DIMA'S BLOG is an interactive collection of music, art, photographs, video clips, audio podcasts, quotations, humor, poetry, interviews, anecdotes and memoir, curated by Dmitri Matheny and with commentary by readers. You can keep up-to-date with Dima's Blog through RSS feeds and email updates. Click on the orange RSS button [below, right] to subscribe. Please pause the streaming music at the bottom of your screen before playing video or audio clips.

MUSIC METAPHORS SIMPLIFIED

DESTINATION	HOW TO GET THERE
Nowhere	Road
Georgia	Midnight Train
Clarksville	Last Train
Heaven	Stairway
Hell	Highway
Hotel California	Dark Desert Highway
Harlem	"A" Train
To See The Wizard	Yellow Brick Road
Over Troubled Water	Bridge

Jul 29, 2010 Simplicity, Pop Culture, Poetry/Song Lyrics Add comment Share

OLD SCHOOL

Jul 29, 2010 Pop Culture Add comment Share

STRONG ROOTS

Jul 28, 2010 Roots Add comment Share

HOLD FAST TO DREAMS by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams.
For if dreams go,
Life is a barren field
Covered with snow.

Jul 28, 2010 Dreams, Poetry/Song Lyrics Add comment Share

INTERLOCHEN SUMMER ARTS CAMP, 6:00 A.M.

Jul 28, 2010 Music Videos, Interlochen 1 comment Share

HUNTER S. THOMPSON on Fuel, Tension & Self-Respect

Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.

Like most others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles - a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other - that kept me going.

We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely -- at least, not all the time -- but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.

Jul 28, 2010 Youth, Literature, Quotes Add comment Share

QUINCY JONES ~ Ironside Theme, Live at Budokan

Jul 28, 2010 Pop Culture, TV Theme Songs Add comment Share

ODE TO MARISKA

"Did I make the right decision in coming home to this suburban desert after 20 years in San Francisco? My days are so strange. There's something absurd about the sound of a lone horn, accompanied by a hundred humming air conditioners on an otherwise silent street. When I can't take it anymore, I get on the treadmill and watch another episode of Law & Order..."
~D.M.

Jul 28, 2010 The Desert, Dmitri Matheny Quotes, Pop Culture, Quotes Add comment Share

AL HIRT ~ Trumpet Duel on the Johnny Cash Show

Jul 27, 2010 Jazz, Music Videos Add comment Share

SARAH VAUGHAN ~ Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Jul 27, 2010 Jazz, Music Videos Add comment Share

AND SHE LOOKS LIKE VIRGINIA MAYO

Jul 26, 2010 Pop Culture, Disambiguation Add comment Share

CORINNE BAILEY RAE ~ Put Your Records On

Jul 26, 2010 Music Videos Add comment Share

GLADDEST THING UNDER THE SUN

Jul 26, 2010 Poetry/Song Lyrics, Japanese Culture, Art Add comment Share

LOOKY LOO

Jul 26, 2010 Roots Add comment Share

WARDELL GRAY ~ Pennies from Heaven

Jul 26, 2010 Jazz, Music Videos Add comment Share

WEST SIDE STORY ~ Prologue

Jul 25, 2010 Film Add comment Share

PABLO NERUDA POEM from the film "Mindwalk"

Jul 25, 2010 Film, Poetry/Song Lyrics, Favorites Add comment Share

WISDOM OF THE WORLD-WEARY

"If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster."
~Clint Eastwood

"You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it."
~Willie Nelson

"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
~Tom Waits

Jul 25, 2010 Quotes, Film, Pop Culture, Simplicity Add comment Share

RTFO RYAN

According to USA Today: "Reynolds, after some playful banter with fans, was asked by a young boy what it was like to recite the Green Lantern Oath. (For the uninitiated, it's: "In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power — Green Lantern's Light!") Reynolds initially did not plan to recite the oath on stage, but was overcome by the boy's innocent question. Reynolds gave the oath as if he were summoning power, never taking his eyes off the child...and fans erupted."

Jul 25, 2010 Favorites, Superheroes, Film, Quotes Add comment Share

JOHN COLTRANE ~ On Green Dolphin Street

Jul 23, 2010 Jazz, Music Videos Add comment Share

ALI, BOMAYE !

"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out;
it's the pebble in your shoe."

"I hated every minute of training, but I said,
'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'."

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief.
And once that belief becomes a deep conviction,
things begin to happen."

Jul 21, 2010 Role Models/Mentors, Motivation, Encouragement, Quotes Add comment Share