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Archive for March, 2007

trying on a brand new sarong…

30 Mar

… always feels like the start of a new relationship. You look at it… admire it… feel it. You put it on to see how it feels against the skin. You wonder about the level of comfort and softness it will attain in time. Some you take to right away. Others grow in appreciation over time. Which one of the 2 new ones will attain favorite status?

I’ve had many sarongs over the years. In fact, I still own 2 that are over 20 years old. The two latest ones were brought over from Malaysia by Kien. I do have to tip my hat on his aesthetic choices. (These pictures hardly do them justice.) When he arrived he said, “These are definitely you.” I was undoubtedly very pleased with his choices. Both are of the “gajah duduk” (sitting elephant) brand… which is the most popular in Indonesia. Good sturdy fabric… but I do know that one will win over the other to be the apple of my eye. Only time (and repeated use) will tell.

The “male” sarongs from Malaysia are usually of a stripe or plaid design. The “ladies” have the market on the more fanciful floral prints. Really beautiful traditional designs are the most sought after sarongs. But more about that in another post. I have told you how much I love women in sarongs, haven’t I? Well, I do… really… very much. One would think I have a sarong fetish… OK, I do. So… you got a problem with that?

For now I look at the two I have and relish the thought of “breaking them in”. They will be a comfort to wear now that the whether is more sarong friendly. (Brace yourselves for “The Return of the Sarong!”) I have already been using them… not just to bed but also to lounge in. Ahhh… the comfort of a sarong… there’s nothing quite like it.

EDIT: I was so hoping the lovely Keda would chime in on this one because I was looking for THIS POST of hers yesterday.

 
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Posted in life, sarongs

 

Da Count – a fantastic trip on a dreaded week

29 Mar


dacount

The trip took place on the second weekend of 2001. Despite the horrible events that had occurred earlier in the week a small group of us ventured to the San Francisco Fringe Festival. It wasn’t just for the fun of catching new shows. It was a “study trip” to see how a festival like this would work from whence we came.

It was a fantastic trip to say the least. One that we often smile about. That small group along with a few other “believers” created something that this year became one of the biggest of it’s kind on the West Coast,

Two weeks ago I received a call informing me that I would be honored for the creation of this event at a prestigious award ceremony. 2 days later I received an email attachment to approve the official press release. I sent back edits making sure to name those on that trip as well as a few early believers… and they are who I’m counting this week – the founders. (Even though many don’t think they are.) Without that small group of believers who weathered that first insane attempt with what was considered by most as a “must fail” proposition… the Rogue Festival would not exist.

On April 26th, I shall receive the Horizon Award on behalf of all of us. I am hoping that most of us will be there. BTW the picture is the very first “muse” for the Rogue of 2002. It is a block print by Fresno artist Vincente Aiello… I own the original.

To find out what Da Count is all about click the flashing sign above.

EDIT: BTW… the meeting went well today. It may influence the foundation to rethink and adjust their Arts grant funding to suit a more realistic criteria. Oh, and I paid for my own coffee.

 
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when I wake up…

28 Mar

… tomorrow morning, I will make my way over to ye ole java joint for an interview meeting with one of the bigger arts foundations in the land. I received an email from them over a week ago stating that I had been identified “as a key resource person with knowledge of the cultural landscape“. Hmmm… er… OK. Apparently I am one of 30 people in the San Joaquin Valley who are being interviewed to “investigate the many forms of creative and cultural expression” in the area. (1 of 30 out of 4 million? Huh? No pressure there.) Anyway, the starter on the truck is being finicky so I guess I’ll bike it to this meeting. I just want to know if they are springing for the cup of coffee.

I have to say that there suddenly seems to be an awful lot of activity in that area where my life is concerned of late. Not a complain… but this spike in arts related stuff can be a little heady. Especially considering that not too long ago I was looked upon as a bit of a curiosity and oddball. (O.K. a lot of the theatre folk in this town still look upon me in that way.) But now the “established” bigwigs want to ask my opinion? (I do have to admit that the thought of this happening just gets me a little cross-eyed.) I guess all I can do is show up… give my opinion and hopefully not have to pay for my own cup of java.

In other news… I’m hitting the sack early tonight. Hope your Thursday is good. Cheers!

 
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Posted in life, surreal

 

the fantastic day

27 Mar

Today wasn’t it… not for me at least. Just was feeling under the whether and a system that blew in last night lowered the temperatures making me want to snuggle up under the blanket. So, it wasn’t a bad day… but it wasn’t an optimum one either. But it did get me thinking about a few fantastic days of yore.

No. this is not going to be a post describing any of those. I was actually thinking about it within context of the people I’ve shared those times with. There are times when we get together that we smile and laugh over some of those over a drink… always a fun thing. Though there are also those fantastic days that often go unspoken. They may be private pleasures that we keep to ourselves. There are also the ones that involve others that for some reason we haven’t or don’t want to relate… or simply don’t because the “right moment” hasn’t arrived.

