Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Psst! Wanna do some fruit?


"Carrie Dashow dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a "chocolate shake."

"Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: "Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!"

It's all the rage now- 'flavor tripping parties' using a berry called miracle fruit to dazzle the senses- and, it's perfectly legal and harmless!

"The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy. Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientists who has studied the fruit."

Read more, here.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

RockOm

Musician Glen Hansard of The Swell Season spins a poignant story about decision and expectation that’s really inspiring. Regarding writing the soundtrack for the movie Once and the song “Falling Slowly,” which won the Academy Award for Best Song this year, Glen says:

"A couple years ago, we decided to kick our ball as hard as we could, and see how far it would go. We were hoping it would reach the end of the garden, but we watched it go . . . across the street, over the next town, into a place we'd never even heard of before."

"And the great thing about (success) is that it sort of quiets the 1% of you that wishes you could have your ball back."

This story gives me hope that a wild dream whose time seems to be ripe can be propelled farther than the imagination can conceive.

www.rockom.net

Three partners and I will soon be launching the first phase of a new world-music website called RockOm. RockOm will be a crossroad for spirituality in its many and various expressions and faith. Each partner is madly in love with music and recognizes this passion as emanating from a sacred source that's inside each and every human being. This ‘always- already’ space paradoxically is clarified by an absence of any need of explanation, is best understood from the heart center in place of the mind, and resonates to the language of rhythm and sound. Every sort of barrier is broken and cultural divides are bridged when music takes the place of conventional forms of communication.

RockOm will feature compelling top- down information and inspiration in the form of exclusive interviews and features with award winning professional musicians. It will also offer harbor for amateurs and not yet established musicians and music lovers who wish to make a home at the first of its kind, music website through:

* User-uploaded songs and profiles, lyrics and "song stories" with room for reader feedback

* Featured user track of the week

* Contemplative practices based on music, music-themed meditations and spiritual disciplines for the music-centered individual

* Album reviews, inspiring podcasts and much, much more

We hope you’ll join us at RockOm and that our “ball will reach the end of the garden,” even “into a place we’ve never even heard of.” We know that if we are successful to a degree where we can play a small part in music changing one person's opinion of who they are and what they can accomplish then we will have succeeded in changing the entire world... and that is a blessing for everyone.

Coming June 2008

Monday, May 12, 2008

Everyone

"Be kind to those you meet, for everyone is fighting a battle of some kind."

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