I’ve been following this season with more enthusiasm than ever before. From the day Season 21 started, I’ve been following, admiring and rooting for Bindi.
Last night, the freestyle which Derek choreographed for her was simply amazing and unforgettable.
She has been consistent in her performances. She has improved so much as the weeks have passed. She seems to be older than her years. The support of her family and loved ones has been remarkable. The presence of her father, Steve, has been quite notable.
Tonight is the night.
I’m holding my breath because I really hope she wins the mirrored trophy.
I found this YouTube video which shows the complete evolution, the practice, the reasoning, the performance and the judging of the dance.
Bindi Irwin reduces Dancing With The Stars audience to tears as she breaks down during emotional performance in memory of her late father Steve
BIANCA SOLDANI FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
There was hardly a dry eye in the Dancing With The Stars arena on Monday night after frontrunner Bindi Irwin took to the stage for a heartfelt tribute dance.
The Australian teenager couldn’t keep her composure and fell sobbing into the arms of her partner Derek Hough, after a childhood image of herself with her late father Steve flashed up at the end of her sequence.
The judging panel and studio audience members were visibly moved by the outpouring of emotion and many were seen wiping their eyes.
A vivacious, energetic musical piece by Chris Spheeris. Gloriously interpreted by this wonderful group of dancers.
Reminds me very much of flamenco.
Flamenco is a form of Spanish folk music and dance from the region of Andalucia in southern Spain. It includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps). First mentioned in literature in 1774, the genre grew out of Andalucian and Romani music and dance styles. Flamenco is often associated with the gitanos (Romani people of Spain) and a number of famous flamenco artists are of this ethnicity. Flamenco was first recorded in the late 18th century but the genre underwent a dramatic development in the late 19th century.
Chris Spheeris is a Greek-American composer of instrumental music. He is a producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Chris is the cousin of Penelope Spheeris and her brother Jimmie Spheeris, and Costas Gavras. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chris began writing songs on his guitar as a teenager.
In 1985, Chris began composing for film. His work in collaboration with filmmaker Chip Duncan includes the television series Is Anyone Listening, the series Mystic Lands (Discovery Networks), In A Just World (PBS) and the classroom production entitled The Life & Death of Glaciers (Discovery Education).
The movie started yesterday evening. They had a marathon of the previous movies and the premiere of the new one. I missed that. But nobody could keep me away today. I went to the 11 AM showing.
LOVED IT!!
But I’m not partial. I’m an ardent fan of this trilogy … even more sore after reading the books. I think that the acting, imagery, costumes, production and action is excellent. But then again, I’m not partial. I found this third installment to be a bit “dark” but it went along with the plot and the story line.
The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America.
The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem, established in North America after the destruction of the continent’s civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. The nation consists of the wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts united under the Capitol’s control. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly known as Appalachia.
As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by an annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants (or “tributes”) must fight to the death in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains.
The story is narrated by 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. The male tribute chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a former schoolmate of Katniss who once gave her bread from his family’s bakery when her family was starving.
This time around, Katniss is the focus of a mass rebellion against the Capitol in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 and things are about to get crazy. We’ve seen a series of teaser trailers that show President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in mid-propaganda speech when District 13 abruptly interrupts with a threat that the Mockingjay is back!
Everyone is rallying around our heroine to lead the rebellion. Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is convinced everyone will follow Katniss, since she is the symbol of the Mockingjay, but District 13′s President Coin (Julianne Moore) isn’t so sure.
“No else can do this but her,” Plutarch declares. He’s right.
President Snow threatens that any symbols of the Mockingjay is forbidden and his men and the rebel forces go head-to-head in deadly, action-packed-battles.
Trip down memory lane … great way to start the weekend
This was posted in 2011 but I didn’t see it till now. It’s an experience for me … music and dancing are very important to me. It took me back in time.
A collection of dance clips from almost 40 movies from dance movies to comedies, from Fred Astaire to Micheal Jackson.