I wonder how many parents tell their children (when they are old enough to appreciate it) about the day they were born. I wonder how many children tell their parents about that day when a special moment shared meant everything to them. Or co-workers telling each other of how much a favor done meant the world to them on a particular day. Or former lovers smiling over how good that burnt dinner tasted on that perfect day. Or a friend thanking another for a selfless act that made all the difference. Just random fantastic days… feel free to add your own.

No, there is no epiphany here. No, profound conclusion to the post. Just thoughts that floated through my mind as the day rolled on. A nap early this evening has made me feel better. Not a fantastic day… but really not a bad one either.

How was yours?

 
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Posted in life, thoughts

 

so, it’s like this…

26 Mar

… I had to call the electric company to ask for an extension to pay off a pretty enormous bill. Paid some of it today. Now I have a week to figure out (currently with a non-existent income) where/how I will find the money to pay it off.

I also have to rewrite a play (Frogway) I wrote 27 years ago… and finish it quick if it is to be produced back in Malaysia.

My writing partner (the composer of Frogway) and I are talking about working together again on some new exciting projects.

The article that I wrote and posted on Jungle Webs… was also posted on Fresno Famous and received a positive response from the webmaster of the local Arts Council. This could mean possible business for Jungle Webs.

Connected to that… a marketing company that has been on the boards with a couple of friends will have to be fast-tracked to take full advantage of the upcoming possibilities.

The Rogue has won the Central Valley People’s Choice Award as a Hidden Gem of this region. It was released in a nice glossy edition as part of the local newspaper yesterday with a story and a great picture of the current producer, promotions director and me. (Sorry, no web links to this.)

There are a couple of great personal and professional things that I’m not at liberty to talk about at the moment. One is coming up soon.

There is a possible upcoming gig at a Jazz club in Shanghai to perform that I may not be able to do.

All of this while I have a total of $72 to my name and an uncertain horizon of an income stream. Ain’t life grand? The thing is… its not new to me. My life has always been a swirling yin and yang that happens all at the same time. Exciting, crazy, desperate, honored, elated, unsure… always been that way. LOL.

EDIT: Woke up this morning and not feeling too hot today. Sour tummy and just a general “out of it” disposition. Hopefully it passes soon and it’s not “that thing” that has been making the rounds that I have successfully avoided so far.

EDIT 2: So, I visited Tish’s blog and found this cool service/widget that I’m trying out. Check the sidebar under “Recent Readers”. Feel free to check it out.

 
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Posted in life

 

2 birds

26 Mar

Posting this just cuz. Actually, its in response to Kien’s “I am tired” post and Cosima’s “Musical Monday” post. Plus, this sequence has always made me laugh out loud.

More later… maybe even another post.

 
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Posted in fun, video

 

bits and pieces of this and that

25 Mar
junglewebs

  • I’ve been making more banners this weekend for Jungle Webs and they will be featured here as I create even more. GO HERE (please) if you want one for your own blog or site (pretty please) and help send business to help feed the starving playwright (pretty, pretty please). (If you know of other public sites that you can post them to… go ahead!)
  • I made the perfect onion omelet this morning. MMM… it is good… especially followed by a good cup of freshly brewed coffee.
  • Went out last night to catch an encore performance of “Bullet Point“. (Good show, Jag… a little more tweaking and direction and you’re ready to take it on the road.) This means I will have to get my butt in gear to crank up the Rogue Year Round component. Hmm… perhaps I’ll send out emails today.
  • I am currently sitting around in my sarong…. and fully intend to stay in it all day.
  • I received a CD yesterday from a friend (and personal archivist) of a recording from the original production of FROGWAY. Mp3ed them and sent them off to my friend (and composer) Mike. Listening to it proved to be an interesting time warp experience. The songs are really good… and considering that I was 21 at the time… I actually wrote some decent lyrics. If I have the balls… I may actually post selections here in the coming days.
  • I did this about a year ago and tried it again today. It is one of the few quizzes that I like. Really, I’m not that into knowing which Charlie’s Angels I am most like… at least not this week.
  • If I get a wild hair… there may be an edit to this post later.
  • Cheers!

Read Lecram’s Personal Dna Report

EDIT: Just finished an article on the TAO OF B.I.T.S. on the Jungle Webs blog.

 
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Posted in bits and pieces

 

Da Count – the time we have

22 Mar


dacount

This week I was once again reminded of the fleeting nature of time. The Goodbye Hello post touched on it so have other recent personal observations and experiences. But it is just how fast the days pass from one to the next that really brings these thoughts to the forefront.

