Doriano Carta

Here’s a totally 80s music video from BREATHE called “How Can I Fall” that brings back lots of memories. I really liked Breathe and their big hits “Hands to Heaven” and “Does She Love That Man”. This one made the top 5 as far as I can remember.

This has always been one of my favorite songs. It’s deep and thought provoking. The part that really stays with me is this one;

Everyone’s got to face down the demons,
Maybe today,
We can put the past away

This came to mind today because I had a nice serious conversation today with someone close who shared their dark secret about losing the will to live. It came as a shock to the system and I did everything I could to convince them that life is worth living, despite any hardships that we have to endure. I felt so helpless as my words seem to fall on def ears. I’m still numb from the experience… not knowing what will happen next.

Lead singer Stephan Jenkins said on the PBS show In The Mix: "It’s not just a song about some guy offing himself. Jumper’s really about understanding. Everyone carries demons around, they carry some sort of scar around. The message of Jumper is that there comes a time when you have to put the past away." (From SongFacts.com)

For comic relief from such a serious subject matter, here’s a scene from the movie YES MAN where Jim Carrey sings this song to save someone.

JUMPER

I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you’ve been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand.
I would understand.
The angry boy,
A bit too insane,
Icing over a secret pain
You know you don’t belong.
You’re the first to fight,
You’re way too loud,
You’re The flash of light,
On a burial shroud,
I know something’s wrong
Well everyone I know has got a reason,
To say,
Put the past away
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you’ve been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand.
And well he’s on the table,
And he’s gone to code,
And I do not think anyone knows,
What they are doing here,
And your friends have left you,
You’ve been dismissed.
I never thought it would come to this,
And I, I want you to know
Everyone’s got to face down the demons,
Maybe today,
We can put the past away,
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend.
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you’ve been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand,
I would understand…
(I would understand)
(I would understand)
(Understand)
Ya ya ya ya ya…
Can you put the past away?
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
I would understand
(I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend, )
I would understand
(I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend, )
And I would understand
(X2)
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsty.com/lyrics/t/third_eye_blind/#share

I love SNOW PATROL so I was thrilled this morning when I heard their new song “JUST SAY YES”! They are one of the most underrated bands around today. They’re best known for the songs “Chasing Cars” which was helped by its use the TV show Grey’s Anatomy and “Open Your Eyes” which was helped by its use in the series finale of ER.

The interesting thing to Snow Patrol’s recent success is that they’ve been together since 1994. Talk about perseverance and patience. I’m just glad that more and more people are realizing just how good Snow Patrol is.

Just Say Yes Lyrics
I’m running out of ways to make you see
I want you to stay here beside me
I won’t be ok and I won’t pretend I am
So just tell me today and take my hand
Please take my hand
Please take my hand
Just say yes, just say there’s nothing holding you back
It’s not a test, nor a trick of the mind
Only love
It’s so simple and you know it is
You know it is, yeah
We can’t be to and fro like this
All our lives
You’re the only way to me
The path is clear
What do I have to say to you
For Gods sake, dear
For Gods sake, dear
For Gods sake, dear
For Gods sake, dear
For Gods sake, dear
Just say yes, just say there’s nothing holding you back
It’s not a test, nor a trick of the mind
Only love
Just say yes, coz Im aching and I know you are too
For the touch of your warm skin
As I breathe you in
http://www.elyricsworld.com/just_say_yes_lyrics_snow_patrol.html
I can feel your heart beat through my shirt
This was all I wanted, all I want
Its all I want
Its all I want
Its all I want
Its all I want
Just say yes, just say there’s nothing holding you back
It’s not a test, nor a trick of the mind
Only love
Just say yes, coz Im aching and I know you are too
For the touch of your warm skin
As I breathe you in

This one hour documentary was a powerfully emotional experience. I know that many people cannot bring themselves to watch anything regarding the tragic events of 9/11 even till this day so this will be especially tough for them to experience. This covers the search to identify one of the most striking images from that eventful day, that of the falling man.

The purpose isn’t just to find out who the person descending to their death was but to pay a tribute to the hundreds of people that felt they had no choice but to jump. It’s a painful thing to even think about but it happened. The personal stories in this documentary shed more light to the events that forced these people—like you and me—to do such an insane thing. It’s truly a touching experience to watch this. Amazing how a simple photo could lead to all of these incredible stories.

