text:
Instrumentation: cello
From the Same Melancholy Fate
From the Same Melancholy Fate (2015) is an improvisatory piece for any instrumentalist, inspired by visionary artist Cleveland Turner, aka the Flower Man. Pete Gershon, author of Painting the Town Orange: The Stories Behind Houston's Visionary Art Environments, introduces the Flower Man's story this way: "after seventeen years as a homeless alcoholic, he had a near-death experience in the gutter in 1983. Then, a divinely inspired vision of a whirlwind of colorful junk prompted him to devote the rest of his life to brightening his neighborhood and the lives of countless visitors with the deft arrangement of colorful refuse." The Flower Man worked on his whirlwind constantly, roaming the neighborhood to forage for abandoned treasures to add to his ever-evolving yard show. But immediately after the Flower Man's final illness and death (in December 2013), the house and its array of urban detritus began to decay. On 7 February 2015, the city demolished the structure, and it is now a vacant lot. Matt Petty's video documents that day.
The player is given a pre-recorded track which has as its base my reading of Louise Glück's poem recorded and re-recorded in space so that it is engulfed by room resonance (a la Alvin Lucier's I am sitting in a room), along with additional layers of music and song. The performer records every performance of the piece, and each performance recording becomes the pre-recorded track for the next performance. Thus the original track gradually disappears into the new layers, the performer responds to his/her previous self as part of the counterpoint of sound, and every performer's tape part is unique, a palimpsest of previous performances of the piece.
The title of the piece comes from a gravestone Matt Petty showed me the day after I met him for the first time. In the white people's cemetery in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the gravestone says in its entirety: "Negro, From the Same Melancholy Fate."
Not I, you idiot, not self, but we, we—waves
of sky blue like
a critique of heaven: why
do you treasure your voice
when to be one thing
is to be next to nothing?
Why do you look up? To hear
an echo like the voice
of god? You are all the same to us,
solitary, standing above us, planning
your silly lives: you go
where you are sent, like all things,
where the wind plants you,
one or another of you forever
looking down and seeing some image
of water, and hearing what? Waves,
and over waves, birds singing.
—Louise Glück: Scilla: from Wild Iris
In addition to being part of Lighten Up, a multimedia project about visionary visual arts, the piece is also part of my ongoing project A Book of Days. Please visit 19 January to watch and listen to Jessie Nucho's ninth pass on the flute, which I think is the most layered version in existence so far, and I am LOVING it! You can also go here to hear David Steele's second pass on the clarinet, and here to hear Timothy Rosenberg's second pass on the saxophone.
To perform From the Same Melancholy Fate, you'll start with the original pre-recorded track (with the optional video.) You'll record your performance of the piece each time you play it, and use that performance recording as the pre-recorded track for your next performance. Gradually, the original track will be obscured under the layers of your successive performances.
I'd love for you to send me performance recordings periodically so I can hear where your version of the piece is going. My idea is to gather a bunch of different versions after some time has passed, and figure out some interesting way to present them as a group.
Please use the PayPal button to purchase the materials. And thank you for supporting this low-key way of publishing.
Instrumentation: flute oboe clarinet bassoon saxophone trumpet horn trombone tuba percussion (pitched) harp harpsichord synthesizer guitar violin viola cello bass open instrumentation
Ensemble Size: solo
Duration: 5-12 minutes
Electronics: Fixed Audio
Video: Yes
Project(s): A Book of Days Lighten Up
Walking Music
Walking Music was originally written for an opera based on a Stephen King story called The Man in the Black Suit. This music accompanies a boy's walk to the stream where he unexpectedly meets the devil. It's a decorated arrangement of an old hymn of the sort the boy might have been humming as he walked. The hymn, called The King of Love , is a reworking of Psalm 23, set to an old Gaelic tune.
Several years after making the piece, I made an arrangement that can be played as part of the River Project. Thankfully, I did not meet the devil on my journey down the river(!) But I feel that the music captures something of the trusting elation I sometimes felt on the journey.
Walking Music is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days. You can listen to a live performance by BRIM and the Guidonian Hand visiting May 11th.
The original version of this piece is for two singers, two guitars, chorus, string quartet, and optional stream ambience. The BRIM and Guidonian Hand version is for singer, violin, guitar, trombone quartet, and piano. You can download a score of that version here. If you would like a version that works for your ensemble, just let me know your needs.
And thanks for supporting this low-key way of publishing!
Instrumentation: trombone piano guitar voice (singer) choir violin viola cello open instrumentation
Ensemble Size: 7-12
Electronics: No Electronics Fixed Audio
Video: No
Project(s): A Book of Days BRIM: The River Project
Waiting for Billy Floyd
Waiting for Billy Floyd was written in response to Eudora Welty's short story, At the Landing, which takes place in a town called Rodney, Mississippi, that I visited during a trip down the Mississippi River in November 2009 with Mary Rowell and again over Easter weekend 2010 with H. C. Porter. The river pilot and poet David Greer was my guide and compass, both practically and conceptually, through this part of Mississippi, and it was he who selected which Welty stories I needed to re-read and which towns I had to be sure not to miss. I am grateful to these three traveling companions, and to Despina Sarafeidou, who helped me when I got stuck.
"She's waiting for Billy Floyd," they said.
The original smile now crossed Jenny's face, and hung there no matter what was done to her, like a bit of color that kindles in the sky after the light has gone.
from At the Landing
Here is Newspeak's live performance of Waiting for Billy Floyd.
