notes from the kelp

…listen
…info about the music

A clip from “Water Crossing,” to score this water crossing.

Wanna see this photo move??

Sure you do.

The trip up to the gulf islands off Vancouver was nothing short of magical, on all counts. Unseasonably hot temperatures (can you say, global climate change?) added to the luxury of this lush, sensual environment. Each day, we were interchangeably surrounded by dense forests of cedars, pines and maples, and sprawling water guided by random humps of green floating land masses. Nearly every vista beyond led the eye to stunning snow-capped peaks of the Cascades, Olympics or Coast Mountains (above, as seen from Horseshoe Bay near Bowen Island). This was a multi-layered visual feast that kept my mind spinning at the possibilities of endless coves and trails to explore.

Our favorite spot was Saltspring Island, with its combination of artisans, organic farmers, and a general population congealed in an actual, vibrant sense of community– something I rarely feel in Los Angeles. Standing by a roadside pasture in front of Fulford Hall during a folk concert intermission, I watched as locals smiled and chatted with their neighbors. It was as though I had landed in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and at any moment, everyone was going to break out into a happy song and dance.

If there’s a more wonderful way to live, I can’t think of it at the moment.
Ahhhhh.

…listen
…info about the music

Take a little trip of your own with some of “Chakra Suite”.

Well, I’m off to the gulf islands of Vancouver for a few days of water-based vacation. As you can see by this pic I snapped earlier this week on Leadbetter beach in Santa Barbara (adjacent to the harbor), for as hard as I work, my day to day life bears a remarkable resemblance to a vacation.

This is not a coincidence; I’m one of those people who doesn’t see the sense in saving the “good” silverware for special occasions, and that attitude extends to my thinking that if at all possible, artists (wait: everyone) should try to find economical ways to surround themselves with that which inspires them.

No doubt, at least a photo or two from the Georgia Strait will greet you at this page next week; I look forward to sharing what is as yet unknown. Fair winds!

…listen
…info about the music

A movement from my “Evensong Suite” titled “Nunc Dimittis,” meaning, “now you send forth.”

this crab did not know
that it would still be beautiful
even more so
as light and air reveal
colors
and a certain grace
that could not have been
found otherwise

…listen
…info about the music

Some ambient music, “Plasma,” to accompany this ambience.

Rising into the cockpit from down below, being careful not to bang my head on the top of the companionway (a spatial miscalculation with which I am all too familiar), I look up with eyes attempting a rapidly adjustment to bright sunlight.
I am not even out at sea. My sailboat is still tied up to the dock. And this is an astonishing sight to take in.

Our slip is in a very special place in the Santa Barbara harbor, and one has to turn one’s head to the left to see the other boats down neighboring fingers. There is not a moment aboard when I don’t celebrate this open-ended view across the breakwater.

Our first slip here was more the norm, slotted tightly in between other vessels and most definitely part of a slightly claustrophobic but cozy lineup of masts, rigging, and jutting anchors. It was wonderful, of course, but when this current slip became available last year, I jumped at the chance to call it home.
Ahhhhhh.

…listen
…info about the music

Some film noir-ish dream music for les chats noir et blanc, with “Unhinged.”

Yes, I know that my outdoor landscape photography is far more compelling than my indoor cute kitties pix. Yet I persist every few weeks in joining the hoards of otherwise serious bloggians and exposing my inner furball.

Notice that Smudge (white) and Moses (black) indeed have a second, identical heated cat bed behind them. Yet they almost always prefer to squeeze their collective 22 pounds into one, at peace by my toes under my studio workstation. A calming presence, no matter what kind of un-calm music I might be composing.

…listen
…info about the music

Reflect with “Reflect,” from “At the Abyss.”

there are so many beautiful things to see
looking down
that sometimes I forget to look
up

…listen
…info about the music

A little new wave music for this little wave: “Dream Vista.”

I woke up oddly early this morning, to a sky filled with a good dose of what we call June Gloom: white-grey-white everywhere, typical for the season. The horizon offers no delineation between the sea and the air; all are one endless piece of paleness. Staring outside creates a kind of vertigo.

The photo above was not taken today.

Lest I be stuck listening to the dull thud of my own groggy thoughts, I flipped on the TV. It’s programmed to start at a cable channel called Fuel that features all the extreme board sports– skate/snow/wake/surf– plus motocross. There’s nothing like watching people risk life and limb in pursuit of death tempting thrills while I sit in my pajamas with a cat on my lap. I’m such a wuss.

