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recentadultburnout · 2 years ago

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Info for writer in Thai series fandom: Buddhist ceremony

Buddhism has a principle called "Ovada-patimokkha", which is sometimes called the "heart of Buddhism." In the Ovada-patimokkha, there are three main principles we see as a basic lesson and talk about a lot.

1. Cease to do evil (abstain from sin) 2. Cultivate that which is good (make good deeds) 3. Purify the heart (clear your mind from sorrow or sinful thought)

By trying to follow the teachings of this principle, it leads to an attempt to do good deeds by actions that can be seen. It consists of 3 things:

1. alms: the giving of one's possessions for the benefit of others 2. Precepts: keeping the body and speech in order. 3. Prayer: training the mind to be calm and wise.

The Buddhist ceremony is where we will do those 3 things together with other Buddhists. Sometimes it happens as a national event and sometimes as a personal event between groups of families and friends.

The ceremony that is organized for personal reasons can be categorized according to the occasion into two types.

1. Auspicious ceremonies such as merit making, ordaining, topknot shaving, getting married, moving to a new house, and so on.

2. Inauspicious ceremony such as the death of parents, teachers, or relatives. When a Buddhist dies, their family will make merit at the funeral for 7 days, 50 days, or 100 days depending on their ability and determination. They will also make merit on the anniversary of the death of loved ones. Or if other bad things happen, people will also organize a ceremony to try to make the misfortune go away or to alleviate the sorrow.

I will not go into detail about how you should go and organize one yourself. But if you want any details in particular, please do let me know. Except if you are really about to organize one by yourself, then please consult with someone else, not me. I usually just do what others do, so I kind of know what the ceremony consists of, but I never remember the order in which things happen.

The ceremony will begin after the monks we have invited arrive at the ceremony site, so that will be the first thing to happen. The organizer of the event will then light incense and candles and pray to the Triple Gem, followed by the churchwarden (makanayok) taking over for a while before the monks begin to chant.When the chant is over, the host will offer food and various equipment to the monks.

Different things can have different meanings if you believe in superstition, so it can be a factor in what you choose as an offering, but I think it will be best to prioritize efficiency first when choosing what to offer or donate. Something like alcohol and accessories is forbit and if you include it, it can be considered as sin.

After the monks accept those things, they will bless and anoint/sprink holy water on the attendees. Then the ceremony is kind of done.

When I attend a ceremony organized by my school, there is no lunch break because it will finish before that time, but if it is organized by my relative, the food offering will happen at lunch time (before 12 p.m. bc eating after 12 p.m. is against the rule for Thai monks), and we will offer other things after everyone eats lunch, and we will pour ceremonial water somewhere near the end.

If the one who organized the event requests the monks will preach on the requested topic, I'm not sure when but they will.

Other things

Attendees are expected to chant some parts along with the monks. I never sure which part and just copy someone who sit near me.😅

pouring ceremonial water is a symbol of the intention of giving the merits that we have done to those who have passed away. We will pour water into the ground or pour it into some sort of container and then into the ground or at the base of the tree afterward. When there weren't enough jugs, many people have a habit of touching one another, starting from the one who has it when it's time to pour the water in order to participate.

Ordination can occur from many intentions and occasions. Some people might do it with the intention of being a monk for life, while others might do it only for a short period on a special occasion. The occasion can be when a close relative or a benefactor passes away and he enters the priesthood while the body is being cremated, before he gets married, when something bad happens, or to make his parents happy. Sometimes it was even to redeem oneself. When a person does a bad thing and feels guilty, they might choose to compensate by ordination and, in some cases, they will do it as a life-long commitment. It was also a way for the poor to give their children access to an education in the past. Because when a child becomes a novice monk, they get to learn how to read and write. Most Buddhist men will be ordained at least once in their lives.

5 and 8 precepts. 5 precept is to abstain from taking life, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, alcohol or other intoxicants. 8 precepts is the same as 5 precepts but with 3 more, which are don't eat after noon, don't partake in entertainment such as dancing, singing, and also anything related to making yourself pretty, and don't use a high and soft bed.

