My 4th Acclaimed Music meeting: Toni

[Honorio]

Hi, my friends. Last month I had the pleasure to know personally another one of the AM Forum posters. His name is Antônio César and his nickname for the Forum is Toni. He's not too active right now (he told me that he posted only twice on this new forum) but he was very active in the old Forum.
He is Brazilian, he was born in Goiânia, near Brazil's capital (Brasilia) and now he is studying/working in another city (sorry, Toni, I forgot the name) to be an Oncologist. His visit to my city was in fact as part of his formative period as Oncologist, he came to study for a month at the IVO (Instituto Valenciano de Oncología). He contacted me before coming to Valencia and we planned a meeting, my fourth meeting in real life with an AM poster after meeting Henrik, Nicolas and Miguel.
We had to meet on a working day because he and his colleague Guilherme spend their weekends traveling to different parts of Spain. They visited during their busy month Madrid, Barcelona and Córdoba, three excellent choices (Granada, Donosti, Santiago de Compostela or Ibiza could have been other splendid choices inside the wide variety of Spanish geography, but there was not enough time/money to visit them).
So we all met on a Wendesday, he and Guilherme came to my house. We ate Valencian paella and drank some wine from Ribera del Duero and we had some splendid time together, talking about many different things, including politics, soccer or medicine apart of (obviously) music. Their Spanish was perfect so I got no chance this time to practice my English. Toni (and Guilherme too) were, just like the other three AMers I had the pleasure of meeting personally, very polite, friendly, easy-going, funny and bright. The kind of people it's great to have as friends.
Then we listened to some music from my collection in a room that Henrik once called "Tower of Song," a wide variety of artists including Vampire Weekend, M. Ward, Todd Rundgren, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Dengue Fever, This Mortal Coil, Daft Punk and, of course, Blur. It was in this Tower of Song when this picture was taken (sorry, this time not reproducing any acclaimed album cover).


From let to right: Guilherme, Honorio and Toni.

After the listening some friends came to my house to rehearse some songs for a collective tribute concert to Bob Dylan the next Saturday. Toni and Guilherme enjoyed the rehearsal quite a lot, so they finally cancelled their weekend trip to be able to go to the show. So three days later we met again (Toni alone this time) for the show. Sadly the order of the bands was product of a draw and we had to play during the Champion League Soccer Final (that confronted two Spanish teams, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid) so the first bands played in front of less audience than the following bands. Toni also came later and missed our show. We played versions of "One Too Many Mornings," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "When the Ship Comes In" and backed Toni de l'Hostal in a mocking version of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" that sang the song using as lyrics the recipe of the paella (the most famous Valencian meal), including suitable cue cards like the ones on the famous Dylan clip. You can see here our performance with Toni de l'Hostal (sorry for the just fair audio and video quality). I'm the one playing acoustic guitar.

So another pleasant AM Forum meeting. Next one probably will be Dan because I won't be able to join Moonbeam in France or Italy because of my work. Many thanks Toni! I hope we can meet again in the future.

[Dan]

I remember Toni well from the old Forum. Always liked his lists.

That video really made me laugh and smile, Honorio - even though I didn't understand a word of it. Just Googled "Valencian paella" and was surprised to find that proper Valencian paella is supposed to include rabbit and sometimes even snails and duck. I've had more basic variants of paella in the Canary Islands and at Spanish restaurants in the UK, and I've also received praise for my own "tasty" seafood and chorizo paella from friends. Pfff... (expresión facial burlesca y desdeñosa). Looks like I need to try the real, original thing in Valencia.

On a more music-related note, I'm looking forward to being exposed to that "Tower of Song" room!

PS: Sent Moonbeam a PM to make it clear that I'm sad I won't be able to meet him this summer either.

[Honorio]

Yes, the typical Valencian paella is made with rice, beans, chicken and rabbit. Snails are also quite usal (but this is not the case with duck). It's also usual seafood paella (with shrimps and cuttlefish) and even mixed paella (combining chicken with seafood). What you definitely won't find in Valencia is paella with chorizo.
And for sure I would like you to come to my house and share a nice paella and a music listening session at the Tower of Song, I'm looking forward to this meeting too.

