Follow your dreams! Never too late!

Here is the end of 2010 soon. Want or not, like it or not, we all look back and evaluate the year. Was it a success or could have been better? I would like to summarize the year with an example. This year, amongst all my students, somehow I attracted two mature aged students, both 62. None of them was in the privileged situation of studying music at school for different reasons. However, it was time to to face a new challenge and fulfill the dream. I was the lucky person whom they turned to and trusted with the precious task of introducing them to music and prove that they are absolutely capable of making beautiful music.

There is nothing more satisfying and rewarding than seeing these otherwise successful people tackling the tasks lesson after lesson. Their commitment to coming to weekly lessons, practicing and  overcoming the temporary frustration of learning is hugely admirable.  The end result? Is like climbing Kilimanjaro and looking at the magnificent view. Glory!

A musical cat

It is hard to have a piano lesson when the cat sits on your lap but Donna managed really well!

Piano Tuner

Donna's Burmese cat shows special interest in the piano's strings. Maybe interested in tuning pianos!

A Long Life? Get grip!

Having a firm handshake may do more than seal business deals, according to a study that shows people with greater grip strength live longer.
Grip strength, the speed at which we walk or rise from a chair and our ability to balance all may be indicators of how long we might live, according to a study by scientists at the Medical Research Council, a publicly funded organization dedicated to improving human health.
Scientists at the MRC unit for lifelong health and ageing analyzed findings from 33 studies worldwide, including more than 50,000 people  followed for up to 43 years. The results were published yesterday in the Medical Journal.
Volunteers with a firmer handgrip and better performance on other tests lived longer than weaker people, according to Rachel Cooper, who led the analysis.
Evaluating the strength of a handshake or a person's walking speed may aid health assessment and guide healthcare decisions, researchers said.
Dr Cooper said: "Simple non-invasive assessment measures like these, that are linked to current and future health, could help doctors identify those most vulnerable to poor health in later life and who may benefit from early intervention to keep them active for longer."
The link between handgrip strength and survival was visible in younger as well as in older adults.

Love is like Butterfly

I was told today that LOVE is like Butterfly.
You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it.
But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder. 

Author unknown

The Mozart Effect

A recent report now says that the Mozart effect is yet another charming urban legend. The bad news for hip urban professionals: playing Mozart for your designer baby will not improve his IQ or help him get into that exclusive pre-school. He will just have to get admitted to Harvard some other way. Of course, we're all better off listening to Mozart purely for the pleasure of it. However, one must wonder whether, if playing Mozart sonatas for little Tiffany or Jason really could boost his or her intelligence, what would happen if other composers were played during the kiddies' developmental time

LISZT EFFECT: Child speaks rapidly and extravagantly, but never really says anything important.

BRUCKNER EFFECT: Child speaks v-e-r-y slowly and repeats himself frequently and at length. Gains reputation for profundity.

WAGNER EFFECT: Child becomes an egocentric megalomaniac. May eventually marry his sister.

PUCCINI EFFECT: Child is prone to murderous fits of jealousy if another child plays with his/her toys. Child also suffers never-ending bout of croup and insists it's nothing.

VERDI EFFECT: Child marches around his room repeatedly, lines up all of his stuffed animals in a parade, pays particular homage to his stuffed elephants.

MAHLER EFFECT: Child continually screams (at great length and volume) that he's dying.

SCHOENBERG EFFECT: Child never repeats a word until he's used all the other words in his vocabulary. Sometimes talks backwards. Eventually, people stop listening to him. Child blames them for their inability to understand him.

IVES EFFECT: The child develops a remarkable ability to carry on several separate conversations at once, in various dialects.

GLASS EFFECT: The child tends to repeat himself over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

STRAVINSKY EFFECT: The child is prone to savage, guttural and profane outbursts that often lead to fighting and pandemonium in the preschool.

BRAHMS EFFECT: The child is able to speak beautifully as long as his sentences contain a multiple of three words (3, 6, 9, 12, etc). However, his sentences containing 4 or 8 words are strangely uninspired.

CAGE EFFECT: Child says nothing for 4 minutes, 33 seconds--exactly. A recent study has determined that this is preferred by 10 out of 10 classroom teachers.

(Submitted by Doctor Joan)

The Lost Art of Sleep

Don't sleep 'till you read  The Lost Art of Sleep by Michael McGirr. 
Published by Picador Australia, $32.99


A former priest, discovered the beauty of sleep with the arrival of his baby twins, when he and his wife seemed to experience little of it. Inspired by his sleeplessness, McGirr travelled through history, science and the mythical to discover the benefits and dangers of sleep. Expect to come across some of the most famous figures of history - such as Aristotle, Thomas Edison and Florence Nightingale - and discover their connection to the art of slumber. You will also find out the medical theories for sleeping and dreaming, and why we need it so dearly. A fantastic read. 


Find a copy on http://www.fishpond.com.au