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shyujikl · 2 years ago

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

The Gandalf pipe is an iconic smoking pipe that has been featured in movies, TV shows, and video games for decades. Named after the character Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, this pipe has become a popular choice for smokers and collectors alike. So what exactly is a Gandalf pipe? What are its origins and how did it become so popular? Where can i buy a gandalf pipe？This comprehensive guide will answer all of your questions and more. Whether you’re a fan of Gandalf or just looking for a new pipe to add to your collection, this guide will give you everything you need to know about the Gandalf pipe. Gandalf is a fictional character and protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He is a wizard, member of the Istari order, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and main protagonist throughout both novels. Gandalf was a great wizard and he is also a great pipe smoker. As such, it is only natural that he should have his own style of pipe. But many people will be curious what style of pipe does gandalf use, the answer is churchwarden style. Gandalf's favorite place to smoke a pipe is in his study. The room has many bookshelves and it has a fireplace where he can sit and think about what to do next. This room is also where he keeps his pipes. He has many different styles but his favorite one is the churchwarden style. The churchwarden pipe originates from Germany and it gets its name from the fact that it was first used by monks who would smoke them while they prayed in their churches during the Middle Ages. These days, this kind of pipe is often used outdoors because they are long enough so that you can still smoke them while standing up without having to sit down. They are also very popular among people who like smoking with friends or at parties because they allow everyone to get involved easily with what you're doing at any given moment without having to worry about getting burned by hot ashes or falling over because your knees are too close together while sitting down on The length of Gandalf's pipe is about 7.5 inches, which is almost a foot long. It's made from wood and has a mouthpiece made of black plastic. The pipe was not specifically designed for the Lord of the Rings movies, but it was created by Jens Hansen, who makes pipes with similar designs that he sells on his website. One of these pipes costs $300, so it's probably not a good idea to try to buy one online and use it as a prop in your next movie! So where can I find a satisfied gandalf pipe Gandalf pipes come in many different shapes and sizes. The most common is the bent shape that is similar to a churchwarden pipe, but there are also straight and corncob shapes too. The most popular colors are black or brown with red stems, but you can find them in many other colors as well. You can buy Gandalf pipes online at many different websites like eBay or Amazon. You can also go to your local tobacconist and ask them if they have any in stock or if they can order them for you. If you're looking for a specific size or shape of Gandalf pipe then try searching on MUXIANG pipe website first because they tend to have the biggest selection available online. But it can cost you a lot of time so we have listed the market for you here Several best gandalf pipes Jolt Churchwarden Hobbit Pipe Gandalf The Jolt Churchwarden Hobbit Pipe Gandalf is a large, medium-heavy pipe made of Cumberland briar that sports a unique cutaway design. The shape and size of this pipe makes it the ideal candidate to be used as a daily smoker. The Jolt Churchwarden Hobbit Pipe Gandalf has been designed with an open draw hole at the bottom of the bowl. This allows for more airflow than traditional churchwardens, making it easier to smoke and keep lit. Ideal for those who like to smoke slowly, or for those who are new to pipes and don't want to spend too much time packing and tamping. This pipe has an extra long shank which allows you to hold it comfortably in your teeth or hands while smoking or talking with others without having to worry about burning yourself or dropping it on your foot! Make sure you take advantage of this feature by using your pipe stand or other resting place when not smoking. Hysagtek Long Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe Hysagtek Long Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe is a great pipe for the tobacco lover. This pipe has an extra long stem for even more smoke time! The bowl of this pipe is designed to hold a lot of tobacco so you can enjoy your smoke for hours on end. This pipe is made from high quality materials and will provide you with many years of smoking pleasure. This pipe has a very smooth finish that feels great in your hand. It also comes with a metal lid to protect the mouthpiece while not in use. The lighter colored wood makes this pipe easy to clean, while still looking great! The long stem on this pipe allows more smoke to come through which means you can enjoy your tobacco even longer than before! It also helps bring out the taste of your favorite blends even more than normal pipes do! You'll love how easy it is to clean as well because there are no holes or cracks for build up like some other pipes have! Dr Watson - 13.4" Extra Long Gandalf Wooden Tobacco Pipe, The Dr Watson pipe is an extra long Gandalf style pipe made of real wood and metal fittings. It has a wide barrel and bent stem. The mouthpiece is made of metal, while the bowl is made of high quality ceramics. The whole piece is glued together very well and will last you many years if you take care of it properly. It's also easy to clean, just rinse it with water from time to time if you notice any residue buildup on the inside of the bowl or stem. 11' Churchwarden diabolist Hobbit Gandalf Long stem Tobacco Pipe The classic churchwarden pipe has a long, straight stem that allows you to smoke your pipe while it is resting on the floor. This 11 inch churchwarden pipe is made of high quality briar wood with a smooth finish. It has a large bowl, which is perfect for holding enough tobacco for a long smoking session. The stem has a black plastic mouthpiece and a