Memorial Day 2025

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.

My ancestors fought and died to make sure Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. 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 welcomed back in so many parts of the world. 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

BEAUTY: Man--Josh Wald

Model, artist, musician Josh Wald...I, um...wow, yeah...here ya go.

https://www.joshwaldmodel.com/
https://speaktolouise.com/
https://www.joshwald.com/music

"Reverberotic" by Alison Goldfrapp

Well, the amazing new music just keeps coming. Here is a heady, sensuous, hypnotizing song, "Reverberotic" from Alison Goldfrapp, previously here. Rushing, swirling, swooning...um...yeah...wow. Wait until it really kicks in at about the minute mark.

Her new album "Flux" is released August 15, 2025. Since she can't perform a bad song, I am so chuffed.

https://www.alisongoldfrapp.com/
https://www.goldfrapp.com/

Shirokuro

This new Japanese restaurant in New York's East Village looks amazing. Called Shirokuro, which means white-black in Japanese, the entire restaurant--including the wood floor planks, the bricks on the wall, and the traditional Japanese decor--is rendered in black lines on white ground, as though it is a page in a sketchbook...or an A-ha video! I bet it is a bit disorienting being there, perceiving the 3D world as though it is 2D!

Their website says:
"At Shirokuro, we didn’t just want to create a traditional Japanese omakase restaurant. Our vision was to offer something unique: a place where art and food intersect in a living, breathing sketchbook. Inspired by the precision and emotion of hand-drawn artwork, we chose not to use wallpaper or printed graphics, but instead hand-drew every single line."

If you are in or planning to be in New York City, drop by and slyly hum "Take on me..." while enjoying your agedashi tofu.

https://shirokuronyc.com/

Harvey Milk Day 2025

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/

"I Hate To Love You" by Vintage Voltage

I am hypnotized by the visuals for this song, "I Hate To Love You" by Swedish duo Vintage Voltage. Created by an artist who goes by the name Myst Cult, it has signs of both AI mixed with some old-fashioned (!) digital art.

https://vintagevoltage.bandcamp.com/
https://mystcult.com/

"Inept Apollo" by Nation of Language

There is a spate of great new music out suddenly! Here is a new track from Nation of Language, previously here. I love their sound which harkens back to 80s synth bands like Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Depeche Mode.

https://www.nationoflanguage.com/

"Garlands" by Gem Club

I am so pleased that Chris Barnes of Gem Club has released a new song, "Garlands" and it is as beautiful and moving as all his other pieces. His IG hints of more to come...I can't wait.

https://www.instagram.com/gemclub

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia 2025: THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES

This year's theme for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia is "THE POWER OF COMMUNITIES." The official website states:

Developed through consultations with LGBTQIA+ organisations worldwide, the IDAHOBIT 2025 theme “the power of communities” was announced during the ILGA World Conference 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.

IDAHOBIT, observed annually on 17 May, commemorates the 1990 decision by the World Health Organization to remove homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases. Since then, the day has served as a focal point for raising awareness of the violence and discrimination still faced by LGBTQIA+ people across the globe.

“The power of communities” reflects the diversity and richness within LGBTQIA+ communities, from the grass roots to the global, celebrating our varied and intersecting backgrounds, identities, and experiences. The theme for 2025 highlights the strength and resilience that emerges from our collective solidarity, recognising the contributions of human rights defenders, LGBTQIA+ civil society groups, allies, and millions of people in our communities who support human rights and collective liberation.

IDAHOBIT is not a centralised campaign; rather, it is a shared moment for communities and allies driving change around the world to take action in ways that resonate with their specific contexts and reflect their realities and priorities. Every initiative—big or small—counts and can make an impact, amplifying the movement’s reach and contributing to a world free from discrimination and violence.

Please visit the website for more uplifting and empowering information including ways to Mark The Moment.
https://may17.org/

"A Necessary Escape" by M83

I love the soaring, expansive music of M83, the outfit headed by Anthony Gonzalez, so I am excited to see that he has released a new album of music. "A Necessary Escape" is the soundtrack to the documentary film "Dakar Chronicles" about the Dakar Rally, an off-road race through inhospitable terrain, directed by French director/actor Jalil Lespert set for a June 19, 2025 release.

https://ilovem83.com/

"Little Bit Closer" by Sam Fender

I have quite a soft spot for Sam Fender and his always meaningful, touching lyrics (see previously here). This song, "Little Bit Closer" from his most recent release "People Watching" sends a strong message of understanding and support to the LGBT community. Fender has issued statements of support in the past: in July of 2020, he signed an open letter to the UK Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, calling for a ban on all forms of LGBT conversion therapy. Fender's lyrics here speak to being gay and the shame, rejection, and often-times violence--not only physical but psychological as well--coming from the church and its followers.

He touches on the idea that we are all connected to something larger than us, something that makes the human experience what it is, something that is immutable. But how does one reconcile that feeling of being in awe of the universe and what it contains with a man-made religion that diminutizes that experience while telling you that you are wrong, sinful, possessed by a demon, not worthy of living. Fender questions the source of that rejection, siding with those oppressed by religion, while allowing for those oppressed to reclaim their connection to the beauty of the universe without the aid of religion. Indeed, no religion or any human claiming to represent that religion has any authority to tell anyone they are not worthy of life.

