Your Story : Audio Stories of Interesting Lives

One of the great pleasures of having a blog is being able to be self indulgent  -  This is one of those self indulgent posts.

As you may know I dance tango for pleasure, a great pleasure! Sure I’m still learning after 3.5 years but I think tango is one of the life passions that is all about learning and the journey rather than the destination. To that end I’m slowly, very slowly becoming enamoured by this most wonderful of dances. If you have no idea of what I’m talking about I suggest you go and watch Sally Potter’s The Tango Lesson and you may get some small idea of what I’m talking about… But that is not what this post is about.

On twitter I’ve made the acquaintance… (yes that’s right, a small friendship that is possible to be generated on twitter), with a quite spectacular musician in Sean A McGee and his ElectroTango (read nuevo style) music.

I must admit that when it comes to dancing Tango I tend to be a bit of a traditionalist (it’s what’s familiar), only occasionally dancing the more modern styles of tango that have become popular with Gotan Project and Carlos Libedinsky. But when it comes to listening pleasure I adore the electronic blends that are this style of tango music and I much prefer to listen to it over the traditional (Piazzolla and a few other excepted) music.

To give you a bit of a taste here is a player of some of Sean’s music. Click away and imagine being in one of those wonderful milongas in Buenos Aires, like the image above, when I was there last year, and the rich tapestry that is that city, that is the very heart of Tango.

The album Nebulosa is out in September so if you like his music go and buy it… go on, you know you’ll love it

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:20 — 70.6MB)

Welcome To Episode 53 of Your Story.

In June 2009 I had the good fortune to travel to Buenos Aires to experience all that you can in such a short time and to partake of some of the Tango Scene from the city where Argentine Tango originated.

While I was there I spent some time with Tango teachers and performers Fabrizio Forti and Celi Arias in their home El Sol that is a tango studio and tourist accommodation for travellers to this city of 13 million people.  I’ve already produced several episodes of my time in Buenos Aires while I was there but lately Fab and Celi were here in Brisbane and I thought that this was a good time to talk to them about the life they have in Buenos Aires, travelling and teaching and some things about the wonderful dance that is tango and how it is different to most of the other dance forms.

They were here in Australia conducting workshops and classes followed by a trip to Wellington for the new Zealand Tango Festival.  I hope to get a copy of their performance for the Kiwis to show you very soon but in the mean time here is a video from last years festival.

Website is elsoldesantelmo.com
Email is elsolst@gmail.com Continue Reading »

Click on any of the links below to see the Podcast Post.

“Your Story” Episodes

Your Story Ep 54 : Ken. Domestic Solar to Grid Reality Check.

Your Story Ep 53 : Fabrizio y Celi – Buenos Aires, Travelling the World Teaching Tango

Your Story Ep 52 : University Accommodation on a Motorbike

Your Story Ep 51 : Earl. Security, Choices with a Gentle Touch

Your Story Ep 50 : Kate. Acting a Theatrical Life

Your Story Ep 49 : Gemma. Photography, Making it Work.

Your Story Ep 48 : Tiffany, Infidelity Investigator.

Your Story Ep 47 : Cliff. Food Allergies and Cancer Treatment from a Life in Science.

Your Story Ep 46 : Doug. C.S.Lewis, Narnia, Film Making and Christianity.

Your Story Ep 45 : Chrissy. Mormonism, Music and Love in Australia.

Your Story Ep 44 : Frank. Gourmet Cookies, Financal Crisis and the Argentine Good Life.

Your Story Ep 43 : Deby. Tango and Living as a Local in Buenos Aires.

Your Story Ep 42 : Eric. Self Discovery, Freedom and Dr Ron Paul.

Your Story Ep 41 : Mike. Buenos Aires Ranching for a US Migrant.

Your Story Ep 40 : Grace. Prostitution – More than You Think.

Your Story Ep 39 : Patty. Funeral Photography, Web Cams and Radio Personality.

Your Story Ep 38 : Bernard. Ballroom Champion, ’60′s Rich and Famous and Alzheimer’s Loss.

Your Story Ep 37 : Tjupurru. Didjeribone, FaceBass Music and Heritage rediscovered.

Your Story Ep 36 : Chris. The Artist Life.

Your Story Ep 35 : Lucy and Willy. Swinging, Sport Sex, Emotional Pitfalls and The Lifestyle.

Your Story Ep 34 : Rachel. VibeWire. Support for Young Creatives.

Your Story Ep 33 : Gavin. Social Networking, Public Relations and Conversations.

Your Story Ep 32 : Andrew. Trash Video, Film Making and Filipino Search for Wang Wang.

Your Story Ep 31 : Martin. Fair Trade Coffee Roaster with Community Awareness

Your Story Ep 30 : David. Industrial Design, Street Furniture and Helping the Next Generation

Your Story Ep 29 : Stephanie. Vaccination, Health Education and Your Responsibility

Your Story Ep 28 : Colin. Eight Decades of European Life and Reflections Towards the Future.

