Cantamás sings Monteverdi

My song group Cantamás is rehearsing for our upcoming Monteverdi concerts (see dates on the side -->). This year is special because we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary! It was in the summer of ´99 that me and Joakim (second from left) got to know each other, singing Spanish Golden Age music in Provence. We got the idea of taking the renassiance music to a smaller, and purely male, format. The group started out as a trio, grew to a quartet in 2003, and is now often employing Gunilla, Joakim´s spouse, as an added acoustic dimension. For this project we also have Madeleine, so that we can cover Monteverdi´s works for six voices. On basso continuo we have a solid line-up with Gunnar Englund, organ, Janne Johansson, arch lute and Björn Carlsson, cello.

The Napo river

From EcuadorOriente

A few hours into the jungle, the Cotopaxi has long since disappeared from the horizon, but it´s presence can still be seen. It is a source of the mighty Napo river that serpents through the rainforest on it´s way to Peru, eventually flowing into the Amazon.

Here, on either sides of the river lies the small indigenous village of Ahuano, where I spent two nights.

The tranquility of the village is contrasted by a feverish bird and insect activity at night. Together with the rushing waters of the river, they form a compact acoustic background. Walking in the forest, I was struck by how dark it is on the ground level. The tall trees steal the light high above our heads, but not without a price. Parasitic plants are in turn strangling the trees, and may leave the top part of a tree dead while the lower part continues to live. Other species cover their host completely, and eventually the original tree rots away, becoming a hollow space inside.

According to our guide Telmo, this particular region had been almost entirely cleared of animal life by the local people. However, the hunting of wild animals is not practiced anymore, and hopefully sometime in the future they will once again have monkeys, tapirs and cats there.

One of the amusements offered by the hotel was a ride on a raft tied together by the group itself. On the raft, we glided downstream, enjoying a rare lo-tech moment. Telmo told us about sailing several days downstream, where anacondas sunbathe on floating logs and uncontacted indian tribes retreat deeper to avoid an encounter with civilization.

At one point during our walks, we came very close to a group of tucans, where the male was singing to mark his territory. No matter how hard we tried we never managed to see them, but they were in the foliage in front of us... very near.

I also ate live ants, that tasted acid and could provide enough protein to sustain you for several days.

Oriental Ecuador turned out to be very intriguing.

EcuadorOriente

Oriental Ecuador

Heading east from Quito, it doesn´t take long before the road starts to climb the heights of the Andes. The engine roars hoarsely, starved on oxygen as the bus gains more and more altitude. Less and less trees populate the hillsides and before long the road is veiled in banks of clouds. Vultures glide statically above the barren land and cold air streams through the open windows. We are reaching the summit.

Well on the ridge of the mountain range a knuckled terrain partly occluded in clouds stretches out around us. An immense volcanic cone appears around a bend; a silent, unquestionable dominator.

Shortly, the descent on the far side begins, and the engine goes quiet, replaced by the suffering sound of the brakes. With such a steep and long inclination, the brakes must be handled with care or they will overheat and burst into flames.

All this time, a reggaeton beat drums from the bus speakers and a Sylvester Stallone collection DVD plays on the onboard tv-set.

Going down, the vegetation thickens and colors shift from brown and grey to green and yellow. Water pours from the hills, leaping hundreds of meters, flowing into the bustling river deep down on the valley floor. Sometimes, a breathtaking view of the lowland ahead opens up.

Down there, a few hours away, is Tena, the capital of this tropic region.

To be continued...

Ascending the Cotopaxi

Not far from Quito lies the majestic volcano of Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Reaching 5897 m above sea level, it is surpassed only by Llullaillaco and Ojos del Salado (Chile). It has had at least 50 eruptions in the last couple of centuries, with lava flows, pyroclastic clouds and melted ice rivers. In 1534, it erupted in the middle of a battle between Spaniards and Incas and forced both sides to flee. It´s name is in quichua and translates to Moon´s Neck, so called because the moon travels up the side of the volcanic cone when it rises, and ends up right on top of the summit, becoming the head of the volcano in the eyes of the natives.

