gLoBaL uKuLeLe oDySsey

2007-05-23T06:06:00.001-07:00

What's the pharase?

"Bang"
...Enlightenment...
drifting, shifting, alighting,
still fighting?
still thinkin' gone' be aw-right in a minute or two~fold,
check pockets, they do hold
the keys
to the doors
to rooms without floors, see

them wall they caved in till they smashed down on your sin:

the ceiling, you know, spun it's way home,

"GOtta GO!" it said firmly,

while escaping the tyranny of the bed!
Now, this room lacks a ceiling, four walls and a floor,

so we sit here and ponder, "Why the hells there a door?"
...with a key and the hinges connected to what?!?!?!?

like the room, you're so empty, but what to put in your cup?
wanna rip it apart, but there's nothing to hold,
so you flit-float around like a piece of space~mold...
DUck in here,
sprint to there,
but theres nowhere to hide,

this room is your...heh..., and thats you, trapped inside...

2007-02-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

here we are, backs turned, nervously snickering, and on the brink of what we wryly foretold in those 'futurisitic' and b movies, and so lost are we that we haven't even noticed, nor do we beleive the state of the planet, and the 'societies', and the 'killing field' of the human heart, the acres and acres of sadness that we sow and reap....we still think we are watching a silly b movie.

so we gladden and congratulate ourselves with complaint (see!!!) and congratulate our ignorance and with alacrity and spasmodically hurl blame with all our might, praying it will find a mark, any mark, mark...

and you and i live on the brink, on the fringes of the hearts of this beautiful evil, these nations over god, playing god while chucking pieces of his flesh into satan's furnace for our paycheck, and payback what we are owed, for we WERE promised, and we WILL collect our due, what were due, and, see, what we do to gettour-due, shield with smoke what might be true. it is up to him, not up to you.

yes, my friend...top of the month, i spent 9 days in tucson, az, working a gem and jewlery trade show. helping a friend, who has a jewlery company in bangkok, and making my rent this month. and all at once, i worked, and re-recognized all of my addictions, and why, and removed that suit of clothing (tho the closet is never far), and realized those impulsive-compulses ARE for the purpose of hiding....from facing the truth, dealing with others, speaking truth and meaning...the facades we have relied on for centuries are crumbling, and we are naked and fat and ugly, the makeup smeared and stenching, our flesh sploched and pocked, our smiles crooked and breath fetted.

my current project launched on jan 27th at the annual 12-hour music concert in celebration of saraswati. "mary's dream", at present a musical trio - uku and vocals, clarinet and vocal, and double bass and vocals, will expand (should be this month)into an multi disciplinary performance series, featurning short stories told by different means, directed and performed by different performers, linked together by the similarities, the coincidences of place time character, etc....of life. we seem to have our first performance gig on March 23rd. blogs, and demos on the web quite soon.

i was featured at a poetry gathering in late january....and have realized that the time for my stories has dawned, and the time for me to come out and bloom is now, and the time for my voice to be heard has come.

i will be dancing for a band, think 13, who will have a cd release party in fri, april 13. we are currently in rehearsals. art modelling, and rehearsing. speaking. writing. playing. planning organizing. callibrating. creating, reconstituting, chopping, dicing, cooking, and strumming. this is my life. i cry regularly and often. the 'beauty' was my new first love whom i met in august of '05. she who had travelled to india and thailand and the us to be with me, and our time had completed it's course, and like a metoerite orbiting, building speed, complete unawares of it's course, it crashed and buried itself deep in the killing fields of love.....penning a new chapter in the annals of that encyclopedia

2006-11-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

HOld on! i wanna show u something!
it's select, and chronological photos from the Global Ukulele Odyssey!
1St. destination: Taiwan

On the way outta town, my trio, The Rabid Bunnies, did a benefit at DaSilva Uku Studio, where i did the world's first ukulele handstand...

At the Dream Community, i appeared at the Tree Cafe, here with the fabulous Celeste on vox...

above: clowning upside down, and rockin' the world's tallest building, Taipei 101
left: rockin' with Rabbit

oNsTaGe with "7-11 Disposable Love Clinic"

jamming with Sari (with horn), the musical director of Circus Contraption (above)at my old friend Maurice's (in horns) birthday party...and (left) at Dream Herb in south Taiwan at my birthday party...
that month, i moved to the farm, Dream Herb, and performed daily solo lunch concerts, and clowned on weekends

sELecT imagaes from the Dream Parade...