Here are scores for two different versions of Waiting for Billy Floyd.
original sextet version [fl, cl, vln, vc, pf, perc]
octet version [Newspeak version: as above, plus guitar and trombone]
When you order the performance materials by clicking the button below, please let me know the instrumentation you need. There is some flexibility, so talk to me if you have specific needs for your ensemble.
A set of images of Rodney, Mississippi can be projected as part of the performance of the piece. Please let me know if you would like those materials as well.
Instrumentation: flute clarinet trombone percussion (pitched) piano guitar violin cello
Ensemble Size: 2-6 7-12
FlamingO is a sixteen minute piece for three simultaneous bands: the first, on your left, is the wolf chaser band, named after the whirling Inuit instrument (given to me by Robin Lorentz) played by the percussionist of that band at the beginning and end of the piece. The wolf chaser has also been recorded and electronically transformed: slowed way down in speed without changing the pitch, and then ring-modulated and otherwise warped, to create a bed (played back on CD) for the whole piece. The remaining wolf chaser band members focus on arpeggiations which are all motivic outgrowths of the sound of the wolf chaser. (For another piece that works with this same source material, see Wolf Chaser.)
The flamingo band (center) similarly gets their music from a sampled source: they are playing with sampled flamingo honks (given to me by Stephen Erickson), and their take on the flamingo sounds tends to be homophonic.
In contrast to the arpeggiations and homophony of the other two bands, the "metalastic" band (right) plays canonically inflected music, taking as their primary starting point an unidentified bird sample (given to me by Marilyn Ries.)
Each band takes a solo, and when they are all playing together things are complicated in a way I find more fun than straight cacophony: you can still hear the characteristic musics of the three bands, and you can choose what to focus on, and depending on your choice, all the other stuff seems to support you.
FlamingO was commissioned by Eric Grunin and the Crosstown Ensemble and premiered by them in 1995. It was revised in 2004 for a performance by the American Composers Orchestra. It was recorded in 2005, with the support of Frederick and Alexandra Peters, for my New World Records CD, Tell the Birds.
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format. For performance materials, please contact me.
And you are warmly invited to support this very low-key way of publishing:
Instrumentation: flute oboe clarinet bassoon trumpet horn trombone percussion (pitched) percussion (unpitched) piano synthesizer violin viola cello bass orchestra
Ensemble Size: large ensemble
Duration: 13-25 minutes
Testy Pony is a setting of the poem of the same name by Zachary Schomburg. I read the poem shortly before the first concert of my River Project and felt it embodied something about my trip down the Mississippi River.
Here is the text of the poem:
I am given a pony for my birthday, but it is the wrong kind of pony. It is the kind of pony that won't listen. It is testy. When I ask it to go left, it goes right. When I ask it to run, it sleeps on its side in the tall grass. So when I ask it to jump us over the river into the field I have never before been, I have every reason to believe it will fail, that we will be swept down the river to our deaths. It is a fate for which I am prepared. The blame of our death will rest with the testy pony, and with that, I will be remembered with reverence, and the pony will be remembered with great anger. But with me on its back, the testy pony rears and approaches the river with unfettered bravery. Its leap is glorious. It clears the river with ease, not even getting its pony hooves wet. And then there we are on the other side of the river, the sun going down, the pony circling, looking for something to eat in the dirt. Real trust is to do so in the face of clear doubt, and to trust is to love. This is my failure, and for that I cannot be forgiven.
Testy Pony is part of my ongoing project A Book of Days. You can go to October 12th to hear Hamilton Cheifetz's recording of the piece. The recording is also available on Songs from the River Project Volume 2.
Matt Petty has made a video to accompany his performance of Testy Pony on trombone. You can hear and see his version here. If you are interested in projecting Matt's video alongside your performance of the piece, please let me know.
Here is a score of the piece. When you click on the donation button below, I will supply you with all the necessary performance materials.
You are warmly invited to support this very low-key way of publishing:
Instrumentation: clarinet bassoon saxophone trombone voice (speaker) viola cello
Ensemble Size: 2-6
Duration: <5 minutes
Born Dancin'
In 1989, the cellist Jeffrey Krieger commissioned Born Dancin' to be the maiden voyage for his new electric cello. He recorded the piece in the very early 90's, and it was released on cassette. I have lost the original DAT master, so the audio below is a low quality transfer from cassette.
The story the piece is based on is called The Baby, and it's by Donald Barthelme, who everyone forgot about for a while but he seems to be back lately, which is a very good thing. On the recording, my brother Spencer is reading the story.
/borndancin/materials/1032BornDancin.mp3
Here's a score of the piece. When you purchase the materials below, I'll supply you with the drum machine tracks and more information about cello processing.
The image I've used for this page is by an artist named Yeondoo Jung, who has made a series of photographs based on children's drawings. I found his photographs via google images, which took me to a blog called Born Dancin', which has an excerpt from the Donald Barthelme story as its tagline and an entry about Yeondoo Jung's project. She (I'm guessing Born Dancin' is a she) writes about lots of interesting and entertaining things.
Some days I really love the internet.
You are warmly invited to support this very low-key way of publishing.
Instrumentation: voice (speaker) cello
Electronics: Fixed Audio Live Processing
I remember having once walked all night with a caravan and then slept on the edge of the desert. A distracted man who had accompanied us on that journey raised a shout, ran towards the desert and took not a moment's rest. When it was daylight, I asked him what state of his that was. He replied: 'I saw bulbuls commencing to lament on the trees, the partridges on the mountains, the frogs in the water and the beasts in the desert so I bethought myself that it would not be becoming for me to sleep in carelessness while they all were praising God.'
