New Orleans, LA: Highschoolers who couldn’t get a gig, rock a street corner instead.

Photo by Andrew Ferrone for PeaceLabs.—–

The start of the “Congressional Musicians Caucus.” We’ll need their help to get MusicianCorps programs thru with National Service, Education, Health and Foreign Affairs (State Dept., etc) legislation: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10493.html

Then, of course, there’s these guys:

“How exactly the original lineup — Trent Lott, John Ashcroft, Jim Jeffords and Larry Craig — was formed remains shrouded in mystery, and little is known about the decision to exclude Orrin Hatch, at the time the Senate’s most successful Christian recording artist. But from that moment, the quartet was unstoppable.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091000062.html

And finally, the man with the purse strings likes to jam…

“Rep. Obey Plays Some Killer Harp to Dancing Fans”

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/04/rep_obey_plays_some_killer_har.html

Those who have worked with (or against) House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) know him as an intensely focused budget wonk with a very short fuse. But those who have jammed out with the 69-year-old Obey, as several House members did Tuesday night, know him as a “killer” harmonica player who gets crowds jumping to their feet and shaking their stuff.—–

“You get the feeling that…when you play something good, you’re proud.”

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=78a49cda2aa27c37b6ae522bb32b4c7c2ad0c3c3

http://www.nytimes-institute.com/?p=148

http://www.nytimes-institute.com/?p=207—–;

Enough to make an alumnus proud…ckg, Wes ‘91

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Sen. Barack Obama asked Wesleyan University graduates Sunday to pursue a cause greater than themselves, saying, “There is nothing naïve about your impulse to change this world.” http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10608.html—–;

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/14/health/webmd/main4095900.shtml—–;

We hope to see you at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco tonight:
http://www.bluebearmusic.org/bblive—–;

http://www.BattleAtKruger.com

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM—–;

Mr. Kacmaz (pronounced KATCH-maz) is part of a group of Turkish educators who have come to this battleground (Pakistan) with an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct from it. Like Muslim Peace Corps volunteers, they promote this approach in schools, which are now established in more than 80 countries, Muslim and Christian.
The schools, which also operate in Christian countries like Russia, are not for Muslims alone, and one of their stated aims is to promote interfaith understanding. Mr. Gulen met the previous pope, as well as Jewish and Orthodox Christian leaders, and teachers in the schools say they stress multiculturalism and universal values.
“We are all humans,” said Mr. Kacmaz, the principal. “In Islam, every human being is very important.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04islam.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arts/music/28coac.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/arts/music/04chin.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/arts/music/03nevi.html—–;

Remember the movie Wag the Dog? The Bureau of Labor Statistics seems to have liked that movie: http://bigpicture.typepad.com

Back to music. Music sharpens mental acuity for aging boomers in today’s NYT:

“There is a gradual growing awareness that challenging your brain can have positive effects,” Dr. Cohen said. He said the plasticity of the brain is directly related to the production of new dendrites, the branched, tree-like neural projections that carry electrical signals through the brain “Every time you challenge your brain it will actually modify the brain,” he said. “We can indeed form new brain cells, despite a century of being told it’s impossible.”

In pursuit of his own dendritic growth, Dr. Cohen plans to take up the piano again after years of not playing. He is also sketching out a science-fiction novel he hopes to write.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/technology/03brain.html—–;

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/world/middleeast/01oud.html?scp=1&sq=A+Fabled+Instrument&st=nyt

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/nyregion/02audition.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin—–;