Wesak

Happy Wesak day people! Also known as Vesak, Vesākha and Saga Dawa, just to name a few, Wesak day is Guatama Buddha's birthday. It is always held in the first full moon of Taurus, usually in May. All Buddhists celebrate this day as Buddha's birthday, and some also celebrate his enlightenment and death on this day as well. Common practice for Wesak includes wearing white, offering donations to the poor and to charities, visiting and giving to monks, and freely giving the Dharma to people. In temples, flowers are given to represent beauty, and how the flowers will wilt and die, as all things will. Also, water is poured over a statue of baby Guatama Buddha, to represent his birth. All Buddhists are encouraged not to eat any meat on Wesak, and to observe the five precepts (in Sri Lanka, slaughter houses and alcohol shops are closed, on orders from the government). The five precepts are:

1. Do not harm living things
2. Don't steal
3. Do not engage in sexual misconduct
4. Do not lie
5. Don't take intoxicating drugs, such as alcohol

All in all, it's a day for happiness, colourful paintings and decorations, and the like.

Thanks for reading, please send any future blog topic suggestions to jazzphilosophybiscuits@googlemail.com, and please comment any thoughts below.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~

Ultimate Band

Right. Ultimate band. Go go go.

• John Zorn - Composer/ songwriter - Have you heard this man? No. I didn't think so either. Because you are a heathen. Go and listen to him. Now. Go.
• Billy Martin - Drummer - All round nice man. From Medeski, Martin and Wood fame. Not just a great drummer, but a great remixer too.

• Skerik - Saxophone - A crazy man. He's pioneered saxophonics.

You know.

Saxophonics.

• Mike Patton - Vocals - I've put vocals, but that doesn't really cover what he does. This man is a musical genius. (It's true!) He can fit his voice into any style of music and he did the zombie noises for Left 4 Dead. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? I'm actually scared of meeting him. If I did, I'd just end up licking his face and crying with tears of joy.
• Les Claypool - Bassist - You probably thought I was going to put myself here, didn't you? I'm not that egotistical. But yeah, Claypool will rock you. Verily.
• Me - Guitar - Ha! Only joking. They aren't in my league.

So. Here we are. I've done it. And all my people are still alive. Instant win over Danny.

Questions over for the week.

Tom.

The Ultimate Band

Having listened to a fair of music by this point in my life, I thought I'd make my ultimate band. So, in my band, there would be:

• Sonny Rollins - tenor saxophone
• Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet
• Thelonious Monk - piano
• Charles Mingus - bass
• Elvin Jones - drums

If only they were all alive, it would be a magnificent quintet. They'd play bebop, hard bop, post bop, all the bops. And swing, led by Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw, depending on who was available at the time. Obviously, I'd rather have Benny Goodman, were they both available.

Let me know your ultimate bands, jazz or not, by email (jazzphilosophybiscuits@gmail.com) or in the comments below. Tom'll be posting about his band soon, stay tuned. This, where we both do our opinions on a single topic, may become a regular feature.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~

Look! I'm contributing!

So. Danny's asked me to become a co-author for his blog.

Exciting? Yes.

I've been told that I can 'Just do a post now and again, when you feel like it', which seems fair enough. Not as EXCITING as getting the blog. Well, co-getting the blog.

To Danny: Can I call it an internet diary? Don't like blog.

Neil Cowley - Radio Silence

Having recently acquired a 32gb iPod Touch, I decided to make use of its iTunes Store feature, where I purchased Neil Cowley's new album, Radio Silence. I was introduced to Neil Cowley's music a year or so ago, and I haven't stopped listening to his trio. If I had to categorise his style, I'd call it something vague, like contemporary jazz, but he really does have a style all of his own. There are fast, complex piano lines and phrases, played by Cowley, all backed up by double bass and drums.

His other two albums that I own, Displaced and Loud Louder Stop, are both great, and those plus Radio Silence really sum up what is so special about Neil Cowley Trio. His fast, methodical and intelligent style are unique. The chord sequences, the phrasing, the piano lines, they are all unexpected. And yet they are still catchy. Perhaps it is a love or hate style, but I thoroughly recommend listening to at least some of his stuff.

Thanks for reading, please send any suggestions for future blog topics to jazzphilosophybiscuits@gmail.com, and any comments below.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~

Exams

Just to let you know, I had my Spanish Speaking GCSE yesterday. Could have gone better, by which I mean it couldn't have gone much worse. I spent the last two years learning verbs, activities, enough so that I'd nearly be fluent. But when I get into the exam, and I'm asked what I did yesterday with my family, what do I say? The best that my brain could come up with was that I went to Scarborough and played tennis. I haven't been to Scarborough in over a year, and haven't played tennis for much longer. At least I've got six days free of exams, my next one is RE on Tuesday, that'll be a fun two hours.

On another note, I have now watched both Alien and Predator, having rented them from LoveFilm. Conclusion: Alien pretty good, Predator appallingly bad.

Thanks for reading, please send any suggestions for future blogs to jazzphilosophybiscuits@gmail.com, and comment below.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.a~

Quantum Entanglement

Quantum Entanglement is based on the theory of quantum physics. When any two particles are in contact, no matter how far they may then be separated, even light years away, causing one to react will cause the other to do the same. So, any particles can be linked, even if they are separated by meters, miles, or light years. Now suppose that all particles were once all in contact with each other, all matter condensed. Sound familiar? Should the big bang theory be correct, all of known matter is linked by the 'quantum field', the energy that is everywhere. This links in quite nicely with Buddhism's view of interconnectedness, stating that all being are linked. Sorry that I can't really explain quantum entanglement properly, it really is complicated. I recommend researching quantum physics, it's a fascinating subject, if you can tolerate it.

Thanks for reading, please send any suggestions for future blog topics to jazzphilosophybiscuits@gmail.com, and any comments below.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~

DofE

Just finished my three day Duke Of Edinburgh walk and camp, and feeling more exhausted than I thought I would. Perhaps it's because I only got two hours of sleep per night. I really should be catching up on sleep now that I'm back, but I'm just not that tired right now. After three days of walking, the first thing I did was take a long bath, get changed, put Spotify on, and write this. That's how dedicated I am to this blog (this post is really to make up for a long gap in posts, I think about a five day gap). So, I'm back, feet and legs aching, but still awake. Just.

Thanks for reading, please give me any future blog suggestions at jazzphilosophybiscuits@gmail.com, and feel free to comment below.

~Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.~