Just got back from the Encounters Film Festival.

Absolutely exhausted but had a great few days.  Saw loads of interesting shorts, including a Late Lounge session that screened my mate Dan’s latest film The Sack which seemed to go down well, particularly the ‘neck moment’.

It’s been quite a while since I last went to a film festival and I’d forgotten how inspiring it can be when surrounded by people passionate about cinema.  Had a great catch up talking film with Dan and I’ve come back with a real determination to push on with the feature ideas I’m currently developing.

Oh and it hardly stopped raining all weekend.  Perfect weather to be hiding inside a cinema watching films.

…

by Charlene Burgi

When it comes to protecting outdoor plumbing, the words “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” couldn’t be more true. The process is as easy as placing foam insulation around exposed pipes and installing special blankets made for backflow devices. These materials are available at your local hardware store or irrigation supply house. If you don’t have this type of insulation on hand, use old towels or blankets and wrap them in plastic secured in place with twine or wire to keep the material dry from the rain or dew. Disconnect all garden hoses and drain the water from them before coiling them up.

If your pipes do freeze without cracking or breaking, try to turn on the water faucet slowly. The running water will melt the ice. Do not pour boiling water on frozen pipes as they can burst.

Don’t stop with outdoor pipes for winter protection. Frost-tender plants also can suffer from the freezing weather. Protect them by creating tents over the top of the plants with old sheets or tarps. Be careful, as the material in contact with the foliage can freeze. Use long stakes or lodge poles to hold the material away from the plants. In extreme cases, for tropical plants like bougainvillea, place a trouble light under the sheeting material with a refrigerator bulb with low wattage during the subfreezing temperatures. Make certain that the extension cord is rated for outdoor usage. If frostbite occurs on foliage, do not prune the damaged plant until the frost season is over, typically March. The damaged parts of the plant will protect the leaves underneath. 

Don’t forget the mulch. Mulch will act as a blanket to the root system on your plants. Be certain to leave an open collar around the trunk or base of the plant to avoid rotting.

Habitat Restoration and Holiday Decorations Workshop

If you are in a creative mood this Saturday, November 21, come to the Habitat Restoration and Holiday Decorations Workshop on the Mt. Tam Watershed. The habitat restoration is from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. Holiday crafts will follow from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Meet at the Lake Lagunitas Picnic Area at the end of Sky Oaks Road, off of Bolinas Road in Fairfax. (Parking passes will be provided.) Bring your lunch and plan on having fun! The event is FREE but space is limited. For more information and to register, click here.

After playing in the brisk weather, treat yourself to a steaming cup of tea or hot chocolate and have a great weekend.

Last month I got up early and drove into the heart of the Great Swamp watershed, near George Washington’s historic Jockey Hollow encampment in New Jersey to give a breakfast talk to the Great Swamp Watershed Association. I enjoyed doing this because it reminds me why I am working so hard to spread the Back2Tap message. For me, the Back2Tap movement is not only about reducing the waste associated with bottled water– it is also about reconnecting people with the land around them, their watershed.

What does bottled water have to do with the health of your watershed? Everything! If you drink bottled water, then you don’t have to give thought to the quality of your tap water, and then you won’t necessarily care about where it comes from – your watershed. People who rely on tap water are interested in knowing about its source and about how to protect it for the sake of their health and their pocketbooks.

So drinking tap water connects you to your watershed in a very personal way. Watershed stewardship becomes a cause you need to support. This could entail supporting preservation of open space, limiting the application of fertilizer and pesticides that run off into local water bodies, stabilizing slopes so that erosion doesn’t wash silt into water bodies, and supporting your local watershed association.

Conversely, bottled water disconnects you from your local environment. Extracting large quantities of water from remote watersheds to meet the bottled water demand around the United States is a recipe for local disasters. Spring water, usually from small rural locales, is often extracted at unsustainable rates. This lowers water levels in nearby wells and water bodies. Not to mention the nuisance of having water tanker trucks rumble through these small towns 24-7. Make no mistake, collecting and bottling water in one watershed and transporting it to another is hugely wasteful and inefficient compared to filling up at the tap.

