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Off To Drum Camp2:10 PM - Wed 8 July 2009I can't believe a year has passed since the last Drum Camp! It's a relatively small gathering in Suffolk with daily workshops in drum, dance and song with wonderful performances in the evening. It's camping or camper vans so we're taking Moon Palace - just topped up the oil and water and packed her full of drums etc! It's very unlikely I'll find any wireless there so don't expect to hear from me till next week some time. At last I have tenants for my Bristol house which I've let out and we're settling in well here. I get a replacement car next week after the accident and my shoulder's on the mend so all in all life is good. Here's a picture from last year - I'll take the camera and get some good new ones hopefully! Pray for good weather - it's been very stormy here the last few days. 
comments {2}Playing Flute with Moriba on Kora11:03 AM - Thu 2 July 2009When we were in Africa I spent a lot of time in between organising the festivals (ha ha) playing flute with my friend Moriba who plays Kora.Here's a rough audio of one of the tracks - we wrote this one about the Dombondir Festival. The photo is of the Kora I have for sale on his behalf. 01 Dombondir MP3 from http://chandramoon.vox.com/ comments {3}Burgundy Canal Trip8:58 PM - Sat 20 June 2009We got back at 3.30am today after a very long drive up from just south of Dijon back to the Dunkerque Ferry for 10pm then the drive back to Oxfordshire! We're pretty tired but it was worth the effort.We had four glorious days of sunshine on the canal. We moved the boat most days to a different mooring. While P worked I lazed about enjoying the scenery and doing the odd crossword! Apart from cooking one meal I really did have a fantastic rest! The views were beautiful - here's a typical evening sunset over the canal. 
Here's a link to more photos - including one of how you get a small car on and off a barge! MORE PHOTOS 
comments {3}Off to La Belle France!9:17 PM - Sat 13 June 2009Well dear friends - life is feeling better again - apart from an achey shoulder and a bit of the jitters, I’m more over the accident now. The insurance have made an offer and I have a courtesy car for now. My car is completely written off.We’ve just had a couple of days in London. P was working on a barge at Battersea and I spent time whizzing up and down the Thames on the Clipper Ferry as the tubes were on strike. This was a great way to see London. On the second day, I went to the Globe by the Tate Modern and accidentally managed to go and see Romeo and Juliet! I hadn’t planned it but they had tickets due to people not being able to get there due to the strike - here’s a link to loads of lovely photos from London on Facebook. 
LINK TO PHOTOS Today we had a drumming workshop near Birmingham and on the way back we popped into Leamington Peace Festival and saw Rory McLeod playing - brilliant. P’s working on a barge on the Burgundy Canal all of this coming week so I’m going along for the ride - hope to get some good pictures of that too. Thanks for all your lovely messages of support about the accident - it really was wonderful knowing how many people out there in the virtual world do care! Bye for now. comments {1}Lucky Escape!1:57 PM - Thu 4 June 2009Yesterday I had the closest shave I think I’ve ever had with death. I was driving in Bristol when a huge lorry intruded into my lane and clipped the back of my Golf on a roundabout slewing me round in front of his cab which then made contact with the whole driver side of my car and carried me sideways up the road while he started braking. I could actually feel the pressure of the lorry on the door as the momentum pinned me onto that side of the car and I felt the car starting to tip over but somehow it didn’t and he managed to stop. I had to climb out the passenger side as the lorry was up against the driver side and the doors couldn’t open. Miraculously I was very shaken but uninjured! The police came and said it was his fault (well I KNEW that) but he didn’t deny it and admitted he hadn’t seen me at all but “felt” something on the blind side of his lorry. Someone called an ambulance but they just told me to go home and rest. These huge lorries are a menace on town streets but I suppose they’re just doing their job. Thankfully he wasn’t speeding and after we’d stopped he told me that if it had happened the day before it would have taken longer to stop as the truck had 40 tons load the previous day but happened to be empty when we collided. I was shaking like a leaf and couldn’t sleep very well last night but apart from a few aches and pains I feel fine today - though I keep flashing back to looking up at that huge lorry thinking my moment had come - it was a very weird feeling of disappointment that it was all going to end like that without being able to tell anyone I’d finally found some tenants for my house! Weird, you’d think I’d have thought of something a bit more important for a last thought! The car’s pretty mashed up on that side of course and the insurance have provided me with a courtesy car already which is pretty impressive. Anyway - that was my day yesterday - it’ll take a while to get over it I think but I’m counting all my blessings that I’m