Yesterday at dawn a bird lamented,
Depriving me of sense, patience, strength and consciousness.
One of my intimate friends who
Had perhaps heard my distressed voice
Said: 'I could not believe that thou
Wouldst be so dazed by a bird's cry.'
I replied: 'It is not becoming to humanity
That I should be silent when birds chant praises.'
Sa'di: Gulistan II:26
Early in the Morning was inspired by a text in the Gulistan (Rose Garden) by the 13th century Persian poet and mystic Sa'di, which is said to be one of the most widely read books ever produced. Saadi was beloved by Emerson and Thoreau, and a quotation from his poetry adorns the entrance to the Hall of Nations in New York, but his work is currently virtually unknown in the United States.
While traveling down the Mississippi River in 2009, I was awakened in Iowa one night by an incredible din of frogs and insects. I recorded the racket, and its percussion creates the rhythmic material for the piece. About a year later, I happened upon a work chant from the Mississippi Delta called "Early in the Morning," which was recorded in the 1947 by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. An adaptation of that work song became the basis for this piece.
Well, it's early in the morn-
in the morning, baby
When I rise, Lordy mama
Well, it's early every morning a-baby
When I rise well-a well-a
It's early in the morning, baby
When I rise, Lordy baby
You have-, it's I have misery, Berta,
Wa, in my right side
Well-a, in a my right side, Lordy baby-
R-in-a my right side, Lordy, sugar.
Well, it's I have a misery, Berta,
R-in-a my right side, well-a.
Well-a, it's-a, Lordy, Ro-Lordy-Berta,
Well, it's Lord (you keep a-talkin'), babe,
Well, it's Lord, Ro-Lordy-Rosie,
Well, it's, o Lord, Gal, well-a.Well-a, whosonever told it, That he told a-
he told a dirty lie, babe.
Well-a, whosonever told it, that he told a-
he told a dirty lie, well-a.
Well the eagle on the dollar-quarter,
He gonna rise and fly, well-a.
He gonna rise and fly, sugar.
Well-rocks 'n gravel make -a
Make a solid road
Well-a takes a-rock –a gravel make a
To make a solid road, well-a
It takes a good lookin woman to make a
To make a good lookin whore
Well-a It takes a good lookin woman, Lord, Baby
To make a good lookin whore, Lord sugar
It takes a good lookin woman to make-a
To make a good lookin whore, well-a
Boys, the peckerwood a-peckin' on the-
On the schoolhouse door, sugar.
Well, the peckerwood a-peckin' on the-
R-on the schoolhouse door, Well-a.
Well he pecks so hard, Lordy, baby,
Until his pecker got sore, well-a,
Until his pecker got sore, Lordy, baby,
Until his pecker got sore, Lord, sugar.
Well he pecks so hard, Lord, mama,
Until his pecker got sure, well-a.
Well, hain't been to Georgia, boys,
but, Well, it's I been told, sugar.
Well, hain't been to Georgia, Georgia.
But, it's I been told, well-a.
But, it's I been told, Lord, mama.
Work Song, Parchman Farm, 1947
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format. This score is the version for flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, piano, and percussion. There are other orchestrations of the piece for up to 16 players. If you would like a customized orchestration for your ensemble, up to and including concert band, please get in touch with me.
Early in the Morning is part of my ongoing project A Book of Days. You can hear Kisatchie Sound's recording of the piece, which is called the Lulu in the Gaslight Mix, by visiting September 14th.
Instrumentation: flute oboe clarinet bassoon saxophone trumpet horn trombone tuba percussion (unpitched) piano guitar voice (singer) violin viola cello bass open instrumentation
Ensemble Size: 2-6 7-12 large ensemble
The Garden of Cyrus
Some time in the early 1980's, I happened upon an essay by the 17th century polymath Sir Thomas Browne called The Garden of Cyrus OR, The Quincunciall, Lozenge, or Net-work Plantations of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, Mystically Considered. It is a wacky and marvelous piece of work, and reading it kind of changed my life.
The essay both describes and embodies the idea of the "decussation", the place where two opposed forces meet, releasing energy by embracing their opposition. Sir Thomas Browne is a simultaneously a mystic and a scientist, a medical doctor and a literary stylist. He talks about the quincunx pattern as it appears on beetle's wings and in Plato's cosmology and a bunch of stuff in between.
My electronic piece, The Garden of Cyrus, was the first big piece I wrote after I finished school. It embodies the decussation by being totally rigidly serial, with algorithmic structures defining every pitch and rhythmic event, but I simultaneously tried to make the processes organic and available to the listener, as classic minimalism does. My goal was to wrestle the crunchy techniques of old-school modernism into something I could use, something I could love.
This score is the last movement of electronic version of The Garden of Cyrus. It's a four-part canon in twelve sections, where each player does faster and faster repeated notes in each section until finally s/he falls into sustained notes. The original version was electronic, but the excellent guitar quartet Dither recently asked me to make a four-guitar version, so that's what I'm posting here. It could probably be adapted for string quartet as well; please get in touch with me if you'd be interested in performing a string quartet version.
The electronic version of The Garden of Cyrus with all five movements is available on my CD Overstepping.
The Garden of Cyrus V is part of my ongoing project A Book of Days. You can hear and see Dither's performance by going to July 22nd.