Many people ask me “what exit?” when they find out I am from New Jersey. I am lucky to live in Chatham at the edge of the Great Swamp, just 25 miles west of Manhattan. Supplying drinking water for over 2 million people, this watershed is over 55 square miles and includes parts of ten towns. Way back, swamps like this one were viewed as wasted space so they were often utilized as dump sites for municipal and industrial waste. In 1960 the Port Authority of NY and NJ proposed filling it in and making it into the fourth regional airport in the New York metropolitan area. Luckily, people spoke up to save the swamp and the surrounding towns from this devastation. Over 7500 acres have been preserved, mostly in a Federal Wildlife Refuge where over 1000 species (26 endangered) are protected. The Great Swamp Watershed Association works to preserve more land and to raise awareness about the importance of caring for this valuable natural habitat and drinking water source.

Needless to say, I came away from my breakfast meeting at the Great Swamp Watershed Association reminded of the real value our Back2Tap movement offers – raising awareness about our drinking water choices and how that choice affects the health of our watershed, other people’s watersheds and indeed our entire planet.

301421     หลักการจัดการลุ่มนํ้า     Principles of Watershed Management

ขอบเขตของการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ า หลักและวิธีปฏิบัติในการจัดการพื้นที่เพื่อการอนุรักษ์การป้องกันการพังทลายของดิน การปรับปรุงพื้นที่ลุ่มนํ้ า การวางนโยบายในการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ า แบบอเนกประสงค์

(Scope of watershed management. Principles and methods of management in watershed conservation. Soil erosion control and denuded area rehabilitation. Policy formulation for multiple use management.)

(301421 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

301422     การจัดการลุ่มนํ้าภาคสนาม     Field Watershed Management

ปฏิบัติการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ าในท้องที่ ประยุกต์ทฤษฎีและหลักการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ าวิธีวิจัยทางด้านลุ่มนํ้ า สํ ารวจ รวบรวมและวิเคราะห์ข้อมูล การเสนอแนะในการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ า วิชานี้ศึกษาในป่าภาคฤดูร้อน

(Field practices in the application of theory and principles of watershed management. Inventory of a watershed and analysis of data in order to initiate management recommendations. This course is offered during summer camp.)

(301422 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

301423     การจัดการลุ่มนํ้าประยุกต์     Applied Watershed Management

การประยุกต์วิธีการจัดการพื้นที่ลุ่มนํ้ าเพื่อการอนุรักษ์ดินและนํ้ า ปัจจัยที่มีอิทธิพลต่อนํ้ าในลํ าธาร การควบคุมการจัดการพื้นที่เพื่อผลผลิตอื่น ๆ ให้สอดคล้องกับการอนุรักษ์ดินและนํ้ า มีการศึกษานอกสถานที่

(Application of the principles of watershed management. Methods of soil and water conservation. Factors affecting and control of water quantity, quality, and regime. Manipulation of other products along with soil and water conservation. Field trip required.)

(301423 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

301424     การวิเคราะห์ลุ่มนํ้า     Watershed Analysis

การสํ ารวจรวบรวมข้อมูลและการวิเคราะห์ทรัพยากรในพื้นที่ลุ่มนํ้ า การประยุกต์หลักการวิเคราะห์ระบบเพื่อหาแนวทางในการจัดการลุ่มนํ้ าแบบอเนกประสงค์ มีการศึกษานอกสถานที่

(Inventory, data collection, and analysis of watershed area. Application of the system analysis method in determining the area’s multiple use management. Field trip required.)

(301424 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)

Products? Excerpts from the presentation of the SCRD, Local Board of Health 9th August & 10 2007. Quotes from the Vancouver Sun: "Dr. Victor Dirnfeld, of Richmond, said the resolution – calling for a safe, clean and reliable drinking water for all Canadians – was particularly poignant at a time on the Sunshine Coast Regional District in the courts is fighting a "big, rich and powerful" company – Western Forest Products to stop – from registration to its watershed. "We need to …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcMmav0uO4M&hl=en

Alot of people (thats you guys) have been asking me whose playing at Kirstenbosch this year and im tired of remembering all the acts off the top of my head ( i have a photogenic memory), so here’s a proper list that you can refer to whenever you miss me.