still here at all. comments {1}New Feelings11:36 AM - Tue 2 June 2009I'm sitting in my old house in Bristol - it's completely empty and feels very weird. I've mowed the garden front and back - I have to keep it tidy for when I find tenants - it's slow because of the dreaded credit crunch there's a glut of houses to rent but I'm sure someone'll come along.The house in the country is gorgeous and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet though it really feels strange after a lifetime in the city - I've lived in Bristol for 30 years and London before that and now I'm not even in a village and the nearest shop is 40 minutes walk away. Don't get me wrong - I'm loving it - but it's just a huge shake up and change of lifestyle which will take time to adapt to. Fortunately, we know quite a lot of people round about the area and yesterday evening I went to a local meeting of the meditation group I belong to and that was lovely to find so near in Banbury. This weekend we went up to Cheshire to collect an engine for the boat P's working on in London and I met old friends of his which was lovely - the weather's superb (it was sweltering mowing today!). I'm spending a few days sorting out things here in Bristol and return home on Friday morning - there you are - I'm already calling the new place HOME! comments {1}I'm Back9:15 AM - Fri 29 May 2009Hi guys - well now the great Africa trip is over and we've actually moved consider me back in the loop.I'll re-subscribe here to people still blogging so leave me a comment and I'll head over and subscribe if I haven't already. I'll get some more pics of the gorgeous place I'm living now - the weather is glorious so I'll be outdoors for the next few days. Bye for now! comments {2}Moved!10:51 AM - Tue 26 May 2009Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been incredibly busy with the house move!We're now settling in and the place is amazing. The house we're renting is set in 30 acres of beautiful farmland which is only used for hay so we have free access to wonderful walks. The guy whose house it is looks after the land very well and mows the grass nearest the house with an enormous sit on mower so we don't have to be responsible for that ha ha!! The house itself is big and lovely - we have plenty of room for our things. We had loads of people over during the weekend to help us warm the place up - it ended up being a party from Friday till Monday evening. I haven't lived with anyone for years and years but I feel in my bones that we'll be very happy here. View from Bedroom 
Patio 
View from Front 
comments {2}Moving House Ahhhhhhh!3:39 PM - Thu 14 May 2009My god - thanks goodness one doesn't have to move home every week. What a load of old rubbish I had in my house as well as precious objects.I've thrown out three enormous bags of clothes to the charity shops, half my books to Amnesty International Bookshop, there's still piles of crap! Plus you suddenly find letters and cards which take you back to the past with a bang for a quick trip down memory lane before adding it to the pile of junk. I thought my house was quite clean till I looked behind cupboards and chests of drawers - yuk! I'm so tired I could drop dead and the thought of unpacking it all at the other end doesn't appeal much either. Ha ha - I sound really fed up but the truth is I'm very excited about starting a new phase of my life with my lovely man in a beautiful place in the countryside of Oxfordshire. I'll still have a small place in Bristol, so I won't lose touch with my family, friends and musicians here. I hope to have internet when we move on Tuesday but there could be a delay. My Life in Boxes! 
comments {5}How to Make Baobab Juice!10:26 PM - Thu 7 May 2009I’m in the middle of moving so don’t have time to do a proper post but here’s some photos on how to make Baobab juice PHOTO LINK comments {2}Back in the UK!8:49 AM - Sat 2 May 2009Well we're back in the UK after our long travels. I'll blog something in the next couple of days.Bitzky's asked about customs and food and I have some good pics of how to make baobab juice .... so watch this space. We're moving house over the next couple of weeks so will be very busy so wish me luck! comments {3}Janjangbureh5:12 PM - Wed 22 April 2009What an amazing week we've had - much too much to try and write it all down. We've been on a trip up country into Gambia along the Gambia River and across to a small town called Janjangbureh. The drive was wonderful but it was seeringly hot and by the time we arrived there I felt my blood was going to boil. My friends took a kettle and dipped it in the river and poured water over my head to cool me down and sat me under a tree for a while till I felt better.The town itself was fascinating though so very hot I found it very uncomfortable. We got no sleep the first night with the heat, the mosquitoes and the smell of nearby burning rubbish so the next day we managed to find somewhere else to stay in a lovely place next to the river which was cooler and we played music and relaxed. We visited places of interest there relating to the slave trade and colonialism. On the way back we stopped at a place called Wassu which had an amazing Stone Circle where you could literally feel the spirits calling from deep under ground. 
