http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/blog.php?868-zenstat Cymbalholic.com - Are you a Cymbalholic? The place to talk cymbals! en Fri, 24 May 2013 17:32:30 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/blog.php?868-zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?30-what-CDs-I-have-on-this-trip Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:23:46 GMT Ok. First of all I hear you all saying "he still uses CDs not an MP3 player or iPod?". Yeah. I've never converted over. Call me a trailing edge adopter. So I have this CD wallet and each year I fill it up with whatever selection takes my fancy. I mostly listen to music after the sun goes down because we go to bed fairly early wen we are in the bush. So this year I took (in the order in which they happen to appear in the wallet):

Gahu Hot Planet (the Afro Jazz group I was in which has reformed a dozentimes and is now moribund)
Miles Davis Balads and Blues
Miles Davis Kind of Blue (this always makes the cut)
Miles Davis Nefertiti
Herbie Hancock Empyrean Isles
Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage
Art Blakey Caravan
Roy Haynes When It's Haynes It Roars
Mike Nock Ondas
Grachan Moncur III Evolution
Jackie McLean One Step Beyond
Clifford Brown and Max Roach At Baker Street
Ari Hoenig The Painter
Leon Parker Awakening
Chick Corea Now He Sings Now He Sobs (always makes the cut)
Keith Jarrett Standards V1, V2, Changes (box set sans box :wink:)
Keith Jarrett Inside Out
Kieth Jarrett Standards Live
Brooke Sofferman Fine Whines
The Intervention Band Homey (Bob Levey)
Wayne Shorter Juju
Monk Quartet Misterioso
Roy Haynes Out of the Afternoon
Coltrane A Love Supreme
Herbie Hancock Takin' Off
Freddie Hubbard Ready For Freddy

I may have overdone the Jarrett weighting, with hindsight. Usually I have more Miles with Tony.

I use an ancient as anything Sony player and some iPod headphones I bought after the Sony ones shorted out. The sound isn't bad, although it isn't what I'm used to at home. But one must make some sacrifices while camping. :halo: ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?30-what-CDs-I-have-on-this-trip http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?29-Zenstat-in-paradise Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:52:18 GMT So the Gods of Technology have smiled on us this year. My unix based web site likes to talk to my windoze based FTP client filezilla (my Mac at home... So the Gods of Technology have smiled on us this year. My unix based web site likes to talk to my windoze based FTP client filezilla (my Mac at home never had trouble using the intrepid cyberduck :wink:) and we bought a wireless modem. So I'm typing this at the beach at Horseshoe Bay in Queensland. Got up this morning and took the 1 minute trip to the beach :cool: had a swim and a sun (Doc says I'm low in Vitamin D) and thought I'd post a link to the web site entry for these. So it's a blog pointing to another blog...

http://black.net.nz/aus10.html

I'm able to be around here in 'holicland a bit more thanks to the wireless modem, but what with the pressures of swimming, hiking, reading, and eating fresh fruit...

Our current timetable has us back in New Zealand towards the end of October. Winter is usually over by then and it is safe to go home to catch the spring flowers in Auckland. ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?29-Zenstat-in-paradise http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?18-Ningaloo-Reef Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:01:38 GMT So we're back on air but limping along. It's a long story. Outback... Technology... Sigh. I'm typing this sitting in the shade of a neighboring caravan at Yardie Homestead campground at Ningaloo Reef. You gotta forgive the technology when you experience the scenery.

We went for a walk and a swim today (same drill as yesterday) but alas no snorkeling on the reef because it is too windy to see anything. The glass bottom reef boats aren't going out at all because there is a strong wind warning out. We believe it. We had to take our tent down last night for fear of it flapping apart or breaking poles. Since it is new this trip we are still trying to look after it very nicely. We've used it a few times as outdoor space which is insect free (it has very fine mesh screen all around) but we still sleep in our vehicle most nights so we can do without the tent.

We've been to Ningaloo twice before (found it on your map yet? No hints except we are in Western Australia and it is still the tropics) and have been looking forward to our return. Alas it has been windy and we hear from the locals that you should really get here by mid August. However, we were otherwise engaged at that time doing nice things further North before it warmed up too much. Now we've moved down the coast and will soon be in search of wildflowers. There are some around here (including a Sturt's Desert Pea which is unusual in not having the black center and is only found on this peninsula). But enough of botany lessons.

Still no photos. I was going to post them on my web site and just link to them. However, my ftp client and my web site seem to be having a disagreement at the moment and I need more time to sort that out. This is the same thing which happened the last time we were travelling. I think the web hosting changes while we are away because we are using it so infrequently. Anyway, photos will follow soon if I can make peace with my server.

Signing off for now and missing you guys and missing this place. ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?18-Ningaloo-Reef http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?17-Reporting-in-from-the-Outback Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:11:17 GMT Still no photos :( We haven't geen in a place where the technology is all in place.

We're in Katherine heading West in the next day or so. We'll check in when we're in Kununurra (Western Australia) where we've got email access again.

Just been up to Darwin and out to the Cobourg Peninsula in West Arnhem Land doing a Marine Debris Survey with a group of 10 others on a Conservation Volunteers Australia project. That means walking along beaches and picking up everything which doesn't belong there. One finds an amazing assortment of unexpected things (intact light bulbs, toothbrushes, etc) in addition to the expected fishing nets, lures, plastic drink bottles, and so on. It all gets brought back to our camp, dumped onto a bit plastic sheet, then catalogued. Later some diplomatic pressure goes on countries like Indonesia, Korea, and Japan to stop dumping things overboard. Of course, this does nothing to stop all the beer and Coke cans we find from the Australian locals who go out fishing.

