Peace Corps Connect | NGOs and Organizations join now to network professionally

I am volunteering a little (marginally) with the National Peace Corps Association to try and help them with their new networking website called Peace Corps Connect. I talked to the Peace Corps manager of the Peace Corps Connect website and she encourages NGOs to join the network.

Please join and create a group for your NGO so you can start networking today with Returned and Current Peace Corps Volunteers. Here are the reasons that I think NGOs should be interested in joining this network:

1. Easy access to potential donors for future projects (known and unknown, unlike facebook)
2. Easy access to potential volunteers for projects and knowledgeable people about your area of interest
3. Database of past PCV projects and contact info for partnerships (unveiled next week)

Website:

community.peacecorpsconnect.org/

I realize this takes work and it may not be benefical to your organizations in your eyes in terms of time commitment. Here are some of the things you can easily setup for your NGOs or organizations:

• Integrated RSS of your blog/s on the site (linking back to your own site) that updates automatically
• Integration of Flickr accounts into the Peace Corps Connect network
• Uploading and maintain photo galleries from your site accounts
• Creation of Groups for your cause

This a great way to specifically target potential donors and volunteers for your specific causes. Unlike Facebook, which basically limits interaction between friends and area networks, the Peace Corps Connect allows people interested in particular issues to join groups specifically designed for those subjects.

While Facebook is also a viable venue, I feel this is more professional and specific for the Peace Corps. Right now we are concentrating on building a larger online presence. We hope to provide a database of current and past projects so that current volunteers can know what options are available to them as they serve and how returned volunteers can continue to contribute to causes that interest them when they return to the United States.

If you have any questions, please let me know and I hope some of you find the site useful.

Rakia, Bulgarian Wine and Bulgarian Snacks in America!

SofiaUSA.com

I think I've died and gone to heaven.  After my trip to Chicago, I started looking to for a company that ships Rakia or Wine to Kentucky (where I'm living now). Sofia Liquor USA is a store in the greater Chicago metropolitan region that sells Bulgarian wines, liquors and snacks. And it ships too!

I've actually never bought Rakia or Bulgarian Schnapps or Brandy. Since I live in a small town with many friends, I always was treated to Rakia from my friends from their own personally distilled spirits. Called Domashna (homemade) Rakia, it packs a much stronger punch than its much more refined cousins sold in stores. Running around 50-55 percent alcohol, Domashna Rakia is much more akin to moonshine or a very strong whisky. The store bought Rakia is roughly 40 percent alcohol. Anyway, Sofia Liqour sells and ships Rakia from its Des Plaines  address. Also, the importers of most Bulgarian spirits are from Des Plaines as well (probably not a coincidence). But if I was forced to pick a Rakia for a guest, I would probably pick Burgas 63 (shown below). Rakia is strong but it has its own grape or plum flavor that lingers after the punch of the strong spirit. Known as Slivovitza in Serbia and throughout most of the Balkans, this spirit is a great cultural treasure of the Balkans--enriched by the traditions of each family making their own spirits for the year to share with friends.

Burgas 63

For anyone wanting the extra something in their lentil soup, they used to sell Savory or chubritsa but its currently out of stock:

Chubritsa -Savory

Most people don't realize this but vafla or wafers covered in chocolate have allowed roughly half of the children in Bulgaria to survive without hunger during schools days and about twenty five percent of all workers in Bulgaria forgo lunch in lieu of the chocolate sugar rush. For anyone wanting to understand the finer points of Vafla, I urge you to look at the documentation other volunteers have made on the subject in a now defunct blog: B22 AllStars: Vafla tag

Regardless, imagine my surprise to see that Sofia Liquor selling the coveted valfa and croissants on their website. From now on when I get my chocolate cravings or I want to have a Bulgarian Party, I'll be be sure to try these guys out. Has anyone used them? Any feedback or comments? Enjoy!

Vafla and other Bulgarian Snacks

The Balkan Hour | January 26th, 2008 | First Official Show

Today was the first official show for The Balkan Hour on 88.1 WRFL Lexington. This semester the Balkan Hour will be from 2-4pm on Mondays at 88.1 WRFL. For those of you interested, you can stream WRFL live through the website or you can download the archives of the show. 

My DJ login is called Balkanhour on the server, so you can browse my playlists from previous shows as well.

