Watercolors, Woods and Songs (for Elizabeth)

 Elizabeth, I'd say you're quite good with watercolors. I know I'm only going by a single painting, and I'm not trying to be a "yes man", but as I said in my Instagram message, the flowers look real. The colors are realistic, especially the dark brown of the center of the flowers (with a little bit of a black halo). They look good to me, and they look like the same kind of flowers that were in the cup in your pesto photograph. I'd call them daisies, though I don't know if that's correct. Daisies, or maybe small sunflowers. And, I am guessing they grow in your field across the street? That's why I also guessed that you picked them yourself, meaning the ones in the cup.

How long have you been painting anyway? Painting and drawing? A long time, I'd say. You show a lot of natural talent, but did you also take classes in school? You inspired me to get my sketchpad out, along with my Prismacolors. I won't be able to paint until I have a bigger place to live, but that will happen too. I haven't tried watercolors yet, but can you guess what I still have?

I still have one of my very first paintings, perhaps my first. It's a self portrait made in kindergarten, in 1965. It was made with the kind of paint used by children; tempura I think. Of course, all kids go through a fingerpainting exercise in grade school, usually in kindergarten. My self-portrait looks like what you'd imagine from a five year old, but the cool thing is that I still have it. My Mom saved it for me through the years, and it's survived two major earthquakes, several moves, and the fact that I wasn't even aware of it's existence until about 1998. So, it's cool to have, but I'm more proud of my later work, haha.

I liked your photos from earlier this morning, too. The flowers in the field are beautiful, and all in all it just looks like such a magical place -  a good place to go to and a good place to be. Is that your friend Anna in the second pic? It's great to be able to share such a place with a friend, and it's easy to see how special that field is, and the surrounding woods. The feeling of a place is everything, and it becomes more ingrained the more you visit. You come to know it, and it knows you.  :):)

I haven't been on a hike for the past few days because of the smoke in the air. As you probably know, California (and all of the West Coast) is on fire again. This never used to happen, but it happens every year now. And it can't be because of Mother Nature. The same rain has fallen for eons, and the same vegetation has grown, and become overgrown. And the same heat has dried it out, and the same high winds have been in effect. And of course there are fires every year regardless. But this annual spate of catastrophic fires is something new, and we need to figure out what is causing it and do something to prevent it. Then we'll be back to our "blue skies and golden sunshine, all along the way", in the words of our resident weatherman David Lynch. :):)

I have to again tell you that your song is superb. I listened to it many times today and it made me very happy. You sing about enjoying the moments in life, "no matter how small", and the thing is, those are very often the best moments of all. You have a quality in your voice, Elizabeth, that expresses everything you sing about in the most spiritual of ways. Please keep writing songs.

That's all I know for tonight, except for that I love you. See you in the morning.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

  

Your New Song (for Elizabeth)

Elizabeth, wow that is such a beautiful song. Your lyrics and vocal melody are exceptional, and it's the kind of thing everyone needs to hear right now. You are so right on in your message about happiness being a choice. Whoever told you that was right on the money, and as you say in your lyrics it's available to everyone. All you have to do is "go look for her yourself". This is what the world needs right now. I'm kind of speechless........you have such a lovely voice, and it's capable of really delivering the emotion in your words, and combined with your knack for melody, it brings on the goosebumps. You say a lot in a few lines, and I hope, hope, hope that you are developing (or have already developed) the section that you posted into a full song. Gotta "drill sergeant" you on that score, but in a good way. 

I can't reiterate enough - and will keep doing so - that you have great songwriting talent. Just one example that I liked from tonight's song is the way you personified Happiness. You begin by singing about it as a state of mind, but then you lyrically switched it to human form, in the line "go look for her yourself", and the switch is seamless. That's the mark of good writing. Then you continue in that way, and make another lyrical switch, this time temporal, where you sing of the subject (happiness) "she's living in the present". So you've taken happiness as a state of mind and turned her into a woman in the here and now.

That's some damn good writing, Elizabeth. That's the kind of songwriting-as-metaphor, and as storytelling, that all the best singer songwriters have done since the 1960s. 

I trust that you are planning, at some point, to record all your latest songs. Please tell me that tonight's song is either already finished or "in the works". I say that because it's brilliant, and right now it's only posted on Instagram Stories, where it will disappear in 24 hours. That cannot happen. It cannot be a temporary reflection. You've gotta finalise it. 

