Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

That is such a cool, zen-like approach to life, and it comes to us in the form of an English children’s nursery rhyme. The song is actually a round – a musical composition in which 2 or more voices sing exactly the same melody, each voice beginning at a different time. The different parts of the melody coincide and fit harmoniously together. It is one of the easiest forms of ‘part’ singing, as only one line of melody must be learned by all the singers, and it can be repeated over and over. This simple ditty has quite a history – Star Trek Five had Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy singing it, another episode had a bunch of weird kids singing it, it’s featured in the films Dante’s Peak, the Red Danube and even Hackers. Maybe it’s a metaphor for our passage here on earth – we propel ourselves with humor and joy in natural waters which bring us to the simple comfort of the abstract world. But the key word here is dreams.

“Encontré un sueño con el que podía hablar y al cual podía llamar mi sueño.”- Etta James

What a wonderful and multi-faceted word, just chock full of contradictions. Dreams are something involuntary that happen to you while you’re sleeping, and can be pleasant or horrible. Shrinks, shamans, witch doctors, scientists, poets, priests, gurus, artists and fools all think they’ve got the inside track on figuring out the source and importance of our dreams.

But we also call the wide-awake goals and achievements we actively pursue, our dreams. Someone may ‘dream’ of playing pro-ball, or getting into clown school, or playing with a symphony, or winning the surf contest. It’s a respectful kind of compliment to say “he’s got big dreams”, or “she had a dream and made it come true”. Yet in the same breath, dreamers are kind of looked down on as unrealistic losers. We disparage someone who “lives in a dream world”, or we diss some guy cause “he’s just a dreamer”. Remember that Everly Brothers song –“When I want you in my arms, When I want you and all your charms, Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream. Dream, dream, dream. I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine, anytime night or day. Only trouble is –gee whiz, I’m dreaming my life away….”

A lot of folks recollect their music dreams, but according to scientist types they happen twice as often to musicians, and their frequency seems to be related to when those musicians started playing. I’ve had music dreams with very clear and specific melody lines – where I knew exactly which fingers to use and how to articulate the piece. Sometimes I’ve got a whole band going on in my head, and sometimes I can actually see the piece of music I’m hearing. Maybe it’s a line I played earlier, or heard somewhere or something that I’ve been trying to learn or to write. Of course, like lots of dreams, just when it unfolds into total clarity it will suddenly vanish – like the bursting of a bubble.

“Lo que sucede es que mis sueños todavía están soñando conmigo.”- Willie Nelson

Many classical composers swear that their best compositions came to them in dreams. Ravel, Stravinsky, Handel, Mozart, Chopin and Brahms all insisted that they woke up with entire symphonies intact in their heads. Scientific studies conclude that nearly half of the musical pieces that Eare ‘dreamed’ are not standard or known pieces, but truly original music. After brain trauma or illness, many non-musicians have stories of dreaming music that they never closely listened to before and were way unable to play. Dream experts say that music is the opposite of chaos, and that in dreams it represents harmony and the infinite potential of creative life. Dreams can also express the emotions that you are feeling at that moment in time – which is why I don’t really trust bad dreams. To me they sneak out from some dark and paranoid place that isn’t really valid and shouldn’t be allowed to influence us. I think bad dreams are kind of like what that late night stupid shot of tequila does to most of us. We turn off the positive attitude button and press the pity party switch. Bad music dreams – panicky dreams where you’re playing something in public you’ve never played before, or trying to sing and nothing comes out, or my favorite, playing during a rest when the entire orchestra is correctly silent – ‘ya can’t let them affect you.

Paul McCartney woke up one morning and wrote down the song he had just dreamed – complete with melody, rhythm, chords, lyrics and orchestration. The lyrics were part gibberish, so he re-wrote those, but he didn’t trust the fact that everything was his own creativity. He was convinced for a while that he must have heard it somewhere before and was subconsciously plagiarizing someone else’s music. That song is the haunting hit “Yesterday”.
Jim Morrison was a bit wacky, but was at heart a poet, and he wrote: Shake dreams from your hair, my pretty child, my sweet one. Choose the day and choose the sign of your day – the day’s divinity the first thing you see.

