Tuesday, 03 January, 2012

Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically generated noise, randomly produced electronic signals, and non-traditional musical instruments. Noise music may also incorporate manipulated recordings, static, hiss and hum, feedback, live machine sounds, custom noise software, circuit bent instruments, and non-musical vocal elements that push noise towards the ecstatic.
Contemporary noise music is often associated with extreme volume and distortion. Many noise musicians are keenly aware of dynamics and build them into their pieces.
Luigi Russolo, a futurist artist of the very early 20th century, was perhaps the first noise artist. His 1913 manifesto, L’Arte dei Rumori, translated as The Art of Noises, stated that the industrial revolution had given modern men a greater capacity to appreciate more complex sounds. Russolo found traditional melodic music confining and envisioned noise music as its future replacement. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori and assembled a noise orchestra to perform with them. A performance of his Gran Concerto Futuristico (1917) was met with strong disapproval and violence from the audience, as Russolo himself had predicted. None of his intoning devices have survived, though recently some have been reconstructed and used in performances. Although Russolo’s works bear little resemblance to modern noise music, his pioneering creations cannot be overlooked as an essential stage in the evolution of this genre, and many artists are now familiar with his manifesto.

In the 1970s, the concept of art itself expanded and groups like Survival Research Laboratories, Borbetomagus and Elliott Sharp embraced and extended the most dissonant and least approachable aspects of these musical/spatial concepts. Around the same time, the first postmodern wave of industrial noise music appeared with Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and NON (aka Boyd Rice). These cassette culture releases often featured zany tape editing, stark percussion and repetitive loops distorted to the point where they may degrade into harsh noise. In the 1970s and 1980s, industrial noise groups like Current 93, Hafler Trio, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Laibach, Steven Stapleton, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, Smegma, Nurse with Wound, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Haters, and The New Blockaders performed industrial noise music mixing loud metal percussion, guitars, and unconventional “instruments” (such as jackhammers and bones) in elaborate stage performances. These industrial artists experimented with varying degrees of noise production techniques. Interest in the use of shortwave radio also developed at this time, particularly evident in the recordings and live performances of John Duncan.
The sudden post-industrial affordability of home cassette recording technology in the 1970s, combined with the simultaneous influence of punk rock, established the no wave aesthetic, and instigated what is commonly referred to as noise music today.

Thursday, 05 January, 2012

January again. The new year. Fuck it. Time only exist in human minds. Time to delete time.
Borrowed that text last Tuesday. Sometimes I make my life easy, although I had to do a major edit cutting all the nonsense. Why do people who write about music add so much bullshit? Gotto make some noise about that.
Anyway, keep it short in these nice summer weather celebration days. Here a picture from my future back or front-yard. Don’t know whats going to be yet. Depends how I am going to build my hut! Picture taken 2 days ago!

Friday, 06 January, 2012

In Portugal bread is delivered at your home. The bakers drive in little vans loud honking their horns announcing ‘the daily bread is approaching’. The vans are driven in such a speed I have the impression those bakers are not very keen on bizznix. Fresh bread consumers have to run out of the house chasing the vehicle or jump in front to make it stop, with all risks involved. Bread must cause lots of injuries and death in this country.
Although living far from nearest road and civilization it is easy for me getting hold on the bakery van. I hear the honks echoing from down the hill long before reaching most near purchasing location. An advantage of living uphill in a valley. I buy the bread about 1 mile from the house at a death-end turning point. After last houses (my neighbors) the road turns into a forest trail towards my location. Here the baker has to slow down and maneuver his vehicle in reverse, turning around. This allows me easy access to fresh bread.
When Tomas (the dog – remember?) joined me for the first time for the ‘bread-hike’ he couldn’t believe his eyes (…nose). Like me, Tomas is a bread fan. Reward him regularly with little chunks he receives like kids swallow candy. Approaching the van the baker opened the side (slide) door. Tomas saw (smelled?) ‘heaven’! I hardly managed holding him jumping in. Walking home he cheerful jumped and circled around me.
All this happens in ‘early’ hours, around 8.30 (am). I am one of those people who prefers spending first hours of the day in peace slowly zipping coffee without much action or stress. That brought the brilliant idea I convinced the baker to cooperate with. The evening before I hang a bag on a tree with my order and some change close to his turning point. Any time next day I can pick up my fresh rolls. Works perfectly and saves me the morning rush I prefer leaving to those in the ‘west’ living beyond last trees of this forest.

Wednesday, 11 January, 2012

Shina festival 2012. Dates: 4 – 5 – 6 October. Location like always, Idrija – Slovenia. More news will follow here and on the soon to come new Shina site. For now here on Limbabwe a picture of a man performing an actual real Shina in the Museum of Idrija:

Friday, 13 January, 2012

Like to blog on Friday the 13th! Joke ofcourse. Is there still superstition about that date? Like usual, living in the forest only minding my own bizznix the world passes by on me. Have no idea whats going on. Is everybody hectic about the ‘end’ of the world suppose to happen in 2012? Forgot what date our ‘end’ is. Oh well, the world ended very often in my life (I am 50+) and look, we are still here. Whenever all comes to an end, its probably the right moment for it.
Good thing of not using common media is that where others ‘panic’ I keep doing things like usual. Kept purchasing cucumber (remember?). Was surprised about the sudden extreme price-fall but had no further thoughts about it. Kept purchasing Japanese products, although the extreme cheap super large packages of dog food imported from Japan was suspicious, so I found out the news. Mostly I get the news months later through small talk conversations with neighbors and friends. By than panic of the masses are over. Media drive you nuts. Healthier life without them.
Sure like always I still use some media. Mostly music orientated. Web, radio, stereo. Stay in contact with some performers out there. And my involvement in Shina. Yep, organization of the Shina festival started again. Check here for updates.
Its an bits and its post today. Did you notice that the music section of ‘MySpace’ is kinda last resort for slowly fading artists? Realized last months that especially performers who are sinking in popularity polls or about to vanish in total oblivion give up their private webspace and only present themselves through a MySpace page. Obvious the project is coming to an end. No more energy and money (web space cost only few Euro a year)to maintain there own site. MySpace: last stop of the almost death!
Editing of this site text started. First pages (Dallas Kingston Kollector) are done. Lots of text will be changed or disappear this year. Keep you informed!

Saturday, 14 January, 2012

Today went online the site about my involvement in a new avant-gardening project: www.natuurcampingjuntas.eu Its still in Dutch. Pages on English, Spanish and Portuguese will follow soon. You can try to analyze one of those horrible translations done by Google programs or simply contact me and I tell you whats all about.
Meanwhile here the logo:

Here an impression:

Wednesday, 18 January, 2012

Making pictures for archiving reasons I often forget. Were others visually archive moments or situations on pictures I just do my thing forgetting the camera’s (analogue and digital). Generally I am not so photo-minded. Memories in my mind are sufficient. Sometimes its interesting to make pictures showing others how things change through time. At the moment I feel sorry having no visuals from the early (first) stage of one Juntas project I am working on: fixing up the ruins. On the sunny-side of Juntas are ruins. About 5 or 6 buildings, collapsed through time, overgrown by meters high blackberry bushes and tall mimosa trees. The plantation was so thick; it made the ruins barely visible. All started with one guest who wanted to do something and thought it was useful cleaning some of the green to see what the hidden construction would bring. The desperate need for a winter terrace in the sun made me clean a bit more. Enjoying the nice warm temperatures on this side of the valley stimulated me clearing much more and making the plan renovating at least part of the ruins creating a winter-house at Juntas.
Here a picture of how it looks now:

Put in your mind that what you see on this picture was hidden by an impenetrable jungle few months ago. You still see its and bits of chopped trees and cut bushes lying around. On the right, behind the tree is the winter terrace. I will start fixing the room bordering (centre picture – with the white wall) in a studio apartment because it is in the best condition. Behind this (invisible on picture) is another space, cleaned. This will get a roof and become storage. On the left the high wall ruins will be changed into living/working space, I will fix last. It is the most difficult renovation of all 3. Upcoming weeks I will do some more cleaning. The big mimosa trees on the left, hanging over the roof, have to go. All 3 spaces I will keep in condition, no more growing activities allowed from now on!
I hope the studio apartment to be ready in 8 or 9 months, before next winter. The complete project is going to take years. Keep you updated.

Sunday, 22 January, 2012

A friend from New York emailed me yesterday and mentioned it was snowing in Queens (neighborhood in NY). That made me decide to take this picture today:

Me under the orange tree in January!

Thursday, 26 January, 2012

Don’t manage much with my posting. Come to 2 or 3 posts a week. Pretty good for most ‘bloggers’, very bad for me who used to write daily. Had more often periods with lesser posting. Its all about the energy. Many ideas but often gone in the evening when my mind is busy with other things or doesn’t like to be busy at all.
Not doing something doesn’t seem to fit into human existence. People always have to be busy. It seems to be a ‘norm’. You are bewitched, outcast, indecent if wasting precious time of your short life doing zero, nada! Acceptable are passive activities like watching tv or attending a performance. Maybe not very physical but at least you do something.
I like to do the absolute nothing sometimes, especially after a day work. Just sitting, zipping wine, no music, no reading, no tv, no thoughts. Body and mind reduced to almost zero. Just total emptiness where time and place don’t matter. No not activities like yoga, meditation or trance. Even that is too much.
Humans often think they reached utmost borders. Accepting individual intuitions proofs different. There is always a step further, even one more beyond the total emptiness.

Sunday, 29 January, 2012

Work ethic. Too many believe in this. In most societies humans are brainwashed from the day they are born that having a job is good for you. Work is supposed to be healthy and social. You must fulfill your 8 hours duty a day. Maybe its better changing the word ‘ethic’ into ‘slavery’ in this context. How healthy can forced attendance on a job be?  Filling your time with whatever you feel for and like to do is ofcourse much healthier. Sure, doing nothing isn’t that good for you. The human body evolved to move and think. Still to make work a moral, forced by society is bit overdone. What about the money we all need? You might ask. Many should consider about how much money they really need. Especially in western societies (Europe/North America/Japan/Australia) money is mainly wasted on things you don’t need. No individual blame! The system you live in forces a certain life style. There are communities where on governmental level work ethic is preached but doesn’t live in peoples culture. In the south of Europe, for example, many prefer enjoying life above work, even if this means lesser finances. Had a professional free-lance welder here on the estate (Juntas). He constructed a fence preventing visitors falling of a high wall. The job normally done in the ‘west’ would take about 3 days. It took this man 3 weeks. ‘You shouldn’t work more than 4 to 5 hours a day’, he told me. ‘Start the morning easy. Not too early, 10 or 11 am. Work few hours until 3 or 4 pm, calm, without rush so you have some spare time and energy left for yourself’. Right he is. You only live once. What is the use wasting your life grabbing as much money possible? You die with a full bank account without tasting life’s good sides.
I am happy escaping the western rat race forever. Got everything I want, my wine, my veggies, my music, my avant gardening, my peace. Fuck the money!

The fence he welded!

Friday, 03 February, 2012

Posting. I should be posting. I am slacking this activity. Busy keeping other activities going. Car won’t start, brush cutter stutters, chain saw bounces (to often sharpened, need a new chain). Not mentioning bad water pipe connections and failing electricity switches. All day I am busy maintaining keeping the machines going. Barely time left for the actual job that has to be done. Frustration! Time for a break. Leaving it all for a day or 3. Do something that eases out builing up new energy. Creating music! Its time for a different light. Thee Light! I am seeing it.

Velvet Underground. Forgotten by now? Hope so. Wasn’t such an important band. Only for the industry. Making cash from the ‘alternative’ believers. Lou Reed! Still alive? Whats going on out there. Mostly I miss who is still here. Did Lou already create his ‘Rubin’ production (meaning: life comes an end)? You know, in the old days I was into this guy. Used to purchase every record. Think I still have many of them somewhere piled up. Reed stopped on the day that English became my main language and I hear song lyrics like someone talking to me. Wow, what is Lou a depressive cynical piece of shit. I know, its all product ‘image’ for sales, but hey Lou, my life is an optimistic one. Stick your kicks in your own ass!
Tomas (the dog, remember?) looks interesting towards this word file I am typing. Hmm, he dislikes Reed too, or likes to try to write a post? I hope the latter. Saves me some work plus it might be interesting to read whats on his mind.
Meanwhile life goes on as usual. Winter. Little bit of snow creates usual chaos in The Netherlands. This political territory is already a funny spoof whole rest of the world jokes about. You would wonder when they finally get their shit together. Anyway, no more worry for me. I have sunny t-shirt degrees under my orange tree.
Gotto check my statistics. Have many mails from unexpected sources on my site address (no spam). Nice! What makes people visit this lonely forgotten corner of the www?
And here a picture Genesis (P-Orridge) recently mailed me.

