Gambit editorial

A good editorial in this week's Gambit.

A Day of Presence in New Orleans

http://www.imdiversity.com/special/release_day_of_presence_0829.asp

Note the organizations that are sponsoring these events.

Put on by Adayofpresence.com

Pigs On The Wing video about Katrina

Katrina two years later

I am still searching for good ways to mark the anniversary of Katrina. I haven't found much yet. I did find this good article in the Times Picayune/nola.com site.

http://blog.nola.com/updates/2007/08/neighborhood_touchstones_lost.html

And this slideshow on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79662628@N00/sets/72057594058637760/show/

And this
http://www.flickr.com/groups/nolapostkatrina/pool/show/

American Folk Festival, listening to the recordings from both days

Listening to Raz de Maree. I could do without the
banjo. Good accordion, am I hearing footwork?
Nice fiddling. Can barely hear the bass, it is
rumble at this point. I think I have the whole
set. Am hearing footwork! Fidelity not that great
though. Would be great to dance to this. Yeah.

She is off-mic for her first words. Valse
Bernadette next followed by medley with the
"world renowned" Reel Beatrice at end. Yeah! Good
ole Reel Beatrice. Accordion is dominating. Piano
is low level. Fiddle too. Bass is only apparent
once in awhile.

Next tune: Intro'd by Eric. A square dance tune.
Turns into some footwork. Tidal Wave? Love this
music.

Jig/set of reels/waltz. Hot!

Pretty waltz! Some sort of bad noise in the background, alas.

Another hot tune. Not hearing the piano or the fiddle, but great accordion.

***

Bruce Daigrepont

Handover to stage is well done. Perfect timing. If only WWOZ could do that.

1) intro
2) unknown fast, familiar
3) ? (old, Lomax)
4) Balfa Waltz
5) fi fi ? They play every week at Tipitina's,
have for 17 years? Don asks for the same 3 songs
every week!
6) Coeur des Cajuns (Heart of the Cajuns) nice
7) Paradis

His singing isn't what I thought it would be.
(The first few songs, he's yelling at the top of
his range, borderline awful.) Hearing him do
Paradis, I wonder what I heard back in '98. I
thought that was Paradis. That was a sweet waltz.
This isn't that.

8) You Keep A Knockin' But You Can't Come In.
Rockin'. Fiddler does a Michael Doucet touch at
one point. Into another tune after that. Fast
words.

9) Valse de la Prison. Canray Fontenot was fond of it. Blues.

10) Bienvenue dans la Sud de la Louisianne (w/
lots of French names of towns, supposedly but I
didn't hear them...)

11) When I Go Down The Road. Nice.

12) Tu le Ton Son Ton (Clifton Chenier) First
time he saw him was on Austin City Limits!
Another rockin' tune.

"How much time we got?" The crowd yells b ack, "all night"!

13) Bosco Stomp. Yeah, although I like the Beausoleil version better.

14) Le Diable Est Lâché (Devil's On The Loose)
Good hip-grinding dance tune. Nicely done. Nice
fiddle solo w/ audience clapping.

***

Elizabeth LaPrelle with Sandy LaPrelle & Jim Lloyd (MPBN feed)
1) ? (Rebecca King Jones)
2) Darling Corey
3) Come All You Virginia Girls aka Cousin Emmy's
Blues (Sandy and Caroline Paton) (hear train
whistles!)
4) Little Darlin' Pal of Mine (Carter Family)
5) Matty Grove (a cappella)
6) God Gave Noah The Rainbow Sun
7) Whole Heap of Little Horses
8) Muleskinner Blues (Jimmy Rogers, Blue Yodel #9)
9) Blind Bartimus (w/ Sandy LaPrelle)
10) Jim Lloyd - Open Up Them Pearly Gates For Me
(in the style of Uncle Dave Macon)
11) Been All Around This World (low end feedback
at intro and high end later) She is out of the
mix some
12) West Virginia Mine Disaster (Jean Ritchie) a cappella

(tape 2)
13) Mole In The Ground (missed a little of the intro) w/ banjo
14) Have You Seen That Turtle Dove, a cappella w/ Sandy
15) end

