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National Trust Pictures As Promised!
2008-06-08 00:00:00
Here are some pictures of the lovely National Trust properties we visited last week in Somerset when the festival was cancelled. Enjoy!
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St Catherines Chuch - vlog
2008-06-07 00:00:00
I've got so many wonderful photos of the National Trust properties we visited last weekend but haven't been able to upload them yet - but I will. Here's a clip from inside St Catherine's Church in Somerset - ancient place.
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Sunrise Festival - dragged out by tractor!
2008-06-05 00:00:00
Where to start - the weekend festival didn't go at all to plan! My friend Ann and I packed up the Moon Palace and set off to the Somerset hills for the rave of festivals - Sunrise Celebration. From the off it didn't feel right when we arrived at about 2pm to find a MEGA queue about two miles long - there was some cock up to do with licences and the local council - not boding well already. We waited and waited watching all sorts of hippy types and interesting people walking past on their way in. Eventually the queue started moving and I got the Moon Palace in and parked up in a muddy field overlooking the main arena. It had rained quite a lot for the two days prior to the festival so it was already pretty muddy when we arrived. They’d sold 6,000 tickets so it’s not a tiny festival though not a huge one either but there was to have been a good line up of live bands and dance music rigs/dj’s including The Orb. Armed with my Wellington boots I went down to the arena area only...
More About: Festival

People of This Earth Video
2008-06-05 00:00:00
This is the slideshow for People of This Earth which we used at the album launch in February. Produced by Patchwork it encapsulates the intention of this song which I believe in passionately.
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Rocking Horse
2008-05-29 00:00:00
Here's another of the video's produced by Patchwork - this track tells the completely TRUE story of when I burned an ex's belongings - I know a lot of you have heard the track but thought you'd be interested in the video. I've reduced the quality to upload them to Youtube or they're too slow but the originals are high quality images and sound. I'm working on them to go on the new website I'm doing which will focus entirely on my music work. Of course I'll still blog here too for personal stuff - the new website will be to promote the album, tell people about gigs etc.
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Efx group on Facebook
2008-05-29 00:00:00
Just a note to anyone interested. There's a Facebook group for Efx so if it's down it's easy to keep in touch and share news and pics etc [URL="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?g id=2248198437&ref=nf"]http://www.facebook .com/group.php?gid=2248198437&ref=nf[/URL ]
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Sit Here Dreaming
2008-05-28 00:00:00
I spent the morning working with "Patchwork", the artist that did the slide show for my album launch. We've separated out the tracks and put the audio on so that I can upload them to Youtube etc. Here's one for you - Sit Here Dreaming - you can see Moon Palace in the video. I wrote this song at the place in the video so it brings back a lot of memories for me. Hope you enjoy it. I'll gradually upload the others.

Melanie
2008-05-26 00:00:00
What a great evening! I got an email today from a friend asking if I knew that Melanie was playing in Bristol tonight. Those old enough to remember will know she was a wonderful singer songwriter from the early 70s - she wrote so many peace songs and love songs and silly songs like Animal Crackers as well as sang an amazing version of Ruby Tuesday. I saw her live at the first Glastonbury in 1971 on the stage at dawn (I was tripping at the time and the sky was full of a zillion rainbows!) and she was sitting all alone on the front of that big stage on a stool with her guitar. All alone. One voice. Hair blowing in the wind. A call for peace. Tonight - more than 30 years on she sang some of those old songs live here in Bristol as well as new songs - again with her guitar and with her son playing along. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7249.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7257.jpg[/IMG] The years have taken their t...

Gigathon
2008-05-26 00:00:00
A friend of mine is going to do a "gigathon" soon to raise money for a wildlife trip to Madagascar. She's going to walk a hundred miles doing gigs on the way! I feel like I've done a gigathon myself this week. I've already blogged about the Melanie gig last Tuesday (marvellous) and then on Thursday I went to see the wonderful Tinariwen - they are of the Touareg people of the Sahara Desert. They were involved in organising the first Festival In The Desert in 2001 and are a very exciting band to watch. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7274.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7282.jpg[/IMG] [URL="http://www.myspace.com/tinariwen"]M yspace[/URL] It's worth reading about them at the myspace link - a fascinating story. [URL="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?a id=40683&l=d5d38&id=637503707"]More photos[/URL] The support band was Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara who is an amazing African violinist. More.......last night...

