Why go on? March 25, 2008
Posted by ~V~ in : Uncategorized, Politics, Video, Images, Spirituality, Philosophy, Portland, New Orleans, Sounds, Quote of the Day, Song of the Day, Picture of the Day, Web Resources, YouTube Video of the Day, Comix, How To: , 8commentsWhy do i even do this?
i get hundreds of visitors a day @ this site, and people are hotlinking to it
left and right, but no comments, no thanks, no nothin’.
Does anybody out there even like what i’m doing here, or is this site just a source of free music and photos for your LiveJournal or MySpace or Facebook profiles or message board posts to try and help you look cool to your friends?
i’m tired of always sending letters and never getting any back.
i think i’m gonna quit this exercise in futility and delete everything pretty soon, so download all you can while you still can, kids…
Song of the Day: Louis Armstrong - Just One of Those Things December 3, 2007
Posted by ~V~ in : Uncategorized, Images, New Orleans, Sounds, Song of the Day , add a commentIt was just one of those nights —
just one of those fabulous flights…
A trip to the moon
on gossamer wings…
Louis Armstrong - Just One of Those Things (3.7MB mp3)
original words & music by Cole Porter
from the musical Jubilee
jazzed up by Louis Armstrong
∞ ∞ ∞
Satchmo photo via Wikimedia Commons
What does this song mean to you? Leave a comment.
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Second Line… December 2, 2007
Posted by ~V~ in : Images, Spirituality, Philosophy, Portland, New Orleans , add a comment
. “Two years ago I was watching
. all the Katrina coverage on TV
. and knew another family coming
. down to do construction for the
. relief effort,” says Peter Spring.
. “I thought I’d join them, then
. thought about what I could offer
. with my own special skills
. and tools.”
Now living by the Mississippi
River in a warehouse that he
turned into a workshop and
performance space, Spring,
57, has donated hundreds
of musical instruments to
musicians, schools and churches
in New Orleans, while teaching a new generation of artists how to play. He’s been doing it since October 2005.
. His mission is personal.
. In 2002, Spring’s 22-year-old
. son, Steven, a talented
. musician in his own right, died
. of a rare form of bone cancer.
“The most amazing thing about my son is that not once through all the pain of his cancer did he complain or waste any time,” Spring says. “He just played as hard as he could right up to the end.
That’s what I had to live up to.”
Crushed by the loss of his son three years earlier, Spring was adrift when the floodwaters of Katrina began washing over the birthplace of jazz. Inspired to help, he founded the nonprofit Steven Spring Foundation, which he named after his son. Spring held a fundraiser in his hometown of Ashland, Oregon and began collecting instruments. By the end of September 2005 he had collected over 60 instruments — from pianos to flutes — loaded them all in a trailer, and started his first 2,800-mile road trip to Louisiana.
. “I feel a huge debt to this
. city — particularly the
. African-American people —
. for inventing jazz, which I think
. is the best thing that’s come out of America,” says Spring, who plans to stay in the city for three more years. “I have absolutely no doubt that I am in the right place doing the right thing.”
Spring arrived in New Orleans
soon after the city reopened,
at a time when most of New
Orleans remained uninhabitable.
On his first night, Spring repaired the piano at Donna’s Bar and Grill, a well-known jazz club on Rampart Street that had flooded after the hurricane. The next day he joined New Orleans’ first post-Katrina second line parade on Bourbon Street, marking the passing of the storm and the start of the city’s rebirth.
“At every point after deciding to do this, fortuitous things have happened that make it seem like it’s all been planned,” Spring says.
“Of course, that’s the essence of jazz.”
~~~||~~~
The Steven Spring Foundation:
3811 Chartres Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
phone: (504) 942-0495
fax: (504) 942-0452
email: SSF@stevenspring.org
article excerpt via wweek.com
SSF summer music camp photos via stevenspring.org
Flickr photo from The Voice of Eye
Song of the Day: Dr. John - Mood Indigo September 23, 2006
Posted by ~V~ in : New Orleans, Sounds, Song of the Day , 1 comment so farbecause if silence is golden,
then music must be made of diamonds.
This one goes out to wetbankguy @ Toulouse Street…
***
you
ain’t been blue
till you’ve had that mood indigo . . .
that old feeling
goes ceiling
down to my shoes…
Dr. John - Mood Indigo (6.3MB mp3)
from the album Duke Elegant: Dr. John Performing the Music of Duke Ellington
Wikipedia: a brief history of “Mood Indigo” | Dr. John | Duke Ellington
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Picture of the Day: French Quarter Balcony Postcard April 8, 2006
Posted by ~V~ in : Images, New Orleans, Picture of the Day , add a commentbecause one picture is worth at least a thousand words.
About this image:
The French Quarter of New Orleans is renowned for its historic architecture.
Like a psychedelic sundial, the ornate wrought ironwork of this balcony casts its intricate shadows through both time and space - remaining a constant, silent witness as the human dramas of birth, death, and rebirth unfold in the old city beneath it.
i scanned this image from a limited-edition postcard. Click on it to see a larger, higher resolution version.
Thanks to Kerri (wherever you are!), who took the original photograph.
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Kid Koala - Basin Street Blues March 28, 2006
Posted by ~V~ in : Video, New Orleans, Sounds , add a commentSo here’s my first attempt at embedding a YouTube video.
If it doesn’t work, you might have to update your Flash Player.
This spooky and surreal animated music video from Kid Koala perfectly captures the gritty, sad, yet “uplifting” vibe of a traditional New Orleans funeral.
If you liked this video, you can watch a higher quality version (11MB QT) here.
You can find out more about Kid Koala here.
