carpe annum

Last week was reading week, which I spent ahem…not reading…

Instead, took a train up to Edinburgh for a bit of Scottish life. It struck me immediately the different pace of life there lead. London seems to be a constant struggle between all her inhabitants; fighting for space on the sidewalk, a spot on the tube, a voice among millions. In contrast, Edinburgh is just a chill place, the city is as old as time and the incredible medieval flavor of the town is really calming. My gracious host, Andrea kindly opened her flat to me and her crazy Greek flatmates were great, despite their typically Mediterranean obnoxiousness. The kitchen was fully stocked with tons of frozen meat and tons of cigarette packs…ah the Greek life…

Anyways, Edinburgh is built on somewhat hilly terrain which is really cool, unlike flat London. Perched above it all is the austere Edinburgh Castle and just to East is Arthur’s Seat, a large geographic outcropping which I was strangely drawn to. I spent at least a day and half just walking all over, up and down it, snapping photos along the way. I managed to bring some clear skies with me, so the views from the top were spectacular…why is it that man is drawn to high places?

Have a look at the photo album

Three cheers for Andrea for putting me up, though she keeps insisting I look like Clive Owen, though I don’t quite see the resemblance…

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If I were a new kid in South Park, this is what I’d look like

But don’t make me angry…I’ll pull out my coffeeshop dork glasses and mine axe

What about you? http://spstudio.julia.hosting-friends.de/spstudio.html

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Look at what I found….this is awesome!

Hahahahahahahaah…

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4694152.stm

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Had the chance to see some good old Tibetan folk music care of Mr. Loten Nanling, the concert was an interesting look at music from that part of the world, but what I thought was more interesting was when he started to go into his new experiments with what he calls “Tibetan Blues.” He has lived in Switzerland for the past few years and has hooked up with some Jazz musicians. So he says he is working on some fusion of the two styles, and when some of his songs hinted at it, ’twas awesome!!!

Here is something a bit more traditional, though haunting and beautiful I think…

[audio:ama-le-ho.mp3]

And here is the same song with some jazz instruments added (taken from a concert in Berlin)…

[audio:berlin.mp3]

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