The Wetlands Are Mighty Mighty Wet...

Sitting on my sofa with on the one side a view of my dripping garden and on the other side the lilies I bought today, I can't help thinking once more that I was born in the wrong climate...

Although my temperament is decidedly Northern European (thoughtful, phlegmatic, slow to anger, prone to melancholia, capable of sudden bursts of wild exhilaration and a constant need for music) my actual physical body craves warmth and sunshine. And I have this Italian-Mama thing: nothing better than eating in the garden in the company of my loved ones.

So, it shall not surprise you that the prospect of another week of rain-every-day does nothing for my present mood.

As usual, I turn to music for help. And listening back to my dilettante efforts at creating my own music through GarageBand has inspired me to write a Wetlands Haiku:

beefy slinky strings

creating melancholy sounds

wetlands delta blues

Oh Frith, oh my, oh woe is me, oh where is that sun I need so desperately?

So far I haven't got down to the lyrics, but I bet you they will be something like the line above...

Anyone of you out there using GarageBand to make music? I call it 'composing for dummies'. But I love it.

Once, some 40-odd years ago, my Mum suggested I apply for music college (Conservatorium in Dutch). I was playing the guitar and making my own songs even then, but was such an introspective, shy, unconfident thing that the thought alone made me certain that they would never ever accept me.

Silly me!

I should have taken the plunge. Eyes closed, fingers crossed and try out.

But I did not. I went to work at an advertising agency instead, 16 years old, fresh out of school. As I said: silly me.

My son-in-law said to me the other day that 57 was not too old to become a rock star, bless his sweet heart.

Oh well. I feel another line coming on...

Moorcocks screaming pain into the night

or is it love? oh, what's the difference

high winds moaning wet, wet, wetlands blues.

I wish you all a lovely, warm, sunny weekend!

Bring It On! Can't wait for better temperatures.

Spring has definitely arrived in the Wetlands. 
The birds are flocking and dragging bits of twig and tufts of dogs hair around, the fish in my pond have woken up, and the flowers in my garden and in the municipal forest behind our house are lifting their heads above ground.

 Aren't they gorgeous? I adore those March violets.
When my kids were small the patch of them at the entrance of the forest was small also, the size of a tea saucer. Now that my kids are young adults the patch has reached the size of a wagon wheel.

I have photographed the bit that was free of a load of dog turds dumped unceremoniously smack bang in the middle...Those dogs...no feeling for beauty, have they?

They are edible, I'm told, but the thought of all those dogs
sniffing them and running through them and...well...you know, has always deterred me.

The mini narcissus are in my garden. I tend to buy them or get them as a gift in those pretty floral baskets which are sold from Christmas onwards (up to Easter), and when they have stopped flowering I plant them out in the garden. Two (or rather dozens) for the price of one...I do love a bargain.

So, I'm all ready for being out in my garden. Except...the weather is atrocious. It is cold, near freezing in the night, and raining off and on, and that wind...Brrrrr. Wind chill factor 3 degrees. 

People in warmer climates cannot imagine this, or they have trouble imagining it, but us Wetlanders are desperate for warmth and sunshine by now.

So, bring it on!!!

Visiting Cat - Upheaval!

Good evening, all you cat lovers!
This week is: "we have got a visitor of the feline persuasion" week. This is a re-occuring event in our house, and has been for the last 8 years at least. Do we like this? Ehm...read on....

(This is not my photo, it floated around in cyberspace)

We have a catty family member: Noes. She is a stray, just like our own macho tom, from the same shelter in fact. But that is exactly where all comparison ends!

Where our Viggo can be sweet and cuddly, Noes is not.

Where he is always (well, almost always) cheerful and peppy, Noes is not.

Where he utters the occasional miauw, Noes just growls.

Where he drapes himself happily on your lap, Noes keeps her distance and hides herself in the cupboard.

Where he goes outside to pee and poop (as proper cats do) and amuses himself with the newspaper and assorted envelopes, she comes with a carload of stuff, which is all ab-so-lu-te-ly essential. A litter tray complete with roof, bowls, a scratching post, poop-scoop, etcetera.

