Adam Thirlwell

Wikipedia - "Adam Thirlwell (born 22 August 1978) is a British novelist. His work has been translated into thirty languages. He has twice been named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. ... He is also the author of a project on the novel and translation, which includes a book first published in 2007, which was chosen as a book of the year by Tom Stoppard in The Guardian and A. S. Byatt in the Times Literary Supplement; and, as guest editor, an anthology of multiple translations for McSweeney's Quarterly."
Wikipedia
New Republic: How Baudelaire Revolutionized Modern Literature; Genocide and the Fine Arts (Claude Lanzmann); Visionary Materialism (Arthur Rimbaud, John Ashbery); My Novel, My Novel (Roland Barthes).
Granta - Interview: Adam Thirlwell
The Quietus: Adam Thirlwell On The Great Gatsby
YouTube: Granta Best Young British Novelists 2013

Aoife O'Donovan - "Fossils"

"... If her aim was to mold a collection which encompasses a broad range of sensibilities including pop and country/rock more nuanced tracks, nonetheless the Boston native artist is determined to keep in the album framework a distinctively folk core. 'Fossils' is impressively interpreted by Aoife's ethereal voice and her capacity to move sometimes abruptly from a melancholy tone to a rough and somewhat stark one without losing the sensuality of the vocals, gives the listener the impression of having to do with a remarkable piece of work, sure making it one of the finest albums in the Americana landscape you can hear in this 2013."
No Depression
NY Times: From Gowanus to Bonnaroo
W - Aoife O'Donovan
YouTube: Red & White & Blue & Gold, Beekeeper, Lay My Burden Down, Oh, Mama, Fire Engine, Tears of Healing Rain/ After the Rain

2011 June: Crooked Still - Some Strange Country, 2011 October: Crooked Stills - EP Friends Of Fall, 2011 October: Interview: Aoife O' Donovan of Crooked Still Shares Memories While Looking Ahead.

War - The World Is a Ghetto

"War's third album as an act separate from Eric Burdon was also far and away their most popular, the group's only long-player to top the pop charts. The culmination of everything they'd been shooting for creatively on their two prior albums, it featured work in both succinct pop-accessible idioms ('The Cisco Kid,' etc.) as well as challenging extended pieces such as the 13-minute 'City, Country, City' -- which offered featured spots to all seven members without ever seeming disjointed -- and the title track, and encompass not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia on works such as the exquisite 'Four Cornered Room.'"
allmusic
W - The World Is a Ghetto
YouTube: The Midnight Special 1973 - Cisco Kid, Cisco Kid, City Country City, Four Cornered Room, The World Is A Ghetto, Where Was You At, Beetles In The Bog

Hopper Drawing

Study for Nighthawks, 1941 or 1942.
"Hopper Drawing is the first major museum exhibition to focus on the drawings and creative process of Edward Hopper (1882–1967). More than anything else, Hopper’s drawings reveal the continually evolving relationship between observation and invention in the artist’s work, and his abiding interest in the spaces and motifs—the street, the movie theatre, the office, the bedroom, the road—that he would return to throughout his career as an artist."
Whitney
NY Times: A Master, Between the Lines
amazon: Hopper Drawing
VIDEO: Drawings of Edward Hopper at the Whitney

2008 July: Edward Hopper, 2010 October: Finding Nighthawks, 2010 December: Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time, 2012 Wednesday: Through Edward Hopper's eyes: in search of an artist's seaside inspiration.

The Chess Records Story

"From Muddy Waters to Bo Diddley to Chuck Berry to Etta James, Chess Records helped solidify Chicago as one of the music centers of the world and became the bridge between rural southern blues and the emergence of both rock and soul music. And the documentary The Chess Records Story tells an awful lot of that history in a pretty short time. It is great watching and a virtualy musical history lesson."
Soul Track
YouTube: The Chess Records Story 01, 02, 03, 04

Michael Nyman: Composer in Progress, In Concert (2010)

"This special DVD boxed set pairs an insightful documentary on composer Michael Nyman's artistic life with a live concert recording of the Michael Nyman Band at Studio Halle. Known for his minimalist soundtracks to such movies as Man on Wire and The Piano, Michael Nyman also has an increasing passion for film and photography, as Composer in Progress demonstrates."
amazon
YouTube: Michael Nyman in Progress - Trailer, Silvia Beck. Michael Nyman. Composer in Progress. 2010, Michael Nyman in Concert

2008 April: Michael Nyman, 2010 August: Decay Music, 2010 December: After Extra Time, 2011 March: Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, 2011 August: Michael Nyman Band, 2011 December: The Draughtsman's Contract - Peter Greenaway, 2012 March: Time Lapse.

