flaviomatani: (dreamscape sepia)
( Jun. 2nd, 2024 10:02 am)
In spite of the entropy of passing years I still go to clubs and stuff, although by the time I've been there for two hours I've had enough. There is also the fact that I nearly always have pupils having lessons the following morning -and that takes priority; the livelihood of a self-employed music teacher is rather precarious and if there is work you take it because you never know.

I've not been back to the Slimelight for ... n years. The only time I've been after the pandemic was to the opening of an exhibition by Parma Ham. I am not sure I'm comfortable with the new regime there although it seems that things have got better. I do go to local clubs and several smaller format nights are organised by friends in Aces & Eights, just a few blocks up the road in Tufnell Park and at the Albany in Gt Portland Street, just an 88 bus ride away. This suits me. It is good to see friends and people I've known for many years and catch up (although I do find that difficult in the noisy environment of a club) and dance a bit. In terms of catching up I think I prefer the Hampstead Alternative Picnics that Jon Hannan has been organising since .. 2007 or thereabouts. Last week's one was lovely. I also went to Reformation at Aces & Eights last night. It was good, I even danced (well, I call it 'dancing', others might differ!).
flaviomatani: (Default)
( May. 4th, 2024 11:07 am)
Ah, these guitar lessons - right now, very keen 8 year old girl playing almost to the end of the first book and also Ziggy Stardust, doing it for the first time and very well.

#guitarlessons #theseguitarlessons
flaviomatani: (dreamscape sepia)
( Apr. 27th, 2024 09:22 am)
When you wake up longing for the world you were inhabiting in that dream, but the dream vanishes, more quickly the more you try to grasp it.
flaviomatani: (flavlines)
( Apr. 25th, 2024 10:04 am)
The news that my young pupil who just did a Trinity Rock electric guitar Grade 8 exam passed with a Distinction just rescued what had been a horrible day and turned it into a very, very good one.

(and yes, I'd posted this in several places. I needed to remind myself that what I do is worth the while, even if it can be a bit difficult to make a decent living out of it).
What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (What If?, #2)What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this. Giving rational, science-based answers to absurd questions was just what I needed to raise my mood for a while in these dark times. Hope there'll be a third one; in the meantime, there is always the web site https://what-if.xkcd.com/



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flaviomatani: (Default)
( Apr. 6th, 2024 11:11 am)
First of five guitar lessons today done, keen and awake little 8 yo girl. Then lesson in Singapore; later on two in-person lessons and one last one online -local busy doctor who is a bit too busy and prefers the lessons online #guitarlessons
Trying to stay active, walk perhaps half an hour a day (that doesn't make ten thousand steps but it is better than 0, I s'pose). I find it hard to believe I've reached this age, twice as old as I thought I'd ever get to be -but if you're growing up in a place like Caracas those are your expectations.

Sometimes it feels like the universe and my own body are trying to get rid of me. But I'm not planning on leaving the stage just yet. Had a bit of a blood pressure scary moment a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in six hours in A&E and having spent two weeks eating with almost no salt (salt is really bad for blood pressure). Not sure whether it is salt or stress, though. Particularly in the two secondary schools I teach guitar at, which seem to be competing for the most chaos and incompetence.

OTOH, I'm still here and I'm not yet bankrupt. Still reading, writing a little (not much), taking photographs and playing music (be it on my own rather than in public), as well as teaching it. Need to find a few local gigs to play (this is necessary to make myself keep a standard of playing) and a few more private pupils (this is necessary in order to pay the bills and in case I have to walk out of one of those schools). Onwards and upwards.
A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1)A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Loved this -now half way through the second book. Feels as if Martine, like Asimov a long time before, might have had a good read of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and applied some of this to an immense space Empire facing inner and outer threats and the people caught up in this maelstrom. The main characters were to me believable and... human, rather than just plot-advancing devices. As I said, half way through the second book I'm enjoying being in that world.



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'Alman' by Robert Johnson (c. 1583 – 1633), from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, transcribed/arranged by my teacher John W Duarte.

The guitar used is perhaps not my best one, it is an electro-classical Alhambra; I felt however that the lighter, thiner and at times a little rough tone of the instrument went well with the texture of the music, hopefully aided by the third string in F# and the capo on fret III, which would put it in the range and tuning of an English lute of the time. The piece is a keyboard not a lute piece but Johnson was foremost a lutenist so I felt this was appropriate.

#englishrenaissancemusic #virginalmusic #englishlutemusic #fitzwilliamvirginalbook #alhambraguitars #guitarlessons #venezuelanguitarist #london #kentishtown

Bookshops & BonedustBookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this (and so did pretty much everybody at #Bibliogoth). A light easy, positive and fun reading when the real world appears to be none of those things. The plot is on the same lines as 'Legends & Lattes' but that is not an issue. Since it is a prequel, we know from the start that Viv will get through all the difficulties and survive -she has to, so she can be there for the other book.



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Always slightly mixed feelings about this. I was brought up a Catholic (which sometimes is a sure fire way of turning you into an atheist) but soon decided I didn't share the whole Christian thing -and everything I've learnt about the history of that religion (or, by now, religions) seems to confirm this. But we need landmarks, points along the way where we can stop and reflect on where we are, the road travelled and the road yet to travel. So, we celebrate birthdays, the new year... Christmas.

In the last few years my sister had travelled from Venezuela to either Madrid or Lisbon and I would join her and her troops there and celebrate with them. They are not doing that this year so it will be a quieter time. Maybe I need those days on my own, not doing much. Might even get to watch Barbie and Oppenheimer which I missed on the cinema, read a lot, eat comfort food. And not think about thosed schools I teach guitar at and on how long I may be able to do that and how I may manage without them.