***

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles

03:08:12 PM Perfect handover to the stage! The DJ
stops, the MC starts. Bravo! Tells of history.
Good enough mix. (Miss above 16k, there is some
but it would be nice to have more. And the
phasing is too bad. Not bad but it would be
better if it wasn't there. MPBN has a better
feed...) Wanna dance! Nice and hot and humid here
too. Mardi Gras (Prof Longhair) w/ new words,
another tune (Who that boy got Golden Crown)-
they're singing on key! I didn't know it could be
done... Now Monk is off key. Band sounds great!
Got To Face The Rising Sun (reggae), Hey Mama
starts off with a hot gtr lick then descends into
the Mardi Gras Indian chant which is off key.

I restart RadioRecorder in the middle of Hey
Mama. (RadioRecorder doesn't want to startup.
Says data is too small. Finally it starts.)
Hendrix's They Don't Know! Mardi Gras Indian funk
band... hot!

ERU DJs are complaining that Monk isn't there for
his interview. Yes, New Orleanians do things on
their own time... Interview guitarist. His level
is low. John Lisi? Big Chief joins in. His level
is low. DJ is fine.

***

tape of saturday 8/25 eru feed, 3pm/railroad stage (marked tape #1)
intro - not dubbed but perhaps interesting
1) Mardi Gras (Prof Longhair song with new words), use this
2) Who That Boy Got Golden Crown, use this, off
key but grooves (then we hear two programs
during...)
3) Got To Face The Rising Sun (reggae), off key but worth saving?
4) Hey Mama
5) They Don't Know (Hendrix), cooks towards end
6) end

i switch to mbn, back to eru
interview w/ John Lisi and Monk.

side b
more interview, i sample mpbn during, interviewee
gets corrected - it's a suit not a costume...,

bobby quinn - mainer reads

accordion summitt
accordion tune, another accordion tune,

i switch to eru
dixie hummingbirds (which happened BEFORE the Monk Boudreaux!

***

marked tape #2 (#1 in series)
saturday 8/25
accordion, mnpb sample, gary ... polish
accordion, switch to brass band, jazz CD?,
another jazz CD,

side b
elizabeth laprelle

***

marked tape #4
sunday 8/26
elizabeth end, interview w/ gary polish, men in black,
sound check (mpbn airs this)
1) missed beginning, I love you
2) end of something, silence from stage but hear
background noise, hear behind the scenes office
talk
3) intro
4) blue skies
i skip

b side
end of men in black
stage MC
fergus and jim
CD, go to stage, fergus and jim... dance tunes

***

marked tape #5 (black)
side a
sunday 8/2 mpbn feed
frank london

side b
frank london, stream starts again - picks up with
frank london, ... I won't keep the dancers
waiting then silence.
then bruce daigrepont (sunday 8/26) end of
devil's on the loose. eru dj mangles name,
credits, woman dj at studio, fmu stuff
--
Please note that I now have a new e-mail address (lipwak@gmail.com)
Please use that address from now on. Thanks!

American Folk Festival, Sunday, 8/26/07

Sunday

I listen to MBPN and record that onto tape. I will record WERU on
RadioRecorder when I leave so that it will record about 4 hours and
45 minutes worth of that. I'll be able to record 3 hours of ERU,
hopefully getting back in time to put in fresh tapes and to restart
RadioRecorder, although I like what's on the Railroad Stage (WERU)
more than the Heritage Stage (MPBN) today.

12:07:04 PM ERU is still playing some CD. They say they will be live
all day but the festival has already started and they aren't
broadcasting it, as far as I can tell. Some brass/jazz band is
playing now. Kinda funky but not Larry Johnson and now another CD
plays. Still, I will record ERU's stream when I leave so we'll see
what is on there when I get back.

***

I return home at 5:18. RadioRecorder stopped at 240 minutes (15 min
into Eddie and Alonzo Pennington, theoretically). Who knows when the
Quicktime player stopped. I'll have to listen to the tape. (Hopefully
I caught Raz de Maree on ERU)

I pick up with Frank London on the Heritage Stage. Sounds good.
Quality stream, good mix, good music. I should be able to catch all
of Bruce Daigrepont. Frank London is flashy but too showy for me.
Trying to impress too much. Frenetic though they had a moment of just
plain nice music a little while ago.