Montage

Wikipedia - "Montage ... is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information. The term has been used in various contexts. It was introduced to cinema primarily by Eisenstein, and early Russian directors used it as a synonym for creative editing. In France the word 'montage' simply denotes cutting. The term 'montage sequence' has been used primarily by British and American studios, which refers to the common technique as outlined in this article. The montage sequence is usually used to suggest the passage of time, rather than to create symbolic meaning as it does in Soviet montage theory. From the 1930s to the 1950s, montage sequences often combined numerous short shots with special optical effects (fades, dissolves, split screens, double and triple exposures) dance and music. They were usually assembled by someone other than the director or the editor of the movie."
Wikipedia
W - Soviet montage theory
YouTube: Soviet Montage Cinema, Eisenstein's 5 "methods" of montage
YouTube: Movies in movies: A montage

Life in Five Seconds

"In our jet-fuelled, caffeine-induced, celebrity-a-minute world, who actually has the time to learn a thing or two? C’mon, let’s face it, life’s too bloody short. What you need is instant knowledge. Life in Five Seconds takes 200 world events, inventions, great lives, places, animals and cultural icons that you really need to know about, and then, hey presto!, cuts away all the useless details. The Last Supper, Lady Gaga, the moon landings, the Mona Lisa, the invention of electricity, Ikea, the Berlin Wall, celebrity chefs and everything in-between. This is the perfect gift for anyone with a sense of humour … and a short attention span."
Life in Five Seconds
YouTube: Quercus Books, Life In Five Seconds: The Beatles, Life In Five Seconds: Minotaur, Life In Five Seconds: Michael Jackson

Harbors and High Seas - Dean King and John B. Hattendorf

"This atlas tracks the routes taken and summarizes the plots of all 17 of O'Brian's Napoleonic sea sagas. Featuring a redoubtable pair of British buddies, the series recounts their nautical adventures in the course of fighting the dastardly French or bumptious Americans. As Aubrey and Maturin direct their good ship Surprise around the globe at the admiralty's beck and call, the authors present original maps that pinpoint the novels' pursuits and battles, and they spice the graphics with contemporary drawings of significant ports and forts (like Gibraltar) that were printed in the Royal Navy's official yearbook of those times. As a novelty spin-off, these maps by fans for fans will be popular if an individual library records steady circulation of O'Brianiana."
amazon
Google - Harbors and High Seas
Patrick O'Brian Web Resources

2009 September: Patrick O'Brian

In Living Color

Wikipedia - "In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990, to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. ... Other members of the Wayans family — Kim, Shawn and Marlon — had regular roles, while brother Dwayne frequently appeared as an extra. The show also starred the previously unknown actor/comedians Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, and David Alan Grier. Additionally, actress Rosie Perez, Dancing with the Stars judge and choreographer Carrie Ann Inaba and dancer Jennifer Lopez (now best known as a singer and actress) were members of the show's dance troupe The Fly Girls."
Wikipedia
In Living Color (1990-1994): "Homey don’t play that!"
'In Living Color' Cast: Then and Now
YouTube: In Living Color, Season 1 Episode 1-13, Season 2 Episode 22-26, Introducing Homey D. Clown, Jim Carrey - Funny Workout Video, Jim Carrey - Background Guy 4, Jamie Foxx - Wanda Meets Luther The Ugly Man, Jamie Foxx - Dirty Dozens, East HollyWood Squares - Tommy Davidson as Spike Lee & Jamie Foxx as Little Richard & David Allen Greer as Dr.Dre This video belongs to Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson and David Alan Grier - Men on Film, The Fly Girls, "In Living Color" original stars exclusive on FOX 25th Anniversary Special"

"Sunny Afternoon" - The Kinks

"The tax mans taken all my dough,
And left me in my stately home,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
And I can't sail my yacht,
Hes taken everything Ive got,
All I've gots this sunny afternoon."
W - Sunny_Afternoon
YouTube: Sunny Afternoon

