Leif’s answer to “Hello Mr Wenar, I'm enjoying your book immensely . I'm a writer and musician who has been exploring…” > Likes and Comments

Thanks so much, Leif. It would be a thrill and honour indeed to create an aural piece based on Blood Oil. I'll finish reading it first and get cracking (Already though some passages have got my creative juices pumping) Thanks also for your kind words regarding my music. You may find Winds of Wayruck of interest as that is a rendition of Andrew McMIllan's "An Intruders Guide to East Arnhem Land". Good luck with your lovely new born. I recommended you to be interviewed on the esteemed radio program Late Night Live here in Australia. I believe you would be a perfect guest for that production.
Great animation clip you have on you tube- was that a marketing ploy cooked up by Oxford or someone you knew approached you to do the piece?

Regards

Thanks very much for 'Winds of Wayruck,' Lee. I love the way the layers interpenetrate - and then that calming (and brave) long interval before the last vocals come in. Very powerful.

I hope that you continue to enjoy the book. There's no doubt some parts of it that I had to put in to convince the boffins (like the legal and policy material) that may be less artistically inspiring. But if you find text that you think will work as one of your creations I'll be thrilled.

As it happens I'll be in Sydney for a few days at the end of October / start of November; if there's any chance at all of your being there perhaps we could say hello.
Yes, you're right that the animation was a marketing ploy by Oxford. It's great, but I wish they could have gotten you to do the voice work instead. Cheers, Leif

Yes, Leif, exactly the inter penetration of voices! This was meant to convey the limitless shimmer of the blue seas we have here in the tropics of northern Australia.
The boffins be gently damned ( for they do indeed haven their place in the woof and loom of the world ) but do not fear there is deep poetry in your book. Sometimes it is in the writing itself , sometimes in the circumstances you are describing. Believe me Bob Dylan, Laurie Anderson , Fela, WilliamBurroughs and Pierre Henry could well develop pieces based on your writing. I hope to develop something with the passion and urgency of Fela, the story-telling engagement of Anderson and the shock of Henri n Burroughs. Plus a wallop of my own style for good measure.
Voice work with your text ? Consider it done !
Ps I won't be in Sydney at that time but if you have a stop over or wish to take in a few days in Darwin/Top End I'd be very happy to meet you

"The average American household pay $275 to some of the worlds most repressive and dangerous regime's- and that's just for filling up"
There's a whole short story or song in that line alone .
I'm way past the introduction but I'm already reading back and gathering lines n passages . It's very potent the way you break down the figures to make them convincing and credible , to condense otherwise "too massive and complex" figures and notions to the every day nitty gritty of filling our tanks at a local service station. Did you compute most of these break down figures yourself or are they standard fare in the field you work in?

Thanks, Lee. Those are Nigerian hands on the front of the book (from a protest over a Shell oil spill). This is a small tribute, for all I have learned from my brothers and sisters there. If there's any Fela in the writing, it's because a lot of the writing was done listening to him (and highlife too). If only he were still with us... he could make the world feel today's injustices more than any book. So glad that you feel his power too.

Hi Leif, I'm thunderstruck that Fela was with you as you wrote your text. Is it possible that his rhythyms inflicted your writing and somehow I picked up on that - that there was some hidden percussive element in your writing! It's an exciting thought . And actual,y possible since I read a great deal and there are many books - novels especially - I get ideas for but a book about resource cursed countries and how consumers can influence changes in environmental protection and human rights in these states was the last place I imagined I'd be next focusing my talents.

Hi Lee, Sorry to be AWOL for a bit - it was the end of term at Stanford, and I had to pack everything up for the move back to London (have gotten as far as NYC). Hope that all is well there, and that the spirit of Fela is with you! Cheers, Leif

Hi Leif and welcome to the antipodes! Heard you interviewed on Late Night Live this morning (podcast) What a treat! Philip Adams is a national teeasure. I actually emailed the program urging them to read your book and get you on the program but I doubt they mentoned such a piffling matter. Still going through your book as I've been horribly distracted studying two Cert IV courses. I've put together a few exploratory music tracks that I plan to use for the pieces I want to develop based on your book. Hope all is well with our dire tidy capital and your stay here.

Hi Lee. The visit to Oz was great, thanks. Hope that your studying for the courses has gone well, and that the Certificates will take you where you want to go very soon. Sending you all my best wishes from London. Leif