Seen In New York City

"Tend" by Gem Club

Thrilled and surprised...Gem Club (the nom de musique of Christopher Barnes, previously here) has released a new song, "Tend." Listen to this soft, angelic track below. I can only hope this might mean a complete album is on the way.

Although we've never met, somehow you sing my life in your songs (especially "Soft Season"). We've missed you and your exquisite music, Christopher!

Tend to me for tonight
I am a fool
Rest your head on my chest
But you left the room
I’m the one with the grace
To let you move

Tend to me for tonight
I can’t return
Lift your eyes up to mine
From across the room

Are you safe in the night love
Are we still apart

With no forgiveness
You’re not stopping now
Finally on something else
Sweet and light

https://www.iamgemclub.com/
https://www.instagram.com/gemclub

"Thumbs Up" by The Howl & The Hum

Here's another wonderful, touching song that addresses the problem of young men and depression and suicide, all stemming from a stifling, damaging, traditional masculinity (please do take a few minutes to hear and see Sam Fender's devastating song "Dead Boys" previously here.)

Singer-songwriter Sam Griffiths spoke about the song:

"'Thumbs Up' is the confession that us men don’t know how to talk to other men about important stuff...This song was written in the silence after suicides of friends, during depressive episodes, and over non-existent conversations about how we communicate our feelings: our highs, our lows, our loves and losses. It also references 80s movie icons Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, a brief admittance of vulnerability in the face of what we call masculinity...It’s an odd one, isn’t it? But then I went to an all-boys school, where there’s so much silence and you only talk about objective truths, football, but not the emotional flow of feelings...It’s that masculinity; that thing of pride. But now we’re in age where masculinity can take a different guise and suffering is a huge part of that, and it feels such a shame that we can’t talk about it...Looking back, we may see our friends as being like superheroes at school, like my best mate at school, who killed himself a month after leaving. No-one, No-one had taught us how to talk to each other."

Lay by my side
We’ll watch all the films that you like
Silent all, silent all night
If that’s what you want

TV screen blue
We’ll sit and watch Predator 2
Cos it makes you feel silent & strong
Silent and strong

I think we should talk
I think we should talk

You give me a thumbs up
Just like the terminator did
When drowning in lava
Is it any wonder
Is it any wonder
I worry about you kid?

Open your mouth
The darkness can finally come out
As Bruce Willis cries
You realise
You could be alright

I think we should talk
I think we should talk

You give me a thumbs up
Just like the terminator did
When drowning in lava
Is it any wonder
Is it any wonder
I worry about you kid?

There’s a hole in my home town
All my friends seem to fall down
But never will float out
But you’re not alone now
You’re not alone now

Watching films with my brother
Wondering our place on this rock
And wondering what it’ll take now
To ever just stop

https://www.thehowlandthehum.com/

Memorial Day 2024

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. And I want to honor two of my own relatives who fought Fascism...one died in World War I and the other fought valiantly in World War II.

I am sure my relatives are rolling in their graves, after fighting and dying to make sure that Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. That was a time when Republicans thought Fascism was a bad thing, unlike today when they--and the last administration--support dangerous regimes in Russia and others around the world. I know both of these men (one of them an Italian immigrant), if they were alive now, would be appalled and outraged that Fascism is being institutionalized by the Republican party, and welcomed and encouraged by its supporters. My relatives died so the very thing that is happening now, wouldn't. And it makes me infinitely sad and frustrated that these men seemingly died for nothing...and that segments of the population of this country support the kind of nationalism, totalitarianism, disdain for facts and humanity, and suppression that are the hallmarks of Fascism.

 
I honor my brave relatives and all who fought Fascism. I truly hope that we can fight this frightening global movement to the right and ensure that they all died for the noble, uplifting principle of humanism.

"We are always at war. We spend twice as large a share of our GDP on the military as the world does in general. It’s the longest sustained period of open-ended combat in our nation’s history. And yet the country as a whole is barely affected. We have halftime ceremonies honoring the heroes. We let them get onto commercial airlines earlier, but we don’t think seriously about what they’re doing, the missions we’re asking them to undertake.

And, as a result, in my view, we have embarked on a series of unwinnable wars. We call people heroes and then send them to do things they can’t do....

When I was a kid in the ’50s and ’60s and then older in the ’70s, American pop culture reflected a country familiar enough with its military to make fun of it at times. You had shows like 'Gomer Pyle,' or 'Hogan’s Heroes,' or 'McHale’s Navy.'

You had works of art like 'South Pacific' or novels like 'Catch 22' and even movies like 'MASH,' respected the importance of the military and the important things it did that were heroic in the large scale, like World War II, but it was still made of real people with their real foibles.

But we — now we have started to have this artificially reverent view of the military that’s also distant and disengaged."
--James Fallows

"Last Night" by Romain Garcia

This new track, "Last Night" from Romain Garcia starts off as a typical electronic dance song but there is something about the chords, and the emotive, distorted vocal sample that swirls and whirls around my head, melting me...and it all ends up in a grand wall of sound. Quite lovely, actually.

https://romaingarcia.com/

"There is no art without a poetic aim."