I have lived in this island for over half of a very long life now, but I still am Venezuelan in many ways, even if I don't think I could possibly live there now. It was great to have my first hallaca of the season -bought, alas; it is too much hard work to do on your own. Traditionally it is the whole family labouring for two or three days to get a batch of hallacas. It was good, though.
I probably have written about this before, as I had read it a few years back. This is a collection of short(ish) science fiction stories by Stross, which was chosen for next month's Bibliogoth meeting.

I'm half way through the book, on the third of those stories. I particularly like the first one, in which he kind of (only kind of) riffs something akin to Discworld except much, much darker and in the context of the Cold War -who else by Stross would put Gregor Samsa and Carl Sagan in the same room. Liking the third one, which is an homage to Lovecraft's 'At the Mountains of Madness'. Didn't quite enjoy as much the second one, which might be taken as a riff on 'Sally' by Asimov, except with farms instead of cars.
Bibliogoth today was good. We were discussing 'Circe' by Madeline Miller, a retelling of the story of the witch/nymph Circe. It might seem a book on a mythological ancient Greek witch would be boring, it isn't. It is very well written and the characters are well fleshed out and quite human -even those who aren't human, like those capricious Greek gods who seem to be eternal six year olds And the discussion veered into some interesting side-themes.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50164163-circe
flaviomatani: (flaveyebw)
( Nov. 9th, 2023 07:48 pm)
I have been listening to Roger Waters' re-recording of 'Dark Side of the Moon' and... probably uniquely amongst my friends and people I know, liking it. It is not a rock album and, perhaps as suggested by the title ('Dark Side of the Moon / Redux') is a revisit of something he did half a century ago. He talks rather a lot, probably too much, through it. It is much sparser than the original recording (certainly not a Pink Floyd record) and with a feel much, much darker than the original. But then it is that: an 80 year old man revisiting something he did in his prime and commenting on it, the lyrics about ageing and fading and death so much more relevant now. And I, now 71 and finding it difficult to believe it or accept it, can see something of myself in that dark mirror. I'm liking it a lot although I shouldn't play it too much -it is not exactly happy cheerful music, something that one might miss in the whole rock vibe of the original.
Not a lot happening here. We seem to have gone from summer to winter without having passed through autumn. Apart from that...

.. Had the two jabs last week (covid booster + flu jab). No side effects whatsoever as far as I could tell. Also had a hospital appointment, another follow-up for the cancer surgery of a year and a half ago. I had many questions but although the consultant was trying to be reassuring his answers weren't, that much.

The two schools I teach guitar at seem both to descend further into a form of chaos. At one, new head of music and new administrator of the dept., new ways of doing things and general confusion for the peris and for the pupils. At the other.. well, new head of music plus the usual.

Private lessons still ok. Have a pupil going to do a Grade 7 electric guitar with Trinity Pop & Rock and we are already preparing his Grade 8. A returning pupil, a new one and generally all good. At least that side of life is going ok.

Health... I don't know. At least I'm finally rid of the bladder infection (it seems), but it does feel like the second law of thermodynamics is catching up with me. I s'pose that's how life works. At any rate, I'm still here, I can still play and teach the guitar and do things.

Last Friday I went to 'The Belfry' at the Albany on Gt Portland St. I even danced (well, you know, I call it 'dancing' although many might not). This week, probably Jodi's housewarming if I feel up to it (I seem to be unnaturally tired most of the time, of late). It's a bit far in South East London; hoping to make it.
flaviomatani: (Default)
( Sep. 27th, 2023 11:15 am)
Now in my Wednesday school in Highbury. Still on antibiotics, still very very tired. Life getting all sorts of small annoying complications. Break time now and the noise here is unbelievable. This (the level of noise in these places) is something that I so hated when I was that age and had to live with it every day for years and years. At some point I'll have to decide I cannot continue doing the schools but I can't afford to give them up. Will have to look into what options I have -most people at this age have long since retired but, as I said, I can't afford to. Teaching music does have its rewards and I love giving that sort of gift of being able to make music and, hopefully, understand it, at least to some level. But teaching it in schools is exhausting, not that fantastically well paid and I probably won't be able to do this for much longer...

Life takes you places you weren't expecting.
flaviomatani: (flav eu flag)
( Sep. 24th, 2023 09:40 pm)
On third course of antibiotics. This is getting a bit annoying. Hoping this time it will work and get rid of the uninvited, unwanted guests in my bladder.

In the meantime... not a lot. Went to Reformation at Aces & Eights for a little song and dance and catch up with friends on Saturday. Apart from that, lessons and again supremely tired, presumably as am effect of either the infection or the antibiotic. With that and a few guitar lessons (have a 14 year old pupil who is an amazing electric guitar player so that was interesting) thus went the week-end.
This is unusual - posted to YouTube a video of me playing that fugue by Bach in a little concert in July. Normally I would get a dozen or so views. This is a long piece (six and a half minutes) and quite ... involved. Certainly not pop music. And yet it's getting, thus far, 345 views. I reckon maybe YT is changing how they measure these things? What constitutes a 'view'? if you put up with two minutes of my playing? One minute? Just run it for a few seconds and keep scrolling? (the latter seems to be what happens in TikTok, where the same video that gets a dozen views on YT gets nine hundred-plus views). Can I really believe my people are waking up to the wonder that is Bach's music, even if it's played by me, warts and all?
Fugue, from the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV998 by J S Bach.

A few slips and technical recording issues - but of course this was a live recording in concert.

flaviomatani: (flavpopart)
( Sep. 6th, 2023 05:45 pm)
UTI has come back, now on a second course of a different antibiotic and awaiting results from further tests. ION, Infest in Bradford was amazing. I'm glad I went but I suspect I still wasn't 100% recovered so that may have had a part in the coming back of the bug.
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