CROWN - Croatian World Network

A SHALLOW AND SUPERFICIAL BOOK

In 2005 a booklet under the title
"Balkan Melodies for Accordion", 56 pp (42 songs),
was issued by Mel Bay Publications, www.melbay.com Inc. The author
of the book is Dr. Frances M. Irwin.

Description of the booklet can be seen at

http://www.melbay.com/contents.asp?ProductID=95986&Heading=

&category=&catID=&head1=&head2=&sub=&sub1=&author=&contpage=95986f.html&mode=&q=&r=&s=&next=

This is a shallow and superficial book.
The author knows next to nothing about the subject.
First, it is strange that the book under the title
"Balkan Melodies..." has no songs from other Balkan
countries, like Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro,
Albania, and Turkey. This shows that the author is
ignorant about the meaning of the notion of the
"Balkans". The mentioned countries can rightfully be
dissatisfied for not being represented in the book.

Here are a few of ugly misrepresentations
concerning Croatian songs. A well known Croatian song
"Sve Pticice Iz Gore" is claimed to be Slovenian.
Another well known Croatian song - "Vehni fijolica",
is claimed to be a song from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
And let us not forget that there are also nice
Croatian songs from that country as well.

Eight songs are correctly grouped as Dalmatian songs
in the book, but as if they were not Croatian.
Altogether twelve songs in the book are indicated as
Croatian, but actually as many twenty two songs in the
book are Croatian, that is, more than a half of songs
listed in the book!

E-mail of Mel Bay is:
email@melbay.com by phone: 1-800-863-5229

We all know that the Mel Bay is a famous publisher.
It is strange that they issued such a low quality
musical edition. I myself had a great pleasure to
enjoy excellent previous editions of the Mel Bay,
published decades ago. Mel Bey has been for me a
symbol of high quality musical editions, until this
strange edition appeared in 2005.

It is possible that the Mel Bay will undertake
publishing a more reliable book dealing with Croatian
songs. If so, I can recommend them to contact Mr.
Nenad Bach (www.nenadbach.com), Croatian composer
working in New York, and maybe even Dr. Katarina Livljanic, visiting professor
at the Harvard University.

Information about the two mentioned top professionals
can be found at my web page devoted to the history of
Croatian music:

www.croatianhistory.net/etf/et12.html

Hoping that this e-mail might result in publishing of
a better product about Croatian music than the one we
have described, I send this e-mail to the Mel Bay
Publications Inc, and also to the the Croatian World
Network (www.croatianworld.net), directed by Nenad
Bach, New York.

Darko Zubrinic, Zagreb
www.croatianhistory.net

KNIN NOT IN THE VOJNA KRAJINA

Knin, like Benkovac, is over 50 kilometers from the historical
boundary of Vojna Krajina as the crow flies. 50 kilometres
may not seem a long distance in Canada, but on 19th century
European mountain tracks, where every square kilometer has
3000 years of history, distance is a relevant factor

A Response to Serbian Propaganda

A propaganda campaign is spreading that Knin was in the Vojna Krajina, and that by association the so-called-krajina created in the early 1990s was part of the Vojna Krajina (âMilitary Frontierâ). Documented treaties in history show this propaganda to be a lie, a lie which served as a pretext for starting a war of aggression costing the deaths and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Official condemnation of the lies about the so-called-krajina should be
a non-negotiable condition set by Croatia during negotiations for its EU membership.

Serbs in Croatia had to âethnically cleanseâ one-third of Croatia of its Croats and other non-Serbs, and barricade major transportation routes in Croatia (so-called âlog-revolutionâ), before the fictitious so-called-krajina within Croatia could be materialized. Contemporaneous newspaper reports, and official census data over the past two centuries verify that there is no factual basis to Serbian claims of an historical right to Croatian territory.

In addition, an exaggerated Serbian presence in Croatia has been claimed by alleging that most, or all of the Orthodox in Dalmatia and Croatia have always been Serbian. But many European documents contradict this claim. Indeed there have been many famous Croatian Orthodox people in history as well as Croatian Orthodox churches, all documented. And European Statutes exist which refer to the âVlachsâ? in Croatia or the âMorlachsâ? in Dalmatia, not to Serbs.

Incredibly, on many internet reports and in many books the number of Serbs who allegedly left Croatia in 1995 varies from 40,000 to 600,000, depending upon the source. The fact is however that many of the Orthodox had fled the Serbian-occupied territory of Croatia long before 1995, and they were subsequently branded as traitors and cowards by the Serbian regime in Belgrade.

The Serbian anti-historical claims about Croatian territory have been concocted as part of a long-term revolutionary plan to legitimize a Serbian presence there, in order to enlarge the Serbian state. Todayâs Serbian minority in Croatia are the most vocal of all other minorities put together, even though their numbers throughout Croatia in the most recent 2001 census is quite small in proportion to their demands. Serbs had initially objected to being called a minority because they
had politically administered Croatia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia through a totalitarian system, until its collapse along with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. But as new âconflict resolutionâ legislation in post cold-war Europe was being discussed, the Serbs began to reformulate their demands within a âminorityâ frameworkâjust as they had reformulated the Yugoslav constitution many times in order to cater to re-servicing of former Yugoslaviaâs international debt.

The Ominous Treaty of Paris

Dalmatia and its hinterland have been the object of barter in European treaties for centuries. In 1919 for example at the Treaty of Paris in Versailles the Italians obtained parts of Croatia from Istria throughout Dalmatia.I In 1995 the Dayton Accords became officially known as the Treaty of Paris, to be signed at the Elysee Palace in France. Given the tragic consequences of Versailles for Croatia, what legacy should Croats expect after the Dayton/Paris Treaty?II Since 1995,
the administrators of the Dayton/Paris Treaty in Bosnia & Herzegovina have given-in to Serbian intransigence at the expense of Croatian peoplesâ human rights. Fifteen years on, Serbs still do not comply with Dayton in B & H, as Croats are unable to return to their ancestral homes in peaceâhomes which now fall within the boundaries of the newly created âRepublika Srpskaââa region formed by the ethnic cleansing and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
The reinforcement of Serbian intransigence in B & H has caused Serbian intransigence to spread into Croatia.

Serbian non-compliance with the Dayton/Paris Treaty in Bosnia is heard of occasionally with reference to indicted war criminals responsible for the Srebrenica massacre, etc., but how many people know about Serbian ultranationalism in Croatia? For example, in Croatia today Serbian provocation includes changing street signs, and spreading graffiti which
says âthis is Serbiaâ.III One can easily conclude therefore that like the first Treaty of Paris in 1919, the 1995 Treaty of Paris has created a legacy of instability for Croatian people.

