Seattle Concert

So the premiere of aiOrb pljectanes took place in Seattle WA on Monday May 22 20067:30 PM on a concert subtitled "New Music for a New Era." Very fitting. The concert contained 5 new works, that's all and it was a mix that is reflective of this era in time, it had some more conservative backward looking or referencing if you like works and some works that were looking forward. Overall the performance of aiOrb pljectanes was satisfying. At this concert I was able to completely forget my intimate relationship with my piece and hear it as I would hear any other piece, ie a series of sounds and stage movements. There are some things that the composer of this piece did that I take issue with, I found them dull. Fortunately I have the score and will make changes. Brian Chin, the trumpeter who commissioned the piece is going to be making a professional recording this summer so we should have the whole thing tightened up by then. As the person who wrote it I was wanting of more rehearsal (I think that is always the case) as this piece necessitates a high level of interplay among the musicians and there was just not enough time to work that out. Also, it is very subtle and demands a lot in the way of concentration and that needs rehearsal, sort of like Feldmans music. I think of Bob Cogan telling me about a piece by John Cage where-in the performer has instructions as to how often and how to practice a piece in order to perform it. That idea of prescribing rehearsal and practice seems rather inviting, yet a bit much. I like the idea in that it forces the performer to live with the sounds of the piece a certain amount of time and therefore to attain a certain level of intimacy. I dislike that it is prescriptive, in fact it dictates. That is not the way I like to work.

There is no audio yet, but when I receive the concert recording I will post it on my website.
In the mean time here are the program notes....

Program Notes
======

aiOrb pljectanes :: 2006
The inspiration for this composition came from contemplation of the different types of engagement that we are capable of as humans. For instance, a person can sit in a busy cafe with a flurry of sounds: the clinking china, the droning television or background music, the twenty or so conversations occurring, and the steam wands of espresso machines. Amid all of this, humans have the ability to contemplate and dwell undisturbed, effectively not listening, except when their name is called from across the cafe. While in sharp contrast, a human can sit in their otherwise silent home and be disturbed by the subtle hum of a light bulb. This illustrates the great range of engagement in listening.

The broad and somewhat predictable evolution of sound in this composition is intended to present a space in which the listener can contemplate the subtle shifts in the sounds that are presented. In removing the high energy drive of rapidly shifting sounds, the listener is free to contemplate and connect the various sound events that occur into a fabric derived from his or her own relationship to the sounds. This space allows the listener to think about the sounds as well as the type of listening that is occurring.

Christopher Jette 2006


===================

Finally my frined Arnie came down from Anchorage AK to hear this and here is a snipet of what he had to say.....

All I can say right now is that I enjoyed it. To be honest with you I have the same experience I had when I first heard the english language spoken by a bunch of people.
I felt very intrigued and curious .... anxious to be able to communicate in the language, at least to understand it first... I hope you know what I'm trying to say here....

5.25.2006 Playlist KSTK

This would be the first that came off without a hitch, not bad for number 3! As those of you who listen know, I try to play things that I find around the station, here is a picture of the Childrens Japanesse Album....



