No idea what I can add to all the posts that found their way from the brains to the associated fingertips, through the keyboards and finally arrived at the HIVE blockchain.
The HIVE meetup in Krakow was in one word: AMAZING
If it wasn't for @MiPiano I wouldn't have made it to my first ever HIVE meetup in the physical space. Weeks before the event I was triggered by our Mrs. Piano who pleases us (in the past more than these days) with her classical, modern classical, modern piano soundscapes {please knock me to the floor when I write something stupid}. "I should get ready and book my trip", was kinda the statement she made. Obviously, I responded with something like: "Don't know." Then a few days later, after a bit of chitchatting about this event, knowing I could have front-row seats at a live concert by her, vaguely remembering someone telling me in the distant past Krakow is perhaps the most beautiful city in Poland, I booked flights and accommodation.
After 7 years with all of you here at HIVE, I finally stepped out of the digital space to meet community peeps in real life! {those who know me, I can be a bit slow, but this pace is even super slow for me 😂} Fun fact: Two times the official HIVEfest was held in the city where I live, a multiday event around the corner, and I didn't go! 😱 And then I travelled all the way to the eastern part of the European continent 😆 Had to explain this behaviour a few times last weekend, to be honest. My short answer was and still is: "I don't particularly like official conferences with tons of presentations and all the stuff around such events." Done those types of events a tat too often in my office/business life. Furthermore to my defence, the first official HIVEfest was back in 2016, before I joined the community. But it was exactly that event I was introduced to HIVE by someone who was attending and met during the Amsterdam Dance Event that ran in parallel (well...it was named differently back then). An account I got myself only months later. The second time was last year, but I was away, visiting my father for a few weeks, an hour's flight down south of this Venice-of-the-North town named Amsterdam.
IT WAS AMAZING! {oopsy, I repeat myself, but but but ... it's true 😉}
Wasn't sure if I should write this post. So many of the attendees already did so and perhaps another post is just a tat too much for our blockchain to store, and for you to spend time reading and digesting.
Therefore I shall do it differently.
Let's start with making a collection edje style, most (am sure I missed some) of the posts in (a kinda) chronological order from a whole bunch of users:
the event.
Advancing in my attempt to do things differently, to make it (perhaps) worthwhile for you to explore and read further, I add a challenge-not-challenge aka CNC I started 3 years ago. The name of that CNC fits perfectly my HiveBeeCon experience.
While the CNC is about spreading vibes through music, stories, reactions and engagement, I can safely say this HIVE meetup did much to Spreading Vibes as well. Be ready for music, 70s electronic ambient, 80s krautrock and 20s techno.
But First Things First
After a long trip on the underground train, all the way from Amsterdam...
I finally meet up with a whole bunch of peeps from our community...
Oops, sorry that wasn't us. Here we are...
Owww nooo... not us, again!
Although it would've been super fun when we would've dressed like this, don't you think?
"But edje, get your act together! Show us the group!" Honestly, I spoke out loud to myself. I had to! Otherwise, I would've gone on forever with these silly pictures.
Here we are! At our meeting place more than 100 meters below ground level, but still somewhat above sea level, right in the middle of the Salt Mines of Wieliczka.
Those who are able to spot themselves, or someone else for that matter, let yourself be heard down below. Am gonna spread KUDOS as a minimum 🙃
After the Salt Mines, it was time for the official place where we spent the afternoon and evening. A place called "Endless Kingdom". In Polish "Królestwo Bez Kresu". A beautiful place where peeps help each other, where creativity flows, where game rules are made as we go, where homebrew drinks are served, and where peeps are super! All this happens under the ceiling of...newspapers.
Do you spot any reflections of the 40-odd HIVE peeps and associates? Even more KUDOS for those who detect some of us 😉
Maybe you would like to see a real group photo? Rest assured. One was made in the Salt Mines and another few of them in the Kingdom. Just flip through the posts 1 through 19 under 'attending' above. In that list, also plenty of posts with more closeup pics of HIVEans. Even I can be detected here and there. Not that you should look for my face, but just saying 🤡 I won't repeat there pics since I don't like repetition {hmmm, why do I like Techno so much? owww perhaps I do like repetition 😂}
You can guess what I am trying to say with this 'title'? Something to do with short 😆 Hang in there, I'll be brief...
What did I like the most about the whole day and evening?
No Presentations. No real schedule, other than the Salt Mines. A total laidback approach to a meetup! And, obviously, the peeps themselves, the fun, the spirit and the talks. The talks! Well, totally fitted me: some super serious talks with like-minded and different thinkers, from HIVE blah blah blah to all sorts of other topics and in between lots of joking around and having fun...
...and last but definitely not least, the private concert by MiPiano. To my shock, I was even mentioned by her before she started playing this modern classical piece. After the first few seconds, I thought it was Nils Frahm, but quickly I connected the dots: Obviously, a composition by this Audi, Eine Audi, a favourite of the pianist, and a composer I became quite fond of as well. Not sure, but I think all of us were sucked into the emotional ride with MiPiano's interpretations of Chopin, Mozart, Audi, Tiersen and a few other composers. A perfect part of our get-together.
