This just may be the
ULTIMATE SYNAPTIC ADVENTURE BLOG to date!
I'm SO excited!!!!
Recently I decided to pitch the idea of a movie and soundtrack
to the web-based arts fundraising platform, kickstarter.com.
I have been thinking about this project for several years. Its tells an autobiographical, yet universal, story of growing up (and being) noticeably..."different". Sometimes that "difference" seems so close to "normal" that others don't know what to make of it.
The project has been "accepted" and is now 6 days into it's 45-day
into the campaign for funding! yea! It's called "A SynapTIC Adventure". In my case, the emphasis is on.. TIC. I've created a 5+ minute video that will give the viewer a reasonably good idea of what I'm planning to do: A movie/soundtrack with songs, tales, tangents, trials, triumphs and some kinda revelation ; ) Created: cause I GOTTA! ; ) Intended: to entertain, inform and inspire and have a hell of a lot of fun doing so!!
I have been thinking about this project for several years. 'A SynapTIC Adventure' tells an autobiographical, yet universal, story of adaptation, determination and collaboration: a story about growing up (and being) noticeably..."different".Sometimes that difference seems so close to "normal" that others don't know what to make of it. For me that "noticeable" difference is Tourettes Syndrome. I'm going to tell this story from an emotional/ experiential point of view. Fact and fantasy will be wrapped in a colorful, animated, real/surreal, musical, challenging and comedic journey. There are many talented people that I'm very excited to work with in the process
As the story "unfolds", plots thicken and cameras capture, I will
most certainly share steps along the way with you here on my SA blog. Here ya go....
Showing posts with label mind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mind. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Growing talent...
I had a great experience sharing my music at the Waldorf School of River Valley, Bucks County PA on Dec 11. It was WSRV's annual WINTERFAIR and there was featured some pretty fine young talent that day. Talent in music AND in food... At both the Schools (Bucks and Chester Co...Kimberton PA) there is clearly a knack for the preparation and presentation of ..dam great deserts! FORGET picking one and sticking with it in this place: there were just too many palette-pleasers to settle for such a limit!
I have to say that I don't remember ever experiencing such food at the schools I attended. I DO, however, identify with the support for talent, as I was fortunate enough to have lots in that department while in that formative time.
In High school I had access to a 9-foot Steinway Grand! Yes THAT was a good thing! That ALONE was inspiration enough to stay in school! In my senior year I had 15 study halls a week..ALL of which were spent playing that piano!!
I have to say that I don't remember ever experiencing such food at the schools I attended. I DO, however, identify with the support for talent, as I was fortunate enough to have lots in that department while in that formative time.
In High school I had access to a 9-foot Steinway Grand! Yes THAT was a good thing! That ALONE was inspiration enough to stay in school! In my senior year I had 15 study halls a week..ALL of which were spent playing that piano!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
And a Happy.... New ....Year...
And a Happy.... New ....Year...
How many times have you heard these words..and what do they mean ?
With each new year we resolve to make a change, a commitment, a move...
or... not. I mean we may NOT go for anything specific. We may actually avoid
the enter event and carry on as we always have.
I have done both, as I imagine many folks have. I now feel, personally, that each moment asks of me the same thing really. No matter what the current event, season or situation:
Am I happy or not? If I'm happy, why change? If I'm not, THAT's why! Of course this way of thinking can create many questions. I hope you all will post your thoughts on this. Happy Hollandaise and ..enjoy the view...see you on the "other" side : )
best wishes
Stephen DiJoseph
How many times have you heard these words..and what do they mean ?
With each new year we resolve to make a change, a commitment, a move...
or... not. I mean we may NOT go for anything specific. We may actually avoid
the enter event and carry on as we always have.
I have done both, as I imagine many folks have. I now feel, personally, that each moment asks of me the same thing really. No matter what the current event, season or situation:
Am I happy or not? If I'm happy, why change? If I'm not, THAT's why! Of course this way of thinking can create many questions. I hope you all will post your thoughts on this. Happy Hollandaise and ..enjoy the view...see you on the "other" side : )
best wishes
Stephen DiJoseph
Thursday, November 11, 2010
INFLUENCES...
INFLUENCES
My earliest musical recollection is that of a music box in my grandmother's house.
Seems like I spent hours... listening....absorbed in that... mysterious..forlorn...intriguing...captivating
sound-of-a-distant-land melody.
Twenty five years back, I began writing a composition that was eventually called.... RECOLLECTION.