05:34:38 PM MPBN stream restarts itself. WTF is up with that?

05:54:12 PM MPBN stream restarts itself again, conveninently inbetween tunes.

I listen to Frank London looking for it to end so I can listen to
Bruce Daigrepont (and am using RadioRecorder to record Bruce now
anyway.) Frank was supposed to be over 15 minutes ago...

05:58:51 PM A nice slower one. Grand even.

06:14:07 PM stream restarts itself or we get ID again.

Frank is still going at it a 6:20. They were supposed to be over at 5:45...

OK, it's 6:30. More? Oy.

06:33:55 PM It's fucking repeating, goddam it. Now it restarts again.
Geez.It'll never end. And since I don't n ow this music well enough I
don't know where it is picking up. I do know I have heard this
before...

I move the slider to near the end and see what happens. It stops
after repeating a section I just heard. Fuck it. Now to Bruce.

06:36:38 PM I go to ERU. Bruce is still playing, crescendo-ing.
(RadioRecorder is still recording so that is good. 82 minutes into it
so far.) Bruce ends tune. And the end of the set. DJ mangles the
name. Great. I caught the very end of it, live. I should have it all
on RadioRecorder.

6:40 pm i stop RadioRecorder and iTunes. Now to go back and listen to
today's stuff. I'll blog it when I've listened to it.

American Folk Festival in Bangor Maine, Saturday, 8/25/07

My brother told me that WERU will air american folk festival sat & sun.

From weru.org: WERU Live Broadcast, August 25 - 26 from the Railroad Stage:

Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars
Jeff Little & Friends - blue ridge piano
The Dixe Hummingbirds
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles
Bobby Quinn
Greenfields of America
The Quebe Sisters Band - TX swing
Nukariik - eskimo throat singing
Raz de Maree - Quebecois contra dance!
Eddie & Alonzo Pennington - finger pickin bg
The Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band!

I tune in at 11:45, hear a blues tune from a CD then they are live
from the stage! No problems or confusion like at NO Jazz Fest. They
read the schedule. (The NO Jazz Fest WWOZ broadcast is always hard to
figure out who is on when.) DJs are coherent. Good.

So, today's schedule:
Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars
Jeff Little & Friends - blue ridge piano
The Dixe Hummingbirds
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles
Bobby Quinn
Greenfields of America
The Quebe Sisters Band - TX swing
(Slightly different from what was advertised but not anywhere near as
confused as WWOZ.)

Levels are going down while on air but not too bad.

Typical Maine reserve in the DJs. Eloquent but maybe a tad reserved.

11:56:24 AM Yeah, got the timestamp to work.

12:02:48 PM Both stages, I am recording the Heritage Stage too on
MPBN, start on time!

Heritage Stage
Fergus O'Byrne & Jim Payne
Accordion Summit
Country Rock and Roots
Raz de Maree
Morgan Heritage
Merengue dance lesson
Francisco Ulloa y su Grupo Tipico
Morgan Heritage

Fergus O'Byrne & Jim Payne - once they start singing, the level goes
way down. I adjust. I'm not recording this. This shanty, Double
Splitter Lad (lumberjack shanty?), is a familiar tune.

I turn the volume down for iTunes, RadioRecorder is recording it so I
don't need to listen to it, and listen to MPBN, which I am listening
to via my browser. (I may change that to WMP).

12:19:15 PM ERU stream on iTunes (Klezmer group right now) is distorting.

12:50:08 PM Maine accent of MC on stage. Stage mic doesn't allow
crowd to be heard very often but I just heard them a little so it's
ok. So far the mixes have been good, as far as I can tell. Distorted
but all the instruments seem to be there. (WWOZ is always challenged
this way.)

12:55:20 PM The food is good? Good.

12:57:23 PM Distortion is heard as DJs are on mic so it isn't the stage mix.

01:05:46 PM I record the Accordion Summit.Gary popping P's. CT River
Valley! Bruce Daigrepont! Grand Mamou.

