Autumn in Alpine

Enfolded within the mountains...

Since shutting the doors of the restaurant I have been one hell of a busy man.

My father fell and broke his hip in September. He is recovering but it seems to be a very up and down drama of events.

Aging is not as wonderful as some would have us believe. I've made two trips to Utah since closing. I find it amazing how people live in that state! Sooooo many people, Soooooo many energies all over the place. I spent the past week helping my parents in the town I lived as a baby and into my late teens. I moved away from Utah so many times when I was in my 20s only to return? I was bouncing up and down in the seat of my pick up as I drove into the snowy mountains of the Wasatch Range. God, I stopped in Evanston Wy for coffee and kissed the ground!

Drove to Sage Jct. then into Cokeville. South-end pass could take one's breath away! I love where I live. At times I was the only person on the road. I sang along with my I Pod tunes and when the mood overtook my mind I would drive off the road into the sage brush and inhale the perfume of sagebrush, snowy clean air and freedom. I poured a cup of strong black coffee, climbed into the back of the truck and gazed at the robin egg blue sky... fluffy white clouds and the occasional deer, rabbit, and the slow hypnotic spiraling flight of hawks as they circled high above my head. I gazed out over the horizon knowing that I still had miles to go, but over the mountains I would nestle in the arms of mountains I love and call home.

My piano sounds like a symphony. I played for hours yesterday. I will fly to New Orleans on November 7, then into NYC on the 10th. Return to Wyoming on the 14th, finish closing the house and business, then back to Utah and on to New Zealand.

The Southern Alps of New Zealand are pure magic. My strength comes from mountains. They haunt me. I can't imagine life without hills and valleys. Snow capped peaks that reflect the sunrise and sunset in all it's celestial glory. Possibly why I feel so close to mountains is: My life has been full of high and low points... peaks and valleys. Never ever a flat surface. Thank God and the Universe.

THE CHILD IS THE FATHER OF THE MAN

Back when I was a little boy, in the Spring of 1952 there was this one afternoon I will never forget.
My mother had bathed my newly born baby sister in the kitchen sink, rubbed her body with Johnson & Johnson's baby oil and laid her in a small crib for her nap. New born babies sleep a lot. I had been outside walking through the pastures. The sky was the color of Tuscan Blue... high clouds and windy. The wash on the clothes line was flapping in the breeze and there was the scent of smoke in the air from farmers burning off weeds that grow along the banks and inside irrigation ditches.

As a little boy I treasured my "alone time" walking along fence posts, avoiding cow pies, thistle and sand burrs. My mother hated when I would come in with sand burrs stuck to my pants, socks and clay like mud from my laying inside sunken mud holes that water had created.

The wind literally lifted my six year old body to the back steps of our house. The back door opened into the kitchen.

This certain afternoon I have no idea where everyone had gone. I walked into the kitchen removing my coat and shoes. Our house always had comforting smells. Scrubbed floors, polished furniture, baking bread and at times the pungent scent of raw cow's milk. I walked into our living room.
We had mullioned windows with venetian blinds on the windows. My mother was always tipping the slats to create certain effects with the light. The carpet was a floral pattern as well as the wall paper.

I remember sitting in the middle of the room, the rays of light from the blinds casting beams of the most intense sparkling light. I laid on the carpet watching the dancing beams of energy... then into my head entered a voice. A voice that was not the sound of my child like voice... it was a different voice. Words that speak in the sound of THOUGHTS.

"You will never ever be like the rest. You are not like other boys or girls... you are NOT like anyone else..." I remember feeling not sad or concerned. I simply felt a sweet peace. I never for a moment felt or imagined I was not loved. I knew as a 6 year old boy that for the next 15 years of my life I would have to "join in"... "fall in line" with certain expectations and beliefs in order to survive.

I cannot explain what I was experiencing except that it was MAGIC. When you live in the middle of open spaces, fields of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, water melons and onions interspersed with cattle, pheasants, pigs, chickens, meadow larks and red robins, long cold winters and desert heat in the summers... it makes you see the world differently. You see magic!

Myself, I've been looking for magic my whole life. Still looking and will never stop! It's not an easy way to live. I have cried and laughed enough to fill volumes with reasons of why I love my quest for magic.

