Brian Haas, the revered piano player for the provocative jazz trio, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, knows what profit margins have done to the health of our country. His mother was given just a five percent chance of surviving breast cancer. However, you can allow your body to cleanse itself, by fasting...
Everyone has their own freak inside; let your partner know it. You’re only on the earth for a limited time, and there's nothing better than getting your patner turned on. So let Mr. Ruggles guide the way to a lifetime of kinky sex!
With faulty intelligence, and failure by the president to initiate an independent inspection into September 11th, and Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction intelligence, we can only hope that the leader of our country has nothing to hide.
People are all too comfortable with defining themselves for the sake of comfort, to know where they stand and who they are. I believe that the key to our culture is to erase this mindset and all be defined as people...connecting to a higher understanding, above self, humanity, and religion.
Balance is the key, but if you look at the scales, balance is a very precarious state. When you have found it, any shift in that balance must be dealt with by an equal and opposing force. Then comes love, the most confusing aspect of the meaning of life...
2004 for me is about finding what my life goal is truly about. I am beginning to think it has less to do with music than it does with spreading love, kindness and happiness. I write, sing, and play my ass off on stage, only to look out and see people in merriment kissing one and other and taking one and other to their beds as a result of the joy that my music brought them...
Proletariats strive for success, which in the U.S., is appropriately measured by money and the accumulation of material luxuries. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s use the pressure of natural resource depletion to improve and take steps forward towards renewable energy. Instead of loosening restrictions, let’s find alternatives.
So, I recently learned that I was going to be a father. I, a man who not long ago had no woman, no money, no dog, and certainly no business being a married man whose wife is expecting.
Ramshackle wire fencing surrounded a wide yard full of grass that stood close to a foot high, except in ragged patches that Bob assumed were chewed by a goat he saw pacing back and forth against the fencing
At 100 you can smile at her from across the room and know exactly how long to maintain eye contact before looking away so that you can obtain that perfect amount of intrigue before coming off as sketchy. But first, there are certain things that must be established. As John Lennon and Paul McCartney said, “And in the end/ the love you take/ is equal to the love you make.”
And then before him, as though by magic, Emma was there. She was lithe and beautiful, her skin freckly and pale, her red hair blowing in the breeze that carried the mist of the field sprinkler across their faces. Arthur was awestruck, surprised by the bevy of emotion that erupted from within him.
You love someone for reasons no one can ever explain, no matter how many poetic and lovely terms people come up with, how many romantic gestures are made in the service of expressing feelings. At its basest, most stripped-down, love is inexplicable and complete, and when the person who inspires those feelings leaves, love stays in some way...
Join us for a photographic excursion to Miami's South Beach. If you need thoughts of sun to get you through, this may be your lucky day...
The Japanese say: "Only a fool will climb Mount Fuji-san twice." The same may be said about skiing Tuckerman Ravine...in April...
You know it's coming. Every year, Jazzfest becons like an irresistable oasis in the parched chill of winter. This year, be prepared
It’s like this…the lights are down. There is a strobing light that flickers a little more slowly and lasts a bit longer than it should. You notice everyone is dancing very hard, their faces obviously unconcerned with being seen; they are quaking from their marrow to their pituitary glands like a tribe of pseudo-humans amidst a sacred ceremony to the gods of energy...
Compositional in form, and with levity reminiscent of Bill Frissell’s recent offerings, Raisinhill combines atmosphere and confident musicality to a unique, stylish end. Raisinhill’s self-titled disc is substantial enough to avoid being “light”, but eschews musical hedonism.
With New Years Eve on a Thursday this year, and a serious gathering of Phish heads converged on Miami’s South Beach, the scene was primed for a high energy Vida Blue show on Saturday night. The show opened with Jazz Mandolin Project and an infrequent accompaniment by drummer John Fishman—even more motivation for beach ravaged heads to make a showing at Miami’s Jackie Gleason Theater.
Welcome to the Spring issue of Meniscus Magazine. The fortuitous date of this issue’s release of February 14 left us no choice but to dedicate the issue to love. So be it. “What we need is love,” summarized perfectly by one of the martyrs or our counterculture, Bob Marley. “Don’t need no war, don’t need no trouble. Speak happiness, make love.”