Gig at the Cafe Delight
2008-05-19 00:00:00
My support slot for Sarah Joy went really well last night. I don't seem to get too nervous (just a good kind of nervous before I go on ) and I think we did a good set. I did a half hour set of 7 songs and one encore with Paddy my keyboard player who is really very good. He also plays some flute and violin when needed and is a dab hand on a drum too! There was a decent turn out and I'm looking forward to playing there again. It's a small venue but always friendly and quite near where I live so I'll try and organise another night there some time in June. [IMG]http://www.efx2blogs.com/uploads/c/C handramoon/2217.jpg[/IMG] Hopefully there'll be some better pics soon. Sarah Joy did a great set with a cellist accompanying her to finish off.
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Gas Works Choir and More
2008-05-17 00:00:00
So far this week has been good and for a change the sun has been shining pretty much constantly! On Friday I went to see my good friend perform in the Gasworks Choir concert - they are a really well -established Bristol group who always sing unaccompanied. They sing a great range of unusual and traditional songs to a very high standard. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7237.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7242.jpg[/IMG] I had a quiet weekend for a change and didn't even go the the open mic on Sunday night but I did lots of gardening and knitting like a good prospective granny! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7228.jpg[/IMG] I've been practicing and playing a lot as I have a gig this coming Friday supporting a really excellent singer called Sarah Joy who runs the Tuesday night open no mic night that I attend regularly and I played there last night. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/al...
More About: Works

Yet More Knitting
2008-05-17 00:00:00
I can't believe how much I'm enjoying knitting in between everything else!! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7248.jpg[/IMG]
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New song
2008-05-09 00:00:00
I've written a new song and posted the lyrics on [URL="http://chandramoonsonglyrics.efx2bl ogs.com/"]http://chandramoonsonglyrics.ef x2blogs.com/[/URL] I'll record the melody and put it up soon if you want to hear it.
More About: Song , New Song

Weekend - brief summary
2008-05-09 00:00:00
I had a lovely weekend with my daughter and her husband - they came up from where they live for a party in Bristol. We didn't go to the party in the end as my daughter (who's pregnant) wasn't well on Saturday but despite this we had a lovely time all together. I'm still knitting! My blogging mojo is still a bit off colour. My guitar mojo's gone missing but I've written a miserable new song ha ha! Today I'm going to Redland Fair - a local thing and I'll take the camera (it's a bank holiday in the UK today). I've got a good mate coming up from London for a few days tomorrow. My new website is nearly ready (the music one). This is my attempt at a blog post....................... oh and not to forget my love life........well yes..........let's just not go into that .......................
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Girlfriends
2008-05-09 00:00:00
What a lovely few days I've had. One of my oldest friends from London from the seventies came to stay for a couple of nights. I took her out and about in Bristol on Tuesday afternoon which was glorious sunshine and Bristol on a sunny day can't be beaten. We have so much green space and gorgeous walks, not to mention the Suspension Bridge. In the evening after a quick but nice meal I took her to my regular open mic night and on Wednesday she came with me to songwriting. She has a beautiful voice but hadn't sung in public for more than twenty years so a bit of a breakthrough for her. Last night I invited two other close women friends to join us for dinner and for me having my closest friends together for an evening of talk and laughter couldn't be bettered. I cooked a lovely meal of salmon and roast vegetables with garlic and honey, strawberries and cream and we drank wine and whiled away the evening chatting about the past, present and future. Life is good.
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Catch Up Time
2008-05-01 00:00:00
I'm not sure where to start as so much has happened since I last posted! I suppose at the beginning would be as good a place as any! I set off in Moon Palace for Torquay last Saturday morning - it was a really beautiful day (the only one as it turned out weather wise that is) and the journey went quite smoothly until about half an hour to arrival when the power steering started feeling really weird and stiff - the vehicle weighs 5 tons so it's not funny when the steering plays up I can tell you! Anyway - despite this I arrived at Widdicombe Farm by lunch time - a really pleasant, quiet campsite in the countryside in the outskirts of Torquay at Paignton. The event I was going to was to see Maharaji (Prem Rawat) my spiritual teacher who I've blogged about before as he was speaking on the Sunday at the Riviera Conference Centre. On Saturday afternoon I went for a lovely walk and found a beautiful farm park called Occombe Farm. It's an organic farm which also opens its doors t...
More About: Time , Catch

