#birdsong 2011

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

News!! Uk and Ireland Eddie's followers!!

"Birdsong arrives December 31st on Netflix UK!

As an English soldier fights in the horrific trenches of northern France, he is haunted by the memories of his forbidden love affair with a French woman."

Source : Netflix UK on fb

[wub-fur-radio]

Taking Sparkling Eno As Strategy (Again) Another Eclectic Tribute to Brian Eno

On the occasion of his 76th birthday, Wub-Fur Internet Radio once again pays tribute to Mr. Brian Eno with another collection of sparkling cover versions of his songs, recorded by an eclectic selection of artists between 1982 and 2021. Featuring the obliquely strategic talents of Queens of the Stone Age, The Feelies, St. Vincent, Jason Falkner, Chrome, Nouvelle Vague, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Game Theory, Brand X, and a half dozen more artists who know but don’t let it show.

▶︎🎶 Listen on Mixcloud

Running Time: 1 hour, 5 seconds

Tracklist

Intro: The Interesting Thing (0:15)

Needles in the Camel's Eye (3:20) — Queens of the Stone Age | Palm Desert, CA | 2007

Burning Airlines Give You So Much More (3:41) — Jason Falkner | Los Angeles, CA | 1996

Baby's on Fire (4:01) — Shearwater | Austin, TX | 2006

Third Uncle (3:19) — The Feelies | Haledon, NJ | 1984

No One Is Receiving [ft. Nadéah] (3:17) — Nouvelle Vague | Paris, France | 2016

Cindy Tells Me (3:08) — The Mess | Los Angeles, CA | 1992

St. Elmo's Fire (2:40) — Sam Miell | ??? | 2017

Sombre Reptiles (4:02) — Birdsongs of the Mesozoic | Boston, MA | 1992

Some of Them Are Old (3:00) — St. Vincent | LA/Dallas/NYC | 2012

Sky Saw (4:57) — Brand X | London, UK | 1997

The Big Ship (9:14) — Vapour Theories | Philadelphia, PA | 2021

By This River (4:02) — Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto | Germany / Japan | 2011

Here Come The Warm Jets (3:00) — Chrome | San Francisco, CA | 1987

Taking Tiger Mountain (5:22) — Pascal Comelade | Montpellier, France | 1982

Needles in the Camel's Eye (2:47) — Game Theory | Sacramento, CA | 2020

Long time listeners (and perspicacious newer ones) have no doubt already noted that this mix is a sequel to our previous Eno covers tribute, originally aired in July of 2016 and then updated and revised for Brian's 69th birthday back in 2017, which can be heard here.

[dk-thrive]

For the mind that is silent, noise is as direct a spoke into the hub of silence as are birdsong, wind, and waves. It requires nothing more than to meet noise with stillness and not commentary.

— Martin Laird, O.S.A., A Sunlit Absence: Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation (Oxford University Press, July 28, 2011) (via Alive on All Channels)

[akenvs3000f24]

BLOG 7: Nature and Music

Music and nature are ingrained within one another, albeit the way music is shown in nature is a little different to how we perceive music to be. Personally, when the word ‘music’ is used, I first think songs and artists. Big celebrities like Taylor Swift, Adele, and Hozier come to mind. Different genres like pop and classical are also a first thought. However, when looking at how it intertwines into nature, music becomes so much more.

At the break of every dawn, you can hear the birds begin to sing, signifying the rise of the sun. In different forms of media, we commonly associate birds with music. For instance, Snow White. She is shown singing with the birds, whose tunes slowly merge with the soundtrack. Birds are commonly used as musical accompaniments in films like Snow White and Cinderella, where they create harmonies and interact as if they’re in sync with the characters. However, they are not the only creatures that ‘sing’ in nature. Many animals use sounds and melodies to attract mates, signal their territories, or even to simply communicate with others of their species. Whales, for example, create long, complex songs that can travel vast distances underwater. Music in nature serves as a complex network of sounds, each having their own, important meaning, but serving as a pleasant tune to our ears. For centuries, musicians have been inspired by the sounds of nature.

In today's norm of ‘music’, the thought of nature might not come to mind immediately. Most songs follow a common trend of finding love or heartbreak, as artists write lyrics that their audience can primarily relate to in some way, shape or form. However, Indigenous people commonly incorporate the theme of nature in their musical traditions, both physically and spiritually. The instruments they use are commonly made from materials you can find in the environment; seeds, wood, and animal parts (Hoefnagels 2011). Hoefnagels (2011) states these instruments are treated with the utmost care, as they are seen as sacred within the Indigenous community. Their music also frequently incorporates sounds that mimic nature like the rustling of leaves or rushing of water. In Indigenous culture, music as a whole is deeply ingrained with their culture, as it served as a way to pass on historical narratives, legends, and general expression (McLeod 2024). 

