Sunday, November 29, 2009

YogaDawg's Fun Sunday - Yoga Rap - Part 1

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha "What's ya doin today, What's ya doin today? I'm goin to yoga, I'm goin to yoga..." - This is YogaDawg's new theme song! From Setty Smooth



It's a Sri Thang - "We got Sat, We got Chit, We got Ananda. We got Sat, We got Chit, We got Ananda" From Sarah Starnes with a cameo from Johnny Friend.

Nothin' But A Sri Thang from Sarah Starnes on Vimeo.



This has been kicking around the yoganet but I found it funny.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz at the Kennedy Center


With Florian Weber - Piano, Jeff Denson - Bass, Ziv Ravitz - Drums

Lee is a pretty funny guy who was digging bantering with the crowd at the Kennedy Center. "When you get my age, you can make silly jokes". You go Lee!

Lee Konitz with rare footage of Lennie Tristano


With early Bill Evans before he went trio. Check out his left hand.


Some of Lee's humor











One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like a cousin of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity that has led him to consistently take chances and stretch himself, usually quite successfully. Early on he studied clarinet, switched to alto, and played with Jerry Wald. Konitz gained some attention for his solos with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra (1947). He began studying with Lennie Tristano, who had a big influence on his conception and approach to improvising. Konitz was with Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool Nonet during their one gig and their Capitol recordings (1948-1950) and recorded with Lennie Tristano's innovative sextet (1949), including the first two free improvisations ever documented. Konitz blended very well with Warne Marsh's tenor (their unisons on "Wow" are miraculous) and would have several reunions with both Tristano and Marsh through the years, but he was also interested in finding his own way; by the early '50s he started breaking away from the Tristano school. Konitz toured Scandinavia (1951), where his cool sound was influential, and he fit in surprisingly well with Stan Kenton's Orchestra (1952-1954), being featured on many charts by Bill Holman and Bill Russo. Konitz was primarily a leader from that point on. He almost retired from music in the early '60s but re-emerged a few years later. His recordings have ranged from cool bop to thoughtful free improvisations, and his Milestone set of Duets (1967) is a classic. In the late '70s Konitz led a notable nonet and in 1992 he won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize. He kept a busy release schedule throughout the '90s and dabbled in the world of classical with 2000's French Impressionist Music from the Turn of the Twentieth Century. The Mark Masters Ensemble joined him for 2004's One Day with Lee. And in 2007 he recorded Portology with the Ohad Talmor Big Band. He has recorded on soprano and tenor but has mostly stuck to his distinctive alto.Konitz has led consistently stimulating sessions for many labels, including Prestige, Dragon, Pacific Jazz, Vogue, Storyville, Atlantic, Verve, Wave, Milestone, MPS, Polydor, Bellaphon, SteepleChase, Sonet, Groove Merchant, Roulette, Progressive, Choice, IAI, Chiaroscuro, Circle, Black Lion, Soul Note, Storyville, Evidence, and Philogy. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Thursday, November 26, 2009

A Painting for my Daughter IV - The Curtain


Good morning my sunshine



It's a lovely day to play in the neighborhood



Sweet dreams and sleep tight my beautiful, beautiful daughter

Thank you my sweetheart for coming to live with us for awhile in this life. You make me smile every time I see your face.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May everyone be so blessed.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Painting for my Daughter II - The Painting

Painting the view from the window

First attempt painted over and sketched in. This one didn't run away from me this time.





Monday, November 23, 2009

A Painting for my Daughter I - False Start

Back Story

My daughter asked me to paint her a window. I started it and six years later it sat on the easel unfinished.


False Start - First Try


YogaDawg painting False Start - First Try photographed by the artist's daughter





Sunday, November 22, 2009

YogaDawg's Fun Sunday - Non-yoga humor

"The test of any religion is if you can make good jokes about it" - G K Chesterton




What’s So Funny About Buddhism? - Cartoonist David Sipress explains




And if you are confused by what religion you should pursue, follow this flowchart.


And this gem of satirical wit, "Mass, The Game"

Saturday, November 21, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Pittsburgh Jazz




Though jazz is hard to come by in Pittsburgh, a great venure exists on the North Side, the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild which brings the best jazz to this city.

Caught an interesting set of two solo artists, Jake Shimabukuro (ukalele master) and Stanley Jordan (who plays the guitar like a piano).

These two clips really sounds like the concert since they performed both these songs.

