Texas with TU & Chrysta

April 25-30, 2011 Texas

Another wonderful trip with family, guns and music. What could be better?

First out to West-ish Texas to blow cans, buckets and pumpkins to smithereens with large amount of firepower. Yes, it is possible to vote progressive AND shoot things. Just as it is possible to vote conservative and support Planned Parenthood.  Both of these happen more often than you would suspect, even here in the Wild West of the Tejas Territories.

Artistes with Guns (myself and Phillip Schalekamp)

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The Gap of Frustration

I don't usually share insights from particular meetings with my coaching clients but, following on from the Ira Glass quote above, I did see something the other day worth sharing.

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Sweden: Coaching and Performance

I am just on my way home from ten days in Sweden. I was invited over by Thomas Olsson as part of the music education IB Expo. Also along for the journey were guitarist Henry Kaiser, drummer Morgan Ågren and the Swedish group Midaircondo.

We basically set up camp in Varberg in this fantastic hotel and traveled out to different cities each day. The hotel was probably the nicest place I have ever stayed. Not because it was a fancy place – it wasn’t. But it was just right. Small nice rooms, open buffet for breakfast 6-10am and for dinner 6-10pm. It had a wonderful open dining area around the entire main floor. There was a whiskey bar and smoking room. And the ‘special sauce’ on the place was a bathhouse on the first floor that was a remake of Lenin’s favorites bathhouse in St. Petersburg. More than a wee bit strange to have busts and photos of Lenin all over the place, but it was very, very nice being down there. See the photos:

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Travels in Russia with TU & KTU

Pat and I went completely around the planet on this tour. I don't think I have ever traveled so far and so fast. We were in Russia for 16 days and having been home for over a week now, my body's clock is still completely miswired. Fun, fun, fun!

Our first gig was in Vladivostok, which is basically right next to Japan and practically touching North Korea. Seven (that's right, SEVEN) time zones east of Moscow. So, being right next to Japan you would think I could just fly straight there from Seattle. But, no Mr. Wizard. Nyet, nyet. I left Seattle on Monday morning and flew overnight to Amsterdam. Then to Moscow, arriving on Tuesday. After about five hours in Moscow with my pal Pat, and our promoters <the Two Dmitry's>, we got on another plane and flew overnight to Validovostok. Arriving on Wednesday afternoon.

VLADIVOSTOK

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Quodia in Mexico, Casa de Lago

This was the first Quodia performance in three years. If I were honest with myself, I didn’t think we would ever perform this piece, “The Arrow”, again. I had, somehow, envisioned reconfiguring and rethinking the whole project before another burst forward. Funnily, this is the project with which I have had the largest internal ‘Yes’ combined with the largest external ‘No’. Which is, clearly, a blessing and a curse.

So when Quodia was invited to come to this “Poesía en Voz Alta” (Poetry Out Loud) festival in Mexico, I took the position of:

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Ring Composition and Quodia

I have been putting the Quodia performance “The Arrow” back together these last two weeks. We have been offered a show in Mexico City at an international poetry festival called “Poetry Out Loud”.

Not having performed this piece for a few years means I have my work cut out for me. My shortlist:

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Shimon and I

I'll be playing a spontaneous gig at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival tomorrow night with Shimon the Marimba Playing Robot and Chris Brokaw of Come and Codeine.

Should be suitably strange. The Seattle Stranger says "come and see this!"

See The Colbert Report on this guy:

Shimon on Colbert from Georgia Tech on Vimeo.

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The Magnificent Jinn

Dr. Minz's video to The Magnificent Jinn, from "Music for Pictures."

The Magnificent Jinn

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