All at Once - Jack Johnson - Deep Water Horizon

Sometimes it feels a heart is no place to be singing from at all....... Jack Johnson

A Hole in the Ocean-the heartache of many

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Disaster
Official Music Video - A Hole In The Ocean
This song was written to keep the focus on the BP oil spill disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. This is already the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

Lyrics and melody by Joe Monto & Steve Bartlett, performed by Joe Monto

Guinness on St. Paddy's Day

On February 1st, we really should celebrate the life of Irish pagan goddess/christian saint/ledgend Bridget. Thankfully, it is Patrick who is remembered with such fun and silliness and good times and not Bridget. (It would be like partying on Mother Theresa's Day.) Here's to all my "Irish" friends, whatever their nationalities may be.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Christy Moore (live performance with master guitarist Declan "Decky" Dinnot)



All together now..........
Goodbye to the Port and Brandy, to the Vodka and the Stag, To the Schmiddick and the Harpic, the bottled draught and keg. As I sat lookin' up the Guinness ad I could never figure out How your man stayed up on the surfboard after 14 pints of stout.

Wild Mountainside

More often than not, I find myself singing Wild Mountainside. Written by John Douglas (no doubt channelling Rabbie Burns) of the Trashcan Sinatras, and most famously performed by the Queen Eddi Reader at the opening of the new Scottish Parliament building.

Recently, a young friend brought his newly born sweet babe Betty Rose into the office. She was acting all red faced and fussy at being held by strangers. I was biting at the bit for my turn, trying hard to be patient. Once in my arms, instinct took over and as I softly sang her this oh so soothing melody she completely relaxed and opened her eyes. :)



Many thanks to mabooto for posting this video.

We all need somebody to lean on

Hope for Haiti Now telethon benefit took over all our TV stations last night. (I can't post them all, but you should check out all the musical performances at http://www.cmt.com/videos/hope-for-haiti-now-performances/1630346/playlist-detail.jhtml) The program was also broadcast in Canada - North Americans coming together in song and love with money pledges to help Haiti. It was really beautiful and many thanks to a great humanitarian, George Clooney, for organizing and bringing a great many of his friends to the event. (In addition to the musicians, countless super prominent film and TV actors answered pledge phone calls in LA and New York.) This is what our country is really all about.

Click on the little box in the far right bottom corner of each video for FULL SCREEN.

Amazing Performances All (Dave Matthews and Neil Young performing Hank Williams' Alone and Forsaken...Stevie Wonder performing Paul Simon's Bridge Over Troubled Water, Coldplay, Madonna(w/awesome gospel choir) performing Like a Prayer, Sting, Shakira, the Boss.....)

Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock & Keith Urban - Lean On Me (Bill Withers)



Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen Foster's Civil War song) has been sung by all the greats: Emmylou, Dylan, Cash, Nanci Griffith, JT, Bruce, and Ireland's Mary Black and Maura O'Connell among others. I was struck silent last night by Mary J. Blige. Wow! I'm not into R&B but will easily add my name to the list of her admirers - it is no wonder they call her the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.



Christina Aguilera - Lift Me Up (Linda Perry-on piano)
Simply Sublime



Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris - Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

Haiti

Haiti. Magnitude 7 earthquake. Complete devastation. Poor country with substandard construction - thousands dead and the suffering is unspeakable. We rock and roll through an 6.5 earthquake and come out relatively unscathed - the complete opposite of Haiti. I feel awful.

Earthquake footage - pump up the volume

The story in the Hebrides is freezing rain. Time to stay indoors and be thankful for your source of heat.

The story hereabouts is the earthquake. We felt it 200 miles away so those folks in Ferndale, Eureka, Arcada...were rockin' and rollin' big time. That section of the coast is a favorite of ours. An earthquake feels a lot MORE INTENSE in person than it looks on the videos. You have no way of knowing if it is a small tremor or if it will turn into something more.

It would be amazing to watch a redwood forest move in an earthquake - talk about a spiritual experience! What about those folks in sailing and fishing boats out in the Pacific - hold on and ride it out mate!

Video below shows the aftermath of the earthquake (and like the music plays mother earth was "pumpin' up the volume". I have never heard of MAARS but the music is super fun - see, I appreciate more than just "that Scottish stuff").



Footage from the security cameras at the Times-Standard in Eureka CA. Visit www.times-standard.com for full coverage of the 6.5 magnitude quake on 1-9-10.



The awesome dog is Sophie and she is actually taking off to find her owner, the second girl out the door. Sophie did a lap around the room until she found her and stayed right behind her as they left the building. Sophie can also be seen running behind her owner out the door in the stairwell video below. What a good dog!

All shook up (earthquake in Nor Cal)

Late this afternoon the rumbling under my feet made my heart race. What is THIS? Although it has been more years than I can recall, it was a feeling of helplessness I knew and dreaded. My childhood years were spent in Southern California and in a split second those memories came flooding back. Sitting in front of the computer listening to some Gaelic band (whose name escapes me) on iTunes I quickly ripped off the headset. A low flying plane can shake a house - perhaps that's it. But all was quiet. My sons were at their fathers house; it was just me and Lilly our dog. She acted like nothing was the matter (aren't animals supposed to sense these things?). I grabbed her and then it was over. All that remained was the soft swaying of the light fixture over the table. Although it had been soooo many years since I felt an earthquake, one never forgets.

A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California this afternoon, shaking buildings, knocking out power in several coastal communities and leaving a trail of broken windows, dishes and chimneys not to mention water, gas and sewer leaks throughout Humboldt County. Thankfully, no major injuries. A lot of mess to clean up. The powerful quake hit at about 4:27 p.m. PST about 22 miles off the coast of Ferndale. The quake hit at a depth of nearly 10 miles. It was felt as far east as Reno, Nevada.

All will be "fine" in time. It's California after all and the earth shakes, especially along the coast. A few short months ago we were vacationing on the redwood coast, an area I dearly LOVE. I feel bad for those who will have to deal with the aftermath of the quake. I don't mean to make light of it, but the possibility of earthquakes is a fact of life. It is out of our hands. Singing, especially in harmony, always makes me feel better. My Dad and the King have the same birthday-yesterday. Dad wasn't an Elvis fan, but I think he'd forgive me this one time.