From the Office of the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs

Office of the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs

Minister Assisting the Premier

12 December 2012

Mr Alessandro Sorbello

President

Italian Festival Inc.

PO Box 1198

Stafford QLD 4053

Dear Mr Sorbello

I'm writing to express my appreciation of the significant contributions that the Italian Festival Inc. has made to Queensland and to invite your organisation to consider undertaking a role for the Government's intended Queensland-wide Italian Week.

I am particularly appreciative of the Italian Festival Inc's. work in founding the Italian Week in Brisbane and delivering this annual week-long festival successfully to a high standard with a strong emphasis on promoting integration across cultures. I see that  your contributions are crucial to Queenslanders from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and I commend your organisation for this.

Noting the Italian festival Inc's expertise in staging professional high-profile events, the particular role that I wish to invite your organisation to undertake is as coordinator of an annual Queensland-wide Italian Week. The week identified for this in 2013 is 26 May to 2nd June.

This could be a partnership arrangement between my portfolio and Italian Festival Inc. with the provision of government funding to assist

Should Italian festival Inc you willing to consider undertaking this State-wide coordination role in conjunction with your current range of events, I would invite you to discuss how we could collaborate on this venture with our Assistant Minister Robert Cavallucci (phone number 3832 1322).

I have asked Assistant Minister Cavallucci to contact you about this.

Thank you for considering this opportunity.

Yours sincerely

Hon Glen Elmes MP

Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs

Minister Assisting the Premier

Member for Noosa

The thoughts of Alan Watts.....

The “primary consciousness,” the basic mind which knows reality rather than ideas about it, does not know the future. It lives completely in the present, and perceives nothing more than what is at this moment. The ingenious brain, however, looks at that part of present experience called memory, and by studying it is able to make predictions. These predictions are, relatively, so accurate and reliable (e.g., “everyone will die”) that the future assumes a high degree of reality — so high that the present loses its value.

But the future is still not here, and cannot become a part of experienced reality until it is present. Since what we know of the future is made up of purely abstract and logical elements — inferences, guesses, deductions — it cannot be eaten, felt, smelled, seen, heard, or otherwise enjoyed. To pursue it is to pursue a constantly retreating phantom, and the faster you chase it, the faster it runs ahead. This is why all the affairs of civilization are rushed, why hardly anyone enjoys what he has, and is forever seeking more and more. Happiness, then, will consist, not of solid and substantial realities, but of such abstract and superficial things as promises, hopes, and assurances....

Ageless Wisdom

Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges. ~ Carlos Castaneda

Forever is composed of nows. ~ Emily Dickinson

In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love? ~ Igor Stravinsky

I’m a believer in belief. Faith is something that works – it causes people to do things, it has results. It’s an intangible, indefinable, very real thing. And it moves people, sometimes to atrocity. And sometimes to survival. ~ Tommy Lee Jones

I have always been resistant to doctrine, and any spirituality I had experienced thus far in my life had been much more abstract and not aligned with any recognized religion. For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality had always proven to be music. It cannot be manipulated, or politicized, and when it is, that becomes immediately obvious. ~ Eric Clapton

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. ~ James Taylor

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. ~ Mark Twain

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost

Nothing is more intolerable than to have admit to yourself your own errors. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather. ~ Pema Chödrön

Be curious, not judgmental. ~ Walt Whitman

Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. ~Carl Jung

Only when human beings are able to perceive and acknowledge the Self in each other can there be real peace. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world: everyone you meet is your mirror. ~ Ken Keyes

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. ~Leonardo da Vinci

All ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided man. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” ~Thích Nhất Hạnh

All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is gone, Realisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only. ~ Ramana Maharshi

When the mind is full of worldly desires, it is their very nature to confuse the mind. Withdraw the mind from outer things and turn it inwards. ~ Anandamayi Ma

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. ~ Gautama Buddha

Do not be afraid of your difficulties. Do not wish you could be in other circumstances than you are. For when you have made the best of an adversity, it becomes the stepping stone to a splendid opportunity. ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. ~ Kahlil Gibran

The more I see, the less I know for sure. ~ John Lennon

Taliban-esque: Any behavior that imposes the beliefs of one person on everyone else. Conversations with the Taliban-esque are impossible. They aren’t even conversations. With them, it’s my way or no way. ~ Whoopie Goldberg

What the mind doesn’t understand, it worships or fears. ~ Alice Walker

We always have to choose to live our lives to the fullest. No one is better or worse than anyone else. We are different and beautiful. ~ Mattie Stepanek

