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International Country Music Association Newsletter
June 2003 Publisher: Colonel Bobbie Patterson ************************************************** The Following DJs Play Independent Music Billy Ivers, Damen Hall, Loyola University, 6525 N.
Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL.60626 Arnold Ney, PO Box 400, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia Dave Smith, 44 Paynesdown Road, Thatcham, Newbury,
Berkshire RG19 3SG, U. K. Graham J. Archer, P O Box 233U, Casuarina NT , Darwin
0815, Australia Paul Benton, KDIA 1640 AM, The Light for San Francisco,
Bob Spence, P.O.box 833, Sutherland 2232, Australia. Bob Spence, Australia Email: radiobobspence@hotmail.com Marcel S.J. Hansen, Holland, Email: m.hansen@definancielewereld.nl Joris Smits, Holland Email: jorissmits@wxs.nl Paul van Gelder, Vissersdijk 11, 1601 LM Enkhuizen,
Holland Email: gelden@wxs.nl Eddie O'Strange, 21 Redvers Drive, Belmont, Lower Hutt
6009, New Zealand ************************************************** Talent Search Planned For Labor Day Weekend The American Karaoke Society is having their second
annual Talent Search, in Nashville. Last year, more than 40 record companies
were there scouting for new talent. Several singers and bands were signed
to new recording contracts. The ************************************************** Music People See The World From A Different Point Of View Music people tend to be more open minded and imaginative
that the general population. Sorry I haven't written, for a while. I have been out of the country these past 3 weeks. My band mates and friends finally, yanked me out of the studio, for a break. It's been three years, since my last vacation. We have our second album to make. It will be another marathon, I'm sure. So, I had the most wonderful vacation in Portugal. I am refreshed, brown and rested. It was a chance to reevaluate things and take a look at the bigger picture, get out of any ruts and peek past the illusion. The weather was perfect. I had three weeks of blue skies, hot sand and dappled shade. It was quite magical and a real adventure. It was good to get out and about again. Great to open the mind to new things, new adventures, meet new people, and become more cosmopolitan. Portugal is amazing. It is a country where industrialization hasn't taken over. The farms are still, for the most part, small holdings. They have more 'whole-farms' as one friend describes them. They grow the food they need for their family and sell the excess, at the local market. Each house has the ubiquitous orange and lemon tree, olives, and wonderful vineyards. All is on a small scale. There's not a big tractor in sight. I can't spell the name of the village I went to, but it meant Soul's Whisper or Soul's Voice. It's north of Lisbon and was a wonderfully ancient place. It has undulating hills covered in vines. Gardens were filled with waxy potatoes, onions, beans, plump peas, broadleaf parsley, fennel, and mint. Eucalyptus trees stand tall and straight in groves. There are rounded pine trees full of pine nuts, carob, and cork trees. There is a myriad of wild herbs and strawberries. It creates a feeling of abundance. No one goes hungry there. Many of the houses have lovely terra-cotta tile roofs. Most have their own domed bread ovens sitting outdoors. The bread is delicious and good enough to eat on its own. It's wonderful, hot out of the oven. Or; eaten the next day, when you can rip it open with great gusto and dip it in olive oil rich with garlic, sprinkle it with rough sea salt and sigh contentedly. Buying bread fresh everyday is such a simple pleasure. Here they have the ultimate barbecues. They use open brick ovens built into the wall of the garden or into the side of an out building. The fire is started with bay leaf cuttings and then laid with little logs and branches collected from the fields and the hedge rows. No pruning is wasted. Nothing is discarded here. Nature is still respected and valued. After a meal, rich in a sense of sharing and ritual, we would leave the table and stroll down the clay and stone track to the local cafe. There we drank thick expressio and large glasses of Constantino Brandy, rich and tasting of caramel. No puny little measures here. They just poured straight from the bottle, with a mind to hospitality. The local wine is rich ruby red and fruity, or green and chilled when eaten with seafood. There's no chemicals or additives to give you a hangover, and each family has a shed or a room stocked for the year. When my friend and I walked around, during the day. We marveled at the palms and the hedges of rosemary and honeysuckle. We picked a flower here and there and sucked the nectar from it. We admired the lovely individually designed houses with tiled verandahs and shuttered windows. Dogs would bark their welcome, as we passed. They serve as natural alarm to those in the fields, that a stranger is passing. A weather worn farmer came out to greet us, smiling. He had met my friend many years previously. They had harvested and trod the grapes together. He asked us into his little winery. It was cool and dark. He offered us a glass of his aromatic red wine, from one of his vast wooden barrels. The alcohol trickled down the sides of the glass, deliciously. My friend, has been going to Portugal, for over 40 years. He speaks Portuguese fluently. In the 60's, he often drove down from Manchester in England in his little open top MG sports car. He remembers driving along the coast to Aporto and to Lisbon where he met Nancy's mum. He tells great stories, about great adventures. They couldn't happen any more because of the freeways and the many changes that the modern world brings. A motor car was still a novelty then. An Englishman versed in Portuguese and open to their way of life was even more of a novelty. Somethings haven't changed. The markets are chock full of visual delights. There are fish of every description. Swordfish are actually sword shaped like a sword. They