I just love it! And now the play list....
Audio1
1. "Percussion" > Santana, this is off the self titled album that has a black and white cover with a lion
2. "I can Make it with you" > The Pozo-Seco Singers
talking w/ Takeshi Itah under
3. "Soft Jingo" > The Sugarplastic off Bang! The Earth is Round
talking w/ "All or Nothing at All" from Soft Lights Sweet Music
4. "5 Movements for String Quartet" > Anton Webern
5. "Modular Mix Air" > Air
talking w/ Zoot Sims & Tangerine Dream
6. "107 Steps" > Bjork off of Selmasongs
7. "Cat Eats Coyote" > Califone
talking w/ "Now is the Hour" > Hawiann Brass
8. "Ballroom Girls" > Gillian Welch
9. "Sud I" > Jean Claude Rissett
Audio2
talking w/ "ulahin Sings while Scraping Sago pith" from Bosavi & Harry Belafonte
10. "One Mint Julip" > Ray Charles
11. Gidoya Noza Kimura No Dam" > Shamisen I
12. "Carosel" > Mr. Bungle
13. "TphubonV" > Christopher Jette
Audio3
talking w/ Gorecki 3rd Symphony & The Readers Digest Collection"That Old Time Religion"
14. All About Childrens Song {{see above picture}}
15. "Morning Bell" > Radio Head from KidA
talking w/ Turdy Point Buck Polka & That Old Time Religion
16. "Kasofim" > John Zorn from Masada
17. "Saloxne" > Christopher Jette
Audio4
talking w/ Do Wop
18. "Ray of Light" > Madonna from Ray of Light
19. "I wanna be a Cowboy" > Fat Albert and Tock N' Roll Disco
IMPROV >Text from John Cages Silence :: Audio : Dr Who BBC soundeffects, Weather BBC, Bosavi, Central Park in the Dark - Charles Ives, Churchill Funeral
20. "Brown Skin" > India Arie
talking w/ Dr Who & Allied Stereo Demo
21. "Envelopes & Strictly Genteel" > Frank Zappa from the London Symphony Orchestra recording
22. "Don't Let Go" > Asleep at the Wheel
talking
Audio5
23." VphubonT" > Christopher Jette
talking w/ Hawiann Brass
24. "Following Through" > The Dismemberment Plan
25. "Automatic Music" > Stereo Total
talking
26. "36 Chambers" > Wu Tang Clan
27. "Cities"> Talking Heads
28. "Drag Racing" > Big Stick

DruStylus Comment

:: DruStylus Wrote ::
but what happens when a recording transcends what is possible in the physical world?

and what of the temperature of the room, the pheramones floating about and the smell of the neighbor in the environment where the recording is being played back.

don't you feel that the genius of recordings is more in their ability to convey audio in a transient way than they are "reminders". What's the difference between listening to a recording of Lassus motets on your ipod while on the bus (where lots of noise that is not necessarily linked tangibly to the recording in effect bleeds in and merges) and listening to Lassus motets on a state of the art hifi system with acoustic conditioning of the room? The music will hit you in very different ways I believe.

Recordings are portable and timeless and that is their value. When one wants to hear the subtle treatments of counterpoint in a given piece of music live performances come short in being able to guarantee the flawlessness in every repetition. That's why I believe people are more prone to keep a piece in their repertoire when they play it live than they are when they record it. Why keep playing it that way when it already exists in a fixed portable and transient form.

Going back to the original point...music would be very stale and boring were recordings nothing more than "a reminder" - sub bass anyone? show me an acoustic instrument that can produce 30hz frequencies that literally shake the structures that are blocks away.

I think we do ourselves a great disservice when we start to see recordings as storage and not see them as instruments. Speakers produce vibrations in the air the same way a violin does. And all speakers are different...just like a strad is different from a student model...and further the way these instruments interact with their acoustical environment further complicates the equation.

So next time you're picking up some new speakers ask yourself "If I were to translate the price spectrum of a violin to these monitors should I buy the 50$ xbrands or the 2000$ Mackie's?
And for god's sake kids...encode at 192 at least!

:: Christopher Wrote ::
Fine points, but I would bring up the issue of a dj or a synthesizer producing 30hz, live in concert, which is then recorded. Yes they are flawless but only in a Way that assumes music has a right and wrong. For a piece changes its relationship to the world, and while a recording will inherently mix with different ambient sounds and stand in different juxtapositions to the world a performer, with a violin, a guitar, a synthesizer, a record or an mp3 will make subtle adjustments that recontextualize a piece in a new place and time that inherently considers and brings to light something that no person before them could have known, due to them having come before.