Tragically Serbian fabrications are supported by foreigners who inadvertently encourage contravention of international law. As part of a very vocal pro-Serbian lobby around the world many books, websites, and international organisations have shown unquestioning support of false historical claims. On some unofficial maps of Croatia a non-existent region appears known as the so-called-krajina, an alleged historical region which exists only in the minds of Serbia and its foreign
allies.IV Unfortunately the UN Hague Tribunal indictments, many NGOs, together with other official European institutions have apparently integrated the unauthenticated Serbian version of Croatian history into their documents and agendas.

Croatiaâs Stolen History

Before analysing the so-called-krajina fabrication, it is essential to understand that this propaganda is inextricably linked to the historical theft of the history of the Morlacchi, or Vlach presence in Dalmatia and Croatia. Up until the late 19th century there had been practically no Serbian churches in Dalmatia but there had been many âGreekâ Orthodox churches with mostly Croatian worshippers--many of whom had become integrated with Morlacchi hinterland families. In one of many sources which allude to the true ethnicity of the original Orthodox in Croatia, Larry Wolff in âVenice and the Slavsâ?, writes that âThe heterogeneous Orthodox society of Zadar included Montenegrin officers and Sarajevo merchants âŚ and (others) from Corfu and Crete âŚ(The Venetians) were concerned to reduce foreign influence on Orthodox Dalmatians, including the Morlacchiâ?.V The issue of the Morlacchi in Dalmatia is well documented and over the coming months I will analyse it in a separate article. Thus, Serbian propaganda has re-written the history of the Morlachi in Dalmatia, with false
claims that most of them were of Serbian background.

Until the feudalistic creation of the first Yugoslavia at Versailles there had never been a strong Serbian presence in Dalmatia. Only when Serbs ruled under a dictatorship and later under a totalitarian communist system did the Knin regionâs ethnic balance begin to change. This ethnic balance shift also occurred due to post WWII immigration into Croatia of Serbs, or due to the conversion or compliance of non-Serbian Orthodox for the purpose of their own social
mobility or communist party membership. In communist Yugoslavia the Serbian numbers in Croatia swelled again due to their staffing of military garrisons, including for example, Benkovac and Knin. Its very important to understand that itâs because Serbs did NOT have numbers in Lika in the late 20th century that they had to include Knin municipalities in their so-called âkrajinaâ territorial claims. This led to the fabrication and spreading of the lie that Knin had always been part of the Vojna Krajina.

Foreign-sics of Serbian Propaganda

Like Chinese whispers, the following examples show how Serbian propaganda has reached the recent English language community, which has also unfortunately spread into some tourist guides.

For example, relying on Silber & Little as a source in âThe Death of Yugoslaviaâ?, on the internet the Canadian RCMP Inspector Graham Muir discussed his UN duty at âBenkovacâ?. Tragically, Muir has been fooled by pro-Serbian propaganda: âŚ â (in Benkovac) 50 km west of Kninâ? âŚ âI quickly came to understand that Vlade and his people were Serbs living in Vojna Krajina, a region that hugged the western boundaries of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The word
Krajinaâpronounced Cryeena--comes from the Serbo-Croatian word Kraj, meaning end or edge. The name of the region means military frontier.â? âŚ that it was the Austrians who created the Krajina âŚ and that Serbs directly were ruled by imperial Vienna.â? VI

It is particularly unsettling for me as a Canadian to witness such misinformation from a member of the RCMP. The history of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) was the topic of my first school speech in grade 6 in Toronto.
Because of my four-page speech, I experienced a youthful pride when watching the world-famous RCMP Ride. In 2003 I followed-up my family background in Ottawa with a visit to the old War Museum, the Chateau Laurier, the Canadian Archives, and a tourâone of the highlights of which for me was the RCMP headquarters.

Knin, like Benkovac, is over fifty kilometers from the historical boundary of Vojna Krajina as the crow flies. Fifty kilometers may not seem a long distance in Canada, but on 19th century European mountain tracks, where every square kilometer has 3000 years of history, distance is a relevant factor.

Before the UN arrived in 1992, Benkovac and predominantly Croatian villages around it had been ethnically-cleansed and the villagers slaughtered there under the command of Ratko Mladic (before he took command of Serb forces in Bosnia). The Serbian war crimes of nearby Skabrnje or Brusko have been dealt with at the Hague Tribunal; but other towns surrounding Benkovac which were cleansed by Serbs before the UN arrival included Lisane-Ostrovicke, Medvida, Rodaljice, Sopot, Polaca, Korlat, and Nadin. During 1991, every town with a Croatian majority was ethnically cleansed all along major roads, from the south of Knin to Korenica in northern Lika across the border from Bihac.

About the 1991 Serbian attacks in the Benkovac vicinity a British archeological team wrote:

âThe shelling of the city (Zadar) by the Serbian Army, or JNA, was shocking and distressing. News followed that many of the hilltop monuments investigated by the project had been taken over as military strongholds by the JNA; the damage caused to these sites by the excavation of army trenches cannot be underestimated. And the massacre by the Army of an unknown number of Croats in the hamlet of Nadin, where the project worked for three seasons, can only be the cause of the deepest regret.â?VII

Misha Glenny (of BBC) in his book,âThe Fall of Yugoslaviaâ? blurs the meaning of Vojna Krajina and Krajina, by using the terms interchangeably and in reference to Knin, and says that the minorities question should include territorial integrity.VIII

Glennyâs version of history was refuted by Ivo Banac, a Yale History Professor, who writes: âFor example, the Knin area of northern Dalmatia was never part of the Hapsburg Military Frontier, or, more properly, of the Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier, the inhabitants of the latter were predominantly Croats âŚ(and) that the migration of Serbian patriarch Arsenije III Carnojevic to southern Hungary had virtually nothing to so with the Serb presence in Banija, Kordun, Lika and the Knin area âŚâ? IX

Similarly, even Tim Judah, in his book which has a pro-Serbian bias, âThe Serbsâ?, made the point that Knin and Southern Dalmatia were never part of the Habsburg Vojna Krajina.X

It appears Croatian historical boundaries and timeframes are being deliberately distorted to create a fictitious succession of Serbian power which did not exist in history. Another example of this is in US Ambassador Richard Holbrookeâs âTo End a Warâ? (1998).XI Holbrooke, the architect of Dayton, inserts two maps which shows âKrajinaâ? in Croatia. In his monologue Holbrooke refers to Kijevo as being in Krajina. Like Inspector Muir, Holbrooke also uses Silber & Little for a reference, that Serbs had lived in âKrajinaâ for generations.