Here is the original electronic version:
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format. For a set of parts, please click the donation link below, with my thanks for your support of this very low-key way of publishing:
Instrumentation: guitar violin viola cello
Electronics: Live Processing
Project(s): A Book of Days
Machaut a Go-go
Machaut a Go-go adapts both the music and the lyrics of Machaut's virelais "Moult sui de bonne heure nee" to the go-go style. Go-go is a jazzy offshoot of rap that fourished in Washington, D.C. a while ago. Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers were my main inspiration in adapting the style. Machaut a Go-go was written in 1991 for Kitty Brazelton and her nine-piece band, Dadadah. Kitty made the translation and adaptation of the Machaut lyrics, as well as helping immeasurably to shape the piece. Many thanks to her and the other members of Dadadah for their work and musicianship.
Machaut a Go-go can be performed with an introduction: a performance of the original virelais (for voice and harp or guitar) that is rudely interrupted by the drummer, who leads in the other musicians. Here is a scan of the original score to use if you want to do this introduction.
Machaut a Go-go is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days . You can listen to a Dadadah's recording by visiting May 7th.
You can download a score of the piece here. You can purchase performance materials by clicking the link below.
Instrumentation: saxophone horn trombone percussion (unpitched) harp guitar voice (singer) cello bass
Electronics: No Electronics
Project(s): A Book of Days Machaut in the Machine Age
Machaut in the Machine Age I: Douce dame jolie
Machaut in the Machine Age I: Douce dame jolie is the first of a series of pieces that use the music of Machaut as a jumping-off point for various juxtapositions of his art with mine. This one was originally written in 1986 for Daniel Druckman (percussion) and Alan Feinberg (piano) as an opener for their duo recitals.
The Tisch School of the Arts commissioned an arrangement of the piece for flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion in 1990 so that choreographer Monica Levy could use it for a dance work.
Machaut in the Machine Age I: Douce dame jolie is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days . You can listen to the ensemble version by visiting March 17th.
Currently there are three versions of the piece available, the original duo for piano and pitched percussion; a trio version for toy piano and piano with percussion (one player on vibes and glockenspiel), and the chamber ensemble version.
When you order the performance materials by clicking the button below, please let me know which version you need. The instrumentation can be changed beyond the three versions above, so talk to me if you have specific needs for your ensemble.
Thanks for supporting this low-key way of publishing!
Instrumentation: flute clarinet percussion (pitched) piano toy piano violin cello open instrumentation
Michael's Spoon
The inspiration for Michael's Spoon was this text from the end of J.M. Coetzee's 1983 novel The Life and Times of Michael K .
And if the old man climbed out of the cart and stretched himself (things were gathering pace now) and looked at where the pump had been that the soldiers had blown up so that nothing should be left standing, and complained, saying, 'What are we going to do about water?,' he, Michael K, would produce a teaspoon from his pocket, a teaspoon and a long roll of string. He would clear the rubble from the mouth of the the shaft, he would bend the handle of the teaspoon in a loop and tie the string to it, he would lower it down the shaft deep into the earth, and when he brought it up there would be water in the bowl of the spoon; and in that way, he would say, one can live.
J. M. Coetzee: Life and Times of Michael K
Michael's Spoon was originally written as an all-electronic piece which is the second movement of the five-movement piece The Garden of Cyrus . That piece was released on my 1998 CD, Overstepping .
Michael's Spoon is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days . You can listen to the electronic version and watch Mechele Manno's video by visiting February 9th.
The chamber ensemble version of Michael's Spoon was originally made in 2004 for performances by the Robin Cox Ensemble. You can download a score of that version here. You are welcome to substitute instruments as desired for your ensemble. Alternatively, the piece can be performed by a solo player on the cello part (or shared by low brass), with all the other parts pre-recorded. Here's a performing score of the two-trombone version. In addition, there's now a 2018 quartet version for trombone, piano, and one or two percussionists (on glock and vibes.) When you order the performance materials by clicking the button below, let me know what instrumental alterations you need. Thanks for your interest in Michael's Spoon!
Instrumentation: flute clarinet saxophone horn trombone percussion (pitched) piano violin cello open instrumentation
Cave was commissioned by the St. Louis ensemble Synchronia for a program investigating the theme of America in Y2K. The text is by Eileen Myles. It is the third piece in the last year I have been asked to write on this subject*, and I'm noticing that I know less about the meaning of the millennium, or the future in general, the more I'm asked to write pieces about it. I have, however, had several excellent conversations about souls with Ansel Elgort, who is six, while I've been writing this piece, so I dedicate it to him with love and thanks for his friendship.
* see the continuous life for another
Cave is part of my ongoing project A Book of Days. Please visit July 3rd to hear a recording.
The piece was originally made for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, keyboard (or piano and vibes), spoken voice, and electronics. There is also an optional video by Clifton Taylor.
Here is a score of the piece. I'm open to you adapting it for your ensemble; let me know what you have in mind.
I will send you all the necessary performance materials when you order the piece by clicking the paypal button below, with thanks for supporting this low-key method of publishing.
Instrumentation: flute clarinet percussion (pitched) piano synthesizer voice (speaker) violin cello
Not Worth
Not Worth was commissioned by the New York City ensemble Sequitur for an evening of cabaret songs based on the theme of money. I chose and adapted a text from the Analects ( Lun Yu 4.5 ) of Confucius.
Riches and glory,
everyone loves riches and glory.
But if you can't get them the right way
They're not worth winning.
