News/Blog
A magazine called ‘My Lohas’, which is written in Chinese and sold in Taiwan, did a full page, small article (with fancy pictures) on Turtuga Blanku and his recorded sunshine.
Take a look and read it (if you can!) here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _I recently visited (the Commonwealth of) Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). It is a beautiful Caribbean island which is situated between Guadeloupe and Martinique. 754 km² in size with a population of probably around 55,000.
There are 365 rivers on this little island, large tropical forests, indigenous parrots, dolphins, sperm- and other whales and seven volcanoes of which six are dormant. Several solfataric areas are active and natural hot water can be found all over the island.
This volcanic activity can be put to excellent use to generate electricity in a clean and durable way. Dominica’s electricity company DOMLEC (Dominica Electric Services Limited), as well as a French company together with the government and a US private company are currently developing three (separate) projects to start making use of thermohydropower.
At this time, Dominica needs a maximum number of 18 megawatt of electricity, whereas some 150-200 megawatt capacity can be expected upon completion of the thermohydroelectricity projects. So, not only will Dominica be able to provide themselves with durable energy, they also plan to export their green power to the neighboring islands. This is a great example showing that being environmentally conscious and making money can go hand in hand.
In the meantime, examples of the use of another sustainable way of energy production -solar power- can be found everywhere on Dominica; from solar powered streetlights to solar power boilers on the roofs of houses.
It is looking sunny, hot and altogether green on Dominica!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The lyrics of this latest piece of recorded sunshine are available here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Several eco-websites from all around the web have been finding their way to Turtuga Blanku's Solar Power Music. This one here aims to report noteworthy initiatives to promote sustainable living.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The 4th song of Turtuga Blanku's upcoming debut album is now available. Go to the homepage or the shop-page if you want to check it out.
As always, we'd love to hear what you think of the track! Feel free to leave a message on the comments-page.
A new t-shirt, specially designed for this new song release, will be presented and for sale soon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku's Golden Bubble was played on the BBC radioshow 'BBC Introducing' on 6music:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _This year’s hurricane season has seen quite a lot of tropical storms and hurricanes with Paloma (category 4) being the most recent and hopefully the last one. However, as oceans are warming up, we may be in for even heavier and longer lasting hurricane seasons in the coming years.
That's not a good thing for the people living in the hurricane area. It's costing lives and causes great ecological and material damage. If only you could at least harvest these hurricanes for the enormous energy they release: imagine how much electricity could be generated if we could somehow make use of all that wind energy!
Obviously, hurricane conditions are far from ideal for windmills, which cannot operate under these conditions. But normally, the Caribbean has one of the best wind regimes for wind generated electricity. With declining fossil fuel stocks and increasing awareness of climate change, more nations in the Caribbean area are starting to see the advantages of these favorable wind conditions.
Still, you won’t find a windmill outside of Turtuga Blanku’s little studio. Being in the business of making music with the studio’s windows open, I still prefer silent photovoltaic solar plates!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku will release a new song in the very near future on this website. It is called Holes in the Poles. Previewers describe it as:
"Smart and attractive ear and brain tickling eco-song"
"Short but sweet"
"Great message, great approach, great song!"
Keep an eye out for this next Turtuga Blanku release. We'd like to know what you think of it!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Laiste on RustyLime did a review earlier and wanted to do an interview as well.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _SolarServer, a German website found out about Turtuga Blanku and put up an article in it's solar news section.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The design of the website itself has been positively noticed as well.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _MakeNoise spreads the word about positive eco-action and included Turtuga Blanku in it's newsletter.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _GreenMuze was wondering what sunshine sounds like and has asked Turtuga a few questions about his recorded sunshine and how his music is helping to spread the good green word.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku has been spotted by the eco-website Treehugger, Discovery Channel's leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream.
And if you digg it, do a 'digg up' right here: www.digg.com.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The title-song of Turtuga Blanku's upcoming debut album is now available. Hit the play button (on the homepage) and check it out!
Go to 'shop' in the main menu if you want to buy the single. Please leave a message about what you think of Golden Bubble on the comments-page.
(And, as always when a new song is released, a new t-shirt is also available, here).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Former NASA scientist John C. Mankins has succeeded in sending solar panel captured energy by means of radio waves over a distance of 148 kilometer to a receiver station.
This experiment shows that using solar power directly from out of space might actually be possible. Given investment willingness and further research and development, solar power collector satellites could be brought into orbit and start producing energy 24/7, unaffected by the day/night cycle, weather, or seasons.
Of course, launching the satellites is still done using polluting fossil fuel and it generates waste as a product of manufacture and maintenance. But after putting the solar cells in orbit, it is a zero emission source, using renewable energy which would be wasted otherwise. The question remains: does the use of solar power satellites result in a netto environmental and economical gain?
