Tribute to Captain Beefheart and James Moody

I note the passing away of two great musicians this past week:  Captain Beefheart and James Moody.  Two very different but extraordinary men.  For those of you who are not familiar with one or both of these musicians, Captain Beefheart was a Dadist rock and roll, blues musician who performed principally in the late sixties and early eighties, most well known for the Magic Band and his Trout Mask Replica album,  and James Moody was a bebop and post bop jazz tenor saxaphonist, most well known for the seminal jazz song Moody's Mood for Love and his work with Dizzy Gillespie.
Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart died on December 17th of multiple schlerosis.  He was 69 years old.  For those who are unfamiliar with the Captain, the BBC did an excellent bio of him which is accessible on you tube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M5YE_a4B1U I highly recommend it.  Trout Mask Replica is the only rock album I still own, and one of only a half dozen rock albums I ever purchased.  I think I got the album after hearing Beefheart sing on Zappa's Hot Rats album.
James Moody died on December 9th.  He was 85.  Moody had a much longer career than Beefheart that spanned over 60 years.  He was most well known for his improvisation on the changes to I'm in the mood for love which he recorded in Europe in 1949.  The song became something of a cross over hit when first Eddie Jefferson put lyrics to Moody's solo.  Then King Pleasure wrote his lyrics to the song, and his version became a big hit.  I myself prefer Eddie Jefferson's version over King Pleasure's, but I may be a little biased having met and talked to Eddie Jefferson many times when he would perform at the Rogue and Jar, where I used to cook in Washington, D.C.
Later in his career James Moody often sang and his singing was somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Clark Terry.  He would do a sort of growly bluesy, funny rap.  He definitely learned how to amuse a crowd from Dizzy.  There is plenty of James Moody on youtube.  Here is an interview and some music:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4yyIWSLGAw
Both men will be missed.  But their passing did give me an opportunity to learn a little more about creating a blog and inserting links to other sites.  Next time, however, I will stick to Indonesia.

Twas the Week Before Christmas

It is the week before Christmas.  We have our Christmas Tree, potted, in the house, which later will be planted n the backyard.  It is decorated with lights, bulbs, and when I remember, fresh flowers that fall from the trees every morning.  This evergreen, which comes from the mountain farms in Java is somewhat of an anomoly down in these areas, and I am told the survival rate is not good.  But it is beginning to feel a little like Christmas and it brings us cheer.  We all hope it will survive and thrive. 
Miles has finished up this semester at school and starts his winter break beginning the third week of December.  He looks forward to four weeks (yes thats right 4- primarly because he starts school in the summer in mid July after only a four week break) of TV (yes we actually have one here) and fun.  But I have already set in gear my agenda for him which already includes some private Bahasa Indonesian lessons, trumpet lessons, math drills and oh yes, trips to the mountains and jungles of Java and Sumatra.  We hope to see orangutans, lots of monkeys, bats, snakes (from a good distance) and many old villages and temples.  We recently purchased a new camera, a true digital SLR, which I hope will spur us all to take more photos to share with you, and which hopefully will allow me to take something other than a blurry fog with these old hands.
There is much more to say, but it is a Saturday afternoon here.  It is a beautiful hot sunny day in December(oh do you Northern Hemisphere people even remember what such a day as this is like?), and so the pool beckons.
We will post again soon.

Pelan Pelan

This will be my first blog.  The entry is small and initiated merely to hold my place with this blog name.  The purpose of this bog will be to keep friends and family informed of our life in Indonesia, and provide all readers a sense of life in Indonesia.  Provided I can get my act together, I anticipate that I will fill this blog with pictures of our life here in Indonesia as well as stories about our adventures, Irene's work, the politics and arts of Indonesia, and some of the causes that may need your support.  I hope you enjoy.