http://saucepanbach.com/news.html david griffith - saucepanbach: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:08:16 -0800 http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#350
Makes you think. About the same distance and a forty minute drive down to the foot of the Blue Mountains, here in Australia, takes you through fourteen or so small towns and villages. About eighty thousand people live along these ridges. On either side of the ridges is a vast expanse of bush.

You could fit the whole of Gaza into that drive and barely notice if it weren’t for the hundred fold plus increase in population.......the peace and quiet would also completely vanish but that’s a luxury few enjoy.

All things being equal, I’ll drive to the foot of the mountains to pick up a keyboard for one of the guys at the Group Home in which I work. It’s identical to the one that I’ve been taking to work so he’s already familiar with the controls - enough to turn on automatic features and ”˜groove around’ for hours.

No check points along the way. No roadside bombs. Just ”˜normal.’

Floods up the coast and almost continuous rain and drizzle here have put a dampener on life in the garden. Flowers look dejected and don’t say much. Parrots can’t help but look bright and chirp away anyway.

Meanwhile, I keep playing my scales, keep up with the news that most don’t want to know about and look forward to playing music at the open mike and songwriter nights...... all worthwhile activities.

Very good. A day or so passes and the sun reappears after, what feels like, forty days of rain. My bid for the keyboard was successful and one happy guy at the Group Home awaits something which will add to his ”˜quality of life.’

Lots of cheerful phrases such as ”˜freedom of choice.’, ”˜dignity of risk.’ ”˜normalisation’, ”˜community access’ and ”˜quality of life.’ abound within the Disabilities Services industry, here in Australia.

Every client has a key worker and an Annual Plan so, in that respect, they’re a lot better off than the rest of humanity who stumble along as best they can.......much depends upon the key worker.

President Obama sounds like a grimly hollow man as he states with no conviction that “The economy is growing strong.”

That’s becoming a real problem - not the economy but the way phrases are bandied about which directly contradict the evidence pouring in through our own senses.

”˜Freedom of choice.’ as it’s applied within the Group Home is still subservient to practicalities, to the wider needs of the group. In that respect ”˜choice’ is limited by the imagination of both the client and the key worker.

”˜Going through the motions.’ ..... I’m not sure if that phrase has stood the test of time but - for me - and from my childhood, it echoes.

”˜If you’re going to do the job, do it properly.’

Off to work..... and I keep coming back to that soberly comforting thought that if you can’t change the wider world, you can work on both the inner and the local world.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#350 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#349
Kookaburras chortle, cackle and laugh uproariously as only they are able. They’re not so common where I live and are a source of wonder and delight when they - an appearance make.

The cost of living used to be measured - still is - by how much we pay for the goods and services used. Pretty simple but, logically, it makes us slaves to a financial system which has arranged itself to become despotic to the extreme.

Strange sounds in the sky reported from all over the world and if it’s not the Earth itself groaning from obscenities such as fracking, then perhaps it’s the amplified sound of nations and peoples fragmenting.

Or - it could just be HAARP up to dirty tricks.

Rogue states, pariah states. Regime change is called for in both America and Israel. None of the nations affected by their wars have done anything more than defy America and Israel’s perceived ”˜interest.’ - nothing to do with freedom or democracy.

The Arab ”˜uprisings’ have as much to do with a desire for regime change in America and Israel as they do with injustices within their own Arab countries.

It’s a rotten state of affairs when lies become truth.

Rain pours down through the wettest summer that I can remember but the land is still thirsting, underground aquifers need replenishing and appearance is often deceptive.

”˜Global warming’ becomes ”˜Climate change’ in a subtle nod to ”˜maybe we were not quite right in our estimation.’ but as science doesn’t recognise that the Universe IS electric then, perhaps, much of what we know is actually error.

If you’re not in danger of immediate death then this is an exciting time to be alive.

Torrents of information pour through the internet leaving the mainstream news as a side creek in the waterway. Very little real news does make the mainstream press and is always twisted to present a point of view. It’s not so much a conspiracy - in the usual sense of that word - but more a mental shrug of the shoulders, taken a long time back, which suggests ”˜What can you do? ... this is the only game in town.’