Tuesday, 07 February, 2012

Ok, an easy one today. Having guests tomorrow for few days (escaping the winter!). Don’t know how my posting will be, although minimal lately anyway, but if there is a moment I will write.
Archiving before the change: another ruin I will fix. Now it looks like this:

But not for long! Keep you updated.

Saturday, 11 February, 2012

Juntas needs a new road for easier access with the lowest (downhill) part. Here in Portugal they are very easy with a job a like this. A bulldozer comes and rams straight trough every obstacle on its way. Tall trees, heavy rocks, steep cliffs, nothing stops this bulldozer. Job is done in one afternoon. Within a few hours a wild impenetrable jungle turns into one decent dirt road. Most surprising was the bulldozer. A museum piece. Here a picture. Look what a beauty. Main thing: it did the job!

Bulldozer

Monday, February 13, 2012

Why I moved:
Former location:
Idrija: sunny, cold, snow

Present location:
Juntas: sunny, warm, no snow

Monday, 20 February, 2012

Let me restart this posting activity. Last post was one week ago. A personal record! Never had such a long break between two posts. You have to be informed about my latest activities. From now on I will force myself into the almost daily routine of writing.
First the rock ‘n roll news: I’ll be back on the road again. Short trip with PTV3. Here the dates:
May Friday 18, St Petersburg @ S.K.I.F. 16
May Sunday 20, Moscow @ P!PL club
Yep, Russia only. If you are around do not hesitate to say hello. Like usual you find me at the FOH position or (under?) the bar.
Juntas: The construction started. Using the huge pile of eucalyptus trees I chopped this winter building a barn/cabin. Here a picture:

And ofcourse the mimosa is in bloom:

Tomorrow more.

Tuesday, 21 February, 2012

Sitting on the veranda. Temperature warm like summer. Dog asleep at my feet. Cat spinning on my knee. Wind, some birds, distanced mountain stream, the only sounds. World passes by on me. Neighbors too far. Town on the end of a long downhill. No tv, no newspaper, no messenger. Just an old radio playing a local ‘art’ station. Switched on in the evenings. Always John Coltrane after 8pm.
I look up to the new construction. Little bit more progress today. Life can be very satisfactory without the rat-race. No competition here. There is no one to compete with. That makes loosing impossible so I am always the winner.
Fights start later in the evening when activating the computer making attempts loading new posts on this site. Dealing with the world satisfied with a primitive communication system called ‘internet’ is one of my most stressful daily moments. But even here I win proofed by this text. Tomorrow my next struggle.

Wednesday, 22 February, 2012

Computers and people. These two don’t go together. My life will be perfect if one of the two definitely disappears forever. I am sure its possible someone can construct a program fed with all previous Limbabwe posts used for the basis producing new ones. Other computers can have fun downloading these daily texts. That way I can find my final peace without digitally disappearing. Maybe all this is already going on. So far in the lost and lonely forest I might be the last (forgotten) human. Maybe all I receive through the only medium I use, the rotten internet, is generated by programs. Hey there, are you all still here. Oh what the hell, it doesn’t matter. Human race was the biggest mistake of evolution anyway. Let it disappear. Don’t see me as the last crappy Hollywood (mad Mat) hero trying to save human existence. No way! The eucalyptus trees around me will be happy if we go forever. Us being their only threat they finally can take over the planet that will have to change the name from ‘Earth’ into ‘Eucalyptica’. Blame it all on ‘Kill Bill (Gates) Microflop’ and ‘Mac Rotten Apple Inflop’.
There is still a way to stop all this. Send me your address and I mail you my daily posts on good old fashioned analogue ink on paper sealed in a stamped envelope. Material for which eucalyptus trees can become very handy (raw material for paper production).

Thursday, 23 February, 201

Every day a post this week. Not bad uhh! Today the ‘easy’ one; a picture. The forest burns again. This time over hill:

The smoke is not me burning big cigars in front of camera lens, it’s a fire at Mega Cimera. Funny, that’s where last fire (few months ago) stopped. Today it decided to finish the job.
Yep, forest fires in February. Who would ever expect but here in Portugal its possible. Didn’t rain for months. Everything is extreme dusty dry.
Don’t worry about the eucalyptus, what burns are mostly pine trees. Rumors go that these fires are set up by eucalyptus growers. I must say it raise questions why never eucalyptus forests burn down.
No worries regarding my safety this time. The fire is far away and wind blows other direction.

Friday, 24 February, 201

Don’t know how it is at your whereabouts but here spring definitely arrived. Weather is amazing sunny and warm. The air smells and sounds like spring. Flowers are blooming, birds singing, bees are busy buzzing. Lots of fresh new activity on the land, in the trees and sky. All works positive on me too. The cold nights (had only a few) are finally over.
Got new musical ideas. Will work the new DKK soon. My mind flows over. I call it ’The Avant Gardenist’, or ‘Eucalyptica’, or maybe both. Whatever. by the time I got my noisy shite together all these brain spinnings changed with the wind, sun and no-rain. Although ‘Eucalyptica’ is a strong title. I will store that one.
Its time for a new vid too. This thing on the frontpage runs for half a year now. Hope you don’t get too annoyed. Move your cursor in the vid, operating buttons will appear and click on ‘pause’ to stop. Ofcourse the crappy slow internet I am connected too is another reason why I didn’t bother much changing. Loading up a vid takes that long the complete internet world wide jumps on a time-out. ‘Time Out’! Hmm, not bad, probably used before. Too obvious. Leave that one to the ‘pop’ among us.
What a nonsense post today. Will try getting back into more serious writing from tomorrow on.

Sunday, 26 February, 2012

Eucalyptica. Eurekalyptica. Europalyptica.

Eurerocalyptica

Tomorrow more.

Monday, 27 February, 2012

Sorry, due to shortage of time and interruptions my yesterday’s ‘more’ moves to tomorrow. Eurekalypticus

Eucalyptus-globulus

Tuesday, 28 February, 2012

Ok, again no ‘more’ today either. If I keep on moving the ‘more’ ahead I forget what ‘more’ is about. Although the ‘more’ story about the eucalyptus is spinning in my head I do not find the time transferring it in digital transportation bits. Tomas (the dog; remember?) came home with a serious heavy bleeding wound so I rushed to the veterinarian. Next the chainsaw broke down. Again jumped into the car and drove to the machine repair doctor. Its busy keeping the family going. So here another picture to keep you in the mood:

Eufeuralyptica

Thursday, 01 March, 2012

The eucalyptus tree has its origin in Australia. It was the only continent where eucalyptus trees existed until sailors (Captain Cook) took samples for research to other parts of the world (about 200 years ago). The area of my current whereabout is dominated by eucalyptus trees. Besides hiking in eucalyptus forests I also use the wood for construction. Due to its uncommon structure and regular subject in conversations I got curious.
In Australia are about 700 types of eucalyptus. The one growing here (Portugal) is called ‘Eucalyptus Globulus’, a tall tree with only a few branches on the top. The ‘Globulus’ is imported for industrial use like in most non Australian territories. The tree grows very fast. In about 6 years it can grow about 20 meters (60 feet) tall. Eucalyptus pulp is very suitable for paper production and pre-fabricated firewood logs.
Eucalyptus roots very deep and if full grown, drinks about 80 liters of water a day. It drains the soil and is sometimes used for drying out swamps. The tree does not survive in cold (freezing) winter climates.
So far the ‘cold’ facts. Living here in Portugal the eucalyptus is often a discussion especially amongst immigrants. The country is overgrown with eucalyptus. Obvious is that planting so much industrial forest created a monopoly of the one imported plant that doesn’t belong in this ecological system. The eucalyptus takes over by not leaving any space (and food) for other trees. In the past the hills here where overgrown by chestnut and oak. Now you have problems finding one. This mono agriculture created drastically changes in local animal populations. Meanwhile lots of water is drained from land that because of hot climate, suffers long dry periods. Eucalyptus leaves contain highly flammable oil. Today, at this moment the fire-brigades of Portugal cannot control the many forest fires anymore.
Solutions to the problem aren’t that simple. Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Eucalyptus means production, export, jobs. Many families depend on the tree. Sure, wrong decisions are taken in the past. Taking that in discussion is maybe good for learning from mistakes but doesn’t help the now situation. I wouldn’t know either how to solve the problem. There are many private initiatives of people (mostly non-Portuguese) purchasing estates for re-planting original vegetation. With all respect for fighting the good cause, but until now just few spots in a massive eucalyptus jungle.
At the moment I am the caretaker of such an estate. Its like described above; I am surrounded by industrial forests. The estate is an oasis in a desert. Some parts of it are still eucalyptus, but I mainly give the oak, chestnut and some fruit trees priority.
An industrial eucalyptus forest doesn’t give many jobs by itself. The work is done by one person and one machine. This machine is a combination of cutter and crane. With big knifes it cuts the trees from the root. A crane lifts it up, and slides the stem trough its steel teeth stripping side-branches, at the same time a saw on the end divides the wood in equal, 3 meter long pieces ending nicely pile up. All this is done by one person! Only other worker needed is the log truck driver for transport. With a machine like this a complete hill side covered forest disappears in 3 weeks. One hill next to here is recently ‘stripped’ that way. Replanting isn’t necessary. Eucalyptus grows back on trunks automatically. All the machine operator needs to do is returning after 6 years.
Since eucalyptus is the almost only available wood around (prefer leaving the other trees alive) its obvious I use it for construction but not having good experiences working this wood. It starts already with chopping the tree. They are long, tall and not very firm, sweeping dangerously all directions. I was scared to death when chopping my first eucalyptus. Big danger these trees falls in an unintended direction. Took me few trees gaining some confident. If chopped it is important working the tree fast as possible. The wood hardens out the longer its death. After one year it becomes impossible hammering a nail into the stem. The stem grows in a twist. It looks straight but the veins are twisted curling up like a corkscrew. It is therefore very difficult processing and makes the wood unsuitable cutting into planks. Also the bark grows in a twist. When removing you keep turning the (heavy) stem. Only good use in construction I can think of is for construction bar carrying floors or roof.
Obvious the most suitable use of the Eucalyptus Globulus is crumbling it into pulp.

Friday, 02 March, 2012

Yesterdays post doesn’t flow smooth. Forcing myself writing the article looses spontaneity.
The eucalyptus problem in Portugal is mainly environmental. Its interesting to see how the set up of an industry exploded to an un-returnable situation. Also makes me more aware of how wrong informed many people (the masses) are tanx to media. The propaganda machine brainwashed your guilty feeling. Using too much unnecessary paper causes killing of many precious trees. Pictures in your mind of beautiful old oaks chopped to pieces and bulldozers slamming many square miles of the rainforest. All wrong! Sure the Amazon is damaged, but not for making paper. Paper is made of trees growing out of their natural environment in designed industrial forests. These forests are artificial and a threat to nature. They should be chopped. So if you want to help the environment use paper as much as possible. Let it all hang out. Take a new piece of paper for every word you want to write. Use printers for every word document you write. Print them all 10x extra just incase you wouldn’t have enough copies. Meanwhile you do not only help the environment, but also the economy of poor countries like Portugal, where paper is one of the main export products.
On the other hand using more paper also leads to more industrial eucalyptus growing and more damage to the ecological system. Due to digitalization the paper (read eucalyptus growing) industry got into a dip and Portugal was hit extra hard by the crisis. Tanx to ‘eco-freaks’ who think they can safe the world having wood-fire places instead of central oil or propane heating, the eucalyptus growing is uplifting again. The wood-pulp seems very suitable for making pre-fabricated logs so the eco-yups don’t need to make their hands dirty chopping with axe in the barn but can watch comfortable with family the latest ‘star-maker’ show whilst in the basement the burner is automatically fed with square pieces of pressed eucalyptus pulp. How much more ecological unfriendly can you be?
The Portuguese eucalyptus industry trapped itself in an unsolvable situation. Giving up the pulp fabrication will maybe solve the environmental problem but causes economical disaster. Meanwhile those who think to ‘do the right thing’ should reconsider if there is a right or wrong…

Monday, 05 March, 2012

Meanwhile you all where busy wasting as much paper possible last weekend, it rained here. Yes, unbelievable, after 5 months finally some liquid touched the ground. First rain this year. Must say I think ‘rain’ is a bit exaggerated for the wetness last weekend. On Saturday the sky turned cloudy and the air felt ‘moist’. Incidentally a real drop of water fell down. Sunday evening clouds disappeared and according weather forecast we are back to how it always was, sunny and dry, for a long time. The ‘rain’ was so minimal it barely did do a thing. The ground is still dusty dry sand. No mud pool. Amazing though to see how many plants take advantage of this. You see them growing. Now they can sleep again for a few months waiting for the next time.
Meanwhile I am Avant-Gardening and building. The barn main construction is ready. Will start with the roof soon. Pictures will follow.
Anyway. like a real Portuguese I take my time. Life is full of important events I have to fulfill too like drinking wine, dreaming in the sun on the veranda or riding bikecycle.
More soon.