Composers like Beethoven also incorporated birdsongs in their music to connect their pieces with nature. In this post, I’ve linked one of his pieces; Symphony No. 6 in F major, which incorporates different bird sounds. I believe this particular piece of music does well to convey how nature can feel; whimsical, peaceful, and calm. But pieces such as Allegro, where the music is more fast-paced, gives a sense of urgency and serves a bit of a warning; to never get too comfortable in nature, as it is still the place where danger can lurk around every corner.

Overall, I believe that music and nature go hand in hand. But in order to dig deeper into how they connect with each other, we have to dive back into our history.

References

Hoefnagels, A. (2011) Music of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The Canadia Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/first-peoples-music

McLeod, D. (2024). Heartbeat of a People. Canadian Museum for Human Rights. https://humanrights.ca/story/heartbeat-people

[blindrapture]

MONDAY AUGUST 1ST, 2011 (Don't Speak Its True Name I: Peace)

1:03 AM Along the forest road, we walk at an uneven pace. There's five of us now, each with different understandings and different speeds. Danny's excited to have more boys to talk to. Donnie's looking nervously around and finding any excuse to not have to talk. Fentzy and I are leading the pack, or trying to. We don't really know where we're going now? Whether we encounter zombies, wild wolves, or cloning shadows from worlds beyond, there's too many of us now for any idle threats. And Donnie and I still have our hammer and sword, still stained with alien blood. Of all the adventures we've had, that last one feels the most like a dream.

1:39 AM Bones came up to the front, with us. "Hey, so. Next time we find a Door, I wanna show you something." Oh, sure. Like, a house, or a rabbit hole door? "Right, you call them 'rabbit holes.' Yeah, those." What do you call them? o: "Doors of Oblivion." Fentzy looked at him in surprise and then tripped over a tree root NOTHING HAPPENED, I DID NOT GET PUNCHED IN THE ARM

2:00 AM "There! Between those trees! It's a Sears!" dammit Danny we're not looking for a Sears we're looking for a-- oh between those trees is a well-lit superstore aisle of kitchen appliances Yeah, that's a rabbit hole. derek "By the Nine, it's Oblivion."

2:02 AM He set one foot in the rabbit hole, and now we’re surrounded by shifting swirly purple. How the hell did he do that? :D

2:03 AM I can feel faces looking down on us with what I hope is sympathy. 85858588855855558558588885558588855855558555885885585885885888888585888885585885855855888555855885585885885888888558585885588885885888888555888885558585855855588558888585585885855855588558858585585558885888888555888885588585855855888558585585585555:85585888855885858858888885585558555885888555588585558588855585885558858885558558555885888555858888588888855588558558588585585558855585858558558885585588855885858858888885558585855855588558555585585888855885888555858585585855855588558558858585585558 AM dawn, I still wait for my god despite the self-help of my faith I see the Final Battle of good and evil. The Lamb versus the Beast. In one corner, standing tall and thin, is one contender, scarf of blood and hat of shadow. His sanity dissipated long ago along with what some would call a soul. would you, Jordan? call it a soul? In the other corner, standing everywhere at once with strange headgear and a weapon crafted from the bowels of the Planck level itself, stands another contender. I sense great evil buried deep within. Only one contender still waits for his God. Both contenders have drawn their stairway, and some of us may go up one and some down the other. Our souls may separate from us as we do so. As the movements flow, as John Petrucci paves the background way, as the Harlot suffers a fate unimaginable, the Beast nears his goal. The Lamb lies down on Broadway, the Eldritch's Broadway, where puppets dance for the sake of the Harlot’s trance. No man can save us from the world’s two apocalypses. Cloud’s Rebirth and its Red Repercussions will have come and gone, leaving a dying dawn on the lawn of Babylon. All that remains is the untrue spawn; insanity’s fawn fades with its pawn. Something like feeling leaving your nerves trembling in their cosmically hard battered scream. Ready to end, ready to dissolve into atoms that are no longer your own.

2:13 AM Purple cave. A mirror figure leads me on. It is Bones. Behind me are Fentzy, Donnie, and Danny. We unearth back on Earth in yet more woods, but at least the trees are a different sort here.

2:39 AM Fentzy was wise enough to get a flashlight in Los Angeles, so we're not entirely in the dark here. Plus the moon's pretty, seen through the canopy! But every so often, there's laughter from afar, and from up above.

