Glass Music Travels

PSYCHOBANJO WATER SWIRLYPOT GUITAR

2011-04-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Aintshepurdy.

Ingredients: Old Kay guitar parts, two by four, stainless steel pot, threaded rod for bridge, which is pushed down to bottom of the pot by tension on strings. A little water in the pot.

Many thanks to Bart Hopkin for excellent engineering tips, and of course, to Jacques Dudon for his amazing Aquavina -- inspiration for this project. Something bowed, played on one's lap would still be great (more like the Aquavina), or perhaps more like a cello -- but in this case I'm still struggling a bit with physics. (What? Water has to fall level to the planet? No fair!!)

So starting out, I'm playing it more like a guitar, half lap, half held in the regular way, just not enough to tip the little bit of water out (ideally... I've managed to tip a lot of water out!) with enough water to swirl around, the pot between my knees and not muted. Awkward so far, but very stable holding its tuning. Here's a first sample.
Here's another.

GLASS MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011

2011-03-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Above: Dean Shostak displays an antique Grand Armonicon.

Hooray for lifelong, spellbinding hobbies! Hooray for that tiny world of passionate colleagues who eventually meet to share stories, their instruments and playing. All who pretty much start off alone, on whatever continent (at the time, a negligible matter -- we must explore, so be it!) I hope everyone enjoys these pictures and some short sound samples I have made of terrific musicians and instruments. GMI (Glass Music International) organizes a festival every few years. This one was in Colonial Williamsburg, VA, hosted by Dean Shostak. Actually, Dean -- while you are totally deserving of credit for inspired musicianship, hard work and vision, you're mainly out of business without the woman pictured next to you. Cheers, Valerie! (meet our hosts:)

Let's start with some Armonica pics and sounds. Below is a beautiful Finkenbeiner Armonica set in a case built by Steven Lash to exacting historical specifications, and featuring incredible woodworking. The drawers hold water to dip one's hands:

Below, Vera Meyer demonstrates, and here's a short sound sample of Vera playing. Beautiful. Must learn this passage, although it seems so suited to the 'liquid' nature of armonica, I wonder if it would translate.

Another of our friends, Lynn Drye of Arizona plays Armonica. Here's a bit of Lynn's Armonica performance. Gorgeous!

More from Lynn: here she plays a glass xylophone (pictured below)

Talking about the different types of mallets...

Above: Lynn playing Armonica

Another Stunning Armonica moment featured Dean accompanying Kelly Kennedy's wonderful singing.

And now you wonder what's with the yellow Elizabethan Collars onstage. It's a Cristal Baschet. This instrument was invented by the Baschet Brothers, two French sound sculpture artists. It's certainly a glass instrument, but it also involves vibrating metal. There are quite a lot of possibilities with the Cristal Baschet, a lot of refinement... but to begin, imagine dragging a refrigerator across concrete in a large empty warehouse, and in a sense you have the raw sound. But then try to twist this into something melodious and haunting, full of range. Here's how it works: glass rods are vibrated by wet fingers in a similar way to armonica or glass harp, but then the vibrations from the glass rods excite different lengths of metal rods which in turn transfer the vibration out through plastic and fiberglass cones. More info here.

I haven't checked, but I believe the rods are laid out in chromatic order similar to a keyboard.

Ready to hear???? Dean plays a bit of Bach.

The price has come down too! Only 20k!!

C'est moi, getting ready to play Friday morning at the W'burg visitor center:

In case you wonder, I'd love nothing more than to show off sounds from one of my best concerts, ever! That Friday evening, shortly before I was scheduled to perform as part of a program at Bruton Parish, we had major chaos. Half of our performers could not be there, and armonicist Carolinn Skyler and I ended up winging it together. We're good at this though. We checked notes later at how sometimes these situations can bring out a lot of calm and ability to improvise. Still, I found myself doing a lot of assembling and hauling and taking charge of everything even as the audience was walking in. I did not get the Zoom recorder on the job. It was a great evening. I will have to see if I can beg something of it later from someone. For that matter, I also don't have any sounds of Carolinn either from this trip. But here she is with me, earlier in the day back at the visitor center:

New seeing eye -- Hampton! Hammy's a good boy. He's young, a little squirrely yet, but C is in good paws. Among the many things Carolinn played at the fest, I wish I had gotten her rendition of Flight of the Bumblebee. Carolinn also claims the distinction of having the largest armonica presently on the planet. This is a special instrument Gerhard Finkenbeiner initiated for her shortly before he disappeared. That one is not pictured, rather she is behind one of Dean's... "Stella" the big 'un, is really too dear to fly!