The real question I am asking is not what role do recordings play in our society or their value, clearly that is established. But rather, what is a recording? And I have to begin with the reality of it. For instance, my mini disc has 3 settings, 2 are compressed settings for more audio and they compress in 2 different ways, one that is designed to play off of the reality that the human brain will jump to conclusions (ie if you produce say 35 overtones in an overtone series the brain is likely to assume that it is pitch x and therefore there is no need to record the rest of the spectrum, your brain fills it in!) There is also a setting on my minidisc that is supposedly more true to life and will record all that comes in, but in using this one ends up with the acoustics of the recording device shaping what you hear. What I am getting it as that recording is a filter. In the way it is captured, ie the equipment and the compression algorithms and the playback equipment. That all being acknowledged, that is just a picture of the audio that is not recorded. What about the other things that are not present in a recording, the "feeling in the air" the intensity of an audience sitting on their seats, who do not make a sound the entire performance because it is so moving or the feeling of a crowd of thousands dancing in harmony to the boppin beat of a dj or of a band. What is a recording? It is a black and white picture of what happened, but as a picture is in no way the reality, how this filtered record goes on to represent what was (or never was-multitasking etc) that is what would be second order.

:: DruStylus Wrote ::
But see that's what I'm trying to get at. You seem to be equating recording with sedentary reflective listening and I'm saying that recordings are just as much instruments as the ones that they capture. See I think looking at a recording as not being able to exactly copy the sensory reality of a moment and thus is more a documentative tool than anything else (which I really felt your original post was stating) is short changing the power of recordings as a means of making music.

Here is my question, let's say that you have a high quality monitoring system (like thousands of dollars, 8.2 so that you've got a fully ambisonic setup with plenty of power) now you're watching a high quality DVD with audio encoding at 96khz 48 bit (science has shown that this expands the range to twice the human range of hearing and loudness perception) and let's say the DVD is of a great performer, Rubinstein, let's say (because his stage prescence was always so powerful) and you're watching it in this space...would you then argue that somehow this is less of a musical experience than watching some lifeless sack of bricks asian pianist play in a hall where next to you is an old man who keeps dozing off and snoring and a woman on the other side who keeps whispering to her friend setting on her other side? No, but I'm sure you'd argue that this is more humanisticly enriching and maybe I can't argue with that...but to call recordings nothing more than a black and white filtered photograph of an experience is to capitalize on only one of it's powers which at this point may not even be relevant. See I think that the real power in technology is less in documenting and recording and more in making a work portable. Think about how much music has grown from a cultural perspective thanks to recordings. You're looking at it kid. What happens when someone from the boondocks of Alaska hears Bob Cogan on a late night radio show? And how does a music that was generated from an northeast mentality and cultural context merge or fight with a cultural context that is completely different. This perspective beautifies recordings while what I find to be the cliche perspective of calling it a less than acurate representation of reality beautifies reality. I think there is no contest about the fact that recordings truncate reality...for in reality there is no body that can recreate an experience for us other than the human mind because there are more than nuerons involved, there is a whole web of emotions, sensory stimulation and the like.

But if we can't recreate an experience verbatim through recorded media what can we do? That is where my perspective comes in. I feel that recorded media enable us to engage in a similar experience with an array of transient and extremely subjective variants. It is the same discussion people had in synthesis. Synthesis started to really blow up when people stopped trying to stack sine tones on one another to emulate a violin and started experimenting with unnatural filter sweeps, sine tone ratios that are aproportional and suddenly a whole new catalogue of sounds emerged. I feel that that is what recordings do for us. They give us an ability to experience a work in a way that you could NEVER experience it in real life. Everything from bass management, to clean and crisp mix downs, to multi channel renderings create works of art that would not ever exist in the "live" domain that you are talking about.

That's where I'm coming from

:: Christopher Wrote ::
I am in agreement with that sentiment. I apologize for coming off as saying recordings don't match reality, my idea in beginning there was not to differentiate the concert setting from the recording in terms of artistic value or aesthetic value, but rather to look at the differences and in those physical differences discover what it is that we are transporting into these new frontiers.

