I started the day with this, as a friend had sent it to me.
You want to see powerful? The artist lives in France, but this is made at home in Kinshasa.
le Barone Gedi, in the streets.
"It is from this Bantu Center We Find Our Breath."
Monday, December 12, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Wiki Afraid of the Truth in Bertolucci's *1900* ?
Bertolucci's epic 1976 film (the title in Italian is Novecento, which would translate into English as Twentieth Century -- very different from the title the U.S. market gave it, 1900) follows the conflict of the great Italian landowners and the agriculture workers from the turn of the 20th century to WWII, and the years immediately following. It does so through the relationship between the son of a landowner and the bastard grandson of an agriculture labor clan, the two born on the same day in 1900.
All through the wiki description of this film, 'socialist' and 'socialism' are substituted for communist, communism. * This significantly distorts the history that the writer and director so carefully work to depict in this vast film. In the workers' community center, their homes, their schools, are frescos of the hammer and sickle, portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. In Italy communism was, and still is, an active political and economic alternative. You can see why this is so, in a country where the other choices are to be oppressed by the Church, the Mafia or Fascism - Corporate interests. This is particularly true for the agricultural worker, during these decades from the turn of the 20th century through the Depression, when agricultural populism was powerfully struggling everywhere, including right here in the U.S., leading to riots, assassinations, murders and thuggery of every kind, sponsored by the Bosses and their minions, whether hired or elected.
The irony here though, is that Marx, Lenin and Stalin were not in sympathy with the agricultural worker. It was urban industrial labor that they were concerned with, and from whom the great communist movements were expected to birth their success. Yet, in history, the longest successful Communist revolution came from the nation which was the least industrialized: China, and later, Cuba. Stalin in particular declared war on the land worker -- from which came the constant hunger of so many in the Soviet countries.
So why is Wiki insisting this is socialism and not communism in this great Bertolucci film? Is it really fear, that we can't even name communism in a great film to which communism is central to the conflict, because the 'good' protagonists are so clearly communists and the bad ones are so clearly the great capitalists?
* This is striking, since the history of the medieval economic mutual assistance and governing bodies, known as communes, began in the city-states of Italy and very quickly, if not simultaneously, moved into France.
All through the wiki description of this film, 'socialist' and 'socialism' are substituted for communist, communism. * This significantly distorts the history that the writer and director so carefully work to depict in this vast film. In the workers' community center, their homes, their schools, are frescos of the hammer and sickle, portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. In Italy communism was, and still is, an active political and economic alternative. You can see why this is so, in a country where the other choices are to be oppressed by the Church, the Mafia or Fascism - Corporate interests. This is particularly true for the agricultural worker, during these decades from the turn of the 20th century through the Depression, when agricultural populism was powerfully struggling everywhere, including right here in the U.S., leading to riots, assassinations, murders and thuggery of every kind, sponsored by the Bosses and their minions, whether hired or elected.
The irony here though, is that Marx, Lenin and Stalin were not in sympathy with the agricultural worker. It was urban industrial labor that they were concerned with, and from whom the great communist movements were expected to birth their success. Yet, in history, the longest successful Communist revolution came from the nation which was the least industrialized: China, and later, Cuba. Stalin in particular declared war on the land worker -- from which came the constant hunger of so many in the Soviet countries.
So why is Wiki insisting this is socialism and not communism in this great Bertolucci film? Is it really fear, that we can't even name communism in a great film to which communism is central to the conflict, because the 'good' protagonists are so clearly communists and the bad ones are so clearly the great capitalists?
* This is striking, since the history of the medieval economic mutual assistance and governing bodies, known as communes, began in the city-states of Italy and very quickly, if not simultaneously, moved into France.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Atlantic Monthly's Civil War
I have just now returned from a expedition in the rain with the Special Commemorative Civil War Issue of The Atlantic Monthly. They'd just been racked at the local corner newstand store, and were at the very top. I had to ask one of the proprietors to get a copy down for me. When they realized what this is, they re-racked them at eye height. First generation immigrants from Uttar Predesh, asked me about "What is this Civil War?" They are all too familiar with civil wars, of course. But they don't know this one. A fairly long history lesson ensued, since at this hour the store was still empty, as the Lotto buying customers were still some minutes from getting off work and stopping by hoping for a little luck.
