Sound plays a huge part in our lives. I remember back in the day when the simple act of putting the Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack on my car stereo was enough to get all my friends clambering out of it. In their defense, that particular soundtrack more then most made me drive like an absolute lunatic. Although, the accidents that I've been involved in so far are always when i have had the radio turned off. So maybe Rob Dougan was really telling me that i was indeed The One! well thats a different story altogether... 

I find Julian's facts on sound and how it affects us nothing short of amazing. The actual conclusions are pretty much general knowledge these days, but i don't think anyone could have guessed how much it actually affects us (Over 60%!!! ... really!). We all have our go-to music preferences, and sometimes its totally weird. Nothing beats a good Michael Buble track during a road trip but at home alone Kings of Convenience better suits. When I want to push really hard in the gym and get my adrenaline going I make sure I have heavy metal albums on my playlist (Manson, Slipknot, Korn | confession: I'm not a fan of any but they get the job done) but heres the kicker, I have never had a more intense workout then when I listened to Gustavo Dudamel & the El Sistema Youth Orchestra. Yup, you heard me right - Classical Music for the Gym! Trust me on this... turn up the volume... lay back ... and take a listen.  I have never been a fan of classical music, but this changed my mind. I'm still not a big fan, but I'm definitely more open to it now thanks to the following performance.  

On a related note, individuals like Benjamin Zander from the video below can't help but make us fall in love with classical music. Another noteworthy TEDtalk for sure. You have to love and admire this mans enthusiasm for what he does. If I can attain that level of appreciation for my profession, I'm one happy man. 

Okay now it just looks like I'm plugging classical music and I'm an avid connoisseur, rest assured I'm not - not even close. But I have come to believe that we all have a very diverse appreciation for all things, from movies, books, architecture and most of all music. I still don't have A genre of music that i listen to, or AN artist that is my favorite. Its all relative to the when and where and how I am feeling. So since '50sen' & 'Britney Lembing' have their multi million dollar marketing wheel doing the plugging for them I thought I would highlight classical music for a change. 

After all, music affects us all... sometimes more then we care to admit.