2006-07-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

farewell, thailand...look out 'mericaw'

2006-05-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

bAnGkOk eScArGoT
The weekend before I arrived, there were massive demonstrations to oust the greedy mother fucker prime minister. It worked, and now they are restructuring the government, as well as writing a new constitution. Apparently, this happens every several years!

LunGE monkey, my local performance troupe, will launch our show “sOrRy I’M late!” next week. With 8 thai guys (3 pupeteers, 3 mimes, 2 musicians), an American clowness, and me, we explore family, ironic oxymoronism, paradox, fathoming the unfathomable, cArRots, abandonment, seeing the unseen, singing the unsung, killing the dead, etc., all performed within and in proximity to a giant 3X6 metre television. I play the baby. It’s weird. The show runs from june 6 thru… july or august or….

this rabbit, happy, is one of my roomates

here in bangkok, having been charged with training artists, creating, directing and performing a show: i find am frustrated, sad, lonley, misunderstood, etc. it is one of the hardest things i have done, but not for the obvious reasons.
an entry from Tue, 16 May 2006 04:29:06:
and today, again, i feel there is an implicit sadness floating around...
for lately i feel often a very deep sadness weighting me down, and yet, it is not mine. all i can recon is that it is in the air here. the longer i stay here, the more of 'what lies beneath the surface' reveals itself to me: by that i mean, what is in the deep darkness of peoples lives, (everything that they don't show in front of others or in public). i just seem to absorb that shit! its whackd! which brings me to my own darkness, for within the depths of this sadness that i am experiencing, i am inexplicably faced with facing my own demons...and i thought i had done so, but, OOPS! i forgot!; one must constantly do this work. facing demons is not a one time job. as in any relationship, it takes attention, and care.

me? what do i feel, you ask? fear. i feel fear..when i cannot feel myself, like floating without a body or feeling that i recognize. lonliness. when i can have no friends, or intimacy relations - there is no-one here that i can really talk to, to share with.. anger. at the extent with which so many people are so blind and just go about their lives not realizing the implications of their actions. );

so, i remember: the still point, and slowly try to realize what all of this means in relation to my life...i never said i 'didn't like bangkok'..the fact is, iam at odds with it. it makes me face things about myself...i think i am finally facing the anamoly of my relationship with woman.

and besides, the level and style of supression here is so much more refined here, that for me, it crept under my skin slowly, braced it's rotten tentacles about my sinews and ever so gently began knawing, slobbering it's slimey poison about my bloodstream...until i could identify the little (hah!) bugger and rock it to sleep, within myself, anyway. the rest of
the population is another story.

then today, i realized, yet again, that i am full of fear.fear of leading, fear of following, fear of failing, fear of succeeding, fear of crowds, fear of alone, fear of responsability, fear of no responsabilities, far of the manifestations of my contempt for humanity (whm i love more than life itself), fear of the apparent apathy that washes over that contempt, etc.....

to be honest, it is really going somewhere: i, today, feel as though i am awakening from anesthecization after undergoing spiritual surgery...funny, the producer of this event, which will run for 8 weeks, playing on university campuses throughout bangkok, is a reformed surgeon. very interesting chap who runs a consulting business, and hires artists to make events. he was also the producer of the hOOntoWn festival in which i accompanied puppet shows last december.
may be time to write a book and Manifest a functional religion

2006-03-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

chengdu, china

maRch, 2006

stopping over in tAiwAn en route back to thailand...i was offerred a three month contract there creatING, diRectING and PErformIng a GUerrilLa stReet Puppet musical circus tHeatRe Piece! that would push back my return to the U.s.A. to after july, for the show should run for the month of june, the an option to extend thru july.
it was good to get out of china, even though i wasn't three weeks, and only in ONe city. I did alot of paRtying, and no performing - but for an informal show at a private dinner. and though i met many super friends, made some performer and venue contacts for future touring opportunities, and had alot of fun, the relationship 'twixt china and i makes me sad, though i am not sure why. i had the feeling that i had before i went there as well: that i would certainly become lost in china, perchance never to emerge, had i stayed, letting go of myself, and without a project to guide me. the dissipation of all motivation toward my own touring gig across china even before i got there left me strangely, though comfortably naked(freed me??)! oDd, this world, in relationshiop to me. i emerged blue and dazed, realizing that each place i go, i am altered, for i AlLOw myselF to BE alTERed by mY enviORnmENT, AND ABSORB its EnErgy, perhaps to gain the nimbleness needed navigate said enviorns, perhaps a function of utility..so, going from one foriegn palce to another (and after a while, even familiar places become foreign, for upon my return , i find, though the place be unchanged, i am already different), i feel i am no longer seeking, but surviving, and being..and these moments are intense and precious; the love is real, the anger viable, the truth tangible.