Silber & Little, (of BBC) in âThe Death of Yugoslaviaâ? discuss Krajina as the âSerbo-Croatianâ word for Kraj or edge or end, or means Vojna Krajina, or Military Frontier. After the meaning of the terms Krajina and Vojna Krajina are discussed interchangeably, the book then continues with, âKnin is a lonely dust-bowl of a place in the isolated barren wastelands of Croatiaâs Dinaric mountains. Krajina forms the hinterland of Croatiaâs prosperous Adriatic coast, with which it had traded and intermarried for centuries. Knin and Krajina generally, were economically integral parts of southern Croatia.â? XII

In âA Paper Houseâ? Mark Thompson writes: â âŚ (Serbs) policed the vojna granica or vojna krajina (Military Frontier). A spartan tradition of pride and independence was transmitted from father to son, just as in the southern Habsburg borderlands, where Serb communities protected Knin and the Likaâ? âŚ (or) ââŚ named after the vojna krajina (Military Frontier) between the north Dalmatian coast and the Bosnian border âŚ the historic territories of the Vojna Krajinaâ were proclaimed autonomous. â.XIII Just as with Silber & Little, after reading this text, Knin appears to have existed in Vojna Krajina, and of course no authentic European documents or relevant maps could be referred to.

In the book âWar in the Balkans 91-93â? there is a blur between the historical meaning of Vojna Krajina and the more recently alleged âKrajinaâ territory. Many glossy photographs and maps are explained on adjoining pages by text, ââŚ that Croatia has strong Serbian settlements, dating back to the 16th and 17th century and descended from the farmer soldiers who were encouraged by the Habsburgs to settle down in this region and âŚ which became known as the frontierâin Serb âKrajinaâ âŚ â in reference to the Zadar or Knin region.XIV

The propaganda which originated in a few pro-Serbian books has become widely spread over the internet. According to one internet site, âThe so-called Military Krajina (Vojna Krajina) comprised northern Dalmatia, Lika, Kordun, Banija and Bosnian Krajina (western Bosnia).XV

Another report on the internet, âMinorities in Croatiaâ? shows a map of the âRepublic of Croatia 2000â? marking the main regions of Croatia as Slavonia, Istria, Krajina and Dalmatia.XVI

One more example from the internet is of Heather Field of Australian Political Studies Association, discussing the âKnin Krajinaâ? area and the minority issue in Croatia as being problematic because of its âhistorical tradition of not being under Croat or Zagreb control from when they had acted as the frontier military force and defence of the Austro-Hungarian
empireâŚâ? XVII

Instead of referring to the official UNPA Sectors, the Hague indictments constantly refer to the unrecognized âKrajinaâ region of Croatia instead of Croatia.XVIII It would seem that âKrajinaâ has been recognized in many international circles including the Hague, even though it was not recognized by the UN. In addition even the OSCE (Org. for Security & Cooperation in Europe) talks in Europe rejected proposals to link âminority rightsâ with territorial demands in 1991.

Croatiaâs Territorial Integrity

If the Hague indictments do not use accepted international terms how then can one expect others to do so? The issue of territorial integrity and sovereignty should be a Croatian condition for EU entry, just as Turkey and other countries have their own set of counter-conditions.

Croatiaâs historical territory around Knin has been documented in treaties by the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and the Venetians, just to name a few. For example, several stages of Venetian occupation which rivalled Ottoman incursions over the centuries around the Knin region have been well documented. For centuries Knin has always been an integral part of Croatian history, not Serbian history. Even when under the Ottoman Empire, Knin was in âTurkish Croatiaâ (as designated by many official contemporaneous mapmakers). Later when Knin and the Dalmatian hinterland was occupied by Venice the majority of the inhabitants there were Croats with whom most of the Morlacchi became assimilated as either Orthodox or Catholics.

In their official capacity Croatian government representatives must articulate in clear terms that they expect their territory
and history to be respected, before Croatia enters the EU.

Footnotes:

I âPeacemakers: Six Months that Changed the Worldâ?, M. Macmillan, London 2002 (p.300).
II âThe Worldâs Bankerâ?, S. Mallaby, Sydney 2005 (p.362).
III âNarodni Listâ?, Zadar, 01 rujna 2005.
IV âThe Yugoslav Dramaâ?, M. Crnobrnja, McGill-Queenâs UP, Montreal 1996 (page 16).
V âVenice & the Slavs: Discovery of Dalmatia in the Age of Enlightenmentâ?, L. Wolff, Stanford 2001 (p.148).
VI âA Search for Something Betterâ? by Inspector Graham Muir, from Legion Magazine website.
VII âThe Changing Face of Dalmatiaâ?, Soc. Of Antiquaries of London, Leicester, 1996 (Preface).
VIIIâ The Fall of Yugoslaviaâ?, M. Glenny, Penguin, London 1992, 1993 (p. 5-7, 101).
IX âForeign Policyâ? Winter 93-94, I. Banac book review, reprinted on internet by the âbosnian instituteâ.
X âThe Serbsâ?, T. Judah, USA, 1997 (p. 16).
XI âTo End a Warâ?, R. Holbrooke, Random House NYC, 1998 (p. 25, 30, 161, 238).
XII âThe Death of Yugoslaviaâ? (accompanies BBC TV series) L.Silber & A.Little, Penguin, London, 1995 (p. 100).
XIII âA Paper House: The Ending of Yugoslaviaâ?, M. Thompson, Random House, Sydney, 1992 (p. 236, 254, 260).
XIV âWar in the Balkans 1991-1993â?, Debay, etc., editors, 1993 (p. 30).
XV âCrisis in the Balkans: Croatiaâ?, internet site of Centre for Peace in Balkans, Toronto.
XVI âMinorities in Croatiaâ? from internet site of âMinority Rights Group Internationalâ, 2003.
XVII âFailure of Post-Communist Political Arrangements in Former Yugoslaviaâ? H. Field, APSA, Australia, 2001.
XVIII âIntnl. Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslaviaâ?, on internet, Case No. IT-01-45, & IT-03-73-1.