Wednesday, 07 March, 2012

The new site in own domain of the Shina festival is on! www.shinafest.com . On the site you find information about the two previous festivals plus latest information of this years festival on 4/5/6 October, will be regularly updated.
Here a few impressions from www.shinafest.com :

The amazing container (2011):

The amazing location Eric Arn performed in (2011):

The amazing Horda Grdih (2010)

Now visit the amazing site www.shinafest.com to see it all.

Thursday, 08 March, 2012

Had my first evening dinner outside on the terrace this year. It was a warm sunny, like summer, ending in a sultry evening. Sky turns pink red. The sun or another forest fire? Had outdoor lunches throughout the complete winter, but in the evenings it cooled of too much sitting outside. Now it seems the ‘winter’ is over.
Lets write some more about the eucalyptus problem in this territory (see posts March 1 & 2). The way humans turned this world upside down makes it impossible changing something. Whatever attempt you do living environmentally aware, there is always a questionable side. Sure you can do little things like refusing the plastic bag in the store or such, but these bags are made anyway. If you don’t take it next customer will. The group of people shopping environmentally aware is so small it will not stop plastic manufacturers producing less. Anyway, most ‘friendly’ packed products are more expensive most people can’t afford them, if willing to shop (and live) aware. Overall I think the ‘masses’ don’t give a damn! Both situations: enjoying consuming in wealthy communities or surviving in poverty. Nowadays only the rich can afford the choice of an ‘alternative’ life-style like vegan, biologic, environmentally friendly,… Choice is luxury.
Although I don’t see anything wrong with activists shaking the masses (or part of) sometimes, I think best is let those masses be what they are. Industrialization brainwashed them all and with ‘all and industry’ we happily destroy the world. Best is to create an environment for yourself where you do less ‘wrong’ possible. Taking care of yourself and surroundings. In Portugal are many private initiatives like the one I work (Juntas). Estates purchased with the goal to create an opposite against the ecological eucalyptus disaster. Not to destroy an economy, but finding back a natural balance.
Industrialization did brought wrong concentrations of natural ingredients, raw material or complete species (plants, animals,…), making Earth almost impossible for humans to survive on. Maybe that’s the evolution of how humans exterminate themselves. Pollution is our destiny!

Sunday, 11 March, 2012

Shorts! I am wearing shorts on March 11. That’s how warm and sunny it is here. Sorry for my constant enthusiasm about the weather. I always lived in territories with cold, or wet or extreme snowy winters. This was first non winterish winter. What did I do my whole life? Should have moved to Portugal 53 years ago.
Music. Lets write something about that again. Almost forgot this is supposed to be a music site. Pop-music always existed. Since the industrialization until today. Assumedly there where ‘pop’ stars before, but I guess it was more referred to as ‘folk’. With the rise of industry came products created for mass consumption. Music turned out to be a good money maker. Not weird, besides sport the most practiced hobby in the world. What do you think Dean Martin or Louis Armstrong where? Serious avant guard jazz innovators? Get real! They where nothing more than a cheap sale entertaining the masses. Pop music in those days was (no different with today) nothing more than a box of records in the trunk of a salesman car squeezed inbetween vacuum cleaners and detergent. An all ages product. That changed in the 50ties (last century) when bored young generations wanted to distance themselves from older. They figured out if you play that Dean Martin song rough, the parents are shocked. Suddenly pop music was no longer all ages but something pubertal youngster claimed as their own identity. The salesman didn’t care. He sold that box of records even faster due to free propaganda of the media. Amazed these hawks where when that easy selling youth thing creatively and politically developed itself in the 60ties to a complete movement renewing every decade. Logic, the new generation had to distinguish themselves from previous. Wow! What was to be expected a short hype turned into long time money making. This need to be ‘different’ gave pop music an evolutionary impulse. Experiments into new directions (often steeling from existing ‘underground’ styles) made pop music in the 70ties and partly 80ties a movement interesting enough to follow. With the last ‘cult’ hype, techno-house-trance, youth culture came to an end. What suppose to be a new generation thing was quickly adapted by older ages. 40+ confiscated the dance-floors and DJ booths in the early 90ties. Logic its all over. Pop music grew old with the first generations starting it. Parents cannot be shocked anymore. They think you look so nice with your black make up around eyes, upside down cross around neck and tattoo on navel. They even support you. ‘We where young once too’. Bleeeeh, who wants parents like that. Best way to shock as youngster nowadays is investing your pocket money in Shell and come home with a McDonalds bag for dinner (while your mom cooked vegan with biologic grown veggies and tofu).
Anyway, pop music is back to where it was 100 years ago. Again ‘Dean Martins’ doing their all ages thing to entertain the masses. Maybe that’s why all these bands look so bored while performing?

Tuesday, 13 March, 2012

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan “industrial music for industrial people”. In general, the style is harsh and challenging. Allmusic defines industrial as the “most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music”; “initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments (tape music, musique concrète, white noise, synthesizers, sequencers, etc.) and punk provocation”.
Not my words. Text is borrowed. Taking last post in consideration the term ‘industrial music’ is very misplaced. What we seem to title ‘industrial’ is the furthest from what industry stands for: commercial success! Lets make a historic change and name things right. Industrial music is Britney Spears or Michael Jackson, Drake, The Wanted,… On the end all ‘pop’ music is ‘industrial’. The complete scene has only one goal: produce cash! Pop music = industrial music!

Friday, March 16, 2012

RIP MARCH 15, 2012: TOMAS

this hurts

Saturday, 17 March, 2012

“Sorry” was about all he said. Got back into the car and drove away. Leaving me and Tomas on the side of the road about 2km from home. I lifted him up, 25kg, and carried until I couldn’t hold him any longer, about half way. It was almost dark and I was in the middle of the forest. Quick I walked home for the wheel barrow. Shit, flat tire. Took it anyway. Only downhill from where Tomas was, except the last little bit. Lifted the dog in the barrow and rolled downhill. For the last bit up I carried him again. Went back for the wheels. Reaching Juntas estate I covered the barrow with a steel plate and heavy stones to avoid Tomas would become night-bait. Next morning I buried him on his most favorite spot.
Tomas was hit by a car. He jumped at the car while driving by. The clash broke his neck. Immediately death. I saw it all happen from 20 meters distance. No one to blame. I knew Tomas had the habit jumping at passing cars, but in the short time we where together I learned him to stay with me if a car approaches so I hold him. We practiced this on the same road he died, where there is barely traffic. For some reason this time Tomas was too far behind. The car drove fast.
There are a two things I don’t like to hear (especially not in accusatory tone); ‘you should have…” that doesn’t help anymore. ‘Should have’ is always nonsense talk. Tomas walked without leash. After more than a year being strapped in the dog-shelter he deserved to walk free. He listened and behaved pretty well to my commands. That road we walked more often. It was a short strip we used to connect one forest path with the other. Another remark “it was just a dog” is unacceptable.
Half a year ago at the shelter I choose Tomas on the spot out of 130 dogs I got to see within 15 minutes. It was intuition. I felt we could get along together and probably so did he. Tomas was on first sight happy, friendly and positive. In the following months I was convinced making the right choice. Intuition never lies. Tomas had a very good character. Didn’t harm anyone, approached everybody and everything positive and learned quickly. We became very good friends. Every morning he waited for me in front of the bedroom door. We played together few times a day. Walked twice a day and sometimes went on long hikes.
On the first day Tomas came to Juntas I had to leave for a short time. Unsure if he would stay I chained Tomas on the dog house. While away Juntas was hit by a heavy thunderstorm. Returning I found Tomas torn loose from chain shaking in the corner of the kitchen in fear getting punished. I did the opposite. Released him from the belt, dried him with a towel and moved the dog basket on the veranda next to the front door. From now I knew Tomas would not run away plus I decided taking him with me as much possible. The dog house I demolished few days later. Within 2 days Tomas moved himself from veranda to living room couch. He became my companion everywhere we went. When shopping he jumped in the car and waited on the parking patiently until I returned. Working at Juntas Tomas lied down somewhere distant but in a way he could always see me.
All the people learning to know Tomas loved him. They all recognized his amazing positive character. Some declared Tomas the ideal ‘model’ dog. It would be too good if all this would last a lifetime.
Tomas liked sweet smells, especially from soap. He licked the shower floor after I showered or steal freshly washed clothes from laundry lines. He learned right away staying away from my clothes, but some visitors suddenly missed shirts and such. He once picked a piece of laundry soap and buried it. In the corner of my eye I saw this. When the owner screamed for his soap I showed him where to dig.
Tomas loved car rides. When I picked up the car key’s he already impatiently ran towards the vehicle eager to jump in. Often returning he didn’t want to get out. I let him lie leaving the door open.
Tomas liked standing on two feet. Often he jumped friendly against me his front legs resting on my arm. Together we danced. Although I am in doubt Tomas was ever aware we moved on music, he loved the exercise.
Every evening, before going to sleep, I gave Tomas some attention and wished him goodnight.
I taught Tomas everything with rewards using small chunks of bread. He loved bread (see post January 6 this year). It would be impossible to physically hurt this dog with such an amazing friendly attitude.
“Sorry” is not enough for more than just a dog. His sudden unexpected death should not have happened. Juntas feels very empty. Tomas will be missed.

Tuesday, 20 March, 2012

Spring arrived and is full on. Usually I enjoy this time of the year, now it’s a bit different. Although the fog in my brain is slowly clearing and life returns to more normal daily activities that have to be done, walking the estate many things still remind me of Tomas. The holes he digged, the branches he chewed. Today I saw the nearest neighbor dog for the first time since Tomas passing. They were friends playing often together. Normally the dog barks and runs (friendly) around me. Today he yelped softly licking my hand. How can he know? I wondered.

Tomas playing with another dog.

On a nearby road a bunch of dogs usually chasing me barking when cycling by, now stayed lying in the sun, looking up with sad eyes. Tomas must have had more friends than I was aware of.
Anyway, its spring. Lets enjoy some of it:

Plum trees in bloom.

Monday, 26 March, 2012

Silence lasted a long time. Now birds sing again. At night an owl in far distance. Dry pollen dust floats in transparent clouds pushed by soft wind like spirits dancing between trees.
Loneliness is not physical, its an emotional state of mind.

Spirits dancing between trees.

Wednesday, 28 March, 2012

I am very aware and in need of writing articles for this site. Its just not with me. On the end of every day I feel tired, drink some wine and fall asleep way earlier I am used too. Its not the work or outdoor life. Was always high active and live in nature for years. Probably last weeks emotions are paying of. My legs feel heavy, feet hurt. Never had this before.
Am I getting old? Age is just a mathematical thing. Attempts cutting life into metric numbers. Age is a feeling. I am 16 (‘and do what I want’). These ‘tired’ days will pass.
Meanwhile roof is on the barn and few nice camping places are created. Started a veggie garden (avant gardening) that works. Tomatoes, cucumbers and cauliflower are growing! Plus we have stormy eastern winds (opposite direction it blows usual from). Some huge mimosa trees crashed now leaning dangerously direction camping fields. Some extra work tomorrow (or when wind calms down) cleaning this mess. Picture follows another day.