Wrote a song the other day which surprised me. As I only average two songs a year, it was the way it popped out, quite suddenly, that surprised me.

I’m never too sure about my lyrics - there’s a fine line between heart felt, sincere and clear ......... and pure emotional tripe ......and as I need glasses, fine lines are problematic.

The melody is lovely and the structure pleases me to sing. That’s a good start.

I’ll try it out this weekend and keep refining and defining each word..... until it makes sense.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#349 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#348
What a clumsy sentence. What a clumsy war.

Bought a keyboard at a fund raising garage sale being held across the road. I left it alone for quite awhile because I only wanted it for the drum and rhythm patterns contained. No-one showed any interest so I bought it eventually for the princely sum of $20.

Back from the dentist who assures me that my head hasn’t caved in and a gentle sun shines on a quiet day off. I’ll put a drum rhythm on and play my notes shortly...... trying to play three notes in differing ways.

A bit weary. Three days at work dealing with behavioural problems within a Group Home. It’s by working with these men, for the last decade or so, that has allowed for life to go on, bills to be paid and a body of songs to be recorded. I don’t forget that and am grateful to the universe for directing some critical choices which allows a bit of space, time and energy for musical development.

I take the electric guitar to work, along with a tiny amp and one of the men at the Home helps me carry the guitar and keyboard into the house. His face lights up and he spends the next six hours happily plonking away on one string to a grooooovy drumbeat.

Meanwhile ominous clouds gather over an autistic client and the drums of war erupt over a triviality. I’m not being presumptuous and accept that trivial to one is catastrophic to another however if you know that it’s trivial but pretend it’s catastrophic then it’s a different matter. This man knows the difference.

Behavioural problems arise within the Group Home because the ”˜Care Industry’ attracts many who are disabled themselves - by which I mean - they don’t care, turn a blind eye and, inevitably, those entrusted to their care manifest more and more behavioural problems.

Everything there is mirrored in the outside world and at the highest levels.

On the other hand and on a personal level, there’s something very empowering about accepting the idea that pulling your own weight means something tangible, costs something tangible and returns something unusual.

Could be illumination of sorts or perhaps the after affects of antibiotics.

The lustrous soft orange of the Tiger lilies fades as the first of the ”˜soon to be man sized’ Canna lilies take their place. Yellows and reds will predominate for the next month or two until the purple of the Tibouchina delights the eyes. Brilliance in flowers and brilliance in birds and while the parrots happily gorge themselves on unripe peaches, a surly gang of sulphur crested cockatoos - imagine a scrawny but muscular small white chicken with both bad attitude and a bright yellow Mohican haircut - hang about, chew branches off trees, decapitate daffodils and, eventually, one of them casually chews part of a doorframe recently erected. They don’t respond to threats and cackle at my fist shaking antics..... not feeding them anymore!

Everything in the garden is mirrored in the outside world but here, it’s more a live and let live approach.

Off for a cool drumbeat and three notes.

Today, on the news, the coal gas industry here in Australia is assuring our Government that they wouldn’t dream of using the same chemicals and procedures used within the U.S.A.

Fracking - to a countryside - has got to be akin to mankind applying mosquitoes to its collective body while suggesting that this is innocuous behaviour.

Does that mirror society.

Wish I knew a good joke to leave you with before coffee.

Slurp, slurp - who’s there?]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#348 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#347
I blew up - not Wall Street or the Federal Reserve but the World Trade Centre. Made a lot of money which didn’t really matter but you gotta share the wealth - and very few noticed the extra building which came down without being hit by a plane.

Remarkable how easily people are fooled.

The Pentagon was a joke. Made a whole plane disappear into a hole custom built for something smaller...... and not a frame of footage to show what happened.

Didn’t just wave my hand to make this happen.