This is the first magazine I've bought in years. It's not only, or solely because because our President has an article in this Civil War Commemorative Issue, though I'm very curious to see what he has written about the ACW. He may be the first U.S. President to write of this event in -- how long? -- certainly as a sitting POTUS. But there's also a story by Louisia May Alcott included, set in one of the D.C. military hospitals. The offerings out the magazine's archives are priceless.
I've spent a fair amount of time in the Harper's Weekly archives, which during these years published the same bold face names as we see taken out of the Atlantic's archives, but I've not dug much into the Atlantic's.
I'll be sharing this issue with several people. I hope they all return it, so it can be borrowed again.
This is the first magazine I've bought in years. It's not only, or solely because because our President has an article in this Civil War Commemorative Issue, though I'm very curious to see what he has written about the ACW. He may be the first U.S. President to write of this event in -- how long? -- certainly as a sitting POTUS. But there's also a story by Louisia May Alcott included, set in one of the D.C. military hospitals. The offerings out the magazine's archives are priceless.
I've spent a fair amount of time in the Harper's Weekly archives, which during these years published the same bold face names as we see taken out of the Atlantic's archives, but I've not dug much into the Atlantic's.
I'll be sharing this issue with several people. I hope they all return it, so it can be borrowed again.
*Remembering Coco Robicheaux* -- Mark Folse in The Gambit
"Mark Folse talks to friends of the late Frenchmen Street bluesman and artist ...."
Full story in the Gambit here.
When news of the death of local blues and spiritual icon Coco Robicheaux went viral on the Internet Nov. 25, some said his last words were, "I'm home." Bartender Sara Shaw at the Apple Barrel bar on Frenchmen Street, who attended to him in his last moments, as well as the patrons seated next to him when he collapsed, remember them as "The next round is on me."
Full story in the Gambit here.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tomorrow, Coco Robicheaux, 2 Memorial Parades
In the Times-Pic:
[ " At least three events in the coming days will memorialize Curtis Arceneaux, aka Coco Robicheaux, the popular local hoodoo blues guitarist, singer and vocalist. Robicheaux died of a suspected heart attack after collapsing at the Apple Barrel Bar on Nov. 25. He was 64.
Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the memorial service at DW Rhodes Chapel, 3933 Washington on Saturday, December 3 at 3:30 pm. Visitation will begin at 3:00 pm. Interment is private.
Also on Dec. 3, friends have organized another event at Marie’s Bar (2843 Burgundy), starting at 5 p.m. A second-line will depart from Marie’s, bound for the Apple Barrel on Frenchmen Street, one of Robicheaux’s favorite haunts.
His family and musicians with whom he played have orchestrated a more involved event nine days later, on Dec. 12. A procession starts on Frenchmen Street at 3:30 p.m. and ends at the House of Blues, 225 Decatur St. Starting at 6 p.m., a host of musicians will perform at the HOB in honor of Robicheaux. " ]
We're playing Spiritlands tonight, up here in the cold crisp Saturday night pasta ritual, giving up the traditional Saturday night Phil Schaap's Traditions in Swing, for Coco instead.
So many people are so upset. It took a while for it to become real, irrevocable, that Coco was really gone.
El V's interview with Coco for Bomb Magazine here.
[ " At least three events in the coming days will memorialize Curtis Arceneaux, aka Coco Robicheaux, the popular local hoodoo blues guitarist, singer and vocalist. Robicheaux died of a suspected heart attack after collapsing at the Apple Barrel Bar on Nov. 25. He was 64.
Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the memorial service at DW Rhodes Chapel, 3933 Washington on Saturday, December 3 at 3:30 pm. Visitation will begin at 3:00 pm. Interment is private.
Also on Dec. 3, friends have organized another event at Marie’s Bar (2843 Burgundy), starting at 5 p.m. A second-line will depart from Marie’s, bound for the Apple Barrel on Frenchmen Street, one of Robicheaux’s favorite haunts.
