lately i was thinking about the system here in Czech as often it gets a little on my nerves, with each bureaucratic process, all the needed information, I’m kind of used to it though. My conclusion is that a lot of it left over stuff from communism, the system treats the person providing the service as being guilty and the person using the service as being guilty, so its upto the person providing the service and the user of the service to prove otherwise, in each transaction. well it often seems that way.
czech bureaucratic process
March 18, 2011Songbook PDF
March 1, 2011This pdf has a couple of bugs, yet this is basically the way the songbook shall be printed. Each page of the book has a link where you can listen to the tune, as the tunes get recorded in better than sketch format, they’ll be able to be downloaded . Took more time than i thought to get this done, so i start with print stuff.
new track in studio
March 1, 2011After ages of staying out of the studio, i make a small production. I recorded it with Geoff Tyson. I’d like to record more, yet not possible at the moment. What i have done with this track is get other players to put tracks down, the plan is to get friends i’ve met on travels to add parts to the song and then get it recorded.
use of Data
February 26, 2011
I was angry at the lady who works on the Czech trains today, it reminded me to find out about data use issue. So i email letter bellow.
letter…
I was wondering about a privacy issue for trains.. and data the Czech train company records, and who to contact as to how that data is used, and if the Czech railways have the right to collect data the way they do?
story..
For the last couple of years i’ve had this train pass that gives a discount.. the thing is that Czech railways through pricing mechanisms are forcing me to buy a 50 percent discount card. When I buy a ticket using this pass, the company scan the ticket at both payment point (if you have 50/100 percent discount) and also on the train, for 25, 50 and 100 percent discount cards. I notice in Western Europe countries the card is not scanned on the train, i wonder if its allowed under EU laws, to scan the pass? Also who has access to my data, I don’t recall signing any contract, when buying the pass?
Also the 50 percent discount card, is not marked as a 50 percent discount card, where as it is in other countries. This means I have to have the card scanned at buying point, and it’s totally illogical, just adding one more process. My thoughts are that the train company is doing all it can to collect more data, rather than making a better service.
I wondered if the Czech train company is able to collect data this way, under directives the government sign?
travel
February 20, 2011On short weekend tour in Austria, Germany and Swiss, i try to write something each day. I got up early today, around 4 and caught the train to Linz, from there onto Feldkirich, not as much snow on the ground as last time i trained it through. Tonight I play at April Cafe nice cafe, on Saturday in Lindau, and on Sunday in St Gallen.
shoes in lindau
January 25, 2011
a shoe story: I was in Lindau at cafe 37, where i play some tunes next month.. so, I started to talk to the man next to me at the cafe, he was born in Lindau and back for a re-union. Anyway, he must have noticed that my shoes are not so great. It turned out that the man had a company that makes heaps of shoes in Germany, www.trippen.com , this is probably the best company of shoes i have ever seen. Not that i’m much shoe person, i tend to be fixed to price when looking for shoes, its hard to find cool shoes at a good price. Anyway he must have had some empathy for me, being in a bad pair of shoes, or maybe i just had slightly homeless/shoeless look about me, as i sometimes do. So anyway, he gave me a pair of shoes. When i got back to Prague,i mailed him, i looked on the site, and found a pair of shoes i like, called the Kafka ones. It was cool, the shoes i like most, fit the city i live in. I think i probably would have saved for a pair anyway, after hearing the philosophy of company and ideas. The company has shoes for men and women in all styles.. its nice when I can meet someone that has something to do with something that i’m wearing. I try to buy stuff often from people that i know, yet sometimes i’m lazy. Its good, this company sells shoes all around the world, yet all the shoes of this company are made in Europe, and its a small company.
also: it was interesting to hear about China and manufacturing, one thing i never much considered, is that in 10-15 years time, manufacturing in China is not going to be so different from Europe, from price point of view. So companies that choose to stay with making stuff in Europe, are more competitive for the long term, and have better quality. As labor in China is only going to go up. look at the website, its got a lot of shoes. www.trippen.com
songs
January 12, 2011Last year I started to write songs with a Czech band that sings in English. When i met the main person in the act, i explained that its best for bands to write songs as a whole, or do solo projects, from my view, if you are a songwriter get out and perform as much as you can. If you are a band, be a band, don’t be songwriter performing with band that has nothing to do with the songs.
Copyright can be owned collectively by all the band members, then there is more incentive for the band, as the copyright for the public performance of the songs is split. Everyone has a part of the songs.
Anyway, the singer songwriter for the band handed me a bunch of songs, i suggested some changes to the songs, as parts were slightly czenglish, however the band would not adapt any changes to the songs, as then the songs would not be the bands, although the band was not part of the writing process anyway. Telling me even if the songs were better, they would not change the songs.
Its a weird situation when a songwriter has a band, yet the band has not made the songs together. Yet its also hard for a songwriter to write with a band. What if you write a bunch of songs with the band, and the bass player then leaves the band, or the band splits.