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other. ~ Meryl Streep

If you want to see God, kill desires. Desires are in the mind. When you have a desire for something, don’t act on it and it will go away. If you desire to drink this cup of tea, don’t, and the desire for it will go away. ~ Neem Karoli Baba

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~Abraham Lincoln

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. ~ Nikola Tesla

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. ~ Socrates

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave. ~ G.I. Gurdjieff

He has the most who is most content with the least. ~ Diogenes

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. ~ Lao Tzu

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. ~ Jesus of Nazareth

Nikola Tesla - insights and wisdom

The most thought provoking quotes from one of the most game-changing thinkers of all time, Nikola Tesla:

1. Anti-Social Behavior:

2. My Brain is Only a Receiver:

3. Think in Terms of Energy:

4. I Don't Care That They Stole my Ideas:

5. The Gift of Mental Power Comes from God:

6. To Me the Universe is a Marvelous Mechanism:

7. Let the Future Tell the Truth:

8. All That was Great in the Past...

10 Lessons from Einstein

1. Follow Your Curiosity “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
2. Perseverance is Priceless “It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
3. Focus on the Present “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”
4. The Imagination is Powerful “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
5. Make Mistakes “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
6. Live in the Moment “I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.”
7. Create Value “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
8. Don’t be repetitive “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
9. Knowledge Comes From Experience “Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience.”
10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Lessons Everyone from Lao Tzu

You already hold the answer to life’s questions.

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

You’re freed when you let go.

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.”
“Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything.

Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn’t possess, acts but doesn’t expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever.”

I If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain un-moving till the right action arises by itself?”

Your ego will never give you true pleasure.
“He who defines himself can’t know who he really is.”
“He who has power over others can’t empower himself.”
“He who tries to shine dims his own light.”

Evil dies when ignored.
“Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”

Kindness always wins. Evil always loses.

“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.”

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

Be yourself.

“Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.”
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

Be humble and you shall be wise.
“The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.”
“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.”

Change is inevitable, so embrace it.

“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.”

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

Over 300 years ago, Yamamoto Tsunetomo dictated the quotes and wisdom that would become the book Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. The book is described as “a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought.” One amazing aspect of this book is the time in which it was written: long before Western influence on Japan. In Tsunetomo’s time, bushido was a code that related heavily to the Zen concept of “muga”, or the “death of the ego”. As time went on, the Samurai way of life became less of a mystery and different interpretations of bushido were made by many people. As old as the knowledge may be, the concept of Bushido is truly timeless.

“Life is not so important when forced to choose between life and integrity.”

“If one is overly strict, his subordinates will become untrustworthy. If he over-trusts, his subordinates will become unruly.”

“Once a person has reached enlightenment in one thing, he will have an enlightened mind and understand many things.”

“I’ll give you the answer to the question “What is most important to the heart of a warrior?” The answer is, “To desire with one’s very soul every second of every day to accomplish one’s aim.”

“A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.”

“If you are caught unprepared by a sudden rainstorm, you should not run foolishly down the road or hide under the eves of houses. You are going to get soaked either way. Accept that from the beginning and go on your way. This way you will not be distressed by a little rain. Apply this lesson to everything.”

“You will know who your true friends are when you get sick or distressed. If one you thought was your friend keeps his distance from you during trying times then he should be considered a coward.”

“The secret to a happy marriage is this: Treat your spouse all of your life as you did when you first met and there will never be room for discord.”

“To find a retainer with a loyal heart one need look no further than the house of a warrior who is faithful to his parents. A warrior should remain committed to his parents from the depths of his soul, or else after they have passed away he will be filled with regret for what he should have done.”

“Wisdom comes from paying attention to wise people. Love comes from always striving for the good of others and placing others before oneself. Bravery is developed by simply gritting one’s teeth and with determination crashing through any barrier in one’s way without regard to the circumstances.”

“There is certainly nothing more important in life than what we do at the present moment. A person’s entire life consists of nothing more than one moment piled on top of another, over and over again. Once enlightened to this, the warrior has nothing else to worry about, because he realizes that he has only to live in the present moment with the utmost intensity.”

“A man’s life is only a vapor that vanishes in an instant. One should spend his life doing that which he enjoys. As short as life is, it is foolish to spend it doing only the things one hates.”

