The Magic Of Wood

I like the feel of wood. It's one of the reasons that all my paddles are made of wood. If I'm going to have something in my hands for hours on end, I'd prefer it to feel warm and nearly alive. Wooden paddles give me that feeling.

When I'm not paddling in the winter, I like to cross-country ski, preferably on wooden skis. I broke my last pair a few years ago and sadly, unless one makes one's own skis, replacements are hard to find today. Garage sales are the best outlets, but even they are drying up - pun intended!

That leaves me with my other pastime: playing the guitar. I'm lucky enough to own a nice Spanish made guitar which even a non-player can sense comes alive when the strings are set in motion. It's not the best guitar I've ever played, but it's good enough to let me know there's magic in its creation. There are few experiences which can give me that sensation every time I indulge myself. Life is good!

Moraito and Cameron, Guitarists

Youtube can be an ever flowing source of interesting videos, especially for those with hi-speed internet. something I lack at home where each byte of data is brought in by dog sled. Now that I am traveling in the land of easy access to hi-speed, I've been editing and uploading some of my paddling videos to YouTube.

While at the YouTube site, I've been watching new flamenco videos posted in recent months. Today I came across a really interesting one posted by 'titosiroco' in which Cameron, the famous singer, plays guitar with a very young looking Moraito Chico and another person who I don't recognize. I've embeded the video above so those interested in things flamenco can have a look. To me, this is a really fun video. To see these two heros of mine together in a very 'flamenco setting and especially to see Cameron both singing and playing guitar at the same time is amazing. I knew he could play guitar and that he knew Moraito, but to see it all together is special.

Jesse Cook Came to Town

Canadian virtuoso guitarist Jesse Cook was in town last Saturday to give a concert at Bishop's University. He likes to tell the audience that he was actually conceived on the golf course behind the university some years ago and thus has close attachments to the place for obvious reasons!

While a guitarist versed in many styles of playing, I enjoy his rolling rumba tunes although his latest material is getting a long way from traditional flamenco. He played with three other musicians, another flamenco style guitarist, Nicolas Hernandez, an amazing Cuban drummer, Rosendo Leon and his old stage-mate Chris Church who plays violin and also appears on Jesse's latest CD 'Frontiers'.

To be honest, I enjoy Jesse best when he plays alone or with just cajun and/or palmas. The addition of a full set of overly amplified guitars, drum set and a violin just don't do it for me, although the packed house at Bishop's gave him several standing ovations and lots of cheering. I wished his sound man had used a bit more of a delicate touch in setting up the sound for the small intimate concert hall at Bishop's. Having done so in the past, I know it can provide a real flamenco night club atmosphere if it's done with care. That said, it was a warm musical evening, in spite of the snow blowing around outside.

Moraito Passion and Action

Moraito Chico by Daniel Muñoz
Go through your list of kayaking friends and many of them will tell you about their passion for the sport and it's action. Many are photograpers as well as paddlers. Most will be happy to get out their photos for you to see what they're talking about. So it should be! Kayaking is a sport with plenty of action with many passionate paddlers who are enthusiatic photographers.

Passion and action can be had in other genres as well. The photo above of my favourite flamenco guitarist, Moraito Chico, is one of a series of 42 photos taken during 2007 and posted in a slideshow on the Flamenco World site. It's a place I often go to to worship. If you are a photographer seeking to put some action and passion into your paddling pictures, check out this slideshow. I'll refund your money if you don't agree they're incredible!

Music For The Soul

Now that your Inuktitut language lessons, which I mentioned you could take a while ago, are well underway, I have something new for you. This is particularly handy as winter brings more indoor time for many of you and time begins to drag a bit. As you've gathered already from the photo above, it's all about Flamenco, the thrilling guitar music of the gitanos of southern Spain.

This site, called Flamenco Lessons provides lessons ranging from the beginings of the art to the more advanced. As you will also discover, there's a free plug-in you will require to see the scores, but again it all adds to the pleasure of venturing into new waters, so to speak. Enjoy! Now don't forget to post up your concert videos...

UPDATE! I suddenly realised that while the snow was falling, it wasn't blowing... I loaded up and was on the water shortly thereafter. The drive to and from the lake was the adrenaline pumper, the paddle the slow, easy relaxer. There's something fun about paddling on a calm lake in the snow. The sudden encounters with ducks, the slush ice around the shorelines, the warm house lights winking along the shore... The toughest work was cleaning the snow off the decks before putting it back in the storage shed.

90/100 temp:-2; cloudy; snowing

Making Up Excuses...

This wet, soggy, massive, nearly on the ground monster of a cloud has been sitting on my lake - and most of eastern North America - now for several days. Do I want to go paddling under it? Not really. I should be out there having fun, revelling in the waters now that the ice has left, but instead I sit here blogging. Drier, quieter, comfortable, but a bit boring. Thank heavens other bloggers are out there doing some fun things to keep me amused!

Guitar Recital Anguish

Last night I went on stage to play guitar. I almost never perform publically and last night's show was an example of why this is so. I got talked into it by friends who were raising money for the group that acts as a watch-guard for my lake. A good cause, so I agreed to perform.

I was the fourth act out. I carefully tuned the guitar during the third act and waited patiently to go on. The announcer introduced me, then mentioned that I'd been having trouble maintaining decently long finger nails all last week, but he hoped I'd be okay. I didn't need to hear that suggestion of my up-coming failure! I walked on stage, sat down and checked the tuning. It was suddenly way off! What the .....? How could that be? So, my nerves now shot, the audience wondering why I'd be tuning at this late stage, I retuned. Of course, I couldn't get it right, so forged ahead anyway with my pieces. My broken nails slid all over the strings, only vaguely hitting the intended notes. It was a less than fluid performance.

