May 2017 - Page 2 of 4 - Roses in the Alley

May 17, 2017May 17, 2017

Einstein Felt the Rhythm!

“I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin.” — Albert Einstein

It makes perfect sense that the world’s most famous theoretical physicist was into music. I can hear Mozart playing in the room where he came up with the theory of relatively for sure!

Einstein was more than just into music, though. He learned how to play piano from his mother at 5. And I’m sure you gathered from the quote that he also took to the violin. He was known to break away and strike a chord or two while constructing his theories.

Albert’s work in physics certainly made the world a more beautifully understood place. However, this quote says something else. He’s telling us that no matter the number of accolades, awards, and accomplishments, he was most happy when he made music.

He’s telling all of us musicians, painters, writers, etc…that its okay if this passion isn’t our main source of income. It is still of utmost importance to the world, in one way or another.

That being said, he was also known to play for an audience. So if any of you out there have any of your own forms of art you would like to share, please send it our way. We want to share it!!

And if you’re like me and just use music as inspiration or stimulation that’s great too! That’s why it’s there!

Here’s a piano and violin rendition of a Mozart sonata that’s surely must have inspired Einstein.

May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

Commence-ment

Commencement – the beginning of a new phase in our life.

We often think of and reflect back on graduations from elementary school, high school, college and advanced studies. We are so proud of our children, spouses and significant others, especially when they graduate “magna cum laude” and “summa cum laude”(with great honors and with greatest honors). This is a time for celebration of the great achievements of years of concentrated effort!

Graduations are also moments of radical change, of leaving what has been known as “our life” for years, and starting a new journey; – times for shedding support systems and adding new ones, and preparing for a new beginning as we “commence” the next leg of our journey.

We experience these times as “pivot points” for them and for us. The markers along the road signal new adventures, but also speak of caution and warn of significant changes in direction, as the terrain often shifts dramatically upward.

With this can come an unwelcome anxiety: Can I do the next leg as well as the last? Does it get harder, and can I become stronger? When do I get to rest on my honors and say “It is enough”? Who will be there for me this time when the going gets rough?

In all of this family and very true friends continue to be the rock that we can stand on to look out to the future with confidence. We know that we are about to commence again on a new journey that can be more enlightening and empowering than the last!

May 14, 2017

I Go and Prepare a Place – Happy Mother’s Day

“I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”

– The Gospel of John

When I read these words, I pictured a large mansion where the dwelling places would be prepared for us, as the reading talks about further on.

But then another image came to mind.

Where is this dwelling place that we always know the way to? Where is it always prepared for our arrival?

For our family, it was where Mom is, anxiously preparing for our arrival, always hoping for a homecoming event.

I watch my wife do this same thing when our children come and I marvel at this endless capacity to be welcoming.

Now imagine if that was what was being said in this conversation about the many dwelling places set for us? I think it was exactly what was being said.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the loving mothers who set the table, prepare the rooms and welcome us as if we had never been gone. You know the way home. It’s always there.

May 13, 2017May 16, 2017

The Good, The Bad and The Sangiovese!

This weekend’s film and vino pairing is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Caparzo Sangiovese.

Sergio Leone, the director of this classic, is the inventor of the “Spaghetti Western”. Roman born, he grew up fascinated by the American Old West. So he set out to make American Westerns, but film them closer to home, in Spain and Italy.

When you think of the Old West, whiskey comes to mind. I don’t reckon they were slangin’ much tasty Italian red in them there saloons. We are about wine and movies here though, so we take our hats off to the Italian legends that gave us this cinematic masterpiece and score.

The Sangiovese grape is pretty legendary in Italy too. Its what Chianti is comprised of, if that tells us anything.

This “Spaghetti Western” was set during the American Civil War. The Tuscan town of Montalcino where Caparzo is produced has seen more than its fair share of bloodshed as well. In fact Sangiovese means “the blood of Jupiter”.

You can’t discuss this film without including another important Italian, Ennio Morricone, who gave us one of the most legendary melodies of all time with the score to this Western.

Let’s watch Clint Eastwood smoothly snap the hats off these cowboys while you crack open this smooth Italian red.

And click here to listen to maybe the most memorable film number of all time by Morricone.

Gratzi Hombres!

May 9, 2017

Don’t Ever Wait!

Don’t wait. Just don’t do that to yourself! It’s not often that I get very pointed and direct, but today I will.

For most of my life, which has not been a very short period, I have teetered on the edge of my call to art, specifically in music – composition and recording.

I have spent nearly 2 decades in the tech world and more than 2 decades in parish and school music. Wonderful work and, I hope, worthy work. I have been very personally touched by hundreds if not thousands of persons, young and old, and I hope that I have also left a positive memory somehow with them.

I will always cherish these meaningful times and those many faces and stories!

But the dream of writing and recording was persistent, and just under 2 years ago I decided that it was time to definitively see to this. So, I radically altered my life – my home, my work, my time schedule, and for the last several months, Roses in the Alley Media.

Of course, life sets in once again. Things get in the way, if you let them. You still have to earn a reasonable living even late in life, and the dream still slips back if you’re not careful. It’s difficult (but not impossible) to make a living with art.

RitA is very much about this effort. We want to help you to do your art now rather than later.

Our next effort will be to introduce Profiles, a look at you and your art. If you want to be a part of this new adventure, please let us know and we will send you a link to join our Profiles email group right away!

If you need the inspiration to take that step, watch this PHENOMENAL speech by Peter Dinklage at Bennington Collage:

At some point in each of our lives, we simply cannot wait. We must take action. Maybe this time for you is now or very soon. We hope to hear from you!

And (on a selfish note) if after all these years, you have an ongoing interest in our art (music and film scripts), please like and share this post with your friends and family. This will personally encourage us, as we develop Roses in the Alley Media as a platform of encouragement for other artists.

Seize the moment!

May 8, 2017May 9, 2017

Ageing With Wine and Friends!

“What though youth gave us love and roses, Age still leaves us wine and friends.”
— Thomas Moore

And aren’t our friends like wine in a way? Hopefully, by the time we ourselves have aged, we will have accumulated friends from all different types of terroir (soil).

Like wine our friends come in different varietals and, with any luck, they are all different shades. Friends or grapes, it’s their genetic makeup and the soil they come from that makes them who they are and why we love ’em.

Maybe we have a sweet one, a dry one, a bubbly one, a bright one, a spicy one… even a zesty one? Whatever their characteristics we keep them around because we enjoy them.

As we age and come into our own we learn to savor the things that make our lives more enjoyable. Maybe the wine brings friends or maybe the friends bring wine. Either way, having a lot of each around sounds like a great way to get older!

Stay close to me!! Red Red Wine by UB40.