The whole creative process gets kind of destructive when copyright issues come up. Its interesting that i would suggest changes to a song, yet the possibility of the change would not be adapted because of the copyright issue. For bands to get ahead in the commercial sense, they really need copyright issues sorted.
into the new year
January 7, 2011
Well, i bought a ticket on the metro, put the ticket in the clicking machine, and the machine stamped the ticket, well it made the sound. I got on the escalator, some metro cops pulled me to the side, looked at the ticket as it did not have a stamp. They offered me a 700 crown fine, i complained, so we walked back up the escalator and clicked again. the stamp was on the ticket. I refused the fine, and they took me to the police. I explained in my poor Czech (that was mostly sign language) what happened, and they said i could go. So did not have to pay fine.
new year blues
January 3, 2011
It has been ages since i have written to my blog, or written here. i’m in a transition process, the muse is changing, re-inventing. I made a lot of resolutions this year, better times ahead. Thanks to everyone that supports the tunes, good times in 2011.
balcony TV
December 22, 2010
park song from the summer
November 11, 2010Honza my friend from Czeska lipa tea house, invited me to meet his friends in the park in Prague in the summer.. we made this song together… Verča Neuvedeno had the lyrical idea, Honzík Šorm, Martina Černá & Adry Neuvedeno helped with the translation documentation and good vibrations for the song, i put the jigsaw t…ogether. I think the song best belong to the park:) i figured to document the song. The idea was that Martina Černá would sing the song, as she has quite a lot of status on youtube from singing cover versions of popular songs, yet nothing happens, so I thought to make a recording the song before i forget the melody.
Cajovy Atelier a tearoom in České Budějovice
November 11, 2010vid from putting old stove in cottage last weekend
November 11, 2010Jamison Young @ Munich Star bucks
November 7, 2010Thanks Carmen, how cool is that sound:)
old pic from Oslo Oil us USA
November 5, 2010
Worm Septic
November 4, 2010I’ve been looking at how to make the best septic system, for cottage. Im not sure if the worm septic is legal in the Czech republic, i’ll find out though. I wondered if maybe its too cold for the worms in the winter, and also what about if you are not at the place for a couple of months, how do they live? I sent an email to the company in Australia that deals with worms, worm farmasking them, yet they did not get back to me yet. I found this blog, about a Do it yourself worm septic, it looks kind of simple. And cost effective. Its important that the septic is effective, and environmentally as it has to be. The cottage is near a lake, so its really important. The lake is already toxic from waste from somewhere else. I got in touch with organization that does environmental protection here in Czech, about the lake, it would be good if the lake was able to be swam in again.
update:)
i found these answers… from q & a at this link
Q. What happens if we go away for extended periods or ours is a holiday house.
A. The Worm Farm Waste System is ideal for intermittent use or will deal with shock loadings just as well. Unlike septic tanks which smell when they are under load or treatment plants which just stop working if you had a party. Running costs are zero for a pumped system if no one is at home.
Q. What happens if I have a large function?
A. The system has a huge capacity. As thereare no mechanical parts it cannot be over loaded.
Q. How do they operate in Alpine conditions?
A. We have many installed in alpine areas. ski lodges use them for sewage, waste water plus the organic garbage generated in the restaurants etc. Even though these sites mainly operate for only a few months of the year, the dormant worm eggs hatch once the system is used again.
spectrum open
November 2, 2010
I met a Robert Horvitz last night involved with open spectrum, you can visit his website here. www.openspectrum.info the idea of open spectrum is that the government does not need to be issuing license, the reason for regulation are less and less with the changes in technology, as i understand things. As things are now, all forms of the radio spectrum are mostly regulated in every country, the main reason governments use for maintaining regulation is in case of emergency. And just so they can control stuff.
The thing that i found most interesting was that its possible because of the LCD communication potential, that government might try to license colors in the future. As the LCD’s are able to flash so fast, this means they are potentially a means of communication. So the need for a license has to be created. Imagine if in the future the color purple was cheaper than green, and everything turned to green that was blue, then the price of red spectrum dropped off. So what of the rainbow. We as people communicate through the colors we wear.
In the US they made plans open the spectrum, yet the condition that the spectrum was open, was that exact co-ordinates of the device must be logged and then the device would be given a point of entry. Its open as long as you tell us everything, kind of approach.
Update.. I sent an email to Robert Horvitz , and he explained that the EU, China and New Zealand are now proposing the same idea for the open spectrum, in other words, its open, yet tell us all the geodata information, and the door is open. Currently the system of geolocation databases is only for people that want to use the empty TV channels, and the purpose for this is to protect the digital spectrum. Yet this would probably follow to unlicensed radio devices soon, unless people get active.
For more information on the idea that colors could be licensed i’ve been pointed to this link
Story of journey to cottage. Part 3.
October 30, 2010
if you have nothing to do.. you can always read about cottage..This is youtube channel to watch clip on from the weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSvy-sLuPA
Its not normal for me to write blogs like these, yet maybe its more interesting than copyright..
On the way up the hill, to the cottage, the circuit went on the torch. I walked in darkness, no full moon like last time. I got to the cottage with new fuses, the problem was that when i put the fuses in the lights still don’t work. So i spent the night in total darkness.
Was strange experience lying on the floor. All the shutters were closed, when i closed and opened my eyes, the darkness was totally the same. Was like mediation cell. Was thinking of all the different places i have been and so on. In my mind I said if a ghost lives here make some noise, then I heard something, it suddenly got twice as cold, so that rattled me a bit. Kind of spooky, eventually i slept though. The mind plays tricks. It was cold though, i had all my jackets and cloths on inside the sleeping bag, the cottage is designed for summer weather. And the owner took the fire out when i bought it.
The next day i was supposes to meet some people in the town, that i met the week before, yet my mobile did not work. So i missed that meeting, Sorry for that. I got to town latter than i wanted, arrived and had a cup of tea, was kind of on edge cause of the sleep in the cold.
I went to the electric shop, and although the guy at the shop spoke not a word of english, with my small amount of Czech, I managed to explain that i needed an electrician, (mostly in sign language though). On a Saturday morning a man arrived in 15 minuets. The man drove me to the cottage and within 10 minutes arriving, he fixed the lights, a fuse on the roof needed to be changed. He said the electric was no good, and needed a lot of work. He had his friend on the phone who spoke english. He charged me less than 10 Australian dollars.
The electric guy dropped me back in town, I sat down and thought i best go back to Prague, yet as i walked to the station, i then decided i might as well walk back to the cottage and have something to eat (across the lake from cottage is guesthouse/ hotel/ restaurant) and tidy the place a little, then head back to Prague. Lunch was nice.
As i walked back to the cottage from the restaurant, about 500 meters, the place that is for sale, was open, as the owner was cleaning it up, getting it ready for sale. I asked if i could have a look around, he spoke not a word of english, yet talked at me, cause he was somehow convinced that i knew everything he was talking about. I called up my friend in Brno and she did a quick translation of my request through mobile. I asked her to ask him if I could buy both his stoves that were not being used in his cottage. It worked so for about 25 Australian he agreed to sell them, plus 2 not so great chairs. As soon as he sold them he told me he was going home. So i was stuck with two stoves and no-one to help me move them, as i arrived back at the cottage, my neighbour was just arriving with his son, that was really lucky. He was a in a good mood, and he agreed to help me move them, so we did. Was hard work for three people, yet both stoves are now in the cottage. The neighbour also mentioned that he might have the pipe to connect it to the chimney. Very cool if he has that.
beatpick
October 20, 2010
I started on the road towards finding some solution to the awkward license that Beatpick.com created without my permission, for use of song in fox film, the x-files i want to believe.
The main problem is that EMI music publishing think they own part of the song and Beatpick did not license them in, ontop of that Beatpick decided to create a license that would give nothing for all the DVD pressing of the song to DVD. The song at the end of the film gets paid for mechanical rights (DVD pressings), yet i don’t. Its amazing Fox films in some instances collects for the use of my song being pressed to DVD through the rights organizations, for instances where Mechanical rights have to be paid by law. SESAM in france.
Anyway, I contacted the organization that Beatpick lists in their contract for arbitration, Music Industry Association in the UK. I assumed that Beatpick music must be a member. Anyway the organization contacted me back, to tell me that they deal in musical instruments. MIA contacted Beatpick and since then Beatpick have taken their name from their website. The name still exists in their contract though
I’m wondering if this is enough to make their contract not valid. The law is kind of specific, from some views. Now i have to go direct to the lawyer. As soon as i pay a lawyer, i have to start paying. Lawyers don’t work for free.
Free-culture labels, end up being not much better than any other aspect of the music industry, that is the ones with focus on bottom line profits, and no concern for what the artist wants. I like the creative commons licenses, as they allow people to share stuff. Yet if Beatpick is example of business models that start to arrive as a result of the license, its kind of ironic.
Community based projects where people want to share music, getting around laws built for corporations, the license works fine.
Klatovy
October 3, 2010
Was a very cool gig in Klatovy on Friday, the tea house was packed, audience attentive, in old gothic style building, from 12 centuary.. It was a funny situation in the second set, a couple was looking at me, and they just started to laugh, i don’t why… yet it was a weird situation. The rest of the room was looking at me almost dead pan serious and listening to the songs, and they started to giggle, i thought i must have some food on my face or something. I ended up asking, yet they started to laugh more, then some other people also started to laugh. Anyway, it was kind of funny, i just wish i new what was funny, after the gig, they were gone in a flash, so i did not even get to ask. It reminded me of once when i was doing a meditation retreat, and some people started to laugh, and then the people next to them started to laugh. The people laughing had to get up and walk out. Was like some kind of virus..Thanks Eve, from Klatovská Čajovna U Naší in Klatovy for organizing the event, and getting such a nice crowd of people. I need to write more about gigs, i get lazy..