It's hard to leave parts of one's life. When I was 6 years old I never wanted to leave my life because it was as perfect as any child could ever dream of. Then school, church, and so many events would take all that away.



When my mother was pregnant with my first sister Sharon, I learned it took 9 months for a baby to develop to the point where it was able to be born. I did the math backwards from my birthday and figured I was a very special little boy because I started around February 14,1946, Valentine's day and was born 9 months later mid November.

My introduction to nature, food, music, and books were from the instant I was conceived. My parents and their families loved music and were able to sing, dance and play instruments. My mother was an avid reader and belonged to a book club where every month certain books would arrive in our mail box.

I envied people that could read. I begged my mother to teach me how to read.
She taught me how letters of the alphabet were the building blocks that created words! She would read me Fairy Tales and move her index finger under the words as she read out loud. She taught me how to hold a pencil. How to write my name.
Most of all she gave me a sacred respect and reverence for the written word. She told me that if a person could read they could do anything. I believe that is a truth beyond reproach to this very day.

Food was very sacred to my family. To enjoy good food one must summon all of his sensory trigger points into symphony. Touch, smell, sight, taste and the sounds of food cooking, it's presentation and eating together as a family or with friends was a blessing.

Being a little boy amid farms, animals and the four seasons I learned how life was created. Through rhythms, vibrations and Cycles. Most of all I learned the power of attraction. The power of negativity and positivity. To this very day I can step into a room of people and sense negative or passive vibrations. Electric currents that flow between human beings. We radiate our unspoken thoughts in the form of energy.

To the north of our house was a Fruit orchard. In front of the house was an irrigation ditch which all summer and part of the autumn carried running water to acres of farm land. Cattle lived in a huge paddock across the street and north of the calves and cows was a smelly silo pit full of rotting corn. Open spaces filled with alfalfa, stalks of corn, pungent fields of tomato plants, potatoes, sugar beets. From the time I was a little baby I was surrounded by the five sacred things of life: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit.

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LIGHT & SHADOW

Tables can be unique. They are one of the most important pieces of furniture within a home. We had a square wooden table near the east window in our kitchen. I often wonder where that table ended up.

Every meal was eaten around that table. My mother composed letters to her many sisters at that table. Once a month she wrote checks to pay bills as she sat at that table. After she had stuffed the envelopes I was allowed to lick the stamps.
When she would bake that table was the resting place for her cakes, cookies, breads as well as so many things besides food. I regard kitchen tables as alters where families and friends join together.

In the late 40's early 50's my father would sit after dinner at that table and Tool leather.
He held tools with his hands and gently tapped them against a pattern he had drawn on the surface of the leather. Leather releases a very sensuous scent.

I would sit and watch images blossom into acorns, pine cones, trees, all kinds of arabesques and even animals.

He never said much as I sat holding my chin in my hands watching hypnotically as he tapped away.

From observing his hands, I learned how SHADOW AND LIGHT play upon surfaces to create beauty. He referred to it as "highlights" and "shadows".

He made belts, vests and various pieces but the most beautiful thing was a loose leaf binder out of leather. I have no idea where that binder ever ended up, but he carried it with him for years.

He was very talented in the art of drawing. When I was 5 or 6 years old he showed me how to draw cartoon faces. People with huge noses, where upon you could draw warts, swollen lips and strange eyes. They were always PROFILES! He also showed me how to color with crayons.

SHADING was the key. He would draw on flannel pulled taunt over a board. My mother would use these in her Sunday School presentations. He'd draw a landscape upon which my mother would place cut outs depicting stories from the Bible. He used crayons to paint rocks, mountains, skies full of clouds and even oceans. I'd sit and watch him. He taught me how to draw clouds. The underneath part of a cloud must be darker than the top. Once more a lesson in shadow and light.

Pressure. One had to apply more energy against the surface of the paper in order to create a dark shade, less pressure to create a soft light color. I applied this lesson to the keys of the piano! More weight on a key created a loud, dark sound, a light touch gave forth a soft, delicate sound.

My mother dabbled in ceramics. She set up a card table in our living room and covered it with old news papers upon which she would place her figurines and paint them as she turned them in the light. The silken surfaces of the plaster would reflect light. One time she made these wall sconces that she placed Air Ferns in. She told me they literally lived on air! Maybe they did!

