Movie Mondays - Sipping Jetstreams

Saturday I went for my usual weekend surf with my friend Jen. A nice swell was hitting Long Beach, but it was cold and the sun wasn't making much of an appearance. After suiting up and psyching up, we got in the water. The size of the waves produced a bit of anxiety but we each managed to catch at least one. The tough part was getting back to the outside, every time I would get past a wave and make some progress the next wave was just behind it and would push me back towards the shore. After battling a while, we decided we had enough for the day.

So not our most successful day.

I went home and decided I needed to watch something to make me think about the good parts about surfing rather the frustrating parts and popped in a dvd I bought a few weeks ago. Sometimes I think I am weird when it comes to books and movies, I may have a book or movie for months and not watch it until I'm somehow in the proper frame of mind. Maybe other people do that too but if they do I'm not aware of it.

Anyway, so this movie - Sipping Jetstreams, is incredible. It is the perfect balance of surfing, travel and music. It is inspirational and visually stunning. An ode to the adventure that is travel and how it becomes part of your life. The movie is shot with different kinds of film stock and has this almost luminescent look to it. Funny enough they cover Bali, Hong Kong and Italy among other places, and being that those are destinations I have been to in the last year it was awesome to see these places in the same light as I have them in my memory. Really beautiful.

In addition to Bali, Hong Kong and Italy - the film is also shot in Morocco, Egypt, Japan, Barbados and Cuba. It made me want to go discover those places too - remarkably even Cuba. I have often been asked if I want to travel to Cuba, being that I am of Cuban parentage on one side - my standard answer is no, that there are lots of other places I would rather travel to before going there. I still want to go to lots of places in this world but after this film, I would add Cuba to the list. (I know - not ok until the Castros are out).

Anyway, check out the movie if you have a chance. It is really incredibly gorgeous and inspiring. Kudos to the filmmaker and photographer who decided to take us on this amazing journey and on that note, I leave you with a quote from their website.

"Travel keeps you young. It does this by simply putting you in situations that make you feel like a child again. Magically lost in a moment of discovery. Beautifully confused. It could be the first time you awaken to the 5:00am call to prayer from the local mosque on Morocco's far Atlantic shore, the first time you feel the weight of the Egyptian sun on your shoulders, the first time you paddle out over the shallow reefs of the Caribbean, or the first time you realize that people living in squalor can achieve happiness as easily as those living in mansions. These are life's opportunities to shed the hustle of modernity, to join the moment, and stop sprinting towards some prefabricated goal. Your heart races. Your metabolism shifts into a lower gear. Everything is new again. You're sipping jetstreams."

AMEN!!!

Music Mondays - Turning Frowns Upside Down!

I have decided to try to put some structure to my blog and being that I am currently doing a bit of this and a bit of that for work, now is as good a time as any to get started. I am making Mondays either Music Monday or Movie Monday, I love both artistic formats so much that it makes it quite impossible to choose, so depending on my mood it may be one or the other, or even both.

This week, as you can tell by the title, it is Music Monday!

Now you may ask yourself, what can I write about music? Honestly, I'm no proper critic but I know what I like. I have had what some could classify as an obsession with music since I was a kid. I listened to my parents records of The Steve Miller Band, Strauss and Sergio Mendes as a little girl. I actually remember sitting on the floor by my parents records looking at album covers for what seemed like hours. And there was nothing better than when my mom would take us to the beach and we would listen to the Caribbean guys playing their steel drums.

When I was a bit older my dad introduced me to the artistry of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac. We would get in the car, blast the music and just drive. Over the years I have developed a passion for music from all genres, from hip hop to punk rock to folk to reggae and so on.

Now I have had a few missteps in terms of my music choices in the past and like most people I have a few embarrassing tracks in my collection but really, who the hell cares. I can't help it, I really loved Wham!

I read a post by Jonathan Fields today "108 songs that’ll stop you from biting your cubicle-mate…or at least curb the urge!" and thought this would be a fitting way to start off Music Mondays. Jonathan lists his 108 favorite songs for changing his mood. I am not sure I could limit it to 108, for me it depends entirely what mood I'm trying to get in/out of and being that I'm a woman, you know that means LOTS of moods.

So Thursday I was in a super crappy and frustrated mood because of this whole job search and didn't wake up feeling much better Friday morning. I had a meeting in Manhattan, got in the car, plugged in the ipod and got on my way. I started to play the best music in the car and all of sudden I'm seeing it's a beautiful day, the sun is out, all of NY is in spring bloom and it's about 70 degrees. Perfect! And the cause of this sudden shift in perspective? Music. Rather, listening to the right music.

Here is my list of some of my current feel good music. Being that it's Monday shouldn't we talk about stuff that makes us feel good anyway? I'm talking about sun on your skin, warm breeze, no traffic, cruising around, weekend afternoon, chilled out happy.

Slightly Stoopid - Up on a Plane
Slightly Stoopid - Basher
Slightly Stoopid - Ain't Got a Lot of Money
Slightly Stoopid - Bandelero
Kings of Convenience - Live Long
Gipsy Kings - Djobi Djoba
Culver City Dub Collective - Crying Shame (Culver City Dub Remix)
Born Jamericans - Warning Sign
The Beautiful Girls - Music
The Beautiful Girls - Morning Sun
Ballyhoo! - Cali Girl

So I say get your ipod, cd player, tape player, record player or even 8 track player and put on your favorite happy time, sun shining, life is good tunes and enjoy the day. Happy Monday!