It was a great morning. It was hot but I never thought that this heat would warrant for a rainfall like the one that was to follow late afternoon. It was going strong for about an hour, and lashes of rain drops were whipping the balcony. Towards the end of the recording the rumblings of thunder are heard in the background, soon later lightning strikes very close by. The rain stopped falling eventually, such as the alarm of the little electric motorbike that also finally relented. Atmospheric lightning, though, high up in the clouds was to be seen until late night. I was cloud gazing. This was recorded at 04:30 pm on Friday, September 13th, 2013.

蒙自路sounds: Lightning strikes close by (towards end of recording) － Ein Blitz schlägt in der Nähe ein

Instrumental together with my brother Philipp, with the electrical toothbrush and me, with the harmonica - combining impressions of the walk westwards from where we grew up and which we both left only to manage to return rather too infrequently. 

This was performed and recorded at 05:57 pm on Wednesday, October 2nd 2013 at my brother's new home around the former Judengasse, Börne-Platz, Allerheiligentor, Frankfurt - around the historic center of the city. On the opposite site of the Brücke at the Kurt-Schuhmacher-Straße is Sachsenhausen. A quick walk to the west - not the straightest way to the railway station - you can pass and enjoy the presence of the Judengasse with the old Jewish cemetery and the remnants of the former synagogue, the Kaiserpfalz with the chapel of Kaiser Friedrich II "Barbarossa" (1194 to 1250), the Leonhardskirche, the Dom (Bartholomäuskirche), and the Paulskirche (cradle of German parliamentarism during the 1848 Revolution - in the aftermath of Napoleon. 

Back to the walk in Eastern Upper Franconia near the town of Bayreuth on Sunday, September 22nd and continued on Saturday, September 28th, we walked one stretch each of the Jean Paul hiking trail through the countryside from Donndorf to Waldhütte on Sunday, September 22nd - in the afternoon after voting for a new German parliament - and hopefully more creative, optimistic and resourceful ideas - and the following Saturday, September 28th, we continued the route from Waldhütte via Neustädtlein, Alladorf to Wonsees near the sculpture garden of Sanspareil where we came to a halt. 

We found the second part of the journey to be the more picturesque than the first one. Maybe because it was more in the open on this sunny day. The Jean Paul Wanderweg starts from somewhere behind Hof, just less than 50 miles away to the northeast, in a small village called Joditz, the birthplace (1763) of the poet. We walked the western end of it. 

This 250 years' anniversary is also a reason the hiking route was created: to commemorate the poet who took a lot of inspiration from the surroundings - small old villages built along softly rising hills with the a view into a distance of hilltoops with trees and deep forests (the not mono-cultured ones were beautiful) and with the open sky above you. Life is quiet there in the scarcely inhabited little towns and villages on weekend mornings.

The Lettenwinkel - Velna Ala - Teufelsloch 

Zoon politicon  

Along Jean Paul's Wake (J. P. Richter-Weg) - Interpest & ShanghaiCoyote @LongRoadView Ostend FfM

A shopping mall across the road of an intersection with 三亚湾路 SanYa Wan Lu that runs along Sanya Bay at the back of the old lady with the red jacket who faces the ocean and a viewpoint at the waterfront.  

Marveling under what sounded like hypnotic edification music - with a certain feel good character to it - a little bit like the soundtracks from cheesy Hong Kong movies of the 1980s, with shots under sunshine that is too strong of a light as it bathes everything surreally, washing everything white, out - people are dancing and gathering. 

This draws a lot of pensioners from other parts of China to this southern island. Many of them seem to come from the Northeast of the country. And suddenly after many years of struggle, the dream life comes true. Or how did they get there? Parked in the sun as they seemed a little bit lost - out of place - uncomfortable. Is this really their dream?

Behind the ocean front, with a road running like an artery in the back, lined by hotels and residential properties across - some of them older, some of them brand new - there are backstreets with two story houses. Clothes hanging from them over tiled facades, or above narrow tiled balconies, narrow, like many of those I saw in the Pearl River Delta and in Hanoi for example. 

Cabbies from out of town, from the villages and towns in the interior, chew on betel nuts (like in Taiwan where this nut seems to be very popular), keeping them awake, speaking to each other in a strange dialect - compared with those from the Northeast - as well as other minorities with roots from South-East Asia. 

This was recorded Sunday, December 29 2013 at 05:55 pm. 

蒙自路sounds: People dance near Sanya Bay beach on Hainan Island (05:55 pm, part 2)

Diese Aufnahme einer Durchsage einer Flugnummer auf dem kleinen Flughafen in Sanya auf der chinesischen Insel Hainan wurde um 11:38 Uhr, am Donnerstag, dem 2. Januar 2014, aufgenommen. Die Sprache ist Mandarin. 


