X Games Asia 2006

Was called to perform in X Games Asia 2006 in Sunway Lagoon..which was held from 12th to 14th in May. A consecutive 3-day performance is kinda impossible for my usual schedule but after i checked..it's nicely within my one-week mid-sem break..so BINGO! This experience is pretty special..it's still walkaround magic but it was beside a beach! The feeling was so nice..so as the view (hehe).

free will astrology inspiration

This week I'm sharing my horoscope from rob brezny's free will astrology for inspiration. I think it's great advice for all of us. And for more delicious inspiration, visit freewillastrology.com
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Would you please go have a picnic after
midnight in a secret garden? Or maybe wander out to the edge of
nowhere and throw a birthday party for the sun? Or weave wildflowers in
your hair and lead a sweet thing unto temptation with a seduction
strategy plucked from a poem by Pablo Neruda? Please, Gemini, tear
your eyes away from the terribly obvious and the numbingly familiar. Be
willing to be as impractical as you've ever been. The weird probability is that
you'll have a piercing insight about the bottom line while you're
wandering free in a place that's far from the bottom line.

magic

I have been low grade stressing all week about hanging "everything changes" at Omega. I wasn't sure how the prints from Winkflash would turn out. And I'd bought 9 frames at Dick Blick, but wasn't sure how they would work out.
The Winkflash prints are not as good as I'd hoped. I should have printed the pics on photo paper on my computer. But it was an experiment, and took one job off my plate.
The frames are fabulous, but I realized as I was putting the images in them, that not all of them were glass. When I checked the site, it seems they ship plastic not glass. So apparently I got some frames that were meant for shipping even though I'd bought them at the store near Astor Place.
No matter. I wanted to get the work hung, so I did what I always do, and I made do. I will follow up with the store on Monday and see if I can get some kind of credit, or they can get me the glass.
The next stress on my plate was the physical act of hanging. I'm not much of measurer. I do things by site, but I knew that to hang these as I'd imagined them, in a grid, I'd have to do some exacting work. Little voices in my head played both sides of the coin. I just had to keep reminding myself to keep breathing, take my time and trust myself and the universe.
Luckily I'd also realized on the drive over that I might have to adjust my hanging plan, based on what the actual wall space was. Memory never serves correctly.
As it turned out, I had to separate the grid a bit, but had no trouble at all measuring and getting things just about as perfect as possible. Everything looks straight and lined up. I love the grid.
When I finished I headed for the sauna, and sank into the beauty of having everything come together with so little struggle, and even so little planning. Things just fell into place in a nice way. Omega is like that. The energy is just amazing.
I walked out of the sauna and saw Nina Spiro, who I'd met my first year. We've been out of touch the last year, but I know we're both thinking of each other despite the lack of contact.
It's a short weekend for me, as I'm headed back into the city early tomorrow for a benefit auction at my karate school in the afternoon and chanting with Krishna Das in the evening.
I think this time of year is always a whirlwind for me. I'm getting ready for my residency at Omega, and just juggling all I can. Enjoying the lilac and crab apple blooms. Opening windows. Walking barefoot again.

folk and film

Last Saturday night, Larry and I drove over to Unison Arts Center in New Paltz to hear Michael Smith - an extraordinary songwriter who Larry played with more than 30 years ago. Michael's most well-known for The Dutchman, which was recorded by Steve Goodman who is best known for City of New Orleans. I suppose all of this means little if you're not a folk fan. And I have to admit, without Larry providing all the details, I wouldn't have known any of this. But I was raised on Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sandy and Caroline Paton. My sisters and I used to sing 3 part harmony on long trips in the car. So while my musical tastes have broadened quite a bit, I am and always will be a folkie at heart. I still have the long hair to prove it. And I think I've said here before, I'm pretty sure my love of chanting is rooted in singing round the campfire and belting out 500 Miles.



Just today, I had the good fortune to take in two films at the Tribeca Film Festival. It's their 5th year and my first. And I really lucked out with two fabulous foreign films. One from Iran, the other from Lebanon. And given our country's current politics, they were both all the more poignant.
Men at Work struck me for the similarities in human beings around the world. A Perfect Day for the politics and personal loss experienced elsewhere in the world, though not so frequently here in the USA.
I'm not very well versed in film, I just know what I like, know when I'm moved, and transported to worlds I'm not as familiar with as my own. That is one of the great gifts of foreign films I think. On one hand to see how similar we are to one another, all around the globe. On the other, to see how different.
Both film makers were available after the screening for Q&A, which was fascinating. You can read more about Joana Hadjithomas and Kahilil Joreige, here.
I highly recommend each of these films when they hopefully make it to your indie movie house. Neither is uplifting, but each is expansive in its own way.
And expansion is what's it's all about, isn't it?