September 21 is the International Day of Peace. Last May I attended a meeting at the United Nations looking at how to bring awareness and celebration of this day to as many groups around the world as possible. There were many people there representing amazing worldwide NGO’s. Here is the website listing events around the world where people will gather to celebrate peace on Sunday, September 21.
I decided to make a video about the ideal of peace. My friend, Tony Woodroffe, who is equally concerned about peace, was involved with the production of a CD by the vocalist, Derek Stroh. Derek has done a beautiful cover of John Lennon’s Imagine. Click here to see/listen to “Just for One Day … Imagine Peace.”
Now I invite you to visit my blog oops… http://www.liveinfullbloom.blogspot.com/ and read my challenging thoughts on the Paradox of Peace. I’ve learned that thinking deeply about peace is not a peaceful activity. In fact, I found it a disturbing activity, so be warned. Yes, I really am warning you and encouraging you to take on the challenges of bring peace into your consciousness.
The video on peace is sweet and hopeful, my blog on peace is not. In our current times of violence in the world and in our economies, we must consider peace… in our souls and in our relationships.
I wish you a peaceful Fall.
Lynn
PS. If you are needing support in finding peace in your soul, your relationships, your work or your life, visit my website www.lynnjericho.com and call me (201-333-9106). I am always available for a consultation to discuss the benefits of a number of counseling sessions.
Wow! I almost forgot Peace Day, well I did, it was an hour ago! So why stop peaceful thoughts now! Youtube had a lot of interesting videos. I hope one billion people did come together in prayer,hope, and music. So let’s repeat it and gather another a million or billion people together with thoughts of peace. Om.
Remember, there is a concert at the Lensic March 26, and I think you’d be please and comforted and perhaps even feel like you’ve be gently rocked by a summer’s wind below a starry wilderness sky. Watch out for the bears though!
Sometimes the great old songs can really carry us far. I never knew four strong winds was country, I learned to play and sing it on my guitar as a folk song! Go figure.
A Canadian icon reflects on the things that matter to him: The prairies, the legends of the West, and the changing life of a veteran artist
Stony Plain releases “Songs from the Gravel Road”, Ian Tyson ’s first CD of new songs since 1999’s “Lost Herd”
The gravel road runs from Ian Tyson’s ranch house in the foothills of the Rockies south of Calgary. It’s about a mile away from the stone cottage that he uses as a writing retreat, and the daily walk — in good weather and bad — is a time for thinking, for watching the sky and the birds and the deer, and for writing songs.
The trees along the gravel road were planted years ago, and local legend says the cottage was built by hand in either 1916, or maybe 1940 — nobody seems very sure — by the folk who settled that stretch of country. The walls are two feet thick, and there’s a new steel roof. There’s a living room, two tiny bedrooms, and a big bathroom with a furnace in the middle of it.
And, like Tyson’s songs, it’s here to stay.
There’s no pen and paper on the walk along the gravel road; no miniature tape recorder. That has to wait until Tyson’s arrived, shrugged off his coat, adjusted the heating, and warmed up his winter-chilled fingers.
Tyson has long been one of Canada’s most respected singer-songwriters. A pioneer who began his career in the early days of the first folk boom in the ’60s, he was one of the first Canadians to break into the American popular music market. In the years that followed he hosted his own TV show, recorded some of the best “folk” albums ever made, quit the music business and became — after years of backbreaking work — a rodeo rider and a successful rancher.
But with his songs covered by Neil Young, Judy Collins, Suzy Bogguss, Gordon Lightfoot, Bobby Bare and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, among many others, he returned to music with a vengeance in the mid-’80s. He found himself able to combine his two separate lives in new songs that explained the reality of “western culture” and the mindset of a cowboy in a sometimes-alien world.
Tyson’s list of honours — from the Order of Canada to platinum records, Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Awards — is too lengthy to repeat. He tours constantly across Canada and throughout the United States.
Ian Tyson is not a prolific songwriter. There are times when he despairs that he won’t write another song — but then they come to him, often as he walks along the gravel road. “I guess 80 per cent of my songs come on that walk,” he says.
“Sometimes they come fast; other take a lot longer. There’s one song here, ‘The Ambler Saddle’, that seemed to take for ever; Ambler was a legendary man, and there are so many stories about him — many from people who knew him — and I wanted the song about him to be true to him.” And there’s another song, “This is My Sky”, that came in 20 minutes.