silver colored band around it for easy gripping. This pipe is great for relaxing after a long day at work or just enjoying some time alone to enjoy your favorite tobacco. Joyoldelf Smoking Pipe, 16'' Length gandalf Tobacco Pipe This is a high quality long stem pipe with an attractive design. It is made of briar wood and comes with a metal filter tip. The tobacco pipe has been carved to resemble the face of Gandalf from the Lord of Rings movies. This pipe makes a great gift for any Tolkien fan or collector. It measures 11 inches long and has a diameter of 1 inch at its widest point Double Ring Wide Bowl Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe Wood Extra Long Wizard Gandalf Hobbit 11 inch A beautiful piece of smoking pipe, very high quality. This pipe is made of high quality Acrylic. It features a double ring wide bowl that makes it look more elegant and exquisite. The stem has a wooden mouthpiece, which is not only comfortable to use but also looks very fashionable in your hand while you are smoking. which makes it look really cool! The stem itself has some kind of plastic coating on it that makes it feel really smooth when you run your fingers over it while holding the pipe (which I like). It also makes it easier to clean because you can just wipe off any dirt that gets stuck inside with a paper towel or something similar instead of having to scrub at it with soap and water like you would if there wasn't any coating on there. F.e.s.s."Sherlock" Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe 14" The F.e.s.s."Sherlock" Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe 14" is a beautifully designed churchwarden pipe with a very affordable price tag. It has a beautifully carved band that adds to the overall appearance of the pipe and makes it look more expensive than it actually is. The stem is also made from high quality material, which makes it durable and long lasting as well. The F.e.s.s."Sherlock" Churchwarden Tobacco Pipe 14" comes with an acrylic stem and mouthpiece and has an attractive wood grain finish on its bowl. This is one of the best selling churchwarden pipes available in the market today and comes highly recommended by many smokers who have used it themselves or have seen it being used by others. Features: High Quality Materials: This pipe is crafted out of high quality materials including acrylic stem, mouthpiece and wood grain finish on bowl that make this pipe durable, long lasting & long lasting Comfortable Grip: The comfortable grip ensures that you don't feel any discomfort while smoking your favorite tobacco from this beautiful pipe Classic Design: The classic design of this pipe is sure to make heads turn when you take it out for a Shire Pipe 13 Inch gandalf Tomahawk Cherry Wood The Shire Pipe 13 Inch gandalf Tomahawk Cherry Wood is a work of art. It has a beautiful design that will make you want to display it with pride. The Shire Pipe 13 Inch gandalf Tomahawk Cherry Wood is made from 100% cherry wood, which makes it very durable. It can last for many years without breaking down or losing its shape. It is also handcrafted, which means that each one of them is unique and different from each other. The Shire Pipe 13 Inch gandalf Tomahawk Cherry Wood has a beautiful design that will make you want to display it with pride. The design includes an image of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings on one side, while the other side has an image of the dwarf Gimli from Lord of The Rings. This pipe can be used as a decoration or as an actual smoking pipe, depending on how you want to use it. Fashion Long Tobacco Smoking Pipe Nordic"Tree" of Life, Wood Pipe 33 cm / 13'' Churchwarden Designed for Pipe Smokers (Nordic"TREE") The Tobacco Smoking Pipe comes in two types: the traditional straight shape with a tapered shank and fancy finish or the traditional bent shape with an oval shank with a smooth finish. The Italian Tobacco Smoking Pipe also comes in different colors including black, red, brown, green and yellow. Italian Tobacco Smoking Pipes are handmade by skilled artisans who use only highest quality materials to ensure that each pipe stays true to its original design and remains functional during long periods of use without ever becoming broken or damaged. MUXiANG Gandalf style Tobacco Pipes The MUXiANG Gandalf style Tobacco Pipe is a small and compact pipe that has been designed to be used with one hand. It comes with a removable mouthpiece and a long, tapered bowl. This pipe is a perfect choice for those who want to enjoy smoking without having to worry about their pipes falling out of their mouths. The design of this pipe makes it easy for you to hold it in your hand, allowing you to concentrate on smoking rather than worrying about how comfortable you are holding your pipe. LOTR 13.2" Tobacco Smoking Pipe Churchwarden | Pipes - (33cm) *Lord of The Rings* The LotR 13.2" Tobacco Smoking Pipe Churchwarden is a great pipe for the Lord of the Rings fan or collector. The pipe features a tobacco bowl with a beautiful wooden stem and a wooden button. The stem is engraved with a design that shows the logo of Lord of The Rings, as well as an inscription that reads: "Lord of the Rings." This pipe is made from elm wood, which has been selected because it is light weight, easy to work with, and durable. It also has an attractive grain pattern that looks very natural. To make this pipe even more special, it comes in a gift box, so it will be perfect for giving as a gift! Which Gandalf pipe is best for you? We know all about the best Gandalf pipes on the market, so which one should we pick Our favorite is the MUXIANG Gandalf pipes, because this pipe is not only very good quality, but also the best price of all the Gandalf pipes above If you are looking for a pipe that is cheap and good quality, then this will be your choice. It has an affordable price without compromising on quality. It comes in a variety of different colors and designs so you can choose one that suits your own taste. It also comes with a lifetime warranty so if anything goes wrong with your purchase they will replace it without any questions asked! If this blog helps you find your favorite Gandalf pipe, please help me share it with your Facebook friends Read the full article