Fuel was airing the 2006 Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, crowning the great achievers-slash-nut cases who surf humongous walls of water… and live to tell the tale (too many don’t). The clips were riveting. This year’s winner conquered a 68-foot wave in Todos Santos, Mexico. Yes, 68 feet. Like gliding down the side of a seven story building that’s about to collapse on top of you. Check out the footage on the website.

The photo above is from a walk I took last Sunday. No June Gloom, no 68 feet, not even 6 feet (the latter is common here). Just a nice little 3-foot curl on the verge of hitting the shore. But who knows what water pushed it here? Maybe it was the final repercussion of some beautiful, threatening, alluring, frightening, awesomely powerful 68 foot wave.

And wouldn’t it be cool if some awesomely powerful surfer had conquered it.peeing movies freemovies free teen presample movies free sapphicsex free home moviesfree movie fetish smoking clipsfree torture moviesmovies free naked xxx and picssex length full moviemovies porno fullmovies cartoon hardcore sexcredit site accept for card webamazon credit account1st credit financial unionaccurate creditaccess creditcredit americu union new hartfordlay offs americreditaccredited fake verifiable degrees Map

…listen
…info about the music

Here’s a movement from my string quintet, “Current Events” titled “Rip,” to accompany these sea-based friends.

Just came back from Santa Barbara again. It was the third time I’ve had the joy of being on the boat this week, due to the happy combination of a let-up in my writing deadlines, and a special visit to the city from my dear teacher and friend, Ursula Mamlok, who was composer-in-residence this past week at UC Santa Barbara. At 83, she remains a great inspiration to me.

Her music has nothing to do with pelicans, as far as I know. But a few nights ago Charles and I were entertained as we sat in the cockpit sipping a little wine, surrounded by the unusual sound of incoming artillery in the form of birds dive-bombing the waters around our transom at full speed. Pelicans and seagulls were apparently celebrating their version of Thanksgiving, as lots of unwitting fish had unexpectedly come in with the tide to the placid harbor. It was quite a show; every few seconds another splash and ensuing shake came from a different direction; 11pm is not the normal hour of operation for this natural fish market.

The next day we kayaked by the ever-present dredger stationed diagonally across from our slip, and enjoyed some face-to-beak time with these guys, sunning themselves and digesting against the oh-so-picturesque backdrop of Stearn’s Wharf and Santa Barbara’s mountains. Comical and gorgeous all at once, they make me grin every time I paddle by, and remind me just how great it is to just hang out with friends.

…listen
…info about the music

I think that my trio, “Elegy” is an appropriate choice to accompany today’s post.

No, this is not my sailboat.
Phew.
This is… was… Lollipop.
As readers have noted on occasion in this blog, I had wondered for many months just who belonged to this little sailboat that had been left to fend for its spot not too far from shore throughout a challenging winter.
I met him today, finally attaching a face and a name to sailor and vessel.

It wasn’t a dramatic storm that pulled her from her mooring a few hours before this photo was taken, but simply a change in the swell and wind direction. Most of us knew this was going to happen at some point, but had assumed that it would have occured during heavy weather, not a balmy June evening with a few gusts.

I was with friends for a late morning stroll at low tide, and turned the last curve down to the sand that brought this sad sight into view. Three men were diligently hauling everything they could get from the vessel onto a couple of pickup trucks on the bluff above. I smiled at the grizzled fellow in the red shirt who looked the most resolute, and offerred my condolences. We chatted quietly for a couple of minutes, and I pointed to where I live in case he needed an extra hand when high tide and Baywatch came to try to coax his baby back to the sea at the end of the afternoon. We later found out that this was not to be; although her hull was intact, Lollipop’s keel was badly damaged and her sailing days were over.

Neither beautiful nor well kept, she had become a fixture on our horizon this year; I will miss her silhouette against the next sunset.
Perhaps she will miss my ever-wondering gaze.

…listen
…info about the music

A duet for cello and piano, “Of Wood and Touch,” for this duet of cormorant and sea lion.

An hour or so after my first visitation with the damp and furry creature you see in the sunshine below, I returned as twilight neared. I watched in amusement as a cormorant began making friends. Given how well they were getting along, I suspect the pair stayed together and enjoyed the view from that rock long after I snapped this photo and finally walked home.loan payday advance online applyadvance loan arizona paydayloan advance cleveland cashloan cash advance directory paydayalabama shop cash venture loan advancealaska student corporation loana of amortization car new loanssavings certificates and loan $100home victoria australia 100 loanscheck 10k loan credit no unsecured