9 Feb
A Rollercoaster Day
I woke up this morning feeling down. It’s time for my annual bout of flu.
Then my flu blues were blown away when I checked the result of last night’s football match, which I didn’t get up at 3 o’clock this morning to watch.
Yes! Yes! Charlton beat the European Champions 2 – 0. What a high!
Then I opened my emails. From cheers to tears in less than a minute.
Elton Dean R.I.P.
This might not mean a lot to you but the music described below is part of my lifeblood. If I have any regrets about living in Indonesia it is that I cannot hear any of these musicians live, as I would have done, regularly, if I had continued to live in London.
Obit from Allaboutjazz.com
British jazz saxophonist Elton Dean died on the evening of February 7th, 2006, in a London hospital. For the last year in particular he had been suffering from heart and liver related heart problems. He was 60.
Dean first gained acclaim as a member of the Keith Tippett Group, led by the English pianist and featuring the horn section of Dean, Marc Charig and Nick Evans, in 1969. Later that year, Dean, Charig and Evans were hired by Soft Machine to augment their core trio. After touring as a septet, the band was trimmed down to a quintet, then a quartet. This resulted in what many consider the “classic” Soft Machine line-up of Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean, which recorded Third (1970) and Fourth (1971) for CBS.
Dean left Soft Machine after 1972’s Fifth to devote his time to his own group, Just Us, and various jazz-oriented line-ups, many of them featuring Tippett. Over the years however, he remained associated with the Soft Machine family (also known as the “Canterbury scene”), often in the company of bassist Hugh Hopper, while leading his own acoustic jazz quartets and quintets.
In the past few years Dean had again been involved in a variety of Soft Machine-derived line-ups : SoftWorks with Hugh Hopper, Allan Holdsworth and John Marshall; Soft Machine Legacy with Etheridge replacing Holdsworth; Soft Bounds, with Hopper and French jazzers Sophia Domancich and Simon Goubert; and the French-based PolySoft tribute project, again featuring Hopper.
Soft Machine Legacy recorded its debut album in September, and the band were looking forward to supporting it with a series of live performances; a live DVD, recorded in Paris last December, is also set for release later this year.
Written by Aymeric Leroy, chronicler and archivist of all things Canterbury.
I first saw and heard Elton in the mid-sixties with Long John Baldry and the Hoochie Coochie Men. Later, there was a piano player, named Reg Dwight, in the group for a while. He decided that he needed a better name if he was to achieve stardom so he borrowed Elton and John and the rest, as they say, is history.
Elton’s lyricism will be sorely missed. Losing a member of one’s family is deeply sad, but Elton leaves a legacy of recorded music which will ensure that he will live on as a towering figure in the jazz world.
I have the largest collection of ‘Canterbury Scene’ music in Indonesia. It continues to inspire me and excite me. If any local readers would like a CD of MP3s, many not officially released, please email me.
…………………….
Finally, I have received a couple of emails asking if I had received any hate mail following my posts about the Danish cartoon controversy. No and none in the comments either.
Then Indcoup sent me a link to a new blogger, Topo from Solo in Central Java.
He has only posted once, about the reactions to the controversy, but he has got into his vitriolic strde very quickly.
… let us look at our backyard. Have you been lately reading blogs run by expat in Indonesia.Take a look to see that having been in Indonesia doesn’t make them more sensitive. But I want to be fair minded. According to statistics compiled by Kelurahan Bangka Kemang ,number of bule population in Kemang has dropped 85% since Bom Bali I. After all, who want to live in a country where bombs explodes every year,except of course the remaining 15% who are second rated .
They seems to have no choice but stay because otherwise they will be one of those standing in the line collecting social security money in their homeland. If you want to visit their blog sites, drop an email to me, cause I don’t want to link my blog with rubbish.
Bules standing in the line collecting social security money ?
Oh, I wish, Tropo, I wish. After all, reading racist stereotyped tripe like yours does tend to make our lives here uncomfortable. At least, that’s what ‘Er Indoors tells me. And as an Indonesian Muslim, she should know. Still, I’ll be generous this once and welcome you to the Indonesian blogosphere. We await your further views with interest.
Incidentally, given that Tropo lives in Solo, I must ask if he is, or was, a member of one of those fundamentalist Islamic groups listed here who was involved in a ‘sweeping’ operation back in 2000 seeking to oust foreign (meaning Amarican) tourists from upmarket hotels.
A blog known to surprise and entertain as well as repel. More remarks made in all innocence..yet
Topo gonna get hurt real bad.
Avi,
Don’t threaten its tacky and cowardly to do it on a blog besides more fun to challenge at mind level..
I doubt it well get published but I did post comment to Topo as per below:
You really are a nasty, bigoted person aren’t you Topo. Fairly ignorant as well, Its sad really, having to deal both those handicaps at the
.
