Rain The whole time I was working on this stuff tonight the rain was pounding down on my 5th floor apartment. One of the reasons I like this place is that it's on the top floor of the building and part of the roof over the kitchen and bathroom is aluminum. The sound of the rain gives it that mountain cabin or farm shed-in-the-rain feeling. I don't know anybody else in Seoul who has that.
I had a similar sensation in Kwangju when I lived in a very old traditional house. It had sliding wooden latticed windows and doors covered with rice paper. It was all dark wood and traditional paper on the inside. When I lit some candles and had a little knotty bonzai tree sitting in the window I felt like a 19th century Asian poet in his hideaway. I had to go outside under my little private covered patio to get to the shower which was just a red brick stall with a rickety little green wooden door. The rain thumping on the plastic ceiling put me at ease in that house too. And when I showered, since I was basically outside, it was like taking a camping shower everyday - except the water came out hard and hot without exception.
The only bad thing about the place was that the two little squat toilets were in an outhouse around the corner by the landlord's half of the house and I had to share them with him, his wife and his two daughters. Since it was a little awkward walking by their front door every time I needed to use the john, I usually just made use of the drain in the shower when the bladder needed attention. I only used their toilet for the more serious stuff.
Outside sliding wooden door was the patio furniture - a 100 pound swiveling barber chair with a foot rest. I swear it was just as comfortable as a Lazee Boy. I'd found it left with the garbage in front of a barber shop.
Coffee I got into the freshly ground Laos coffee beans today for the first time since I got back from my trip. That stuff is out of this world.... thick, black, strong, chocolatey, nutty. The best I've ever made at home.
Music I started playing drums at the open mic night a few weeks ago and for a few weeks have pretty much been the house drummer for anybody who needed one. The club is the Big Electric Cat, a mostly foreigner hangout but some Korean musicians and music fans are usually there too. But there aren't a whole lot of foreign drummers in Korea. I used to play there weekly with the Back Alley Blues Band but we all parted ways last summer and the leader Pat started a new blues band.
So this time around I hooked up with a few guys who are playing exactly what I have been waiting for - all original alternative songs - written by the amazing Mika, a Candian Czech guy. If some A&R guy doesn't find him, it's going to be a talent waste of epic proportions. Think Ryan Adams (not Bryan), Oasis, Blur... And I'm far from being a professional drummer but every time we get on the stage there is definitely some magic going on. We got asked to play our first real weekend show tonight (tomorrow since I haven't slept to day yet) though we haven't ever really practiced together. Just jammed at open mic night. It should be sloppy considering, but somehow we seem to mesh.
No comments:
Post a Comment