A program I began a number of years ago, which I would like to spread, so that more children can find a little bit of joy. It's once a month, doesn't cost much, but the joy you bring that child could   more...save a life.

Background music is by Joerg Horina, MD, a personal friend, and a physician specializing in nephrology in Austria. He has used his hobby of playing acoustic guitar to make a couple of albums under the artist name "Doctor J." The sale of his music benefits the Dialysis Children charity in Austria. His two albums are called <b>"Acoustified," </b>and <b>"Out of Beyond."
</b><a href="http://www.tom-riepl.de/english/news_iii.html">Info about Doctor J's music</a>

Please check out my other videos... Lots of good music, and great photography! Even some decent poetry and photo essays.

Thanks LiveVideo, for FEATURING this!!!  less

<b>This year's Autumn gallery. Photos taken on a drive to Twin Lakes, by Twin Peaks and Independence Pass, near Aspen, Colorado.

Music is by Ben, a very talented young artist. Thank you Ben for   more...supplying this music, and many thanks to Ben's parents for permitting this collaboration! Featured songs are Bens rendition of <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/benji10/DB5988668B434E17926A897F6D4403A3/ben-s-yann-tiersen-comptine-.aspx">"Yann Tiersen - Comptine D'un Autre e'te',"</a>
Ben's rendition of<a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/benji10/92049673A8D94568A334F7E23458509A/ben-s-river-flows-in-you-yi.aspx">"The River Flows In You,"</a>
and Ben's <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/144F7E4214214CCA8ADDF784EFC1EAD2/true-love-ben-s-original-compo.aspx?lastvcid=341771">"True Love" </a>
Visit Ben at <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/benji10">http://www.livevideo.com/benji10</a></b>  less

Dedicated to a dear friend of mine, who was a child soldier in Ethiopia, inducted when he was 10, escaped when he was 12.

Declan Galbraith lives in England, in the small town of Hoo. His father is Scottish,   more...and his mother is Irish. Declan’s grandfather, Poppy Ben, sang in a band and often took Declan along to the concerts he was playing in.

“I would sit there for hours watching Poppy Ben and the musicians, and listening to their music“, says Declan. The mix of Scottish and Irish music traditions inspired Declan and became his early influence. He remembers already singing at the age of two. He adds, “These are some of my very first memories in life – always singing.“

His talent was publicly acknowledged for the first time when as a 7 years old he insisted on performing spontaneously at the annual Rochester Dickens Festival. Little Declan, dressed up as a chimney sweep, started singing and the crowd went wild. Soon after, he started to enter local talent contests and within a year he had won 15 titles and more than £1,000.00, most of which he put into savings.

Five years later, Declan has made music and singing his full-time career. Siobhan Galbraith: ”As parents, it has always been the biggest concern to ensure that irrespective of his talent and success, Declan would not lose touch with the real world, and to remain a normal young man. We know he has an extraordinary talent and he has set himself a very high goal.”

The major recording companies soon heard about Declan and he was signed to his first recording contract in Englandleading with ‘Walking in the Air’, which was released on a special Christmas Hits album, also featuring Westlife, Elton John and Elvis Presley. Some of Declan's most memorable public performances are the Queen’s Jubilee, when he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ accompanied by the St Paul’s Choir, and singing in front of more than 22,000 people at an Elton John concert.

Declan says: “So far I have been able to realize my dream of making music and singing. I am now playing guitar and the piano and have also started to write my own songs, which hopefully I will record on future albums. One day I would also like to develop other skills and perhaps do some acting as well."

Declan is determined to keep his feet firmly on the ground and knows that it is important to keep up with all of his schoolwork and education.

His first album with Irish traditional songs charted in the U.K. and Ireland. Another big success came during a nationwide tour of Young Voices concerts. It was at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast in December 2002 when he sang live with some 10,000 children and was also simultaneously linked, by radio and satellite, with more than 80,000 children in their schools all over the UK, who accompanied him in achieving the world’s largest choral sing.

Declan says: “I like to record songs that are meaningful to me and the audience. I have recorded many different types of songs, such as “Tears in Heaven”, “Love of my Life”, “Nights In White Satin” and “An Angel”, songs that demand vocal performance and interpretation. I love that kind of music "

Declan’s extraordinary talent and reputation came to the attention of media mogul Haim Saban and his music President, Ron Kenan, who signed Declan to Saban Music Group’s new record label. They chose Germany to be the first territory in the world to launch their first album, via Starwatch Music. Declan has interpreted an impressive list of great songs in his own unique style. „This album is a collection of some of my favourite classic songs. My greatest thanks go to the amazing songwriters who were responsible for these wonderful works of art and to the original artists who provided their everlasting stamp. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity of presenting my own personal interpretation.” He adds, “My greatest wish is simply to make music that people enjoy.“ <a href="http://www.declan-galbraith.co.uk/">http://www.declan-galbraith  less

Rigel died today. Please read his story here: <a href="http://blog.livevideo.com/blog/rigel_6CDA58AF4EEE4D97A756F024D4BD42C6.aspx">Rigel's Story"</a>

If any of you would like   more...to honor Rigel, please make a tax deductible donation in his name to W.O.L.F. (Wolves Offered Life and Friendship) sanctuary, where we used to volunteer. Click the link below to visit their site.

