*swoon*
Victor Garber is one lucky, lucky...lucky man.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
BEAUTY: Man--Rainer Andreesen
Artist and model Rainer Andreesen (previously here) is featured in the newest campaign for The Field. He is also actor Victor Garber's partner.
*swoon*
*swoon*
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Just finished reading...
...Virginia Woolf's second novel NIGHT AND DAY from 1919.
I love Virginia Woolf's work and have listed TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, a stunning piece of literary artistry that literally made me weep, as one of my favorite books on my "Important Books That Have Influenced Me" list to the right on this blog. But I recently realized that the Woolf I love is the Woolf of the deconstructed novel, the Woolf of the stream of consciousness narrative device, the Modernist Woolf. So in an effort to rectify this perception, I have been reading some of her earlier works. I started with her first novel, THE VOYAGE OUT which I wrote about here, and now I have just finished reading her second novel, NIGHT AND DAY.
There are some differences between this early Woolf and the Woolf who later produced master works like THE WAVES and TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. Most notable is the relative lack of the stream of consciousness device, the internal monologue, the deep study of the psychological state of an individual through their thoughts, perceptions, and reactions to the world. This highly stylized internal approach had not yet been explored by Woolf but one can see the beginnings of it in NIGHT AND DAY which is mostly composed of relatively straight forward exposition and dialogue. But lengthy passages are devoted, in her exquisite, angelic way of using language and description as a tool to induce a meditative Alpha state, to lyrical interludes that foreshadow her method of slowly exploring a psychological, metaphysical state. So both the traditional narrative device and Woolf's later stream of consciousness device are at work.
The title NIGHT AND DAY is itself a reference to two different modes of thinking, being, perceiving. It speaks to the idea of two people being as different "as night and day," a way of being part of convention or of blazing one's own trail, of accepting staid rules of behaviour or accepting one's own ideas of how to respond to the world, the oh-so-British preoccupation with the differences between class (I have said that every piece of British literature produced after 1750, or any British film, is really about the class struggle in English society...and I am only half joking), even of the difference between what traditional ideas of what "masculine" and "feminine" are supposed to be and how the qualities that are assigned to each gender do not actually have gender themselves (it is possible for a woman to be analytical and mathematical and for a man to be emotional and artistic, without either one suffering). Woolf's exploration of these themes came at a time in world history when societal mores were shifting, the suffrage movement was gaining traction, and the cobwebs from the Victorian era were being cleared away. The traditional ideas of the origin and function of love, relationships, and marriage are questioned in NIGHT AND DAY, but not so much as to actually upset the patriarchy. Woolf would later write more forcefully and convincingly of women's rights and the destructive effects of the patriarchy in works like A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN. I don't fault her for just getting started in NIGHT AND DAY.
In the novel, we follow four, then five characters who are alternately drawn to each other, fall in love with each other, are repulsed by each other, become engaged, become unengaged, fall in love, and become engaged again. This rather old-fashioned, nearly operatic structure (if one were not paying close attention, one could almost confuse it with Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte") is reminiscent of Shakespeare... and not by accident. The mother of one of our main heroines adores Shakespeare and there is frequent discourse about him... late in the book, she even goes on a pilgrimage to Stratford-upon-Avon only to return with an arm load of flowers she says are from Shakespeare's grave! But unlike Shakespeare's light hearted, identity-confusion love stories, NIGHT AND DAY is full of poignant observations, longing, and yes, love. But a more realistic kind of love filled with doubt and fear. Though some in the story never stray from a well-worn route and thus are sort of guaranteed a "happy ending" as it were, others never really commit to that route. True to the personalities and natures of these individuals that Woolf created, they appear to want a life that has yet to be created, a life that does not yet have a blueprint. By the time the novel ends, we certainly have the sense that these characters and their struggles will continue on well past the last page as they discover and create a life for themselves that has nothing to do with anyone else.
Recommend? Yes but I am aware that the book may be too slow for some, and the hemming and hawing and back-and-forth, maddeningly indirect nature of Edwardian courtship could try the patience of those more used to a 20th or 21st century approach to relationships and romance. But it is a useful glimpse into the highly structured, rigorously tight-laced culture of the past. And Woolf's gorgeous prose and sublime skill in phrasing and exploring abstract matters that normally remain floating in our heads is worth the price of admission right there.