2006-03-08T02:16:00.000-08:00

this is a supplimental blog...for you, mOm, and yOu, yUen-wEn

parting india... by whiskey, auto-rickshaw,

cow, rail, swamp, taxi and aero-plane

you lookin' at me? india was exciting, depressing, and so fucking intense...i was glad to be there, and glad to go......

2006-01-12T02:14:00.000-08:00

iNdIa 4 jan - 5 march, 2006
jan.4.....in a land where people go barefoot anywhere, cows and goats roam each block, (and monkeys abound..), meals are eaten with bare hands, temples replace 7-11's - and hindu, muslim, jain, christians, and a couple of buddhists, wander the streets in rivers of humanity. mariages are arranged by caste...

i run into my fine friend timmy witter, with whom i hung out, saw concerts and travelled for a week or so...below are photos from kanchipurim and pondicherri, respectively.

timmy and i catching up...

from there to bAngAlorE, to tHe aMazIng jOhn DevaRaj And his bOrnFRee aRt sChoOl. here, he takes working children off the streets, and teaches them to be artists. since i arrived just about two weeks ago, i helped write the world`s largest love letter (yes, it is a guiness contender), performed in the bAnGalOre street performers festival, in
the Oceans of Joy arts fest, and performed at the nAtioNal sEmiNar foR SociaL woRkeRs.....
john with the kids the phenominal mioi, who keeps the school running..the largest letter in the world (20X 80 metres), to the children of pakistan, suggesting peace between pak and india. at the unveiling, hundreds of children showed up to sign the letter...(r.) painting the monster..the chaps in the background are playing cricket! (below..me clowning at said event)

preforming at 'oceans of joy', and in 'sParTaCus rEtUrns'

riding south with exquisite zenobia, who came from taiwan to visit....

feb 28...finished 21 days in mAdiKeri, playing uku about 8 - 10 hours/ day. originally it was to be 40 days i seclusion...but, well i was living with this family on a coffee plantation. vittal (big monkey), his wife, bHavana and their spoled 5yo mukul (little monkey), and bhavanas moather. it was small quarters, and they couldn't stop asking me questions, nor, in vittal's case offering me drinks..he used to sneak up to my window at night and secret bottles of honey bee brandy through the window. i had some great photos, but my camera has unceremoniously deleted them....sorry, mom, i had some shots for ya in that batch. at any rate, i leave sunday for banGkoK, and then into china.....oh, yes, below are photos of jethro tull (!) whom i saw in concert in bangalore. tHat WAs sTRaNGE...

big love and trust,

randall

2006-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

the hOoNtOwN pUPpeT feStiVal in bangkok, thailand
(click images for larger view...)

here, i accompany...puppets! (note the charango, l.) with cc, my old friend from san francisco, who put me up for the days in bangkok...
some FacES and imagEs that made the festival so memorable...

duskin, janeke (also an old compatriot from sf), Boon, and the three masterful pupeteers........
sari and rabbit's wild west review makes it's debut.....

a completely wild new years eve...or a few images from it

bits from bangkok

my last images of taiwan...

2005-12-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

january II, 2006
HaPpY nEw YeAr! i am currently in thailand, just finished the hOoNtOwN pUppet fEstival. here at the rajata art house, in bangkok, there were 30 artists from around the world, about half of them thai, all working together to create one of the most beautiful collaborations i have ever been a part of. adam, joe, duskin sari, rabbit jean-paul and matt, who were part of the dream parade in taiwan, were all a part of this festival. photos to be posted later. below are some highlights of the past three months. on green island with sari and ann, who with me formed the trio "the flaming retrofitted kittens" we did two weeks at the trEE cAfe at dreAM CoMMUNItY. below is the cave we called home for 4 nights.

SOMe GrOoVY bABy ArT IN TaichUNG

clowning and rockin' with rabbit at the tree cafe

at taIpei 101, tallest building in the world perForming with the 7-11 dispoSable lOve cliNic"

sOme imageS froM the drEam paRade.....

below is "drEAm hErb", the farm in central taiwan where i lived and performed for 5 weeks

my bIrthdaY pArTy at dReAm hERbi was having so much fun here in thailand, that i missed my flight to india...so i stay two more night! then i am off to meet timmy witter in chennai, and collaborate with john devaraj at his freeborn art school for working children, in bangalor, then i lock my self in a room for 40 days to work on my chops: SomwHere, iNdiA. my fondest love to you all, and stay dry if y'all in the bay area!