Poverty and obscurity,
everyone hates poverty and obscurity.
But if you can't get rid of them the right way
They're not worth losing.
Not Worth has been recorded by Sequitur with Kristin Norderval singing; the disk is called To Have and To Hold and you can buy it here.
Not Worth is part of my ongoing project A Book of Days . You can hear Karol Bennett's excellent live performance by going to February 3rd.
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format. I'm open to you arranging it for your ensemble; let me know what you have in mind.
For a full set of performing materials, you are warmly invited to support this very low-key way of publishing:
Instrumentation: clarinet voice (singer) viola cello bass
the bus driver didn't change his mind
Hi Bus Driver Visitors:
One of many emotions that has come up for me post 9/11 is an intense form of feminist rage, something I feel quite uncomfortable about, if I can be honest, having always thought myself quite beyond all that. But when I got this Bang on a Can commission, the first thing I thought of was this poem by the Bangladeshi troublemaker Taslima Nasrin. (She had a fatwa issued against her in the mid-90's and seems to have pretty much disappeared from public life.) Originally I was going to set it in the piece, but I decided not to. Here's how it goes:
You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you.
When you keep on walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle.
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a loose woman.
If you've got no character
you'll turn back,
and if not
you'll keep on going,
as you're going now.
The harmonic language is mostly built of diminished seventh chords, in reference to that cool climax in the first movement of Mahler's Second, which I was listening to because I'd been hanging out with Berio's Sinfonia because of the "keep going" connection between the Beckett/Berio and the Nasrin text.
The pre-recorded material is constructed solely from samples of the pipa, a Chinese instrument that is conventionally played by cultivated young ladies performing elevated music for the delectation of the upper classes.
The title of the piece comes from something I read yesterday in a profile of the American troublemaker Al Sharpton in this week's (2/18-25/02) New Yorker:
"The bus driver didn't change his mind, Rosa Parks changed hers."
The piece is dedicated to the memory of Samia al-Rumn.
the bus driver didn't change his mind is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days. You can hear a rocking performance by the young Australian group Concept Ensemble by visiting August 22nd.
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format, and here's a set of parts. I'm open to you reorchestrating it for your ensemble; let me know what you have in mind.
As part of your process in learning the piece, I urge you to listen to my sketch of the piece, where I sing the Nasrin text that later became the clarinet part. It will tell you many things that can't be embedded in the score.
In order to play the piece, please order a copy of the backing track by following the paypal link, and thank you for your interest in the bus driver didn't change his mind.
Instrumentation: clarinet percussion (unpitched) piano guitar cello bass
It Happens Like This
It Happens Like This sets the recitation of a poem by James Tate against an adaptation of a traditional Persian chaharmezrab melody and dance rhythm. Perhaps the cyclical embroiderings of the chaharmezrab echo the successive embroiderings of the narrator's tale of the goat.
It Happens Like This was commissioned by Mary Sharp Cronson and Works and Process, Inc. for a celebration of James Tate at the Guggenheim Museum. Many thanks to Greg Hesselink for help and advice with the cello notation, and Mary Rowell for ideas and advice for the two-instrument version.
It Happens Like This was written while in residence at the Civitella Ranieri and is dedicated with affection to Diego Mencaroni, who once loved a goat.
I was outside St. Cecelia's Rectory
smoking a cigarette when a goat appeared beside me.
It was mostly black and white, with a little reddish
brown here and there. When I started to walk away,
it followed. I was amused and delighted, but wondered
what the laws were on this kind of thing. There's
a leash law for dogs, but what about goats? People
smiled at me and admired the goat. "It's not my goat,"
I explained. "It's the town's goat. I'm just taking
my turn caring for it." "I didn't know we had a goat,"
one of them said. "I wonder when my turn is." "Soon,"
I said. "Be patient. Your time is coming." The goat
stayed by my side. It stopped when I stopped. It looked
up at me and I stared into its eyes. I felt he knew
everything essential about me. We walked on. A police-
man on his beat looked us over. "That's a mighty
fine goat you got there," he said, stopping to admire.
"It's the town's goat," I said. "His family goes back
three-hundred years with us," I said, "from the beginning."
The officer leaned forward to touch him, then stopped
and looked up at me. "Mind if I pat him?" he asked.
"Touching this goat will change your life," I said.
"It's your decision." He thought real hard for a minute,
and then stood up and said, "What's his name?" "He's
called the Prince of Peace," I said. "God! This town
is like a fairy tale. Everywhere you turn there's mystery
and wonder. And I'm just a child playing cops and robbers
forever. Please forgive me if I cry." "We forgive you,
Officer," I said. "And we understand why you, more than
anybody, should never touch the Prince." The goat and
I walked on. It was getting dark and we were beginning
to wonder where we would spend the night.
Here is the traditional chaharmezrab on which the piece is based:
https://evbvd.com/goat/Dastgah-e%20Homayun%20-%20Crmezrab.mp3
It Happens Like This is part of my ongoing project, A Book of Days . To hear a live recording of the duo version by BRIM, please visit July 6th.
The instrumental part has been done on cello, on mandolin, and on guitar. Here is a score of the original cello plus actor version. And the piece has also been done as a violin/viola duo, and as a mandolin/guitar duo. Here is the violin/viola version of It Happens Like This. For a set of parts, please order by clicking the donation link below (and let me know if you need different transposition or clefs.)
