Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 3, 2021 5:06:33 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] Grooming thoroughly was an extensive process, and would have put Left Ear in positions that she would not perform in front of other people. Her goal was to warm up, dry off and get the worst of the sand out. As much as the sonic shower hurt her ears, it was going to be her best friend for getting the rest off. Said ears tilted Max's direction as the man began to strum and sing, and Left Ear enjoyed the soothing song as she washed. When she'd done as much as she felt she could, the Sivaoan sidled up to Max and tilted her head. She paused to glance at Michael and Anna as they worked on the castle, but was taken with the music, and felt she'd contributed as much as she was able to the castle-building. She was afraid that her inexperience with the finer points would make her more of a hindrance. When Max finished the song, Left Ear clapped politely. She sat on her haunches, curling her still slightly fluffy tail around her toes. The rest of her fur was back to more or less flat, but there were dingy spots where she knew she hadn't gotten all the sand out. That was a pretty song, she said. Did you write it?
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 3, 2021 5:28:54 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]"I didn't, I'm not that talented," Max answered. "This song was written by two old Earth musicians, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, about 400 years ago. Their band, the Beatles, was very popular.""This one was mostly written by McCartney. You can tell because it's more melodic. Lennon's songs had more of a rock-n-roll sound. Let's do, maybe, Revolution," Judy added, taking her bass out of the other case. "Let's," Max agreed, and the couple performed. Anna and Michael were a little distracted from the construction, listening in on the impromptu concert. Anna, in fact, cleaned her hands of sand to take a photo of the pair.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 4, 2021 0:53:19 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] Left Ear listened with fascination as Judy and Max began a very different style of song. When they began the second verse, she tentatively joined in with quiet rhythmic claps, slaps on her legs and thumps of her tail in the sand, glancing between the pair to make sure that it was okay with them for her to participate. Her own people had a lot of rules about singing along with bards, but she didn't think humans felt the same. She didn't feel that her voice was suited to the particular style, or maybe the particular song, but loved the rhythm. She wished she'd brought a drum or something. Left Ear wasn't a bard herself, but most Sivaoans kept simple instruments around. I liked that a lot, she said when the song was over.
Tag Judith Eastman
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 4, 2021 5:19:49 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]The two amateur musicians both flashed smiles. "The Beatles, the musicians that wrote and first performed these songs, were a yuge phenomenon on Earth in their time. They're widely considered to be some of the best songwriters and musicians that Earth has ever produced," Judy explained, in more detail than she had earlier. "We've both always taken a lot of interest in the music of their time, and their hometown isn't too far from where Max was born.""No, no. They were English, I'm Scottish. Big difference," Max countered, more playfully than anything. "You know I like teasing you."Max leaned in to steal a quick kiss, careful to navigate around both their instruments and Judy's nose. Anna was torn between amusement and embarrassment, as she put her camera away and resumed helping Michael with the sand castle.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 5, 2021 2:46:37 GMT
[Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia]
Left Ear's tail flipped back and forth in the sand as she watched the couple. She was interested in the ways humans showed affection for one another.
Then she said, I'd like to sing you a song from Sivao. It's, oh, over a thousand years old, about Cloudshape to-Ennien, written by one of our greatest bards, Sunfall to-Ennien. I will sing it first in Sivaoan and then in English. It was translated by StarFreedom to-Enterprise, whom you might know as Nyota Uhura.
Left Ear closed her eyes and hummed a short, jaunty intro, then began singing. If you hadn't heard her speak in her own language before (she spoke Federation Standard most of the time around others for the practice), it could be a little startling. But her high, sweet voice was beautiful in the lyrical snarls, hisses and yowls. After a few verses, she switched to English and sang of a trickster who had 'cloaked herself in mist and climbed a tree...to where the storm clouds had been at play with their lightnings. Fooled by the mist, the storm clouds invited Cloudshape to join their game. They tossed a lightning to her-and Cloudshape caught it with her tail and scurried down as fast as she could climb, leaving the storm clouds to boom their anger.'[fn]quoted from Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan[/fn]
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 5, 2021 5:47:44 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]The Sivaoan singing was without a doubt very different from anything the humans had heard before, but not unpleasant. Some of the sounds (the snarls, especially) were a little aggressive to the human ear, but that was just what happened when the UT wasn't on hand[fn]MemA indicates that the UT is part of the combadge. No combadge, no UT[/fn]. The older members of the group (including Anna) were too experienced to judge, and Michael was far too intrigued to judge. The lyrics in English lent themselves more readily to being understood. This made the group, individually and collectively, quite curious. "What's it about?" Michael asked.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 5, 2021 15:10:17 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] Left Ear arched her whiskers in Michael's direction and considered his question. Earth, like most worlds, has its trickster gods, right? Well, Cloudshape is our trickster. She shows up in stories and songs throughout our history, including some creation mythologies. A story that starts 'This is how it happened when Cloudshape came to camp' is going to be full of adventure and mischievousness.
In that song, Cloudshape wanted a lightning of her own, so she tricked the storm clouds into giving her one. Her name is Cloudshape because she could use mist or smoke to hide herself. I don't know if any of the stories are true; that one is obviously not, but most stories contain a grain of truth.
Will you tell me a story from your world's past? Left Ear tilted her head as she looked at the young boy.