I agree with you that the mobility is part of the revolution and of modern media. I think that is interesting in several ways though. One, it is as your example suggests, a new setting for the music of Bob Cogan here in Alaska. But secondly, it is a new piece of Bob Cogan, one that is relatively more stagnant than a live performance, which is a strange notion when you consider that his works are folio's that he rarely defines as complete. In looking at the truncation of reality I am interested to see what is removed. The reason I have been dwelling on that is most easily expressed in comparison to photography. A photograph will never replicate a place and a time, rather it personifies a place and a time. That being said, what sort of ways is it truncated and how does our brain deal with that ? Those are my first questions, the second layer of questions is what is the new context and what effect and how can it effect in the new context and more importantly, how can we even further personify an emotional/perceptual state of reality that we experience? translating this, as you know, demands the manipulation of a variety of parameters. If those parameters are defined and manipulated, all the better.


:: DruStylus Wrote ::
True...no apologies necessary. I know more or less where you stand. I was just clarifying because I felt like your words could too easily be twisted into supporting an ideology which maintains that recordings are infinitely inferior to live performance...but onto your approach to the issue from a photographic perspective...well see recordings regardless of media aren't and shouldn't be about making a facsimilie of a pre-existent reality, but instead should be about a gateway into a non-existent reality. When you leave your shutter open and set up the tripod on a waterfall the picture that you get is unlike any image you've seen in physical reality. Same thing if you leave the shutter open on a busy highway in the evening. And I'm not a photographer but I'm sure these are only some the many portals into altered and artistic realities. I would see it less within the language of truncation (though I did use that word earlier I admit) and removal and more about the reciprocal adding and outcroppings. Yes, you loose something when you put reality into a snapshot but what do you gain. It seems with questions like this we can still be open to recordings as just another expressive medium (which is why the album of one band could piss all over a later album by the same band with the only element changing in their setup is their producer/engineer)
See it's a diseased perspective, everyone still likes to hold onto the composer as god trope. People really don't realize how lifeless so many of their media "gods" would be if it weren't for all the others...but this gets into the whole perspective of music being made out of collectives more than individuals today as the internet has tangibly opened up this sort of methodology. Anyway, I need to get going. But god damn it, it's good to argumentatively dialogue again. hahahhaa
talk to you soon bro (or actually, probably within a few hours...I'm still used to having three million things to do every day)

:: Christopher Wrote ::
Right on, it just goes to illustrate what my assumptions are when I write and that depending on the audience. it can be read in a variety of ways. Or... maybe I am just inarticulate or somewhere in between the two!

presence

What do you capture when you record audio or video of something?

This is the question that Ruth Zaslow asked me today. While I have not thought long on it yet I want to record my initial thoughts and see where it goes.

1. You have an average of the sonic or visual events that occured that will convince a human that they are "hearing" or "seeing" what occured. In reality audio recording only catures what the machienes allow it to capture and the machiens are built by people who assume that humans can only hear so much and that audio is all that accounts for hearing. Of course there are so many other things, the temperature of the room, the pheramones floating about, the small of your neighbor. In fact, even the audio spectrum is incomplete in an audio recording. (in most cases)

2. A recording is for the person who recorded it, a reminder of what transpired. A record of a portion of what occured that can remind the person of the thoughts that they had or the emotions that they experienced. It also serves as an entity in and of itself. A new piece of media or a new composition as it now staticly redoes what it is again and again.

So those are initial thoughts and there is more thinking to be done.

KSTK 5.17.06 playlist

So the second radio show had far better paranormal activity than the first. In the middle of LovelyWeather radio, well 20 minutes in, the power goes out. Now I have to remind you that I am alone at thie building, esentially me in charge of NPR for Wrangell! So the power goes out!!



The first thing to happen is Bad Bob calls me. Bad Bob is the computer voice of the signal broadcaster (ie the computer that moniters the watage etc). I worry that I might have to do something for him, but..... I decide to call the station manager who is aware as the power has fone out to for the entire island. He lets me know this is commomn for this time of year. He walks me through attempting to start the backup generator which has a replacment on the way and no dice. So all I can do is sit and wait. After 10 minutespower is back and away we go. So the first part of the show is not recorded as the power went out and minidisk never wrote the material.