Instrumentation: guitar voice (speaker) violin viola cello
I am really a very simple person
I am really a very simple person is the first piece I wrote after completing a journey by kayak and bicycle down the Mississippi River. It was inspired by something the visual artist H. C. Porter said to me soon after we met, in Vicksburg in November 2009. This choral version uses solfège syllables as the lyrics for the piece, which perhaps will evoke thoughts of the old shape note singing traditions.
Here is a score of the piece in pdf format.
I am really a very simple person is January 6th in A Book of Days . If you go to the day, you can hear a recording where I am singing all the parts.
I am open to performances of the piece by any group of instrumentalists and/or singers. I can supply you with various different arrangements I have made, or with the Finale file so you can make your own arrangement. Please let me know when you perform the piece. And you are warmly invited to support this very low-key way of publishing:
Instrumentation: guitar voice (singer) choir violin viola cello bass open instrumentation
Did he promise you tomorrow?
I wrote Did he promise you tomorrow? on 7 February 2011 as a memorial to Steven Dennis Bodner (1975-2011.) The title is something a woman named Carla asked me in a bar in Los Gatos, California precisely one year earlier, on 7 February 2010, while Chris Porter and I were watching the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. I had never watched a Super Bowl before, but the fact of two river cities being in contention made it sort of a required event that year. I don't know what Steve's attachment to the Super Bowl may or may not have been, but I do know that he loved Louis Andriessen's music passionately, so I have re-purposed a lick from De Volharding as the basis of the piece.
The piece can be performed by virtually any group of at least six instruments and/or singers. You can arrange your own score from the six conceptual lines. The vocal score is the simplest arrangement. You can look at the Newspeak arrangement to see one approach to arranging the piece for larger forces.
Did he promise you tomorrow? is part of my ongoing multimedia project A Book of Days . Please visit February 7th to hear a live performance by Roomful of Teeth.
You are warmly invited to support this low-key way of publishing. Once you make your purchase, we will send you a Finale file so you can make your very own arrangement of Did he promise you tomorrow?
Instrumentation: clarinet saxophone trumpet trombone percussion (pitched) percussion (unpitched) piano guitar voice (singer) choir violin cello open instrumentation


When it comes to choosing the right trading system to use, most people will make the prudent choice of selecting a system which has been developed by a reputable company. However, this is not always the case especially with beginner traders who lack trading experiences. Perhaps swayed by claims of untold riches and fortunes which some of these systems claimed to be able to deliver, we usually find all semblance of rationality thrown out of the window. Some of the percentage returns are so high that you just want to jump up for joy. The Quantum Income Machine is one such system which offers to deliver such kind of results. But before we jump to any conclusion, check out our in-depth review of it to see if the Quantum Income Machine can actually deliver what it promises.
What is the Quantum Income Machine?
Based on the marketing video for the Quantum Income Machine system, the system was created by Julia Burke. It is according to her the "first guaranteed money making opportunity in the history of money making opportunities." She claimed that the system was originally developed by a reclusive professor from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and uses a sophisticated trading algorithm which was formerly used by one of the world's largest financial institution. She claimed that the trading system is so accurate that it reduced the trading risk ratio to 0.004%. And fortunately for her and us, the professor had fallen on hard times and she managed to acquire this trading program from the professor. So now thanks to her, we are able to fill up our trading account every 3 minutes just by trading the markets with this wonderful software.
Essentially the Quantum Income Machine is supposed to work in the same manner as any other automated trading system. It uses a sophisticated trading algorithm that analyzes and identifies profitable trading opportunities in the market. Exactly what criteria and data are used to identify these opportunities, Julia Burke made no mention of this. But once an opportunity has been identified, the software will send to the system user either a CALL or a PUT trading signal depending on the particular asset and prevailing market conditions. The Quantum Income Machine also comes with a manual feature which traders can switch to if they want more control over how their trades are carried out.
The software is provided free of charge but in order to gain access to it, you have to register and sign up for a live trading account with one of the brokers recommended by the system. And once that is done, you also need to make a minimum initial deposit of $250 into the trading account before you are allowed to start trading.
Based on our research and observations, we are skeptical about the various claims made by Julia Burke about the Quantum Income Machine. For starters, we only have an unconvincing story from her as to how she got hold of this trading system. Furthermore, the fact that the so called MIT professor having fallen onto hard times despite having this software seems to cast doubt on the reliability of his creation. Finally, all the claims made are by Julia Burke lack any empirical evidence to support them. In other words, we cannot trust any of the claims made by Julia Burke about the Quantum Income Machine.
So what does this software actually do? We suspect that this software is merely a gimmick to entice unsuspecting traders to sign up with a bunch of unregulated brokers. Despite the fact that the software is supposed to be free, you are still required to make an initial deposit of at least $250 before you can start trading. And once you have made that deposit, a commission will be paid to Julia Burke for the client leads. Because there are no empirical evidences about the effectiveness of the Quantum Income Machine, we recommend our readers to stay away from it. If the software is truly as effective as what Julia Burke claims it to be, providing data to support that shouldn't be a problem. Instead, what we get in the promotional video about the software is a rundown on the lifestyle of Julia Burke.
Binary Minery review: Quantum Income Machine: 1 stars.