I broke apart the Jewish religion, a few thousand years ago and left a remnant who followed the ”˜Old’ Testament. The rest followed the Talmud which negates the Commandments. Only a few dissenters to point out the inconsistencies and it’s always comforting to know who your enemies are.

Who needs a heaven above when you can have a game park here below. Africa might be nice - without people.

I own everything and leave you the illusion that you owned something. How can it be otherwise when I control the money supply.

For countries to give away their sovereign right to print their own currency indicates just how much control I have.

No-one talks about it publically except on the internet.

I’ve got a lot of people to satisfy but don’t get me wrong. I don’t much like any of them but they’re useful for the time being.

That’s it - just playing with you because I can.

...... and just putting myself into the mind-set of those for whom ”˜the ends justify the means.’

Easy if you don’t care.

The point - for me - is not about living ”˜forever’ but to live in the moment without losing sight of ”˜either side of the moment.’

There’s detail within the big picture.

Synchronicity. I love it even when it makes no obvious sense. What do I make of watching the first few minutes of ”˜the Lightbulb Conspiracy’ - a film about planned obsolescence - only to turn it off, because playing music felt better, and then to find that the lamp goes out and the lightbulb needs immediate replacement.

It’s simple for me. The Divine is everywhere and imbued throughout every physical atom. Thus, the Divine speaks in many ways and very few are in ”˜spake in words’ ..... who could stand the shock?

This world is a matrix and this can be a prison planet. Doesn’t have to be nor need to be and the ”˜powers that be’, who look to a ”˜New World Order’ and a ”˜Brave New World’ coupled with ”˜Animal Farm’ to usher in ”˜the Future’ are ...... deluded.

They take no account of other dimensions.

”˜Mad as a cut snake?’ .... you betcha.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#347 Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#346
Clarity, perception and idealism mixed with a combination of circumstance where, on a personal level, everything that needs to be done has pretty much been done, and I’m left with space and time opening up to creative endeavour.

A state of grace for me and ”˜Thou shall not kill’ being brushed aside by all three religions of the ”˜Book’ niggles away at the back of my mind........ as it has for decades.

Written as a commandment but, on a national level, almost impossible to fulfill, perhaps the intention is not to stop the killing but to make it obvious that a glaring inconsistency occurs when mankind attempts to align the killing with the blessing of God.

Whatever God might be, humans killing each other doesn’t align.

Suicide bombers blessed by God? What a dreadful perversion.

Would I kill to save those I love? I hope so - but I’d not ”˜dress it up’ as ”˜blessed by the Divine.’

New Year’s Eve was terrific. Spent an hour or so on the Shipley Plateau at a gathering where I arrived early, met friendly people, played music and then moved on to Mount Victoria to back up Mad Cowboy Disease at their gig.

I must be getting better with my guitar playing or perhaps it’s just that I’m becoming more familiar with the neck of the guitar. I’m playing scales - which is becoming melody - often for hours a day although this has only been happening for the last month or so.

It’s no coincidence that this increased focus and energy corresponds to the fine energy that ”˜Salutes to the sun.’ gives me.

Six rounds of ”˜Salute to the sun’ takes no more time than a kettle takes to boil and although I absolutely know that this series of postures activates a dynamo within the body, I’m slack enough to go months before I realise that I’ve become stiff and need a kick start.

Odd creatures us humans be. Contrary.

If I could give you a gift of priceless value - ”˜Salutes to the sun’ would be it. There - you have it.

Here in the Blue Mountains, Spring and the first month of summer have been cool and wet. Today the sun shines and heatwaves ripple across the continent.

Ripples across time - and a twenty six thousand and something year cycle appears to align with 2012.

There’s something gloomingly satisfying about the idea that we’re about to come out of thirteen thousands years of darkness.

Written on the headstone of the grave were the words:

“ I told you I was sick.”

..... and so we are.

There’s something very inspiring about the idea that thirteen thousand years of light are soon to begin........ perhaps we’ll be around for the first glimmer of dawn.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#346 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#345
Sitting in the car, listening to yet another apologist for Israel mouth nonsense ..... and it’s all very chummy and well mannered between him and the interviewer, as - away from the studio and not in a manger - the ”˜settlers’ of the Chosen people pour bags of excrement upon the heads of the Palestinians below.

