Monday, 29 September 2003

Anything for a quiet life Picture this: you're the leader of Florence and scion of Europe's greatest banking family. Your money funds countries and wars and art and conquest from Scotland to the tip of Spain. Your city is the brightest of the continent: close to one hundred thousand people live within its walls: the greatest artists, writers, and craftsmen since the classical era. You are loved - loved - by your people, and honoured by your men. The Pope calls you Master Of All Italy. When you die, you will be called Pater Patriae - Father of the Country. One of your subjects, Benvenuto Cellini, is a master of his art. The greatest goldsmith and sculptor of his time, he's also almost a friend: you even show him the secret route into your most private of quarters, and like to talk with him about his work. You're paying for it, after all: a statue of Perseus to gild the Piazza della Signoria. The above is an excerpt from Ben Hammersley's diary in Florence. Click on the title link to read more... Benvenuto Cellini wrote his autobiography in the middle ages and it is a great read. Highly recommended. 11:26:15 PM    comment []; MIT for free, virtually The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is making its course materials available to the world for free download. [CNET News.com] Now, if only governments would support blanketing the whole country with WiFi so that people anywhere can access the internet... 11:14:08 PM    comment []; FCC To Enforce Do Not Call List, Not FTC Iphtashu Fitz writes "The Associated Press is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission will step in and enforce the national Do Not Call list for ... [Slashdot] 11:11:01 PM    comment []; Wi-Fi Hits the Road In yet another attempt to bring broadband to rural America, a community college in sparsely populated Washington, North Carolina, outfitted a van with wireless gear to bring the Internet to students. By Elisa Batista. [Wired News] 11:09:01 PM    comment []; the end of Duende del Amor From the Catalyst in Santa Cruz...where presumably every single person wears phone cams, vid cams etc... 10:03:25 PM    comment []; Torn Poster 8:09:29 PM    comment []; Urgent Message to Save Coral Reefs To address the coral reef crisis, PCRF is pioneering a Coral Reef Satellite Mission that will monitor the world's coral reefs using satellite imagery and create the urgently needed first comprehensive baseline map of living coral reefs. [Dive News] [iceplant radio] 7:42:32 PM    comment []; Graffiti in Dallas 1 7:30:35 PM    comment []; Dallas Window I took this photo at a shop window in Deep Ellum in Dallas. 7:23:39 PM    comment []; Ron + Canton at work in Austin I took this photo during Ron and Canton's duet at the Paramount theater. 7:20:46 PM    comment []; Sat 27 Sep: San Antonio TX Ah, the Majestic theater in San Antonio. What a wonderful place to see a show! And what a wonderful place to perform! I think Canton took some photos, which I will post when he sends them my way.... Couldn't get online because the charge for a phone line at the Majestic was several hundred dollars for a day...at least now everybody has cell phones..... It worked out perfectly, selling CDs and merchandise across the street from the Majestic at the Gunter Hotel! Many thanks to all who came and made the night so special! 7:17:12 PM    comment []; Stage at the Paramount Theater in Austin 7:08:27 PM    comment []; Sun 28 Sep: Dallas After wonderful shows in El Paso, Austin, Houston and San Antonio we have arrived in Dallas, where in the past 13 years we really never found a home. We have played two shows a night for two nights at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, which was very small but also nice because it had a great atmosphere. We have played at the Bronco Bowl, which sounds awful, we have played at the Dallas Majestic Theater, which I enjoyed...and tonight the Gypsy Tea Room in Deep Ellum. The Gypsy Tea Room is a club and there is no room for our sound and lights. That means we have to use the house system, which is pretty crappy, especially since the subwoofers are under the stage, which is fun if you play Rock + Roll, but not fun if you are playing acoustic music..... What is it about Dallas that makes it so hard? One promoter mentioned to me that the local radio station The Oasis does not want to support our show in Dallas. I remember giving interviews at the Oasis and some solo live performances in the mid-nineties - so I don't understand what happened there...In any case, here is the deal: Our Dallas audience is great and they were wonderful last night, and we all would love to perform in Dallas, but I can't play places like the Gypsy Tea Room again...it is just too depressing and hard - Jon likened the sound of the bass and the percussion at the club to jumping on a Water Bed...it is so soft and sloshy that you just can't tell where the beat is supposed to be...What I am trying to say is this: If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and you would like us to play in Dallas, please call the Oasis Radio station and request our songs, tell them how much you liked our show and ask when we are coming back. Maybe we can get them on board for the next time.... 6:54:43 PM    comment [];

© Copyright 2003 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 29.09.03; 23:26:25.