“If you keep your sword drawn and wield it about then no one will dare approach you and you will have no allies. But if you never draw it, it will dull and rust and people will assume that you are feeble.”

“As time passes and men age and deteriorate, set your pace to catch those ahead of you and start living healthy and you may fulfill your dreams of long servitude to your lord. When everyone excels it is hard to stand out, but as others start to decline it becomes much easier to achieve greatness.”

“Every morning a warrior should recommit himself to death. In morning meditation, see yourself killed in various ways, such as being shredded by arrows, bullets, swords, and spears, being swept away by a tidal wave, burned by fire, struck by lightening, dieing in a earthquake, falling from a great height, or succumbing to overwhelming sickness. An elder warrior said, “Once out of your front door you are surrounded by death. Once you leave your gate you are surrounded by enemies.” This saying is not merely a parable, but a way to prepare for your fate.”

http://iheartintelligence.com/2015/08/26/quotes-of-the-samurai/ 

Indian Wisdom

In 1854, the “Great White Chief” in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a “reservation” for the Indian people. Chief Seattle’s reply,published here in full, has been described as the most beautiful and profound statement on the environment ever made.

How can you buy or sell the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

ALL SACRED

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.
The sap, which courses through the trees, carries the memories of the red man.
The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man.
We are part of the earth and it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters: the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man – all belong to the same family.

NOT EASY

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.
He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.
But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.
This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is just not water but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred,and you must teach your children that it sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.
The waters murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

KINDNESS

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the same kindness that you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.
The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.
He leaves his father’s graves behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care.

His fathers’ grave, and his children’s birthright, is forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads.
His appetite will devour the earth and leave only behind a desert.
I do not know. Our ways are different than your ways.
The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in the spring, or the rustle of incest’s wings.
But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.
The clatter only seems to insults the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whip-poor-will or the arguments of the frogs around a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with the pinion pine.

PRECIOUS

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.
The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.
But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grand father his first breath also receives his last sigh.
And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadows flowers.

ONE CONDITION

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.
I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie,left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.
I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
What is a man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit.
For what ever happens to the beast, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

THE ASHES

You must teach your children the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground,they spit upon themselves.
This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny.
We may be brothers after all.
We shall see.
One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover – our God is the same God.
You may think that you own him, as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white.
This earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to reap contempt on its Creator.
The whites to shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing, you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land, and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and the red man.
That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills are blotted by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone.

Where is the eagle? Gone.

The end of living and the beginning of survival.

By Jocelyn Daher

The 12 Biggest Life Secrets Forgotten By Mankind

By Gilbert Ross|  The more I ponder about life, the more I continue to come to one solid realization: The biggest curse and predicament of modern Man is forgetfulness. Like a creeping malaise, forgetfulness has seeped through all of Man’s being and doing. Individually, collectively, historically or culturally, we are spellbound to forget.

We haven’t only forgot our past but also our place in the present and our responsibility of the future. On a personal level, our ego-based state of consciousness is on a mission to keep us in this state of forgetfulness – to break the link to our being as a whole and to the interconnected web of life and universal consciousness.

On a collective level, this forgetfulness is perpetuated and reinforced by social and cultural means – mainly by being tranced into a reality of unconscious consumerism, inauthentic lifestyles and a materialistic mindset.

The brighter side of it is that we all have the chance to re-member and re-connect to ourselves and the universe at large. The power of remembering is at the center of the spiritual path to self-discovery and realization.

Here is a list of what I believe we have forgotten, or more importantly, a list of things to remember:

1) We forgot our place in the natural world

In the last couple of hundred years we have detached ourselves from nature. We have exploited, ravaged, consumed and attempted to control nature to appease our greed driven by self-absorbed madness. We tried to distance ourselves from the natural circle of life. We forgot how to listen to and understand the natural rhythms and cycles of the earth – its signs and languages. We forgot to follow nature’s path and live in balance with it.

2) We forgot our connection to life and the cosmos

By detaching ourselves from nature, we forgot that we are deeply connected to it and to the cycles of the universe. Some tribes on the outskirts of ‘civilisation’, and who still follow ancestral ways, have preserved this connection with respect and reverence. We, on the other hand have instilled a sense of separateness which drove us out of balance and in dis-ease.  We forgot how all consciousness is interconnected and weaved into a delicate and beautiful dance.