Viggo has developed the following strategy when Noes arrives. He deploys this within 10 minutes of her arrival.

1. Watch her with mild curiosity.

2. Check out the scratching post by vigorously scratching it.

3. Check out the dinner bowls.

4. Pee in the litter box (a statement if ever I saw one).

5. Ignore her.

6. When bored - swat her behind, preferably whilst she is attempting to climb the stairs.

Our dog Gina however, has developed a different strategy. Ignore that cat, whatever happens, ignore her. Except when she comes too close to Gina's basket. Then a soft warning growl suffices. Noes freezes, Gina looks the other way (did I growl? are you sure?), Viggo looks on with glee, and there you have it. Stalemate.

Cat lover that I am, I keep trying to make Noes feel welcome. But this cat is hard work. Very, very occasionally I can persuade her to climb my lap, but she is always on edge. The only intimate happy moments we share, is when I fill her bowl. Then she purrs. 

We have her for a week, this time.

Post Equinox: Bring on the Warm Breezes, Please?!

Good evening to you, where ever you are.
The chilly, windy, wet weather has inspired me to write a Haiku:

cheerful pink pansies

shivering in the cold breeze

nonexistent sun

This morning I cycled to the hairdresser's, had my hair cut and styled, only to arrive home with it dripping wet and flat against my head. What a brilliant way to waste more than 30 Euros...I might as well have flushed it down the loo.

But, I did buy myself some cheerful pansies and put them on the garden table. And no, the photo shows catkins, which I love as well and they are inside, in fact I am looking at them right now.

Did you watch the equinox yesterday? I missed it. Totally. First I was in a classroom all day and second there was no sun over the Wetlands. Just clouds. Apparently we should all have moved to Norway for the morning.

And it was my last chance as well...I won't live for the next one. Oh well.

The blows that life deals you, eh?

I wish you a wonderful weekend. I hope the sun comes out for you.

Viggo on Spring

Hi there, all you cat lovers and Viggo fans. We hope this cold, foggy night finds you in good spirits!
Just for fun, as is our habit, this is an interview with fat macho cat Viggo.  This time I have asked him his opinion about Spring.

V: What's with the tulips? Where is my portrait?

Q: Sorry, I thought: Spring...tulips...I'll try to find a nice picture of you instead.

V: Too right you will! 

V: Hmpf. Slightly better. Not my best photo, though. 

     Right. Here goes.

I am an Autumn cat. We Autumn-born cats are known for our tenacity, our joie-de-vivre and our panache.

But I must admit I do like Spring. It's nice to be able to go outside without freezing my nonexistent balls off, so to speak. And everything smells fresh and delicious. The fish wake up. And the frogs and toads start hopping around the garden again. I do like a good romp with them. Did you know that they scream when you nibble their legs?

Q: You do not! Tell me that you don't do that, that's cruel!

V: Don't be such a wuss, woman! I only tease them a bit, I don't eat them. You know I prefer my crunchy nibbles.

And then the butterflies wake up, and the bees, and...

What are you doing now?

Q: I've taken some new photos of you, seeing that you weren't satisfied with the other one.

V: Let's have a look then.

V: Jeez, that's not much better, is it? Not what you call an improvement! I'm out of focus!

Q: No, it's called soft-focus.

V: It makes me look fat. It's bad for my image.

Q: Not at all, you look sweet.

V: Enough! I do not want to look 'sweet'! I am the defender of this garden and house, other cats won't take me seriously ever again when they see me as 'sweet'. Remember last Saturday night, hm, do I need to remind you? That rascal from two houses over sneaked in through your bedroom balcony doors, and I jumped him? Showed him, didn't I?

Dutch Quality Music from Jodymoon. Walhalla Concert.

When a band's music has been your constant companion for over two years, and you can dream every movement, every note, every tone and every breath, going to their live concert is tricky to say the least. The chance that it will be a disappointment is definitely there.

