February 2017 – Page 3

I Revisit A Part Of My Childhood

This morning I had an experience that for me was unique. I am 74 years old, have lived in about 10 countries, went to some 14 schools, have had a large collection of professions and lived in rather a lot of towns, villages and so forth, and in all of that I have so […]

This morning I had an experience that for me was unique.

I am 74 years old, have lived in about 10 countries, went to some 14 schools, have had a large collection of professions and lived in rather a lot of towns, villages and so forth, and in all of that I have so far never, ever, been back to a place I lived in, a place I have worked in, revisited an old profession or in any manner or way gone back to any earlier experiences.

It has always been my policy that once left, is always left, and so far that policy has worked well for me, even if it has made the business of regularly having to make new friends a bit exhausting.

So what was this revolutionary experience I had this morning? Simple enough. We are currently driving around in Tasmania, a country where I lived for a few years back in the late ´40s of the last century, and one of the places I lived in was a farm about 15 km to the west of Burnie at a place called Doctors Rocks.

The actual Doctors Rocks is a small rocky headland just opposite the entrance to the track up to the farm and the house we used to live in.

So, as we were driving past this place, I had no excuse not to stop and have a walk around and revisit for once part of my earlier life – a part that I have always remembered with affection.

It is a simple enough place, a farm at the end of a track (now sealed, but in my time, simply a dirt track) going off at right angles to the road. Now it seems to consist of several wooden houses and a lot of modern barns set in a rather attractively wooded and up and down bit of countryside.

I am not sure if the houses that are there now were there when I lived there, as they are wooden houses, I suspect that they are not the same ones, but they seem to be in roughly the same positions relative to each other that they were in my time there.

The farm itself was about 2000 acres (some 800 hectares) and stretched in a relatively narrow strip back from the farm and up into the hills behind the farm. Continue reading “I Revisit A Part Of My Childhood”

Theremin – The First Electronic Instrument

Way back in about 1919, a somewhat strange Russian by the name of Lev Termin invented what I am sure had to have been the first purely electronic musical instrument when he created an instrument he called the Termin. He moved quite shortly after this to the USA, where he changed his name to Leon […]

Way back in about 1919, a somewhat strange Russian by the name of Lev Termin invented what I am sure had to have been the first purely electronic musical instrument when he created an instrument he called the Termin.

He moved quite shortly after this to the USA, where he changed his name to Leon Theremin for some reason, and his invention was thereafter always known as the Theremin.

What is a Theremin?

Well I have found a good and detailed discussion online all about the Theremin, and it describes it at some length. So here I shall simply give you the brief description, and if you are seriously interested in this instrument, you will find a link to that website at the end of this post.

It consists of a box-like body with two antennas: one is a straight vertical rod which controls the pitch (usually on the right for right-handed players), the other is a horizontal loop (usually on the left) shaped somewhat like a cane handle which controls the volume. The pitch and volume of the note are controlled by the distance of the hands from the antennas which generate an electromagnetic field.

So, now you know the essential essence of the Theremin, next thing is, what does it actually sound like? To answer this question I have found an old bit of film in which Theremin himself, in scratchy Russian, describes and demonstrates his instrument.

For those of you who do not speak Russian, here is an English speaker demonstrating it for you…..

OK, so now we know what it sounds like, and more or less how it works and how to play it as well, so what does it sound like when used as an instrument to play music with? Well obviously it sounds more than a little ethereal, and spacey as well – but it does have a sort of haunting quality I find. Continue reading “Theremin – The First Electronic Instrument”

Strange Fruit – A Powerful And Dreadful Song

Strange Fruit, the first song to crash headlong into the horrors of racism in the USA:- Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and […]

Strange Fruit, the first song to crash headlong into the horrors of racism in the USA:-

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,

Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,

Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,

And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.

This was a poem written by a New York Jew by the name of Abel Meeropol, who wrote it in 1937 as a reaction to seeing the photo of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana.

Seeing this image of those two dead men so upset him that he couldn’t sleep or function for days after seeing it, so he had no choice but to write the poem as a sort of catharsis. He first published it in a Teacher’s Union magazine (he was a teacher), and then felt he needed to take it further, and wanted someone to set it to music, but no one was game to take on such a sensitive and potentially dangerous task, so he did it himself.