2010. Forman's pit (fig. 571.) has the floor for the tan or leaves (a) supported by oak joists resting on the side walls, and on a middle wall of open brickwork (b). The joists are 3 in. deep, 1.5 in. thick, and 3 in. apart. Instead of being covered with boards or tiles, a course of turf is laid over them, which is found to answer perfectly. The heated air is conveyed from the chamber below into the atmosphere of the plants by means of small apertures (c) formed in the back and front walls, at 4.5 in. apart; and also through tubes of iron, or chimney-pots (d), resting on the joists directly over the flue. Through the same pipes or pots water may be poured on the covers of the fines (e), which are formed so as to generate steam at pleasure. Ventilation is effected by air-holes communicating with the pit, and by sliding shutters in the back wall (g).


A woman was stripped naked by Indian officials in Kashmir. And we will blog about it. Again. In vain.
Don't let teachers bring guns to school in KP… Please!
A female taxi driver? Beysharam!
Can you see black and blue?


Police remove body parts from the apartment on Friday.
It's been a busy and grisly weekend for Hong Kong police detectives. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday different people in different parts of the city committed three separate murders. Each was committed with a knife and in each case the murder scenes were gory.
First on Friday police discovered the dismembered heads of an elderly couple in the refrigerator of a Kowloon flat. The couple's 29-year-old son was arrested and is believed to have committed the atrocities earlier in March. Police found other body parts in moisture proof boxes. Divers searched a section of the harbour for a missing hand. Also arrested was a 35-year-old man also suspected in the murder.
On Saturday an 18-year-old was arrested for "murdering and butchering" his parents, as reported in The South China Morning Post. The attack started when the boy's father tried to stop him from playing computer games. The father was declared dead at the scene and the mother is in hospital with severe injuries. Also arrested was a 19-year-old friend.
The reports of this second murder questioned if the son was influenced by the grisly attacks making headlines the day he killed his father.
Then on Sunday another knife murder was committed. In this case a 47-year-old woman stabbed her partner to death. Police reported more than 100 knife wounds to the corpse that nearly beheaded the body. Following the crime the woman jumped to her death from the 77th floor of a luxury high-rise building in Kowloon West. Before committing suicide she phoned her former husband, admitted the crime and declared she would kill herself. Moments later she was dead.
Again in today's newspaper reports the police question if this third murder was influenced by the previous two. In all cases knives were the weapon of choice, and victims were cut so many times their remains were dismembered.
The rash of murders this weekend guarantees weeks of screaming headlines for weeks to come with more salacious details. What isn't clear is how the reporting of one murder might influence another person across town. Perhaps the desperate mind grabs for a last straw and lashes out of frustration or rage. And with handguns illegal knives are the weapons of choice.
Whether murder is contagious remains to be seen. What is clear is that it is a black day in Hong Kong.
The building where a 47 year old woman committed murder then jumped to her death from the 77th floor.


Annapurna Base Camp Trek is one of the most popular and exciting trekking trail in Nepal. Located in the western foothills in North- Central Nepal, stretching from Kali Gandaki in the west to the Marshyangdi in the east. Mt. Annapurna stands toweringly at an elevation of 8,091m approx and is the tenth highest mountain in the world. Annapurna Base Camp Trekking is a good introductory route for a close encounter with the Himalayas, offering a fantastic view of snow-capped mountains with a landscape of terraced fields and other snow capped mountain peaks. Annapurna in Sanskrit language means "goddess of the harvests ". This massif has a religious significance in the lives of the Hindus residing in these areas. Annapurna Base Camp Trekking offers a sublime and diverse natural wonders as it makes way through waterfalls, villages, farmlands, rhododendron forests, and mountain vistas. A spectacular point for a dramatic panoramic view of eleven towering mountain peaks too.
Annapurna Base Camp Trek begins within an hours distance from Pokhara. The trail leads us straight to the foothills at the base camp at Annapurna to a high altitude of 4000 meters. Further as we move on the trail leads us through various diverse and wonderful villages inhabited by Nepal's indigenous ethnic communities comprising of Magars, Gurungs and Thakali's, greeting you with a wide smile and courteous heart ready to mingle and provide necessary gestures without a slightest of hesitation if initiated. We also pass through a diverse geographical and cultural variation with amazing ranges of flora and fauna. As we head on further the trail leads into the dense rhododendron forest amidst the snowy background poses a scintillating experience to be basked under. We trek further covering a fair amount of distance we reach as far as Ghorepani, a spectacular sparkling morning awaits you with its breathtaking sunrise, along with immersed water under the sunlight trickling through the crevices over the snow-capped mountains is out of the ordinary. This projection obliges the landscapes of the Himalayas and adds life into this whole region personifying the beauty to the limits. Another aspect of this region is its varied wildlife and endangered animals gracing these vast landscapes such as the blue sheep, snow leopards, tigers, Himalayan Thar along with various other bird species of multicolored Impheyan, koklas and blood pheasants makes this place a contrasting paradise.
Annapurna Base Camp Trek can be best attempted from the month of September to November and March to May. Primarily this time of the year the whole trekking region blooms around with rhododendron flowers providing a superficial and soothing calmness to the visitors. Ensure a life time adventure with Mountain Tiger Nepal which comes only once in a life time and set out on this prolific journey like never before.
Day 01: Arrival in Kathmandu.(1300m).
Day 02: Fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Drive to Nayapul (1070m) and Trek to Tikhedhunga (1480m).
Morning fly to Pokhara and meet your guide and porters and drive to trek start point, Nayapul. The first days walk is generally just enough to stretch ones legs and get you away from the road head. Depending on the time available one might choose to continue on to Hille.
App walking time 3 or 4 hours.
Day 03:Trek from Tirkhedunga to Ghorapani (2860m).
