SAVE $5.46 - Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart $21.49

SAVE $5.46 - Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart $21.49

Price: $26.95 Now: $21.49 You save: $5.46

Amazon Q&A with Q&A with Béla Fleck and Sascha Paladino, director of Béla Fleck: Throw Down Your HeartDid you actually play an akonting or another banjo-predecessor while you were in Africa? BÉLA: Yes I did. And in the extra cuts in the new version of the film, there is some footage. I did better at learning their music on the banjo, though... Has the trip to Africa affected or influenced your playing style since? For example, did you mimic any of Djelimady Tounkara's ngoniâ€"inspired technique?BÉLA: I love the way it has changed my playing and given me some different thoughts to try. I also got a lot out of all the live touring I did with Oumou Sangare, Toumani Diabate and the other great musicians who came over. Have you kept in touch with any of the African musicians or people you met during filming?BÉLA: Yes we have, some more than others of course. Some of the musical moments ended up being pretty intimate; were you expecting that? Were any of the musicians uncomfortable being filmed?SASCHA: I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that the music would be amazing, but I didn't know how the musicians would feel about being filmed. Luckily, they really opened themselves up to us. Part of that had to do with Béla--when he pulled out his banjo and starte d playing, it put the African musicians at ease even if there were la nguage barriers. Instant connections were formed through the music, and one of my goals with the film was to highlight those connections. The setup of the story and the interviews are unobtrusive in that they allow the music to do most of the talking. Did you intentionally shy away from some of the documentary precepts for your first feature?SASCHA: Yes. It was important to me to let the music speak for itself. I wanted to make sure this film wasn't just a collection of "talking head" interviews. I tried to include just enough of a glimpse into each musician's life and personality so that it would deepen your experience of their music, but not get bogged down with talking. To me, the film is a musical adventure, with Béla as your guide, that gives you a chance to hang out with and get to know some amazing African musicians. One of the themes that surfaced during the filming was the idea that Westerners are often exposed to the negative things happening in Africa â€" poverty, AIDS, war, things like that. As Haruna Walusimbi says in the film, that is only a very small bit of what Africa is. As a result, a big part of the film is about shedding light on some very beautiful, joyous things in Africa. One way we did that was by putting the glorious music front and center. Though most of your previous ventures were in writing, are you going to focus more on directing now that you've completed this film? SASCHA: I plan to continue both writing and directing. I like that writing and directing use different parts of your brain, but that in the end they're both really about telling good stories. What made you decide to make this film together? BÉLA: Sascha had shot a film about Edgar Meyer and me, called Obstinato: Making Music for Two. When he made this movie, I got excited about his talent, especially since he is my younger brother. So he became the obvious and only choice when I decided to go to Africa and realized that i t would have to be filmed. SASCHA: When Béla asked me to work on the film, I had been making short documentaries for a few years, and had worked as a cinematographer on a music film in Africa, so I knew a bit about the challenges and joys of making a movie there. Since Béla is my brother, there was a level of comfort in working together that was a really positive thing for both of us. Béla and I didn't grow up together (he is 17 years older than me), and working together was a way of getting to know each other better, too. Would you be interested in going back to Africa, maybe to places you didn't get a chance to see, and making more music?BÉLA: Yes, although I experienced so much on this recent trip that there is not a rush to go back immediately. I have some other projects to do right now, and other parts of the world to consider going to. SASCHA: For sure. There's so much amazing music in Africa, we really just scratched the surface. There are many, many movies to be made about music in Africa! Oumou said that Béla was b etter at communicating with his hands, that is, musically. Were you nonetheless curious or left in the dark about what the lyrics were saying? Haruna Walusimbi's song about his father was extremely moving; did you grasp the subject matter at the time? BÉLA: I had no idea what Haruna was singing or why he was crying until afterwards. It makes it very interesting to watch now, knowing what is going to happen. SASCHA: I had a very deliberate strategy with the use of subtitles. The first couple of songs in the film, there are no subtitles translating the lyrics. This is because I wanted to put the viewer into Béla's shoes â€" he didn't know what the lyrics were saying at the time since they were in a different language, and he was really focused on the music. But as the film goes on you start to get subtitles translating the lyrics, starting with Haruna Walusimbi's song. The lyrics, dealing with the loss of Haruna's father, are very meaningful, and the y deepen the emotional experience of the scene. So, starting with tha t scene the viewer is taken out of Béla's perspective a little bit and given more information than he had at the moment it was filmed. The music created and recorded seemed so organic to the process, did you expect the trip to be such an overwhelming success? SASCHA: When we first arrived in Africa at the beginning of the shoot, we had some fears that things weren't going to turn out the way we had hoped, and we wouldn't find enough compelling music. But soon we found our groove â€" and some amazing musicians â€" and the result was better than we could have imagined. BÉLA: We were very ambitious, but the trip far exceeded our expectations. More info »