"Who speaks of art, speaks of poetry. There is no art without a poetic aim."
--Édouard Vuillard

How To Write A Poem

1. Be born.

2. Sit quietly, with your eyes closed and feel your heart beating against the inside of your body, as if it is knocking to get out.

3. Look through a magnifying glass, draw a map, paint a picture of what you want to say.

4. If you don’t know what you want to say, study the thin place where the sky meets the earth. Think about everything that line contains.

5. Use your eyes, your fingers, your hips, to carve out a shape.

6. If it is airtight, light a candle below it, fill it with hot air, and let it rise. If it is not, let it roam where it wants.

7. Tell it it is beautiful before it goes.

©JEF 2012

Flower Moon

Harvey Milk Day 2024

Today is Harvey Milk Day, an international day of remembrance and celebration of the life of political pioneer and gay rights activist Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), organized by The Harvey Milk Foundation.

Harvey Milk, who was known informally as "The Mayor of Castro Street," was the first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. His presence, life, and tragic assassination at the hands of a homophobic murderer (an event that triggered the White Night Riots) changed the texture, pulse, and meaning of life for gay men and women everywhere. Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk's and intern for Milk at the time of his assassination, put it succinctly: "His murder and the response to it made permanent and unquestionable the full participation of gay and lesbian people in the political process." The progress we have made and the continued success of gay rights was certainly helped by Milk and his courage. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us."

http://www.harveymilkday.co/
http://milkfoundation.org/

How To Tell The Difference

"Delphinium Blue" by Cassandra Jenkins

This new song, "Delphinium Blue" by Cassandra Jenkins is just lovely. The lyrics are absolute poetry...and the music and her voice are perfect compliments to a story about longing and love. Her newest release "My Light, My Destroyer" is out July 12, 2024.

I saw I missed your call
Sorry for not picking up
I got the job
At the flower shop

I sweep the floors but I’m talking to you
I see your eyes in the delphinium too
I’ve become a servant
To their blue

Chin up
Stay on task
Wash the windows
Count the cash

I picked up another couple of shifts
I hear your voice when I’m closing
The nights fall like thorns
Off the roses

All around me the narcissus bloom
I picture the sun hitting you
The air is filled
With their perfume

Chin up
Stay on task
Wash the windows
Count the cash
Cut the stems
To make them last
Keep it cool
Behind the glass

The air is filled
With their perfume

https://cassandrajenkins.com/

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia 2024

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.

The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. The Day represents a major global annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, corporations, opinion leaders, local authorities, etc. to the alarming situation faced by people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.

May 17 is now celebrated in more than 130 countries, including 37 where same-sex acts are illegal. Thousands of initiatives, big and small, are reported throughout the planet.

The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia has received official recognition from several States, international institutions such as the European Parliament, and by countless local authorities. Most United Nations agencies also mark the Day with specific events.

From the official May17.org site:

IDAHOBIT, celebrated annually on 17 May, is a global initiative that aims to raise awareness about discrimination, violence, and challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community.

Decided during extensive consultations with LGBTIQ organisations from across the world, the theme will allow for advocacy and celebrations in many forms – be it from human rights defenders, LGBTIQ civil society groups, millions of people in our communities, and our allies.

The world has just celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — a document that is much more than a cornerstone of international law: it is a guide to navigate a deeply divided world, a set of values that everyone can live by, and ultimately a force for good. And yet, we know that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” represents a promise not yet fulfilled — for LGBTIQ people across the world, and for everyone experiencing the suffocating impact on their lives of diverse layers of inequalities. This year’s IDAHOBIT theme is a call for unity: only through solidarity for each other will we create a world without injustice, where no one is left behind.

Please visit the website for more uplifting and empowering information.
https://may17.org/

BEAUTY: Painting--Men of Antiquity, Part Fourteen

In a continuing series (previous entries seen here), here are, yet again, a lot of handsome-ass men from long ago...

Top to bottom: attributed to Raphaël Collin--Portrait de Paul Victor Grandhomme; Caroline Hall--Mr Philipps’ Nephew (Captain the Honourable Colwyn Erasmus Arnold Philipps, in the Uniform of the Horse Guards); Carolus-Duran--Portrait de Georges Feydeau; Edward Clifford--Tito Melema; Fra Lippo Lippi--Edward Robert Hughes; Giovan Battista Moroni--Portrait of a 29 Year Old Man; Ilya Efimovich Repin--Portrait of Yurkevich; James Tissot--Self Portrait

"Rugby Child" by Amen Dunes

Amen Dunes (the nom de musique of musician Damon McMahon, previously here) has been fascinating me for some time now. And he has released some really fascinating songs. This new one, "Rugby Child" is another in a string of intriguing musical statements. I love the texture of it, the typewriter percussion, and how the journey of the piece shifts several times: the addition of a barely-there (synth?) bottom at 1:11; the addition of drums at 1:30; and the dramatic tone from 2:00 onwards. Amazing work, Damon. From his forthcoming release, "Death Jokes" out May 10th, 2024.

