Two of my latest recordings

I'll beat this sickness even if it kills me....

Droppin' The Ball On Blog Posts

Here's an attempt a redemption in video form:



It looks like I'm still breathing over here in the ol' HK. "I've been more active on Twitter lately," he says to himself.

Sun Wai Dragon Dance

What I've been up to lately

Hello my family!

This may turn out to be a bunch of randomness, let's see......

Went to swing dancing last night with Katy, Jonathan, and Sarah, we went over a year ago and decided to go again, i think it will be a weekly thing which would be fun.

I had duck sausage and goat's cheese on my pizza last night

In the last 3 months these are the tracks that have been most popular for me according to Last.fm: (from most plays to least)
The Grascals – Sail Away Ladies
Alan Munde – Sail Away Ladies
John Hartford – Sail Away Ladies
Roger Whittaker – Christmas is Here Again
Doc Watson/Norman Blake/Tony Rice – Salt Creek
Carroll Best – Whiskey Before Breakfast
Phoenix – Armistice
Alison Krauss – Cluck Old Hen
Tony Trischka – Fisher's Hornpipe
Tony Trischka – Red Haired Boy
John Hartford – Fiddle Tune?
Jay Buckey – Sweet Georgia Brown
John Prine – Christmas In Prison
Tony Rice – Temperance Reel
Norman Blake – Texas Gales
Bill Keith – Cherokee Shuffle
Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Alan Munde – Billy In The Lowground
Mumford & Sons – The Cave
Phoenix – Lisztomania
Phoenix – Lasso

Since December 1 these are the songs I've learned on banjo:

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Frank's Reel

Bill Cheatum

Temperence Reel

Salt Creek

Reconciliation Reel

Red Haired Boy

Angeline the Baker

Old home place

Cherokee Shuffle

I've been more involved with banjo hangout lately I've created two tabs and submitted them, I've been playing banjo since 2003, I think I can change my profile from "novice" to "purty good"

Today I went to countrytabs.com to look at a John Hartford song, spent 5 minutes looking for my password to login, then found out that the tab was incorrect.  Then I found out that I could NOT right click or copy and paste the tab so I could make it better.  I disabled javascript on the page, turns out the tab is a .jpg image, which I saved to my computer.  I didn't feel like typing in the words so I uploaded it to a free online OCR service. I copied the resulting text into LibreOffice and switched it to Courier New to so that letter spacing will remain equal.  Then I sat down and tabbed out the chords myself, when I was done I went to Ultimate-Guitar.com and submitted the tab so that many other people can benefit from it.  They will also be able to right click and copy it how ever they want to and even change keys.  They also won't need to log in to see it.  All this made me realize I have a wealth of John Hartford songs with chords that I should put on there.

I've rediscovered Bob Black as a banjo player

The Session is pretty great for fiddle tunes that I can then turn into banjo tunes

That's about all I have in my brain right now

Actually, one more thing, a year after building my desktop I think I've finally figured out why it would sometimes crash when I plugged in a USB drive, I removed the stupid thin metal cutout in the back that i think was shorting out on the computer case and then re-shorting (or something) when the usb touched the case and the motherboard at the same time

Sunday Music Jam

Went to the Hong Kong Folk Society's monthly jam at The Canny Man, Katy and Ruth came.  We ended up playing for about 5 hours.  I guess it was about 16 musicians total.  Katy was gracious enough to take some photos.

After hearing about zero degree temperatures in NY this morning I'm thankful I can still wear T-shirts most of the time.

"Yea, that's right, I don't even need to look when I'm soloing..."

Here's (from left to right) Worth, Tony, Jon, and Tanya

First time in about a year and a half I've put any photos up on facebook, after ripping all my others off and out of Zuckerberg's clutches.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121567&id=44805355&l=8e5001989d

New Music

Here are some clips from our last session, they came out pretty well, some are a bit rusty. We didn't have our mandolin player there too. I was able to play an old Gibson 5-string conversion, which isn't done justice in these recordings.

Swallowtail Jig


The Reconciliation


Forked Deer


Cherokee Shuffle


St. Anne's Reel


Down Yonder


Sail Away Ladies


Red Haired Boy


Angeline The Baker


Whiskey Before Breakfast


Ragtime Annie


Sweet Georgia Brown

Two cups of coffee + one cup Maté =

Guess I should drink another Maté to balance things out, I am in Hong Kong and in this land balance is key, you know feng shui and all that.... plus I'm not quite hovering off the ground yet....