There was a wonderful market there too where people come from all over (especially from Senegal on horses) to trade every thing from mangoes to horses and carts. After a very eventful journey and a horrendous four hour wait at the ferry we ended up in a very minor car accident and car chase where the police caught the guy who'd pranged us and after much shouting and debate the matter was settled! We are now back in our usual place tying up loose ends of the festival, thank you letters etc and it's now only a week till we get back to the UK - what an amazing three months it's been! Here's a LINK to some photos of our recent trip - enjoy! comments {4}Dombondir Festival3:32 PM - Fri 10 April 2009Where to start - I haven't got much time to try and scratch the surface of the last few weeks!The Kartong Festival went off well though was tremendously hard work. The following week we assisted with a festival at a tiny village in the Casamance Region called Dombondir. We stayed in a simple compound where we were made very welcome. There's no running water or electricity there so you rely on the well, generators and candles! It's a simple lifestyle and the people are very hospitable indeed. The festival was wonderful - my job was to run the bar which gave me a great view of the stage and all the performances - local wrestling, traditional dancing, music and drumming! We're grabbing a couple of days in town to do festival accounts and reports then back to Kartong and a few days travelling around as a bit of a holiday. Here are some photos on Facebook and some MORE And some from packing up at the end of Dombondir! 
Will it fit? 
Only just!!!!! Bye for now! comments {3}Bye for Now10:37 AM - Tue 24 March 2009This will be my last post from the UK till May as I'm off back to the Gambia tonight till Apr 29th.My house sitter's in place, bags packed, festival gear boxed (including several thousand different colour wristbands), coach and plane tickets booked and ready to go. I've configured my African Mobile to update my Twitter so even if I can't find internet I'll send short messages to my Facebook Status and my new Efx3 blog has a Twitter feed in the top left hand column for anyone interested. NEWBLOG AT EFX3 - CLICK Last time I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get internet access but we'll be travelling more this time so I have no idea yet how often I'll be able to be in touch. So for now - I hope you are all well and enjoying life - I'll re-subscribe to all my friends on my return. Bye for now!! x comments {4}EFx37:27 PM - Sun 22 March 2009I've launched a preliminary blog at EFX3 CLICKI find the Wordpress thing quite tricky and time consuming but hopefully will get to grips with it in due course. I'd be grateful if my friends could let me know if they're all going to set up there as well or whether I should continue to post here too. I'll keep Vox as my back up as it's so stable but it's a bit of a pain to have to back up THREE blogs!! I suppose it's just a quick cut and paste job but...... thoughts? comments {6}Recent Performance at Walberswick4:44 PM - Tue 17 March 2009Recent Performance at Walberswick from http://chandramoon.vox.com/ comments {3}Performance at Walberswick and Other Ramblings6:25 PM - Sun 8 March 2009I’m sitting in the sitting room of the place that I’ve rented for a week here at Walberswick in Suffolk (on the East Coast of England) – it’s a funky place with a pleasant living room/kitchen, shower room and tiny bedroom.I got back from the Gambia late on Wednesday evening, spent a couple of nights with my daughter and her husband and saw my lovely little grand daughter. She’s only 4 months old and had really grown in the 5 weeks since I’d last seen her. I set off very early on Friday to come here for 10 days sabar drumming with our teacher Modou Diouf. This weekend has been the advanced class and today we’ve just finished a performance in the local village hall. It was incredibly loud (the audience were provided with ear plugs ha ha), as the room is rather echoey for drums. PHOTOS OF GIG - CLICK The performance went really well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and got up and danced at the end. You can really see the improvement in our playing – we’ve all been playing for quite a few years now. 
