I have wonderful websites coming out of my ears. Going into my ears too, because I found that the Internet has a lot of free and legal music you can download. My music section is longer than I meant it to be, but, oh, if you could see the ones that got away because I didn’t have room for them. What you’ll find are my pick of the best.

     I also found many more unique and high-quality Christian websites than I had room to use. So once again I’m posting my pick of the best.

     I’m using the new format: First, a section of entertaining and general interest items. Then I delve in some depth into two areas. This issue delves into Christian websites, items 7 through 15.

     And it delves into free and legal music websites, items 16 through 23.

     The result is a newsletter of record length, but what else can I do? I have too much good material, and I feel I must get at least some of it out to you.

     The next issue will have the best bargain websites I’ve found so far on the Web. Among other things of course.

     Janette

----Table Of Contents----

1. Lily Tomlin As Telephone Operator
2. Five Ways To Make The Most Of Your Intelligence
3. Secret Worlds
4. What Ecological Footprint Are You Leaving?
5. Some Of The Most Gorgeous
6. A Father And Son
7. Did It Really Happen?
8. The Skeptical Christian
9. Elevator’s Gone
10. Verbal Dynamite
11. Christian Children’s Games
12. Einstein With Feathers
13. A Million Possibilities
14. GodTube And YouTube
15. Thank You, Billy Graham
16. Free and Legal Music On The Internet
17. A Musical Education
18. The Revolution In Music
19. Inside The Mind Of A 14-Year-Old Composer
20. Free And Legal Classical Music
21. Jazz And Golden Oldies
22. Sample Free And Buy Popular Music
23. The Lifehacker Crowd

1. LILY TOMLIN AS TELEPHONE OPERATOR

     Here’s the classic Lily Tomlin:

http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/208/One_Ringy_Dingy/

and, here is another classic, the “FIVE-MINUTE UNIVERSITY,” just as funny as it was the first time you saw it:

http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/446/Father_Guido_Sarduccis_Five_Minute_University/

     There’s more. A lot more. The YOU REMEMBER THAT site says, “We've got the sights and sounds you remember from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond.” It’s fun to explore.

http://yourememberthat.com/

2. FIVE WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE

     At the end of this article, you’ll find more ideas for making the most of your intelligence, including one called “Focus Better By Listening To Music,” appropriate to this music issue. Now, I’ve always thought music INTERFERED with my creativity, but he makes good points. The whole site is fascinating.

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-simple-ways-to-make-the-most-of-your-intelligence/

3. SECRET WORLDS

     You start in a galaxy somewhere in the Milky Way, swoop closer and closer to earth, until you “reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, you go tinier and tinier, moving from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.”

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

4. WHAT ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT ARE YOU LEAVING?

     The site enables you to choose your country and your language, then takes you step by step to the knowledge of your own ecological footprint. The one they keep talking about.

http://www.ecofoot.org/

5. SOME OF THE MOST GORGEOUS

     Nature photos of Scotland, indescribably beautiful.

http://www.absolutely-nothing.co.uk/scotland/default.aspx?cid=862&lang=en-gb

6. A FATHER AND SON

     What can I say? This video had me crying like a baby.

http://cjcphoto.com/can/

7. DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?

     Did God really drown Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea? Here’s some interesting evidence:

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~leedas/redsea.html

     Did God really raise Jesus Christ from the dead? Here is Josh McDowell’s classic essay, “Evidence for the Resurrection”:

http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html

8. THE SKEPTICAL CHRISTIAN

     The site says, “The notion that Christianity is based on a ‘leap of faith’ rather than an intellectual commitment of mind and soul to God is widespread in today’s culture. At THE SKEPTICAL CHRISTIAN, this mistake is addressed head on. Christianity is not a worldview for the weak-minded and it is not based on a blind leap of faith.”

