Tax, Coffee, and all that Jazz...

Much of my past fortnight has been spent in attending CA CPE sessions,  jumping out of my comfort zone into the 'essentials' of accounting knowledge such as Topical Tax tips,coffee and meetings with people about future opportunities, attending assessment centres on all sorts of psychometric tests and presentations, exploring how various organisations work and playing a part to its potential success...

In short, a bit too busy to blog although there's much to give in bite size servings if I had stopped! My brain has been stretched to the limit and so has my body too...coming down with a cold! :(

In spite of all this, I did manage to catch a few performances at the London Jazz Festival this year and dragging a few friends along. Particularly enjoyed the Barbican Freestage on Sat 12th November with Samuel Jon Samuelsson's Big Band, which was followed by the amazing McCoy Tyner Trio - with tenor saxophonist Chris Potter.. and vocalist Jose James...a concert at the Barbican that lasted til 10:30 pm!

My last taste of the Festival was a Sunday afternoon at 606 club near Imperial Wharf , a once-neglected part to the west of Kings Road in Chelsea. Pressed the buzzer and I was led to the basement and over a rather hearty lamb rump and starters to accompany a quintet featuring Barnaby Dickinson (trombone), Mark Fletcher (drums), Graham Harvey(piano), Nigel Hitchcock (alto sax) and Lawrence (bass) - my friend and I explored what it's all about.

Maybe they've never played together, some of the music freshly off the printer in the morning,however, it was most enjoyable, the drums set the scene, and off they went , following a form, and then improvising , and coming back together again towards the end. a most entertaining sunday afternoon!

So how do they get there?

I'd like to quote from LJF's festival's venue newspaper from an article by Edward Randell:

" How do you move beyond learning scales to being able to express yourself emotionally through music? [says Parlato:] "Sometimes its a matter of stepping away from the music for a second and doing a little soul-searching and kind of figuring out who you are and what you want, what your triggers are, how you communicate and how you react."


"Music, is a conversation which is give and take, it's listening to sound and space".


[Adam Wilson agrees:] " To make that conversation occur, one of the first things you've got to do is have confidence. You can't be scared to speak to somebody, you have to be able to say your name, and say who you are and explain what you want to do and what you're all about. And you have to be able to say this in music....


So I tell kids not to have any fears. I even ask them, ' say your name to me- no, I can't hear you. Say it again, much stronger, support it.' And that's the kind of thing that you have to do when you're playing music."

and stronger, I say, not necessarily just louder.  I think about the Topical Tax tips lecture, the Musician who was disallowed his losses by being a teacher after being a performer with a reasonable income in the previous year as well as all those tax evasion cases knocked back due to businesses operating without an intention to profit? Why? In the artistic world, is it easy to be commercial and also communicate well? Definitely! But there are so many fish in the pond...one just needs to work harder.

A thought propped up by a plunger of coffee - one that awakens for the journey ahead in the darker and colder days that is to come.

Autumn Racing and medal bling tally for 2011

A Passion to Perform, in work and in my personal life, my medal tally for 2011, half of them, were Personal Bests , over 3 distances:
Half Marathon (Race your pace Dorney Lake), Marathon (Virgin London Marathon) and 10k (Capital Runners Bushy Park)

Been home for almost a month now, and I still recall AMSTERDAM Half -MARATHON weekend (14th - 16th October) being a rather lethargic one. Fresh off the plane from Houston on the morning of 14th October, we had only a few hours to be reacquainted with our home, and the cold weather, and then off again to Amsterdam.
A city visited many times, we were not too keen on the sightseeing. Friday night, a walk in the wrong direction in the cold, but keen to find some Indonesian food (but not keen enough to over-do and upset our stomachs) we feasted on Rijsttafel, and got basic provisions, and slept like babies in our spacious room. Saturday was spent bib-collecting, having a big indonesian lunch, playing 'hide-and-seek' with our other friends in town and trying to settle in early for the big day. I still remember the lady from the Chinese restaurant saying 'we support you'! But we couldn't sleep well at all that night...jet lag was affecting us more than probably our european counterparts (many travelling running teams from Italy, UK joining this race and staying in our hotel).