Needless to say, I left the stage a broken man. I'd never play publically again. Friends were kind. They said I was great, all that stuff, but I know, it wasn't me playing up there. Still, maybe I should try again. I've only go one direction to go at this point. Up!

On the way home, my wife began talking about an incident in the audience that went on during my performance. The couple who'd been the second act shared a kiss together while listening to me whereupon another women - his wife - suddenly erupted from across the room, stormed over, swatted the guy across the head and then left the building. Flamenco is powerful music, full of emotion and other soul-stirring stuff. Maybe I got away with more than the second act did last night. And maybe my music was better than I realised!

A New YouTube Offering...

While you are no doubt dazzled beyond recognition with my stellar guitar playing virtuosity, the object I have in mind here is to learn how to post videos like 'real' bloggers have learned how to do. Once this feat had been accomplished, I will issue everyone an advance warning so you can delete this URL from your bookmarks, thus saving you the high cost of psychoanalytic fees... ;-)

Genii at Play in the Theater of the Bishop

I went to a concert last night at Bishop's University. The draw was to see Harry Manx, a blues slide guitar player with a world wide sound. I'd heard him on his recordings before, but had never seen him live. He began the set and I knew at once he was a genius. Cool, wry, humourous with a growl to his voice I really liked. Then he got up and walked off-stage Michael Kaeshammer, a 25 year old piano player, came on next and sat down at the piano. I'd never heard of him before, but as he began his set of boogie/jazz pieces, I realised he was a genius as well. His virtuosity and humour was amazing. Someone entered the hall late. He stopped and asked if she could find her seat or needed help. He then said he's begin the piece he had started at the beginning, just for her. Then, finished his 4th piece, he got up and walked off stage.

The lights came on. Intermission after only 7 pieces of music...? What's with that?

When we re-entered the hall after the break, both musicians were on-stage. It was two genii at play. I was totally blown away by the music, by their ambiance and their ability to play off and with each other, at their constant interplay and musical jabs and winks. As an example of Harry's humour, he suddenly got serious and confided in the audience that he had recently signed a 3 CD deal with Columbia Records. The audience expressed their delight, obviously pleased that there would be more recordings coming our way soon. Then Harry announced the deal had only cost him $ 0.99 if he buys 3 more CDs during the coming year... He totally caught us off guard! They played forever, "We've nowhere else to go and nothing else to do..." Harry said. They played seven encore calls. It was an amazing evening. See them if you possibly can!

Oh, Harry was born on the Isle of Man, the site of a recent kayaking event. That's the tie-in to the blog, not to mention the guitar aspect.

Photo from: http://www.1uptravel.com/flags

Ilatsiak Reaches Episode 24!

Did you know I have a 'sister blog' called Canadian Ctories? The current story I've been writing and posting is called 'Ilatsiak'. It is a tale set in the central Canadian arctic at the time of Sir John Franklin's voyage in the mid 1800's. I posted the latest episode today. If you're interested in the last Franklin voyage, where 127 men and two naval ships mysteriously disappeared into the arctic winter gales, never to be seen again, then this story might interest you. It ties historical fact with a bit of fiction and will provide you with a surprise ending... Enjoy!

Moraito Chico!

I've mentioned before that I'm a student of the flamenco guitar. Naturally I have a few 'heros' I'd like to be able to imitate. My top flamenco is known as Moraito Chico, a guy from Jerez de la Frontera, right up against the southern border of Spain and Portugal on the Atlantic ocean. He was born in 1955 into a gypsy family, so flamenco was in his blood and playing guitar was like learning to walk, just taken for granted. He has accompanied many others but has very few recordings to his own credit. I was happy to see his name came up on a YouTube.com search the other day. Here's some of what I discovered (It helps if you have Hi-Speed internet here...).

The most interesting video is of a young Moraito playing a Bulerias by in a wine cellar setting. This little video appears to have been made maybe 20 years ago or so. The great part is to see him literally rolling and bouncing in his chair with the music as he plays it. He is so into what he's doing. I also watched the girl's shoulders as they gave little upward jerks now and then to the under-currents in the music, that movement being so typical of flamencos. Really fun. The cigarette in the guitar head is so old as well! I can't imagine flamencos still smoke, but of course they probably still do... They're 'gitanos' after all.

A number of other things also come up in the search results. Someone has put up clips from his lesson video which is too bad as it's readily available if you want it. Probably the most interesting clips other than the one mentioned above are those of other people playing his music. One is called Flamenco Guitar and Dance'. Here a Polish guitarist plays for a dancer and is accompanied by a guy doing 'palmas', the typical rhythmic clapping done in flamenco music. This is worth a watch as the playing is good and the camera does a good job as well. Flamenco music is foremost for the song, with the dance next and then all else being secondary.

Next check out the fat Spanish kid called MoRaiToXiCo playing a 'Buleria' of Moraito's. This kid can really play ! He is sometimes seen with other young people and it's fun to watch their reactions. For example, watch the shoulder action of the guy doing 'palmas' in the piece called 'Bulerias'. Just like the girl we saw in the first piece, but even more accentuated: culture moving ahead! So fun to see. He has several other videos up, some as good, some of poorer quality, but all are worth listening to. He's very good and so droll!

Anyway, that's a peek into an unknown world for some, but a sound that's bounced around in my head for years. The very first vinyl record I ever bought was of Esteban Sanlucar playing flamenco guitar. I still listen to it although I've transfered it to CD format for convenience these days.

Here's a couple other sites you can visit for more information of Moraito Chico:

http://www.flamenco-world.com/artists/moraito/moraito28032005-1.htm

http://www.flamenco-world.com/artists/moraito/moraito.htm