liberate the hanged.

Beach and snow

2009-12-18T19:41:34Z

Today was another gorgeous day! The video arrangement above is a little bit ham-fisted as I don't exactly know what I am doing with my video editor (yet), but I thought it was worth sharing, anyhoo. The song used is Timothy Grub by Vashti Bunyan.

Another Moongazing announcement of sorts

2009-12-14T21:40:00Z

Dear all,

Moongazing Hare has found a spiffy new home at http://moongazinghare.bandcamp.com. So neat... so clean... so pretty, with a lovely new banner, not an ad in sight, and with hopefully regular updates of special free stuff for those who happen to like that sort of thing! You really should come in: The water is fine! And as we have already discovered; I am unreasonably proud of the water. No True Body can either be bought for a modest price (5€, nearly all of which goes to the artist (hello!)) or listened to for absolutely free. Also, if, for some reason you want to share the joyous news with anyone, or you want to mock me in a public forum, you are very welcome to post the link or embed a player somewhere else on the internets. It is easy. But don't feel pressured, though! That is definitely not what it's all about. I am just getting a little share-crazy, now that I have decided my "album" is done with.

Also, what I have previously said about last.fm was not entirely correct - while you can play the album there (mostly in excerpts, if, like me, you don't have a paid account) you cannot actually buy it from them.

So, I made a record!

2009-12-12T10:17:40Z

Who would have thunk it, right? But I did it; I made a record as Moongazing Hare. Congratulations to me! It is called No True Body. It has nine songs on it, recorded over the last few years and gradually changed and edited as I went along. If you are not familiar with my attempts at musicality, the sound is largely lo-fi, folky and ambient. I use a variety of acoustic instruments together with electronic treatments and incidental sounds and it all comes out... the way it comes out, somewhere between sketch-like and mangled beyond recognition. It is a learning curve and I don't want to pretend that this is something other or more than it is, but I have poured a lot of time and care into Moongazing Hare and I am totally proud of the results! My next release will be even better, I promise.

Here is a video for the track My Bonnie Lad:

For the moment, the record will be downloadable from Sideways Through Sound (soon) and the Moongazing Hare page on last.fm. You can also contact me directly, if you are my friend (or feel friendly towards me) and would like to have a free digital copy. It is not exactly a money-making project.

Eventually, there should be some tangible copies in the world as well, which might either be manufactured in our new home in Sønderho, when I have the time, or somewhere else in the world, depending on how things turn out.

With me on the record are Hugh Atkinson (who is also The Weave and the Weft), Julien Demoulin (who is also Silencio and Eglantine Records) and Hiroko Folkmann Drost (who has sex with me on a regular basis).

The tracks are:

1. Once Was True
2. Mr. Casson's Long Walk to the Beach
3. The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry
4. Rosehip Wine
5. Dust On Your Breath
6. Bone Charms
7. Secretly a Bear
8. My Bonnie Lad
9. Black Hare

Fox Buddy

2009-12-07T14:24:49Z

Look who stalked through the grass next to our house, this afternoon.

He sat on the dunes across the road and faced off against a big black wild cat for a few moments, then he skulked off, circling back around another dune and came right down in front of our house, where he chased up the rabbits hiding in the long grass and then made his way lazily around the corner and out of our field of vision.

Amen Gag Horizon

2009-12-05T18:58:47Z

Hugh, via the magic of Skype gave me THE GIFT OF ANAGRAMS. He ran Moongazing Hare (my imaginary band for the last 3-5 years) through an anagram-making internet machine and made a selection of some of the best suggestions. It blew my mind, as I hope it will blow yours, just how well this unthinking, unfeeling machine seems to have known me.

A Home-Razing Gnome
A Raging Zen Homo
A Roaming Zen Hog
Amazon Nigger Ho
Amen Gag Horizon
Zanier Homo Gang
Aging Moron Haze
Grannie Hag Zoom
Angora Hen Gizmo
Ozone Gin Graham
A Gazing Hormone
Managing Her Zoo
Hiro Man-Gag Zone

Heads up!

2009-12-02T18:16:54Z

Because I like you, I think you need to know this.

