Today outside the window across a sky full of water and sun, clouds black and white, a dome of blue and grey, a large rainbow appeared (arco-íris in Portuguese). It arced over the city like a giant gateway to a fabulous world strewn with precious jewels with multi-coloured trees and houses and alebrijes come to life. It made me wonder about the myths of the rainbow (sounds like an album title). Everyone knows about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The story allegedly comes from the Vikings invading Ireland and stealing the gold. When they left they buried what they couldn’t carry and it’s protected by Leprechauns who are mistrusting of everyone, not that they need to worry as you can never find the rainbow’s end. A rainbow is only an arc from the ground because of the horizon, from the air, you may just see it as a full circle and as there is in fact no rainbow’s end there’s no danger of the gold being stolen again. Then there’s the science; this from National Geographic:

So what, exactly, is a rainbow? Strangely, it’s just an optical illusion. We see rainbows when light strikes drops of water. The light is refracted, or changes directions, then is reflected by the back of the water drops. As this reflected light is leaving the water, it’s refracted again at several angles.

Hawaii update: One of the great things about cats is when they have their “silly half hour” and Hawaii is settled in enough to throw all good reason to the stars. Each day we find him asleep in different places, on the bed, in boxes, on the pantry floor, on the carpet in the bathroom in front of the toilet, on the windowsill, on the couch, in a cardboard box with a blanket. Today he was going mad with his travel basket running in and out of it and moving it all around the hallway. Love cats.

Crazy day of sessions today x4, Tony in Sydney working on new Arktik Lake songs. It’s lots of work because as I’m singing we have to find the appropriate key that suits my voice best. That’s what we did with MOAT’s Poison Stream, we worked on where the best tones were, where I can sing the song, where it’s not too high and not too low. Not everyone can sing anything in any key and all you budding singers out there might find it’s kind of hard to sing along with your favourite record but it’s just not your key. You can sing your own songs, you just have to find the style and the key that works for your voice. Rajan in Brooklyn was next, helping with the arrangements of his songs, Gavin in Bend, yes, it’s really called Bend, it’s the northwest (of America) in Oregon. Today I was helping with learning High As A Kite and later Doug in Wappingers Falls, NY, with a self-composed instrumental piece. So many talented people out there who just need to be guided along the right road.

I watched two music documentaries in the last 24 hours, one was Classic Albums about Blondie’s Parallel Lines and the other Dandy In The Underworld about Marc Bolan. The latter was a tragic story of the rise and fall, ego and excess getting the better of talent. The other just some New Yorkers in a garage band who somehow made it big with an amazing pop-punk album. Both docs really interesting.

Music today has been a mixture of great singers and singer-songwriters, more contemporary or at least who have released records in what we might call the modern era. Their records may be throwbacks to the sixties and/or seventies but in the case of the male singers are inspired by the now. But I started with Rumer and Seasons Of My Soul (2010), Pakistani/English singer who might have loved Karen Carpenter’s voice once before as well as the soft swing of the sixties. Then there’s Tom McRae’s Just Like Blood (2003), the follow-up to his excellent self-titled debut. Crafted songs with moody instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics. Then Scott Matthews and his lovely voice and atmosphere on The Great Untold (2018) and Home Part 2 (2017). I’ve seen Rumer live in Stockholm and McRae live in London, both good, great even if you like that kind of thing. And if you’re wondering, I’m saving Emmit Rhodes’ Rainbow Ends for tomorrow.

Music Of The Daze