May 16, 2001

Another whole day at the studio. This time we narrowed our work venues down to two studios. In the morning we managed to do a gorgeous tribute to the thunders that roll up and down Kathmandu valley, and that cleared the way for this whole tour. Parangat and Emile percussively build up the tempo and Pamela becomes the tempestuous winds that whip and whirl. It's way cool!An interesting turn of events is that Emile decided to get married to an English ex-pat lass here, so we broke from our recording schedule, grabbed a young(20ish) Hindu priest and made our way to the Ram temple. Ram was a major disciple of Krishna and His devotees are said to be blessed with prosperity and well being. Emile and Angela kneeled at the threshold of the temple while the priest chanted. The temple caretaker and his family chimed in, the bride and groom said nothing but placed garlands around each others necks, then each painted a vermilion streak on the other straight up from the bridge of the nose, and fed each other a taste of fruit. The day was clear and beautiful and they were married Hindu style.After this it was straight back to the studio to work on a couple of songs. Each of the flutists is to do a solo piece. For mine I did a rendition of Amazing Grace (instrumental/vocal). I used the Lakota version, two verses. I could've done more but I couldn't stay on key. I've gotta work on this! Pamela may have some musical techniques for staying on key???? The Johnsons hosted a fireside with several of the USAID folks plus my recording gang,,,great food and great fellowship. Today's my big one-man-show gig. Pray for me! Love, Kevin