Also, this is a reminder of the lessons learned on 9/11. We cannot ever forget what we all experienced back then. No matter how much time that passes nor how busy our hectic lives become, we can’t afford to take anything or anyone for granted. We must do our best to appreciate each person and as many moments as we can. After all, from the time we are born, each and every one of us is the falling Man. 

I loved this song, “Love Left to Lose” by Sons of Sylvia who performed it live on American Idol tonight. I never heard of them before but I recognized them for some reason. They were previously known as The Clark Brothers who won the top prize on the reality show called The Next Great American Band in 2007. I thought they were great then and thought they were even better tonight! I’m so thrilled that they were given this massive stage to perform on and that they are touring with Carrie Underwood. I hope they experience more and more success in their career. They’re a close knit group of brothers, as evident by their new name.

Here is the live performance. Checkout the charisma from the lead singer Ashly Clark. It reminded me a lot of the lead singer from 30 seconds to Mars, Jared Leto. Ashley wrote the song with his cousin, none other than hitmaker and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder!

Here’s a playlist of 13 videos of the band…mostly when they were known as The Clark Brothers.

Sometimes the biggest changes come from the smallest things. In this case, I’ll share a couple of WordPress plugins that have a tremendous impact on the blogging experience. They are free, easy to use and big time-savers.

PhotoDropper makes adding images to your blog posts much quicker and easier. It scours Flickr for photos with creative commons license which means you can use them for free (as long as you give credit to the photographer/owner). It also does the dirty work of uploading the photos, embedding them and including the links to the photo’s original source along with photo credit. It’s a brilliant and simple idea.

Just click the Photodropper icon on your wordpress toolbar and search for photos..

Under each photo you will see 4 links:

The first will popup the source Flickr page in a new window (so you can see it and double check the Creative Commons license). There will be 3 links (S for small, M for Medium, and L for Large) that will drop that size photo into the post:

Select the image you want and it’s embedded in your blog post along with the photo credit and related link to the source.

Apture is another innovative and impactful plugin. It’s also quite unique because of all the different types of things it allows you to find and embed with a click of the mouse. It doesn’t just do images like photodropper, but other things like wikipedia entries, youtube videos (you can choose portion of video to show!), and so much more. Here’s a good screencast that shows what Apture can do.

Zemanta is similar in concept to Apture in that it finds all kinds of relevant media and information from the web that you can plug into your blog post. Images, videos, Wikipedia entries, articles from major news outlets and more.

Thanks to @Merylkevans for reminding me about Zemanta. I’d forgotten about them.

There you have it. Just a few powerfully progressive plugins that will change the blogging experience for the better. Give them a try and see for yourself. That old adage is so true about good things coming in tiny packages.

In November 1994, Ken McCarthy organized the first conference ever held that focused exclusively on the commercial potential of the web. This rare footage, which documents the very earliest days of the web industry, is an important artifact in the history of technology. After introductory remarks by Ken, Marc Andreessen, the 23 year old co-founder of Netscape, describes how the first web browser came into being and shares his vision of the future of the network which was destined to change the world forever.

This is such a blast to watch. It wasn’t really THAT long ago but in tech years (measured like dog years) it might as well have been a century ago. We’ve come a long way but believe it or not, we’re still in the web’s infancy and only getting started. The mobile age is just getting off the ground. Fasten your seat belts, folks…this is going to be a bumpy ride but full of fun and innovation!

I was blown away by this short video set to Carl Sagan’s powerful words about Earth, the pale blue dot. I also liked all the movie clips used in the video. The transcript and list of all the movies used in the video follow.

The spacecraft was a long way from home.

I thought it would be a good idea, just after Saturn, to have them take one last glance homeward. From Saturn, the Earth would appear too small for Voyager to make out any detail. Our planet would be just a point of light, a lonely pixel hardly distinguishable from the other points of light Voyager would see: nearby planets, far off suns. But precisely because of the obscurity of our world thus revealed, such a picture might be worth having.

It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast, encompassing cosmos—but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last for decades to come.

