I visited the fringe club last evening to listen to some Jazz. The Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra plays at the club, on the last Saturday of the month.

I had a great time, there must have been 200 people packed into a room all in awe of the music they heard. While listening to Jazz (I must admit I am not much of a connoisseur) I thought to myself, why is it that music makes us happy, or sad for that matter? On researching this I realised there were a number of studies that had been done on the topic, this is what I came up with:

"Music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities like eating chocolate -- Serotonin and dopamine are both involved." - Wired

Yeah, I too didn't get it. So I decided not to pursue the "why" and decided to accept the fact that music does effect our mood, just like we accept that the sun rises in the east or that we can't put tooth paste back in the tube once we have taken it out! For once I didn't feel like attaching a reason, I was happy just knowing that music can make me feel good, allows me to dream - it takes me beyond the rainbow.

Over the Rainbow - was one of the songs sung at the concert, listen to it if you have the time. I would be interested to know if you, after listening to the song, found that pot of gold called happiness (well, atleast for a brief moment).

Though you don't need to tell me why.

Racing the Planet with Nick













Nick Wai has been a good friend, recently he did something amazing. He volunteered to organise a race across the Atacama Dessert in Chile. He says that it was one of the most memorable moments of his life. He has also written of his experiences ... here.

Great Job Nick!