Archive for February, 2010


The river begins its life as a spring and returns to the great ocean at its journeys end. As the water follows it’s Natural Pathways it weaves its paths to survival through its life’s journey, revealing many aspects – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual, and will have many experiences just as we do in our life.

The flow starts slowly and gently as the precious water is introduced to the world. She gently trickles, weaving a path through the channels of Mother Earth, collecting along the way all the knowledge the earth has to offer about her world. Some of this knowledge the water will not understand, but as she is one with her environment she completely trusts by remaining in the moment.

The river awakens to her surroundings; she hears the plants calling to her, plants of all different forms, colour and size as well as scent. They have so much to share; all the knowledge they themselves have acquired over the years of their beautiful and enchanting lives. In exchange for this knowledge that guides the river on its journey, she brings life to them, even the soil, yet untouched by the stream that has so much to share, such as tales about wondrous creatures that have crossed its path.

We too experience the learning given to us by our parents, our teachers and our environment. And at each junction, just as with the river, we make choices about which direction to go in. Sometimes these choices delay our journey, and like the river we too can change direction, only sometimes we refuse to go with the flow. But so long as our path is true, we will reach our union with God. Then the rains come and join as one with the river. They share as true brothers and sisters the journey together exchanging their life’s experiences with each other, learning from the mistakes that have taken place. Some would say that the rains bring trouble but this is not true.

The rains cleanse our air, removing the toxins that prevent our growth and at its own risk, the river helps with this process. As the river flows, many things will have taken place during its journey; the experience of the waterfall and the rocks below; the still pools at the side of the bank; the whirlpool, the rapids and the stillness of the water at places along its course.

All these things occur during our lifetime too. And, just as we grow, so does the river, expanding into an estuary where eventually she kisses the Great Ocean, joining as one with all that is. Just as in heaven, at the end of our journey we too find our beginning.

Written by Geoffrey McMullan http://www.pathfinder-uk.com

On  May 22 Risa Hall is  releasing her long awaited album, Glass
Half?..produced by Nigel Stonier (Thea Gilmore, Sandi Thom, The Waterboys and Rod Clements). Drumming on Glass Half?…is legend Paul Burgess (ex 10cc,  Jethro Tull and Joan Armatrading).

The songs range from jazz and pop to punk, with an extremely eclectic range of styles.   Risa is originally from Forest Hills, Queens, New York and went to the same school as Simon and Garfunkel, Lesley West and the Ramones, certainly rock and roll high, and this was a catalyst in Risa’s passion for music.

Arriving in the UK, Risa settled in Manchester, England where Risa gigs
regularly and has supported  artists such as Nerina Pallot.  Check out the BBC review of Risa’s music at

http://www.facebook.com/l/a8645;www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/07/07/050708_run_toto_run_feature.shtml

Hello Blogladytes,

I had a very exciting night last weekend. I was asked to be on the judging panel at The Door’s Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest in Stroud. It was a real honour and very humbling as my expectations were exceeded ten-fold. Here is the review I wrote for After Dark Magazine:

Stroud’s got talent! This was proved beyond any reasonable doubt at the Door Project’s Undiscovered Youth Talent contest. Twenty six young people aged eleven to twenty took part in the ninth annual competition having been whittled down from over sixty applicants. There were singers, dancers, bands and even a ventriloquist (Kieran Powell who won audience favourite).

Talent contests traditionally conjure up images of bad karaoke or knobbly knee contests, for meanyway. This was definitely not the case tonight; in fact I was blown away by the incredibly high standard of performance.

Thirteen  year old Ellie Higgs(winner of best original composition-pictured left) truly stood out as a singer and songwriter with individual character and  enormous potential .She’s  already nailed the elusive skill of being able write and perform with an emotional honesty that almost moved me to tears!(I said almost I’m not Cheryl Cole.)There was a wealth of talented female vocalists and a few really good bands particularly indie-rockers The Envy(pictured right) who won Best Band, and Inkerman Street who performed a rousing cover of a  BB King song (all aged between fifteen and eighteen).

The ‘Best in Show’ award went  to eleven year old Penny May who also won the best vocalist aged 11-14 category .By this point I’d clapped so much my hands were seriously chafed and some of the audience had taken to stamping their feet in appreciation instead.  Mary Jess Leaverland, a winner from two years previous, returned to do the honours of presenting the many deserved prizes. Having just won The Chinese X-factor, she’s flying the flag high for Gloucestershire as a hothouse of international talent breeding. Some of the contestants from tonight will undoubtedly go on to bigger and better things. I left the event feeling inspired, enthused and very grateful to live in such an exciting, creative part of the world .Who needs the X-factor when you’ve got the Stroud-factor?”

I also managed to get some quick interviews (at the end of a long night) with Inkerman Street and The Envy, which I’ll be playing on my new radio show on Monday.

My new radio show is on Tone Radio on a Monday morning from 10.30-12 noon and I’ve decided to call it Milly’s Marvellous Monday Morning Music Mix! M.M.M.M.M.M for short. The main premise of the show is me playing loads of music- electro, punk, funk, indie, rock, dance, rave,  new wave, no wave, Chas and Dave, actually no Chas and Dave but a real mix of styles none the less. And what better way to start the week than with a positive smorgasbord of underground, independent and alternative music? Here’s a taster of tracks I’ve got lined up to play tomorrow morning:

Camera Obscura: French Navy (My Maudlin Career)

Joy Orbison: Hyph Mngo

Delphic: Doubt

Hot Chip: One Life Stand

These New Puritans: We Want War

Teenagers in Tokyo: Talk To The Fire

Chew Lips: Salt Air

PiL: This is Not a Love Song

The XX: Crystallised

Yeasayer: O.N.E

Sky Larkin: Smarts

Future Sound of London: Papua New Guinea

And loads more. . .

I’m also presenting drive time on StroudFM on Thursday between 5pm and &7pm. So it’s a busy week ahead.

Have a good one,

Moo xxx

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