(Gary Sredzienski* - The Accordion Warrior (lol), Francisco Ulloa,
Billy McComiskey (Green Fields), Bruce Daigrepont.)

Billy McComisky from Green Fields of America. Level goes up when he plays.

01:20:45 PM ERU stream dies on RadioRecorder. I restart app and it
works again. We'll see how long it works.It should be recording Jeff
Little and Friends.

Franscisco Ulloa (Dominican Republic?) talks of meringue accordion,
in Spanish with translator.

*American Folk Festival website says he is "Maine's own accordion
master", living in Kittery, but his website has a New Hampshire
address. So which is it?

Gary plays. Polish music from the CT River Valley. Bellow shake.
Tunes go from sad to happy. Do I have that in my blood? Takes
accordion apart onstage.

Mic on Bruce's accordion is on the bass side; we can't hear the
melody side very well. This sounds like a Quebecois tune, fast words.
Bruce speaking off-mic/low level.

Billy's mic is low level. Gary's is fine but it's hard to hear the guests talk.
01:49:23 PM Level better now.

Whistle joke. (Two whistles in two keys. What can we do?) I don't get it.

Sleepless nights.

Francisco talks and plays.

Gary talks and plays.

End the session by asking where they get the accordions repaired.

02:16:23 PM Session ends. I wait to MPBN to say something. I switch
to WERU as soon as they finnish blabbing so I can confirm the
upcoming schedule.

02:19:11 PM I switch to ERU/Dixie Hummingbirds. Is distorted and
phasing. (Could use a higher stream rate.)
~919 on b side of tape 1

?, Been Born Again, (Maybe there is no crowd noise once the band
stops playing/singing is because the crowd is quiet... you know those
taciturn New Englanders...), DH do a quiet piece,

MC, a real New Englander. Goin' to New Orleans next! WERU DJ comes
on. It is so nice that they keep out of it during the shows. WWOZ
butts in every break.

02:52:17 PM I stop RadioRecorder. Am taping this so don't need both.
Have Frank London and Jeff Little and all of the Dixie Hummingbirds
on the first (actually second) recording.

MPBN is talking rather than having a show. What happened to the
Country music roots show?

Good, they are going to stay on schedule and go to Monk on time. Ira
Tucker is low level. Can hear the chain saws in the background! Need
to put the mic closer to him or bring his level up.

DJ sounds like an OZ DJ, a little Southern.

03:08:12 PM Perfect handover to the stage! The DJ stops, the MC
starts. Bravo! Tells of history. Good enough mix. (Miss above 16k,
there is some but it would be nice to have more. And the phasing is
too bad. Not bad but it would be better if it wasn't there. MPBN has
a better feed...) Wanna dance! Nice and hot and humid here too. Mardi
Gras (Prof Longhair) w/ new words, another tune (Who that boy got
Golden Crown)- they're singing on key! I didn't know it could be
done... Now Monk is off key. Band sounds great! Got To Face The
Rising Sun (reggae), Hey Mama starts off with a hot gtr lick then
descends into the Mardi Gras Indian chant which is off key. I restart
RadioRecorder in the middle of Hey Mama. (RadioRecorder doesn't want
to startup. Says data is too small. Finally it starts.) Hendrix's
They Don't Know! Mardi Gras Indian funk band... hot!

03:45:04 PM I stop RadioRecorder. Soon will switch to the Quebecois
contra dance band. MPBN is asking for donations. I stop the tape.
MPBN will air what's on the Heritage stage until 7, though it looks
like the music will go on a little longer on that stage. Oh no,
there's a delay. "Quebecois band on at 4!" (They think it is 2:30
now. It is almost 4. So that means 5:30 real time? I'll keep
checking.)

ERU DJs are complaining that Monk isn't there for his interview. Yes,
New Orleanians do things on their own time... Interview guitarist.
His level is low. John Lasi? Big Chief joins in. His level is low. DJ
is fine.

04:11:09 PM MPBN is still playing a CD of jazz piano.

I record Bobby Quinn, which has already started. A Mainer telling a
story in rhyme. One more short one. Reading someone else's work?
Needling Nurses. (He is referenced in this one.) A Maine treasure...