I love Virginia Woolf's work and have listed TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, a stunning piece of literary artistry that literally made me weep, as one of my favorite books on my "Important Books That Have Influenced Me" list to the right on this blog. But I recently realized that the Woolf I love is the Woolf of the deconstructed novel, the Woolf of the stream of consciousness narrative device, the Modernist Woolf. So in an effort to rectify this perception, I have been reading some of her earlier works. I started with her first novel, THE VOYAGE OUT which I wrote about here, and now I have just finished reading her second novel, NIGHT AND DAY.
There are some differences between this early Woolf and the Woolf who later produced master works like THE WAVES and TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. Most notable is the relative lack of the stream of consciousness device, the internal monologue, the deep study of the psychological state of an individual through their thoughts, perceptions, and reactions to the world. This highly stylized internal approach had not yet been explored by Woolf but one can see the beginnings of it in NIGHT AND DAY which is mostly composed of relatively straight forward exposition and dialogue. But lengthy passages are devoted, in her exquisite, angelic way of using language and description as a tool to induce a meditative Alpha state, to lyrical interludes that foreshadow her method of slowly exploring a psychological, metaphysical state. So both the traditional narrative device and Woolf's later stream of consciousness device are at work.
The title NIGHT AND DAY is itself a reference to two different modes of thinking, being, perceiving. It speaks to the idea of two people being as different "as night and day," a way of being part of convention or of blazing one's own trail, of accepting staid rules of behaviour or accepting one's own ideas of how to respond to the world, the oh-so-British preoccupation with the differences between class (I have said that every piece of British literature produced after 1750, or any British film, is really about the class struggle in English society...and I am only half joking), even of the difference between what traditional ideas of what "masculine" and "feminine" are supposed to be and how the qualities that are assigned to each gender do not actually have gender themselves (it is possible for a woman to be analytical and mathematical and for a man to be emotional and artistic, without either one suffering). Woolf's exploration of these themes came at a time in world history when societal mores were shifting, the suffrage movement was gaining traction, and the cobwebs from the Victorian era were being cleared away. The traditional ideas of the origin and function of love, relationships, and marriage are questioned in NIGHT AND DAY, but not so much as to actually upset the patriarchy. Woolf would later write more forcefully and convincingly of women's rights and the destructive effects of the patriarchy in works like A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN. I don't fault her for just getting started in NIGHT AND DAY.
In the novel, we follow four, then five characters who are alternately drawn to each other, fall in love with each other, are repulsed by each other, become engaged, become unengaged, fall in love, and become engaged again. This rather old-fashioned, nearly operatic structure (if one were not paying close attention, one could almost confuse it with Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte") is reminiscent of Shakespeare... and not by accident. The mother of one of our main heroines adores Shakespeare and there is frequent discourse about him... late in the book, she even goes on a pilgrimage to Stratford-upon-Avon only to return with an arm load of flowers she says are from Shakespeare's grave! But unlike Shakespeare's light hearted, identity-confusion love stories, NIGHT AND DAY is full of poignant observations, longing, and yes, love. But a more realistic kind of love filled with doubt and fear. Though some in the story never stray from a well-worn route and thus are sort of guaranteed a "happy ending" as it were, others never really commit to that route. True to the personalities and natures of these individuals that Woolf created, they appear to want a life that has yet to be created, a life that does not yet have a blueprint. By the time the novel ends, we certainly have the sense that these characters and their struggles will continue on well past the last page as they discover and create a life for themselves that has nothing to do with anyone else.
Recommend? Yes but I am aware that the book may be too slow for some, and the hemming and hawing and back-and-forth, maddeningly indirect nature of Edwardian courtship could try the patience of those more used to a 20th or 21st century approach to relationships and romance. But it is a useful glimpse into the highly structured, rigorously tight-laced culture of the past. And Woolf's gorgeous prose and sublime skill in phrasing and exploring abstract matters that normally remain floating in our heads is worth the price of admission right there.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
"No More Michael Jackson" by Teddybears
I know this is meant to be ironic, or tongue-in-cheek, but I suspect Teddybears really do miss MJ. There is some truth in this song and video... of course when anyone dies, what they leave behind can be painful reminders of an absence that cannot be reversed.
