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Wanderlust
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David, Jurgen…you guys are impressive to find this many good Alaska songs! 👍😉 I thought that would be near impossible.
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Here is some New Age piano sounds to Alaska. Music always is like pearls to a scenery.
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Alaska even has its own folk festival:
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Hi Jurgen, It’s amazing how any scenery comes alive, like adding pearls to a seabed of sand, when you add music. Was incredibly relaxing and beautiful seeing Alaska and it’s wildlife unfold here. The last 30 mins just repeats the same scenery, but the first part is nice. Will be doing another trip up to Alaska possibly this summer so this really resonated with me. I was imagining composer/songwriters like Strauss or John Denver had amazing nature on their mind when they wrote some of their music.
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Thanks Jung, wonderful shoots of a stunning landscape. Yes music can breathe a soul into pictures and pictures in return can give music a wonderful shape. I also believe that every landscape leaves its traces in experience, in the senses and in the thinking of every person. I came across a “genuine” musician from Alaska: music in the tradition of John Denver.
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Hi Jurgen
Thanks, that’s a nice song, kind of reflects my mood around Alaska. I’ve been up there 3 times so far to see the glaciers and the music and scenery is indeed connected to my experience there.
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Wanderlust🐰 Easter Special 🐰
Easter, for some people, this is a time of reflection, the feast of Jesus’ resurrection. Other people look forward to spending time with their family and loved ones. And what would Easter be without that freaky guy with the long ears, who distributes colorful eggs everywhere?
I still remember my childhood, when I was finally allowed to whiz through the garden or the apartment on Easter Sunday together with my sister (depending on the weather) and suddenly colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies and other sweets were hidden around everywhere. What a lot of fun. Fun with a very long tradition. The word “Easter” probably goes back to a Germanic goddess of spring and fertility named „Eostrae“, in whose honor a festival was celebrated at this time of year. And what do the bunny and the eggs have to do with Easter? Perhaps this: Both the hare and the egg have been symbols of fertility and the beginning of new life since time immemorial. Easter also stands for this. As a messenger of spring, the hare may even have been the sacred animal of the Germanic goddess „Eostrae”. By the way, in the Middle Ages, shortly before Easter was payday for all those who had debts to settle. These were often “paid off” with hares or also with eggs. Who finally thought up the egg-bringing Easter bunny is unclear. The only thing that is certain is that the first known reference dates back to 1678.
Here with us, it is traditional to light large Easter bonfires or fire wheels on Easter night. Today an entertaining affair for everyone sharing this event. Originally, these Easter fires were to ward off witches and all evil. In the Alps, but also in some northern German regions, huge wheels of brushwood are set on fire on Holy Saturday and rolled down from the mountains into the valley with long poles. This custom at Easter is over 500 years old. By the way, these Easter fires used to be called “Hildebrand”, which means “holy fire”. So much for the customs of the natives in some parts of Germany… 😀
What special Easter traditions do you have or what fond memories of the Easter season do you remember?
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My favorite childhood memory of Easter is the blissful experience of sitting in front of the TV watching H.R. Pufnstuf while pounding down an endless supply of chocolate, peeps, and jelly beans from a wicker basket.
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And of course, not to be forgotten, there is the Easter Island “Rapa Nui”. Does the Easter Bunny come from there and do his assistants paint the many Easter eggs on this particular island? Probably not. Easter Island is an isolated island in the Southeast Pacific, politically part of Chile but geographically part of Polynesia. This island was officially discovered on April 5, 1722 by the Dutch navigator Jakob Roggeveen (and this is probably how the name Easter Island came about). Polynesians probably landed on this island as early as 700 AD. Rapa Nui became famous for its mysterious stone sculptures, which are still a mystery to scientists today.