Dean, Kelly, and a third person had put together a wonderful bottle band -- listen! Check out 'Pop goes the Weasel' with a toilet plunger (the popping you are hearing just before is a 'thumb popping' technique with bottles. For three people it was a superb arrangement of clanking, blowing, and popping. I think in the clip is also a bit of the Can Can and 'Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer...'

And now for some glass harpists -- beginning with Real Berthiaume, out of Quebec:

Real is playing a full set of glasses from the Eisch factory in Germany -- I have a number of these for my low range. A full set is splendid! Very full and rich. Real is a super guy and a solid player and composer. Here is a short clip of him, playing one of his compositions with a recorded arrangement. Real does a lot of street performing, and continues to have a great time at it in Quebec. Close up below:

From St. Petersburg, Russia -- Alexander Lemeshev!

It was a treat to meet Alexander. And it meant a lot to everyone that he had come so far to join us. He plays a set somewhat more 'dog and cat,' similar to mine. I really enjoyed his clarity of playing, very crisp and clean and confident. As Dean's second in charge at times, I was dealing with a tight situation on Friday afternoon, afraid he wasn't getting enough time to play. But then there was a delay for the next thing, so Alexander ended up going on a lot longer and he even went for the full Mozart Adagio and Rondo with a background recording. This is a very involved and long passage of music! Impressive. The rig is too-- not sure if he can fly his glasses in the cabin, but I think this may be the case (well, literally the case is off to the side but it's a bit like a Fender guitar case with glasses secured, cool!)

And now Ladies and Gents, The Douglas Lee. As seen, a few years back, on America's Got Talent. Doug is fun to hang out with and again -- his playing is so clear and confident. I'm really taken by the directness of it and his choices in repertoire. Here is a short clip from his rendition of Mingus' Goodbye Porkpie Hat. Wow.

Above is a nice sparkly shot of Doug's set.... below is one more I'd like to share, built by Liselotte Behrendt from Switzerland, or perhaps it's the set of her uncle, Hans Graffe (I hope I'm spelling correctly). Liselotte's Uncle Hans was mentored by Bruno Hoffman, German glass harpist of the mid 20th century. In addition to her warm presence, Liselotte contributed some fascinating stories and photos from many other glass festivals. Photo's a little muddy, it was of a screen projection.

2009-08-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Correction!! The numbers are way off in the preceding post, regarding megawatts and electricity usage of households. I see this now from looking at some wind power stats in Weatherford, OK. I think what I may have been told on the phone outside the Sunray facility in CA, is (rather) that the entire complex, made up of a lot more than just the two segments I visited, could supply the 120,000 households/day.

For some reason I've been drawn to wind turbines on this trip. Got off I-40 somewhere after Vega, TX after again seeing a large wind farm and... hey, why not go look at the turbines? Maybe I'll run into Bick Benedict, now in the wind electricity business and he'll give me a tour. Well after a half hour on washboard gravel and dirt, the towers seemed barely any closer, they are probably over 275 ft tall... It was a fun tangent still... locusts, or crickets, who knows, bouncing off the car...

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Had to get a few more shots of high plains TX, close to the OK line. It's such an interesting area.
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Weatherford, OK... here is one wind turbine blade, on display across from City Hall:

More Romantic Road Ruin:

2009-08-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

44 megawatts of power are generated daily from this solar generating facility, taking up, I'm guessing, 50 acres -- salt water is heated in pipes that run across the mirrors pictured below, which go to boilers which drive turbines. I wasn't allowed in, but did have a conversation with an engineer on the phone outside the gate. He says that comes out to about 120,000 homes' daily power needs. This is also technology from the early 80's.... how about that! There are new approaches featuring mirrors that focus light and heat at towers and more pipes which then conduct the heat to 600 degrees.... much more efficient.
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More Mojave Pictures

Great-tailed Grackle. Saw a number of these with their mouths open... Do they pant to keep cool? Or is it Cawing? Here are a few pictures taken between Barstow and Needles, CA:
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Click on these photos and they should enlarge in high resolution, and you will have the best chance to appreciate the scale of things, which is hard to capture with a camera. The train, which now looks tiny, would vanish long before approaching the mountains in the background.... check out the bowl effect -- the way the earth tilts so gradually, approaching the mountains, also in the picture below.

