Don DeLillo

“Don DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, performance art, the Cold War, mathematics, the advent of the digital age, politics, economics, and global terrorism. ... DeLillo's work displays elements of both modernism and postmodernism. ... He has said the primary influences on his work and development are ‘abstract expressionism, foreign films, and jazz.’ Many of DeLillo's books (notably White Noise) satirize academia and explore postmodern themes of rampant consumerism, novelty intellectualism, underground conspiracies, the disintegration and re-integration of the family, and the promise of rebirth through violence. ... The psychology of crowds and the capitulation of individuals to group identity is a theme DeLillo examines in several of his novels, especially in the prologue to Underworld, Mao II, and Falling Man. ...” Wikipedia

W - White Noise, NY Times: White Noise by Jayne Anne Phillips (Jan. 13, 1985), Mapping Don DeLillo’s White Noise, LitCharts: White Noise Study Guide

W - Libra, Rolling Stone - Q&A: Don DeLillo, NY Times: DALLAS, ECHOING DOWN THE DECADES  By Anne Tyler (July 24, 1988), Don DeLillo’s Libra at 30

W - Underworld, NY Times: The Power of History by Don DeLillo (Sep. 7, 1997), Guardian: Don DeLillo’s Underworld – still hits a home run, NYBooks: Between Hell and History by Luc Sante (Nov. 1997), Excavating the Past in Don DeLillo’s Underworld, Guardian: No 98 – Underworld (1997), [PDF] Underworld

W - The Body Artist, NY Times: Ghostbuster (Feb. 2001)

W - Falling Man, The Paris Review - Falling Men: On Don DeLillo and Terror, NY Times: The Clear Blue Sky, Guardian: As his world came tumbling down

 NY Times: We All Live in Don DeLillo’s World. He’s Confused by It Too. (Oct. 2020)

The Paris Review: The Art of Fiction No. 135 (Fall 1993)

New York: What to Read (May 2007)

BOOKFORUM: Stockholm, Are You Listening? Why Don DeLillo deserves the Nobel

Soundcloud: Don Delillo reads from Mao II, Point Omega, Falling Man at Town Hall

amazon

Colette: The French resistance fighter confronting fascism

 

“90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the German concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she fought Hitler's Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. For 74 years, she has refused to step foot in Germany, but that changes when a young history student named Lucie enters her life. Prepared to re-open old wounds and revisit the terrors of that time, Marin-Catherine offers important lessons for us all. Film-makers Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard explain how they found out about the story of Colette and why they decided to make a documentary about her. Read the interview here ...”

Guardian (Video)

2021 January: Colette (2018 film)

The National Pastime - SABR

“Since 2009, The National Pastime has served as SABR’s convention-focused publication. Published annually, this research journal provides in-depth articles focused on the respective geographic region where the National Convention is taking place in a given year. From 1982 to 2008, the magazine was intended as a more literary outlet for SABR members to publish their research, in comparison to the more statistically inclined Baseball Research Journal. Click on a cover image below to read articles online from The National Pastime. (Note: Some TNPs are still being digitized and are only available as PDF downloads. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view those files.) Most past editions of The National Pastime can be purchased at Amazon.com. ...”

SABR: The National Pastime Archives PDF

The National Pastime, Pictorial Issue: John Thorn

Debatable: ‘Full-scale war’

 

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

“A synagogue on fire. Gazan apartment buildings leveled by bombs. Jews attacking Arabs and Arabs attacking Jews on the street. It’s been called the worst outburst of Israeli-Palestinian violence in seven years. At least seven people, including two children, in Israel and 103 Palestinians, including 27 children, have been killed as of Thursday, and by Friday those numbers will probably be outdated. If the situation continues to escalate, the United Nations’ special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process warned, the region could be headed toward a ’full-scale war.’ Why is this happening, and what does it portend for the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Here’s what people are saying. ...”