My friend gets in the car and listens intently. He shrugs his shoulders and - sort of agrees that Palestine has never really existed as a separate nation. This floors me.

“Hold on a moment, Cliff. The Romans pushed the British around two thousand years ago but they never ”˜owned’ Britain. They just pushed us into the West Bank and called us Welsh....... please don’t even mention the English - bloody late comers - interlopers!”

“As much to the point, who could blame the present day Italians for the excesses of the Romans.”

The Palestinians don’t exist within the mind of Newt Somethingorother ......... Newt is yet another clown put forward as a potential leader of the USA and one that I hadn’t noticed.

In response to Newt’s odd claim, Cliff expands on this thought to refine the same wobbly point as Newt....... Palestine and Palestinians never existed as a sovereign country ...... the British took it from the Otterman Empire and gave it to the Jews.

“ But it wasn’t theirs to give away.” say I, as the shaky ground upon which we all stand rumbles.

“Your average person would suggest that the land belongs to the people who have settled it........ and that length of time has some bearing on legitimacy ”

If you’re Aboriginal, you’d see it the other way round. The people belong to the land.... it’s absurd to think otherwise. Who amongst us takes a speck of dust into eternity let alone a quarter acre block.

If all the world’s a stage - which most of us recognise to be ”˜true’- we don’t even entertain the thought that we own the stage - we just borrow the space that we stand in until we vacate. That’s it. It’s the nature of acting.

We pretend we own and then go to war endlessly to prove a point which is, itself, a pretence.

The Palestinians exist now. Regardless of who ”˜owns’ the land, the Israelis have parcelled out some puddles and told the Palestinians to ”˜Get what you’re given and be thankful.’

It’s not good enough.

By their fruits shall you know them. By the misery displayed. By the bleak and poisoned spirit which pervades.

If Israel were a human, what a bully, what a spoilt and mean spirited child.

Whether Jesus died doesn’t matter to me, the Christ spirit lives and manifests in all of us - given half a chance.

“Cooee - my darling.”

Joy to the world.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#345 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#344
Spring and summer are wet. Cool days and little sun allow the emerald green of new growth to settle.

Christmas consumerism is limited to Enid Blyton’s ”˜The Faraway Tree’ collection for the new born’s parents and a two man tent for the ten year old boy.

Presence rather than presents are the order of the day and the retail sector will suffer accordingly. Exit Babylon, stage left.

The best laid plans often come to naught on both a personal and a national level. This is often a bloody good thing and gives hope for the future.

I usually avoid New Year’s Eve like the plague but this one is different because it will be musical. Time spent daily with the guitar and the pic is becoming less like a pick - or a mattock - and starts giving moments of clarity.

Thanks to Griff Hamlin for his guitar lessons. He’s a generous man and introduces his students to Bob Murnahan who breaks down licks into manageable chunks. Neither of these men are hard sell. They don’t spruik their wares and both have a humility which is heart warming.

They come to mind because they’re nourishing. I’ve now got enough nourishing material to last decades. As yet, I’ve got no speed and very little clarity but the five blues boxes are pretty much imprinted on my mind. Wrapping my head around the major/minor - is it three frets up or down the neck? ...... anyway, it’s all progress.

The signs and portents for 2012 are mixed - depending upon your point of view. I’m calm about ”˜what will be’. No purpose served in being any other way. It’s always darkest before the dawn.

Before I go off for a shift at work, we’ll play croquet on a tiny strip of lawn. This will be on Christmas Day and if Christ hadn’t existed, we wouldn’t be seeing that spirit manifested in each other.

Who the hell is Santa and how did something that looks like a fat can of coke cola - complete with foaming beard - supplant Christmas....... ah well ...... you have to ”˜Yo ho ho ”˜ sometimes and you can’t just go by appearance.

Have a joyous moment........ four notes and a bend are still keeping me in a state of wonder .....