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Area 66 house in Yucca, Arizona:

2009-08-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

Great Idea:

I'm all for this -- you will be great!! Hv fn.

Play the video below... you'll liiiiiiiiike this psychedelia from a giant kaleidoscope, one of many on display in the building where I am currently performing (Ventura County Fair):

Fair edges the Pacific, someone is having a blast...

New fair friends Nancy and Cowboy Gil with Turkeys
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Ventura midway.... in area, this is a huge fair compared to Sonoma (not counting the race track in Santa Rosa), yet there are others in California even bigger. Spoiled rotten with this one, the ocean is right at the edge of it, invigorating air, there's lots going on.... very nice people to work around, and great audiences.......
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Mehr kinder schweine
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El Valle
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Tagus Ranch Motel vs California Central Valley
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Tehachapi wind farm, Ca, between Bakersfield and Barstow and west of the very hot Mojave Desert, pictured below:
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I had to use the pogo stick to get this shot, the line you see running close to the bottom is I-40. Although the high desert (northern AZ/NM) is amazing, the Mojave has a quality... I kept reminding myself that lots of things can live here, but passing through in 114 degrees heat is an amazing experience, and seeing out into the preserve is very different from the vistas in NM, it's sort of 'dirty,' 'sandy,' a good place to train a Mars Rover... the scale is just as impressive, looking into a valley and a small mountain range in the middle of it... strange stuff!
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East of Needles, CA... probably just east of the Colorado River, still in AZ:

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East of Flagstaff (below)... if you look closely you can see a large mountain ahead.... about 80 miles away.

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Dinos at Hopiland truckstop:

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Below is the beautiful Rio Grande Valley from the crest of the Sandias, behind Albookooky. About 11,000 ft... in the last photo, you can see the "La Luz" hiking trail cutting back and forth across the moraines. It's a full day to get to the top. No hiking this trip!! But driving up and walking on the crest was a blast.

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New Mexico gets rail service! Real commuter rail service, not just for tourists. The folks who regularly use it are paying its operation costs and it is considered a great success so far. The Rail Runner presently operates from Belen, 20 mi south of Albuquerque, to Santa Fe. There are plans to expand to Las Cruces in the south, and maybe later, a little farther north. Nice Road Runner paint job...

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Passing through tribal lands on the way to Santa Fe:

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Probably just south of Santa Fe, below... in the distance you can see the Sandias:
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Rail Runner video:

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Tucumcari Welcome Dog

TX panhandle.... you can see in addition to changes in vegitation and the sky opening up, the ground is getting cut into washes, arroyos, and small buttes... I believe this is still east of Amarillo.
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Just over the TX state line in Shamrock, TX -- according to the convenience store clerk there is an "Aursh" heritage in Shamrock, it took a little while to understand she was saying "Irish." She didn't like my saying I thought it was a requirement to know what huevos rancheros was in this part of the country. Oops.
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Weatherford, OK, lots of windmills
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Somewhere in OK, on the way to the sun and big sky......

Sonoma County Fair

2008-08-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

My first big fair job was a great experience. It was rigorous, 42 shows in 14 days! I had a great connection with audiences from Santa Rosa and the surrounding communities. Played lots of goofy requests, for instance "Iron Man" on the saw, but also some nice instant arrangements of stuff I'd never considered, like "Stand By Me," and "Jessica" (Allman Brothers).

