So The Paraglider and I had a nice appartment in a b&b somewhere at the end of the wold (just before you fall off the face of the earth!) to ourselves, enjoyed the balcony, a glass of wine, the view, a swiss accordion player and a yodeler (not exaggerated! it's true! you should come and see for yourself how sweet our little country is) and a pedaling and giggling and completely adorable baby. Later, I had to change the latter, which was kind of rock'n'roll, because he farted really loudly the moment I took the nappy off, which put me in a laughing fit (and the baby too!). What didn't help was the TV blasting and the whole changing procedure taking place on one of these really old scratchy armchairs.
The next morning, the sun was shining so persistently that I decided to go read on the balcony, a decision which, due to the creaking floor, didn't make The Paraglider very happy. After an hour in complete bliss all alone on the balcony, the others got up and the nice b&b-owner treated us to a world-record-breaking-breakfast.
We then decided to go to Appenzell, a town that offers every swiss cliché a person could think of. My friend and I went to a shop for traditional costumes and we almost tried something on (I'll have to do that some time!). And then we found ourselves on the Landsgemeindeplatz. In this, let's just say it, conservative region of Switzerland, people used to get together on the town square and do the votes and elections with their hands up. On this very spot, nineteen years ago, women where allowed to vote for the first time, the last place in Europe and the last swiss Kanton (at federal level, women could vote since 1971, which isn't so long ago either!) to finally "give in". IT WAS 1991!!! You're welcome to comment on this particular tidbit of swiss history.
After this royally enjoyable weekend, I found myself having a major mind lapse today. After so much real world, it takes time to get back to the crazy world of the jazz schools. Just a brief summary of my day: I had three band rehearsals, I learned some things about jazz history, did some eartraining, practised on the drums and the piano, mainly 11/8, 7/4 and 5/4, will have a rhythm exam tomorrow. And I will tomorrow listen to or watch a performance of a friend who is doing something with hair driers, it's her master of arts in music and new media project. Which might be quite the event and mentionable here!
Off now to go see The Paraglider, who is sick. Who has a nurse outfit to spare?
Hi Mary, Sounds like the makings of a good memory and an enjoyable weekend. Hope you do well with your exams and good rhythmic expression as you play in those irregular tempos. As per your last post on philosophical elements within jazz, I am intrigued by the 3 types existing here in the USA. Smooth jazz which used to be jazz fusion in the 70s, melding elements of pop music and jazz together, the African American jazz greats like Miles Davis and Freddy Hubbard who were quite varied in their jazz creations, and what most may hear as a mellow more structured form of jazz, and picture a club serving turkey sandwiches with beverages as people dine, drink, and converse to this third mentioned set. It's late but wanted to get back to your blog and say hello!
ReplyDeletehi mary anybody - is it possible to write comments in german here? i have to do so, i'm sorry...
ReplyDeleteich gehe davon aus, dass dieser blog auch deutsche sätze verdauen wird?! obwohl hier das englische an stil definitiv nicht zu überbieten ist!
das wochenende im appenzell ist nun schon zwei wochen her... es war wunderbar mit euch, dank euch!
übrigens: wie wärs mit einem quereinstieg in die welt der werbung? deine kreativität und dein psychologiches feingefühl wären ideale voraussetzungen für eine steile agenturkarriere, sicher. oder gibt es jemanden, der diesen post gelesen hat, der nicht sofort ein wochenende im appenzell bucht?