Meta tags:
description=theater, music, dance & book reviews;

Headings (most frequently used words):

share, this, of, the, you, sacred, ritual, art, antares, platypus, flatus, kam, raslan, movie, can, read, as, ricardo, chavez, tovar, mexican, malaysian, elusive, note, apology, from, hot, heavenly, hornbills, salieri, syndrome, revisited, birds, feather, dreaming, body, beautiful, at, royal, durian, academy, ballet, tribal, totems, taboos, and, how, to, break, free, them, metaphors, be, with, four, legs, good, wild, rice, celebrates, an, orwellian, centennial, recent, posts, archives, blog, stats,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (556), and (413), was (114), for (95), that (95), his (87), with (82), this (56), her (43), from (42), their (37), but (34), has (34), like (33), who (32), all (31), share (29), about (29), one (28), into (27), had (27), were (27), music (26), out (26), well (26), new (25), they (25), world (24), kam (24), you (24), when (23), first (23), only (23), more (22), not (22), she (22), have (21), years (21), two (21), #ricardo (21), nell (20), facebook (20), which (20), some (19), antares (18), posted (18), opens (18), window (18), are (18), just (18), what (18), now (17), malaysian (17), art (17), theater (17), been (17), after (17), would (17), them (16), our (16), even (16), festival (15), heng (15), can (15), than (15), audience (15), performance (15), adam (15), artist (14), group (14), ballet (14), joey (14), orwell (13), farm (13), will (13), there (13), malaysia (13), stage (13), musical (13), political (12), 2017 (12), salieri (12), animal (12), down (12), over (12), good (12), know (12), durian (12), zahim (11), ivan (11), arts (11), november (11), while (11), public (11), most (11), very (11), maitreya (11), everyone (11), dance (11), sarawak (11), comment (10), loading (10), any (10), life (10), indeed (10), since (10), back (10), time (10), few (10), royal (10), night (10), minah (10), name (9), culture (9), august (9), may (9), tagged (9), bookmark (9), permalink (9), leave (9), turned (9), around (9), director (9), production (9), malay (9), between (9), performers (9), matt (9), play (9), show (9), published (9), too (9), academy (9), mozart (9), george (8), lee (8), cure (8), own (8), where (8), through (8), then (8), how (8), four (8), cultural (8), without (8), also (8), set (8), known (8), called (8), man (8), played (8), working (8), swordfish (8), kee (8), ensemble (8), ago (8), randy (8), shaman (8), sound (8), zuriani (8), ayala (8), other (7), theatre (7), ida (7), october (7), ritual (7), wild (7), big (7), because (7), see (7), book (7), perhaps (7), whose (7), really (7), made (7), him (7), off (7), legs (7), being (7), want (7), bit (7), inspired (7), action (7), dancer (7), young (7), home (7), three (7), your (7), year (7), point (7), scene (7), old (7), work (7), didn (7), couple (7), fancy (7), poultry (7), wan (7), rafique (7), albakri (6), rainforest (6), john (6), japan (6), actors (6), july (6), june (6), sacred (6), raslan (6), 2003 (6), perfect (6), soul (6), long (6), days (6), many (6), personal (6), best (6), totally (6), times (6), multi (6), another (6), little (6), 2007 (6), artistic (6), cyber (6), done (6), months (6), concubine (6), rhythm (6), once (6), least (6), self (6), themselves (6), mariana (6), don (6), jazz (6), did (6), let (6), guitar (6), mak (6), day (6), chavez (6), tovar (6), hamid (6), get (5), view (5), platypus (5), flatus (5), full (5), tan (5), wong (5), 2012 (5), september (5), 2013 (5), february (5), 2014 (5), 2015 (5), 2016 (5), rice (5), mind (5), local (5), under (5), written (5), power (5), war (5), might (5), especially (5), way (5), serve (5), himself (5), course (5), blair (5), case (5), human (5), got (5), several (5), experience (5), early (5), eyes (5), notes (5), version (5), invited (5), note (5), staged (5), singapore (5), directed (5), live (5), provided (5), talented (5), fresh (5), contemporary (5), chinese (5), high (5), every (5), equally (5), last (5), crosby (5), broinowski (5), state (5), making (5), professional (5), film (5), actor (5), named (5), performed (5), second (5), great (5), opening (5), met (5), something (5), feet (5), almost (5), myself (5), loh (5), bella (5), rahim (5), genius (5), each (5), came (5), janet (5), help (5), songs (5), earlier (5), went (5), could (5), never (5), these (5), until (5), musicians (5), amadeus (5), zawawi (5), dayung (5), asza (5), concert (5), absence (5), muse (5), dato (5), wordpress (4), com (4), write (4), already (4), wayne (4), tim (4), rashid (4), ibrahim (4), philip (4), murad (4), ann (4), december (4), 2020 (4), hot (4), hornbills (4), read (4), pam (4), lim (4), sha (4), beyond (4), novel (4), along (4), police (4), sort (4), right (4), poignant (4), dark (4), freedom (4), later (4), happened (4), its (4), upon (4), both (4), during (4), master (4), characters (4), born (4), though (4), people (4), against (4), soon (4), still (4), theme (4), getting (4), distinctly (4), corporate (4), better (4), project (4), napoleon (4), take (4), party (4), wasn (4), cross (4), disciplined (4), effect (4), make (4), works (4), story (4), thought (4), natural (4), putra (4), ancient (4), highly (4), love (4), edge (4), elements (4), place (4), say (4), series (4), feel (4), powerful (4), bronze (4), thuan (4), chye (4), courtesy (4), rock (4), failed (4), familiar (4), percussionist (4), designer (4), middle (4), keep (4), act (4), dash (4), mix (4), producer (4), much (4), tribal (4), voice (4), often (4), nikki (4), palikat (4), impressive (4), why (4), goddess (4), seems (4), classical (4), creative (4), song (4), true (4), worked (4), body (4), beautiful (4), adult (4), singer (4), artists (4), students (4), extremely (4), says (4), number (4), whole (4), began (4), quite (4), before (4), present (4), event (4), debut (4), backing (4), level (4), club (4), such (4), program (4), antonio (4), matter (4), anak (4), akar (4), umbi (4), pepe (4), magical (4), melanau (4), sape (4), traditional (4), musician (4), tarman (4), rare (4), kuching (4), band (4), penang (4), lammas (4), skip (4), website (3), email (3), content (3), subscribed (3), free (3), blog (3), house (3), sandra (3), sodhy (3), ramli (3), satire (3), teoh (3), jit (3), instant (3), wife (3), michael (3), avant (3), garde (3), jaya (3), studio (3), january (3), march (3), syndrome (3), heavenly (3), oei (3), rudyn (3), intellectual (3), find (3), dire (3), control (3), smith (3), sold (3), 1984 (3), elite (3), relations (3), precisely (3), ourselves (3), living (3), today (3), cut (3), business (3), sense (3), finally (3), status (3), street (3), eric (3), literary (3), flair (3), mass (3), imagination (3), burma (3), civil (3), secret (3), british (3), consultant (3), truth (3), opted (3), icon (3), fact (3), thing (3), become (3), think (3), award (3), gut (3), staging (3), short (3), grand (3), finale (3), throughout (3), part (3), van (3), study (3), feudal (3), achieved (3), animals (3), colonial (3), tones (3), fell (3), citizens (3), potential (3), found (3), masterful (3), leading (3), real (3), jones (3), sounds (3), faced (3), largely (3), impressed (3), itself (3), gifted (3), undoubtedly (3), marks (3), thinking (3), issue (3), role (3), winning (3), radio (3), managed (3), company (3), national (3), dramatic (3), variety (3), smile (3), exactly (3), asked (3), intense (3), visual (3), plays (3), fellow (3), means (3), pride (3), talking (3), dedicated (3), again (3), told (3), whom (3), put (3), joined (3), gave (3), low (3), amanda (3), ang (3), alfred (3), move (3), complete (3), setting (3), privileged (3), gone (3), gamelan (3), costume (3), round (3), applause (3), won (3), gregory (3), sultan (3), loved (3), blood (3), sensitive (3), moments (3), twenty (3), theatrical (3), effort (3), evident (3), wherein (3), mediocre (3), saw (3), including (3), struck (3), word (3), elvira (3), cassie (3), recognize (3), emcee (3), stars (3), joseph (3), peter (3), among (3), always (3), claim (3), showbiz (3), troupe (3), confidence (3), exuberance (3), discipline (3), inspiring (3), passion (3), enough (3), same (3), desire (3), having (3), confessed (3), singing (3), instead (3), superb (3), bold (3), spirit (3), crowd (3), quality (3), aaron (3), form (3), classes (3), late (3), piano (3), lives (3), class (3), here (3), nicole (3), thomas (3), prospect (3), outing (3), turn (3), eagles (3), zones (3), atmosphere (3), kids (3), capella (3), need (3), learn (3), numbers (3), solo (3), musicianship (3), technically (3), soprano (3), bass (3), percussion (3), call (3), pop (3), gig (3), shaffer (3), abraham (3), grow (3), lord (3), ego (3), within (3), shoot (3), received (3), heavy (3), small (3), possible (3), brief (3), raine (3), reusch (3), angong (3), article (3), 1998 (3), santubong (3), danza (3), somewhat (3), minutes (3), ace (3), instruments (3), yet (3), based (3), pipa (3), virtuoso (3), guitarist (3), village (3), unimas (3), mia (3), orchestra (3), trance (3), friend (3), drum (3), tutta (3), fly (3), paterson (3), garland (3), princess (3), away (3), eagle (3), kuala (3), lumpur (3), said (3), evocative (3), mexican (3), officiate (3), available (3), presence (3), agreed (3), askandar (3), 2009 (3), believe (3), retired (3), certain (3), confessions (3), design (2), site (2), required (2), reader (2), log (2), sign (2), subscribe (2), join (2), create (2), profile (2), comedy (2), stand (2), salleh (2), khalid (2), paul (2), oscar (2), melbourne (2), maya (2), playwright (2), krishen (2), joe (2), foundation (2), five (2), centre (2), butoh (2), 2018 (2), 2021 (2), 2022 (2), archives (2), birds (2), feather (2), revisited (2), movie (2), recent (2), posts (2), beng (2), gene (2), extraordinary (2), skill (2), writer (2), readers (2), left (2), broken (2), victory (2), watching (2), brother (2), chorus (2), popular (2), ditty (2), echoes (2), tree (2), winston (2), chief (2), prescription (2), ruling (2), peace (2), history (2), doomed (2), fighting (2), quo (2), matrix (2), future (2), fluent (2), road (2), london (2), psychological (2), acute (2), leaving (2), extreme (2), communist (2), spawned (2), asia (2), centennial (2), mean (2), going (2), watched (2), iraq (2), learning (2), media (2), events (2), expressing (2), confusion (2), earned (2), states (2), feeling (2), sick (2), insight (2), condition (2), zealand (2), audiences (2), successfully (2), titled (2), klpac (2), physical (2), performances (2), percussive (2), occasionally (2), props (2), representing (2), technology (2), boxer (2), flavor (2), classic (2), giving (2), hip (2), savvy (2), management (2), pilkington (2), progressive (2), brought (2), fine (2), suit (2), red (2), efforts (2), paid (2), sponsored (2), pre (2), post (2), rôle (2), law (2), paying (2), squealer (2), memories (2), china (2), deputy (2), inquisitorial (2), attention (2), ever (2), corbidge (2), farmer (2), return (2), reclaim (2), hear (2), general (2), resident (2), ian (2), cartoon (2), effectively (2), vivid (2), cast (2), vision (2), computer (2), quirkiness (2), immensely (2), pleasure (2), celebrates (2), bronoiwski (2), premiere (2), wouldn (2), exciting (2), end (2), heart (2), scientific (2), less (2), acted (2), studied (2), institute (2), 1996 (2), kinetic (2), expression (2), exquisitely (2), metaphor (2), given (2), forgotten (2), near (2), fictitious (2), utterly (2), watch (2), amazed (2), japanese (2), bunch (2), university (2), seven (2), younger (2), hard (2), vicarious (2), wish (2), son (2), piece (2), april (2), memory (2), affable (2), 2001 (2), directing (2), grown (2), enigmatic (2), appears (2), focused (2), wizardly (2), asli (2), trekked (2), spectacular (2), research (2), lines (2), moment (2), start (2), metaphors (2), earth (2), emperor (2), bush (2), bulk (2), letters (2), hana (2), nadira (2), eksentrika (2), embrace (2), possibility (2), break (2), worth (2), support (2), usual (2), temasek (2), hands (2), worthy (2), academic (2), electrified (2), allusions (2), affairs (2), singapura (2), takes (2), generations (2), stagnation (2), allowing (2), mesmerizing (2), jillian (2), ooi (2), listening (2), choreographer (2), kok (2), deserve (2), mention (2), hearty (2), excellent (2), unjust (2), character (2), sze (2), iskandar (2), death (2), impalement (2), portrayal (2), official (2), dynamic (2), strong (2), youth (2), dead (2), different (2), magic (2), personalities (2), next (2), style (2), throw (2), engaging (2), pungent (2), island (2), drama (2), mandarin (2), eclectic (2), tale (2), precocious (2), lad (2), totems (2), taboos (2), melayu (2), author (2), scottish (2), clear (2), straight (2), taking (2), makes (2), arul (2), carmen (2), soo (2), ashley (2), chan (2), alia (2), kearney (2), elegant (2), personality (2), career (2), rest (2), took (2), entire (2), seemed (2), impersonating (2), ushers (2), handsome (2), draws (2), none (2), legendary (2), pan (2), productions (2), successful (2), shine (2), suspect (2), lead (2), member (2), joy (2), consummate (2), eye (2), detail (2), fast (2), diva (2), album (2), burst (2), apply (2), focus (2), energy (2), infectious (2), positive (2), spin (2), trainer (2), esteem (2), actress (2), concentrate (2), towards (2), presented (2), results (2), raul (2), growing (2), helped (2), fashion (2), magazine (2), hall (2), dressed (2), members (2), aisles (2), performing (2), determined (2), painting (2), authentic (2), evidence (2), charm (2), prancing (2), generous (2), humor (2), choreography (2), serious (2), wit (2), reminding (2), yell (2), understood (2), meaning (2), morning (2), week (2), far (2), student (2), funny (2), passionate (2), king (2), skin (2), beginner (2), sweet (2), pieces (2), probably (2), trained (2), carved (2), herself (2), momentous (2), include (2), breakfast (2), cream (2), lunch (2), either (2), message (2), hardcore (2), vivian (2), lessler (2), azam (2), lilian (2), boo (2), forward (2), repertoire (2), fare (2), seeing (2), strings (2), multiple (2), gerral (2), khor (2), zalila (2), needed (2), appear (2), glee (2), guess (2), initiative (2), technical (2), generally (2), deal (2), boy (2), vocal (2), complex (2), hours (2), baritone (2), precision (2), missing (2), verve (2), remark (2), star (2), playing (2), dinner (2), relax (2), friends (2), college (2), proved (2), venue (2), amused (2), evening (2), promised (2), chirpy (2), miloš (2), forman (2), does (2), taller (2), farquaard (2), age (2), lady (2), across (2), shot (2), foot (2), must (2), spend (2), exchange (2), nourishment (2), land (2), taught (2), god (2), lacklustre (2), line (2), remembers (2), single (2), sir (2), monetary (2), central (2), handful (2), destiny (2), wolfgang (2), everybody (2), died (2), murray (2), court (2), tourism (2), board (2), men (2), mount (2), happy (2), grinning (2), flashed (2), knowing (2), humorous (2), players (2), collection (2), anecdotes (2), cds (2), acoustic (2), quartet (2), featured (2), bill (2), qiu (2), xia (2), instrumentalist (2), navigation (2), ethnic (2), various (2), cannot (2), job (2), gendang (2), flautist (2), minute (2), pagan (2), badan (2), budaya (2), fan (2), hit (2), soulful (2), anthropologist (2), facilitator (2), flute (2), belting (2), queen (2), airborne (2), flight (2), fool (2), passed (2), songwriter (2), record (2), busy (2), recruits (2), ainal (2), johari (2), game (2), player (2), tuku (2), kame (2), fusion (2), however (2), iban (2), excitement (2), perform (2), dancing (2), credit (2), faculty (2), applied (2), bidayuh (2), boys (2), above (2), sky (2), cerebral (2), david (2), tuned (2), marimba (2), open (2), folk (2), earthy (2), instantly (2), material (2), mountain (2), complicated (2), add (2), else (2), diabolical (2), runaway (2), effective (2), hegalong (2), ecstatically (2), hornbill (2), mighty (2), tall (2), trees (2), build (2), nests (2), ceremonial (2), annual (2), luminous (2), photo (2), installation (2), dear (2), wants (2), imitates (2), unglehrt (2), honor (2), words (2), acknowledge (2), contribution (2), evolution (2), those (2), installations (2), fired (2), anywhere (2), fashionable (2), approach (2), hilt (2), ben (2), hur (2), servant (2), reveal (2), writing (2), scripting (2), wrote (2), mother (2), levels (2), reviews (2), started, comments, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, report, privacy, account, subscribers, wygiwys, stier, scally, sutra, sue, ingleton, stella, kon, standup, silverfishbooks, sharizan, borhan, sham, sunder, binwani, shamanism, saidah, rastam, rey, buono, radhi, chai, peranakan, pearlly, chua, loosley, patrick, wilde, nyonya, cuisine, nunsense, millennium, jump, merissa, teh, abdullah, mary, mark, beau, silva, liza, othman, liau, siau, suan, swee, keong, kukathas, bell, hasham, joanna, bessey, cafe, indi, nadarajah, nerina, huzir, sulaiman, ghafir, akbar, gavin, yap, gardner, emily, emerald, hill, elaine, pedley, edwin, sumun, dong, chae, lian, deborah, cancer, claire, chin, san, sooi, atomic, ari, ratos, anita, ratnam, allan, perera, ahmad, ramzani, afdlin, shauki, 695, hits, stats, select, month, search, older, integrity, redeem, internal, conflicts, onus, seek, ultimately, non, polarized, resolution, straits, divide, rule, dualism, experts, room, 101, confronted, deepest, darkest, fears, rebellious, individualism, concludes, bleakly, socially, rehabilitated, citizen, drinking, gin, boob, tube, faceless, plebes, brain, spreading, chestnut, protagonist, 1948, sloganeering, disinformation, fails, ruthless, brutality, infinitely, rewritable, paste, therein, lies, irony, visionary, novels, yearning, futility, universe, gets, gives, task, finds, morally, repugnant, lords, inserting, downing, prime, minister, someone, supremely, doublethink, newspeak, 1937, wigan, pier, 1933, paris, sharpest, minds, recruited, psyops, warfare, profound, loathing, cynical, mechanisms, installed, perpetuate, feudalistic, stranglehold, embraced, anarchism, vengeance, swung, fascism, spanish, disenchanted, movement, chose, penniless, vagabond, detractors, remarked, hobnobbing, officer, bbc, propagandist, india, southeast, intelligence, anti, strategies, cold, side, maverick, manipulator, brien, key, antisocialist, tract, rightwing, interests, arthur, 1903, bengal, stirred, controversy, validity, leftwing, critics, bristling, margaret, atwood, speechifying, palaver, bullshit, instigated, lying, hearted, frightened, closing, bombs, fall, governments, separate, vote, news, distort, manipulate, responsibility, understand, response, searching, disappointment, 2002, dbs, souped, reaction, terror, remember, sitting, front, television, 20th, core, credible, creditable, tribute, ploys, pitfalls, dystopian, tour, 