So, here they are: a mosaic of squares laid down on top of the planets in a background smattering of more distant stars. Because of the reflection of sunlight off the spacecraft, the Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special significance to this small world; but it’s just an accident of geometry and optics. There is no sign of humans in this picture: not our reworking of the Earth’s surface; not our machines; not ourselves. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalisms is nowhere in evidence. We are too small. On the scale of worlds, humans are inconsequential: a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal.

Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; hopeful child; inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings; how eager they are to kill one another; how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity—in all this vastness—there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we’ve ever known.

The pale blue dot.

This is an excerpt from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. It talks about the photo of the same name, Pale Blue Dot, taken by Voyager I on February 14, 1990.

The short film was produced by David Fu.

Cosmos: Carl Sagan
The Planets
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Some Like It Hot
The Big Lebowski
Moulin Rouge!
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Memento
The Elephant Man
Das Leben der Anderen
Amelie
Red Beard
The Ten Commandments
Glengarry Glen Ross
Terminator 2 – Judgment Day
The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers
Yojimbo
2001 – A Space Odyssey
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Life Is Beautiful
Cinema Paradiso
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Dead Zone
Ultimate Jordan
Leon – The Professional
Once Upon a Time in the West
Vanilla Sky
Gattaca
Gladiator
Braveheart
Red Sorghum
Hero
Reservoir Dogs
Gangs of New York
American History X
Taxi Driver
Mystic River
Citizen Kane
The Right Stuff
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Dancer in the Dark
The Usual Suspects
Miller’s Crossing
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Rounders
Scent of a Woman
The Infernal Affairs
What Time Is It There?
Brazil
Superman – The Movie
North By Northwest
The Shawshank Redemption
Patton
Mission To Mars
Blade Runner
Rear Window
Lady and the Tramp
The Proposition
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Feathers in the Wind
In the Mood for Love
Singin’ in the Rain

Yes is one of my favorite bands of all-time and “It Can Happen to You” from their 90125 album is one of my favorite songs. It was the same album that spawned their chart topping “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. Trevor Horn (from Buggles & Video Killed the Radio Star fame) produced these two songs and album.

You can fool yourself
You can cheat until you’re blind
You can cut your heart
It can happen
You can mend the wires
You can feed the soul apart
You reach
It can happen to you
It can happen to me
It can happen to everyone eventually
It’s a constant fight
A constant fight
You’re pushing the needle to the red
Black and white
Who knows who’s right
No substitute you’re born you’re dead
Fly by night
Created out of fantasy
Our destinations call
Look up – Look down
Look out – Look around
Look up – Look down
There’s a crazy world outside
We’re not about to lose our pride
It can happen to you
It can happen to me
It can happen to everyone eventually
As you happen to say
It can happen today
As it happens
It happens in every way
This world I like
We architects of life
A song a sigh
Developing words that linger
Through fields of green through open eyes
This for us to see
Look up – Look down
Look out – Look around
So look up – Look down
There’s a crazy world outside
We’re not about to lose our pride
It can happen to you
It can happen to me
It can happen to everyone eventually
As you happen to say
It can happen today
As it happens
It happens in every way
As you happen to see
It will happen to be
Nothing happens to nowhere and nowhere
Solo
Look up – Look down
There’s a crazy world outside
We’re not about to lose our pride
It can happen to you
It can happen to me
It can happen to everyone eventually
As you happen to see
It will happen to be
Nothing happens to nowhere and nowhere
You can fool yourself
You can cheat until you’re blind
You can cut your heart
You can fool yourself It can happen to you
You can cheat until you’re blind It can happen to me
You can cut your heart It can happen to eveyone eventually
As you happen to say
It can happen today
As it happens
It happens in every way
You can mend the wires
You can feed the soul apart
You can touch your life
You can bring your soul alive
It can happen to you
It can happen to me
It can happen to everyone eventually
As you happen to say
It can happen today
As it happens
It happens in every way

Here’s a blast from the past to the 1980s. Flash N’ the Pan and their “MEDIA MAN” hit which eerily fits in well with today’s new media age. Even the name of the band is ironic as Adobe Flash continues to get panned by Apple.

Sit back and enjoy this song from more than a quarter century ago!