Tyson cuts demo versions of his songs in the stone cottage (“although the furnace makes such a racket you have to turn it off when you’re recording”), after he’s written down and joined the phrases and snatches of melody he’s discovered on his walks down the gravel road. His regular on-the-road accompanists, Gord Matthews (guitar, vocals) and Gord Maxwell (bass, vocals) play a key role in the way the songs develop, and in making the demos.
The recording process that follows takes Tyson a long way from the gravel road — just about as far, physically and mentally, as he’s prepared to go.
“Songs from the Gravel Road” was recorded in Toronto with celebrated producer Danny Greenspoon — and a backup band of some of the best players in Toronto. And if the likes of guitarist Kevin Breit, horn players Phil Dwyer, Steve McDade and Guido Basso, and drummer Mark Kelso are better known in the jazz community than the world of “country” music, that’s cool with Tyson.
“I took a gamble,” he says. “They’re young guys, they’re great jazz and pop musicians, and they have no connection with my kind of life. I wanted them to bring a different sensibility to the songs. And they are songs that I couldn’t hear with the standard ‘country’ instrumentation, which is often so mind-numbingly predictable.”
The sessions went incredibly fast — the group cut five songs in a single afternoon, in part because the demos Tyson had made in the stone cottage were such good guideposts. Now the record is done, and Tyson is settling into another heavy round of touring in Canada and the United States.
He’ll miss the Alberta skies, the deer along the gravel road, and he stone cottage. But he wants to share the true stories of a part of Canada too few people know, and the details of lives well lived.
Ian Tyson is one of a kind … authentic and durable. In the tough world of show business where an artist can consider himself lucky to have one hit and a few good years, Ian Tyson has had two distinctly brilliant careers. Spanning three decades, Tyson has forged a trail of musical innovation. Starting with the legendary folk duo of Ian and Sylvia in the 60’s, the trail has culminated with the seminal Cowboyography collection reaching platinum status in the mid 90’s.
At the age of 24, Tyson left behind the itinerant logging and rodeo life of British Columbia and hitchhiked to Toronto. Caught up in the folk music revival, he formed, along with a very young Sylvia Fricker, the legendary singing duo of Ian and Sylvia.
The influential folk duo, Ian and Sylvia, married in 1964, recorded over a do zen timeless albums, including their best known and often covered hits - Ian’s Four Strong Winds and Someday Soon, and Sylvia’s You Were On My Mind.
During the British Invasion, Ian and Sylvia evolved into pioneers of country-rock. Their band, Great Speckled Bird, rivaled the Byrds and other groups which helped create modern country a decade before the Urban Cowboy phase or contemporary “new traditionalists”.
After hosting a national Canadian television music show from 1970 to 1975, Tyson realized his dream of returning to the Canadian West. The music and marriage of Ian and Sylvia had ended and it was now or never. Disillusioned with the Canadian country music scene, Tyson decided the time had come for him to return to his first love, training horses in the big ranch country of southern Alberta.
After three idyllic years cowboying in the Rockies at Pincher Creek, Tyson, at the urging of his new wife Twylla, recorded the album Old Corrals and Sagebrush consisting of cowboy songs, both traditional and new. “Kind of a musical Christmas card for my friends” he recalls, “we weren’t looking for a ‘hit radio’ play or anything like that.” Unbeknownst to Tyson and his friends, the cowboy renaissance was about to find expression at the inaugural Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 1983. A small coterie of saddle makers, rawhide braiders, cowboy poets and pickers discovered one another in this small cowtown in northern Nevada. Tyson was invited to perform his “new western music” and the overwhelming response at Stockman’s Casino brought Tyson the realization that he had found his true audience.
Tyson considers himself a very fortunate man. His second music career takes him to concerts all over North America, where he is able to ride the deserts and sage hills with his friends from Alberta to Mexico.
“I like to surround myself with the most talented musicians,” Tyson says, “so that people not directly from the ranch culture can enjoy an evening with us through the music alone. Everyone, it seems, can relate to a song like Someday Soon and that’s the kind of communication I strive for.”
