Doug Aitken

Sleepwalkers
Wikipedia - "Doug Aitken was born in Redondo Beach, California in 1968 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles and New York. Aitken’s body of work ranges from photography, sculpture, and architectural interventions, to films, sound, single and multi-channel video works, and installations. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world, in such institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris."
Wikipedia, Doug Aitken, MoMA, YouTube - sleepwalkers, sleepwalkers [60-second trailer], Eraser, 1999, Electric Earth, 2009, Frontier (Rome), Happening

John Berger - Ways of Seeing

Wikipedia - "Ways of Seeing is a 1972 BBC four-part television series of 30 minute films created chiefly by writer John Berger and producer Mike Dibb. Berger's scripts were adapted into a book of the same name. The series and book criticize traditional Western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about hidden ideologies in visual images. The series is partially a response to Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series, which represents a more traditionalist view of the Western artistic and cultural canon."
Wikipedia, UbuWeb

Over The River - Christo and Jeanne-Claude

"Over The River is a temporary work of art by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Christo plans to suspend 5.9 miles of silvery, luminous fabric panels high above the Arkansas River along a 42-mile stretch of the river between Salida and Cañon City in south-central Colorado."
Over The River, (1), YouTube

Priit Pärn

Elu ilma Gabriella Ferrita (2008)
Wikipedia - "Priit Pärn (born 26 August 1946 in Tallinn) is an Estonian cartoonist and animation director whose films have enjoyed success among critics as well as the public at various film festivals."
Wikipedia, vimeo - Hotel E, veoh - Breakfast on the Grass

Cannibal & The Headhunters

Wikipedia - "Cannibal & The Headhunters were an American band originating from East Los Angeles, that is known for being one of the first Mexican-American groups to have a national hit record, 'Land of a Thousand Dances', recorded on the RAMPART label. They were also the opening act for The Beatles' second American tour, backed up by the King Curtis band."
Wikipedia, YouTube - Land Of 1000 Dances

Fractal

Fractal (The Mandelbrot Set), sometimes described as "the thumbprint of God."
Wikipedia - "A fractal is 'a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,' a property called self-similarity."
Wikipedia, YouTube - Arthur Clarke - Fractals - The Colors Of Infinity 1 of 6, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Lionel Corporation

Wikipedia - "Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and retailer that did business from 1900 to 1993. Founded as an electrical novelties company, Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence, but toy trains and model railroads were its main claim to fame. Lionel trains, produced from 1901 to 1969, drew admiration from model railroaders around the world for the solidity of their construction and the authenticity of their detail."
Wikipedia, Lionel, Postwar Lionel Trains, amazon - "Inside The Lionel Trains Fun Factory", Robert's Lionel Trains Layout, YouTube - Lionel Trains for Christmas - CBS Sunday Morning, Lionel Trains - Railroad Story

Bob Marley and the Wailers

"Bob Marley was born in the country village of Nine Mile in Jamaica's St. Ann Parish. When he was 12 years old he moved to the poverty stricken Trenchtown area of Kingston where he decided that his future lay in making music. Marley worked with many musicians throughout his teenage years, including Peter McIntosh (Peter Tosh) and Neville Livingstone (Bunny Wailer). The three of them would later go on to record under the name 'The Wailers'."
Jamaica Travel and Culture, YouTube - Biography part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, part 6, part 7

Red Scare

January 4, 1920 photo of Massachusetts prisoners seized during government raids awaiting transport to Deer Island.
Wikipedia - "The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker (socialist) revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare was focused on (national and foreign) communists influencing society or infiltrating the federal government, or both."
Wikipedia, CUNY, Google, YouTube - First Red Scare

Robert Wyatt

Wikipedia - "Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945, Bristol) is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career. He is married to English painter and songwriter Alfreda Benge."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube - Shipbuilding, I'm A Beleiver, Sea Song, Catholic Architecture, Gharbadzegi, Alifib, Little Red Robin Hood - Robert Wyatt Documentary, The Canterbury Scene: An Interview with Robert Wyatt - BBC South, Dondestan (Revisited) Interview (Part One of Two), (Part Two of Two)

Silliman's Blog - World Series, San Francisco Giants

Edgar Renteria gets the pitch he wanted
"In 1954, the last time the Giants won a World Series, I was eight years old. I remember the series as one of the first that I watched on TV with my grandfather, gradually becoming a baseball fan but not yet with an allegiance to any team."
Silliman's Blog

The Age of Discovery

Wikipedia - "The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, was a period in history starting in the 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and mapping the planet. Historians often refer to the 'Age of Discovery' as the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternative trade routes to 'the Indies', moved by the trade of gold, silver and spices."
Wikipedia

