My mysterious sounding, reverb guitar version of the Exotica instrumental hit, originally recorded by The Islanders in 1958.

The Enchanted Sea at iTunes
The Enchanted Sea at Amazon
The Enchanted Sea at CD Baby

Bird of Paradise 7/16/11 American Cinematheque

Recently I found this interesting video playlist about the Blue Plague. Apparently the Blue Plague is a new desease currently exclusive to the US gulf coast.

A short list of what I understood of it, but english is not my first language so please give me a break if I got something wrong!

1. BP used a new form of artificially created bacteria, pumping it into the well as an aid for drilling under the Deep Water Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico
2. this bacteria has a completely new, previously unknown set of genes and has been patented by a company associated with BP
3. it has two markers: one means completely artificial, the second means complete resistance towards anti-biotics
4. scientists in the lab called it Synthia
5. it eats the crude-oil and by doing so is doing valuable work with the oil in the well for BP, putting out more precious products
6. the process got out of hand, creating uncontrollable gasses and pressure
7. after the accident happened the oil and bacteria spilled in thousands and thousands of tons into the Gulf of Mexico
8. the administration handed the control of events over to BP and got in a supporting roll, since only BP had a chance of knowing how to handle it all
9. Synthia eats body cells, too, and breeds on its own
10. it was important for the people to not get too close to the oil
11. it was important for BP to not tell the public about the bacteria
12. people living in the area got sick anyway
13. a company associated with BP developed a vaccine that is not yet available to the general public

So this is what I made of these videos, and if this is true, even if only in parts, we are looking at immense trouble. I always wondered why I never heard about surfers from the Gulf complaining of the loss of their sea, but writing this right now it dawns on me that most of them are probably in some way or other depending on the oil industry. However, the stuff is not going to stay in their waters, it starts travelling with the currents around the world.

World Vision Portal

Happy New Year.

Short note to let you know where you might catch a screening of The Wrecking Crew in January. Thanks for the support.

Wednesday, January 12th, I will be in Norfolk Virginia
SCHOOL OF MUSIC FOR ARMY, NAVY and MARINE CORPS
Norfolk, VA
Info/Directions on the Wrecking Crew Facebook page

Sunday, January 16th,
NAMM SHOW @ Anaheim convention center
Hot Zone: Rm 204C 10:00am
Must be a member of NAMM
Door Prizes include products from Ovation, Zildjian, Modern Drummer and “Sticks ‘n’ Skins”.

Saturday, January 22 7:00pm
Digital Media Factory
2809 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA
Q&A with Director Denny Tedesco
Followed by a Mixer, Music, Cash Bar

We?ve also just added a feature on the website for visitors to post comments or messages. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Hope to see you at one of the screenings,

Denny

The complete Blue Surf-Ari at Dangerous Minds. You owe it to yourself to watch it, trust me.

For the people who like a wobbly g-string on their guitar to play more expressive I have three versions of the wonderful tune Claire de Lune by turn of the 19th/20th century composer Claude Debussy.

The first is a theremin version with the ultimate degree of pitch modulation.

The second is a violin version with the moderate pitch vibrato that the movement of the left hand permits.

The third and last version is played on harmonica and for me is the winner in the emotion (and sound) department.

So in conclusion: there’s more to an emotional sound than shaky pitch.

The good people at TED dedicated a whole website to the plastic pollution problem. Here’s a video I just watched there featuring the Malloy brothers reporting from their extensive visits to countless beaches and surf breaks all around the world.

Here’s some background on “safety” at oil companies, in this case BP. Tthey really have to to cut costs at any price – or this is what the managers learned in business school.

More at the Frontline homepage.

artefact of extinct culture and people: Easter Island Long Ear Statue

In this video Jared Diamond is talking about the collapsing of societies. He shortly mentions new facts to account for the happenings to the Easter Island people and more recently the Salomon Islanders. I find this stuff highly interesting, what about you?

https://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse

More on easter island by Jared Dianmond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxjeyrIUgqY

via Pacific Longboarder