Gadda get it

I'm a lucky dog. Khon Kaen has a mall. In the mall there's a place called Top DVD (it's on the top floor). They have cam versions of the latest Hollywood movies. And if you wait a couple of weeks you can lay your hands on a 'ma-se-tur'. Master copy that is. What's more: they sell music DVD's on the side. Rare ones. Ones with the old dude in the picture. He's only the best drummer in the known world: Steve Gadd.

Steve features (along with Dave Weckl, Steve Smith and Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez) on the 25th anniversary DVD put out there by NYC's Drummers collective. Lot's of para diddles, blender strokes and poly-rhythms. But the real cherry on top of this pound cake is bass player Victor Wooten.

Between all the ghost notes, power solo's and parlour tricks he get's on stage alone. Just a four string bass and...a sampler gizmo. He outlines the rhythm, then plays the chords over it and then plays melody and solo's over that. Insane.

Anywho: even if you are not a drummer, check out my favorite Steve Gadd clip from yesteryear: here he is with Dave Weckl,Vinnie Colaiutta and the Buddy Rich Big Band(bonus: all with 1989 hair and suits).

Mindfulness

I have used the word a lot in my post about meditation. Mindfulness. Yeah, sounds great. But nobody knows what I mean exactly. Fair enough. It isn't that cut and clear. And that's because most of us are normally not mindful at all.

The best way I have seen it explained is by its opposite. The opposite of being mindful is being mindless. That means you are without a mind. You are not aware. You don't know what you are doing. In fact that is how a lot of people spend the day: they just go through the motions. Scatterbrained. Forgetful. Awkward. Stressed. We arrive at work and we don't know how we got here.

In the context of counting the breath I use the word to make you focus on your breath. You become mindful of your breath, your body. And that is the way your body and mind become one. That's new age talk for: they are doing the same thing for a change. That's meditation. But mindfulness doesn't stop there. You can be mindful anywhere doing anything.

Being mindful is about concentration. Your focus is on one thing. When you breathe, you know you are breathing. When you walk you know that your feet are touching the world. And if your thoughts stray, don't become annoyed: recognize it and be aware that you're distracted. (If you do become annoyed: fine. There it is. Acknowledge that too. Know it).

Difficult? No. Just try to do it. Do it now, when you're waiting for the elevator, the trafic light or the bus. Breath a couple of mindful breaths. Take a step and really know it. Look at something. A tree. Your hand. A picture. Really look. Breathe. It's fun. You'll feel great. You'll smile. Like magic. You'll not only feel alive. You'll really be alive.

Now what?! (2)

Come on down and win win winnnnnn! You know the rules: all you have to do is guess what the product in this picture is.

Of course it is something with chicken. Although... Would you eat it? It could be chicken brand rat poison. But wait! Look closely at the logo. Doesn't that look kinda familiar? Is it...is it...Yes! The answer is in the comments!

Horde

Jaaaaah daar is ie weer dan want en maar Thailand heeft er voor de eerste keer ever een referendum tegenaan gekwakt. Het officiele resultaat is nog niet binnen, maarrrrr: net iets meer dan de helft (56%) van net iets meer dan de helft van de bevolking (toch nog zo'n 35 miljoen man) schijnt voor te hebben gestemd. De andere helft had blijkbaar iets beters te doen. Maar we zijn dus voor! Dat je het weet.

Waar voor eigenlijk? Goeie vraag. Voor de nieuwe grondwet. Maar daar gaat het natuurlijk allemaal allang niet meer om. Onderzoeksbureau BVB heeft diverse steekproeven gedaan en zo ongeveer niemand heeft het ding gelezen en dus is zo ongeveer niemand bezorgd over artikelen die zo ongeveer garanderen dat het leger vet veel cash krijgt terwijl iets anders als -we noemen maar wat- onderwijs niet zo'n extra cool artikel in de grondwet heeft.

Waar het dan wel om gaat? Waar al die mensen zich hiero dan zo druk om maken? Een stem voor is een stem tegen Thaksin. En voor de coup. En vooral een stem voor dat we nou eens supersnel verkiezingen moeten gaan houden (in december). De kranten roemen alvast massaal dat er weer een horde op het pad der democratie is genomen. Driewerf hoera. Niet makkelijk, zeker als je weet dat het in Thailand buiten de stad de baas is die bepaalt wat alle werknemers gaan stemmen. Nou gaat ie niet mee het hokje in. Maar toch.