look as if they are made of organic metal. These are not the swordfish we think of. Breads are stacked high and in every shape and size. Everything can be found there, if you know where to look and who to ask. Some things were disturbing, especially for me. To a vegetarian and animal lover, their treatment of animals is harsh and cruel. It's cruel in England and America, but here they do not hide it away in factory farms. Beautiful rabbits are stacked in cages, as if they have no feelings. The chickens are stuffed into impossibly small spaces. But, nothing is perfect in any of our countries. Little reminders such as this serve to bring my romantic notions back to reality. In any country, there is much that could be better. They still have the disgraceful bull fights here too. Unlike Spain, they don't kill the poor beasts. They merely torture them and let them heal up. Then bring them out, to do it all over again! It is tradition like fox hunting. in Britain. As in Britain, most of the young people want it stopped. I think. Lisbon was an amazing city. It was a real pleasure to share in my friend's memories of the past. Nancy's parents were the perfect guides. It was a real treat to be able to put pictures to stories I heard, whilst growing up. We shared coffee in open air cafes on the trendy and historic city streets. What an adventure it all was, for me. Even driving while there is something different and a challenge. It was like the culture and cuisine, something I enjoyed immensely. For a while, we stayed on the Algarve. It is the area where many Europeans and British people can holiday cheaply. It is full of resorts and lined with fabulous beaches. Unfortunately; there is a crazy situation. For the most part, Irish people go to Irish pubs, the Dutch go to Dutch bars and the English go to their pubs and eat fish and chips. The Germans and the French stick to their own, also. So much for a European identity. Everyone was eating American style burgers, when they could. They were drinking coke and looking for shopping malls. There was little interaction between the different nationalities. Very few tried to learn the Portuguese language, discover the culture, or sampled the local drinks. Most drank Carlsburg and Heineken. Most Portuguese speak English and all their movies are in English with Portuguese subtitles. Thanks to Satellite and cable, people watched their TV shows and soccer in their own languages. Most seemed to come to Portugal to sunbathe, drink too much and behave badly. It's a sweeping statement, but often sadly true. The Lager lout culture is everywhere. There is a hedonism where it is OK to be totally disrespectful and intolerant of anything that is different. Instead of learning new ways and becoming 'Cosmopolitan' in the true sense. I was ashamed of being British, on more than one occasion. Dumbing down has got it's ugly roots in Portugal, as well. Still, it is few years away from the level Britain and America have reduced ourselves to, in some ways. Personally, when I go abroad I like to immerse myself in the culture of the place. I like to go to where the local people hang out. I have been lucky though. I have lived in different countries. I have traveled and lots of people have taught me to open myself to different ideas and ways of life. Many of my countrymen and women have not been so fortunate, I think. But then, they seemed to be having a good time. I went to Portuguese cinemas, clubs and bars. I have many Portuguese friends. Strangely most are either chefs or musicians. How lucky is that? So, I shared great music and was treated to some fantastic food and nights out. It was a wonderful holiday. It is a charming, mostly very hospitable place. It is one where I often feel more at home than the country I was born in. It was very nice to get home. Though, it was hard to say good-bye to my new friends. I will go back, for sure. It is good to be back on the Isle of Bute. It is bursting with green foliage and scented hedgerows full of rhododendron flowers and clematis. I went from one beautiful place to another. I am very fortunate. I am rich in friends. They arranged this break to get me out of the studio and from behind my computer screen. To me, friendship is the ultimate treasure, and I am a very rich man indeed. Thank you. Well, my friends I can ramble on. I think you realized that already! Right? But I wanted to share it with you and all the people that I share our music with. I am wishing you all the very best. It's good to be back talking to you again. I shall look forward to hearing from you soon. I am back in the studio. I have heaps of new songs to play and record. I can't wait. Warmest regards to you, from the tanned and contented drummer with ____ ************************************************** Humor Submitted, By Gil Lawson It was the first day of school and a new student named Martinez, the son of a Mexican restaurateur, entered the fourth grade. The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some
American history. Who She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Martinez,
who had his hand up. "Very good! Who said 'Government of the people,
by the people, for the Again, no response except from Martinez: "Abraham
Lincoln, 1863.", said The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Martinez, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do." He heard a loud whisper: "Screw the Mexicans." "Who said that?" she demanded. Martinez put his hand up. "Jim Bowie, 1836." At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke." The teacher glares and asks, "All right! Now, who said that?" Again, Martinez says, "George Bush, Sr. to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991." Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? Suck this!" Martinez jumps out of his chair waving his hand and
shouts to the teacher, "Bill The teacher fainted. And as the class gathered around
the teacher on the floor, Martinez said, "Saddam Hussein 2003."
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