What Kind of World Do YOU Want?

I love, love, LOVE Five for Fighting. Unlike what the name suggests, it’s actually a one-man band, and that man is singer/songwriter John Ondrasik (On drah sick). According to his Web site, John has spent the past decade writing deeply personal songs that include social messages, invoke the human spirit and make an emotional connection. He has released best-selling albums like Message for Albert (1997), America Town (2001), The Battle for Everything (2004) and Two Lights (2006), as well as chart-breaking songs like “Superman,” “100 years,” etc.

Perhaps my most favorite song of his, though, is “World.” Every time I hear it, I end up raw and on fire. Check out the following video from YouTube:

In February of 2007, John launched a unique charity-driven Web site,whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com that raises money for various charities when users view video clips provided by visitors to the site. Current views are over three million with approximately three hundred thousand dollars donated. 

Do check it out! Watch, upload a video, share the link. Pass the good stuff on, and let’s help make this world the kind of world WE would like to have–if not for us, then at least for our children. One can hope, right?

Lyrics to World

Got a package full of wishes
A time machine, a magic wand
A globe made out of gold
No instructions or commandments
Laws of gravity or
Indecisions to uphold
Printed on the box I see
A.C.M.E.’s Build-a-World-to-Be
Take a chance, grab a piece
Help me to believe it

What kind of world do you want?
Think anything
Let’s start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now…

Should there be people or peoples
Money, funny pedestals for fools who never pay?
Raise your army, choose your steeple
Don’t be shy, the satellites can look the other way
Lose the earthquakes, keep the faults
Fill the oceans without the salt
Let every man own his own hand
Can you dig it baby?

What kind of world do you want?
Think anything
Let’s start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now…

Sunlight’s on the bridge
Sunlight’s on the way
Tomorrow’s calling
There’s more to this than Love

What kind of world do you want
What kind of world do you want
What kind of world do you want
Think anything
Let’s start at the start
Build a masterpiece
History starts now
Be careful what you wish for
Start now!

P.S. What kind of world do YOU want, reader? Do drop me a line and let me know. From my side of the globe to yours, namaste!

Play. Blow. Eat.

What is something that you play with, blow on and eventually eat? Apparently, the answer is not what you’d expect.

I don’t really understand how heita3 does it, or everything he says, but I was amazed just the same. His parents probably didn’t tell him not to play with his food…thank goodness!

Here, he introduces his veggie instruments, which he calls “ocarina*”:

Here, he plays “Angels We Have Heard on High” on a broccoli:

Here, he plays “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a mushroom:

But he doesn’t just stick to veggies. Here, he plays “London Bridge is Falling Down” on an apple:

If you want the full yowza! effect, though, check out the group that inspired him–The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Now that’s really wow. Founded in 1998, the Vegetable Orchestra plays concerts all over the world. They play diverse music styles–contemporary music, beat-oriented House tracks, experimental Electronic, Free Jazz, Noise, Dub, Clicks’n'Cuts. The musical scope of the ensemble expands consistently, and recently developed vegetable instruments and their inherent sounds often determine the direction.

Here are just two of their performances (check out YouTube for more):

Amazing, isn’t it?

*According to Wikipedia, the ocarina (IPA: /ɒkəˈriːnə/) is an ancient flute-like wind instrument.While several variations exist, an ocarina is typified by an oval-shaped enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouth tube projecting out from the body. It is often ceramic, but many other materials, such as plastic, wood, glass and metal (Ed’s note: And apparently veggies and fruits!) may also be used.