Continue reading “Strange Fruit – A Powerful And Dreadful Song”

Sarah DeRemer – Weird And Terrifying Images

Sarah DeRemer, an American born photographer who currently lives in Korea makes the most extraordinary and weird images, mostly a juxtaposition of several images to produce a most unlikely, but frequently somewhat scary creature. To demonstrate what I mean, here is a creature created (in Photoshop) from a baboon and some sort of small bird. […]

To demonstrate what I mean, here is a creature created (in Photoshop) from a baboon and some sort of small bird.

You see what I mean? And to make sure you realise that by combining two more or less harmless creatures into one beast you tend to end up with something truly horrible , here are a couple more of her strange creations.

This odd creature she calls a Marmowolf, reasonably enough I feel.

Or this one…………..

Continue reading “Sarah DeRemer – Weird And Terrifying Images”

South African Anthem – Best In The World?

Generally national anthems are the most dreary and banal drones, not anything that anyone from another country would even consider to be music, let alone something that might move them in any way… Think of Britain’s awful dreary pean of praise to the House of Windsor – not even about the country – and you […]

However, a few countries have taken the trouble to give themselves national anthems that are not only a hymn of praise to their country, but also musically moving and powerful, and the best of these (to my mind) is the South African Anthem, which combines both a great melody (well two actually) and even has words that are not too awful.

Two Anthems In One.

As I mentioned above, the current South African anthem is actually made from two totally separate pieces, one that originated with black Africans, and was the anthem of the resistance to apartheid, the other was for many years the anthem of the white Dutch Settlers, and as part of the approach the South Africans took at the end of apartheid, they decided to simply join the two together and make that their new national anthem – Pleasingly gentle idea.

So, what were these two songs?

The first part of the current South African Anthem is ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’ (God bless Africa) which was composed by a Methodist school teacher named Enoch Sontonga in 1897. He intended it to be simply a hymn to be sung in church, but it later became much more famous as a song of resistance to the apartheid policies of the white South African government.

Effectively becoming the alternative South African national anthem and was the song that the ANC sang at all their demonstrations and gatherings,

Here is a very powerful version, sung in Zambia by a whole slew of people who fought against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

See what I mean? That is one seriously powerful and moving piece of music.

The other part of the current national anthem of South Africa is rather less powerful, and to be honest, much more of a ¨classic¨ national anthem.

Continue reading “South African Anthem – Best In The World?”

Pork And Oh Calcutta – Curious Events

Many years ago I was Production manager at the Roundhouse Theatre in North London, a theatre that was something of an icon back in those far off days. We staged all manner of shows there, film festivals, weekly pop concerts, avant guard classical music concerts – basically, you name it, we showed it. Among the […]

Many years ago I was Production manager at the Roundhouse Theatre in North London, a theatre that was something of an icon back in those far off days. We staged all manner of shows there, film festivals, weekly pop concerts, avant guard classical music concerts – basically, you name it, we showed it.

Among the many other shows that we had there were two very famous and to a greater or lesser degree, pornographic ones.

Specifically these were Oh Calcutta, which after Hair, was the first show in London to have on-stage nudity and a show by Andy Warhol called Pork – Such subtlety eh?

So. what were they like, these two splendid examples of the theatrical arts?

Oh Calcutta

Oh Calcutta was a very dreary show, more or less entirely at the mental level of a smutty 14 year old schoolboy’s sense of humour – not surprisingly, as it had been written mainly by a number of English theatrical luminaries who were products of the British Public School System – In Britain a Public School means a very exclusive, expensive and in those days, boys only school, which churned out generations of men who somehow never quite grew up.

And Oh Calcutta was a very good example of their juvenile sense of humour.

Basically Oh Calcutta consisted of a load of shortish sketches, all dealing with sex in one way or another – but all in a school boy, sniggering fashion, so a sort of variety show really, and as I mentioned above, was one of the first theatrical shows in London with nudity, and also people apparently having sex as well (however, there was a clause in the contracts of the male actors that should they get an erection on-stage, they would be fired!). There was also a short playlet by Joe Orton which was actually quite funny, but for the rest, it was smutty dross.

There were as far as I was concerned, only two good things about it.