I started writing it while learning (or immediately thereafter) Chopin's Preludes in Eminor and Bminor and, in my mind, I always made an association with those pieces as the primary influence of Recollection. AHHHH...not SO grasshopper!
I inherited that music box when my grandmom passed. Kept it around for years. It wouldn't work so it became
a visual reminder of an amazing woman and a special time. Last week, while blogging about influences, I decided to try and see if it might not ...sing to me again. To my amazement, it...awoke!
Its plaintive, bell-toned melody rang from it's underside and I was drawn right back to that ...feeling...and there is was right before my eyes: the TRUE inspiration of Recollection. Thus the final title .....I have no doubt.
My earliest musical recollection is that of a music box in my grandmother's house.
Seems like I spent hours... listening....absorbed in that... mysterious..forlorn...intriguing...captivating
sound-of-a-distant-land melody.
Twenty five years back, I began writing a composition that was eventually called.... RECOLLECTION.
I started writing it while learning (or immediately thereafter) Chopin's Preludes in Eminor and Bminor and, in my mind, I always made an association with those pieces as the primary influence of Recollection. AHHHH...not SO grasshopper!
I inherited that music box when my grandmom passed. Kept it around for years. It wouldn't work so it became
a visual reminder of an amazing woman and a special time. Last week, while blogging about influences, I decided to try and see if it might not ...sing to me again. To my amazement, it...awoke!
Its plaintive, bell-toned melody rang from it's underside and I was drawn right back to that ...feeling...and there is was right before my eyes: the TRUE inspiration of Recollection. Thus the final title .....I have no doubt.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
a beginning...
Greetings Daily Local Folks and all other visitors!
I'm Stephen DiJoseph and I'm honored to be asked to share my blog with you all. I call it " DiJoseph's Synaptic Adventure." You see, everybody's got one. No, not a DiJoseph! A Synaptic Adventure! It's what's going on in one's head: where life is REALLY lived. This then, is how it works for me: music - videos - humor - STICKING OUT in a crowd even when you don't want to - social and "private" experiences - PUBLIC EXPOSURE (Ahh!... That got your attention!) and Tourette Syndrome.
Uh huh. I have Tourette's Syndrome. Can you imagine? I find it fascinatingly bizarre to have such a "visible" uhm.."unusual-ness" and be a concert performer. But ironically, I'm driven to do so! Have you ever had the feeling you just had to do something? The question is never should you, but how will you.
Doesn't everyone have something these days? How 'bout you? Say if you want. You're in good company! I often think of the times before the "labels" came (ADD, ADHD, OCD, AUTISM, ASPERGERS to name a few) when people were just normal or "nuts". I'm glad, in some ways, for the labels.
I've personally come to experience TS as a collaborative energy over the years, but it didn't start out that way.
When I was six, a strange simultaneity occurred. Tourette's showed up and I decided my life's calling/career/purpose/vocation/must-do-this/obsessive-compulsive/tic-driven/urg-a-lomaniacal dream was to be a musician. You know your standard garden variety kiddie-type desires.
I began with drum lessons. I definitely liked it, but something else was calling. Like for instance, the Beatles! They blew my wittle mind out in a car! In my dad's car. On the radio. And I wanted to "be that" when I grew up. My "partner" Tourettes showed up 'one day' as the OCD-ish urge to "test" a Christmas ball to see how hard I could squeeze it without braking it. Hmm. My "limit" test failed and It broke. and I bled. I think that "limit" test also showed up in my music as a stand-outish quality that pushed me to experiment, explore and compose.. I think the drums were a good choice for that time, that beginning of strange uncontrollable urges and rhythmic... pulse-ations.
3 years later...
Christmas. snow-bound at Aunt Pinky (nickname: I still don't know her real name) and Uncle Joe's in South Philly. We were trading presents and my parents pulled out a big box and handed it to me. I was spellbound with anticipation as I tore into the wrapping: A Magnus air-powered Organ!! Ahhhhhhhh!
Truly I say unto you, I did not get off that thing all night (even after they unplugged it.) I found my true love.
I was in a blurting phase with TS, so the combination of the instrument and my "vocalizing" was quite a test for family ties.
