I LOVE WHERE I LIVE

The final cut...if you saw the rough cut video of where I live, you will recognize some things. However, some things were deleted and some things added to this one. It took me compressing it four times to get it in this quality. Not perfect, but it's okay. Enjoy the beauty of this area. And watching it at youtube, will allow you to see it in 720p and in an expanded screen size - just double click on the video and it will take you there.

...........................................................

...........................................................
Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

If you go to youtube, click the expand arrows at lower right of the video for viewing on a larger screen. And watch in 720p if possible. To go to youtube, double click on the video.

This video is to show my love for where I live in Newport County, Rhode Island, on Aquidneck Island ~ once land of Native Americans, now a land of immigrants, ancestors of immigrants and Native Americans. Most of the video clips and photographs were shot in Newport, Rhode Island with the others being shot in the adjacent town of Middletown, save one in Portsmouth. I live in the town of Portsmouth, but claim Aquidneck Island as my home. Aquidneck Island includes three small towns: Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

Music

Al Green ~ Here I Am

Odetta ~ Hear Me Talking to Ya from the CD titled Blues Everywhere I Go

Please, support artists who don't ban youtube use.

Credits:
Videogaphy and photography ~ Sandra Hammel
The opening song is extracted from video that I took at the Newport Jazz Festival, August 12, 2007. It is Al Green singing Here I Am as clips of him singing at the 2007 festival are edited in. The view after showing Al sing is the view the artists see from the main stage at Fort Adams park.

Included in the tribute video:
Newport Jazz Festival at Fort Adams State Park
Narragansett Bay ~ views from many places, including a ride on a sailboat
showing the shoreline
Views of Jamestown on Conanicut Island
Eastons Beach, also known as Newport Beach and First Beach
Newport Bridge - renamed The Claiborne Pell Bridge
Dance company "Island Moving Company" on St. George's lawn
Black Ships Festival Taiko Drumming - New York City group

Brenton Cove
Sachuest Beach, also known as Second Beach
Sachuest Wildlife Refuge
Third Beach
Newport Art Museum

Cliff Walk and views from it
Trinity Church
Touro Synagogue
The International Tennis Hall of Fame grounds
Goat Island
Ocean Drive, view from Brenton Point Park
Newport National Golf Course
Ida Lewis Yacht Club

Touro Park, The Stone Mill
Channing Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church
Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
Kings Park, Rochambeau statue and gazebo
My beloved sunset and cloud photos
Picture of my son when he was 11 years old
Ducks at Brenton Cove
Kay Worden statues: Father and Daughter, The Hurdy Gurdy Man, The Wave, The Skater

Darfur event includes:
Americas Cup Avenue
Washington Square -- (important scenes of Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" were shot on Washington Square)

Newport, RI~ attractionsWashington Square

Link to interior picture of Saint Mary's Church. St. Mary's is at corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard and it is the church where Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married John F. KENNEDY on a warm summer day September 12, 1953. Seated in the pews of St. Mary's were 800 people of power and privilege. The Peruvian ambassador to the U.S. was there; so was the ambassador from Spain. Joseph Martin of Massachusetts, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, attended as did numerous congressmen and senators from around New England .

Jamestown, Rhode Island
a great website about the area - Jamestown is on its own island - Conanicut, which is across the Narragansett Bay from Newport, Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island. The area has a mix of names from the Native Americans and England's town names adopted.

I LOVE WHERE I LIVE - ROUGH CUT

I went to an audition tonight and I am making an attempt to re-enter life to feel normalized after an emotionally-charged event - an audition. We sat there and watched and listened to everyone audition. It was posted on their website to start at 6:30 p.m., but it was well under way when I arrived at 6:15 p.m. After being there for five minutes, I felt like leaving. I am no good at singing in public, but I have been trying to put myself out there.

I had recorded my own accompaniment and took a cd player to use, if they allowed it. But I was told "no, we want to hear you sing with a live pianist", although another auditioner sang without any accompaniment.

We were to sing one upbeat song and one ballad - only 16 measures of each.

My first song was good considering I didn't lose control of being relaxed, as is my typical behavior. That didn't happen until the second song. I suppose part of that was me, but part of that was the accompanist. He was good, but he didn't know how to "blues" up the music for Bring It On Home to Me - a Sam Cooke song. And I am used to the accompaniment that way. At first I thought he was playing it too fast, but I tried to slow him down and it still wasn't working. It was more the style he was playing. Too many notes, too fancy for a simple bluesy song. It overpowered the spirit of the song and I couldn't "feel" the music as I do when I sing and accompany myself. There is soul in the music and he was putting no soul in the way he play the keyboard. You get used to things that allow you to feel the music, meaning I can get lost in the music and not be so conscious of those watching me. And that is when my breathing gets nervous - when I start thinking of all eyes on me. And once that happens it is hard to reign in the nerves and sing relaxed. So the notes start to shake. I can't hold out anything longer than long enough to sing the syllable, because sustaining the note makes the shaking voice so evident.