2:45 AM There's birds up above. They're the ones laughing. But it's just like birdsong. Danny says maybe they're lyre birds or something. Where the hell are we?

3:03 AM One by one, houses crept into our environment, until we were undeniably in a suburban setting. The road came after, and we stepped onto the sidewalk pavement, cracked in places and sometimes wobbly. This is a town. a bevelled caution draws each foreigner, ground high, into jurisdiction:

"DOMINIERE : Sweet clearing abode!"

The buildings look like a beautiful mixture between European and American. Reminds me of Savannah, but this isn't Georgia. Where are we?

3:08 AM A scattering of houses have lights on inside, which only draws attention to the most that do not. It's three in the morning. This is normal behaviour for a normal suburb. The sky is still red. Derek insists we're not in a rabbit hole. Why is this place untouched?

3:27 AM A long walk past residences, and now we can see different architecture ahead. A town centre. We'll cut through a cemetery to reach it.

3:30 AM "Why is there a grave for a guitar?" What "FRIEND OF JORDAN GAVE HIM GOOD THINGS TO REMEMBER HIS ISOLATION BY HERE LIES TIGER STRIPES, PROOF OF THE VALUE IN INANIMATE PLASTIC." What??? Who did.. how did??? And why do I.. need a minute now?

3:32 AM Good game, Tiger Stripes. Six Guitar Heroes together. So much DragonForce, so much Megadeth. “2112.” Three Rock Bands together, DLC to the heavens and beyond. The Epic Symphony in A Flat Minor, “Obfuscation,” Ten, Rust in Peace, “Free Bird,” “Roundabout,” “Antibodies,” “Panic Attack,” “Visions,” and everything in between. Two and a half months of Hell, it took. You were strong, you were sturdy. You kept going through the fire and the flames, you killed so many spidercats. We made it across the Atlantic together, we made it across the Divided Countries together. Now we have to end our playthrough. We couldn’t FC this one, friend, but I’m sure we passed. .w. And I’m sure we could never do it without you. Cold figures laugh at themselves The ultimate practical joke They see skies fading Their faces regret nothing at all tonight Still, they think once of The last sunset bitter. September 2010 - July 2011.

3:48 AM On we go. Walking into a land of normal here where it shouldn't be, What can it mean but the return of the shambling dead? Jordan leads the pack this time, gangly teens on the prowl, and he Summons wit he never had, someone's grit he's always said. Through Hapsburg Court, his friends keep up. Treasure Street, Danny starts to trail behind. "Does he know where he's going? What's up? "I'm feeling doubts creep into my mind."

3:58 AM Striding into this land of normal here, what a shouldn't-be! Fentzy wouldn't worry, but Derek looks at her with furrowed brow. Donnie slows down to catch up with Danny, And Jordan starts-- what?-- to dance down Pine Avenue-- how? How does he not notice? He's making a fool. But Donnie's seen it before. She's the first to put it a name: "Guys, wherever we are," she says, "and 'wherever's' the rule, "We're not safe here. He's being led. I've seen it. This is the same."

4:03 AM Into the George. It's a bar! Or, a pub. We're in Canada. I worked it out! (There were posters on the way.) The George isn't normally open this late, but with the Rapture, it helps to have a nightwatch. Oh hey, the others have caught up! Hey guys! Check it out, it's a pub! ...they're winded. :3 Let 'em sit down, let 'em chill a bit. I'll talk to the locals.

4:10 AM Stumbled on a land of normal, narrated by an unknown voice, What can it mean but bless us our daily bread? Fentzy wants someone to investigate on their own, but her choice-- Herself-- isn't even raised before Danny volunteers his head, Running out the door, telling Derek to cover him. But those kids don't even know about me, The music in the background, the voice of the cherubim, And I think we'll keep it that way for a while, wait and see. Bait in sea.

4:32 AM Okay, so! I've gathered my friends, let me tell you what I've learned! This is Dominiere, a township in Alberta! Established in 1953 by the Social Credits or something! It's a fairly big town! The apocalypse didn't really hit them, but they send money to their neighbours where they can! Neighbouring towns and. What. Donnie "Are you okay?" Yeah, I'm fine! Bones "Hey, uh, Danny's gone out to check out the town." Oh shit! Good on him! So anyway, these guys know what's up, they have their heads on their shoulders, this looks like a place where we can settle and not worry. … So yeah! We're here! Let's go!