What is love? Good question. As Melissa Bator explores in Libra Seeking Balance, it is a question that rests on our minds continually until you have found your mate. And that’s just the beginning.
Love not only implies the romantic eroticism of Eros. True love should permeate every aspect of your life, every day of the year. It is the ever-pervasive, omni-present capacity we all have to feel compassion for the rest of man- and woman-kind.
Everyone goes through a stage in life to discover what love feels like. You’ve either been in love or you haven’t. If you’ve been there you know it. Love is unmistakable.
It begins with sweaty hands and anticipation of encountering that person of special interest. Then as you close in on her proximity, magnetism pricks your emotions like a goad. You can think of nothing but what it would be like to touch this beauty.
In Summer’s Freckles, Wesley Ratko relays the anticipation of rediscovering your long-lost lover. A man would endure the longest bus ride ever, to the middle of nowhere, for a summer spent with the young lady of his dreams.
Then the passion begins, and sparks fly. Maybe it will be a fling; maybe she’s the one. Either way, as Pete Pidgeon discusses in Love at 100, you should look at the most beautiful things about that relationship and live for those.
When the dynamic sexual tension is broken, the element of touch brings the relationship to an entirely different place. Deep and involved conversations into the wee hours of the morning build themselves into passionate releases of heart-throbbing lovemaking, and the puzzle is complete. (Although as Mr. Ruggles alludes to in Sex, Not Just for Teenagers, there’s more than one position the puzzle pieces fit into!)
When you’re with that perfect person—even if its perfect for just that moment—love is inexplicable and complete, as Sarah Erdreich explains in The Guy Next Door. You can sit with her in your arms, eyes lost gazing into each other’s souls, and time stops—the rest of the world no longer matters. The touch of your lips upon her neck brings a shiver to her spine as you embrace with reckless abandon.
There is perhaps no greater calling than to find your soulmate. It comes down to the most fundamental instinct on Maslow’s Human Needs Hierarchy: the need to procreate. Mike Kirkpatrick knows more about this than anyone I know right now. The consummate union of two people’s love brings with it the grandest gift nature has to offer: another person to love. It may be a daunting endeavor, but as Kpat will tell you “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.”
While the propagation instinct is built into all species, the entire animal kingdom does not hold the physiological capacity to love. Your cat may act as a romantic troubadour as he passionately licks the neck of his feline companion, but not all animals have such tendencies.
Looking at the biology of the brain, not all creatures have the faculty of love. (Thank God we do!) In fact, before the reptiles evolved into child-bearing mammals, it is uncertain if any life on the earth could sustain such an emotion. The physiology involved came about when the reptilian brain, or brain stem, was joined by the limbic brain. The evolution of this structure marked several advancements, among those, the awareness of the young.
The disposition of the parent animal, towards their offspring, is a good indicator of the emotional connection involved. For example, reptiles simply drop their eggs into a nest somewhere and walk away. If the mother is lucky enough to be around when the young hatch, she may be in for a tasty snack. The willingness to eat your own baby, is probably a good indication that the maternal love is not there.
Another evolution that came along with the limbic brain, is the ability of the young to verbalize the displeasure of being left without the parent animal. For example, when you take a baby gecko from its mother, it does nothing. When you take a baby kitten from its mother, it will cry out in loneliness, indicating that feeling is there.
Finding and spreading love is a lifelong task we should all continue with fervor. Evolution has brought us this miraculous power, and the progress of humanity depends on spreading it further.
Perhaps the most important sociological feat to tackle as a race, is to release the reservoirs of agape love accumulated in the beautiful souls of our world. If we can discharge this unconditional love for others, we can tackle so many of the ills that currently plague our world like war, starvation, and religious battles, right down to social issues like healthcare and divorce.
So please take your time to flip through the virtual pages of the Spring issue, #3 of Meniscus Magazine. Our beautiful contributors have given us many angles on the subject that we think about constantly. It is my hope that you’ll take with you the empowerment to channel the potent love from the universe, through your heart to everyone you meet.
This is the collection of Questions and Answers written for the Epicurus-page in Facebook. Go there and ask your question on the wall or by PM (if you PM, your identity will not be published).