Don’t know what the Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts are all about..well let me school you first:

 

“On Sundays from the end of November until the beginning of April, musical concerts are held on the lawns at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.
Bring the whole family, a picnic and a bottle of wine and enjoy some of South Africa’s best live music while the sun slips behind the mountain.”

It looks like such:

That could be you…on the right wearing the bright green pant.

What will you be listening to in the pristine setting of the garden..take your pick:

Image courtesy uncoverthecape.co.za and the website is also where you will find more info like prices, location and telephone booking numbers and where to get tickets.

Now go tell someone.

See you there.

By Dr. Joan Hoffman, Department of Economics, CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

THIS IS NOVEMBER 2009. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR WATER IS? Your water supply is currently being surrounded by influences which are hazardous to its health, and yours, too.

Since the 1800’s the force of gravity has delivered your water to you through an amazing tunnel system from upstate reservoirs. Some 90% of your water travels from the Catskill/Delaware (C/D) Watershed, which lies 120 miles north of the City.

Up to now those lands, streams and reservoirs have been so clean that nature has been able to provide the filtration services for your water, saving you the cost of a $10 billion filtration plant and $300 million in annual maintenance costs. Such costs would, of course, be quite a hit to your pocketbook, even in a city of 8 million. However, you should consider the current dangers to your health as well as what is in your pocketbook.

THE MARCELLUS SHALE: The C/D Watershed sits on top of deep (5000 feet) deposits of natural gas trapped in pockets of shale rock, called Marcellus Shale. While these deposits have been around for millions of years, only recently has the confluence of rising energy prices and technological innovation in extraction made drilling for natural gas in Marcellus Shale potentially profitable.

Unfortunately, every stage of the extraction of the gas involves some danger to the quality of your water, the supply of your water, the amazing infrastructure that brings the water to you, and also to the system that allows the City to filter the water naturally and to avoid building that expensive filtration plant!

What dangers do you and your water face?

One is the chemicals used in drilling. Some 435 chemicals used in drilling contain ingredients known to be carcinogens and hazardous to health. Some of these chemicals have leaked during some aspect of the gas extraction process in other parts of the country, with subsequent deaths among livestock as big as cows and serious illness in humans.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney used his influence to exempt natural gas companies from the protection of the Safe Water Drinking Act. Under federal law, the natural gas companies do not have to reveal what the ingredients of their drilling chemicals are. A New York representative (Hinchey) has sponsored a bill in Congress to change this, but that bill is not yet law. Recently radioactive substances have been found in the materials released by natural gas mining.  If these chemicals get into the water supply, the former head of the City’s Department of Environmental Protection testified that the City would have to provide not just filtration, but ultra-micro filtration.  There is also some question of whether the filtration system could clean out all of the chemicals from the water.  Another thought that should give pause is that if there were an accident requiring filtration, the plant would not be in place to filter the water for years.  So, in the meantime, the City would be receiving contaminated water!

But would the City be able to receive enough water?!  Some 3 to 9 million gallons of water is pumped into the ground for EACH well in order to push that gas out!  Where does that water come from?  In the Catskill part of your Watershed, there is no legal authority is place to assure that the gas companies would not use so much water that the City would have a shortage.  No regulation currently assures that the drilling will not interfere with an adequate supply of water to the City.

Also, the millions of gallons of fresh water that goes in the wells contain those chemicals when the water comes out. Some of the contaminated water stays underground and could leak into the environment.  Hundreds of thousands of truck trips are required to carry the dirty water out, and with so many trips, not to mention cell phoning and texting drivers, accidents and spills are a very real possibility.  Storage and treatment of the dirty water present other opportunities for escape of the contaminants into the environment. These are not comfortable thoughts.

Perhaps even more importantly, the underground infrastructure needed to supply you with your water is old, some built in the 1800’s.  There are already leaks in aqueducts and very clever, educated people are working together to figure out how to fix them without disturbing the flow of water.  Several aspects of the drilling process set off underground pressures which could harm the infrastructure.  One process used to get rid of the waste water in some parts of the country set off seismic pressures and have even triggered earthquakes by disturbing a fault in the earth. This is more discomforting information.