In the living room Mother kept an oval glass fish bowl on the radio/record player . The bowl had gold fish swimming inside it's clear waters. She fed those fish daily and fussed over the water, changing it every so many days as well as adding certain colored rocks and corrals to the bottom of the bowl.

I recall one day as she was feeding the fish they leaped from the bowl landing on the carpet. She screamed grabbing them and placing them back into the water. The fish lived as most things my mother ever touches seem to find a way to heal regardless of what ever is wrong and they go on living.

Once more a lesson. I would sit and gaze at that fish bowl as light filtered through the water and breathed light into the scales of the fish. The way the fish dove to the bottom of the glass orb and then swam to the surface of the crystal water leaving tiny bubbles that created motion in the water as well as shadow and light.

Years later I read that Debussy spent precious money of which he could not afford, on a Oriental print of Gold Fish. To this very day I always stop beside a stream or pond and look for fish. Stunned by the motion of crystal waters, light, darkness and the eternal song of silence that through music takes wings into the mystical dimension of melody and harmony.

My mother was forever moving furniture in the living room. (to save the carpet?) She'd get something placed and stand back... shake her head and then off we'd go again shoving and pushing. She was actually quite strong.

Once it was all re-arranged we'd sit on the sofa and she would smile a certain way if everything looked right and frown if she did not like it. Her eyes told her things I was only beginning to see. She was not aware of the fact she was teaching me lessons in BALANCE.

Weight and lightness within a room create a sense of well being. Mother taught me that if you place a large heavy piece of furniture at one end of the room you must balance it by putting something on the other end of the room that created evenness.

She taught me how in door plants reach for the light. She always placed plants near windows because they would be happy plants! I applied this technique in music and food presentation. I love plants. They are mirrors that reflect our inner most feelings. I always place live plants near windows and around my piano... VIBRATIONS.

When you plate food, you avoid making food appear FLAT. You associate color, hills and valleys and balance so that the plate is appealing to the eye as well as the palate.

The magic of LIGHT, SHADOW, TOUCH and MOTION then finding a BALANCE would have sacred meaning in my ability to create music and food.

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HEARING IS BELIEVING

My father milked cows every morning and every night. My little brother and I would stand in cow dung and watch our father's strong hands pull and squeeze hot white milk from cow's udders as the cows munched on green, pungent hay.

He would lift his rich baritone voice in song and the boards of the entire milking shed would vibrate with the sound of his voice. To think, his very voice is still alive in the atmosphere and inside many people's minds.

When I was a very little boy I remember hearing my father singing in fields far away. His voice raised in song was an omen, a symbol of safety and most of all he was happy.

When my mother and her sisters gathered together they would sing. They had a magical quality that only siblings have. Their vibratos matched. This is what made the Lennon Sisters so famous, the Osmonds, the King Sisters as well as many other singing families.

My mother's siblings could play bongos, shakers, spoons, banjos, guitars and ukuleles. I could not wait to go to my Grandpa and Grandma Keller's Parties because my uncles, and all of my aunts would kiss, hug and laugh. Good food, but most of all the music! The music was magic.

My Grandma Keller would sit at her piano and plunk out tunes, but when she would put a piano roll in and have us pump the pedals at the bottom of the piano with out feet! I was in heaven. Being children there were times we simply pumped too fast... running. She would stop anything she was doing and reprimand us. BALANCE! You pedal at a pace that makes the music beautiful!

From my mother's family I learned a very special phrase: " JUST PLAY IT BY EAR!"

I never doubted that I would not be able to play by ear! It was part of my inheritance. To this day when I audition a student that wishes to study with me the first thing I try to discover is if they can retain a MELODY within their mind and reproduce it on the keyboard minus a written score.

My parents purchased a Television when I was about 8 years old. I watched the Liberace show... the Bell Telephone Hour... I watched the Hit Parade... The Kate Smith Show, The Omnibus Play House, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason with the June Taylor Dancers, The Loretta Young Show... All these black and white mono sound television shows taught me things I use to this very day when I make music.

The Hit Parade was long before American Bandstand. The Hit Parade released the top 10 songs on the CHARTS and they were performed with "sets". When Rose Mary Clooney came out with THIS OLD HOUSE... I remember watching the Hit Parade where a stage set of a very old house literally collapsed. As silly as the stage sets were by today's standards they made 'imprints' within my musical mind that to this day haunt me.

