This is absolutely fascinating. Project Song from National Public Radio (NPR), is an intimate look at how song writers go about the business of creating words and music in real time. Hosted by Bob Boilen of NPR’s All Songs Considered, Project Song invites musicians to spend two days in the NPR recording studio during which they are asked to write and record a new composition. NPR provides inspiration in the form of words and pictures to stimulate the musicians’ imaginations, and asks them to pick one photo and one phrase as “themes” for the song they will create. Then they get out of the way as they, and we, watch the process unfold.

So far Boilen has worked with three musicians Stephen Merritt of the group Magnetic Fields, Nellie McKay, and the duo of Laura Burhenn and John Davis, who comprise Georgie James, and the results have been both enlightening and, to my ear, very pleasing. The fascinating thing for me is to contemplate the fact that in no other era would it have been possible to observe artists at work in this very personal way.

NPR’s Project Song website has videos of each of the musicians at work, as well as the story of each session as it was presented on public radio’s All Things Considered, and a recording (with video) of the completed song. If you enjoy popular music, this is a don’t miss web experience.

Love Books and Libraries? If you do, you will enjoy a visit (or two, or more) to Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com). Library Thing is an ingenious website that lets you catalog your own books on the Internet. You can also label them with “tags” that are representative of some aspect of the book, and/or meaningful to you. Once you’ve done that, other users of the website can find books you’ve cataloged based on the “tags” you’ve given them. For example, if you cataloged The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown with the words “art,” “Jesus,” and “Mary,” “conspiracy” and “crime fiction,” anyone searching at Library Thing on any of those words, and especially on all of them, would find the book you had cataloged. In that way, readers can share books they love with other readers with similar interests.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve cataloged a few books, you can then ask Library Thing to show you the collections of other readers with similar tastes on the theory that if you both read a lot of the same books, you will also be interested in other books that person or persons have read that you have not.

Library Thing also lets you rate books on a 1-5 star rating scale, and, if you’re so inclined, write reviews of books you like, or of ones you don’t. And there’s more, but I’ll let you discover the additional features for yourself. Best of all, though, is that you can use all the features of Library Thing, and catalog up to 200 books free. To expand your catalog beyond 200 books will cost you anywhere from $6.00 to $20.00 a year. You decide how much you’re willing to pay. $10.00/per year is the recommended fee, and, of course, they’ll gladly accept more than $20.00/per year if you’re inclined to pay more.

Highly recommended by librarians and book lovers everywhere. Check it out.

www.nbcam.org/aboutBC.cfm is the website for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It contains crucial information about early detection and the value of early treatment if breast cancer is diagnosed.   

…send them to www.familycaregiving101.org.  .   The National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving sponsor this excellent web site which provides caregivers “with the basic tools, skills and information they need to protect their own physical and mental health while they provide high quality care for their loved one.”  There are over 50 million caregivers in this country who provide care for a chronically ill or an aging family member or friend.  Often they  neglect their own health and do not acknowledge the effect caregiving has on their lives.   Take care of a caregiver…..send them to “Family Caregiving 101.”

Pretexting is “the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses.”  Valuable information such as your Social Security Number, telephone records and your bank and credit card account numbers are what pretexters are after.  You can learn how to recognize these scam artists and their sneaky tactics on the Federal Trade Commission’s excellent web site www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/pretext.htm.  Pretexters sell your personal information to people who could use it to “get credit in your name, steal your assets or to investigate or sue you.”   Check it out !

Thursday, September 21st is International Day of Peace.  This annual day of peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations to coincide with its opening session every September.  Visit www.un.org/events/peaceday to view official documents related to the day and resources on peace and peace-building.  Learn about the numerous commemorative events and activities planned around the world.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov provides an easy way to report suspected cyber crimes.  The site also provides valuable information about current internet crime schemes including Credit Card Fraud, Identity Theft, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter (or “419″), reshipping and more.  The best defense is a good offense.  Outsmart the crooks on the Internet by learning how they operate. The Internet Crime Complaint Center is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI.

Learn how to prepare for and respond to hurricanes including storm-related disasters such as blackouts, floods, tornadoes and thunderstorms.  The American Red Cross web site provides step by step instructions for what to do if these events occur. Check it out.  www.redcross.org/news/ds/0305hurricane

This entertaining web site includes over 200 cartoons published in the Wall Street Journal over the past five and a half decades.   It represents the work of approximately eighty artists and is a unique commentary on the social and cultural history of American business.  Check it out and enjoy!  www.library.hbs.edu/hc/wsj