First hoarfrost, afternoon

2009-12-02T16:56:50Z

So, as the title suggests, the first hoarfrost has begun to appear in the mornings. It sprinkles our surroundings with an extra little layer of fairy rainbow poop and makes things appear extra magical, especially on top of the last several weeks of almost non-stop rainstorms. Today, the hoarfrost stayed throughout the daylight hours in shaded places and was still there when we went out for our afternoon walk.

I am a full calendar year older, now (29 and a couple of days, huzzah for me!), and we appropriately celebrated the date by signing the contract for our new place and eating cake and drinking sweet wine on the <i>ice. cold. floor</i> with my mother, step-father and oldest little brother. The house is absolutely stunning and even more like what we were looking for than we ever thought possible, so early on in our stay.

Watch your step

2009-11-25T15:13:21Z

Our lives on Fanø are pretty much a sleepy haze of yarn, translation, musical flights of fancy and too much coffee. I think it safe to say that we are generally such tame people that there is no danger of anyone overdosing on sudden insights into our daily business. For this reason I present to you without shame or further ado: More Pretty Pictures of Stuff We Almost Stepped On or Actually Stepped On and Then Stopped to Admire.

More November

2009-11-23T11:30:10Z

Musical Chain Letters II

2009-11-19T21:10:40Z

This is a cross-posting from my facebook, but I think it bears inclusion here.

Bram graciously reopened the can of singing worms that was the playlist game I devised about four months ago. I am very excited about this, and without further ado I bring you my updated list of songs, to be downloaded at your leisure!

For those who are using last.fm and want to participate, the rules are as follows:

1. Look at the list of your top 15 artists for the last 3 months.
2. Pick one song by each artist that showcases some of your reasons for listening to them.
3. Put the songs in ascending order of (the artist's) playcount.

So here I go again, and will be pleased if anyone feels like participating. Or not. I am pleased either way.

David's List, as of 19 November 2009

DOWNLOAD IT HERE: http://download.yousendit.com/ZW9EK0dqSEI4aVBIRGc9PQ

1. Smog - Held (1999)
2. Herman Düne - Not on Top (2005)
3. Pete Seeger - Careless Love (1959)
4. Burial - Shell of Light (2007)
5. Waterson:Carthy - Flowers of Knaresborough Forest (1997)
6. The Angels of Light - Michael's White Hands (2005)
7. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Keep Eye on Other's Gain (2008)
8. Neil Young - Revolution Blues (1974)
9. Tindersticks - Desperate Man (1997)
10. Damien Jurado - And Now That I'm In Your Shadow (2006)
11. Jean Ritchie - Barbary Allen (1961)
12. Sinéad O'Connor - Fire on Babylon (1994)
13. Bruce Springsteen - Black Cowboys (2005)
14. Current 93 - Hypnagogue IX (2003)
15. The Mountain Goats - Your Belgian Things (2004)

What do you think?
I think it is pretty neat! Maybe 4 out of 6 wizard hats (the secret 7th hat only being available to bands actually referencing Harry Potter), if I was to review it for some magazine counting things in that particular way. I decided not to overthink things and just pick what occured to me, according to how well it all fitted together in sequence. It could probably have been done a little better, but I am happy. I also tried to not go for the most obvious (to me) choices - so as to leave wiggle room for future lists, obviously.

Did you cheat in making your list, and if so, how and why?
I sort of cheated on two counts: Dan Savage and Moongazing Hare (# 1 and 2 on last.fm, no less) were taken off the list. The first because he is a podcaster and not a musician, the second because I only listen to myself so much in order to edit my own stuff. I almost took off Burial as well, since I am still getting acquainted with their "Untrue" album and making my mind up about it. HOWEVER, statistics being what they are, Burial stays on the list and I picked something that appealed to me!

Who almost made the list?
Shirley Collins, Ralph Stanley, Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man, The Pogues. All are sorely missed on there.

Beachcombing, morning after a storm

2009-11-19T13:25:00Z

The wind blew hard yesterday, so much that I was genuinely starting to worry that our flag pole might snap and come flying through the window (this was at normal to slightly elevated blood sugar levels, and as such I would be inclined to consider it a fairly realistic estimate on my part ). The fireplace roared and guzzled up wood like a frothing monster and we kept feeding it for most of the day, in order to keep the living room at a reasonable temperature. Rain splashed against the window as if thrown from giant buckets. This morning we went out for a walk, to see if any amber had been washed up, but the sea was still too restless to have left much of anything behind. Instead, I took a bunch of pictures.

liberate the hanged.

2009-11-18T16:19:41Z

Wonder of wonders! I managed to record a few more songs over the last months in Brussels and Fanø. Here is a widget for the questionable enjoyment of those of you who aren't hooked up to (me on) facebook! There is more to come, I think.

Grinding Happiness on Fenja's Mill

2009-11-16T10:43:39Z

I do suppose that it is time I post some pictures from our new home and I am excited to do so, BECAUSE OUR NEW HOME IS FULLY DESERVING OF ALL CAPS! I realize that there is a high risk of redundancy, since some of these pictures have already been taken for a spin in Hiro's blog and almost anyone reading this will have seen them there, but I am nevertheless including them, for the sake of cohesion and for the sake of future web archeologists (HELLO FUTURE, IF YOU ARE READING THIS!).

The weather has been getting a bit milder since our return from the states, but it is still distinctly autumnal. We get up in the very early hours of the day and wait for the sun to come around and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, but it is invariably beautiful here. I couldn't be happier to be unemployed anywhere else. My meniére's disease seems to have calmed down a bit, for the moment, I occasionally feel awful and unsteady, but I haven't had an episode of severe vertigo for more than 2 months, which is a record since the diagnosis. The only thing that keeps me grinding my teeth at night is our financial situation, which is uncertain to say the least. We have had to postpone Hiro's intensive Danish lessons (which the local government are generously offering at a greatly reduced price) because we cannot afford to send her across the water and put her on the city bus three times a week. This, as the kids used to say, sucks donkey balls.

One of the main reasons that we are being extra frugal right now, is that we have found an absolutely wonderful house in Sønderho (an absolutely wonderful village) which we will almost be able to afford, once my unemployment insurance kicks in. Fingers crossed everyone. The owner is drawing up the contract and has reserved it for us, but so far we have given him nothing but our word.

Hiro is teaching herself to spin and designing a shawl for a Danish yarn company and I am working on a couple of collages (actual paper, scissors and glue collages), a couple of songs and a couple of translations. That's all good!

Hugs all around! Also, if you are reading this - you should come visit! Also, if you would like me to lj-cut the pictures, let me know. And then come visit!

Los Angeles so far

2009-10-30T18:46:38Z

The car is on fire. There is no driver at the wheel, and the sewers are all muddy with a thousand lonely suicides. Other than that, we are doing really great!

Take a wild guess

2009-10-18T05:08:57Z

Over the course of the last few days I have:

-Been neighbour to a quinceañera
-Had my hair cut
-Seen cheerleaders walking the streets in broad daylight
-Said "I love you" more times than I have in my life from ages 2-20

WHERE AM I?!

Viborg

2009-10-11T20:50:35Z

A few weeks ago, Hiro and I got on the sun warm and rumbly cross-Jylland bus and travelled upwards and inwards from Esbjerg to see my grandmother in her winter home in Viborg and discuss some of the details of our stay in her summer home on Fanø.

We are with her again today, in Fanø Hill, where we will stay until Spring while searching for a permanent place on the island for ourselves. We have arrived as well as could be possibly hoped and maybe even better. We have gone out most mornings at dawn, crossing the rows of rabbit-holed dunes to search for amber on the expansive and (mostly) deserted beach flats. We are kept warm by log fires and bicycle riding. And most importantly: HIRO HAS FINALLY GOTTEN HER RESIDENCY PERMISSION FROM THE DANISH GOVERNMENT. Tomorrow we can see the commune about arranging for Danish lessons and getting her properly registered on the address. Less importantly, but still on the heavy plus side; I wrote and recorded another song and it sounds pretty great to me. This doesn't happen quite often enough. Pictures from Fanø will follow, but for now I hope you will enjoy the pictures from Viborg.

Breakfast squint in mormor's flat.

Viborg domkirke. Painted ceilings.

Viborg domkirke. Pulpit stair.

Candelabra detail.

Candelabra detail.

Asmild kirke, where my grandparents where married and my grandfather lies buried.

Asmild.

Asmild. Pew detail. Someone had to sit through a long sermon.

Altar detail. All the greyish figurines look drowned to me. An impression that is only reinforced by the cloud-painted ceiling, which looks like the ocean surface seen from below.

Mormor.

Snails in Asmild monastery garden.

True love will find you in the end.

Rosehip flowers smell the best.

Outside mormor's apartment.

Finally, this picture is not from Viborg, but from Århus where we went next. Seeing Peter and Mari was a blast and a treat but I did not take enough great pictures to want to include them here. I leave you with a way out:

The heart wants what the heart wants.

2009-10-09T09:36:31Z

I really do think that my lovely wife (hiroaphasia , but I guess everyone knows that already) believed she was just knitting me a goofy fish hat, for the sweet gooey sake of goofiness alone. However, subconscious desires have a way of making themselves known whether you want them to be or not. I present to you:

Also, this is what became of my sock. A second one is underways!

Another page from the Liber Metallicus

2009-09-16T20:13:59Z

Dear Jul, Alex and Ross,

Lately, I have heard a lot of people talking a lot of gay shit abuot how I no longer necessarily have the metalest lifestyle I could possibly have. I am not mentioning any names, because you have not said anything out loud, but I am here to tell you that that shit is gay and also completely wrong, as the following pictures will demosntrate. There is nothing not metal about wanting to live a kickass life in the countryside with your wife and chickens and apples. Yesterday, we put a new door on the chicken co-op and I found a scythe, so fuck you, Ross and Alex and Jul! Later, I almost cut the heads off some petunias. Metal is something you either are or you arent and that is something you posers could probably never understadn. I love you!

V.Vedsted Kirke

2009-09-10T12:36:28Z

This is the village church of V.Vedsted, where we currently live. It was originally built in the 13th century, to serve the local community, and has been used an upkept by the population ever since. The tower was rebuilt after a fire in the 16th century (if memory serves me well), and the baptismal font, which is original to the building, was given a new copper top plate around the same period. I think the church is characteristic for a lot of Danish village churches with its white-washed walls and sparse interior. Uncharacteristically, Vester Vedsted kirke does not have any original chalk paintings on the ceilings or columns (in other churches these were mostly chalked over during the reformation, but are now in a process of restoration). The floral motifs you can see below were all added in the early 19th century.

In other news, I am trying to get my CV straightened out for a job in Esbjerg. Fingers crossed, please.

I have upscaled the pictures slightly from Flickr, this time. I hope it does not make them too grainy.

The spiderlike crosses are reparations of the tower wall. They creep me out.

The ship replica is found throughout western Denmark and represents the sailors who are not able to take part in church ceremonies.

Pull string for tolling sounds.

Bikes and dikes

2009-09-04T08:03:04Z

Please allow me a moment's nationalism and take a second to consider that the bicycle tracks in this part of the country (pictured left) are almost as wide as the roads themselves. I think that is pretty righteous.

A keen eye might see the cathedral of Ribe on this horizon.

My mother (left) and a group of "Wadden Sea Artists"/friends of hers, posing for the local paper.

PS: My wife says 'hello' and that she wants to make an entry, but can't until she gets a new charger for her machine.

PPS: Are the images too small?

The Vast F*cking Unfairness of Life...

2009-09-01T09:30:52Z

...as demonstrated through a piece of speculative bicycle maths.

As you may have noticed from some of the photos previously posted on this blog (or as you certainly will, if you hang around a little longer) the landscape we inhabit is rather extremely flat. Marshes, bogs, streams, ditches, clusters of trees and fields and occasional sandbanks on which people have usually built houses. Basically, more or less the only things that provide shelter are the rows of trees and shrub that the farmers plant in a desperate bid to keep the wind from stealing away all of their topsoil. This means that the wind is a constant factor when planning trips on a bicycle. It makes you bitter.

I apologize for the low resolution of the following explanation. Something went wrong.

tofty , am I right in thinking you might have something to add to this, or that you might be able to correct me where I am wrong?

Manmade horizons

2009-08-28T17:26:46Z

This is a set of phone-camera photos from Brussels. I spend a lot of time with my neck craned way back. Did I mention that I use Flickr, as well, and that there is even more to see, there? I do and there is! My residence is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/badgermoonhare/

Hiro and I got spanking new bicycles today. Expect increased mobility!

Morning garden

2009-08-26T15:33:07Z

*toc toc* Is thing still on? It has been high time for me to start using this blogamajig again for a while, and now here I am, back in the empty west of Denmark with a no-longer new wife and more than ready to start over again. I have been taking so many pictures lately, moving out of Brussels and probably wanting to capture as many as possible of the things that I had begun to take for granted before it was too late, so I believe that until further notice this place will become a photoblog, and perhaps the (intended) increase in posting frequency will spur me on to writing a little more.

The first set is not of Brussels, but of my mother's half-cultivated wilderness in V.Vedsted which has served as the best possible instant reminder of why it was we undertook the trouble of packing our lives into the back of a truck and leaving so many good friends behind. We walked around in Ribe today, under looming and luminous skies feeling contented and hopeful in our administrative and financial no-man's-land.

Let me know if you are annoyed or inconvenienced by the new lay-out or by my tentative return to blogging in general.

The Cutter and the Clan

2008-04-13T12:53:16Z

As the headline sneakily suggests, this is totally and absolutely emo for the prematurely middle-aged (yours truly, of course) and I am not going to lie about misting up a little, when I rediscovered Runrig on Youtube last night (simultaneously inflicting, I am sure, quite a different experience on Hiro, Bram and Filip). The harmonies still tug on my heartstrings on a deep and satisfying level, but I am so chuffed that the pleasure of reliving the power of Gaelic power ballads is mixed with the horror of watching them performed in a manner that is every bit as hilariously dated as the production values of the music.

Speaking of Gaelic: For a long time I had no idea that this song was indeed in Gaelic as I did not really learn a lot of English until well after my first major bout of infatuation with Runrig had waned. I think I knew the record by heart, but through the sound value of the words rather than the meaning (although I am sure all of the songs had bits that made a lot of sense to me, whether my interpretation shared any correlation with the intended meaning or not).

I feel somewhat similarly about this Stan Rogers bit, although his work is exclusively a fixture of my adult life: While the singing and the fantastic harmonies are genuinely moving to me, I have a hard time looking at the faux-lumberjack costumes without cringing embarrassedly. A Mighty Wind, anyone?

In other music news, I bought three CDs yesterday, for not a lot of money, as a bit of a reward for finally paying my last outstanding medical bill (God, what a relief!): Kicking Against the Pricks (Nick Cave), Automatic for the People (I don't even know what these paranthesis are for, considering that probably everyone reading this knows the records) and Ask Forgiveness (by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy)! I think I made a great choice!

Ask Forgiveness, while being packed full of unlikely cover songs, is probably the one Bonnie 'Prince' Billy record I have ever heard that sounds the most exactly like the new Bonnie 'Prince' Billy record could be expected to sound, which is neither good nor bad, except for the fact that I think the record is wonderful. Even the R.Kelly cover.

In conclusion; I am in Antwerp, the sun is out and lunch is never far away!

Untitled

2008-03-06T21:11:53Z

Conor's body was found by the police shortly after his disappearance and identified by his family today. I am sad that he will not be around to be my friend anymore, and I am sad that I will not be able to tell him how I finally got around to reading Daniel Dennett. I am also somewhat relieved to finally know, in spite of everything, that his tragic and pointless death (which, for various reasons, we had almost come to expect), was at least not caused by cruel strangers.

Here is a picture of Conor being (almost) the only straight guy in the village, at my birthday party. Now he can be almost the only straight guy in atheist heaven, and hopefully at peace with himself.