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frjdtf · 2 years ago

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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shyujikl · 2 years ago

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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cassandraxxlim · 8 years ago

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Les miserable

I want to render a public service. I want to suggest that even if you were deeply moved by “Les Mis,” you can still save your soul. I don’t think you are damned forever. Salvation awaits. I realize that we are not supposed to argue about taste. De gustibus non est disputandum, as some Latin fellow said. But, in fact, critics do nothing but argue about taste. And I realize that emotion is even harder and riskier to argue about. But, as we have new experiences, emotions change. Therefore, in the interest of public health, I will try to bring cures to the troubled. But first, a few words about the movie version of “Les Misérables.” Mme. Magliore Housekeeper for the bishop and his sister. Jean Valjean Ex-convict still pursued by the law, who strives for moral perfection and achieves a kind of sainthood in his love for the little orphan Cosette. He is also known as M. Madeleine and M. Leblanc. Little Gervais Chimney sweep from whom Valjean steals a coin, his last criminal act for which Javert inexorably trails him. Fantine A beautiful girl of unknown parentage who comes to Paris at the age of fifteen. She falls in love with Tholomyès and bears an illegitimate child, Cosette. Forced to give up her child, Fantine is crushed and ultimately destroyed by adversity. Cosette Illegitimate daughter of Fantine, originally named Euphrasie. She has a wretched childhood as the ward of the brutal innkeeper Thénardier but later finds happiness in Valjean's devoted care and in the love of a young man. Félix Tholomyès A student, Fantine's lover, and father of Cosette. Thénardier An evil innkeeper who mistreats Cosette during her childhood, lures Valjean into an ambush, and commits various other crimes. He is also known as Jondrette and Fabantou. Mme. Thénardier A virago whose sweeping malevolence spares only her husband and her two daughters. Eponine Older daughter of the Thénardiers. As a child she is spoiled at Cosette's expense; later she becomes a ragged, hungry adolescent. Her love for Marius first endangers, then saves his life. Azelma Second daughter of the Thénardiers. Spoiled at first, her life becomes as miserable as her sister's. Gavroche The Thénardiers' oldest son, a typical Paris gamin. He dies heroically at the barricades in the revolution of 1832. Two little boys The Thénardiers' youngest children. Given by their parents to an acquaintance, Magnon, they wander the streets of Paris after she is arrested. Gavroche's protection gives them temporary solace. Inspector Javert An incorruptible policeman. He makes it his life's work to track down Jean Valjean. Fauchelevent Valjean, as Madeleine, saves his life; Fauchelevent later is gardener at the convent of the Little Picpus and gives shelter to Valjean and Cosette. Bamatabois An idler of the town who torments Fantine by putting snow down her back. Champmathieu The man accused of being Jean Valjean, on whose behalf "Madeleine" reveals his true identity. Sister Simplicity A nun who lies to save Valjean from Javert. Boulatruelle An old roadworker, ex-convict, and minor associate of the underworld chiefs. He is constantly seeking buried treasure in the forest near Montfermeil. The Prioress Head of the convent where Valjean and Cosette live for several years. Mestienne and Gribier The two gravediggers. Mestienne, friend of Fauchelevent, dies suddenly, and his place is taken by Gribier, nearly causing Valjean to be buried alive. M. Gillenormand Relic of the Enlightenment, he is hostile to the romantic love and liberal politics of his grandson Marius. Mlle. Gillenormand Gillenormand's daughter, a lackluster old maid whose interests are limited to devotional practices. Marius Pontmercy An idealistic student who falls passionately in love with Cosette and later marries her. Colonel Georges Pontmercy Marius' father, an officer of Napoleon's, named by him a colonel, a baron, and an officer of the Legion of Honor. Lieutenant Théodule Gillenormand M. Gillenormand's grandnephew. He is asked to spy on his cousin Marius. Magnon Friend of Mme. Thénardier. She bears two illegitimate boys, for whom M. Gillenormand, her former employer, pays all expenses. When the boys die, the Thénardiers gladly give her their two youngest sons in exchange for a share of the money. M. Mabeuf An old horticulturist and bibliophile, now a churchwarden. He is instrumental in revealing to Marius the truth about his father. Later, driven by destitution, he dies a heroic death at the barricades. Mother Plutarch Servant of M. Mabeuf; shares his poverty to the end. Montparnasse, Claquesous, Gueulemer, and Babet The four chiefs of the Paris underworld, occasionally associated with Thénardier. Enjolras An uncompromising political radical who dies courageously as the leader of a group of student insurrectionists. Grantaire Enjolras' friend. He is a drunken cynic who redeems a useless existence by sharing Enjolras' death before a firing squad. Combeferre Friend of Enjolras and second in command of the student insurrectionists. Courfeyrac A student. With Enjolras and Combeferre, he helps incite and lead the insurrection. Jean Prouvaire A friend of Enjolras and one of the group of revolutionaries. He is rich, sensitive, and intelligent. Bahoral A law student and revolutionary. He is good-humored and capricious, and refuses to be serious in his studies. Joly A student. A hypochondriac, he is nevertheless a spirited and happy companion. Bossuet A student