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Last updated: November 22, 2009, 6:15 pm

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SAVE $19.96 - Battle 360 - Season 1 (History Channel) (Steelbook) $19.99

SAVE $19.96 - Battle 360 - Season 1 (History Channel) (Steelbook) $19.99

Price: $39.95 Now: $19.99 You save: $19.96

For nearly a decade, the legendary World War II aircraft carrier USS Enterprise held a pivotal place on the turbulent seas of war, engaging in some of the fiercest multi-front battles ever witnessed in modern combat. The only carrier to be front and center in every major sea conflict in the Pacific, the Enterprise and her crew s battles were marked by intense firepower, instinct and a 360-coordination between the ship, the destroyers, the aircraft above and the submarines below. In each of ten episodes, and using incredible CGI visualizations, BATTLE 360 follows the Enterprise and its men through another conflict of WWII as they fight off the enemy from the air, the sea and underwater. DVD Features: Additional FootageBATTLE 360: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE includes all 10 original episodes on 4 DVDs: Disc 1: Call to Duty / Vengeance at Midway / Jaws of the Enemy Disc 2: Bloody Santa Cruz / Enterprise vs. Japan / The Grey Ghost Disc 3: Hammer of Hell / D-Day in the Pacific Disc 4: Battle of Leyte Gulf / The Empire's Last Stand / bonus material More info »

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Last updated: November 18, 2009, 2:47 am

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3D Interactive Smart Globe » Coolest Gadgets

via coolest-gadgets.com

For parents who want to make sure that their kids get a decent head start in life when it comes to education, the 3D Interactive Smart Globe might help in their quest a wee bit, at least from the geographical point of view.

"Simply pick up the remote-control Smart Pen and get started – touching the control panel and any country will give you masses of useful info about whatever you touch. Currency, capital cities, national anthems, history, current leaders, in fact, anything you could conceivably want to know about world geography. We rather loved the ‘find the city’ game, where the globe announces city names and you have to find them and touch them with the magic pen as fast as possible – and there are loads of other games that had us wasting way too much time (but in an educational way). There are around 30 other similar games to keep you on your toes, too. What’s more, the pull-out map of the UK reveals another surface the Smart Pen can tell you about in great detail." ... more info at link

So cool!

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KooDooZ to Shape New Social Entrepreneurs in Classroom

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ProVoc - Free Language Vocabulary Trainer for Mac OS X

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US relinquishes control of the internet | Technology | guardian.co.uk

via guardian.co.uk

forking the internet? wha?

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Vote for Me For Third Grade Student Council

Just a few short hours ago I helped write a campaign speech for a young and promising politician. He hasn't been corrupted by power or lost his belief in his ability to help people. He has exceptional ideas and an enormous amount of energy.

He is a bit nervous because it is his first time throwing his hat into the ring. And more than a little frustrated that I didn't share his anxiety about whether he can carry the vote of the handball players and the kissing girls. But I have faith in my candidate. He comes from good stock and he is quickly learning how to spin a yarn as fast as his old man can.

If I had my way he'd open up his speech by asking for more Cowbell but unfortunately that is not an option this time around. Really, I love that line Bruce Dickinson has, "I put my pants on one leg at a time. Except when I have my pants on, I make gold records."