Made fair friends too. Right across from me was a family doing blacksmithing demonstrations and story telling, and they had some stories about other fairs they have done..... making me doubly happy to be working in a good one. Here's a picture of their rolling castle:

The fair grounds is also a race track, and there were races almost every day. One of the best moments was being on stage playing against the Mexican rodeo orchestra a quarter mile away in an outdoor arena. In the middle of something on the glasses with the sonic pastiche of carnival ride screams, Harley the Hog's looped sideshow pitch (...."and still growing!!!"), and staccato boop boop boop boop of the tuba from the Mexican rodeo. Rich!!!

Looking forward. Excitement ahead!!

Hay come in. Contests that were held between my shows included pie eating etiquette, state trivia, name that patriotic song (colonial theme this year), and reciting the declaration of independance.

A friend came up for a couple days to visit and he's probably got some good shots of me at work I can use, this is the staging though. It turned out to be a really good idea to send my demonstration stuff ahead of me and prepare for a condensed 'edutaining' show.

Splash Dog gaining altitude:

Must keep toy in play

Let's look at some animules. I was working close to all the livestock stuff, so add to the audio wallpaper a lot of mooing and bleating...

Kinder Schweine:

But can he yodel????

The animal sideshow is ALIVE!!! and well. Here's Roscoe's gig, his stage name is Tiny Tim:

Roscoe with Lindsay, after a morning bath, cigar, and cognac.

I make the Clydesdales nervous, heh heh..

P-O-O-O-O-O-K-I-E

Harley the Hog's house. Big. Pig. and he's stiiiill... (I have a recording of this)

My friend calls the faces on top of this carnival ride "hideous." Indeed...

One of the neatest "magnificient obsessions" encountered in awhile. For an appetizer, this guy's toothpick boat:

Ah, but how about 100,000 toothpicks and a gangly ping pong ball tour of San Fransisco, 35 years later....

Pretty good piece on it here:
http://laughingsquid.com/model-of-san-francisco-made-using-100000-toothpicks/

First prize cake decoration winner:

And another good one...

IT'S A HOBBY

2008-07-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Latest project: an instrument base that travels within size and weight requirements for normal checked luggage. I want to acknowledge and thank Alex in Hong Kong for describing something like this (right when at the airport counter, he watched me urp $400.00 to All Nippon for oversize AND overweight on my rig.) See below, same layout, but 3/16 in. plexiglass --

Which splits into two pieces:

Which fly in a box 24" x 24" x 14"

A new method of getting proper height on the PVC collumns. A bit maddening but the rims all end up so totally plane. LOTS of super glue once they were right:

Couple more shots of such pretty petrolium product:

Fastening the collumns with bolts and plenty of neoprene washers to protect pretty petrolium product...

After testing everything out as a whole instrument. Nice action!! Not too much wiggle but a little more than my other set in the road case. Pretty soon got lost in playing and having fun with it... after all...!!!

Northeast Spring Swing

2008-04-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Found on the ground, in NYC subways, Central Park, a restaurant, etc. Photographed as-found, no trash or rocks etc were harmed in the collection of these images:

Below, the rusty steelwork looking stuff is about 18 feet high and is entirely chocolate. Found this at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park NY:

Friday I went to a closing party for the Absolut Quartet, a robotic music installation housed in downtown Manhattan. I contributed tuned glasses (more pics below) Here's the marimba, played with catapulted golf balls (not actually golf balls but almost that size and weight). They were triggered from computer keyboards all over the world, all the instruments were programmed from the internet. The balls land on the marimba bars with a success rate of 10,000 times according to Jeff Leiberman and Dan Paluska, the creators of this modern automata. It's a bit like some animation that was going around a few moths ago, balls shot from cannons to land on strings with critical timing, so here is how it looks:

Behold the "Wino." A common shaft turns, turntables rotate connected by their own shafts, as the glasses are programmed to play, and robotic fingers press against their rims:

And some percussion...

Central Park, last Sunday.... nothing like being direct! Although I think dollars for picture taking is the main gig here. Still I fell for it. It's a good picture.

2008-02-29T19:33:00.000-08:00

Now it's the "I went to Texas Blog." Or just, further glass music blog, how's that. It's been interesting timing with "automatic" glass music, right around the time I did a tuning project for this:
http://www.absolut.com/absolutmachines

(they seem to have cut their hours a bit... opens between 9:00 and 11:00 EST...... but you yes you can program the robotic glasses on the site. You also program, with the keyboard applet, balls shot out of little cannons onto marimba bars plus a cool percussion kit)

I got an email from Orange Texas, from a guy who had built an automated glass instrument (human still required). And it happens I was scheduled to play in Beaumont this February, just a few exits west -- So, I had a neat short weekend visit with John Payne, seeing what he made.