3) We forgot our ancient wisdom

We forgot our ancestral wisdom. In the quest to gain scientific knowledge through the rationalization of our mind, we forgot the wisdom through the opening of our heart. We forgot the ancient stories and folk wisdom that was handed down from from seers and wise men of antiquity who lived in harmony with the universe.

4) We forgot our path and our dreams

By stirring away from our inner path we forgot to dream the dream of life. More importantly we forgot how to awake in that dream and see our true nature as co-creators of life – as the dreamers. We forgot that we have the power to weave dreams and use our power of intention to direct those dreams into manifestation.

5) We forgot our purpose

With too much chatter, noise and distraction in this dense reality we forgot what we came here to do. We forgot our purpose. We are caught in the mass trance of fabricated consensual reality. We lost sight of our authenticity, that inner spark that drives us towards our happiness and self-realization. We forgot that we are here to be realized as spiritual beings embodied in a physical form and embedded in a congenial universe.

6) We forgot that everything is Love

This is perhaps the deepest mystery of all that only some seers came to understand it as an all-embracing truth. That truth however is hidden somewhere deep inside of us. We knew it at some point but have lost touch with it. We forgot that everything is ultimately energy and consciousness and that love is the fundamental fabric of existence that runs through all energy and consciousness.

7) We forgot to Forgive

By being made to believe that we are separate and disconnected from the others and from everything else, we forgot to forgive. In its deepest sense forgiveness is the act of reminding ourselves that we are one with everyone and everything and that there is no victim or perpetrator. It’s just all of us together moving together in a dynamic web we call life.

8) We forgot to be Free

Remind yourself one thing everyday: You were made to be free.

We were born and raised in a ‘reality’ where freedom is only a concept. We were bound to the shackles of fear, misconceptions, false ideologies, material reward and held ransom to rules and laws laid down to safeguard the interest of the few. We were made to forget that we are free agents of change. We are free to be who we are without fear or guilt.

9) We forgot our real power

Living in fear has made us forget how powerful we are. We forgot the massive power of our will and intention to change our reality. We have been tranced into sleepwalking and following the ready made signs like automatons.

10) We forgot our lessons from history

If there is something that history has taught us is how fast we are at forgetting our lessons. Time and time again we keep on repeating the same mistakes, stuck in the same patterns of greed and self-destruction. We cannot be blamed individually for the mistakes done by humanity in the past but we are responsible as individuals to to remind ourselves of the past mistakes and pass it on to the collective psyche.

11) We forgot to be simple

Human life got more complex and complicated. We are seduced by the glitter of more and not by the power of less. We forgot to be simple and the meaning of simplicity. Life is simple really. Simplicity means discarding all the inessential stuff and ideas that clutter the view to our life purpose and the other truths we have forgotten.

12) We forgot to trust, believe and wonder

We lost our enchantment with the world. We forgot to be wondered by the miracle of life. We do not stand in awe at the majesty of it all anymore. Our skepticism and cynical view of the world has made us lose trust in ourselves and the magic of the universe. We forgot how to believe. This is perhaps the biggest tragedy of all. It weakened our spirit and impoverished our soul.

Hopefully we can remember to embrace our unity and reconnect with the simple wisdom of ancient cultures, because our world needs us to more than ever.  Let us remember we have held the secret to life all along.

About the Author: 

The Article was written by Gilbert Ross you can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and his blog Soulhiker and more importantly you can take his course at Udemy.

- See more at: http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/the-12-biggest-life-secrets-forgotten-by-mankind/#sthash.838ZKnMi.dpuf

Interviewing Lionel Ritchie for Backstage

Directed, written and produced by Alessandro Sorbello. Interviewing Lionel Ritchie

This short documentary explores Louie Shelton’s music journey behind the scenes as a studio guitarist and later as a leading LA producer, Louie’s story is intrinsically woven into the last 5 decades of the US music scene. We explore Louie’s story through the eyes of fan and via Louie and the artists he has performed with, which include Seals and Crofts, The Monkeys and having played with artists as diverse as the late John Lennon and Marvin Gaye and the first recordings of the Jackson Five.

Backstage is the story of guitarist and producer LOUIE SHELTON, who after 5 decades of world class recordings and numerous multi platinum albums is now being publicly recognized and inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Backstage opens with Louis Shelton’s induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame, the curator and director introduce Louie as he is about to receive his award and as his guitar is placed into the Hall of Game. In this manner, the audience gains insight into the silent hero figure that has remained in the background for decades in a field where being in the spotlight is the burning ambition.