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Thirty years ago there was a prime-time cartoon called The Critic, made by the same folks who created The Simpsons. It included a very minor character who was referred to as “the kid from Easter Island”. He had a human body topped by one of those giant stone heads, but with real eyes. He was basically used only for a single running gag where he walks by very unsteadily with his arms out for balance, and then topples over and does a really noisy face plant.
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Hi David,
unfortunately I don’t know H.R. Pufnstuf and The Critic. But thanks for the reference to the Simpsons. Here’s a really helpful explanation of how the statues on Easter Island could have been created…
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Seems pretty plausible, Juergen!
Don’t worry; I’ve never encountered anyone who remembers The Critic. And Pufnstuf was a kids’ show made by the same people who did The Bugaloos. There are a few episodes of each on YouTube, but it’s not required viewing.
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Matching the topic of Easter Island, I have tried to find appropriate music. Pretty difficult this time. Out of respect for the culture of the people living there, I don’t want to present any “exotic savages” in bast skirts, so I came across the music group “Matato’a” while searching. According to Wikipedia „Matato’a” is a musical and dance group from Easter Island. It is one of the most famous bands from the island. „Matato’a” was founded in 1996 by Kevamatato’a Atan. The name „Matato’a” means ‘warrior’ or ‘guardian’. The Band played all over Chile in the same year. The band, consisting largely of family members, uses traditional instruments, such as stones, horse jawbone, and bombo along with electric guitars and other modern elements to create a unique fusion sound. Matato’a’s principal motivation is to promote the ancestral traditions, the dances, the costumes, & body paintings of the Rapa Nui People. Performances are high-energy, with intense indigenous cultural representation.
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Very exotic indeed in a nice way Juergen,
Their words look like the Hawaiian language.
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Hi Tom,
the combination of modern electric guitars and traditional instruments is an interesting way of creating music. The vocals sound soft and harmonious. I googled once: The Polynesian language consists of 36 subgroups, well, could sound Hawaiian…. 😀
For me, the music of the indigenous people exudes joie de vivre and a feeling of harmony and contentment:
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Midsummer is flexing its muscles at the moment and it’s pretty warm here right now. That’s why I was recently sitting by an idyllic little lake. My legs dangled relaxed in the cool water and I held a delicious ice cream in my hand. And as I sat there, observing small waterfowl and the green trees on the other bank, my thoughts began to travel. To places that I have already got to know, but also to distant places that I would like to discover one day. New Zealand is such a place. For me, halfway between Earth and Moon. Well, of course not that far, but very, very far away. And I tried to imagine what the weather might be like there now, while the thermometer keeps rising over here. And so I did a little research. But not only about the temperature there (it’s now a comfortable 16 degrees Celsius/60 degrees Fahrenheit in Auckland), but also about the country, the local people and of course the music.
youtu.be
My latest timelapse video featuring the magic of New Zealand in 8K. Truly one of the most special places I have ever had the pleasure to capture. The variety...
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Hi Jurgen
Some spectacular time lapse photography in the video. The variety of landscape in New Zealand is wonderful, and love the secluded nature of the country, like a whole different world unto itself. Ideal place to film fantasy movies like Lord Of The Rings. Thanks for the virtual travel escape.
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Hi Jung,
New Zealand has always held a certain fascination for me. Even before Lord of the Rings. I do not know exactly why. I may have been thirteen or fourteen when I read Jules Verne’s novel „In Search of the Castaways“. In this book, the protagonist’s adventurous journey takes him first to South America and then to Oceania and New Zealand. I think this is when I became interested in distant countries and continents. Jules Verne’s novels awakened a wanderlust in me that hasn’t let go of me to this day.
Many years ago I met a friend of Manuela (funnily enough, his name was also Jürgen), who emigrated to New Zealand together with his girlfriend. He sounded moderately enthusiastic. Scenically he found it very beautiful, but he explained, when you live there permanently, you probably don’t perceive this beauty that way anymore. And otherwise he described life there as rather provincial and tranquil. So much for his description. As for me: there is a saying here with us: the sweetest fruits hang high up. Perhaps this also applies to New Zealand. The distance, the exoticism and the unavailability make it incredibly sweet. Nevertheless a great landscape, what I have seen so far in films and documentaries.