Your Story Ep 27 : McConnie. Music, Performing to Conducting.

Your Story Ep 26 : Michael. Business and Life in Prague for a Canadian Migrant

Your Story Ep 25 : Adam. Prague, Czech History, Culture and Blending in.

Your Story Ep 24 : Linda. Podcasting Thesis, GDR Liberties Lost and Lessons for the Future.

Your Story Ep 23 : Rocco. Mime, Personal Robots and Amazing Berlin.

Your Story Ep 22 : Romy. Social Circus, Berlin, The Wall.

Your Story Ep 21 : What happened?

Your Story Ep 20 : Petra. Swiss Migrant, Australian Traveller, Author and Tango

Your Story Ep 19 : Timb. Professional Piercing and Body Modification Technician

Your Story Ep 18 : Mel. Tattoo, Scarification, Suspension and Body Modification

Your Story Ep 17 : Craig. Sidecars, Cafe Racers and Heavy Engineering.

Your Story Ep 16 : Claude Gillard. 50 Years of Parachuting and Skydiving the Early Days.

Your Story Ep 15 : Holly. Food, Macrobiotic, Nourish.

Your Story Ep 14 : Fiona. Book Seller, Challenges of Small Business and New Technology.

Your Story Ep 13 : John. Aboriginal Art, Slavery Heritage and Sorry.

Your Story Ep 12 : Adam. Australian Perceptions, Mental Health, Drugs and Community Care

Your Story Ep 11 : Jenny. Getting on with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Your Story Ep 10 : Dave. Film, Adventure and Kite Sledding Hudson Bay.

Your Story Ep 9 : Matt. Journalism, Newspapers and New Media

Your Story Ep 8 : Meeyeon. Korean, International Adoption, Biggotry and Abuse.

Your Story Ep 7 : Troy. Community Groups Bound Together.

Your Story Ep 6 : Juan Mann, Free Hugs and Oprah is a Career

Your Story Ep 5 : Rod, from Stolen Generation and Prison to Art & Music

Your Story Ep 4 : Krissy. Erotic literature with a twist.

Your Story Ep 3 : Meg, Sol Breads Sour Dough, Mountain Biking and Money

Your Story Ep 2 : Eve, Being a child in East Germany, Australian Holiday, Alternative views on Relationships.

Your Story Ep 1 : Shannon, the film industry and achieving a goal early in life.

Your Story Ep 0.00 : Welcome to Your Story and why I’m doing this Podcast

“Your Story Addendum” Episodes

Your Story Addendum Ep 25 : Create Your Life Story and What is Happening

Your Story Addendum Ep 24 : Podcast Feeds are now Fixed.

Your Story Addendum Ep 23 : Wrapping Up Buenos AIres, Argentina.

Your Story Addendum Ep 22 : Buenos Aires. An overview from Four Australians.

Your Story Addendum Ep 21 : Buenos Aires. European Confusion in South America

Your Story Addendum Ep 20 : Anzac Day Dawn Service.

Your Story Addendum Ep 19 : Sydney. Why I love this city.

Your Story Addendum Ep 18 : Internet Filter and No Clean Feed Rally

Your Story Addendum Ep 17 : Wrapping Up Europe and Returning to Australia

Your Story Addendum Ep 16 : Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Your Story Addendum Ep 15 : Shakespeare’s Globe and War Memorials

Your Story Addendum Ep 14 : London, Happy? Maybe not!

Your Story Addendum Ep 13 : Vannes and Paris

Your Story Addendum Ep 12 : Prague, Czech Republic Good Bye

Your Story Addendum Ep 11 : Prague, An Overview

Your Story Addendum Ep 10 : Good Bye Berlin, Germany

Your Story Addendum Ep 9 : Joseph Roth Diele and Hidden Europe Magazine.

Your Story Addendum Ep 8 : Obama Speech in Berlin on a Beautiful Summer Night.

Your Story Addendum Ep 7 : Off to Swidwin, Poland.

Your Story Addendum Ep 6 : Berlin, Observations from an Australian

Your Story Addendum Ep 5 : Germany. Long flights, Tubingen, Potsdam and Berlin

Your Story Addendum Ep 4 : Good Bye to Melbourne

Your Story Addendum EP 3 : Rainy Day and Night Life

Your Story Addendum Ep 2 : Getting the feel of Melbourne.

Your Story Addendum Ep 1 : Off to Melbourne.

This morning my good friend Adam Daniel Mezei who I had on the show while I was in Prague asked on twitter what I thought of the Argentine Beef and how much did I eat.

Mmmmm well.

As we know Argentina has a long history within the beef industry being one of the largest exporters in the world. The main reason for such an extensive industry is due to the Pampas, a huge treeless area of South America, much of which is in Argentina cover in rich grasslands perfect for grazing and fattening beef cattle.