[Toni]

Hey, Honorio, many thanks for posting our foto! Excelent description of all the things we did those days, we've really had a great time. Good to watch your video at the concert, you all played alive as well as in the rehearsal, and people must have enjoyed the paella song with the cards, haha.
Talking about the "tower of song", I'm enjoying a lot the cd version from "De un país en llamas - 50 years of Spanish pop" you gave me over there. Much great music, with some 80s gems being among my current favorites (not to mention the excelent flamenco tunes).
Dan, you'll sure love your trip. Honorio and all his family are incredible people. In fact, the Spanish are generally friendly and funny. And Valencia is a beautiful, pleasant city; it was the perfect place for me to spend the month.

It was a long time since my last post on the forum, but I hope to become more active here again.
Honorio, I also hope to meet you again, be it in Valencia or even in Brazil, hehe!

[Honorio]

Hi Toni:
Many thanks for your kind words. I'm glad to know that you enjoyed your time here. And I'm also glad to know that you like the CD of Spanish music. Since I finally ended my threads about the Beatles and the Stones I'm planning to come back soon with the Spanish music thread.
I'm so sorry about the poor performance of the Brazilian team on the Soccer World Cup (well, the Spanish team also done an awful work). Hope that better times will come for both teams.

[Honorio]

It's easy to guess which cover art Dan Lowe and Hon Tennant were trying to reproduce (sorry Miguel for stealing your idea but in the end we didn't take that planned photograph). But don't get fooled by the serious look on Dan's face and my bored expression on this picture, those days with Dan had been really funny. In less that 3 days we went to a beach party (where I played with one of my bands), to a flamenco concert (something usual in Andalucia but not that much in Valencia), to walk through both the old quarters of my city (Barrio del Carmen, Ciutat Vella) and the new ones (City of Arts and Sciences), we even went to see the sunset in Albufera lake (see the panoramic picture with Dan and me in the middle). The main drawback of the weekend was the suffocating heat (up to 36 Celsius degrees sometimes).



Dan had the opportunity during those days to try some of the dishes of our Mediterranean cuisine, including -of course- paella (he even dared to try the snails in it!), suquet de peix (fish stew), albergina farcida (stuffed aubergine), Spanish omelette (with potatoes) or salmorejo (cold tomato soup). He tried also some drinks apart of the Spanish wines and beers, like the refreshing horchata (now even trendy because of Vampire Weekend) or the agua de Valencia (made of orange juice, champagne, vodka and gin). And, of course, we talked about and listened to some music. The schedule was so tight that we did not spend a lot of time at the Tower of Song but anyway we listened to some music while driving. The music diet included (among some others) Vampire Weekend, Marvin Gaye, Elliott Smith, Air, Kanye West and compilations of Sunshine Pop and Caribbean music (probably I will make a new thread to talk about that particular Caribbean compilation, my favourite compilation of 2013).

Dan was (as I expected) another wonderful person like the other AMers I had the chance of meeting personally. A kind, polite, funny, warm and good-natured man, with a fantastic sense of humour (we had some laughs despite the language barrier) and an endless patience (he kindly listened for hours to my daughter that became very fond of him). We had a splendid time together and I hope we can meet again in the future. My best wishes to you, Dan.

[Henrik]

Dan & Hon, it's so great to read about your wonderful time together! So instead of "Tower of Song" you chose "Car Song" (Elastica). And what a cover imitation! Those facial expressions will be hard to beat! If someone with photoediting skills can add the white background and a funny album title, that would be awesome! I have a feeling that this is what will bring nj come back from the lurks, if only for a short while!

[Dan]

Yes, we definitely had a splendid, fun time. Honorio was great. It’s funny… you get to know someone through a forum on the internet, relate to his views and taste in music, take the leap of meeting him in person, and hope that you will still feel a kind of connection with him in “real life”, despite perceived differences in language and background. Luckily, my English accent was easy for Honorio to understand, and his ability to speak English is much better than he thinks it is. Also, the differences in our backgrounds and countries of origin led to interesting discussions, and the similarities we shared in our outlook on life (and our appreciation of music) showed yet again that differences in background or country of origin are only obstacles if you want them to be.