6:50 AM [donnie] Donnie here. Someone ought to update the journal, and Jordan's not going to since he went to sleep. Danny went off on his own to check out the area two hours ago and never came back. I asked Derek why he took us here, and he said that he doesn't really have control over the purple faces, that he just follows where they take him. As if to prove this, he tried to return to the rabbit hole and get us a path out of here, to keep our options open, and.. we couldn't even find the Door, honestly. Whenever we went far enough out into the forest, we'd hit a crowd of zombies in a line, holding hands, blocking our path. I don't like it. I don't trust it. I think Derek just led us into a trap. And Jordan's not even recognizing any of it. He found a bed, first chance he could, and went to sleep. We're gathered in the same hotel he picked. The Coach Motel. The others are going to wait up for Danny to come back, but I'm going to join Jordan and talk to him in the morning.

11:49 AM [jordan] Woke up next to Donnie. :) My journal next to my bed. The birds are singing, someone's mowing a lawn, the sky is a peaceful red, and I feel... safe.

11:55 AM Hi Donnie. "Mngh.. baby, are you okay?" Yeah! I'm grand. I'm happy today. "Did you read my entry in your journal?" Yeah. I think you guys have this one covered. "..baby, I don't trust this place. And I don't know what's happening to you." Nothing's happening! Hey, do you want to take a walk with me? We can see what's here in Dominiere. "...yeah. Yeah, let me put some pants on." :)

12:03 PM Outside our room, sitting in chairs in the hallway, are Bones and Fentzy! Bones was asleep but Fentzy woke him up when we came out. Hey guys! fentzy "So you've had some sleep. Are you gonna help us look for Danny?" Oh, is he still out? Sure, we can have a look. Donnie and I were gonna have a look at the area anyway! "Then we're coming too." Great! :D

12:08 PM They've been filling me in on stuff. They see people coming in and out of the hotel, in and out of rooms, and it all looks totally normal. They say it's like there's no apocalypse outside, but I think it's more like this is a town that's gotten used to it and thrived! This is humanity, man! This is what we can do! And a circle of zombies on the outskirts of town? Sounds to me like the townsfolk have pushed the zombies out.

12:10 PM The barkeep saw me and waved! Asked if I slept okay. Like a light! I love this place!

12:21 PM Immediately outside the Coach Motel are vendors in stalls selling sausages, selling bedding and pillows, selling hard candies, selling coasters with all kinds of popular fictional characters on them, selling CDs, selling fresh strawberries and grapes! We're not far from a square where the real market is out, where there's a hairdresser, a keyfob, a watch repair shop, an antique store, and some cafes! Such a charming little town!

12:35 PM Farther out from the town square are furniture stores, with moving vans coming to and fro, and there are small shops selling fresh produce and tins, and.. donnie "No sign of Danny anywhere…" fentzy "God, where did he go? How does he just vanish?" donnie "Did he ever go out on his own before? When you were traveling with him?" fentzy "He's a bit of a bonehead and does this, yeah, but he only ever takes this long if there's trouble." Oh man, there's a model railway? … fentzy "What the fuck?"

12:38 PM Donnie's pulled me aside. "Jordan." Yes? "Jordan, you're being really weird right now." I am? "You're not even.. I mean, these are your friends, not mine. Why am I more concerned about Danny than you are?" He's out seeing the town! Like I want to be! He's fine! "Jordan, we don't want to stay, we want to get out of here." What? Really? This place is exactly what you and I have been looking for! It's precisely a place to stay! "What?" Do you.. not think so? Is this place really so suspicious? "It's surrounded by zombies! Where are the people getting all their produce from? What's the economy? Are they using Z?" These are things we can just ask, Donnie! "..."

12:39 PM Donnie's asked Fentzy and Bones to go on ahead. She's sat us down on a bench. "Please help me understand something." Okay. "You.. remember the last few days, right?" You mean. Do I remember the writhing nightmare world that was King Real's castle, blood and faces awakening my every phobia? Do I remember the fight that threatened your life and got me to feel grief and adrenaline that sucked my stomach out of my throat? Or do you mean the sheer tragedy that was San Francisco? "..yeah. You still remember, you're not having some kind of memory trouble." We've seen a lot of Hell. I feel like I've found somewhere more peaceful, and all that distress is leaking out the back of my head. "But, honey. We don't want you to lose your distress. You clung to this town as soon as we got in here. You didn't have any doubt whatsoever. And I don't think you've earned the trust you have in this place." ..okay. "Yeah?" Can I.. ask something? "Please do." Can I.. go back to my room? "...are you.. sure? That's what you want?" Maybe I'm just.. feeling the exhaustion catch up with me? Maybe I just need some more time. "Well. Alright. I'll tell the others you just need more rest." Thanks, Donnie. .w. "But can I ask something?" Yeah? "Give me your journal?" .......yeah, sure.