Today, I divided the music into genres or sets so people could see the differences between the musicians and style throughout the Balkan Music scene. I actually didn't get a chance to play everything I wanted, so keep in mind that this isn't definitative. 

.Mp3 Links: The Balkan Hour 2pm -3pm  ||| The Balkan Hour 3pm -4pm

I'm looking for a good .mp3 player to play these large .mp3s on the Blogger setup but I haven't had any luck as of yet. Does anyone have a suggestion for a service that would work. I have my own webhosting as well. Suggestions are welcome.

I'm also trying to figure how to put the playlist of the show up. The WRFL playlist doesn't allow you to edit it for mistakes or add musicians so it is never a complete and accurate list. However, it seems redundant to retype it on the blog as well. If there is a track you would like identified, please let me via email or commenting.

Great Balkan Music Blog with Downloads

I happened upon a great blog with music dowloads for Balkan Music. They've got a a lot of Balkan influences like Gogol Bordello (Entire CD collection) but also some Balkan classics like Kocani Orkestar and Goran Bregovic. It looks like the blogger is Turkish but I'm really sure. Enjoy the music.

Definitely Check This site out!

Balkan Music - Free Downloads!

Balkan Music - Free Downloads!

Where's the music at? Why one view can't encompass a whole region; but can try

Recently, I've received some well founded criticisms of my approach to what I define as Balkan and Bulgarian music. Here is what one reader had to say:

I strongly disagree with any presentation of Bulgaria that concentrates on chalga. Although, this is the most popular "music" right now, it is the last thing I would like people to associate my country with.

We do have a lot of world renowned musicians and singers; this is an offense to them, at the very least. You can check out The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, Theodosii Spasov, Raina Kabaivanska...and so many more...

The Argument:

To some degree, music defines a culture. So the possibillty of my characterizations culturally offensive

---The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices; Where are they?

I always appreciate comments and suggestions; I have to agree that I have not addressed the topic of Bulgarian Folk music as much as I would have liked. And it has been rightly pointed out, I plan to talk about musicians such as The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices. I haven't wrote about them mostly because my interests have been elsewhere and there already exists a large body of work on the internet about their singing.

Chalga or Pop Folk; Is it Bulgarian or Balkan Culture? Yeck, I know . . .

I feel that Chalga (info) is a part of Bulgaria's culture just as much as American Hip-hop is to America's culture. It may not be the most positive representation in some person's eyes but it is an aspect of Bulgaria's cultural sphere. One of the reasons I write about it is that not many people in America know about Chalga nor do they understand the interesting mixes and borrowing of culture.

Why don't you talk about this artist? (Insert your preference)

Odds are, I've never heard of the artist or group. Or, I've heard of them but have been too lazy to talk about them. Regardless, if you feel that there is a form of music that is missing a voice, be sure to email me through my profile with your contributions and suggestions. Also, please remember that I'm an amateur that sees this more as a hobby than a definer of culture, music or nationality.

++++----++++

That said, enjoy the blog and definitely remember that this is just one viewpoint out of many so be sure to look into other sources as well.

WRFL Trail Radio Downloads

I've posted some trial shows on the side column from WRFL 88.1 Lexington, KY. I am learning to DJ at the student radio station and anyone that may be interested may download the radio prodcasts. Its rough and I don't consider it professional but its a start. Enjoy.

===== TO LEFT ===== TO LEFT ======>>>>>>>>>>>

Bulgarian Horo | Is there a common Ottoman imprint in the Balkans?

This is a Dunavski Horo which is a Bulgarian Horo based out of the Northern region in Bulgaria bordering the Danube River. Horo is a Bulgarian Folk dance usually done in a circle while hold hands. The types of Horo vary in style by region, hence the naming of this horo as the Dunavski Horo (Danube Horo).


I've decided to highlight some the difference folk dances throughout the Balkans on the blog. It is somewhat controversial (at least in the Balkans) but I keep seeing visually and through audio a common linkage which I feel may come from the occupation of the Ottoman Empire. I'm curious what other people think.