3 MORE years later...
I'd been bugging Mom and Dad for a professional organ for two years and 350 days . I wanted a real one with pedals and two manuals. (took two weeks to wear out the Magnus ) I actually cried
until they believed I was serious. One day I returned home from school and headed to the basement for my after-school music-listening session. And there it was! A brand spanking new ORGAN...with p-p-pedals! a-and...t-t-two manuals! Woohoo! Once again, I don't get off it for days and play until I drop.
Enter my first "real" music lessons...
My tutor worked for Wurlitzer in Center City, Philadelphia where we bought my organ. I don't remember her name, rank or serial number, but, let me tell you,
she ruled her gestapo-inspired teaching sessions with an iron fist....and a wooden ruler! yyy-ouch!! I gotta use those hands your wackin' wit 'dat ruler, lady! Fortunately for me and just in time, along came...the DANS. (to be continued)
LIVE at the Wiffledust studio...
Find more videos like this on world of wiffledust
more music,videos,downloads,FREE mp3's and upcoming performances VISIT www.stephendijoseph.com
I'm Stephen DiJoseph and I'm honored to be asked to share my blog with you all. I call it " DiJoseph's Synaptic Adventure." You see, everybody's got one. No, not a DiJoseph! A Synaptic Adventure! It's what's going on in one's head: where life is REALLY lived. This then, is how it works for me: music - videos - humor - STICKING OUT in a crowd even when you don't want to - social and "private" experiences - PUBLIC EXPOSURE (Ahh!... That got your attention!) and Tourette Syndrome.
Uh huh. I have Tourette's Syndrome. Can you imagine? I find it fascinatingly bizarre to have such a "visible" uhm.."unusual-ness" and be a concert performer. But ironically, I'm driven to do so! Have you ever had the feeling you just had to do something? The question is never should you, but how will you.
Doesn't everyone have something these days? How 'bout you? Say if you want. You're in good company! I often think of the times before the "labels" came (ADD, ADHD, OCD, AUTISM, ASPERGERS to name a few) when people were just normal or "nuts". I'm glad, in some ways, for the labels.
I've personally come to experience TS as a collaborative energy over the years, but it didn't start out that way.
When I was six, a strange simultaneity occurred. Tourette's showed up and I decided my life's calling/career/purpose/vocation/must-do-this/obsessive-compulsive/tic-driven/urg-a-lomaniacal dream was to be a musician. You know your standard garden variety kiddie-type desires.
I began with drum lessons. I definitely liked it, but something else was calling. Like for instance, the Beatles! They blew my wittle mind out in a car! In my dad's car. On the radio. And I wanted to "be that" when I grew up. My "partner" Tourettes showed up 'one day' as the OCD-ish urge to "test" a Christmas ball to see how hard I could squeeze it without braking it. Hmm. My "limit" test failed and It broke. and I bled. I think that "limit" test also showed up in my music as a stand-outish quality that pushed me to experiment, explore and compose.. I think the drums were a good choice for that time, that beginning of strange uncontrollable urges and rhythmic... pulse-ations.
3 years later...
Christmas. snow-bound at Aunt Pinky (nickname: I still don't know her real name) and Uncle Joe's in South Philly. We were trading presents and my parents pulled out a big box and handed it to me. I was spellbound with anticipation as I tore into the wrapping: A Magnus air-powered Organ!! Ahhhhhhhh!
Truly I say unto you, I did not get off that thing all night (even after they unplugged it.) I found my true love.
I was in a blurting phase with TS, so the combination of the instrument and my "vocalizing" was quite a test for family ties.
3 MORE years later...
I'd been bugging Mom and Dad for a professional organ for two years and 350 days . I wanted a real one with pedals and two manuals. (took two weeks to wear out the Magnus ) I actually cried
until they believed I was serious. One day I returned home from school and headed to the basement for my after-school music-listening session. And there it was! A brand spanking new ORGAN...with p-p-pedals! a-and...t-t-two manuals! Woohoo! Once again, I don't get off it for days and play until I drop.
Enter my first "real" music lessons...
My tutor worked for Wurlitzer in Center City, Philadelphia where we bought my organ. I don't remember her name, rank or serial number, but, let me tell you,
she ruled her gestapo-inspired teaching sessions with an iron fist....and a wooden ruler! yyy-ouch!! I gotta use those hands your wackin' wit 'dat ruler, lady! Fortunately for me and just in time, along came...the DANS. (to be continued)
LIVE at the Wiffledust studio...
Find more videos like this on world of wiffledust
more music,videos,downloads,FREE mp3's and upcoming performances VISIT www.stephendijoseph.com
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