12:41 PM [donnie] He's gone back to the hotel. I think he was being honest with me. That conversation was the most "normal" he's sounded today. I don't know if he's aware of the change happening to himself.

12:44 PM I've caught back up with Rauri and Derek. They're confused by Jordan's behaviour, and even if they were his online friends or whatever, they've still only really just met him, so I have to assure them that he's not normally like this. I mean, Christ, we wouldn't have gotten this far if this is what he was like. But I can't.. worry about this now. We've got to get to the bottom of this fucking town.

12:57 PM It's so strange. There's cars, there's traffic. There's a postman. There's police officers. Dominiere has everything but the blue sky, so at least we're not dealing with Ants. It's a regular Canadian town, but just with a red sky.

2:23 PM We stopped a policeman and asked him some questions. "How does Dominiere stay safe from monsters?" "We don't let them in." "What about the Fears?" "They don't mess with us." "Don't you fear the coming of Rapture?" "We don't fear many things here." All rather vague, noncommittal answers. Much like anyone else we ask. No one had seen Danny either. We were making such little progress that Rauri started losing her temper, and I suggested we all get a little more rest. As Rauri stubbornly refused this, I just.. asked her to come and have a drink of tea with me instead. Derek came along, not wanting anyone else to go off on their own. We found a cafe, I don't remember the fucking name, it doesn't matter, but they were decent enough to let us make the tea ourselves (as we still don't know what to trust). I agreed to wash up after, in lieu of payment. I want to be able to say here that we found some staggering evidence, something out of place, but, no, everything has been completely normal. The cafe owners were put upon and polite. The seats were slightly dirty, not spotless. The tea was.. just... tea. A store brand, Safeway brand. And Rauri and I just.. talked. Derek was there too, drinking silently, but he had nothing to add.

I've learned that Rauri is sixteen, she was raised in Connecticut, before all this she wanted to grow up to be a digital artist, she loves PaintTool SAI and Wacom tablets, and she had the most to say about video games, and something called Homestar Runner. She knows Jordan from their web chat client, where she started talking to him.. actually almost a year ago? And she spoke highly of his Sonic... chao... fanfic thing. She cares deeply about Sonic. And Zelda. And something called Ar Tonelico. When she started talking about anime, she lost me a lot more. I grew up with Cowboy Bebop and FLCL, not much more than that. She was telling me about this new one that had only just finished before the Rapture happened, Pulla... um, something about Magical Girls and Witches. I tried to find out more about what happened to her sister, but she's the most guarded about that. She's mad at a lot of Fears more than she's scared of them. Only when I mentioned the slender man did she get evasive. I found that interesting. After a point, I was able to get Derek to talk too. I think he feels guilty for leading us here, even though it doesn't sound like he has control over his strange rabbit hole travel. (What did he call them? Oblivion...? What Fear is that?) These two are warming up to me. Maybe they already were okay with me, but.. I wasn't sure. I don't do too well with new people.

2:30 PM After we had finished our teas, and after I had washed up after ourselves, Rauri allowed herself to feel vulnerable, feel the bags under her eyes. So I took her back to the hotel and got her a room next to ours. Now I'm going back out into town. Derek thinks he can still try something. I want to back him up.

4:44 PM We found our way back to the forest surrounding the town. Harlequin Forest, it's apparently called. When we reached the layer of zombies, I pulled out my hammer. I'll clear a path.

4:47 PM It.. was trivial. Equally trivial was finding the Door where we came in, leading right back to the purple bioluminescent cave. Derek is walking in, swirls of wisps flowing around his legs. I'm following behind.

4:49 PM Hanging above us were hollow glowing faces imprinted in the void, eerily large and subtly expressive. We had seen them on our way in, and Derek is much more familiar with them, as this is the process he uses to navigate the Earth via rabbit hole. But on this occasion, the faces frowned on us, shadowed from the eyes up. Derek says that's new. It's never happened before. And it means we can't go back out this way.

4:50 PM "I'm sorry. I trusted the faces, and they brought us here. Me, I'm used to traveling alone, and if I'd have ended up here, I'd.. probably just bypass the zombies and keep walking? Go until I found another Door. But this was my first time traveling this way with others. I wanted to be of use to all of you, and instead I've made things more difficult." It's not your fault. You were useful, you moved us hundreds of miles. This isn't the first time we've found a town that's tried to trap us, either. We'll make it through this. I'm not too worried. "Evidently, we can get through the zombies. So we're not really all that trapped in that sense." Yeah. It's just… "Jordan." Yeah.