Friday, 30 March, 2012

Short post. The pictures I promised some days ago:
Mimosa trees pushed down by strong winds:

and the avant-garden:

Friday, April 6, 2012

Sorry, no posting until next week

Wednesday, 11 April, 2012

Internet problems. The ‘blackbox’ broke down. Cheap crap made to last 6 months. The PT ships me a new one. This makes my online activities lesser. That also explains the long period of not posting. Like every decent sound technician I tried to find the problem myself. Checked all lines, connections and ended up opening the (two crews) hard plastic box measuring every bit on the print. Obviously the little power-dividing chip is confused. Don’t feel for a cycle trip to Korea at the moment. Quicker solution is calling PT service line. Solution was simple “we send you a new one”.
At the moment I try to get online sometimes with one of these usb mobile devices. It barely works. Good for emailing if nobody sends me too many mb attachments. (funny, Word from Microflop is not updated/configured yet with typical computer terms like usb and mb. They are red (wrong spelling) marked). Anyway, will try to put some things on this spot few times upcoming days, otherwise next week, after the new box arrived.

Wednesday, 18 April, 2012

Arriving, the train terminal breathes same desolation like in old days. Few attempts towards more cheerful design at (probably) more recent renovations, failed. The building still feels (and smells) like a stuffy toilet. Grey concrete alternates grey ceramic. Perfect entrance into the most boring town on this planet.
Bit early for the event wherefore traveling here, I decided to stroll through town. First visit a downtown snackbar. One of those The Netherlands is famous for. Was hungry and into eating again the Dutch ‘specialty’ ‘frietje satehsaus’ (fries with peanutsauce). To my surprise nothing in the place was changed since being a regular 35 years ago. Same vending machine on same spot. Little glass doors displaying snacks resting on soft heated steel trays to keep warm. Inserting correct amount of coins allows you to open one door (make sure not to choose an empty tray). Also the coin changing machine was still there. Only difference a little sign ‘out of order’. But most surprising was the vendor behind counter. Still the same person, older. I was amazed. Even then he looked ‘aged’ to me.
After finishing my lunch I wandered the streets. Not much changed. Boredom, ignorance, decrepit, emptiness every time I turn a corner. No wonder this town produces human horrors. The smart move(d) out. What stays behind are frustrated small minded. Incapable people on unimportant positions. Fake journalists, frustrated politicians, failed artists. Those who stayed maintain the desolation.
Don’t know what conservative believer proclaimed messages of roots returning values. This was my last mission here. No further needs for return. I have nothing with this town anymore.

Since a few days I am back on my normal internet connection. Expect regular posting again from now on.

Friday, 20 April, 2012

From FREE MUSIC:
A Heartbeat for the Movement
April 9, 2012

by Adam Sherburne in conversation with K. Kendall

photo by Kendall

Originally from the bay area, Adam Sherburne is a musician who fought the music industry and most things American for over 20 years with his projects “Consolidated” and Free Music! Stop America!
“I call myself a trans-jester, because we’ve had countless jesters, like we’ve had countless activists, revolutionaries, labor organizers, critical journalists, and protest artists. We haven’t gotten it done, we didn’t transcend war, racism, and global environmental destruction. Getting it done requires the Occupy movement now. We and those that guard power (officials, cops, the 2-20%) must transcend our historical relations if we’re to transform our future human relations.”
“Free is a verb. To free music doesn’t mean giving away devalued music products, it means liberating music from its commodity prison. It means leaving the monologue of performance, the private property fetish of songwriting, the stockpiling of the past in recordings. It means talking/listening and teaching/learning at the same time. To free music is to occupy the music industry.”
“Music announced the inevitability of the Occupy movement fifteen years ago, but no one wanted to hear it, least of all business and musicians. File-sharing proved that the days of digital music profits were numbered, and the prevailing 100-year-old economic model of the sale of mass replicated copies (cars, televisions, bombs, computers, records, etc.) would also pass into history.”
“Stop America means stopping nation states, global capitalism, organized religion, and class society. If you stop America, you begin to create something that really scares power, the Occupy camps. You create a community that welcomes and cares for all with little need for money, administration, or permission.”
Sherburne taught music to homeless youth in Portland at the non-profit Artist Mentorship Program (AMP)for five years. When he showed up to begin dis-organizing music at Occupy Portland in early October, 2011, Sherburne found many of his homeless music colleagues ensconced in camp.
“They had already created the infrastructure for an autonomous city: peace and safety, media, medics, a mobile coffee collective, a future mayoral candidate,” he said. “People were meeting and producing a different future, so I knew it was the place for me.”
“What I call Free Music is now my on-going week-to-week involvement in Occupy. if there’s an action, free sound is there. We’re keeping the beat for marches and chants, inviting more musicians, encouraging them to see and hear how the the sound of Occupy differs from the sound of Wall Street. The Wall Street sound is bands, shows, promotion, and tickets. I walk many miles around this city playing music with folks in the streets and talking to them about all the issues, making human real-time connections.”
Sherburne is disappointed to hear people talk about music as morale building. To him, music is much more than that.
“Music is not simply entertainment. It keeps the marches going strong while telling the story of the revolution. Music literally speaks the truth of police brutality, racism, and poverty. Music–played by people on the streets to change their world, NOT the programmed ‘tracks’ used by well-intentioned media collectives to create neat little rad video collages–records how we got here, and it announces where this movement is going next.”
Sherburne has two questions for us: Are we willing to listen? And then play together?

Sunday, 22 April, 2012

IT arrived. Unbelievable and amazed. Walking the local supermarket corridors I had to look twice, no four times to believe my own eyes. Do I suffer delusions? Wishes winning from reality? Carefully I picked up one jar. It was real! written on Dutch it said ‘PINDAKAAS’ Yes! Portugal did it! For what I know the first country importing and distributing peanut butter from The Netherlands. Outside ‘Hollanda’ (and USA) travelers  suffer dealing with low quality, sugar and oil added, much too expensive tiny little jar of some doubtful imported brand mostly showing ‘stars and stripes’ on label.
But now and here good times have arrived. The peanut butter is imported from The Netherlands but jarred by a Portuguese company. Most remarkable is that the label screams very big ‘PINDAKAAS’ underneath, much smaller on Portuguese ‘crème de amendoim’. In the right top corner on yellow background it says in English ‘peanut butter’. Obviously the distributor is aiming at a certain group immigrants.

Sorry for the not-so-good picture. Have to practice photography.

Wednesday, 25 April, 2012

Rain season arrived. It rains on and of for two weeks already. Cloudy wet days take turns with sunny ones. This will last for about another week. It is needed! Despite all that water, under a thin layer of mud the soil is still dry. Turning this dust into mud we need rain for months. That will not happen. Sunny weather is predicted for next week.

Rainy days

Monday, 30 April, 2012

Someone mentioned again to me last week: “humans are the only species in this ecological system able to control and change it in any direction with full awareness”. “Well, maybe that’s our function in this system” I replied prompt. The person looked surprised.
I don’t understand what makes humans think they are not a part of this biosphere called Earth. They always seem to talk and think ‘us and earth’, as if humans are the ‘big creator’. For those who like to raise themselves above their simple existence, or those who do think they are in control; let me tell you this ‘disappointing’ message: no earth, no humans! Better: earth can do very well without humans. Anyway, in the system ‘earth’ everything has its function, how minor it is. Putting yourself in control belies nature. Whatever you do it will be just a small minor part within this system. If humans change the natural surrounding, it is an act of nature by nature. Give up the need to be in control and start to live!

Soon in Moscow

Sunday, 06 May, 2012

I know, I should be posting, but about what? Since music is back to cheap Dean Martin sell-out entertainment, nothing is to say anymore about this. Everything I wanted to write about regarding this subject you can find in the many previous posts of last (and this) years. Ok, I can bother you about my avant-gardening, but are you really interested in my daily plant treating activities? If something remarkable is reached I will post you about it. Most days pass-by working many different activities.  And yep, there is more music than just that boring ‘pop’. Listening a lot to ‘other’ styles I found out that also in those scenes you have cut the crap. Is it that arty farties acting intellectual listening to ‘respectable’ music styles like ‘jazz’ or ‘avant-garde’ or ‘classical’, its just a matter of a inside look learning that pop-systems like copying, stealing, imitating and covering is also among those ‘serious artists’ shamelessly done. Mozart cheap copy crap, Pharaoh Saunders bad imitation rubbish, a.s.o… So lets write about something more real, the cat fight that just happened while I was writing above text f.e. There is a wild cat visiting this house sometimes. I think he just made another attempt joining the cat party. My cats are lesser amused by this visitor. The immediately jump in defense or even attack. The black cat takes more often position at the front door protecting and ready to fight. Massive noise of screaming cats just now indicated another visit of this wild cat. Preta (black cat) fights with all means possible without giving up she even chases the visitor far beyond Juntas borders. Hmmm, with these cats I don’t need a dog.

Tuesday, 08 May, 2012

So lets move on with this cat fight (see previous post). Preta (black cat) disappeared in the night. On a distance I heard her screaming and fighting chasing the wild cat. Next morning she was back, damaged and slightly wounded. Lucky nothing too serious. A day of sleep brought her back in her normal behavior. I am proud of Preta. She defends the house with all means.
But who cares. Who cares about me, my cats and the nature surrounding me anyway? Lately I’m dealing with the ‘real’ world again. Doing production for the PTV3 gigs in Russia. What a bummer this is. Lost promoters, ignorance, annoying replies. It made me a ‘hard to deal with’ this time. I am sick of all this non-functional behavior of these idiots in the industry. Somehow I am out of it. Burned the bridges, but not completely. For PTV3 I might come out of my hides. Doing the job I did for 30 years. But why always these unnecessary problems?  Anyway, I am looking forward to the trip (next week). If my visa is ready. Russian visa are difficult this time. New regulations and holidays got everything going last minute. While the promoters are anxious about the progress with band-visa, they don’t seem to give a damn about mine. Gives me the feeling I am not welcome this time. All is concentrated to the band, not the guy who actually does all the work (me). Oh well, I stay professional in this, keep these thoughts for myself and my posting here.
Meanwhile my computer is getting very old and giving up. More and more functions are failing. I am not talking about the software, but actual machine problems. Now the pointing device, you know that black surface functioning like a ‘mouse’ you move you’re finger around, is breaking up. It barely understands my moves. The ‘magic touch’ is over. I have to purchase an external mouse or another computer. Bleeehhh.

Tuesday, 15 May, 2012

Ok, rock and roll. Long time no posting. I am on the road heading for Russia doing two gigs with PTV3. Yep the good old Genesis P Orridge again. Someone takes care of the cats while away. Juntas is nice but travelling…that’s ‘blood’. St Petersburg first, than Moscow. Did both cities before. Don’t know if I find time and computer updating you with my posting. I will make pictures and tell you later (next week) how it was.
Here a picture Genesis recently mailed me:

Saturday, 26 May, 2012

No, I didn’t get stuck in Russia, neither deported to Siberia, although it sounds like an interesting corner of this planet worthy to be visited by me.
PTV performed two memorable shows. They are all over the web, check it yourself.Many complimented my job as senior engineer. Local crews obviously felt different. They are all young, different generation. Popmusic nowadays is flat as a pancake, so is the sound. Everything sounds like a leveled buzz that would make the noise of a chainsaw sensational. PTV3 is dynamic and so am I. Music (and life) is all about dynamics. Funny, the local house technician in Moscow said it was too dynamic! How can music be too dynamic? Whats going on with the youngsters today?  They like to be bored? Anyway, enough of my jagging, lets boogie. Here a picture from the St Petersburg show:

Sunday, 27 May, 2012

So lets throw out another post. Haven’t been very active with this lately. Will pick it up again, but from Wednesday on I will be traveling again for a week, expect some silence those days.
Traveling for the first time since 8 months. Weird to encounter the ‘world’ again. My solitude life feels comfortable. Some remarkable impressions:
St Petersburg: first elevator ride, going down for breakfast, the morning make-up sweet perfume smell reflecting from surrounding mirrors dominating the small room.
The hotelroom tv screen screaming slogans: ‘which could change the world’, ‘changing the future of this world’, ‘changing you’re daily world’,… Crap from companies advertising. The world was (is) always the same and will also not change. Only some technology got added, but that did not change anything. People are still the same like always.