Now for the wierd part. DruStylus aka the other 1/2 of LW was supposed to be spinning and the server was down so that radio station was out as well. It seems that LW has the ability to chanel the paranormal frequencies in both digital and analog mediums! Now the play list.......
audio segment 1
1. Econosasaphrus - Musique Concrete by Christopher Jette and Nathan Krueger from the UWO days
2. Some random Gregorian Chant that I found
HERE IS WHERE THE POWER GOES OUT!
3. Josquin - "Ave Maria"
4. Thelonius Monk - "April in Paris"
5. Christopher Jette - "Four Piano Miniatures"
6. Rufus Wainwright - "Tower of Learning"
7. Gerard Grisey - "Periodes"
8. Robert Cogan - "America Is"
9. Christopher Jette - "Circle"
10. Biggie - "Hypnotize"
11. John Zorn - "Big Gundown"

audio segment 2

12. D. Pike Raffi - "Baby Beluga"
13. Christopher Jette - "Cat Calla"
14. Mr Bungle - "Slowly Growing Deaf"
audio segment 3
15. Percey Granger Orchestra -
16. Daddy Yankee - "Dale Caliente"
17. Pharoh Saunders - "Yemenja"
18. IMPROV - Thunder and Rain from a BBC sound effect record, Chronochromie of O. Messian and Readings from "What sort of Revolution" The Economist
19. Cecil Taylor - "Jitney No.2"
20. Blackalicous - "Blazing Arrow"
21. Composers Datebook
audio segment 4
22. Ben Fold Five - "Evaporated"
23. Muzikas - "The Bartok Album"
audio segment 5
24. Christopher Jette - "Ripping Bells"
audio segment 6
25. Chrisotpher Jette - "Beatz"
26. Some Kid in Boston MA - "Oops I did it again"
27. Bonnie Raitt - PSA
28. Dimitri From Paris - "Love Love Mode:
29. Christopher Jette - "Chez Dark"

Seattle Bus Ride

Once again on the late night bus. Sorry for the lack of volume I was at the Chin residence and I did not want to wake my hosts with my loud recounting of bus trauma.

reading

Today's reading comes from this website that I found through Rhizome. It has me turning all of the ideas discussed in the statement around in my head with a sense of resonance and recognition. The statement about the Grower reads as follows

Translator II: Grower is a small 'rover' vehicle which navigates around the periphery of a room. It hugs the room’s walls and responds to the carbon dioxide levels in the air by actually drawing varying heights of 'grass' on the walls in green ink. The Grower robot senses the carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the air via a small digital CO2 sensor. This sensor is mounted high on a wall of the exhibition space and sends data wirelessly to the robot. The number of people in an exhibit space breathing in oxygen and exhaling CO2 has an immediate effect on the sensor. My robot takes a reading of the CO2 level every few seconds and in response it draws a vertical line in green ink on the wall. The line height pertains directly to the level of CO2 (and therefore also the people traffic) in the space. The more CO2, the higher the line is drawn - the maximum height being 1ft. Once Grower completes a line, it moves forward several millimeters and repeats the process. By the end of an exhibition, the bases of all the walls in the space are covered with fine green lines which together resemble a cross-section of a field of grass.

That is a simple enough concept and I would imagine it is something that one can figure out how to build with a little bit of research, but what I find so fab. is the dynamic interaction between "viewer" and the "art." Here the artist has not created astatementt so much as enabled the audience to view an output of which they largely unaware. That mirror of humanity is, once again, what I think is defining this age of art.

The metaphoric relation is that grass needs CO2 in nature to grow. Here, my simulated grass needs the breath of human visitors in order to thrive. The height of the 'grass' directly reflects on the human activity or traffic in the space. The more people that visit that space, the more amenable that space is to my machine’s ability to create. The relationship between Translator II: Grower, the space, and the public becomes a cross-metabolic one. This piece makes visible how art institutions depend on their visitors to make them 'healthy' spaces for new art to evolve and flourish within.