Now this is dancing! Video by guidomito
‘Dancing At The Movies’ Supercut Imagines If Every Dance Scene Was Set To ‘Footloose’
Just TRY fighting the urge to dance after watching this amazing supercut. The video features dance scenes from just about every movie in existence, all set to the obligatory Kenny Loggins’ classic “Footloose.”
Can you name all the movies to which these dance scenes belong? It’s quite a challenge, but the bigger challenge is resisting the urge to dance like Kevin Bacon halfway through the video.
~~GALLERY~~
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~~Dancing at the Movies~~
Music Video by guidomito
~~Uploaded on Jan 8, 2011~~
A collection of dance clips from almost 40 movies from dance movies to comedies, from Fred Astaire to Micheal Jackson.
Hope you enjoy!
Dirty Dancing, Flashdance, White Nights, Perfect, Saturday Night Fever, Blue Skies, Pulp Fiction, High Fidelity, Clerks 2, American Pie, Billy Elliot, Footloose,True Lies,Grease, Honey, Phantom of the Opera, Step up, Step up 2, Moonwalker, West Side Story, Moulin Rouge, Mary Poppins, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Strictly Ballroom, Happy Feet, Singing in the Rain, Fame, Fame 2009, Save the Last Dance, Mamma Mia, Mask of Zorro, Coyote Ugly, Wild Hogs, Get Smart, Airplane, A Knights Tale, High School Musical and Austin Powers.
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, and second, after his father, in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The bride, Catherine “Kate” Middleton is the eldest of three children of Michael and Carole Middleton of Bucklebury, Berkshire. The Dean of Westminster, John Hall, presided at the service; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, conducted the marriage; Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, preached the sermon; and a reading was given by the bride’s brother, James. William’s best man was his brother, Prince Harry, while the bride’s sister, Pippa, was maid of honor.
The ceremony was attended by the bride’s and groom’s families, as well as many foreign royals, diplomats, and the couple’s chosen personal guests. After the ceremony, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
As Prince William was not the heir apparent to the throne, the wedding was not a full state occasion and many details were left to the couple to decide, such as much of the guest list of about 1,900.
Money has become an ongoing and heated topic in American elections.
In 2010, the Supreme Court cancelled any limits on the amount of cash corporations, unions and rich individuals could spend during elections.
Super PACs, once a term that drew befuddlement, is now part of the mainstream political lexicon, describing committees that can spend as much as they want on a campaign just so long as they don’t work directly with the candidate.
The ride was completed in two days. It was another success for the fundraiser. Awareness was again attained. Many riders participated. Here’s an included video of the “faces of the riders“.
It’s not only the riders themselves. This event includes helpers, cooks, vendors, massage therapists, water “people”, organizers and many behind the scenes.
Here we honor all.
History of The SMART Ride
Like many things that change us and the world in some way, it starts with a dream, a vision, and an idea. The SMART Ride (Southern Most AIDS/HIV Ride) is no different. It was born out of a dream to make a real and significant difference in the lives of those infected, affected and at risk for HIV/AIDS.
In 2002, the idea was a welcome change to this kind of fundraising, but met much skepticism about the reality of meeting these goals of 100%. The ride became a reality one year later in November of 2003 with less than 100 riders and about 100 crew, miraculously we raised $169,000 and returned it all to AIDS Service Organizations.
A decade later over $5.3 Million has been distributed throughout Florida making SMART Ride the 2nd largest AIDS bicycle ride in the country and the only one of it’s size to give back 100%.
~They are involved because~
Some are Positive Some have lost someone to HIV/AIDS Some know someone living with HIV/AIDS Everybody believes it is the right thing to do
~~GALLERY~~
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~~The Faces of SMART Ride 2014 photos by BJ Spice~~
~~Published on Nov 18, 2014~~
The SMART Ride 2014, a fundraising bike ride from Miami to Key West to raise funds for those infected/affected by HIV in the South Florida area.
I know, I know … I ended last night with a Piano Guy post and video. However, the included video is brand new, right off the presses. It’s a new video from the “Wonders” album. It’s a fun piece and I’m looking forward to post in. These are awesome performers and musicians beyond compare …. in my humble opinion.
The best way to start a day!!