Marianne Faithfull

Wikipedia - "Marianne Evelyn Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an award winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s. During the first two thirds of that decade, and with little notice, she produced only two studio albums. After a long commercial absence, she returned late in 1979 with the landmark album, Broken English. Faithfull's subsequent solo work, often critically acclaimed, has at times been overshadowed by her personal history."
Wikipedia, Marianne Faithfull, last.fm, YouTube - As Tears Go By, My Time Of Sorrow, There But For Fortune, Dreaming My Dreams , Love Is Teasin' (live feat. the Chieftains), Sister Morphine, Ballad of Lucy Jordan, Why d'ya do it (2009), Broken English 1979, Working Class Hero (2004), Incarceration of a Flower Child, My Friends have, Crazy Love, Nobody's Fault, Strange Weather, Live 2005, Easy Come, Easy Go , Hold On Hold On, As Tears Go By (2009)

Interview 1978 , Close Up (1999) 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5, Before The Poison (2005), CBS Sunday Morning, 5-3-2009

The Great Mimeograph Revolution

"A library is a living organism. I consider my book collection a beneficial and benevolent version of the Burroughsian virus. The books on my shelves are fluid, mutating, multiplying. After close to twenty years of intense collecting, it has become obvious as I scan the bookshelves that I am no longer strictly a William Burroughs collector."
Reality Studio

Newsreel

Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on October 30, 1938
Wikipedia - "A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers until television supplanted its role in the 1950s. Newsreels are now considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record of historical and cultural events of those times."
Wikipedia, Universal Newsreels, Newsreel Weekend, Newsreel Archive, YouTube - Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Battle of the Bulge, Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan (1930 Newsreel Footage), Algeria fights for Independence against France, Google

disquiet: ambient/electronic

Disquiet (detail), 2008. Patricia Hickman.
"... to Disquiet, a little locus of ambient and other electronic music. The site's name honors Fernando Pessoa (1888 - 1935), the late Portuguese poet. Son of a music critic, illuminator of the everyday, loner, futurist — he is as good a patron saint of electronic music as the burgeoning genre could ask for."
disquiet

Cars in Cuba

Cars of Havana, Cuba
YouTube - Classic Cars in Cuba, Cars of Cuba, Cars of Havana

Soft Machine

Wikipedia - "Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre."
Wikipedia, last.fm, Cuneiform Records, YouTube - I Should've Known, Soon, Soon, Soon, I Should Have Known, We Know What You Mean, Moon In June, Memories, Live 1969, Soft Machine documentary

Dick Dale and the Deltones

Wikipedia - "Dick Dale (born Richard Anthony Monsour on May 4, 1937) is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier."
Wikipedia, Dick Dale and the Deltones, YouTube - Misirlou, Pipeline/Surf Beat Medley, Nitro, Surf Beat, Riders In the Sky, Hava Nagila, Banzai Washout

2011 TED Prize — JR

"JR, a moving and innovative artist who exhibits freely in the world’s streets, has been named the recipient of the 2011 TED Prize — an award granting $100,000 and something much bigger: a wish to change the world with the support of the TED community."
World Changing, TED Prize - Video

Brion Gysin: Dream Machine

"The New Museum will present 'Brion Gysin: Dream Machine,' the first US retrospective of the work of the painter, performer, poet, and writer Brion Gysin (born 1916, Taplow, UK–died 1986, Paris). Working simultaneously in a variety of mediums, Gysin was an irrepressible inventor, serial collaborator, and subversive spirit whose considerable innovations continue to influence musicians and writers, as well as visual and new media artists today."
New Museum, NYT, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brion Gysin: Dream Machine, YouTube - Brion Gysin: Dream Machine at the NEW MUSEUM

The History of the Argentine Tango

"Buenos Aires and tango are synonymous terms, and tango is an integral part of the large city. You can find the tango all over Buenos Aires: in it's mythical cafes, at the milongas, and by walking around the city's authentic neighborhoods. The history of the Argentine Tango, from tango's humble beginnings to its latest developments, is part of the grand history of Buenos Aires."
The Foundation of Life

Pina Bausch - Nelken

"A pervasive air of nostalgia surrounds the current visit of Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal to Sadler's Wells Theatre. Many of the critics have dredged up yet again the old rhetoric about Bausch's cruel world of victims and abused women while the souvenir programme is full of reminiscences by eminent British actors and directors - including Alan Rickman and Neil Bartlett - about the impact Bausch's work had on them when they saw her company during its first London season back in 1982."
ballet-dance, YouTube - The Man I Love (vocal: Sophie Tucker), Dominique Mercy, Fensterputzer laveur de vitre, Dominique Mercy sublime