While the relationship between the public and the installation is an interesting point to raise, I find myself questioning the premise of metaphorical grass that is dependent on humans. I think as humans we are way to full of ourselves and while we are creative and ingenious we are but one of millions of species and I am not so certain that we are the "brightest and the boldest." Rather I might argue that we are the most insecure of all animals on this planet and hence the elaboratfacadeses.

My machine’s grass growing is a dynamic, emergent behavior in which humans participate involuntarily.

This idea of dynamic and emergent behavior of the piece is what I think is so important. Exploring trelationshiphip between humans and other things is so important and interesting especially in light of the impending global crisis that we are facing, due to our consumption of fossil fuels, whimsical wars etc..

This behavior allows the Grower to ‘nest’ the space – meaning, make the space into one where you find evidence of natural, organic change. The drawings of grass may not be organic in a strict sense, but they may be read cognitively the way we read plants or gardens outside.

I think of it more as a pixeorganicoranic view. Theofck oof resolution is what makes the translation so important and more meaningful.

Is the grass thriving? Has there been much activity? Watching the artistic output of a machine that is so sensitive to its environment makes the people in the space more sensitive their environment and its conditions. The grower also provides a memory, through it’s drawings, of those conditions.

My research as an artist focuses on making explicit the interdependent relationships of human to machine as vital entity to vital entity. Grower offers a model where both machines and humans effect each other by their involuntary cooperation. It is a model where human and machine behavior interact in a mutually informative and dynamic manner.

As I said this is the type of art that is important and interesting and I am happy to see that other artists are engaged in this type of work. For me, it further reinforces the importance of what I have accomplished with snapshots, where the piece allows the listener to listen not only to the sounds, but also to listen to how the performelisteningteneing. I am only frustrated that I am not working on something iveinat vien at this moment, as the piece I am on is of an entireley different concept. I suppose I can use this as point of departure to get something new cooking.

fishing

This one goes out to Mark Becker, the only person I know who can't read this for lack of a computer, let alone a internet connection. Today I caught a 35 pound king salmon. It was a blast Mr. Becker!

I went out fishin with Dan, a 62 year old fisherman who mostly fishes by himself. He has been here his entire life and it was great fun to sit and talk. The day began with him calling me an hour and a 1/2 before we were to meet, 5:30 and he had got up early and was gonna catch a cup of joe at the Diamond C, so I was just gonna roll down the hill when I could. So I get there, mind you I have never met Dan before and I walk in and there are a good 25 fisherman sittin around drinkin coffee and here is the city kid. Intimidating doesn't even come close. So I look around and nobody moves like they are lookin for me so I sit down and get a cup of coffee. I started reading the local paper, The Wrangell Sentinal, the oldest newspaper in AK, started in 1902. Our downstairs neighbor, Lisa, is a reporter (she also hosts the radio show before mine). After 2 cups o joe a gentelman walks up and says, "am I supposed to be meeting you here?" And off we go.

At the boat we pull up the crab pot and grab 5 or 6 good sized crab out, lunch! Then we fire up the boat and away we go. Out on the water, it is fishing talk, which revolves around the place, the weather, who each of us are and anything that is amusing. We set up on the mouth of the river, drop anchor, toss in two sport rods and cook up breakfast. Aboard he has a kerosene stove and he has brought us a feast! First some more coffee then sausage, eggs and summer sausage and toast. Did I mention that we ate a chicken on the way out? We go out and check the lines and the first hit. He lands that one. Then just as we get everything all set, second hit, he lands that one. The next one will be mine......

We boil up the crab and enjoy some crab and beer while sittin on deck. This was my first day in the southeast where it did not rain!! It is even more gorgeous. Then as we are debating about calling it a day, the next hit and I land it. Now I have gone river fishing before, but this was the biggest fish that I ever encountered, it was quite a rush to reel that guy in. At first I thought it was puny or something, then when he got up close I realized how big she was because that was when she started fighting. In the boat and away we go.


