Count Bachula » William Zeitler’s Journal

Progress at Castle Bachula

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:35:14 +0000

It’s taken quite a bit of doing, but we finally have Internet at Castle Bachula. Satellite was our only option, but that works. The real challenge was electric power. Count Bachula will only use the Internet at night for some reason, so I’ve had to special order lunar panels instead of solar panels—since lunar panels will work at night. (Except on new moons, but what can you do!)

I must confess it’s pretty strange to surf the Web by candle and torch-light. On a lunar-powered internet connection, no less.

Now to introduce the Count to the World Wide Web!

Scenes from Castle Bachula

admin — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:41:13 +0000

Count Bachula’s Castle is quite amazing! Here’s the living room:

Count Bachula's Living Room

Here’s the Count’s master bedroom (that bed doesn’t look very comfortable to me! But to each their own…

Count Bachula's Master Bedroom

And here’s the Count’s den with entertainment center:

Count Bachula's Den with Entertainment Center

And here’s the Count’s Bach-Mobile:

Count Bachula's "Bach-Mobile"

We Arrive at Castle Bachula

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:20:36 +0000

We have finally arrived at Castle Bachula—at midnight, no less. That last 20 mile stretch riding in a horse-drawn carriage was like traveling back in time! And there sure are a lot of wolves around here—we heard them howling the whole way! Maybe the full moon has something to do with that. Hope the recording equipment is OK.

The castle is really rather spectacular:

Castle Bachula

Traveling to Castle Bachula

admin — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:11:16 +0000

Left Munich at 8:35 p.m. on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late.

I was hired by Count Bachula to record his organ playing onto CD. He said something about his Edison Cylinders of his playing wearing out—that doesn’t make any sense at all! Edison Cylinders were obsolete about 100 years ago!

I tried to talk the Count into coming to the U.S. where it would be so much easier, but he couldn’t be persuaded. Something about Clipper Ships being too uncomfortable. (???) Instead, he did offer me a sufficiently large check which made it worth my while to travel to Castle Bachula. He said I’d only need a one way ticket—sorry, but a round-trip ticket up front was simply non-negotiable!

What an odd fellow! Or maybe like the typical musician—up all night, sleeps all day. And he’s sent me some rough recordings of his music. All of it sounds eerily familiar, but I just can’t quite place it.

Meanwhile, my trip to Castle Bachula has gone smoothly so far! His assistant E. Gore has joined me and that helps a lot. I asked him if he was related to Al Gore—he said he wasn’t sure, but didn’t think so.