And away we go
Gonna ride it out tonight
Got a pile of fifty ones
And nothing but time

You hear that Annie died?
She was straight for fifty days
When they said to stay inside
She'd just gone crazy

But in the here and now
Gonna ride with the windows down
I don't feel like anything
Could follow me now

All the time we gather round
It's so easy, I'm around

In the end, Annie got so twisted
Shot him right there in his head
"I'd give up on all this stuff
If you promised I'd feel different than now"

Power, when you got it
You can live off of the shining
Three chords, when you feel alone
In the Ghetto, when the day goes
Truth is, you don't need 'em
When you give up, then you beat 'em

(I-ahh)

Won't you try it my way
Nothing to lose
Doesn't mean it's hard because it's true

Power, when you feel it
When you get up, and you need it
Three chords, when you fade off
When you get alone, and when your day comes
Truth is, we will get on
From the Kingdom to the devil

Amen Dunes is on tour.

https://bedroomdrum.com/

"Ichi go ichi e" leads to "mono no aware"

Two Japanese phrases compliment each other: Ichi go ichi e leads to mono no aware.

"So We Find Ourselves" by Fink

A stunning piece of gentle, eerie, blue-eyed soul..."So We Find Ourselves" by Fink (previously here) from his forthcoming release "Beauty in Your Wake," released July 5, 2024.

So we find ourselves in love with you
How we got here I have no idea
Fall through gaps in conversation
How did we end up, all the way up here

Let's say we f*** it up
Let's say we get it wrong I say we
Always get it right
We always get it right
I say we always get it right
In the end
In the end
So we find ourselves in love with you

https://finkmusic.net/

I Miss My Mom

Take one if you miss your mom too.

BEAUTY: Painting--Lisa Breslow

With an upcoming trip to NYC in my mind, here is the fun, near-abstract cityscape imagery of artist Lisa Breslow. I love her use of palette knives to create structure.

Top to bottom: Chelsea Shadows; From the High Line; Gramercy Park South; Greens and Blues; High Line; Spring Green; West Village Street 2; Yellow Light

https://www.lisabreslow.com/

Now It's Time For You To Meet Loren Kramar

Here is Loren Kramar's new song "Gay Angels" from his brand new release "Glovemaker" available now. His voice, his sensibility, his lyrics...exquisite. And the build of this song is wrenching.

There’s always been a voice
Sometimes smooth
Sometimes squawking
Sometimes screaming

There’s always been a scene
Where velvet curtains should’ve been
And trained actors instead of me
Reframing boyhood dramedy
I’ve seen mad fathers
Working impressions of snow angels in driveways
To stop sad mothers from leaving and speeding away

I found shy brothers
Painting bruises on green eyes
Before carpools
Drowning shy brothers
Peeping through inches of closed open doors

I’ve seen gay angels
Sleeping with eyes open
Staring right through the heart of dreams
Landing square on the face of God
Show me one difference between me and love

There’s always been a voice
With some clever little line
Maybe half of the time
What’s in a mind?

There’s always been a scene
With some perfect little trap door beneath
Well, that’s for me
What’s for me?

I’ve seen gay angels
Sleeping with eyes open
Staring right through the heart of dreams
Landing square on the face of God
Show me one difference between me and love
What’s the difference between me and love?

I said it cos I meant it
You heard it or you didn’t
Do you hear it? Do you hear it? Do you hear it?
There’s no breaking, only bending
Been a lifetime of defending
No more pretending
No more pretending

I’ve seen gay angels
Sleeping with eyes open
Staring right through the heart of dreams
Landing square on the face of God
Show me one difference between me and love
What’s the difference between me and love?

Me and love
Me and love
Me and love

And this song, "Hollywood Blvd" captures a certain naïve obsession with fame and glamour for its own sake that is both sweet and pitiable.

Welcome to Warner Brothers Studio Tour
If you look to your left in a minute
In a half a minute now
He's coming over
Everybody say hello to the director of the movie

Hello everybody
My name’s Loren Kramar
I’m the director of the movie that your tour guide’s talking about

How do you like LA?
I hope you love it
Come back now, ya hear?
Haha!
See you all later

Back to you notepad
I’m gonna have my way with you
Come on pencil
Let’s show notepad what we can do

Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3 through 10
11 through 20
21 through 50
End
Fade out
Fade out

Drive me to Hollywood Blvd
I want to see my fallen star
Drive me to Hollywood Blvd
I've got hands and feet to put in the concrete

Move over
Move over
I'm coming through
I’m coming through
Only joking but please get out of the way
Today’s a very special day
I, of all people
Am getting a star
On Hollywood Blvd.
On Hollywood Blvd.

On the Walk of Fame!
On the Walk of Fame!
Do you see it, everybody?
On the Walk of Fame
The Walk of Fame!
The Walk of Fame!
Who wants to live forever?
I do!
Who wants to live forever?
I do!
Who wants to live forever?
I do!
Who wants to live forever?
I do!

https://lorenkramar.com/