2012 February: The Kinks

Agostino Iacurci New Mural In Venice, Italy

"While we last heard from him last March in Paris, France (covered), Agostino Iacurci recently stopped by Southern Europe to paint a quick piece in Venice, Italy. Primarily focusing on characters, the Italian artist compose larger-than-life illustrative works outdoors converting walls into storybook pages."
StreetArtNews
Agostino Iacurci

Trojan Box Set: Ska (1999)

"Guaranteed to drive the purists around the bend, this budget-priced box set skimps on the packaging, but does make up for it with 50 tracks spread across three CDs. As the cynical have learned to expect, although advertised as a ska compilation, it does indeed stray repeatedly into rocksteady. Once upon a time, Trojan knew the difference, but apparently no longer. Admittedly though, it is classic rocksteady -- the Paragons, the Tamlins, the Valentines, with their sensational 'Blam Blam Fever,' and a clutch of other sublime vocal groups -- but let's get back to the ska. And here's the bit that will really infuriate collectors: Trojan has trawled through their archives and come up with enough gems to make listeners grit their teeth and buy this set regardless of the genre faux pas."
allmusic
YouTube: Get Up Edina - Desmond Dekker, Justin Hinds And The Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come, Don Drummond- Don D Lion, 007 (Shanty Town) - Desmond Dekker, Baba Brooks And His Band - One Eyed Giant, Eric Monty Morris - If I didn't Love, The Skatalites - Guns Of Navarone

BAM: Cassavetes - Jul 6—Jul 31, 2013

"Godfather of American independent cinema John Cassavetes led his stable of fearless actors — Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassel, and, especially, wife Gena Rowlands — into hitherto uncharted cinematic territory, portraying raw human emotion with radical realism and penetrating insight. His films are guided not by conventional narrative technique, but by the rhythms and interiority of everyday life. All films directed by John Cassavetes unless otherwise noted."
BAM: Cassavetes
VOICE: The Life Project: John Cassavetes Brings the Love to BAM
New Yorker: Seeing John Cassavetes (Video)
YouTube: 34-Minute Clip: Host Dick Cavett welcomes guests actors John Cassavetes, Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara., 40-Minute Documentary (1969)

2008 September: John Cassavetes, 2010 December: Shadows (1959), 2011 June: A Woman Under the Influence (1974), 2012 February: His Life and Work, 2012 July: A Constant Forge, 2013 June: Minnie and Moskowitz

State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970

Eleanor Antin, “100 Boots,” 1971-73
"State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970 offers the first in-depth survey of Conceptual art and related avant-garde activities in both Northern and Southern California during a pivotal period in contemporary art. Organized as part of Pacific Standard Time, the exhibition showcases more than 150 works of art—installations, photographs, videos and films, artists’ books, and extensive performance documentation—that demonstrate the critical role of California artists in the development of Conceptual art and other new genres."
Berkeley Art Museum
Exhibitions
LA Times - Art review: 'State of Mind: New California Art Circa 1970' at OCMA
amazon
NY Times: ‘State of Mind: New California Art Circa 1970'

Legends of the Dead Ball Era (1900–1919) in the Collection of Jefferson R. Burdick

"The term 'dead ball era' refers to the era of American baseball when the combination of cavernous ballparks, spongy baseballs, and pitcher-friendly rules resulted in games with few home runs. Strategy was important to the sport at this time, with great value placed on individual runs, stolen bases, sacrifice bunts, and other maneuvers. Beginning July 8, the exhibition Legends of the Dead Ball Era (1900–1919) in the Collection of Jefferson R. Burdick, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will feature nearly 600 historical trade cards of baseball greats from the time."
Metropolitan Museum of Art
NY Times: Rascals and Heroes, Before the Babe
NY Times: Slideshow

Subway Art

Wikipedia - "Subway Art is a collaborative book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, which documents the early history of the New York graffiti movement. Originally published in 1984, the book holds great significance in exporting graffiti and the wider hip hop culture internationally."
Wikipedia
NYT: The Subway Art History Project
amazon: Subway Art
7 Incredible Images Of New York City Subways in the 70s and 80s (Video)
YouTube: Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition, Martha Cooper - graffiti interview

Van Morrison: Under Review 1964-1974

"Van Morrison: Under Review 1964-1974 is a 2 hour documentary film which covers the musician’s albums during that period, from the formation of Them through to his solo records Astral Weeks, Moondance, St. Dominic’s Preview, Tupelo Honey, Veedon Fleece and It’s Too Late To Stop Now."
YouTube: Van Morrison: Under Review 1964-1974, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

2007 July: Van Morrison, 2011 January: Astral Weeks, 2011 June: Van Morrison & The Caledonia Express, 2012 January: "Into the Mystic", 2012 March: Live at Montreux 1980/1974, 2013 May: Saint Dominic's Preview.