Testing testing
2008-04-28 00:00:00
I'm in a layby on the M5 en route to Torquay using my new mobile USB broadband gadgetty thing - yay it works!
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Mojo
2008-04-25 00:00:00
Where did my blogging mojo go? Answers on a post card please..... Love Chandra!
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Gigs
2008-04-25 00:00:00
Last night I went to a great gig which was a fundraiser for TPRF the humanitarian organisation linked with my meditation group which I've mentioned here before. The three performers were all women and fantastic - the turn out was quite low but the performances excellent. Tonight, I'm meeting a girl friend and going to a gig of a band called Mankala at a local pub and tomorrow I'm off for a few days in Moon Palace to see my teacher in Torquay - so a good weekend lined up. I'll try and get some pics from the seaside yippee!

Guest Book
2008-04-22 00:00:00
I filched the nice Guest book photo widgetty thing from Legs - please sign my guestbook and upload a photie of yourself so I can look at you all if I'm ever feeling lonely - go on - you know it makes sense. It's in the right hand column above the Shoutbox xx
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Where Did the Week Go?
2008-04-19 00:00:00
I've had a strange week where I seem to have been busy all the time but can't actually say I've done a lot mmmm??? Well I did play at Presence on Tuesday night and as there was a percussionist there I played a couple of more upbeat tunes which went well. You always get to see wonderful and surprising acts there! Wednesday I went to songwriting group as usual and in the evening had a practice with Paddy - we're practicing a thirty minute set of my songs and beginning to work on his songs too now which is an exciting development. Yesterday I caught up with various worky musicy things in the day time, prepared a nice lunch for an old friend/neighbour and in the evening went out to dinner with a friend for her birthday. Oh and not to forget - I'm knitting!! All go awwwww! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7172.jpg[/IMG] Have a good weekend whatever you're doing. I'm out on the razz tonight.
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Busy Weekend (mmm - what's new!?)
2008-04-17 00:00:00
This has been a busy and interesting couple of days. Yesterday I started off with a meeting with the guy who's designing me a proper music website and then went to the grand opening of a new project here in Bristol called the Knowle West Media Centre. I was invited in my work capacity as I did some consultancy work for them which had involved researching similar organisations and writing them sample job descriptions and pay scales for the new management posts. [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7165.jpg[/IMG] A couple of years on and the project is now complete - an amazing new building which is very eco-friendly - in fact the walls are made with rendered straw, there's a rubber roof which collects rain water for the toilets and all sorts of other features. The project itself offers under-priveleged young people the opportunity to study modern digital technology and creative industries and the young people and local people involved were obviously very...
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Quick Hello
2008-04-17 00:00:00
I enjoyed the rest of the weekend! On Saturday night I played four songs at the Silver Star night at The Folk House in Bristol and it went very well. I had only planned three songs but when I got there I realised they had a gorgeous Steinway piano on the stage so I couldn't resist playing Clear As A Dream which is the only song I've actually written on piano - it was so good playing on that piano rather than a keyboard - the best bit for me. The other artists that night were really good and varied and I look forward to the next time. Yesterday I met a friend for lunch (someone I met on the internet) and it was fun to meet someone new. In the evening I was supposed to play at the Tantric Jazz open mic but at the last minute I decided I was too tired so I did an unusual thing for me - I opened a bottle of very nice wine, sat on the sofa and watched a silly film on TV. Why not eh?
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Salisbury
2008-04-11 00:00:00
This weekend I went off in Moon Palace to a drumming workshop with a great teacher called Nansady Keita. It was a great weekend but I was cold because it started SNOWING. I woke up Sunday morning to see the white stuff everywhere - I was snug as a bug inside bed but getting out of bed in the van was another matter. I went to the Sunday workshop and came back a night early as I couldn't face another freezing morning! What the hell's happened to the weather. It was too much after two weeks in 35 degree heat in the Gambia - brrrrrrr!