His family and musicians with whom he played have orchestrated a more involved event nine days later, on Dec. 12. A procession starts on Frenchmen Street at 3:30 p.m. and ends at the House of Blues, 225 Decatur St. Starting at 6 p.m., a host of musicians will perform at the HOB in honor of Robicheaux. " ]
We're playing Spiritlands tonight, up here in the cold crisp Saturday night pasta ritual, giving up the traditional Saturday night Phil Schaap's Traditions in Swing, for Coco instead.
So many people are so upset. It took a while for it to become real, irrevocable, that Coco was really gone.
El V's interview with Coco for Bomb Magazine here.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Lighting the National Christmas Tree!
Again, this being their beat, the WaPo does a good job with this annual holiday tradition with video and photos, so that we who love Christmas Trees and live elsewhere get to feel a little part of it.
My dear Austin amiga, L, gifted me with a Jackie Lawson digital Advent Calendar again this year. Last year the calendar was 24 days of filling in the details of a small town that looked remarkably like C'town in MD, where we were living. This year it's London. I thought yesterday that London wasn't as satisfactory as last year's, but as of this morning, decorating the Christmas Tree, I think it's just as wonderful as last year's. It's urban, yes, but with the small town neighborhood in the forefront that so much of NYC used to be like, and still is, in pockets, if you are part of that small town -- I can even find it here in SoHo, surely the most overbuilt, overhyped, overtouristed, overtacky, rat haven in the country.
I spent a full hour playing with the Advent calendar's tree and the decorations, getting it just as I like it. I hadn't even made my tea yet. I can get lost in these things forever, exactly like as a child, I got lost for hours with my color pencils, crayons and paints, making dream Christmas scenes from after Thanksgiving until the night before Christmas Eve Day. It went along with decorating the Christmas tree.
Once I was old enough I hogged the whole process. Dad could put the up in the stand and put on the lights –- this was always fraught because somehow every year, between tree lights that worked when we took the tree down, a certain number of the lights didn’t work when the next year's tree went up. But once those teensie irrelvancies were resolved, man, I took over. By the later years Mom even conceded to me the tinsel – that old fashioned aluminum stuff you put on last of everything else, that hung like Spanish moss does on live oaks down south, then in later years that much less satisfactory celophane static electricity stuff. The tinsel had always been her part because the rest of us didn’t have the sense to properly distribute. But when I got old enough, I did too, and better than she did, at least I thought so. I spent hours putting the tinsel on, one strand at a time. I continued to re-arrange the ornaments and tinsel until we took the tree down. The very concept of a tree in the house stunned me delirious with joy. We were people of the treeless prairies after all.
Now the national Christmas tree. The faces of the children in the photos are filled with Oh! and Ah!, just as they should be. The president's face is for once happy and content, as he performs with his family this annual national tradition of lighting the tree and as a spectator enjoys the accompanying entertainments. When the First Family together lights up the tree, his mother-in-law is part of that, as she's part of the family, and is part of the raising of the Obama daughters. Then, there is the part played by the First Lady. I keep repeating this, but I believe it more every time -- whatever criticisms I have of the president, and they are many and they are serious -- the one thing he's done perfectly is his marriage partner. She is wonderful in every way.
Here's the WaPo site for the National Christmas Tree Lighting photos and video.
Oooooo, and here the WaPo has a photo series of the evolution of the National Christmas Tree, since Calvin Coolidge! lighted the first one in 1923. Calvin started this tradition? Dour CC? Who would have thought?
My dear Austin amiga, L, gifted me with a Jackie Lawson digital Advent Calendar again this year. Last year the calendar was 24 days of filling in the details of a small town that looked remarkably like C'town in MD, where we were living. This year it's London. I thought yesterday that London wasn't as satisfactory as last year's, but as of this morning, decorating the Christmas Tree, I think it's just as wonderful as last year's. It's urban, yes, but with the small town neighborhood in the forefront that so much of NYC used to be like, and still is, in pockets, if you are part of that small town -- I can even find it here in SoHo, surely the most overbuilt, overhyped, overtouristed, overtacky, rat haven in the country.