“Un sueño que sueñas solo es solo un sueño. Un sueño que sueñas con alguien es una realidad.”- John Lennon

The dream theme is certainly common in music –ballet, opera and instrumental classical music often had ‘dream sequences’ that allowed for the music and dancing to be a little more abstract, and modern songwriters use dream imagery all the time. “California Dreaming”, written by the Mamas and Papas in the 60’s practically defined the hippy search for …..well, whatever it was for……during that time period. In the 40’s, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald sang and scatted their way through the beautiful and haunting song, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”. The Monkees sang about a “Daydream Believer”, Stevie Wonder “Never Had a Dream Come True”, Mariah Carey had a “Dream Lover”, Dave Matthews has a “Dream Girl”, Aerosmith said to “Dream On”, and Delbert McClinton kills you with his emotional “I’ve got Dreams – Dreams to Remember”.

“Pierde tus sueños y podrías perder la cordura.”- Mick Jagger

It’s great to meet and nurture young people with dreams, and there are plenty of them studying music at San Isidro’s Escuela de Musica Sinfonica. There will be several concerts and recitals given by the students during December – so go check out their schedule. The Rum Bar at Rio Lindo consistently has eclectic musical treats, so please give them a call, and the newly opened, gorgeous Ubar Lounge in San Isidro offers a variety of music throughout the month. My buddy Kim Carson returns to Costa Rica from New Orleans and we’ll be playing at the Xmas Show at Roca Verde and around the area. This year’s Xmas show promises to be fun and interesting, with a variety of local talented people involved in the production. Get out and kick up your heels and have some fun – and in the process help support our local business owners who help support those dreamy musicians.

News, gripes, jokes, whatever can be sent to njbfiddle@aol.com

“Reprinted with the expressed permission of

Dominical Days. All rights reserved.”

© Dominical Days S. A., Dominical, Osa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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Steven Tyler

Source: Tico Times

By : Adam Williams

Steven Tyler is probably the only man in the world who, at age 62, is still considered cool wearing a wardrobe that consists of sequined tennis shoes, feathered burnt orange velvet pants and an undersized tank top. The only other man aged 60-plus capable of pulling off such a feat might be Mick Jagger, and sequins aren’t really his style.

Tyler and his legendary rock band, Aerosmith, brought their high-energy show to La Guácima racetrack in Alajuela, west of San José, Tuesday night, enthralling the crowd of 26,000. With a set list comprised of 18 songs from their nearly 40-year anthology of hits, Aerosmith jammed for over two hours on the windy night, playing many of their most lauded songs, such as “Elevator,” “Dream On,” “Edge,” “Crazy,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk this Way.”

The show opened when the curtain rose, emblazoned with the wing-and-steering-wheel emblem of the band, and Tyler paraded up the catwalk into the crowd singing “Eat the Rich,” a song from the 1993 album “Get A Grip,” and swinging his trademark ribbon-laced microphone. At the conclusion of the song, Tyler pretended to begin coughing, only to then arch his back and belch, giving the crowd a laugh and setting the mood for the fun-loving, hit-saturated night.

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EXPOTUR is the industry marketer for the commercialization of tourism in Costa Rica and the regional industry leader for Latin America. This event is held annually by the Costarrican Association of Tourism Professionals. This association groups together more than 1200 distinguished professionals from the tourism sector.

This event has been celebrated without interruption for more than twenty five years promoting Costa Rica and its great variety of offers to the international tourism sector.

Expotour benefits many facets of the industry such as ecotourism, educational tourism, youth tourism, rural tourism, adventure, heath, beauty and relaxation, seniors tourism and tourism conventions and congresses.