Given all of the dangers to a watershed supplying water to some 9 million people, you might expect that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYC-DEC) would act to vigorously protect this watershed.  However, NYS-DEC has failed to do so.  In a recently published generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) of 809 pages, the agency allowed drilling for natural gas in two thirds of your Watershed, only two months for comments, and no public hearings. One needs many varieties of professional insight to understand those 809 pages.  So far the NYS-DEC has had to back down and allow some public hearings and has extended the period of public comment to December 30^th. This is still not sufficient time to absorb the huge report. Also, New York City has a final report on drilling due out sometime during December, and people will require time to study that report.  The December 30^th extension is virtually useless to CUNY students and their families.  Students will be in exams in early December and hopefully rebonding with families after the rigors of the semester during the December holidays.

The NYSDEC could allow drilling in the Watershed at the end of the comment period if there is no law passed that explicitly prohibits drilling in the Watershed, even though there are many aspects of drilling for which there is not adequate regulation. The former head of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was one of many experts who testified about the inadequacy of both the report and the protections. Neither the Governor nor the Mayor has taken a firm stand against drilling in the Watershed, despite the lack of protections and the many dangers.  New York State law favors exploitation of resources and does not require sustainable economic development in the state.

Some sites that will provide you more information on this vital topic include:

The GEIS Report: < http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/58440.html

City Preliminary Report: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/natural_gas_drilling/rapid_impact_assessment_091609.pdf

General Info: Natural Gas www.cwconline.org Your Watershed www.nyc.gov/watershed

Protest Sites www.riverkeeper.org www.catskillmountainkeeper.org http://www.un-naturalgas.org/

Because the climate has been so spectacular of late, it’s been possible and desireable to hang out in the park to make and see what one can.  This is another bird post, but one that specializes in what’s possible here in the fall.  Some of these species are found no where else…and for good reason.  I start with a shot of the typical terrain one encounters at this time of year.  What is a bird without some context?  Naturally, the river predominates as the distinct landscape feature with mixed hardwoods flanking the shoreline.  I’ll start first with an American Coot.  Not a particularly rare bird, but one I always enjoy seeing at the river.  I came across this lone individual and snapped this quick image for luck.  The true rarities are ahead.

In the western section of the park a couple of late nesting birds can be found among the exposed roots of the great trees.  This is the home of the Styro-Grackle and the Fleur-de-lis Dovelette.  The next two images are of the grackle.  I stumbled upon a male with its great yellow bill displaying with the remains of a baby’s pacifier.  In this species, males vie for the attention of females by choosing objects they believe the females will like.  The Styro-Grackle is a large, and noisey bird, but wary to the extreme.

Here’s a close-up image of its head, bill, and pacifier it found by the river.

Often found in association with the grackles are the gentle Fleur-de-Lis Dovelettes.  The female specimen I came across was sitting on a fresh nest.  No eggs were observed within it.  The dovelette is not particularly fussy about what materials it uses to construct its bowl-like nest.  This one was made from shredded plastic with hardly a trace of natural fibers interwoven into its structure.  First, a picture of the bird itself in its woody habitat.

The bird derives its common name from the unusual crest upon its head.  It is rumored that this was the inspiration for the symbol used by the City of Louisville on its flag, official letterhead, etc…  More than likely though, it’s just a coincidence.  Like many dove species, this one has tiny feet.  Here’s a good look at the unusual nest constructed in the fork of a tree root.

And here is the bird and nest joined together.  I didn’t linger because I didn’t want to disturb the dovelette anymore than I had to.  If the conditions are right, she will lay three to four light green eggs.  The dovelette will have to stand guard against raccoons, but otherwise her young have a good chance of reaching maturity.  Wild prairie grass seeds make up much of its diet.