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet that kid I sometimes refer to as "Little Jack" is running for Third Grade Representative and I couldn't be prouder. He is a bit shy and reserved. Most of the time he prefers not to be the center of attention. His teachers routinely say that he knows the material but that it is rare to seem him raise his hand to answer questions.

A far cry from his old man who was never afraid to answer questions or get in trouble in class. I wouldn't mind if he crept a bit farther out of the shell and participated more. With any luck he'll skip the getting in trouble part.

This election business is serious stuff, but not quite like this. And that is a good thing which leads into the more serious part of the post.

I believe in teaching children how to lose and how to fail. These are basic coping skills. Some parents have a problem with this and lend an inordinate amount of help to their children. I won't speculate on the reasons why, but I know from experience that certain science projects and student council campaigns are run with a sophistication that doesn't come from a young child.

It is a real problem and one that I know is not limited solely to the school my children go too. I remember it from my days as a student and have heard similar remarks from parents of students at other schools.

There is no doubt that I want my children to succeed. I want them to win at whatever they do. I want them to be popular and loved and all that kind of crap. But I won't force the issue. I won't create a monster and that is what happens.

Little Jack has friends who are over indulged. Unless something changes these kids are going to get the crap whacked out of them. I don't necessarily mean this literally, but life has a way of smacking you in the teeth. If you have never been allowed to taste your own blood or feel the sting how are you going to deal with it.

Because that is reality. Out in the real world there are situations that are beyond our control. Our children are going to be placed in situations that require immediate decisions. Mine aren't going to freeze because they have never had to live without mommy's assistance.

This isn't tough love. This isn't about saying that parents shouldn't help. I won't swing from one extreme to the other. The kids know that they can always come to their parents. It is important, critical that they understand that when I say I will take the bullet for them I mean it.

At the same time they also know that there are limits that they have to work with. They know that though they can always come to me I expect them to try to figure out a solution. I won't cripple them by taking all of the hits.

Anyway, most of my work tonight was spent in providing a little guidance and feedback for the speech. A little direction that said that you need an introduction, a body and a conclusion. A few minutes typing because it was late and he needed to get to bed.

Later this week I'll find out whether to congratulate him on a victory or to tell him how pleased I am that he tried. I really don't know which way it will go and I don't care. I am just proud that he decided to take a risk and expose himself. That little boy isn't quite so little anymore.

Think I'll take a moment to watch him sleep because something tells me that I'll blink and he'll be all growed up.

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Vote for Me For Third Grade Student Council

Just a few short hours ago I helped write a campaign speech for a young and promising politician. He hasn't been corrupted by power or lost his belief in his ability to help people. He has exceptional ideas and an enormous amount of energy.

He is a bit nervous because it is his first time throwing his hat into the ring. And more than a little frustrated that I didn't share his anxiety about whether he can carry the vote of the handball players and the kissing girls. But I have faith in my candidate. He comes from good stock and he is quickly learning how to spin a yarn as fast as his old man can.

If I had my way he'd open up his speech by asking for more Cowbell but unfortunately that is not an option this time around. Really, I love that line Bruce Dickinson has, "I put my pants on one leg at a time. Except when I have my pants on, I make gold records."

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet that kid I sometimes refer to as "Little Jack" is running for Third Grade Representative and I couldn't be prouder. He is a bit shy and reserved. Most of the time he prefers not to be the center of attention. His teachers routinely say that he knows the material but that it is rare to seem him raise his hand to answer questions.

A far cry from his old man who was never afraid to answer questions or get in trouble in class. I wouldn't mind if he crept a bit farther out of the shell and participated more. With any luck he'll skip the getting in trouble part.

This election business is serious stuff, but not quite like this. And that is a good thing which leads into the more serious part of the post.

I believe in teaching children how to lose and how to fail. These are basic coping skills. Some parents have a problem with this and lend an inordinate amount of help to their children. I won't speculate on the reasons why, but I know from experience that certain science projects and student council campaigns are run with a sophistication that doesn't come from a young child.

