Hey dude, go out for a bowl. We did so yesterday at Santa Monica's Bay Shore Lanes. Sure, we couldn't leave our hands off firering up our recording devices.

Back in L.A. for some days: Somebody crashed into our car, several criminal cases and guess what, Malibu without sun ...

Yesterday: Cool refreshing bath at 10,000 feet (ca. 3000 m) in the High Sierra after days without showers.

JUL 25	Art Performance: 'Viva la Hetch'
Location	Hetch Hetchy Dam/Yosemite, CA/USA
Timeframe	3:00-7:00 PM | ??:00 min. Video Runtime
Preparation	JUL 22-24 [3 days]. Yosemite sound huntings, tunnel recordings, FM recordings, track composing, sensor callibrations, software development/adjustments
Challenges	very limited power supply/battery backup, small time slot, no official permission, pedestrians on the dam, rangers repeatedly on site, issues with cable connections over long distances, power supply for preparation activities in the wilderness

Video Clip: Coming soon!

The US-Mexico wall seems to grow and become more emotional every minute; according to the very few available radio channels in Yosemite, Mexico comes faster into reach as it is supposed to; in our eyes the parallels of the Mexican border and the controversial Hetch Hetchy Dam seemed to be a perfect match as it comes to the theme and location of this very first large scaled SOUND NOMADS performance ...

Technology: A dam extensively linked as a playground for the first sound nomads performance. The introduction of the basic rhythms by the rappelling of a sensor down the wall, a light sensor on the other side of the dam which can be played by bending over. The summoned Mexican sounds here are somewhere else at the same time, capable of being manipulated in pitch by the modulation of a pressure sensitive cravat. In an area defined by distance sensors the master track becomes further controllable by jumps. The whole thing's over with the weight of the "anchor".

JUL 22: During the SN preparations for the Hetch Hetchy performance we were pleased with the results of this excellent sound machine - the tube.

JUL 22: Sound huntings under extreme conditions. Hours of midday heat, tons of equipment, gallons of water and ways to go. Climbing up to the Upper Yosemite Fall; Abstieg. Audio track: Available now!

JUL 21-26: Exotic tourist birds instead of bears. Rainy trees instead of heat. Nevertheless, most of the time lonely wilderness.

Do cows moo at all? Better don't count on them. At least we do moos when cows are silent - absolutely silent.

Thanks to the support of MaxBotix, SOUND NOMADS can make use of some more excellent High Performance Sensors. MaxSonar-EZ1 sensors offer very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package, with ultra low power consumption. The sensor is a completely new design, yielding many improvements over traditional ultrasonic range finders.

For SOUND NOMADS, it turned out to be our most beloved and most versatile sensor so far.

http://www.maxbotix.com

Bakersfield - Sound Huntings unter widrigen Umständen. Warten auf Permission für Recordings und Shots auf Raffineriegelände. In letzter Instanz: Permission denied. Wir blieben am Ball: Sound Hunting auf engstem Raum im fahrenden Auto. Security auf den Fersen. Nicht jede Jagd gestaltet sich gleich erfolgreich bzw. einfach.

Vorbereitung von kommender SN Performance in klimatisiert-klirrkalter Stube. Draußen Aschenregen aus dem brennenden Yucca Valley, drinnen flimmernd-lethargische Gestalten.

JUL 13: Über uns: Rauchschwaden. Vor uns: Sonne. Hinter uns: verpasst, Chevron Ludrow. Wir tanken dann für 4.699/gal. Nächstens dank Hartnäckigkeit auf gesperrten Sandstraßen ("Make sure you are the driver." Anyway, we didn't have to push.) durch die einsame Mojave Wüste. Tierreiches Camplager, also dann: sound recordings for breakfast.

JUL 12: Absicherung der Gegend auf ungebetene Gäste (Schlangen, Skorpione, Eidechsen, Ameisen, Stubenfliegen). On Air: Steinschlag und Karossenspiel bei 40°C im Schatten ohne Schatten.

JUL 11: Erster SOUND NOMADS side trip. Ziel: Mojave Desert.

JUL 11: Local preparation and Beverly Hills/West Hollywood Apartment Sound Huntings. Thanks for making the place available to us for those 10 days ...

The wait is over! SOUND NOMADS is heating up (USA Jul-Sep). JAK (Jakob, my project partner) has arrived in LA today. Off-topic: Yesterday I was enlightened by the wondrous saying on a Taco Bell sauce packet: "When I grow up, I want to be a waterbed." I still have to rack my brain over it ...

US-Berlin-Vienna Connection Notes: "Was zum Mittag-essen in der Hofburg serviert wurde: Rucola-Salat mit Saibling und Forelle als Vorspeise, Kalbsfilets mit Eierschwammerl-Gröstl als Hauptgang und zuletzt Wachauer Marillenknödel. Unbestätigten Meldungen zufolge wurde das Essen für die US-Delegation vor dem Verzehr von einem US-Chemiker auf Gift analysiert." BTW Österreich Schlagzeile aktuell: "Braunbär Bruno abgeschossen".

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US-Berlin-Vienna Connection Notes (no comments): "US-Präsident George W. Bush soll bei seinem Wien-Aufenthalt am Mittwoch 'auf ausdrücklichen Wunsch seiner Frau Laura' die Österreichische Nationalbibliothek besichtigen und dort mit einer Gruppe ausgewählter Studenten diskutieren. (Neue Kronen Zeitung)." ... "Bush werde am Mittwoch in der Früh von seinem Wiener Domizil im Hotel Intercontinental am Stadtpark mit einer eigenes eingeflogenen gepanzerten Limousine zur Hofburg fahren."

FIFA World Cup, Drive You Crazy: WM Internet live streams worldwide, whereever you go. Better: Soccer for Geeks: WM live in ASCII. Just type in your command window "telnet diego.ascii-wm.net 2006" and press enter.