Happy V-Day

Lo Que el Agua Me Dio

Florence Welch:

It's a song for the water, because in music and art what I'm really interested in are the things that are overwhelming. The ocean seems to me to be nature's great overwhelmer. When I was writing this song I was thinking a lot about all those people who've lost their lives in vain attempts to save their loved ones from drowning. It's about water in all forms and all bodies. It's about a lot of things; Virginia Woolf creeps into it, and of course Frida Kahlo, whose painfully beautiful painting gave me the title.

What the Water Gave Me
1938
Oil on canvas
38 x 30 in
Isadore Ducasse Fine Arts, New York

Whitney - May you Rest in Peace.

Off I Go ...

Trying just one more step in that path out of my self-imposed isolation (of which moving "upstate" was just the first nail in the proverbial coffin). Yeah, I'm going to the theater by myself. But you know what, it's theater that probably most people wouldn't want to sit through. Three and one-half hours of a Shakespearean history play with just one intermission? Not really. But that's OK. The last play I saw was at BAM as well, a Beckett play, Endgame, with John Turturro, Elaine Stritch and Max Casella. Again, not for everyone. But for me, it's that food I was talking about in a previous post.

As my bloggin' friend Randal Graves would say, if I were to become one of the Shiny Happy People his entire world view might collapse, or something to that effect.

I typically go to the theater with my younger sister. But, as our relationship has been become glass (also referring to a previous post, about relationships being like glass). I'd love to enjoy this with her. But that is not to be. Not now. And probably not ever. But that's OK.

So I'm off. To consider the nature of evil ... News at 11:00.



Kevin Spacey should stick to acting. His commentary on the play is a little disappointing to me. He's lacking intellectual gravitas. Sorry. Just my opinion.

Tomorrow ...

FRONT ROW CENTER at BAM !!

Among the many raves, Michael Billington, the Guardian's critic, wrote that, "When the history of Spacey's Old Vic regime is written, I suspect it will be his Richard...that will be most vividly remembered."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204449804577068861041103228.html

Expecting ...

Lovely rendition of one of the great, great Buffalo Springfield songs. Her fragile, crackling voice seems so right in this instance. And I like the simple piano accompaniment versus Buffalo Springfield's sweeping almost orchestral backdrop.

And the butterflies ... oh my.

I'm thinking this is probably part of some recent movie soundtrack. Maybe not. I'm too lazy to look it up right now. I think the original was used in the "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" soundtrack. I really do hate it when my favorite songs from "yesteryear" (ha!) are recycled either into commercials or into movies that I have no desire to see. And, as an aside, I still do believe that 'video killed the radio star.'

But, hey, that's just me.

Ravi Shankar & Philip Glass ...

Funny, the unexpected things you find when you do random searches in U-tube.

Shankar's collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin (East Meets West), which I discovered some time in my teens, was a kind of breakthrough moment for me, musically, having studied typical "Western" classics through my piano studies. It opened my mind up to an entirely new set of musical ideas and concepts and sounds. It was quite amazing. I then became an avid listener to WNYC's "New Sounds" program and learned about Stephen Reich, and many other "alternatives" in the "classical" milieu.

I know Shankar has collaborated with many artists over the years, yet I was unaware of this 1990 album with Glass (although I should not have been surprised by it). These are very nice collaborations between Shankar and Glass, but I think the Shankar/Menuhin work far exceeds them in terms of a "collaboration between equals." No offense to Philip Glass. I've been listening to more of his work lately and think I need to spend more time with more time with it in order to be fair in my (personal) assessment. I know he's some kind of "God" to many. I personally haven't seen that yet.

Switching gears: I was intending to write, briefly, today about something someone told me recently, about how some relationships are like glass, once they are broken, it's not worth bloodying one's hands trying to put them back together again. Rather, it's better to sweep up the shards and throw them away and be done with it. (Forrest Gump allusion entirely unintentional, believe me ... please.)

So, by finding this on U-tube (and, hence, my "random" search term having been revealed), my thoughts went into a different direction: to the things I love and continue to explore and learn about and that give me intellectual food and relief from my anxiety. Probably best for me. Probably best for you, dear reader, as well.

Although, one day, while in a more morbid mood, I'll probably get back to the broken glass issue. Sorry.