The striving continues and the songs keep coming from the word painter of the west. His last album, Lost Herd, won the 1999 Prairie Music Award for “Outstanding Country Recording”. Ian’s current CD, Live At Longview, was recorded in October 2001 and released to the North American public in February 2002. A collection of 17 of Ian’s favorite songs, some classics and some brand new, Live At Longview is creating quite a buzz amongst both fans and peers, alike. Mike Regenstreif of the Montreal Gazette writes, “At 68, and with 40 years of recordings to his credit, Ian Tyson remains the best singer and songwriter in Canadian Country Music. On this great-sounding live set, Tyson mixes 6 new songs with 10 of his classics and a western swing version of Blue Moon. Tyson is as engaging as he’s ever been. The new material is terrific . . . older songs, like Navajo Rug and Someday Soon, sound as fresh and as vital as the new tunes. This is an essential addition to Tyson’s rich catalogue.” ****½
Moving through the first decade of the new millennium, Ian continues to actively tour, write music, record, and garner new honors and awards. In 2006, CBC Radio declared Four Strong Winds the number one Canadian song of the 20th Century. In 2007, Stony Plain Records released a new CD - The Gift, A Tribute to Ian Tyson - recorded by 15 of Ian’s most respected, international peers. And in 2008, with continuing coast to coast touring in both Canada and the United States, Ian celebrates 5 decades of performance and his 75th birthday.
Ian Tyson, a recipient of the Order of Canada, lives and continues to work on his ranch in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains and is exclusively represented by fellow Canadian, Paul Mascioli of Mascioli Entertainment Corporation, Orlando, FL http://www.iantyson.com/pages/biography.asp
Wish I had more time and a budget so I could go to more of these events. Perhaps you are in town for the week, and are yearning to do a little something different to do, and hey it’s a Wednesday night. This town can close up pretty early, so a good conert that you may just never see back home provides an easy solution to : what’s happening on Wednesday? Afterwards you could stroll up to the plaza, and perhaps get a nightcap at Ortega’s before heading back to wherever you are staying.
Even at the Plaza you may welcome a starry night. It’s a perfect semi quiet place that sparks romantic memories for many. Could be that someone is still burning wood and the pinon will waft up and do the streets. Well worth a night out. Have fun and leave comments here.
If you have a car and want a real end of winter thrill. After the concert drive up Artist’s Road and go up the mountain. Stop to breathe the air, hear the trees murmur and feel the crisp cold of the mountain awaken you to the positive enchanment of the night. Few peopppple ever meet the mountain’s dark time: it’s amazing!
What’s hot in Restaurants according to homegrown locals?
I arrive at work tired and limping: a storm is brewing. I sit down to eat a shortbread cookie and some chips. Marty is talking again about restaurants. DO you know one of the b est retaurants in town, he asks another co-worker. The Big Red Enchilada. It’s on Osage behind the 1st National Bank. It isn’t fancy and is run by Guatamalans. The prices are some of the lowest in town. Friday night special is only $6.00 for a whole meal. The food is great!
Someone asks if he likes Eggs Benedict. No, but at Tecolote, they have an asparagus omelete with Hollandaise sauce and that’s Marty’s favorite. He love’s talking about food. Someone says they like the Pantry for eggs benedict. Marty aggrees they are good to but their food is greasier. These three restaurants are very close together, two on Cerrillos, and the third practically on the corner of Cerrillos. Tecolote is famous to everyone tourist and local alike. The Pantry is almost as well known too. The Big Red Enchilada would be missed by most as it’s an odd location, small, and unimposing.
I still haven’t gone to PJ’s yet, which has been within 2 miles of my home for 14 years. Another friend swears it’s the best New Mexican Restaurant. We have yet to go there. Some folks love La Choza: I went once and gave it 2 thumbs down. Mariano swears that Castro’s is the best Mexican Restaurant, and I know that it is really good (on Rodeo). It has big meals for reasonable prices. It’s another Restaurant that you won’t see reviewed in most guides. It’s a family owned business that really takes care of it’s customers.
Horse Haven Cafe, may show up in the guides, and is south on Cerrillos: local cuisine and fantastic right down to the Apple pie. So come on over and try out our food. There’s something for everyone! All of these great finds are not even down on the Plaza!
I could use a good strong beer from Santa Fe Brewing company; but since I don’t drink anymore, I’ll blog my frustration today. Ever eat too big a slice of politic pie? I think I just did and it makes me want to v—-. I had just discussed with a friend that at least we have 2 top candidates to choose from. I am beginning to wonder. For some specific concerns please read the last 2 issues of the Sun News: www.thesun-news.com Also available at the local news stands.