7:11 PM On the way into town this time, we noticed several trucks, all identically labelled ("Genera Transit"), parked in the square in a circle. No one was coming in or out of the trucks, they were all shut, just idling there.

7:15 PM I half-expected to find Jordan seated on a stool in the George, drinking pints of beer. Instead I found him in our hotel room, playing on an N64 that was hooked up to the TV. A "hotel model," apparently. Paper Mario. He had made it to Chapter 3.

7:18 PM Baby, do you want to stop for a moment? "What's up?" I want to fill you in on what I've been up to. And I'd.. kind of.. like to...

10:02 PM [jordan] We had sex! :D Until Derek came in WITHOUT KNOCKING "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you two. I just wanted to tell you that I found a blacksmith in town who was interested in making you a new weapon." What's wrong with my sword? "Oh, nothing, like literally nothing, it's a fine sword. Just, you only picked that thing up out of an armory, yeah? It might not be.. uh... tailored? To your specifications. Whereas a blacksmith can... look, sorry, this is really weird, you're not wearing pants." Sorry!

10:03 PM He's gone. He delivered the message, at least. I mean. Having a weapon that's completely my own is really nice. And I do like the businesses around here… Okay! Yeah. A cool thought. Maybe I'll check that out sometime. donnie "But not tonight, right?" Of course not. :3 It's just you and me tonight, the way it should be.

(Attached: “Dominiere, a place by any other name. I remember coming to Jordan with the blacksmith news. Honestly, it was a long shot, I was trying to see if I could get him to come for a walk with me and I chose a really passive way of communicating that. And it was actually on the way out of the hotel then, by myself, that I discovered the strangest damn thing. Everything else about the town so far had been at least harmless, and maybe Jordan was just having a freak episode, nothing pointed to Dominiere literally being a dangerous place. But then I stood in the street, at 10 PM, a wind threatening to blow my hat off my head, when a group of drinkers walked past me. They stepped out onto the road, and one said, and I remember his exact words even now: ---It's such a good night, not even Candle Jack could scare me! Followed by his group trying to shush him. And then a figure, in the night, bashed in his skull with a steel baseball bat. And the rest of his group ran away, screaming, as Genera officers came to move his dead body into a truck.��)

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[brookstonalmanac]

Beer Events 12.9

Events

Gluek Brewing 1st released their beer in cans (1935)

Ballantine & Sons patented a Carton Flap Opener (1952)

George Meyer patented a Case Unloader with Bottle Rejecting Head (1958)

George Fenn patented an Automatic Apparatus for Cleaning Keg Fittings of Tapping Systems (1969)

1st J.D. Wetherspoon’s pub opened (Martin’s Free House, London; 1979)

1st batch of Anchor "Old Potrero" Rye Whiskey distilled (1994)

Robert and James Cleleand patented a Counter Top Beer Chilling Dispensing Tower (1997)

Gene Probasco and John Haas patented a Hop Plant Named “H900322-4” (1997)

Belgian's Lambic brewers rebelled against EU's hygiene regulations, which if implemented would have destroyed their production (2003)

Chio Fai Wong patented a Polyester Beer Bottle (2003)

Breweries Opened

Cerveceria Union (Colombia; 1901)

Nevada City Brewing (California; 1986)

Bryan Brewing (Texas; 1994)

Lake Superior Brewing (Minnesota; 1994)

Lift Bridge Brewing (Ohio; 1994)

Ocean Avenue Brewing (California; 1994)

Beacon Brewery (Massachusetts; 1998)

Birdsong Brewing (North Carolina; 2011)

[hcenvs3000f24]

Unit 7 Blog Post

Music and nature have always been intertwined, forming a bridge between our internal and external worlds. The rhythms of nature - the wind, the rustling of leaves, birdsong, and the flow of water -create a symphony that plays out across landscapes. As humans, we have always responded to this music, whether by incorporating these natural sounds into our own compositions or simply by letting nature’s music shape our emotions and experiences.

In nature, music is everywhere. The calls of birds and the wind moving through trees are forms of natural music, providing an emotional landscape that matches the physical one. The wood thrush notes are pitched to align with our own musical scale; it’s one reason why birdsongs are so appealing (Gray et al., 2001). Whales, too, sing songs that echo across the oceans, their low-frequency hums travelling miles to communicate with others of their species. Each of these sounds forms part of a larger soundscape, a melody of life (Gray et al., 2001).