Time lapse photography also exerts on me again and again a new fascination. Maybe it’s because in these shots time is not only understood as a construct, but time can be seen. For us humans a completely new, unknown phenomenon of perception.
Moana Maree Maniapoto is a New Zealand singer and songwriter with indigenous roots. Together with her band „Moana & The Tribe“ she tries to popularize Māori music and culture again. She is not only musically active, but is also involved in the production of documentaries and films, such as the following video.
@ Tom: thanks !
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Hi Jurgen
Great little video, the background music is soothing, almost meditational, really nice. It takes me to the kind of music of Enigma and New Age that I really liked a lot.
The time lapse photography definitely changes your perspective of time, and let’s you perceive the passing of time much differently from how our minds can perceive it. If you could go into nature, for example glaciers, or a mountain range, and do a time lapse photography of 1 frame each century in the same spot and go back a few hundred thousand years, it would be a whole different perspective. You could see glaciers evolving, mountain range changing, canyons like the Grand Canyon being formed by the meandering river. Our perception of time is limited to the limitation of our body and mind, but certainly an insect would see it differently, as would a tree if it could talk.
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New Zealand has not only to offer a breathtaking landscape, but also a lot of music. Some well-known songs, that were represented in our charts, are of New Zealand origin. I wasn’t really aware of that. Perhaps the best-known band with New Zealand roots is Crowded House, who had a number of hits in the 80s. I still like this kind of music to this day.
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Very nice scenery!
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Always loved this song. A great tune and lyrically with lines like “In the paper today, Tales of war and of waste, But you turn right over to the TV page” and “When the world comes in, They come, they come, To build a wall between us, We know they won’t win” Thank you for putting this on
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„There is freedom within, There is freedom without“ Yes Steve, a beautiful song that makes you think. Despite being released in the 80’s, for me it’s kind of a timeless song. Incidentally, “Crowded House” emerged from the New Zealand formation “Split Enz”. This Band achieved its first international success with an idiosyncratic mixture of New Wave and 60’s Rock with a small dash of Punk.
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Wow. I’d forgotten this one. It was a big hit here! Another great song. Thank you Jurgen
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That’s a great song. Huge for Crowded House, but also big for Sixpence None the Richer. I heard their cover of if on the Smallville tv show and looked it up. I think I like SNTR’s version even better than the original, but they’re both great.
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Hi Chris,
thanks for your contribution. I assume you mean the following cover of the song “Don’t dream it’s over”? Also a very nice version. Smooth and melodic. I like the guitar part in the middle. Hard to say which one is better: the original or this version. Especially with cover versions, this question often comes up. Mostly there is no better or worse. Both song versions sound good. Sometimes there are also intense memories or feelings that you associate with a certain song. If this bond is very tight, then I usually like the original better. It has become something special.
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Yes, that’s the cover I was referring to. Of course what you said about how you discover music can affect perception is very true. Music is not just a controlled experiment. I didn’t even know Crowded House wrote that song until maybe 10 years after I first heard the cover of it.
Reminds me, and this whole thread reminds me, of what a friend of mine used to say. “The only bad music is no music”. A lot of truth to that. And there is great music done all the time. Music is one of the great things uniting all of us. Thanks.
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“Music is one of the great things uniting all of us”, I totally agree with you Chris.
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality“
– John Lennon –
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The singer Brook Fraser was born in Wellington and could also be heard on our radio stations:
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This is really really catchy. Not heard of this before. Great song. On this video alone and the clothes this lady must have a massive wardrobe! Thank you, enjoyed this
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You’re right Steve, an amazing collection of clothing. This song could also be called: Something in the Wardrobe. Unfortunately, after this very nice song, we didn’t hear much from Brooke Fraser here, although she released a total of six music albums.
