Mapping tranquillity

We were out in the tent again this weekend at Waterloo Country Park. Much quieter than West Horsley. However you still hear air traffic at 5:50 on a Saturday morning if sleeping out of doors. I vowed I'd spend a bit more time finding out about air corridors this week with a view towards mapping them (with Google Earth) as a community layer, so that I can avoid sleeping under them.

The Council for the Preservation of Rural England has an interesting report on tranquillity and how to define it, but no maps yet for areas outside their study area in the North.

Needs a website with a GIS behind it!

Steve Reich concert at the Barbican!

I've waited for more than 20 years to see the Steve Reich ensemble play Music for 18 Musicians, but last night Phil and I were there at the Barbican Centre in London to see them play the 58-minute piece live. It was the experience of a lifetime for me, very emotional. It also explains a lot of things I've always wondered about the piece, such as which instruments have which parts, and how the musicians can play it without a break (as anticipated, they individually take short breaks, moving between mallet instruments and pianos seamlessly). There was dead silence after the last note for a moment or two, and then the huge hall errupted into clapping, whistling and cheering, everyone on their feet for a five minute standing ovation. Simply superb - a visual and auditory treat that is unlikely to get repeated. The Ensemble were playing in the UK as part of a world tour celebrating Reich's 70th birthday. If you haven't heard it, the album is available on Nonesuch Records, and Steve Reich's website has details of other concerts this year.