Rauschenberg Research Project

"The Rauschenberg Research Project provides free worldwide access to a wealth of scholarly research and documentation relating to artworks by Robert Rauschenberg in SFMOMA's permanent collection. The museum's holdings span the artist's career from 1949 to 1998 and include Combines, sculptures, paintings, photographs, and prints and other works on paper. A rich range of materials surrounds the featured works, including newly commissioned essays, numerous images, interview footage, artist's statements, conservation reports, and archival materials, which together provide new insights into the artist's work."
SF MoMA
Cy + Roman Steps (I-V).By Nicholas Cullinan, July 2013
YouTube: Robert Rauschenberg - Erased De Kooning

2008 May: Robert Rauschenberg

The Last Detail (1972)

Wikipedia - "The Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby and starring Jack Nicholson, with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne from a novel of the same name by Darryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity. ... U.S. Navy petty officers Billy 'Badass' Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Richard 'Mule' Mulhall (Otis Young), are awaiting orders in Norfolk, Virginia when they are assigned a shore patrol detail escorting young sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Meadows has drawn a stiff eight-year sentence for the petty crime of trying to steal $40 from a collection box of his C.O.'s wife's favorite charity."
Wikipedia
YouTube: The Last Detail Theatrical Trailer, A scene, directed by Hal Ashby, Winter picnic scene

Dobro

Wikipedia - "Dobro is a registered trademark now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar. The name has a long and involved history that is interwoven with that of the resonator guitar. Originally coined by the Dopyera brothers when they formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company, in time it came to commonly mean a resonator guitar, or specifically one with a single inverted resonator. ... The name originated in 1928 when the Dopyera brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company. 'Dobro' is both a contraction of 'Dopyera brothers' and a word meaning 'goodness' in their native Slovak (and also in most Slavic languages)."
Wikipedia
Vintage Guitars Info's Dobro Metal Body Resonator Vintage Guitar Info.
amazon: Basic Recordings in Bluegrass Dobro / Resonator Guitar
YouTube: Man of constant sorrow, Blues Stay Away From Me, Little Medley - Jerry Douglas, Crying Time, On Dobro - The Whirley Brothers Bluegrass, Panhandle Rag

A Mural of a Spanish Poet in Bushwick, Confounding and Enchanting

"A huge portrait of Federico García Lorca peered out onto Stockholm Street in Bushwick, painted on a drugstore wall alongside verses from 'Sleepless City (Brooklyn Bridge Nocturne).'

Out in the sky, no one sleeps. No one, no one.

But out on the sidewalk, one man groused. ... Out by the wall, two artists — accustomed to the entire gamut of popular reaction evoked by their latest mural — painted their fourth of the Spanish poet and playwright in this Brooklyn neighborhood."
NY Times
W - Federico García Lorca
The Federico Garcia Lorca Murals
vimeo: Lorca’s Route in New York/La Ruta de Lorca en Nueva York

All Mod Cons - The Jam

Wikipedia - "All Mod Cons is a 1978 album by the British band The Jam, their third full-length LP. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for 'all modern conveniences' and is a pun on the band's association with the mod revival. The album was more commercially successful than The Jam's previous album, This Is the Modern World. The single 'Down in the Tube Station at Midnight' was one of the band's most successful chart hits up to that point, peaking at #15 on the UK charts."
Wikipedia
allmusic
YouTube: "A" Bomb In Wardour Street, David Watts, Down In The Tube Station, In The Crowd, Mr Clean

2009 March: The Jam, 2011 December: Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, 2012 November: "Going Underground", 2013 January: In the City, 2013 February: This Is the Modern World