04:18
Green Fields Of America reunion on now. I start RadioRecorder but may
switch listening to MPBN when/if the contra dance band comes on. Kick
in to the bucket... Low quality stream but bearable.
04:35:23 PM we hear dancers...

Robbie singing. Still singing those sad songs.

Joanie next. Great tune!

Geez, Mick has a lot to say. Funny but a lot of talking.

I go to check mail.
I come back and George Fowler is on.

Interview w/ Mick, Mick is low level.

MPBN stream has stopped. I restart Quicktime player. I guess this is
the Country Roots and Routes show. (5:18 pm) No, Fergus O'Byrne & Jim
Payne. Newfies.

Quebe Sisters on ERU. Radio Recorder is recording it. Western Swing.
I listen a little and can't take their voices/harmonies so switch
back to MPBN.

I miss recording the intro to the tongue twister. Accordion summit on
next. It's quarter of 6! At this rate we're 5 hours away!!! Geez.
Whadyabet they go to PHC at 6...

06:03:11 PM WTF is this? Accordion Summit? Several tunes playing at
once. Yeah, still doing sound check. The show begins.

06:07:09 PM I listen to ERU to see what they're doing. They are
talking about fundraising. Still at the festival? Nope. They are done.

06:15:20 PM I listen to PHC on WNYC and hope that when that is done,
perhaps MPBN will be closer to airing the Quebecois band. I bet they
will skip it...

06:33:31 PM MPBN This doesn't sound like the Accordion Summit. A full
Irish band. This sounds like the Green Fields of America reunion.
Hunh?

07:03:18 PM Still Green Fields on MPBN.

07:39:06 PM Still Green Fields.

07:58:28 PM Still Green Fields.

08:08:43 PM Live? We did hear Raz de Maree? I didn't. Damn.

08:11:43 PM Stream restarts itself with Green Fields. WTF? The
website has tomorrow's info where the link for today's webcast was so
I can't test that. But I can reply the ending. Weird. (DJ says Green
Fields of Africa!)

rudeness

Overheard while we were waiting in line for snacks at the Hopper
House during the break at tonights Jazz in the Garden (featuring Erik
Lawrence and Hipmotism and friends and poetry), mother to young son:
"Hurry up and get in there and get that cookie before anyone else
gets it."

I was kinda hoping to get a cookie. I was ahead of the mother but the
son was ahead of me or at least was after she said that. I feigned
disappointment to her. Then afterwards, I thought, that was pretty
rude. That's what mothers are teaching their kids? Get it before
anyone else, even if there are people in line?

I am too soft a heart.

Light off the top of the record player (speeded up)

Yesterday morning I saw the light reflecting onto the ceiling, bouncing off the top of the record player. It was making these great shapes. I wondered what it was. I should have taped it yesterday. It was brighter.

This morning I taped it. It was overcast so nowhere near as entrancing. But it's still cool. Enjoy.

A not well woodchuck

Saw this woodchuck on the lawn a little while ago. I'd walked past it and been near it for awhile and then realized it was there. It wasn't moving although he poked his head up as I recognized it. It had flies all over it and it looked like it had bled on it's back. I talked to it, took this pic and then went away.

I did see it amble off into the garden towards one of the known woodchuck holes a little while later.

I don't know what was wrong with it. Had it been crushed by the propane delivery truck that had been there a little while earlier? Unlikely. It smelled bad. I don't know if woodchucks smell bad normally and have flies on them since most are so skittish, they take off when they see you.

I'd like to think I made him better by talking lovingly to it but that's probably not true.

Say no more

A bat visits

I had a bat in the room at 3 am. I heard a fluttering of wings by my
head repeatedly. Thought it was a moth. Eventually I see it, flying
just like in the Abbot and Costello movie with Dracula. I put the cat
in the closet and closed the windows. (All have screens on them.) I
then waited by the open front door as that was the only fresh air
coming in, which is what the bat was going for. In a little while,
the bat came to the front door. It was hard to see but I saw it crawl
around the screen. I opened the door. I wasn't sure but I thought it
flew out. I closed the door and opened the windows again. What an
adventure. How did it get in? From the screen by the kitchen vent?

Furnace causes this?