Near the middle of the park, Cane Run Creek flows into the Ohio River.  It’s a spot that’s favored by fisherman and birds alike.  Large rocks and trees deposited by flooding line its banks.  Because of the vagaries of the larger river, the creek’s appearance is highly variable.  It was in this area that I came across a rare and unusual shorebird that I would like to share with you.  Here are two images of the Jet Piper.  It is so named because it evolved a distinct crest that is believed to stabilize it during its speedy flight.  One sees a similar structure on the tail of modern aircraft.  The Jet Piper never stays in one place for long.  It probes the mud along the creek bank in search of worms and other invertebrates.  Recent studies have shown that this piper will on rare occasions, take nectar from hummingbird feeders.  Here are two views.

The last specialty I came across is one of the sweetest singers in the park.  In fact, that’s how I located the Styro-wood Wren first…by its optimistic, cheery song.  I was sitting in my usual spot under the willows when I heard it nearby.  I took a position along a path I thought it might take and with success, recorded these images of this rare endemic bird.

On a sunny morning, the Styro-wood Wren was making its rounds in the underbrush.  Its singing has more to do with staking its feeding territory than it does with finding a mate.  That will change once Spring arrives at the Falls once again.  Among the interlopers that the wood wren is trying to discourage are other members of the family Troglodytidae.  Sharing its range at various times are Carolina Wrens, House Wrens, and the tiny Winter Wrens.  That’s a lot of competition to try and discourage.  This particular bird was in rare form and seemed to pose for my camera.

It spread its fan-tail and with a shudder of its brown- wings burst into song.  The small feathers along its neck make an attractive collar.

CODA:

I made these birds from materials I found in the park.  All the plastic and Styrofoam elements were once in the Ohio River where they interact with the natural ecosystem.  Among the other materials used include:  tree bark (for wings), coal (for eyes), and rootlets and twigs (for the legs).  I make these artworks to call attention to the condition of the land and water, to draw attention to the unique qualities of this place, to celebrate creativity, and because I love birds!  All the photos are mine and shot on location at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

While I was making my faux birds, the real articles were busy in the tree tops above my studio.  Among my favorites to watch are the Golden-crowned Kinglets.  These tiny birds are ever in motion and hard to photograph!  Here are a few more real bird pictures.

Lastly, the nest featured with the Fleur-de-lis Dovelette is in fact a genuine bird nest.  I found it in the branches of a downed tree.  I have no idea which species created it.  I have seen within the park, the nest of a Northern Oriole that used cast-off fishing monofilament in its construction.  I do, however, think I located a source for the plastic fibers.  Near the discovered nest, a large barge rope was slowly unraveling and its threads look identical to the ones in the nest I came across.

by Eric Ettlinger

Salmon have returned to Lagunitas Creek! The annual migration of adult salmon from the ocean into Lagunitas Creek and its many tributaries got an early start this year, following unusually early and heavy rainfall in October. MMWD biologists observed four coho salmon near the entrance to the Samuel P. Taylor campground on October 22, before systematic spawner surveys had even begun. We conducted our first spawner survey of the 2009-10 season on November 4, and weekly surveys will continue through February.

A typical Chinook redd (gravel nest) in Lagunitas Creek

Surveys last week, which covered nearly eight miles of Lagunitas Creek, found five new salmon redds (gravel nests), mostly downstream of Samuel P. Taylor State Park. The size and shape of these redds indicated that they were likely built by Chinook salmon. A partial skin of a Chinook salmon was also found in the same stream reach.

We don’t expect any further spawning activity until we get more rain, which is forecast to return next week. Looking ahead to the rest of the spawning season, we’re expecting lots of rain and (keep your fingers crossed) lots of fish. A moderate-strength El Niño is expected to result in a wet winter for California, after three drier-than-average years. More rain doesn’t produce more salmon, but it does allow the returning spawners to migrate further upstream to the best spawning grounds. In addition, researchers at the University of Washington are predicting record ocean survival rates for coho salmon this year, based on a combination of strong coastal upwelling, cold water and abundant copepods (invertebrates that salmon love to eat). The adult coho expected to return this year are the surviving members of a large cohort of juveniles observed in 2007. If the predicted ocean survival rates are correct, we may see anywhere from 500 to 1,300 coho salmon spawn in the Lagunitas Creek watershed this year. After seeing less than 50 coho spawners last year, we’re eagerly anticipating a busy spawning season.