Did you notice out how crappy google became? The search machine often gives me options I am not looking for while still typing the subject. It has the habit changing the search subject into something I do not want. When finally some options are shown, the first hundreds are commercial pages just mentioning what I look for. The actual site I like to be at is offered on page 423. Google became one of these machines designed by programmers who think they are smart following you’re thoughts. Well, these programmers are so stupid that they can’t even follow my easy mind. On the end; I don’t like machines thinking for me. I can think for myself. By by googles…

Tuesday, 29 May, 2012

Will be travelling for a week from tomorrow on. I try to post, maybe in the weekend. For now a picture of PTV3 in front of the hotel in St Petersburg (tanx Alice). That face behind the pillar is…

I know you look at the same vid for almost a year now. Got some new material that I hope to put on soon (next month).

Saturday, June 9 2012

Back from traveling. Soon a few posts about this very nice trip I made. For now a picture of a fort I drove by:

Thursday, 14 June, 2012

Soon, soon, soon all that posting I promised, but for now a picture. Me in Moscow.
Photo by Gregory.

Matski in Moscow

Monday, 18 June, 2012

Fuck it I am not apologizing again that my posting is barely and irregular. It’s the feel and energy. I am busy all day avant gardening, constructing, organizing plus some traveling. Don’t even have spare time pushing the pedals. My last bikecycle ride was half a year ago. So how do you expect me making time for posting. On my older age but still feeling 16 I need some sleep too. In the past I often criticized people about wasting time with sleeping. “Life is too short to sleep” I quoted. After being awake for 30 years I am now catching up and take at least 8 of the 24 hours for resting.
Traveling: It was good to see some snow on mountain tops instead of windmills, aerials, bunkers and satellite dishes. The latter is what they put on tops in Portugal, probably because of the lack of snow. After a long climb by hike or bike you finally reach the great view spoiled by industrial architecture. More about this trip upcoming posts.
Music: The Shina festival is ‘shaping’. More about this soon also. Still working on a new video plus some surprising free downloads in the download section. Soon, soon soon.
Did someone recently ‘show’ me 70ties footage of the Mahavishnu Orchestar (John McLaughlin). The poor guy didn’t know me. “This is not music” I yelled at him. What could he know? This guitar wanker McLaughlin gives me a headache. I tried his music. Went to Mahavishnu shows in the 70ties 4 times just to figure out what people ‘hear’ in this. I walked out of every gig after 20 minutes with a huge headache and I am somebody who barely suffers this brain-pain unless it is after a night of serious drinking. I did found out why McLaughlin always gave me a headache: It is no music. All people attending McLaughlin shows, buying his records/cd’s, downloading his tracks, linking on YouTube don’t like music! They don’t know what music is, at least they know what is NOT music: John McLaughlin. So what is John M? Fairly, I can only guess. Sports? An ‘Olympic’ competition in ‘how many notes can I play in one minute’? Or just bored people wasting their time strumming strings. Ahaa, someone told me its ‘jazz’. Ohhhh, what does that mean? Jazz is music, at least all jazz I listen too. But let that be an answer: There seem to be a non-musical jazz: John McLaughlin!

Thursday, 21 June, 2012 The longest day of the year, or better said, the longest day-light! I am going to enjoy this long evening in twilight. Bought a bottle of wine (I often do) and bag of snacks (I barely do). This party can start.

enuhh…This hill top needs a toupee

Tuesday, 26 June, 2012

Avant gardening. Proudly I present my first zucchini plant almost in bloom. Recipes follow when ripe for cooking.

SHINAFEST  OCT 4/5/6 2012 :

NATURAL SNOWBUILDINGS (Fr)
AMPER-O-MAT (Slo)
STAPLERFAHRER (Nl)
MARKO KARLOVEČEC (Slo)
DKK (Earth)

LOCATION: IDRIJA, SLOVENIA.

More details will follow soon. If you like to know more about previous Shinafests, location, contact and such visit www.shinafest.com

Here a picture of Staplerfahrer in action:

Wednesday, 04 July, 2012

Two new FREE MUSIC downloads on the FREE MUSIC download page:
https://www.limbabwe.com/?page_id=71 (scroll to page bottom)

FREE MUSIC – DROPPED

FREE MUSIC – TIKKUN

Sunday, 08 July, 201

No, I am not forgetting my digital pages and responsibilities running this site. Maybe you didn’t notice, but I am working on these pages almost every day. Busy editing and ‘renovating’ all pages. Check them out. Click in the navigation on your right. I am now almost done except for some pages in the ‘download’ section. What will be ignored (for now) are the many years of posting. Its too much to edit. The ‘available limbabwe products’ page disappeared. All Limbabwe releases (and more) are available in the ‘download’ section for free! Almost all ‘hard’ copies are gone anyway. If you look for something particular, drop me a mail.
In May I was back in the Alps for a few days, picking up some things and visiting some favorite spots like ‘hanging rock’. Pity, it was a bit misty that day. Showed pictures from that spot before on this site, but that foggy day was special.
Return at ‘Hanging Rock’:

Shimmering souls whispering into the deep valley

Tuesday, 17 July, 2012

More download pages are checked, re-edited and updated. Still a few to go. It takes time re-editing all pages. Often I write ‘this download will be added in the near future’, but for some time all material is available. So lots of text changes. While doing this I repair the mistakes and check if all links still work. Later this week Limbabwe 50 ‘Zebra – De Limbabwe Tape’ will be added.
Meanwhile the peaches were ripe. I am not talking about ‘hot-beach-figures’ but the actual real fruit. Have two young and small peach-trees in the garden. It delivered me about 50 nice soft sweet tasting peaches. Not enough for marmalade I decided. I ate them all. Some got mixed in food. I think that peaches and pineapple are very suitable fruits for mixing into hot dishes like curry’s and such. Somewhere on these pages you find a recipe of a peach-tomato sauce. Will be a hell finding it. Don’t remember when it was published.
Construction is moving on too. Finished with the total cleaning of the ruins today by working a tree-trunk out of the ground. In one of the rooms a complete tree grew. Chopped it and now removed the remains. Here a picture where I am almost done.

Wednesday, 25 July, 2012

ZEBRA – DE LIMBABWE TAPE (Limbabwe 50)

The anniversary tape from Limbabwe (number 50) released early 2011.
The idea came in 2010 during the Shina festival in Idrija, Slovenia where Zebra performed. I co-organize the festival and invited them. Frans de Waard (member from Zebra) knew I was the ‘man’ behind Limbabwe. Together with Roel Meelkop (the other member) they sampled a complete set together from old Limbabwe releases. Old music re-presented in a new shape. They came with the idea to release the recording on a cassette tape. I suggested to make it catalog number 50 since the number was coming up plus it’s a fresher approach than re-chewing(releasing) old recordings.

Frans (left) and Roel performing at the Shina festival

The tape is filled with modern electronic music, sometimes even danceable. It became a great recording and respectful anniversary release.

Cover

Frans and Roel are active in experimental music for a long time. Their history goes back to the Limbabwe days of the early 80ties. Besides Zebra both are busy with individual projects. Roel experiments in Rotterdam with compositions and installations. Frans is an active online blogger. Most remarkable is his ‘No Longer Forgotten Music’ blog, where you can find many interesting downloads http://433rpm.blogspot.com/. The download below is an MP3. There are still a few original tapes for sale if you look for the real and better sounding stuff. Contact Frans over his blog.

Frans and Roel where not very lucky with their travel to and from Idrija. Coming, they missed their plane. Almost the Limbabwe 50 release was never close to being related with Zebra. Lucky, they managed to get on another flight arriving in another town nearby.

During the weekend of this first Shina festival it was raining enormously. Idrija knows many extreme weather types. When it rains it can be a hard shower. Then it rained non-stop very heavy for days. Floods closed roads and area’s. The driver picking them up from the airport had to make some detours. The return flight was first cancelled then moved to another airport. Too much water on the runway. Still we had a good time getting drunk on wine in my place where they stayed.

Recorded/produced/engineered and mastered by Frans de Waard and Roel Meelkop

Tracklist:

01 Sandals in a nutsell
02 Plants on a dope
04 Surprises at the seering heel
05 Supurban looser
06 Geting high on heelings
07 Contenment of piece
08 Hatfuly surprises
09 Notturnol saile
10 The remand for shunrays
11 Stinrays with Stylus

Download the black and white stripes here:

https://www.limbabwe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Zebra_De_Limbabwe_Tape.zip

Problems with downloads or broken links? Please contact me. Go to the contact page in the navigation on the right.

Friday, 27 July, 2012

The Shina festival is cut to two days this year. Lesser money. Also Shina is not escaping the big lie called ‘crisis’. Everybody is cutting budgets. Prices go up. Where is all that money? Its hard to believe there is any less. Looks more that few fill their pockets on the expense of many. Anyway, the program is not lesser. There is the amazing Staplerfahrer from Nizozemska, amazing Slovene contributions from Amper-O-Mat and Karlovcev. Ofcourse the yearly present of DKK, this time short for Doce Kaliptus Kalibrar. All lots of noise artists, but on top of all we have the sensational Natural Snow Buildings. One of the ‘hottest’ top projects of this time. Ambient experimental noise. A premier for Slovenia. This year festival will be presented in a few rooms from the Idrija castle ‘Grad Gewerkenegg’. Here a picture to get ‘inthemood’. More about Shina soon.

Meanwhile there are guests, guests and more guests enjoying this great hot Portuguese summer in the beautiful Juntas. Busy and hectic times. The phone line (see posts last year September/October or such) broke twice last weeks. Repaired it myself. No time to wait for the telecom crew. Have to stay online for the festival and such…

Monday 30 July 2012

Marko Karlovčec performing Shinafest on October 6. Location: Grad Gewerkenegg, Idrija, Slovenia.

Marko Karlovčec is a musician (saxophone, no-input effects, mixing table, guitar) who works and explores the legacy of free-jazz, noise, hardcore, avant-garde and contemporary improvisation and as such is an active artist in the field of Slovenian alternative and improvisational scene. During his career he collaborated with artists such as Tomaž Grom, Seijiro Murayama, Jaka Berger, Italian duo Mimesys, etc… He so-constructed a musical dance improvisational performance with butoh dancer Ryuzo Fukuhara, arranged a few multidisciplinary performances combining music with poetry, film and painting, formed and led musical group Sinai that performed their own compositions and John Zorn’s interpretations of Jewish music.

In his vision performing live or in recording sessions Marko Karlovčec perceives saxophone not only as an instrument in classical sense but also as a medium of communication with the world that surrounds us. Saxophone no longer serves only as a horn, it expands itself beyond it’s sole purpose as an origin of huge variety of sounds accessible by diverse playing techniques. As a solo act Marko Karlovčec interacts with surroundings via saxophone, he resonates and reaches into intimacy that is constituted by us, listeners.

More about his work can be found on his MySpace profile where you can also find a link to his blog:
http://www.myspace.com/markosinai/blog

STAPLERFAHRER  www.staplerfahrer.nl/

Staplerfahrer performs at the Shinafest on October 5 in Idrija, Slovenia, location ‘Grad Gewerkenegg’.
More info about Shinafest: www.shinafest.com

staplerfahrer is the artistic moniker for Steffan de Turck, a Dutch sound artist from Tilburg in the Netherlands, who plays around with crunched and broken sounds, circuit bended gadgetry and electro-magnetic waves… and some weightlifting with powerbooks along the way.

“In the beginning of the nineties, while studying electronics and building my own oscillators and tone generators, I became more and more interested in sound as a pure physical event. Before, I was already tearing up my own electronic toys (or those of my sister) in order to find out what it actually was, what made that noise…Later on, this also evolved in circuitbending my own audio equipment: e.g. I transformed the internal amplifier of my first record player into a noise theremin… All the surprises I discovered by doing so, were my introduction into the world of bleep, click and crackle. From then on, my fascination for sound grew stronger and stronger, as did the need to process these sounds and apply them into an artistic/musical format… both live as in actual audio releases.

Over the last few years, staplerfahrer released his music through underground labels from all over the world: e.g. TIBProd. (N), 905 Tapes (USA), 2AM Tapes (USA), Heilskabaal Records (NL) and Vatican Analog (NL). On his musical journeys, abroad and in the Netherlands, he shared the stage and collaborated with many international artists.