<a href="http://www.wolfsanctuary.net/">W.O.L.F. (Wolves Offered Life and Friendship)</a>
(Click the "Help a Wolf" link to make a donation)

Music is "The Rose" sung by CircaRigel  less

I made this when I was tagged on THAT OTHER SITE (Bad, Bad site), but NYC belatedly decided to tag me here, so here are my facts! Enjoy!

Underwater photography has been a hobby of mine since I was 12 years old. This slide show contains pictures I took in 2004, when I visited Western Samoa for part of my medical schooling. I had little   more...free time, but when I did, I was swimming whenever I had the chance.

The eel you see in one of the images got mad at my following it and ate one of my macro lenses, lol.

Music is "Mystic Whales," by Steven Wiseman  less

<b>Well, I've cut out the dialog and added a little reverb, but otherwise, this is the same video I did for "Sing Tag," when <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/elixir1">Elixir1</a>   more...tagged me. Hopefully this is more enjoyable, without the long opening dialog.

It was actually rather unfortunate. I tagged VioletKitty411 and <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/Faye006">Faye006</a> to do a duet, and while VK sent <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/Faye006">Faye006</a> her clip, <a href="http://www.livevideo.com/Faye006">Faye006</a> never put anything together.... a bit of a disappointment. I was looking forward to some good comedy there. Oh well... C'est La Vie.

The intro music is a clip from me singing the Welsh Lullaby, "<u>Suo Gan</u>."

If you're interested in other music I've done, please visit my new MySpace band channel, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/CircaRigelUnplugged">CircaRigelUnplugged</a></b>  less

This is a poem I wrote 14 years ago, for a dear friend of mine, and have now turned into a slide show for the LV Ball!

Song
I see a song surround in the world around
as I live each day.
It lies in the leaves   more...of the Aspen trees
as they dance their golden tune to autumn.
Although it's rare, the melody's there
amidst the lights of the city as the children play,
and the world is not so gray.
Above the walls is a sky so blue,
nowhere else is a song seen so true each day.
Beyond the walls are waterfalls
and the music comes out of hiding.
Daffodils gold and flowers bold
bring color to the song of the Earth
as they light to the music of Spring.
I feel the tune in the light of the moon
as a cool breeze rests in the sand.
The ocean waves cool the sun's rays
as they break softly on the shore
and carry the song away at the end of the day.
When the sun sets on the Western horizon,
the song remains, and can be seen in the silence of the night.
The peace brings forth a harmony
hidden from the light
yet seen so bright in the inspiration of nature's imagination.
The tune is everlasting,
deep within every creation.
I see the song.  less

I wrote this poem many years ago, when I spent much time with a American Indian friend and mentor of Choctaw, Cherokee and European heritage. I now dedicate it to his wife, who recently passed away from   more...cancer. You are in my thoughts, Mou and GhostWolf.

Indian Winter
I softly tread the ancient path
where age old legends are laid to rest
My footsteps echo like phantoms of night,
while a dove coos, content in her nest.

I enter a clearing where a village once stood,
Where tepees stand in a tattered cast.
Clouds hover low, a spector's veil,
and mists uncover memories from ages past.

I gaze into the eyes of an ageless face.
An abyss of every emotion.
In them I read the hopes of a tribe,
and a life filled with unyielding devotion.

He speaks in a voice that is almost a whisper,
hoarse from years of wear.
He speaks low in a soothing tone,
in a passion unknown and truly rare.

"Eagle feathers, Starlit night, weathered face, silver light."

"Young squaw come. Follow the path of the ancient one.
Fear me not. Stand. Now follow the deer and run!"
"Step lightly, make no sound. The night is awake, sounds surround.
The wind speaks, learn its voice. Winter ends...now rejoice!!!"

The mist lifts and the Indian fades, but I am not alone.

"Eagle feathers, Starlit night, weathered face, silver light."  less

Terrestrial photos from the Costa Rica trip I took in 2001.

If any of you ever are able to get to Costa Rica, here are some recommendations...

Take a butterfly and hummingbird tour... they're gorgeous!
  more...
Stay a couple of nights at the <a href="http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/EN/">Observatory Lodge.</a> All rooms have an entire side of glass, facing Costa Rica's most active volcano, Mount Arenal.

Take a canopy tour! There's nothing like sightseeing while repelling between treetops! The best one is at Rincon De La Vieja. It has 23 platforms and a suspension bridge! Don't worry... you are connected to a stout cable at all times for safety.

Go snorkeling!

They also have some astronomy cruises, for going out to sea at night for nothing better than to admire the stars.

On top of that, the water is safe to drink, and electricity is green... Costa Rica uses hydroelectric and geothermal sources for 100% of their electricity. You also don't have many of the other worries you may experience in other Central American countries. I remember being dragged off the street in Mexico by vendors trying to sell me things. None of that in Costa Rica. In fact, the only complaint I have is the condition of the roads... watch out for potholes!