     They’d like you to come and be skeptical at:

http://www.skepticalchristian.com/

9. ELEVATOR’S GONE

     Unusual music video.

http://www.holyisthelamb.com/elevatorsgone.html

10. VERBAL DYNAMITE

     These “Christian quotes” deliver some surprises.

http://www.ldolphin.org/quotes.shtml

11. CHRISTIAN CHILDREN’S GAMES

     Here you’ll find free Christian children’s games, screensavers, and software programs.

http://www.heavensoft.com/m2_free_products.htm

12. EINSTEIN WITH FEATHERS

     Originally a segment on “Animal Planet,” this hilarious video has been made part of an unusual Christian site. The Christian part may or may not work when you get there, but you will love Einstein with feathers regardless.

http://upchucky.net/flash-fun/smart-bird.html

13. A MILLION POSSIBILITIES

     This item’s title is only a slight exaggeration. The CHRISTIAN TUNER leads you to a wealth of Christian radio stations, radio programs, and Christian music of all kinds. Decide what you want, and go for it!

http://www.christiantuner.com/

     If you have a favorite Internet radio station, listen hard while you can. We’re in the midst of a war over the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board, at the behest of the recording industry, to order Internet radio stations to pay high royalties on their music. Internet radio broadcasters say these royalties will drive them out of business. A bill to prevent this has been introduced in the United States Congress, but they haven’t scheduled hearings, so I don’t know if the bill is going anywhere. For news of the latest skirmishes, go to

http://www.savenetradio.org/

14. GODTUBE AND YOUTUBE

     GOD TUBE is the Christian answer to YouTube. As with YouTube, you can put your requests into the search box. I put in “southern gospel” and got this wonderful lady:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=91d3af6c9c991f63962d

     And there’s more where she came from. Explore its offerings at

http://godtube.com/

     AND THEN THERE’S YOUTUBE: Since southern gospel is one of my favorite kinds of music, I wondered if YOUTUBE.COM had any. So I went there and put “southern gospel music” into the search box, and you guessed it: they’ve got a lot. Here’s a good one:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gIDPw-n_U_Q&mode=related&search=

     And I hate to say this, but I have a feeling YOUTUBE is better than GODTUBE for Christian music, just because it’s got so much. So put the name of your favorite singer or group into the search box, and see what they have. If you like the “Gaither Homecoming” programs, put that into the search box. I did and got a bonanza!

15. THANK YOU, BILLY GRAHAM

     The site was put up by the Graham grandchildren, who are grateful for the time their grandfather spent with them. If you have a story about the impact of Billy Graham on your life, you can add it to the site.

http://www.thankyoubilly.com/index.php?str_string=Welcome~none~none

16. FREE AND LEGAL MUSIC ON THE INTERNET

     As you know, sharing music with friends tends to be illegal, because most music is under copyright. It’s true that music written before 1923 is no longer under copyright. But, let’s say your friend has a CD of classical music composed in 1750. You’d think it would be legal to rip it onto a CD of yours, but it probably isn’t. The music may not be under copyright, but, if you look at the CD, you’ll see that the performance is copyrighted.

     The Internet abounds in ways around this. Performers and composers often put music on their own websites. They want us to download it to show what they can do, and it is of course legal. I’ll point you to some sites that take advantage of this. My favorite music website, CLASSICALARCHIVES.COM, is a Russian musicians’ website that uses Russian performers who have given permission for their classical music performances to appear on the site. (Because it costs $25 for a year’s membership, I don’t officially list CLASSICALARCHIVES.COM here, but it offers more than 40,000 pieces of classical music from all eras. If you love classical music it is a treasure beyond compare.)

     You may also want to check out the LIFEHACKER.COM music page, item 23 below, for many other ways to share music legally.

     And then there’s the music on YOUTUBE.COM. The deeper I delve into it the more amazed I become. I recently found it has the complete Bach St. Matthew’s Passion. Bach being my favorite composer. Astonishing! Try putting your favorite composers and/or musicians into the YOUTUBE.COM search box and be pleasantly surprised.

http://youtube.com/

17. A MUSICAL EDUCATION

     THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC program takes you from the Middle Ages, through Bach and Beethoven, to rock ‘n’ roll. With music from each era. You can study any period you like, or go methodically through the whole history of music, however it pleases you.

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/enj9/shorter/index.htm

18. THE REVOLUTION IN MUSIC

     INSIDE THE MIND OF TCHAIKOVSKY: They say, “[San Francisco Symphony] Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas takes viewers on a guided tour of one of the towering achievements in classical music, Tchaikovsky's ‘Symphony No. 4.’”

