Iranian leader coming our way tonight

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be in Bali later tonight. At the moment he is in Jakarta and will attend Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Jakarta, before flying out. President Ahmadinejad told Indonesian Muslim leaders, that Iran wants to live in peace, and will use nuclear power for that end.

Friday night means I will be heading down the street, to the Jaya Pub, close to Jl. Double Six, to watch my friend Richard perform. Richard is a guitarist / singer who has built a recording studio in the mountains at Batukaru. He lives there with his family, and ventures out into the villages, meeting Balinese and learning about Balinese gamelan music. Richard told me he dreams of creating some kind of western / gamelan fusion, which is a hard nut to crack, due to the syncopated rhythms used in gamelan. Anyway tonight he’ll be on guitar, and if President Ahmadinejad cares to stop by, I’ll but him his first beer.