Jake Shimabukuro






Stanley Jorden


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Yoga News - Yoga Cargo Cult Discovered

Tiny Bubbles
For Yoga Anthropology Review

On a tiny and remote tropical island in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, a strange new cargo cult has arisen that has anthropologists delighted. On arriving on the island, they found several men, clad in what looks to be fanciful recreations of high-end yoga clothing, assembled on a beach and enacting a ritual that appears to resemble a yoga class.

Chief WikiWanaMooSeviTikiKali, a slight, bearded man in his “yoga costume” and ceremonial “Om” headband, leads the men in a series of Yoga derived poses. The 40 barefoot "yogis’s” begin to chant while flowing in perfect unisons before the Chief. In addition to the fanciful yoga clothing, they also wear ceremonial masks and sport the letters “Lululemon,” painted in red on their bare chests and back. Oddly, they have scratched areas on the sand that seems to be recreations of Yoga sticky mats.

This newly discovered cargo cult on the island of WikiWaniWanaWakiWhaWeniWangaWackaWanker (also referred to as Whoo to those islanders who are short of breath) appears to have started with the finding of a cargo crate containing pirated Yoga videos from China. All of the videos appears to be by the famous Yoga video star Rodney Yee (The islanders believe that the masks they wear look like Mr. Yee).

The island’s “Rodney” movement is a classic example of what anthropologists have called a “cargo cult”. Many of these have sprang on islands in the South Pacific during World War II, when hundreds of thousands of American troops poured into the islands from the skies and seas. And like the classic cargo cults, this one believes that one day, Rodney Yee will arrive, bearing other Yoga goods such as Yoga mats, Yoga blocks, Yoga straps or even maybe even a Yoga workshop or Yoga conference.


Cargo washed up on a beach in the South Pacific



Islander practising MeFrigginHamStingsasana

MeGoBigFartasana


CoconutHitMeHeadasana

MeFreakinHateYogasana

Monday, November 16, 2009

Karmic Klutter Syndrome (KKS)




YogaDawg, the leader in Karma Management techniques is pleased to announce a new program that is helping people live happier lives by managing their Karmic Klutter tm

Are you experiencing bad luck, misfortune and personal suffering in your life? Do you feel sad, scattered, listless with a lack of energy? Are your antidepressants failing you? Well, you may have Karmic Klutter Syndrome (KKS) and not even know it.


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Sufferers of KKS report symptoms such as welts, dry heaves, piles, unexplained weeping, sneezing, wheezing , halitosis, lumps, bumps, the frumps, dry humps, dumb looks, dumb luck, plantar warts, the willies, the nillies and the heebie-jeebies.

This condition is nothing to be ashamed of. Millions of everyday, ordinary people, just like yourself experience KKS. Unfortunately, they let the condition go on and on, sometimes for hundreds of lifetimes. We at the YogaDawg Karmic Klutter Research Center (YKKRC) know that one does not need to suffer this fate.

It is now possible to reduce Karmic Klutter tm, sometimes in as little as two weeks. Our remarkable staff of Karmic Kounselors tm has proved remarkable successful in clearing Karmic Klutter tm from our clients to help them achieve a true Klutter-Free Karmic tm existence.


Our staff is always on call

Find more help here on Karmic Klutter Syndrome

Saturday, November 14, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Nicholas Payton


Caught Nicholas at Blues Alley last week. As usual he was great and was loving the tunes from Into the Blue and the women next to me rubbing her legs up on mine.

Here's the favor of his sound from different sources



Murfreesboro Jazz Fest


Friday, November 13, 2009

Sketch X

"We don't like the term "insane". We prefer "mentally hilarious"." - A Facebook profile

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Sketch VIII

"I have always been a huge admirer of my own work. I'm one of the funniest and most entertaining writers I know." - Mel Brooks

Sunday, November 08, 2009

YogaDawg's Fun Sundays - Vanda Mikoloski

The mighty Vanda Mikoloski in a new video from the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Park 2009



And an older clip on her from her site


A New YogaDawg Fun Sunday Feature: The Most Ridiculous Searches To Get To YogaDawg

From: Georgia, Griffin
Searched: i really love your butt
Result: Palin Yoga

From: Arizona, Nogales
Searched: >men doing yoga weird
Result: YogaDawg's Q&A

From: British Columbia, Burnaby, Canada
Searched: hipster yoga clothes
Result: YogaDawg Fashion

Saturday, November 07, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - Nasar Abadey

I always find good discoveries at the Bohemian Cavern. These guys were smokin' and I never heard of them. All the hidden talent....Sorry the sound is so crappy, but it gives you an idea ...