蒙自路sounds: Durchsage am Flughafen in Sanya (Teil 7)

This recording was made at 07:46 pm on Thursday, January 30th 2014. This is the last recording made in the year of the snake. We are now in a new year, the year of the horse.

蒙自路sounds: Fireworks in the approach to the new lunar year (Last moments of snake year Edition)

This was recorded at 11:58 am on Tuesday, February 04 2014.

Last night fireworks went off continuously, seeming to be one or even two notches heftier than on the actual new year's eve from the Thursday before - at least around my neighbourhood. 

It was non-stopping for a couple of hours. I went to bed just before ten, as I was reeling from a recovering sore throat and felt a bit flat - recalling that day that it was quite hazy when heavy smog hung in low drabs in the air above the city. When drifting off to sleep, this wouldn't let me. But eventually sleep in its nonchalance just caught me.     

Waking up refreshed the next morning - to a cleansed blue sky - I learned from my wife that the purpose of last night's fireworks was the desire of people for good fortune for their businesses in the year ahead, that prosperity would lie ahead, after the bad spirits were chased away by the loud noises, such as those created by fireworks.  

Today we spotted a lion dancer troupe - like this one from Hong Kong (pictured) - performing in front of the entrance to a commercial building - with a small crowd of people surrounding them - on Nanjing West Road (NanJing Xi Lu, 南京西路) - a Shanghai 上海 street with offices towers that is also very popular with shoppers.  

In this recording, the percussion already created the familiar beat, while those performers that were dressed as lions were about to appear from behind the scene to climb on the pole (in the middle of the picture). After having climbed to the top of the pole, the lion would let a banner with a four character blessing roll out of his mouth.     

蒙自路sounds: Lion dance troupe with drummers about to start performance (part 1)

The drumming seems more frantic when I get closer with the recorder. A banner with a blessing, containing four Chinese characters is rolling down from the lion's mouth - after the dancer has reached the top of the pole. This was recorded on Tuesday, February 04 2014, three minutes past noon.

蒙自路sounds: Lion Dancer on top of pole is accompanied by percussion (part 2)

Aufnahme mit Spoken Word vom 24.02.2024 um 10:32 Uhr. 

Interpretation:

Umgeben von all diesen Klängen, eines sanften und sonnigen Morgens im Spätwinter im Südwesten vom Berlin. Auf zu neuen Ufern! Das Ganze vermischt sich mit dem Vergangenen im Kopf - den Erinnerungen, den Sehnsüchten und den Träumen. Um Dinge, die sich nicht ausgleichen können. Oder können sie es doch? Es wirkt wie Stille, obwohl sich das Leben der Gegenwart um sich dreht und wirbelt - sich ankündigt. 
 
Zehlendorf, 25.02.2024.


Recording with spoken word from February 24th, 2024

Interpretation:

Surrounded by all these sounds on a soft and sunny morning late winter in Berlin's Southwest. Onto new shores! It all mixes with the past in the head - the memories, the longings and the dreams. Around things which can't be reconciled. Or can they? It seems like tranquility, even though life in the present turns, twirls around you -announces itself. 

Zehlendorf, February 25th, 2024.

Zuhause - At home

Ein langsamer Mittwochnachmittag im Garten in Donndorf im Frühling (am 27.03.2024). Der selbe Vogelgesang, der in der Kindheit und Jugend das zunehmende Leben begleitet hat, sowie das Verlangen an neue an neue Horizonte aufzubrechen - während des Erwachens des Frühlings, begleitet nun die Rückkehr und das Herannahen anderer Lebenszeiten. Der Gesang übertüncht große Einsamkeit, Monotonie und ein Gefangensein oder Festhalten an Erinnerungen. Das ist die Suche und das Finden von Melancholie.  

A slow Wednesday afternoon in the garden in spring in Donndorf (27th March 2024). The same birdsong that during childhood and adolescence heralded increasing life and the desire to depart for new horizons - while spring was awakening, is now accompanying the return and the approaching of different phases of life. It sounds over loneliness, monotony and being imprisonment of loneliness. The search and finding of melancholy.

Garten. 27.03.2024. Um 15 32 Uhr.

18 Uhr Kirchenläuten, am 08.10.2024 um 18.01 bis 18.03 Uhr - the six o'clock bells

Kehren Und Grillen. Sommer Zhongshan Park.

Auf einem nachtdunklen Sportplatz nahm ich von meinem Bruder Abschied. Abschied von dem heissen Sommer in Deutschland. (06. 08. 2018). Das Bild stammt aber aus Sachsenhausen Ffm in 2017. 

On a darknightly sport pitch I said goodbye to my brother. A goodbye to the hot summer in Germany. (August 6th, 2018). The picture however was shot in Sachsenhausen in 2017.