2005-10-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

note to self: time, my dear, time; please remember, everything takes time, and that the time it takes does not matter at all: the constancy of firstly, attention (awareness), and secondly, effort, are the most important factors, i think, to 'doing' in this life. my whole struggle (so it seems now) is balancing between 'being' and 'doing'....
as the big event had finished, life, again begins to shift. i was invited to join a two week stint at tree cafe with sari, the musical director of circus contraption, and her partner, ann. splendid stuff! the flaming retrofitted kittens live onstage!

back on track with the global ukulele odyssey, i have been invited to a farm in the countryside to perform solo six days a week for one-two months. sari, ann and i decided to do our last performance together there, nov 5, my birthday, and bring a gaggle of other musicians and all the remaining artists associated with this project. joining us will be rabbit on guitar, laurance on cello, a-ge, a-guan and more!

the musical warrior, be ward!

some images from the parade preparation

a wild birthday party at confucius' place
mr. om being fallen upon

and with 'bood', lisa, rabbit, and others at the watering hole

at maurice's birthday party in taipei..i used to play at his pub '98' when i lived here in the 90's

(maurice is the one with viking horns!) escaped to hong kong for a day, as i foolishly overstayed my visa. i had the chance to see my great old friends david and his wife yvonne, and their precocious daughter, kai: (five years old, with the cutest british accent, says; "oh my! you use your fingers and your nails to strum the ukulele strings! how clever!"). they are doing well with thier english school , and it was wonderful to catch up.

i met a man first morning in a cafe who is a festival organizer, and who has invited me to perform in a bigfestival in early december! hou chiao! sari and i are negotiating with him for to bring two duo acts. if the pay is right, i will go back in early december, go directlyto india, then hit china on the way back to taiwan.

big love and thanks to everyone out in the world, braving, honestly and caring. great special thanks to dad, http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/vwright/ , and bill prather, http://www.billprather.com/http:/, for continued support of the oddyssey!

your loves, as mine to you!

randall

2005-09-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

thought you nearly lost me????

yes, i know it's been a while. since we spoke, i spent one week in the southern reigions of taiwan's countryside, teaching hambone and building a giant pink ballerina pig for a parade in the city of shin gang. our host frank "black dragon" is an aboriginal, and one coordinator of the shin gang foundation, which regularly invites artists and has grand bi-annual international events. we toured famous pottery factories there, ate some of the best food i have ever had, and drank more taiwan beer than i thought possible. the evening we arrived, we were taken to a huge banquet room and served exquisite specialties such as chicken testicles, and broiled fish. one by one, the dignitaries of the town showed up and we started drinking. when someone offers you a toast, you raise your glass with both hands, and usually "gan bay", aka, dry glass. if you do not say "gan bay", you will watch the person if they are higher status then you to see if they empty their glass or not. you follow suit. we were drinking with the town's mayor and the chairman of the shin gang foundation. i got trashed. not only do the most respectable folks drink like fishes, but there also exists a drinking club! 51 members all contributed money to have a clubhouse built, and they meet each evening. i was told if i wanted to join, i would have to drink 6-40 oz (here they are 600ml) taiwan beers. after 4, i was trashed, and went home with a taiwan-beer-headache that lasted till the following evening.
after seven days of teaching and making costumes for 14 kids between the ages of 6 and 70 years a hambone routine, making them up as clowns (not my idea!), and building our huge pig, affixing to a bicycle; our parade was rained out. so we overtook the local elementary school, paraded there, and did our hambone presentation. our students rocked! it was fun.
afterwards, i found an excellent masseuse, and then was taken by our translator assistant to her buddhist master to be read. the man was an older gentleman, blind, with no sense of propriety
afterward, i went to tainan to meet the loveliest girl in taiwan, who has since relocated to nearer enviorns! as if i wasn't lucky enough......
"ghost month" - the month when all the spirits come to inhabit the earth. you can see people setting up little altars outside of their businesses, making food and wine offerings, and burning ghost money, so that the ghosts will no have want for anything while they are here. it is a very nice, friendly and safe gesture. i was not visited this year, as i had been in years past.
i reconnected with my old friend 'morris', who used to run a bar near where i lived in shilin, taipei in the 90's. they sold the building and he had to shut his bar down. he is now selling lottery tickets and noodles with his re-united wife...it is so sweet to see them together! turns out she is an a-mei aboriginal, and invited me and juen-juen and our leader andy (who had just arrived the day prior), to a big a-mei cultural festival, very nearby to the dream community. when we got there, she 'registered' us, whereupon we were pinned with flowers, and brought to sit in the nobility seats with the chief and elders, eating beetle-nut and even invited to join in the dancing and song at one point! it was a blast. she will be helping me to find a teacher to learn some a-mei songs.
with thirty artists from 10 different countries having arrived, things are moving faster than a candian rescue team in a new-orleans hurricane (they arrived a week before the u.s. coast guard). we are meeting three to four hours per day. then drawing, planning, and building. we will have classes with around 1000 people from the community, and a nother 1,000 - 2,000 students we will teaching in the schools, to build floats, costumes and masks for this grand parade on october 15th. as many of these artists double as musicians, i have been steadily recruiting them for the tuesday night gig in the tree cafe. last week i played bass and hi-hat drums while singing and had celeste on vocals, and be ward stepped in on drums. john deveraj came up on guitar, then later 'rabbit' and so on.

