ittekimasu

hopefully on my way to Philly soon.

1030p________________________
back at home at the Days Inn in Chester. tomorrow night i will be flying to GLAsgow. and then taking the train to Edinburgh on sunday morning for the Jazz on a Summer's Day. or at least that's the plan.

who is Carmina Burana and why am i thanking Jon Stewart for introducing me to her?

almost one month ago i had the wonderful opportunity of hearing the Portuguese Symphony in an outdoor concert in Lisbon. because it didn't start until 10pm, i could only stay for the first 30 minutes before having to take the subway back to my hotel. the opening number was very powerful, very very recognizable but i did not know the name of the composition nor the composer. well, while watching last night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart i heard the music used as background to the ridiculousness of the Fox News Station's version of the news. Jon Stewart then used the music as background to Dora the Explorer to show how this music can make the most innocent scenes seem evil. and then Jon said "damn you Carmina Burana".

so, i googled Carmina Burana. thank you Jon Stewart and Carl Orff.

July 5th Coro do Teatro Nacional Orchestra Sinfonica Portuguesa

(the music actually starts around 1:40).

this is the music and lyrics. just as in my clip, you will notice you need to turn up the volume about 30 seconds into video.

O Fortuna	O Fortune,
velut luna	like the moon
statu variabilis,	you are changeable,
semper crescis	ever waxing
aut decrescis;	and waning;
vita detestabilis	hateful life
nunc obdurat	first oppresses
et tunc curat	and then soothes
ludo mentis aciem,	as fancy takes it;
egestatem,	poverty
potestatem	and power
dissolvit ut glaciem.	it melts them like ice.
Sors immanis	Fate - monstrous
et inanis,	and empty,
rota tu volubilis,	you whirling wheel,
status malus,	you are malevolent,
vana salus	well-being is vain
semper dissolubilis,	and always fades to nothing,
obumbrata	shadowed
et velata	and veiled
michi quoque niteris;	you plague me too;
nunc per ludum	now through the game
dorsum nudum	I bring my bare back
fero tui sceleris.	to your villainy.
Sors salutis	Fate is against me
et virtutis	in health
michi nunc contraria,	and virtue,
est affectus	driven on
et defectus	and weighted down,
semper in angaria.	always enslaved.
Hac in hora	So at this hour
sine mora	without delay
corde pulsum tangite;	pluck the vibrating strings;
quod per sortem	since Fate
sternit fortem,	strikes down the strong man,
mecum omnes plangite!	everyone weep with me!

i just heard a commercial for a new movie called The Goods which has this same music in the background. i wonder how Mr. Orff would feel about his music in such a movie. i think i read there is a controversy whether or not it was the music in the 1976 film, The Omen.

Meanwhile back in Nihon

Maple Street on a rainy day

simplicity at the Cafe Cosy Cottage

and speaking of lunch (and i was to myself) "oishisoo" and "oishikatta"

waiting in line after a day and night of jazz music in Takatsuki

tony taking a break. since the tsutsuji (azalea) are in full bloom, it must be May. and if it was May, you know where i was and why i was there.

while waiting in line to see Fried Pride, i noticed this cautious fellow jazz enthusiast. and what did i notice?

one of my favorite songs, Pat Metheny's Long Train Home. of course, this is not Pat Metheny and the main intrument is not a guitar but this guy whose name i have misplaced (in my mind) is an excellent saxophonist. unfortunately, my battery was running low and i only recorded the first part of the song.

*late afternoon update. the above saxman is Mitsuhiro Furuya. thanks, Noriko.

Holiday comes to town

old photo, old friends . . . young them (1987) older now (2009).

and then there were three

and then two (counting the guy with the camera, me)

oh, and tony makes three for a lunch of Mexican food in Redondo Beach

Mike and i had a nice day of walking and talking and a little eating. after lunch in Redondo Beach we took my car (public bus) up to Hermosa Beach and walked back down to the beach. we stopped by another old friend Bryce's new shop called Curious which is on Pier Avenue near the beach. i had not been in the store. back in March i met Bryce outside his new shop painting. he had recently returned from living for 4 years in Kauai. at that time the shop was not open so today was the first day to see it. very nice. very eclectic, cards, picture frames, candles, jewelry. and i was happily surprised to see some of my photos in his shop. Mike and i continued on down to the beach and took a rest out on the pier, watching the surf, surfers and other things that caught are eye ... pelicans, seagulls, etc. from there we walked back along the bike/walking/skating path and eventually ended up at Redondo Pier, Redondo Beach and then finally back at his hotel. as you can see from the above photos the June Gloom returned around 5pm which actually made it cool and comfortable. much different than Mike's Florida weather. i left him to watch America's Got Talent as i caught the bus back home around 915p. nice day with an old friend. he has a 530am van to catch. i will be sleeping in until at least 6 or 630.

view from Hermosa Pier of the surfers and that almost florescent green algae i mentioned last week

perspective: the way an object appears to the eye . . . as in "i"?

hmmm. if i get my haircut short again, i will have to think about this style

in the garden, today

locked

in coming

standing in line at the post office

somewhere in Redondo Beach in the afternoon (but what year?)