The Bell Telephone Hour showcased some of the greatest artists of the day. Ballet, Opera, Piano, Violin and Symphony. My piano teacher, Seymour Bernstein with whom I have studied longer than any teacher I ever had in my youth, appeared on the Kate Smith Show three times!

Loretta Young... I can still play (by ear) her theme song. Her show always presented a stage drama. She would come twirling through these French doors in a full gown... She featured so many great actresses and actors on her show. Ida Lappino, Burt Lancaster, Helen Hayes, Orson Wells the list is endless.

The catalyst that influenced me with the Televisions shows was: THE MUSIC. THE BACK GROUND MUSIC.
The way the music enhanced the unsay-able emotions and drama during any performance.

In later years I put this influence to great use. Background music enhances food! It balances the digestive system. It creates ambiance. Candle light would paint shadows and light... the very way a dinning room was arranged would balance the over all effect of music, food and create high lights. My mother and my father gave me the foundation upon which everything I have learned and will ever know about music, food and life evolved from.

I cannot forget the value of vibrations, color, sound, pain and yes, ever so many misunderstandings inside my life's adventure, but forever there has been a sacred jewel hidden amid all the tears and laughter: the value of love and above all else the blessing of forgiveness and unconditional love.

My mother and father to this day, in their 80's love me and the people I love without CONDITIONS. Mind you, there were years when I know they did judge me according to their beliefs in religion, politics and philosophy. Many of their beliefs I could not embrace... however, I learned one precious lesson and the words were spoken from my mother's mouth in the late 60's..."What a person believes and what a person loves are entirely two different things."



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MUSICAL

My piano lessons were a one on one learning experience. My father took me to a woman piano teacher when I was 11 years old Dorothy Code. She showed me how chords were created out of a 12 note scale. The scale being the alphabet and from those letters you created the Golden Mean. CHORDS. She taught me how the left hand notes and the the right hand created harmony and melody. She showed me how fingering worked. She taught me how to write my musical thoughts out on manuscript paper thus the creation of my own MUSIC!!!

She had a Parakette Bird in her house. The bird flew every where and scarred the hell out of me. I had the fear that it would bite my neck or fingers.

She taught me that clutter was not always a state of disorder. She kept a very messy house and claimed it was because of her low blood sugar!

She loved composing music. She had studied with one of the Mormon Tabernacle organist's DR. FRANK ASPER. I adored her until I discovered she actually hated so many local musicians. I then turned to James Pingree. He was very kind to me and introduced me to so many composers. He was a steppingstone into a new horizon and dimension I could NOT as a 13 year old boy imagine.

He introduced me me to Debbusy, Brahms., Bach, Chopin.... and most of all scales...arpeggios, octaves and how to play phrases.

I have never done well in class rooms. My musical education has been a "ONE ON ONE" learning experience. Therefore, I have sought out the most prestigious teachers in the world.

I learn from observation, demonstration which my eyes, ears, and emotions absorb like a sponge in water. My teachers have been celestial guides. (I learned years ago I have deslyxisa as well as a bit of Ausberger's disease) I have used those learning disabilities as gifts rather than curses.

My musical guides respected my individual talent as well as had the gift of drawing out as it were, my need to create my individual talent which over the years would touch the hearts and minds of many people.

One of those teacher was a woman named LOIS JOHNSTON MANNING. She knew where my heart, mind and hands were going.
She had walked down some paths I would eventually walk. She is one of my musical angels.

To this very day I carry a note from her. She gave it to me with a camera as I was leaving the train station in Ogden Utah. "I WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU NEED ME." She has been with me when I have needed a musical angel.

My father and mother have also been with me along my journey and my grandparents.

I can go on writing for ever about why and how I am the person I am today.

I am 63 years old. I have survived many things that no one except myself would understand. Possibly one day I will write a book about my entire life. My pets, the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island. The Wasatch Mountain Range,Wyoming, New York City, New Zealand, Iceland and men landing on the moon.

My life in music has been the guiding light that has taken me every single place I was meant to go. Because of music I toured the world and shared my music with people from Asia to Europe. America and New Zealand. Because of music I have loved beyond most men's dreams. Because of music I have suffered beyond most men's capacity for pain.