Rainer mag keiner

While getting to Hongkou Football Stadium to attend the 7.45 pm kick-off between the two local Shanghai sides Shenhua and East Asia on Sunday, April 28, I am exiting a metro line 3 train which stops overground. Because of the slowly moving line caused by the many people on the narrow staircase ahead as all are headed for the exit downstairs, I let out an involuntary moan in my mother tongue. Further down the staircase, people can be heard talking in various situations in animated speech, you get to hear a few hawkers apprising the tickets on offer (出票吧，chu piao ba). On the level of the subway exit that leads through a shopping mall, food stalls are selling hot food on the inside. You can hear me getting to the outside when suddenly a gush of wind from this warm and mildly windy night hits the microphone. Soon after you can hear some stadium sound getting closer, firstly people selling horns and whistles while other sounds start to unfold and mix.        

蒙自路sounds: Approaching 虹口体育场, via overground metro line 3 exit

Ten minutes before kick-off of the Shanghai derby between home team Shanghai Shenhua and visiting Shanghai East Asia at 7.45 pm on Sunday, April 28, in CSL 2013 round 7, the announcement of some of the players' names in the line-up is being greeted with big roars, rhythmical shouting of the names and drumming. The fan favorites' names of left-defender Bai Jiajun (柏佳骏) and newly signed midfielder Xu Liang (徐亮) can be heard clearly in the one-minute recording.  

蒙自路sounds: 蓝魔 at 虹口体育场 prior to Shanghai derby kick-off

This was recorded between 7:27 and 7:32 pm on Friday, May 10th, 2013 while approaching Hongkou Stadium 虹口体育场 with a fast line 8 八号钱 subway train in Shanghai 上海. Line 8  cuts swiftly through the center of the city, pretty much in a straight line stretching from Pudong, passing the People's Square, and going further north. You can hear the train traveling from the last stop before Hongkou Stadium - coming from the south via Xi Zang Bei Lu Zhan - 西藏北路站, North Xizang Road Station. People exiting the train at the Hongkou Stadium stop have to go up one flight of stairs before getting through the exit barriers, and another flight of stairs to end up at the foot of the stadium complex at exit 1 on ground level where many more touts offer tickets for the Shanghai Shenhua FC 上海申花足球俱乐部 CSL match against table-topping champions Guangzhou Evergrande FC 广州恒大足球俱乐部. The match kicked-off at 7:45 on that evening.

蒙自路sounds: approaching Hongkou Stadium 虹口体育场 with a line 8 八号钱 subway train

I captured some birds singing, while walking around the Shanghai Botanical Garden (上海植物园), one bird - presumably - lets off alert calls while I enter its territory. 
(Recorded on May 18th, 2013) 

For more information: http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/venue/Around_Town-Parks__Gardens/1249/Shanghai-Botanical-Garden.html

蒙自路sounds: Bird calls alert at 上海植物园

Ringing the bells on knee height, needing a push against at - at the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Temple - วัดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพ in Chiangmai, Thailand. Only afterwards, we would realise that we should not touch them. We apologize for this - but a pleasant ringing sound was the end product. And now it is kept - for now - but it is up to the listener to decide for how long. This was recorded at 01:47 pm, on June 4th, 2013. 

This is dedicated to the WEST BUND 2013: A BIENNIAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONTEMPORARY ART - including the REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE: SOUND ART CHINA 中國聲音藝術大展 exhibits in four former oil tanks on the Shanghai Xuhui Corniche - 徐汇滨江 - ( info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Corniche ) - running along the western shore of the Huangpu river through Shanghai's 上海 Luwan District 卢湾区 and Xuhui District 徐汇区. The exhibition will run into December 2013. For more information, please visit: http://sndart.com/2013sh/installation-artists/ .  

蒙自路sounds: Bells @ Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Temple - วัดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพ, Chiangmai, Thailand

This was recorded while entering an MRT subway train at Huai Khwang ห้วยขวาง station bound to pass the Thailand Cultural Center ศูนย์วัฒนธรรม stop in the Bangkok กรุงเทพมหานคร (Thailand) underground railway system. You can hear the announcement of the Thailand Cultural Center ศูนย์วัฒนธรรม in the carriage as the train approaches this station. Announcements on the trains are in Thai and English. On the train TVs blast out advertisements for chewing gums, breath refreshers and so on. While waiting at the platform for the train to arrive, similar advertisements can be heard in the hall. After about a third of the recording the train arrives in the station and the doors open. People exit and get on the train. Bangkok's MRT trains are build in similar lenient mould as those in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and unlike the functionally and plainly built ones in Shanghai's vast and expanding underground system. This was recorded at 1:09 pm on Thursday, June 6th, 2013. For more information about MRT and Bangkok Transit, please visit: http://www.transitbangkok.com/mrt.html

ShanghaiCoyote

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