"Tsuen" is pronounced "choon" or "chewn" and not "Tuh-Sue-Nn" as in "that piece of gum has already been chewn" or "I live in Sun Wai Chewn"

I need to figure out what I'm doing for my secret santa gift for tomorrow, the front runner is papercraft, it's a lot harded making something for a non-outdoors person.  I can't just make them an olive oil candle and a alcohol stove.

Katy's sister is arriving tonight and staying for the next three months

I think Katy and I will get stabbed soon (by acupuncture needles that is)


I'm also trying to tag some of my live music, so rather than looking at "allstars88-01-23d1t02" I can be like "Oh that's Bela, Tony, Jerry, and a hundred other virtuosos playing 9 pound hammer"


Upcoming blog posts: A picture compilation of all the awesome meals I've created in the last few months and a compilation of my favorite music albums from 2010

Practise Practise Practise 2

I went off on a massive tangent (justifiably of course) with that last post.  I was meaning to say that my season at TI is done with, my last camp finished yesterday and I won't have any more.  The season only has two weeks left for them and they don't need any additional staff.

So this leaves me at home practizing away at my banjo :) I've been jamming with a couple people and it looks like it will be a regular occurrence.  Last Sunday we played and exchanged songs.  I walked away with a bunch of mp3s of songs to work on this week: Red Haired Boy, Salt Creek, Sail Away Ladies, John Brown's Dream

Last Sunday's recordings:
John Brown's Dream
Red Haired Boy

As you can tell from the recordings, I'm with some pretty awesome musicians (Tanya and Worth).  I'm going to have to get my chops back up to snuff if I'm going to play with them.  It's awesome to have other musicians around that will elevate my own musicianship, give me a goal to work on, and a focus on the banjo.  I will have to dust off my old Sansa mp3 player to make more recordings, or i could actually use my birthday-present-mic with my iPod...

Now I'm going to let the songs sink into my brain and muscles and head to Mui Wo for cilantro (aka Chinese Parsley.... took us a while to figure that one out....) and bell peppers (or as the KiwiBrits call them, "capsicums")  maybe some tomatoes too.  Oh yea, and ingredients to finish my Irish Cream to go with my "Lake Champlain Sunrise" coffee

Dragonboating

I'm with Katy at her parent's flat in Ma On Shan, we saw Jonathan off to Japan this morning and we went back to the flat to rest since it was a pretty late night last night especially being out the door at 6am to get at taxi.

We made some guacamole from scratch and it was incredible.  I packed my bags for the week and Katy and I rushed out to catch the bus, but we missed it.  We went to plan B and instead of taking a bus into the city we took the MTR.

I bought a new router in Sham Shui Po, it took us a little while to find the exact one that I wanted, but the old adage holds true, "you can find any computer part you'd ever need in Hong Kong you just have to look long enough." Luckily it wasn't that long, maybe 30 minutes of wandering. I had my full Go-Lite bag complete with fiddle, camelbak, and laptop case. Katy helped me carry a lot of the stuff while I dodged and ran around trying to find the piece i needed.

Once I purchase my prize we caught a taxi right up to Ma On Shan and we looked at the summary website for Jonathan's Japan trip, he should finally be arriving to his final destination about now after a full day of traveling.

Tomorrow I head into Sai Kung for the dragonboating experience, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.  It is supposed to be really windy tomorrow, I think we will be protected from the swell, but it doesn't matter because my job is 100% land based anyway.

I should be done at 2pm every day so it will be really nice to have that time off in the afternoon, i brought some curry ingredients up here to Ma On Shan in hopes that a chicken will come in contact with them and then fall into the frying pan.

The countdown begins anew...

5 Days to go until I take that long flight across the globe again.

I'm trying to get things together here again, it's a lot more straight forward this time than the first time I left.  I'm not really in to making a long post right now, I have bread to bake while I still have an oven :) And there is a lot more time to create posts in Hong Kong.  It's amazing how much easier it is to type a post on an iPhone when you don't have to drive a car...

