Venezuela Youth Orchestra - Bernstein - Mambo

A wonderful sight to see so many people having fun all at once - yet again, this is a powerful example of how music and creative activity can bring people together and promote healing, wellness and sheer enjoyment - this mambo will get you dancing!

The Portal of Healing.

El Sistema - How Music Saved Venezuela's Children

The remarkable accomplishment of a great humanist, José Antonio Abreu, who dedicated his life to set up the 'Sistema' in 1975, an extraordinary music and social project, which has been running in Venezuela in an attempt to transform the lives of the nations poorest children.

El Sistema has been using classical music to tackle the social problems of a country where 60% of the population live below the poverty line. By offering free instruments and tuition through a network of after-school centres all over the country, the Sistema has kept thousands of children away from the drugs, alcohol and gang-related violence of the streets and has led to the creation of 30 professional orchestras in a country that had only 2 before it started. Currently, 275,000 children attend the El Sistema schools and many of them play in one of the 125 youth orchestras.

At the pinnacle of the system stands the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela under its music director Gustavo Dudamel who is himself a product of the Sistema and is also the musical director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

This is an initiative we need to get going again in the UK. I was also the beneficiary of a musical education coming as I did from a poor background. I grew up in a bad neighbourhood and we always had problems with violence. My father had the good wisdom and courage to put me into music school at an early age, something for which he sacrificed and I will always be eternally grateful.

The result of that was I was always busy as a young person in a very rich, rewarding and creative environment, mixing with nice, creative people. Had I not been there, I am sure I would have to got into trouble for it was inevitable given the area we lived in.

The result of that early and intense exposure to a musical education was that I did better at school across a range of subjects, I developed social skills early on especially the confidence to communicate, I had a greater awareness of cultures from other countries and history through music and most importantly, at a time in my mid teens when I found it most difficult to cope, music was there as a release and a means of self discipline to act as a guide and a way of investing my energy in rewarding and creative pursuits.

The study of music gave me the chance to travel, something I would never have done being poor and it gave me tools later in life to study further in my adult life and acquire skills and qualifications in other subject areas purely because the discipline of playing an instrument and the mental challenge it creates was a wonderful platform for further study.

The benefits of music for everyone are plain for all to see from the video. More importantly, we must get music back on the core curriculum for everyone, not just classical but all forms of music, playing, study, music appreciation taking students to concerts. gigs and festivals is all part of what I call the rich learning experience I had as a young person.

It is so important to bring people together today and music is one of those simple things that can help to do just that. I know the In Harmony project has started in England and is based on El Sistema but it is only on a small scale. We need desperately to get music available to everyone that wants to do it. The rewards are clear to see and the money invested will reap a rich harvest of talented people.

The Portal of Healing.

The Pugilist

The night was wild the weather mild, The moon was full the die was cast,
Of a come back to write, He was game to the last.
The claret dripped the gasps of breath the brain cells death,
Come back come back the voices cried, where's your guts where's your pride? Another round could go your way , forget the pain remember the pay,
you can rest another day.
What's today? What's the time? Who are you? CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

Poetry by Pere - Copyright 2009 Xtralube Productions All rights reserved

The Portal of Healing.

Dancing to The Sound of Music at Central Station Antwerp

It is so very nice to see people having fun!

Lara Fabian - Je suis malade

JE SUIS MALADE - Original by Serge Lama

Je ne rêve plus je ne fume plus
Je n'ai même plus d'histoire
Je suis sale sans toi je suis laid sans toi
Je suis comme un orphelin dans un dortoir

Je n'ai plus envie de vivre ma vie
Ma vie cesse quand tu pars
Je n'ai plus de vie et même mon lit
Se transforme en quai de gare
Quand tu t'en vas

Je suis malade complètement malade
Comme quand ma mère sortait le soir
Et qu'elle me laissait seul avec mon désespoir

Je suis malade parfaitement malade
T'arrives on ne sait jamais quand
Tu repars on ne sait jamais où
Et ça va faire bientôt deux ans
Que tu t'en fous

Comme à un rocher comme à un péché
Je suis accroché à toi
Je suis fatigué je suis épuisé
De faire semblant d'être heureux quand ils sont là

Je bois toutes les nuits mais tous les whiskies
Pour moi ont le même goût
Et tous les bateaux portent ton drapeau
Je ne sais plus où aller tu es partout

Je suis malade complètement malade
Je verse mon sang dans ton corps
Et je suis comme un oiseau mort quand toi tu dors

Je suis malade parfaitement malade
Tu m'as privé de tous mes chants
Tu m'as vidé de tous mes mots
Pourtant moi j'avais du talent avant ta peau

Cet amour me tue et si ça continue
Je crèverai seul avec moi
Près de ma radio comme un gosse idiot
Écoutant ma propre voix qui chantera

Je suis malade complètement malade
Comme quand ma mère sortait le soir
Et qu'elle me laissait seul avec mon désespoir

Je suis malade c'est ça je suis malade
Tu m'as privé de tous mes chants
Tu m'as vidé de tous mes mots
Et j'ai le cour complètement malade
Cerné de barricades t'entends je suis malade

Stand Up For Your Health -- Physiologists And Microbiologists Find Link Between Sitting And Poor Health

Stand Up For Your Health -- Physiologists And Microbiologists Find Link Between Sitting And Poor Health

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0610-stand_up_for_your_health.htm#

ScienceDaily () -- Physiologists analyzing obesity, heart disease, and diabetes found that the act of sitting shuts down the circulation of a fat-absorbing enzyme called lipase. They found that standing up engages muscles and promotes the distribution of lipase, which prompts the body to process fat and cholesterol, independent of the amount of time spent exercising. They also found that standing up uses blood glucose and may discourage the development of diabetes.

From the Portal - Diabetes is a major issue that affects many more people now than ever and affects more people than perhaps they realise. We will be covering this issue in some detail in order to uncover the real truth behind diabetes.

The Portal of Healing.

Reduced Diet Thwarts Aging, Disease In Monkeys

Reduced Diet Thwarts Aging, Disease In Monkeys

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A very important study iin understanding the relationship between diet and health. The study, carried out over twenty years in monkeys, clearly shows that a healthy diet is fundamental to how we age and how we can help to maintain our general health.

The Portal of Healing.

Mario Lanza sings Una Furtiva Lagrima

A special performance of this aria from a tenor who should not be forgotten - his passion is clear in the way he sings. Had he lived longer and had the chance to do real opera in the opera house, I feel sure his influence would have been greater.

The Portal of Healing.

Composer Reveals Musical Chords' Hidden Geometry

Composer Reveals Musical Chords' Hidden Geometry

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A new way of bringing music to more people which can only be a good thing. Using geometric shapes to represent chords, this research opens up many new possibilities for all kinds of people to compose and really get into music which they might be prevented from doing using traditional methods.

The Portal of Healing.

An Important Breathing Exercise

A video on breathing exercises - we should all take some time to watch this sort video and literally take a deep breath. This is an exercise which I have done many times especially when times have been stressful and it really does work.

I feel a real sense of clam and control doing this breathing exercise and it is such a simple exercise and costs nothing but a few minutes of your time.

The Portal of Healing.

Sing for water

600 people gathered at Bristol's harbour side and sang for water. This event was to benefit WaterAid an international non-profit organisation dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.

The Portal of Healing.

The Music of Philip Burton

H