Girl, you have got to consider making an album of your songs at some point, even if it's a little ways down the line, and even if you haven't written or finished all the songs yet. You've just gotta do it, even little by little, no matter if it takes some time.  :):)

The thing is, you have a lot to say, and you have the musical talent to say it in a unique and beautiful way. Eventually, you could make a record combining your piano music with your current singer/songwriting. Wow, what an album that would be!

I hope you don't mind that I sent you a message on Instagram. I'm "koberdee" there, which I think I mentioned. So if you got a message from koberdee (named after the late, great Kobedog), that was me! First message I've sent you in a long time, but I had to, because I loved your song. 

I love you too ya know.

See you in the morning.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Into The Woods, In Search of Minions (plus food, plus heat, plus music, for Elizabeth)

Elizabeth, I love it! You have sighted the elusive Minion, do I have that correct? "Rarely seen in the forests of the Great Lakes region". That settles it - we're gonna have to go creature hunting together. Between the two of us, who knows what we'll find next.  :):)

I hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend. Betcha made some good dinners! I've been eating light during our heat wave, making big salads with Tons of Veggies and either tuna or salmon, plus avocado and a little pepper jack cheese, with the ubiquitous chips and salsa on the side. When it gets cold, maybe we can make some soup? What is your favorite? One of mine is French Onion, and also Split Pea. But I love soup of almost any kind, so let's put that on the menu for the Winter.

Right now, however, it's anything but Winter. 

Yesterday was the hottest recorded day in the history of Los Angeles. The temperature reached 121 degrees in Woodland Hills, a town here in the Valley that's about eight miles from Northridge. Here in The 'Ridge it was 118, but the heat had a whole different quality to it this time. I ventured outside in the late afternoon, just to see what it felt like, and there was a weight to it, like an electrical charge. It was menacing, like that Twilight Zone episode where it just keeps getting hotter and hotter. I mean.......it was hot. Freakishly hot. 

It was hammer down hot.

It was too hot even for me, so except for my brief outdoor test, I stayed inside and read my books. I finished "Norco '80", which was absolutely riveting and may be the best True Crime book I've ever read. Having finished "Norco", I began another book I've recently gotten from the Libe, via their curbside service : "Survivor Song" by Paul Tremblay, the horror novelist who broke into the big time after being recommended by Stephen King. That's how I heard of him, in 2018, and after reading his last book, "The Cabin At The End Of The World", I went and got everything he'd ever written. That's how good he is. So King was right, and when "Survivor Song" was published I put myself in the Library queue right away. The weird thing is, Tremblay's book is about a pandemic, but it was written just before the coronavirus hit. He began it two years ago (and it's about rabies, not covid), but it's weird because even in the first chapter he's talking about quarantines and PPE.

I did end up going for a CSUN walk last night at 8pm. I've gotta get my exercise at some point, but it was still about 100 degrees at that time. Tonight is at least 20 degrees cooler, so at least we're out of the apocalyptic heat range for now.

My album for this evening was "Moon Shaped Pool" by Radiohead. They are another band that I'm gonna have to immerse myself in at some point, like I've recently done with Gentle Giant. In the case of Radiohead, I've listened to their albums from time to time, and I think I own just about everything they've ever put out, save for b-sides and Thom Yorke solo albums. At the turn of the Millennium, I played the heck out of them : "Kid A", holy smokes what an album, and "OK Computer", an all time classic. But I need to do a major study of them, because they are pretty incredible, if bleak.

Last night I listened to a very beautiful album called "The Geese and The Ghost" by Anthony Phillips, who was the original guitarist in Genesis before leaving them in 1970, before they hit it big. His musical influence on them, however, was huge. He writes in the style of what I imagine is English folk music from centuries ago, soft acoustic music played on 12 string guitar, and it sounds like something you would hear in an English forest in the 1500s. It's a quiet album, but very melodic, and it evokes a feeling of peace.

That's all I really know for tonight. I'm thinking about you, as always. I'll see you tomorrow morning, out in the field on the edge of the woods. I'll be near The Tree of Electronic Devices. See you there.

I love you, Elizabeth!   xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Plants & Runes & Wagner (for Elizabeth)

Elizabeth, I like how you have framed the view in your photo this morning, with your houseplant surrounding the camera. It's indicative of your love of nature.  :) That's a philodendron, am I right? We are trying to maintain an orchid at Pearl's, in her kitchen window. I am good with her patio plants, but I haven't had luck with orchids in the past. This one is doing something I hadn't heard of before : it's "sleeping", which means it's dropped all it's leaves and is dormant, supposedly for a couple weeks. I thought it had died, but then I Googled it, and it said no, orchids do that, they lose their leaves and "go to sleep". So we'll see if it comes back.