There were many things about the weekend that I will look back on fondly for a long time, like his wife and daughter’s friendly welcome at the airport and their warmth during the whole weekend (by the end of the weekend I felt that I had formed a bond with both of them). His son was lovely too and kicked our asses at volleyball in the swimming pool. I will also remember the Mediterranean charm of the city of Valencia, the tasty food, arriving at the beach party just as the sun was setting and illuminating the sky with beautiful colours, watching Honorio perform with his band, dancing to Spanish and Latin rhythms at the beach party on a spectacularly warm evening, and being completely absorbed in the energy of the Flamenco concert we saw.

Thank you again, Honorio. And big hugs to your family.

[Dan]

PS: At the start of the weekend, Honorio and other people from Valencia would sometimes refer to a drink or a meal or an activity as being “typically Valencian”. Later this became a recurring joke for us, especially the question: “But is it typically Valencian?” So, Honorio, I saw this bottle of juice at a shop near my home today and had to buy it, just to have one more drink with oranges from Valencia that is typically Valencian.

[imgsize 269x358]https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hph ... e=547F72A5[/imgsize]

PPS: If you can manage to make time for it, Honorio, I’m sure some people here will find a thread about that Caribbean compilation interesting. Although Modern Vampires of the City and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy were the albums we talked about the most while listening to them, I think the album we had the most fun with was that excellent Caribbean compilation. The calypso song “Don’t Blame It on Elvis” even became a kind of theme song for the weekend.

[Honorio]

Yes Henrik, we have by now a good collection of acclaimed covers, now "Actually" too after "Pet Sounds," "Are You Experienced" and "If You Can Believe You Eyes and Ears." Dan and me even talked about reproducing "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" but surely we won't look at all like Chuck D and Flavor Flav, the Pet Shop Boys were a much more realistic option.
And I even have another one! I had a band in the early 90s called Rubber and our first EP was called "Rubber Souls" and reproduced the famous Beatles cover art (that was also trying to reproduce the Mount Rushmore, I noticed that during the photo-shoot). I posted it before in the forum but I'll do it again (by the way I'm the one in Harrison's position).



Hey, Dan, many thanks for your kind remark (especially about my English).
And yes, of course orange juice is typically Valencian, you won't find it anywhere else in the world.
You're right, a bond was definitely stablished, all my family members became very fond of you. And of course I'll write something about the Caribbean compilation when I find the time, sadly that funny number 'The Queen Sings Calypso" is not available on You Tube.
And yes, the beach party was big fun. You even danced to the rumba and I went mad with James Brown's "Sex Machine" (at least I tried my best to impersonate Moonbeam). And we had funny conversations, like the different ways to call a girl in Spanish countries (some members of my band are South-American, one from Chile and another one from Venezuela). While Dan pointed that in anglo-saxon countries names like "chick" or "bird" are seen today as sexist it's quite common (in a tongue-in-cheek way, of course) to call a girl "teta" (tit) in Valencia, even "chocho" (cunt) in some parts of Andalucia, "culito" (ass) in Venezuela and, oddly enough, "pierna" (leg) in Chile. Rodrigo (the Chilean guy) even told us that in an interview in Chilean TV after a soccer match the TV reporter asked to a soccer player (that just made his reappearance after a knee sport injury) about his leg and he answered: “Well, she's at home taking care of the kids.” Talk about cultural differences!
Anyway, as you accurately pointed, the first thing we notice when we meet someone from a different country are the differences. And it's a fascinating conversation subject (it happened too with Henrik, Sweden and Spain are sooo different). But when people like us dare to surpass these barriers the next thing we find are the coincidences, the points in common, and that's the best part of it all!!

[Nick]

The next logical step is for all the frequent posters in the AMF to assemble in one room and recreate the Sgt. Pepper's cover.