As nature influences music, music also reflects nature. Many artists have looked to natural environments for inspiration. For instance, traditional Finnish folk songs help listeners “…understand how nature has set foundations and shaped human cultures across the times” (Sahi., 2011). Modern musicians have taken this connection even further, incorporating actual sounds from nature into their compositions. The Beatles, in their song “Blackbird,” blend their singing and bird calls, creating music that directly merges the human and animal worlds.

Beyond specific examples, nature is ever-present in musical themes. Songs about love, loss, adventure, and tranquillity often use natural imagery to express complex emotions. The ocean, forests, mountains, and sky provide metaphors that help us connect to feelings we may not be able to describe any other way. Musician Bernie Krause, who coined the term “biophony,” has documented ways animals create sound environments that reflect the health and diversity of their ecosystems. He emphasizes that by looking at musical commonalities between other species and among us, we broaden our understanding of music and better comprehend our development in a biodiverse world (Gray et al., 2001). This connection between music and nature reminds us how deeply intertwined and fragile the balance can be.

For me, the song that instantly transports me to a natural landscape is "WAVE" by ATEEZ. The carefree emotions, energetic beat, and fun lyrics evoke a story. You are standing under the sunlight by the ocean, letting the waves wash away your worries. I am reminded of my local beach; the playful and adventurous spirit of the song, combined with the imagery of the ocean, captures the joy of being surrounded by nature. This song is a reminder of the vastness and beauty of the world, something both grounding and freeing. Nature and music connect us to something greater than ourselves, inviting us to pause, reflect, and listen. Whether in the sounds of the wild or in a favourite song, the harmony of these two spaces gives us pleasure to feel, think, and grow.

References:

Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 291(5501), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.10.1126/science.1056960

Sahi, V. (2011). Using folk traditional music to communicate the sacredness of nature in Finland. In Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe: Workshop proceedings (pp. 129-132).

[dixquatorzeonze-blog]

The near forgotten Field Recording record post

Made up of recordings from 2011 to 2024, I recorded rain to use as backgrounds in some music, these are tracks that have outside noises cut but mostly just rain. The first jn a series I plan to put out over time.

But in all seriousness here are some of the future ideas, or concepts for the field recordings series (the / are not part of the title but to separate the same idea but a different potential name or take on said idea)

Rain Vol. 2

Birdsong

Suburban Sounds/Suburbansong

Dogsong

Catsong

Suburbansong: Tinley

Babysong

Snow/Wintersong/Snowsong/Winteresque-song

Cicadasong (most likely not)

Wind

Storm

[quoteoftheweekblog]

13/11/23 - ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD (AND 'BIRDSONG') ' "Nobody wins a war nowadays. There is no end to it." ' (Howard, 1993, p.162).

REFERENCE

Howard, E.J. (1993 [1950] ) 'The beautiful visit'. London: Pan.

*****

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TO MY FRIEND FOR HER PHOTOS OF THE MARCH

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…

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AND THANKS AGAIN

XXXX

FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2023

*****

REMEMBRANCE

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CONGRATULATIONS 2023

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY - ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD

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100 YEARS SINCE HER BIRTH ON 26 MARCH 1923

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - ‘BIRDSONG’ - SEBASTIAN FAULKS

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30

*****

CONGRATULATIONS

*****

ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK 2011 - 2023

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12 EPIC YEARS

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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8/11/21

*****

[rockzone]

Tracklist: 20 Sep 2023

Featured Album: "Born In The Ashes" by Albany Down.

7pm Magnum - Sacred Hour (1982) This House We Built - Nobody's Fool (2023) Streetlight - Awake (2023) Blackberry Smoke - Dig A Hole (2023) Albany Down - Don't Look Back (2023) Muse - Feeling Good (2001) Parkbridge - Why Do You? (2023) Dictator Ship - She Makes Me Wanna (2023) Velvet Insane - Bamalama Breakout (2023) Michael Schenker - Victim Of Illusion (1980) Magnum - Vigilante (1986)

8pm Devilfire - Cruelest Animal (2020) Electric Black - Take The Roof Off (2023) Hell In The Club - The Kid (2023) Kings Of Leon - Radioactive (2010) Care Of Night - Street Runner (2023) Albany Down - This Heavy Soul (2023) Rews - Birdsong (2019) Starmen - Rockstar (2023) When Rivers Meet - Play My Game (2023) ZZ Top - Viva Las Vegas (1992) Greg X - Victory (2011) Rush - Vital Signs (1981)

Recent shows can be heard On Demand and via Google Podcasts

[tankasocietyofamerica]