Do you like indoor vines? Something tells me you would do great with a vine plant trained around your living room. I also liked the cup of yellow flowers that was part of your pesto photograph; did you pick those yourself? (My guess is "yes") .......

Here's a question : do you still have your runes? Remember waaaay back, in the beginning (2012-13), when you were reading runes, and you also had a bowl, I don't remember the name of it but it was a ceremonial bowl of some type. The runes and the bowl may have gone hand in hand, I'm not sure. But I know you were adept at reading them in those days.  :)

It was an official Char-Broiler here today : 115 degrees. My air conditioner was barely hangin' in there. Thank goodness the power didn't go out. I did go for a CSUN walk earlier tonight around 9pm, the temp was down to the low 90s by that time, not too shabby. Tomorrow is Round Two of the upper level heat, but I must admit that it really doesn't faze me, at least when the humidity is not extreme, and it wasn't too bad today. In other words, I've felt worse days when it was only 100 or so, when the humidity was cranked up to Swamp Level.

I'm still listening to Bruckner, whose birthday was yesterday. You mentioned writing for strings and I hope at some point you will give it a go, even though it's no doubt a lot of work. Even if you don't do it right away, or even for a year or two, just plant that seed in your head and you will eventually do it (if you want to, that is).

In thinking of Bruckner, he and Mahler were hugely influenced by Richard Wagner, all three of whom I have discovered in the last ten years or so. Mahler and Bruckner built on what Wagner started, and Wagner wrote operas, not symphonies. But all the same, Wagner was maybe the first to really compose extended and very subtle movements for strings, so subtle that they really bring out the emotion in his music. When you listen to the instrumental sections of "Tristan und Isolde" or "Parsifal", you can hear what he is doing in this regard, and in that respect, when I have listened sometimes, I think he is the father of all movie soundtrack music, especially that of the melodramas of the 1950s. Subtlety is the key for that kind of music.

Well, that's all I know for tonight. And that I love you. See you in the morning.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo  :):)

I Saw A Vulture At Santa Susana (plus "Norco '80")

Wow, guess what I saw today at Santa Susana? A Turkey Vulture! He was just standing there, right in the middle of the trail, about a quarter mile into the park. I came around a bend and there he was, about fifteen feet away. I didn't know what he was at first, but could see he was a lot bigger than a hawk. And, he was black (hawks here are red). Then I noticed his bald head and long beak, and I thought "he's gotta be some kind of vulture or buzzard". He just kept standing there, so I held my position and slowly got my camera out. He let me take pictures for about two minutes before he finally flew away. His wingspan was about six feet, biggest bird I've ever seen in flight. He circled the area directly above me, going around three or four times, and I felt like a character in a Western movie, where the vultures are hovering over the man stranded in the desert. It was super hot today, 105 degrees, so maybe he came to the park expecting that, haha.

But it was so cool, an actual vulture! I've never seen one before, and now that I think about it, he's never seen me before either. It's kinda like the deal with Dave Grohl a couple weeks ago -  I walked past his studio looking for him, but he probably walks past my apartment, too, looking for me. But I wonder if Grohl has ever seen a Turkey Vulture? Next time he walks by, I'll ask him.

Well anyhow, I got some good pictures of him (the vulture, not Grohl), and Elizabeth, that's a good reason for you to unblock me on Facebook. :):)  I'm guessing you can't see my FB now, but if you unblock me, then you can see my photo of the vulture. And, you'll be able to see all my photos in the future, too.  :):)    (plus we can be Facebook friends again).

Tomorrow is supposed to be mega hot, like 112 or so, and then Sunday is supposed to be a rip-roasting 117. Dunno if I'll get out on any hikes, but you never know.

I've been reading a book called "Norco '80" by Peter Houlahan, the story of an infamous bank robbery in the town of Norco in Riverside County, about 75 miles from here. The robbery turned into a shootout that was so violent and one sided, in favor of the criminals, that it changed the way police armed themselves forever after. I first heard of the book when the Daily News began publishing excerpts last May. Reading them caused me to think back, and I thought, "oh yeah, I remember that case". I only vaguely remembered it, because it was 40 years ago, and it happened in another county, and I was twenty at the time, and fully immersed in my youth, but when I concentrated on the name of the town - "Norco", a somewhat catchy name - then I remembered. And it was horrible. Here in Los Angeles, we had another godawful bank robbery/shootout in 1997, known as the North Hollywood Shootout. That one was broadcast live on TV, and it remains legendary to this day. But in reading about Norco, it was far, far worse. I am a True Crime reader, and this is one of the worst things I've ever read about. But it's a page turner, and also one of the best True Crime books I've ever read.