• Always pick up after your pet!
• Be aware of how much water you use. Think of ways to conserve!
• Never throw trash on the ground. Make sure to put it in the trash, and remember to recycle when you can.
• Convince your parents to drive less. Try to plan trips to the store, school and gas station or other places in the same area so you waste less gas and time. The shorter the trip, the less air pollution.
• Ask you parents to wash the car in the yard, where suds can absorb into the soil, and water the grass all at the same time!
• Tell your parents to never use fertilizer or other items with chemicals especially before it rains. Use natural fertilizers like manure, mulch, or compost.
• Plant some trees or grass next to the stream in your watershed. These plants will help keep the dirt in place and out of the stream. They will also help catch some of the bad chemicals that can get washed into streams

Courtesy:Department Of  Environmental Protection

No matter where you live or play, you’re in a watershed! So what is it and how does it work? A watershed is an area of land where all the water (surface and groundwater) flows to the lowest point – usually a stream, lake or river.

On a warm Kentuckiana weekend I spent as much time along the river as I could “safely” justify doing.  Days like this don’t stick around forever.   Before you know it, the chill in the air will hang there for months until it is relieved by Spring.   On Saturday, there was the street wide clean-up with the family and neighbors, but after that I was gone for a few hours.  The following couple of posts are the things I encountered and made during these golden moments.

This was the only humanoid-type figure I made over the weekend.  He has a decidedly happy expression on his face that comes from being created on a perfect day.  I moved this piece all over the place, but decided that I liked it best posed next to this glowing wild grapevine.  The glasses on his head lend an additional carefree attitude to this work.  His eyes are plastic fishing bobbers and his nose is a corn cob.  The ears are the bottom of an aluminum can I split in two with my pocket knife.  The mouth is a red piece of plastic I found.  I embedded a yellow reflector into his chest for added visibility.  The rest is Styrofoam and sticks courtesy of man and the Ohio River.

I found a couple of other “happy” objects along the western section of the park and photographed them in place.  The first looks to be a green, bouncy, child’s toy and I wondered how far this thing floated to get here?  The second image takes me back to my childhood.  Isn’t it interesting that we can recognize all things Kool-aid from this fragment of a child’s canteen?  Of all the ways there are to render a face…this one remains distinctive.  Perhaps it’s in the comma-shape eyes and eyebrows?

I lost myself noticing how much things change in the park depending on the season.  With the leaves off of the trees, all of a sudden the view gets large again.  I spent a few hours collecting materials that washed up here last week including four large Styrofoam sections tumbled by the river.  I had hoped to be able to make something from these in short order, but realized that they were out of scale to my ideas.  So, I hauled them up to my studio site where they look like big piles of snow melting in the woods.  I figure I have probably till January’s high waters to make something from them.

I left this piece standing to await whatever fate has in store for it.  The other found object pieces I made are all birds.  My gallery representative requested a few to use for a small show in a hotel I believe?  As I made them, I photographed them in different places at the Falls.  I have also been busy trying to mount these sculptures onto bases made from driftwood.  The experience of seeing my “faux” birds in the woods is totally different from seeing them as more formal art objects.  By now, I think you know which I prefer seeing.  I’ll show them to you, later this week.

Opeth

Ich kann es nicht oft genug betonen, aber als Hörer der schwedischen Band um Mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt wird es mir jedes mal anders zumute, wenn ich ein neues Stück aus dem musikalischen Repertoire von Opeth höre. Denn was uns die fünf Skandinavier auf Ghost Reveries, ihrem Erzeugnis aus dem Jahr 2005, bieten, lässt sich schwierig in Worte fassen.