I learnt most of what I know about the Argentine beef industry from the show episode that I did with Mike where he explained the difference in the methodologies of raising cattle between Argentina and the US. He wrote an interesting article on how the industry is changing in Argentina and the compromises that he is being forced to make. Suffice to say, what I learnt and tasted of the beef in Argentina is that it is different to what I’m familiar with, particularly in flavour.

I’m not a substantial meat eater, I’m not vegetarian but I eat a primarily vegetarian diet and add meat protein from time to time. My favourite these days is kangaroo for the health and environmental reasons but I do eat beef occasionally. Going to Buenos Aires I ate beef more than I had in many long years which was a bit of a shock on my system but as they say “when in Rome…”

I observed some interesting differences with the way beef is used in the Argentine culture. The retail of it is everywhere. It’s possible to walk into a small corner store and out the back someone is breaking down a side of beef placing chunks of it in the refrigerated display cabinets. At the markets huge quantities of it are just hanging in different stages of butchering as you walk past, next to the cheese and vegetables. It’s everywhere, raw and real, rather than in plastic wrapped Styrofoam trays, just like the old days.

Continue Reading »

It’s taken some time but I’ve finally finished the video of my trip to Buenos Aires in July. It amazing how long video takes to edit but it’s now here.

Like everything in this world of online media production I’m continuing to learn and yet again there are many things that I would do differently, especially while I was in Buenos Aires recording. However this is a good overview of what we got up to.

Enjoy

Please leave a comment either here or on Viddler. I’m interested in your feed back

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:48 — 37.5MB)

Welcome To Episode 44 of  Your Story.

Frank Almeida migrated from Chicago USA to Buenos Aires with his wife in 1999, where after a couple of business ventures left the corporate world and in time established a gourmet cookie manufacturing company Sugar and Spice.

Sugar and Spice is the first and only serious Gourmet cookie manufacturer in Argentina using the best of ingredients to make the biscuits that our mother would make at home. That’s the philosophy that is still carried out in his model manufacturing facility.

Frank showed me around and although a large quantity of product is produced there were people hand cutting chocolate, sifting ingredients and hand filling packaging, just like you would do at home. It’s just the quanties and machinery are larger but it’s basically an overgrown home kitchen.

He currently supplies nationally, including to major corporations and is credited with starting the trend towards gourmet cookies within Argentina.

Continue Reading »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:16 — 35.2MB)

Welcome To Episode 43 of Your Story.

Deby has been in Buenos Aries as a visitor and now permanently since 2000. Originally coming to Buenos Aires to surround herself in the world of tango, she sold up everything in California in 2004, relocated to Buenos Aires and is now looking forward to becoming an Argentine citizen.

While falling in love with lifestyle here she has had the experiences of someone learning to understanding a new culture in order to become part of it. Now she is fully immersed into the life as a local and defends it vehemently.

Deby explains how it is for a local, how when you don’t earn in another international currency and the multiplier effects of exchange rates how difficult it is to live here. She gives us a small overview of the world and industry of tango also taking us on a discovery of the cultural differences in the way men and women interact compared with her home country of the US.

Several days after this recording we meet again at a milonga where we spent a few lovely hours together with friends. I look forward to returning to Buenos Aires again one day and this time with more time and experience on the dance floor I look forward to having a real tango with her.

Her website is tangospam.typepad.com
email is info@lavidacondeby.com

Continue Reading »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:51 — 37.5MB)

Welcome To Episode 42 of Your Story.

Today we talk with Eric, a local Argentine, born and breed in Buenos Aires, about his journey and frustrations of feeling that he was independent in his thoughts on how to live a good life and how by chance he came across Dr Ron Paul during the 2007 US Republican Presidential Campaign. Discovering that his ideals and beliefs resonate with others and that there are opportunities to share these opinions. Motivated by what Dr Paul was doing Eric established a Spanish Version of the Ron Paul web site to help facilitate his message and to help expand the concepts that he lives by. Eric and I discuss how he came to develop these ideals, the importance of thinking for ones self and his motivation for the site.

We also chat briefly about life in Argentina, the potential that has been missed in this once great country and the current personality of the culture, just one day before Independence Day on 9th July.

Continue Reading »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:59 — 8.3MB)

Argentine Libertarians

While sitting in the airport waiting to head back to my home in Australia I thought that it was time to share my thoughts on my time in Buenos Aires, it’s time for a wrap up on my visit. So I pulled out my Zoom H4 here they are, additional to the last Your Story Addendum where I sat down with my friends to give you an overview.

I also mention that I spent some time the night before with some Libertarians who mentioned  some interesting political points.  I would have loved to have recorded some of these conversations but alas it’s not possible on this trip and hopefully by staying in touch with them through some of their online systems, when I return I will have the opportunity to share some political stories and history of this once and maybe future great country.