L i s b o n summer

i was thinking the same thing

h o l av e n d e r

you must be this tall to play

according to Ilonka the LODO, kikker does mean frog and frog in Japanese is kaeru which also means to return home. but, no one was.

f i t o s l o a r t o s l o g r a f

hotaru tails and more tales from a lazy sunday

as promised. the search is over. how long had it been? look closely.

firefly, lightning bug, hotaru 蛍, luciole

8pm ______________________________________________

you would think a concert on the sand listening to the wonderful singer Michael Sullivan and his band around sunset would be a good thing. you would think. he was good. the crowd was ... too too many "young" people. am i getting old? does that sound too negative? the thought, "and they are the future of America" actually crossed my mind a few times. Michael played about 5 or 6 songs. i couldn't see him until i left my teenage-claustrophobic place in the sand. his saxman was great (same as from the Manhattan Beach gig last month). the next band was called Rebelution . . . i think that is why the hundreds of teens and 20-somethings were there. it took me awhile to get back to Pier Ave as more and more people were still slowly making there way to the beach at 7pm.

my bus to Hermosa Beach. notice anything different about it?

looks can be deceiving. not my surfboards, or volleyball or towel. i squeezed inside a retaining rope near the front of the sand stage. however by the time the concert started i could not see the stage or musicians because of hundreds of people in front of me. and on my right there were also hundreds of people ("young" people not at all interested in the music).

i arrived around 500p. if it looks crowded then, it got a hundred times more crowded. the ocean is behind me. and actually the crowd goes and goes and goes to the right of where i was standing.

Michael and his band in front of the Hermosa Beach Lifeguard Station. (hundreds and hundreds of people are behind me)

Michael Sullivan "peace out Hermosa" (ok, he didn't really say that).

you never know what you will see while waiting for a bus.

brighter still

after listening to The Vinyl Cafe for over 10 years at 7am on saturday mornings, i found out today that it now comes on 6am (9am in Toronto). fortunately thanks to The Internet, it also comes on hour later in Winnepeg and an hour later in Vancouver so i was able to listen at my Usual Time. today featured the music of Ron Sexsmith. this is a beautiful song from his latest cd, Exit Strategy of The Soul. i quickly put together a montage of mostly recent photos and videos and added his song as a soundtrack. the main thing is the music. as it almost always is.

Stuart said something like "don't forget to take time to look up and enjoy the clouds of summer" so, i did, i do.

summer clouds around noon

830p________________________________________________________

bus to library. checked out a few new mysteries and one book on Scotland (for next month trips which is now down to three since two trips were "picked up"). walked to Redondo Pier. heard live music in three places including the Couchoise Brothers out on the pier in front of the setting sun at 6pm as a part of the Redondo Beach Pier concert series. from there i walked back along the beach stopping to enjoy and photograph the sunset. back up to PCH to catch the bus home.

here are a few images from another nice day at the beach.

flying fluttering high (sky to the east is blue, sky to the west is . . . see below).

Couchois Brothers

into the june gloom in late july

joy in the sunset waves

alone in the ocean at sunset (almost)

briefly pelican

sunshine is soulshine

too nice of a day to be thinking of having to rush home from the beach and take three buses to hear music. there is plenty of music this weekend with Michael Sullivan on the beach in Hermosa and that is just a rollerskate away. maybe after returning from the beach i will practice my sanshin. my backpack is full . . . beach towels, cameras, suntan (sunscreen) lotion, music (iPod), sunglasses (yes, i know i never where them but i got a good deal on duty free and what is "duty"? "duty is duty"), an apple and some water so time to start walking. in other words, "i'm not home". i did go for a little walk early this morning in search of an LA Weekly but no luck. however i did find this . . .

sunflower guard dogs (i know a few people who might like this long distance dedication)

4pm___back____from____the____beach____________________

and what an eventful day it was. i almost saw a scene from a movie being filmed by a . . . Japanese film maker. the dolphins were fun to watch and almost eluded my camera lens. and i saw a "rescue" of an 11 year boy by a Lifeguard. and coincidently i had just talked with the "hero" Lifeguard about 5 minutes before the "rescue". there was an incredible rip currents today. i swam for about 20 minutes but the strong riptide pulling one away from the shore was too much for me. and i did read the first few chapters of Murakami Haruki's novel Kafka On The Shore. very enjoyable. thanks again to Gina for sending me two of Murakami's books. note to self: carry eyeglasses if you plan to read.

tony and i and Kafka at the beach (shore)

that green i like with a little extra

crunch!

hopefully you can see the wonderful surfing family. what you can't see too well in these photos is the almost florescent green algae which was very noticeable today.

the Lifeguard said it was because of the water's warm temperature and was not harmful except that . . . it tastes bad.

the red arrow is pointing to the boy in trouble. the green arrows are pointing to the Lifeguards.

you would think he was safe but as you can see they are looking back at a big wave just about to crunch down on them. the rip current is pulling them out.

the boy and Lifeguard #1 are swallowed up

and then so is Lifeguard #2

Mother and other kids show up to help

all ends well.

Future Lifeguards of America in training