I'm still contemplating how I'm going to get my banjo 8,000 miles intact, but I think I've found a solution.  I have some things to get in Plattsburgh and I'm working out my baggage situation and my computer parts situation, but overall it's nothing compared to last time AND I've already sent 50% of my stuff over with my darling wife, who may or may not have arrived in Hong Kong as of the typing of this; 96 hours after taking off or is it 120 right now? :p

What a crazy awesome three months it's been, I should write a recap post to catch everyone up to speed on my time back now that I've sent out a hundred of my business cards to everyone that came to our reception.

Macau Fever... (Part 3) The Finale..................................or is it?

Now for the conclusion (finally) of Macau Fever...I knew if I didn't finish it right away it would drag on for weeks..


We last left our adventurers in the security clearance portion of the Hyperjet Hydro-Plane Ferry at 8:10pm...

8:20pm: The air changes from the thick pollution of the metropolis to a pungent brackish aroma as the quintet scramble aboard their international seaworld vessel. The living quarters are cramped, especially because Dama has to deal with the great mass and density of his Janbo. The Janbo, known for his harsh and unforgiving tone, is also one of the few instruments that earth-gravity loves to grab and hold on to tightly, hoping to forever embed this forsaken implement in the earth's crust for all eternity. The vessel pulls away from the docking station and the quintet forgoes hypersleep as the excitement of the world's most densely populated country awaits.

8:30pm: Time is passed with Tane and Samje recalling a previous journey to "The Land of Cement and Casinos"

9:15pm: Arrival at the port is smooth and the four warriors emerge from the compound looking for an Armored Transport Vehicle that can bring them to the barracks.  The group agrees for this to be their home base for the remainder of the mission.

9:45pm: The robo-driver of the A.T.V has difficulties understanding the programming language Tane uses and must consult numerous databases before arriving at the desired address.

10:00pm: The group finds the barracks and luckily there is a single containment chamber with 4 sleeping units remaining.  Sweat soaks through Dama's clothes as he deposits his Kong$ into the manage-bot.  Luckily the containment chamber comes equipped with a heat removal device, as night time temperatures approach upwards of 150 degrees.  All extra mass is left secured in the barracks and the group leaves with their instruments.

10:30pm: The group acquires some local currency by handing a piece of plastic and some numbers to a group of men standing along the street.  After a few seconds the men return with paper money.

11:00pm: The group locates a defensible location suitable to make a final stand should they need to.  The large stone coated area has lots of movement and local organisms moving about.  The group produces their music creation devices and begins their presentation.  In certain instances, the large organisms would become mesmerized by the audible waves created by the trio and sometimes without warning their bodies would move in synchronization with the rhythms created.  After breaking the trance they would sometimes deposit money into the instrument protection device placed in front.

1:30am: Having exhausted their supply of musical arrangements the trio returns to the barracks and secures their instruments.

2:00am-7:30am: Earth-time seems to have warped between these two destinations as recollections of the events that transpired seem inaccurate. Events occurred in various orders, sometimes rewinding and replaying themselves, some events were simultaneous, and often the realities Dama found himself in didn't correspond with what Tane and Samje experienced.  Although Nibra was often on the same plane as Dama.

Entering the casinos was a very peculiar experience, often times earth-money would disappear from the quintets wallets without a trace, sometimes it was forcibly removed by the gamesman's tables, and sometimes for fleeting instants it would return to one of them, as if a long lost friend had returned and promised to bring all of the old crew back with them.  Dama and Nibra were very careful with their earth money, they resisted the trance and guarded their money carefully.  Tane became infatuated with a vid-robot that promised to bring him many earth-dollars.  He acquired many and Dama and Nibra were able to break his trance in a caffeine induced mind battle that allowed Tane to emerge with more old friends then he thought he brought along.  Samje however, would disappear and reappear, occasionally regaling us with the losses he encountered and was powerless to heed.

The trio flowed from place to place; caffeine, grease, and ethanol powered their engines as they were able to rent specially designed Segways.  However, acid rain at dawn hampered plans and the group took solace in a local "Grease, Sugar, 'N Sawdust"

Before their abbreviated sleep, Tane lost his battle and was hypnotized into losing all the earth money he gained, Samje battled furiously, but continued to be beaten into submission and deposited more of his money into the Black-jackoBot.  Dama and Nibra spent gingerly but still lost about 25 Hong Kong "Teeners" each, which paled in comparison to the amount the other duo gave away.