For recent tracks listen here: http://avant-ground.tumblr.com/post/20366769786/002

Tuesday, 07 August, 2012

“To have a home, a family, a property or a public function, to have a definite means of livelihood and to be a useful cog in the social machine, all these things seem necessary, even indispensable, to the vast majority of men, including intellectuals, and including even those who think of themselves as wholly liberated. And yet such things are only a different form of slavery that comes of contact with others, especially regulated and continued contact. I have always listened with admiration, if not envy, to the declarations of citizens who tell how they have lived for twenty or thirty years in the same section of town, or even the same house, and who have never been out of their native city. Not to feel the torturing need to know and see for oneself what is there, beyond the mysterious blue wall of the horizon, not to find the arrangements of life monotonous and depressing, to look at the white road leading off into the unknown distance without feeling the imperious necessity of giving in to it and following it obediently across mountains and valleys. The cowardly belief that man must stay in one place is too reminiscent of the unquestioning resignation of animals, beasts of burden stupefied by servitude and yet always willing to accept the slipping on of the harness.
There are limits to every domain, and laws to govern every organized power. But the vagrant owns the whole vast earth that ends only at the nonexistent horizon, and his empire is an intangible one, for his domination and enjoyment of it are things of the spirit.”
(From: Isabelle Eberhardt, ‘The Oblivion Seekers’)

Monday, 13 August, 2012

Isabelle Eberhardt was right (see previous post). The world belongs to you if you re not restricted by location, job, family, religion, countries, tribes, societies, morals,… Meanwhile it has been about one year ago (and one week) that I arrived here on this location. How steady it will be I do not know. For sure the day will come I move on, but that can take some years.
Constructions and nature control go fine. Finished the barn (picture later this week), created a veranda in front of the caravan with little outside kitchen. At the moment I am making very good progress fixing a part of the ruins. Cleaned 3 ruins really well. Had to dig out tree trunks and clear all rubbish. At the moment I am building a roof on one of them. Than comes the interior work. Also here pictures will follow.
Few weeks ago a big Mimosa tree dropped on the phone line. Only for a few hours I was disconnected. Repaired the line myself after cleaning the tree. Mimosa’s do not grow solid with the roots into the ground. They prefer to spread them out over the soil. This makes them very vulnerable for weather conditions. Strong winds can easily push them over. Rain ads some wet-weight. It doesn’t rain that often here though. Could have a bit more of that. Strong winds come every evening for couple hours. I consider this refreshing, the mimosa’s devastating.
Working all these in the hot sun got me used to this weather. I like the heath. An atmosphere I was looking for to enjoy some years.
Ofcourse this lack of rain brings the usual forest fires. There have been two major fires nearby. One just over the hill in the nature park ‘Serre de Lousa’. That day the sky above Juntas was loaded with helicopters throwing water around. There wasn’t much threat for me and the fire got under control.
The other fire was west, direction Campela. Exactly then was one of the very few rare days with wind blowing straight from the west (usually its north-west). This fire was too far away to be dangerous for my location, still the complete Juntas valley was in a thick fog of smoke and ash-rain. Especially the ash-rains are dangerous. It can carry sparks moving the fire unexpectedly miles ahead. All day I was sitting on the highest terrace of the valley with a bucket of water next to me overlooking the estate if somewhere a fire started. Lucky (again, but for how long) nothing happened.
In the morning I mostly get up before sunrise. While drinking coffee I watch the sun coming up. Last week it created an amazing effect in the sky looking like a techno laser-light show. Here two pictures:

The sky didn’t look like this on other mornings. What caused this I do not know. Fire smoke?

Friday, 17 August, 2012

Look at this:

One year ago when I arrived this was an old ruin, invisible overgrown by bushes. Trees  growing inside. Now it starts to look like a little house. Cleaned and fixed it all by myself using the material that was there, available on the estate. I re-used the old stones. The wood comes from eucalyptus trees chopped myself. Old roof-tiles (still to be installed) I found everywhere in the ruins. Sufficient to cover the complete roof. My only investment is a bag of cement plus some nails and screws. Total cost lesser than Euro 15,–. When the roof is fixed I will start with the interior. Again mainly with material I find, but expect to have considerable more expenses than when creating the basics of this cottage. Keep you informed about the progress.

Monday, 20 August, 2012
 
SHINA 2012, GRAD GEWERKENEGG, IDRIJA www.shinafest.com

The third Shinafest reflex the nowadays political situation regarding funds for cultural events. The usual royal feed of governmental financial support became lots lesser and forced us to reduce the festival with one day and one artist this year. Still we manage to offer a selection of very interesting performers squeezed into the two weekend days Friday 5 and Saturday 6 October. See the list below.
Is expression about creation or creating? Is expression a single one-direction monologue or communication participating everyone involved? Let all be entertaining!

The industrial heritage of former mercury mine makes Idrija a logic location for an experimental festival. Banging the ‘Šina’, workers where called up for shift-start. Assumedly the first unconventional musical sounds echoing through the town valley.

Friday October 5:
20.00
DOCE KALIPTUS KALIBRAR (Cosmopolitan)  www.limbabwe.com
Who on Earth makes the world turn upside down?
21.00
AMPER-O-MAT (Slo)  http://www.myspace.com/amperomat
Modern industrial sound art and food scrapers.
22.00
STAPLEFAHRER (Nl) www.staplerfahrer.nl/
Noise from crunched and broken sounds, circuit bended gadgetry and electro-magnetic waves… and some weightlifting with powerbooks.

Saturday October 6:
19.00
NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS (Fr) www.myspace.com/naturalsnowbuildings
Experimental psychedelic folk with drone elements and ambient influences presented in modest atmosphere.
21.00
MARKO KARLOVEČEC (Slo) http://www.myspace.com/markosinai/blog
Free-jazz, noise, hardcore, avant-garde, contemporary improvisation and communication.

LOCATION: IDRIJA,’GRAD GEWERKENEGG’, SLOVENIA

Sunday, 26 August, 2012

The local market is a weekly main event. Everybody goes, well dressed on Sunday best. Besides shopping the market is a social activity, meeting, exchanging news and gossips. Everybody is there. The village is small and so is the market. So small, local authorities don’t bother blocking the road. Only few tables outside with clothing and farming utilities. The inside market is only food. I go almost every week (its on Saturdays) besides socializing, mainly for the food. The market offers larger selection than the few local cornershops.
Two weeks ago I noticed a new stand. It was very outstanding and drew attention of many. The salesman behind the table was most remarkable. My first thought was that Ben Harper came to town. This guy looked like he came straight out of a Harper band picture (or old western movie). Black beard, black tail coat, black trousers and ofcourse a high black hat on his head. Yep, he has a watch on a chain in his inside pocket. The undertaker working a side-job? A closer look at his merchandise made it al fit. Nicely displayed, orderly and symmetric was a pile of very colorful rubbish. Glitter and shine boxes, bottles, sunglasses, jewelry (plastic) and more rubbish. Kitsch nobody needs but obvious people want. He is still there every Saturday. Although never purchasing from him I like the stand. It’s a colorful contribution. Entertaining in a certain way. Plus it makes me feel good to see some publicly outstanding personalities even here in the far out hinterland.

Thursday, 30 August, 2012

Only few more days and the tourist season is over. Finally! Not that tourists bother me so much. It just caused an inconvenient situation: lack of peanut butter. For weeks the peanut butter shelf is empty. Tried several stores, all I found where open spaces in racks. Ok, I understand Portugal is popular with the Dutch tourists but fuckin’ hey, keep you’re hands of the ‘pindakaas’. Don’t you understand the local stores offer this to the immigrants who have no other means obtaining this indispensable necessarity. Those on vacation have endless supplies at home. Can’t you be without for two weeks? Next time bring your own!
Only other inconvenient the summer brings besides peanut butter shortage is an overkill of mosquitoes. In the beginning of the season I ignore them. But at a certain point the itching becomes too much, especially legs (I wear shorts in this heat). To much use of lemon flavored remedies made them immune. World wide we trained mosquitoes loving lemons. I don’t like to use DEET. Its chemical rubbish, maybe ok for incidental use on hikes and holidays, but I don’t trust this shit living in an environment that would require daily use. ‘DEET was developed by the United States Army, following its experience of jungle warfare during World War II. It was originally tested as a pesticide on farm fields, and entered military use in 1946 and civilian use in 1957. It was used in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.’ So I went online to see what ‘grandma’s’ advice. Unbelievable the bullshit you read. The funniest nonsense was an idiot I like to advice to come here visiting me and be outside naked for a day or two. He will be eaten by mosquitoes. This fool writes that eucalyptus trees and mint (plant) help! Well I live here on a hill mainly overgrown by eucalyptus and wild mint for many square miles. It doesn’t seem to bother one mosquito.
Slowly I am getting used to the mosquitoes. Don’t bother much about them anymore. This seems to work visa versa. I learned the best remedy is simply covering yourself wearing clothes. Mosquitoes mainly appear in twilight. So at sundown and rise I change into trousers and long-sleeve shirt. At night I sleep under a mosquito-net.

Monday, 03 September, 2012

That moon,… The moon,… That September moon,…:

Monday, 10 September, 2012

The pre-production of the coming Shinafest is taking a lot of my (computer) time. Don’t forget to drop by in Idrija on October 5 and 6. We will present one of my most favorite music acts of the last years: Natural Snow Buildings. They will perform on Saturday October 6. I am thrilled! Be there…I am!

Natural Snow Buildings, is a duo fromFrance, consisting of artists Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte. They play music which can be classified as experimental psychedelic folk with drone elements and ambient influences. Formed in 1997, they released numerous albums, many of them in extremely limited quantities while their dedication to musical expression is also shown in the form of their independent releases as solo artists.

Most of their albums have only been released in small numbers, often in hand-crafted limited editions. Their work has been compared with such bands as Popol Vuh, Flying Saucer Attack, and Tower Recordings. They make many references to the horror film genre in their songtitles; for example Santa Sangre (with the track ‘Santa Sangre Part I & II’ on ‘Daughter of Darkness’), The Blair Witch Project (The track ‘Mary Brown’ on ‘Dance of the Moon and the Sun’ is a reference to a character from this film) and director John Carpenter (a track on ‘Dance of the Moon and the Sun’).
The material of Natural Snow Buildings is numerous and easy to find on the web in free download or free listening. Type it in you’re search system. A good place to start might be here:
www.last.fm/music/Natural+Snow+Buildings
www.myspace.com/naturalsnowbuildings

Monday, 17 September, 2012

Every Monday a post. Don’t rely on it, I might return in more frequent posting.
Now look at this:

Yep, this starts to look like a little house.
Half a year ago it looked like this:

Pity I don’t have pictures of how I found this place. The ruins where invisible, totally overgrown by trees and bushes.
Only few more weeks and its Shinafest again (5/6 October). Info about Shina you find all over these pages or visit www.shinafest.com If you travel from far and need a place to stay, contact us. We have overnight solutions!
Besides Amper-O-Mat and Doce Kaliptus Kalibrar I introduced every performing artist o this blog. Doce is well known with regular Limbabwe visitors, have a close look (DKK). So only Amper-O-Mat is left:
Borut Petrnelj aka. Amperomat is a Slovenian sound artist from Celje that is active in the field of modern industrial sound art since 2002. Since then he had more than 50 live performances while he released his compositions on numerous compilations home and abroad. Most recently he collaborated on several projects with Croatian artist Aleksander Cepuš on his independent record label Slušaj Najglasnije. Amper-o-mat is a solo act that dwells in exploration of noise made with every days objects then transformed and modulated into convoluted ambient soundscapes of drone and noise.

Little is to be found of Amper-o-mat on internet and most of it it can be found on his myspace profile. Beyond personal information one can find some sound bits that represent a part of his creative opus.

http://www.myspace.com/amperomat

Šinafest goes on the move!

Have you’re private Šinafest!

Šinafest would not be Šinafest if we don’t experiment a little. Last 3 years we invited you to visit stages presenting artists. In 2013 Šhinafest turns the world upside down and bring the artist to you. Yes! You can have your own private Šinafest in you’re house.
Šinafest thinks its time for a new area. Audience and artist are an equal part of the same event. Ignoring stages, security, ticket offices, dressing rooms,… with other words; having the artist performing in you’re house creates possibilities for direct communication and involvement between all people visiting the event.
For 2013 Šinafest invites artists who prefer to break down the wall called ‘stage’, an obstacle creating distance between audience and performer.