The following list shows the success of Costa Rica in its International tourism positioning with impressive designations from World recognized tourism Experts:

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EXPOTUR es la bolsa de comercialización turística de Costa Rica y el encuentro de mayor trayectoria de la industria en la región latinoamericana. Es realizada anualmente por la Asociación Costarricense de Profesionales en Turismo (ACOPROT), Esta organizadora agrupa a más de 1200 destacados profesionales del sector turístico Costarricense.

Este evento se ha celebrado ininterrumpidamente por más de 25 años promoviendo a Costa Rica y sus variados ofrecimientos al sector turístico internacional.

Beneficia a muchas facetas de la industria como, ecoturismo, turismo educativo, turismo juvenil, turismo rural, aventura, belleza salud y relajación, adultos mayores y congresos y convenciones.

La siguiente lista muestra el éxito de Costa Rica en su posicionamiento Internacional turístico con impresionantes designaciones por expertos reconocidos en la materia turística mundial:

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Photo: Safari Surf School

Source: Inside Costa Rica

Safari Surf School, Costa Rica’s premier surfing school and camp, is offering a new “Family Surf & Save” package as well as reduced seasonal summer prices for all visitors beginning May 1 and ending August 31.

While seasonal summer rates already offering significant discounts on single and double occupancy packages, the new special delivers fully customized itineraries that will offer families of four or more a discount of up to 20 percent off normal family rates. That equals a savings of up to $1200 on 7-day family surf packages.

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Hello kids and welcome to the kid’s page in Dominical Days. This month we have a quiz about the rainforest and a coloring of a toucan! Enjoy!

Pura vida!
Esther & Maarten

Write to us with your stories, ideas and suggestions: info@kidsadventurescostarica.com

Question 1: How many layers are there in a Rainforest?
A. Two
B. Three
C. Four
D. Five

Question 2: Which of these areas does not have a Rainforest?
A. Africa
B. Central America
C. North America
D. Southern Asia

Question 3: In which layer will you find a sloth?
A. Forest floor
B. Understory
C. Canopy
D. Emergent

Question 4: Where do poison-arrow frogs lay their eggs?
A. In a pond
B. On leaves
C. In the dirt
D. In a nest

Question 5: Why are the bright colors on a toucan’s bill useful?
A. They warn other animals that they are poisonous.
B. They attract their mates with the bright colors
C. The colors help camouflage the bird from predators.
D. The colors are to help attract its dinner.

Question 6: What makes a spider monkey unique from other monkeys?
A. It has only 4 fingers and no thumb.
B. It likes to eat spiders.
C. It likes to hang upside-down like a spider.
D. It uses its tail as an extra limb.

Question 7: What portion of the world’s plant species are found in tropical rainforests?
A. one third
B. one half
C. two thirds
D. all

The answers………… (1C 2C 3C 4B 5B 6A 7C)

Click here to open in a new window so you can print and color the toucan!

“Reprinted with the expressed permission of Dominical Days. All rights reserved.”

© Dominical Days S. A., Dominical, Osa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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Photo by author, Nancy Harrison

Author: NANCY R. HARRISON

It was snowing as our car pulled out of our driveway.

I said, “Good bye snow, we’re outta here!”

I remembered a famous Mark Twain quote: “In twenty years you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the things you did.”
We were on our way to Costa Rica, one of the hottest adventure-travel destinations in Latin America, where two million people visit every year.

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Photo: TransworldSurf.com

Source: Transworld Surf.com

BOCA BARRANCA, Puntarenas/Costa Rica (Sunday, April 11, 2010) – Cole Robbins (Santa Barbara, CA), 19, and Jen Smith (San Diego, CA), 24, won the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) 3-Star Costa Rica PLA Pro in clean two-to-four-foot (1 metre) surf at Costa Rica’s impressive lefthand pointbreak of Boca Barranca.

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