It is a real problem and one that I know is not limited solely to the school my children go too. I remember it from my days as a student and have heard similar remarks from parents of students at other schools.

There is no doubt that I want my children to succeed. I want them to win at whatever they do. I want them to be popular and loved and all that kind of crap. But I won't force the issue. I won't create a monster and that is what happens.

Little Jack has friends who are over indulged. Unless something changes these kids are going to get the crap whacked out of them. I don't necessarily mean this literally, but life has a way of smacking you in the teeth. If you have never been allowed to taste your own blood or feel the sting how are you going to deal with it.

Because that is reality. Out in the real world there are situations that are beyond our control. Our children are going to be placed in situations that require immediate decisions. Mine aren't going to freeze because they have never had to live without mommy's assistance.

This isn't tough love. This isn't about saying that parents shouldn't help. I won't swing from one extreme to the other. The kids know that they can always come to their parents. It is important, critical that they understand that when I say I will take the bullet for them I mean it.

At the same time they also know that there are limits that they have to work with. They know that though they can always come to me I expect them to try to figure out a solution. I won't cripple them by taking all of the hits.

Anyway, most of my work tonight was spent in providing a little guidance and feedback for the speech. A little direction that said that you need an introduction, a body and a conclusion. A few minutes typing because it was late and he needed to get to bed.

Later this week I'll find out whether to congratulate him on a victory or to tell him how pleased I am that he tried. I really don't know which way it will go and I don't care. I am just proud that he decided to take a risk and expose himself. That little boy isn't quite so little anymore.

Think I'll take a moment to watch him sleep because something tells me that I'll blink and he'll be all growed up.

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Vote for Me For Third Grade Student Council

Just a few short hours ago I helped write a campaign speech for a young and promising politician. He hasn't been corrupted by power or lost his belief in his ability to help people. He has exceptional ideas and an enormous amount of energy.

He is a bit nervous because it is his first time throwing his hat into the ring. And more than a little frustrated that I didn't share his anxiety about whether he can carry the vote of the handball players and the kissing girls. But I have faith in my candidate. He comes from good stock and he is quickly learning how to spin a yarn as fast as his old man can.

If I had my way he'd open up his speech by asking for more Cowbell but unfortunately that is not an option this time around. Really, I love that line Bruce Dickinson has, "I put my pants on one leg at a time. Except when I have my pants on, I make gold records."

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet that kid I sometimes refer to as "Little Jack" is running for Third Grade Representative and I couldn't be prouder. He is a bit shy and reserved. Most of the time he prefers not to be the center of attention. His teachers routinely say that he knows the material but that it is rare to seem him raise his hand to answer questions.

A far cry from his old man who was never afraid to answer questions or get in trouble in class. I wouldn't mind if he crept a bit farther out of the shell and participated more. With any luck he'll skip the getting in trouble part.

This election business is serious stuff, but not quite like this. And that is a good thing which leads into the more serious part of the post.

I believe in teaching children how to lose and how to fail. These are basic coping skills. Some parents have a problem with this and lend an inordinate amount of help to their children. I won't speculate on the reasons why, but I know from experience that certain science projects and student council campaigns are run with a sophistication that doesn't come from a young child.

It is a real problem and one that I know is not limited solely to the school my children go too. I remember it from my days as a student and have heard similar remarks from parents of students at other schools.

There is no doubt that I want my children to succeed. I want them to win at whatever they do. I want them to be popular and loved and all that kind of crap. But I won't force the issue. I won't create a monster and that is what happens.

Little Jack has friends who are over indulged. Unless something changes these kids are going to get the crap whacked out of them. I don't necessarily mean this literally, but life has a way of smacking you in the teeth. If you have never been allowed to taste your own blood or feel the sting how are you going to deal with it.

Because that is reality. Out in the real world there are situations that are beyond our control. Our children are going to be placed in situations that require immediate decisions. Mine aren't going to freeze because they have never had to live without mommy's assistance.