As to the machinations of the threadbare ”˜Powers that Be’ - clever is not the same as intelligent - the smallest spark of light dispels the dark.

Last night we travelled a few hundred kilometres to witness an end of year drama concert in which the ten year old grandson participated.

His group had put together a series of monologues where the actors had two minutes each to - not so much define their lives but illustrate what was important to them.

With the innocence of childhood, the most searing personal stories were entwined with good humour, stoicism and hope - and they all wanted to BE something when they ”˜grew up.’

They want to be something in a world that makes sense.

Not only did they have light in their eyes - so did the audience.

More real joy in that night than in a thousand palaces.

I don’t have anything to say apart from stray thoughts seeking a home.

Whoever you are, good wishes to you.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#344 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#343
The garden is so lush with growth that ”˜space for all’ is called for. I’ve separated and moved whole clumps of plants. While it may not be exactly the ”˜right time’, I’ve never worried much about that. Lots of water usually overcomes the shock of dislocation.

Everything now looks slightly bewildered but quite pleased and the first of the tiger lilies blooms orange in delight.

Darling Harbour was great. Sparkling clear, boats on the harbour, city skyline across the way, sun, fun and sweat. Anticipation and trepidation walk hand in hand with me but neither is a constant companion which is actually a ”˜good thing.’

Darling Harbour sounds ”˜big’ and, in a way, it is. Nobody - apart from family and friends perhaps - is actually coming to see you perform. You’re as incidental as the seagulls. Nonetheless you have more potential than the activities of the birds to entertain and enjoy the moment.

Twenty minutes to play your part and the day is yours to enjoy with that slightly higher state of awareness which follows performance.

That ”˜ticks a box’ for me and something in me doesn’t want to do this anymore. I’ll follow this prompting and see where it leads. It doesn’t feel like retreat and doesn’t feel like ”˜giving up’. It feels like new direction.

The world financial cold winds reach Australia and it’s reflected in the hunger of my co-workers - who also work part time - to pick up any shifts available. My situation is precarious but always has been. Just as well that I’m good at a job that not many want or consider themselves able to do.

So I’m going quiet and this is a ”˜cheerio’ for awhile.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#343 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#342
A New World Order - ”˜shiver me timbers’ - swap lots of leaders for one.

Pirates on the horizon. Israel wants to bomb Iran. What doesn't Israel want.

Greece and Italy are now corporations run by unelected banking representatives. Democracy is gone without a whimper and all in the name of a debt which is a fraud.

President Obama is here, in Australia, for a day. Warmth and good will is shared between the leaders but do either of them believe that the official 9/11 story is true?

Did their education stop at the doors of the Federal Reserve without either asking the question, “Who owns this?”

The answer is, of course, the same people who ”˜own’ the New World Order.

I don’t like the idea that the fattest parasites feeding off mother earth consider themselves the rightful rulers of humanity.

A New World Order suggests a beneficial, fruitful relationship with the peoples of this world. There is nothing to suggest that this is true if we look at the mess that we’re in.

Create the problem, present a solution.

I’m not particularly impressed with the Book of Revelations. Disease and death follow every generation. Armageddon has come, gone and returned many times but there is something different about these times.

Ideas spread almost instantly across the world. Information is readily available. Scrutiny is two way. There are enough people in the world to go “oooh” until you realise that they could all fit into Texas.

Walkabout was intense and a bit of a ”˜Curate’s egg.’ The good bits were great but the bad bits were horrible.

In between, lots of very good music and the opportunity to sit in the back and add a few notes ...... if I could work out the key.

The farmhouse hasn’t been lived in for a few months. Possums and Brown snakes had taken up residence and been booted elsewhere a week before I arrive - with music, ”˜whipper snipper’ and lawnmower.

It’s hot - relative to the mountains - but cloud cover meant that tanks of petrol could be used clearing ground and making the place ”˜safe’ in preparation for a birthday party three days later on a Saturday.

”˜Dysfunctional’ comes to mind ....... a disaster waiting to happen.

