Drumming Durians

Drumming

As a chronically understated person who is typically happier observing the world than actually taking part in the world, I am not particularly prone to undue excitement. One thing that does nudge my interest is music, specifically music resulting from unusual combinations of influences, either geographic or stylistic.

A thoroughly amateur musician, I have a thoroughly amateur collection of instruments (and ‘things’) which takes up some of my time - when I am at home, I should add - my instrument collection doesn't travel as well as my flag collection! In any case, I do sometimes miss random musical instruments lying about the house. Particularly my d’jembe drum, which is a great instrument for trance, thumb blisters, and creating general astonishment and mayhem in the neighborhood. Listening to West African music just makes me smile, not much more to it.

And I was reminded of my d’jembe this week by an article describing a young Japanese traditional drumming troupe’s visit to and performance in Senegal with a well-known Senegalese drummer. Traditional Japanese drumming is “all about holding the silence and creating a well-placed sound with in it.” Life is like that – don’t forget the silence because without it music is impossible.


Three Gorges

Just read about this film, Jia’s Still Life, which I have not seen but it really sounds interesting. About a town that is being emptied due to the 3 Gorges Dam project. I don’t know when this was filmed or exactly where the town is. Four years ago when I was in China I did a river cruise from Chongqing, down the Yangtze River to the dam. At that point they had just completed blocking the river, albeit symbolically, with most of the dam completed but a gap on one side of say, a half mile or so… Well, not quite that big. Truly, the scale of that project is astonishing. Hoover and Grand Coulee are really not even close to the same league. In any case, my memories of driving through a city which was swarming with workers and sledgehammers slowly demolishing everything to carry it up the hill and reuse for the new city, well you don’t see a city moving too often so I remember that. Right, so if you get a chance watch the film and tell me how it is!

Russ Feingold column on Chad
Pure self-interested political realism meets humanitarian idealism (well, at least in this article), and still nothing happens on the ground.

Kofi Annan speech
Kofi Annan gave a speech the other day. On the UN, on everybody being in the same world and hoping for essentially the same things. Attitudes on the UN here are almost universally positive. Attitudes in America on the UN, based primarily on anecdotal comments by truck drivers (…) are less positive. Leadership involves being in the front, and it’s hard to go forward, even from the front, if you can’t take your eyes off the folks behind you.

Quote of the day from a candidate for Governor of Aceh, from a BBC article.
“Being the governor is like being in prison, I will lose my freedom," he said.

Funny headline:
Govt Allocates Food to Seriously Durian-hit Province
I’m picturing Durians raining from the sky, the besieged wearing spike helmets to split them and gas masks to breathe…

Happy Birthday to me … :)