Surprisingly the applause was long enough to keep going until I got to the back of the room where I had been seated. And one of auditioners, turned around and gave me a thumbs up and an affirmative "that was good". But it wasn't good. Because I do it so much better at home. With soul. Relaxed. Not tensing up the throat. So, tight sounds were coming out.

I asked one of the three "judges" at break time, if there would be more auditions later and she said yes. I said, I wanted to try again because I hadn't done too well. And her body language seemed to say otherwise. We'll see. But, the second song really didn't make me feel successful.

But I tried.

And that is good.

..................................................

..................................................
Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog
This is better watching it at Youtube. You won't get the black bars at the top and bottom, there. Double click the video and it will take you to Youtube.

This work is a work in progress and is in rough cut form at this time, so I ask you to honor my request not embed, link anywhere or download it, until I get the final cut done. I am reserving these things for myself. My Apple computer is in the repair shop at the moment, so I can’t work on it. But I want to share what I have so far with all who also love this beautiful part of Planet Earth.

I’ll see how this “honor system” request works.

This video is to show my love for where I live. Most of the video clips and photographs were shot in Newport, Rhode Island with others being shot in the adjacent town of Middletown. I live in the town of Portsmouth, but claim Aquidneck Island as my home. Aquidneck Island includes three small towns: Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

I have no credits on the video itself at this time.

Music:

Al Green ~ ”Here I Am”

Odetta ~ “Hear Me Talking to You” from the CD Blues Everywhere I Go

Please support artists who don't ban youtube use.

Credits:

Videogaphy and photography ~ Sandra Hammel

The opening song is extracted from video that I took at the Newport Jazz Festival, August 12, 2007. It is Al Green singing “Here I Am” as clips of him singing at the 2007 festival are edited in. The view after showing Al sing is the view the artists see from the main stage at Fort Adams park.

Included in the tribute video:

Newport Jazz Festival at Fort Adams State Park

Narragansett Bay – views from many places, including a ride on a sailboat

showing the shoreline of Newport

Views of Jamestown on Conanicut Island

Eastons Beach, also known as Newport Beach, First Beach

Newport Bridge – renamed The Claiborne Pell Bridge

Island Moving Company on St. George’s – prep school lawn

Black Ships Festival Taiko Drumming – New York City group

Touro Park’s stone structure

Brenton Cove

Sachuest Beach, also known as Second Beach

Sachuest Wildlife Refuge

Third Beach

Newport Art Museum

One of the Darfur events I have organized include:

Americas Cup Avenue

Washington Square – important scenes of Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” were shot here

See link below

Cliff Walk and views from it

Trinity Church

Touro Synagogue

The International Tennis Hall of Fame grounds

Goat Island

Ocean Drive – Brenton Point Park view

Newport National Golf Course

Ida Lewis Yacht Club

Views from Kings Park

My beloved sunset and cloud photos

My son when he was 11 years old

Ducks at Brenton Cove

Websites

www.newport-discovery-guide.com/newport-ri-attractions-washington-square

Washington Square

www.flickr.com/photos

Church at corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard ~ where JFK and Jackie were married

www.jamestown-ri

Jamestown, Rhode Island – great website

www.gonewport.com

Newport's tourist website

WHY DO I DO THAT?

I love to write, whether it be in my personal journals, here on the blog, or on scraps of paper. I love to dance. I love to sing, I love to play the piano. I love to make videos. I love to photograph about everything.

But, what happens is that the things I love don't get done because, though they now make it on my list of "to do", I do the things that I don't love first. Why do I do that? The things, that when I die, won't matter that they got done are the things that crowd out what makes me feel full, most free, thrilled to be alive. There is no time left to do what I love because of my pattern of daily behavior.

Why do I do that?

Here's a little thing I did that is part of those things I love.
......................................................

IF WE ONLY HAVE LOVE ~ QUAND ON A QUE L'AMOUR from ilovemylifesblog on Vimeo.

......................................................
If you double click the video it will enlarge. To get it to return to the small size, click the esc key on your keyboard.

NOTE: I don't know what is going on with the internet. I don't think it is my computer. My videos aren't loading on the blog, Facebook is haywire, my emails won't load....you get the idea. So, you may have to click on the video link to see it, until the internet feels better.

Recorded at home with very minimal knowledge of Apple's Garage Band. No sound editing. Roland FP-4 keyboard. External microphone used for keyboard and vocal.

