Author: Brian Loffler

Don’t miss the special live jazz we have for you

Posted on by Brian Loffler

South Coast Jazz Festival – Goolwa

These are huge months for jazz around Adelaide and SA. The South Coast Jazz Festival at Goolwa – which was packed out last year – promises to be even bigger next weekend (14th-16th Oct 2022) as we welcome interstate bands to the Festival for the first time since borders reopened. There will be plenty to choose from, spread across four stages in beautiful Goolwa.

Pippa Wilson

One not to be missed is Melbourne’s Lady of Jazz, vocalist Pippa Wilson. Her velvety voice is a treasure. She’ll be featured at the Festival at 6pm Friday, 1pm & 7pm Saturday and 4pm Sunday.

Melbourne’s Pippa Wilson

If you can’t make it to the Festival, Pippa and her Jazz Notes band will be the feature band at the remarkable Southern Jazz Club on Tuesday 11th Oct.

I say “remarkable” Southern Jazz Club because this club meets every Tuesday at the HWY (corner Anzac Hwy & Marion Rd), and continues to thrive with a big enthusiastic crowd each week. Jazz is best enjoyed live, and the Southern Jazz Club does it so well.

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Fossils live – concert to aid Bridgewater Arts Centre

Posted on by Brian Loffler

POST-CONCERT UPDATE: Thank you so much to the enthusiastic audience and volunteer supporters who joined us for the concert on July 2nd; it was marvellous to see so many appreciative, smiling faces in the auditorium. Thanks to you all we raised over $2,000 for the Bridgewater Arts Centre; a big boost for the Centre’s program.

Since Fossils formed in 2014, our concerts have now raised $39,000 for welfare, health equity and arts programs. And we’ve had so much fun doing it!

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, Fossils has now moved Saturday’s concert to a larger venue. It will be at the Aldgate Village Well, 54 Strathalbyn Rd, Aldgate SA 5154.
Tickets are still available, so bring your friends:
– TryBooking: trybooking.com/BYVNH 
– Moshtix: https://umbrellafestival.com.au/events/multi-aria-award-winner-peter-combe-oam-and-fossils/

It’s been a very tough time for musicians, arts-workers and performance venues during the pandemic, so we’re delighted to help with this fundraiser for the Bridgewater Arts Centre on Saturday evening, July 2nd 2022.

Local venues like the Bridgewater Arts Centre are hugely important for the development of new talent; the next generation of artists and musicians. These Centres have ongoing costs, no matter whether they’re open for business or closed for COVID, so fundraising is vital for their survival.

Buy your concert tickets now at trybooking.com/BYVNH and get ready for a wonderful evening of stirring harmony singing and exquisite acoustic guitars, as we bring you the best of music from Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkel and The Beatles.

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From Ecocide to Eden: learning from luminaries

Posted on by Brian Loffler

With WOMADelaide 2022 coming up fast, it made me reflect on previous festivals.

Might it be that – in simplistic terms – there are two types of people: those who use their talents to enrich themselves, and those who use their special skills to enrich the lives of others?  My experience in media leads me to think so.

I’ve been very fortunate to interview some special people over recent years, people who have dedicated their lives to ensuring they contribute to safeguarding our planet and improving social equity, and have been guests at WOMADelaide as part of the superb Planet Talks series. Here are some of the best.

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A remarkable vision of our future on the planet

Posted on by Brian Loffler

It’s finally happened. I’m reading a book that is living up to – and exceeding – the breathless accolades of commendation on the covers. It’s a particular joy for me. In the past, with quite a few books, I read a few chapters, become a little bored, and skip to the final chapter.

An appropriate and accurate accolade from Publishers Weekly

But not this one. I’m devouring every one of the 106 chapters over 563 pages.

It feels to me that the author has had so many ideas pent up that they decided to incorporate them all into one magnum opus. It’s fascinating.

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Episode 9 – Battery storage – adding a second Tesla PowerWall

Posted on by Brian Loffler

2021 – Battery options modelling

In September 2020 we installed our first battery at Sturt Apartments, Christie Walk. You can read the story of our modelling, battery choices and lessons learned in Episode 7 – Battery storage – Tesla PowerWall 2

Everything had gone to plan with the installation of the battery; performance was as expected. The savings generated by our PV upgrade and the battery were flowing into our Green Fund, enabling us to begin planning for the installation of our second battery.

Our modelling indicated that our 21kW PVs were generating enough power to usefully support up to about 55kWh of battery storage, corresponding to 4 x Tesla PowerWall 2 batteries. In cost-benefit terms, a sweet-spot would be with 2 batteries. In the depths of winter in July – on many days – we’d still generate enough spare power to fully charge the batteries for use after sundown.

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Is this the greatest piano solo?

Posted on by Brian Loffler

In 1985 Gordon Sumner aka Sting took several huge risks. With The Police he’d ridden an enormous wave of success, with memorable hits such as Roxanne, Message In A Bottle and Every Breath You Take. Then in 1984 – at the top of their game, The Police broke up, and Sting set about converting his fame to a solo career.

That was risk enough, but he combined that with filming the experience of forming a new band and rehearsals for their premiere concert in Paris. As Sting says in the resulting movie Bring On The Night, most movies about pop bands are made towards the end of their careers when they’ve had years honing their craft as a combo. Filming a nascent band in the early stages of becoming comfortable with each other was truly a leap of faith.

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Lindy Hop, Charleston and Shag Dance

Posted on by Brian Loffler

If you don’t know the difference between Lindy Hop, Charleston and Shag Dance, well neither do I TBH. But I’m gradually learning a little since one of the jazz bands I play with – Chicos Swing Combo – has been doing gigs for 8-Count.

Their next swing dance event is on Saturday night (April 17th, 2021). Details here.

It’s a blast to play for these shows; I’ve never seen such enthusiasm to get on the dance floor. So much so that between the band’s two sets, they turn on a dance DJ so the Eight Count crowd can just keep on dancing and having a ball. Though the typical age group seems to be 20 to 40s, there are people of all ages and abilities. There’s usually a dance teaching segment or two as well, sometimes aimed at beginners and sometimes for advanced swing steps.

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Episode 8 – We need to talk about shower heads

Posted on by Brian Loffler

How sustainable is your daily shower?

Most shower heads at Christie Walk are WELS 3 standard, running at about 9L/minute. They were the best that were readily available when construction of our eco-village was completed in 2006. Older shower heads could be up to 22L/minute.

But the latest Ultra Low Flow shower heads run at 5L/min, and still give a satisfying shower.

So what is at stake here?

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Episode 7 – Battery storage – Tesla Powerwall 2

Posted on by Brian Loffler

2020 – Battery options modelling

In the middle of all that work on evacuated tubes, we learned that change was imminent in the SA Government Home Battery Scheme. To qualify for the maximum $6k subsidy, applications had to be lodged by 15th April.

Our modelling indicated that our 21kW PVs were generating enough power to usefully support up to about 55kWh of battery storage, corresponding to 4 x Tesla PowerWall 2 batteries. In cost-benefit terms, a sweet-spot would be with 2 batteries. In the depths of winter in July we’d still generate enough net power to fully charge the batteries for use overnight.

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