Archive for September, 2012

[Guest Post] You Just Have to Look for It . . .

Sunday, September 23rd, 2012

by Ted Moreno

I awoke in a tent on a beach on a desert lake on a Sunday morning. Not yet sunrise, there was a silent light, barely interrupted by the notes of moving water. A few stars still floated in a purple sky.

I crawled out, splashed water on my face and put coffee to boil on the camping stove.

I put on a life vest, tucked my ipod into my pocket and my earbuds in my ear, and placed the box with my camera in the red kayak. I got in and shoved off into the still waters of the cove.

I paddled a little ways from the shore, then put up my paddle and drifted. The water was dimpled and translucent like the glass in your bathroom window. In a kayak you sit below the surface of the water, it cradles you and you let it rock you, up and down, back and forth. The high tips of stark mountains far in the distance were lit by fire and a faintish pink colored the surface of the lake.

I’ve been to this cove now, what, 9 or 10 times? We always camp at this cove, it’s like home now. On the beach, three tents, two still occupied.

My ipod sang:

I come back here sometimes
Angels fall fireflies ascend out
Beyond the aching skyline
Reckless distances erupt in intoxication

I drank heavily what was before me and something shifted. I pulled out my camera and took a few shots. Then I put it away and started taking pictures with my mind. I was under the influence of immense gratitude.

Ah gimme gimme good water,
Ah gimme gimme gimme good water
It was good water. I was given good water.

I realized then that I was being given so much more and this realization shook me like a wave.  I was being given all of creation (more…)

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A Living Legend

Monday, September 3rd, 2012

This past weekend, I saw John Williams conduct his own scores at the Hollywood Bowl.  You might not recognize his name; however, you would know his music from the movies.  Think Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Memoirs of a Geisha, Jaws, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter . . . I could go on with over 100 movie scores.  In addition to his movie scores, he has composed some of the best known Olympic fanfares.

In his 50 year plus year career, he has given our culture an amazing array of compositions that stand on their own, apart from the movies for which they were written.

When I hear his music, I am transported into the story the music is telling.  I often wonder what it must like to be in his head.  Does he hear music all of the time, or just when he is actually composing?

I also think about the what ifs . . . (more…)

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