I must explain to Western readers that these different forms of folk dance are usually interpreted as culturally separate, independently developed folk cultures. To tell a Bulgarian that Horo is similar to modern day folk dancing in Turkey (or another Balkan country) is an affront to their nation and culture and most would be, at a minimum, upset if not aggressive. The same goes for Greek folk dancing, Macedonian, Kosovoian, Albanian, etc. Each country has its unique cultural identity that defines it as separate from the great Balkan whole. These societies cling to folk dance and music a way to prove the right for their countries to exist. The logic follows: If the people speak different languages and have different folk dance and music traditions then they music be culturally different enough to be determined as a separate country. This holds true in Bulgaria, where its unlikely a single Bulgarian would openly admit any Ottoman influences on their Folk dance and music traditions.

Kosovo and Montenegro are good examples of the cultural concept. They both have created new languages base off of dialects of Serbian while also asserting their own cultural brand of folk dancing. However, they are newly created countries with little history as a Political Nation while obviously having centuries of history as a territorial region. Fifty years ago, it was Bulgaria with Philip Kotev making is cultural stamp of uniqiness with the revival of Bulgarian Folk Dance and Music.

I'm showing these forms of folk music dances together in this series because I find it fascinating from an outside perspective in how they seem to have a common undercurrent. However, please be aware that it may seem somewhat culturally insensitive to do so in such a manner.

Good Bye Ads!

The Google Adsense experiment has come to an end.

After roughly 4 months of advertising with Google Ads, I've decided to remove the advertising on the website. The total earnings, $5.79, over this time period frankly don't justify the use of space. I used the Google Adsense as an experiment to see what sort of revenues a small niche blog could earn through regular blogging.

With a readership of roughly 30-50 viewers a day, there is a niche readership but certainly not a website with thousands of random viewers with the number of clicks on advertising rising by sure chance. There aren't really any specific advertisements for the Balkan Music content, so most viewers don't click the advertisements. Ads selected by people (such as me) would be more effective because I would understand this niche better (but I don't plan to add advertisements, too much work)

Also, here are the results of the Amazon Associates Program:

For the entire period of being posted on the website:

5 clicks, $0.00 income

Generally, I think that a website needs more general hits to to really generate revenue based off Adsense revenue. Google Adsense, generally doesn't have specific enough ads for niche websites such as Balkan Music (in English). There isn't a big enough market for Advertiser's to display ads that readers would want to read.

Anyway, it was a fun experiment.

I hope now to utilize graphics to make the Balkan Hour tags more accessible such as a menu bar above or on the side. It will increase the clicks to useful tags such as "Roma" and "Chalga" so people can understand genres better. We shall see.

The Balkan Hour | Radio Show Trial Run | 88.1 WRFL Lexington

Last Monday, I finished my training with WRFL 88.1 Lexington to be a Radio DJ. WRFL is the local student radio of University of Kentucky and has a strong history of supporting alternative programming for central Kentucky. Hopefully, I'll be able to play music from the Balkans with WRFL to create a better awareness for the region and to promote artists from the Balkans. This is me on the WRFL website: The Balkan Hour DJ

Anyway, the trial run was great fun and full of freshman mistakes. I'll get the hang of the sound board and other techical details as I practice. Generally, I'm content with the trial run. I would like to have more historical context with better descriptions of each artist or style, some that the Oberlin podcast/radio show is a great example. But I suppose that will come with time.

Please be aware that the beginning and end of the audio are of other radio shows because the .mp3 is archived per hour and not by user. I'll look into sound editing to clean it up. So, keep listening past the first couple of seconds!

Enjoy!




.mp3 Download of the Balkan Hour - Trial Run from WRFL 88.1 Great For Ipods!

Blog Update: New Blog Feed From Oberlin ETHN 209 for Balkan Music

I've placed the the Oberlin ETHN 209 Blog feed on the right column so you can browse the RSS of the latest 10 postings.

Just scroll down to the middle of the page to check it out.

Dell Laptop of Six Years Passes Away | Limited Posts on The Balkan Hour

It is with a saddened heart today that I must inform you that my feisty laptop of six years passed away quietly in the night. After loosing its batteries and A-drive three years ago and its DVD drive a year ago, the laptop finally succumbed to massive internal failure. The Laptop has graciously donated itself for spare parts in the interest of science here in Bulgaria.

We met at the Vanderbilt School of Engineering in 2002 and I'm happy to say that our relationship was the longest known among friends; there were quarrels and spars but in the end we provided constant companionship throughout the formative college years and then in maturing two years of Peace Corps Bulgaria.