NY Times (Video)

 

In Pics | Violence Grips Israel and Palestine in Most Intense Hostilities in Years

Richard Skelton’s Newest Ambient Works Are Inspired by 19th Century Magical Medicine

 

“For many years Richard Skelton has explored the natural world through sound. Ambient compositions that reflect nature often conjure up associations of soothing serenity, with the immersive soundscapes acting as the peaceful bliss and idyllic beauty of stretching landscapes. However, Skelton plunges deeper than this, exploring his own personal relationship and history to specific places, as well as the raging contradictions of nature, channelling its harshness and unforgiving unpredictability alongside its staggering splendor.In the early days Skelton never intended his music to be performed for, or heard by, anyone. His audience was the same as his inspiration: nature. ...”

bandcamp (Audio)

W - Richard Skelton

Articulate Silences interview with ambient/modern classical (Audio/Video)

Discogs

YouTube: River Song, Of the Sea, Noon Hill Wood, Threads Across The River

​See Reopening Plans and Mask Mandates for All 50 States

 

“All across the country, mask mandates are easing, restrictions are lifting and many states have gone back to business as usual. It appears much of the country will be open with few restrictions in the coming months. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, it has been largely up to state and local officials to determine what restrictions, if any, to impose to slow new infections. A nationwide patchwork of rules for businesses and residents resulted over months of trial and error, as governors reopened some sectors only to later re-close and reopen them again as infection rates rose and fell. ...”

NY Times

​Pina Bausch Magazine

 

“A conceptual magazine spread detailing the life and career of ballerina, modern dancer, and choreographer Pina Bausch. The brushed type treatment is a nod to her own style, which created motifs of rapid movement, disorientation, and distress through dance.  The text is taken from the biography published to her webpage. The cover design is inspired by ArtForum's styling. Typefaces used are Avenir Next, Bratz, and Baskerville. ...”

Caitlin Stamper

ARTFORUM: The Auto-Representation of Pina Bausch (February 1984)

​The Pleasures of Destroying a Good Book

 

“It is a sin, she said, to damage the spine. My elementary school librarian showed us a cracked book. The creases and wrinkles looked like an exposed skeleton. After her elegiac presentation, we were sent to the stacks to find books. I handled them with more fear than care. When I got the nerve to peek inside, I eased open the pages as if each text would crumble to dust. My librarian had good reason for her method: she had to preserve books for years of students. Unfortunately, her warnings made me think that books were meant only to be borrowed. As a reader, I want to inhabit a book as a form of communion. Most books took years to write—and likely a few more years to rewrite. They deserve more than a single read before being consigned to silent prison among their cousins of other genres on untouched bookshelves. Some books become part of my weekly, daily life. Those books are inevitably flattened on my desk. Dog-eared. Highlighted. Circled. ...”

LitHub

amazon: Best American Short Stories 1983, Anne Tyler

​Beautiful Garbage

 

Talking Heads

“Beautiful Garbage is a journey through one of America’s most revered and impactful genres. Moving from the four cornerstones: TheMC5, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and The New York Dolls; to Punk’s birthplace in New York at CBGB; and finally to England, where The Sex Pistols propelled it to worldwide recognition before imploding and leaving us with The Clash and asking ‘what is punk?’ Written and hosted by Kevin Hogan, Beautiful Garbage shares the quest for that answer and the stories we found in the archives, told by those who lived them. Stories about innovations in sound and style, technological breakthroughs, and the sociopolitical factors that produced the punk aesthetic and its indelible mark on popular music and culture. ...”

Osiris Pod (Audio)

Dangerous Visions - Harlan Ellison (1967 - Editor)

 

“Dangerous Visions is a science fiction short story anthology edited by American writer Harlan Ellison and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. It was published in 1967. A path-breaking collection, Dangerous Visions helped define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex in science fiction. Writer/editor Al Sarrantonio writes how Dangerous Visions 'almost single-handedly [...] changed the way readers thought about science fiction.' Contributors to the volume included 20 authors who had won, or would win, a Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, or BSFA award, and 16 with multiple such awards. Ellison introduced the anthology both collectively and individually while authors provided afterwords to their own stories. ...”