Vor etwas mehr als zwei Jahren kam ich erstmals in Berührung mit dem Jubiläumsalbum anlässlich des 25-jährigen Bestehens der Heavy-Metal-Schmiede Roadrunner Records und damit auch mit Opeth. Schreckte mich damals der ihnen von Wikipedia aufgedrückte Stempel “Death Metal” noch ab, da mir der Gedanke an hirnloses Gegrunze nicht besonders genehm war, fasste ich mir zum letzten Jahreswechsel ein Herz und lud mir ihr 2008er Erzeugnis Watershed in meine Musikbibliothek und sah mich daraufhin zu einer Neuorientierung meines Musikverständnisses gezwungen:
Hier hatte ich es nicht mit “Fast Food Metal” zu tun, wie ich zwischendurch einen Teil meiner Musik zu nennen pflege. Jedes Lied war ein Meisterwerk, jeder Ton fein abgestimmt; progressiv, aber doch unbeschreiblich herzerfüllend und zugleich Gänsehaut induzierend. Was kann ich sagen? Als Kostprobe höre man sich ihre elfeinhalbminütige Oper Hessian Peel an, um sich ein Bild der Genialität dieser Band zu machen:
Abwechslungsreiche Stimme, die zwischen beängstigendem Growlen und herzerwärmendem Gesang hin und her springt; filigranes Gezupfe und harmonische Spielereien akustischer Saiteninstrumente, die im Gegenlicht zu den harten, präzisen Riffs verzerrter Gitarren und Bass stehen; groovige, teilweise harte, teilweise jazzige, herzmuskelfördernde Schlagzeugarbeit; Keyboards, welche die episch anmutende, melancholische Stimmung der Lieder untermalen.

Ja, wie soll ich sagen? Melancholischer Death Metal?
Es geht weit darüber hinaus; jeder weitere Versuch, es näher beschreiben zu wollen, ist lediglich eine weitere Entwürdigung der Kunstwerke, die hier geschaffen werden.

Letzte Woche durfte ich, nachdem ich mir bereits im Sommer das äusserst ruhige 2003er-Album Damnation zu Gemüte führte, einen weiteren Neuzugang in meiner Musiksammlung begrüssen: Ghost Reveries.
Verschiedenen Internetkritiken über dieses Album folgend, ist es das persönliche Meisterwerk von Opeth, obschon sich hier doch die Frage stellt, was ein Meisterwerk im Opeth’schen Sinne sein soll, zumal sich ausnahmslos jedes einzelne Stück dieser Band wie ein meisterlicher Tribut an die Musik in ihrer reinsten Form anhört. Nun?

Für einen Opeth-Neuling war damals Watershed bereits genügend göttlich, aber hier offenbart sich mir das Heavy-Metal-Jazz-Blues-Progressive-Rock-Pendant zu den Meistern Bach, Mozart, Beethoven und wie auch immer der Rest der Sippe geheissen haben mag.
Unbeschreiblich pulsierende, progressive Klassik mit moderner Rock-Besetzung des Orchesters; meisterhaft, unübertreffelich und seinesgleichen suchend.

Opeth – Ghost Reveries (2005)

Eluveitie

Zuerst war da der kleine Artikel aus dem Schweizer Konsumentenschutzmagazin saldo, welches ihr letzthin erschienene Album Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion unter den empfohlenen Musikalben auflistete. Dann schwirrte mir in der Schule so ein Typ mit einem Fan-T-Shirt vor der Nase rum. Und schliesslich traten sie am Open-Air-Festival auf dem Berner Hausberg Gurten an, obschon ich da nicht anwesend war: Irgendwie begann Eluveitie, mich zu reizen.

War ich zuvor noch auf mittelalterlichen Pagan-Metal gefasst, wurde ich von ihrer Singleauskopplung Inis Mona arg überrascht: Auf den Spuren der Göteborger Grössen In Flames wurde hier Melodic Death Metal zelebriert, wie ich von sonst so “krokigen” und “harden” Schweizern nicht erwartet hätte. Und ja, hier war Pagan zu hören.
… aber keineswegs lächerlicher Art. Inwiefern mich als In Flames-Anhänger auch der Rest ihrer Songs zu begeistern vermochte, sollte sich bald zeigen; ich lud mir ihr Album aus dem Jahr 2008 herunter und mir blieb der Atem aus: Hier war nichts von Schweizerischer Gemächlichkeit zu hören, das hier war geballter urchiger Heavy-Metal mit internationalen Tendenzen: Keinerlei Provinzgegröle.