Brushy One-String

"When filmmaker Luciano Blotta walked out of a rural Jamaican recording studio, way off the beaten path of tourists and music hounds, he saw something wildly unusual: a man with an instrument. Even more surprising, the instrument in question—a battered but resonant acoustic guitar—had only one string. Blotta had encountered Brushy One-String (born Andrew Chin), son of a musical family who despite his challenging life had a seemingly innate ability to inspire and move even casual listeners—including millions of people who have watched and shared Brushy’s videos on YouTube."
Rock Paper Scissors (Video)
amazon: Brushy One-String
YouTube: Chicken in The Corn, They Are Going Down, No Man Stop Me (Good Morning Mr.Sun), Life Is For Every Man, War and Crime, Boom Bang Deng, Destiny, Seeking a better

Mike Innocenzi

"My name is Mike Innocenzi. I was raised in Oak Park, Ill., and then lived in other places. I currently live and work in Chicago. ... I have also contributed regularly to several venerable city news outlets, including Gapers Block, WBEZ, Chicago Reader, CenterSquare Journal, and Chicagoist. Editorially, I’ve covered Iraq War protests, Obama’s Grant Park Inauguration, the Occupy Chicago movement, Chicago Teacher’s Union strike, and more. I’m also a member of the Hungry Ghost Collective, a group of fine art photographers based in Chicago."
Mike Innocenzi
inspirefirst
mashkulture

Habib Koité

Wikipedia - "Habib Koité (born 1958 in Thiès, Senegal) is a solo singer, songwriter and guitarist, based in Mali. His band, Bamada, is a supergroup of West African musicians, including Kélétigui Diabaté playing balafon. Koité is known primarily for his unique approach to playing the guitar by tuning it on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. Other pieces of his music sound more like the blues or flamenco which are two styles he learned under Khalilou Traore. Koité's vocal style is intimate and relaxed, emphasizing calm, moody singing rather than operatic technical prowess. Members of Bamada play talking drum, guitar, bass, drum set, harmonica, violin, calabash, and balafon."
Wikipedia
African Musicians Profiles
YouTube: Habib Koité & Bamada - Massakè, N'teri, Fatma, Mali, Sambara Bulama, Habib Koité, Afel Bocoum & Oliver Mtukudzi - Malaika 2010, Wassiyé, Ma Ya, Special: Habib Koite & Eric Bibb - live at Radio 6, Live @ Ethno Port Festival, Poznan

The Polaroid Years

"... 'The Polaroid Years: Instant Photography and Experimentation' at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., covers the period right before the 1972 release of the SX-70, the first automatic camera to make self-developing, instant color prints, until the present, and includes work by 39 artists and collectives. Like the snapshot-size prints made by the SX-70, the exhibition is compact and somewhat modest, but it’s an excellent introduction to the artistic use of this popular technology."
NYT: Instant Photographs, Lasting Images
'The Polaroid Years' Book Explores The Retro Camera's Influence On Photography
amazon

Netherlandish Proverbs - Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Wikipedia - "Netherlandish Proverbs ... is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder that depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Dutch proverbs of the day. The picture is overflowing with references and most of the representations still can be identified; while many of the proverbs have either been forgotten or never made the transition to the English language, some are still in use. Proverbs were popular during Bruegel's time: a number of collections were published including a famous work by Erasmus. ... Bruegel's paintings have themes of the absurdity, wickedness, and foolishness of humans, and this painting is no exception."
Wikipedia
feuilleton: Proverbs details
Web Gallery of Art
YouTube: Bruegel Peter the elder "Netherlandish proverbs" #17

2010 May: Peasant, 2011 March: "The Harvesters", Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 2012 February: The Mill and the Cross - Lech Majewski, 2012 December: The Lord of Misrule and the Feast of Fools.

Salvatore Giuliano

Wikipedia - "Salvatore Giuliano is a 1962 Italian film directed by Francesco Rosi. Shot in a neo-realist documentary, non-linear style, it follows the lives of those involved with the famous Sicilian bandit, Salvatore Giuliano. Giuliano is mostly off-screen during the film and appears most notably as a corpse."
Wikipedia
W - Salvatore Giuliano
The Criterion Collection (Video)
Storytellers: Salvatore Giuliano, The Lost Corleone
amazon: Salvatore Giuliano
YouTube: Trailer, Salvatore Giuliano The Man The Myth The Legend, Casa Museo Salvatore Giuliano