Samje and Dama returned to the barracks first, Tane remained hypnotized, and Nibra became lost and had to hire an A.T.V to return him to the barracks.

11:00am: The quartet emerged from their slumber, Dama purchased food and world renowned Egg Tarts, and then caught a Hyperjet Hydro-Plane Ferry back to his home-away from homeland...Wiser from his travels and satisfied that The Lapsap Stringband had one final epic night before going their separate ways across the earth's surface. He hopes will re-reemerge in the not so distant future.

----In the days following shortly after their encounter with Macau, Tane fell ill, followed by Dama, recent reports of Samje falling ill recently have also emerged.... Dama remains in Hong Kong to this day, Tane set flight for Malaysia, Nibra returned to the NorthWest, and Samje is in the Great North East.

Macau Fever... (Part 2)

Now for the stunning conclusion:

6:51pm: A massive blast is heard and the blur of a vehicle slams to an instant halt in the blink of an eye. Dama throws some money towards the captain and the other three jump out and race to enter the airlock and clear security.  Dama collects his earth-money change and views the countdown board from the distance.  He thinks to himself, "Why is there no time showing?" Has his super sonic journey slowed time? Stopped time? No, that's crazy; it's just that the "Cut-Off" buzzer has already sounded.  This name is derived from what happens if any body parts exist between the outside world and the airlock when time is up.

6:53pm: A large group of Slowpokes were entering the airlock chamber.  Known for their speed and dexterity this tribe of people often travels aboard the fast vessel bound for the urban jungle.  However, the entry guards tend to be very cautious when tendering fare and this can cause vast hold ups.  Luckily for the quartet, they were able to hop on the coat tails of this group, literally, as the Slowpoke tribe is known for their vast coat tails.  Here is a security photo of the quartet entering the airlock:
 
6:54pm: The quartet was safely aboard their vessel and entering hyper sleep.  Just before nodding off Dama spotted his Janbo next to Samje and released a nervous sigh of relief.  He had completely forgotten about it in the chaos when leaving the transport.

7:35pm: The supersonic vessel battles tidal waves and eludes pirate boats as it enters the CCA (Central Containment Area) Dama awakens from his sleep, grabs his janbo, and leaves the terminal.  He emerges from the megalith and enters a busy concrete metropolis.  Nibra takes off on a quest to acquire something to cover his legs, as this is the generally recognized custom of Macau.  Dama, Samje, and Tane head to a special area where Dama's pocket computer can receive specially crafted radio signals.  These radio waves tell Dama the earth-location of their destination in the density of Macau.

8:10pm: The trio acquire their tickets from the Hyperjet Hydro-Plane Ferry ticketing robot, then try to contact Nibra through special radio waves emanating from Dama's pocket computer.  Nibra is outside the compound unsuccessful in his quest to acquire his leg coverings.  He enters the complex, utilizes the motorized stairs, purchases his ticket, and meets with the group.  Samje and Tane finished their ethanol bubble water, which just so happens to have a slightly higher percentage of ethanol than 7-up, and entered security clearance.

--------That's all I've got for today, tune in tomorrow for a conclusion, maybe, it all depends on how this sickness is treating me.......

Macau Fever... (Part 1)

Pretty crazy last few days, I'll try to reconstruct the events that transpired recently (names were changed to protect the innocent) **Some events dramatized**

Monday:

Approx 5pm:  Dama meets up with Tane, Samje, and Nibra to acquire food at a nearby establishment; the name of which comes from the large American bird otherwise known as the Kutrey. Tane proceeds to inquire to Dama about possibly going to the most densely populated country in the world. Of which Dama takes careful consideration over his blended yogurt/mango drink and earth-potato grease sticks.

6:10pm: Dama realizes that it would be fun to go back to Macau, a place he spent either fleeting moments under cover of darkness or later, in a rain soaked fog.  Dama relays his decision to the group and they take into account their time allotment.  Dama knows a fast ferry leaves at 6:50pm and explains that it will produce a more desirable outcome in relation to earth-time if they are present on this vessel when it departs. 