Voor de uitegebreide ditjes en datjes en het massale tegenstemmen in mijn regio (Noord Oost) moet je hiero even klikken. Dit was Brandpunt goeienavond.

Update: als je daaro op hiero klikt kom je helaas helemaal nergens, want dat was niet de officiele telling. Kan dus niemand meer kijken hoeveel mensen nou precies wat hebben gestemd. Nou niet meteen censuur roepen, dat is gewoon allemaal stom toevallig.

Ramblin'

David (my Aussie colleague) was kind enough to let me rip J.J. Cale on to my hard drive. J.J. Cale! Gold! Two CD's! Why?! Isn't that country?! No. Well: let's just say I've never come more close. I have two songs in my collection that feature a kind of (dare I say the F-word).... fiddle. One by Nora Jones and one by J.J. Cale.

Now don't be frightened: I'm not rushing out to add Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt (you look 'em up) to my collection just yet. But J.J. was inevitable really. I've been a hardcore-ish Steely Dan fan since before they added trombones to their line-up. They fade in their slide guitar-like sounds with great stealth. But they are there nonetheless.

Then there's Eric Clapton. Used to play some hefty R&B. No stranger to country-ville either. And he made Cale's 'Cocaine' and 'After Midnight' into hits and habits. Also proving beyond reasonable doubt that at the core of Cale's tunes is a bluesy, rootsy boogie. Very contagious. Especially with J.J.'s laid back drooling vocals and immaculate but rambling guitar style.

But no apologies: I am a real country bumpkin now. Yeeeeehaw! According to the Thais I'm as hick as heck. All red earth and BBQ. I live in Khon Kaen, where the pickup trucks roam near the buffalo's home. I guess J.J. is a prefect fit.

[Before some of you music-heads start emailing me: Yes, I do realize Ramblin' On My Mind is by Robert Johnson and not by J.J. Cale and that Eric Clapton played it too. The title is not a reference to that.]

D is for discipline

I teach. Everybody knows that. But few know how. A question that pops up every now and then is: 'Are you strict?' And the answer is: 'Yes.' That's a shocker for most. Few ask: 'Why?' The answer to that is simple: 'Because I have to.' Thai kids don't learn good behavior at home. They don't know about limits, dealing with anger, defeat, in fact: you name it and they don't know about it. Since I teach grade one, I am the first to guide them. Did I mention there are 35 of them? I am their teacher, their father, their big brother and super role model in every way. Quite a task. And yes: punishment is necessary. But I like to reward. For all you fellow teachers in Asia: this is my method and it works wonders.

1) Have a column on one side of the whiteboard marked 'Good students' (make it nice and colorful, add a cartoon character). On day one, put all the student's names in it.
2) Have a column on the other side of the whiteboard marked 'Naughty students' (no: not 'bad students', they are just misguided remember? :) Of course this side of the board is drab. I use a badly drawn unhappy smiley.
3) Explain what's gonna happen at the first transgression. Praise everybody for being on the good side.
4) Do your lessons. Warn the students when they get out of line. After the third time: erase them from the good side.
5) If the same student talks/plays/hits/forgets their homework/what evers again: put his or her name on the naughty side. Be sure to show your disappointment.
6) If the same student talks/plays/hits/forgets their homework/what evers again: add the number 10 behind the name. That means: write ten lines. Increase with 10 with every transgression. I use a tracing sheet with: 'I am sorry Teacher Boris'.
7) When you hit 50 or 100 lines: put them outside/take them to the principal/contact their parents. Normally you will rarely reach this point.
8) The kids get their lines on Friday. That means they will try to keep out of trouble until Friday or get more lines for the weekend.
9) On Monday you collect the sheets (and here's the important part), erase everybody from the naughty side, and put them back on the good side. Praise them. In my class the other kids even applaud.
10) If a kid scores a very high mark whilst being on the naughty side of the whiteboard (with or with out lines) and is clearly trying hard to be good: erase their name abd put it on the good side with due praise. In my class that happens only when they score 5 stars.
11) Kids that behave well and score high marks on their assignments or homework, or do what ever well get marked with a red star. The best student of the week (1 boy and 1 girl) gets a small gift or a piece of candy. It works very well if a student draws their own star behind his or her name .
12) Keep the kids just below the top on their toes by sometimes taking away the star. Be fair.