But lets have look at what you said “First, there were brutal attack on Mosque and assault to muslim population in Holland in revenge to the assasination of a film director”
…Who died??.oh thats right the film director and at the moment you have the nerve to condemn attacks on buildings and people. Probably not a good time to start talking about attacking buildings not your strongest area.
ÂThen, there was a denial of basic human rights in France and Germany when muslim students were not allowed to wear hijab. And still fresh in our memory how a bunch of descendants of ex convicts brutally attacked Muslim in Cronulla Sydney.Â
What a racist little man you are, ex Âconvicts indeed. I notice you left out the bashing of the Life Guards the week before of the car burning rampage that followed (oh and not by the Âex-convicts) . OF COURSE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND ME I CONDEMN ALL COWARDS WHO FEEL THE NEED TO BE SO BRAVE IN GROUPS.
Basic human rights not being allow to wear the Hi-jab? How about being forced to wear in various provinces in Indonesia, provinces Sumatera for example, is be forced to wear it a violation of Basic Human Rights or does it only work one way in your world.
ÂMuslim immigrants must take off their hijab and adopt western culture or else leave the countÂ
You and I know that is just a lie now donÂt we!! If you attend a state run school, paid for by the taxpayer then you have to abide by their regulations. However, in public, in your home or anywhere else you are free to wear what you wish. WerenÂt you just talking about respecting other culture?? ItÂs a two way street.
ÂIn France , Minister of Internal Affair bluntly said that he will wipe off those thugs living in the suburb with vaccum cleaner. Obviously he referred to Muslim and Arab populationÂ
No obviously he WAS NOT referring to the to Muslim and Arab population, he was referring to the brain dead thugs who were rioting, bashing and burning on the streets.
ÂThe would be saint Pope Benedict join the crusade by saying that Turkey should not be part of Europe ,because Turks are Muslim while European are christian. Well, he didnÂt say that explicitly, but his using the word Âculture incompatibility make no difference.Â
Dontcha just hate it when they donÂt say what you want them to and then you just have to go and make it up .
ÂBush declared a crusade against enemy of America. Later he quickly retracted the word crusade, but spontaneous statement reflects your subconscious,Â
Well maybe you have point here, reading your post , my subconscious is screaming many things none nice  Crusade give
cont.. Crusade give me a break it was hundreds of years ago.
ÂAfter all, who want to live in a country where bombs explodes every year,except of course the remaining 15% who are second ratedÂ
Ok we will give you a break here, go and do some real research and find out why Westerners (notice I did not use the term Bule, anymore than I would use the term ##&(@ for you ) are here, its sad but true. Remember the respect thing you were on about two way street again.
Âof jewish cannibal sucking the blood of Jesus Christ, or maybe an article glorifying Osama Bin Laden as a freedom fighter. How about that.Â
Well in country with a free press, it is your right to do that, STUPID, MORONIC AND INANE but your right, and wonÂt you look silly when noone burns an embassy.
Avi and Robb.
I’m a bit reluctant to leave your comments up. Surely they belong on Topo’s blog. No more here please.
But maybe he wasn’t having a go at Indcoup or me. Maybe, because he says in his comments, “Thanks to Jakartass and Indcoup. I bookmarked both of your sites long before my presence in blogosphere.”
But if not, who?
And maybe he’s using the proverbial wooden spoon for some shit stirring.
Whilst I try to get over this rotten flu, have a read of the Jakarta Post for its articles on how sharia law is creeping in, although the authorities which are doing so, apart from Aceh, are in breach of the Regional Autonomy law.
You are right, Sorry, I was out of line please delete my post
thanks
I like the sense of etiquette that Robb has shown here.
Is there a place where we can formally learn blogiquette? Or is this such a new literacy?
Yes, there is a very good guide to blogging, including ‘netiquette’, at Simon World but I’m not sure that it’s a new literacy as such Rather, the immediacy of posting and commenting in a blog can lead to occasional intemperate thoughts being aired.
I generally work out what I want to say through first writing in WordPad before pasting into the ‘dashboard’. That allows time for re-editing, second thoughts etc.
My advice is to take as much care over the writing as if using snail mail. Remember: once a letter has been sent, it can’t be taken back.
As for Avi’s and Robb’s responses to Topo, I’ve decided to leave them here as Topo seems to have ignored their central theses. He’s a racist thug in need of some serious education with regards netiquette. Read Sad Moslem’s comment to see what I mean.
Oh, and remember that the pen is supposedly mightier than the sword, but posting after a drinking session is not recommended..
sorry dude, I just got back to town. I was making a humerous reference to the stand up comic Russel Peters who’s catch phase is “somebody gonna get hurt real bad”. I certainly did not mean to threaten anyone on the blogsphere. I was simply insinuating that Topo is out to stir up a shit storm.