revolutionary. Although he signs his name "Lègle (de Meaux)," he is called Bossuet (Bald), Laigle (The Eagle), and occasionally Lesgle. Feuilly A self-taught worker, and an ardent insurrectionist Le Cabuc Shoots a porter during the insurrection and is executed by Enjolras. May actually have been Claquesous. I had never seen the show or heard the score; I came to the material fresh, without preconception, and throughout the entire hundred and fifty-seven minutes I sat cowering in my seat, lost in shame and chagrin. This movie is not just bad. It’s terrible; it’s dreadful. Overbearing, pretentious, madly repetitive. I was doubly embarrassed because all around me, in a very large theatre, people were sitting rapt, awed, absolutely silent, only to burst into applause after some of the numbers, and I couldn’t help wondering what in the world had happened to the taste of my countrymen—the Filipinos (Filipinos!) who loved the greatest musical ever made, Les Miserables. Didn’t any of my neighbors notice how absurdly gloomy and dolorous the story was? How the dominant blue-gray coloring was like a pall hanging over the material? How the absence of dancing concentrated all the audience’s pleasure on the threadbare songs? How tiresome a reverse fashion show the movie provided in rags, carbuncles, gimpy legs, and bad teeth? How awkward the staging was? How strange to have actors singing right into the camera, a normally benign recording instrument, which seems, in scene after scene, bent on performing a tonsillectomy? Hugh Jackman, as the aggrieved Jean Valjean, delivers his numbers in a quavering, quivering, stricken voice—Jackman doesn’t sing, he brays. Russell Crowe as Javert, his implacable pursuer, stands on parapets overlooking all of Paris and dolefully sings of his duty to the law. Then he does it again. Everything is repeated, emphasized, doubled, as if to congratulate us on emotions we’ve already had. The young women, trembling like leaves in a storm, battered this way and that by men, never exercise much will or intelligence. Anne Hathaway, as Fantine, gets her teeth pulled, her hair chopped, and her body violated in a coffin box—a Joan of Arc who only suffers, a pure victim who never asserts herself. Hathaway, a total pro, gives everything to the role, exploiting those enormous eyes and wide mouth for its tragic-clown effect. Like almost everyone else, she sings through tears. Most of the performances are damp. The music is juvenile stuff—tonic-dominant, without harmonic richness or surprise. Listen to any score by Richard Rodgers or Leonard Bernstein or Fritz Loewe if you want to hear genuine melodic invention. I was so upset by the banality of the music that I felt like hiring a hall and staging a nationalist rally. “My fellow-countrymen, we are the people of Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin! Cole Porter and George Gershwin, Frank Loesser and Burton Lane! We taught the world what popular melody was! What rhythmic inventiveness was! Let us unite to overthrow the banality of these French hacks!” (And the British hacks, too, for that matter.) Alas, the hall is filled with people weeping over “Les Mis.” Is it sacrilege to point out that the Victor Hugo novel, stripped of its social detail and reduced to its melodramatic elements, no longer makes much sense? That the story doesn’t connect to our world (which may well be the reason for the show’s popularity)? Jean Valjean becomes a convict slave for nineteen years after stealing some bread for his sister’s child. He has done nothing wrong, yet he spends the rest of his life redeeming himself by committing one noble act after another, while Javert pursues him all over France. Wherever Valjean goes, Javert shows up; he’s everywhere at once, like the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” who was at least intended to be a fanciful creation. Every emotion in the movie is elemental. There’s no normal range, no offhand or incidental moments—it’s all injustice, love, heartbreak, cruelty, self-sacrifice, nobility, baseness. Which brings us to heart of the material’s appeal. As everyone knows, the stage show was a killer for girls between the ages of eight and about fourteen. If they have seen “Les Mis” and responded to it as young women, they remain loyal to the show—and to the emotions it evoked—forever. At that age, the sense of victimization is very strong, and “Les Mis” is all about victimization. That the story has nothing to with our own time makes the emotions in it more—not less—accessible, because feeling is not sullied by real-world associations. But whom, may I ask, is everyone crying for? For Jean Valjean? For Fantine? Fantine is hardly on the screen before she is destroyed. Indeed, I’ve heard of people crying on the way into the movie theatre. It can’t be the material itself that’s producing those tears. “Les Mis” offers emotion… about emotion. But, you say, what’s wrong with a good cry? What harm does it do anyone? No harm. But I would like to point out that tears engineered this crudely are not emotions honestly earned, that the most cynical dictators, as Pauline Kael used to say, have manipulated emotions with the same kind of kitsch appeal to gut feelings. Sentimentality in art is corrosive because it rewards us for imprecise perceptions and meaningless hatreds. Revolution breaks out in “Les Mis.” What revolution? Against whom? In favor of what? It’s just revolution—the noble sacrifice of handsome, ardent boys taking on merciless power. The French military, those canaille, gun down the beautiful boys. It’s all so generic. The vagueness is insulting. And now, the real point: our great musicals were something miraculous. They were a blessed artifice devoted to pleasure, to ease and movement, exultation in the human body, jokes and happy times, the giddiness of high hopes.