The Clash - Armagideon Time

I stayed around don’t played around
This old town too long
Seems like I got to
Travel on
A lotta people won't get no supper tonight
A lotta people won't get no justice tonight
The battle is getting harder
In this iration, Armagideon time
YouTube: Armagideon Time - London 79, Armagideon Time - Justice Tonight / kick it over

Jimmy James

Wikipedia - "Jimmy James (born Michael James, 13 September 1940, Jamaica) is a soul music singer, known for songs like Come To Me Softly, Now Is the Time and I'll Go Where the Music Takes Me. ... The Vagabonds were originally formed in 1960. Later, James, already a successful solo artist in Jamaica, teamed up with them under Canadian band manager Roger Smith and in April 1964, they relocated to the UK. 'Ska-Time' (Decca Records) was recorded as Jamaica's Own Vagabonds within two weeks of their arrival, and is one of the first examples of Jamaican ska music to be recorded in the UK."
Wikipedia
allmusic
YouTube: A Man Like Me, I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me, Hey girl, Bewildered and Blue, Come To Me Softly, This Heart Of Mine, Now Is The Time (Live)

2012 October: Northern Soul, 2012 December: The obsession that is Northern Soul

55th Venice Biennale 2013

Venetians, 2013. Pawel Althamer.
"The Encyclopedic Palace is laid out in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale forming a single itinerary, with works spanning over the past century alongside several new commissions, including over 150 artists from 37 countries. 88 National Participations are also exhibited; among these 10 countries are participating for the first time. 47 Collateral Events are promoted by various organizations and exhibited in different venues around the city."
la Biennale di Venezia
Exhibition: la Biennale di Venezia
Photo: la Biennale di Venezia
Universes In Universe
NYT: Beyond the ‘Palace,’ an International Tour in One City
vimeo: 55th Art Biennale Venice, 2013
YouTube: The Encyclopedic Palace (Arsenale). 55th Venice Biennale, May 30th 2013, 30:49, The Encyclopedic Palace (Giardini). 55th Venice Biennale. May 31st, 2013. 28:29, Il Enciclopedico Palazzo del Mondo Goes to the Venice Biennale

Appalachian Journey

"Appalachian Journey is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series (1991). It offers songs, dances, stories, and religious rituals of the Southern Appalachians. Preachers, singers, fiddlers, banjo pickers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life there."
folkstreams (Video)
folkstreams: Transcript for Appalachian Journey

No (2012)

Wikipedia - "No is a 2012 Chilean drama film directed by Pablo Larraín. The film is based on the unpublished play El Plebiscito, written by Antonio Skármeta. Mexican actor Gael García Bernal plays René, an in-demand advertising man working in Chile in the late 1980s. The historical moment the film captures is when advertising tactics came to be widely used in political campaigns. The campaign in question was the historic 1988 plebiscite of the Chilean citizenry over whether general Augusto Pinochet should have another 8-year term as President."
Wikipedia
W - Augusto Pinochet
W - 1973 Chilean coup d'état
NY Times: ‘No,’ With Gael García Bernal (Video)
YouTube: 'No' Official Movie Trailer , NO | Film Trailer | Participant Media, Acclaimed Film "No" Documents Historic 1988 Vote in Chile

XL: 19 New Acquisitions in Photography

Lynn Hershman Leeson. Roberta’s Construction Chart #2. 1976.
"This exhibition addresses photography’s influential role in contemporary art through a selection of recent major acquisitions, primarily multipart and serial works. Presented at MoMA for the first time, these works by 19 artists are grounded in diverse photographic traditions, suggesting the creative fertility of the medium from 1960 to today. They range from postwar experiments with darkroom processes (such as photograms and photomontages), to 1970s feminist performances conceived for the camera, to political and documentary engagements with labor history and globalization in the 1980s and 1990s, to forms of archival and historical reconstitution made since 2000."
MoMA

Ringolevio

Wikipedia - "Ringolevio (also spelled ringalevio or ring-a-levio) is a children's game which may be played anywhere but which originates in the teeming streets of New York City, and is known to have been played there at least as far back as before World War I. It is one of the many variations of tag. It requires close team work and near-military strategy. ... There are two teams. In one version, one team goes off and hides. The other team counts to some number like 30 and then goes looking for them. In another version, each team has its own 'jail', perhaps a park bench or other defendable turf. In Bay Terrace, Queens, both teams had a park bench jail, and whichever team could capture all of the other team's members, won. Often, the game would go on so long that it was called on account of darkness."
Wikipedia
ring-a-levio | Dictionary of American Regional English