This isn't tough love. This isn't about saying that parents shouldn't help. I won't swing from one extreme to the other. The kids know that they can always come to their parents. It is important, critical that they understand that when I say I will take the bullet for them I mean it.

At the same time they also know that there are limits that they have to work with. They know that though they can always come to me I expect them to try to figure out a solution. I won't cripple them by taking all of the hits.

Anyway, most of my work tonight was spent in providing a little guidance and feedback for the speech. A little direction that said that you need an introduction, a body and a conclusion. A few minutes typing because it was late and he needed to get to bed.

Later this week I'll find out whether to congratulate him on a victory or to tell him how pleased I am that he tried. I really don't know which way it will go and I don't care. I am just proud that he decided to take a risk and expose himself. That little boy isn't quite so little anymore.

Think I'll take a moment to watch him sleep because something tells me that I'll blink and he'll be all growed up.

Loading mentions Retweet

Comment (0) »

Vote for Me For Third Grade Student Council

Just a few short hours ago I helped write a campaign speech for a young and promising politician. He hasn't been corrupted by power or lost his belief in his ability to help people. He has exceptional ideas and an enormous amount of energy.

He is a bit nervous because it is his first time throwing his hat into the ring. And more than a little frustrated that I didn't share his anxiety about whether he can carry the vote of the handball players and the kissing girls. But I have faith in my candidate. He comes from good stock and he is quickly learning how to spin a yarn as fast as his old man can.

If I had my way he'd open up his speech by asking for more Cowbell but unfortunately that is not an option this time around. Really, I love that line Bruce Dickinson has, "I put my pants on one leg at a time. Except when I have my pants on, I make gold records."

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet that kid I sometimes refer to as "Little Jack" is running for Third Grade Representative and I couldn't be prouder. He is a bit shy and reserved. Most of the time he prefers not to be the center of attention. His teachers routinely say that he knows the material but that it is rare to seem him raise his hand to answer questions.

A far cry from his old man who was never afraid to answer questions or get in trouble in class. I wouldn't mind if he crept a bit farther out of the shell and participated more. With any luck he'll skip the getting in trouble part.

This election business is serious stuff, but not quite like this. And that is a good thing which leads into the more serious part of the post.

I believe in teaching children how to lose and how to fail. These are basic coping skills. Some parents have a problem with this and lend an inordinate amount of help to their children. I won't speculate on the reasons why, but I know from experience that certain science projects and student council campaigns are run with a sophistication that doesn't come from a young child.

It is a real problem and one that I know is not limited solely to the school my children go too. I remember it from my days as a student and have heard similar remarks from parents of students at other schools.

There is no doubt that I want my children to succeed. I want them to win at whatever they do. I want them to be popular and loved and all that kind of crap. But I won't force the issue. I won't create a monster and that is what happens.

Little Jack has friends who are over indulged. Unless something changes these kids are going to get the crap whacked out of them. I don't necessarily mean this literally, but life has a way of smacking you in the teeth. If you have never been allowed to taste your own blood or feel the sting how are you going to deal with it.

Because that is reality. Out in the real world there are situations that are beyond our control. Our children are going to be placed in situations that require immediate decisions. Mine aren't going to freeze because they have never had to live without mommy's assistance.

This isn't tough love. This isn't about saying that parents shouldn't help. I won't swing from one extreme to the other. The kids know that they can always come to their parents. It is important, critical that they understand that when I say I will take the bullet for them I mean it.

At the same time they also know that there are limits that they have to work with. They know that though they can always come to me I expect them to try to figure out a solution. I won't cripple them by taking all of the hits.

Anyway, most of my work tonight was spent in providing a little guidance and feedback for the speech. A little direction that said that you need an introduction, a body and a conclusion. A few minutes typing because it was late and he needed to get to bed.

Later this week I'll find out whether to congratulate him on a victory or to tell him how pleased I am that he tried. I really don't know which way it will go and I don't care. I am just proud that he decided to take a risk and expose himself. That little boy isn't quite so little anymore.

Think I'll take a moment to watch him sleep because something tells me that I'll blink and he'll be all growed up.

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Comment (0) »