Music is "Beach Walk" and "Lahaina Town," by Steven Wiseman, <br><br><a href="http://www.stevenwiseman.com/">http://www.stevenwiseman.com/</a>  less

Have random acts of kindness touched your life?

CircaRigel sings "Oh Holy Night." Intro background is "Walking in the Air," also sung by CircaRigel.

Accompaniment and remixing by <a href="http://www.LiveVideo.com/Mart-Mart">Mart-Mart</a>

Dedicated to a very good friend of mine, who survived his plight in Ethiopia, where he was forced to be a child soldier in the army at the tender age of 10. He escaped when he was 12, coming to the USA   more...as a refugee. I met Tess when I was 15, and one could not find a gentler soul.
Music and Lyrics were written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.  less

When I was 18, I worked at a camp run by the United Cerebral Palsy of New York. There, I met many brave folk like Rick Hoyt. They deserve our respect, but more than anything, they deserve our friendship   more...and understanding. Please visit the following sites to meet one of the friends I made when working at that camp.
<a href="http://www.capacityworks.com/bobsmith.html">Profile of Courage: Bob Smith</a>
<a href="http://handmadepoetry.com/speaker.html">HandMade Poetry, by Bobby Smith</a>

I am posting this video here to help spread its message of inclusion

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they're not in a marathon they are in a triathlon- that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It's a remarkable record of exertion- all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."

The couple brought their son home determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Dick remembers the struggle to get the local school authorities to agree: "Because he couldn’t talk they thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true

A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator."

In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night, Dick remembers, "Rick told us he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing."

Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education.

Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.

Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the country.

Rick himself is confident that his visibility — and his father’s dedication — perform a forceful, valuable purpose in a world that is too often divisive and exclusionary. He typed a simple parting thought:
"The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life."

David Tereshchuk is a documentary television producer who has worked with the Hoyts in spreading their message through the media.

To purchase Team Hoyt Videos and books, please visit the <a href="http://www.teamhoyt.com"> Team Hoyt Web Site.</a>  less

Yep. I decided to try Doritos new mystery flavor... Doritos "The Quest."

Music is from my Suo Gan recording, sung by me, accompanied by MartMart (on YouTube)

I'm fostering for LifeLine puppy rescue. Http://www.lifelinepuppy.org/
...My neighbor has already named them (and wants to adopt them). The boy is Hawthorn, and the girl is Isabella

It's finally here! Not the greatest music video, but I had a heck of a lot of fun making it! Accompaniment by Mart-Mart. Singing by CircaRigel

A short clip on the martial art Aikido- which carries a philospophy that is very dear to my heart.

Sensei Joe Thambu - 6th Dan Black Belt in Yoshinkan Aikido features in this story from Body & Soul

A Poetic Slide Show and a failed attempt to persuade the US government not to wage war against Iraq, viewed by Maryland Congressman Van Hollen. This video is by no means meant to insult the brave men   more...and women fighting for our country, but rather addresses the premise upon which the current Iraq was is based. The ORIGINAL version of this poem was very different, made in support of our effort to defend our allies in the first Persian Gulf war, albeit with the same grief toward the inevitable loss of life.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES FROM WAR ZONES!!!

I wrote the poem. Music by Yanni  less

Rigel is 18 years old... and showing the world how lazy he can be in his retirement!!!

<b>Went back to the Colorado Trail July 25, 2008 to do trail maintenance (a group from my church has adopted a section of the trail), and to remember Rigel. This was the last mountain hike he did   more...in 2007, near Kinosha Pass.

Please continue to honor Rigel with tax deductible donations to W.O.L.F.(Wolves Offered Life and Friendship) Sanctuary, <a href="http://www.wolfsanctuary.net/">http://www.wolfsanctuary.net/</a>

At the sanctuary, the wolves and wolf hybrids are permitted to live their lives in small packs in large enclosures within the forest of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, with a high quality diet and plenty of shelter. They get top notch veterinary care (I know their veterinarian personally), and even chiropractic care for animals with orthopedic issues that can benefit from it. The conditions at WOLF are far better than any other rescue, sanctuary, or shelter I've seen. Once on the page, click the "Help a wolf" link to make a tax-deductible donation.</b>  less

Ok, a dyslexic attack at the end (sorry, Faye), but here's my song... "Don't Cry for me Argentina"
And I tag... (You're going to love this one- see the video to find out who, and again, sorry   more...about the error!)
  less

Yep! I'm one of them!

Music track is "Rainmaker" by Yanni

This is a photo essay of pictures I took this past autumn during a drive into the mountains to visit the final resting place of my dear friend, Paul Levine. Paul wrote, played and sang the music accompanying   more...this slide show.

I love the glittering leaves of gold on aspen trees as the wind sweeps among them, contrasting with the delicate silver of the branches they hang upon.

The song is "Let Love Have its Way," by Paul Levine

One of my photos in this video was featured last Autumn in CNN's "Autumn's True Colors" portfolio.  less