Interviewing Lionel Ritchie for Backstage

Directed, written and produced by Alessandro Sorbello. Interviewing Lionel Ritchie

This short documentary explores Louie Shelton’s music journey behind the scenes as a studio guitarist and later as a leading LA producer, Louie’s story is intrinsically woven into the last 5 decades of the US music scene. We explore Louie’s story through the eyes of fan and via Louie and the artists he has performed with, which include Seals and Crofts, The Monkeys and having played with artists as diverse as the late John Lennon and Marvin Gaye and the first recordings of the Jackson Five.

Backstage is the story of guitarist and producer LOUIE SHELTON, who after 5 decades of world class recordings and numerous multi platinum albums is now being publicly recognized and inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Backstage opens with Louis Shelton’s induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame, the curator and director introduce Louie as he is about to receive his award and as his guitar is placed into the Hall of Game. In this manner, the audience gains insight into the silent hero figure that has remained in the background for decades in a field where being in the spotlight is the burning ambition.

tune in and turn on ...

treat yourself with utmost kindness as much as possible

the world is what you think it is....

sometimes you just got to jump right in...

True Freedom is what we give to ourselves

Tours of Tuscany

Join this small group tour with Italian Week producer, Alessandro Sorbello, immerse yourself in the current of sensation for a week of food, wine and culture in Tuscany.

Consider this your invitation to a journey into emotional engagement with the magnificent beauty and culture of one of Italy’s most charming regions. www.ToursOfTuscany.com

Opera singer Xenia Puskarz Thomas

Had the pleasure of meeting Opera singer Xenia Puskarz Thomas at a performance of the Queensland Youth Orchestra as organised by Maestro John Curro

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/opera-singer-xenia-puskarz-thomas-a-divine-diva-in-the-making/story-fnn8dlfs-1227289814259

Queensland Youth Orchestras director John Curro says Xenia Puskarz Thomas is not renowned for her violin playing but he listened to her sing, he was enraptured.

SHE’S being touted as the next big thing in opera, but a group of primary school children in central Queensland has already given young soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas her first reality check.

Bliss is your innermost nature

Pleasure is momentary, of time, for the time being; bliss is non-temporal, timeless. Pleasure begins and ends; bliss abides forever. Pleasure comes and goes; bliss never comes, never goes — it is already there in the innermost core of your being. Pleasure has to be snatched away from the other; you become either a beggar or a thief. Bliss makes you a master.

Bliss is not something that you invent but something that you discover. Bliss is your innermost nature. It has been there since the very beginning, you just have not looked at it, you have taken it for granted. You don’t look inwards. This is the only misery of man: that he goes on looking outwards, seeking and searching. And you cannot find it in the outside because it is not there.

-Osho

Confucius says …

1. “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”

2. “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

3. “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

4. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

5. “The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage.”

6. “Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”

7. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.”

8. “He who learns but does not think, is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”

9. “He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.”

10. “If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?”

Some wisdom from the masters

1. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

2. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller

3. “Challenges is what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine

4. “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” – Viktor Frankl

5. “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

6. “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

7. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

8. “In seeking happiness for others, you will find it in yourself.” – Unknown

9. “Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for thosewho rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” – Henry van Dyke

10. “I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life.” – Corazon Aquino

11. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl

12. “Falling in love is not a choice. To stay in love is.” – Unknown

13. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

14. “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” –Albert Einstein

15. “He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.” – Michel De Montaigne

16. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

17. “True success is overcoming the fear of being unsuccessful.” – Paul Sweeney

18. “The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way we can grow is if we change. The only way we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we are exposed is if we throw ourselves into the open.” – C. Joybell

19. “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” – George Bernhard Shaw

20. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” – Bil Keane

Sense of Adventure

Sense of Adventure

           

Exploring new places and ideas, I view my whole life as an adventure, full of amazing experiences waiting to happen, lots of wonderful people whom I have met and am yet to meet.

Like a person who has stowed onto a ship and after 7days abroad has stepped onto the deck for the first time and is experiencing the Wind and sun in my face and realises that the whole world lies before me ….waiting.

In another time and life I think I am a Pirate and a Genie, my life has been full of magic and I believe that traces of this are still part of my life now.

            Stretching my horizons

           

           

Best Personality Traits

My work requires me to develop strategic alliances and partnerships with a number of talented and gifted people. I have been blessed with the ability to learn how to encourage these people to work together on these projects. It has given me the wonderful gift of attracting these people into my life.