Das Poona Blues

The wailing of the Blues. I grew up with it and it lives deep within me.
Tracing its roots while attempting to play guitar licks in the style of the old
masters of the deep South has taken me on a long journey which
continues even though I am not active in the music scene these days.
I believe it's in me for good though I'm not sure if I sold my soul to the Devil.
I do know I get in a devilish mood sometimes, but that's fodder for another time.
The Blues may refer to a sad, depressive state of mind and yet it refreshes
and revives the soul which is why it is continuously being reworked globally,
on a daily basis.

Blues music is at the root of this year's Grammy winner Amy Winehouse's
singing and may be heard in the music of other recent Grammy winners like
Norah Jones and her step-sister, sitarist Anoushka Shankar. The universality
of the Blues is often just downright amazing especially when it pops up in the
least expected places, like rural Johannesburg's Hannes Coetzee who uses
a teaspoon in his mouth as a guitar slide.

So now I have this unusual bit of Blues news from an old Bishops' School
(Pune) alumnus about his new CD. I'm speaking of Rolf Heimann, a.k.a.
Professor Bottleneck. What's unusual here is that Rolf is from Germany,
studied in Pune, India, revisited India after a 40-year absence and now
after many years of being a scholar of the Delta Slide Blues has released
a Blues CD, with his new Pune experiences flavoring the project.
A YouTube clip called 'Poona Central' is viewable below if your
curiosity in India or the Blues is aroused. Personally I'm thrilled that the Blues
touches so many people in so many places in so many ways.


Here's an earlier post about Rolf's trip to Pune :
http://virtualpoona.blogspot.com/2007/01/shivaji-market.html

Greetings from Teggsus !

Hello Everyone !

Even if your faith doesn't include the Easter festival
I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you Peace
and Love today - and everyday of your lives.

Have a Blessed Day !

Coffee Is the New Health Food. Really.

Coffee. It's what I drink daily instead of Tea, Sodas and other Beverages.
It's cheap, uplifting, tasty and hot. Imbibing hot liquids like Coffee or Tea
any time of day or night just comes naturally to people like Indians,
Chinese, Vietnamese and Asians in general. Countries often included in
lists of 'Third World' or 'Developing Nations' where the option to save money
means cutting back at the very basic level, food and drink. While many of
the nations mentioned now stand out as emerging economies of the world,
the old tastes and traditions remain in place regardlesss of world domination
by Coke, Pepsi, and more recently, Spring Water.

While all those drinks are household staples for the average consumer, the
worldwide beverage of choice to start the day remains Coffee. And in the maze
of drinks that have been analyzed in the wake of the Health and Fitness craze
post-Jane Fonda tapes and Olivia Newton-John's 'Let's Get Physical' ,
Caffeine has always been warned about. Then just as we all were newly-
enlightened by the latest findings from the New England Journal of Medicine
and the FDA along came more findings backed partly by the Coffee Growers
Association and their investors whose claims about the benefits of Coffee
were backed by their own research and propelled even greater debate.
Which brings us to today's Real Age Health Tip about Coffee and its place
in our diets :

'Good news for the 80 percent of Americans who down an average
of 3.2 cups of Java a day: Your liver loves it. And because the liver is
your body's vital detox center, that's a big health plus. It's not the
caffeine. Apparently, it's the antioxidants or other compounds in coffee
that keep your liver humming. So if you were just thinking you could
do with a cup of Joe, go for it.'

As a Real Age subscriber I'd like you all to read the rest of this ASAP.

Fancy Yourself As Another John Lennon ?

If you think you've got that creative spark, that touch of genius and you're just
dying to make it in the Music business here's an unusual opportunity
that comes backed by the finest in the business. Sponsors like Gibson, Roland,
Apple, Maxell to name a few have teamed up to offer awesome prizes of
equipment, cash and major public gigs guaranteed to bring maximum exposure
for your talent. Be prepared to be educated and judged by the likes of heavy
hitters John Legend, Fergie, Al Jarreau, Bob Weir, Robin Gibb, etc.

All this is a only a small part of The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
which translates into a trip on a magic bus unlike any others before. I missed
seeing the Bus when it stopped in my neighborhood ;-( Seven Clear Creek ISD
students were chosen to participate in a recording session when it rolled into
League City in Texas on March 7 2008. Houston Chronicle Slideshow here

You can take a tour of the bus here. and then after you're suitably amazed
you can enter The John Lennon Songwriting Contest by email or if you
prefer just do it online by uploading an mp3

Get rolling, the contest ends in June !!

For more info or any questions please contact the JLSC at:

info@jlsc.com
or
1.888.884.JLSC (5572)

Where's Sandra? (18 min video)

An interesting bit of film that's been out for awhile and is unintentionally funny
as it conjures up the images of all those Bandra gals we loved to love, Luv !

As Director Paromita Vohra so deftly describes it:
 
'Where's Sandra? is a film about a stereotypical figure
of the Indian Catholic woman - Sandra from Bandra -
Bandra being a largely Christian suburb of Bombay.

At the most literal level, this film is about the
Christian women of Bombay who created a certain space for
women in general. They were the earliest women in Bombay
to enter the workforce, which was part of the reason for
the unease around them and for the sexual stereotyping
that they received.

But they also embodied a certain spirit - of fun, of
pleasure and a certain chutzpah. This generation of women
doesn't know that we owe something to them, for being out
there first where we so easily are today'.

Watch the film here

So After All, A Kiss Is Just

This is Justice.
The 'American Gigolo' is now free to travel to India, but he really
needs to first tap into its culture and be a bit more Dalai-Lama like.

PR-Inside.com Entertainment News has the follow-up to previous posts
on this Blog regarding the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty kissing debacle :

' Richard Gere has been cleared of charges of obscene behaviour after a lawsuit
relating to a 2007 incident in India was thrown out of the country’s Supreme Court.
A court in the western state of Rajasthan, India, issued a warrant for Gere’s arrest
last year (07) after he passionately embraced Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and
kissed her several times at an April (07) AIDS awareness event in the capital city
of New Delhi. '

Hey Boys and Girls !

I don't keep up with this 2008 election stuff too much but I'm forced to absorb
it all anyway since I spend way too much time with CNN in the background.
Instead of cultivating my blogging skills. Yes, there are skills involved in the
blogging game. If you don't know what a Blog is, here's a quick and funny
look from an astute observer of the news in all its guises.
He goes by the handle of Uncle Jay and I highly recommend you
get your weekly Uncle Jay fix each Monday by visiting
http://www.unclejayexplains.com/

(This wmv file is hosted by Google videos and is a long one so be patient
and reload the page if needed)


That's all for now, Boys and Girls !