‘Šinafest on the move’

 To realize this idea Šinafest is looking for people who like to invite an artist in their house. No Panic! To join is easier than expected! Read below the ‘instructions’.

YOU DO NOT ORGANIZE A CONCERT! The event is private. On agreed date and time Šinafest comes to you’re house with the artist plus necessary equipment and a technician. Al we need is a small space to set up somewhere in you’re house. This can be anywhere; living room, garage, attic, toilet, marihuana growing wardrobe under the stairs, garden, wherever it fits you. ‘Šinafest on the move’ will not perform in public buildings, clubs, venues, bars, restaurants, universities, social centers or such. Only private homes!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SELL TICKETS! Like said earlier: the event is private. There are no ticket sales. You can invite everyone you like. Friends, neighbors, grandma,  wife and kids or nobody and have the gig all for yourself! Participating in the performance (playing along) can be one of the possibilities. There will be no differences between audience and artist. We are all equally joining the same event communicating by sound and other forms of expressions.

YOU DON’T GET PROBLEMS WITH NEIGHBORS! The performance can take place any time of the day. If morning or early afternoon fits you better than evenings, no problem. A quick gig during lunchtime? We do it. If walls in you’re house are very thin, volume buttons are minor to communication. We go ‘one lower’ or communicate acoustic.

YOU DON’T NEED TO PAY THE ARTIST! ‘Šinafest on the move’ comes to you for free. You don’t need to pay anything. We don’t expect but will appreciate some hospitality, joining in at dinner table, a drink and maybe crash overnight on you’re floor. But if some or none isn’t possible, it will not stop us to jam in you’re house.

YOU’RE ADDRESS WILL NOT BE PUBLIC! The performing addresses will not be announced on posters, flyers, gig guides and such. Šinafest will announce date and city making people aware we are on the move.

‘Šinafest on the move’ rules:

You cannot choose the artist. We will come with the artist of our choice. Ofcourse Šinafest will inform you months before who will perform at you’re house. Most likely ‘Šinafest on the move’ will do the ‘living room tour’ with one artist.
You must supply at least one electricity socket. 220/240 volt for plugging up a small amplifier and side equipment, no major big electricity using gear.
The performances can only take place in Slovenia. Šinafest is a Slovenian festival plus we don’t have the budget traveling across Europe. However places just over the border (Croatia,Italy,Hungary,Austria) might fit into our travel schedule.
If you are very eager having ‘Šinafest on the move’ in you’re house but domicile none of countries mentioned, do contact us! Maybe it can be possible.
‘Šinafest on the move’ will take place end September/early October 2013. Exact dates will be announced and discussed with participants but the period late September/early October is ‘sticky’.
We might request for hospitality. Food, drink and maybe crash overnight on you’re floor. But this is not a must, depending on you’re possibilities and our travel schedule.

Šinafest on the move’ requires lots of organization. So let us know if you are willing to open you’re house for an experiment. Contact us to be a part of ‘Šinafest on the move’ or if something is unclear and you have questions: shinafest(at)gmail(dot)com

Monday, 24 September, 2012

Yep, Shina goes on the move. It is time for a change. Breaking the ‘rule’ audience obeying artists. We should all get the awareness that everybody has an equal part when attending/giving/organizing/working a performance. A good start is to ignore the traditional performance spaces, venues, stages, festivals. Having the artist in you’re house makes direct communication possible. Automatically other useless industry middle men disappear, managers, booking agents, pr. So why not join in and have some fun time in you’re house. Go to www.shinafest.com to find out more (or/and read previous post).
Something strange happened yesterday. A weird thing appeared in the sky. It had a ‘wool’ kinda shape, colored white to dark grey. It just moved into the usual blue, too high to touch. It blinded the sun and there was lesser light. Than something felt out of this ‘thing’, lots of little pieces. It felt cold and tasted like the water in the well. A neighbor told me they call his ‘rain’. Ahaaa, that’s what rain is! Didn’t see it for so long, forgot how it looks like. Yep, it finally rains here. Just for a few days. From Thursday on weather forecast predicts the usual sunshine again. Its dry here! So dry, even these few days will not water anything. To wet-soak the soil it has to rain here solid for at last one month. Anyway, its nice walking without the usual company of a dust cloud.

Was gone for a while. Busy travelling an of course the marvelous Shina festival! Amazing time with amazing artists. Lets start of with a picture from the rockin’ DKK show

DKK Rocks

Sunday, 21 October, 2012

It was some time ago, my last post. Traveling, lack of time, computer problems are few of the many reasons. Will try to write regularly again.
Some people waste their whole life chasing wrong goals, undermining their own dreams, wishes and ideals. Add a communication problem and thoughts based on assumptions fed with negative imaginations, fills up the mind. No more time left working you´re own life-path, unless aiming for self destruction. Communication is a solution. Talk, talk, talk… with the right subject (person). Clear you´re brains of spinsels. Make space for positive non-violent activities in you´re life.
Above is not about me. I communicate and live, realizing dreams before someone turns them in a nightmare.
The Shinafest is over. Was again a great festival and had an amazing time in Idrija. It´s always good to come ´home´.
Weather was good, location fine and artists outstanding! Amper-O-Mat launched a hardcore industrial noise gig, Staplerfahrer answered emotional and intense, Natural Snow Buildings fitted perfect in the surrounding with their ambient sound, Karlovcec went deep into the mind with low drones and high saxophone feedback.
I am still working and editing the rough material. In my more regular posting (from now on again) I will give you a taste of Shinafest no 3. Ofcourse in the near future also visual on www.shinafest.com

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

The vid is gone. Had enough of it after 13 months. Bit out-dated too. Meanwhile another Shinafest passed. When ready I show you another new video. This can take a few weeks.
Its rain-season in my whereabouts. I ever was so happy seeing this much rain. It was needed.
The soil needs an intense long drowning in water. Also feels more relax and safer now forest-fires have lesser chance. Don´t get the wrong idea of non/stop cold rain. Its still pleasant warm plus rain swaps with sunny hours. Every other day is fully beautiful sunny.
In the wait for the Shina documentation here this picture of empty chairs guarding the Natural Snow Buildings set up:

Monday, 29 October 2012

Ok, the rain overdid it. The other day it poured down extreme heavenly. From uphill a hose of water forced its way through the narrow valley. The normally calm mountain stream changed in a dangerous wild river dragging massive rocks and trees with. Since yesterday, when stopped raining I am looking at a different landscape. Worst was that the complete Breur installation (see posts about a year ago) disappeared. Yesterday I spend whole day finding the bits and pieces more downstream. On the end I had all. Amazing, after this little disaster.
Today I fixed the parts together and yes, the Breur is running again. Pity I lost two sunny weather days, but my water supply is important plus Portugal has no shortage of sun.
The Breur back in position:

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

I write this post for the fourth time again. Stopped former 3 attempts after few sentences saying to myself ‘I Can´t’, pronounce English like an ah, not American like ken´t. Although often accused talking with ‘American accent’ I do have a typical English pronunciation of the letter a. I say grass, crass, grant…very British, the a sounding like all say car.
Enough of this bullshite (shite is pronounced like sjait, strong s and a British again.
So I had this conversation again. This time with a youngster from Manchester (I think). ‘Popmusic’ revering to the term ‘pop-popular’. How often do I still have to explain that ‘pop’ does not stand for ‘popularity’ due to airplay and many downloads (does anyone still sell/buy cd’s?). Popmusic is a music style. A popular style liked by many (mainstream audience) and therefore performed by many. Even if nobody never heard of you, you can still make popmusic. Also if never something was recorded, performed,released. You can´t claim financial rights getting paid either. Popmusic is not music, its a product. Everybody can make this product. You are not an artist (musician) if you make popmusic. We all can play these 3 chords. Creating popmusic let you join the competitive market of the music industry. Anyway, what are you talking about ‘musicians getting paid’?
A) You´re not a musician,
B) You fabricate a product that is overproduced.
And now you still claim artistic rights financially granted (British a)?! There are lots lesser types of soap on the market than bands or individuals endlessly re-performing the same notes on the same beat. If you failed, maybe its time you orientate on something different with another product, lesser competitive.
‘Popmusic is music, people play notes’. If someone throws some paint on canvass, is it a painting? Letters on paper, a book? … Rational yes, but there are more/other values that makes creative objects paintings, books, films, photo´s,…songs. What that is needs many explaining and will fill multi posts in the future.
Playing notes might be making music but doesn´t always make the player a musician.

Friday, 2 November 2012

I write my posts ‘old style’ analogue with pen and paper. Later I transfer them digital. Some say that when ‘growing in age’ you return to the roots of you´re life. Probably most people interpret the word ‘roots’ wrong by referring to a place (of birth), but I think ‘roots’ is a desire regaining the comfort feelings when young. You start to do things like in younger years. Am I now talking like an old man? Fuck that, don´t feel old! I like my paper and (free) pens. Through all these decades of touring I always took the free hotel-pen. Collected hundreds, a life-time supply. At the moment I am writing with an ‘Arabella Sheraton’. Reasonable comfortable pen. Simple classic design, white/blue colored. And my roots of birth? Forgot what place that was, it can´t be important. Present whereabouts is what my life is about. Prefer returning to old habits instead places. Live moves on…
Popmusic (read previous post first). Maybe popmusic meant something for few generations. 50 years ago bizznix music salesmen where pleasantly surprised seeing their product changing in a cult, a youth cult. We all know the story (propaganda for the for the crappy-must keep on selling-article) of those days that passed. Pop grew old with their very aged stars who´s production teams still control the market. Meanwhile the ‘cult’ is gone. Younger generations play pop as if they take for granted being copy-cats, meanwhile very aware of the cash-making.
Ofcourse there is nothing wrong playing pop. For fun I incidentally do it myself. Even listen if I feel for being light entertained. Yo can have great fun jamming the usual chords with you´re friends on a boring, rainy Sunday afternoon. Entertaining the masses with a professional amusement show collecting ‘big bills’ is alright too. Entertainment it is, but do not make more out of it.

Sunday, 4 November 2012

Writing with pen is more comfortable and relaxing than typing on computer keyboard. Staring at the screen wears me out. While writing I gather thoughts and ideas, stop to pour a cup of tea or glass of wine, do something else and than pick up my writing again. Paper and pen wait patiently for my return. Leaving the computer on ads hissing of the cooling, sudden stand-by mode blackening screen and that fear the system might crash. Digital machines in rest or wait mode make me nervous. I only have the computer on when working with. Mostly no more than one hour a day. Anyway, editing on analogue paper is easier. On screen deleted text disappears. With pen scratched out lines stay readable and therefore easier available for re-use.
Heard most writers use pen and paper, also young ones. I understand why.
Enough of all this… Time for a picture. Have some visitors temporarily…

Sweet, isn´t…

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Computer problems hold me from posting. Forgive me if longer gaps of no new posts suddenly occur.
In the first months after arrival at my new location I was told several times (about my avant gardening) ‘The most you going to hate are berry bushes and mimosa trees’. Both seem to be impossible to exterminate. Whatever you do, they keep returning. True, cleaning wild bushes of berries and mimosa is hell of a job. Especially berry plans stick with their thorns everywhere, but once cleared its a matter of swinging the bush crusher every 2 or 3 months keeping both plants on harmless level. Still mimosa annoys me the most, but not their steadfastness re-growing. The grown-up are the problem. Regularly big old mimosa trees drop down, just like that. It doesn´t need much. Bit rain, some wind, tree is down. Mimosa´s don´t root deep. They grow spreading roots few inches under ground. Long dry periods make the soil loose. Rain periods wash the loose sand away. The tree lost its support and falls on my phoneline. 3 Times already I had to repair the line due to a mimosa. Cleaning them is taking time. The trees drop in angle, often in difficult position, hard to cut and move.
On he back the estate borders a small wild mimosa forest. Thats where the phoneline goes. Its not a part of this ´quinta´. Don´t know the owner(s). They don´t seem to care leaving it as wasteland. But I have enough of these trees damaging the line. The little forest goes, chop down to a length goblins can´t get lost.
Anyway, its a sunny warm day and time for some outside fun work like moving that big mimosa that dropped into the creek last week. Its nice to work some avant gardening outside. Enjoy the sun, water and fresh air. Here a picture.