Wikipedia

A Look Back at Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions by Ted Gioia

[PDF] Dangerous Visions

amazon

A guide to New York City through the 10 best movie locations

 

“I have never been to New York. I do not regret it, however, as there are certain locations that seem almost magical in your dreams. As soon I hear the words ‘New York’, the first image that comes to my mind is people clad in crisp business suits, talking on their phones, rushing to commute to their workplaces. New York is the city of dreams, a city where commerce and art make love together, and a city that never sleeps. With a variety of people cohabiting the city together, it is a land of urban surrealism. Amidst the neon signs, the hustle and bustle of city life and the posh, swanky skyscrapers that make your existence seem nearly negligible, the city hides the dark underbelly which reeks of crime, violence and homelessness. Of course, this juxtaposition is arguably a key factor in what makes the city so fascinating; the constant dichotomy and the ever-widening gap between wealth and poverty. New York is full of surprises, turmoils, violence and love, and nobody is complaining.  ...”

FAR OUT (Video)

 

Taxi Driver 1976.

​Money, Power, and Respect at the Champions League Final

 

“The grand spectacle is almost upon us. Real Madrid, the great but ancient empire of European soccer, have been swept aside for now; Paris Saint-Germain, the fast-rising upstart, have faltered in their ascent. As Chelsea and Manchester City, their respective conquerors, prepare to contest the third men’s UEFA Champions League final between two English teams, there is a sense that they are announcing another next great rivalry. ... Now, Foden has been coached by Pep Guardiola for only a few seasons. Yet he is such an accurate embodiment of the Spaniard’s footballing philosophy—tactically versatile, endlessly fluid in his movement—that he seems to have been working with him since he was able to walk. ... Both should be leading figures for their club for several seasons to come. ...”

The Ringer (Audio) 59:24

Just Coolin' - Lester Young

 

“Lester Young was one of the most influential saxophonists of the swing era. His light, airy sound, and the melodic grace of his improvisations were in direct contrast to Hawkins's gruffer, more harmonically-based approach. Young's velvety tone and rapid articulation were major influences on the bebop generation of saxophonists that followed, notably Charlie Parker. Lester Young was one of the true jazz giants, a tenor saxophonist who came up with a completely different conception in which to play his horn, floating over bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. A non-conformist, Young (nicknamed ‘Pres’ by Billie Holiday) had the ironic experience in the 1950s of hearing many young tenors try to sound exactly like him. ...”

moochin about (Audio)

2017 July: In Washington (1956), 2018 August: The Jazz Giants '56 (1956), 2019 March: Lester Young - March 15, 1959

​Night sky

 

The Milky Way is brighter in the Southern Hemisphere than in the North. 

“The term night sky, usually associated with astronomy from Earth, refers to the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon. Natural light sources in a night sky include moonlight, starlight, and airglow, depending on location and timing. Aurorae light up the skies above the polar circles. ... The night sky and studies of it have a historical place in both ancient and modern cultures. In the past, for instance, farmers have used the status of the night sky as a calendar to determine when to plant crops. Many cultures have drawn constellations between stars in the sky, using them in association with legends and mythology about their deities. ...”

W - Night sky

Night Sky Planner

W - Sky & Telescope, W - Astronomy

 

The Flammarion engraving, Paris 1888

Greg Jager and a Roman Basketball Court: “Tiber Courtyard”

 

“The sheer number of painted basketball courts that we see in the last two years makes us think there may be an evolving new category of art practice somewhere between street art, land art, billboard takeovers, and municipal public art. Clearly, a coffee table book will arrive here shortly. Today we have a new project in ‘Valco San Paolo’ by Greg Jager. The press release describes the design challenges of creating something for a population that lives on a tract of land that is ‘not a real neighborhood, not a suburb, not even a victim of that phenomenon that some have called beautification.’ ...”

Brooklyn Street Art

Tiber Courtyard by Greg Jager

Makaya McCraven ‎– In The Moment (2015)

 

“Makaya McCraven‘s breakthrough debut album In The Moment captured 48 hours of live, improvised performances from McCraven and company. It was recorded at 1 venue over 12 months and 28 shows. The edited, remixed, and final product ended up displaying one of the most important recordings to date in the modern jazz world.The feeling still organic and never too far removed from the source material, the impressive, virtuosic playing reaches Sun Ra levels of hypnotic transmissions that keeps the listener fully engulfed in the spiritual plane. ...”

