Monday, July 23, 2012

Hands On As We Grow - A Treasure Trove of Ideas

Sometimes you find great ideas in unexpected places.  The following link showed up in my FaceBook news feed.  The site "handsonaswegrow.com" has fabulous ideas that are both good for children and for the environment.


"You’ll find crafts, art projects, energetic activities, and fine motor activities regularly on the blog. And a couple times each month I do a collection of play activities on a theme, such as what to do with all your crayons!"


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Blogging-Don't Quit Your Day Job

Ever wonder how much you can make blogging? Not much. Sure, who doesn't want to sit home in their under wear all day spouting off about their favorite topics and get paid for it?

After three and a half years of blogging, we received just over the minimum payment of $100 from the Google AdSense program. You know, those ads to the right that we probably aren't allowed to mention. Trash to Treasure generates revenue when someone clicks on them. The ads are generated based on the content of our blog and your web searches.

We don't generally break news or post controversial ideas here. Our biggest use is to link from our Facebook page so that we can provide more information than FB has room for. We also put links in our emails to different topics. Blogger is a great companion to our web site.

Our highest revenue post was the 2012 Boca Beerfest. We posted a picture of a sexy girl and linked to a wide variety of disparate FB friends. It worked.

So, don't quit your day job or even your night job but keep blogging.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Have You Stretched a Dollar Lately?


"The Dollar Stretcher" is a free weekly newsletter that offers tips on everything under the sun from simplicity, time management, being frugal, recycling, and, of course, saving money.  The following tip caught my eye because of the use of aluminum cans.

Big Outdoor Pots
When planting in pots for your deck or patio, use less soil by putting aluminum cans in the bottom of the pot or container. 

Then add your soil. This is good for drainage, you use less soil, and the container is lighter to move around.
L.
More recycling/repurposing tips can be found at:  http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-r.htm#recycling

Richard Brookens Trash2Art 2012 Music Artist

Trash to Treasure is proud to announce that Richard Brookens of Yellow Bell Music will be our musical guest at the Trash2Art reception August 16, from 6-8 PM at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale.


Richard Brookens Bio

Richard is an arranger/composer and multi-instrumentalist performing on saxophones (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone), flutes (C and Alto), and clarinets (Bb and Bass), Tabla drums (from India), Udu (Clay Pots), Native American Indian Flutes, and bamboo flutes from India (Bansuri) and China (Dizi).

During his musical career Richard has enjoyed studying and working in many different musical styles and settings: Jazz, Rock, Classical, Musical Theater, Flamenco, Indian, Japanese, and World Fusion. All of these have influenced his approach to composition and improvisation in his recordings and live performances with his World Fusion group Yellow Bell.

While in South Florida he has worked with Bailles Ferrer, a South Florida based Flamenco dance company, guitarist Randy Bernsen, (Jazz Fusion), and Duo DADA, an improvisatory dance/music performance art group. He has also been principal Saxophonist with the Palm Beach Pops. In addition to these groups Richard freelances with many other performing groups, including orchestras at Actor's Playhouse, New Vista Theater, Florida Atlantic University, The Broward Performing Arts Center, and The Kravis Performing Arts Center.

He has also performed Kirtans (devotional call and response gatherings), and Yoga workshops on Tablas, Clay Pot, Soprano Saxophone, and Bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) with Bhagavan Das and David Newman (most recently at Karmapalooza 2005), or Russill Paul, Wynne Paris, Jorge Alfano, Guru Das Singh, Guru Das Khalsa, Milk Baba, Sri VasuDeva, Krishna Devi, Ma Bha, Swami Srinivasananda, and local Kirtan artists like Laura DiBello, Mohini, Serpentine, Prem Shakti, and Jennifer Vasilakos. He has played with these artists at Satsangs or Kirtans held at South Florida Yoga studios like Yoga Warehouse, Something Yoga, Prem Yoga, Prana Yoga, Synergy Yoga, and Yoga Connection.

Richard has allowed music from his CDs to be used in a documentary film about the spiritual aspects of Judo, Karate, Tai-Kwan-Do, and Tai-Chi, titled 'The Empty Mind' produced by Jon Braely of Thin Media, Inc. in Miami Beach, FL. This film has footage and interviews never seen until now from the Shao-lin and Wu-Dang Temples in China in addition to the other major schools of martial arts in China and Japan. The Empty Mind won "Best Florida Film" in the 2004 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Music from his CDs has also been used in a production of Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' by Robert Hooker at Sol Theatre in Ft Lauderdale.
 
Richard has also composed music for a short film about the homeless called "The Park", and been the musical supervisor for another short film titled 'The Last Minute' both produced by Gilda Pianelli and Chasta Natour of Rev Films. His is the musical director and composer for the 2007 film "She", produced by Gilda Pianelli for Ambassodor Films. He also helped to re-orchestrate and rearrange music for a show about Nefertiti by Rick Gore, Christopher Gore, and David Spangler. In July of 2001 music from his CDs was featured in a play about refugee women from around the world called "Displaced" at Altered Stages, 212 W 29th St., NY, NY.

After graduating from Berklee College of Music where he majored in composition and studied with Joe Viola, Richard studied briefly with Joe Allard and received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study Jazz Improvisation with Charles Banacos. He later began his studies on Bansuri and Tabla at the Ali Akbar College of Indian Music in San Rafael, California.

In addition to the fine musicians above and on the Yellow Bell CDs, he has performed with: The Artie Shaw Orchestra, Cab Calloway, trumpeter Nat Adderly, pianist James Williams, Buddy Greco, Roy Clark, Boots Randolph, Tiny Tim, Clark Terry, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Hal Linden, Mary Street Dance Co., Lucie Arnaz, Jimmie Rosselli, Shirley Jones, Tony Orlando, and has worked in many recording studios as a player and arranger on records and commercials.

Born in Wichita, Kansas and growing up in upstate New York and the Washington, DC area, Richard now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He is also certified in Sivananda and Kundalini Yoga and teaches Yoga in the South Florida area at Barry University in Miami Shores, Yoga Connection in Plantation, The Hillsboro Club in Deerfield Beach, community centers in Pompano Beach, and Golds Gyms in Pompano Beach and Ft Lauderdale.

Listen to samples of Richard's work here.

Thanks to Richard for performing.  See you at the reception.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012