Joe Ford - saxophone
Allyn Johnson - piano
Nasar Abadey - drums
James King - bass



Drummer and Composer Nasar Abadey is the founder, leader and driving force of SUPERNOVA. His debut CD, Mirage was released in 2000 on the Amosaya Record label, and a follow-up CD is planned to be released later this year (2009). He has performed with Amiri Baraka,Dizzy Gillespie, David Sanchez,Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Eartha Kitt,Pharaoh Sanders, and many others.

In his own words Abadey says, “I feel most comfortable at the cutting edge of the music. It is there that I play past what I know so that my creativity is inspired from a higher source.”


Friday, November 06, 2009

Om Shanti - A Yoga Studio Innovation


Thank you for calling HOR Yoga. I’m Om Shanti, your friendly automated voice-aware menu system. To serve you more efficiently, please listen carefully to the following menu options so that I may direct your call more efficiently. Please remember to speak clearly. Again, thank you for calling HOR Yoga and remember that HOR is MORE then just YOGA!


Say “1” to join our exclusive HOR Yoga membership. A special discount of $2,978 will be subtracted from our regular membership fee of $7,594 for those callers that say “1” within the next 3 seconds.

3…2…1...I’m sorry; you have not acted quickly enough to qualify for this special membership discount.



Say “2” to schedule an appointment for molybdomancy, aura balancing, trepanation, crop circle interpretation, alien abductees counseling, ear candling, skull tapping, speleotherapy or a colonic cleansing.

I’m sorry; “What the fuck” is not a menu option.



Say “3” to sign up for HOR’s hot new yoga dating service with one free session of our “HOR Is Hot Yoga”.

I’m sorry, ”this is stupid” is not a menu option. Remember that if you ever feel overwhelmed or stressed while listening to these menu option, always feel free to go into child’s pose.



Say “4” if you are scheduling a HOR Chakra Transplant or say “Chakra Help” if this is a chakra emergency.

I’m sorry, pressing all the buttons on the phone is not an option. Don’t forget to breathe while listening to these menu choices.



Say “5” to enroll in HOR ’s teacher training program for SuperDuperBlissInducer Super Bok Choy method of yoga tm.

Remember, if for any reason you need to speak to an operator during this menu selection, say “operator.”

I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.

Say “operator” if you wish to speak to an operator.

Did you say “operator”?

Say “yes” or” no”.

I’m sorry; “god damn it” is not an option.

Do you wish to speak to an “operator”? Say” yes” or” no”.

You said “yes”. Okay, I will connect you to an operator, one moment please…………................................……I’m sorry the operator is busy.



Say “6” if your crown chakra has turned into a clown chakra.

Are you holding your breath? Remember to breathe during this menu selection!



Say “7” if your third eye itches.

I’m sorry; #%$^% %^%$@# %^% *^&* is not an option. Are you breathing?



Say “8” to sign up for HOR ’s exclusive home study course; “Preventing Squirrels from Stealing the Tomatoes in your Back Yard.”



Say “9” if you want to join in the class action suit against HOR Yoga due to any mental or physical injuries that listening to this menu system has caused you. Please Note: This option is required by law due to a judgment against HOR Yoga by the US Government Office of Yoga Affairs.

You said “9”; I’m sorry, option 9 is currently not working. Please try this option again at any time.

I’m sorry option 9 is still not working.

I’m sorry option 9 is still not working.

I’m sorry option 9 is still not working.

I’m sorry “son of a bitch’ is not an option.



Say “10” if wish to enroll for HOR ’s yoga conference being held in beautiful downtown Gary, Indiana. We are offering a full HOR yoga package for only $10,506.

I’m sorry, pulling the phone out from the phone jack is not an option.

I’m sorry; hanging up the phone is not an option.

I’m sorry; jumping up and down on the phone is not an option.



Say “11” to enroll in HOR ’s “Anger Management” workshop.

I’m sorry, weeping is not an option.



Say “12” to repeat this menu.

Before you jump out the window, HOR Yoga wants you to know that if you say “1” in the next 3 seconds, this menu will end you will get my voice out of your head.

3…2…Thank you for choosing option “1” and joining our exclusive HOR Yoga membership. Please listen carefully to the following menu options so we may direct you more efficiently.


Now that you are member of HOR Yoga, please say “1” to…

Thursday, November 05, 2009