I know you may not like this too much:
@gtg: without you, I wouldn't have had this experience. I know, I know Gandalf, you like to see this as a joint effort, a decentralised setup, but honestly, someone needs to come up with the idea and get others enthusiastic. Which you did. Thank you enormous mucho much for that 🙇 Please do this again any time 🙃
And to our host at 'Królestwo Bez Kresu' aka Endless Kingdom aka Kingdom:
@hallmann: for having us. The one who founded and runs the Kingdom. Am sure others are helping out with all the tasks, but this guy is amazing. Trying to get the whole of Poland onboarded on HIVE. Found creative ways for the Kingdom to live the crypto life, end2end. Giving language courses to foreigners (voluntary). Keeping up with us 'annoying' bunch from all over Europe. Not screaming and shouting when we left all the mess we've made for him to clean up. "Am so sorry we didn't help you out. We are soooo Bad!" I guess we have to redo this meetup soon so we can become better persons 😉 ...
...thank you as well for getting this one moving during our last visit to the Kingdom last Monday...
pffffff already 1000+ words and still, I haven't introduced you to some (interesting?) music.
Intermezzo: Did you read post 17 under 'attending', by Mr Piano, the husband of MiPiano? Apparently, I gained another set of parents! Adopted and all! I thought this would've stayed between us three, but now it's forever ever engrained in the blockchain. I had SUCH A LAUGH - and appreciation for that matter - when they told me while roaming the streets of Krakow. And obviously, another BIG laugh when reading it in the post.
Tik Tak, Tik Tak, Tik Tak...
While MiPiano did a great job in selecting a few pieces - she played in the Kingdom -composed by Polish peeps, I wrecked my few brain cells but wasn't able to come up with any Polish artist whose music you may like and/or good enough to share. Not that Polish music isn't any good, just that I hardly know any musicians from Poland. My bad.
Needless to say, I don't know your music preferences, but here lies the opportunity. At the bottom, you can read about how to play 'Spread the Vibes' and share your music taste with all of us.
An album I listened to for the first time in Krakow (the night after our meetup) is the one I hope you like. For me, this album became immediately a special one. Composed by a German guy who - unfortunately - passed away last year. A guy who is by some recognised as 'The Father of Techno'. By others, he is regarded as a leader of Ambient in its early days. Klaus Schulze is his name. I learned about this guy when I got interested in electronic music back in the 80s. Tangerine Dream it was. A band of which I own a few CDs, and copied plenty of their albums to tape back in the day. In the early days of Tangerine Dream, it was Klaus who played the drums.
Not sure what I can tell you about this last album from his hands, created when he was already on his sickbed. But I do know, I truly like it.
I shall advise you not to just skip to the next track if you feel you don't like what you hear. Only three tracks on this album, sub-divided into chapters, or paragraphs. Each has its own sound, so to speak. All these chapters together form this 'story'. Through quality headphones I got the best experience, I found out last few days. The HIFI system: Not so good, not my HIVE set at least. Laptop speakers: Even less impactful.
I did like the 2nd track "Seth" very much! 25-odd minutes. Synths. Violins. Dreamy. Melancholic. Deep. Experimental at times, like the first chapter.
The 3rd and last track "Der Hauch des Lebens", I find beautiful. Quite emotional! Mostly a composition with this deep organ-like sound that somehow reminded me of Krakow again. Not only because of the fact I first listened to this album in Krakow but also our quick visit to a church where we heard the organist playing.
Thinking of it. I do know a Polish musician, an electronic producer who lives in Malta. A guy I met briefly when enjoying this weeklong arts and music festival "FUSION" last June. Not sure what to call his music, but it's in the category of 'Techno'. Perhaps 'Melodic Techno'? Robert Babicz is his name. Interested in what he does? Click 'me'. Unfortunately, I didn't hear this one live, on the dance floor. Or better said, hangout floor: Since most of us were dead tired by the time he started playing. 8AM or something it was. Also, I was so tired my friends sent me to my bed, more or less; Protecting me from becoming a zombie.
Ok ok ok ... here it is. Klaus Schulze released an album back in the 80s, recorded in Poland. During one or more live shows he held. A typical Krautrock album. Not entirely my thing, but quite popular amongst the early electronic artists of which plenty of them had a rock background. The album: "Dziekuje Poland". Wondering what you think of it. Do you like it? Or is it Bin material? Or something in between perhaps?
As I promised before, you have a chance to get us familiar with your music tastes. Just play 'Spread the Vibes - Challenge Not Challenge'. The challenge without rules. But to not leave you in the blind, to give you something to go with, this Vibe Spreading thingy has some guidelines. Create a post. Reflect something to the music shared in this post. This can be anything, from your opinion, your thoughts, to your stories provoked by the music, to the post itself, anything really. Add the music you like to share, preferably with a story of some kind. Hit the send button. I used to invite peeps to try to get them to play and add new shackles to the chain of posts, but that is just a guideline. Honestly, I deviated quite a bit from these guidelines myself 😂 But I always stick to the stories, since that is the core part of this initiative.
the first ever Spread the Vibes post with all the shizzle I thought of back then here. That one also explains the '... Not Challenge' part, if you want to learn about that 🙃 owww and in that post I bring forward a Dutch pianist. Not very known, but someone that I got quite fond of since the moment I discovered her.
Am much looking forward to your contributions! 🙇
...and needless to say: I do hope we'll meet not only on HIVE but also in real life again, sometime.