When anyone asks me the question, "How did you learn to make music and to
cook?" I tell them that THE CHILD IS THE FATHER OF THE MAN... and they usually look at me with an even bigger question, like WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

I have loved poetry all of my life. Wm Wordsworth is one of my favorite poets.
In the movie "A River Runs Through" this poem is spoken as a duet.


INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY from RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

The child is the father of the man;
and I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by mutual piety...

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
Hath had elsewhere it's setting

And cometh from afar:
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.

As Sarah Williams said: "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of
the night..."

It's been a while since...

We closed the Nordic Inn on October 3, 2010. Had a great season. Fantastic weather, lots of wonderful people and most of all I was healthy, happy and DID IT! I look forward to writing my thoughts and the amazing feeling of actually being apart of something greater than myself... something that really is OUT THERE!

Right now, I am gorging myself on a brilliant INDIAN SUMMER. Frosty mornings with the moon and stars... first light kissing the mountain peaks and COLOR. OMG, COLOR... vibrations... music everywhere. I love the fall time.

Before I fly to New Orleans and NYC I will write about the events of this summer.

Work and mor work

At last I write a quick blog. Been back in Alpine since May 5th. Weather has been constant rain with the occasional sunshine.

Opened the Nordic Inn/Brenthoven's Restaurant May 28th. Things are going quite well. I ache in different places, but I am
cancer free at the moment!!!!!!!! What More Could Any Man Ask FOR???????

I will not be updating this blog for at least a few weeks. I do appreciate those of you that follow my blog and keep in touch with
me and my life's dramas.

One thing about the rain, it helps keep forest fires at bay during the hot months of July and August.
My piano sounds like heaven and the tulips are still in BLOOM.

Will write soon....

give someone a gift...

Last Saturday I attended a gorgeous concert performed by one of NZ great Soparno opera stars. Malvina Majors. She was wonderful. We saw her in concert years ago in the gardens of Invercargill . She sang everything from "By The Light of the Silvery Moon to great opera Arias.

After the concert certain melodies kept playing inside my musical brain! I remember someone telling me that IF, you want to give a gift that will never end, GIVE THEM A MELODY... a SONG... It is so true.

When Malvina sang various things from yodeling to opera it flooded my mind with many memories and faces! From my Grandparents, Aunts, Radios, TV, Church, School and traveling... I have been given melodies that link me to a memory of wonderful people that loved me!

Chopin's Ballade in G minor fills my brains with magic... Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue... A certain person gave me the melody
"For Once In My Life"... There was a time when the Carpenter's hit: SOLITAIRE MAN drove me into deep depression!

What an amazing gift to give to some one that will haunt them the rest of their lives!

Vibrations. The beat does go on...

sorry

Sorry 'bout the STORY TIME... It is on my desk top, I simply have to cut/paste it to my blog!

Autumn has landed in NZ. Short days... Fall Time LIGHT! By 5:00 PM it is almost dark! Cold evenings and warm days unless you are out of the shade of trees.

Today had a cancer taken off my back. Sometimes I think it has set up a life of some-kind within my lungs. My lungs have forever been a problem? As a child i suffered with asthma........... Ever since my knee surgery I have carried a "puffer"...

Story Time will appear. There is a reason for everything because after I re read the story... DHAAAA lots of mistakes and somethings I need not write about! So later. In a couple of weeks.

TIme is running out. 20 days and we will be out of NZ and back to work.

BJ

Story time

/Users/brentjohnston/Desktop/the child is the father of the man.rtf

Fall time in NZ 2010 and stuff

The first photo is of a rose in my garden. GORGEOUS! My tomatoes have gone crazy, but I've only eaten three of the sensuous orbs. There are at least 40 or more on my vines. Hopefully I can eat every one of them before I leave. The apples are perfect.
We have an apple, plum and apricot tree in the back yard. The Geraniums have gone nuclear! I am telling you they are giants.

The winds have been horrific this year thus, most leaves are blown away. Color is still on the horizon, but...

Watched a most tender a touching movie, "DEPARTURES." It has everything. Death, Love, Hate, the unknown and a beautiful musical score... SEE IT!

Thank God for beauty and nature. It saves me from all the American Bull Shit of Politics and Religion.