The first of these was a ballet sequence in it performed by two naked dancers, a man and a woman, which was incredibly beautiful to watch, and the second was that everyone and his uncle wanted to see the show, so we who worked at the Roundhouse did a roaring trade in smuggling people into the theatre to see the show – We stuffed people into the lighting booth, all around the auditorium and absolutely anywhere we could think of that would allow them to see the stage… And charged much fine money for this obviously..

Shot of the ballet….

There was one somewhat funny, yet sad thing that occurred to me in this respect. I was mooching around outside the theatre looking for anyone who might wish to pay me to get them into the show, when an Indian family (Mother, father and youngish teenage daughter) approached me, and asked if I could get them into the show. So I made the deal and took them into the Roundhouse and parked them on some kitchen chairs on the balcony, and left them to enjoy the show.

Continue reading “Pork And Oh Calcutta – Curious Events”

Strange, Almost Music From Candles

A Dutch musician/composer has come up with a truly curious and rather pleasing musical instrument, well, perhaps calling it a musical instrument is a bit of an over-statement, possibly music generator might be nearer the mark.. or automatic music maker….. Well, whatever name you think is the best one for this construction, it produces a […]

The creator of this instrument, a Dutchman by the name of Ronald van der Meijs calls it a Candle Pipe Organ, which is actually a totally correct name for this gadget, as you will see when you watch the video of it below. Basically it consists of 9 organ pipes of differing lengths, each of which has its airflow controlled by a candle in a rather ingenious holder. So as the candle becomes shorter as it burns, the volume of air entering the pipe increases, which changes the pitch of the sound produced..

So in one sense, as he puts it, the candles are actually the musicians, and they control the sound the organ produces, not he.

He explains how it works as follows….

The candles vary in size. As the wax melts, the pitch of each pipe shifts slowly and irregularly. The shortening of the candles causes a vertical movement in each mechanism, pulling a wheel connected to a brass valve at the front end of each pipe. Opening the valves allows for different toned pitches.

So that is how it works…. Now is your chance to listen to its gentle music…..

https://player.vimeo.com/video/198366994

Currently the organ can be seen at De Vishal gallery in Haarlem, Netherlands,, but for more information about the creator of this wondrous instrument, you can visit his website at http://www.ronaldvandermeijs.nl/

MONA – The Best Modern Art Museum In The World?

During a recent trip to Tasmania I visited a museum that is known as MONA just outside Hobart, which translated stands for the Museum of Old and New Art and speaking as one who has been to modern art museums all over the world, I have to say that this one is probably the best […]

During a recent trip to Tasmania I visited a museum that is known as MONA just outside Hobart, which translated stands for the Museum of Old and New Art and speaking as one who has been to modern art museums all over the world, I have to say that this one is probably the best by a heck of a long way.

It has the most eclectic collection of art, and true to its name, it has objects ranging from

ancient Egypt to things made a few weeks ago. But curiously, it has almost nothing from the impressionists, or any of the various types of art that flourished in the 20th century – nary a Picasso or Surrealist in sight, nor any of the later 20th century artists… no Pollock, nor Warhol either.

But I actually found this to be a pleasant change, as to be honest, I had never heard of any of the artists whose work is in this incredible collection, which meant I was able to approach them without any preconceptions, which I found a very liberating experience. I was thus able to judge each piece simply on how it effected me, and not be influenced by any baggage caused by knowledge of the artist concerned.

And what makes it even more amazing is the setting of this museum, which basically is all underground. If you follow the link I shall be placing below, you will see what I mean about both the art in the collection, and the amazing setting too.

All that you see when you approach the front door of this museum is a low and rather unimpressive building of no great architectural value, but once you get inside this building and discover where the actual museum is placed, it dawns on you that you are about to have a serious experience.

There are four floors to this museum, the first being on the ground level, the other three being below ground. Basically what it is is a huge hole dug in the solid sandstone that the ground is made up of, so as you will see in the video, the walls are simply beautifully carved sandstone.

The actual exhibition is spread all over these three underground floors in a very complex fashion, causing one to go up and down between levels, many of the actual ¨rooms¨ are in a series of black rooms that are interjoined in complicated ways, so wandering around is an experience in itself.

Continue reading “MONA – The Best Modern Art Museum In The World?”