Beautiful Blend of Music & Culture

Music From Around the World

Kasai Masai was one of 16 groups to perform at the 11th annual Rainforest World Music Festival held at Santabong near Kuching, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Performers came from Gambia, Greece, Poland, the UK, Palestine, India, Trinidad & Tobago, Philippines, Portugal, Japan and from Malaysia. Some played traditional music, others original compositions, and there was the beautiful blending of the old with the new. "They even play hip hop," moaned the manager of youth band Kani'd that plays traditional music from Central Borneo.

Biswasjit 'Bonnie' Chakraborty, headman of Oikyotaan, a group based in Chennai, India, would never be caught playing hip hop. "We are playing music that is 500 years old, so we don't want to play sugary renditions of songs that have come down from that time. It is very important to us that we keep the aesthetic value intact."

1000 Harmonious Notes

Chakraborty sees the music as bringing people, and indeed the universe, together: "We see our music as bringing harmony in confluence. We have a saying that 1,000 notes come together to make one song." The music of Oikyotaan, which was a big hit with the Rainforest audience, is very much about breaking down barriers of caste, religion and culture to make a more harmonious world.

While Bonnie was very serious about his music, mandolin player Jan Kubek of the Polish group Beltaine had a very different perspective about the music he plays. "It is just for fun!" he enthused. Asked why a Polish group plays Celtic music, he replied, "Polish music is very sleepy. So if you want to dance and have fun, you have to look to music outside of Poland for that. For us, the Irish, Scottish, Celtic music is fun!"

However, Jan did admit that music is not only fun, but serves a deeper purpose. "The Russians have a saying: 'If you play music, you can't think bad.'"

High Expectations Were Met

Nobody was thinking bad, even when the rain descended on Friday night. "We set an attendance record for Friday nights," noted Benedict Jimbau, Chairman of the Organising Committee, "despite the rain." Prior to this, it had only rained once through an entire evening performance in the ten years of the Festival.

"Expectations are very high," Benedict said before RWMF began, and throughout the three days, those expectations were met as could be seen from the enthusiasm of the audience.

People showed their appreciation and energised the performers with their loud expressions, dancing and calling for more at the end of every set. From the main stage the Voodoo King told the steaming crowd; "Don't tell anyone this, I'm telling you this in confidence - the Rainforest Music Festival is the number one music festival in the world!" Most of the musicians told the audience that they were the best they'd ever performed for.

We Need the Music!

When Randy Raine-Reusch conceived the idea of doing the festival, one of his goals was to reintroduce the people of Borneo to their own music. Through the 1970s and '80s, the traditional music of the indigenous people was ignored and was in danger of being totally forgotten. Thanks, in part, to RMWF, young people are once again taking up the instruments and playing the music of their ancestors.

Kani'd (meaning 'cousins') consists of 12 teenagers who have been inspired by the ancestral songs of the Kelabits from Central Borneo. They draw upon the wealth of the musical and dancing traditions of the Orang Ulu tribes along the Baram River. They have learned original compositions from their grandparents, uncles and aunts that have evolved into dynamic improvisations and arrangements of traditional styles bridging the ancient and the contemporary.

"We are one of the smallest cultural groups in Sarawak," says the group's manager Nikki Lugun. "There are only 4,000 of us. There are 4,500 orangutans. We are all fighting for survival."

A Unifying Force

One advantage the Kelabits have is their music. "Our music has been passed down from generation to generation, but it skipped our parents. Now we are trying to revive it. It is the music of the community. It is the music of celebration when the head hunters came back victorious; it is lullabies, it is love songs, it is songs of mourning.

"We will pass the music on to our children, and we hope that it will be a unifying focus not only for our people, but for our tribe and for all people."

Hisoshi Motofuji, a Taiko player from Japan, admitted that his drumming "is accepted by people, but I can't say it influences them. What I can say is that it unites them." And unite them it did as the audience responded to the power of his drumming.

Music Shouldn't be a Steamroller

Adel Salameh and the Ross Daly Quartet offered something completely different, appealing to an audience who appreciate beauty and complexity to their music. Of Irish descent, group leader Ross Daly plays a variety of Eastern music on a number of different instruments.

The diversity of the performers at the RWMF playing cultural music appealed to him. "The mainstream music industry is not interested in culture. What they want to do is make one kind of music that they can sell to the whole world. Music shouldn't be a steamroller to make us all the same. Modern technology offers us the opportunity to come together while retaining our individuality."

Old Timey & Bizarre

And as different as they could be was the New Rope String Band. Pete Challoner said their music is very hard to describe. "It is a big assortment of things and all sorts of hoe-down, pan-Celtic, old timey, up-beat down home music. All this combined with bizarre physical nonsense and clowning about. And singing. And dancing."