Sunday morning was windy with blue skies. Perfect weather but unprepared were we, no garbage bags, minimal warm clothing for the start. However, the start was spectacular. In the Olympic stadium, well rugged up, I waved to Seng and Cath as they set off on their 42.195kms..

then caught up with our other spectators, Leon and Serena. We didn't venture too far hoping to catch them quickly, saw Seng, and then waited for too long and no sign of Cath. Checked the iphone App (Roaming)...she's sped off way ahead! A cold day, poor transport links to other spectator points, I gave up on my spectating 'grand plan', took the train back to the hotel, relaxed and got going again for the 13:30pm Half Marathon start.

Serena and I met, got to the start line - we separated , leaning across to the other side, hoping to see our marathon friends come in...but no such luck. Off I went as the gun goes...slowish to start...at least it warmed up. The course itself was not the most exciting, but the crowds made up for it. and where were the pacers? I just knew that I couldnt stop, except for water, AA drink (after activity drink), sponge, and to take a gel. No walking though, but I couldn't pick up my legs and bolt. The best part of the run was the last 3kms through Vondelpark (all downhill? and not disillusioned like Hyde Park , or Bois du Bologne), and with the last kilometre...I saw people bolting, the 2 guys with 2:00 balloons also rushing ahead of me, but I cannot find my central governor (he has gone misisng). I just maintained my pace, said hello to Cath (all dressed now) and Leon, and race into the Stadium!
So glad it was over..2:05:31. Consolation for being the fastest time in an autumn half marathon, which has been for the last few years slower than the winter ones, when I was building up for a full. Oh well.

A few weeks later, and how else to celebrate the milestone, my birthday by entering the Capital Runners BUSHY PARK 10k  (the original intention was to enter another runbritain half marathon to improve my handicap and earn an extra badge on the site, but proximity precedes irrationalism - I'm glad!). Another cold morning, a reminder of the february windy long run where I took the bus to Hampton and ran home (3 hours +).
A paid race and hence, less daunting than the Bushy Park 5k Parkrun saturday (apparently 200 people + at the start), the set-up did feel like parkrun, well it was in a Park! A long wait...giving up my bag at the last minute, to start off at 10am along the paved path. I had a few 'friends' along with me all the way - a Mr Run-Walk, who walked even at 1km, but always seem to catch up, a Miss Pink, who would lift her legs high and run and catch up..and also the lone deer with lovely horns, spectating within close quarters, with other herds of deers spectating far away.
The trickiest part of the race was running through fallen leaves on soft ground. My focus was not to twist anything! Like the summer morning training, I tried hard not to get a stitch. 2 laps of the same, with marshals smiling at me as I approach the lake...the last few kilometres, and the final kilometre...faster than I thought, and did we cut corners? I wouldn't have thought but not too sure...the clock says 54:55. A PB, and knowing that I could do it, when my 10k split at amsterdam was around 55 mins and way too fast for the first half.

It wasn't a easy run, but I'm glad to hang up paid racing for the year (next goal, Parkrun) - and to celebrate with a lovely foodie lunch cooked by Petra
- worth the effort to walk across Bushy Park, my spring training ground, my summer biking playground and the first I've seen it in autumnal glory, with falling leaves. 


"Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall"

On birthday's eve

As I stand and watch the fireworks in front of my eyes,
with a heavily pregnant friend of mine
In the crowds, bonfires and smoke surrounding
I realised what it's all about.

Thirty something years ago
My own mother was in the hospital ward
Pushing, waiting for the moment her first born comes into the world.

The start of a lifetime of opportunities and fun experiences,
The dawn of new hope
Worrying if she would cope

Yes, celebrations, year upon year upon year.
Big, small, cakes, candles, the crowd comes and goes.
Some stay, and always will.
Not the ones because of what you have/don't have,
Not the ones because of where you live and whether they have better places to be seen at.
But the ones who brought you here, those truly grateful that you came into their world. Those precious few.

It's not about the presents -
Be it to brag a bag from Tiffany's or a star from Michelin
It's about presence - advancing another year with learnings from experiences past.
A new year for yourself, to advance and learn.
Of nuturing treasured relationships, less of those that slash and burn.

