The other day there was an interesting song playing on the radio…in angelic fashion a beautifully talented woman’s voice was singing “Let’s Hear it for New York”.  It was almost like The Statue of Liberty had finally found her voice thanks to Alicia Keys.

Now this holiday season when we go to buy our favorite artist’s work we could think to ourselves, why are so many talented individuals influenced by a single city?  Well that is a complex question, producing many different theories for sure.  However with Time Warner, Times Square and The GE Building all within blocks of each other, those icons alone, could offer us some insight into the flow of information and the capitalistic vortex that is Manhattan Island.

Then to just imagine how it all started.  A place that became a melting pot like none other.  When people were suppressed by their religious beliefs or because of war, famine and strife many political refugees, to the point they migrate to what they believe is an island of opportunity on The Atlantic Seaboard right here in The United States.

Because at the end of the day, if you put yourself into an “Empire State of Mind” you could be thinking of a place “Where Dreams are Made of”, “Where there’s nothing you can’t do” because “Now you’re in New York” so let its lights inspire You.

This time of year in the United States is the week of the 4^th Thursday in November, known to Americans as Thanksgiving.

Well everybody knows the new colonists who came to America got along great with The Native Americans.  They lived in peace and harmony, as they came together around Thanksgiving time to share a grand feast in celebration of the harvest season.

Not exactly, but it could have happened, right?

Really Thanksgiving is a commercial holiday that just gives us another reason to get together with friends and family.  To eat, be happy, and help support turkey farms and cranberry producers just before the retailers on Black Friday.

But most of all it is a time to offer thanks.

Like everyday, thanks for our family and friends, all whom we love. And not necessarily for material things, you know all of the stuff out there, more the thanks for life itself.  Because in the grand scheme of things, life as we know it, is sustained by a delicate relationship with our original friend, The Earth.

Not that one at the local’s playground.

Imagine for a moment the earth began to slide beneath your feet or your house/property.  Not necessarily like the violent shaking of an earthquake, more as it is the gradual movement of tons of loose dirt, gravel, and rock as gravity works moving a mountain in a massive landslide.

Well this gentle giant is only as forgiving as what stood in its path.  Trees like toothpicks, houses moved effortlessly, a roadway buried for miles, and a river “naturally” re-routed in the wake of what is a brand new landscape.

Now The Nile Valley transformed.  This beautiful area is now a giant project for the Army Corps of Engineers as they work with private and state enterprises to keep The Naches River from flooding meadowlands and to build a new roadway.

The amount of excavation is impressive.  The collaboration of people, tons of heavy equipment, hundreds of truck loads of earth being moved to help secure access for people living there while re-opening a new connector for the State Route is almost as impressive as Mother Nature’s ability to offer us a timely sense of urgency.

If you’re ever in this neck of the woods, maybe drivin’ up old SR 410 towards Chinook Pass, stop off @ The Wood Shed Restaurant & Lounge, or just ask around, you’re certain to hear many a good story about The Nile Valley Slide.

Today’s column is in Honor of the men and women who have either served or are currently serving in The United States Armed Forces.

As Americans come together today to show respect for individuals working for The Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force, the world collectively is watching at the same time.  Because the people of the world who have followed history understand that security and the ultimate sacrifices many have made in the name of democracy and freedom continue to be a work in progress.

To fundamentally understand that as long as we bleed the same blood, no matter what we look like or what continent we were born, we will continue to question physical and ideological barriers that stand to divide us, at the same time working to utilize our militaries in more peaceful ways that will help bring us, as a humankind, together.

The harsh reality is not every conflict has had a peaceful resolution.

Historically, ideological thoughts, from many different points of view have been argued to stalemates where leaders have summoned militaries into action to physically fight for beliefs, lands and/or resources.  Those autonomous moments in time, for whatever reasons, the sad and lonely points when discourse halted, unfortunately, are when wars have ensued.  The strife simply put into the hands of each and every soldier of the differing sides. Those resulting performances of people trained for violent combat with access to some of the finest military technologies that have been played out on various battlefields throughout history.

Take a moment to imagine what it could be like for a soldier in action…

You may be having second thoughts of why or how you ended up in the fight in the first place.  You may not completely understand all of the politics on both sides of the whole war either.  You may not be able to comprehend why you are on a battlefield fighting someone who doesn’t speak the same language, let alone their minds filled with similar thoughts.

But you do understand and have the confidence in yourself and trust the group you have been trained.  And you do understand that there are people in your life who love you, and pray for your safe return home.  And you definitely understand that any doubt that may attempt to jump into your mind is only compromising one thing…

Survival.

A few years back there was a birthday party that took place right around this same time of year.  A Happy Birthday to all of you Scorpios all around the World.

You know when you’re working or going to school full-time, whatever comprises your busy days, it takes time to reflect and show love for some of the details that truly make a special event. For this party a talented airbrush artist painted this 6’x3’ canvas banner and custom t-shirts in honor of three birthdays @ a well thought out and memorable party celebrated together with a bunch of good people.

Thank you and a special shout out to Mr M. Thompson, aka Skillz.

Nowadays the art of airbrush has become much more conventional than ever before in history.  From local grassroots artists to mainstream media attention the popularity of these highly detailed custom paint jobs are seen almost anywhere you look…vehicles, murals, clothing and design, you name it, airbrush culture is in demand.

