Music & Video: Green Children
Ivan M. Granger May 22nd, 2008
A lovely video montage set to music. Produced by The Green Children Foundation which supports microcredit, education, and healthcare.
'Videos' Category
Music & Video: Snatam Kaur Khalsa
Ivan M. Granger April 30th, 2008
This lovely video was recommended by Cinza. Moving meditative kirtan in the Sikh tradition by Snatam Kaur Khalsa. From a London performance. A nice pairing with Guru Nanak’s poem…
Video: From Me to WE and Beyond
Ivan M. Granger April 28th, 2008
I thought this beautiful video was worth sharing. A collage of thoughts and images as a reminder that we can choose the world we live in and the way we live in the world.
Produced by the Surprise Foundation
Music by Ottmar Liebert
Music & Video: Manose
Ivan M. Granger April 16th, 2008
Manose is a world-famous flute player from Nepal. Soaring notes carry you to a land of flowering mountain fields and clear skies.
This video is a nice sampler of his music and bright personality.
Manose
Suskera Solo Bamboo Flute
“Offering three mesmerizing pieces for solo bamboo flute, each based on a different Indian scale, this leads the listener deeper into a mood of serenity.”
Video: The Way
Ivan M. Granger April 14th, 2008
A three dimensional world Chinese brush paintings, where life — chi — flows through everything. Stunning and meditative…
Video: The Mandala
Ivan M. Granger April 5th, 2008
It’s been a little while since I last posted a video. I thought you’d enjoy this meditation on mandalas… in art, in nature, in the mind.
Everything leads inward to the center.
Video: Maya Angelou - Still I Rise
Ivan M. Granger March 28th, 2008
I welcome any chance to listen to Maya Angelou. Her words have that deep echo of authority, real spiritual authority. She is a template for us all as we mature, reminding us that aging is a path to wisdom, compassion, and surprising strength.
I hope you enjoy this short video!
Video: Rain / Regen
Ivan M. Granger March 17th, 2008
I hope you like this animated short as much as I do — the story of a frustrated artist, and the visionary blessing of a few drops of rain…
Animation by Michael Sewnarain
Music by Harry Koopman
Music & Video: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ivan M. Granger March 10th, 2008
I first encountered the amazing voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan through a fortuitous accident about seven years ago. Up until that point, I had not heard of the great master of ecstatic Muslim/Sufi music of Pakistan and India known as Qawali music. At the time I was living in Hawaii, and I wanted to purchase a gift for my wife. I noticed a music store that was going out of business, so I walked in to see if I could find an interesting CD. Most of their shelves were bare, except for some miscellaneous world music CDs. I didn’t recognize any of the names. Most would have been difficult for me to even pronounce. But the photograph of this large man seemingly glowing with “rapture” grabbed my attention. I bought it knowing nothing more. When my wife later opened her gift and we sat listening, we were spellbound. I’ve been a fan ever since.
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Rapture: An Essential Selection (Music CD) by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan |
Watch the following video clips for a taste of a live performance. Continue Reading »
Poetry in Movies: Four Weddings and a Funeral
Ivan M. Granger March 8th, 2008
This weekend I started asking myself, What are some of the best uses of poetry in the movies? I can think of a handful of movies about famous poets, and a few more that use poetry in a powerful way — though, when I started writing them down, the list was not very long.
One of the first movies that I wrote down was “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” I still find the movie to be very funny. How can you go wrong with an appearance by Rowan Atkinson as a stuttering priest performing his first wedding ceremony? But the emotional heart of the movie, the scene that stays with you longest, is John Hannah’s truly moving reading of W. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” read for his dead partner…
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Four Weddings and a Funeral (DVD) |
Funeral Blues
by W. H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Continue Reading »
Video: Sand Fantasy
Ivan M. Granger March 6th, 2008
How do you describe this? Fingerpainting with light and sand? It’s also story telling, scenes being shaped before your eyes.
I could imagine someone combining this artform with poetry — Rumi or Mary Oliver or your own poetry, accompanied by shifting sand paintings. Wouldn’t that make a great video or live poetry reading?
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To see the full playlist of videos, visit the blog’s Video Channel tab.
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Video: Buddhaverse
Ivan M. Granger March 5th, 2008
I first saw this video when someone posted a link to it on the Poetry Chaikhana Forum. Watching this video, I am reminded that, despite all its movement, the world, the whole universe, is in meditation… and asks us to join in.
Everyone I show this to loves it. I hope you do too.
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To see the full playlist of videos, visit the blog’s Video Channel tab.
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Music & Video: David Hykes
Ivan M. Granger March 5th, 2008
David Hykes and The Harmonic Choir
Harmonic Worlds
“By THE legendary original overtone-singing/throat-singing pioneer, composer-mystic David Hykes, with The Harmonic Choir. David Hykes’ visionary music, Harmonic Chant, helps us find deep harmony and healing. It transforms our abilities to listen to ourselves, to each other and to the universe.”
The music of David Hykes is beautiful and otherworldly. I find I slip almost immediately into meditation as I listen. Some aspects of his vocalizing reminds me of something I heard several years ago that was described as Mongolian throat singing. It’s like chant, but somehow more primal, getting down beneath words and concepts. Really beautiful work.
Video: Papiroflexia
Ivan M. Granger March 3rd, 2008
This is a truly delightful short animated film about origami (”papiroflexia” in Spanish) — and reshaping the world we live in. Take a moment (2 1/2 minutes, to be exact) to watch this. You’ll be smiling and reaching for a sheet of paper…
Created by Joaquin Baldwin at the UCLA Animation Workshop, 2007.
Original Score written by Nick Fevola.
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To see the full playlist of videos, visit the blog’s Video Channel tab.
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Music & Video: John Trudell
Ivan M. Granger March 3rd, 2008
John Trudell
Bone Days
“Spoken word that weaves from Native to rock to middle eastern-twinged, with traditional vocals underlying John’s intense, forthright message.”
I love the spare guitar that often accompanies him on this recording. And the native chant. Creates a feeling of big spaces, plains, wide skies… wide, heartbreaking questions. John Trudell asks fundamental questions of what it means to be a human being, and the craziness that passes for “normal” in the world. I consider him to be a cultural healer, a prophet of sorts, someone who brings us back to ourselves, even when it’s painful. Worth a listen.
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To see the full playlist of videos, visit the blog’s Video Channel tab.
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Video: Robert Bly Reads Kabir
Ivan M. Granger February 29th, 2008
Robert Bly’s sleepy voice, Kabir’s words, the music of a sitar…
Enjoy!
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To see the full playlist of videos, visit the blog’s Video Channel tab.
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