6:20pm: It comes to light that the outcome may be unobtainable due to the great distance between the eager group and their special pieces of paper.  These papers prove that they are who they are and are actually from where they were born.  The feasibility of the 6:50 option heavily depends upon returning to this very location within 30 earth-minutes.  Thus, the group is compelled to hire a nearby small blue carriage, knowing from past experiences that these carriages can sometimes approach the sound barrier, much to the distress of their occupants.

6:30pm: The quartet reach their village and scramble to reach their individual residences and acquire their necessary components for international travel as well as their highly glossed wooden noisemakers.  Their rocket chariot needs 10 minutes to warm up its afterburners before it can return, thus, the group knows it needs to be prepared for reentry by 6:40.  If this occurs,they will be present at the entry gate before the fast boat leaves.  Dama takes off to his flat to grab his identity book.  Nibra runs to the village washer-woman in hopes of donning a clean pair of trousers, rather than is multi-day old board shorts.  Samje and Tane run to acquire their documents and the noisemakers.

6:35pm: Dama sprints to his mansion on the bluff overlooking Pui O, passes three levels of security, and enters his vast abode.  He throws off his crocs, imitation Billabong shorts, and "Urban Man" shirt (Dama likes to dress down on occasion).  He then dresses in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and D&G Trousers.  Dama still wants to maintain his casual fashion sense, but still give the impression that he's a man of fine taste.

6:38pm: Dama races back to the launchpad, down the hill and across the bridge.  He grabs his Nexus 1 cellphone, newly imported from The Union of 50.  This one is refered to as "Nexus 3" though, he always buys everything in threes; Nexus 1 and 2 remain carefully locked away.  The wonderful device shows a holograph of Samje getting suited up for his supersonic journey back to the place the quartet started their epic journey less than two hours previous...

6:45: Delays with the supersonic fabric coating cause the carriage to depart late and hopes of the four dwindle to nothing as they race "Fi-dee, Fi-dee" towards their destination.


Will the unrelenting quartet arrive at their destination unscathed and on time? Will Dama almost forget his noise making Janbo in the trunk of the supersonic carriage? Does Nibra have pants on?

----These questions answered and more next time in the stunning conclusion of "Macau Fever"----

Lapsap Stringband Pictures

Three hundred and sixty something days and counting...

Just over a year ago I left New York on a journey that I knew would change my life, however, it was impossible to tell just what I would encounter along the way.

Here I am still travelling down this path with an unknown destination, however it's this very journey that keeps me going.  "The journey is the destination" I used to tell my kids at ALE.

I knew that this experience would change things for me and going to a place that literally couldn't be further away from home definitely did just that.

Signing a 13 month contract was the longest contract I had ever committed to and at first it seemed daunting to me, then I settled in and found the flow of things, then the reality of 6 more months set in, along with (I'm not really sure how to say this...) let me just say that several factors more numerous than I want to list here allowed me to make the decision that...I'm DONE with this company or as they say in the states..."Done like dinner" or in New Zealand..."Done and Dusted"
or multiple choice...
"I'm as done as ______"
1) Conan O'Brien hosting The Tonight Show
2) Eliot Spitzer's political career
3) Healthcare Reform
4) Tiger Woods and golf

OK, maybe some of those things aren't a lock just yet, but I've decided long ago that I am looking for other things.  I like Hong Kong and I'm not ready to live in the US yet; I can't wait to go back and visit though.  Around 60 days and I'll be back in the good ol' US of A and I've also booked 3 shifts at ALE that will bring me into the summer.  Katy's coming to visit me in New York and then I'll return for DrB HK Part 2 sometime in August, who knows what that will involve...

A quick summary of the past year would involve travelling to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, and Nepal.  Also seeing Mount Everest from the airplane, then Dhaulagiri and Annapurna the 7th and 10th highest peaks in the world from the ground.  Scuba diving, reaching 12,170 feet in altitude, walking on 110+ degree Malaysian beach sand, being in 4 countries in 16 hours, sleeping everywhere from luxury buses and junkboats to local buses' plywood bench seats and cardboard boxes. As well as finding love and getting a place to call my own in Hong Kong among many many more things.

The spring season starts March 1, people are arriving now, although the nor' easter on the East coast is messing up some people's plans.  The confusion and frustration have reawakened, oh March 31 where are you?