Together with a guide, I set out to climb a part of this beautiful mountain. Our goal was to reach the first base camp at 4800 m, starting from the parking lot at 4600 m. This might sound easy, but this small climb normally takes 45 min to one hour, and means a lot of effort. We were in luck and the clouded summit sometimes exposed itself, with it´s glittering glacier.

After a tough walk with a constantly maxed pulse we reached the camp. Time: 40 mins. Though a small victory, it feels great. Feeling like a real andinist, you try to ignore that also grandmothers and children are lingering at the base camp, annoyingly unbothered by the climb.

We also strolled around a little to check out the lower folds of the glacier.

Cotopaxi

Equatorial Experiments

Shortly after arriving to Quito, my second cousin Xavier Donoso took me to see the monument called "La Mitad del Mundo" - Half of the world - erected in honour of the 19th century french expedition that established the location of the equatorial line. Around this monument, a number of small museums and exhibitions have been installed, mainly about Ecuador and the equator. However, some years ago, the US Navy conducted GPS measurements on the site and concluded that the line is not exactly where the monument was built but actually some 100 m further north. So, a clever gentleman purchased a bit of land where the real line passes, painted the stretch and is now conducting experiments for curious tourists, on and beside the equator.

One experiment deals with the direction in which water swirls. First, the guide put a sink right over the equator, poured water in it and pulled the plug. The water was drawn to the hole in a straight fashion, it didn´t swirl at all.

Next, the recipient was moved one meter to the south. Here, with the same procedure, and adding some small leaves to show the direction of the water, the water swirled clockw

ise. Repeating the same thing on the north side gave a counter-clockwise swirl! All the tourists and myself were witnesses of this.

The guide proceeded to show that our resistance is less on the

 equator. She asked for the strongest man of the group to lock his hands high and she would try to lower his hands. One meter to the north of the line, she had no way of pulling them down. Then, she asked the man to stand on the painted  line and again hold his hands locked high. This time, she would only use one hand. Effortlessly, she pressed his hands down, to the great surprise of the man and the group. Me and Xavier also tried this out, and the effect was the same.

The third thing was to try to walk heel-to-toe with your eyes shut. This proved incredibly difficult walking on the line. Apparently, there is a lateral force missing on the line, which confuses the brain.

Now, do you believe this?

Quito Slideshow

By the Napo river

I am in the little village of Ahuano by the Napo river in eastern Ecuador. Right now I have two boys beside me, apparently curious about what I am doing. I had written a rather nice text about the bus trip from Quito, crossing the Andes, and descending into the rain forest, but mistyped and managed to delete everything.. Tomorrow the are two excursions, one features a visit in an "actual" aboriginal home. I dodged the "swing-yourself-in-a-vine"-excursion...
The jungle is very cool. Stay tuned for more info and pictures.

Lines

I´ve made so many lines today, and long ones too, that it has tested my patience. And I consider myself a rather patient person. I arrived in good margin to the airport and found a rather long line to the check-in desk. To my delight, it grew considerably moments after I took my place, advancing my position closer to the goal, relatively speaking. But when I arrived to the counter, it turns out I had to go the info booth and get a paper ticket... which I didn´t get, so I had to go back again and so forth. 

But he who waits shall receive, and I´m now travelling the whole distance in Business Class.

More to come...

Flight Cancelled

Due to the fierce snowy weather that we´re having, a number of flights were delayed or cancelled today. Including mine. So, if things are better, I will take off tomorrow instead and stay overnight in Madrid before I can board the next available flight across the Atlantic.

On the car back home, Isabel saw the humour in the situation.

Packing for the trip

While the winter season has taken a firm grip of Uppsala and the wind whistles outside the window, I´m preparing for the trip to Ecuador and Chile beginning tomorrow. Naturally, I´m bringing the camera along. Stay tuned for updates.