Help arrived, disaster averted but by the skin of the teeth and grace of God.

Physical catastrophe is often easier to work with than people.

Back home.

Greeted by intertwined, vigorous new growth in the garden. Lilac and white flowers pour colour across lime green leaves.

Tiger lilies, chest high with glossy green leaves along a cane, ready to bloom orange and black whenever they will.

Complete crowns of pale green fronds grace the treeferns. Small islands of microclimates expand in their space and magic is the process. No spells needed - just life and care.

Day off and too wet to move a treefern.

Learning ”˜little chords’ which looks very promising but I’m not bounding out of bed to greet each day with unbridled enthusiasm and then jump into song.

Playing for twenty minutes at Darling Harbour this Saturday which equates to four - perhaps five songs. The day will be great good fun, no doubt, but my general internal direction is quiet retreat so I’ll follow that prompting when the dust settles.

There are so many people who have experienced decades of following their creative passion with minimal success on the material plane.

The artist has an exhibition and nothing much results. The actor finds both roles and energy dwindling. The poet dries up. The sculptor acquires arthritis........ so when does the series of obstacles in front of all of us - when creative endeavour beckons - become impassible?

Wish I knew when enough is enough.

Decades ago, when I’d barely taken a musical step and thus was prey to all sorts of imaginings, I was told that there’s nothing sadder than to see someone give up, right at the beginning, because it all looks too difficult.

”˜Step back, look at the obstacle, inquire as to its nature. Can you go around, over or under. Will it disappear of its own accord?’

”˜Step back again, get a sense of perspective - you can only get that by taking in the bigger picture.’

My internal obstacles are founded on a reluctance to play. I don’t mean music, I mean life itself.

Traumatic shock, early in life, can produce this uneasy approach to life. You cannot ”˜not be here’ but you can be observer rather than participant...... or be anywhere along a spectrum which runs from catatonic to enlightened..... and back again perhaps.

I’ve had and have wonderful teachers who’ve enabled changes of consciousness. I’m still ”˜me’. I don’t walk around in a state of bliss.

It’s now a glorious sunny day made brighter by contrast to the last few days of cloud and rain.

Anyway, I’m not being a miseryguts, it’s more that I’ve now recorded pretty much all that I’ve written that’s ”˜worth’ recording.

Having done that and put it ”˜out there’ to the extent that I now know that neither songwriting competitions nor Hollywood is interested .......and I know that because I’ve submitted many songs in order to find that out .... and so I feel I’ve done what I need to do in order to take my music seriously enough to, now, leave it alone.

And that’s the point. All that ”˜stuff’ takes resources. It’s done.

I’ve got callouses on my fingers which an excellent guitarist suggests that he doesn’t get because he only uses as much pressure as is needed to produce the sound.

Not so much ”˜Get a grip’ as ”˜ Slightly lighten up.’

Pass the parrot, would you?]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#342 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#341
Hundreds of thousands of people living on Pacific Islands are having the very land that their villages stand on, eaten away by rising sea levels while the Australian Government focusses on boatloads of desperate refugees.

I suppose, if we had breadth of vision we might have a plan to resettle the Pacific .... but I don’t think we have such a plan.

Our Government here does recognise climate change and arguments for or against don’t matter to me. Anything which promotes alternative energy sources needs be encouraged and the risk of ”˜carrying on regardless’, blithely assuming ”˜all will be well.’ are too deadly for these and the next generations to bear.

Had a great time at the songwriter night yesterday. The whole night was great. Again had the pleasure of a saxophone plus an Irish drum and Wild Man Bru on lead guitar. I’d like to play more with these people but as we’ve all got limited time, I’ve made up a cd of recorded songs ”˜Griffith - The Good Bits’ ..... just so that we're all working off the same page.

You need a sense of humour.....it's hardly 'Greatest Hits' just because six people like it.

Going walkabout for a bit.]]> http://saucepanbach.com/news.html#341 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800 saucepanbach - david griffith - saucepanbach - News