[Honorio]

Well, Nick, your idea is not as crazy as it could seem at first glance. It would be great if all the AMers could meet in a given place for the photo-shoot, but that's something it's not going to happen. But I'm sure that someone in the forum is a wizard of photo editing and could create this "Acclaimed Music Forum's Club Band" cover art if we send to him our photographs. Which ones should be placed as the Fab Four? My proposition: Henrik obviously, Stephan as co-site administrator, nicolas as moderator and Moonbeam as the most veteran AMer (althought I'm not sure if this would be an honour for him). Die Mensch Maschine Brad should also be in first line (in the boxer's position?). bonnielaurel, our one and only lady, could appear on Diana Dors' position. And could I reserve Marlon Brando's position for me? I promise to send a photo with a biker cap…

And now (knowingly) stepping decidedly into the ridiculous, what about doing the official Acclaimed Music Forum video? We can lip-synch to the Acclaimed Music #1 song, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Everyone can chose a line of the lyrics (obvioulsy Henrik would sing the history-making first line "Once upon a time you dressed so fine / threw the bums a dime in your prime / didn't you?"). Please let me choose (because of my job) the line "He's not selling any alibis / as you stare into the vacuum of his eyes" (when I sing this part I will take off my sunglasses to reveal my eyes with white contact lenses Marilyn Manson's style). Apart of his line everyone could send a video of himself singing some lines from the chorus and some other images to fill the instrumental parts. You can choose to record your part in your room or in a beautiful landscape, disguised as Bob Dylan or wearing a mask, it's a matter of freedom and imagination. Someone (my daughter would surely volunteer) would do the editing and… voilà, the AMF official video! Probably it would be banned from YouTube for copyright reasons (or, who knows, alleging bad quality or even bad taste).

Only joking, boys… Or not?

[Nick]

Well, Nick, your idea is not as crazy as it could seem at first glance. It would be great if all the AMers could meet in a given place for the photo-shoot, but that's something it's not going to happen. But I'm sure that someone in the forum is a wizard of photo editing and could create this "Acclaimed Music Forum's Club Band" cover art if we send to him our photographs. Which ones should be placed as the Fab Four? My proposition: Henrik obviously, Stephan as co-site administrator, nicolas as moderator and Moonbeam as the most veteran AMer (althought I'm not sure if this would be an honour for him). Die Mensch Maschine Brad should also be in first line (in the boxer's position?). bonnielaurel, our one and only lady, could appear on Diana Dors' position. And could I reserve Marlon Brando's position for me? I promise to send a photo with a biker cap…

And now (knowingly) stepping decidedly into the ridiculous, what about doing the official Acclaimed Music Forum video? We can lip-synch to the Acclaimed Music #1 song, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Everyone can chose a line of the lyrics (obvioulsy Henrik would sing the history-making first line "Once upon a time you dressed so fine / threw the bums a dime in your prime / didn't you?"). Please let me choose (because of my job) the line "He's not selling any alibis / as you stare into the vacuum of his eyes" (when I sing this part I will take off my sunglasses to reveal my eyes with white contact lenses Marilyn Manson's style). Apart of his line everyone could send a video of himself singing some lines from the chorus and some other images to fill the instrumental parts. You can choose to record your part in your room or in a beautiful landscape, disguised as Bob Dylan or wearing a mask, it's a matter of freedom and imagination. Someone (my daughter would surely volunteer) would do the editing and… voilà, the AMF official video! Probably it would be banned from YouTube for copyright reasons (or, who knows, alleging bad quality or even bad taste).

Only joking, boys… Or not?

This is crazy and I love it. Any takers?

[Honorio]

Last week I went on a wonderful trip to Norway with my family. We enjoyed a lot the impressive landscapes of Norway, the fjords and the waterfalls. We visited among many other places the cities of Bergen and Oslo, the fjords of Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord and the glacier of Briksdalsbreen. But, the most important part, the trip ended in Stockholm so it was time to meet again my dear friend Henrik Franzon. Sadly it was only for one day but we got time enough for a fantastic dinner in a medieval restaurant, a boat trip to Birka (a viking island) and pleasant walks through Stockholm's Gamla Stan (Old Town) and Södermalm (South Island). Here you have a panoramic picture of the city I took (the one on the left is Henrik).



