Rosa

One of the sweetest things to have happened on the street is I met Rosa. I think Rosa is about 6 years old. She was here with her father from England and at such a young age, she is very much a lady. She has started studying piano and as I do with many I showed her how the strings of the harp relate to the piano and where C (do) is.She visited me a number of times out there, and then last week she informed me she was a descendant of King David. Some people have been skeptical when I told them that but her father assured me that there are records and it can be proven. Well, how can I not let a descendant of David HaMelach play on my harp. So Rosa did and had her first harp lesson, and now she is totally smitten with harp. It really does not take much to become addicted. They promised to stay in contact with me and I look forward to seeing how she progresses with the harp. I'm sure she will be a very good harpist.

Computer is back on line

I had an involuntary break from my computer (almost 2 weeks) but Beau the PC Doctor fixed me up fine. I had to have a new hard disk put in but the good news is that it is bigger and now I have lots of room to do the things I need, like the videos for YOUTUBE. I'm also going to try recording for a disk. Eventually I will do something in a real studio, but that takes a lot of money and also the problem of getting the harp to the studio. Lots more money if you have to use a taxi. So for now I'm going to see what I can do on the computer.

A New Harpist Is Born

I had my violin out last night and I played it along with Nomi. I can do a lot more with the violin than the recorder (halilite for the Israelis), as far as back up and harmonizing
and jst every thing. Then after Nomi left, Yonathan Came along. When i found out he played
violin I let him take my violin and we played Pachebelle. He was playing more by ear and he was quite good.He teaches Jewish studies in England and he also sings. I let hem play my harp and he was amazed at how easy it was to do something on it. He was just in another world. Afterwards he said he had been thinking about the harp because it seemed to go with Israel and Jewish studies. He also writes poetry and recited one of his poems. It was quite good I think. Well he definitely has the bug and will be dreaming about harps.

Ein Gedi

Wed. I was in Ein Gedi at the spa. I soaked and swam in the pool and got covered in mud. Everyone should get there at least once. It's good for what ails you. I'm going to go at least once a week for a while and see if I can get rid of these pains in my arm. It's better already after one time except I'm a bit sore from swimming, you know, muscles that have not been used much for a while.

The Phenomonon of Waltzing Matilda

Do you know the song Waltzing Matilda? Do you know it comes from Australia? Do you know what most Aussies do when they hear that song? They stop to listen for one. Many times they will join in singing, and they almost always give me money. I play it first because I love the song. I remember singing it in fifth grade. I liked the song then, I always liked singing. But it seems to have grown on me, and it always helps when I get good response to a song.

Last October I was playing this song, and a group of young guys came up and started singing. I mean they were just belting it out. It was so good. They promised they would come back before they left Israel in November so I could video it and put it on YouTube but they didn't. There have been several other groups that have done the same thing, but I think the first one was the best. Soon I am going to start taking my video camera out more so when this happens I can get it down.

Now, my question is, what songs from other countries can effect their people like Waltzing Matilda effects Australians ? I do not mean patriotic songs. Waltzing Matilda is not a patriotic song. I am searching for these songs for two reasons. First, they are probably very good songs, and second, they will make me more money, which is not a bad thing. Can anyone help?

I think the closest one here in Israel ( not Hatikva or Yerushalaim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold -those are patriotic)) would be Yonatan ha Katan(Lightly Row).

Wolfman Was Here

Last night Wolfman was there and it was the first time I ever really heard him play much, and he really is as good, if not better than everyone says he is.



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Nomi and a Grandma With a red hat

Nomi came out last night and played for quite some time. First she played alone and then I played along with her on recorder. She really makes my harp sound nice. Just arpeggios on harp are the most beautiful thing. She will be here for 6 weeks (she is doing an internship for school) and she promised to come by a lot so we will work some good things up to put on YouTube before she goes home. Also I hope to have two harps out there a few times. Will let you know on that.

They call her Omali ( I hope that's right). She was wearing a red hat and a lovely smile. Then I played Jonatan Hakatan ( Lightly Row in English) and there was such joy in that smile. She was singing and actually started dancing a little.When they left, Omali gave me the nicest blessing. Several in fact. It was a pure joy to play for them.

The down side of the evening was the drums. Now, I like some percussion, and it is very nie to play to a beat. But there were so many of them, and they were so loud, it gave me a headache. There was no way I could play the harp with all that noise. I'm very glad they don't do it all the time. It was a group from a school and I guess they were celebrating the end of school.