Happiness is Music: Yasmine Hamdan

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Music: Yasmine Hamdan

happiness musicMusic 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. Some nights I still believe 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. ~ Hunter S Thompson

So recently I saw a magnificent film, Only Lovers Left Alive, I have an appreciation for Jim Jarmusch as a director and simply adore Tilda Swinton.  The film was incredible and filled with great music, but one bit of music caught me in particular and it was a performance by Yasmine Hamdan,  a Lebanese singer who was absolutely mesmerizing, I’ve dug into her music a little deeper since the film and it’s absolutely wonderful.  Her voice is hypnotic and even though I have no idea what she’s saying, I don’t care I just want to keep listening.  So a couple of her songs tonight for you to listen to, enjoy and have a happy day my friends     ~ Rev Kane

First, a video of the song from the film, not the actually clip but a separate video of Hal

From her latest album the official video for Samar

Another solo piece Anta Al Hawa

Finally a piece from her former band Soapkills, the song Enta Fen

 

 

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Happiness & the thoughts and words of others

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness & the thoughts and words of others

Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different ~ Stacey Charter

happiness othersOne of the things we have talked about before is the impact others thoughts and ideas can have on your own happiness. We pretty quickly understand when things are said directly to us that those words are damaging to happiness and we demand their end, or simply walk away. There are more subtle attacks on us however that we don’t often recognize. There are constant images on television, in advertising that make us feel less than good about ourselves. Advertising in particular is basically the science of manipulation and often to sell us products that temporarily make us feel better, advertisers use ads that make us feel worse.  This is one reason I advocate watching TV primarily by DVR and programming your remote for 30 second jumps, many remotes have a pre-programmed button for this. That way in several jumps you can skip past commercials that are rarely if ever in your best interest.

One other place that the world slips inside and makes us less happy is via the internet. Through advertising of course but in other ways as well, being an arena where everyone can express themselves more or less anonymously allows people to be their lowest and basest selves. Reading the comments on news articles can quickly make you lose faith in the species we belong to. I play a game at times and try to find the least political article I can locate and then guess how many comments before it turns into the same old conservative/liberal argument. It’s fun, but also a bit depressing. What we have to keep in mind is that in fact those comments represent a very small number of people, and people who I would guess are not very happy.

Our happiness is our fault and as such we have to be vigilant to keep our happiness intact. So be careful with the influences in your life be they on TV, the internet, or other people. Be careful and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Other Posts You Might Enjoy!

Worry, the Enemy of Happiness

Fear is Killing Your Happiness

Happiness is Reducing Stress

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Happiness is Laughter: Goofy Images

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Laughter: Goofy Images

happy fridayHappy Friday, time to kick back, relax, have a laugh and a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 happy friday

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Why ¨100 happy days¨ will make you happier

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Michael Kane

Why 100 happy days will make you happier

happiness 100 daysTonight a guest blog written by Werena Carsetti on the 100 happy days challenge that has been moving across social media lately.  Thanks Werena for sharing your perspective and have a happy day ~ Rev Kane

 

Four reasons why 100 happy days will make you a happier person.

1.  Because the 100 happy day challenge teaches you, how to exchange negative   thoughts with positive ones.

2.  After this challenge: being happy has almost become a habit, and you have accomplished an amazing goal!

3.  100 happy days is a great accomplishment that will reward you with self confidence, pride and energy!

4.   The challenge will teach you not only to smile for 100 days, but also understand that happiness is not something that happens to you. It is your own perception of the day, and in the bigger picture; your entire life.

happiness  The 100 days happy challenge is widely spread by social media.  Another great initiative that shows how important the internet can be when it comes to self development! The 100 happy days challenge may sound like a huge obstacle to some, however, at the end of each journey of 100 happy days people feel like a better person.

Just ask our dear friend Google for some information if you have not seen anything on this topic as of yet!

There are 100 happy days groups, twitter pages and website communities, free to join to help you stay motivated! Have a look and integrate! Or just decide yourself to start right now.

What if I’m depressed? As mentioned before, for some individuals this challenge is a bit harder to accomplish. From my own experience I can say that sometimes just will power is not enough to be happy.  However, every day of the 100 happy days challenge that you end with a smile on your face is a positive day.

Erasing all negative feelings in exchange for positive ones is actually of major importance when it comes to self help and recovery. So don´t hold yourself back and give the 100 happy days challenge a shot!

Author: Werena Carsetti, site owner of Open Mind Life Path.com, a young geek mom living her dream on an island with hubby and 2 years old. Soaking up nature and life to the fullest.
 

 

 

 

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Happiness is Music: Pharrell’s Happy

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Music: Pharrell’s Happy

happy pharrell
The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are. ~ Goldie Hawn

So it would be pretty ridiculous as someone who writes a blog called the Ministry of Happiness to ignore the massive global success of a song called Happy, about being happy. So today a quick post, here’s a link to Pharrell’s site 24 Hour Happiness, the song plays constantly.