will may be reporting more as life delivers it. love, where-ever you may be!

ran-ran

2005-08-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

greetings from sunny taiwan! just arrived over a week ago, though it already feels like three months here. must be the day i left behind somewhere. the heat here is so intense, i find it really hard to keep my clothes on. everything gets a very slow start in the morning, then usually working or drinking taiwan beer, eating beetle nut into the night, even though heat doesn't seem to abate with the evening. my chinese, even after 2.68/3 of a decade, though rusty, is not so far away - seems a translator is very much what this place needs.

north of taipei, at the dream community, run by gordon tsai & family: they escaped from china in the 40's, and aquired much of the land in this area called shijr (resting place of the tide). so he sells apartment in the residential buildings to support his art 'habit': he runs art classes, anually brings artists from around the world, builds a huge arts parade, raises goats, geese, chickens and rabbits; on site, there are two restaurants, a dance studio, puppet theatre, outdoor cafe w/ concert stage, etc.

(the photo on left is the goat, the right is gordon)

last week i was to play the lead in 'the handsome goat', a show co-ordinated by 'hotglue' emily (at right), to showcase the dancing, piano, roller skating and painting skills of 80 dream community students. the handsome goat (me) falls in love with the beautiful unicorn, and must dance to win her love...but he's got four left feet. well, alas! a typhoon came on thursday; huge winds, torrential downpours! great fun! The show was postponed to next saturday. Next day, sunday, i will go with another artist to the mid-south of taiwan to teach and co-create a small parade for the following saturday.

as for the gLoBaL uKuLeLe oDySsEy, i have been jamming with a reluctant er-hu (two stringed chinese violin) player, who also happens to be the manager of the two restaurants here, and gordon's sister. she had me play in the outdoor stage of the 'tree cafe' last night - my first solo gig. it was a light house...just as well, as the sound there made even me cringe..which isn't easy. she had me do two sets anyway, and paid me handsomely with beer!

had an opportunity to play with a local band who performs in yong kang park in taipei each saturday. they sing chinese and taiwanese songs and have kiddies dancing and old folks singing along...always a huge crowd. they do not accept money, either, only beer. by the end of the evening, there were dozens of bags full of beers in front of the stage area. (see photo below left: 'a rabid bunny in taipei')

have also been catching up with some excellent old friends...

lancelot bourne (that's his name), pictured right, who i haven't seen in about 5 years, just happened to be in taiwan when i arrived. we bumped into each other un-announced 7 years ago here in taiwan after not having seen each other for 7 years since we worked in the same restaurant together in santa fe, nm! also, my excellent soul-ed mate, juen-juen (juen-juen tzai!) stopped by to play catch up. everything is so clear! even 7 years past, it was not shocking to meet either of them! hope all is fantastical with y'all back home! eternal love,

randall

2005-07-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

alas! preparing to return to the place i once called home...a place i left my sanity, and the one woman who had captured and held my love, seven years ago.....i feel a sense of calm, accepting trepidation....fear, and uncontainable excitement.

this project, the global ukulele odyssey has already begun to open up new doors for me, and that in addition to having the opportunity to work with the dream community creating a multi-faceted arts parade; have filled me with hope and glory.....

the benfit concert at mike dasilva's ukulele studio, featuring the rAbId BuNnIeS - me on uke, myra chaney on cello, andreas sabogal on tabla - was great fun, if not a success...but it was a success, filled with friends and supporters. i will probably get to india thanks to that evening.

mike not only threw the benefit concert for me, but built a bamboo (yes, BAMBOO) ukulele for me to play and handstand upon! the 'ukulele handstand' was previewed that night! i am trying to put some music from the evening up on my website, soon!

more when i get to taiwan! bon voage...to me! thanks to you!
randi bunny