Continue on to the village of Tirkedunga from where it is a steep climb on an infamous 2,767-step stone staircase to Ulleri. From here the trail continues through beautiful forest until one reaches the pass at Ghorapani.
Overnight at tea house/ lodge.
Day 04: Trek from Ghorapani to Tadapani (2540m).
The morning ascent takes us eastwards for about an hour until we come to the crest of the hill. For a brief period the trail becomes fairly even before it descending through thick forest to Banthati where we stop for lunch. Banthati is a small place comprising of a few houses turned into lodges and restaurants. From here we descend for another hour before climbing a steep hill at the top of which lies Tadapani. Tadapani comprises of a few nicely built houses turned into lodges. The people here are all from Ghandrung and they settled here just for the purpose of setting up in business for the trekker who pass this way. A more central and close-up view of Machapuchare can be enjoyed from here.
Day 05: Trek from Tadapani to Chomrong (2170m).
Begin by a gradual climb after which we descend to the Modi Khola. We then start climbing all the way up to chomrong Danda and then descend to Chomrong village.
Day 06: Trek from Chomrong to Dhoban (2600m).
Proceed to Kuldi Ghar (3 hrs). The name Kuldi is strictly speaking applied to a single house perched on the west side of the valley. There is a clearing in the forest a little further on.
From Kuldi the route goes very steeply down to a band of rock and then levels out, running through thickets of bamboo in the bottom of the gorge, keeping on the west side of the river. The pasture of Tomo is passed and then we reach Dhoban our campsite for the day.
Day 07: Trek from Dhoban to South Annapurna Glacier Basin.
This day we begin by climbing towards Hinko Cave, and from the first big cave, descend a short way and cross a broad gully full of avalanche debris. The tracks remains on the west bank of the Modi, now flowing through a more open valley, and eventually emerges into the Sanctuary. Straight ahead is the high lateral moraine of the south Annapurna glacier. This is the site of the Machhapuchare base camp and one can eithercamp here or continue north-west, staying above the glacial moraine.
Day 08: Annapurna South Face Camp (4130m) Visit.
On up a broad grassy path for about 1.5 hrs, and then climb on to the lateral moraines and down the other side onto the glacier. Walking up the bed of the glacier is safe and quite easy and the 1970 British expedition Base Camp is reached after another 90 mins. Base Camp 13,900′. The trip is best done from the lower camp, carrying only lunch, and the best are probably obtained from the crest of the moraine. Return to camp around tea time.
Day 09: Trek from Annapurna south Face Camp to Bamboo Camp (2310m).
The descent follows same route to pleasant camp spot at Bamboo camp. Time – 6-7 hours.
Day 10: Trek from Bamboo Camp to Ghandrung (1940m).
The trail continues through rhododendron and bamboo. After Chomrong the trail continues steeply up stony steps to Kabrey Chautara and soon after the trail to Landrung leaves the Ghandrung path dropping away towards the river. After crossing the river the camp is sited nearby on the east bank of the river. Time – 6/7 hrs.
Day 11: Trek from Ghandrung to Dhampus.
The trail climbs quite rapidly to the Gurung village of Landrung, after which there is generally pleasant trekking through farmland with the odd outcrop of houses and the occasional school. After lunch there is a longish climb through rhododendron before cresting the ridge and dropping down towards Dhampus.
Day 12: Trek from Dhampus to Pokhara.
On our last day we have a choice of routes to return to Pokhara: we can either descend the ridge to Dhampus and on down steeply to the Yamdi Khola valley and trek to Pokhara via Henja; or turn south from Austrian Camp to the Kaski Ridge via Naudanda and Sarangkot. From Sarangkot the main trail leads straight into Pokhara, or a poor trail to the banks of the Phewa Tal can be followed. The lakeside walk is a great way to end this fine trek.Evening boating at Phewa Lake.
Day 13: Fly back to Kathmandu.
After breakfast, fly back to Kathmandu. Rest day, shopping st your own, explore around Thamel area.
Two nights accommodation in a star category hotel in Kathmandu.
One night accommodation in a star category hotel in Pokhara.
Full board Accommodation on sharing basis during the trek.
Sleeping bag and trekking map. (sleeping bag are to be returned after trip completion).
Lunch and dinner at Kathmandu and Pokhara.


Paul Pederson identified some key areas where these assumptions can negatively impact on support work (adapted from Pederson 1994, p. 113). We often assume that other cultural groups share our view of what is 'normal', e.g. in terms of accepted discipline, dating behaviours, table manners, and age-appropriate activities.... Cultural bias can impact mannerism, speech, and gesture as well as the rhetorical compenents of your speech. Try to avoid cultural bias if you can and if you can't, at least acknowledge it. Read your speech from a distanced perspective while considering the cultural context both you and your audience bring to the speech and how it will be received.
Unconscious bias in the workplace can affect skill diversity and impact overall productivity. Acknowledge and identify where bias exists in your organisation. Use data from employee opinions and involve team members to design solutions to improve fairness. how to see if strings are equal procesing HIV/AIDS has contributed to our understanding of counselor attitude/bias. Overall, the research suggests that the personal attitudes and biases of psychologists may affect their professional treatment and decision making. The impact of HIV/AIDS to this area of literature is illustrated below.
Unconscious bias doesn't just negatively affect women – it can have a detrimental impact on any minority group. Exposing our unconscious bias is extremely complex.
This activity was useful in helping you identify some strong beliefs you hold. It is good for you to be able to reflect on these and think how they might impact on your role as a care worker.