Later, bj

Fall time in NZ 2010

Devil's Staircase

Today was a gorgeous day. Lots of sunshine, autumn colors just breaking through the greenery.

I went to the gym, had a wonderful lunch at French Cafe, Les Alpes... then walked to the market to collect some items for dinner this evening.

I walked into Henry's Shop of Spirits... Found a bottle of Pinot Noir 2008 a Central Otago wine named: DEVIL'S STAIRCASE. It was not a cheap Pinot, but the name reached out and grabbed my by the throat! Gotta have this wine!
Here is the best part, I am copying the words from the back side of the bottle, your gonna love this.

"Make the Descent - there's a little Devil in all of us. Devil's Staircase Pinot Noir takes the willing down into the realms of decadence and Bacchanalian delights. Here everything is pleasure spiced up with a dash of naughty. The unrelenting environment tortures the vines whose twisted limbs produce a wine worthy of absolution: strong and sensual with lashings of dark fruit, sinfully succulent and devilishly good.
Enjoyed either in isolated contemplation or in combination with the seared flesh of a sacrificial animal."

OMG, words can turn one's mind and body into a play ground for the devil. Let me tell you this little devil is divine! Simply had to share the words on this bottle! Wish I could carry back to USA a case of this devilish fluid! I do love good wines.

I make no apology as it seems good wine was good enough for Christ. Drink this wine in remembrance of my blood which I shed for you!!! I will be saved before the night is over!

Amazing Grace...

The concert was indescribable... why? because if someone were to tear every atom of my being apart it would add up to all the notes in the Prokofiev 3rd Concerto as well as the Rachmaninoff 2ND Concerto.

The young man that performed the Prokofiev was from Russia... he has the music in his very DNA and BLOOD. I have heard as well as had the blessings of being in the audience watching Martha Agarich perform this very concerto. If you do not know who Martha is go to YOUTUBE and discover or simply listen to her 1965 recording... In my opinion the woman is not from this planet. She is my age, but OMFG what she does with a piano is cosmic. She also speaks many languages...

The Concert in Dunedin was magic. At the end of the concert as we were walking out an usher who has seen us many times at concerts touched my arm and asked IF I had a program. I said "NO" she gave me one. The programs cost money... as we walked out into the starry night air I sensed someone standing inside one of the enclaves near a stage door smoking a cigarette.

I look into the shadows and low and behold it was the artist that had performed the concerto. He was casually dressed smoking a cigarette, much like myself at his age of 34!

I asked, "You were the Pianist?" he shyly said..."yes"... with that I embarrassed him to intensly and kissed his cheeks. He became out best friends for the moment. I told him that I had hear Martha Agarich perform this very piece... he swooned and said, "OMG Martha is the Queen and King of Piano". We told him from where we come and he said he had appeared with the USO in SLC, UT. I told him next time he better come to Alpine WY and eat some fabulous food, drink wine and meet some cowboys! He gleefully agreed!

What a night. I love these moments. Magic. Pure Magic. I posted a young man from England on my Face Book who plays rags. He is good. Life is good. Sorry about the tomatoes in America. Means not so much salsa, Kat sup, pizza... but in my
restaurant most of my tomatoes come from MEXICO! DHHHAAAAAA!!!!

Stay close to the music. Every night 'bout 6 PM I am spending 5 minutes quietly... thinking of the planet and balancing the political messes from the bottom to the top of the globe.

I still live by my New Age Hippie mantra: LOVE AND LIGHT!

Southern Sinfonia

One of my favorite composers died today in 1953. Sergei Prokofiev. I have never, ever performed or actually learned any of his great compositions... WHY? I do know why. His music is too "close" so some hidden place within my musical mind and heart...

Tomorrow I will drive to the city of Dunedin. The Southern Sinfonia is a great Orchestra. I will hear the 3rd Piano Concerto by Prokofiev. Let us hope I do not begin pounding my thighs like I do when I hear a certain haunting theme in this master piece. I cannot spell the name of the performing pianist, but I know it will be magic.

Ever since I can remember, the sound of a symphony has spread invisible wings that can carry me to places indescribable. To me there not a more gorgeous sound than a symphony tuning... the squeaks and squawks and rumbles, then the one note... the one vibration that balances the entire ensemble!