2004, hopefully, tasmania, hong, kong, restaged, hasn, although, omar, ali, kandang, somber, bad, worse, dynamically, offset, insertion, garish, carnivalesque, abetted, vigorous, mostly, enormously, exuberant, performs, offstage, visibly, leaps, onstage, contributes, surrealistic, mayhem, air, conditioning, ducts, feature, prominently, purpose, pseudo, mystical, fascination, newfangled, butcher, carted, slaughter, outlives, usefulness, system, asean, revitalization, neo, mechanics, sheen, rich, color, changing, realities, lucrative, joint, ventures, signed, porcine, american, representative, leaflets, dropped, rafters, languages, english, tamil, proclaiming, era, ideology, development, needs, upstanding, porker, tie, standard, uniform, nefarious, illuminati, team, sported, nwo, executives, proxies, important, occasions, valiant, election, apples, participation, consisted, recite, doctrine, baaaaaaaaaaaad, appropriately, sheeplike, represented, sheep, abiding, tax, agitprop, pitched, stridency, evoked, eerie, revolution, cadres, mao, suits, brandished, copies, dissidents, heretics, hysterical, squealers, ministry, information, charismatic, leader, steady, metamorphosis, demiurgic, despotism, scapegoating, erstwhile, enemy, witch, hunts, purges, divert, gross, mismanagement, chillingly, goosebumpily, pigged, completely, juicy, succumbing, temptation, ham, oblique, allusion, past, subtext, lost, harangues, asks, querulously, manor, warning, dangers, globalization, umno, assembly, angmoh, selena, convincingly, horsey, mollie, steadfast, slow, uptake, pricelessly, piggish, snowball, ruthlessly, ousted, anwarish, goatee, harked, leon, trotsky, brilliant, benjamin, literate, phlegmatic, donkey, cockily, comical, rooster, bullish, union, jack, underpants, doubled, uncle, sam, redneck, evangelist, entrepreneur, casting, ruddy, characterizations, blur, boundaries, realism, defined, mannerisms, created, personas, somehow, anthropomorphizing, bug, relying, stylized, movements, directorial, reminiscent, generated, animation, dreamworks, caliber, artful, animated, unexpectedly, sober, slightly, zany, dramatization, plot, singaporean, prodigy, reacquainted, timeless, allegory, fairy, wooldridge, faithful, adaptation, appreciative, ages, restaging, wonderfully, provoking, orwellian, fifty, nationhood, ties, former, colonies, miss, collaboration, diseased, reflected, unhealthy, environment, contaminated, advised, gore, cameo, appearance, politics, hybrid, focuses, extinction, wisdom, species, includes, homo, supposedly, sapiens, urgent, ignore, peril, represents, faustian, industrial, mindset, metaphoric, terminus, western, civilization, hospitalized, visiting, operated, acclaimed, cammy, accomplishments, reassuring, versatile, scripted, designed, toured, shinjuku, ryozanpaku, graduated, 1981, furniture, 2000, explored, techniques, suzuki, grotowski, kristen, linklater, neuro, whatever, extended, pick, earnest, embodies, idealism, sagittarians, affair, zen, assures, provocative, importantly, chemistry, mat, surgeon, roots, sterile, tell, entice, malaysians, google, things, produced, documentary, subcultures, aired, sbs, 1995, 1999, noh, shizuoka, speaks, countries, acrobat, clown, multimedia, phd, daughter, twinge, paternal, pursuits, hotel, obsino, gameshow, pernicious, influences, hell, bento, vivisection, reflections, 28th, bumped, marion, cruz, lovely, feast, progress, celebrating, tow, mid, starring, further, developed, refined, mephistophelean, dyke, acquired, aura, confident, twinkle, tells, onto, mysterious, mission, gather, facts, impressions, orang, amongst, spoke, villagers, waterfall, discussed, environmental, issues, explained, doing, incubating, asialink, sufficiently, charming, permanent, list, zap, gekidan, kaitaisha, deconstruction, focusing, wriggle, woodwork, spring, ground, beneath, mushrooms, y2k, pivotal, axis, realigned, crowning, neocon, caligula, romance, succumbed, forwarding, emails, stopped, calling, visited, alphabet, sesame, showed, door

Text of the page (random words):
d by the games people tend to play and the elaborate pretenses that surround the rarefied precincts of fashionable and marketable art would he otherwise spend months and years working on exhibits that can t be sold and proudly displayed in the finest suburban homes altar to the muse december 2009 nonetheless having said that i can picture ricardo s evocative installations occupying pride of place in some prestigious contemporary art museum anywhere in the civilized world so i hope he maintains an open mind about the prospect of sudden unexpected global acclaim what drives the man then to such unimaginable intensities of feeling and artistic arousal if the word religious didn t carry such a heavy burden of negative connotations i would apply it