Northeast Spring Swing

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:

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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.

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

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

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

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