"Vaster Than Empires" by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Caetano Veloso

"Vaster Than Empires" from the soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino's extraordinary film "Queer" with Daniel Craig reaches into me, walks on my soul, effortlessly slays me. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross created the soundtrack, and this song featuring legendary Brazilian Tropicalismo singer Caetano Veloso played over the closing credits.

How can a man who sees and feels
be other than sad?
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)

How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

How can a man who sees and feels (What is an experience if it is not shared?)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

(What is an experience if it is not shared?)
How can a man who sees and feels (A sad feeling can be seen)
be other than sad? (Did it even happen?)

Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
The price of immortality, immortality
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow
The price of immortality, immortality
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow

How can a man who sees and feels (A centipede can be seen)
(Did it even happen?)

(You should have thought of these things)
Be other than sad? (As a test upon which love)

(You should have not only...)
Our love will grow vaster than empires and more slow

(You should have thought of these things)

(You should have not only thought of these things)
Did it even happen?
What is an experience if it is not shared?
Did it even happen?

https://www.nin.com/

NO KINGS 3.28.26

I am marching today.
Each time I attend a rally and march, the crowd gets bigger and bigger. Protesting is a way to energize, to gather strength, to embolden your friends and neighbors to join. To be a wrench in the machine, to create a wall of resistance. The right don't like these marches and rallies ... which is exactly why we need to continue gathering and marching and protesting. I love my country and I am not going to watch it turned into a controlled, propagandist, intolerant regime ... that is not what the United States was ever meant to be.

https://www.nokings.org/

Here, below, is the Declaration of Independence. It reads like a current list of transgressions by the current occupant of the White House and his entire administration.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

"Blue Morpho" by Ed O'Brien

Arriving with spring, take a listen to the reassuring, swelling, silken "Blue Morpho" by Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien. With this track, it is clear to see his influence on Radiohead. And the string arrangement here is reducing me to a puddle...

Taken from the upcoming "Blue Morpho" album out on 22nd May, 2026.

https://www.instagram.com/eobofficial/

Happy Spring Equinox 2026!

At 7:46 A.M. Pacific time, it will be the first day of spring. Today, our planet will be upright on its axis producing a day and night of equal length...perfect symmetry. Enjoy!

The Last Day Of Winter 2026

Today is the last day of winter. Tomorrow is the Spring Equinox when the day and night will be of equal length.

St. Joseph's Bread 2026

I come from a large Italian family. My great grandmother arrived in the United States on the SS Europa in 1910 to marry a man whose family came from the same village she just left. By the time I came along in 1964, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law and as you can imagine, was already quite old and hard of hearing (a problem that runs in our family). When I visited, she would be sitting at an enormous oak table in the front room, a soap opera blasting from the television, playing solitaire. Although she spoke English, she retained a very heavy Italian accent and would lapse into Italian whenever she was excited or frustrated. And I never saw her in anything but plain black or dark dresses, the kind…well, the kind immigrant women wore in the 1920s.

She was of course a Roman Catholic and brought with her all sorts of feast days, observations, and traditions. But the most delicious feast day for us was that of Saint Joseph. There is a special kind of bread that is baked only on this day, Saint Joseph’s Bread or Panne di San Guiseppe. It is tender and sumptuous, more like cake but not sweet, more on the savory side. It was a treat everyone in the family looked forward to all year. I don’t know how many loaves my great grandmother would make but every family got one--she would bake all day and then walk to each home to deliver them in person...so today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the day when she would have delivered these treats.

Anise seed (a very traditional Italian spice that shows up in many national and regional dishes) is what gives this bread a subtle taste. Some traditional recipes call for the addition of golden raisins, but I will say that my great-grandmother never added them. While I am in no way religious (although I am a mystic at heart, which is very different!), I still enjoy this delicious bread.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

5 lb. flour
2 Tbs. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. anise seed
Combine these ingredients in a large bowl
Work in 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In another bowl combine:
4 1/2 cups warm water
3 pkgs. of yeast or 3 tbs. of yeast
Dissolve yeast in warm water
Add 5 eggs, beaten

Add liquid ingredients to flour and shortening mixture. Mix well and knead on floured surface. Place in greased bowl and allow to rise until double in size. Punch down and let rise another hour.

Shape into small round loaves (should yield around 5), and let rise for 30 minutes. Traditionally, the loaves were small and could be made in the shape of a cross, bambino (baby), heart, beard, crown, or staff in honor St. Joseph.

Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

"Seabird" by deary

The trio of deary (Dottie Cockram on vocals and guitar, Ben Easton on guitar, and Harry Catchpole on drums), previously here, is a continuation of the glorious, shimmering sound pioneered by Cocteau Twins back in the 80s. And in fact, deary are releasing a new album, "Birding" through Simon Raymonde's label, Bella Union: Raymonde was in Cocteau Twins so, ahem, knows a bit about the vibe...