I have observed (and been party to) time spent between parents and children, strangers, friends and lovers and I see varying levels of values that exist within and without. I used to consider it linear continuum (in the earlier more “invincible” days of my youth) with notches or beads that indicated personal highlights or devastation’s. The spaces in between were of little consequence. (Sometimes known as the “I’m going to live forever” syndrome.) Later that was replaced with “the cluster” of using every spare second… simply because any “space” meant waste. (This is “the end ain’t that far away” syndrome.)

Over the last few years I have gradually grown into the “quality” stage. Not just with making the effort to spend “quality” time… but coming to the realization that it is ALL quality time. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the busy, the lazy, the exciting the mundane… it all matters. Weather socializing with friends or breakfast with Mum or working obsessively on a project or lazing alone watching the birds outside pecking in the grass… it is all vital and precious to the complete experience of life. Suddenly the perception of “wasted time” becomes moot because it is all quality… it is all essential… it all matters… it is all vital… it all counts.

So, this week I’m counting time (no pun intended). Time (our friend) has taught me that it is never too short… only life is. We can choose to spend it chasing for an extension or simply live what we have to the fullest. What we choose to do (or not do) with the ration of time we’ve been bestowed is where (in my humble opinion) the true quality of living resides… only we can determine the grade of that.

And my time the last couple of days has been spent sprucing THIS up. How do you like it? (Not that you asked but… I like it a lot more and think it’s a vast improvement over what was.

Go ahead… click here to play it! … featuring Ilsa, Sam & Rick.

If you want to find out what Da Count is all about… click the flashing sign above.

EDIT: 3:33 PM, Friday
Help feed the starving playwright. Steal a banner for your blog or site HERE. Or do/send business by clicking the banner below!

junglewebs
 
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sometimes, it just goes…

21 Mar

… around and around. You want to catch a breath. It continues. Variations on a theme. Like the countless jazz solos born from the same song. All rich with nuance. You stop and you become an observer. Take it in. A slice of trance. An empty space opens to your right. Then you get up. Time to get it all together…

again.

EDIT: Was chatting with a friend this morning on my latest post. Perhaps you would want to add an image to the cryptic post. Just post a link to an image in the comment section.

 
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Posted in life

 

Goodbye Hello

20 Mar

It’s a late post, I know. But perhaps this will be up for tomorrow as well. We’ll see how I feel and what I do. If I feel prolific… there will be a new post tomorrow.

I got back earlier from dropping my friend, Kien at the railway station. He should be arriving in San Francisco pretty soon. He’ll spend a night there then flies off back to London.

This has been his fifth visit here – the last 4 to perform at the Rogue Festival… and he’s planning to return again next year. (If you haven’t yet… here is an article The Fresno Bee wrote on Kien this year.) It was great having him here… I will look forward to his return. He has been my touchstone and continuum to my past and early youth in Malaysia… in the present. Something that was really missing in my life for 20 odd years. There is a certain comfort in that. Helps make me feel less “alien” than I sometimes do.

Don’t get me wrong. I have carved out a good life out here and I have wonderful friends who accept me for who I am… mostly… lol. But there are times when I am more aware of being the expat that I am. So, having a touchstone like Kien (whom I grew up with) feeds the need for that “special” comfort of home that I crave sometimes. Sort of like having that ‘special dish that grandma” used to cook in her own unique way brings that sense of home to us.

Anyway, I get home and realize that I’ve left Skype on from chatting with a friend earlier in the day. There is a message from another friend from home… Mike, who has tracked me down via the internet. It reads…

“…need to get in touch with you fairly quickly. Someone wants to stage Frogway in KL, credible people. My email…”

Mike? Frogway? Talk about a blast from the past! Mike and I wrote Frogway together in 1980. We wrote as the “M&M Song Factory”. It was staged in 1981 in Malaysia and then in 1984 here in Fresno to sold out audiences. It was the first play I had written… and it was a musical about a singing frog. Think of it as an amphibious “Star is Born”.

So, I ring Mike via Skype and we chat for about an hour. Catching up and talking shop about Frogway. Laughing about the fact that our names are unique enough that Google search brings us up instantly.

Now Mike is one of the premiere jazz pianist in Malaysia… dare I say internationally. (Really, this cat is quite the phenom.) You can get a bit of a sense of the awe he inspires by reading THIS. It was a wonderful conversation and looks like we will be working together again after a 27 year break. It’s something I’m really looking forward to. We also casually floated ideas about some other projects… plus, he may come perform in the Rogue next year. This could mean the return of the “M&M Song Factory”. (Perhaps I need to brush up on my lyric writing.) It was great to reconnect again and it felt like it was just yesterday that we last spoke.

So, I said goodbye to one friend today (more of a “see ya soon”) and hello to another. Both (in fact, Mike and Kien used to play together in several bands) returning from a different life I lived in the past to further enrich my present.

EDIT: 5:27 PM
Gotta go anytime… anywhere… this is what you need!

 
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Posted in friends

 
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