The Afrobeat Blog

Entrance Gate to the Afrika Shrine, Lagos 2006 (Photo by Ezra Gale)
"The Afrobeat Blog is a global music forum dedicated to the legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the founder of Afrobeat and international protest figure. This blog is dedicated to publicizing those spreading Fela's legacy of cross-cultural exchange and international musical consciousness. -Marc Gabriel Amigone"
The Afrobeat Blog

Bruce Sterling

Wikipedia - "Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre."
Wikipedia, Mirrorshades, Vimeo, YouTube - MoMo #8 - Bruce Sterling, Bruce Sterling - reboot 11 closing talk, YouTube - Bruce Sterling in Belgrade

T-Bone Walker

Wikipedia - "T-Bone Walker (May 28, 1910 — March 16, 1975[1]) was an American blues guitarist, singer, pianist, and songwriter who was one of the most important pioneers of the electric guitar. He was the first blues musician to use an electric guitar."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube - Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong, She Is Going To Ruin Me, Call It Stormy Monday, I Got A Break Baby, Hey Baby '65, Call Me When You Need Me, Shuffle - Live 1967, Woman, You Must Be Crazy; Goin' To Chicago Blues

Tom Phillips

Wikipedia - "The year of 1966 was important for Phillips. He exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition for the first time, started work on A Humument, and began collaborating with Brian Eno. When Cornelius Cardew founded the Scratch Orchestra, its constitution was drafted in Phillips' garden in Bath (where he had become a teacher at the Bath Academy of Art) and he participated in most of the concerts until he became disillusioned with its politicisation."
Wikipedia, Tom Phillips, Humument, Tom Phillips Blog

Laurie Simmons

Woman/ Purple Dress/ Kitchen, 1978
Wikipedpa - "Laurie Simmons is an artist and photographer currently working in New York."
ZWikipedia, Laurie Simmons, PBS - art21, artnet, Artforum, YouTube - The Music of Regret Act 1, 2, 3

Christian Marclay on Night Music

"A piece by 'turntablist' Christian Marclay, from the October 29, 1989 episode of the short-lived music television show Night Music. Other guests that night included Todd Rundgren, Taj Mahal, Pat Metheny, and Nanci Griffith."
YouTube

The History of Ska & Rock Steady

"The roots of Ska lie deeply in American music. Back in the fifties, the Jamaican youth would dance to the American R&B and hip jazz that would play on the radio that was broadcast from New Orleans, or from any DJs that had the hottest new tracks on 45s. Once rock and roll dominated the air waves, the kids quickly lost interest, and the people of Jamaica started recording their own music."
amazon, The History of Ska & Rock Steady - Part One (Linton Kwesi Johnson), Part 2

Finding Nighthawks

NYPL, 1938
"Much ado has been made recently of the triangular plot of land that juts like a shark fin between 7th Avenue South, Perry Street, and Greenwich. The MTA owns the property and recently proposed to build a faux-townhouse there to conceal their planned ventilation plant, a controversial development. Also known as Mulry Square, the triangle is famous for being the supposed location of the inspiration for Edward Hopper's most well-known painting, Nighthawks. But was it?"
Jeremiah's Vanishing New York - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Coda

Edward Dorn: Tribe, 1999

Switchman throwing a switch, Proviso yards, Chicago: Jack Delano, April 1943
"My tribe came from struggling labor
Depression South Eastern Illinois
Just before the southern hills start
To roll toward the coal country
Where the east/west morainal ridges
Of Wisconsin trash pile up
At the bottom of the prairie, socially
A far Midwest recrudescence of Appalachia"
Tom Clark Blog

Evergreen Review

Evergreen Review, Number 51, 1968: “The Spirit of Che”
Wikipedia - "Evergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998. Its diversity can be seen in the March-April 1960 issue, which included work by Albert Camus, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bertolt Brecht and LeRoi Jones, as well as Edward Albee's first play, The Zoo Story."
Wikipedia, History of Evergreen Review, Evergreen Review Blog, RealityStudio, YouTube - Evergreen Review magazine #12, amazon - Evergreen Review Reader 1957-1966

We Jam Econo - The Story of the Minutemen

Wikipedia - "We Jam Econo - The Story of the Minutemen, is a full-length documentary about the influential 1980s punk rock band Minutemen, created by director Tim Irwin and producer Keith Schieron in association with Rocket Fuel Films. The film premiered on February 25, 2005 at the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California, after two years in production."
Wikipedia, amazon, we jam econo part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

Apollo Theater

Wikipedia - "The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated television variety show consisting of new talent. The theater is located at 253 W. 125th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, specifically in Harlem, one of the United States' most historically significant traditionally black neighborhoods."
Wikipedia, Apollo Theater, Biography - Video