Restaurant reviews: Award winning, buys local Joe’s Diner. Local fresh food. Rodeo Rd Plaza. Santa Fe NM. If Roland had been there Sunday evening, he might have lost his friendly smile. Super inadequate service. Nice young guy who did everything wrong. Salad came with entry, entry was quickly cold but tasted good. Had to ask for bread basket. Water took 10 minutes and he wasn’t waiting on anyone else. No additional service. He took another ten minutes to find out the specials and then did not know the price. 4 staff people hung out talking. Will my friend want to return? Nada. Rating 2 where 10 is high.
Tortilla Flats: Hostess awful. Menu prices increased thanks to BUSH. I was thinking we bad another bad choice (Tortilla Flats is a famous Santa Fe medium cost lots of food LOCAL restaurant). Out walks one of my favorite waitresses who’s been there for years. Excellent friendly service! I did say out loud, Great, we have the best waitress here! She laughed.
The food was plentiful an an extra sopapilla “jumped” in the basket. Pat and I thought that meant we got two instead of one. We got three which made Pat very happy as she got to eat 2!. We had leftovers. Enough for my lunch. Surely enough for Pat’s supper. Food hot. I still ate too much, there is a theme this week.
After my Feldenkras class Vicki and I went to Souper Salad. It was great and I succuumbed to the buffet eat more than I needed mentality. I added lotsa vegetables at least and some fruit, and and and,so did she. We had a lovely long relaxed visit. Yes this is an infamous chain. Another classic local waitress type who is most gracious and down to earth. These women should sign up for roles in some of our local movies. Bravo! Food was good an plentiful.
Today is only Tuesday. Thursday night I will be out again! Santa Fe Bar And Grill: vitamin training. I may have to restrict my food intake next week.
A supberb performance(s) Learn more and see great pics….go to the site!!!! Buy some tickets and invite me along. In the meantime listen to some Bach now.
Bach Festival
(March 7 - March 16, 2008)
“Santa Fe Pro Musica … nothing short of superb.”
D.S. Crafts -Albuquerque Journal www.SanatFepromusica.com
2007-08 Season at a Glance:
- March
March 7, 8 & 9
Bach Festival - Bach Cantatas
March 15 & 16
St. John Passion, BWV 245
- April
April 27
Music for the Royal Fireworks
* DON’T MISS OUR NEXT CONCERT
Bach Festival
(March 7 - March 16, 2008)
“Santa Fe Pro Musica … nothing short of superb.”
D.S. Crafts -Albuquerque Journal
There’s snow on the mountain! At least we got some up there. Soon the ski basin might open.
The winds have been fierce, but remembering springs soft mists always id refreshing.
Mystery eboook contest. The book won’t be a mystery, it’ll be from a large collection I have accumulated. The first twenty commentors this month who leave their contact information and one word about what they’d like to read: example: gardens will receive a free ebook.
I won’t deluge your mailbox with offers. I won’t use or giveaway your privacy or e-mail. In your comment just say something and leave your word. Let’s have some fun. Also tell your friends so they can have fun too.
If you have a blog, please do leave your blog address so others can visit you!
www.antarticpostcards.com Just met a blogger who has the above blog. It’s a good read, and if you have dreams of travelling then it’s a must read. Tell him I sent you.
Strange day, got up earlier than I would have to clean up for a potential roommate. No show. SO I had a yearning for a drive, just to get out (after I made a mortgage payment to my friends) and after several stops, I got some greens from the local Christmas Tree place. They were moist, soft, and very fresh and I filled a couple of buckets with them and placed some out front of my house and still have some on the kitchen floor, waiting for their new home. These were from trimmings from trees. Bonus: for free.
I did some more cleaning to rearrange my office and assemble a low cost heater which isn’t doing quite what it should…but I’ll get to consult with a friend in a few days to review directions.
Then I got lost online for hours.
SO if ALbuquerque were in my dreams, I’d be on the top of Sandia Peak overlooking the valley, bundled in winter clothes and hopefully a down jacket, warm hat, scarf, and gloves.