It’s a dark, brisk night.  You are walking on your way to a party as the wind is howling and the leaves swirl around in the air with the distant sound of a galloping horse…

The lore, of what is the cultural phenomenon of Halloween is interesting and somewhat mystifying.  However one of the facts this time of the year is the annual celebration of the pumpkin harvest.  So how do we celebrate these cool looking, uniquely sized and shaped gourds?

The answer:  With a blade. Carefully, carving them up…

As the flesh and seeds of the pumpkin are reserved for culinary purposes, the hollowed shell remains a piece for those creative souls to transform them into their own unique luminary expressions of art.  The pumpkin carved in the form of a face, a pattern, really anything imaginable, next brought to life by the light of a lamp or candle.

During those dark, brisk nights leading up to October 31^st, Jack O’Lanterns will adorn patios, windowsills, and porches.  Maybe even upon the shoulders of an infamous headless character in a Sleepy Hollow near you…

Happy Halloween!!

Do you remember that science class when you took samples of water or animal tissue to observe under a microscope? Looking at cells, parts of the building blocks of life.

What about all of the images that we see today in the electronic world? You know every time you look at televisions, computer screens, electronic billboards, digital cameras, wireless gadget displays, and media that have been printed with inkjet devices.

Like the cells you saw in lab, the building blocks of these images are pixels. These small dots or boxes of different shades and colors are those that comprise the images you see in everyday life. Put a million pixels in a box, and they become Mega. These various groups of megapixels combined together to create the world of digital photography.

In reflection, many years before megapixels, maybe the Pointillists’ art revolution was just way ahead of its time. Maybe they knew the secret to visual arts would keep re-inventing itself, as does the technology influencing it. That Neo-Pointillism would one day become Reality. Because their perspective was to share, naturally like the universe, that each individual part is its own integral player in an infinite image.

Long before humans were able to transcend vast distances more rapidly than ever before, roadways were just migrating lanes throughout the world’s continents.

Well, a lot has changed.

Of course, they were unique to each person(s) then, as the routes we take to work and the vehicles that help move people and goods, today.  Now within the vast networks of dirt, gravel, asphalt and concrete, like life, there are many different twists, turns, hills and valleys along the way that make each and every one its own unique story.

We plan many of our destinations traveling on the roadways, some for work and some for play.  But then there is the proverbial “every now and then”. Those autonomous moments in time, when you create an opportunity to put the map away, switch off the GPS or maybe the Google Maps on your portable wireless device.

Then you will have truly set the stage…a time and place where the unknown becomes an expedition. When you explore a new environment while appreciating your surroundings, many offered by traveling upon the world’s many different roadways.

May all joy and intellect fuel your drive for adventure.  To simply be motivated by what you will see when you get to the top of each and every one of those hills in life.

This week in The United States, from October 4^th until October 10^th 2009, is a time to honor National Newspaper Week.

But why for just a week? And why just in The US? For in reality, everywhere around the world, when printing presses are fired-up-ready and produce pieces of paper inked with printed words, symbols and images, everyday is truly a cause for celebration.

Back up for a minute, though.  Just imagine for a moment having been alive many centuries ago.  It would not be a question if transcribed literature, printed newspapers, magazines and books would survive The Digital Age.  It would not be a question of whether or not a Pen or a Typewriter would ultimately be replaced by a Computer Keyboard with a Printer, and then, those advancements to be superseded next by Touch Screens and Voice Command systems.

Nope, none of that would have ever mattered, had the old typeset Printing Press not been invented.  That’s right, you would have never had the opportunity to hold in your hands and smell a newspaper that is “Hot Off The Press”.  And there wouldn’t have been any banter of “EXTRA, EXTRA, Read All About It!!” on street corners.  Let alone miles of shelves covered with your favorite magazines, vast library systems, and amazing prints and artwork to adorn private and public space.

Come to think of it, we wouldn’t know anything about our governments, communities, people, places or our favorite things.  On that note, let these words be a sense of urgency, for you to get out there, use the new technologies, pick up your phone, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, you name it.  It’s time for a true call to promote, subscribe, and ultimately support our newspapers and print publications, all around the world.

To become better informed, at the same time, showing love for printed material and the people and innovation that make it a reality. Because no matter what the future holds, an old friend, named Gutenberg, will forever look upon us, from wherever he is, and continue to smile at the progress in, and of, The Flow of Information.

Thanks to print, and all to do with its cause. Here’s to the ever-persistent dedication to inform and be well informed Citizens of Our World.

You know those times when you just can’t put your finger on something you really, really want to find? It could be anything.

You know, when you think about the last time you saw it, maybe where you had it last, drawing up this whole blueprint in your mind to come up with a strategy to make what is lost found.  You’re confident and you’ve got it all mapped out, as you start your search only again to be frustrated by the discouragement of your honest efforts.

Then you think to yourself, new strategy.

I’m simply just going to take this one out of my hands. If it’s meant for me to find it, then it’s meant to be.  You close yours eyes for a few moments and take in deep breaths. You relax, and become calm as you let go of all the old invisible barriers in your mind, and you begin to visualize, then you see it, that what you are looking for, like a diamond in the rough, and, ultimately, you see yourself finding it.

At that moment, you open your eyes to see help has arrived.  Random in its form, you take comfort and are pleased to be presented with a Guide.