Using their fiddles to play musical ping pong with the notes, they gave reality to Ross Daly's comment "Music exists everywhere in our world, but, for the most part, we unfortunately don't hear it."

It is difficult to hear the music from the many corners of the world, and even their home countries' musicians are not always appreciated. After getting a hugely enthusiastic response from the audience, vocalist and electric guitar player for Fadomorse, admitted that at home in Portugal, they are not very well known. "We are not famous there: we are just another band among many who play similar music."

Diminutive Dynamite

Coming from the Philippines, where everyone and their 'bruised chicken' sings, Pinikpikan might have an equally difficult time making an impression, but Carol Rodriguez Bello, noted for her primal Manabo singing style, does. 'Diminutive but dynamite' comes close to describing the power of her performance.

Sammy Asuncion, Pinikpikan's front man and lead guitarist, says, "She's a natural. Even in the Philippines she stands out. She is eerie."

New Events

Adding to the festivities this year were two new events: the World Craft Bazaar and the Folk Art Forum and Exhibition that drew good crowds, as they not only got to look at how some of the crafts are made; they were able to purchase local and imported crafts from the likes of Kyrgystan, Japan and other countries.

"It is a beautiful blend of music and cultures," said Gracie Geikie, Co-chairman of the Organising Committee and CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board. This is a tourism-driven event which brings people from many countries in Asia Pacific as well as some from Canada, the United States and the UK. "From our tracking, we had people coming from 36 countries," Gracie stated.

The official attendance numbers showed record-breaking first and second nights, with 22,573 attending over the three days. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, and First Lady, Datin Sri Jeanne Abdullah joined the Saturday night crowds.

A Sublime Setting

The Sarawak Cultural Village is a delightful setting for RWMF, with traditional native buildings serving in many capacities, from food and drink venues to hosting the afternoon workshops where the audience can get up close to the performers who provide insight into their music. Packed houses were often the result.

People lounged along the walkways and at the food venues and watched the performances on big screens that made being in front of the stage not a necessity for enjoying the festival.

An Eye-Opener

The organisers urged the visitors from all those countries to take the time to see more of Sarawak and meet the people who are 'warm and welcoming'. Not only is the festival a great audience draw; the festival has become a great attraction for the performers, as the Committee had 462 applications for 14 slots on the programme.

Kasai Masai's manager, Andy Richardson, was enthusiastic not only about the event and the great show the group put on, but about Asia. "This is a real eye-opener," he stated. "It is a beautiful place, the audience has been superb, the organisation has been great. It has really been a terrific time. I would really like to come back here again."

Get your tickets early for the 12th annual event that will be held July 10 - 12, 2009. To hear live interviews with the performers go to xl-radio.net and check out the official site at www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com

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Mega Man Sprites

This particular Mega Man game is one of the most challenging with very interactive sprite powers. Three items are of absolute importance: The Air Dash sprite sheet, the N (Chimera) armor, and the Dual Buster. The last two are needed to get items, but the Air Dash is essential to even reach some of the bosses, making it the first item you should ever attempt to get. I'm am not an avid advocator of entering a board to get an item, and dying to exit the stage, but some beginners may want to consider doing this to get the Buster and N sprites. I mention this because the path I suggest following puts off getting these items until later into the game, which in turn forces you to get other items even later.

Mega Man Sprite order is important, as it always is. It wouldn't be a Mega Man game without and boss order to follow. However, in MMX3, the correct weapon doesn't do tons of damage like you would expect. What's important in MMX3 is that the correct weapon cancels the bosses' attacks. Some of the bosses attack you in such a way that they nail you with a barrage and don't allow you to retaliate. That is why following the order is a lot wiser to do than before. Only certain weapons will give you the opportunity to press your attack on the sprite.

Therefore, the best Mega Man sprite sheet to rip first is Blizzard Buffalo. Not only is he the (possibly only) easiest Mega Man sprite to finish off with your normal X-Buster, but housed in his stage is the essential Air Dash power up capsule. I will proceed to each stage here. I will list how to reach all the items within each stage, as well as how to beat that particular boss. The listing of each stage will be in the proper sequence one should take to get through them. Listed in brackets will be what is needed to get that item. A weapon name with a star next to it means the powered up version of that weapon (requiring the Dual Blaster).

You can find loads of free Mega Man sprites sheets at the ultimate Sprite Sheets website for SNES, Genesis, GBA, NES games and more.

AP - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivered a somber Christmas broadcast Thursday, acknowledging how the economic crisis has cast a shadow over the traditional festive season and calling for people to show courage in the tough times ahead.

