Camperdancing

The builders of the Fuso Szulc in Riverside, California, USA never had in mind that the expedition vehicle was also going to be used as a discotheque with a dance floor.
Like last night.

There is an excellent sound system in the Fuso Szulc with four Kicker loudspeakers, an XM satellite radio receiver, a Sony XR-CA640X car radio with cassette player and a separate 10 CD player and available is also an iPod.
There is also a system that music on a computer can be played from the Fuso Szulc sound system.
And when the office chair is pushed underneath the table, a dance floor is created for two people.

The vogue these days for the ones loving to dance is music from the Balkans.
Super exciting music of a hypnotic rhythm.
To dance into oblivion next to heaven.
In the Netherlands they organize special evenings to dance on Balkan music: "Balkan Beats".
And the Fuso Szulc, having Balkan music on board, did as well.

The Balkan is an area in the southeast of Europe.


Consisting of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro.


An area with high mountains, isolated villages, beautiful cities and a rich tradition and culture.
Where music comes from that is so exciting, so full of vitality and so melodic that nobody can remain in a chair when hearing it.
It forces anybody to get up and move.
That will often look like dancing.

Top of the bill for Balkan music are "Kayah i Bregovic".
Check this link and have the dance of your life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc5q4MF4hXM&feature=related




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The sweet one

One genre of music we call: “classical”.
Dating from the 1700’s and 1800’s.
Played by pianists and symphonic orchestras.
We know names of composers like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Grieg, Verdi, Chopin and Mahler.
Not to forget Strauss and Wagner.

All these composers were able to write down the music they were hearing in their head.
On paper with a pen.
Therefore we can still listen and hear the music they wrote.

At the time, there was no way to tape the music they wrote.
No recording devices.
Like the gramophone.
Or a tape recorder.

But they had developed ways to give precise instructions how their music should be played.
With a margin of interpretation for the conductor and musician.

This is why we are in a situation that we can listen to, for example, piano music by Frederic Chopin.
But we don’t really know if Frederic Chopin agrees to the way his music is being played.

But Frederic Chopin is at the cemetery of Pere Lachaise in Paris and has no more saying anyway.

Nowadays we have a completely different situation.
Take a classical modern song like “Good vibrations” by the Beach Boys.
This music is made using all the possibilities of the recording techniques.
Therefore “Good vibrations” stands by itself.
Somebody else could perform it also, but it will never be the same.
That doesn’t matter because we have “Good vibrations” well recorded and we can hear it by radio, TV, iPod and CD.

This fact has a consequence for, let’s say, a century from now.

When we want to hear music from 100 years ago, we hear nothing.
The closest we can come is to play it ourselves based on written notes left behind.

But when people living 100 years from now, in 2109, want to hear music of our days, they can actually hear it.
And any effort on their behalves to play it themselves will always be a poor imitation.

Now, alert fervent and loyal blog readers may stand up, raise their hands and when getting the floor, say: “But this also goes for pictures and films!!!”

This is a very good remark.
We do have paintings and drawings of the time before photography and film started to document life.
But those paintings and drawings were interpretations.
No true documentation of the reality of those days.

We don’t know that much about the past.
Because it was not so well documented.

But in 100 years, not only can they hear “Good vibrations”, but also they can see in detail how we were living.
What will they think of us seeing the images of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: the slaughtering and butchering of people and animals going on these days?

Good for us that next year the photo book “The most beautiful people in the world” will be published.
So in 100 years they also see another side of us: the sweet one.








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The best.

Robert Plant.
Jack Bruce.
Marty Balin.

Who else?

Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind

In 1966 Keith Richard, the guitar player of the British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, was involved with a girl called Linda Keith.
Rather peculiar that her last name was her boyfriend’s first name.
In any case, Linda had enough of Keith, the boyfriend that is, and ran away from him.

This made Keith Richard sad and together with fellow band member Brian Jones he quickly wrote a song.
Called “Ruby Tuesday”.

It is one of the best Rolling Stones songs they ever made and played.
Before they became a machine producing rock and roll songs that all sound the same.

What is so great of the lyrics of the song “Ruby Tuesday” is that they are universal and spiritual.
They go beyond a simple love song.
In fact, the text describes a certain personality.
Characteristics of an exceptional person.