So it was with great anticipation that I travelled to Rotterdam, to visit the intimate  theatre Walhalla in the old red light district Katendrecht.
Walhalla was new to me, and I had to look for it. But as my search took me past the Fenix loods, with a new food market, I didn't mind at all. What a nice venue. And they do wonderful fresh organic potato chips.

Walhalla turned out to be tiny. As singer Digna Janssen remarked: she was almost in my lap (she said 'on my lip', which is a Dutch expression meaning the same).
It was sold out, and chilly. But the atmosphere quickly turned to pretty hot, from the enthusiasm of the public.

Jodymoon, with new addition Annelieke Marselje on violin, started with a song from their new album. They played quite a few of the new songs, but many of my old favourites as well.

And... was I disappointed? Not at all! Digna Janssen is very sure of her voice, and has the ability to make it whisper or soar at will. And Johan Smeets, accomplished guitar player that he is, oozed fun and made his solos breathtakingly moving. Add Marie-José Didderen's cello  and the violin for drama and you have a heady mix. 

It's hard to catch the feel of Jodymoon's music into words. Quality pop music comes close, but the word 'pop' is far too shallow in my opinion. This is nowhere and never close to any middle of the road pop music. But not heavy, either.
I heard a man behind me (by the way: there was a very large women content in the audience; could it be that Jodymoon appeals to women more?) remark that he was surprised that it wasn't sombre. Due to the use of a cello he had expected heavy stuff, apparently.

The concert set me alight, and I left Walhalla glowing with delight. And vowing that I would start practicing the guitar again, straight away.

What a pity that Maastricht is 3 hours driving from my hometown!

Jodymoon Has Done It Again! Another Rough Amethist of an Album.

Hiya, my Internet friends!
When you have been waiting with baited breath for a new album for over a year, and "All is Waiting" finally plops into your letterbox, the anticipation is almost too much, isn't it?
My delight couldn't have been greater when I discovered the CD came with a handwritten post it from Jodymoon (or whoever packs and sends their CDs) to enjoy it. What a lovely touch!
(Told you I am a soppy old cow)

I had to wait a couple of hours for some peace and quiet, but then, at last, I could pop it into my docking station, put on my headphones, snuggle up in bed (my favorite music listening hideaway) and listen.

(Photo found on Google)

What struck me immediately is the great variety in the songs. Although there seems to be a kind of theme this time. Houses and places feature frequently. As they have chosen to record the music in their own Woodroom Studio in Maastricht, instead of in some foreign studio, this seems to have been an (unconscious?) leading motif. And emotions feature greatly, but this is nothing new for Jodymoon.

Take, for instance track # 7, 'The donkey dance'. It became my instant favourite, simply because I am a junkie for Johan Smeets' guitar playing, but also because of the way their voices blend and the poignant humor of the lyrics.

(As an English teacher my 'ear' for English sometimes trips me up where the lyrics are concerned. Digna Janssen (responsible for the lyrics) makes original use of my professional first language. But who cares if there is the occasional grammatical roughness? It's charming.)

This album is another rough amethist from a too-little known band. The single 'The long way round'  gets played on the radio this time, but I do not envisage an explosion of media interest in their fifth CD either, and that is such a shame! I suppose the reason is that Jodymoon is just not commercial enough.

On the other hand, perhaps they themselves aren't remotely interested in commercialism. I cannot pretend to know.

And it does give one a nice exclusivity at gatherings to be able to state that Jodymoon is simply the best Dutch duo around.

(Jody Who? Well, if you don't know who I mean...Are you sure you know anything about good music? Plug in your Nick & Simon and sweet dreams, my friend.)

The thing is, all jesting aside, I would like to urge everyone to get acquainted with this wonderful music. It speaks directly to your soul. Well, to my soul anyway!

(original photo by Perry Schrijvers)

So check out  "All is Waiting". You can find samples at their website www.jodymoon.com, but also on the Paradiso site (concert today!!! Wish I could be there) and through other concert venues. Simply Google.

I am looking forward enormously to the concert on March 15th in Walhalla Rotterdam.

And for all you international readers of Rays of Light: if there is just one Dutch band you would like to have music from in your music collection, just one, Jodymoon is a great buy.