Gambia
2008-04-04 00:00:00
Two weeks in the Gambia doing amazing things every day could fill a book rather than a blog so it's hard to know where to start! I don't want to bore anyone but I don't want to leave important things out! The two weeks was split into two - the first week I was working as a volunteer at the WYCE (Wonder Years Centre of Excellence) Project in Madina Salaam near Kartong - a small village about an hour south of Banjul right on the coast. The project has been operational for several years and runs about 7 classrooms, a basic clinic, a football pitch, a bee project, an ambulance, a kitchen garden and tree plantation, a fresh water stand pipe and other projects. [B]The Beekeeper[/B] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_7035.jpg[/IMG] It's head office is in the UK and it was founded by an English couple originally. Nearly all the paid staff are local people (the teachers, the pharmacist, the general manager, the head gardener etc and the volunteers are mostly ...

Back from the Gambia
2008-04-02 00:00:00
I'm back from a most wonderful trip. I got back late last night and have a lot to do before I can blog about it properly. I have lots of photos which I'll put up on Facebook soon and I'll put some here and a link to the rest. I have lots to tell you all so watch this space and I'll be on the case in the next couple of days. Hope you're all well xxx
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Knowledge Birthday
2008-03-17 00:00:00
Yesterday, March 15th was what I call my "Knowledge " birthday. On that day in 1972 I was taught some simple but wonderful meditation techniques by my spiritual teacher Prem Rawat (Maharaji) which have been my anchor throughout my life. The teaching is very simple and doesn't clash with any religions or promote a particular lifestyle but just shows a way to connect with your own inner self. When I practice it regularly it gives me genuine inner happiness and peace and whatever's going on in my every day life it provides a constant point of reference. So thankyou Maharaji for enhancing my life and giving it real purpose. [URL="http://wordsofpeace.net/"][U]Words of Peace[/U][/URL] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/Maharaji.jpg[/IMG]
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A Zillion Things
2008-03-15 00:00:00
Well I didn't do my second Monday blog because I was in London staying with my son and visiting friends for a few days. Before I left, on Saturday night I went to an acoustic, benefit gig for a sick woman who's raising money for treatment that's not available on the NHS. Apart from the fact I got absolutely drenched walking to the venue (I literally had to wring my trousers out!) it was a fun night out. Hotwells Howlers [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6918.jpg[/IMG] David Mowatt and Anders Olinder [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6934.jpg[/IMG] Tim Caswell and Co [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6938.jpg[/IMG] After the gig, a friend I'd met last year at a festival came back to my place for the night so we chatted and played guitar into the early hours. Sunday morning, I drove to London to spend time with my son before I go off to Africa next week. In the evening he'd organised a dinner pa...
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Watershed Drumming
2008-03-08 00:00:00
As promised, a short post about today's drumming at the Watershed. The event was to celebrate 50 years of the organisation VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) linked to International Womens Day. There were over 200 people there - many of whom had themselves done VSO in the past going back to the 50s. We played for about half an hour to open the session and it went well. We played some things we'd practiced as well as some improvised stuff. I gave my camera to someone but she only took one pic of us playing and most of the rest were blurred! Never mind - here's a pic of our group Sul Beat and of the cake! [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6908.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2 53/chandrajmoon/IMG_6909.jpg[/IMG]
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Drumming at The Watershed
2008-03-08 00:00:00
Just a quick line to let you know I'm drumming today at Bristol Watershed as part of International Womens Day. We're doing the opening ceremony - a half hour slot playing 4 different singing and drumming pieces. We're a very small group so I'm a bit nervous but I guess it'll be ok! I'll try and get someone to take some photos.
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