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dhbfgchf · 2 years ago

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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workingontravel · 5 years ago

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If you’re in motion, you can’t stop

(You can read this text in Swedish here.) Many of the people I talked to from the contemporary European dance scene in connection with this project, referred to the music world for examples of consecutive tours. Therefore, I wanted to speak to someone with experience from music tours, and got in touch with Sara Parkman. Among other things, she told me what it’s like travelling all over Sweden to play. She also told me about music as a calling and the utopian potential of band relationships.

Sara Parkman: I tour mostly in Sweden and have done so since I was fifteen. I lived in Härnösand then, and was a part of a folk rock band called Kraa. We travelled as part of cultural projects aimed at encouraging young people to keep going (such as Musik Direkt and Ung kultur möts, state-funded projects for young people). It was the best thing I had done: travelling by night train and getting to know other teenagers in Sweden who had dreams about making music. We played in community youth centres around all of middle Norrland. The county administrative board is holding an 8th March celebration! The governor will speak! Come and play! That was when I started taking instruments along by train, and I never looked back.

I think I register around a hundred and fifty per diems a year, so I’m travelling for work approximately one third of the time. I travel by train or car. Our company policy is to not fly nationally, or in Europe unless it’s really justifiable. Two years ago, we were still flying, because that was before we had our policy. I went to Scotland to visit a Christian community for a project about choral singing that I was involved with, for instance.

My experiences when travelling keep changing. This year, I’ve noticed how many different things Sweden can be. It’s about social conditions in different places, the way bodies look, their clothes or jokes, if they have a local health centre, if the community hall is messy or clean. I can get pissed-off about inequalities, but also impressed by the diversity. We share a language, but the history of Scania is different from the history of Stockholm or the history of northern Sweden. It’s nice to be reminded of that.

Touring is different depending on the genre. I’m a folk musician, but I move in various economies. I did two tours with Riksteatern (the national touring theatre of Sweden). As a folk musician, you can play in schools, and there is some public funding for associations that book concerts. Then there are the Regional Music Institution organisations that can invite you to play in the whole county, which means you get paid fairly well and you do consecutive tours. But you’re your own driver and you rig your own sound system. It’s not like being hired by a classical city orchestra. Then you don’t tour that much at all. It’s also not like being a pop musician under some big label. Then there might be a tour bus and a tour manager. I was only ever in touch with tours on that scale at the major theatre institutions.

I feel a bit like I’m hacking the system when I get into the theatre economy, it’s much more stable. They arrange travel and accommodation for you. You don’t have to be on top of things or plan much at all. You also get away from having new social relationships in every new place because the tour managers take care of all the contacts for you. In terms of health, that’s comfortable. And yet, there’s a down side. The more professionalised and specialised it becomes, the less I get to meet everyone involved. But if I have some gig connected to theatre every year, that gives me more freedom for the rest of the year.