Hell some people in Iran were actually arrested for posting a video of themselves dancing to the song, happily they were released, here’s the article, People in Iran arrested for dancing released.  So give it a listen, enjoy and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

happiness family

My paternal grandfather

The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children ~ William Harvard

 

Memorial Day is a day when we honor those folks who served our country, particularly but not limited to wartime service.  Memorial Day started shortly after the Civil War in remembrance of Civil War veterans.  Although in America this day has become more of a picnic day, it’s important for us to take a minute and recognize those who have sacrificed for our benefit.

 

happiness family

My maternal grandfather looking quite dapper with my mother

It burns me that patriotism has become word so easily thrown around in the three-ring circus that political debate has become in this country.  Both sides claiming the other to be unpatriotic over this or that political ideology.  When I look for the meaning of word I think directly to my grandfathers, both decorated World War II veterans.  Their patriotism was simple, when needed for a just cause, their country called and they answered.  Happily neither sacrificed their lives although both were purple heart recipients and one a POW in Germany.  Today I remember them and the sacrifices they made, have a happy Memorial Day my friends ~ Rev Kane

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Happiness is Music: Jazz

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Music: Jazz

jazz happiness

Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise. ~ George Gershwin

Tonight a little jazz tour through a few of my favorites, music makes you happy and these do so especially, so tonight a little Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong and my absolute favorite Art Pepper.  Enjoy and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

happiness miles davis

Miles Davis

Here’s a link to one of Miles’ more iconic ablums, Kind of Blue the link is to the whole album, enjoy.

happiness monk jazz

Monk’s Dream, another full album link off of Youtube, enjoy.

 

jazz happiness

Louis Armstrong

The Best of Louis Armstrong, a little sampling of his immense catalog.

happiness art pepper

Art Pepper

I read a quote once attributed to Art Pepper, in it he said that he didn’t care if people liked his music as long as it made them fell something, a pretty stellar idea.  A video of the Art Pepper quartet doing Live the Trip

And a bonus recording from the Art Pepper Quartet, enjoy ~ Rev Kane

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Happiness News

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness Resources: Happiness News

happiness news

Tonight a quick tour around the web with the latest Happiness News, give it a read and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

 

From the Huffington Post, Happiness: Three Things You Probably Didn’t Know

From CNN, Want to Live in the Happiest Place in the World?  Spoiler alert it isn’t Disney land

From the Jamaica Observer, 14 Ways to be Happier Today.  This piece certainly has a Caribbean flare to it.

From KHTS radio news, The Secret to Happiness and why Some People are Happier than Others.

From Autostraddle, Girls Happiness Plummets at Age 11

 

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Happiness is Poetry: Rev Kane

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Poetry: Rev Kane

happiness poetry

Tonight a little poetry of my poetry,  a poem about my grandfather give it a read and have a happy day my friends.  ~ Rev Kane

 

A Eulogy to Amuse the Penguins     2006

People don’t want the truth
particularly not when death is at hand
they don’t want to know a life
can’t stand to see the warts
they want disneyanna
where at the end of the day we gather
and have a parade down main street America

My grandfather was a man
a hard man
a cold man
but he mellowed with age
hard jagged lines on his face
fading soft with his laughter
eyes lit as he talked about back in the day

He died in 1990 and I asked to do the eulogy
wanting to speak his life warts and all
but my bitch of a sister ratted me out
ratted me out to my aunt the nun
I suffered through the speeches
sister, aunt, father oh my
to my shame I acquiesced

But I was on the hook my friends
had to stand up in front
relatives, family, friends, nuns
So I chose to pick a slice
grab a day in the life
and this is the one I chose

My grandfather loved tomatoes and roses
and in the neighborhood was a challenged boy
a boy of 32 with a dad in his 50’s
the boy had trampled grandpa’s plants and he was pissed
he had the opportunity to see the boy’s father
never given to silence he spoke
of course grandpa spoke with his fists
like an 87 yr old warrior from the WWF
he came off the top step with a right cross
Grandpa went to scrappin in the street
he lost, hitting his head on the curb
I found my way to the hospital the next day
and asked him what happened
he said that guy had a roll of nickels in his hand
yeah grandpa, he was waitin for you
then he grew stone faced and paused
looking at me, seriously he said
I hit that guy in the gut with everything I had
and he didn’t go down, I might be getting old
and I laughed at the coolest thing I’ve ever heard
that day, my 87 year old grandfather just started to consider that he might be getting old
People in the church smiled,
but the penguins rolled in the aisles,
because they knew him best

 

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Happiness is Laughter: Images and Videos

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness is Laughter: Images and Videos

happinessSome fun videos and images to help you raise a smile and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Baby laughing hysterically at tearing paper (1:43)

 

happiness baby

 

Funny animal video compilation (13:27)

 

happiness

 

Mandatory Stupid Cat Video (6:11)

 

happiness

Crazy Baby Video  (9:52)

 

happiness

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