Each cup is mounted to a rotating base:

He's got a little over two octaves, I think, and on the other side of the board, the threaded shaft you see above connects to a pully, and there's one for each glass, and all the pulleys are turned by weed wacker wire powered by a windshield wiper motor.

John and his instrument below, followed by a short movie. Gosh I wish Google would let you upload sound clips! I tried to fool it with a WMA instead of a video, but it didn't take. We jammed a good bit, and got a nice version going of "Over the Waterfall," what sounds to me like a very pretty upbeat fiddle tune that took on some mysterious and darker coloring played slowly as a glass duet, it was recorded. Anyway:

Hadn't heard of these, what you see below. It seems if you have a lawn in southeastern Texas, fairly close to the gulf...... it'll have what John calls "dirt divers." Little Crawfish that build these pretty cool looking dwellings:

Ah, sweet mucky progress...

Big Show at the Big B

2007-12-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

The Big Buddha and monestary on Lantau Island... just pictures, pretty much (gotta catch a plane) I have tons more plus audio of the procession, lots of clangy-bangy and chant. At the end check out nice parting shot from waterfront at Kowloon....
The above was taken from hiking trail nearby

Kris Nimble

2007-12-27T08:02:00.001-08:00

Just got an email from Ritchie, so why not take a shot from his site (see url for when you are looking for flexible entertainment)

Bye Bye Fancy Place

2007-12-26T01:59:00.000-08:00

We'll go in reverse, I think... just arrived at the crib in Kowloon. A big crib. Just a day and a half left! Tomorrow's plan -- what?! I don't know! Maybe the Big Buddha, maybe "the peak," to get the big view of HK. Both would be spectacular. There is also the light show at the harbor tomorrow night. Kowloon is sensorily INSANE. The Man Hing Lung is on the 14th floor of a 20 or so story building, the Mirador Mansion -- what I referred to earlier. Balconies encircling each level looking out into the atrium, lots of little businesses.
It's a closet...
But I have my own bathroom and shower....!

From outside window, onto street below, the madness will be bubbling up all night I bet: Sort of a 'wrap party' last night....... not too far from here. Stella rented a small room in a club with karaoke machine. Open bar (after 300 HKD each, something like 40.00 US) I have a movie to edit down later. This was also a costume 'theme' party... come in school uniform! I got away with coming as a 'student at the University.' Below is not taken by moi, moi is toward the back right, it's a nice group shot, a moment between sessions jumping up and down on the cushions around the walls getting steadily more mau. Also an opportunity for me to meet another performer, Jeremy the fire juggler, who is based in Tokyo and (to whom it matters reading this) knows Tak Kurtz, he is in a similar situation as Tak, married to a Japanese with a moonchkin now, and very happy, travelling around Asia performing. Jeremy is about center top row, in some kind of British navy garb. Cheeeez:

Was fun trading notes from our respective perspective, with Jeremy -- the fluidity of themes and constant cultural adopting/adapting/borrowing. Jeremy did something amazing, first pointing out he wasn't all that good at reading Asian charaters, but kind of translating into our linear, verbal world what was momentarily up in characters on the karaoke screen. Cut back to today -- Kit and I packed up the glasses at the mall. Say hi to Kit!
Train station before going to Kowloon, thank you stranger take-a-picture. Awwwww.........
Now back into the fog of the last couple days. But here is an unfoggy shot from the Ibis window. Finally a clear day (but there is still a lot of smog)
A temple close to the mall, last day of the gig
If you are being chased by eels, go this way:
On the British stage.....................
Below -- Lion's Head Rock, above the mall area. Very similar, it lately struck me, to the Sandia Mts behind Albuquerque, all these mountains. Different though in that just below the frame are the tops of dozens of forty story high rise apartments. There's really not a 'skyline' to Hong Kong, but in so many cities these days this also seems the case. Hong Kong is just skyscrapers everywhere there can be skyscrapers....
Bamboo scaffolding shot
Chocolate Fatima with a friend
One my favorite Chinglish signs so far

