guinea.
“People asked me how I was going to get to Afghanistan or Iraq or North Korea, but they were the easy ones, you don’t even need a visa for Iraq, you just walk across the border from Turkey,” he says.
“The really tough ones were places like Nauru, and the Maldives and the Seychelles, island countries where there were also sometimes pirate threats.” Continue reading
“If You Don’t Have a Story, You Have No Music.”
Keeping in line with my previous post about Pittsburgh music, here is a short clip from my video interview with the incredible jazz guitarist Mark Strickland. This is part of my film project entitled Out of Smoke, We Jive, which is dedicated to the jazz scene and history in Pittsburgh. Good vibes all around!
