notes from the kelp

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…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear some of the Vivace movement from my “Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano”.

The stairs that lead from the Point Dume Headlands to the sand. Yes, they are steep, although not quite as death-defying as they appear here. Perhaps forty feet up or so.

Perspective is a funny thing. From this vantage, the wave coming in looks as though it could be ten feet high, but it’s actually more like ten inches. And the cliffs appear to loom dramatically over their scree of fallen offspring, yet those rocks could be held in one’s palm.

The deceptions of photography always amuse me. I’ve heard more than one remark of surprise from someone just meeting me who had known my face solely from the website. Apparently, some are expecting a far, far larger person (in all directions) than the one standing in front of them. I suppose a different photo might be in order, but I always liked that one because it was taken when I wasn’t expecting it, as I suddenly turned from the wind on a blustery day at the Cove. I prefer that reality to something more contrived, even if more standardly beautiful.
Perspective is a funny thing.

…listen
…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a movement from my “Piano Suite” titled “For my Father,” to accompany the photo I took today of Westward beach during a wintery hour in spring.

I stood here, at this spot, with my late father a very long time ago. He had flown in for a quick visit from New York City, along with luggage he packed in the same apartment in which I grew up. It was a much sunnier day on that mid-1980’s afternoon.

This is Westward beach, the far end of better-known Zuma beach and directly around the bluff corner from the beach that leads to where I’m sitting now. If you time it right, at very low tide you can make it all the way around, exiting the coves that define the northern end of the Santa Monica Bay, and finding yourself suddenly facing a different combination of rocks and sand and memories.

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…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a movement from my piano and percussion trio, “At the Abyss” titled “Act.”

I know I should be posting more regularly, and intend to get back on track with the at-least-every-two-or-three-day mantra I set in January when I began my happy journey into the blogosphere. It’s been a busy time and I’ve been in constant motion this week. Sometimes you just gotta go full speed, slam into a rock, make a splash, and go, Wheeeeeee!

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…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a little of “Chakra Suite”.

These two look like they’re recovering from quite a party, if you ask me. Nothing like spending a sunny day with a good friend, letting it all hang out. Ahhhh.

Ok, I simply can’t resist. I mean, what are the chances of someone putting together an animated music video (of the absolute highest quality!) about… kelp??

100 percent, apparently:

I Love Kelp Song

Finally, thanks to the band 7 Seconds of Love, my blog now has a theme song (since apparently I’ve been too busy to write one myself).

As you can see in the photo, it’s storming again in Malibu. Big clusters of kelp have been pulled up from the offshore beds and they decorate the sand, like weird furniture. A feast for the environment, as it disintegrates over time and feeds all sort of little bugs and critters. Beach salad! Yum!

But back to music: the talented folks of 7 Seconds of Love are also responsible for the hit tune that has haunted my consciousness ever since my first hearing (Charles and I have been known to jump around the house singing it…. a true sign of musical success):

Looking for my Leopard Song

Yes, yes, that’s right, the classic hit, “Looking for my Leopard.” (Friday cat blogging, now in computer animation music video format). As with all of Rathergood/7 Seconds’ offerings, completely bizarre and frighteningly catchy. Oh, and ridiculously cute, especially if you like demented, wide-eyed kittens with an attitude. The kind of thing that you see the first time and think is, well… uh…crap, and then can’t get out of your brain for months afterward. Enjoy. Or curse me, whichever.

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…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a movement from my string quintet “Current Events” titled “Surge,” to underscore this photo of art’s fragility.

Occasionally on my sandy walks I come across some remarkable man-made items. Most are remnants of kids’ toys or dog fetch accessories (tennis balls are a reliable artifact here). My kitchen windowsill sports a nice collection of forgotten miniature action figures that have washed up over the years, offering their gallant shields, swords, and overall machismo to anyone who cared enough to bring them home. I feel considerably more protected with each omelet I make.

But today was a treat of true art: totems. I have seen such sculpture here before, and am always charmed by the mystery of who might have spent the time to patiently stack each limb and rock so that it would balance against the will of the shifting winds. As I stood and appreciated these three, pictured above, I caught sight of a gentleman a few yards away who was bent over in concentration, carefully selecting materials for his next creations around the cove bend. If you squint, you can see him on the right in a blue shirt.