7 poems in 7 days: day 7

in the loud silence

of wind and birdsong, I sow

forget-me-not seeds

from a small paper packet

filled with our love’s story

Margaret Dornaus, Lynx, June, 2011

[mcenvs3000w23]

Nature and Music

I find the concept of nature and music very interesting. From what I understand, pretty much every culture developed its own form of music before we had the technology for worldwide communication. For example, folk singing is a part of Finnish culture; ancient Kalevala rune singing is 2000 to 3000 years old, and animal bone flutes made by Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals have been found in France and Slovenia that may be as old as 53,000 years (Gray et al., 2001; Sahi, 2011). The widespread development of music in different cultures makes me interested in the origins of music itself. As discussed in the readings this week, music can be found throughout nature. Examples of this include whale songs, which even have a similar structure to human music, and birdsongs, which closely follow the human music scale (Gray et al., 2001). Birds and whales are only two instances of music in nature. I would also consider more abstract sounds or mixtures of sound in nature to be music. The wind rustling trees in a forest or the sound of rushing water in a stream play the role of instruments in a natural song, topped off with a bird singing or cicadas chirping. If we pay enough attention, any collection of sounds in nature can form a song. Sometimes, these sounds are even mixed into commercially produced music. 

If I listen closely to the song Fishin’ in the Dark by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I think I can hear what sounds like bullfrog noises. This could be an instrument that I am unfamiliar with, but the sound helps set the scene of a pond or a lake at night. I have found that many song lyrics include aspects of nature, using it to tell a story. For example, the song Dirt by Florida Georgia Line uses the imagery of red dirt to tell a story of growing up and falling in love. 

As someone that listens to a lot of country music, I know that so many of the songs I listen to talk about nature or different aspects of nature, but when I try and write about it, I struggle to think of specific lyrics. Some songs I think of make me feel like the artist is singing about nature, but yet when I look up the song lyrics, they do not actually explicitly describe much about nature. I find this fascinating as I think it is because while nature is not specifically being described in detail, vague references and the production used to create the vibes of a song make me feel like the song takes place in or revolves around nature. An example of this is Carolina by Eric Church. When I listen to this song, I feel like the artist is singing about nature, but in reality, the lyrics are not very focused on the specifics. Are there any songs that you can think of that specifically describe nature in detail?

Sources

Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 291(5501), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.10.1126/SCIENCE.1056960

Sahi, V. (2011). Using folk traditional music to communicate the sacredness of nature in Finland. Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe, 2, 129

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

Black & White

Eddie Redmayne photographed by Kalpesh Lathigra (August 2011)

Credit: gallery.celeb (Instagram)

[psikonauti]

Inge Selmer Birdsong at the Lake, 2011 Acrylic on canvas

[brookstonalmanac]

Beer Events 12.9

Events

Gluek Brewing 1st released their beer in cans (1935)

Ballantine & Sons patented a Carton Flap Opener (1952)

George Meyer patented a Case Unloader with Bottle Rejecting Head (1958)

George Fenn patented an Automatic Apparatus for Cleaning Keg Fittings of Tapping Systems (1969)

1st J.D. Wetherspoon’s pub opened (Martin’s Free House, London; 1979)

1st batch of Anchor "Old Potrero" Rye Whiskey distilled (1994)

Robert and James Cleleand patented a Counter Top Beer Chilling Dispensing Tower (1997)

Gene Probasco and John Haas patented a Hop Plant Named “H900322-4” (1997)

Belgian's Lambic brewers rebelled against EU's hygiene regulations, which if implemented would have destroyed their production (2003)

Chio Fai Wong patented a Polyester Beer Bottle (2003)

Breweries Opened

Cerveceria Union (Colombia; 1901)

Nevada City Brewing (California; 1986)

Bryan Brewing (Texas; 1994)

Lake Superior Brewing (Minnesota; 1994)

Lift Bridge Brewing (Ohio; 1994)

Ocean Avenue Brewing (California; 1994)

Beacon Brewery (Massachusetts; 1998)

Birdsong Brewing (North Carolina; 2011)

[elfindreams]

Okay so a few months back I got a very brief comment on my Zelda fic along the lines of “nice chapters” from this guest user named James Birdsong. I didn’t think anything of it, but yesterday I was scrolling through my favorites list and happened to look at the comments, and recognized a very distinctive nickname. Except that some of these stories are old, several of his comments are from 2009 to 2011 and I think I saw one from 2006, and they’re all for different fandoms! Who is this guy? Is this just one person obsessively reading every single fic that’s been posted on ff.net for years on end, or is it a weirdly benevolent bot, or what???