And related to that, the image of someone's pet left behind is heartbreaking...
http://teddybearsrock.com/
BEAUTY: Fabric Art--Ana Teresa Barboza
Ana Teresa Barboza works with embroidery on fabric to create powerful images. It is clear that she has an uneasy relationship with animals and the natural world.
She also shows a fascination with the physicality of human life, the fact of us, the bone-and-guts of us, and how embroidery and working with fabric is a metaphor for the visceral experience of life.
In fact, Barboza views sewing, and handwork on fabric as more than a metaphor--she has an emotional and psychological connection that is about her life blood. The translation of the embroidered eerie text below is: "Then I had to learn to sew."
http://anateresabarboza.blogspot.pt/
She also shows a fascination with the physicality of human life, the fact of us, the bone-and-guts of us, and how embroidery and working with fabric is a metaphor for the visceral experience of life.
In fact, Barboza views sewing, and handwork on fabric as more than a metaphor--she has an emotional and psychological connection that is about her life blood. The translation of the embroidered eerie text below is: "Then I had to learn to sew."
http://anateresabarboza.blogspot.pt/
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Overview Effect
A very worthwhile 19 minutes...
From the Planetary Collective description of the film:
"On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.
‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment."
http://www.overviewthemovie.com/
http://www.planetarycollective.com/
From the Planetary Collective description of the film:
"On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.
‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment."
http://www.overviewthemovie.com/
http://www.planetarycollective.com/
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Why bias puts young gays' health at risk
This is a topic that is very important to me, so I am posting this CNN article in its entirety. There is a link to the original article (with links to footnotes and statistics) at the bottom.
Why bias puts young gays' health at risk
By Rob Stephenson, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Rob Stephenson is a Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project and associate professor of Global Health at Emory University.
(CNN) -- When I was 8, I joined the Boy Scouts. I lasted three weeks--couldn't get the hang of all that knot tying, and no one was interested in singing show tunes around the campfire. I was gay and I knew it. At that time, revealing my sexual identity would have resulted in my exclusion from Scouting. Until the Boy Scouts of America's historic May 23 vote -- which allows gay youth to join the scouts, but upholds the ban on gay adult leaders -- thousands of boys across the country faced similar discrimination from the Scouts, who actively and vocally banned gays.
The Scouts' decision to include gay youth is part of the sea change sweeping across the United States on the issue of gay equality, an issue that has long centered on equal rights for all. But discrimination, in the Boy Scouts as in every walk of life, brings with it another effect that is left out of the conversation on rights: poorer health.
Hiding one's sexual identity and being excluded from activities and social groups causes stress, and research shows this can have a significant impact on health. In her review of the health of gay youth, Tumaini Coker notes that gay youth are three times more likely to partake in substance abuse, and that adolescents who said they felt stigmatized -- for example, in the form of family rejection -- are five times more likely to experience depression.
Still, this is an area that, unfortunately, has not been well studied. On the rare occasions that this link is discussed, the academic community has tended to focus on adults. But the health effects on young people who are stigmatized is surely as significant.
My own recent research, published in the American Journal of Men's Health, drew on a sample of 1,000 gay men from Atlanta, and showed that gay men who reported that they heard statements such as "being gay is not normal" in their youth were more likely as adults to have unprotected sex and to have sex while intoxicated or high. The study is among the first to demonstrate associations between stigma induced stress in childhood and negative health behaviors as adults that put them at risk for HIV infection.
There is already ample evidence to suggest that adult gay men and women experience poorer health relative to straight people.
For one thing, gay men have been more heavily affected by the AIDS epidemic than the general population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2006 and 2009, gay men -- and other men who have sex with men -- were the only risk group to experience an increase in HIV incidence. There also is a wealth of data showing that gay men and women are more likely to engage in smoking, alcohol and drug use, and experience poorer mental health.