I try to say no to a lot of things nowadays that I used to say yes to before. You learn what is worth doing and what isn’t. It’s not worth going to New York for a weekend to play at a boring office party for a tech company, even if you get a lot of money. It’s also not worth sitting on a train for sixteen hours to play for no one. The travel doesn’t justify the end and the end doesn’t justify the travel. But a part of me thinks that everyone should try sleeping on a gym floor, getting a beer ticket as your only payment. It’s part of the learning experience.

You learn a lot about your limits through trying. I realise I get tired faster now than before. Maybe it’s my age, or it’s about acknowledging what I actually have the energy for. I used to max out more before, and then I would break down after. I used to spend my travel time preparing texts, producing. Now, I just travel. And I’ve started taking better care of my body: running, making sure I eat properly, not drinking too much alcohol. And I started realising that if I work fulltime, I might not have the energy or need to meet everyone everywhere.

I usually bring my own pillow. It’s good to have slippers, tuning fork, nail scissors… And then I have my diary with drawings and cut-out images. I’ve had it since I was seventeen. Everything is in it, work and life. It’s like carrying a part of my mind. If I lose the diary, I panic. It’s a part of my home.

Home is also Stockholm, where I live. I used to say home was Västernorrland. The last years I haven’t been there much, but I always go back to work. I’m quite often in Bergslagen, in the Ställberg mine. Some years I’ve been there for four months. That creates real relationships that give a sense of home.

I grew up in a Christian conference centre in Dalarna. My father is a priest and my mother is a deacon in the church of Sweden. So much of my relation to music comes from church. The music is part of the liturgy, the rituals. Everyone who comes to church practises music. People came from the whole diocese of Västerås and from the whole world for courses and conferences. There were in-service courses for churchwardens, youth camps and communion camps. It was also like a new home for people who needed to get away from their old lives, for example alcoholics. You shared your everyday life with everyone there. The days were structured by morning prayer, noon prayer and evening prayer. There was a strong focus on congregational and choral singing. Because there were so many teenagers at the conference centre, there were hits, often songs that were influenced by pop or rock. You could lie on the floor with your head on someone’s lap and sing in the chapel: “Be not afraid”, “Glory to the father”.

People also came there with music in different ways. My father, for instance. He travelled a lot in the eighties, especially to South Africa. He and his friend brought music back and introduced it here in Sweden. There is often a journey in the music: It tells something about where people have been.

When it comes to folk music, the place of origin is often very concrete. I can say: “This song is from Bingsjö” or “This song is after Anders in Övik”. Last time I met Anders in Övik was three weeks ago. I toured to Övik and he came to see me. He is the one person who taught me the most about folk music from Ångermanland. But I think the places are always in the music, no matter if it’s a place connected to a specific person or a geographical place or an emotional place or a historic place.

Travel is a part of folk music’s heritage. Take my playing buddy, whose father went on an exchange trip in the US with a folk music association from Järvsö. In the US, he met the woman who would become the mother of my playing buddy. She was also interested in Swedish folk music. They fell in love and moved to Hälsingland. So the trip with folk music brought them together, but also it made them end up in Järvsö. People travel and meet, but they don’t let go of their local heritage. I think folk musicians return home after studying to a much higher extent than other musicians. Then you can continue telling the story of that place; it’s integrated in your music and identity.

My playing buddy also moved back to Järvsö after we graduated from the Academy. She had been more homesick than any of us when we were on tour. For a long time, she was always the one who arrived last and went home first, while I was the other way around. Then it changed for both of us. But she still lives there, and I never moved back to Norrland.

I often get asked if I can come and talk about rural or northern Sweden. But I don’t feel I’m qualified. I’ve lived in Stockholm for nine years. I think the institutions turn to me because they don’t have anyone else to ask, and also because the rural areas are so impoverished. Urbanisation has been going on in Sweden since the fifties, so for each generation the rural areas are more and more diluted. When I grew up in Härnösand, the conditions for working in the arts were better than they are now. There were more active people, more organisations. So when cultural institutions want to invite someone with a rural perspective, there are actually fewer people who are active there than before. And the decline of rural areas won’t be stopped by casting light on power inequality or more representation of people from these areas in conversations. This is primarily an economic issue, not a social one.

I know a lot of people in Sweden. Wherever I go on tour, there’s always a friend or a relative. Travel is a way of keeping these relationships alive. I get to see their lives, their kids growing up. Many of my friends have similar lives. It��s understood that it might take months until we meet. Some of them, I’m in touch with over the phone or the Internet, others I only meet when we are in the same place.