#vinyloftheday

Discogs (Video)

amazon

YouTube: In the Moment Deluxe Edition ((FULL ALBUM)) 1:53:44

The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 - Hunter S. Thompson

 

“One thing that this collection of letters makes clear at the outset is that Hunter S. Thompson, he of the 'Fear and Loathing' books, for whom the phrase ''gonzo journalist'' was invented, has always burned to carve his initials onto the collective awareness. ... It is noteworthy that although just one in seven of the relevant cache of letters was included, this book, labeled 'The Fear and Loathing Letters, Volume I,' weighs in at just under 700 pages -- and there are still 30 more years to go. Even some of the photographs of Mr. Thompson were taken by the author himself, self-portraits of the writer at work and at play. Manifestly, this is a man who, while anti-snobbish to a fault, abusively contemptuous of self-promotion and pretension, had a powerful need to make a record of himself and to make that record public.  ...”

NY Times: Letters of the Young Author (He Saved Them All)

Google: The Proud Highway...

amazon

2014 April: Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas | Nov 11, 1971, 2017 June: Gonzo journalism

Love of a Woman (Horace Andy, Dillinger, Patrick Andy) etc.

 

“Horace Andy possesses one of the truly immortal voices of reggae -- a reedy tenor that cuts effortlessly through the mix and has influenced countless other reggae singers. He began recording as a teenager, and his voice and delivery have actually changed little since those early days, when he was cranking out hits for producer Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd at the great Studio One label. ...”

YouTube: Love of a Woman (Horace Andy, Dillinger, Patrick Andy) 17:59, Only A Smile (Paragons, John Holt, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth) 20:23, Swing Easy (Soul Vendors, Augustus Pablo) 27:22

Reclaiming Africa’s Early Post-Independence History

A History of Resource Plunder

“This article is part of the ‘Reclaiming Africa’s Early Post-Independence History‘ series from Post-Colonialisms Today (PCT), a research and advocacy project of activist-intellectuals on the continent, working to recapture progressive thought and policies from early post-independence Africa to address contemporary development challenges. It is adapted from a recent webinar on natural resource sovereignty which you can listen to here. Sign up for updates on the project here. ...”

Africa Is a Country

Post-Colonialisms Today (Video)

YouTube: Post-Colonialisms Today   21 videos

Reclaiming Africa’s Early Post-Independence History

Accra Central, Ghana, 2019.

​Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty

 

“Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty is the first major UK exhibition of the work of French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) in over 50 years. One of the most provocative voices in postwar modern art, Dubuffet rebelled against conventional ideas of beauty, hoping to capture the poetry of everyday life in a gritty, more authentic way. Drawn from international public and private collections, Brutal Beauty brings together more than 150 works: from early portraits, lithographs and fantastical statues to enamel paintings, butterfly assemblages and giant colourful canvases. It opens at Barbican Art Gallery on 17 May 2021. ...”

Barbican

Dubuffet Architecte

Guardian - Jean Dubuffet: impish master of perpetual reinvention

amazon

2018 February: Jean Dubuffet

Jean Dubuffet sculpts a block of polystyrene with a hot wire in his studio on rue Labrouste

Lea Bertucci ~ A Visible Length Of Light (2020)

 

“Few images unmistakably capture the American West more than the image on the front cover of Lea Bertucci’s new album, even if this one has been vividly colourised. Sure, there are more distinct rock formations such as the Arches (in the same state) but for many, this is the USA – the remote, inhospitable, desert lands of Utah that served as a background for any number of Westerns that we grew up watching. A monochrome version of the picture could double for an Ansel Adams photograph, images that introduced the natural beauty of the States to a national and international audience. ...”

a closer listen (Audio)

Bandcamp (Video/Audio)

Lea Bertucci (Video/Audio), About | Contact

Rosa Luxemburg - Margarethe von Trotta (1986)

 

“In this moving biopic, Rosa Luxemburg emerges as a vibrant, sensual, intellectually brilliant, morally and physically courageous woman, whose legacy proves timeless, writes Tom Lock Griffiths. Rosa Luxemburg (1986), directed by German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta, (who’s The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum is probably her best known film in the UK), is a biopic of the Polish-Jewish Marxist who worked tirelessly with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), for peace, internationalism and the revolution. The film focuses on the period 1900-1919 the year of her assassination by the proto-fascist Freikorps, who were brutalised far-right ex-servicemen, many of whom would become the founders of The National Socialist Party. ...”