Posts on The Balkan Hour will become slower now and more sporadic until I can have access to the internet on a reliable basis. Until then, read the old posts and don't be afraid send me an email at robert.proudfoot at Gee Mail dot com (although don't expect an immediate response). I'll be traveling the next few weeks too, so this will add to the sporadic posting.

Take Care,

Robert


My Vanderbilt Engineering Dell Laptop
August 2002 - October 2008
RIP

Blog Maintenance | Daily Dose; ADs?!?; The Balkan Hour is Spreading

Just a couple of quick announcements about The Balkan Hour.

1. The Daily Dose | There really are two types of blogging/writing; Current, fast, bytes that are short on context and explanation, and long, wordy pieces that are more precise but not as captivating. I prefer the latter (can you tell by this lead-in?). In an effort to appeal to the more casual observer, I'm going to give a Daily Dose of Balkan Music. It will mostly be video based but occasionally it will be something else. It will be quick and to the point. Video, text saying the name, and something funny or witty. That's it. Enjoy.
2. Google Ads & Amazon Favorites? | I've added advertising to the website not really to make money but more as an experiment. I'm curious if it will make any money and I figure "why not". The Amazon Favorites allows me to promote books, CDs and Films I really enjoy in a legal way that most viewers can easily access.
3. From this Blog, I've created an On-line presence at StumbleUpon, YouTube, Vbox7.com, Technocrati.com and Imeem.com . I've included links to all of these profiles on the sidebar towards the bottom. Feel free to look around. On YouTube and Vbox7.com, I've got original videos from Bulgaria. Imeem is my music player of choice (currently). Muxtape, sigh. StumbleUpon has a lot of music and websites that I haven't blogged about yet.
   

• Imeem.com | Balkan Hour Radio
• YouTube | Uploaded Videos
• StumbleUpon | Balkan Hour Picks
• Technocrati | The Balkan Hour
• Vbox7.com | Uploaded Videos

In Search of Tallava . . .

One of the biggest problems with researching Balkan Music as a constructive whole is the language barrier. Granted, there are some common terms carried over by the Ottoman Empire and the common Slavic root language. However, its difficult to know that names of things in different cultures.

Let's take for instance Tallava. Everything I watch about Roma music in Bulgaria using the word Tallava; but i have no idea what it means. I often times see it linked with Albanian music and Albanian Roma music. But honestly, I have no idea what it means. So, in my limited time left here in Bulgaria (until Oct. 10). With Tallava rolling through my mind, I decided to randomly ask people in the town I live in Bulgaria if they had heard of this word.

Examples:

Tallava Tereza KALLE STUDIO-SHARI



Directly "tagged" as Tallava on YouTube


AMZA-ALIOSHA-I SASHKO BIKOV


Music that I'm familiar with Bulgaria as Roma music (with a touch of folk music). It feels familiar but I'm not sure if it can be classified as the same.


The Tallava Interviews:

I met a Roma musician that has played professionally for over 15-20 years in Bulgaria. He plays the saxophone but like most musicians is capable of playing other instruments as well. Throughout his career, he has balanced the need for Bulgarian Folk music at mehanas where he has worked for 15 years and playing at more improvised Roma Weddings. A Mehana is a large dining restaurant with live music and heavy drinking. Possibly a country dance hall would be similar (except the guest sit down around 6-7pm and eat a full meal and then dance/listen into the night. In Serbia, a mehana is called a kafana. Anyway, I asked him about Tallava music and he said:

It's a type of Roma music with a certain type of drum set and usually has synthesizers. It also called Albanian Roma music sometimes.

Recently, I was visiting a Roma family in my town and I happened to have the good fortune of meeting an Albanian friend of the family who was visiting as well. As is common in Roma families in Bulgaria, and most of Europe, the friend of the family was from Albania but had worked in Greece for six years. Now he was visiting Bulgaria. Almost every Roma family has family members working and finally living abroad. Bulgarians also have a lot of family abroad but I would say that the immigration within Europe for unskilled labor is more common for Roma whereas Bulgarians (because they have more money and English) tend to immigrate to America. He spoke no Bulgarian and very broken english but was able to communicate with the Roma family in Greek. I talked with him in a mixture of Bulgaria (translated to Greek) and English. I asked him what Tallava music was and, obviously, he was a little confused as why an American would ask him about Tallava (and mispronounce it). After I finally switched to simple English and the question was translated into Greek, he finally was able to understand me to respond:

Oh, Roma music? Its Roma music. With the . . . *Makes drumming motions and air drums for a second*. Albanian music.