Those 24 hours were absolutely great, our kids enjoyed a lot their mutual company after 5 years since the last time we met. Hannah and Melker were really funny and warm. And I enjoyed a lot talking with the other half of the H-Duo, my soul brother even if we are 3000 Km away and only meet every 5 years. Next time Spain?
And of course we didn't forget to do again a reproduction of a cover art. Given the fact that we were coming from Norway I suggested to reproduce the cover art of "Quiet Is the New Loud," the album of Kings of Convenience, a Norwegian duo formed in Bergen. Walking on the island of Birka we found a typical Scandinavian wooden house painted in falu red with a stone in the garden and… we proceeded. Henrik as Erlend Øye, me as Eirik Glambek Bøe and my daughter Mar (yes, I have a 20-years-old daughter, older than some AMers) as Ina Grung, Bøe's then-girlfriend-now-wife. Enjoy…



I also added the tittle for the Acclaimed Boy's "Actually" cover art I did with Dan. So here they are the collection of covers, 5 so far…



Pet Sounds (Valencia, 2009)



Are You Experienced (Paris, 2011)



If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (Stockholm, 2012)



Actually (Valencia, 2014)



Quiet Is the New Loud (Stockholm, 2016)

[Romain]

It's always a pleasure to see smart people make beautiful meeting. Thanks to sharing these pieces of life with us Honorio. I don't konw why, it's make me happy for you and your "guests" !

[jamieW]

Awesome, Honorio! It'd be great if you could travel the world and make album covers with all of the AMF members. That would even surpass Sufjan Stevens' "50 states project" (had he actually completed it). I guess looking at it that way, you've already surpassed Sufjan, since he stopped after only 2 states, and you've now made 5 album covers with 4 different AMF members!

Edit: Looking again, I guess you and Toni didn't make an actual album cover. Oh well, you're still ahead of Sufjan...

[Toni]

Hen & Hon, nice to see you both have met again, and also nice to see this thread bumped. Reading the details of your meeting brings me many great memories from my visit to Honorio two years ago. It really was a wonderful time, as I imagine all you have had last week! I think Scandinavia must be one of the most fascinating places on Earth, with its natural beauty and its sucessful model of society organization. Add this trip to a meeting with an old friend and you have the perfect vacation!

I was reading all the topics here and saw an observation from Dan about typically Valencian things that made me laugh. That was funny because, during my stay in the city, my colleague Guilherme and I had some "city tours" guided by a Valencian friend who had showed us so many things she described as "typically Valencian" that it also became a friendly joke among us, lol.

About the thematic photos, there was so much going on that I think we forgot it. Maybe that's an excuse for another visit...

[Honorio]

Awesome, Honorio! It'd be great if you could travel the world and make album covers with all of the AMF members. That would even surpass Sufjan Stevens' "50 states project" (had he actually completed it).

About the thematic photos, there was so much going on that I think we forgot it. Maybe that's an excuse for another visit...

Many thanks, my friends. Of course, jamieW, it'd be great… if I have the money for that. Anyway I got plans to go to New York next year. I know some AMers live there (but I don't remember which ones). If we gather enough people we can reproduce the cover art of Lou Reed's "New York." Why not?



And, of course, Toni, we definitely should do our cover art. I would like to visit Brazil at some time in the future. We could reproduce a Brazilian album cover, "Clube da Esquina" is the first that came to my mind. Or, given the fact that there is an increasing presence of Brazilian AMers, we could gather and reproduce the cover of "Tropicália ou panis et circencis."

[Toni]

[jamieW]

Awesome, Honorio! It'd be great if you could travel the world and make album covers with all of the AMF members. That would even surpass Sufjan Stevens' "50 states project" (had he actually completed it).

About the thematic photos, there was so much going on that I think we forgot it. Maybe that's an excuse for another visit...

Many thanks, my friends. Of course, jamieW, it'd be great… if I have the money for that. Anyway I got plans to go to New York next year. I know some AMers live there (but I don't remember which ones). If we gather enough people we can reproduce the cover art of Lou Reed's "New York." Why not?

[imgsize 200x200]http://e.snmc.io/lk/f/l/0a8610cf24e52cf ... 282337.jpg[/imgsize]

If I remember right, I think Nick and Listyguy are from New York. Only two more to go!

[Henrik]

Honorio, it was a real pleasure to meet you again! It was short, but we had a wonderful time. The friendliness of your whole family struck a chord with my kids too, who missed you a lot when they realized that you flew back home on the next day.

I think the Kings of Convenience cover became really good! I was proud to act like Erlend Øye, one of my favorite musicians.

If anyone of you travel to Stockholm, don't hesitate to let me know, as I would love to meet many other forumers as well!