to ricardo s art after all he was born mexican a tempestuous genetic and cultural mix of olmec maya zapotec toltec aztec and conquistador his blood is infused with the otherworldly song of stars and with the colors flavors and textures that inspire vivid murals his cellular memories encompass galaxies and constellations the mystery of death fascinates and obsesses him as powerfully as the secret of life his imagination is fired equally by the divine and the diabolical you could call him a regenerate pagan a renegade human what inspired him to embark on the current series in a recent email ricardo discloses that he got struck by a shining light of creative madness while listening to the residents one of his favorite avant garde bands whose allusions to an imaginary guru named n senada and his theory of obscurity were probably based on the mutant musings of don van vliet aka captain beefheart a 1970 s dada rock icon who retired from the music scene in 1982 to focus on painting morning stretching of a golden fool on the awakening balcony ricardo s series of installations dedicated to the muse conspicuously absent yet ubiquitously present now exist only in photographic form lovingly documented by ung chirt min having been exhibited to no more than a tiny number of hardcore aficionados in effect ricardo chavez tovar is one of those rare artists who can operate quite happily without an audience since his art is his personal form of worship his own sacred ceremony ricardo spent three years in china learning the language and absorbing the culture then he relocated to penang where he has taught for nearly twenty years his best buddy and artistic accomplice in penang is askandar unglehrt a german married to a kelantanese princess who shares ricardo s eye and taste for the surreal the epiphanic and the ephemeral and also the luminous numinous humorous ludicrous and conceptually intoxicating i mention askandar because his contribution to ricardo s evolution as an artist magician cannot be discounted every artist shaman sorcerer or wizard derives inspiration nourishment and nurturing from those who recognize acknowledge and believe in him well ricardo let me state here for the record that i too recognize acknowledge and believe in you live long prosper if at all possible and influence the course of human destiny if you so desire october s full moon party at the tropical gardens of lady luna 2012 antares maitreya magick river 6 august 2009 a note of apology from antares ricardo emailed me in january 2007 asking if i would say a few words at the opening of his installation the muse is not available i agreed of course since everybody says it s an honor to be invited to officiate at such events my dear friend askandar unglehrt in his program notes to this event describes ricardo s work as a visual poem about presence and absence or more precisely about the presence of the absence i know ricardo as an artist who lives his art and we know that life imitates art as often as art imitates life i was looking forward to being present at his opening in kuala lumpur and yet my absence is proclaimed by this note i was compelled by unavoidable circumstances to deliver this message by proxy one of my daughters celebrates her 10th wedding anniversary today on langkawi island and she insisted that her daddy be present without consulting the calendar i immediately agreed knowing her she would not be amused if i didn t show up for her grand party ricardo i know has already forgiven me indeed he wants me to officiate at his next opening i promise i will make myself available on that happy occasion for now i can only trust that my absence will add to rather than detract from the magical presence of ricardo s uniquely imaginative and evocative work thank you dear friends may you enjoy and be enriched by the work of this extremely talented and passionate artist antares 1 june 2007 share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading leave a comment posted in visual arts and tagged installation mexican in malaysia penang artist ricardo chavez tovar sacred ritual bookmark the permalink hot heavenly hornbills posted on july 11 2020 by antares maitreya minah angong became an overnight sensation after performing in sarawak photo courtesy of rafique rashid antares reports from the 1998 rainforest world music festival in sarawak mak minah strolled along the white sands her hunter gatherer eyes scanning the beach for little sea crabs and edible molluscs she glanced up at the luminous clouds clinging to the evocative peak of mount santubong so this was the land of hornbills beautiful postcard views but not a single hornbill in sight a few hours earlier the 68 year old temuan ceremonial