Monthly Archives: April, 2012

APR 13, 2012 - A new documentary, "Alive Inside", follows Dan Cohen around as he travels to around to nursing homes in America and plays music from their era for elderly patients suffering from dementia, and incredibly the people who before didn't respond either physically or verbally are magically transformed by the music and become animated, and suddenly move around and become very vocal. The film is produced and directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, and is commissioned by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and will premiere on April 18th.

The documentary hopes to shed light on the experience on what not many of us talk about; the alienation of the elderly at nursing homes. The filmmakers also want to explore the issue of what compounds it and makes it worse, dementia. The WHO predicts that worldwide dementia cases will triple by 2050. They say the film "tells the story of hope and beauty in a place where they are hard to find". Check out the film's website here, and watch a clip of Henry below coming alive as he listens to Cab Calloway and other music from his era, and watch the awakening or "quickening", and even the spiritual magic as he describes God and love coming into him as he listened to the music.

APR 10, 2012 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers are in Cleveland to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and have decided to give a free concert to the volunteers over at the Cleveland Obama/Biden 2012 campaign headquarters who have been hard at work knocking on doors and making phone calls making sure people are registered to vote and getting out to vote. The concert will be this Sunday at the Cleveland's House of Blues, and if you live in the Cleveland area and want to volunteer your time and maybe snag you some tickets to the show, check out the Obama 2012 Event Page here.  (photo credit: Fallschirmjager/Wiki)

APR 2, 2012 - Taylor Swift received a Big Help Award from Michelle Obama on Nickleodeon's Kids' Choice Award show this weekend, and was "freaking out" when she took the award from the first lady she remarked at the podium. Taylor received the award for her extensive activism and charity work, such as helping tornado and flood victims, libraries, children's charities and even combating bullying to name just a little of the work she has done. She was also awarded for her ability to inspire her fans to make a difference.

The Big Help is an initiative by Nickleodeon to be a hub for kids to connect and get involved with service work such as donating clothes or raising funds for a charity. Their website says "Service is all about giving your time to others."  The kids can collect points and earn stuff like a cool avatar or a virtual kitty. Check out The Big Help here.  Watch the video of Taylor receiving the award from Michelle Obama below.