Deterioration being the inevitable criterion
Do we hasten its pace, or stop the race?
To enjoy at one's own pace
In real, nature or in virtual space.

Happy Birthday,
We age and reflect in time this time every year, but it's really just another day. ;)







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Seek, and you shall find...

...something least expected. A modelling opportunity!

I found myself in the premises of an Old School campus in Clerkenwell, on a Thursday afternoon, for a 15 minute interview.
A volunteer opportunity for this year's London Jazz Festival at the Producers.

15 minute is short to tell 2 people a story about why you want a job for free, how to ace an interview with very little relevant experience (in hindsight, I could've listed lots more) , so I injected them with passion. My little mind ticking everytime I am in a theatre, what kind of shows will get bums on seats, whether modernisation of classical sets were the way to go, how much to pay artists, attract talent, marketing. The bottom line of my thoughts, I told them, is because I was trained as an accountant. I also said I played the saxophone, and that got their attention, and had their colleague to come in and let me in on their latest project...

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon - 26th October, I found myself in the Portico rooms of Somerset House. In Concert Musician Black. With a room of other saxophonists. There were chatter, everyone was unloading boxes.

Real cool. We filled in the forms, got paid, and filed into the room which looked like a setting for a press conference - with London 2012 logo and many of the sponsors too. We were to pose, but not play. How to stop horn players from tooting away? Some chose to not insert a reed. Some had their mouthpiece covers on. I came prepared with earplugs from Deafness Research charity that I had been volunteering that morning, thinking there will be musicians letting loose. But it didn't happen.

in the drizzle, we went down into the courtyard - and were asked to form into a shape of the union jack. 'The Asian lady, stand here'...the photographer hollered from the balcony..yes, who else but me. I got into position, looked up, no one asked to smile. Tried to look natural. Same as everyone else.

There were a few other poses. inside, on the stairs. Photographers wanted to know how many girls were there - we were certainly in the minority and had to be mixed around to provide variety to the mix. Diversity as a theme of the Olympics I reckon.

the stairwell , im 3rd up on the left on the stairs. some saxophonists refused to dangle their horns over the railings - these were precious instruments.

We finished off with a final shot outside looking like we were playing behind water - being the River of Music theme.

We then were dismissed - back in the room, undid our mouthpieces, commented on the niceness of each other's horns, how they got into this photoshoot, and what they are going to do with the money. An assembly of players on a weekday afternoon, and who would be free to do this? Only when opportunity presents itself unexpectly.


A day later, some of these pictures were to appear in the press release and further photos. Spot me - pretty obvious I would think! :)

Andy Shepherd (front left) is going to hold an event with 200 saxophonists closer to the Olympics and we would be notified in due course...it would be interesting as it was absolute torture for almost 30 players to gather that day and not make music. It would've been a good jam session.

I didn't get the volunteer role at the London Jazz Festival this year. Which means I will now make my impact as the audience again, analytical mind ticking, wondering how many bums on seats and which ones would've emptied out halfway before the show is done. Perhaps this will free me up for better things that are coming this way?

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

This afternoon, we were in BestBuy
Trialling photobooth
Here, there, different backgrounds.
"Move away from the screen"
The screen says.
When we did, the rollercoaster moved
Ahh...a stroke of genius!
I picked up the MacBook air
Thinking, can I make my next laptop, an Apple?
Thinking of my shares in another laptop manufacturer
And incompatibility with the work of any conventional employer

But ....The lightness, the Smoothness.
Intuitive funky graphics,
The Apple of my eye
Has a higher price to buy

The Apple family that's changed my life, from Nike+, to Podcasts to FaceTime to iPad HDMI videos..as it has for many others too.

The news came that the founder today has died.
Goodbye Steve, hope you've had the time of your life. May you Rest in Peace.

Sent from Bonnie's iPhone4 (not quite waiting for an iPhone5, like many others, but the day will come)

Knife Skills 101

Knife skills, why need them?
Don't we already know from picking it up and using it, from home economics classes in high school, or from the amazing mandolin salespeople in department stores?