JEAN LUNT MARINOVIC

OCTOBER 2005
www.croatianviewpoint.com

Sloboda promisljanja i djelovanja

ZNANOST - NAJVECA AVANTURA I IZAZOV LJUDSKOGA RODA

TRAGOVIMA ZNANJA U BUDUCNOST

Predstavljanje ce se odrzati u petak, 4. studenog 2005 u 18:00 sati u Eurospkom Domu, Zagreb Jurisiceva 1

Knjige ce predstaviti:
Akademik Josip Bratulic
Akademik Nenad Trinajstic, recenzent
Prof.dr.sc. Igor Rozanic, recenzent
Prof.dr.sc. Ante Simonic, autor
Branko Vujanovic, akademski slikar graficar
Andja Raic, prof., urednica u ime Medicinske Naklade

Ante Simonic

TRAGOVIMA ZNANJA U BUDUCNOST
QUO VADIS SCIENTIA?

Ova knjiga je svojevrsni prosireni nastavak udzbenika Znanost. Trece izdanje je dopunjeno novim dijelom i sadrzaj obuhvaca sljedeca poglavlja: Svemir, Zemlja, Nastanak i razvoj zivota, Razvitak civilizacije, Sloboda promisljanja i djelovanja, Literaturu i kazalo. Opseg knjige je, u odnosu na prethodno izdanje, povecan pa knjiga sada ima 824 stranice.

Ante Simonic
ZNANOST - NAJVECA AVANTURA I IZAZOV LJUDSKOGA RODA

Trece obnovljeno i ispravljeno izdanje ovoga udzbenika za poslije-diplomsku nastavu prvi je dio monumentalnog djela prof. Simonica. Knjiga ima 558 stranica i poglavlja: Nastanak i razvoj znanosti, Spoznavanje stvarnosti, Znanost i zakoni,
O znanstvenoj metodi, Znanstvenik, Institucije znanosti, Znanstveno djelo, Zamjerke znanosti, Literaturu i kazalo.

To: marketing@medicinskanaklada.hr
Subject: newsletter br. 6 listopad 2005.

Kupiti mozete knjigu na www.medicinskanaklada.hr

Op-ed:

1382 stranice teksta.. Ovo su knjige gdje svaka druga recenica moze biti i naslov knjige. Sama cinjenica da se netko usudi pisati o lepezi svega postojeceg je fascinantno samo za sebe. Moja topla preporuka, svakome tko imalo razmislja, neka kupi ove knjige i napise svoju recenziju, ja cu je objaviti na CROWNu.

Nenad Bach

Listen to Klapa Sinj and Lindjo on Millenium of Music

Sample of the song Lipo Ime, introduced by Robert Aubry Davisclick here . Listen to this first and if you like it, you can listen to the whole show.

Listen to the whole show:click here (audio quality of the first 2 minutes are not so good, but after that very solid)

You are able to enjoy this audio presentation courtesy of Millennium of Music
and Ivica Grgic ( www.011385.com ) who prepared it for you.

Klapa Sinj and Nenad Bach USA Tour schedule:

http://www.nenadbach.com/progr/progr.html

Klapa Sinj and Nenad Bach USA 2005 Tour

Mediterranean Sounds - Croatia's Mystic Voices

Klapa Sinj coming to the USA

December 2nd - 8 PM Concert at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, New York City. www.nysec.org, as a part of the World Music Institute program for 2005/2006 season.

December 4th 6 PM Concert at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC. www.kennedycenter.com/

December 7th 7 PM Concert at the Chicago Cultural Center - Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago. www.cityofchicago.org/CulturalAffairs/ .

Croatia old culture, new era

Posted on: Sunday, October 30, 2005

By Kurt Umbhau
Special to The Advertiser

Dubrovnik, one of the most attractive and culturally important cities on the Mediterranean, offers tourists ancient architecture, seaside activities, and a rich history.

KURT UMBHAU | Special to The Advertiser

Many women harvest flowers from their gardens and sell them on the streets of Old Town in Zagreb.

KURT UMBHAU | Special to The Advertiser

In Zagreb, many buildings survive from the Middle Ages. The city has for centuries been a center of culture and science, and more recently of commerce and night life. One million residents live in the capital strategically positioned between the Adriatic coast and Central Europe.

Croatian National Tourist Board

Brela, on Croatia's Damatian Coast, has pebble beaches, pine forests, a coastal promenade and the region's delicious seafood cuisine.

Croatian National Tourist Board

A Motovun visitor to the town's film festival hits his campground after a night of Croatian beer, wine and the powerful local drink, rakija.

KURT UMBHAU | Special to The Advertiser

In Croatia, don't be surprised if a two-hour coffee overflows into three. People have time. During a summer tour including the seaside Croatian region of Istria, the capital city of Zagreb and the Dalmatian Coast from Brestova to Dubrovnik, I ran into many locals with rooted and real Mediterranean dispositions. In a country that endured a divisive war 10 years ago, the mellow rhythms put me in mind of the Bob Dylan line, "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

In late July, I hitched a ride from Wels, Austria, to the Motovun Film Festival. Motovun is an isolated hilltop settlement in the Istrian region near Trieste, Italy, along the Adriatic Sea. The ancient fortified city once ruled by Romans sits high above valley vineyards and golden lowlands.

For the past six years, the little town has transformed an unassuming film festival into a big-time bash. This is not Cannes or Sundance. Croatians looking to dance, drink and socialize easily outnumber film freaks. And forget the movies, because a lot of people at the five-day festival never see one.

As the festival has gained popularity over its six-year life, each year there is more real-life drama and less of the celluloid. "The first two years, this was about watching movies, but now, it is about drinking," remarked Boyan Szabo, a 24-year-old veteran of all six festivals. "If they wouldn't show films, it might be better. Just make it a party."

One night I labored through "Land of Plenty," the latest Wim Wenders movie. Only a temporary chain fence with a vinyl drape separated the movie area from the main plaza. As the plaza crowd grew and the buzz got louder, the audience's preferences began to show. In twos and threes, people stood up and waded through lawn chairs for the exit. After dwindling further for a half-hour, Wenders' movie audience was left to sleepers and introverts.

Around midnight, every corner of Motovun pumped to life with DJs grooving in beer gardens, meat sizzling on grills and taps and bottles in the full tilt boogie. A few thousand people on holiday enjoyed July's T-shirt weather. Most roamed uneven alleys nursing a drink. In some spots, the crooked cobblestones became the dance floor and the crowd tripped around.

The group perspired through sunrise and slowly disappeared with the daylight. On the way down from the old city, I noticed people passed out, faithfully holding their last beer.