I spent a full hour playing with the Advent calendar's tree and the decorations, getting it just as I like it. I hadn't even made my tea yet. I can get lost in these things forever, exactly like as a child, I got lost for hours with my color pencils, crayons and paints, making dream Christmas scenes from after Thanksgiving until the night before Christmas Eve Day. It went along with decorating the Christmas tree.
Once I was old enough I hogged the whole process. Dad could put the up in the stand and put on the lights –- this was always fraught because somehow every year, between tree lights that worked when we took the tree down, a certain number of the lights didn’t work when the next year's tree went up. But once those teensie irrelvancies were resolved, man, I took over. By the later years Mom even conceded to me the tinsel – that old fashioned aluminum stuff you put on last of everything else, that hung like Spanish moss does on live oaks down south, then in later years that much less satisfactory celophane static electricity stuff. The tinsel had always been her part because the rest of us didn’t have the sense to properly distribute. But when I got old enough, I did too, and better than she did, at least I thought so. I spent hours putting the tinsel on, one strand at a time. I continued to re-arrange the ornaments and tinsel until we took the tree down. The very concept of a tree in the house stunned me delirious with joy. We were people of the treeless prairies after all.
Now the national Christmas tree. The faces of the children in the photos are filled with Oh! and Ah!, just as they should be. The president's face is for once happy and content, as he performs with his family this annual national tradition of lighting the tree and as a spectator enjoys the accompanying entertainments. When the First Family together lights up the tree, his mother-in-law is part of that, as she's part of the family, and is part of the raising of the Obama daughters. Then, there is the part played by the First Lady. I keep repeating this, but I believe it more every time -- whatever criticisms I have of the president, and they are many and they are serious -- the one thing he's done perfectly is his marriage partner. She is wonderful in every way.
Here's the WaPo site for the National Christmas Tree Lighting photos and video.
Oooooo, and here the WaPo has a photo series of the evolution of the National Christmas Tree, since Calvin Coolidge! lighted the first one in 1923. Calvin started this tradition? Dour CC? Who would have thought?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
It Beginning to Look Like Christmas
The first week of December has long been my favorite week of the holidays. Thanksgiving hurly burly has come and gone – isn’t it grand how the one holiday that really was about friends and family is now about gigonomous BUYING? Is capitalism great or what? Why I like this week is because routines are back and observed, while real people as opposed to retail oppressors, are leisurely, here and there, putting out lights and other Christmas decorations, and they are sparkling and bright, not yet tired. I love the light at this time of year. And now with the re-instatement of normal temperatures, the light and the feel of the air have matched up again. Next week is traditionally the favorite one for both private and corporate and charity Christmas parties, so this weekend kicks into high gear the hurly burly of Christmas and New Year's. Thus, we'll be in uncommon, non-routine mode for the next few weeks -- particularly as el V's so taken up with rehearsals and the premiere of the first three sections of LasVidas Perfectas on the 15th, 16th and 17th.
Since the Obama family moved into the White House I've been uncharacteristically, and for the first time, fascinated with how things are done there. I love how the First Lady and her staff do Christmas, and in particular how they decorate the White House. The WaPo always covers in detail the unveiling of the Christmas White House, so today all of us get to see it. The star of the Holiday White House this year is Bo, which surely is something kids all over the country can appreciate. The WaPo coverage, "Bo is Christmas star in White House decor," is here.
There is a slide show of photographs, and a video also -- though just now it doesn't seem to be working so well.
Merry Christmas! Woof Woof Woof!
Since the Obama family moved into the White House I've been uncharacteristically, and for the first time, fascinated with how things are done there. I love how the First Lady and her staff do Christmas, and in particular how they decorate the White House. The WaPo always covers in detail the unveiling of the Christmas White House, so today all of us get to see it. The star of the Holiday White House this year is Bo, which surely is something kids all over the country can appreciate. The WaPo coverage, "Bo is Christmas star in White House decor," is here.
There is a slide show of photographs, and a video also -- though just now it doesn't seem to be working so well.
Merry Christmas! Woof Woof Woof!
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