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 5, 2021 20:54:53 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]"Most of Earth's people subscribed to religions with just the one god, but some of the others had trickster gods," Judy confirmed. Max's Christian roots, and her Jewish roots, both fit into the monotheistic bucket. Asked to offer up a story of his own, Michael thought for a moment. In a habit very reminiscent of his grandmother (and several other relatives), he fidgeted with his glasses as he thought. "There's the story of Hanukkah, one of our holidays. The Greeks invaded the land of Israel, and they forbade the Jews from keeping their culture and their religion. So the Maccabees, a group of really brave Jews, rose up, fought the Greeks and kicked them out, so everyone could be free again," Michael recounted one of the stories of his people's ancient heritage, as he had learned it and to the best of his recollection. "When the Maccabees reached the temple, which the Greeks had burned down, they only had a little bit of oil to light the lamp in the temple, but by a miracle, the oil lasted 8 days. That's why on Hanukkah, to celebrate, we deep-fry foods in oil for 8 days."Michael was reasonable well-versed in Jewish history, but he was far more fluent in Jewish cuisine, like latkes.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 7, 2021 15:47:57 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] Oh, that is a very interesting story, Left Ear said when Michael finished. We like to celebrate with food, too, she added with amusement. That seems to be a trait of many species.The Sivaoan glanced back to Judy and asked curiously, Do you know any songs about the Mac-ca-beez or other heroes from your culture's history? I'm not really a bard, but I would be happy to trade songs with you.
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 7, 2021 23:52:26 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]Food certainly was universal. Musical traditions... less so. "That's going to be hard. The traditional songs are pretty lousy," Anna pointed out, half rebellious teen and half music critic. "We'll just have to take this one as a homework assignment, and go look for compelling ones about Jewish history," Judy accepted her daughter's snark. Max nodded. "Many of Earth's great songs are about emotional themes, like love, or sorrow, or loss, as opposed to storytelling," he added. It was probably just a difference in the purpose of songs in modern human society, as opposed to in the Sivaoan tradition.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 9, 2021 21:19:43 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] We do have songs like that, too, Left Ear said with a nod. But my favorites have always been those that tell stories. I look forward to hearing what you come up with! I'll definitely remember to ask. Her tail coiled at her small joke about Sivaoan memories. The wind shifted and picked up briefly, bringing a strong gust of air at Left Ear's back. Her ears twisted behind her and her nose lifted as she caught a slight sound and a familiar scent. Shh, she said quietly and very slowly turned just the upper half of her body. Behind her, at the other end of the beach, was a sheer rock face, the closest point of the mountain range the crew had investigated not long ago. At the top, Left Ear saw a small flash of orange. One of those flying creatures is at the top of the cliff there, she whispered. I think it might be the leader.
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 11, 2021 2:23:48 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]Judy and Max were just putting their instruments away when Left Ear shushed them. "Those were benign, right?" Judy whispered back, immediately motioning for the youngsters to come closer to her. A logical mind would conclude that Anna, just about fully grown physically, was the more physically formidable of the women, but instinct was what it was. "Are they carnivores?" Michael asked Left Ear, instinctively picking up on his grandparents' shared concern, but louder than a whisper. "Shh, we don't want to scare it away," Max whispered to the child.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 11, 2021 2:48:27 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] Yes, they're benign, Left Ear answered quietly, and went on, They're omnivores, I think. And quite intelligent. If this is the leader, he found the group I was with and led us to one of his flock or herd, whatever you want to call it, that was trapped and dying. We were able to save her and return her to the forest.As she spoke, Left Ear slowly turned her body so she wasn't twisted back on herself, her eyes trained on where she'd seen the movement. At first it was completely still, but after a moment, there was another flash of orange further along the bluff, closer to them. Suddenly, speckled blue wings erupted into view and the creature lifted itself with a single beat of its wings to perch on the edge of the cliff. It peered down at them and made a few chirps and whistles, the sound carrying down the beach to them on the wind. Tag Judith Eastman
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jan 11, 2021 4:25:49 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams), Max Williams, Anna Eastman Williams, & Michael Eastman - LZ-2, Kerelia]Judy quickly relaxed, her mama-bear instincts winding down, much to Anna's amusement. This creature, while impressive, was not scary at all. "It's beautiful," the teenager said. "And you, Mom, are ridiculous.""You had to get it from somewhere," Max teased both women at once. Judy shook her head at both of them, turning her attention to the creature overhead. These beings seemed very intelligent, not unlike Terran dolphins. "Come, come to us," she invited it, like she was beckoning over a scared child. "We're nice."
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Jan 12, 2021 4:24:05 GMT
[ Left Ear to-Ennien - LZ-2 - Kerelia] When Judy called to him, the creature tilted his head sideways. He flapped the frills that edged his jaw and trilled, then opened his wings again and rose from the edge of the cliff. He glided down to the beach, landing lightly on clawed back feet in the sand about 5 yards from the beachgoers. He lowered himself to his front feet and settled his wings on his back, making a questioning 'mrt' sound as he gave each of them a long look. Left Ear stayed very still as she stared at the beautiful creature, the shivering tip of her tail the only indication of her excitement. Hello, she called quietly. I'm happy to see you again.
He must have picked up our scent or something. Or maybe this is part of his range. Oh, SilverTail will be so jealous. He's wanted to study them more.
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