Saturday movie review: Alive Inside

I shared a video a few years ago here on Grandma's Briefs of an elderly nursing home resident who amazingly comes out of the fog of dementia when headphones connected to an iPod are placed on his head. ALIVE INSIDE is the full documentary of that magical moment as well as others experienced by several dementia and Alzheimer's patients when given the opportunity to once again hear beloved tunes from days long gone. Joyous moments that prove music is far more powerful than pharmaceuticals.

Alive Inside documentary

In ALIVE INSIDE—winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award (Documentary)—filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett follows social worker and founder of Music & Memory, Dan Cohen, as he brings music to nursing home residents, via iPods and headphones. The results...

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On energy and wishing for more

tired pointer pit dog

I used to have a neighbor on the block where we lived before the nest emptied whose boundless energy rivaled that of the Energizer Bunny. She was continually working on some major home improvement or landscaping project. I'd see her down the street tugging and lugging boulders and boards from the front yard to the back on a fairly regular basis.

When not sawing or painting, she cleaned in ways most might...

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