Musicwise, tonight I listened to "The Power and The Glory" by Gentle Giant. Last night was Triptykon's "Requiem : Live at Roadburn", performed with an orchestra.

I hope you had a good day Elizabeth. I love you and will see you in the morning. I'll make breakfast!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Dinnertime (for Elizabeth)

Hi Elizabeth! Yeah, that's me knocking on your door. Sorry to come over unannounced, but once you posted the photos of your homemade pesto & pasta, I started getting very hungry. I don't suppose you have any extra? You do? Great, cause I'm starved. We can have dinner together, I'll do the dishes as always, and I brought a bottle of wine, too. So we're all set! Seriously, though, all kidding aside (even though I wasn't really kidding) - Man it sure looks good! I love pesto, too. Have you ever had it in an aioli sauce? Or on a pizza?

Now I'm working myself up again. But I like your restaurant! :):) You always have such a nice presentation of your meals, everything looks so good on the plate. Better make mine a double order. :):)

I hope you are enjoying the last weeks of Summer. I've finally gotten out on a couple of hikes, both at Aliso Canyon. I love the light quality at the end of Summer, it's angled a little bit so it's a tad softer and more golden. Good for photography! Hopefully I can get some good pictures soon. One thing I've been noticing is that we haven't had many spectacular sunsets this year. The sky is too clear; we need some clouds or jet contrails to add patterns and color.

Anyway, after I finish my hike I'll be back over for dessert! Then we can go for a nice evening walk, maybe do some painting afterward. :):) Or if you wanna work on music, I can be your assistant. Or I can just sit off to the side and read a book, and if you need an overdub of soprano recorder (a few notes sprinkled here and there), you can call me over and I'll be ready.

But if you keep cooking like that, I'll pretty much be over all the time. My stomach will be calling the shots and I'll have no choice but to obey. Next time, I'll try to call in advance, though.

But yeah......we could do everything together.

I love you.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)





x

For Elizabeth (capturing the melody is what's important)

Elizabeth, I like the melody you're working on in this morning's clip. You commented that you were only noodling but it sounded to me like you have a nice thread to build on. As for letting the synth samples play the chords, that's fine. When you're composing, it's all about getting the idea down. Later on, once the piece is written, then you can practice it to get the chords involved.

You already know anything I could tell you on the subject, but everyone uses some form of backing tracks to make demos, or just to jam to. Man, I recall when I used to practice alone years ago. I had an "old school" Roland Analog Delay, can't remember the model number but it was a classic, similar to their famous Space Echo, and I would play a few open chords, then adjust the delay so it would ring out in a nice rhythm. Then I'd have something to play over. Of course, that's what drum machines are for too, just to get the creative juices flowing and to make demos. Guitarists use those all the time when they write, plus bass lines too.

So yeah - use your string samples to your heart's content, because the most important thing is getting the musical idea out of your head so you can hear it being played. Use all the building blocks you need when you are writing, then when it's done you can work on the performance technique.

It's similar to writing a book. When you start, whether it's only with a single idea or with an entire concept, you just want to "get it all on paper" so it doesn't escape you. So when you write your first draft, you don't worry too much about perfect sentence construction or repetitive words or incomplete thoughts. You leave that stuff - the mechanical stuff - for second and third drafts. In a first draft you just furiously write your heart out to capture your inspiration.

Anyhow, as you also noted in your comment : "It still sounds good", and I agree. It sounds very good, and the important thing is just to get those melodies out of your head, so you can develop them into compositions. Also, it's good to record every idea you get, at least the ones you like, so that you have a "library of melodies" at your disposal. Who knows when one might end up fitting perfectly into a piece that comes along later?

Well, I'm telling you stuff you know, but I do it anyway.  :):)

I am writing from home, as my latest work cycle has ended and I am off for the next couple weeks. I will definitely get in some hikes this time, and take some pictures.

But just remember...Art Rules The World. And music is one of the greatest of the arts. That's just all there is to it.

I love you and will see you in the morning.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)