As I passed by, I thanked him for his gifts; turns out, he’s a stone mason named Eric Pierson who works on some very beautiful homes in the neighborhood. But I suspect that the simplicity of natural art is his favorite pursuit. We chatted for a few moments and he reached into a plastic bag. “Here’s a gift,” he smiled. “Crystal, all through it; this one has some powerful energy.” And he handed me a beautiful rock he had just found, about the size of an orange and as heavy as five. He didn’t know that I, too, collect very special rocks from this beach. Or maybe somehow he did.

It sits on my kitchen windowsill, with a couple of daring action figure conquerors crawling atop it. My next omelet is going to be a good one.02 trackback 01 from buy viagraabout all viagrasildenafil citrate viagra 5adult add tramadol andacyclovir link viagra79 00 tramadol cheaptramadol mg 50 depression tramadolonline view buy xanax u 5 Map

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…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a little dangerous music.

Here in the officially designated Rock Slide Area (see how official this sign is?), the rocks keep tumbling down… that sign doesn’t lie! Especially after these rains. On the beach, the cliffs have a very different profile every couple of days, and several impressive and heavy piles of rubble now adorn the small space between mean tide and the vertical bluff. In lower Malibu yesterday a rock slide on Pacific Coast Highway snarled traffic so badly, I was thankful to only have to make it to my local market.

I do find something amusing about these precariously perched signs. I’m glad, for aesthetic reasons, that they’re not any larger, but frankly you have to get pretty close up to the cliff that’s so dangerous just to read what the sign says. Could be the last thing you see!

…listen
…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a clip from one of my jazz tunes, “Rain Walk”.

One of the many great things about working at home is our freedom to tromp down to the shore at any given moment. Today’s moments were all wet and rainy, to varying degrees of intensity. Foggy and alluring, the damp outdoors beckoned and Charles and I were the lone human visitors to the muddy sand. This snowy egret was there to greet us, his surroundings as white as his feathers. He faced the incoming roar of the tide with anticipation for any incoming lunch products it might deposit by his yellow-toed feet, and didn’t seem the least bit concerned that we might vie for his winnings. The three of us stood in the rain together, with the thrill of Big Weather bearing down on us. Water, coming from all directions. Wonderful.

We hiked south along the tide line to our beach cantina for mid-day reinforcements of appetizers and Chardonnay. I returned to my writing desk invigorated, ready to attack the current project that has something to do with a baritone sax. But first, I wanted to share these damp moments with you.bullock nude sandra moviescenes whipping database moviesmovies sex adultanimal movies bigmovies bjnude celebrity moviesgirls filipina bar moviesmovies fingeringsex free celeb moviesmovies free gay boymp3 4400 salvationmp3 619 booyakamp3 4l jackymp3 64 2010 90 543×3 mp3 crazymp3 45 colt afroman622 mp3 paul balochelyn 4lyn mp3 Map

…listen
…info about the music

Click on the blue music icon above to hear a clip from my bassoon sonata, “Of Breath and Touch,” to accompany this lone sailboat.

This was tonight’s sunset. Blue, pink, filled with the mysteries of expanse and solitude. Our skies are beginning to swirl once again with the overture of a large incoming storm set to hit in a day or so.

The sailboat here has been experiencing the joys of expanse and solitude all winter long. For months now, it has weathered each storm anchored securely, or, I suspect, moored to a hidden engine block set in the sea sand ages ago for knowing visitors. Its luck has been excellent; you can see dramatic photos of a larger and less fortunate boat in the January archives of this bloglet.

I have yet to witness anyone dinghy on or off of the vessel, and I wonder who its owners are and where they live. But it’s been charming to view this lone visitor every day, and when she’s gone I think I’ll miss her. Not only does she remind me of my own boat in Santa Barbara, but more keenly, she reminds me of what it is to be alone at sea, in peace.movies donita dunesmovie release dvd dateswholesale movies distributors dvdthe elektra movieerotic clips moviefoot fetish moviesfree animal moviesfree samples movie deepthroat Map