Tag: Kevin Branstetter

Steady your nerves – 13th December 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Contrasting your perceptions

1. Steady your nerves
– Prepare ourselves for the reality of the situation.
2. Control your emotions
– Domesticate your emotions, don’t pretend they don’t exist.
3. Practice objectivity
– Hold for a moment, let me see what you are and what you represent.
4. Practice contemptuous expressions
– See things for what they are not what you have made them.
5. Alter your perspective
– Limit and expand our perspective to whatever keeps you calmest.
6. Live in the present moment
– Focus on the moment, on what you can control right now.
7. Look for the opportunity
– Does getting upset give you more options?

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I have learnt that sometimes things go wrong on Monday but the same things go right again on Friday. Different class of students, different reactions. I’ve learnt that Monday is a tough day so don’t make judgements on the quality of my work.

Did it lists

  • 2 more lessons planned
  • Peak and Elevate brain training
  • Dealt with sudden change to my day at school where I could no longer teach a lesson I was looking forward to teaching.
  • Successful lesson with class in morning; really made me feel good.
  • Despite being tired I mentally prepared myself for having to be busy in the evening – pretending that I’m having two days in one!
  • Both venues in Kota Kinabalu confirmed already!
  • Kept Kevin up to date with tour plan.
  • Quick email to Hayden – he even replied!
  • Finished Introduction to Stoicism and found links to even more things to learn.
  • Wrote to Lachlan after reading a little of a free ebook called Philosophy of India.
  • Started reading cliff notes to Anna Karenina and realise I missed little bits which makes me think I will need to read it again! But so much to read.

If there was some sense to make I’d try and understand – 26th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

What makes you most excited?

When I first looked at this question I found within myself a general lack of excitement. Not in a bad way. I enjoy many many things that I do or can do but there’s nothing in particular that makes me excited. Everything at the moment is giving me great satisfaction.

The one main thing I have planned is to organise a tour for Kevin from Trumans Water and we’ve been talking about it for a while and yesterday I started contacting the first promoters and the first show kinda fell together so quickly and easily that it has given me confidence in being able to make it work and to do a good job.

I’m looking forward to visiting a couple of new places such as Kota Kinabalu and Yogyakarta. I’m also looking forward to hanging out with Kevin as Trumans Water has been a favourite band of mine for a long time. I still feel a sense of adventure stronger than a sense of excitement though.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Kru Tam to help me fix some things at school so that I can teach the lessons I want to teach. Some of the rooms don’t have video set up properly and a technician needs to come and fix the TV screens. Thankfully Kru Tam is there to help me sort it out.

18 Apr 2021 – None of the things that would have helped me got fixed in the end and I had to come up with other ideas. But at least the Thai teachers looked as if they were helping me!

Release the whale that pulled me under – 4th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I think I successfully passed my first test. The kids seem to be ok with my style of teaching and the lessons I wrote went ok – I’m still trying to gauge the level of the main class though.

I was also uplifted enough to drop into CRPAO after school and meet some of my old students. It was heartening to know how much they like and miss me. I think I can make good connections with most kids. Let’s see where this job leads.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to have the opportunity to work with Kevin from one of my favourite bands next year. It’s exciting to think I can meet and help them. I love this aspect of my life. It’s a lot of planning ahead but I look forward to doing that.

23rd March 2021 – With a couple of weeks until a tour across Malaysia, Sabah, Singapore and Java was due to start we had to cancel everything because of the Covid pandemic. I still need to get refunded for the flights as I don’t think the tour will happen within the two years the tickets are being held for us. Not quite the ‘journey is better than the destination’, more, the ‘planning was better than the reality.’

Worlds Dirtiest Sport – Electroweak Phase Transition – 4th September 2018

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cat #: 192TZM

Worlds Dirtiest Sport (USA/France) is a one-man-band playing space, psychedelic, folk rock inspired by a wide range of music from Spacemen 3 and Moondog to Captain Beefheart, Charles Mingus and Nina Simone.

With only one person onstage WDS still sounds like a full 4 or 5 piece band. Guitars, bass, voice, keyboards and other noise making devices sampled and looped live create an intense ambience.

Catchy songs and lyrics invite the listener into a surreal and very distinct world that WDS has created through years of experimentation and playing live.

The artist, Kevin Branstetter, has been a touring musician for 26 years with countless tours and festivals in America, Europe and Japan. A founding (and still current) member of lo-fi legends Trumans Water – John Peel favourites from San Diego, California, and also a member of The Bugs from Portland, Oregon, Kevin has worked with and inspired many different musicians, from Thurston Moore and John Paul Jones to Beck, Cat Power, Wire and The Boredoms.