Wednesday ramblings..

Wednesday. Traveling tomorrow and returning Saturday night. I don't look forward to the airports. At least I only have a carry on. Can't forget my ear buds.
I've been listening to a lot of music lately and have discovered some varieties that are really great. The most interesting has been Trobar de Morte and Heilung. The entrancing thing is they align with Nordic origins and have incorporated throat singing which is also performed in the far east northern countries. It's amazing music. If I was getting ready to go into battle in Scotland , Ireland, or the northern European countries and heard this music I would be afraid, wet my pants afraid. It's very intimidating if you were standing in opposition to an army coming at you playing Heilung, goose bumps chilling.
Another couple of musicians/song writers that have impressed me to the point of looking for their tour dates and locations are John Prine, a Chicago mailman, and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits origins. I like John Prine for his earthy everyday life songs. Trust me if you listen to them they are that good. I prefer his later recordings more than his early ones but it's enlightening to see the path he's walked. As for Mr. Knopfler I am in awe. He has some great songs released recently like Romeo and Juliet, Sailing to Philadelphia, Monteleone, Piper to the End (may be my favorite aside from Romeo and Juliet), Done with Bonaparte, and the list goes on and on. Outstanding music in my opinion. An artist I hadn't mentioned is a guitarist named Tommy Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel is one of the best guitarist's I have ever heard. If you watch some of his you tube videos he interfaces with his fans as well as any entertainer I have ever seen.
For a different genre of music I like watching Benjamin Zander on you tube. He is a conductor. I believe He was with the Boston Philharmonic. He does a series called Interpretation Class. He critiques musicians and some of the musicians he critiques are amazing, his critique is amazing. He is not harsh or negative. Mr. Zander teaches through his critique at a level I haven't seen before. The musicians exercise what he shares with them during the critique. The differences are amazing and the expression on their faces is astounding. It's as if they just moved to a higher level of playing and have broken through into some world they knew existed but couldn't find the door to access it. Anyway, Benjamin Zander is very worth checking out on you tube.
Spotify is another door into the music world that is profoundly efficient at revealing the musicians you never heard of but are amazing. One of the best things I've found is the availability of audio poetry, some famous some not famous. One of the really entertaining things I've listened to is a podcast titled the "Sasquatch Chronicles", they're real you know.
None of this may be new to any of you but I thought it would be an interesting thing to share.
It would be nice to hear from any of you that have blogs you'd be willing to share, I'd like to read them. Feel free to comment here but I think most of the few that read this off the cuff blog know me and probably have my email or phone number too so feel free to use whichever you have....
Short one today.
Have a great evening by your definition of great.

Later,

I’m back. It’s 1:26am and I cannot sleep. My brain is in cahoots with my imagination and there’s no off switch. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. “ I’m leaving on a jet plane...” and returning Saturday evening. Oh well it’ll be nice to see the mountains again. Random brain thoughts: (this is what it sounds like in my head) I need to mow the grass. You better plant your blackberries and tomato’s soon. I would like to take the squeaky toy away from the dog! Am I taking the right book to read. And on and on... I’m leaving some thoughts out for my own good (they’re the ones that consume me constantly). It’s quite puzzling in a good way, just wish I could unplug for a few hours. A yawn! Shutting down and trying to invite my dreams into my sleep cycle so I get some rest. I hope you all are sleeping very peacefully.
Later,