My Bulgarian friends just looked at me for a while and shrugged.

*Shrug*

Do You Know What Tallava means? If you do, please leave a comment or help direct my research in the right direction. Thanks.

Balkan Music Festival and Band Map

I've been wanting for some time to catalogue the Balkan music festivals in a visual form, so i've created a Google Maps profile to display all of the Festivals in the Balkans. I'm still working on filling in the information, but I think its a good start.

I would like any and all of your help collaboratting with this Map. Its open for anyone to edit, so please feel free to add your own festival. Also, add your favorite musicans too!

With a map like this, it becomes easier to plan trips in the Balkans for music festivals and it also allows people to visually see where the music is coming from.

Blog Stuff:

I've been fiddling with the format of the Balkan Hour lately and I still haven't found something I'm comfortable with. I like the black for some reason but it might be difficult for some people to read with the black background. I would love to hear anyone's input about the design/layout of the blog. Suggestions are welcome.

Blog Maintenance | Music only option

I realize that some people aren't really that interested in reading about my ramblings about Balkan Music and that they are much more interested just listing to the music. So, with this in mind, I've created a link at the top of the Blog that you can click for just music entries, meaning all the posts are short and only have playable music.

Just cut to the MUSIC

Also, please refer to the sections of links I've created in the sidebar. Everything I'm linking to here are the official websites of very famous Balkan bands (bands you should be aware of) or really great resources to continue research about Balkan music. I only post links that are authentic or highly informational. Please note that sometimes the official websites are lacking somewhat but they are great places to start research.

Preferred Listening + Viewing format | Opinions Wanted

I have yet to make a decision on how to display and list music on this website and I would be interested in what the readers might have to say.

Radio | Streaming Content

So far, I've been tentatively using both Imeem.com and Last.fm as a radio outlet. I don't plan to use both--I'm aware that it create havoc with some of the older computers (anyone in a municipality in Bulgaria?) Last.fm has a more stream-lined approach and has the opportunity to "pull" in unknown content related to my tags. As I personally listen to music on Last.fm, it creates a broader but more detailed profile of my "radio" which is what you can listen to online. But its exactly like a radio, you cannot select tracks to play when you want. Right now it is pretty bare bones and occasionally you will get a strange song or but it will evolve as I listen. Example: I searched for "roma" music so now every once and a while I have Italian music until it filters out.

Imeem.com is similar but allows you to play a track whenever you want and I can also upload mp3s into my radio which gives me much greater control of the radio tracks. The difference is that I must find all the music and add it to my playlist either on Imeem.com or by uploading the mp3s.

So, its either more control for the reader and me (but more work for me) or less control but less access to lesser known artists on the radio (that don't have licensing contracts with Last.fm).

Access to Music and Videos

I think if every post has about 6-7 YouTube videos, the blog's performance will suffer. What I'm considering doing is creating a tag called "Music" and will just plainly be youtube videos and mp3 links but with limited explanation. Within this tag (listing of mp3s and videos) there will be subsections like Bulgarian music or Romani Music. This allows the person reading the blog for my content to be able to read without being barraged by continuous postings of mp3s and videos. Some of the longer posts will be lost in the fray. The video and mp3s will then also be easily accessible for those who are there solely for specific audio/video content.

Thoughts | Vote

Is there a program that I've missed? Is there a better way? What do you think? Also vote for which radio player you find a better option. Thanks.

Welcome to the Balkan Hour

Hello,

On October 10th, I will finish my service with the United States Peace Corps. I will depart, fittingly, by by train to Istanbul and then fly home to Richmond, Kentucky after an extended sabbatical from the American Life. As much as I miss my days going to chinese buffets (i'm not going to capitalize something that really isn't Chinese), I have realized that I'm going to miss my time in Bulgaria.

So, to continue my interest in the region and also with roma music, I hope to sporadicaly update a blog that raises awareness about the region. I wouldn't consider my self a DJ or on the music avant-garde. I just think music is a great way for my friends to understand the region better.

I don't want to classify music and frankly I encompass quite a lot when by saying Balkan music. Please feel free to listen to my Last.fm pop-out player on the right side. As time passes I will fill it with a broad base of influences throughout the region.