Well this is certainly a trip. A friend showed me this photo of a Freddy Fender memorial sign in Lucerne Valley, CA. And I guess it’s just a sign out in the middle of the California High Desert but to me it has much more significance.
Continue reading “Freddy Fender Memorial – Lucerne Valley, CA”
I was going to wait until the uploads were finished to announce this but Google is already indexing my audio – so you can download audio I’ve written and produced at http://www.ConradAskland.net
It’s the “dot net” version of my name. The site you’re on now is “dot com”. I split the downloads into a new website because this one is already getting really bogged down with traffic.
And since I’m at it I’ll let you know that my forum which I never told anyone about is at:
http://forum.ConradAskland.com
I’ll keep doing uploads as I can and then come back here to make all the navigation between the different areas more user-friendly.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHwn4mHE1U
Short movie about John Cage and two of his most famous works: Water Walk, and 4:33.
It’s interesting to view in retrospect. The audience is laughing, but this piece has so much ambience in it that is part of our everyday lives – it’s actually sublimely beautiful.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E
You might have heard the piece 4’33” (Four minutes and 33 seconds) by John Cage for piano, but here it is presented by a full orchestra.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y
John Cage talks about Silence. “We don’t know a difference between time and space, we don’t know where one starts and the other stops.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPNxTCp9mEQ
Comedian Lee Evans performs the Lee Evans Trio.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSEPUuNP8k
(Part Two is the performance, so I post it first)
Itzhak Perlman and Peter Schickele mix it up in a hilarious duet at a Boston Pops Concert with John Williams conducting. Part 1 is mostly the setup, with Peter Schickele expounding on the life of P.D.Q. Bach, “the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 20 children.”
PDQ Bach is the ultimate in combining High Art and Low Art for awesome high brow comedy. It was great in this video to see PDQ Bach, violinist Itzhak Perlmand and composer/conductor John Williams all working together on the gags. I also like how the music makes you wait for each subsequent gag as they are interspersed with a fiarly straight ahead Riccoco style orchestration.
An update on current activities. I’ve received a couple emails asking why I’m not blogging so much. After making it through Chinese New Year here in Macau, China I was able to take a long overdue vacation and return to the United States for the first time in two years. (Beloved Skagit County, Washington USA – I didn’t visit down in Southern California). The break gave me a chance to bring some more gear back to China and to set new goals and aspirations for myself – pretty much like starting a new year.
“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” he said. “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you…failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith.”
“In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.”
– James Cameron – TED Talks 2010
Just read these words today and they hit me so strong. Like if you’re reading the bible and a verse jumps out and you think God is speaking directly to you.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzg-ztr0vow
You’ll notice a definite “Cirque du Soleil” influence on this presentation by Pink at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Hope you enjoy it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDeXUvWbLp8
There is a little confusion in China when it comes to Western holidays. For instance, on Christmas Eve the street was littered with confetti as people exploded party poppers at the stroke of midnight for the beginning of Christmas Day. And then Auld Lang Syne is playing on all the bar sound systems. Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve – what’s the difference right? Ugh.
So thank you to my friend from the Great White North who sent me this. I got home tonight as Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day in China. Was feeling very sad not to be with my family, and to not have the usual Christmas events around me. This video helped center me a bit.
Her is an alternate verse for O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel), and I think a more powerful one.
Chains shall he break
for the slave is our brother
And in His name
all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy
In grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us
Praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
And ever ever praise we
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine