Travel Writer
November 21, 2007
This is the beginning of the latest writing by Peter George Mackie. Please contact him if you want to know more about his works. The first chapter of his piece of travel writing “Flowers of Zagreb” can also be downloaded at www.authorsonline.co.uk.
Travel Writer
Dave was pondering over a map of the former Yugoslavia when he landed on Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, which he had visited in the summer of 1977 at the age of 20 and had made friends with so many 17-year-olds who were still listening to ’60s music.
Most of them had travelled to the West at some point and were very interested in what he had to say about places he had been to, such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
Having known people who had been to this country before, he was only mildly surprised to learn that the locals were able to travel in and out of and all around Yugoslavia at will and felt it to be a country which seemed to be moving forward and whose young inhabitants exhibited what he perceived as a unique friendliness and a liveliness which was quite unlike anything he had ever known before.
He also found that many of them were interested in literature and the arts and it was there that he met his first real love, Elidija, a music student, who was one year younger than himself. Although it was only a one-night stand, that evening when they had made love in her friend’s flat in one of the back streets of Zagreb would always stand out throughout his life as one of his most treasured memories – and he was also very glad that he had been able to satisfy her as she was a virgin at the time.
Dave then found himself transported to the summer of 1986 when he had visited Belgrade for the first time and had met a young art student somewhere in town. They had taken a look in the window of an art workshop where some local artists or students had seemingly hurriedly put an exhibition together and they both agreed that none of the exhibits were very good.
It was a roasting hot day and, when the young student reached the flat where he lived with his parents and sister, after a long walk in the scorching heat, he removed his shirt and shoes.
It was at this point that he introduced Dave to his sister, a good-looking young girl with long black hair, who knelt down in front of him, also in bare feet, and exclaimed, “Serbian girls are the best!!”
The young art student, whose name Dave had probably never learned, then explained that the room in which they were sitting was his and his sister’s bedroom.
It did not seem to Dave all that surprising that, in a poor area of a country like Yugoslavia, a teenage brother and sister would be sharing the same room, which must have also been the case in other countries, probably including Britain, in the past.
At that time, people were keen to emphasise that they were one country and, when Dave visited Sarajevo that same summer, he thought that it was the most beautiful and unusual city he had ever seen – and the last thing that would have occurred to him was that there would be a war there six years later. He was also disappointed that the spool for his camera had run out by this time so that he was unable to take any photographs.
His spirit at this point moved back to the map again where someone or something was trying to tell him that, in the future, the young people in Zagreb and Belgrade would be reconciled again but did not explain how this would be done… but it was found necessary to heal the town of Split, where the Dioclitain palace was falling down……
Dave was presently transported to the back garden in Scotland where he had played as a child in the 1960s.
In later life, he would realise how lucky he was to have heard all the music at that time, when it had first come out, as he considered that something special had happened then, which could only have occurred once in the whole of human history.
His mind moved on to when he was 12 years old, when he had had some very vivid and profound spiritual experiences which people around him at that time had confused with mental illness.
His father had had him incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, where he was to spend two and a half years, and Dave would never to be able to forgive him for having destroyed him spiritually as well as having taken away two and a half years of his youth, which he would never get back, and, due to which, he would never be able to form steady relationships, his courtship with a young girl having been put a stop to by the hospital authorities.
Dave’s mother, on the other hand, was convinced that Dave, who was always the first in the class at Maths at school, was going to be a genius, but his education was neglected in the hospital and he would never be able to make much of his life…..
In fact, throughout his whole life, Dave’s father had never been able to accept the fact that he had ever grown up and would continue to play psychological games with him. For instance, only a few years before, when Dave was in his forties, his father, having lured him back to his house to see whether or not a certain magazine had arrived for him in the post, threatened to call the police because Dave had accidentally dropped a cup and saucer into the sink. This, in turn, brought back all the old traumas of what his father had done to him when he was younger, the memories of which he had been desparately trying to shake off…
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An Artist Portrait (Part One) This is a fantastic article written exclusively for my Weblog by Frank V. Cahoj. Please feel free to comment here or send him emails. He'll be happy of this. An Artist Portrait (Part One) My name is Frank Cahoj and I have been an artist since I was born. I can...... -
A Finnish music story Musician Matti Mattila wrote his story for us, a Finnish music story! Please read also his Finnish blog and check his page at LinkedIn. I named this article "A Finnish music story" because through Matti words we can know an exclusive tale about late 70's and 80's of Finnish music....... -
Punk music in the late seventies Wade Crawley said me "I propose to write an article about the influence of punk and indie music and culture on a young person (myself) coming of age in England in the late seventies and early eighties". I accepted, and Wade wrote this article! I must add also these more...... -
Growing Independent Film Industry in the Southeast Heidi Yost wrote this exclusive article. Heidi (photo) is a talented actress. In this article, she explains Film Industry situation in the southeast, talks about her experience as artist and gives also important hints for the new actors. Growing Independent Film Industry in the Southeast When I returned home to...... -
A Beautiful Interview Ceri Shaw suggested me an interview from our friends at Americymru. So here's this beautiful interview with Dr. Karl Jenkins (I include also the link to their ticket giveaway competition for his performance at Carnegie Hall NY on March 6th 2010). A Beautiful Interview Dr. Karl Jenkins is Britain's greatest......
- Poor Money Choices Ruined My Parents' Life [Below is a guest post from my wife. I had tried to get her to write this story for more than two years now. I imagine it was very difficult for her to write. The title is mine, which I thought was a little more catchy than "A history of......
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Thanks to Roddick Everyone Wins at China Open This weekendâs China Open was a competitive test of skills for the players that participated and although Andy Roddick won, at the end of the day, it was the people affected by the earthquake early this year that took home the gold. As a gesture of goodwill, Roddick donated $25,000...... - Is A Compelling Testimony Required To Inspire Others? The blogger behind Budgets are Sexy once asked if a you had to "have a story" to be a respected personal finance blogger. It was an interesting question on many different levels. I reflected on the number of times I've told pieces of my own story here at Frugal Dad,......
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Review: My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy Do you love My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Eliza Doolittle? If you answered an unequivocal yes, go get yourself a copy of My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy. This Victorian romance will win you over faster than you can say the “Rain in Spain!” So much happens...... -
allure of the older guy: part 2 "Kissing is a man's business" - Gerry (PS: I love you, character portrayed by Gerard Butler) Oh my God, how true. Having kissed men and boys, trust me; I know the difference. Boys think they know they are getting it right and have no concern whether they are pleasing you......
Music Reviews: Splendid E-zine
October 20, 2007
Another beautiful music review I had (with my pseudonym Vanethian) is this one at Splendid E-zine. The music review is about my music album Futures Past, with my pseudonym Vanethian. If you want to read more music reviews just search my name on Google and Yahoo.
Music Reviews: Splendid E-zine
If you’ve ever caught yourself getting into the soundtracks that play in the background of sci-fi fantasy games, you might enjoy Futures Past. Unassuming synthesizers create a circumambient musical flow, taking you first to the distant and icy plains of Pluto, then back in time, where you’ll mingle with the shoguns of Japan and explore England’s age of chivalry. Born in Palermo, Manuel Marino, the man behind the music, started out playing solfeggio-style fingerpicking and jazz guitar.
Marino’s heavy interest in role-playing games is evident on Futures Past; he takes his own personal enjoyment and translates it sonically through MIDI sequencing into breathtaking soundscapes that take the listener left of heaven into the World of Dreams. Taking Korgs, Rolands and Moogs to the next level, Marino remains modestly mindful of old masters Rick Wakeman and Alan Parsons when evoking his own brand of medieval methodology. From intergalactic battles to dystopian visions of society, infinite space is the only limit for Marino and his music.
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American Music and Vintage Guitars Mark Weakley is an impressive artist; sculptor, painter, musician. He plays guitar, banjo and harmonica, and has recently recorded a CD of his original compositions. In this exclusive article he talks about himself, about his passions, about his father, about traditional american music, about vintage guitars and banjoes, and much...... -
How Has the Internet Affected the Music Industry? This article is written by web designer Josh Gutteridge who runs Skyte Media. Skyte Media is based in the Midlands (England) and is a professional web design company that specialises in web design and development. Josh would like to receive comments about this article on his blog. But of course...... -
The Emperor's New Clothes Ananda Sukarlan is an Indonesian composer and pianist living in Spain. This is an article he wrote for a magazine which has been published a few years ago in Spanish. We are very proud to have the original in English which has never been published anywhere, so this is...... - Music Reviews: Wind and Wire Magazine I've been asked why there is no music reviews section. Well, if you search my name on Google.com, you'll find many pages (in English and Italian languages) that talk about my music works or music albums. So, I don't want to put a complete list of the links, but anyway......
- Self-realization and meditation (yoga for the mind) Peter Cajander allowed us to publish this part from his book Fragments of Reality. It talks about life from a personal perspective covering areas ranging from self-realization, meditation, stress, happiness, death, and everyday living. Peter is a writer, philosophical thinker, entrepreneur, strategy consultant, business executive, and author to name a......
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The life of a T-shirt Designer Paul Baines is a T-shirt Designer and Blogger. Read his popular t-shirt reviews blog and read also about his highly original t-shirt designs. You can vote now on his latest Threadless.com submission or purchase pieces from his collection at Retrogod, Redbubble, Zazzle. This is his exclusive article for us, a...... -
Review: His Wicked Kiss by Gaelen Foley His Wicked Kiss is the seventh installment of Foley's Knight Miscellany series. The novel was quite exceptional from the steamy romance scenes, the tender moments, and the insecurities that flared between Eden and Jack. His Wicked Kiss flirts with the tried and true plot of what you thought you...... - Book Review: The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman I have been reading The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman these last few days and at 200 pages in I knew it was going to be a disaster. This review contains a lot of spoilers so be warned. I think many readers will find it helpful to read......
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Music Blogging Adding music capabilities to your blog, your myspace, or your livejournal can be a really excellent way for you to add atmosphere to the pages, further personalizing them for those who visit. When it is done right, adding music to your blog is something that can make it unique and...... -
Triangle Bar Then and Now Then [/caption] The Triangle Bar began hosting live music in 1964 and kept going strong through the late 1960s. It was likely the first bar in Minneapolis to host live acts that weren’t top-40 cover bands. Tony Glover recalls Maury Bernstein as the first musician who performed there, playing his......
Self-realization and meditation (yoga for the mind)
October 13, 2007
Peter Cajander allowed us to publish this part from his book Fragments of Reality. It talks about life from a personal perspective covering areas ranging from self-realization, meditation, stress, happiness, death, and everyday living. Peter is a writer, philosophical thinker, entrepreneur, strategy consultant, business executive, and author to name a few titles. He has been exploring and experiencing different ways of living and expanding his understanding. Peter has travelled extensively and so far lived in Finland, UK, France, and Spain.
I consider this part from his book a real yoga for the mind, to be added to the best self-realization books and meditation works.
Self-realization and meditation (yoga for the mind)
It’s funny that we desire to travel through time. Besides self-
ish interest, what purpose would it serve? We are actually time
travelers all the time. Or should I say channel surfers?
We get carried away either by thinking about our past or
piling up with dreams of the future. These two activities take
most of our time. The actual now moment we are currently
experiencing is something we would rather not like to have.
It’s far better and safer to sail in our dreams, where all the out-
comes are already known and we can speculate with endless
what-if scenarios. The future is even better. For us it has not
happened yet and, therefore, we can make it up any way we
desire. Well, almost. The only limitation is that we cannot just
dream about anything of which we have no knowledge. For
example, in medieval times people did not dream about hav-
ing cars and flying around the world in airplanes. So dream-
ing is also quite boring. All the outcomes are predictable in
one way or another—like LEGO blocks that can only be set
up in a certain way based on their shapes.
Our channel surfing concerns the current living moment.
We seldom stay in the channel. We’d rather jump on and off
many times in a second. This happens by switching either to the
dream or the history channel. Reality TV is something we pre-
fer to consume as a recorded version, just to be on the safe side.
Still, all the action happens in the reality mode. We cannot
change our history and cannot predict the future. We have to
do all the things right now. The paradox is that the only
unpredictable (and therefore nonboring) moment is the fresh
now time, what we are all the time experiencing. And the best
part is that it’s interactive. We can take part in all the activities
and get involved. It’s amazing how many of us are not taking
up this opportunity. People would rather switch to old classics
or sci-fi stories that have predictable endings. They’d rather
opt for something that smells, tastes, and sounds like real life
but is not. Artificial life seems to be the best act in town.
Considering the low ratings for actually living in the
moment, it is amazing that people would even dream of time
traveling. What would they do then if they cannot live now?
Sure it’s a more interactive TV show to go for the future and
know that you are able to come back to the original time
whenever things start to get too serious (or should I say real?).
Time travel would be just another way of surfing channels—
just a sportier version compared to staring at a glass box or
daydreaming from the sofa.
Nevertheless, the basic fact is that we always figure out
new ways to escape reality. We’d rather either skip to our own
natural channels or use the manmade “entertainment”
options. When was the last time you really watched some-
thing on the TV or listened to the radio? Most of the time, we
are desperate to fill up any silent moments by whatever back-
ground noise from TV, radio, or MP3 players we can find.
Still, the fact is that you cannot avoid living in the moment—
you can only pretend you’re not there. How good our skills are
determine how good our private scam is. Our consciousness is
always on, and it is permanently stuck on the reality channel.
And most of us just cannot live without constantly surfing
channels. Restless 24/7 escape from the reality—out now!
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Walk Hard: a Retro-Styled Philosophy? Yesterday I've seen Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story with a great John C. Reilly. It is a parody movie, a spoof of every musical biopic where John as music star Dewey Cox covers every musical style from Elvis to the Beach Boys over five decades. Dialogue and sequences are...... -
E-commerce, a cultural fact? E-commerce, online marketing, shopping, globalization, innovation are all linked together. It is becoming a real huge cultural fact, to be studied, to be understood to comprehend our world and where this world is going to in the near future. E-commerce, a cultural fact? Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing: Watching the...... -
The value of photographic prints Stephan R. Lewis is a professional photographer. He accepted to share his knowledge with us, with this exclusive article. The value of photographic prints I have been in the photo industry trenches for a long time and have watched many things come and go in popularity. When I say 'trenches'...... -
What is Anglo-Welsh Literature and why Should Anyone Care? Ceri Shaw is a former college lecturer from Cardiff, South Wales. Currently he attempts to make a living as a Web Designer and as a freelance writer on a range of topics including Literature. He is a regular contributor to Americymru.com. Ceri wrote this article about Anglo-Welsh literature and its...... -
To the audience of music Gunnar Colding is a former professional cellist who for 25 years has been employed by chamber orchestras as well as symphony orchestras of Sweden. This is an exceptional article he wrote for us. To the audience of music There was recently given a concert in New York mainly consisting of......
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Even More Essential Tips for Good Health Here is a look at ten essential tips for good health, which involve diet, weight loss, good nutrition, fitness and movement and other aspects of your health. Tie these ten essential tips together and you will have a picture of good health and wellness. Essential Tip #5 - If you...... -
Review: A Moment on the Lips by Phyllis Bourne Williams By: Cara Lynn, guest reviewer A Moment on the Lips by Phyllis Bourne Williams is a sweet love story. I picked it up from the library because the cover was different. It is an artist's rendering of a lovely black woman about to eat a strawberry. It is a...... - Love and Hate Inner nature is love. God is love, and we are God. We are in Gods image. Children of the whole unified spirit. It can be a choice, but it’s really a realization. The hatred was never a choice. What moved you to hatred was an idea of an absence of......
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holding hands, and stupidity I was homophobic when I was younger. I thought gay rights represented the worst part of American freedom, and that hatred of gays was a quality - an indication of a firm moral character. My views were forged in the crucible of Southern culture - automatic opposition to anything...... - {rewrite}{The way in which|The way|How} We {Seem To Be|Get|Obtain} Programmed by the "{Outside World|World Outside|Our Enviroment}"{/rewrite} {rewrite}From {the moment|the instant} we are born {we|we have a tendency to|we tend to} get into the {training|coaching} of {the world|the planet|the globe} and {the most|the foremost} {important|necessary|vital} things are {basically|primarily|essentially} {left out|overlooked|ignored|unnoticed|unseen|disregarded|missed|neglected|omitted|not noted} for {many|most} people. {We|We have a tendency to|We tend to} {are not|aren't|don't seem to be} {encouraged|inspired}......
Music Reviews: Wind and Wire Magazine
October 11, 2007
I’ve been asked why there is no music reviews section. Well, if you search my name on Google.com, you’ll find many pages (in English and Italian languages) that talk about my music works or music albums. So, I don’t want to put a complete list of the links, but anyway I’ll post parts of the most beautiful music reviews. I’ll begin with the one written by Bill Binkelman (Wind and Wire Magazine).
Music Reviews: Wind and Wire Magazine
Here’s a part of the music reviews:
“Manuel Marino, a.k.a. Vanethian, records some of the best “pure” melodic synthesizer music around. He composes and performs in the same musical style as Larry Fast (Synergy). Manuel’s music is overtly electronic and yet rooted in pop-music sensibility (repeated motifs, refrains, and bridges); he (Manuel) has few (if any) contemporaries in this regard. Frankly, I’m always impressed with how good his music sounds.”
“Sophisticated listeners may hear Manuel’s (Vanethian’s) music and only discern overly slick pop EM. Myself, I’m a sucker for the hooks and expert musicianship that, in my opinion, Manuel excels at. As with the last album of his I reviewed, I make no apologies for how much I love his music. It’s chromium candy – polished, yummy, and never upsetting to my stomach, no matter what mood I’m in. I can see why this guy gets a shitload of videogame and computer game music work – he’s a wiz when it comes to hooks and he’s an EM engineering professional.”
The Music Albums Bill Binkelman is talking about are Electronic Souls Fusion (2001),
Electric Blue (2001) and Amazing Dimensions (2000).
- To the audience of music Gunnar Colding is a former professional cellist who for 25 years has been employed by chamber orchestras as well as symphony orchestras of Sweden. This is an exceptional article he wrote for us. To the audience of music There was recently given a concert in New York mainly consisting of......
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Art, Communication, Connectivity Michael Marcus (also known as "Jacques Treatment") is a published author, poet, artist, and game designer; with George McVey, he has been publishing comics as "The Hamtramck Idea Men" on the very sensible grounds that they live in Hamtramck, have many ideas, and they are men. Joint work can be...... -
History of Music and Current Recording Industry Crisis Roger L. Bagula wrote this exclusive article for ManuelMarino.com. History of Music and Current Recording Industry Crisis In a time when the whole future of how music is distributed is in question, maybe we should look at the history of music for a guide. Many of us find music...... -
Putting a value on your vinyl collection This is another article from author Robert Benson. He writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates CollectingVinylRecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby of Vinyl Record Collecting." Stephen M.H. Braitman Putting a value on your vinyl collection The value of...... -
Sounds like music and networking Wizzit Magazine interviewed me about Blogging and Social Networking. I have to thank Matti Mattila, the reviewer and open networker. If you remember, Matti wrote A musician story. Here is a short excerpt from the magazine article that you can download here in pdf format. Sounds like music and......
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DEF LEPPARD: oh, yeah!!! What is your favorite thing about England- or Britain for that matter? My answer is simple: DEF LEPPARD. Def Leppard was founded in 1977, in Sheffield. It consisted of 5 guys who chose to become musicians instead of opting for working in a factory-luckily for both them and us....... - Musician Profile For Mark O'Connor Mark O' Connor was born and brought up in Seattle, Washington. There, while he was growing up and progressing through his teenage years, he entered into and won several national championships on a number of instruments, including but not limited to the fiddle. From 1983, O'Connor moved to Nashville, having......
- The Legacy of Jaco Pastorius - Joe Sinaguglia For over twenty years now, the planet has been without the presence of Jaco Pastorius, the revolutionary electric bass player of the 70s. He was a member of the group Weather Report and later led his own bands. Sadly, the lifestyle caught up to him in 1987. Despite his death,......
- Robert Trujillo: Bassist for Metallica Metallica was up to the task of performing at Ozzfest this year, for they commanded the attention of the massive stadium. Robert Trujillo was rocking for over two hours with drummer Lars Ulrich, singer/guitarist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, all of whom brought forth a power that made......
- The Cycle of Pop Music Rock music has always had its critics and those that wish that rock and pop music would just go away. But over the years rock has proven to be pretty resilient and has withstood the test of time. Pop music is a bit of a different animal than rock music......
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