The Nepal pictures and journal are coming soon, I'm getting a lot more pictures from Elena soon.

I have some ideas about this blog and some changes I'd like to make, I'm hoping to finally finish my journal from last spring and reorganize it to the correct dates and maybe put in my trail journal from my Long Trail journey in 2008, I'd also like to integrate all my twitter messages into the posts somehow.  This is all in hopes of creating a print version of this blog I think it would be pretty cool to have a hard copy of all my writings and pictures, we'll see how it goes.  I think the Lapsap Stringband and yelling at kids might take up most of my time once things get going...

One month left?!?!

That's right, many people are flying out of Hong Kong and back to the states around the week of December 14-17, moving on... another batch comes and goes and I stay... so it goes in the outdoor industry leading such a transient lifestyle, ahhhh but that's the draw of it too.

Anyway two weeks of hell just ended, haha, my tribe finished 5th out of 12 today, with a strong 2nd in the tribal chant that took place at West Island School on Hong Kong Island this morning. We would have taken 2nd overall if my kids handn't broken "Daanald" their egg to care for throughout the week. Daan is how you say egg in Cantonese, hehe, only my Chinese kids got that one...

We also have the weekend off AND next Wednesday and Thursday off, so nice! I'm in desperate need of this time off since I definitely need rest to fight off this cold that is hitting me. I feel ok energy wise, but just getting a cough and sinus aches.

After our debrief at the school I went in to Tom Lee Music in Wan Chai and picked up a spare set of guitar strings just in case I have any breakages, you can't just drive 20 minutes to Plattsburgh and take your choice of 15 different kinds at Bob's Music. It's a 5-25 minute wait for the bus, a 25 minute ferry ride, a 25 minute walk/subway/walk to the nearest music store with maybe 3 kinds of acoustic strings and these times are if you hit the transports exactly and don't have to wait.

After picking up strings I made my way back to Tung Chung via the MTR (subway) to meet Katy after she got out of work. After talking for a while she headed home and I went and grabbed some Indian food with my dinner allowance from T.I. and then caught the 7:05 bus back to Pui O and arrived here about 25 minutes later.

Now I don't think i'm going to move from this spot on the futon for a couple days....I might be able to actually do it, I have my laptop and music for entertainment, leftover food scraps scattered around me for sustenance, an old tea bag and some half filled leftover bottles of water for hydration, an air conditioner that I could turn on with my reachin' stick, and hey this futon is sketchy enough that I'm sure a few "accidents" would go unnoticed at least for a few days....

New addition to the family....

Yesterday, I met Katy in the city with plans of going to get my haircut, look at acoustic guitars, and maybe go Christmas shopping.

Ended up we (I) spent a lot of time looking at and playing guitars, before finally deciding on one. It ended up being about $170 US for a solid top guitar and soft case. They don't bargain or give discounts at the place I bought from, I couldn't even get picks or cheap strings or a discount on the gig bag from them... Anyway I think it's an excellent guitar for the price I paid, nice wood, and fretboard, deep bass sound with decent mid and high range. This is all coming from a guy who hasn't really played a decent instrument for more than 5 minutes in about 8 months, so who knows anymore.

Before purchasing the guitar Katy and I went to Pizza Express and had some really good food, yes Good good, (not Hong Kong good, for those of you keeping track) I had a pizza and Katy had marinated portabello mushroom with greens and almonds on it.

We also decided to go see "This is it" Michael Jackson's movie and it actually wasn't bad, it definately changed my view of him.

A 5 day 3 night camp starts tomorrow at 7:15, I'm still recovering from last week, vocally, mentally, and physically, but I should be ready to go tomorrow. I'm staying over Tuesday and Wednesday this week with the kids.

I'm doing the gauntlet of activities again this week with kayaking, gorging, adventure race, Cheung Chau expedition, raft building, among many others in our action packed days.
Dinner in Mui Wo with a bunch of the gang in about an hour.

I just recorded 3 videos for people to see my new acquisition, "Understand Your Man" is a new one that I learned from Johnny Cash and then the ol' standby "Wreck of Old 97" and then finally a record of the "Redwing" tribute piece I arranged after Millard passed away.

Come on Millard play that fiddle...

