Saturday, April 15, 2006

C Harmonic Minor

Saturday: Woke at 5:30, and to the classroom for morning practices, then group sitting at 7. Definitely less twitching and sniffing today. The session people had with Robert was effective. A lie-down in my bunk, and then "breakfast" at 8. I didn't eat anything, but the cup of warm water was comforting. I ducked out while a performance was going on to clean a shelf at the dish washing station. This was self-serving. I'm self-serving even when I pretend I'm serving others, it seems.

At 8:30ish, I met with the Level T team, and, after orientation, cleaned toilets for about 45 minutes. Word to the wise: if you're turning on a bidet, especially if you're bending over it, always make sure it's not on the 'squirt' setting. Completed around 9:40. The time is now 10:05.

Personal meeting with RF at 10:20. I gave him a report on my method of resolution related to the photography. Then we talked about what might be next for me. Back to my room by 10:32, and a much needed nap overtook me. The time is now 12:14.

Spent some time in the backyard, watching the fountains in the vineyard next door. RF strode to the back of the property with his digital camera, waiting for us to go in to lunch, so that he might take a picture of the grounds, sans people, as is his rule.

Lunch, delicious bean and carrot dish, and a rice bake from last night's supper. Sometimes old wine in new bottles is the best. Course-baked bread also. A long discussion about last night's "uber circle"... A wide variety of opinions were expressed.

2:15 PM: AT lie-down for kitchen team in the ballroom... We had to leave right at 3, as Tony was presenting "body beat" to the L1. The time is now 3:08.

Went out back and had some guitar practice. My friend from the Sasso performance project in summer 2001, Javier, stopped by with his family. I told his daughter "Su padre es loco." He was wearing too much after-shave. In a universe of constant flux, some things remain constant.

At 4, was sucked into the vortex of preparing dinner. One team baked squash slices. I boiled and mashed yams. There was also cauliflower with creme sauce. Tom, the chief cook, did a great job, but throughout he had a pair of Level T green gloves sticking out of his pocket. Some of the squash wasn't quite done in time... but otherwise everything turned out. Many performances Hernan and company (river rat?) played an excellent spooky piece. Big Time, Zum, A quite good Level 1 performance, a Middle Eastern melody performed by a bunch of the KT. Then just when we thought it was safe to stop serving, and eat, a huge group came out, that didn't announce a name, but I assumed was called "Horn Up Your Ass," and performed Happy Birthday (clusterthrak style) for The Mighty Bull, Andres. Not much discussion tonight. I helped mop the kitchen floor with toilet cleaner (we're out of floor liquid) and then went back to my room for some down-time. The time is 8:58 PM.

Found a pick-up team for Bicycling to Afghanistan in the hall: Igor, Rob, Taylor and me. Great fun.

9:30 and take two at the uber circle, this time in the dining hall, and led by Robert. Two concentric circles rather than three. First, circulation split between inner and outer circles, one keeping the pulse, and the other filling in 8ths, 8th triplets and 16ths. A few things like asking us how many guitars in the room there were, and the apparently Hurculean task of counting 8 bars of 4. Then the real fun, a 12 bar piece in C Harmonic Minor, with a bassline and twinkles. After handing out the parts, we stopped, I presume to give us a clean beginning. I felt that we were perhaps battling the speed of sound being in such a large hall. Shinkaro's foot tapping wasn't matching what I was hearing, for example. After we had it, Robert encouraged us to respond to our musical impulse, and the lights were turned off. Then, after some time, RF left us to our own devices. I had a great time playing, and I hope others did as well. It seemed I could hear everything quite well... And then, the piece naturally faded away, and we found an ending, at the end of bar 8 of the cycle... Then we all sat in quiet in the dark for perhaps 5 minutes. I had a couple of impulses: One: Ask who wanted to keep playing. Two: pass a note to the person on my right. Three: suggest we all file out in an orderly fashion. I suppressed all of them. Eventually Martin got up and left, which triggered everyone else. I wish I knew what would have happened if we just kept sitting there.

Said hello, goodnight to MB. Helped put the tables back in the dining room. Back to my bunk, and getting ready for bed. The energetic difference in the house between last night and tonight couldn't be more clear.

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