More Brendel: Schubert Op. 90/3

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The Schubert piano impromptus are among the most beautiful music ever and Brendel's recordings of them are stellar. 




An internationally known, acclaimed, and respected classical pianist, Alfred Brendel was born on January 5, 1931, in Wiesemberg, Moravia (now the Czech Republic), spending his childhood in Yugoslavia and Austria. 

Far from a child prodigy, he started piano lessons at the age of six, and although he studied at Graz Conservatory, his formal training was effectively over by the time he was 16 years old. A year later he gave his first public piano recital. Brendel's first recording was released in 1972, and he has since recorded all of Beethoven's piano works (in a series for Vox Records) as well as piano pieces by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, and others in a long career that has generated an extensive discography, most of it for Philips Recordings. - Wikipedia
 



Schubert expressed his musical ideas in the same way one confides things to a friend-- Simply, without formality or extravagance but honestly and straight to the heart.

A Cleft in the Earth Under One Sky

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The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre (after the town where the mass graves were found), occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. 

The victims were about to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town. Mangudadatu was challenging part of the  national elections in 2010. Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr, son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr, in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election.  

The 57 people killed included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy - Wikipedia

The killings on the road leading to Shariff Aguak town have been condemned loudly and vehemently. Not only because of the cruelty and vileness involved, but also because they were carried out with apparent planning and cold-blooded cunning.- Philippine Daily Inquirer

Directed and edited by Kiri Dalena. Written and produced by Patricia Evangelista. Voiced by Cheche Lazaro. Aired over ANC.November 23, 2009. This is a story about death in a place they call the Promised Land, where a crescent moon rises with a Christian sun, over a road where 57 men and women were murdered in cold blood.



Under One Sky (Part 1 of 3)



Under One Sky (Part 2 of 3)




Under One Sky (Part 3 of 3)






Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maguindanao_massacreUnder One Sky: Patricia Evangelista Kiri DalenaCheche LazaroLaurence Bernabe Rina Jimenez David

Alessandra Ferri and STING

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When one envisions a ballerina, a lovely, ethereal creature comes to mind; one who skims across the floor with delicacy and grace......whose every movement is soft, feminine and fluid.

This image could almost seem like a fantasy, impossible to exist in the real world. As a matter of fact, it rarely does. While good ballet dancers are not numerous, great ones come our way so infrequently that they usually become legends.
This is certainly Alessandra Ferri's destiny.

For people not familiar with her dancing, they might wonder what distinguishes one principal dancer from another. Why is she so special? The answer is rather difficult to put into words since her magnificent qualities defy description.

Just to see her move, to extend her incredibly arched foot, to observe the musicality that ripples through her entire body as she makes an otherwise academic step look like poetry-------all of this lyricism, exquisite line and passionate expression is so evident that the observer cannot help but be taken in by the beauty of it all. She surely exemplifies what ballet is supposed to be.

Alessandra Ferri is a highly accomplished Italian ballerina and performs a beautiful ballet routine as Sting plays Bach’s Perlude on his guitar. The warm up scenes are very intimate too as he does yoga stretches and she gets her shoes ready—it’s soothing and has a nice ending as well.



Music video with Alessandra Ferri (principal dancer with American Ballet Theater) and Sting.
Work: Bach: Suite for Cello solo no 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran / Book of Mormon

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http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm

Steve Wells -- "it is time for us all to stop believing in, or pretending to believe in, a book that is so unworthy of belief"


The Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB) is a website providing skeptical analysis of the Bible, edited by Steve Wells. It consists of annotations presented alongside the text of the King James Version of the Bible pointing out internal inconsistencies and contradictions with science and history, and suggesting that the Bible advocates reprehensible ethics.

Since its initial inception, The Skeptic's Annotated Bible has been expanded by Wells, with the addition of a discussion board, an annotated Qur'an, an annotated Book of Mormon, and various links to external sites such as The Brick Testament.

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible uses tags to highlight issues including injustice, absurdity, cruelty and violence, intolerance, contradictions, family values, women, science and history, prophecy, sex, language, interpretation, homosexuality, and "good stuff". Each tag offers negative, critical commentary with the exception of the "Good Stuff" section, which usually refers to positive ethical teachings in the Bible.

However, overall the sections that deal with impossibilities, contradictions, and negative teachings are to provide evidence that, as Wells explained, "it is time for us all to stop believing in, or pretending to believe in, a book that is so unworthy of belief"

Silent Witness: The Story of Lola Rein and her Dress

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Silent Witness: The Story of Lola Rein and her dress

In New York City, January 2002, Lola Rein met with a curator of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Lola told the story of her lonely survival during the Holocaust.

At the end of the interview she reached into her bag and took out this tiny dress, handing over the only item directly linking her to her mother. Lola had spent seven months hiding in a hole in a ground, wearing only this dress sewn by her mother. It was her only possession. Learn more about this silent witness......

http://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/silent-witness/

Eros ex Mathematica

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http://www.scribbletronics.com/image/eros-ex-mathematica/

Perpetual Ocean ~ Peter Miller

Eros ex Mathematica is a series of fractal images by digital artist and composer Peter Miller. He hastens to assure us that they "are created entirely from mathematical algorithms."

Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 2)

Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a pair of enchanted crimson ballet slippers, 'The Red Shoes' follows the beautiful Vicky Page (Moira Shearer), a young socialite who loves ballet, the rising composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) whom she loves, and her dictatorial director, Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook).

A glorious Technicolor epic that influenced generations of filmmakers, artists, and aspiring ballerinas, The Red Shoes intricately weaves backstage life with the thrill of performance.

A young ballerina (Moira Shearer) is torn between two forces: the composer who loves her (Marius Goring), and the impresario determined to fashion her into a great dancer (Anton Walbrook).

Moira Shearer in the 1948 film The Red Shoes...

Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 1)

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Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a pair of enchanted crimson ballet slippers, 'The Red Shoes' follows the beautiful Vicky Page (Moira Shearer), a young socialite who loves ballet, the rising composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) whom she loves, and her dictatorial director, Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook).

A glorious Technicolor epic that influenced generations of filmmakers, artists, and aspiring ballerinas, The Red Shoes intricately weaves backstage life with the thrill of performance.

 
A young ballerina (Moira Shearer) is torn between two forces: the composer who loves her (Marius Goring), and the impresario determined to fashion her into a great dancer (Anton Walbrook).

Moira Shearer in the 1948 film The Red Shoes...