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Tiki Taane, also a New Zealand musician, co-produced the following song with the Māori Ria Hall. An ode to his homeland but also an appeal to preserve the land of his ancestors and its beauty. In this context he uses the word “Kaitiaki” repeatedly in the text: A protector and keeper in Maori mythology.
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If you like, you can delve a little deeper into the nature and culture of the two islands. I had originally intended another video at this point that deals with the discovery, colonization and ultimately the sovereignty and politics of New Zealand and the associated tensions. Quite informative, but actually I wanted to present something more entertaining. The following video perhaps presents a bit of a perfect world, but it’s nice to watch and quite informative.
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Thanks for the tour, Juergen! New Zealand has long fascinated me. I would love to visit someday. If only it weren’t so darned far away…
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Hi David, how long would you be traveling to New Zealand? Depending on the Airline I choose, I could start at Frankfurt a.M. and then fly to Bangkok or Singapore (around 10-12 hours). From there on to New Zealand (again the same flight time). Alternatively, starting from Düsseldorf Airport it would also go via Dubai, then you have a total of 3 flights and the whole fun lasts about 28 hours (depending on how long the intermediate stops are). Neighbors of us flew to Australia a few years ago. The trip must have been great overall, but because of the flight time, they wouldn’t make that trip again. On the other hand, complaining at the highest level: The classic travel time for the first pioneers from Europe to New Zealand was round about 3 months by sailing ship. It is quite impressive what hardships and efforts previous generations have taken to reach distant destinations and remote regions of the world. Out of curiosity, greed for profit or simply the hope for a new and better life.
With the modern steamships at the beginning of the 30’s the journey was much faster. Now the ship journey took „only“ 28-34 days. Here is one such liner that sailed regularly between Britain and NZ. MS Rangitata was a passenger liner owned by the New Zealand Shipping Company. She was one of three sister ships delivered to the company in 1929 for the All-Red Route between Britain and New Zealand. Compared to today’s cruise giants, it seems to be contemplative, quiet and maybe also deadly boring 😀. Or people were just more relaxed back then and didn’t need constant entertainment.
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A pre-ADHD, pre-Ritalin&Prozac pre-Fluoride world.
Time to reflect, contemplate and take it all in.
One can only dream.
Cheers
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Hi Tom,
whether everything was better in the “good old days”, who knows? But sensory overload is certainly a disease of civilization, which at least children and young people find it difficult to escape. Personally, I experience it as very relaxing, when I can withdraw for a certain time on vacation. No TV, no newspaper and no internet. Just a few books, nice music and the countryside around me. It works. Nowadays, something like this is often interpreted as lazy. Perhaps this is also a problem of today. Socially recognized is the one who is constantly doing something, is in action and is busy. I have some friends who permanently tell me that they are stressed (under pressure). I know they cause this stress themselves and that it is completely unnecessary. But somehow, especially here, a lot of people seem to define their self-image through having stress. Only those who have stress have achieved something. The high song of the meritocracy.
Here are a few more relaxing impressions from a sea voyage to New Zealand in the 1960s:
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Anika Rose Moa was born in Auckland, but she spent her childhood in Christchurch, on the country’s South Island. She began writing songs at age 13 and won the New Zealand Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist and Songwriter in 2002 and Best Female Solo Artist in 2008 and 2010.
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Briolette Kah Bic Runga was born in Christchurch and according to wikipedia is one of the most successful musicians in her country. Her first solo album „Drive“ went six times platinum in New Zealand and her second album „Beautiful Collision“ is the best selling album in New Zealand to date.
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Of course, a trip on the legendary Kiwi Rail should not be missing at this point. Nice that there is so much film material on the internet. The most beautiful and professional documentation I have found on this is a German television production. Unfortunately not very helpful in this case. Of the English language travelogues, I liked this one the best. Very nice footage.
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