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TaKeTiNa tomorrow November 29, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Music, Recommendations, TaKeTiNa , add a comment

Okay, I’ve been plugging this TaKeTiNa thing pretty hard in the last 2-months, but that’s not just because I just graduated from my 3-year training. It’s also due to the fact that it is a really valuable, but hard-to-describe activity that I honestly believe a lot of people can benefit from. Tomorrow in Fairfax I’ll be co-leading an afternoon Taste of TaKeTiNa at The Natural Space in School Street Plaza. It will be a great way to work off some of that Thanksgiving that’s making your clothes fit differently today.

This afternoon introduction to TaKeTiNa will include one or two deceptively simple, polyrhythmic adventures in stepping, clapping, and singing. Surprisingly deep yet accessible to all levels, this participatory music healing modality fosters a sense of peace/stillness and can enable profound connections to other areas of life. No musical experience is necessary, just curiosity (though extra bonus points will be awarded if you bring a sense of humor!).

Please come enjoy the musical and meditative group rhythm process called TaKeTiNa, as led by Zorina Wolf (the premiere TaKeTiNa Trainer in the US) and Sam Rogers (One Mouth Band and recently-certified TaKeTiNa graduate). Donation $10-20 sliding scale.

Bailout Resistence - futile but fun! September 29, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Recommendations , add a comment


I just love sending letters that people never read, don’t you?

What happens is that a very few of these “letters” get read, then computers tally up the keywords and print off reports on number of aggregate responses for each major issue and position. Then automatic emails go out signed from elected officials telling you how much they care. The beauty of it is that they never got a chance to read even what they’re sending you! Yes, this is what our American brand of democracy has come to. I find the whole situation highly entertaining, and couldn’t help but participate by way of the following note:

I oppose the proposed bailout plan because the costs simply outweigh the benefits for the majority of Americans. Most of US do not have any savings, we only have debt (hence the current crisis). What banks can lend and what 401Ks are worth does not affect Most of US directly because we can’t pay for access to play that game. Adding more debt (by way of taxes) is all this plan does for Most of US. Yes, I understand there is a trickle down effect you might argue for, but trickle down economic arguments have been used before and their worthlessness to Most of US has been proven. I defy you to make any other semi-rational case to Most of US!

This message was sent via Congress.org to George W. Bush, Henry M. Paulson (Secretary of the Treasury), Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and my local representative Mike Thompson. If you’d like to play the Resistance if Futile game yourself, click below and laugh all the way to the bank!

Click, resist, and smile!

Click like they care!

TaKeTiNa in Palo Alto September 18, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Music, Recommendations, TaKeTiNa , add a comment

Soon I’ll be headed off to take my TaKeTiNa Initiation (AKA Exam!), but when I return, the Advanced TaKeTiNa instructors will be doing their thing in Palo Alto, CA. Here is a very sincere invitation to come enjoy some steppity-clappity-singity goodness, TaKeTiNa-syle!

You are invited to the TaKeTiNa Open Rhythm Sets with Advanced TaKeTiNa Teachers from Oct 23 to Nov 1, 2008 in Palo Alto

Encounter Rhythm!
The candidates for Advanced TaKeTiNa Rhythm Teacher certification invite you to attend our 10 different day-long workshops. You can attend one or more!

These workshops offer you an opportunity to experience this internationally renowned rhythm process presented with 10 uniquely personal approaches. Get to know TaKeTiNa from the inside. Experience the meditative and joyous quality that being in rhythm provides.

During each workshop, an advanced certificate candidate guides us into rhythm during two 3-hour sets — one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In the evening, he or she gives a free lecture exploring an aspect of working with rhythm.

Take part!
Attend one…attend them all!
info: http://www.villageheartbeat.com
or zorina@villageheartbeat.com

TaKeTiNa is…
a musical, meditative group process for people who want to develop their awareness of rhythm.
You don’t need to play an instrument.
People at all levels can work together to transform their relationship to rhythm, to each other, and to life.

I Vote for Losers September 16, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Notes to Self, Randomnimity, Recommendations , add a comment

BallotSome time ago I realized that I have a very poor voting record. I probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than voting for a state or federal official who actually makes it into office. The day I realized that was the day I stopped worrying about elections so much (beyond the local).

Sure, I’ll always vote every chance I get, but I don’t have the expectation that it will count for anything much really. That’s fine with me, actually. I am not attached to the results, because I firmly believe that there is just one possible outcome in the long term, and it ain’t pretty. I also think the closest thing our country had to a real election was in 2000 (remember that one?). Since then, things have shifted such that those in power are inoperably entrenched. Presidential races will either be just close enough to be believable but not enough to be any real threat, or they will be pre-empted by some great catastrophe. If those in power can win the easy way, they’ll win the easy way. If they have to win the hard way, there’s no reason to think they would hold back at all.

This is not an uninformed opinion, by the way. I’ve met some of the Thems of the world, and the experience is what led me to some of these conclusions. Rather than making me apathetic, this gives me a lot more courage to invest in how things are right here and right now. This is probably as good as it’s ever gonna get, folks. We are at the peak of access to information and the resources to do things with it. “Winning” is always temporary, and gives rise to a whole set of problems of its own. Risk all you can for the present, for the doing, for your soul and your world as it is. Or as I am so fond of saying, bet on the best, and be prepared for the worst.

It costs my mind and body so much to plug in to the rage and fear that permeates both ends of the political landscape. Personally, I make it a point not to listen to anything any candidate has to say, instead I just do some quick internet recon to see where their money comes from and vote accordingly. Maybe that’s why the folks I vote for always lose.