A study of 577 gay adults by Sean McCabe and colleagues at the University of Michigan showed that gay adults who experience discrimination are nearly four times more likely to experience substance abuse disorders, while Diana Burgess and colleagues at the University of Minnesota noted that compared with heterosexuals, gay adults are 68% more likely to experience depression and 56% more likely to experience anxiety.
Ilan Meyer, a senior scholar at UCLA's School of Law, offers an explanation for these disparities through the "Theory of Minority Stress," which suggests that these health inequities may be rooted in discrimination, with negative health behaviors acting as coping mechanisms for repeated exposure to stigma-related stress.
As impressionable children we internalize messages we receive about what is right, what is normal, what we are allowed to be -- each shaping our views about our sexual identity and whether we "belong." Being exposed to messages that same-sex relationships are not "normal" is damaging. These messages set scripts for youth to follow, divide them into normal and abnormal, and arm bullies with justification to harm them. As my own research shows, these messages have lasting impacts — sometimes fatal -- on health behaviors as adults.
The consequences for youth are painfully illustrated by the It Gets Better Project, created by writer Dan Savage in 2010 to give gay youth hope that life will be easier as a gay adult. Savage developed the project in response to the high rates of suicide among gay youth. Research indeed shows that gays are significantly more likely to attempt suicide compared with heterosexual youth (21.5% vs 4.2%), and that among gay youth, the risk of attempting suicide is 20% greater in unsupportive environments compared with supportive environments.
Being told we are different at an age when we are trying to establish who we are can be devastating. But what if it didn't have to get better? What if it could be better from the start?
Last week the Boy Scouts sent an important signal to gay youth: You are not different. But it is not quite enough. The ban on gay Scout leaders remains. Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, withdrew his proposed amendment to provide U.S. citizens the right to sponsor their same-sex partners for green cards.
And in June the Supreme Court will vote on the Defense of Marriage Act. Each inequity sends a message to young people that they can expect not to be treated equally when they grow up, setting them on the pathway to lowered self-esteem and poorer health. Perhaps it is time to examine how we are treating America's gay youth through that lens. By creating equality, we can create better health — right from the start.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/31/opinion/stephenson-gay-youth-health/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
Why bias puts young gays' health at risk
By Rob Stephenson, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Rob Stephenson is a Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project and associate professor of Global Health at Emory University.
(CNN) -- When I was 8, I joined the Boy Scouts. I lasted three weeks--couldn't get the hang of all that knot tying, and no one was interested in singing show tunes around the campfire. I was gay and I knew it. At that time, revealing my sexual identity would have resulted in my exclusion from Scouting. Until the Boy Scouts of America's historic May 23 vote -- which allows gay youth to join the scouts, but upholds the ban on gay adult leaders -- thousands of boys across the country faced similar discrimination from the Scouts, who actively and vocally banned gays.
The Scouts' decision to include gay youth is part of the sea change sweeping across the United States on the issue of gay equality, an issue that has long centered on equal rights for all. But discrimination, in the Boy Scouts as in every walk of life, brings with it another effect that is left out of the conversation on rights: poorer health.
Hiding one's sexual identity and being excluded from activities and social groups causes stress, and research shows this can have a significant impact on health. In her review of the health of gay youth, Tumaini Coker notes that gay youth are three times more likely to partake in substance abuse, and that adolescents who said they felt stigmatized -- for example, in the form of family rejection -- are five times more likely to experience depression.
Still, this is an area that, unfortunately, has not been well studied. On the rare occasions that this link is discussed, the academic community has tended to focus on adults. But the health effects on young people who are stigmatized is surely as significant.
My own recent research, published in the American Journal of Men's Health, drew on a sample of 1,000 gay men from Atlanta, and showed that gay men who reported that they heard statements such as "being gay is not normal" in their youth were more likely as adults to have unprotected sex and to have sex while intoxicated or high. The study is among the first to demonstrate associations between stigma induced stress in childhood and negative health behaviors as adults that put them at risk for HIV infection.
There is already ample evidence to suggest that adult gay men and women experience poorer health relative to straight people.
For one thing, gay men have been more heavily affected by the AIDS epidemic than the general population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2006 and 2009, gay men -- and other men who have sex with men -- were the only risk group to experience an increase in HIV incidence. There also is a wealth of data showing that gay men and women are more likely to engage in smoking, alcohol and drug use, and experience poorer mental health.