P8080009, originally uploaded by Lipwak.

Yesterday I filled the birdbath with clean water. Last night it rained. Today, as often happens, the birdbath is full of this dirt.

I used to think it was from whatever animals were using it (raccoons, woodchucks, who knows what). Now I think it is soot from my furnace. The furnace would have run during the rain, causing the soot to not get far. (The furnace really smells when it runs. It ought to be replaced.)

Nyack Jazz Week, Tuesday, 7/24

Saw Steve Bernstein and the Millennial Territory Orchestra again last
night. They played at Memorial Park in Nyack. I'd seen them back in
2005 at the Hopper House and once before then at the Nyack Center
either in 2003 or 2004.

I was disappointed. They played the almost all of the same repertoire
that I heard back at the Hopper House. Why don't they change it? They
opened with the same two tunes, St Louis Blues and The Boy In The
Boat. St Louis Blues was done reggae style which at least was a new
twist. Darling Nikki, which is one of my favorite SB/MTO tunes, a
Prince cover tune actually, was not as well played as was at the
Hopper House. (I think they also played that at the Nyack Center too
but I can't be sure.)

Some of the players were different from the last time I'd seen them.
Matt Munisteri, who's played with them for awhile but wasn't at the
Hopper House gig, played nicely but I don't see what makes him so
special. His other gigs and CDs are probably more interesting. Peter
Apfelbaum played sax tonight but I was more impressed with Michael
Blake at the Hopper House gig. Ben Perowksy was truly inspired at the
Hopper House gig. Not last night.

Charley Burnham wasn't that amazing as he has been. He was incredible
at the Hopper House gig and when I saw them at the Nyack Center.
Absolutely amazing. Here he didn't quite get all his notes in when
featured. I'll let him slide. He still is a hero of mine so one night
won't lower him in my eyes.

I was hoping the score Steven created for the Laurel and Hardy movies
would be truly amazing. It wasn't. (Only "Sugar Daddies" was played.)
I didn't really get it but will hear it again as I had taped it.
Maybe it will make more sense then. I hope the rest of it works
better at the other gigs.

DirecTV is now airing the Ovation network. Great music, dancing and
other performance. Awful ads. Why is that? Great art and they can
only attract awful sponsors?

Still, I am going to LOVE Ovation. Gabriel Yared! The TIger Lillies!
Harry Smith!

Sigh. There IS something worth watching on TV at last.

I've seen the house wren sitting on a fencepost near the bee balm today. I am wondering if it is defending its territory from the hummingbird(s) that I've been seeing lately. While I love having the house wrens nesting in the birdhouse in the garden, I am hoping that it won't scare off the hummingbirds!

Twice now, hummingbirds have checked me out as I have stood by the bee balm. I've been wearing bright colored shirts that probably make them think I am a tall flower! They hover around briefly but very close. I haven't been able to take pictures or movies of them yet but I hope to asap. I think I have seen two, one yellow and one green but I'm not sure they were really different at all.

I happened to notice when CNBC had their telePrompter feed go out
over the air last night. I don't see anything else on the web about it.

Saw this fawn today, racing back and forth just past the garden. Thought it was a mountain lion perhaps. It stopped racing back and forth and then appeared on side of the garden and walked into the woods. Here is part 1


The fawn in the back yard now, looks at me (perhaps) and heads into the woods.

I've been bored with what's on tv lately. So, I thought I'd go
through my videotape library. I have at least 360 (numbered) tapes
(and many more that are titled and otherwise filed). That's 2160
hours of video. If I watched them 24 hours a day, it would take me 90
days to get through them all. (I recorded pretty much all of them at
EP, the slowest speed. Well, now that I think about it, when I had
my first VCR I used the LP speed, so those would be 4 hours long.)

Let's see. I saw two woodchucks and a fawn yesterday. A cottontail
rabbit and a young deer today. Didn't get any pics of the first three
as they all ran away quickly and I didn't have my camera handy anyway
(and seeing deer other than fawns is no big deal so I didn't need to
take a pic of that.) It is nice to know there is wildlife here.
Haven't seen any wlld turkey yet this year, (I wonder who the fawn
came from...)