And yes, I am planning to vote for Obama…

TaKeTiNa Rhythm Days September 9, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Inspiries, Music, Recommendations, TaKeTiNa , add a comment

TaKeTiNa logoOkay, you’ve probably heard me rave about TaKeTiNa before, and maybe you’re curious but it usually costs money and stuff. Well, here’s your big chance!

There is a whole series of FREE TaKeTiNa sessions that you can attend in October near Portland, Oregon. They will be led by the members of my TaKeTiNa Teachers Training class as completion of our 3-year training. For these polyrhythmic adventures in stepping, clapping, and singing, it is very important that we have members of the general public who are not necessarily musicians, and have little to no experience with TaKeTiNa. This is a great opportunity for you to help me/us out while getting benefit for yourself at no risk!

These rhythm journey sessions will be held twice daily from October 1-12, at Still Meadow Community near Clackamas, just east of Portland. It’s pretty easy to get there, less than 15 minutes off of I-205. If you’re coming from out of town, don’t worry, there are a few places to stay nearby. All sets are free, and you can attend as many as you’d like. You just need to register!

Here’s a downloadable flyer, please feel free to forward it along to anyone else who you think may be interested. You can find more about TaKeTiNa here, or if you have questions about anything, just ask me! Thanks!

Longer Days September 5, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Productivity, Recommendations , 1 comment so far

LongerDays.comEver since reading Tim Ferriss’s The Four-Hour Workweek in February of 2007, I’ve tried outsourcing a variety of different things, different ways, with different people. Learn from my trial and error and cut to the chase with LongerDays.com. I recommend these people left and right because they really are that good. Based out of Charleston, SC, you will find no language or cultural obstacles, only bright and capable folks who can do pretty much anything on this side of the law. I was the first client to go visit their office on a trip to Charleston earlier this year, and I was impressed with them and their setup. They work in one room, all together, as a team, and very well.

Their rates are not the cheapest, but for all my exploring, they are by far the best value. For around $20/hr, depending on how many hours a month you buy, you can have a staff to deal with all the parts of your business (or personal) life that you aren’t good at or aren’t rewarded by. They bill down to the minute, and I rarely have to explain anything twice, unlike almost all of the other folks I’ve tried.

Here’s some of the things I’ve had Longer Days do for me in the last few months:

Now I’m ramping up a new small business (or Muse, as Tim Ferriss would say) and Longer Days is at the heart of my strategy for doing it without going crazy and self-sabotaging. I never would have been able to pull off half the stuff I’m doing without their help. Seriously, it is SO worth your time and money to check them out. And I don’t get any kickbacks for saying so…

Gas $aving Tips June 14, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Hybrid Cars, Recommendations , add a comment

Gas PricesI have a 2001 Honda Insight that gets regularly gets 63+MPG.  But it doesn’t just magically get mileage that good because it’s a hybrid. Having a hybrid subtly changes how you drive by merely showing you your instant and average fuel consumption. Here’s a few tips that can help keep your fuel costs down no matter what you drive.

Google Calendar does it right June 7, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Recommendations, Tech, Web Schtuff , add a comment

Google CalendarThere’s a lot of calendaring applications out there, and even more of them are popping up online all the time. I’ve been using Google Calendar for the last year or two and it works great for me. It does everything you’d expect to do with a calendar, and then some.

Leveraging the permissions and color coding, I have a different setup than most and I occasionally get questions from people about it. Mine it works very well for me and might work for you. I have 5 basic calendars, each with different functions that allow me to see at a glance who can see and do stuff with what. I also have reminder notification defaults set differently for each.

  1. performances = a public calendar, shared to the world (see the right-hand column of this blog)
  2. rehearsals = shared to people I rehearse with
  3. work = shows to anybody as free/busy
  4. personal = shows to nobody but me
  5. tentative = shows to nobody but me, and posted to from several interfaces (Jott, iCal, etc.)

I’m crazy for Barbatuques! January 5, 2008

Posted by onemouthband in : Inspiries, Music, Recommendations , add a comment

Man, oh man! Half my life ago I had this fledgling idea of combining a percussive ensemble like Stomp with the purely human music of a cappella like Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra. This body percussion and vocal band would combine elements of music, dance, and theater to take down the wall between performer and audience. Keith Terry’s Slammin’ (I pestered him for a year to let me in) is the closest thing I’d found in the world…until now. Meet Barbatuques.

Okay, so it’s got a long buildup and the rap section may be a bit much, but my first urge at the above sight was to run away to Brazil and join this circus. I may still, I’m in a cool down period while I find out everything I can and learn to read Portuguese. I am still shocked that they managed to escape my attention for so long. There are so many connections and commonalities: they cite Bobby McFerrin and Keith Terry as major influences, draw on the beatbox movement, and use a CircleSinging-like model. This is all stuff I know well, and I am no stranger to Brazilian music either. I suppose I should be grateful that life still hands me these beautiful surprises.If anybody knows anything about these people, or can help me translate, please let me know! Thanks!

Cutting through bureaucracy on the phone December 9, 2007

Posted by onemouthband in : Productivity, Recommendations , add a comment

Get Human logoBy the time I have to resort to actually calling a company on the phone, I have done my homework. I’ve tried their website, I’ve tried the chat or email support (if available), I’ve usually done a general search on the net to see if there are any posts from folks who’ve had the same issue. I don’t want to spend any time navigating the voicemail options serve simply to delay me from my end result: a person.

As in my last post, there are ways around this. Check out GetHuman.com for great ways to reach a real person at any of hundreds of companies, quickly. It won’t help you through the hold music, but it will get you in line for a person right away.