BLOGBLUR

2007-12-24T02:18:00.000-08:00

If you live in Hong Kong, you probably live in an apartment building, one of hundreds each around 40 -- 50 floors. You probably do not own a clothes dryer. Neat innovation btw, apartment properties are now lit and surveiled by little flying saucers that look like DVDs...
BRILLIANT!!! Santa Liberty and his director in today's America theme mall, we began with Denmark, yesterday was Switzerland, tomorrow Merrie Old England. How to win world peace: mix and mutilate all cultural iconography and eliminate cultural seriousness -- advanced stuff!!The Ausgelassen Harmonica Quartet at work, got them on minidisc too.

With Tim, the grafitti artist. Graffiti looks to be totally missing in Hong Kong.

Combining yesterday and today's Dim Sum Porno....... everything pictured is Cantonese style except yesterday was 'old' version, where certain items are driven around on a trolley cart, you wave one over and pick what you want. Today the 'new' style, items are brought to you after you fill out a little form. Below, a cake made from a root veg, like carrot:

Shrimp dumplings and custard
Fried Octopus

Bottom left, fried potato and veg, top left, pork grill, right, meatball

Shrimp and beef wraps
Sticky pastryI've tried to get this as consistent as possible from several different people: "leave," and "mouth:"

With Jerry, another member of Stella's team:

One of the old double deck trams that run along King Street, close to where I'm staying, until Kowloon in a couple days....

This time from hotel window, using timer:

I have been intrigued with the now retired airport, Kai Tak, especially how the approach to land entailed a very last minute right turn, over and between a maze of buildings....... had been wondering where it was from the hotel window, then I realized, right in front of me!!
More to come in the next days -- also have spent some time with Richard the contortionist, aka Rubber Ritchie, aka Father Twistmas, when I can scan it I'll get a great picture of twisted Santa up. Thanks everyone for your interest and encouragement to keep adding to this. All is going very well. X'mas Eve is, I am told, an auspicious day for weddings. Taken at yesterday's Dim Sum restaurant... congratulations Ling and Man!

zip zip zip

2007-12-23T02:38:00.000-08:00

Dimensions are impressive. Cosy, vertical. Right behind thirty or forty story buildings are huge mountains, probably a little farther back than they appear but not much. Looking to capture this in digipixels. Today's edition is mostly indoor, close in stuff, and to do with the gig. Caption style. Great first day! What jetlag there is is slow to work itself out, meaning not bad but at the end of the day I'm ready to sleep with a bite of food en route to mouth.

Why hello miss Riding Hood Egghead, where are you going?

Arrive at Lok Fu. There's our set--Off we go, first of three sets... (btw, how many different ways can you use the word "set?")
Mathew and Vivian, local TV celebs have a go:
Good Job!
Whole other ways to think: Giant coloring mat. wot a great idea!

voila, cest manifique, munchkinistas so cyooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot! We are playing and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.....

William and Brien. We'll be working a lot together.

Oh yes, very yummy!Left to right: "Drowned duck," marinated in rice wine, above that some kind of pickle veg, center looking squiggly is jellyfish, above that spring rolls. To right some zuchinni. This is "Bejing style" lunch.
Pressed duck, goose livers, slim-jim looking stuff, and other holiday treats:

random bladeeblahs

2007-12-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

We've all at some point been between a set of mirrors -- usually as kids, amazed at the people we can see on either side reflecting off in tunnels to infinity... that might be how to describe the subway -- there are cars, but the separation is more like on an accordion bus, no clear end of a car, beginning of the next. Platforms are by my estimation a quarter mile or better. Picture crowded train as being in a crowded hose.

One of the performers in from the UK is a contortionist, he will be wearing a Santa Suit and doing extreme Yoga. Unfortunately I will miss seeing him work, though he is my neighbor at the hotel and we'll probably see each other at a party coming up, Boxing Day. Hopefully will get pictures or even movies of Twisted Santa from Stella.