Let us read carefully the lyrics of the song “Ruby Tuesday”:

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday dont matter if its gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows
She comes and goes

Goodbye, ruby tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still Im gonna miss you...

Dont question why she needs to be so free
She’ll tell you its the only way to be
She just can’t be chained
To a life where nothings gained
And nothings lost
At such a cost

Theres no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind.
Aint life unkind?

Goodbye, ruby tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still Im gonna miss you...

Actually, the characteristics described of the person in this song apply seamlessly to the pioneering photographer.
Who is one of many who live not losing dreams to avoid losing the mind.

Persons who change every new day are mostly men.
Rarely women live in the way described in the song “Ruby Tuesday”.
As far as can be seen, only one female person is known who cannot be chained to a life where nothing is gained.
And of course she is a photographer.





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Child of the moon

Some nights ago it was pitch black.
There was no moon.
Fortunately, now the moon is in its first quarter and showing itself again.

When we look at the sky at night and there is no moon, we feel lost.
Because we look into eternity.
Into infinity and endlessness not being offered any sense making point of reference.
Without the moon we have nothing to hold on to when imagining we are with Earth in a space without boundaries.

This explains why a book was written that had as a title:
“Women are from Venus, men are from Mars”.
The title had to indicate how estranged women and men are from each other.
We know hardly anything about Venus and Mars and we have never been there.
Hence, it is the perfect symbolism and metaphor to explain in one line how supposedly women are different from men and men from women.

We also have the expression of “moonchild”.
This means a child born under the sign of Cancer.

This possibly inspired the Rolling Stones to make a song in 1967 called “Child of the moon”.
It is one of their best songs.
Mainly because at the time Brian Jones was still alive who had a strong musical influence on the band.

The lyrics are confusing but beautiful:

CHILD OF THE MOON
(Jagger/Richards)

The wind blows rain into my face
The sun glows at the end of the highway
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile

She shivers, by the light she is hidden
She flickers like a lamp lady vision
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile

The first car on the foggy road riding
The last star for my lady is pining
Oh, child of the moon, bid the sun arise
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a misty day, pearly gray, silver, silky faced,
Wide-awake crescent-shaped smile

This Rolling Stones song is so incredibly melancholic.
So full of yearning and longing.
And fortunately without the usual guitar solo.

At the time a video clip was made of this song and this is also an amazing thing.
It is in black and white and rather clumsy but it has a strong visual impact.
The video has the same mystification as the lyrics and uses the technique, popular at the time, of showing long face shots of the persons in the video.
There is therefore a strong feeling that a lot is going on between the persons in the video but it remains a mystery what exactly.

When hearing this song, it enters deep and remains in the head for the rest of the day.
To test this, click this link and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEH3xv484jo





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A head of it all.

This morning in the fancy shower of the house of cousin Jerzyk in Nowy Sacz, Poland, a fabulous idea came to mind through the falling water.

It came because the fancy shower is equipped with a sound system.
Through waterproof sound speakers in the ceiling the nude and splashing listener hears music on CD or the radio.
A song was heard and it was believed something new from Madonna.
But it was a song from some kind of Polish singer doing a perfect imitation of the beloved Madonna.
Except, the words of the song were in Polish.

Consequently, the idea is why not sample the voice of Madonna?
Have her voice and all the sounds she can make put in a forceful Apple computer and make a library of syllables.
Next, with these syllables create and compose a text that is not in English anymore but, for example, in Polish.
One will hear Madonna sing but not in English.
It could be in any language.

Small example as a demonstration.
The word in Polish for shower is PRYSZNIC.
This word has 3 syllables.
Pree.
sjnee
tszzee.
So, in the library we look for parts of English words that Madonna has sung that are identical and mount it together.

This may sound like a far-fetched idea and for sure some details need still to be worked out.
But every good idea, like the light bulb by Edison, is far fetched in the beginning and one only needs to switch on the light now to understand what eventually happens because of excellent thinking of a man taking a shower.

Meanwhile the work of the Australian artist Karen Papacek is re-appearing on the stage build in the memory for seeing memorable things.
She is a painter and sculptor who lives in France.
She makes paintings and drawings that not only have beauty, but are loaded with emotions as well.
Some examples will illustrate this point made:

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To learn more about the work of Karen Papacek, click on:
http://www.papacek.com/







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