Four performances on traditional instruments from the Vietnam Institute of Musicology
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Open Season on Social Evils
When I was teaching English I would sometimes find reference to the Social Evils in student essays. Upon inquiring about exactly what sort of things are Social Evils, some of the responses were predictable - gambling, prostitution and drug use, while some were less predictable - littering, disrespecting your parents... Still, for me at least, when I read about somebody cracking down on Social Evils, I have to keep on reading before I have any real idea of what might be going on!
The Social Evils are having a hard time here recently. A couple months ago the New Century, Hanoi’s biggest night club, was raided and over 1000 “revellers” were taken into custody, at least for a night. The club is, for now anyway, closed down and the owners are facing drug charges.
More recently some Vietnamese were arrested for gambling. In a rather puzzling bit of logic, foreigners are allowed to gamble, but Vietnamese are not. These are the same Vietnamese who sit on street corners everywhere exchanging cash over a game of checkers, or mah-jong, or a football match, or most anything it seems.
All that is stuff I read about in the news. Not being much of a club-goer or a gambler, I’m not particularly offended or gratified by dance halls and casinos being shut down. However, Friday night I went out for some music, and discovered one new Social Evil – live music. Live music was, at least this week, verboten at the R&R Tavern, which is the place for laidback live music. The R&R is also the place for pork BBQ with coleslaw and, considering it is in Hanoi, authentic burritos with pineapple hot sauce by the guy who is supposed to be singing. Fortunately, strange foods that foreigners like have not yet been nominated to the Social Evils list. Although if I were nominating, I’d award that hot sauce a higher potential for evil than any music I’ve heard there!
The Social Evils are having a hard time here recently. A couple months ago the New Century, Hanoi’s biggest night club, was raided and over 1000 “revellers” were taken into custody, at least for a night. The club is, for now anyway, closed down and the owners are facing drug charges.
More recently some Vietnamese were arrested for gambling. In a rather puzzling bit of logic, foreigners are allowed to gamble, but Vietnamese are not. These are the same Vietnamese who sit on street corners everywhere exchanging cash over a game of checkers, or mah-jong, or a football match, or most anything it seems.
All that is stuff I read about in the news. Not being much of a club-goer or a gambler, I’m not particularly offended or gratified by dance halls and casinos being shut down. However, Friday night I went out for some music, and discovered one new Social Evil – live music. Live music was, at least this week, verboten at the R&R Tavern, which is the place for laidback live music. The R&R is also the place for pork BBQ with coleslaw and, considering it is in Hanoi, authentic burritos with pineapple hot sauce by the guy who is supposed to be singing. Fortunately, strange foods that foreigners like have not yet been nominated to the Social Evils list. Although if I were nominating, I’d award that hot sauce a higher potential for evil than any music I’ve heard there!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
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 … :)
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 … :)
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Singing old soldier
Just off the road from Cat Ba town to the National Park entrance, there is a cave which used to be a military hospital during the war, and a truly amusing old soldier giving tours of the place with three granddaughters.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
HAPPY CANADA DAY
Tuesday I celebrated Canada Day (which is today, by the way) by going to a concert by James Gordon, a Canadian folk singer. Sponsored by the Canadian Embassy, he seemed to be truly enjoying himself and fascinated with Hanoi.
However, there was a certain disconnect listening to some of his songs about canoe trips, and whalers being frozen in Frobisher Bay, etc, while a steamy tropical rain was pouring down outside the theatre, soaking the cyclo drivers and washing away the days trash from the street side. North Americans tend to glorify, in a religious sense, nature – that was very clear in his music. ‘Nature’ in North America is something best left untouched – virgin forests are better than managed forests. That concept seems so strange here. In Asia untouched nature is wilderness, untapped resources, unused land is not an asset. Most people who live in cities have spent enough time in the countryside that they have no illusions about the beauty of untouched nature. Development is good here, most people want it. City parks are plentiful here in Hanoi, but untouched wilderness is not a great attraction.
Aside from that his typical self-deprecating humor (for example the song “I’m Canadian and I’m Sorry) was very familiar to me and I enjoyed the concert a lot. Plus a number of songs he wrote last week about Hanoi and the people here, it's always good to hear a fresh perspective! And that is all I have to say about that.
However, there was a certain disconnect listening to some of his songs about canoe trips, and whalers being frozen in Frobisher Bay, etc, while a steamy tropical rain was pouring down outside the theatre, soaking the cyclo drivers and washing away the days trash from the street side. North Americans tend to glorify, in a religious sense, nature – that was very clear in his music. ‘Nature’ in North America is something best left untouched – virgin forests are better than managed forests. That concept seems so strange here. In Asia untouched nature is wilderness, untapped resources, unused land is not an asset. Most people who live in cities have spent enough time in the countryside that they have no illusions about the beauty of untouched nature. Development is good here, most people want it. City parks are plentiful here in Hanoi, but untouched wilderness is not a great attraction.
Aside from that his typical self-deprecating humor (for example the song “I’m Canadian and I’m Sorry) was very familiar to me and I enjoyed the concert a lot. Plus a number of songs he wrote last week about Hanoi and the people here, it's always good to hear a fresh perspective! And that is all I have to say about that.
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