I spent a worthwhile saturday morning at Central Market Houston (our local for all fresh food) as a student again, back to the basics, Knife Skills 101.

Armed with my Messermeister knife bag and a few of the Wusthofs in our 'touring collection',

I set off onto the first floor of Central market, to a classroom with groups of tables and a demonstration bench. I always look out for the number of demonstration benches to get a feel for how hands on the class is, and this time, they had chopping boards lining up the front bench with chef's knife for everybody (we were encouraged to bring our own).

Our class started promptly at 10am. Chef explained to us that Knife Skills were essential to greater efficiency in the kitchen, and proceeded to give us some theoretical background on types of knives, safety, uses, maintenance, and then got us all to work at the benches.


We had good practice on slicing, dicing, julienne, supreme ( a technique to use only the soft bits in citrus fruits) on various vegetables - onions (no goggles required although some of us did get emotional), tomatoes, garlic (smash and mincing), potatoes (making fries was that easy?), basil, oranges, grapefruit and pineapple. I love it when instructors explain why we add salt onto garlic before mincing (to draw out the moisture) , or take seeds off tomatoes for pasta sauce (seeds were bitter), as the best way to learn is to know why and to proceed with it.




The fruits of our labor became dinner - was the line on the course description. I had wondered why, but found the answer at 12pm when we settled in our groups with a meal and glass of white to taste the products of our knife work - thanks to all the assistant chefs around.

The key to perfecting knife skills is practice, practice, practice. Equipped with refreshed skills, I can make myself more useful in the kitchen, with more efficient techniques in food preparation. Sharpening the Saw, Woodshedding.....practice makes perfect.


Another thing we were taught, if we drop a knife (even if it is worth $1000), let it drop. It is not worth losing 4 fingers over $1000). Glad to report that no fingers were lost during the class :)

Insightful, and essential. What a class. And with the perfect excuse to tour Central Market in its busy-ness on a saturday lunchtime, all the fruit/food tastings...the chef's world is more than an oyster, when it includes chopped fruits and vegetables.

I am looking forward to more kniving fun in the future.  :)

Killing time whilst on the road

Our journey home last night was delayed by around 4 hours (started driving around 4pm and only got home by 1130pm (incl a brief stop at Maccas to update ourselves via free wifi) due to this chemical spill on the I-10

It's the first time i've ever seen traffic come to a standstill on a freeway like this.No one knows what is really happening. local radios have proved themselves uninformative, stating only a diversion.

Stop. Start. Stop. Start.
 

How do people kill time on the roads  on these long commutes? 

STOP
You might see some get off, go to the back to their coolbox, grab some beers, and 'watch' the action (such as news reporters (as pictured). Truckies emptying plastic water bottles of yellow liquid out their windows, and then bottles of clear liquid afterwards..hmmm.

START
Whilst on the move, the roads are straight and pretty much uneventful (apart from the occasional rogue lane-changers, and the usual desire to overtake trucks, and then being overtaken by the huge 4WDs again).

Some drivers choose to slow down and talk on the phone (dangerous!) ......... but Podcasts are our answer.

In fact, we've almost exhausted our selection on yesterday's run (the time taken could've easily taken us from Louisiana to Atlanta and beyond). With a bit of preparation, they keep you awake, they are informative, amusing, and can bring you to anywhere in the world. Here are some of our favourites:

Freakonomics Radio (US) - the hidden side of everything, very well researched and a good hour's worth of

Restoring the Balance (Australia) - an extreme take on the Australian economic and political scene, views of young Liberal and young National personas , incredibly funny

Friday night Comedy (UK) - a satirical take on the week's news.


Marathon Talk  (UK) - keeping me motivated with news and celebrities from the running world.


and because they are free, and easy to subscribe to and update using iTunes, we're always trying new shows, and shut off those that make you go off to sleep (before you do). Lots better than the car radio, and good for when we've outgrown our music collection on the iPod.


The road ahead may be dark and lonely, but with more than just music in your ears while your hands and feet are preoccupied with driving, it might not be all too bad (with a bit of a laugh).