Rosa Luxemburg, von Trotta's 1986 film, receives digital restoration - review

W - Rosa Luxemburg (film), W - Rosa Luxemburg

Moments that Define A Century – Political Crossroads in Margarethe von Trotta’s Rosa Luxemburgt

Margarethe von Trotta on telling the story of Germany through the eyes of women

NY Times: 'ROSA LUXEMBURG,' NEW LIGHT ON EARLY LEFTIST - Vincent Canby (May 1, 1987)

Criterion

YouTube: Rosa Luxemburg - Trailers

2013 December: Hannah Arendt (2013), 2019 September: The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum - Heinrich Böll (1974)

 

Margarethe von Trotta

Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (1985)

 

“Not to be confused with Sony's 1997 soundtrack release, September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, which was inspired by this 1985 CD on A&M, and co-produced by visionary Hal Willner, Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill indeed contains the ‘eclectic updates of Kurt Weill's distinctive German theater music’ with help from Sting, Marianne Faithfull, John Zorn, Lou Reed, Carla Bley, Tom Waits, Charlie Haden, and more. This deep and complex work contains a 12-page booklet chock-full of information condensed into tiny, tiny print. Did the onset of compact discs hold this elaborate project back? ...”

allmusic (Audio)

W - Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill

Discogs (Video)

amazon

YouTube: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill    1:07:28

2009 December: Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht, 2011 August: W - Communards’ Wall 1871, 2012 March: The Threepenny Opera - Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, 2012 July: Supply and Demand: Songs by Brecht / Weill & Eisler - Dagmar Krause, 2013 March: Pina Bausch - "The Seven Deadly Sins", 2015 February: The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink, 2016 October: Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins & Berlin Theater Songs (1997), 2018 December: Kalifornienträumen: Bertolt Brecht’s Los Angeles Poems and Other Sunstruck Germanic Specters

​Facebook Oversight Board Upholds Social Network’s Ban of Trump

 

Donald J. Trump was barred from Facebook on Jan. 7 after he used the site to foment an insurrection in Washington.

“A Facebook-appointed panel of journalists, activists and lawyers on Wednesday upheld the social network’s ban of former President Donald J. Trump, ending any immediate return by Mr. Trump to mainstream social media and renewing a debate about tech power over online speech.Facebook’s Oversight Board, which acts as a quasi-court over the company’s content decisions, said the social network was right to bar Mr. Trump after the insurrection in Washington in January, saying he ‘created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.’ The panel said the ongoing risk of violence ‘justified’ the move. ...”

NY Times

NY Times: Judge Says Barr Misled on How His Justice Dept. Viewed Trump’s Actions

amazon: The Mueller Report (April 30, 2019), The Mueller Report - Large Print Edition (July 2, 2019)

​10 Hours Sci-Fi Futuristic City Ambience.

 

“A City Where Life Never Stops. If you are looking for more sounds to relax, just have a look at my channel! I have other beautiful and quiet dreamworlds that will make you dive away from everyday life with ease. You can use the scene for relaxation, or as a support to sleep easier and deeper. If you have special suggestions for further dreamworlds, please leave a comment! Thank you very much for your support! Don't forget to subscribe to us and leave a Like. Especially in these days of the corona, I want to help people that can not easily travel or go outside or just stay positive in their mind, with our collection from different places all around the world. ...”

YouTube: 10 Hours Sci-Fi Futuristic City Ambience. ASMR Ambience

YouTube: Sci-Fi City Soundscapes & Ambience    32 videos