Then this morning, I heard a fascinating and inspiring episode of On Being, the NPR show.  The guest was John Paul Lederach, who has spent 30 years as a peace mediator in countries all over the world.  He spoke very eloquently about the power of both music and poetry to facilitate the healing process for people who have suffered unspeakable violence and upheaval, by giving voice to feelings and experiences that can’t be expressed in regular words.

Lederach says that over his years in conflict resolution he has become particularly interested in the art of haiku, for its ability to capture “the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”  He has noticed that people will often, unconsciously, speak in haiku when in the heat of meetings designed to transform conflict situations.  Similar to how the Fibonacci sequence seems to appear in nature, the structure of haiku seem to arise naturally in speech when people are trying to come up with simple solutions to complex problems.  (I mean, really, is that cool or what?)

He has transcribed many of these haiku, and written his own based on those experiences.  You can see and hear the haiku, or the whole episode, here.  This one was my favorite from the episode:

Don’t ask the mountain
To move, just take a pebble
Each time you visit.

—Yangon, March 2003

“Marimba Music”
A solo by Dan Asia
Is five minutes long

As you can see, our programming discussion has informed the poem. We also came up with the alternate:

Marimba music
Is often pentatonic
Refrigerator

Why haiku you ask? Well, Zara will be playing a solo in Lynchburg, based on haiku (This Floating World, by Edie Hill), and Paul is wearing his awesome haiku t-shirt today (see photo). It has this haiku on it:

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

NOTE: if you would like to hear Paul play Marimba Music by Dan Asia, and can’t come to the concert, check it out on iTunes.

Yes! A treehouse! It’s in western Massachusetts (near North, in my sister’s back yard. We started work last summer. First we put up the beams.

In November, Aine and I spent Thanksgiving weekend building the platform. We framed the floor:

And covered it all with plywood.

When it was finished, it looked just like a stage among the trees, and the idea for a Treehouse Concert was born.

The concert will be May 21 at 4pm. If you live in the Northampton, MA area and would like to come, the concert is free, but you must RSVP. Please email me at lawler@lawlerandfadoul.com for all the details.

(In case of rain, we will be inside, but you’ll still get a chance to see the treehouse!)

Us neither.

But, nonetheless, this video offers one possible answer:

It’s actually an ad, but it’s so cool, we wanted to share it.

Tell your friends about us and like us on facebook.  Thank you SO MUCH for your continued support of Lawler & Fadoul.

…is like setting up a marimba?

It was made quite obvious to us yesterday, when Paul’s car had a flat.  It caused quite the delay in our day, but at least allowed us the excuse of lunch at the Original Pancake House, which was right next door to the tire place.

Interestingly, this is the second flat tire I’ve experienced recently with a current collaborator who was once a member of Tales & Scales.  Here’s Neil Parsons changing his tire on the last day of the Arts Midwest Conference:

Where's the Flat Tire Fairy when you need her?

My niece, aka the Flat Tire Fairy, earlier this year.

Click here to listen to an excerpt from the fugue, featuring alto flute.   And here are a couple of snowy pictures to give you the full effect:

(Note that Paul is holding the CD!)

I had a nice time at Flamarimba Camp.  I stayed up past lights-out one time, but don’t tell the counselors.

Mostly, we practiced for our show this weekend in NYC with the International Street Cannibals:

We will be playing our new versions of two Preludes & Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, with live capoeira.  Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that is sweeping the nation.  Seriously!

Also, we did two school shows, and they went pretty well.  The kids really liked the music, and asked very good questions.  After the second show, a girl raised her hand and said,

I have a comment.  You have good fashion.

Not bad, even if it did come from a second-grader in a school uniform.

On our breaks from practicing, we watched Flight of the Conchords and Fawlty Towers, and a sad-but-hilarious video about life as an orchestral percussionist.

Paul had a cold, but that did not stop him from showing off his new concert snare drum.  Hopefully he will be feeling better by Sunday.  See you at the concert!

Love, z

PS. Please send cookies.
PPS. Preferably chocolate chip.