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Tonight’s Haiku,  March 14, 2024

as I face the west
sunset’s grace on the mountains
the air turns colder

I took this photo on my walk this evening along Edmonds’ Marina Beach. Is one of my favorite places,  period. Some of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen are looking out at the Olympic Mountains of Washington.

Oh,  and happy Pi Day, for those who celebrate.

Today’s haiku

this gentle rainfall 
droplets sparkle in the light
while spring approaches

I created this haiku with TikTok’s built in tools. Then I posted it to Instagram  amongst other places. These are lots of fun to create.

Anyway, I hope you had a good “extended Monday” (yesterday was the President’s Day holiday in the US).

Exploring Music

vinyl disk on loudspeaker

My friend Bill wrote a post a few days ago about the passing of Damo Suzuki, singer for the German rock band Can. I’ve always had a thing for quirky and eclectic music, so I was a bit bummed I hadn’t so much as heard of Can before now. So I commented such, and Bill recommended this album to me to learn more about them.

Tago-Mago by the band Can

I doubt many of you know that my first major in college was music. I listened intensely, absorbing how the instrumentation and chordal structure were communicating emotional energy. Sadly, I got out of practice for that kind of listening ages ago. But, back in the 80s, I studied lots of artists in depth. Not just pop, but Jazz, latin, classical, funk…my list was pretty extensive. I would give anything to have notes back from those days.

Can has a solid funk feel to me. I really enjoy the driving, repetitive bass tracks, and fluid drumming.

What struck me even deeper, though, was how easy it is to discover new music. Bill made a post, shared a YouTube video of a song. I listened, made a comment on his blog, Bill recommended an album to check out, and YouTube served that up to me instantly. All within a few-minute timeframe.

I remember getting together with friends and listening to records/CDs, and tapes. If I really liked the song, I’d see about borrowing a copy until I could buy one. In my little Seattle suburb, getting anything other than Top 40 generally meant a trip to Seattle. There was a cool record show really close to UW, and I believe the iconic Tower Records was serving Seattle’s music community back then. I love how easy it is now to discover new (old?) music.

Onwards!