There are about a dozen of us and we all cook together and spend very pleasant evenings while we’re here. Tonight though, four of us are leaving the main group and going for a meal in a restaurant at Southwold, a small town about 20 minutes drive away. I’m missing P like mad, he’s still in the Gambia organising the festival and trying to raise funds for it – with the economic situation everywhere it’s much, much harder to get people to contribute or sponsor events and yet it’s so important as it’s not only a wonderful event in its own right, but also brings people together from different tribes and traditions and also from Europe and beyond in a peaceful and amazing environment and brings income into the local village. The exchange rate is so terrible at the moment that everything is at least a third more expensive than it used to be – four years ago you’d get about D52 (Dalasi) to the Pound but at the moment it’s only D35. Anyway, I’ll take my Mac and send this from a pub at Southwold, which has free wireless as there’s no internet here anywhere! I may well not get to internet again till I get back to Bristol on March 15th. Then I have ten days to sort my life out in Bristol before I return to the Gambia on the 25th March till May. On our return, we’re going to rent a place together near Banbury to start with and I’ll let my house out in Bristol – huge changes in my life – I’ve lived in Bristol for 30 years!! About time for a new direction in anybody’s book and I’ll spend a weekend a month in Bristol anyway so I can see my family and friends and hopefully keep my little band going. comments {2}Back in the UK!4:55 PM - Thu 5 March 2009Well hello again - I'm back in the UK again for three weeks then back to the Gambia for the actual festival and the following week another festival at Dombondir in the Casamance. Unfortunately there are political problems in that region so that could affect our plans. We'd hoped to visit Guinea Bassau but they've just assassinated their president in a military coup so we'll probably do a trip within Gambia or Northern Senegal instead.I stayed with my daughter last night and it's just lovely to see them and my little grand daughter again. Tomorrow I'm off to Suffolk for 10 days sabar drumming with Modou Diouf - he flew out from Gambia the day before me. I'm missing P like crazy already - he's stayed behind to carry on organising things for the festival but it's the first time we've been apart for ages now. Anyway - I'll post up some photos of a recent amazing event we went to at a school in Bakaote where a well known artist called Jalex performed for the children. It was extraordinary - you'd never see anything like it in a European school - the sound system was ear bleedingly loud, the teachers were controlling the children with sticks and the kids were going crazy for the music! We're hoping he'll play at Kartong. 
JALEX PHOTOS comments {6}Visit of the President Of Burundi!5:05 PM - Tue 24 February 2009Well what excitement! We discovered that the President of Burundi (His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza) was going to visit Sandele Lodge - just up the road from where we are staying. We found some excuse to go round there and managed to catch all the action.A lot of pomp and ceremony, drumming, dancing and excitement all round as he visited the eco-tourist site - this area is designated as protected from modern development. 
There are a few more pictures on my FACEBOOK (click) I'm not sure if I'll get back to the internet before my brief return to the UK from Mar 4th - 25th but if not I'll post again from there. Hope this finds you all well - bye for now. comments {3}Hello from Timbooktoo Bookshop at Fajaro1:36 PM - Thu 19 February 2009Another quick update. We've just returned yesterday from a four-day trip to Senegal sussing out another festival to see how they do things there and what we can learn from them.The journey there was over quite rough terrain and untarmacced roads so very hot and dusty but great fun! We spent four nights at a friend's compound in the outskirts of Abene, about half an hour from Kafountine. The festival at Kafountine was really lively and we saw some good traditional African bands. I'm putting some photos up on my Facebook if there's enough bandwidth. We're now starting to organise the festival at Kartong properly and have a meeting on Sunday with the members of the local Festival Committee and are starting to make contact with artists etc. Last night we spent at Safari Gardens a small hotel with a hot shower (what a luxury!!!) though I don't mind washing with a bucket of water from the well which is fine too. 
So..... that's it for now. I hope this uploads ok. Bye for now. MORE PHOTOS comments {4}
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WELCOME! This blog is about my travels, original music and songwriting, drumming, festivals and gigs mainly from Bristol, UK. I also post about my everyday life and happenings. Please respect that any song lyrics are copyright Chandramoon and shouldn't be copied without my express permission. There's a link here called Song Lyrics which will take you to my second blog dedicated to posting my lyrics. There's also a link called Chandra Moon's Music direct to myspace where you can listen to some of my tracks. Now available on iTunes  
  
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