Arts
At The Kettle Pond
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/20/2009 - 18:11For a brief moment, I am a water lily,
Or perhaps one of those tall narrow reeds
That sway in the cool summer breeze.
I sit in the shallow water.
A dragon fly lands on my back;
Iridescent blue or fiery red.
At my feet, the fish gather
To cautiously check out
This strange new object in their pond.
I am very still
As they timidly approach
And nibble at my toes.
Words and Music
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 06:31In a couple hours, we will be in the car on our way to Cape Cod. We spent yesterday packing, and doing all the odds and ends that need to be handled before we could leave. The house sitter will arrive soon to make sure the pets are properly cared for.
Unfortunately, the local libraries were all closed, so Kim had to resort to a local bookstore for her beach reading material. She didn’t get a chance to check out any books on tape, so I made my own.
Librivox is a site where volunteers read books in the public domain and save them as MP3 files. You can download a great variety of books. The first download I tried was Buster Bear by Thorton Burgess. I burnt it to a CD-RW using Microsoft Media Player. It plays in some audio devices, but not in the car. I then downloaded Anne of Green Gables. I used Roxio to burn the first few chapters and wrote it on a CD-R disk. This one played nicely in our car, so I burnt the remaining nine CDs. Kim labeled them for us, so for the cost of ten CD-R disks, we have Anne of Green Gables on CD. We will probably listen to this during a bit of the drive to the Cape.
For my reading, I received an electronic copy of the novel The Silent Serian by Miranda Hynes. This is Miranda’s second novel. It is a young adult fantasy novel and a great read. I read the first four chapters immediately, and will try to finish it when I have more computer time. I’m also trying to spread the word about it, so please, digg the book, share it on Facebook and other sites, and be sure to go out and buy a copy yourself.
I have also been listening to the musicians selected to be in the Emerging Artists Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. I’ve downloaded some of the songs and may try to burn a CD for the road trip. I wanted to get a review up by now, but it will probably have to wait until I am back from Cape Cod.
However, as I started searching out the emerging artists and looking at their websites, I found a link to most of them on SonicBids. Each one that I’ve checked has an Electronic Press Kit where you can listen to, and in some cases download some of their music. I’ve now listened to songs by everyone who is supposed to be performing and I need to organize my notes into something readable.
Soon, we will hit the road listening to a great collection of words and music, and I’ll try to get some posts from Cape Cod up when I get some time.
#FRFF – Amy Speace, Girlyman, and Eric Lowen
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 23:03This evening I discovered that Amy Speace will be playing at Café Nine in New Haven next Tuesday. Last year, she was one of the 2008 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists. I liked what I heard of her online before I went and then enjoyed her performance at Falcon Ridge. I wasn’t surprised when she ended up getting the most votes to be asked to return this year.
So, this got me looking at the list of performers for this year’s Falcon Ridge. The first name that jumped out at me was Girlyman. If I recall properly, Girlyman was Miranda’s favorite band for a while and we went to see Girlyman perform in Hartford. From there, I looked for one of Kim’s favorite bands, Lowen and Navarro. The performer’s list included Dan Navarro, but not Lowen and Navarro. I quickly went to the LowNav website.
A black and white picture is front and center. There is a crack in the middle of the road leading off to mist covered mountains. Next to that are the words, “El Fin Del Camino”.
It's been just over five years since Eric Lowen's diagnosis with ALS, and after 250 performances logged since that giant day, we now find our shows this weekend in Annapolis Fri June 5 and Alexandria VA Sat June 6 must be our last.
I sit in front of my computer, trying to find words for my reaction. If I had known that that would be their last performance, would I have tried to make it to Alexandria? Would it have been too difficult? I don’t know.
As I prepared to write this blog post, I thought I would check to see who this year’s emerging artists would be. Ron Olesko has the list up. Last year, I listened to most of the emerging artists before going to Falcon Ridge and writing my initial reactions. I figured I would try to do the same this year, if I can work it into my writing schedule.
The first artist on the list is A. J. Roach & His Strange Pilgrims. The site is in Drupal and has links to ten different social networks. I’ve followed him on Twitter, and became his fan on Facebook after listening to a few of his songs on sonicbids.
It is late now. I will find time to listen to more of the emerging artists later, but now I should head off to sleep.
Andy Madadian - Stand by me
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/28/2009 - 10:33#iranelection
Memorial Day Music Monday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 10:32I don’t usually participate in the Music Monday Meme, but I thought on this Memorial Day, I’d provide a few videos remembering those who have given so much for our country