John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 32 - 08/09/99
I took a walk Sunday afternoon, as I often do when thinking about my next column. The current drought has made my walks almost surrealistic experiences. Most of us are used to seeing the world around us in shades of greens and browns. The world now, as I walk, is a shaded in hues of yellow, as life that was so fresh and alive in the spring has met with a parched death in the heat of the driest summer in our lives.
As I walked, I recalled that Friday at lunch, my friend Sue, always one to keep a conversation alive, started asking about our favorite things, such as favorite color, favorite food to eat, favorite food to cook etc. It's funny, I find it very hard to answer those types of questions.
As I walked on Sunday I laughed out loud when I thought of Sue's questions and how lucky I was that Sue only got through colors and food before other conversation started.
On Saturday, I was talking with another friend. As we talked a song began going through my head. It was The Mummers' Dance from Loreena McKennitt's CD, The Book of Secrets. Most of you have probably never heard of her or her music. It also occurred to me how lucky I was that Sue didn't ask me about my favorite type of music.
There was a time in my life when my favorite musicians were very mainstream - most would say boring: ABBA, The Carpenters, John Denver, Peter Paul and Mary and others. I even had a period where I was into country music, but I soon learned that it was more that I just really liked the music of Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. I still enjoy all of them but my musical tastes have definitely broadened since.
Our first trip to Hawaii introduced me to Hawaiian music. If any of you 
think
that Hawaiian music is Don Ho, check again. Don Ho still is very popular with many
tourists but there is a lot more to Hawaiian music than Don Ho. Hawaiian musicians like
Keali'i Reichel and the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole are top sellers on the World Music
charts and it is hoped that the Grammy's will soon add an entirely separate category to
award the best in Hawaiian music.
Hawaiian music really served to open me to world music and New Age 
music. I am sure that most of you
have never heard of Sissel Kyrkjebo by name. If I told you that she was artist who sang at
the opening a closing ceremonies of the Lillihammer Olympics some of your might remember
her. If I told you she was the singer whose sang those haunting melodies in the soundtrack
of the movie Titanic, most of your would remember. Well, I listen to her CDs in
her native language of Norwegian.
Likewise, Loreena McKennitt is probably a name that most of you don't 
know. But, if you are interested in New Age philosophy, the paranormal and the occult, you
probably have heard the Art Bell show on the radio. Listen to the musical interludes
between segments of the show where two of Loreena's songs are featured almost every night
- The Mummers' Dance from her album The Book of Secrets and The
Mystic's Dream from her album The Mask and Mirror.
We live in a large metropolitan area. One of the downsides of our hectic environment and lifestyles is that we often become too stagnant in our life patterns and beliefs. We become too insulated in our thinking, which then tends to limit our life experience and the development of our consciousness. It's one of the reasons that I like to travel as much as possible to very different areas of the country and listen to music from the rest of the world.
Well, Sue, favorite color was the easy one. Almost everything else changes on a daily basis which is probably how it should be as we continue to experience life.
Well, that's my spin on things. What's yours? Keep cool and have fun. You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
John Fischer's
Philadelphia 07/26/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 07/28/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 07/30/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/02/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/04/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/06/99