Dream: 15.11.10

Haven't kept my dreams here in a while..
This is a short one yet very dramatic, so it ought to be remembered..
In my dream, I was freelancing for Guinness World Records like I do in reality, my friend Kay whom I cover for when she's away/busy and who organizes my job, called up and said I needed to be in the office to work.
The "office" is ....in outer SPACE!

I along with some employees who are going there (commuting?) lined up in a circle of a rocket with all space costume in white, I just follow other people's doings, hold a bar steady..
5-6 of us are on top of the rocket, either transparent or no outer shell at all as I can see well where we are going above us. There was a count down, proper NASA style, then shoot! It is so fast I can't move or feel scared. Although I cant move or too scared to look down or up, I can feel that we're going through the earth's atmosphere, so while-blue, and in the speed of a rocket, we are traveling good 10-30 seconds, I knew we reached the area we could burst anytime with such intense pressure (is this theory right here? just like in extreme underwater scenario).
I could feel (and still remember) the very tight feeling, almost like being squeezed like a toothpaste tube, just as I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I see a spacecraft above us opening for us to land there, then we regained the normal "habitable" air environment.
There we arrived at a base "office" where people are working in costume like in Star Trek.
That was it! I have no idea why I had this dream (I was watching "Nowhere boy" beginning of the film before I went to bed, before that I attended Acid Mother's Temple etc New Japanese Music Festival at Cafe Oto, before that I was walking on muddy heath..I see no element to contribute to this sci-fi dream) yet the sense of pressure and the speed I experienced was unbelievable for a dream I enjoyed going to the outer space once in my life :)

Directorsound and Plinth Music

On a winter day where we tend to stay in and watch the small piece of the world framed by our window, our imagination flow into some far away nature, seaside, woods, fairground, fantasy world etc easily.

Here are my friends from old times who make music perfect to accompany those fantasy-driven minds. It really is so magical how these music can change the settings we are in, and the moods.

Directorsound is Nick Palmer, Dorset resident who creates magical fairy music with various instruments, accordion, glockenspiel, banjo, guitar, piano, drums and what's not! Some may feel its Silent film music, Gyspy films, old French imagery, Victorian fun fair etc.
To me, listening to his music make what I do, what I see, things around me wherever I am, turn into something with sparks, with gentle and warm feeling to otherwise-not-cared-for objects and any smallest movements such as trees moving by wind, door opening, birds flying so special... It even gives me a wicked imagination that my small rabbits, dogs ornaments would start moving to the music, as if they were centre of the unknown films!

You can listen to his albums on myspace, and see what kind of world you can be drawn into.

And here is a very beautiful video shot in Lapland for his tune, out from latest album Oct.2010 "Two Years Today" (Tona Serenad label)

Michael Tanner is another old friend, a close pal to Nick, also Dorset resident makes music under the name Plinth, sometimes Cloisters, also plays in United Bible Studies and Agitated Radio Pilot, Irish folk bands with various members.

He is also a multi-instrumentalist with the strong affinity to old things (as supposed to technology and modern world), crafts and nature, which reflect greatly in his music in which he undertakes a lengthy and painstaking recording and edit process, something we all used to do, but now easily done in minutes e.g. film printing photography, compose music on computer etc.
You can see it in his releases, he binds photos, old book pages, old wallpapers, to make limited books, CDs making every listener a special treatment of sharing his passion and inspirations.
His music is like a soundtrack to my mental imagery world. Slow motioned dreams, long shot nature scenery like tides moving, leaves falling, stars shooting etc
No wonder he picked "Decasea" film  by Bill Morrison, a film consists of old found film strips (so old and decayed, we see some illusions made by its natural decay) bind together.
Originally this film is accompanied with Michael Gordon's music "Light Is Calling" in which Michael Gordon scored its "decay" process in music with his orchestra.
I had a chat with Mike (Tanner) about Decasea and he said, "I love the film but I have a problem with the music, it's too uneasy. To go with the beautiful imagery, it doesn't have to be that.. scary!"
True, so this is his take on the film music

I would normally just use the music stream, but you'd gotta enjoy the imagery also for his music.

Directorsound and Plinth's (Cloisters) music both have a strong sentiment for long-forgotten, good ol' times, is that our way of trying to slow down this ever so rapid modernization in which we come to live in?
Aren't we all nostalgic and love to embrace memories with these beautiful music? even those memories not being our own, but our ancestors' or sheer strangers', just like flipping through old photo albums of those brown faded photo papers..

Recipe: Bang Bang Ji Chicken with Sesame dressing

This is extremely healthy and easy dish I love.

And you can eat lots of salad, takes 15min or so to prepare, and believe me, it's addictive!

I got home late tonight, hungry, want to cook, but no time/ingredients, so I easily and happily settled on this.

If you like it spicy, just add chili oil or marinade chicken with chili before cooking.

Traditionally with chicken breast, but I prefer thigh.

Ingredients: (* if you have)

Chicken breast or thigh any amount but this recipe is 500gm

Sake (if not, White wine)

1 small ginger

Cucumber half

Lettuce

 (Dressing)

Ground sesame (from roasted white sesame preferably) 4 tbl spoons

Soy sauce 2 tbl spoons

Sesame oil (olive oil is ok too) 1tbl spoon

Vinegar 2 tbl spoons

Mayonnaise 1-2 tbl spoons

*Dashi stock (powdered) 0.5 tbl spoon

Steaming (of course, put the lid on!)

1: Marinade the chicken in Sake and put sliced ginger then cool in fridge prior to cooking 1~3 hours

2: Steam the chicken still with ginger thoroughly until cooked, about 20 minutes

3: Slice the cucumber and lettuce thinly and prepare on a dish

4: mix all (Dressing) ingredients, taste to your liking

5: Cool down the chicken and slice into strips

6: Arrange in the bed of vegetables and pour the dressing

You can actually skip the marinade (I did today) or if you can't get/make ground sesame, use pasted sesame such as Tahini (but try to sprinkle some sesame for topping).

You can also boil the chicken instead of steaming (still with ginger and sake)

This dressing is already a versatile dressing great for anything, especially broccoli, BBQ, grilled aubergine, grilled fish or omelet.

Enjoy!