christmas collaboration

i'm pretty excited about my christmas cards this year. i've been making birthday cards for jesus since i was fourteen and my mom was forcing me to hand write the greetings in all the christmas cards because, as she said, i have very nice penmanship. i'm not really a christmas person. i'm not a practicing christian, i hate receiving gifts and most christmas carols (not you, brenda lee) make me want to murder. so, i guess you could say, the christmas card making is sort of a nervous tick.

anyway, this year's card is going to be the best one yet. it was a collaboration between my favorite nscad alum and photog, makito, my roommate, baker extraordinaire, cynthia and gingner bread molding specialist, me.

some of my favorite people will get hard copies in the mail, old fashion style. but for all my intertnet friends, you'll get to see it, in all it's wonderful, tasteless, christmas glory, here. december 24, 2010. seriously, if you're not marking your calendars, i don't know what's wrong with you.

here's a little taste of the hard work that went into it:

this is what i do for you people

man ray, african art and the modernist lens

last week i went to ubc's museum of anthropology. i had never been and heard that it was a pretty decent gallery (and decent it was). i love arts and culture and to have the opportunity to see some of the earliest examples of it is quite humbling. i also gained a lot of appreciation for how much influence/supression first nations culture has had, especially in the canadian north west. unfortunately, though, i found the museum dense and overwhelming. there's a billion things to see, hundreds of drawers to open and inspect, and the exhibit seemed strangely organized. so that's why i'm not raving about it, but i will say, it was worth the $15 and three hours.

i did come across something i wanted to share with you, however.

unbeknownst to me, moa had the man ray, african art and the modernist lens exhibit on. i had, truthfully, never heard of man ray before and the more i read about him, the more shame i feel about this. apparently this guy was very multi-talented and considerably influential; he was a painter and a photographer and gertrude stein had her picture taken by him!

anyway, the exhibit features over 50 of his photographs (as well as several other artists) that are credited as changing how the western world viewed african art. most of the photographs feature african artifacts either alone or with people and some of the actual objects were present in the exhibit. according to the moa website, these photographs questioned the idea that these objects weren't just artifacts but pieces of art. considering most of these photographs are from the 1920's-30's, i'm sure they were challenging not only the concept of african art but were also, very likely, challenging concepts of race and equality.

the only thing that doesn't sit right with me about this exhibit, is the fact that man ray, and most of the other artists featured, were white. without seeing the exhibit, it might not sound that alarming but some of the images were quite sexual (a naked black woman poses seductively with a dark wood carving) or seemingly mocking (two guys in suits, wearing african masks, exaggerating conversation). it's probably the hyper-sensitive feminist coming out in me, but i can't help but wonder: erotisization or validation of african culture? what do you think?

in anycase - the more inappropriate the better, i like to say. the exhibit is good, it's controversial and stimulating (in so many ways). if you live in vancouver, you should definitely check it out. and if you don't, visit the man ray turst site (or google images) and check out his work!

fish tank

so, i really want you to watch, fish tank, a 2009 british film, starring, katie jarvis. unlike a lot of films i see these days, this one has become pretty important to me. not only is it a great film, that i think a lot of people will enjoy, but it's also a really accurate and affecting portrayal of the female experience (which, i don't think is, generally, appreciated or dealt with honestly in cinema).

katie jarvis plays, mia, who is my favorite kind of character - she's fifteen years old, foul-mouthed and willing to break your nose if she doesn't like your dancing. she lives with her young, hot, single mum, joanne, and little sister, tyler. the dynamics in their small essex apartment are precarious to say the least and when joanne's delicious-looking and apparently sweet-hearted boyfriend moves in, things take an interesting turn.

what's particularly moving about this film is that it captures a particular moment, that i think a lot of women experience at some point in their lives. director and writer, andrea arnold, perfectly depicts the experience of first realizing that most of your value, as a female, is placed on your sexuality. arnold shows how women come to understand that their bodies are wanted and how that feeling can often being validating and/or violating. there are several interpretations of this throughout the film, each one is as subtle and unique to it's experiencer, as real life.

i loved this film. and so did everyone else, apparently. it won several awards including, the british independent award, for best director, as well as a cannes jury prize. so if that's not enough to convince you to watch this film, i don't know what is.

