I have an excuse for not posting: I've been on holiday in Byron Bay, a few hundred kilometres north of Sydney. It's a very pretty place - once a hippie haven, now a weird mix of dreadlocked scuzzballs and yuppies. Inland is the hinterland, many km of rainforest populated by small communities (more yuppies and hippies).
Anyway, I'm often asked why I don't go to the beach when I'm in Cuba - you might see the reason here. This summer I might post some pics of our city beaches - about 40 minutes away by public transport (about 20 minutes' drive, traffic permitting) - if this year's summer isn't as pissweak as last year's and I actually get down to the beach. (two weeks ago Sydney had a day of 35ºC. It was the hottest Sydney day in 18 months. That means last summer, no day was that hot. This is not acceptable.)
At this beach - Tallow Beach - there is weird lagoon about 20 metres from the surf - it's actually not that uncommon a phenomena, but I think they're freshwater, which I always find odd. Mangroves grow in them, and the water becomes tannin. Lots of birds were hanging out there, including a camera-shy pelican.
Tallow is exceedingly picturesque, but as you can see from the sign above, you'd only want to swim there if you were Aquaman. Pretty dangerous. And that's coming from an Australian - we're pretty used to dangerous beaches. But this one is a supervillain. It'll take you down, dude. And the sign doesn't even mention the sharks. But of course, they're everywhere. (Little joke for the foreigners.*) Fortunately there is another very lovely and very safe beach to swim at, which is right in town. I have no pictures of it because, well I was swimming when I was there.So now I'm back, and recovering from the hell week I had at work, and starting to wade through the radio files at Muchoswing to see if there is any pressing news.
Meanwhile, others are holding the fort. Mirco at Timba Por Siempre, has a post about Bakuleye's new album, which I was eagerly awaiting, as I really liked an early demo from it, Locomotora. Unfortunately it looks like Lester, formerly of Azucar Negra, who sang on that track has moved on - he's not on the list of credits for the album. Mirco has a sample of the new version with Lester's replacement - it's not as good. Lester has a really nice, relaxed style that is all his own. I'm very sorry to see him go. I notice one of the singers is called Wilmer, and wonder if it is the Wilmer that Aisar from Revé is working with on his solo project.
Meanwhile if anyone has a demo of Locomotora with Lester singing on it, I would really appreciate it, as I only have a shitty radio demo, and I would love to play it at the club.
* Only half-joking.