If so, how about it? Radio waves carrying Turtuga Blanku music and energy to your homes? ;^)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Remember the little story about mysterious recordings? Well, this time, another sound has been creeping into Turtuga Blanku music recordings. It is not quite as subtle as the other mysterious sound... and actually not at all quite so mysterious either!
For several weeks now, a stag party has been going on...literally... There’s free roaming, semi-wild donkeys running around in the wilderness surrounding the ‘Green Machine’ (Turtuga Blanku's little, solar powered studio).
Usually, they go about their business quietly. Right now, their business is fighting, braying and running around like crazy. Several males are competing for the females in heat, during the day AND throughout the night! Blood, bite marks, even broken legs and a lot of conceptions are the results of all this.
...That AND of course several re-takes Turtuga Blanku had to do because of the noise. If only they could be taught to bray in tune...
Turtuga Blanku; a white turtle out in the wilderness surrounded by noisy wildlife...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _As a special treat, a lyric page has been put together for Turtuga Blanku's second song First Step.
This link: First Step Lyrics, will lead you there.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku will be releasing a third single shortly. It is called Golden Bubble and is from the upcoming debut album 'The Golden Bubble'. Before officially releasing it, a short preview of the song will appear right here on the official website.
So, be sure to tune in later on!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _- The First Step is the second song.
- The next step is sending us your comments on the song.
- The final step is checking out the new First Step T-shirt.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The copyright registration procedure has been finalized!
Expect new songs to appear on this very website, very soon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku now has a dozen banners to choose from on a dedicated banner-page. Simply select the provided code, and copy/paste it on the desired spot in your own code.
Take your pick and add your free Turtuga Blanku banner of choice to your own website, myspace site, your blog, or in your signature on your favorite webforum.
Thanks for your support!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku has been getting more and more urgent requests to put up more songs. And you deserve another taste of solar power music! So, an explanation of the situation is in order:
In the music business (as in any other business) there are those who have no problems with illegally gaining money from other people's work or ideas. This is called 'stealing'. To prevent this, musicians often opt for registering the rights to their own material before sending it out to the world.
You automatically own all rights to everything you create the moment you create it. With registering your copyrights you can prove that you were the first to write those lyrics, play that guitar riff, or to sing this melody.
However, this extra 'just to be sure' measure is costly...mostly in terms of time. And it is exactly in this process that we find ourselves before releasing the follow-up to 'Be With Me': a time-consuming administrational thingy holding up the sunfun.
We are very impatient to share the newest Turtuga Blanku songs with you and we'll keep you posted on the progress. In the meantime, let's lift up just the tiniest part of the sleeve: the next song, ready and waiting, is called First Step.
Turtuga Blanku, turning sunrays into solar riffs for you...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Because Turtuga Blanku's little studio 'The Green Machine' does not have air-conditioning (a much larger solar system is needed to run AC), Turtuga Blanku works with open windows. Nice cool South-West trade winds flow through 'The Green Machine'. Apart from coolness, this usually also adds an extra, natural feeling to Turtuga Blanku songs.
However, listening back to some vocal recordings for Turtuga Blanku's latest 'song under construction', suddenly a strange noise on a couple (but not all!) of these recordings could be heard. It seemed like a malfunctioning cable adding a lot of unwanted noise. After careful listening, the source became clear…
Due to the hurricanes, a lot of rain has fallen here in the Caribbean. Almost immediately after that, new life starts blooming everywhere. One sound which was not heard for a long time was the mystery-noise that was recorded along with the Turtuga Blanku vocals.
Cicadas! They are back again!
Hmm…Turtuga Blanku is up for some sweaty recording sessions…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Turtuga Blanku's first officially released song, right here, right now, for you... Ladies and gentlemen, you're all invited to: Be With Me!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Turtuga Blanku wants to thank everyone who has contributed to the realization of this website and its content. A special thanks to the following individuals:
Mary Ann Koops, Roel Schuit, Onno Schuit, Styli, Steve Nelson, and Wim Boevink et al.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Welcome to the brand new and shiny web-home of Turtuga Blanku!
The homepage shows the latest news as well as newest songs... all of them recorded sunshine. Songs, t-shirts, and other Turtuga Blanku stuff can be bought at the shop-page and the merchandize-page. More about Turtuga Blanku's green (well, yellowish) way of music production on the Solar Studio-page.
Find more about Turtuga Blanku on the bio-page and go to the contact-page to well..obviously contact Turtuga Blanku. Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment on the comments-page!
Feel free to wander around and bask in the recorded sunshine.
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All rights reserved © 2007-2009 Maarten Schuit
Design by Roel Schuit & TB
Technical support by Solin