singer had boarded a boeing 737 jet at the cyclopean klia for the brief bumpy flight to kuching her first ever airborne experience as usual mak minah was amazingly cool about it no big deal was her verdict however she had prepared herself for the big gig overseas at sarawak s first annual rainforest world music festival by getting her hair permed a whole fortnight before the event when dr wan zawawi songwriter anthropologist who s now dean of the faculty of applied and creative arts at unimas invited akar umbi to join his anak dayung group for this two day world music festival august 29 30 1998 i didn t have a clue what he was talking about back me up on a couple of numbers and you get to perform one of mak minah s songs the affable academician had said well i d never been to sarawak and this promised to be an idyllic musical junket now we only needed to check if rafique was game for this gig miraculously he was even though the monetary stipend was modest as it turned out we were rewarded with four memorable nights in a musician s heaven joey ayala with hegalong rafique rashid i didn t know who else was on the festival bill until we received our souvenir programmes the only name familiar to me was joey ayala whom i d met 13 years ago at the first kuala lumpur arts festival it was a blast to see joey ayala again accompanied by his immensely lovable and vivacious band when i finally saw them in action joey and his dazzling group simply blew me away o mighty eagle my true king i want to fly in the sky like you joey ayala intoned lamenting the plight of latter day eagles who not finding any more tall trees to build their nests were in captivity or in hiding wings folded and flightless may there always be tall trees in the forest for us to build our nests so that like the mighty eagle we too can fly eagles hornbills emblems of freedom and nobility for an instant a small frown furrowed joey s brow then he called out to the sound booth no sound i want to play my guitar yes there were lots of problems with the sound mainly due to the understandable confusion of a technical crew who had never experienced a concert of this scale and variety and there was sound what a monstrously beautiful powerful towering ecstatically transcendental sound earthy as a filipino folk tune funky and spunky as celestial angel come no one embodied the spirit of the rainforest world music festival more musically more poetically more sincerely than joey ayala and when his band let rip everyone just soared like an eagle or a hornbill riding the joyful musical airstreams joey s line up cynthia alexander joey s baby sister on electrifying bass guitar an impish science fiction elf princess flying sorceress and a highly gifted award winning musician to boot malou matute wholesome piano teacher turned diabolical percussionist she played gamelan like tuned gongs called kulintang renato tengasantos dynamic powerhouse on a runaway drum kit it took two stagehands to hold down his bass drum alex de paz tupaz on exotic marimba tree for want of an actual name francis reyes on highly effective effects guitar and joey ayala himself switching from rhythm to lead guitar to a lizard like two stringed beast called a hegalong that spewed forth smouldering soul satisfying riffs take the down to earth folksy approachability of country joe and the fish throw in the mesmerizing messianic charisma of bob marley add a dash of frank zappa s wizardly wit and musical competence serve with a generous dollop of pink floydian rock concert theatricality and you have the joey ayala group we found ourselves swept away by the typhoon of pure musical excitement they unleashed rafique shared my view that this was the absolute high point of the festival and judging by the eager mob that swarmed around joey and his group after their performance almost everyone else thought so too true the celtic jazz quartet lammas flown in by the british council served up a stimulatingly virtuoso performance salvaging the first night from being generally lacklustre but it was joey ayala on the second night who captured the heart of puteri santubong legendary princess of the mountain whose story no one would relate to me because it was too complicated or too tragic i m sure joey s inspiring performance made the spirit of the sacred mountain smile and weep for joy lammas delivers a heady fusion of intelligent progressive jazz flavoured with irish scottish and portuguese folk melodies co founded by don paterson on guitar and bodhrán and tim garland on concert flute and saxophones the lammas sound was exquisitely augmented by karen street on accordion whose sensitive coloring turned her instrument into a synthesizer fiddle bagpipes in a