This song "Seabird" is a marvelous, swirling affair that makes me swoon...just like the original Cocteau Twins did.

https://www.dearyband.com/

3.17.26

I'll have a boxty and a Guinness...

Top to bottom: St. Mary's Old Parish graveyard, Cahir, Ireland; Roadside sign, Cahir, Ireland; Ben Bulben mountain from Drumcliffe, Ireland; St. Columba's Church, Drumcliffe, Ireland; grave of W.B. Yeats, St. Columba's Church, Drumcliffe, Ireland; Giant's Causeway sign, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; Giant's Causeway sign, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; Giant's Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; basalt columns at Giant's Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

All photos above by JEF


"Belfast Child" by Simple Minds
When my love said to me
Meet me down by the gallow tree
For it's sad news I bring
About this old town and all that it's suffering
Some say troubles abound
Some day soon they're gonna pull the old town down
One day we'll return here
When the Belfast Child sings again

Brothers, sisters, where are you now?
As I look for you right through the crowd
All my life here I've spent
With my faith in God, and Church, and the Government
But there's sadness abound
Some day soon they're gonna pull the old town down

One day we'll return here
When the Belfast Child sings again
When the Belfast Child sings again

So come back Billy, won't you come on home?
Come back Mary, you've been away so long
The streets are empty, and your mother's gone
The girls are crying, it's been oh so long
And your father's calling, come on home
Won't you come on home, won't you come on home?

Come back people, you've been gone a while
And the war is raging through the Emerald Isle
That's flesh and blood man, that's flesh and blood
All the girls are crying but all's not lost

The streets are empty, the streets are cold
Won't you come on home, won't you come on home?

The streets are empty

Life goes on

One day we'll return here
When the Belfast Child sings again
When the Belfast Child sings again

http://www.discoverireland.com/us/

http://www.simpleminds.com

Keith says "RESIST!"

"In 1988 Keith created the logo for an organization called Refuse & Resist! R&R! opposed censorship, war and police brutality. The organization dissolved in 2006 but this image still resonates very strongly today & is one of the most widely shared Haring images on the internet."
--The Keith Haring Foundation

https://www.haring.com/

Currently listening to...

...selections from "Every Man And Woman Is A Star" by Ultramarine. The album, released in 1991, is a marvelous, strange hybrid of music that reminds me of a very specific time in my life, as only music can do.

Ultramarine (still) are Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond, an English electronic music duo formed in 1989. This second album of theirs is often cited as the precursor to the folktronica music genre with the international online magazine Pop Matters saying that the album "fit right in with the psychedelic, ethereal 'ambient house' or 'chill out' music of acts like the Orb, KLF, and Aphex Twin," describing the duo as "nature-loving would-be hippies who [...] translated that pastoral ethos into music that was full of breezy, midtempo rhythms and shaded in with traditional instruments like violin and harmonica."

Indeed, the sounds and samples are heavily influenced by spirituality and the occult (the title is from a quote by occult writer Aleister Crowley from his "The Book of the Law"), and songs feature spoken word pieces from sources such as Native American storytellers (on the opening track "Discovery") and movement / trance-dance therapist Gabrielle Roth (on "Stella"). Music samples range from Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Cutter" to "One Of These Nights" by The Eagles.

https://ultramarine.uk.com/

BEAUTY: Ceramics--Hylton Nel

As South African conceptual artist, sculptor, and ceramicist Hylton Nel says of himself, "Been doing this for 50 years." Over that time, he has created a charming body of work but I am most drawn to his pieces featuring script. I love his sculptures and vases, but the plates are special: lovely works of art, but I would like to use them as functional plates as well...

https://hyltonnel.co.za/HOME

"The Lake" by Fever Ray

On the heels of yesterday's International Women's Day, here is Fever Ray (the nom de musique of Karin Dreijer), previously here, performing "The Lake" from the new film "The Bride" written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring the award-winning--and Oscar-nominated--actress and singer Jessie Buckley, previously here. A trio of talented, strong women. Fever Ray makes an appearance in the film and I believe it is this footage we see below... we can see The Bride dancing in the audience...

https://feverray.com/
https://www.thebridemovie.com/

Happy International Women's Day 2026

Today, March 8th, 2026, is the 115th International Women's Day. Read on for information about this year's theme from the official IWD site:

When we give, we gain.

Together, let's help forge gender equality through abundant giving.

The IWD 2026 Give To Gain Campaign encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration.

Give To Gain emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it's intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.

Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women's advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.

What will you Give to Gain gender equality?

Visit the International Women's Day website to learn more:
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

BEAUTY: Drawing and Digital Art--Toshihiko Okuya

The thoughtful work of Japanese artist Toshihiko Okuya is entirely engaging. He imports pencil drawings into a digital format and adds color. The results are fascinating. I see echoes of so many great artists in his work: Miro, Bacon, Picasso, Klee...

