Slaptone profile picture

Slaptone

Fill your soul with music and then dance!

About Me


I play drums for EE - Environmental Encroachment - EE is really two bands in one - we have a marching band phase, and a stage show phase. We are currently working with bass, theremin, horns, drums and various percussion. Quite a bit of our music is based on Moroccan rhythms, but we are also grounded in jazz and rock. The result is kind of a funky, trance, jam marching/stage band. Our shows are more than just music - it is performace art at it's best. We dress to fit the occasion - carrots, greenbeans, grapes and other fruit, insects, bunnies or other animals, consumerism, gouls, flowers, clowns...we have a wide variety of interesting costumes. We have jugglers, hoopers, puppeteers, and dancers who join us to present a show like you have never experienced before. Come see us! You won't be sorry!
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I am someone who loves to observe and learn from different people and different communities. Music, dance, art, family and friends are very important to me, but so is my time alone. I've been called a hippie by many of my friends. I've been called in instigator by those who don't know me well, since I have a very keen sense of fairness and will speak out against what I feel is not fair or right. I love the city and now have moved from suburbia into the heart of Chicago. In the city, you have the payoff - all the many different neighborhoods with different ethnic groups and the people, shops and eateries that go with them - being able to bike or take a train or bus to where you need to go, and the great architecture.

My Interests

I love music. I enjoy listening to it, creating it, talking to people about it, reading about it, and dancing to it. Which brings up one of my other interests - dance.
I have always loved to dance - ballet, tap, modern, ballroom, disco in the day of disco, and just bopping around the house to music. I would love to learn African dance and Tribal Fusion Bellydancing.

I also love art. Though I've taught art appreciation, and taken some workshops at the Art Institute in Chicago, I really know very little about art. There are so many things in life to learn about and so little time!

I love to camp and hike, cook (and eat), read, and visit with friends.

I'd like to meet:

Someone who can teach me all I want to know. ;-)
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Rhythm - I miss you!

I feel the thunder crashing in waves
Excitement building - electricity plays
A dance among senses so primal and true
The pounding rhythms created with you

A jubilation of tribal ways
With private twists does not decay
But brings to all a sense of fun
Creates longing for being one

One in a circle with one true voice
Melding rhythms become rejoice
Rhythms dancing from you to me
And up to the heavens sets me free

A feeling of freedom pounds through my veins
Engages my soul, releases the chains
Creates a moment free from stress
A special gift, a gentle caress

The thunder subsides, I go back home
Still feeling the waves, but now alone
The rhythms still dancing in my head
But the chains return as I climb into bed

"Freedom's another word for nothin' left to lose"
Friends advise but they aren't in my shoes
The thunder of life begins to roar
As the thunder of drums turns to a snore

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If you are not familiar with Alexander Duvel , you should be! He is an amazingly talented man. I had the good fortune to spend two hours listening to him perform last night and felt a great sense of tranquility when I left his home. Check out his profile and if you are in the Chicago area, check out his live performances - you will not be sorry!

Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Don't forget to pause the music on this page before starting this video.

Music:

I love so many different types of music: Classical and Renaissance, rock, African, folk, jazz, country, opera, Celtic, Native American, salsa, ragtime, blues, Baroque, ambient, some rap, Big Band Era - just about anything.

I will have to work on my list of favorites, but here is a start:
Jack Williams
Jaik Willis
Sons of the Never Wrong
Environmental Encroachment
Ray Charles
Artie Shaw
Bo Diddley
Mozart
Famoudou Konate
James Taylor
Linda Ronstadt
BB King
John Mayer
Duke Ellington
Waylon Jennings
Led Zeppelin
Janis Joplin
Eric Clapton
CSN&Y
Jimi Hendrix
Willie Nelson
Billie Holliday
Dan May
AC/DC
Foghat
Eagles
Santana
Beethoven
Anne Harris
The Bothy Band
Dianna Krall
Macy Gray
Sheryl Crow
Norah Jones
Tracy Chapman
Lunasa
Sarah McLachlan
Louie Armstrong
The Dorsey Brothers
Gene Krupa
James Cotton
Buddy Guy
John Lee Hooker
Roy Buchanan
Taj Mahal
Fleetwood Mac
The Doors
ZZ Top
Thin Lizzy
Van Morrison
Duke Ellington
Johnny Cash
The Gershwin Brothers
Cream
Muddy Waters
Hound Dog Taylor
Tina Turner
and oh so many more...

Movies:

Shawshank Redemption
Pretty Woman
Muppet Movie
Bull Durham
A Fish Called Wanda
The Wizzard of Oz
Silence of the Lambs
The Philadelphia Story
The African Queen
Babe
Annie Hall

Television:

I don't really watch much television. News sometimes, and occasionally I will catch parts of programs that someone else is watching.

My Blog

Hoopin’ Practice

My son took a video of me hooping in the park across the street today.  It was done with a still digital camera so the picture quality isn't very good, but thought I would post it anyway.  P...
Posted by Slaptone on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:37:00 PST

More Joplin

These are some of my favorite Janis Joplin videos from YouTube.  Enjoy.A slide show of famous photos set to music.MaybeMove OverSummertime ...
Posted by Slaptone on Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:12:00 PST

She'll Always Have A Piece Of Mine

A voice so expressive A life so depressive A beautiful smileCaptured our hearts for a while ...
Posted by Slaptone on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:38:00 PST

Love Him For All Time

Love Him For All Time   When I was just a girl I hoped each night and day That a prince in shining armor Would show me the way   I'd shout it over the mountain I found ...
Posted by Slaptone on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:16:00 PST

EE Time

Play it again one more time to feel it in your blood         Feel the rhythm Feel the rock Feel it all like love. Pick out a costume that fits t...
Posted by Slaptone on Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:42:00 PST

Stop - I said NO

fast car              straight path                    ...
Posted by Slaptone on Fri, 08 Dec 2006 09:39:00 PST

Should I Not See You Again

Yesterday's thoughts I try to keep awayBut they tend to hover in my mindI know you will leave and that is how it should beBut when you are gone, my tears I just cannot hidePlease think of me and know ...
Posted by Slaptone on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:09:00 PST

Damn - as if I don't waste enough time on here...

John, dammit - why have you done this to me???  http://linerider.com**************************************** ***...
Posted by Slaptone on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:59:00 PST

**********Fever!**********

**************************************************A comment in another blog brought this song to mind for me tonight.  What a great song!  This has to be one of the all-time hot, sultry, get...
Posted by Slaptone on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:04:00 PST

For Sache

You keep crossing my mindand each time I findA smile on my facea humbling gracewhen I think how you call me friendI feel a mountain of prideas I stand by your sidein awe as I learn moreof your ideals ...
Posted by Slaptone on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:16:00 PST