putting the fun back in funk

initially i was just going to post about my new favorite ear candy, sharon jones & the dap-kings, but after spending some time on their record label's website, i'm just going to have to focus on daptone records, because i simply couldn't decide which of their artists to share with you first.

so here's the deal - my friend, mike, who i consistently depend on for music recommendations, recently introduced me to sharon jones & the dap-kings. a nine piece collective from brooklyn, new york, sharon jones & the dap-kings are subtle, soulful and reflective of a musical era long since passed. if you like the sounds of james brown, the shirelles, or early gladys knight, then you will love sharon jones & the dap-kings. i highly recommend you check out their latest release, 'i learned the hard way,' which was recorded on an old ampex 8 track, giving the album an authentic anaolog sound so familiar in my old motown favorites. here's a little video sample of what you are in for:

hard to believe it was recorded in 2009, right?!

when i told mike i was going to do a blog post on sharon jones, he suggested i also look into daptone records, jones' record label. when he suggested this, i really had no idea that i would spend the following 72 hours downloading and listening to a majority of their artists. so. many. great. artists!

so let me introduce you. daptone records is an independant soul and funk record label, located in brooklyn, new york. run by gabriel roth and neal sugarman, daptone records most of their releases in their customized recording studio and only record on analog tape - maintaining that pure analog sound you heard in the sharon jones song.

aside from sharon jones, there's also naomi shelton and the gospel queens, who have quickly sung their way into my heart. they are less gospel and more soul, and naomi's gravely, deep voice (reminds me a little of nina simone) is a great juxtaposition to the gospel queens' silky smooth harmonies and back-up vocals. their album, 'what have you done, my brother,' is a solid and strong 45 minutes worth of listening. here's a sample of naomi's power:

additional favorites from daptone records include, pax nichols & the netty family and the budos band. both these bands are completely instrumental and are as fun as funk should be.

daptone also has another project, como now, that is definitely worth mentioning. in 2006, daptone went to a small rural town in mississippi and placed an ad in the newspaper, inviting singers to come down to a local church and record traditional and original gospel songs. i haven't listened to the entire album yet (only the samples in the itunes store) but it sounds like an amazing listening experience. the daptone records website also has the como now story in video format - i've just started watching the series of videos but i'm already enamored and can't wait to finish. it's a truly fascinating story.

i hope you will find something you like at daptone records and please remember that they are an independent label, so show your support and buy their music!

before the beatles, there was the tielman brothers

i'd like you to meet the tielman brothers (if you haven't already). they were an indo-dutch rock n'roll band and, from what i've read, were the shit in the netherlands back in the day. apparently they were playing their guitars with their teeth long before hendrix and were ripping up stages with solid rock before most (white middle class) americans even knew what rock n'roll was.  you can find their whole story here and it's quite an impressive one, i encourage you to read it. otherwise enjoy this amazing video.

delayed reaction to giller win

my head has been sort of up my ass lately. i've been meaning to mention johanna skibsrud's newly awarded giller prize since it was announced last tuesday. so this is old news now but whatever. i'm excited about it.

i haven't read the sentimentalists yet but i'm looking forward to it. and i can't help feel a little lady pride seeing a woman take the giller because it's been mostly men since it started in 1994.

also interesting is the fact that you couldn't buy the book anywhere when the award was announced because it's printed by a small printing press in kentville, nova scotia. luckily, gaspreau press outsourced some of the printing to a vancouver press and the books may (or may not - i haven't checked) be on bookstore shelves.

i'm hoping to get my hands on a gaspreau printing because i hear it's beautifully printed. and there is nothing i love more than a beautifully printed book.

a little bit of everything

i am excited about the following:

