Twissted Swisster

It is somehow sad that I am becoming an expert on Guggenmusik. There is really bad music, and then once in a while you get a group that makes you do a double take. Like this group.

I was sitting in my apartment and all of a sudden heard some amazing trumpet and trombone solos. Really good jazz stuff. This group was obviously not the regular band of 20 something year old drunk kids wandering around with their horns and bottles of Trojka.

I grabbed my iPod touch to get some quick video as they broke in a bit of G&R which sounds surprisingly good for a brass arrangement. The question remains who are these guys. The only clue I have is the ’33G’ painted on the bass drum. I tried to search them out but I am comming up with nothing. If you know who they are leave a comment.

gottardo nord from fb1 visuals on Vimeo.

I was surfing around the internet and found this neat video down with a tilt shift lens feature Swiss trains. It is a cool little clip. Enjoy.

I got an e-mail today from a long time friend that works on in L.A. as a music composer and producer.  He does a lot of music for radio and television.  He was writing me because he just got a royalty check for a Kinder Bueno Commercial that is running in Switzerland.  Of course knowing I am here he dropped me a line to ask me if I had seen it.  I hadn’t seen it yet but kudos to him for his global work.

I actually have the track in the commercial in my iTunes library.  I like to keep up with his music and he sends me tracks now and again when he has new stuff.  I’ve included the commercial from youtube.

This year’s pumpkin was inspired by an episode of Science Friday (NPR).  The radio program outlined some carving techniques used by some guys in New York that sell their carved pumpkins for several hundred dollars.

After 2 hours with my swiss army knife and a few of their tips I think I can say I can give them a run for their money.  This year we have a Swiss Chalet, a cow, and a Swiss flag.

Avenue Q Puppets Back Stage

Somehow in all of my business I forgot to post about seeing Avenue Q in St. Gallen a few weeks back.  A friend of ours knows a the guy producing the show so in addition to good seats we got a backstage tour after the show.

This is the second time I have seen the show.  The first time was in London, in English of course.  It was such a great story that I immediately got the sound track.  The fun of going with our friends to St. Gallen was that the show was in German.  While my German is passable to some degree, it can still be a big challenge to follow a performance.  The fact that I knew the music pretty well in English made it much easier to follow along.

And in most cases the translations were well….see for yourself.

The Internet is For Porn ->  Das Internet ist Für Pornos

Yeah, toilet humor is pretty easy stuff to follow I suppose.

The audience was obviously the weekend yearly subscription club.  Meaning lots of gray hair, and buckle sandals as my mother would say.  I don’t think this show is really relevant for such a crowd in Europe.  The theme being post U.S. University life in New York.  Not sure how these old Swiss can really relate.

Anyway, the production was good, the singing was good, and if you like the show in English and you know a little German you’ll surely enjoying it in St. Gallen.

Local Farmer Strains to Get A Good View

When the the approaching cows are heard, local farmers empty from many of the small restaurants dotting the parade route to get a glimpse of the herdsman’s best animals.  Pipes and cigars are a well established part of the tradition.

Pig Races

During the festival herdsmen come and go on their own schedule.  Often times the herdsmen start down from the Alps as early as 3:00 in the morning.  Cows come through the town on a sporadic schedule and there are many other activities like the farmers market and pig races to entertain visitors in between cow parades.

Huge Cow Bells

The best looking cows in the heard are dressed with the largest bells and paraded in front of four yodeling herdsmen.  Sometimes the cows can be distracted by the onlookers and head into the crowds gathered along the streets.