Throughout the festival, cold Ozujsko beer was on tap for 10 kuna ($1.65). Most of the grape growers in Istria produce homemade wines and spirits, and local products are available at farms surrounding the Motovun (signs simply read "vino"). Next to the bus drop-off, a fruit stand is open for the entire festival stocking the local wine for 10-15 (2.50) kuna per bottle, along with potent liquor called rakija, which can reach 50 percent to 60 percent alcohol.

Motovun's film festival facilities are less than ideal, but somehow that makes it more charming. The theater venues are 14thcentury buildings, not a multiplex with reclining seats or clean bathrooms. In Motovun, seats are hard and either plastic or wood. Rooms have low ceilings and subtitles are sometimes only visible to the first few rows. And almost everyone uses the portable toilets or at night, nature.

The largest theater is located outside on the square and near the town gate, so noise can be a factor. Several hundred chairs comprise the seating, and each audience rearranges them so you might find yourself feeling surrounded and marooned from the exit. During the sleeper "Antares" by Gotz Spielmann, my neighbor napped like a cat on my shoulder, and I tilted back, watching the stars overhead.

Compared to Motovun's carnival atmosphere, Zagreb was a morgue. Trams and sidewalks were deserted except for city workers resurfacing roads and a few lonesome policemen. As Croatia's capitol, with nearly 1 million residents, Zagreb celebrates culture through numerous museums, galleries, concerts, dance, and dramatic performances each year. But this was August, and everyone was at the sea.

During this peak tourist season, stores, companies, and restaurants hang out their "Gone Fishin'" signs and migrate to the water. By the look of it, Croatians are not at all tempted to forfeit their August holidays to earn more tourist money in Zagreb.

To get oriented, I took a two-mile walk and toured the city walls, climbing up Lotrscak tower to see the cannon they still fire every day at noon. From the tower, St. Mark's patterned tile roof and the panoramic view of the Mount Medvednica highlands to the lazy Sava River are worth the 10-kuna entrance fee ($1.65). Down the street, Catholicism is practiced at the city's Stone Gate, where people pray to statues and hundreds of red candles flicker in the wind.

The narrow alleys and streets are ideal for walking, but to move more quickly, public trams and buses are efficient and inexpensive with day passes for 15 kuna ($2.50).

At Jelacica square, the city's nerve center lined with majestic 16th century baroque buildings and upscale cafes, I headed for Praska Avenue. I walked the warm park blocks listening to hissing water fountains and enjoying flowers preening in a late-summer bloom. Within a few minutes by foot, I passed the Gallery of Modern Art, the Archeology Museum, the Art Pavilion, and the National Theater.

I stopped in at the plush Hotel Inter-Continental to gamble. After two guards checked me for guns and dress code violations, I played blackjack in a tomb called Casino City. The place had the lonesome scent of desperation and only two other customers. A dozen assorted pit bosses, dealers, guards, and slot jockeys stood around with spinning roulette wheels for eyes. I won, but it felt like losing. By then it was dark, and the 13th-century Cathedral of the Assumption's glowing towers looked like gothic chandeliers.

Outside the town core, some of the architecture has the same punitive effect found in zoos and jails. One complex in New Zagreb is a famous concrete monstrosity built in Marshall Tito's era with over 1,000 units. A university student who once lived there described conditions as "not human, but cheap."

A local friend introduced me to traditional Croatian cuisine at the upscale Paviljon restaurant in the center of Zagreb (22 Trg Tomislava). The patio looked a lot like what you might find at a Los Angeles country club, but the plates told a different story. The first thing I saw was Fred and Wilma Flintstone sharing a kilo (2.2 pounds) of beef served on a platter. The meat, beer and bread were the stars of the show as decorative crinkle-cut carrots, infant potatoes and cabbage wisps sat untouched.

The menu boasted a variety of pork, beef, lamb and seafood by the kilogram. There was also pag and lika (sheep cheeses), Bosnian cevapi (spiced sausage), and Slavonian kulen (paprika- flavored salami).

For something lighter, I enjoyed the fresh tomato soup and a Croatian vegetable plate, which was a sampling of pickled vegetables (tursija), grilled onions and peppers, roasted potatoes (przeni krumpir) and a pasta and cheese pie called strukli. The lunch tab was very reasonable at 100 kuna ($16.60) for two.

Zagreb is not an electrifying city, but it has a fair share of discos, nightclubs and entertainment listed in a free guide. One of the most popular places with the locals is Sidro, a dingy club featuring Croatian rock and open all night long. Ludnice (Insane House) offers a cultural experience with Serbian folk music. Global is a gay discotheque open all night with commercial dance music and a "crazy" atmosphere. One local described Hemingway's, a singles and tourist bar, as a "terrible elite place, very boring."

I found myself returning to Melin (Kozarska 19). This bar is a phenomenon because it seems everyone in the 18-to-35 year age group meets here for a drink before going out. Melin has the feeling of a giant living room, and it is easy to strike up conversations with strangers. Patrons often buy drinks for each other, and it is important to reciprocate. The price is right as a half-liter of Karlovasco beer costs 10 kuna ($1.65).

For late-night snacks, there are sandwich shops, bakeries and pizzerias. One treat many people eat after a night out is a baked roll called burek sa mesom (with meat) or burek sa sirom (with cheese). These are perfect for soaking up any remaining rakija in your system.

As I traveled through Croatia, Bob Dylan sang in my head, "The times they are a changin'." As the former communist country embraces the European Union and outside investment pours in, the nation is learning the ropes of capitalism. I hope that the times don't change the place too much.

IF YOU GO ... CROATIA

INFORMATION

Videos, travel, hotel and festival information is available through the Croatia Tourist Agency Web site at www.croatia.hr and the Croatian National Tourist Office, 350 Fifth Ave., Suite 4003, New York, NY, 10118 (cntony@earth lin.net).

WHERE TO STAY, ZAGREB

For accommodation in Zagreb, the Hotel Inter-Continental is a luxury option ($190-$230). The Central Hotel across from the train station is a generic mid-grade hotel at ($75-$90). For budget travelers, the 10-bed St. Patrick's Hostel at $18 a night is a great value for a quality hostel experience.

MOTOVUN FILM FESTIVAL

For more information and a program, see www.motovunfilm festival.com.

WHERE TO STAY, MOTOVUN

The campground is one option for film-festival accommodation. However, conditions are very crowded. The Hotel Kastel (www.hotel-kastel-motovun.hr) has rooms and apartments starting at $60. Rooms in private homes are also available.