1. post-it note stories - i only recommend this site if you have a lot of time to be sucked into a giant vortex of funny, endearing stories. on post-it notes. it reminds me of this american life. but on post-it notes. and the tal reference was inevitable, seeing that this is a starlee klein project (she is my favorite).
2. speaking of tal, i bought the tal iphone app. yes, i did. best $2.99 ever spent. full access to the archives, plus episodes of the interesting, but kind of inferior, tv version; i can mark episodes i've listened to, and organize favorites, listen to episodes by contributor, topic or staff favorites. this is pure, talk radio bliss.
3. canada reads 2011 - they won't be announcing the five finalists until november 24th but the top 10 have me intrigued. i'm happy to see hill and mckay on the list but i'm disappointed toews and o'neill didn't make it. fortunately, it looks like zoe whittall's, bottle rocket hearts, is filling the troubled-canadian-female void. i'm pretty confident we'll see boyden's, three day road, in the top five and i would love to see jeff lemire's, essex county, up there with it (a graphic novel would be so refreshing). so. i guess you could say, canada reads is like the stanley cup playoffs for me. 
4. human centipede - i'm excited about this in the way you would be excited about having a root canal done while being forced to watch two girls one cup while completely unanesthetized. this movie was so traumatizing. i have no words.
5. hopefully the bad lieutenant: port of call and fish tank will be better experiences.

enveloped in darkness

the quiet stillness of the vancouver art gallery only heightened the sternum punch i felt when i first laid my eyes on one of kerry james marshall's large scale paintings. even two months after my initial introduction, marshall's paintings resonate with me.

standing among marshall's twenty-some paintings, it hit me, when was the last time i saw african american culture portrayed in oil or acrylic? i tried to think. i'm vaguely aware of artists such as hale woodruff, jacob lawerence and the obvious jean-michel basquiat but as i stood in a four story art gallery, surrounded primarily by works of white artists depicting white life, i realized that the mainstream art world, the one in which i am most familiar, has undoubtedly omitted the african american narrative. and marshall's work had an alarming way of making this obvious.

marshall's paintings, in their confrontational realist style, address this invisibility of black culture in  art and the western world, in general. the paintings made me uncomfortable. they made me  aware of my privilege being, living in a world saturated in white.

i hope you'll read this interveiw with marsall in the washington post from last year and, if you live in vancouver, check this exhibit out.

love and robots

a friend of mine recently sent me a link for spike jonze's short film, i'm here, and i thought i would share it with you.

filmed in jonze's characteristic dream-like style, this story is about sheldon and francesca, who live in a version of Los Angeles where robots and humans coexist.

the film is apparently based on the children's story, the giving tree (yes, sheldon is named after shel silverstein). it's a tender and classic story of love and sacrifice and i think you should really curl up with someone sweet and watch it.

it was just a feeling

i recently finished reading atmospheric disturbances, a peculiar, existentially romantic novel written by rivka galchen. i have been itching to share this novel with you because i have never read anything quite like it; atmospheric disturbances is a little bit science fiction, a little bit heartbreaking but so totally and completely meticulously composed.

the novel is narrated by leo, a middle-aged psychiatrist who believes his young and beautiful wife, rema, has been replaced by a simulacrum. although the evidence with which leo draws this conclusion is completely absurd (the doppelganger looks, talks and acts just like rema), he is compulsively compelled by his faith in the belief that this doppelganger is not his 'real' rema. throughout the novel, leo tries to retrieve his wife by looking for clues that may or may not be buried in the work of a meteorologist by the name of tzvi gal-chen.

i don't want to give you too much of the plot because i sincerely think you should just read this novel. there are so many interesting and strange aspects to this story that it simply deserves to be read. galchen's story explores the instability of love and the common experience of trying to protect yourself from pain and heartbreak before it ever happens. it also elaborates on the odd sense of the uncanny - those moments when something deeply familiar suddenly feels so very alien and unknown. but more importantly, with passages like this, how could you not want to read it:

i don't know if i believe that our relationships with our parents establish patterns we are doomed to repeat and repeat but - i am surprised that i was not more anxious about marrying a woman who very well may have just abandoned her parents. for all i knew rema had misrepresented and cheaply blamed this beautiful mother whose only fault may have been accurately perceiving the ugly truth - even with little information - about the rude american rema had chosen to marry before she as chosen to marry me. i should at least have learned more about how it had come to be that rema had abandoned her mother, before i asked her to marry - and hopefully not abandon - me. but i saw rema prismatically, all fractured and reconstituted as if seen in the valley of an unshined silver spoon, and actually i'm glad love does that, i shouldn't complain about love, or love's perspective - distorted or no, to feel superior to it would be wrong, as if there were some better way of seeing.

seriously, go out and buy this book now. read it and let me know what you think!