Top to bottom: 190818; study #015 (story of t he family); study #073; study #115; study #117; study #141 (dancers); study #153; untitled; visitor; wednesday woman

https://quinbaya.com/okuya/#
https://www.tumblr.com/toshihiko-okuya

Purchase prints here!
https://okuya-art.stores.jp/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

Regular readers know that when I share haute couture, I generally post coverage of men's clothing during Fashion Weeks, and only houses that are on-calendar, with a few exceptions. But this ethereal FW '26-'27 womenswear collection my beloved Rick Owens just showed is amazing. And I need to share it.

Titled "Tower," it is the companion show to his menswear show of the same name (each season he titles his men's and women's collections the same). Feminine, yet savage--a pleasing combo. But I mean, come on...just look at the structure and volume.
Structure. And. Volume.

https://www.rickowens.eu/

"Helios" by Luke Jerram

I would love to see this amazing art installation is person! This enormous representation of our star is a companion piece to one of the moon that artist Luke Jerram created in 2017, previously here.  Of this current creation, the artist's website says:

Helios is a touring artwork of the Sun by UK artist Luke Jerram.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 72dpi detailed imagery* of the Sun’s surface. At an approximate scale of 1:200 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 2000km of the Sun’s surface.

It is very dangerous to look at the Sun directly as it can damage our eyesight, so Helios provides a safe opportunity for the public to get up close to, and inspect its extraordinarily detailed surface, including sunspots, spicules and filaments. The sculpture also features the source of the solar flares which caused the Northern lights to be visible from the UK in May 2024.

As well as highlighting the science of the Sun, the artwork allows us to consider its importance in all our lives; for light, warmth, energy for our planet and how our nearest star has inspired culture and religion throughout history, all around the world.

The installation is a fusion of solar imagery, animated lighting and a specially created surround sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson.

Over its lifetime, Helios will be presented in a number of different locations worldwide, both indoors and outdoors, so altering the experience and interpretation of the artwork. As it travels from place to place, it will collect personal responses, stories and mythologies, as well as highlighting the latest solar science.

Helios also acts as a venue, enabling hosts to create their own programme of Sun inspired events and activities to take place beneath the artwork, including orchestral and choral performances; space science lectures by astronauts; environmental and wellbeing discussions with scientists and activists; yoga; poetry readings; dance and theatre performances.

Helios, in ancient Greek mythology, is the god who personifies the Sun. He drove a four-horse chariot across the sky each day, giving the earth its hours and seasons.

*The imagery for the artwork has been compiled using approximately 400,000 photographs of the Sun provided by Astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green (taken between May 2018 to June 2024) and NASA observations of the Sun, with guidance from solar scientist, Professor Lucie Green of University College London (UCL).

Photo by Bec Hughes

Detail of the surface of Helios

Photo by Hugh Mothersole

Photo by James Dobson

Helios in Bath Assembly Rooms, England, Photo by Thomas Greetham

Helios at the Old Royal Naval College, London

Dinner under Helios

Silent disco under Helios by Jolade Olusanya

For the touring schedule, check Luke Jerram's site below:
https://my-helios.org/

Just finished reading...

"Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy" by Joyce Vance (a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at The University of Alabama, and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017 appointed by Obama).

A friend of mine gave me her copy of this uplifting book to read, saying that she found it to be a helpful antidote to the fear and disappointment many of us in the former United States of America are living with. And she was right, it was wonderful to be reminded that the government is not broken, the principles are not broken, Congress is not broken, the Supreme Court is not broken, the office of the President is not broken, the concept of Democracy itself is not broken...these things remain whole, innocent, waiting to be used in an ethical, moral way. It is some of the people within these positions and institutions that are broken. The bedrock is intact. But we the people have the power and obligation to remove and replace the broken ones with those who believe in the Constitution, Democracy, and the ideals of what we can continue to achieve as a Nation.

The book's blurb says:

We’re in this together.

For the past several years, Joyce Vance has signed off posts on her chart-topping Substack, "Civil Discourse", with these four words. In that time, she has guided readers through a continued erosion of democratic norms, the unprecedented felony conviction of an ex-president, and the constitutionally calamitous beginning to the second Trump administration. Here, Vance offers a blueprint for avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle.

Giving Up Is Unforgivable is a clarion call to action, putting our current crisis in historical context and sketching out a vision for where we go next. Vance’s message is hopeful at its heart, even as it acknowledges the daunting challenges that lie ahead. She is the constitutional law professor you never knew you needed, explaining the legal context and the political history— and why the rule of the law still matters. At the same time, she empowers the reader to do something, both as individuals and collectively.

Consider this the birth of a countermovement to Project 2025, a rallying cry for citizen engagement to combat the second Trump administration and save American democracy.

Recommend? Yes, it is a wonderful, easy read: six succinct chapters allow her to make her case and outline a paradigm. If you could use some fortification against the daily onslaught of vicious cruelty and ineptitude, buy a copy and read carefully!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/801635/giving-up-is-unforgivable-by-joyce-vance/
https://joycevance.substack.com/