FERRY GETAWAY ON THE CROATIAN COAST

The Croatian coast is an easy place to forget time. Was it Thursday? No, couldn't be. Friday? Perhaps. After a few shoulder-to-shoulder days with tourists in Pula, a well-preserved Roman military outpost, I decided to disappear for a while.

Pula's picturesque 1st century amphitheater is still used for pop concerts and festivals. The former site of gladiator battles and executions rivals the Roman Coliseum, but I was tired of buildings and longed for solitude. I wanted to swim with the fish and not flop around on land anymore.

To escape the masses, the ferry system is ideal. I jumped on the local boat in Brestova, Istria, and we docked 25 minutes later at the deserted Porozina harbor on the quiet island of Cres. I found a remote campsite in brush overlooking the beach, and I snorkeled alone for hours through clouds of glittering sardines. When plunging through the shimmering schools, I felt like I had smashed through a glass door. The game had the same childhood attraction as running through a flock of pigeons at the zoo. Beside the sardines, the water seemed lifeless except for urchins looking like fallen fruit on the flat ocean floor.

Along the coast, the hot climate painted the landscape browns and yellows. From the fishing boats moored in the soft blue shorebreak, I could see 1,000-year-old stone houses in sun-drenched vineyards. Each was a Mediterranean postcard.

After a few days on Cres living off the local market and a pizzeria, I caught another ferry to the island of Krk and found the old Roman seaside village of Baska, homemade liquor and rocky beaches hosting fewer tourists than the mainland beaches.

Aside from short routes where ferries act like water taxis between two islands, larger ships transport people and cars the coastal length of Croatia from Rijeka to the ancient seaside city of Dubrovnik, Croatia's most popular tourist destination. The historic trading city has deep Roman and Venetian history, and the old town is nicely restored after suffering extensive damage during the 1991-95 war. While Dubrovnik is worth visiting for a couple of days, it is crowded and expensive compared with other coastal locations.

The Dalmatian Coast is loaded with untouched islands, so sailing through the chain is a highlight for most mariners and scuba divers. Hopping off the coastal ferry is the name of the game. For the price of a through ticket from Rijeka to Dubrovnik ($40), passengers can get off at any port for up to one week, which is less expensive than buying individual tickets between destinations. From Zadar, Split, Hvar, Korcula and Mljet, you can take local ferries to more remote locations.

From Zagreb or Rijeka, catching a bus to Split and then a ferry to Dubrovnik or vice versa is the best way to see the Dalmatian Coast as well as the interior Mediterranean landscape and architecture. For accommodation, hotels or private rooms are the most convenient option while on coastal islands. Hotel listings are available at tourist information offices located in ports, and rooms are advertised on houses with the word "Sobe."

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http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Oct/30/il/FP510300317.html

Ivana Kunc

Ivana Kunc comes from a musical family. Her aunt was dramatic soprano Zinka Milanov, and her father noted Croatian composer Bozidar Kunc. Ms. Kunc, a lyric soprano, has performed with numerous opera companies including Opera Northeast, Amato Opera, and Brooklyn Lyric Opera. Some of the roles in her current repertoire include Mimi in La Boheme, Micaela in Carmen, Liu in Turandot, Marguerite in Faust, and Pamina in The Magic Flute.

Ivana has performed solo recitals throughout the Tri-State area. Her most recent, “Try to Remember” produced by Boz and the Bard Productions, included Broadway standards as well as classical pieces.

Currently, Ms. Kunc is preparing a recital of her father’s original songs.

A native New Yorker, Ivana now resides in New Jersey with her husband, guitarist Monroe Quinn. She is also an avid animal rights activist and vegetarian.

Hear Ivana sing the song "Strepnja" composed by Bozidar Kunc

Contact Ivana:ivanajoy@yahoo.com

One has to read with shock and total amazement your commentary

Hilda M. Foley
National Federation of Croatian Americans
13272 Orange Knoll
North Tustin, CA 92705

The Hon. Denis MacShane, MP.
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA, UK Oct. 1, 2005

Dear Sir,

One has to read with shock and total amazement your commentary of 9/30 in the Financial Times
"European Union must square up to Croatia on charges against Gotovina". Are you really so
ill-informed about Croatia's General Gotovina's role in the liberation of rebel Serb occupied Croatian
territory in the so-called Krajina, or is it your typical British Government's affinity for the Serb cause,
no matter how illegal and barbaric?

The sheer idea of Gen. Gotovina being accused of "command responsibility" even though he never
gave any commands for deliberate destruction or the killing of some 150 Serb civilians (it does not
seem to cross anyone's mind that some of these Serb civilians gave armed resistance) should then
also be applied to British and American generals when their troops act against Geneva conventions.
Indeed, Gen. Gotovina angrily addressed his subordinates upon hearing of some occurrences of
killings and there were several trials of the guilty ones. While Croatia extradited all but this one
fugitive, who is not in Croatia, Serbs still hide Bosnia's leader Karadzic and Gen. Mladic, who
directly ordered the killing of thousands of people first in Croatia and then in Bosnia. It is outrageous
that a comparison with Gotovina could even be made. It should also be remembered that these ethnic
Serbs occupied with the help of Serb paramilitary and the Yugoslav army one third of Croatia, where
they ethnically cleansed the entire Croat population, looting and destroying their homes and properties
and committing untold atrocities. Mass graves in Croatia testify to this barbarism.

To charge Gotovina of "ethnic cleansing" is ludicrous, as was made quite clear during the ICTY trial of Milosevic that the Serb population of the Krajina, some 150-200 thousand, were ordered to evacuate
by their own leadership, Serb Gen. Mrksic and "president" Martic. This was confirmed by them in an interview by the Belgrade newspaper "Politika" on Aug. 25. 1995. It is not surprising that Gen.
Gotovina refuses to give himself up, because he knows he is falsely accused and seeing how the
Bosnian Croat Gen. Blaskic, falsely accused, was given a 45 year sentence and after serving nine
years was just recently freed when the wrong conviction was overturned. Obviously there is rampant
injustice and bias against Croatia in some very high places.

Remarking that Tudjman and Milosevic policies caused the "Balkan war" you obviously follow the
West's mantra of "equally guilty" without realizing the simple truth that all of the Yugoslav Republics
had the constitutional right to secede and Serbia had no right to stop them. Croatia and Slovenia
legitimately voted for democracy and independence from Serb domination after the first free
democratic elections in 1990, while Serbia remained communist. Obviously this did not agree with Milosevic's and the nationalist Serbs' longtime dream of "Greater Serbia". In contrast, Croatians
never stepped a foot on Serb soil.