I just heard that Millard Eggleston passed away on Wednesday. My condolences go out to his family. Dannemora and the coffee houses will be a different place without him around.

I remembered someone wrote this about Vassar Clements when he passed away,

"On April 22nd, the angels in heaven stopped singing for a moment, as they heard the most beautiful music approaching from a distance - the high lonesome sound of Millard's fiddle."

It is really great that we were able to perform "Come on Millard (Play That Fiddle)" for him when he was healthy. I'm going to play some Turkey in The Straw today, I've also been working out a Mississippi John Hurt/Chet Atkins style Redwing on the guitar lately.

Come on Millard play that fiddle we want to hear you saw
Sit right down and fiddle around won't you play one for me pa?
Come on Millard play that fiddle we want to hear you saw
Let's go Professor we want to hear some Turkey in The Straw

Millard was a sawyer, a lumberman too
Now playing fiddle is his favorite thing to do
He always worked hard, a family to raise
Working long hours for him it didn't phase

Come on Millard play that fiddle we want to hear you saw
Sit right down and fiddle around won't you play one for me pa?
Come on Millard play that fiddle we want to hear you saw
Let's go Professor we want to hear some Turkey in The Straw

His fiddle reputation was known far and wide
He can look upon it with never ending pride
We are very lucky that we've had the chance
To see his old fiddle sing and maybe see him dance

Come on Millard play that fiddle we want to hear you saw
Sit right down and fiddle around won't you play one for me pa?
Come on Millard won't you make that old fiddle sing
Let's go professor we wanna hear some of that Redwing

Yo Dawg...

Yo Dawg, I heard you like browsing the internet and catching waves, so I put a surfboard in your computer so you can surf while you surf.

This week has been more of the same old stuff, playing some music, exploring more of Hong Kong. I (hopefully) finished the music organization project on Tuesday.

Wednesday we went to a Causeway Bay in the City to pass out fliers for the summer surf camp. We brought our instruments to play some music. I'm glad I'm going to be away from that banjo for a while, I'm just getting sick of the way it sounds and how awful it plays. In other words, it's like owning a high-definition big screen TV and Blue-ray player and only being able to watch a fuzzy VHS on a black and white TV.

I did come up with an idea for a new song while walking around the IFC mall, the new song is going to be called "Fire Hose Reel" haha. Now that I have the name the rest of it will be easy... I just have to figure out what makes something a "reel" i.e. St. Anne's Reel

Yesterday, we took a ferry into Discovery Bay. It was like walking into a different country, it almost felt like being back in the US. It was a little refreshing, but it did get old quick. I had a pretty nice burger at this 24-hour breakfast joint and checked out the Western (Gweilo) grocery store. Then took the bus (baah-see) to Tung Chung where I picked up an iPod case and then back to Pui O.

Bonus points for whomever can guess how much a golf cart costs in Discovery Bay (Hint: it starts with 156 and ends with 3 zeros)










Looks like I'll be doing some kayaking for a birthday party at Ooh La La on Sunday, hooray for free food! It'll probably be sandwitches, but I ain't complaining, it could be peanut butter torillas or pepperoni and cheese for the 300th+ time









I'll leave everyone with some inspirational words from The Good Ol' Boy himself. As they illustrate a lot about where I'm at right now.

--Prayer---

I love life
Every morning I wake up
Saying in the back of my mind
This could be my last day on earth
This could be the last time
I ever feel the wind raising the hair on my body
Or touch of my feet to the ground
Or the warmth of your flesh next to mine

This could be the last chance I'll have
To watch all kinds of people
Doing all kinds of things
And thinking all kinds of thoughts
And all kinds of directions around me
This might even be my last chance
To spend everything I've saved since last night
Or hear all your sounds ringing though my head

It might even be my last chance
To be sick
I'm like a child trying to do everything
And say everything, see everything,
And be everything all at once
Should I wake up some morning
GOD help me,
And find myself bored among the walking dead

-John Hartford --Housing Project--

Rain Rain Go Away

Didn't make it to Tai Long Won today, it was a late night in the city and it's been pouring all day. (Not that that should dissuade me, but <>)

The jamming last night was pretty fun, too bad the Lapsap Stringband will be on hiatus next week until the fall sometime.

Might go have some Dim Sum tomorrow in the city


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