The Moon and The Nightspirit

One of the few things about MySpace that has kept me there is the music I have been able to find. I love a band from Finland called Gjallerhorn, and thru them, I found a Russian group called Moon Far Away, and from them, I found the Moon and The Nightspirit. I have become obsessed by the music of this last band. They are fellow Wiccan (that is a PLURAL term, for those not in the know......see my rant elsewhere about that.) and the music is exactly the kind of stuff I would want playing in Circle with friends gathered for a seasonal dance. It is beyond difficult to describe, so I leave you with a couple of links and hope some will check out this wonderful band from Hungary. Makes my gypsy feet want to roam again- Give me my wagon, and a couple of stout draft horses, enough food for the day and rain for the flowers, and I will be content.
namsste all!

www.myspace.com/themoonandthenightspirit
http://www.themoon.equilibriummusic.com/

Remember the Greatest- RIP, Max Roach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHSBNv-IFrA


That link should take to a version of Max Roach at YouTube playing "The Drum Also Waltzes." He was an extraodinary musician. Now he's in the Summerlands, and I just get a thrill thinking of him and Jaco Pastorius ripping it up.

Makes me miss both of them even more.

Goddess protect you Max. You changed the world for a lot of us.

Nothing given away......

This has no real place in any of my blogs, but Severus Snape shares a birthday with Mr James Patrick Page.

It has come about that the fictional character of Severus Snape has been given a birth date. Turns out he was born either right after or right before me......1958 or 59. Some say '60. Who the hell cares?! And on January 9th......birthday of Jimmy Page, and my grandson Marco.


Truly, I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. They are well written, and enthralling and have brought younger people back to the joy of reading. If you have only seen the movies , do yourself a favour and go read book one. do them in order- it DOES make a difference. I can forgive the movies for not being able to cover so much detail, but the books are ten times the movies.

And I am an equally big fan of actour Alan Rickman, who has brought a permanent face to Snape. I don't think anyone could have done this character as much justice- good choice!
I have seen much of Alan's work, and think the world of him. They could not have done better giving him this incredible anti-hero to him to mold.

Anyway, no, I am not saying anything about the newest, and last book, in the series. Except that I have already read it twice and browse through certain parts almost daily. I am sorry to see the series end, but will enjoy these books for the rest of my life. I just would like to know what they will do with the movies to do justice to the tremendous expectation built up in the fan world. They better get it right.......

More than 70,000

well... when I started posting my photos online, I would never have believed that so many people would want to look at what I do. Three and a half years, thirty five hundred photos, and over 70,000 hits to that site later, I guess I am wrong. Gives me a warm feeling, though for all this time, I haven't had a single comment posted on that site- only at DC's or myspace. I think it is something to do with having to join Webshots. Dunno. Doesn't matter. Every Friday, when I get the e-mail about that week's stats, I sit there with this silly grin on my face, looking at who has been looked at, and often wondering exactly who is flipping into my site, and why. In my mind, I often accuse the artists themselves of vanity, but have been surprised at how rarely they seem to have seen any of the pictures I have done. I think sometimes it must be new fans, coming onto some bands site, seeing either my comments or a link to my site, and checking it out.
I love taking live concerts shots, but think I may start using an inexpensive digital camera (I am purely analog, i.e.'film', right now) to get some creative work done. Seems it runs in the family too- my dad, my oldest brother, his youngest son, me.....there is definitely an artist's eye running in the genes of this family. If he gives me permission, I will be putting a link to my nephew's flickr site, where he has put up some old slides my dad took around 1964. It will be in my travel blog....seeing that stuff again brought back a lot of memories, even as small as I was then. ( about 5- it was just after the Beatles hit the US shores....)

Pictures....they may not capture the exact moment perfectly, but they can sure trigger memory. I can't look at any of the DC concerts without having a stream of thoughts about each different gig go through my head. Not right now, as it is very late, but sometime soon, I will have to reminisce about some of those trips......different sort of life...I wouldn't trade what I have lived through due to Del Castillo for anything.

namaste y'all.

For the Earth, Or Something Else?

At this very moment, there is a huge international concert going on. It is supposed to be about " a climate in crisis", but I am afraid I have to raise a few points here. In the noblest of gestures, the stages are all supposed to be run completely off alternative power sources. HOWEVER- how many people had to travel to get TO these gigs? What mode of transport did they use? One hundred percent chance that it was something based on the use of petroleum products, one of the worst problems we have created as a species. and of those of us that might have any interest what so ever and no ability to travel, how many are watching it on TV to PC or whatever? Having friends over, BBQing, running the AC more because of more bodies.......the list could go on all day. Fact is, this bloody concert may in fact be generating far more damage than it is being done to bring awareness about. I really don't think all those well-meaning businesses and bands bothered thinking about the domino affect, or worse- chaos theory.

This concert isn't going to do anymore than Live Aid, Farm Aid or Feed The World did. I was a staunch supporter of that last one especially, selling over 1000 singles and 500-600 albums specifically for that cause in my one music store alone. what happened? Government. The bloody government wouldn't let the food and other supplies through into Ethiopia. All that work ended up hitting the wall.

Want to make a difference? Turn off any lights you don't really need. Recycle everything you can. Unplug all appliances you aren't using- you'd be surprised how much power they draw when not in use. Compost if you have a yard, and find someone else who can for you if you don't. Stop buying throw-away stuff, just because it's convenient. Stop driving around for no reason, and learn to use a bike, moped or your feet for the shorter trips.

Every little thing ends up making a difference.

The big things, like this ridiculous gig, really don't. The larger message gets lost in the shuffle. all the mailto:f&$&*@ing media isn't going to change anything. It will have be down here, among the people. And it better start soon

Musicians mean well, and often don't know how to add their two cents in. THIS wasn't the right way. Do you think any of them will change how they tour permanently? No. Do you think for a minute that alternate power sources will become the standard at the majour arenas aound the world? No. Do you think that the majourity of the thousands at the gigs will pick up one piece of trash as they are leaving and put it in the recycle bins? No.

Let's start changing things at home, in our own neighbourhoods, and stop trying to impress the world. Recycle. Re-use. Renew. Cut down on consumption. Give back just a little more than you take. THAT is what will change this planet's direction, and possibly our species.

Oh? Did you think that world was dying? Nah.
She's been through far more than we can do to Her, and she has survived. We are killing ourselves off by ruining all the natural resources provided for us, from sheer greed and gluttony.
We alone will pay the price. Or we can atone, and maybe be forgiven. It truly is up to the individual to make a difference.