I was shocked flying to the island of Maui yesterday. I expected it all to be green and lush, but saw, on the south part of the island, this kind of terrain. It seems the northern part of most of the islands are wetter, greener and cooler, and the southern part more desert like. As […]
Here is a really bad video of a really good song from the 60s. Did you think the guy singing this song looked like this? Where are they now?
You know what a purist I am when it comes to martinis, but for you vodka martini enthusiasts, take note of the most recent addition to martinidom: The balsamic vinegar vodka martini! Sounds, uh, refreshing!
[Click on the picture to see a video demonstration at Videojug.com]
Body in Flames
I want to abandon
words
go and awaken
the senses
I want
no memory
rather to embrace
every instant
to a frenzy
I want to think
with my feet
I want to cry
with my shoulders
I want to set
my body on fire
© Francisco X. Alarcón
*****
This will be the last movement of the set for Iris Levine and Vox Femina/LA. It’s an erotic number for sure. […]
Twelve years ago, Daniel and I went on our first date. For some reason, he wanted to take me to his grandmother’s grave. He explained that they had been very close. Yes, this seemed a bit odd but I was up for it. We drove out to Simi Valley and found her unmarked grave. We […]
In my opinion, Rufus Wainwright should have gotten “Best Song” for “The Maker Makes” (in Brokeback Mountain”) in last year’s Academy Awards. The only ones who heard it were the ones who waited until the end credits. The composer of “Brokeback Mountain” (I’ve forgotten his name already) did NOT deserve it. His work was minimal […]
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
[Here is the first poem I set. I chose to set it in Spanish as the sounds and the rhythm of the words are so beautiful. Francisco usually prints his poetry side by side with Spanish on one side and English on the other. I will likely set two of the five in Spanish, the […]
Multi-colored chickens lead their hysterical chicks down the road. Steel grey waves crash on the basalt shore with dark grey clouds slowly becoming lit at the sun begins to appear. A man steps out of his door and walks to the beach. He looks at the ocean as though he has no control over his […]
[I am posting these poems primarily for the women of Vox Femina/LA who will be singing the premier of these settings. Any comments may be posted here or emailed to me privately at rogeratbourlanddotcom.]
LIKE A CRAZED FLOWER
there has never been sunlight for this love,
like a crazed flower it buds in the dark,
is at once a […]
I was introduced to the poetry of Francisco X. Alarcón by Adrienne Rich. He was born in LA and of Mexican heritage. He looks like a Mexican Buddha with round wire rimmed glasses and a long black ponytail. I have set his poetry in two pieces for unaccompanined women’s chorus: Alarcón Madrigals, Books One and […]
6 hours later we are half way across the Pacific on a remote group of Islands called Hawaii. In case you didn’t know, the Pacific ocean is ENORMOUS. This is my third time here, and Kauai is the most unspoiled. But don’t get the idea that all the creature comforts are gone: they are all […]
Mark Carlson and I are off to Hawaii today. We both have music to write and courses to plan, and vacation to experience. Here we are (above) camping in the Anza Borrego Desert in April 1982. I’ll check back when we fly across all that WATER!!
Three days before September 11, 2001, I had my own private 9/11. My partner, Daniel Shiplacoff, came down with the deadly and contagious bacterial meningitis. He had just been laid off from a successful dot.com business, and he had just laid off his entire staff. He was also serving as a supernumerary (an “extra”) for […]
David Crosby: photo courtesy WMA)
It’s hard to believe. We look at Crosby Stills and Nash and see some of the beacons of the baby boomer generation aging gracefully. Even though David Crosby’s “freak flag” is white these day, he is still vital and productive touring with CSN and still recording with his other group CPR.
It […]
Carrie and Sally took us as their guests to the Hollywood Bowl last night. They bought a “series” — their last concert had been a Bollywood concert and the next will be Willie Nelson. Last night was Roots Rock Reggae Festival 2006. None of the four of us was particularly a reggae fan but we […]
After Dylan’s “The Times They Are A’Changing” this song, Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” rang out like a gun shot in the mid-1960s. He had just come from the gosh-n-golly-ain’t-folk-music-fun The New Christy Minstrels, a group that spun off quite a few minor rock celebrities in the 60s. [Do you remember the song “Green, Green”? […]
Bruce Shapiro was a doctor for the first part of his life, and apparently now has turned artist. And an excellent one as well. Here is one little amusing aspect of his output from his website called “The Art of Motion Control” — drawing on eggs.
One of my little joys is that when I sit down and play the piano, my dogs, Cody and Giaco, come in and sit on the couch and actively listen. Cody keep his head up, as though he is listening to information. Giaco, being the more Italian of the two, looks simply entertained. I sing […]
One of the most popular blogs devoted to disseminating digitized and, presumably, out of print LPs of “VINTAGE PSYCHEDELIC PROGRESSIVE AND KRAUTROCK” has had something very mysterious happen to it: It was visited by “the deleter.” He used to have an enormous stash of downloadable music for anyone to take. And now, it’s gone. He […]
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