Interesting dance of eyes, akgnowledgement/non between those few other westerners, did she/he look at me just then? Why is that significant, did they see me looking at them, did I look at them, why would it matter? Why would they be special? Are they? They look more like I look, I think, but so what, what were they thinking? What am I thinking? What was that?

Setting up and some walking around

2007-12-22T04:12:00.000-08:00

The first shot that caught my eye this morning from window of 20th floor at Ibis hotel, North Point. Lucky I am told, this is the only touring boat ('junk?') of its kind. Soon to have some Hong Kong breakfast of noodles and beef, strong coffee. Rendevous with Stella, my host, and Kit, her assistant -- we went to the first of four venues, the Lok Fu Shopping Center. There, as you can see below, all the glasses came out intact and wondering what the hell just happened. Say hi to Stella!! She is dressing up the instrument a bit.

Below, Stella models a mascot head for Santa Fatina, a character who has something to do with making friends and buying 'accesories.' Peace. Victory. Whiskers.

This was after some wonderful Dim Sum. Very nice folks to work with! We got all our shopping done very easily and the plan for the next day is quite clear. Going to be fun! The mall reminds me a lot of malls in Singapore, very cosy-congested, things go UP, not out. Get your pressed dried duck and preserved duck liver at Lok Fu! The latter presented in very pretty red boxes, like See's candy. Below caught my eye, what a nice package for some oyster sauce:

I'll try to get some more shots of Hong Kong Xmas characters at Lok Fu, like Little Red Riding Hood Egghead, about what you might picture. I thought at first that Cantonese didn't seem quite as sing-songy as Mandarin, but now I'm not so sure. There's a lot of singing in the voice. Stella and Kit are very happy with my phrasing of certain expressions, and I explained that musicians very often are good at "Mockingbirding" (not how I put it). After the mall stuff we caught a train to Kowloon to check out my digs, post gigs, at the Man Hin Lung hotel. This is one small section of a large building, containing also the cyber cafe where I am now. A lot of stuff going on here which I will try to describe in more detail -- suffice to say it may be the kind of thing that inspired the art directors for Blade Runner, their imagining of everything stacked up and crammed into every place it can cram. The Can Cram Manor, among many... (Can't remember the building name right now).

There's a possible (to an extent) DIY Chinese character etymology, if you look carefully at some of them. For instance the idea of "no" is represented with a lot of strokes ending up looking like sharp objects. Danger -- "no" "ouch." I asked Stella if this made sense and she was enthusiastic, also about the character describing sitting, which looks like something, uh, sitting....

Lights in front of expensive touristy place in Kowloon. Lots of picture taking going on. Pose. flash. flash. Have to be there, I think, to appreciate the scale.. the lights are strung way out, all the stuff you see is floating. Below, Santa gives out coupons on one of the main drags, very 42d streetish, actually crazier... was called 'hey boss' quite a number of times as I kept focused toward the harbor, keep the coupons, thanks!!

This is where I will have to restrain as I get better with the digital camera-- the waterfront view from Kowloon to HK Island is awesome, and there are several booths with sample shots of tourists in the foreground to remind us. I'm sticking with these two for now just to give an idea, it's too tempting to throw a lot of blurry pics at everyone. Ok, more later. Do Tse, thank you.

Breakfast

2007-12-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

Mattress slept on me. Breakfast: bowl of noodles and satay beef, ham omelette, toast and STRONG coffee. Will send more comments of Hong Kong Santa as I find out more. My impression is of a magician, a little like Betty Boop's "Grampy--" he could instantly make anything happen! Overcast today. Going to mall in a little while to unpack and assemble instrument. There will be time to take subway around and gather photos and impressions over these few days here. Love to all -- Brien

swoony ride, stil up

2007-12-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

O'Hare neon between concourses

Hudson Bay ice from 30,000 ft or thereabouts (used special wigglecam setting on camera)

Arctic sunrise

Siberia. Got more pictures, such desolation! Thousands of miles of white meringe

A few minutes from landing, shrouded city

Lots of neon, whole sides of tall buildings set up with dispays, in this one Santa appears to be blowing streamers out of a cannon. Or is it a Christmas ray-gun... Way to go Santa!!!

2007-12-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

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