Didn't find a single cymbal on the beach. :D

On the way back from Darwin we stopped in at Litchfield park and had swims in all the croc free swimming holes. Great cooling off place. We also visited the Territory Wildlife Park which was more of a "tourist" place but a great way to see wildlife concentrated where you can see it. They have the usual crocs (we are tired of seeing crocs) but more importantly they have nocturnal houses where you can see all the little mammals which you would never see otherwise. And a few big snakes...always a crowd pleaser. But the thing which got me isn't a snake or croc, it was something small like a hariy caterpillar which left me with huge welts on my back and itching madly :mad: I'm still trying not to scratch after two days. I was minding my own buiness sitting in my safari chair of an evening, looking up at the milky way in the beautiful dark sky and slowly this crazy itching came over me. Never found the culpret.

Hope to have some photos up soon.

Steve and Jan Australian Tour 2009 ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?17-Reporting-in-from-the-Outback http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?16-heading-off-to-outback-Australia Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:24:10 GMT Yes folks, it is the time of year when my wife and I pack up our life in New Zealand, and unpack our very different life in Australia. Since 2001 we... Yes folks, it is the time of year when my wife and I pack up our life in New Zealand, and unpack our very different life in Australia. Since 2001 we have spent winters over in Australia. We hide in the warm parts until it gets nice back in New Zealand. Two more sleeps until we leave for Brisbane where our 4WD camper lives. We'll be on the road until we come back at the end of October.

Packing is starting to get serious, and at this point I get out my carefully preserved list from last year which tells me what I left in the vehicle and what I brought back to NZ (and thus has to be brought over again). I always make the list very carefully, and when I look at it about 8 months later it is never accurate enough! Did I leave a wooly hat there? What about the voltage tester for the car? And so it goes.

I'll be checking in as I can (you can't just plug your laptop into the nearest kangaroo) and when possible I'll be putting my commentary and photos here in this blog. But I'm not taking my Zoom H4 so you don't get sounds. Just sights.

So for the next four months or so I'll be living in this kind of luxury:



about to have ginger marmalade on my toast, with my fresh brewed coffee. You can see the red dust on the top of the vehicle, and on the spare tire cover (we carry two spares -- one on each side on a swing out arm). In fact, that me be a bit of red dust on me there. ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?16-heading-off-to-outback-Australia http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?15-proud-father Tue, 19 May 2009 00:02:44 GMT You may have seen the new Prius commercial which was released recently in the US. My daughter Alyx Duncan was the choreographer. It was filmed here... You may have seen the new Prius commercial which was released recently in the US. My daughter Alyx Duncan was the choreographer. It was filmed here in New Zealand with a Japanese director. You can see the "making of" here



It isn't often that her work (either as choreographer or as a director) appears in a way I can post here, but that is starting to change thanks to YouTube. She directed a couple of no budget music videos which are fun. I ran the catering, etc, on the beach for "Except You" from the group Minuit, and I must know about half the people who were roped in to appear. I do appear as a dancer in some of her work but I've made sure there aren't any copies of that on the web. :wink:



The follow up is "Fuji"



One interesting druming factoid (we are cymbalholic after all) is that Ruth (the lead singer) started out playing drums, but they recast themselves as electronica using samples so now she is never seen with a drum stick in her hand. ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?15-proud-father http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?11-An-African-Sojourn Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:50:40 GMT No I didn't go to Africa for the Easter Weekend! This was held down on the Coromandel Peninsula at a place called Prana retreat (http://www.Prana.co.nz). If you follow the link to Prana you will see it is a pretty alternative (or as we sometimes say, hippy trippy) place, but it was an excellent venue for this sort of get away from mainstream Western culture. The workshop was taught by a whitefella' from the USA called Chris Berry (http://www.panjeamusic.com/). He has spent a long time in Zimbabwe over the years and he is a great musician. He's the first whitefella' player I've studied with who really has the same feel as an African. Now you might be wondering who am I to be commenting oh who does and does not "play African"? Well, nobody really. But I know what I like.

I was in Ghana a few years back living in a small Ewe village near the Togo border. Spent a month there polishing up my Gahu and a few other pieces. I'd spent a few months with one of the teachers Ruben Agbeli some years before when he was in New Zealand. I'm all fired up again now and thinking about an African trip. But it is much easier on the body to bring Africans here! I've studied with about 5 different African masters over the years. After all that I'm still at the level of a child in a village in Africa. Sigh.

One of the things which I really enjoyed about the time spent on this camp is that singing, dancing, and drumming were all happening together. I haven't been doing enough singing for a long time now, and it was good to get back into it. You really need to do all three to experience the performances in their proper cultural context.

Being back in that playing context put me right back into the space I was in while I was in Africa. In fact, I got quite a jolt when I went to leave. I had three CDs handy for the drive home:

Out There (Eric Dolphy)
Out of the Afternoon (Roy Haynes)
In A Silent Way (Miles Davis)

Put on Out There and had to take it off right away. Not compatible with where I was at. In A Silent Way was good. Somehow it has enough African vibe underneath to be compatible. Out of the Afternoon was good, but not as good. Interesting, given that Out of the Afternoon is an all time favorite of mine. After five days of no radio, no news, no Internet, etc. it took quite a time to adjust. I'm still in transition.

Since I've been back I've been listening to African music (mostly traditional, some more modern and/or world). We'll see how long this altered state of being lasts. ]]> zenstat http://www.cymbalholic.com/forums/entry.php?11-An-African-Sojourn