On the way back we saw a school of porpoise off of our bow and the sky went beautiful blue. At the dock, there was an eagle no more than 5 feet from my head as he swooped down to pick up some fish guts. I passed up the opportunity to have feces dropped from on high by an eagle, but I thought the fishguts on my leg and blood on my shoes was sufficent.



Oh and cleaning the fish. This was my favorite part!! I didn't clean them, but I did get this video of a heart that kept beating after he put it on deck. It must have gone for 4 minutes or so. A heart, crawling back too the body it was just taken from, when was the last time you saw that?

playlist 10-11-06

The audio is located there so open it in another window and listen while you read. I will endeavor to learn how to imbed an audio player in my blog for later posts. I should note that I only began recording with the Coltrane and it is a little hot, well ok a lot so forgive the distortion or just move forward a bit, it gets better.
A common adage amoung performers is "train wreck" Well I can't have one of those here in a fishing Village, but I ceretainly can have a boat wreck!!

Of course, my computer would not boot for the entirety of the show, but the moment I get home, BING! Well, I improvised, what had a been a carefully, well somewhat, scripted program was a complete improv... None the less, LovelyWeather Radio, radio that is like the weather in that you don't know what will happen, but something will happen, did go on. Here is the playlist....

1. Grateful Dead - anthem of the sun - alligator
2. Thelonius Monk - Monk Alone - Round Midnight
3. Pablo Casals - Bach Tocatta in C
4. John Coltrane - The Impulse Years - Offering
5. Orchestre National de Barbes - Sawye & Hagda
6. F'n Chopin - A. Rubenstein - Waltz No. 3 a minor
7. John Cage - 59 1/2 seconds for string player
8. Feldman - Intersections IV
9. Yun - Glissees 3rd mvmnt (7-9 were off of a Gaudeamus collection)
10. September in the Rain -Mood Music for Listening and Relaxation - A readers digest series.
11. F Zappa - Camillo Birello (whatever album that is on)
12. Jam Station jingles - Why you should choose Jam Station Jingles
13. Polka Party - Beer barrel Polka
14. Cars - You Might Think I'm Crazy, It's not the night & Why Can't I have you
15. John Adams (after talking about JLA I go and play the wrong Adams!!!! - I did 2 push-ups on air to atone for my sins!) Naive and Sentimental Music
16. Harry Burtwistle - 5 Distances for 5 Instruments & White Light from 3 settings of Celan
17. Tangerine Dream - Stratosphere off of Stratosphere
18. Herbie Hancock - Butterfly - off of Thrust
19. The Brothers Four - The Damsel's Lament off of their self titled album
20. Duran Duran - is there something I should Know - Arena
21. Bonnie Raitt - Woman Be wise - self titled album
22. Bach - Adagio from the F maj Brandenburg Concerto - Switched on Brandenburg
23. Stevie Wonder - You Haven't done nothing - fulfillingness Final Fantasy


It should be noted that somewhere in the middle of this, I forget now, I read several of the Ammendments to the Constitution.

There was a good deal of shouting and lots o fun. I will get some audion up as soon as I can fugure it out.

Amoung a million other things that I didn't get to play... ox

radio debut

Tonight is the NIGHT!! I will be broadcasting this evening, live from 9-12 AK time from the studios of 101.7 KSTK. This is the begining of the LovelyWeather Radio Show,

Radio that is like the weather, you don't know what is going to happen, but something is going to happen.

I will record and post the audio and playlist tommorow.

The objective of the show is to present my world and world view as a composer, exposing the great Southeast Alaska listeners to my music and the music that I find interesting. If you are listener or not, please leave comments and suggestions.

houses etc.

