Lori Sweeney's Comments

I have a dolphin story for you, too, Lori ! That last visit of ours, my wife was just a few feet farther out in the water than the rest of us were, and, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a dorsal fin breaks the surface. I saw it before my wife did, and, believe me, for a split second it scared the life out of me !  It was a bottle-nose, and it could NOT have been more than three feet from her... Pretty soon, everyone had noticed him, and he ended up continuing to swim very close to shore for maybe a few hundred yards, before turning back out to sea. It really was quite an experience.

I just listened to it twice and loved it. I don't exactly know how, because music can be such a difficult thing to really DESCRIBE, but it does make me think of the ocean. The best I can probably do is to say I get a sense of contentment throughout most of it ( except for that middle-part where it sounds like there might be waves crashing ashore ! ) that I've always felt on SC beaches. I have to say, too, that I really like the way you change your chords up into atypical choices that still seem perfectly appropriate...I'm not SURE that really says what I intend, but... I'm trying here !  All in all, a very effective piece, and I'll be looking forward to the rest of it.  Oh !  I also got the feeling that you wanted to stay there !

Thanks, Lori. In truth, 'Lullaby' has some extra instruments that softly accompany the piano part, but I wrote the piece such a long time ago ( my daughter's 14 now, and, boy, is THAT a day at the beach... ) that when I dug it up and heard it again, I realized those parts weren't ironed out well enough, so I just decided to mute 'em... I'll certainly check your work out and be listening for the ocean in it ! In the meantime, work hard and take care.

Lori, I just listened to 'Longing', and it is really quite beautiful. You've done an excellent piece of work there. I enjoyed your other work, as well, but that one especially moved me. It has such a sweet sadness to it that I wish I could achieve more often in my own stuff.  I've had quite a bit of difficulty writing slower pieces convincingly... By the way, I'm from South Carolina originally, and was just down there last summer for a visit. I took my family down to the Isle of Palms, and we all just couldn't get enough of it ! My little 7 year-old son just thought he was in heaven, and I was really quite surprised at how he took to the waves. Must have some fish in him, or something ! Anyway, keep up the good work, and I'll keep listening !

Your songs are so articulate and melodic. I especially enjoyed Fugue... and Funeral march. Thank you !

Lori,

You might get a kick out of "American Songs" now posted on my home page. Bring your own airsickness bag.

Thanks

Fred

"War and Peace (Volume 2) is finished. The following compositions were completed for the album, bringing the total number of compositions to 20 so far.

Malia's Anthem
Aiden's Hymn
Cardemonian March
The West Family Confederate March
Humble Beginnings

On March 4th, 2009 I lost my mother while serving in Iraq. I went home to pay my last respects, then returned to the war zone. Upon arriving I composed a lamentation memorial to honor her life and death.

Lament for Evett

There will be a 3rd volume of "War and Peace", but this may be the final chapter in the War and Peace Saga. Pray for us, we are comming home soon.

Brandon J. Begley
"Peace and prosperity, for all generations"

simply beautiful music, lori! eclectic and captivating!

Nice works Lori! Thanks for your friendship.

Well my tour of duty is almost over, and so is the completion of my second volume of War and Peace. I just have 2 more songs to record. One in honor of my good friend William West and family, and the other a memorial composition to honor the life and death of my mother. After this, I think I'll take a break and spend more time with my wife and children. More compositions will come in time. Take care and thank you for your support, on every level.

Brandon J. Begley
"Peace and prosperity, for all generations"

Thanks for your kind comments Lori. I love Danny Elfman! Keep it real. :)

I was just enjoying your haunting music. Very nice.

Thank you Lori for your very nice comments....Longing is a very sweet piece...I just wonder what was in your mind when you wrote it.

Lori...fellow pianist...very emotive music....I like your sensitivity and grace...

One other thing you might want to check out.. red wine. A glass in the evening is pretty good medicine. Red wine (most liquor does this) produces a pleasant peripheral vasodilator effect, A fancy was of saying it relaxes vascular muscles so blood pressure goes down.

The really cool thing about red wine is it contains a powerful antioxidant, a proanthocynidin called Resveritrol. So far it looks like this stuff has a positive effect on cholesterol balance (more HDL and less LDL) and on triglicerides.

Resveritrol is responsible, in part. for what is known as the "French Paradox" (no no I don't mean Dr. Maurice and Dr. Emil.. although finer French Pair -a-Docs would be hard to imagine) The Real French Paradox is that they eat a rather high fat diet but cholesterol and other markers are all very healthy due to the effect of Resveritrol in the wine. Only RED wine will do this. Spend some money on it. No cheap stuff.. no "two buck chuck." Check out Archtype Shiraz/Merlot and Chalon Vineyards Cabernet.

Heart Attack? I hope everything is OK. Low Fat, no carbs and a lot of walking. He'll live to be 100.

The reason why I like it so much is because sometimes those things that appear to be simple, have a full deeper meaning inside upon of the time they were done, they have emotional tags in that can be read by somebody else later on.

Hi Lori, you got beautiful tracks up there, I like them all but my favourite is the Romantic one, sounds soft and has a very characteristic sweet deep melody that really got my attention when listening.

Thanks Lori - I'll get that together