Mahawa

I've been looking for a recording of "for Seiji!" for quite some time. Thanks to Miguel Andrade's generosity, I finally have this piece on CD now. I put an mp3 of "for Seiji!" on my website. If you want to download it, go to http://mahawa.jw-music.net Thank you, Miguel!

And I thought we'd got rid of that attitude. Maybe you should go home and rethink your life.

Have a look at my avatar... I once wrote a review for the "Unofficial JW Homepage". Here it is: The year was 1984, and many will remember it as the year that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" hit the theatres. I doubt that there is anyone who remembers it because of "The River", a film starring Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek. Although the actors are good and the photography is stunning (we join the life of a family on a farm and see a river flooding a whole valley), the plot is quite flat and the direction by Mark Rydell seems uninspired. What makes this little picture remarkable, though, is its score. I knew the score long before I knew the film. While listening to this music, I could actually SEE a foreign country (I'm from Germany) with its people, its rivers, even its raindrops. And apart from that, the music is so up-lifting and joyful that if you are in a bad mood, there is no better remedy. Today, it is still refreshing to return to this musical world. The opening track "The River" whisks you high in the air with its sweeping melody as if you were flying over a rural landscape, looking down at the people working on the fields, the farm machines, etc. The second half of "Growing up" paints the picture of an evening on a farm until you can actually see the sun set, and "The Pony Ride" (with some truly beautiful guitar playing) is the musical equivalent of a sunny Sunday morning. But even in John Williams' world a little rain must fall - and "Rain Clouds Gather" makes you feel chilly and frightened as the flute and the strings tell you of some sinister threat over there on the horizon... Apart from little images borrowed from nature, Williams also paints on larger canvas. "The Ancestral Home" alone tells an entire story. This track makes you think of people on their farms and of their ancestors long gone, and then the music takes you back to the past until you realize the timeless power and beauty of the river that is still running through the valley. This is a very romantic view of "The River", but then it is one of John Williams' most romantic works. As I said before, this music is refreshing - if you feel like going on a little journey in your mind, but not as far as Tatooine or Tibet, this is your score.

Morlock, could you please send me the Blade Runner mp3? My account is big enough. Markus.Hable@t-online.de As I said, you may choose anything from my website in return: http://home.t-online.de/home/Markus.Hable/ Thanks.

Where did you find the Boston Pops recording of Blade Runner? It would be great if I could get an mp3 of that recording. You can get anything from my website in return: http://home.t-online.de/home/Markus.Hable/

charlesk wrote: I belong to the "original trilogy generation" and watched STAR WARS at our local cinema in 1978. I agree that it was a life-changing event. That's why I'm so thrilled about the prequels. I enjoyed Episode 1 and Episode 2 very much and I'm happy to have this opportunity to revisit my youth. I also think that the amount of creativity and the love for detail put into these new episodes is remarkable and should be acknowledged even by those who do not like the films.

My name is Markus Hable and I live in Waldshut, Germany.

Heinrich Harrer is an Austrian explorer and mountaineer who escaped over the Himalaya from a prisoner-of-war camp in British India in 1944. He lived and worked in the forbidden city of Lhasa and became the informal tutor to the young Dalai Lama. Heinrich Harrer left Lhasa in advance of the Chinese army in December of 1950. He and the exiled Dalai Lama remain friends to this day. "Seven Years in Tibet" tells Harrer's story.

Hi Chris! Sorry to hear that. I'm thinking of you. Take care, Markus

January 1973: George Lucas begins writing the first of four drafts of the Star Wars screenplay. May 1973: Lucas completes 13-page plot summary that opens with the line: "This is the story of Mace Windu, a revered Jedi-bendu of Opuchi who was related to Usby C.J. Thape, padawan learner to the famed Jedi." May 1974: Lucas finishes writing The Star Wars - this rough draft being the first of the four screenplay drafts for Star Wars. January 28, 1975: Second draft of Star Wars is completed - The Adventures Of The Starkiller, Episode 1: The Star Wars. August 1975: Third draft of the screenplay is finished - The Star Wars - from The Adventures of Luke Starkiller. January 15, 1976: The revised Fourth Draft of the screenplay is completed - Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope from The Journal Of The Whills by George Lucas. Back in the 70's, Lucas had no idea how everything would turn out, he didn't even know that he would be able to do a "second" STAR WARS film. All he had was a (constantly changing) story that was way too long - so he decided to skip the part that dealt with the rise of the Empire and where Darth Vader and Kenobi came from and start in the middle of the story instead. (Many of literature's great works begin "in medias res".) After the success of STAR WARS, Lucas decided to do two sequels, and to give the plot momentum, he turned Vader into Luke's father, making it necessary for Kenobi in JEDI to explain the things he'd said about Luke's father in the original STAR WARS. Then, in 1994, Lucas started writing the prequels. The main plot elements had been conceived in the 70's and 80's (Kenobi, Vader, Palpatine, Luke, Leia, their mother) but I doubt that there was a "story" or "Gungans" or anything as concrete as that when Lucas sat down in 1994. I think the prologue of the STAR WARS novel (by Alan Dean Foster) is interesting as it gives you insight into the back story of STAR WARS that existed in 1977. To Lucas credit, he stuck closely to his initial vision when he developed the prequels so much later in life. Another galaxy, another time. The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. No need to note where it was or whence it came, only to know that ... it was the Republic. Once, under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens, when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and attain the awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match. So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from the outside. Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic. Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears. Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. Many used the imperial forces and the name of the increasingly isolated Emperor to further their own personal ambitions. But a small number of systems rebelled at these new outrages. Declaring themselves opposed to the New Order they began the great battle to restore the Old Republic. From the beginning they were vastly outnumbered by the systems held in thrall by the Emperor. In those first dark days it seemed certain the bright flame of resistance would be extinguished before it could cast the light of new truth across a galaxy of oppressed and beaten peoples ... From the First Saga Journal of the Whills by George Lucas