Houseplant in bloom

The plants in my house, there are five, are of a varying vitality. One of them is a cause for serious concern, another that always had a happy face is showing early signs of stagnation, a couple are solidly indifferent to any kind of treatment and the last one is, for the first time in almost two years, blooming! 

Time passed between the pictures is 1 ½ years. As you can see it has grown quite a lot in this time.

Perhaps I could have the name for this plant?

Gmail Video Chat

Finally, an alternative to MSN Messenger and Skype for video conversations. Once more, Google is showing the way with a brilliant piece of web application.

Now you can make smileys with your face! There are endless possibilities!

Veggie lunch expectations

Armed with a 2 for 1-coupon, Johannes and me entered the vegetarian restaurant near the train station. It was a first-time visit for both of us. Normally, you´d expect the guests of a vegetarian restaurant to be calm, orderly folks, providing an ideal acoustic background to a relaxed conversation with the opposing face across the table. You would think that this kind of place wouldn´t have much drama or heated arguments going on. That´s just the kind of image that pops into your mind when you see the sign walking by.

Well, in this case, that was spot on. It was really tranquil in there. 

We were also expecting the food to be especially good and healthy, being served in a dedicated vegetarian restaurant and all. And it was.

But if there was anything that we didn´t see coming, it was the tray of tantalizing desserts, elegantly offered to us by the staff. No, seriously, we didn´t see it. Ever.

We were both very pleased with the experience, and how well it had complied with our expectations.

More sketching

I now possess a Wacom Tablet. It is a pad with a digital pen, much suited for drawing in Photoshop for instance. It can adjust the brush´s size and opacity according to the pressure applied.

This is how happy I am over this tool.

Autumnal Uppsala

This blog is not becoming a postcard blog, I promise.

The two ducks that you see gliding serenely over the water reflection above are actually two males in a temporarily disengaged quarrel. Left is a view rewarding the few who manage to tear their eyes off the sidewalk.

Silvia, Viktoria and the other guy

As I strolled back from the shops I happened to bump into some royals; the King Carl Gustaf (chatting with Tuulikki Koivonen Bylund), Queen Silvia and Princess Viktoria. (that ought to generate some hits...) They were participating in the annual church meeting in the cathedral. I didn´t have anything in particular to talk about with them, so I just said "Hi".

Night Photography

I set out to capture the cathedral´s new facade illumination on "film". The sky was cloudless and there was a promise for an interesting photo. My aim was to do multiple exposures and later generate an HDR image, capturing the whole dynamic range from spotlights to starry sky. Well, as I had rigged the tripod and was looking through the viewfinder, something seemed odd. The towers were somewhat blurry. In a matter of minutes a thick, moist fog had engulfed most of the city. Adjusting to the changed conditions, I focused on light effects from the fog.

As often is the case, the unexpected makes the best picture.

The Yellow Mile

Today was a beautiful late-summer day, perfect for a stroll in Mother Nature. We, and by that I mean Marco, Catty, Jessica, Carles, Johannes, Clara and me, set out southward and marched all the way down to the lake Ekoln, some 10 kms from the city centre following the so-called Yellow Trail. Marco and Catty actually joined at about 2/3 along the way, and refilled our draining energy supplies with hilarious remarks and gestures.

After some 3 ½ hours of walking, we arrived to the marina at Skarholmen and were able to enjoy some picknick in the sun.

I wish all August could´ve been this nice, shame on you August! But at least it went out in style.

The Dancing Masters

Gunilla asked me if I could do a photoshoot of her band, The Dancing Masters. They play "folk baroque" music in a very dance-friendly manner. A combination of sensitive instruments and heavy rain forced us to find cover under a roof. Fortunately, we found a nice place with these old stone stairs leading up to the cathedral.
Don´t forget to head over to their myspace for a listening.

TheDancingMasters

Congratulations Hanna and Andreas

A few weeks ago, Hanna and Andreas sealed the deal and I was there to capture the moment. It was a lovely ceremony just by the water in the outskirts of Stockholm. Thanks to Henrik for recommending me!