I’d move quickly back to the car to warm up and drive down to the nearest casino. I’d have the cash needed to make a big win b ut be so lucky that only a few dollars would hit a big jackpot. From there I’d drive into the city proper and find out what music was happening that night. I’d find a restaurant that had live music for nourishment and a warm up to the evening’s grand event. After the concert, I’d make sure to get an excellent room for the evening. In the next morning, I’d go buy a new used car, and strool around giving out business cards and posting flyers about how to make money online. More food, and I’d head north to home. Should I have gone shoppping too? Well, next time I guess.
Please go to the bottom. Feel free to return. May wholeness and wellness fill our hearts. We remember in honor of us all and all those who have perished, and in honor of those who carry us on. Bless you all and every one. Mary
After a very hectic day, though productive and interesting, I began thinking what is new (for me) and different for my readers. Here’s agreat way to start AUGUST off for music, variety, and great entertainment, and it has some of my best words admissionis free! Read details below, and for lots more information: participate in Rocksquawk.com.
Come down for a great music event at the ABQ Museum Amphitheater “August 5th” from Noon til 4:00 PM. Along with my band “Ishen Tree” reuniting again for this event there will be Native American Icon artists like “The Platero’s”, “Ira Wilson”, “Shawn Michael Perry” and “Robert Mirabal”"…Free Admission and Free Grub! The music will showcase Native American music from Folk, Traditional, Pop, Rock, Reggae and Metal! So come on down!
Alcala Project
KUNM is sponsoring this event at the Albuquerque Museum amiphitheatre ( go to site for more information. Did I mention free food? Look at the vast variety of music. Spread the word and
bring at least 5 friends! Also bring $2.00 to pledge to KUNM …they’ll be surprized and it’ll help them keep up the good work.
Jenny Marlow has Youtube.com videos, and also on myspace….the alacalaproject. well, the video wouldn’t let me paste it. It’s piano pop.
Posted July 27, 2007 06:07 PM
Come down for a great music event at the ABQ Museum Amphitheater “August 5th” from Noon til 4:00 PM. Along with my band “Ishen Tree” reuniting again for this event there will be Native American Icon artists like “The Platero’s”, “Ira Wilson”, “Shawn Michael Perry” and “Robert Mirabal”"…Free Admission and Free Grub! The music will showcase Native American music from Folk, Traditional, Pop, Rock, Reggae and Metal! So come on down!
What is Peace Day all about? It’s an international time of prayer and education about peace. You can go to DiegoRadio@KSFR.com or simply: KSFR.com to find yesterday’s interview about Peace Day. This is the 9th annual event. There will be multiple events in both Los Alamos and Santa Fe. It commemorates the dropping of the ATOMIC bomb on Hiroshima. YES IT IS A GOOD TIME to reflect that the USA is the only country to use WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. And Los ALamos is the home and creator (past and present) of WMD’s, although that may change.
However this peace day does more. A local woman told the story of Japanese children making oragami cranes and tying them to trees as prayers for peace in the whole world. This story was told to some children in elementary school and other youth programs here in Santa Fe. They wanted to do something too and they organized. 90,000 children around the world donated $90,000 to promote peace and to create a pernament bronze sculpture whose design was created by children around the world who sent wax sculptures to be added to the bronze.
If you can’t attend the educational events, or the spiritual labryrinth ceremony, or listen to the church bells ring throughout the cities, Make your own peace birds, ring your own bells, and take time to pray for peace. (You can still love bombs, America, the troops, etc.) We all can use peace and the blessings that spirit teaches us. People, especially children will be praying around the world: join them. Ring bells on the 5th at 5PM to sychronize with Japan time.
I almost forgot there will be drumming and other musical events in both Los Alamos and Santa Fe in conjunction with these events. Bless you.
Albuquerque, NM: One of the most exciting cities in the Southwest. A fast growing city that promotes innovative environmentally friendly technology provides opportunity and a Great place to live in. Albuquerque has lots of diversity, fine neighborhoods, entertainment, and opportunities. The Duke City also is a terrific launch location for visitors. Enjoy the fine hotels, restaurants, and other attractions before you venture out to the rest of beautiful and exciting New Mexico. Albuquerque also hosts conventions, retreats and workshops that people attend every year. It truly is a hotspot for the southwest! Don't forget to try some of our chile: red or green?
In this site I will show you some of the "wonders" of Albuquerque and New Mexico. Occasionally I will take a few diversions about other topics or events that seem to be rattling in my mind. Come and enjoy and participate in this blog.