Lyrics

If we only have love
then tomorrow will dawn
and the days of our years
will rise on that morn'

if we only have love
to embrace without fears
we will kiss with our eyes
we will sleep without tears

if we only have love
with our arms open wide
then the young and the old
will stand at our side

if we only have love
love that's falling like rain
then the parch desert Earth
will grow green again

if we only have love
for the hymn that we shout
for the song that we sing
then we'll have a way out

If we only have love
we can reach those in pain
we can heal all our wounds
we can use our own names

if we only have love
we can melt all the guns
and then give the new world
to our daughters and sons

if we only have love
then Jerusalem stands
and then death has no shadow
there are no foreign lands

if we only have love
we will never bow down
we'll be tall as the pines
neither heroes nor clowns

if we only have love
then we'll only be men
and we'll drink from the grail
to be born once again
then with nothing at all
but the little we are
we'll have conquered all time,
all space,
the sun
and the stars

~ For Jacques and Claudette of France ~

Song composed by Jacques Brel.
Keyboard and vocal: Sandra Hammel

Video and photos by Sandra Hammel
in Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Narragansett Bay, Brenton Cove, Eastons Beach (statue), Newport (Pell) Bridge, opening with hollyhocks blooming along a sidewalk of a Newport Street .

♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩

Heath Ledger had a musician friend, Ben Harper. Below is Ben Harper's "band".

These young people have no problem following their passions, apparently
..................................................................

Fistful of Mercy from Fistful of Mercy on Vimeo.

..................................................................
If you double click the video it will enlarge. To get it to return to the small size, click the esc key on your keyboard.
Fistful of Mercy
Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur, Dhani Harrsion
Fistful of Mercy

Live

West Seattle scene: Fistful of Mercy a traffic-stopper at Easy Street

Source for below

Earlier this week, we introduced you to Fistful Of Mercy, a brand new super group consisting of Ben Harper, Dhani Harrison, and Joseph Arthur. However, other than the names of the parties involved, we didn’t any other details, such as what the band had planned or even what they sounded like. Hell, if you didn’t know who was involved and only saw the band’s name, you’d probably think we were talking about someone on this year’s Warped Tour bill.

Well, the trio made their debut performance on Tuesday in Los Angeles, which was then broadcast on KCRW yesterday. You can find video from both events below. As you’ll see, Fistful Of Mercy are anything but a death metal band. In fact, it’s pretty evident why Pop & Hiss described them as “a quirkier take on the Crosby, Stills and Nash model,” who collide “folk, blues, eccentric pop and gorgeous three-part vocal harmonies.”

So when can we expect to hear more from Fistful Of Mercy? According to Pop & Hiss, the trio’s debut LP, titled As I Call You Down, will arrive on October 5th via Harrison’s Hot Records West label. There’s no word yet on additional touring, but we have to assume more dates will be coming.

As mentioned, you can watch the band performing three cuts below. A full stream of the KCRW broadcast is available here.

♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩ ♫♬♩

Clicking post title will take you to Cherokee Morning Song

BEAUTY IN THE MONTH OF MAY IN NEWPORT COUNTY RHODE ISLAND

No rhyme, no reason,

things that bring me pleasure....

Newport Beach, Newport, Rhode Island

Above pictures are views from the Cliff Walk in Newport Rhode Island May 2008
This picture is of Newport Beach

Above pictures taken at Sachuest Wildlife Refuge May 2008
This one is looking onto Sachuest Beach
Middletown, Rhode Island

12 deer were spotted at this site along the path at Sachuest along the Atlantic Ocean
in Middletown, Rhode Island in April 2008

.................................................

.................................................
An die musik ~ To Music
Sung by Kathleen Ferrier. Composed by Franz Schubert.
From: lochness11

Lyrics
O gracious Art, in how many grey hours
When life's fierce orbit encompassed me,
Have you kindled my heart to warm love,
And charmed me into a better world!

Oft has a sigh, issuing from your harp,
A sweet, blessed chord of yours,
Thrown open the heaven of better times;
O gracious Art, for that I thank you!

Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,
Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,
Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden,
Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!

Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,
Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!

.................................................

.................................................
Children's voices sing An die Musik
From: trinitychurch
Two numbers on the video:
An die Musik (To Music) by Franz Schubert
Linden Lee by Ralph Vaughan Williams
The resident training choir of the American Boychoir and the training
and junior choirs of Chorus Angelicus

Above pictures of my yard in April and May 2008

Photos of where I live
Aquidneck Island
From my yard
Portsmouth
Middletown
Newport
Rhode Island

All of the above pictures were taken
no more than 10 minutes from my home.

Where I live:

.........................................

.........................................
In the beginning there were no flowers
To learn more, visit www.pbs.org/nova/flower
From: PBS
Botanist Yin Kaipu and modern-day plant hunter Dan Hinkley stumble upon a roadside garden and find a treasure trove of famous flowers in their native birthplace.

NOVA's story about the origin of flowering plants, "First Flower" aired on PBS
NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston.

*Links and Books
*Orchid Pictures

Lake Michigan
My dad, brother and me

Childhood in Indiana

Go Newport

City of Newport

Jamestown Rhode Island ~ Conanicut Island