So war es schliesslich auch ausser Frage, das Album in physischer Form zu erwerben: Beim hauptstädtischen Plattenhändler Chop Records kaufte ich mir für teures Geld das heimische Audioerzeugnis und durfte in Folge eine weitere digitale Platte zu meiner Sammlung hinzufügen.

Eluveitie – Slania (2008)

post.scriptum.
Bei der Recherche nach zusätzlichen Informationen über die Band bin ich noch über folgenden amüsanten Wikipedia-Diskussionsbeitrag gestolpert, in welcher sich ein Protagonist mit einem “Historiker” einen kleinen verbalen Schlagabtausch liefert:

Pendulum

Ein dunkles Wohnzimmer, in einer fernen Ecke brennt vereinsamt und abgedimmt eine Stehlampe…
Auf dem Boden sind angeknabberte Chips und Pizzas verteilt…
Partybänke und ein Gartentisch dominieren eine Hälfte des Wohnzimmers, auf ihnen finden sich Pfannen, Teller, Flaschen…
Der Esstisch dominiert die andere Hälfte und ist zu einer einzigen grossen Game-Station umfunktioniert worden…
Vier PC-Screens und ein Laptop zieren die Silouette des originalen Esstisches…
Das Ensemble wird garniert mit Panache-Dosen und Süssigkeiten…
Kabel ziehen sich wirr zwischen den Screens und dem Essen hindurch…
6 Stromkabel stecken in einer Steckerleiste, diese wiederum ist mit 5 anderen Kabeln an eine weitere Steckerleiste angeschlossen…
Screens, Rechner, Speaker, Router, Fernseher – alles hängt an einer Steckdose…
Draussen Gewitter…

… und im Hintergrund dröhnt Pendulum.

Pendulum stellt für mich dieses Lebensgefühl dar, das in dieser Woche herrschte: Wir versammelten uns zwecks besonderer Form einer “Game-Session” zu viert in der Wohnung eines Kollegen, dessen Eltern sich für zwei Wochen nach Amerika verabschiedet und das Schicksal ihres Heims in die Hände vierer Freaks gelegt hatten.
Wir ernährten uns zwei Wochen lang von Panache, Pizzas, Reis, Curry, Fisch- und Fleischplätzchen und dem Gefühl der absoluten Freiheit. Dass sich diese Freiheit zwangsläufig ungesund auf unser körperliches Wohlbefinden auswirken musste, wurde mir schon klar, als ich die Wohnung zum ersten Mal betrat:

Die Treppe in den Keller war zum Standort einer besonderen Kunstform geworden: Panache-, Cola- und Bierdosen türmten sich zu einem monumentalen Bauwerk und gleichzeitig zum Symbol des Chaos, welches hier vorherrschte. Das später erklärte Ziel, das Bauwerk bis zum Anschlag an der dort anliegenden Decke hinaufzuziehen, wurde begleitet von der ständigen Gefahr, Panache-, Cola- und Bierpfützen von den Treppenstufen wischen zu müssen.

… und im Hintergrund dröhnte Pendulum.

Der werte Kollege G. hatte sich einige Songs dieser australischen Drum’n'Bass-Band auf seinen iPod geladen, und obgleich ich den Sound von elektronisch erzeugten Akustiksignalen zuvor verabscheut hatte, kam ich nicht um die innere Einstellung herum, diese Art von Sound zu billigen, zumal ich das Gefühl hatte, dass er zum von flimmernden Bildschirmen geprägten Ambiente, zu meinem unerlässlichen Harndrang und zu der Brühe passte, die da aus Kaffee, Schokolade, Milch und viel Zucker bestand und vor meinem Keyboard dahindampfte.
Ja, diese Art von Sound prägte meinen Sommer…

In meinem Bestreben, nebst Hold Your Color weitere Schöpfungen dieser Band zu erwerben, wanderte bald darauf auch das Album In Silico in physischer Form in meine CD-Sammlung und erfreute mich auf ein Neues:
Hier beweisen die fünf Australier Kreativität und mischen einige Rock-Elemente ein, ohne dabei vom Elektronischen in ihrem Klang wegzukommen.
Definitiv ein Kauf wert.

Pendulum – In Silico (2008)