Very truly yours,

Hilda M. Foley

cc: Financial Times, London

The indictments are an abrogation of basic press freedoms

Washington Times Commentary
Another U.N. miscue?
By Jeffrey Kuhner
October 23, 2005

The United Nations is involved in another scandal. This time, however, it
threatens to implicate numerous officials in the U.S. State Department.

Recent revelations of massive corruption in the U.N.'s oil-for-food
program, as well as accusations of rampant sex abuse by peacekeepers in
places such as Cambodia and Kosovo, have finally compelled the Bush
administration to demand greater accountability and reform of the world
body.

Yet there is another area Washington needs to investigate: the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Based in The
Hague, the ICTY is a U.N. court designed to prosecute war crimes committed
during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Instead, the court has become a
politicized instrument seeking to wipe out its democratic critics in the
region.

The ICTY's latest outrage are its indictments of five journalists and a
former counterintelligence officer in Croatia for "contempt of the
tribunal." Their alleged "crime" was they published the identity and
statements of a protected witness in the 1998 case of a Bosnian Croat
general. Even more outrageous, these men face possibly seven years in jail
and a $120,000 fine. In other words, they are assaulted for doing their job:
providing the public sensitive, important information.

The indictments are an abrogation of basic press freedoms. The ICTY
actions have been condemned by many human rights organizations and media
watchdog groups. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has
urged the tribunal to "operate in accordance with the principles of freedom
of the press and, as a result, apply the same safeguards in its procedures
that are usually expected in national jurisdictions."

But the ICTY is not interested in abiding by traditional democratic
standards. The tribunal is deliberately targeting critics in the Croatian
media. On the other hand, the ICTY has refused to prosecute media allies,
such as the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the Croatian daily,
Novi List, which have published the exact same identity and testimony.

Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace on June 14, ICTY chief
prosecutor Carla Del Ponte displayed her thuggish hostility toward tribunal
opponents. During the question-and-answer session, she was confronted by a
Croatian journalist who denounced tribunal attacks on press freedoms. Asked
if she would indict him now that he had publicly criticized her, Mrs. Del
Ponte responded: "Who knows?"

Even if said in jest (and there is nothing remotely humorous about
destroying innocent people's lives), Mrs. Del Ponte's comment was revealing:
It shows her lack of judgment and her arrogant, irresponsible execution of
her duties.

Billed as the great successor to the Nuremberg trials, the ICTY has
instead become a laughingstock. Mrs. Del Ponte even bungled the trial of
former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic -- the Butcher of the Balkans, who
is responsible for the deaths of more than 250,000 people and the ethnic
cleansing of several million Albanians, Bosnians and Croats.

In February 2004, Mrs. Del Ponte admitted she did not have enough
evidence to convict Mr. Milosevic on the most serious charges. This alone
should have forced Washington and Brussels to replace her with a more
competent prosecutor.

Moreover, it is common for the ICTY to offer reduced sentences for
notorious mass murderers. For example, Mrs. Del Ponte agreed to have former
Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic, an architect of the Serbs' ethnic
cleansing campaign, plead guilty to "genocide" in exchange for a sentence of
only 11 years. Hence, a confessed genocidal killer responsible for thousands
of deaths will spend less time in jail than most armed burglars.

Mrs. Del Ponte has also attacked Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman
Catholic Church. Recently, she accused the Vatican hierarchy -- without any
concrete evidence at all -- of protecting fugitive Croatian Gen. Ante
Gotovina.

Asked to provide verifiable proof for her slanderous accusations, Mrs.
Del Ponte could not.
That begs the question: Why does the State Department adamantly support
this out-of-control U.N. prosecutor whose actions undermine the tribunal's
credibility? State Department operatives have tenaciously defended Mrs. Del
Ponte: they justify and rationalize her every act -- no matter how
outrageous. The State Department is now directly involved in covering up her
scandalous behavior.
Mrs. Del Ponte's misconduct warrants a full congressional investigation.
If House Republicans prevail, they may just get one. The powerful House
International Relations Committee (HIRC) is beginning to look into Mrs. Del
Ponte's actions, especially the journalists' indictments. "We are
investigating this," a senior committee member said on the condition of
anonymity. "We are taking this very seriously."
Indeed, this is grave for Americans: The United States is a major
financial ICTY backer. This year alone, Washington spent $23 million. It is
outrageous that U.S. taxpayer money is squandered to support a war crimes
tribunal that slanders priests and prosecutes reporters, while failing to
adequately punish some of the 20th century's most vicious war criminals.
HIRC Chairman Henry Hyde, Illinois Republican, is serving his final term
in Congress. There is no better way for him to end his illustrious career
than by leading the effort to expose this growing U.N. scandal. It is the
right thing to do. It is the American thing to do.

Jeffrey Kuhner is a freelance writer and contributor to the Commentary
Pages at The Washington Times.

http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20051022-100239-5586r.htm

Five Cities in Croatia Ban Animal Circus Performances
Prijatelji Zivotinja

31 October 2005

Velika Gorica, Rovinj and Split joined Mursko Sredisce and Varazdin and banned the circuses with animal performances. Prijatelji zivotinja (Friends of Animals) association invites the other Croatian cities and townships to eliminate the unethical practice of torture of animals.

Circus animals are subjecte to substandard accommodation and frequent changes of climate and habitat.
Velika Gorica, Rovinj and Split are the latest Croatian cities that banned circuses with animal performances, thus joining Mursko Sredisce and Varazding that adopted such bans earlier this month.

The five cities follow the example of Venice, Vienna, Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro and hundreds of other cities all over the world that have declared circuses unwanted within the city limits.

The Prijatelji zivotinja association expects for other Croatian cities to join the initiative and respond to their appeal.

The ethical awareness of the citizens regarding the suffering of animals in traveling circuses rises daily, reflected in the decisions of the city councils that follow the will of the citizens and care about the good reputation of their cities and municipalities.

The bans were provoked by the immense cruelty of methods used by circuses to train, transport and accommodate the animals, in the absence of proper legal standards.

http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/121422/1/3187

Of all the countries he's busked in, Croatia is probably his favorite and he keeps going back there.

Charlie Cusack at home in Carrowholly
The Interview - Charlie Cusack

By Padraig Burns
THE first thing you need to know about Charlie Cusack is that Charlie isn't his proper name at all. He was born Patrick, son of Sean and Mary Cusack from High Street in Westport and he became Charlie when he was in second year at the CBS in Westport. Something to do with a drawing of an alien creature that needed a nickname! Needless to say, on High Street they still call him Pat.