The Bar-Kays

Wikipedia - "The Bar-Kays are a soul, R&B, and funk group formed in 1966. ... The Bar-Kays began in Memphis, Tennessee as a studio session musician group, backing major artists at Stax Records. They were chosen in 1967 by Otis Redding to play as his backing band. On December 10, 1967, Redding, his manager, and band members Jimmie King (born June 8, 1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (born 1948; electric organ), Phalon Jones (born 1949; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (born 1949; drums) died when their airplane plunged into Lake Monona while attempting to land at Truax Field, both near Madison, Wisconsin."
Wikipedia
allmusic
Soul Train Cruise
YouTube: Soul Finger, HOLY GHOST, SON OF SHAFT, Shake your rump to the funk, She Talks To Me With Her Body

Jana & Js "Who Said It Was Better Before"

"Next week, Jana & Js will be releasing a new stencil edition via Pretty Portal. 'Who Said It Was Better Before' is an edition of 10, Indian ink, watercolors, acrylics, spray and stencil on old music paper, they measure 30,5 x 47cm and comes signed and numbered by the duo."
StreetArtNews
flickr

Brian Eno - Textures (1989)

"An unreleased album of ambient cues and themes from Brian Eno, pressed as a promo-only CD for The Standard Music Library – an organization that licenses music for television programming and films. ... You can pretty much imagine any of this stuff floating behind barren landscapes on the BBC, or some National Geographic slo-mo underwater exploration, which are the types of clients this CD was designed to attract. You can’t buy this in stores. There’s more Eno in the archives."
UbuWeb (Video)
Wikipedia
YouTube: Textures (Whole Album)

Mink DeVille

Wikipedia - "Mink DeVille (1974–86) was a rock band known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York’s CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played only on the first two albums (Cabretta and Return to Magenta). For the remaining albums and for tours, Willy DeVille assembled musicians to play under the name Mink DeVille."
Wikipedia
W - Willy DeVille
allmusic
YouTube: Spanish Stroll, Love and Emotion, Hey! Joe, She's so tough, Demasiado Corazon, I Broke That Promise, Just To Walk That Little Girl Home

Félicie de Fauveau. The Amazon Sculptress

"Félicie de Fauveau (1801-1886) was a figure as emblematic as she was unique. Nostalgic for an era that she had not lived through, a royalist, a catholic, a single woman and a feminist, this sculptress committed her life and her art to defending a political utopia, expressed principally through images of History. After supporting the Duchesse de Berry and organising uprisings in the Vendée with the Countess de La Rochejaquelein, she agreed to go into exile, and settled in Florence."
Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay - 1, 2, 3, 4.

A Visual Footnote to O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died”: New World Writing and The Poets of Ghana

"Because his poems are so overstuffed with references to proper names, movies, books, small-scale historical events, and famous or not-so-famous friends, people who love and teach Frank O’Hara’s work often talk about how useful it would be to have an annotated version of his work, with explanations, images, and links to the myriad things, people, and places he mentions."
Locus Solus: The New York School of Poets
Modern American Poetry: On "The Day Lady Died"
Poetry Foundation: Frank O’Hara, "The Day Lady Died"

2008 January: Frank O'Hara, 2010 February: USA: Poetry, 2010 October: Stones: Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara, 2011 July: "Poet Among Painters" by James Schuyler, 2011 October: City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara - Brad Gooch, 2012 December: USA: Poetry, Frank O'Hara (1966).

Bowery

On the Bowery, 1957
Wikipedia - "The Bowery (/ˈbaʊ.əri/ or New York English /ˈbaʊər.i/), sometimes referred to simply as Bowery, is a street and neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north,[1] while the neighborhood's boundaries are roughly East 4th Street and the East Village to the north; Canal Street and Chinatown to the south; Allen Street and the Lower East Side to the east; and Little Italy to the west."
Wikipedia
NYT: Behind the Facades, a Seedy Past Endures (Video)
NPR: 'Bowery Boys' Are Amateur But Beloved New York Historians (Video)
W - On the Bowery
On the Bowery
YouTube: On the Bowery THEATRICAL TRAILER
YouTube: On the Bowery, Lionel Rogosin (1956)1:05:13

