My friend Norah Rendell is a traditional musician of the highest calibre. She is a beautiful singer and a gifted Irish flute player and a curious and lively human being. To be around her is a delight and to make music with her is to be carried away in a space of grace and beauty where we can find out what it means to be truly human. I’ve just spent the better part of last weekend visiting with her in St. Paul, Minnesota, making music and sharing lots of story. For me the social production of music is a deeply …
Delights: Tajik Jimmy and more. We’re number 37 from my friend Jerry Nagel Malcolm Gladwell on what Atticus Finch was really up to.
A long flight necessitated by a late date travel change, had my flying through Chicago yesterday, getting a quick connection and beating my bags to Minneapolis. MPL is the second nicest airport in North America after Vancouver. Lovely layout, good food options and easy to get around. Also friendly United ground crew who got my bag to me with no problems. I’m staying downtown, reached easily by the LRT from the airport. Downtown cores never give you the pure sense of a place, but I’ll be here a week, moving over to St. Paul tomorrow for a couple of nights …
Morsels on inspiration and thought: Ashley Cooper on Chris Jordan’s trip to Midway to document the catastrophic results of our plastic world. Dave Pollard articluates a framework for personal action. Phaedra Eliis-Lamkins on Van Jones, green jobs and the meaning of the moment: “Our team doesn’t feel fierce enough to be a team.” (link via Dave Pollard) Keith Loutit produces a stunningly cool film about a coast guard helicopter rescue exercise using time lapse and tiltshift. Has to be seen to be believed.
Listening to a nice talk by Gil Fronsdel tonight on intention. THis is intention from a Buddhist perspective, not from a new age perspective. the difference for me is that the former is intention that informs action, the later is a passive state that somehow manifests things. I practice the former. From his talk, a couple of useful observations… First, many people when they are asked to state their intention actually come up withe a negative intention: “To not repeat the mistakes of my parents, to be alone, to leave my job.” Such intentions are valid by don’t lead to …