The next thing you need to know about Charlie is that he's one of Ireland's great guitarists. He might not be a marquee name like Rory Gallagher or Dave Evans but talk to the connoisseurs of the instrument and they'll tell you that Charlie is up there with the best of them. A real guitar player's guitar player.

He's lived too, and wherever he's travelled the guitar has travelled with him. He went to Australia for a year, overstayed his welcome by two and ended up on the list of the 30 most wanted illegal people in the State of Victoria. "At the time I was in Queensland picking fruit on a farm and my girlfriend's mother sent her this cutting from a paper with my name in the list of wanted illegals. Basically, there was a reward for anyone with information on my whereabouts, so I took that as encouragement to leave!"

Later, when he was studying the guitar in college in Los Angeles, he took a wrong turn home one day and ended up being beaten up and handcuffed by the police who thought he was a member of a local gang. "I didn't know it at the time, but it was an area where no one used to walk in because it was so dangerous. The police saw me and thought I was robbing somewhere and they just jumped me, pinned me to the ground and handcuffed me. It took a bit of explaining to talk my way out of that," he recalls.

Nowadays, his life is much more serene, and he lives alone in a beautiful cottage in Carraholly, a few miles outside Westport town. He's surrounded by his guitars (13 in total) and tapes and discs of his own recordings and those of his favourite guitarists. He's writing his own material at the moment and he hopes to be able to have enough ready to be in a position to record an album within the next few months.

On the wall of the cottage are the posters that recall the gigs that started it all off for Charlie. Every Sunday night Charlie used to play The Den in Gibbons' Pub, Bridge Street, Westport along with his good friends, Paul Duffy and Paul 'Dude' Kelly, under the name 'Broken Glass'. Charlie used to let rip then and they still talk of the last gig he played before leaving for Germany in 1984. "I remember that night, we played in the front bar and I was up on the tables going mad. John (Gibbons) was great, he didn't really care how loud we played and we used to really give it holly. They were great times. I was working in Galway at the time in Digital, sitting at a desk all week and the Sunday night gig was a great way of letting off steam," he said, laughing at the memories of the 'Broken Glass' world tour t-shirts that did the rounds at the time.

Yet, it could all have passed him by. He used to play the piano when he was in national school but by the time secondary school arrived, he was more interested in football and walking dogs on the Rockies with John Kennedy than he was in music. "It could so easily not have happened for me and probably wouldn't if I hadn't gone to visit my uncle in Leicester one summer. He had a music shop and I worked with him for the summer. When I was leaving he gave me a guitar and that set me off again," he said.

He was around 15 at the time and since then life has revolved around the guitar and his music. After school he studied Electronic Engineering in Galway IT and he also worked in Digital for a while. But the music kept calling him back and in 1985 he walked away from Digital to give all his energies to music.

Since then he's travelled all over Europe, Australia and Asia. He's worked in conventional jobs to keep food on the table and he's busked everywhere he went. Once, in Hamburg in Germany, he was busking on the main pedestrian street and this man came up and asked him would he mind his apartment for two weeks while he was on holidays in Ireland. "He just wanted someone to water the plants while he was away. It was really bizarre," he remembers.

He recalls doing an 18-gig tour of Finland that was more hassle than it was worth. "I had to go everywhere by train. It was mad," he recalled. Of all the countries he's busked in, Croatia is probably his favourite and he keeps going back there. "They love their busking there and I managed to get a pretty big gig there once after I was spotted busking in the street in Split," he said.

In the late eighties he was accepted into the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles and he spent three years there learning new techniques and refining what he knew. It was a tough but worthwhile learning environment. "I was probably the only one there that wasn't American and I had to pay my way. There were times when I didn't have a bob and I lived for a while in a hard area. It wasn't unusual for me to come out of my apartment and for a helicopter to be hovering over with its lights beaming down on someone who was being held at gunpoint by the police," he said.

At the moment he's heavily into the Dadgad technique of guitar playing. Pierre Benssusan is renowned as the world's most authoritative exponent of the Dadgad technique and earlier this year Charlie spent a fortnight at his home just outside Paris, learning from the master.

"Dadgad is a tuning. It's used a lot in traditional music but it's only as a background, as strumming. I wanted to get some idea of how it works and I transcribed three pieces of his music. I used a notebook and I had to write down every note that he did and it took me weeks and weeks. It showed me what compositional devices he was using and how he was structuring it.

"When I discovered this tuning it spoke to me more than the standard tuning. I was able to compose more and it was related more to my roots. I find it so easy to compose in this tuning and anyone that uses it says the same things. Musically, I'm going back over and trying to complete music that I've written for an acoustic CD. But I need a new guitar because I've discovered that the guitar that I play the Dadgad on is limited. I can see from other players that are demanding an awful lot more from their instruments and the guitar I have isn't capable of these demands. A guy called Kevin Ryan in California hand makes the type of guitar that I need. He's leaving 11mm between the strings and that facilitates the finger picking. There's a bigger space and it makes it easier to pick, especially if you're pushing the boundaries of the guitar. I'm progressing and it's opened up a whole new world for me. I've learned a lot too from a guy called Michael Hedges and I'm trying to incorporate a lot of that into my work. I find that it inspires me," he said.

He lives for his music, always has and probably always will. He doesn't bother with the television and spends most of his time writing and listening to music in Carraholly.

He loves the challenge that is facing him at the moment: getting to grips with Dadgad, getting that new guitar sorted and completing his own recordings is more than enough to keep him busy. "I don't know what I'd do without my music, I really don't. You know, no matter what mood you're in there's music to suit. You can be in love and there's a tune for that or you can have the blues and there's something for that too.

"I'm really enjoying trying to get to grips with the whole Dadgad thing. I'm off to America in April to meet up with this guy I met at the seminar in France this year to explore it further and while I'm there I'll get my new guitar. I also have my own work to complete. The plan is to record it here in the cottage and if I can do that I'll be a happy man."

If there is a downside to his life at the moment it's the lack of gigs. He used to have a regular slot in a pub in Westport but an Elvis impersonator with backing tracks replaced him. "I can't compete with someone like that. It's getting hard to get gigs," he said.

When it's put to him that The Den is still vacant he smiles at the thought of a 'Broken Glass' reunion. It probably will never happen but there's a generation of people in Westport that would love nothing more than the sight of Charlie Cusack letting rip on Bridge Street again. Any chance, Charlie?