Matthew’s Blog

I know I am going to shock a lot of people with this post.   I am so ashamed.  I hate cilantro, I know I should be just like everyone else and think it is the best flavor on the planet and that we should make ice cream and gum and smother all our recipes with the stuff.   But, alas, I can not ~ because I detest the stuff.  It is my least favorite herb.   I now know that I am not alone,  I just ran across this blog for we minority who hate cilantro.

http://ihatecilantro.blogspot.com/

Take the 16 minutes to watch this film.

A charming, delightful reminder of the impact we have on others.  And, it is a choice.

Validation: A film about the magic of free parking.

Spiritual Cinema Circle has picked it up and is sharing it on their website as well.

I just stumbled across this great Recycling/Waste resource.  I’m in the process of cleaning out my house and I’ve run across many things that ought to be recyclable if I only knew where to take them.   http://earth911.com/ does!  Not only does it give you cool tips and ideas about things you never thought about recycling before (blue jeans as insulation?), it serves us one better by allowing you to type in your location and what it is you are trying to recycle.  It will then show you a list of places that will accept your material.

http://earth911.com/

I have no affiliation with this website.

The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real.

It is by the real that we exist;

it is by the ideal that we live.

~ Victor Hugo
found scrolled around top of the
Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City

In the past two days I have just been amazed by talent.   Two remarkable dance performances and one  Montreal street guitarist.

The first dance came from Pilobolus who I was first introduced to several months ago the same way many others did – on Conan O’Brien show or on YouTube – Summer In the City – The shadow play performance.   Shadows of full busloads of people, Statue of Liberty, and even a bust of Conan.

Well, yesterday I was surfing TED for interesting green ideas when I saw their name and had to investigate.  This performance was mesmerizing.   I like dance, but I’ve never seen synergy like this before.  And I love that they were part of the TED conference because of course art belongs in the same category as business and technology.  It is all about innovation and maximizing the human potential and delighting in the world of possibility.  Take a look

Today I was amazed by a Swan Lake performance presented by the Great Chinese State Circus.   The intro is charming as four frogs delightfully romp/leap around the stage.  The swan dance then seems like any other performance I’ve seen and then I take note that she is dancing on top of someone.  At one point she is piroetting on his right deltoid.   AMAZING strength and fluidity.

[flash http://www.sonnyradio.com/swanlake_0001.swf]

Lastly, for now at least, on the same website that brought us the Swan Lake performance an incredible guitar tapping musical performance by Erik Mongrain, a Montreal street performer with a critically aclaimed album.

[flash http://www.sonnyradio.com/airtap.swf]

Wow what incredible and beautiful paradigm shifts.  Take artistic standards and their expectations rotate them 90 degrees literally and figuratively and discover a new art-form, a new style, a new awareness, a new thinking.

In researching (RED) I came across this excellent little film/story.

Filmmaker Armen Evrensel’s winning film from the (RED) Vision Showcase at the Vail Film Festival. Binty illustrates the (RED) themes: “Be a Good-Looking Samaritan” and “We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For.”

Binty – (RED) Vision Film Competition Winner

Perhaps Spiritual Cinema Circle will pick it up as one of their short films.

Three years ago at the Toronto Film Fest I saw a delightful film called Millions – A magically realism story as only a 7 year old can see it – about ethics, love, being human, and fortune in more ways than one. I just picked it up on dvd and remembered just how charming it was and realized I never posted the review of it.

Want a magical and lift your spirits movie? Rent or Buy Millions. This was one of my favorite movies of the Toronto Film Festival that year. “A heartwarming story of two little boys, faith, miracles . . . a whole lot of money.” It is a charming story told from the perspective of Damian, a 7-year old boy, who uses imagination, fantasy and faith to make sense of his confusing world. When upon receiving a gift from the sky of a suitcase full of cash he and his practical 9 year old brother need to decide what to do with it. The catch, they have seven days before the money becomes worthless as the British pound sterling transitions to euros. This is not a predictable movie, perhaps the final outcome and moral but how they get there is full of unexpected twists, gotcha moments, originality, mysticism, and heartwarming spirit. A truly lovely film. The score is wonderful, the setting is lush and green, and the little actors are enchanting. You won’t regret it.

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3734372633/

PS Keep an eye out for some really cool halos.