performance that was both an epiphany and a revelation the husky allure of vocalist christine tobin s pitch perfect and soulful voice was at once earthy and heavenly everyone fell instantly in love with her or at least i did garland and paterson write or arrange much of the lammas material intricate pieces of invigorating originality and verve performable only by master class musicians as a guitarist don paterson is a worthy successor to fellow scotsman john mclaughlin while tim garland is technically on par with jan garbarek the great norwegian blower he so admires b tutta a sydney based conservatorium trained highly cerebral percussion combo consisting of graham hilgendorf david hewitt cameron gregory and leigh giles put on a pyrotechnic display of precision teamwork on an impressive array of tuned and untuned instruments e g marimba xylophone handsaw open plastic canister in a tub of water and so on the boys energy and enthusiasm were infectious but as the set wore on and the music stayed strictly above the waist never venturing into the visceral and scrotal zones even when they were impersonating a caribbean steel drum band their cleverness began to irk a little at times b tutta meaning to strike in italian came across as a somewhat beatle ish bunch of factory workers banging about on idle machinery just to amuse themselves in the absence of the supervisor there might have been some serious dancing in the aisles or on the lawn under that hot sultry starry night sky if only b tutta had loosened up and let fly the first night s program also featured safar ghaffar a singing dancing pop shaman from kuching with the fashion designer s flair for style over substance the fresh faced chirpy toned and utterly innocuous bm boys a best selling chinese vocal group presumably from bukit mertajam near penang who struck a resonant chord with the mandarin speaking section of the crowd andrewson ngalai a big time iban pop crooner with fourteen albums to his credit who really captivated mak minah s romantic rustic soul electro acoustic group unimas comprising students and lecturers from the universiti malaysia sarawak s faculty of applied and creative arts a bidayuh group sape ulu and voice of the usun apau representing sarawak s bidayuh kenyah and penan tribes much as i would have liked to sample the tribal offerings slotted early in the evening s schedule they were over and done with by the time we arrived at the sarawak cultural village venue of the rainforest world music festival whose patron the sarawak tourism board organizing committee and consultant randy raine reusch deserve a huge round of applause for a job very well done no mike fright for minah w tarman excitement fairly crackled on the second night from my perspective not least because akar umbi was scheduled to perform with dr wan zawawi s anak dayung group but around noon that same day rafique and i had been roped into backing zuriani with approximately 44 minutes to learn and rehearse two of her songs alhamdulillah and candle dance and we d only just met at dinner two evenings ago well we had two other last minute recruits anak dayung s trusty gambus and tabla player yahya ibrahim on loan from the army band orkes tentera darat and johari morshidi a spirited gendang player with tuku kame the sarawak cultural village s resident ethnic fusion orchestra led by flautist narawi hj rashidi tuku kame s star asset however appears to be jerry kamit jeff beck of the electrified sape and a thoroughly urbane young iban wait make that three daredevil recruits adorable ainal johari s nine year old true blue trooper son was game enough to back us up on auxiliary percussion and what a natural born show stopper young ainal turned out to be now you may ask who is zuriani khalid and rightly so for this enchanting and talented singer songwriter record producer and multi instrumentalist has been living and working in the u s for the last 16 years within months of her return to malaysia zuriani was busy producing big name local artists like siti nurhaliza ella ziana zain fauziah latiff farra and kool it s been two years since my last public performance zuriani confessed and i don t want to make a complete fool of myself the symphonic orchestral backing she had earlier envisaged for her songs wasn t working out zuriani felt that a smaller tighter back up group might just about pull through if she did only two numbers instead of six i guess we all need anecdotes that can be passed on to our grandchildren the night of dangerous living we got on stage checked out the mikes zuriani glided confidently to stage centre as the emcee introduced her and it went down like ice cream on a hot day the audience loved zuriani we al...