Romantic Warriors II: A Progressive Music Saga About Rock in Opposition

Wikipedia - "Romantic Warriors II: A Progressive Music Saga About Rock in Opposition is a 2012 feature length documentary film about the Rock in Opposition movement of the late 1970s, the music genre it spawned, and the influence it has on experimental groups across the world. The film was written and directed by Adele Schmidt and José Zegarra Holder, and was released by Zeitgeist Media."
Wikipedia
allmusic
Romantic Warriors - Trailer - 9:52 (Video)
YouTube: Romantic Warriors Progressive Music Documentary - Trailer 2 6:44, Romantic Warriors II - Trailer - About Rock in Opposition 5:01

Minnie and Moskowitz - John Cassavetes

Wikipedia - "Minnie and Moskowitz is a film by John Cassavetes, starring his wife, Gena Rowlands, and actor Seymour Cassel in the title roles of Minnie and Moskowitz, respectively. Following a break-up, Minnie Moore, a museum curator, becomes disillusioned by love and meaningful relationships. But after a seemingly chance encounter, she meets Seymour Moskowitz, a parking-lot attendant. After this event, Moskowitz falls in love with Minnie, trying desperately to get her to love him back."
Wikipedia
Roger Ebert
Cassavetes' Works: Minnie and Moskowitz
notcoming
YouTube: Minnie and Moskowitz, Gena Rowlands, John Cassevettes, Minnie and Moskowitz - 1, A touching declaration of love

2008 September: John Cassavetes, 2010 December: Shadows (1959), 2011 June: A Woman Under the Influence (1974), 2012 February: His Life and Work, 2012 July: A Constant Forge

Konono Nº1

Wikipedia - "Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier."
Wikipedia
Crammed: Konono Nº1
Robert Christgau
amazon
YouTube: Konono Nº1, Lufuala Ndonga, Makembe
vimeo: Yaya Mikolo (live in St. Nazaire)

The Atlas of True Names Restores Modern Cities to Their Middle Earth-ish Roots

"I was born in the City of the Flowland People, made my way to Stink Onion upon reaching maturity, then onward to New Yew Tree Village where I have lived for the last 217 moons. Look up some of your key co-ordinates in The Atlas of True Names and you too can have a personal history as mythic-sounding as mine. The maps—for the UK, USA, Canada, and World—replace modern geographical names with the original etymological roots of cities, countries, and bodies of water, translated into English. Their website picks the “Sahara desert” to illustrate the true name selection process."
Open Culture
The Atlas of True Names

Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake

Wikipedia - "Five Leaves Left, recorded in 1969, was the first of three albums by British folk musician Nick Drake. Like Bryter Layter but unlike Pink Moon, this album contains no unaccompanied songs. Drake was accompanied by members of the British folk-rock groups Fairport Convention and Pentangle."
Wikipedia
allmusic: Five Leaves Left
3quarksdaily: The magic, mystery and melancholy of Five Leaves Left
Five Leaves Left
amazon
YouTube: Five Leaves Left, Time Has Told Me, Way To Blue
YouTube: Five Leaves Left (1969) Full Album 41:20

2012 July: Nick Drake

Jennifer Bartlett: History of the Universe — Works 1970-2011

Twins (2005-6)
"Jennifer Bartlett likes to pose questions, then follow them to logical — or occasionally illogical — conclusions. In the late 1960s, when many conceptual artists were using graph paper to chart their ideas, Ms. Bartlett wondered if she could make hard graph paper that could be wiped clean and revised, and that would resist coffee stains and cigarette ashes. Inspired by subway signs, she fabricated 12-inch-square steel plates coated with baked white enamel and silkscreened with a pale grid on which she could paint with Testor enamels."
NYT: Organizing an Organizer’s Life
NYT: Grids and Gardens
amazon

The Graphic Canon

"Araby" by James Joyce
Wikipedia - "The Graphic Canon: The World's Great Literature as Comics and Visuals (Seven Stories Press) is a three-volume anthology, edited by Russ Kick, that renders some of the world's greatest and most famous literature into graphic-novel form."
Wikipedia
Graphic Canon (Video)
The Most Beautiful Book of 2013 is 'The Graphic Canon, Volume 3'
Nashville Scene
amazon: The Graphic Canon, Vol. 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons, amazon: The Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Bronte Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray, amazon: The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest