Oh Barbara!

Über fräulein Barbara Dennerlein was born in Munich in 1964. She began playing the organ at age 11, and at 15 she was already performing at Jazz clubs. Known as “the organ tornado from Munich” she soon became a leading organ virtuoso. Her compositions range from blues to ballads and includes jazz, swing, bebop funk and Latin rythms.

Her unique style combines furiously fast pedalboard footwork, frequent changes in meter and creative use of the Hammond B 3 with samplers and synthesizers. She will be performing in Santa Cruz, California at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on April 14 at 7 pm; and at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco the following night.  

Here is a sample of her virtuosity:

Fatal Attraction

On Wednesday March 16th, Sion Milosky a 35 year old big wave rider from Hawaii, drowned at "Mavericks".  The infamous break is located on Half Moon Bay, a few miles north of Santa Cruz, California.
He was last seen by Chris Killen, a surf filmaker who captured Milosky's last wave. After he paddled on to a 50 foot behemoth with a smile, he was able to negotiate the steep drop but had to straighten up as the mountain of white water engulfed him. He was riding an 11 foot board and Killen could only see 3 or 4 feet of the board out of the water, as it tensioned its leash and drove him deep underwater.  The next giant wave broke directly on the board. With 50 ft waves repeatedly holding you down, there's no chance of survival. Milosky's body was found 20 minutes later by Nathan Fletcher. He was transported to Seton Coastside Hospital in Moss Beach and pronounced dead at 7:46 pm.
Shane Dorian, another Pro surfer from Hawaii also had a close call last year. And Mark Foo, a well known pro, drowned a few years ago. Anyone who surfs Mavericks has to accept the fact that they might get badly injured or killed. Because, even though there are ski patrols, there's a limitation to what they can do. Realistically you are out there by yourself and you will have to deal with such situations on your own. Here's a short video tribute by Jeff Flindt:

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Pataphysics and Alfred Jarry

“Joan was quizzical studied pataphysical

                                               Science in the home

                                               Late night all alone with a test tube,

                                               Oh oh, oh oh…………………”

Pataphysics is a French absurdist concept. It is a pseudo philosophy that pretended to probe beyond metaphysics. The Beatles mentioned the word “pataphysical” in their 1969 song “Maxwell Silver Hammer” from Abbey Road.   Pataphysics as Alfred Jarry defined it was a science of imaginary solutions, mixing science, science fiction, technology and art.

Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne. At the age of 15 he had written Ubu Roi in collaboration with a classmate at the Lycee de Rennes to ridicule a pompous mathematics teacher. The coarseness of the language and anarchistic tones shocked even W.B. Yeats who attended its opening night on December 10, 1896 at the theatre de L’Oeuvre.

Jarry quickly drifted into a chaotic bohemian life. “We won’t have destroyed anything unless we destroy the ruins too”, was his program. He was a midget, had a taste for absinthe and lived in a bizarre apartment. Gide wrote of him: “his face was dusted with flour, he had a mechanical speech without intonation, the syllables were even spaced and his words were made up or distorted”. He even spoke in a high falsetto. Jarry died of alcoholism and tuberculosis at age 34 in Paris. He was a predecessor of the theater of the absurd and his writings had a profound influence on the Surrealist and Dada movements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTNIqJE80nQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTNIqJE80nQ