I think I will write a book! My life inside harmonic vibrations...

Proposition 8

Once again I am venting via my blog, however this is rather alarming. I have been asked about the Proposition 8 situation in California and if it has had any impact on gay marriage within OTHER states that approve of same sex marriage. I KNOW WHY! I was born in the state of Utah and being a Mormon for the first 21 years of my life...

I am in New Zealand where same sex couples are recognized as human beings that pay honest taxes, work hard, support most up right projects with in and outside the government. (no pun intended about the UP RIGHT Projects...) So, I have been doing some serious research on line. I am stunned at the amount of money the MORMON CHURCH AND IT'S MEMBERS DONATED TO THIS INSANE PROPOSITION! OMFG! Do a google search... you will find a endless list of the names of people and organizations within California and Utah that did not give SMALL AMOUNTS OF MONEY... they GAVE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS TO THE DEATH OF THIS PROPOSITION!

Well, I did a bit more research and found something Al Sharpton said about the whole nightmare! It is worth reading and remembering.

"It amazes me when I looked at California and saw CHURCHES that had nothing to say about POLICE BRUTALITY, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action. NOTHING TO SAY WHEN PEOPLE WERE BEING DELEGATED INTO POVERTY, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to STOP consenting adults from choosing their life partners." (Sharpton told a packed audience on Jan. 11)

"There is something immoral and SICK about using all that POWER to NOT END BRUTALITY and POVERTY, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that GOD SENT YOU." Sharpton added... "We know you're not preaching from the Bible, because IF you were preaching the BIBLE we would have heard from you."

Sharpton said, "We would have heard from you when people were STARVING in California, when they DEREGULATED THE ECONOMY and CRASHED WALL STREET, you had NOTHING TO SAY! When {alleged Ponzi schemer Bernie} Madoff made off with the money you had NOTHING TO SAY... When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there YOU had NOTHING TO SAY... But all of a SUDDEN WHEN PROPOSITION 8 came out YOU had so MUCH to SAY, but since you stepped in the rain, we gonna step in the rain with you!"

All I can say is: We have to call these people out for what they are. They are NEVER EVER afraid to call people faggot or threaten one's life and property with VIOLENCE. Bigot, Hypocrite, Liar and Terrorist is what these people need to be called to their FACES and in PUBLIC.

Life can be gorgeous. I am loving my life right now, but I remember HIDING, RUNNING, ESCAPING for my life.


"

"

Something to think about...

I found something on line that answered some of my questions regarding the Republican Party of 2010.
I do not care to go into deep political tirades on this blog, but silly things that are happening in the USA with
people and their political beliefs line up with so many things regarding religion and brain washing! Mind you,
Democrats are not much better!!!

1. Jesus love you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Dick
Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when BOY BUSH needed a "We Can't Find Bin Laden" diversion!

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is COMMUNIST, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of
International Harmony.

4. A woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting
all of mankind without REGULATION!

5. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing VETERAN'S BENEFITS.

6. If condoms are kept OUT of the SCHOOLS adolescents will not have sex.

7. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their corporations and money.

8. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is SOCIALISM!

9. HMO's and Insurance companies have the best interest of all people at heart.

10. Global Warming and the Tobacco's link to cancer are JUNK SCIENCE, but CREATIONISM should be taught in schools.

11. A President lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense.

12. A President lying to enlist support for a war in which 1,0000's die is solid defense policy.

13. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and
censoring the Internet.

14. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

15. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and crime, unless you're a CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST. Then it's an illness and
your PRAYERS for your RECOVERY!

16. You support States' Rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell States what local voter initiatives they
have the right to adopt.

17. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960's IS of VITAL national interest (smoke pot), but what BUSH DID IN THE '80's is very very
irrelevant )SNORTING COKE AND BECOME and ALCOHOLIC)

The list can go on and on and on forever. Sometimes I wish Thomas Paine were still alive! Even Franklin would be rather
nice to read about in current events!

Will write something great about my adventures in NZ in a few days.

Sunshine has arrived

The photos say a lot. I thank my lucky stars for my many many many guardian angels. Yellow roses are one of my favorite flowers and these are from our garden her in QT. Nothing quite like Bach and Roses! The sunset last night was amazing...

