The Tonc Feinig Hammond Trio

Tonc Feinig, a Genius on the Keyboards, added two 

world class musicians to his artistry on the Hammond Organ.

Daniel Noesig astonished the listeners with simply wonderful 

runs on the trumpet, and Klemens Marktl kept an unerring,

driving rhythm on the drums. He mixed great musicianship

with a good dose of rhythmic humor.

A simply wonderful musical experience for a packed crowd.

Daniel Noesig, relaxed and nonchalant

just stood in front of his mike

and pure silver notes tumbled from his horn.

Klemens Marktl used gentle brush work and 

sometimes wildly driving sticks

to make his drums produce now lyrical, 

now aggressive back up for his two

super talented front men.

The many faces of Tonc Feinig

Tonc Feinig, a super talent on the keyboard,

gave a concert in Suetschach, Austria.

He played mostly his own compositions. 

Melodies with Energy, wonderful Tonality,

and Imagination.

Tonc gave us an evening of unadulterated listening pleasure.

How Hot Is It ???

It  is 38 to 40 C
and too hot to go outside to the swimming pool.
I'm staying indoors, where the thick walls ( 2 to 3 feet ) make the house comfortable.
Hand me a Gin and Tonic, would you?
Bertstravels

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Through Amazon I ordered the DVD of  "Breakfast at Tiffany's"...
A delightful little movie, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen Martin Balsam and Mickey Rooney. The Music was partially written by Henry Mancini and played by his Orchestra.
One of the remarkable things, which you would never see in any movie  made today, was the fact that everybody and I mean EVERYBODY with the single exception of Mickey Rooney smoked up a storm.
As soon as a new scene came onto the screen, everyone immediately produced a cigarette and lit up...
In a party scene the smoke hung thickly in the room.
On a hunch I looked up the bios of everybody connected with this production. And what did I find?
You're right !! Everybody, with the exception of the non-smoking Mickey Rooney, is dead.
Smoked themselves to death during the production of this show. Or, could it be possible that they all passed on because they got quite old and would have died even had they never smoked a fag in their lives?
Well, Mickey Rooney is still alive. He is 91 years old and still lives in California.
I haven't smoked in some 25 years and I'm still alive, not yet 91 but at 80 I'm getting there.

Bertstravels.

So, you think you got work around the house ?

On the ground floor, on one side of the house
there was a Dentist... She moved out and now we
are changing this area  into an apartment for visitors.

Ceiling supports have to be re-positioned,
floors covered with wooden tiles.
a bathroom installed, a kitchen built and furnished

Besides the iron monger, we imploy a carpenter,
a drywall man, a plumber, and an electrician....
we keep the town of Bleiburg busy...
Next we shall hire a
"butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker."

So, when you come to visit us, you won't have to sleep on the street.

Our "Palmenhaus" gets a new roof...

This building is actually a tool shed.
But since during the winter months we also store our
Yucca trees and the one "Palm tree" in this shed
we grandiously refer to it as our
"Palmenhaus"

 

The Royal family of Austria, The Habsburgs, had a large building
on the grounds of "Schoenbrunn", their summer residence,
in which they stored hundreds of Palm trees
during the cold Winter months.
This building, therefore, was called the "Palmenhaus",
the house for the palm trees.
If the Habsburgs can do that, so can we.

The new roof is in place and the shed is ready to receive
our 4 yucca plants and our one scrawny palm tree.

What a Life...

It's 30 degrees... the sky is blue... the swimming pool invites with 25 degrees of crystal clear water...
I'm first lying in the sun.. then, when it gets too warm, I move into the shade... I read a wonderful book...
Then I jump into the water to cool off, only to return to my deck chair.. to lie in the sun... then I move into the shade... i read some more of my book... then I lie in the sun.. then I jump into the pool...

Do you now understand what a difficult life I lead??? Constantly having to move from the sun into the shade.. then jump into the water again, only upon coming out from the pool to find a Gin and Tonic which Christin has prepared....

I'm dreaming about Etoscha Pan in Namibia... that's my next goal...

I'll get over it, I'm sure...
Bertstravels.

Olympic Closing Ceremony.... continued

Well, it's morning now and I slept over my disappointment, hoping that it wouldn't be so bad the next morning....Sorry... It's just as bad if not worse...  I can only repeat my earlier statement: Three hours of total boredom.
It is interesting that there seems to be a relationship between the quality of modern music and its length. The more rhythmically and melodically boring a composition is, the longer and louder it gets.
In the early days of recording, when a 78 record could only accommodate 3 minutes of play, the most wonderful music was written. (I won't even name any of them, because you know them all... there was Cole Porter, Gershwin, Miller, and on and on... beautiful, melodic music... all, due to the technical limitations of recording carriers, limited to three minutes. Nowadays, compositions may last an hour or more... and they do... of if not nothing, certainly of very little.
So what else was there? A very poor imitation of Winston Churchill, poorly choreographed dance numbers and sloppily rehearsed dancers...
This was a very successful Olympic. Introduced by an imaginative and funny Opening Ceremony, then well organized athletic events in beautiful settings... Absolutely one of the very best that I have ever seen...

Why oh why was it then concluded with such a travesty of mediocrity?
As Christin put it so succinctly: "Every Minute was a wasted Hour."