A study of 577 gay adults by Sean McCabe and colleagues at the University of Michigan showed that gay adults who experience discrimination are nearly four times more likely to experience substance abuse disorders, while Diana Burgess and colleagues at the University of Minnesota noted that compared with heterosexuals, gay adults are 68% more likely to experience depression and 56% more likely to experience anxiety.
Ilan Meyer, a senior scholar at UCLA's School of Law, offers an explanation for these disparities through the "Theory of Minority Stress," which suggests that these health inequities may be rooted in discrimination, with negative health behaviors acting as coping mechanisms for repeated exposure to stigma-related stress.
As impressionable children we internalize messages we receive about what is right, what is normal, what we are allowed to be -- each shaping our views about our sexual identity and whether we "belong." Being exposed to messages that same-sex relationships are not "normal" is damaging. These messages set scripts for youth to follow, divide them into normal and abnormal, and arm bullies with justification to harm them. As my own research shows, these messages have lasting impacts — sometimes fatal -- on health behaviors as adults.
The consequences for youth are painfully illustrated by the It Gets Better Project, created by writer Dan Savage in 2010 to give gay youth hope that life will be easier as a gay adult. Savage developed the project in response to the high rates of suicide among gay youth. Research indeed shows that gays are significantly more likely to attempt suicide compared with heterosexual youth (21.5% vs 4.2%), and that among gay youth, the risk of attempting suicide is 20% greater in unsupportive environments compared with supportive environments.
Being told we are different at an age when we are trying to establish who we are can be devastating. But what if it didn't have to get better? What if it could be better from the start?
Last week the Boy Scouts sent an important signal to gay youth: You are not different. But it is not quite enough. The ban on gay Scout leaders remains. Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, withdrew his proposed amendment to provide U.S. citizens the right to sponsor their same-sex partners for green cards.
And in June the Supreme Court will vote on the Defense of Marriage Act. Each inequity sends a message to young people that they can expect not to be treated equally when they grow up, setting them on the pathway to lowered self-esteem and poorer health. Perhaps it is time to examine how we are treating America's gay youth through that lens. By creating equality, we can create better health — right from the start.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/31/opinion/stephenson-gay-youth-health/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
Junip LIVE!
Last night, May 31, 2013, I had the pleasure of hearing and seeing Junip play live!
Touring with Junip are two opening acts who were really remarkable: I was so happy to discover Barbarossa and the trio On An On.
London-based James Mathé calls himself Barbarossa (he does indeed have a red beard--or rather moustache, and regular readers with good memories know that I have quite a thing for gingers) and was a perfect opening act.
Thoughtfully starting at 7:45, it was Barbarossa on electronics, triggering hypnotic loops and beats, crooning away in a sweet, blue-eyed soul style... he even brilliantly covered the Terrence Trent D'Arby song "Wishing Well" from the 80s, transforming it into a twisted, ambient 21st century expression of intense emotion. His entire set--too short in my opinion--was highly engaging and left me wanting to hear more.
Here is the video for his poignant single "The Load" from his forthcoming release "Bloodlines" due to drop in August. I'm looking forward to buying it and putting it on repeat for a week or so...
On An On, a trio like Junip, were formed from the remnants of the break-up of Chicago-based band Scattered Trees.
Current On An On members Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Estwing crafted their lovely, echo-filled dream pop while projected swirly, abstract graphics danced on their bodies, faces, and instruments. It was a set by turns lilting, uplifting, and darkly powerful.
And I am a new fan... I downloaded their new release "Give In" which features their anthemic single "Ghosts," seen below.
I was excited when Junip took the stage. José González (vocals, guitars), Elias Araya (drums), and Tobias Winterkorn (organ, Moog synthesizer) were supplemented by three other musicians, including our Barbarossa who did back-up vocal and rhythm section duties! The Junip set did not disappoint at all: they opened with "In Every Direction" (a song I fell in love with here) and continued on with other favorites like "Without You" (previously here), "Rope and Summit," and nearly every song from their new eponymous release including "Line of Fire" (here) and "Your Life, Your Call." And I was quite happy to hear them begin the sublime "After All Is Said And Done" for an encore. But I was surprised when the song took a rather Sigur Ros-esque turn and built to a profound, grand crescendo. Very different from the recorded version, and a nice interpretation for a live performance.