(It’s so “fresh” that there aren’t many new images out there)
“Ants Marching/Ode To Joy”
… “a mash-up that incorporates melodies from Dave Matthews Band’s huge hit “Ants Marching / Beethoven Ode to Joy…. ”
We would also like to thank Tuacahn for their generosity in allowing us to film at their beautiful amphitheatre.
What began as an experiment and then exploded into an Internet phenomenon has now evolved into an incredible success story. The Piano Guys, four talented dads from Utah, released their fourth studio album entitled Wonders (Portrait/Sony Music Masterworks) on October 7th. In an incredibly competitive week of major music releases, the album makes its chart debut at an impressive #12 on the Billboard Top 200.
This marks The Piano Guys’ highest debut and biggest opening sales week of their career.
The Piano Guys – Steven Sharp Nelson, Jon Schmidt, Al Van der Beek and Paul Anderson – are an American musical group who became an online sensation by way of their immensely successful series of strikingly original self-made music videos. They’ve made over 50 music videos since early 2011, including their breakout hit, an innovative multi-handed version of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” and a gorgeous reinvention of the hit song “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen.
To date, the Utah-based classical-pop group has released three major label albums on Portrait/Sony Music Masterworks: The Piano Guys, The Piano Guys 2, and the holiday album A Family Christmas.
~~GALLERY~~
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~~Ants Marching/Ode To Joy in 4K~~
~~Published on Nov 12, 2014~~
Story behind “Ants Marching/Ode to Joy”
Shout out to all the Dave Matthews Band fans out there! Shout out to all the Ludwig van Beethoven fans out there! Now a shout out to all the DMB/Beethoven mash-up fans out there! Introducing … Ants Marching / Ode to Joy!
OK, so this tune started in sound check at one of our shows. We were playing around with that super catchy lick at the front end of DMB’s “Ants Marching.” Using a loop pedal we’d set up the chords then improv on top of them. It then evolved. We did things like mimic the snare hit on beats 2 and 4 using a padded piano bench. We created a unique fiddle-like sound by combining a 5 string electric cello and a bowed piano string (using a disassembled cello bow.) We used a myriad of muted piano and piano percussion sounds. Then we developed the loop effect farther so that 4 guys could play a lot more parts together.
Like most of our music, ALL OF THE SOUNDS YOU HEAR WERE CREATED BY PIANO & CELLO (with the help of a tambourine).
Ode to Joy crept its way in because, well, throwing classical licks into pop tune arrangements is one of the things we love to do, but we also loved that, though the two melodies melded well, the lyrics or “messages” of the two tunes starkly contrasted each other. Poetic irony, right? DMB’s tune talks of everyone doing the same thing (um…like ants marching) and implies a meaningless, despondent and monotonous isolation of human beings from one another, while Beethoven’s “tune” talks of friendship, brotherhood, interconnectedness, meaning, and, of course, joy.
We filmed this in ONE TAKE (meaning no cuts or alternative angles) using an octocopter with an attached gimbal (pivoted support). This allowed us to alternate between fly shots and glidecam-style shots. Jeremy Crawford and Frank Nelson (our “Piano Stunt Coordinators,” in addition to a long list of specialized roles within TPG) would catch, walk with, and then release the copter during the “take.” They wore motorcycle helmets as a safety precaution!
We performed this on one of the most incredible stages on Earth – Tuacahn Ampitheatre! This happens to be in the TPG’s “hometown” of St. George Utah. We were positioned on a rotating island stage surrounded by running water, heavy fog, dramatic lights, pyrotechnics and majestic red rock mountains. Ya. It felt as epic as it sounds.
A Flood of Late Spending on Midterm Elections, From Murky Sources
A stealthy coterie of difficult-to-trace outside groups is slipping tens of millions of dollars of attacks ads and negative automated telephone calls into the final days of the midterm campaign, helping fuel an unprecedented surge of last-minute spending on Senate races.
Much of the advertising is being timed to ensure that no voter will know who is paying for it until after the election on Tuesday. Some of the groups are “super PACs” that did not exist before Labor Day but have since spent heavily on political advertising, adding to the volatility of close Senate and House races.
It Is What It Is 