Bertstravels

Olympic Closing Ceremony 2012

It's midnight and the Closing Ceremonies are in full swing. The Spice Girls just made an appearance and it's gone on and on and on  in a colourful, non-melodic rock-rhythmic string of electronic boredom.
Maybe I'm just too old at 80, to understand any of this. But I know when I'm bored... to tears...
I won't say much more now, in case I'm sorry about it tomorrow morning.
So, the extinguishing of the flame cannot come soon enough for me.
Quick, hand me this fire-extinguisher....
Bertstravels.

Say, it's only a paper moon

All the exams were over and the three friends felt confident that they had passed with flying colours.

Adalbert studied Law every moment he could free himself from the Pub.
Winston felt a calling to become an accountant, or at least, that's how he interpreted the fact that he knew to the penny how much he owed to the inn keeper.
Their newly found Egyptian friend, named "Said"  who had arrived last Semester from Cairo, studied Chemistry. Said wanted to become a bomb maker for a group of rebels in his home country.
The three were inseparable and to celebrate their success, they went to their usual hang out, the
Stud "nd Fale.
At about midnight the trio was deep into their cups and was becoming a bit unruly. the inn keeper wanted to throw them out of his establishment, but had not reckoned with the degree of drunkeness of the three students.
Adalbert vaulted the bar and smashed every glass he could lay his hands on.
Winston, at the very top of his voice, sang: "Say it's Only a Paper Moon"..
To every patrons dismay, chagrin, surprise and disgust, Said climbed onto the bar, turned, pulled his trousers down and bared his behind to the assembled multitude. In fact, so witnesses later testified, he did this twice.
The Judge listened to all who bore witness. Having been a student himself, he had some sympathy for the three accused who stood before him rather sheepishly.
Later, to some of his fellow judges he explained the reasons behind the disparate fines levied by him:
Adalbert: Lbs 200.00 to replace the broken crockery.
Winston:  Lbs   25.00 to pay for a locksmith needed for singing off key.
The Egyptian was ordered to pay Lbs 5.00 twice:
 
                                   "Said's only a pay per moon"

This has to stop...soon

It's simply ridiculous and has to come to an end really soon. From morning to late at night I'm sitting in front of the idiot-box, watching men and women, guys and dolls, running, jumping, throwing objects and doing truly wondrous things. What some of the girls do on a narrow piece of wood, performing forward- and backward saltos is simply beyond belief. When they jump from a diving board into deep water you should see the twists and turns they perform before they hit the wet.
It is truly a fascinating period, this "Olympiad" and I find myself hoping that this man, or that woman would win in whatever they are trying to do. Sure, if they have a maple leaf somewhere on their clothing, I hope just a little harder. But when there is no such person, I find somebody to root for, just because of the way they smile, or due to the shy look upon their face.
Before the sound of the starter's gun, some of the athletes have an inward look of concentration. some look to the heavens, seeking strength. One of them, a good looking African man, crosses himself, then he looks up and points his finger as if to say: "You make it happen now... you help me.. you hear?"
A clear challenge directed to his Maker. And see there, he came in third. Maybe he did not challenge hard enough. But when they hung a Bronze Medal around his neck, he looked totally happy and satisfied. No blame attached to the G.L., no recrimination about not having helped enough. There was a blissful beaming on his countenance.
One feels a deep sense of regret for those who do not succeed, who fail utterly. The runner who comes up with a cramp, halfway through the race and has to stop; the athlete on the pommel horse, who did so well, only to stumble and fall at the dismount; the bicyclist who gets tangled up with his competitor and both crash to the ground... hopelessly out of the race.
They all worked so hard for such a long time. I understand that some of them train 8 hours a day, 6 days a week for four years... and then all comes to naught! After such a mishap he/she does not even know if they would have won the race, or come in 12th or dead last.... For many there is no "tomorrow"...  since tomorrow is four years down the road, and many things happen during four years with a person's body and/or their spirit. And it truly must be a matter of the body as well as the spirit.
Just a few more days now and after that I will likely suffer from withdrawals symptoms.
I will simply have to deal with them in true Olympic fashion.
Quick, bring on the World Cup of Skiing.
Bertstravels

IN MEMORIAM - FRANZ BRANDL - 1928 -2012

Franz Brandl, a painter with soul,
unexpectedly died at age 84 on the 27th day of July 2012.
Franz, as they say here, was an "autodidact".
That means he was a self taught artist,
who was never taught how to hold a brush.
Franz was absolutely tireless. His studio was not only a working area,
but also a storage shed of his many works.
He was driven to create.
Sometimes, when he just had finished a painting, he would sit back
and ponder: "Did I just do that?"

With his paintings Franz looked into the future,
but he also examined the present, looking at the duality of
Southern Carinthia's German and Slovenian population.
Besides his many hours working in his studio,
he also fostered and encouraged artists from the neighbouring Slovenia
to exhibit their work in his "private" little exhibition area,
an abandoned brewery.

FRANZ BRANDL

Franz and his wife Sonja.

Franz was a Painter, a Philosopher, and, I am proud to claim,
Franz was my friend.

The Castle of HOCHOSTERWITZ

On this 160 meter high rock they built themselves a castle.
It is first referred to in a deed dated 860AD.
Its 14 heavily fortified gates,
many equipped with a draw bridge,
made this a difficult place to conquer.
In fact, it never changed hands due to a war action,
but it was sold in the 16th Century to the present owners.