On tour I also meet people who have been in touch with my family, especially in middle Norrland: someone confirmed by my father, baptised by my grandfather, my great-grandfather, or my grandmother’s father. My church family has been everywhere, because back in the day, priests rarely stayed in one place for more than five or ten years before being relocated. The clerical profession was a calling, not an ordinary job where you choose where you work, like it is now. When you were ordained, you gave up your free will. If the diocese wanted you to move to Rönnefors a hundred kilometres north of Östersund, then you did.

Also, as an artist, you need to feel some kind of love for going where service calls. It’s both curiosity and fear of stagnating that keeps me in that love. If you’re in motion, you can’t stop. That I see this profession as a calling also means that I often feel like a mediator rather than a sender, a vehicle for what needs to be told. When the music works, I feel like I’m channelling light from above. That feeling can cause dissonance when I meet a moved audience and people who want to come and thank me afterwards. My feeling is that it wasn’t me who did it. Not that I’m saying it’s Jesus or God, but it’s just not me.

Music left deep traces in my life, not only because music is important to me, but in more ways than I previously thought. This spring, I’ve been on a long tour. There were people everywhere whom I had known for many years. I feel rich being at home in so many places. And yet, I’m scared of becoming lonely. I’m just thirty, it’s still okay to be on the road, but what about when I’m forty-five? Maybe everyone will have kids and nuclear families even though they said they wouldn’t. What if I discover I wish I had got on that train but missed it because I’m always on the road? All my dreams have been about playing: career dreams as well as relationship dreams. Imagine playing in a band, imagine getting the acknowledgement of being accepted at the academy of music, imagine having your best playing buddy. Those dreams have informed all my choices. So, have I forgotten that others dream of finding a partner or buying a house, and because they dream of a house, they’ve been saving money for ten years?

There have been times when I considered doing something else, becoming a journalist or a nurse. I’ve even sent off applications, but then I realised I don’t want to. I wanted to play instead. A really serious game. My performance anxiety is no game, but when everything works and there is a flow, it’s like being a child. I can’t imagine doing anything other than music. Half my life, I’ve been doing this. I grew up with music, with my playing buddy Samantha, with my first band. Music is the first time I got drunk, the first time I fell in love. Everything I have was created in these rooms, rooms that I’ve often travelled to, rooms that I’ve been in with band mates.

The band community is interesting from a social perspective. If you you look at what kind of music gets attention today compared to twenty years ago, there are a lot of individual pop artists or DJs – fewer boy bands, girl bands or rock groups, than when I grew up. Community isn’t as pronounced as a trope. This, I think, makes groups of friends in our society even more relegated to youth: before the age of nuclear families. JP Nyström, a folk band from Gällivare that has been around for 42 years, recently released an album with music from all their time together. They asked me to write something for it. So, I wrote about the band as a radical and utopian dream of community. One of them said to me, “Love comes and goes, but band mates are forever.” Of course it’s not true for everyone that band mates are forever. But if you have a band, there are expectations on you that might make you more inclined to set the relationship straight. If you hadn’t been band buddies, you might not have continued being friends in the same way. You would have preferred to just leave some conflicts unresolved. On tour, professional and relational matters can clash. You hang out in groups where people have known each other different lengths of time. Then you have to navigate in that and not assume that everyone can be equally close just because you’re all in the same group.

It’s more complicated with the ones you are closest to. The relationship is hard to categorise. You live together for two months and share everything but your bed. It’s almost like you’re married: You’re somehow the top priority for each other when you travel, despite not being together or in love or even wanting to sleep with each other. And then, when you return home, you might still be close, but there are others who come first. Maybe a partner or a grandmother – someone who isn’t me. Before, that would sometimes make me sad and jealous. Now I think I’m better at coping with that separation, and at sorting the band relationship in the “right” way: I understand what it’s expected to contain.

At the same time, I want to give the band relationship a special status, a role of its own in my life. I’m very happy that my playing buddies Samantha and Hampus were in my grandmother’s photo album before she died, because they are very important people to me. At my grandmother’s funeral, Samantha was my “plus one”. That went without saying, also because she and my grandmother had a relationship of their own.

The band or the playing relationship is like a parenthesis where something else gets to exist, something this isn’t a friendship, something that isn’t an erotic relationship, but still contains so much. Playing with someone, being in the same flow, creates a strong intimacy.

#saraparkman #workingontravel #trainsandboatsandplanes #english

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Gandalf's Pipe: Everything You Need To Know

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