     This is a timid site. It doesn’t blast you with Tchaikovsky the moment you enter. I found that I had to search out the beginning point. Click on “Multimedia Presentation,” over to your left, and then keep clicking on the parts you want to hear. What emerges is a fascinating glimpse of Tchaikovsky’s mind as he composes his Fourth Symphony.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/tchaikovsky4/index.html

     THE REVOLUTION IN MUSIC: Michael Tilson Thomas tells us how “a few inflammatory notes from the minds of Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Copland changed music forever.”

http://www.keepingscore.org/

19. INSIDE THE MIND OF A 14-YEAR-OLD COMPOSER

     “‘If you follow only one link from this blog in your life, let it be [this one],’ wrote Freakonomics author Steven Levitt, pointing his readers toward this performance by pianist and composer Jennifer Lin. “Lin, then 14, starts by playing Joseph Hoffman's ‘Kaleidoscope,’ then Robert Schumann's ‘Abegg Variations.’ She talks about the process of composition and discusses the state of flow, when she can improvise beautiful music instantly -- a state of mind that cannot be forced. Lin invites audience member Goldie Hawn to choose a random sequence of notes, from which she improvises a beautiful and surprisingly moving piece, known to draw tears even via podcast. She finishes with a lightning performance of Jack Fina's ‘Bumble Boogie.’”

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/46

20. FREE AND LEGAL CLASSICAL MUSIC

     CLASSIC CAT takes us to the websites where musicians have posted their performances of classical works. They are happy to have you download them to demonstrate their abilities. I went to CLASSIC CAT and downloaded Bach’s “English Suites,” which CLASSICAL ARCHIVES did not have. They are lovely.

http://www.classiccat.net/

     THE BARDS CRIER has a monthly newsletter with links to free classical MP3s that do NOT have popups on their sites. He says popups are a problem with these sites, and maybe they are. I haven’t ventured into them enough to know.

http://classical.bardscrier.com/

21. JAZZ AND GOLDEN OLDIES

     RED HOT JAZZ, a site about the early days of jazz, is a labor of love, with much information about the musicians and groups. Click on “Bands” at the bottom of the page, then on the name of an individual band. At the bottom of the description you’ll find titles of songs performed by the band. Some are not available, but those that are can be downloaded for free.

http://www.redhotjazz.com/

     OLD FORTY-FIVES.COM will take you back to the fifties, or the sixties, or both. This site is listen only – no downloads.

http://oldfortyfives.com/

     OLD FORTY-FIVES may be involved in the current war between the Copyright Royalty Board and the Internet radio stations. For details look in item 13 above. So far as I know, RED HOT JAZZ, listed just above, and DAPATCHY, listed below, are not yet within the gunsights of the recording industry, and you can download in peace.

     For now.

     DAPATCHY.COM has “Oldies Jukeboxes” with downloadable music from the fifties and sixties. Click on a jukebox, select a song, and Dapatchy is ready to download it into your computer, for free. Dapatchy’s “Doo-Wop Drivein, Open 24 Hours,” has the same deal.

http://dapatchy.com/oldies/

     At MUSICSTACK you can locate and buy hard-to-find music, such as “rare CDs, used vinyl records, CD singles, out-of-print music and import music albums.” They say, “MusicStack is not just a single online music store, instead we are a music comparision shopping online portal for over 3500 independent record stores and CD stores (from all over the world), that offer millions of titles of rare CDs, vinyl records and used CDs. As a consumer, you benefit because you can search all these record shops at once and find exactly the CDs or vinyl records that you are looking for based on the best price, selection or location.”

http://www.musicstack.com/

22. SAMPLE FREE AND BUY POPULAR MUSIC

     LALA.COM, a former CD-exchange site, has reinvented itself as a music shop that lets you sample the goods for free. You can play whole albums owned by Warner Music Group and hundreds of smaller independents. The company hopes this will lead to more sales: you have to buy a song if you want to download it into your iPod.

     The site says, “Don't spend hours on P2P sites and worry about viruses. Safely share music and playlists.”

     As you explore LALA.COM, you’ll see off to the right “oldies” music, which to them means anything before 1990. If you consider 1985 to be the “good old days,” this is the place for you.

http://www.lala.com/

23. THE LIFEHACKER CROWD

     LIFEHACKER.COM caters to people with a fair bit of computer expertise. You can see, on the right side of their pages, a list of these computer-related offerings. Click below for the LIFEHACKER music page. If you are a musician or want to exchange music with like-minded people, you will find much of interest.

http://lifehacker.biz/articles/essential-music-websites/#more-67

MISSED SOME ISSUES?

     Have I got a solution for you! Now that we are using a frame for each issue, you can just look over to your left and find all the back issues nicely set out. Simply click on the ones you missed. That means too that if your e-mail service provider gets sticky and decides that Tour the Sites is spam (it is NOT spam), you can foil it and find the newsletter at this address.

=====================

WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

=====================

© Copyright 2007 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.