post and pre

i've been wanting to write about the recent (october 21) lissenup but have been swept up in the thousands of details attached to the third coast festival conference, which kicks off in about 48 hours. a friend asked if we were completely swamped and i told him that it's more like standing outside in the summer as dusk settles and the mosquitos go to town, and suffering countless small bites - irritating but manageable. if only i could grow out my nails for scratching...pass the calamine lotion, please.

but somehow tonight there's the smallest amount of time to breath and type a bit. as the new little cat continues to taunt the older grumpy cat and the older grumpy cat continues to pretend she's ignoring the new little cat. there's a lot of Racing Down Hallways going on over here.

anyway - it's extremely cool to hear someone talk about something he/she loves to listen to, and then actually listen to it. carving out the space and time in a busy weekend to sit still and concentrate seems almost an impossibility. an improbability, anyway. and to do it in a room full of game friends and friends of friends - is memorable, fascinating and a whole lot of fun.

so thanks to darlene, nathaniel, anthony and kelly for bringing a selection of audio to share - we had an unplanned (and unplannable?) range of sounds - startlingly exhilirating gamelan, haunting banjo (dock boggs,) haunting voice (diamanda galas), jaunty pop (new poi dog pondering) a memorable mew and this story by robert krulwich about yawning, which i's just obviously made for group listening. and thanks to everyone else for coming out for deliberate listening and fine snacks. i'm already looking forward to the next lissenup, mid-decemberish. will announce here first.

in the meantime - if you won't be experiencing the audio hoopla in chicago this weekend, you can follow along over at transom.org. or if you're in the DC-area - next monday i'll be presenting and talking about recently-awarded documentaries from the TCF and prix europa, with peter leonhard braun (who's receiving the TCF's audio luminary award) the event is at the goethe-institut, is free, and should be hot.

otherwise - i'll be back on the flip side of this weekend. wish us luck.