The Native Americans were here first and unlike many other places in this country there is still evidence of that. Above is a carving that is on the side of the town hall.
The town of Wrangell is quite typical of southeast AK, it rains on and off almost every hour, which means you see the sun and the rain every hour. The Tongass National forest encompases some of the land here and it is the largest Spring gathering of Bald Eagles, I suppose that is why I have seen so many as of late. One of the main industries is fishing and it seems that they are staged to creae a tourist industry, currently there are few cruise ships that stop here. It is really quite gorgeous and quite sleepy, for instance everything closes on Sunday, well not the bars and everyone has a post box or gets their mail General Delivery, Wrangell, AK 99929. On a stroll today I snapped a couple of pics so as to provide the flavor. I should not that I am currently listening to the local radio station, 101.7 KSTK which is playing Rod Stewart, previously there was Boston and there was country on this AM.


This is the signpost letting you know where all of the local points of interest are, sorta lets you get your bearings as it were.






I have yet to figure out what this building is, but I like it and it looks like they have a nice barbi!


I should point out that in honor of the Salmon and the skillful people that trick them into leaving their watery home there is Derby this weekend!!! You can bet on me being there with camera and audio recording equipment!

Located one street over from Reed, where we are located, there is a curious little shop and this the diorama that is on the outside of the building.




Finally, here are some of the houses around the neighborhood.




This second shot really shows how dynamic the mountains are here. Apparently there are a lot of trails and remote lakes, I am planning to head over to the Library and get the scoop.

And to end my blog, the radio is playin "Money for Nothing" CLASSIC!!!!The first computer anime video that I rememeber. This one goes out to Ray, the only teacher that I ever had that interupted his lecture in order to turn up the guitar solo at the begining of this tune! It obviously made an impact on me and artist/educator stepping aside to observe and highliight something that he aestheticly values.

Wrangell

We arrived in Wrangell at 4AM.



I should note that this is an island and it is pretty cool that one can leave the keys in the car and with the doors unlocked, a bit different than what I am used to! As I was chatting in Nathan it occured to me that this town is about the same size as the village and rather similar. It is also true that I am living in the picture on a beer bottle, pretty amazing!


Here is a view out of the front window!


And here are some the totem poles downtown, note the eagles on top of the tree, they are all over the place. I watch them fish from the front window.

Juneau

Juneau was a stopping point for the ferry (3 hours) so we hopped off the boat and ran into town to check it out. It really felt like New England in many ways, small streets, wet air and nice architecture. The drive had been surreal and long so we slept most of the ferry ride. Here are some pics of the snow and Juneau.



The snow and the road, this picture gives you a pretty good indication.


There is giant glacier behind Juneau, it made for a spectacular approach.


Busteling downtown. Is "Gross 20th Century" a comment on the past century?

packing

This is an audio bit as I sit, exhausted in the process of filling the car and cleaning the Anchorage apartment. Christine is down in Seattle for one night in order to take a final. She arrives the following day at 5:00 and we set out from the airport to drive to Haines where we catch the ferry to Wrangell. The drive should take 15 hours and our ferry leaves at 9:30. Fun.

wrap

1. snapshots
Yesterday was my final day at Starbucks and I have to report that I came away from the experience liking the place far more than when I started there. The people were great and I shall treasure those that I have met. The exorbitant amount of sugar and all the other fatty drinks?? I'm to much of an iced americano, person for that.

As I said, the people are what make it great, many of them were my coworkers but what I really loved was the drive-through microphone. Last night I informed the Channel 13 weather lady, that she was sitting in the rain and that withstanding, I would still make a drink for her. She was thrilled because she had predicted it! We spent some time talking about weather and lovelyweather it was wonderful. After that I sang the ABC's with a kindergarten teacher and she informed me that the letter of the day was letter R. I asked her if she had alphabet blow up dolls, she took the wrong way and then I informed her that I was referring to a series of inflatable characters that represented the alphabet. She thought that was pretty cool. And those were just two of my customers.

Today, I have spent the day wrapping up my keyboard. When I took it to FedEx, it weighed in at 92 pounds. You can imagine what fin it was to lift it. It looks like I will need to buy my brother a very big beer when I get to San Diego! There it stands. Now to finish packing and get ready for the big drive tommorow I guess that's a wrap!