Not much left of the mimosa anymore. When you read this it will be chopped to firewood.

Saturday, 10 November 2012

Watched some recent Neil Young performances not so long ago. Was thinking of his song Big Time. The opening lines fit well to my location change, now already 15 months ago.
Neil got old. Unavoidable! I must say (and admire) still the same energy and (amazing) still the same voice. Neil does not sound old! Can´t say this about most rockstars from his generation.
Here the lines (and picture)

Gonna leave the pain behind
Gonna leave the fools in line
Gonna take the magic potion
Gettin’ in an old black car
Gonna take a ride so far
To the land of sun tan lotion
Gonna take it state by state
Til I hit the Leirosa bay
Get my feet wet in the ocean

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

New gallery is added. Shinafest 2012, the pictures. You will find the gallery in the navigation on the right, click on ´gallery´.
All pictures by Aleksej Zagar
Here a preview of a moment during the Natural Snow Buildings performance:

Sunday, 18 November 2012

The rain started like in an old G G Marquez book, towards late afternoon after a day of pale sunlight and white stripes decorating the blue sky. These signs announcing rain had me check if the stored firewood is well covered. Still the sudden darkening overcast surprised me and few of my puppy-guests (see some posts ago). The puppies quickly grow big looking like small copies of mature dogs, firm on their legs exploring and extending by following that big two-legs who fills up the food tray every day.
The rain poured down heavenly. Nearest shelter was the little house at the ´sunny side´ I am constructing, roofed few months ago. Well done! It keeps me dry. Branca (cat) rushes in. Both we sit watching the water flushing stoned paths through the square gaps waiting to be framed with windows. High pitched barking and wailing sounds strangled by pattering on naked roof tiles. Some puppies got lost due to this sudden violence of nature. I picked up the cat and rushed to the living quarters based on the other hill side. While crossing the valley the corner of my eyes noticed two puppies seeking shelter in an abandoned bee hive. I dropped the cat safely in the dry living room and counted 3 puppies. I only miss those two. With umbrella I went back to pick them up. ‘This is called rain’ I old them. The two didn´t care or understand. All they yearned for was the dry warmth of my jacket pockets recovering from another ´first time in life´ experience.
I am re-reading few Gabriel Garcia Marquez books. Not for any other particular reason than that they are simply here and available. Its the first time I read novels twice. Once finished a book I never pick it up again afraid of getting bored and loosing reading excitement remembering every next sentence. This is a try-out! I read those Marquez books more than 30 years ago in the 70ties. While reading vaguely memories of some events and characters pop up, but besides his general writing style I seem to have forgotten many story-and punch-lines. This makes it entertaining and enjoyable reading these famous books again.
Meanwhile it rained few days. It doesn´t bother me. Temperatures are still up, today is sunny again, and I see the plants pleasantly absorbing this sub-tropical monsoon.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Computers, I have been criticizing them often on these pages while using them. I should blame programmers instead. Most of them must be small minded, low educated idiots without sense for logic and no good taste for humor. Their pre-settings and pubertal language use makes me leave pages and delete programs.
I am using a Linux system with `Chromium´ web browser. Every time I open the browser it says in the up-right corner `you’re missing out – sign in´. What `missing out´? Their browser pre-setting was a set-up! It even allowed phishing. Fools designing a program giving you that kind of preset I prefer to miss out on!
If I go to the Limbabwe log in page (WordPress) for the site admin it gives the option visiting the homepage. Holding the cursor on the link a little window pops up saying `are you lost?´. Not funny thoughtless joke. How can I be lost on my own log in page?
Dropbox! Sharing files. Still rousing a bit in music bizznix has me share files. Since the downfall of the usual online pages offering sharing services I was advised to take dropbox. Personally I already get nervous if emails and names have to be filled in on online forms, but ok, lets try. Signed in, downloaded and installed. Log in for the first time it shows a to be accomplished list and screaming banner that I won 250mb! What accomplish and what won? I simply want to share some files or did I join a lottery too? I closed the browser and deleted Dropbox from my computer.
I know I can ignore the little jokes, go to the pre-settings first of every new program (I do anyway) and try to get used to the screaming advertising style of passing basic information. But I do not get used to that. It bothers me all the time. Its the pubertal language that keeps the computer primitive. Yes, this thing is not modern high tech but an adolescent still wetting diapers.
Can´t wait for the day I cycle to the store get the individual parts and compile at home with simple matching click connections my own communication device that I program with understandable language to my own will and needs. In my lifetime…?

Friday, 23 November 2012

The puppies visit is over. They left, spread over the world to their new definite home.
Here a last picture:

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

For sure I mentioned this in my posting history, but looking at few recent mails let me repeat again:
I really like it when a site visitor seeks contact. Its great to get some feedback. Maybe I am a bit ´old fashioned´ but the nowadays ´standard´ of internet contact does not fit me. Please do write me something. On my contact page I say: ‘write something interesting’ and also `I answer all non-spam’. I think we all know what is meant by `interesting’ and `spam’. Messages only containing links or want to have me join internet groups, even from people I know, are for me not interesting and considered spam. They will not be replied and deleted on the spot. Repeats means I ban the IP number (had to do this once so far).
If you are interested to communicate you have something to say (write). Do so, and I reply.
If a link is interesting for me to watch do write what it is why you think I should click!
I don´t have time nor feel for following links, surfing the web or joining clubs and groups. Neither want to become member of Baboo, Babaloo, Babelbooboo, Boobelbbbellonia, MyLinkFaceSpace or whatever these pages are called.
Those who recently did send me ´just a link´- mail, I´m sorry, it ended in the garbage can. Try again, this time write something interesting with…
And now a picture: this is real live analogue communication:

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Was the world not suppose to come to an end recently? Am I missing out with dates, or is it still to happen? Totally forgot this ‘hot’ item (one year ago).
Anyway, nice picture from behind the scene (see previous post) taken during Shinafest last October. Breakfast in Idrija. The person in the front left is Amper-O-Mat. At the end of the table, right corner, Mehdi and Solange from Natural Snow Buildings. In the middle (right) Staplerfahrer with in front his girlfriend. Far left corner with cap is DKK.
Everybody seem to have a good time communicating without interference of digital machines.
Let me show you another rare picture from Shinafest:
The backs of the audience during Staplerfahrers gig.

Monday, 3 December 2012

Its that time of the year again. The Dutch celebrate their victory on slavery. I know, I repeat this subject every year early December. I will not stop doing unless the Dutch stop this horrible discriminating ´children party´ called ‘sinterklaas en zwarte piet’ (Santa Claus and black Pete).
Claus looks traditional with his white beard. Black Pete is his helper (read ‘slave’). Only in The Netherlands black Pete is a key figure at the Santa Claus party. He is clumsy, dumb and…black… there to beat naughty kids with a rod (in the story, not for real). Very naughty youngster are threaten to be put in a bag for transport to Spain where Santa Claus is suppose to domicile.
I know, kids are unaware of skin color, but grown-ups (who enthusiastically join the party) do!
And what about the at young age influenced sub-consciousness plus history forging?
Santa Claus was a saint without helper, born and living in a territory that is now called Turkey.
Yep, you racist Dutch, Santa Claus was one of those you like to discriminate nowadays too! Plus on the oldest `sinterklaas’ illustration ever found his skin is very dark.
In opposite of the reputation lasting long time, deep in their soul the Dutch are Calvinistic conservatives firmly holding on to their racist traditions. The Pete/Claus party is celebrated on every level in their society, middle class, rich, poor, religious, anarchist,… The complete nation likes to show the world how much they like `Apartheid’.

Friday, 7 December 2012

Like everywhere in The Netherlands the Santa Claus / black Pete party was celebrated in our family too (see former post). I try to remember how this worked on me being a child. Do not remember much, it was a long time ago, first half of the 60ties. Sure, some memories pop up but I do not remember Santa Claus with black Pete ever visiting our home in person.
We gathered with complete family in the living drinking lemonade and talking. My father got up for a toilet visit. Few moments later noises outside. Sounds of horse shoes, tapping on window. Excitement rises in living room. Suddenly door opens just few inches. A hand, white gloved, stuck out throwing candy. Thats all we got to see from Santa Claus. For making it lesser obvious sometimes help from neighbors was called in performing my fathers act. Ofcourse at school the complete dressed up theater of a Santa Claus on white horse (slave driver) and several Pete´s (on foot) appeared. Don´t remember if these shows had any racial influence on me. I do not see myself as a representative stereotype Dutch child of my generation growing up in an open minded atmosphere. My parents where very liberal for that time. The many older brothers and sisters made you doubt the reality of Claus on earlier age than friends and schoolmates. Plus I was born with bad sight. This made me lesser focused on what I saw (see Dallas Kingston Kollektor page on this site). I would be the worst eyewitness in a crime seeing, but not registering how the persons look like, colors, clothes, hair, car,… I would not remember.
In my memories black Pete was never present at Claus parties I attended. We exchanged gifts accompanied with long poems, what usually all students and grown ups did (do?).
Still, my life does not reflect a standard Dutch model and ofcourse not everybody in The Netherlands is a racist, but taking many traditions and nowadays situation in consideration, The Netherlands contains (and always had) strong racist elements in their society.

Monday, 10 December 2012

Of all the presents I got on Santa Claus parties only one stayed in my possession until today. My first guitar. Got it when I was a child. Don´t remember the year. A guitar is hard to wrap making it an unrecognizable package. My parents prepared an alternative small present with poem indicating where to find the `real’ thing. I was very happy with this gift. One of my older brothers tuned the guitar and gave me sheets with basic chords.
This guitar is in my possession for over 40 years! Its standing in the corner of this room. I am not a great player, but through time I owned several guitars. Electric, semi-acoustic and acoustic. This one (my first) turned out to be one of the most interesting. It has a short arm, the high E is already on the body. The strings are spread over a thick, wide neck with lots of space inbetween. A `hard to play’ instrument obviously designed to be study guitar for children. In the 70ties I swapped the nylon strings for steel (meant for electric). This gave the guitar an unique sound. Something between classical acoustic and banjo.
The guitar was often picked up by many (also professional) players. They all felt attracted to this strange model with weird sound. Also I still play it sometimes.
Pity there is not much info on the guitar about who, where and when built. The usual inside sticker visual through round sound-hole is not there. Anymore? I don´t remember if there ever was something. At the tuning system it says `Symphonie’. Spelling indicates German made, but it could be manufactured everywhere using a standard classical word.
The guitar is built well. Had only one repair, the bridge (on the neck) came loose and had to be glued back on again. All original parts are still there and body is in good condition. Don´t think the instrument was a handmade craft. It looks more like an assembly-line factory piece, but from the days companies still cared about what rolled of the line.
Here a picture:

My first guitar.

Or what about `The Avant Gardeist`?
Anyway, not much time for posting at the moment. Soon some more text now a rockin picture of DKK

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

There are periods I simply don´t feel for posting. Not due to lack of subjects, more a state of mind. Although daily thinking about a new post, when the moment for writing comes I let it go, vaporizing my mind instead immortalizing to ink and paper. Why not! Too many, too often we do things we feel obliged to. Fuck that! Its our last life, don´t let it absorbed by things you don´t want to do.
Looking at this site statistics I found out the page ‘posts 2010‘ gets many visitors regularly (daily). What is going on there? The page offers huge amount of information, uncategorized, chaotic. If you are one of those ‘posts 2010‘ visitors let me know what you are looking for. I am curious.
Xmas. The radio blasts hopeless attempts creating the old boring December atmosphere. Of the two stations I usually tune in to one supplies religious crap, the other populist `jingle bells’ and `white xmas’ versions. `families around the tree in a warm, safe, environment. The false product created by an industry called `religion’. These days we all know better, I hope! Let us forget that time where humans walked wrong tracks and let release ourselves of this bizz-nix oppression.
Was the world not suppose to come to an end last month, week or so? I lost that date but remember it should be before xmas 2012. Like expected, its all still here. For months few lines of the Curtis Mayfield song `I plan to stay a believer’ occupy my brains:
I met a friend of mine the other day
He said he couldn´t stay
because the world was going to end
at the end of May.
Well, May done passed
And everybody still sitting here on their ass…