Food for Thought: Strive to Find Your Own Voice

Hello Everyone,

I'm sure most of you know by now that actor-comedian Robin Williams is no longer with us. When I heard the news of his death, I was in disbelief and heartbroken. Robin entered my life as the beloved alien Mork on the show Mork & Mindy. Man, he made me laugh! Some years later, he would star in one of my all time fave movies, Dead Poets Society. He played a character named John Keating, an English teacher at an elite prep school who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. I wish I had a teacher like him when I was in school.

In memory of Robin, today's food for thought is quoted from Dead Poets Society, as said by John Keating to his students. There is no doubt that Robin had found his own voice and I'm saddened that his extraordinary life was filled with so much struggle and pain.

Robin, thanks for the laughs & the memories. You will be missed.


Until next time,

Eddy

Soundtracks That I Can't Stop Listening To

I have a great love for soundtrack music. It started a long time ago with my father. (Thanks, Daddy. I love you.) He loved vinyl records with sound effects on them, usually in quadraphonic stereo. This is how they made records back then. They where so cool. He also loved these old vinyl soundtracks that he brought with him from Italy when we came over. They had really great songs from old Italian movies, and I would lie in front of the stereo (we had one of those old school furniture looking ones where the top opened up to reveal a record player), listening to those records crackle & pop. It sounded to like heaven to me. On Sundays, we would listen to those records together to hear airplanes flying, cars crashing, and really funny Italian music.

Anyway... I thought I’d share a list of soundtracks that I just can’t stop listening to, so all of you who love movie soundtracks as much as I do could check them out. They’re listed below, in no particular order. If you like them, they’re available on iTunes. Or, you can check out most of them on Amazon, by following the links on the right hand side of my blog (just below some of my fave movies). I have to say that my fave soundtracks are from foreign films. They really produce incredible soundtracks. I love French films the best, and Italian films come in a close second.

JB

P.S. The movies these soundtracks are from are great too.

Soundtracks that I can’t stop listening to:

• Vicky Christina Barcelona - Various Artists
• Something's Gotta Give - Various Artists
• The Fountain - Clint Mansell
• 1492: Conquest Of Paradise -Vangelis
• Ocean's Eleven -Various Artists
• Ocean's Twelve - Various Artists
• Purple Rain - Prince & the Revolution
• El Greco - Vangelis
• Blade Runner (25th Anniversary Edition) - Vangelis
• Breakfast At Tiffany's - Henry Mancini
• Feast of Love - Various Artists
• Revolver - Nathaniel Mechaly
• Queen Of The Damned - Various Artists
• Il Postino - Various Artists/Luis E. Bacalov
• Diva (20th Anniversary Edition) - Vladmir Cosma
• Trio Couleurs Bleu - Zbigniew Preisner
• Le Courage D' Aimer - Various Artists
• Betty Blue 37.2 Le Matin - Gabriel Yared
• La Belle Histoire - Various Artists
• Solaris - Cliff Martinez
• Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ - Peter Gabriel

Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Sarah Slean, and Martha Wainright

I was sitting here obsessing over my life and where it's going, and really needed some fresh new music to listen to. So, I popped onto iTunes to start searching. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love Apple and iTunes? I love iTunes because music is released on there almost 2 weeks before it hits store shelves. As soon as I started using iTunes (and we're talking way back when, long before any of my friends even knew about it), I could see how big it was going to get. I quickly told all of my friends to take my word for it, dump their old media players, and switch to iTunes.

Anyway... back to searching for music. First, I checked to see if the soundtrack to the new Woody Allen movie -- Vicky Cristina Barcelona -- was out. As always, iTunes does not disappoint, so quickly downloaded the music. If anyone gets a chance, go see the movie. It's one of the best movies that's come out this year. It's really a gem of a film, and the music is fantastic. I will post a little review of it at some point because it I can't get over how much it reflects my life to a "T" right now.

My next pick off iTunes was The Baroness by Sarah Slean. I really think that she is one of Canada's best singer-songwriters. She even has a book of poetry called Ravens, which you can purchase directly from her site (http://www.sarahslean.com/). I own it, and like to carry it around with me because I usually read one poem out of it every day. She is so talented. If you haven't already, check out her site. You will not be disappointed.

My last pick off iTunes was the latest from Martha Wainwright(http://www.marthawainwright.com/), another amazing Canadian singer-songwriter. The woman blows my mind. Her new CD is called I Know You're Married, But I Got Feelings Too. Talk about freakin' good! It's a must buy for anyone who loves good writing and good music.

Well, now that I have downloaded my music, I'm going to get lost in the voices of those two incredible Canadian women and, and let a beautiful soundtrack whisk me away to Barcelona.

Goodnight, sweet voices, good night.

JB