Wargames - Battles at the Kitchen Table

Wargames are games that usually use military tactics while focusing on some fantasy type situation. In the real world military war game means that they will try out some military training maneuvers in a game like setting. These exercises help real soldiers to develop strategies and learn how to be prepared for any tactical situation.

In 1898, the creation of non-military type of wargaming was created by F. Jane who was famous for recreating sea battles, using lead and tin solders to replicate whole armies were the basis of these recreations. These collections of earlier armies were used to show how famous battles were won and lost.

In the 1970's and 80's wargaming opened new doors when they added science fiction situation and fantasy scenarios, using these miniature figurines whole lives could be created and entire wars could be carried out. These games quickly became a favorite of gaming enthusiasts and science fiction fans, people all over the world could live out whole lives in these games and create complicated strategies for winning, causing many companies to come up with many different wargame games.

The wargaming environment comes in three different categories, each with different types of game play. The first of these games is the historical wargames, in these games you are recreating historical wars, you can play games such as Napoleonic Wars, or the American Civil War. These games can be exciting recreations of interesting wars. The next type is the Naval games which recreates the famous at sea battles such as Jutland and Trafalgar. The last of these three are the most fun of all of the types is the fantasy wargame miniatures, they come in popular types such as Warhammer, The Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures.

Playing these games require strategy in how you collect your pieces and build your terrain using skills like building a model railroad. You will want to research the history and make accurate recreations. Figures are usually made using pewter, lead and in many cases plastic. The games themselves are usually made up by the creator of the game and are usually based on history. Many like to create their own models, however in many cases, you can buy these sets in specialty stores and through their manufacturers.

There are some normal scales for the actual height of the figures; in any of the series you will find that they are all about these sizes.

The figures have standard sizes, most are 1 inch high or about 25 mm, and this is called the 1:72 scales. Usually this is the size of most toy soldiers. Another popular scale is the 1:32 scale in which the figures are about 2 3/8 inches high or about 54-56 mm high. Many of the British soldiers are this height. The more modern miniatures are somewhat smaller; because the belief is that if the figure is smaller the battle can be bigger. The models come in many small sizes such as microarmor which is 1:285 or 6mm and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures are 1:64 or 1 1/4 inches or 25mm and is one of the most popular for fantasy role playing games. There are also some that are used specifically for heroic leads, which may be 28mm.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for board games, chess boards, and dungeons and dragons miniatures. You will find all these things and more if you visit used board games, chess boards.

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The Best RPG of All Time

When Baldur's Gate came out in 1998, I was a middle school kid introduced to it by watching my dad play it. Baldur's Gate, for me, is the epitome of what a medieval fantasy role-playing game should be. I personally enjoy when a game, such as Baldur's Gate, starts the player out with little more than a stick and a few gold coins. Nothing is more fun than running around an area and picking up everything imaginable just so when I sell all the junk I found I can afford a decent piece of chain mail.

One of the best parts about the game is the sheer freedom allowed for the player to explore the areas of the game and detour from the main story. It also gave you choices in what kind of character you wanted to be, whether good, evil, or somewhere in between. Seldom games prior to Baldur's Gate that had this level of freedom; most were very linear, which limited the player in terms of choice and exploration.

Baldur's Gate also introduced new players to the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing system by taking those same core rules and putting them in a game. Players could experience what a pen and paper D&D game was like but in a much more user friendly way. I personally never got into the old D&D game because 1) I wasn't born in 1975 and 2) I don't have the attention span to play pen and paper games. So BG allowed younger gamers to experience the old system with a lot less work.

But it wasn't just revolutionizing role-playing games that put Baldur's Gate on the top of my list, it's because BG excels in every category: beautifully pre-rendered settings makes exploration a treat, an engaging storyline that creates the need to find out what happens next, and again, the sheer number of things you can do and how what choices you make can effect the outcome of every situation.

When I say Baldur's Gate I mean the entire series: BG1, BG2, and Throne of Bhaal. If you are going to play one, you need to play them all to experience the story in its entirety. Places like Amazon and Ebay are good places to find copies in good condition, mainstream stores won't carry them.

As I write this I wonder if there will ever be another game that so beautifully captures the essence of the medieval fantasy genre like Baldur's Gate, with complex characters, exciting battles, engaging quests, all amid gorgeous scenery. Of course I know realize that the answer is yes, and that game will be Baldur's Gate 3.

My name is Brendan and I am a senior at the University at North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I enjoy writing articles to improve my writing, pad my resume, and give my advice and feedback on different topics. Check out my website to find more of my stuff at http://brendanigan.com

AP - Pope Benedict XVI warned in his Christmas message Thursday that the world was headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity during tough economic times for rich and poor nations.