The video stars the amazing young actor Owen Cooper who found fame starring in the recent Netflix limited series "Adolescence" which is an incredible creation, not only for Cooper's stunning, out-of-nowhere mastery of acting skills (that prove difficult even for some adults) but for the jaw dropping one-take method the production used for each episode. If you have yet to see it, I highly, highly, highly recommend it.

They break you in like a wild foal
Target the dole queue broken souls
I don't disagree with everything they do
I was a child in the peak of a panic attack
The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back
Was the wailin' sound of my cousin slain in spirit

Well
Come on, lift your head
Get out your frozen state
You're starting to look like Ötzi now
Come on, wake the dead
Show me you walk on water
And I get a little bit closer to it

Oh, I have friends who were cast aside
A young, meek lad with a curious mind
Just terrified of what the church would have to say
No, I don't know if I believe in Him
But when the rapture comes, if this is a sin
I'll burn with everybody that I know

Yeah
I was lost in their
Sermons and lies at God camp
Tryin' to pray the gay away
Something was shook in me
A birth of a new foundation
That gets me a little bit closer to it

I can't live under the notion
That there's no reason at all
For all this beauty in motion
I don't buy the deities spoke of
But in love, there's something to hold
And I get a little bit closer to it

What is God?
What is God?
What is God?

I never found Him, I never found Him
I can't live under the notion
That there's no reason at all
For all this beauty in motion
I don't buy the deities spoke of
But in love, there's something to hold
And I get a little bit closer to it

I get a little bit closer, I get a little bit closer
I get a little bit closer, I get a little bit closer
I get a little bit closer, I get a little bit closer
I get a little bit closer, I get a little bit closer to it

Thank you, Sam.

https://www.samfender.com/

I Miss My Mom

Take one if you miss your mom too.

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Nadia Stieglitz

For her series Symbiotic, ceramic sculptor Nadia Stieglitz looked to the world of trees and fungi to create the wonderful, meandering, incised lines on her creations. She describes it in her artist statement for the series:

"I have been recently fascinated by the research of various scientists on the impacts of climate change on forests and the reliance of these ecosystems on the unseen work of fungus to adapt to it. My most recent work takes inspiration from mycorrhizal fungi – critical members of the plant microbiome that form a symbiosis with the roots of most plants on Earth. In my series 'Symbiotic,' the Sgraffito patterns etched onto the surface of mushroom-like shapes recall these complex networks that feed and support the functions of larger organisms. In their dormancy, these works remind the viewer that, despite appearances, there is always growth and circulation--life, ultimately, in stillness."

To see more of her work or to learn how to buy and commission pieces, visit her website:
https://www.nadiastieglitz.com/

Margaret Mead's Sign of Civilization from Sustainable Human

A student once asked the renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead what she considered the first sign of civilization in a culture.

The student expected an answer about tools—fishhooks, clay pots, grinding stones. But Mead didn’t mention artifacts. She mentioned a bone.

The first sign of civilization, she said, is a healed femur.

In the wild, if an animal breaks its leg, it dies. It can’t run from predators, can’t search for food or water. A broken leg is a death sentence. No animal survives long enough for the bone to mend.

But a healed femur tells a different story.

It tells us that someone stopped. Someone noticed. Someone stayed with the injured. Someone bound up the wound, carried the person to safety, brought them food and water, and protected them through the long, painful process of healing.

A healed bone is more than biology. It’s evidence of care. Of compassion. Of community.

It’s easy to measure progress in tools, technologies, and towers. But true civilization begins when we choose to care for someone who can offer us nothing in return.

In that quiet act of empathy—of tending to the wounded, of staying by someone’s side through pain—we find the roots of humanity.

Civilization didn’t begin with invention. It began with compassion.
It began when someone said, “Your pain is my concern too.”

So maybe the question isn’t how advanced we are.
Maybe the real question is: How well do we care for each other when it matters most?

Stories from the marvelous organization Sustainable Human:
https://sustainablehuman.org/

"Shy Girl" by Haute and Freddy

Haute and Freddy--the sparkling duo of Michelle Buzz and Lance Ship, (previously here)--have released a new lyric video for another of their songs, the charming "Shy Girl."

Shy shy shy shy girl
When you gonna run the whole wide world
I do recall there was madness in your eyes
Let it come out tonight
Let it come out tonight
And your sister and her boyfriend they can go and roll their eyes about it
And your mother and her friends can go to tea and write a book about it
‘Cause it’s staring you in the eyes every night
You wanna kiss it all goodbye and just live your life
Shy shy shy shy girl
When you gonna run the whole wide world
I do recall there was madness in your eyes
Let it come out tonight
Let it come out tonight
Well the way you walk the way you talk they never have to understand it
Ooo you change your hair and change your clothes and everybody starts to panic
But it’s staring you in the eyes every night
You wanna kiss it all goodbye and just live your life
Shy shy shy shy girl
When you gonna run the whole wide world
I do recall there was madness in your eyes
Let it come out tonight
Let it come out tonight

https://www.instagram.com/hauteandfreddy

BEAUTY: Drawing--Hamlett Dobbins

Artist Hamlett Dobbins' series of untitled drawings are pulsing with form and color. Form and color. They feel like life.

https://www.hamlettdobbins.com/

CREATE