Of course this method needs to be tweaked a little for older students where it's about being cool and the pressure comes from the group more. The idea is to correct behavior, have many opportunities to do it and make it easy to get to to the good side.

One more tip: you can play angry. I do the old fire and brimstone routine every once in a while. But never be angry. It will eat you and all your energy up and you'll end up getting eaten alive by your class. Not a pretty sight. Believe me, I've seen it.

In case your wondering: the maximum number of students I've ever had on the naughty side: seven. Usually, it's three :)

Now what?! (1)

One of the joys of being in Thailand is that creepy feeling you get in shops sometimes. You're standing in front of a wall of products, but you have no idea what products. And sometimes you really have no clue what it is there selling. Yes: even after two years here! That's why I've come up with a little game.

<----It's easy: can you guess what this is?

Don't know? Think! What product category? No it can't be frozen fish. Can it? Come on. This one is easy! What was that? Mmm: you might be right. Quickly: the answer is in the comments!

Meditation made easy (1)

If you have been reading my posts about Buddhism you know I have a hard time bowing in front of statues just for ritual's sake. But everybody who knows me knows I've been meditating for years. Nothing compared to the years spent reading and/listening to idle talk, false mysticism and new age mumbo jumbo. So I thought I'd save everybody some time. And for all of you who've wondered and emailed and stuff: you'll finally know what it is that I do to keep so ehm...relaxed, centered, fresh and in the moment :)

Just to set the record straight: meditation is not Buddhist. Not only does it predate Buddhism, it is practiced in other religions (like Catholicism) and outside of the religious context all together. But only an idiot would ignore the strong ties between meditation and Buddha. The man studied hard with the most renowned (Bhramanistic) masters of his time. One of them (Alara Kalama) could be more mindful than anyone else. But the Buddha eventually managed to surpass his teacher and attained the highest level of mindfulness known to man. Not easy. It takes any master years to keep up these high levels of concentration 24/7.

Here's the good news and the kicker though: it is actually very easy to achieve a high level of mindfulness for a moment. And it's not that difficult to string those moments together. In fact: there is no need to try hard at all. It's not a race. But let's get started quickly!

Exercise 1: counting the breath

There are a million ways to do this. This is just a way that I have found to be easy and just long enough (about 20 minutes). The object here is to try and stop/clear the mind by focusing on your breath. No more. No less.

Be careful of these things:

-Breathe naturally, don't try to breathe deeper than normal or anything. Just be aware that you are breathing in (or out). If you force anything you are doing it wrong.

-Do NOT try to suppress thoughts or be fustrated when your mind strays. Give yourself a break.

-Don't rush. Your pace should be entirely directed by the natural pace of your breath. The breath comes first, then you count it.

Ready? Here we go. Read through these points slowly first and then try to do it. Once a week is good. Once a day is better.

1) Sit somewhere were you won't be disturbed. Sit straight. This can be done on chair on a cushion, whatever as long as you keep your back straight. You can close your eyes if you want to.

2) Survey the room for a bit. Feel where your body makes contact to the floor/the chair/the cushion/the air. Take in all the sights and sounds and smells and stuff. Become aware of your breathing. You are breathing aren't you?

3) Breathe in and then breathe out. Count '50' on the 'out' breath. Count '49' on the 'in' breath and keep counting down like that.

5) Double up. When you get to '20': breathe out as before but wait with counting '19' to the next 'out' breath. You'll be doing: OUT 20- IN- OUT 19- IN- OUT 18. All the way down to 'one'.

6) Don't jump up. When you reach 'one' keep breathing consciously for as long as you like. Survey the room again, then get up slowly. Feel your feet touch the floor. You'll feel refreshed, light and clear headed. Good as new!

Note: When you lose track of the number or 'in' or 'out', don't worry. Just smile and think 'oops', breathe out and go back to 50.