Wow. Went to London's ICA with Chris to see a very far out Sun Ra film: "Space Is The Place". This film is so far from the boring contemporary Hollywooden trash that passes for cinema these days, that it is quite a shock to our 'modern' thinking. And what a great shock that is. Check my review...
At a motorway service station today, I saw a curious motorbike and sidecar on a trailer pulled by a car. The sidecar was much larger than usual and had glass windows. A sombre-looking gentleman dressed in long black leather coat got out of the car, which was drawing some attention from passers-by. A slogan on the car read: "For a dignified final ride." along with a website address: www.motorcyclefunerals.com - check it out!
Today I feel very honoured. A group of dancers called Mambesak Group from West Papua (between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia) were flying in from Holland to perform at a festival in London, but it had to be cancelled due to the park being waterlogged. Not wanting to waste their airline tickets, they came over all the same, but needed a new venue and audience... Helen's brother was helping to organise the event for Friends Of People Close To Nature, and contacted Fabrizia who nobly offered The Strawbale Studio as a performance space. So we assembled on a rainy Saturday afternoon for a special occasion, the first visit to England from this West Papuan delegation. It was great to meet them and introduce ourselves (and apologise for our English weather!) before then leaving them alone to change out of their normal clothes and get their war-paint on!
Wow -
what a transformation!
Their grass skirts and straw headdresses were just perfect in
The Strawbale Studio,
an ideal backdrop for the many cameras present (nearly as many as people!).
They
raised a West Papuan flag
(an action for which they could be
shot in their own land) and we all crowded around the doorway to give
them as much space as possible, and avoid their
sharp spears!
They began with the Tifa Dance, which features the large Tifa drum. Their drums are all hand carved and made with skin from the Komodo Dragon which they hunt for food, making use of the skin (nothing is wasted, and no animal is killed unnecessarily). The drums are lightweight as each dancer holds his drum in one hand and plays it with the other, while singing and dancing; no wonder they soon got out of breath!
Then came the Monsada Dance, a healing ceremony where they enacted a scene of one of their hunters dying of malaria. A medicine man put saliva on his own hands and then rubbed them down the length of the ill man's body, cleansing the malaria out of him and then hurling the infection away. Then the dancers picked him up and danced with him as his strength returned.
You can see more photos of the group at their website.
Next came The
Lani Singers, a man and his wife playing guitars and singing,
accompanied by a very cute young child playing a drum.
Their music
was wonderfully uplifting: joyous South-Sea harmonies sung over lilting
chords, but the lyrics were about tragic events. They've spent more than a
year seeking political asylum; the man showed wounds on his ankles and
wrists where he was chained up and locked in a toilet for a week in prison,
being regularly beaten. The political situation in West Papua since the
Indonesian invasion is very dangerous with disturbing
human rights abuses and concerns about genocide going largely unnoticed by
the outside world. UPDATE: I just heard today that UK Immigration
have finally granted them asylum and a place to stay in the UK :-)
UPDATE 2:
Interpol seeks West Papuan
tribal leader living in UK
(Benny
Wenda)
Talking afterwards with
the dancers, I asked if their 7-foot long
spears had been tricky to explain going through customs. No, they replied,
although the clay they use as warpaint was suspected of being drugs, which
the customs officers duly sniffed and examined. Then we decided that it was
only fair that we should play them some of
our music, so we fired up
the djembes and launched into a few songs. They joined in and we had a ball.
So a good day was had by all, a great chance for cross-cultural exchange.
The nice people at BBC Training came to film me again, playing and talking about my music. This time I managed to be filmed lying down while balancing deeply resonating Tibetan Singing Bowls on my chest. I look forward to seeing the results... A big thanks to Tessa, Tim and Bizia for allowing us to use their place.
Incensed by the American government's highly dubious prosecution of the Greenpeace organisation for exercising their constitutional right to peacefully protest at the illegal import of Brazilian timber from Amazon rainforests, I wrote a brief letter, adding some extra advice at no extra charge:
To:
- Mr. George W. Bush, President, United States of America
- Mr. John Ashcroft, Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
- Mr. Christopher Wray, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice
Drop your immoral criminal prosecution of Greenpeace and instead prosecute those who are illegally exporting Brazilian mahogany.
You still have options. Show the peoples of the world that you accept that you are wrong. Apologise profusely for the way you have bullied weaker nations into submission to your gross capitalist schemes. Abandon your economic and military invasions of other, more highly-developed, cultures. Commit to working with the international community on issues such as pollution, Third World debt, nuclear/biological/chemical weapons, AIDS. Give the terrorists nothing to hate you for and their cause will soon disappear into thin air. Your behaviour is the glue which binds them together in their diabolic plans; be transparent, forgiving and saintly, do not try to fight an enemy you cannot see. Let those who are most noble succeed.
This is the only way to freedom, security and prosperity.
Yours sincerely,
Malcolm Smith
Inspired by a photograph in the local paper, I set out in search of a
crop circle
that had mysteriously appeared near the
Chiltern Way beside the B655
Hitchin to
Pegsdon road.
It was apparently in a shape resembling the
Vesica Pisces,
an ancient fertility symbol used in
sacred
geometry. After a brief search I couldn't find it, so
instead decided to ascend Deacon Hill, as it was such a fine morning, and I
was being paid on-call ;-) Some guys were up there setting up ready for a bit
of paragliding,
riding the warm air currents with the birds (a nice way to spend a Sunday
morning :-) On reaching the summit, I turned around to see the
crop circle behind me in a
vivid yellow field of oil seed rape. Judging by the alignment of the shape,
it's clear that this one was no natural phenomena, and had been obviously
created by the hand of man, as it resembled a face with a mouth, ears and
spiral eyes when viewed from this high vantage point looking towards Hitchin.
My photograph is not as clear as the aerial view in the newspaper, but should
help to dispel any myths about supernatural forces. Unless of course
the
aliens were using Deacon Hill as some kind of
UFO launch ramp on
the thermals...
[UPDATE 2011-06-21: I finally got round to editing this panorama view which includes the crop circle (and here's another photo of it online to prove I didn't just make it up). This view is seen from the top of the megalithic hillfort on Deacon Hill, which is itself pictured below.
Later, after 'work', we had a super-high-spirited drumming session, with Ian, Ana, Bizia, Helen, Melissa, Jane, Ruth, Jerry and his son Yestyn. We played our growing set of rhythms with vigour, and had some wonderful jam sessions which brought forth some frenetic dancing! Then we went over some of Molefe Pheto's drum patterns from The Watford Percussion Project, which were absorbed and learned with ease. A final burst of Mamadi Kamara rounded off a hot session. Summer is here! I look forward to taking this to a stage near you... Finally, Rob turned up at the end for some spontaneous dancing with Ana, which I accompanied with tumbao on congas.
Another glorious walk around the
fields, footpaths and woods inspires some
random thoughts, some
photos of bluebell woods,
and a deep yearning to get all my friends out here to
witness this beauty together. And so I invite people on the first of many
Peace In Nature Walks:
"AROMA THERAPY".
UPDATE:
A Jolly Jaunt was
had by all. See you
next time!
Drumming with Tina,
Ian, Jane, Melissa, Roberto,
Helen, Joe and Jess
(some fine shaking!). Afterwards it was such a nice day and inspired by our
fine walk
yesterday, we persuaded those who missed it to come out for
another.
Truth *is* stranger than fiction.
©
copyleft
Malcolm Smith 2004-03-03 - last updated 2011-11-25 - links
verified 2006-02-12