Summer has at last spread it's sweet smile full of sunshine and roses upon Queenstown NZ. Today was gorgeous.

Had lunch at Gibbston Winery. Grocery shopped at the New World Market in Frankton, and did some odd purchases at The Ware House.

Fell asleep in the garden while reading a book I am enamored to. Damn, I wish I had written it. "god is not GREAT" by Christopher Hitchens. It is a book so full of truth NOT what some BELIEVE to be TRUE, but the actual FACTS about how religion poisons everything. I have forever loved Thomas Paine. What a brave and courageous statesman he was, even though the conservative right would have his name burned to hell... His "Age of Reason" along with Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" changed my life forever.

Surprise, (in my mail box today (on a Sunday?) the DHL delivered it early this morning: a book I have wanted for some time.
"A JESUIT TALE" a novel by John Shekleton. I found this used book on Amazon.com and it will be good money spent.

Yesterday I walked and walked. There is a very sacred walking path along the lake shore. The views are straight out of heaven. I observed the most amazing bird. A pelican standing so regal as if he owned the universe. I walked right up within a foot of his stance. He never ever flinched. HE STARED AT ME DIRECTLY IN MY EYES!

From there I thought I would play piano at St. Peter's but as I approached the cathedral doors music... I had forgotten that the Ensemble Festival is going on. OMG. WHAT MUSIC. A cellist, violinist and pianist making the most delicious chamber music!
Besides the musicians were all within their early thirties and they were so easy on the eyes.

I sat for over an hour listening to their rehearsal. It was very sensual as well as mysterious... I was observing something few people would or could appreciate.
I also was filled with a strange sadness... I have not ever actually performed the classical ensemble compositions of such great masters. Yes, I have always played with other musicians in a JAZZ setting, but this was something that "touched" a place in my heart that has never ever been touched!

I walked out of the church feeling JOY. The live music and the beauty of those young people's musical talents touched me beyond anything I can ever explain.

Joy for all the music I have ever made in my life so far and for the music that was created long before my life as well as for all the music that will be created after my life on earth as I know it.

Sun light and moonlight are heavenly blessings filled with music.

Still Playing my ORGAN!

Loved the recital in the restored Tabernacle. My dream as a little boy was to one day play this organ... Well, I was fortunate
to be able to study with Dr. Alexander Schriener when he was the Tabernacle Organist. It is a glorious instrument.
Had to share the photo. All organs inside our bodies as well as out side our bodies are sacred! They make beautiful music.

snow time in the alps

I awoke to snow this morning. Mind you, this is supposed to be summer weather... I know, I know, and I know, global warming but, I would still love summer to return. One thing: when the sun does come out it is hotter than the hinges of hell.

Life continues to be good. Reading, learning new music, creating new music and most of all I am healthy. I have a wonderful
vegetable garden this year. Everything is booming except for my tomatoes. Not enough sunshine... The lettuce is divine and all the herbs I cook with constantly. Made a gorgeous Italian dinner last night with fresh Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Parsley, and
Chives from the garden.

My piano is once again my best friend and I am reading book after book. I know I should
purchase the Kendell or the Nook electronic books, but I honestly need to touch, smell, and hold paper within my hands. Most of all I underline and write in the margins of books. Kind of like music. I have precious manuscripts hand marked by teachers that are long dead, some that are world famous and two or three others that are very much alive and know my hands as well as my musical mind. It all makes for a delicious adventure in sound and color.

Tomorrow is the A&P Show at Lake Hayes. Must go regardless of weather. The Michael Hill String Festival begins this weekend.
Such stunning talent. String players will invade the town like a blessing from the heavens. Making angelic music everywhere.
Tomorrow is also the Craft Fair and Farmer's Market down town. Love those potatoes and herbs I buy at Farmer's Market.
Also, I meet up with some amazing artists at the fair. These are things I can never do in Alpine because I am working!!!

Summer time will blossom one day soon and I will no doubt not have any sun guard!

Holidays in Queenstown New Zealand

The year 2009 into the year 2010 will be a glorious year for me. A photo of my studio. Fresh pansies, an incredible crystal and a very old photograph of Percy Grainger I was given in Melborunre Australia. The painting of the pianist is by my sister, TJ. Very much in the style of Chargill... Happy New Year. More will follow...