It was wonderful to hear José's delicate voice in person, and the group played perfectly. My only quibble is with the sound mix... there was too much reverb on José's mike which detracted from the natural quality of his voice. And the mix was a bit muddy with the bottom approaching distortion, drowning out the band's trademark hazy, gauzy, intimate sound. I missed that feeling, but enjoyed what they presented anyhow, despite the sound mixer.
They are still on tour in North America. Check out their website to see if they will be near you!
http://www.junip.net/
https://www.facebook.com/junipmusic
https://www.facebook.com/itsOnAnOn
http://itsonanon.bandcamp.com/
http://www.barbarossamusic.com/
Touring with Junip are two opening acts who were really remarkable: I was so happy to discover Barbarossa and the trio On An On.
London-based James Mathé calls himself Barbarossa (he does indeed have a red beard--or rather moustache, and regular readers with good memories know that I have quite a thing for gingers) and was a perfect opening act.
Thoughtfully starting at 7:45, it was Barbarossa on electronics, triggering hypnotic loops and beats, crooning away in a sweet, blue-eyed soul style... he even brilliantly covered the Terrence Trent D'Arby song "Wishing Well" from the 80s, transforming it into a twisted, ambient 21st century expression of intense emotion. His entire set--too short in my opinion--was highly engaging and left me wanting to hear more.
Here is the video for his poignant single "The Load" from his forthcoming release "Bloodlines" due to drop in August. I'm looking forward to buying it and putting it on repeat for a week or so...
On An On, a trio like Junip, were formed from the remnants of the break-up of Chicago-based band Scattered Trees.
Current On An On members Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Estwing crafted their lovely, echo-filled dream pop while projected swirly, abstract graphics danced on their bodies, faces, and instruments. It was a set by turns lilting, uplifting, and darkly powerful.
And I am a new fan... I downloaded their new release "Give In" which features their anthemic single "Ghosts," seen below.
I was excited when Junip took the stage. José González (vocals, guitars), Elias Araya (drums), and Tobias Winterkorn (organ, Moog synthesizer) were supplemented by three other musicians, including our Barbarossa who did back-up vocal and rhythm section duties! The Junip set did not disappoint at all: they opened with "In Every Direction" (a song I fell in love with here) and continued on with other favorites like "Without You" (previously here), "Rope and Summit," and nearly every song from their new eponymous release including "Line of Fire" (here) and "Your Life, Your Call." And I was quite happy to hear them begin the sublime "After All Is Said And Done" for an encore. But I was surprised when the song took a rather Sigur Ros-esque turn and built to a profound, grand crescendo. Very different from the recorded version, and a nice interpretation for a live performance.
It was wonderful to hear José's delicate voice in person, and the group played perfectly. My only quibble is with the sound mix... there was too much reverb on José's mike which detracted from the natural quality of his voice. And the mix was a bit muddy with the bottom approaching distortion, drowning out the band's trademark hazy, gauzy, intimate sound. I missed that feeling, but enjoyed what they presented anyhow, despite the sound mixer.
They are still on tour in North America. Check out their website to see if they will be near you!
http://www.junip.net/
https://www.facebook.com/junipmusic
https://www.facebook.com/itsOnAnOn
http://itsonanon.bandcamp.com/
http://www.barbarossamusic.com/
Friday, May 31, 2013
BEAUTY: Ceramics--Christina Schou Christensen
Artist Christina Schou Christensen fires thick, dripping glazes on her ceramic bowls so they are frozen in place, forever extruding from the bottom of her perforated containers...
http://www.christinaschouchristensen.dk/
http://www.christinaschouchristensen.dk/
Fluffy Friends
If it were acceptable for adults--all of us--to take our stuffed animals and toys with us in our daily lives, to work, to school, to the grocery store, I can't help but think that the world would be a much better place.
Even the animals need a furry friend...
Even the animals need a furry friend...
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