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astrognossienne · 3 years

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scandalous beauty: fredi washington - an analysis

“I don’t want to pass because I'm honest, firstly, and secondly, you don't have to be white to be good. I've spent most of my life trying to prove to those who think otherwise...I am a Negro and I am proud of it. ” - Fredi Washington

I just saw the movie Passing and I was reminded of some of the things that Blacks were reduced to in order to get basic respect, human dignity, and acceptance...not least of all my own Haitian grandmother. At any rate, just like the subjects in that film, early mixed-race activist and actress Fredi Washington was aware that she could have denied her African-American heritage to "pass” as white within the film industry, especially after the acclaim her performance received as tragic mulatto Peola in the original incarnation of the classic film Imitation of Life. She had light skin and green eyes. Given the levels of oppression and racism, some African-Americans with lighter skin tried hard to ‘pass’ as white to have an easier life. But after growing up in the Harlem Renaissance, Washington had been surrounded by black artists and, as a result, was fiercely proud of her heritage. In addition to her acting, Washington was also an activist. She was outspoken about racism faced by African Americans. Her experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become a civil rights activist, and she valiantly helped fight racial stereotypes of Blacks until the day she died.

Fredi Washington, according to astrotheme, was a Capricorn sun and Aquarius moon (the moon is speculative). She was born Fredericka Carolyn Washington in Savannah, Georgia, and was one of nine children of Robert T. and Harriet Walker Ward Washington. Fredi’s mother died when she was young, and she attended St. Elizabeth’s Convent in Cornwell Heights, Pennsylvania with her sister Isabel. Fredi moved to Harlem in 1919 to live with her grandmother. She left school and soon entered show business. She began her career in the early 1920s as a chorus dancer in Nobble Sissle and Eubie Blake's Shuffle Along. She adopted the stage name Edith Warren in 1926 when she acted in the lead role opposite Paul Robeson in Black Boy. Washington's stage career was interrupted when she became half of the dance team Fredi and Moiret, along with Al Moiret, and toured throughout Europe. Upon returning to the United States in 1928, her musical stage career continued with roles in Sweet Chariot (1930), Singin' the Blues (1931), and Run, Little Chillun (1933). Washington's film career began in 1929 with an appearance in Duke Ellington's short sound feature, Black and Tan Fantasy. Her best known role was that of Peola Johnson in Imitation of Life (1934). Washington's racially ambiguous look mirrored that of Peola’s, leading some to speculate that Washington, like her character in the film, passed for white during her life. Washington’s role in Imitation of Life elicited strong reactions from fans, many who saw the movie multiple times according to their declarations in her fan mail.

Unlike her character Peola, Fredi was certainly not interested in passing for white. Throughout her career, she was active in efforts to end discrimination in the film and theater industries. Her political activism began in the 1930s, when she participated in boycotts and demonstrations organized by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a Baptist minister and New York City politician who had married her sister Isabel. Washington also was an active writer for “The People’s Voice”, a newspaper for African Americans founded by Powell. She co-founded the Negro Actors Guild and was active in the Joint Actors Equity-Theater League Committee. Washington contributed a weekly column devoted to theater news in Powell's newspaper, The People's Voice. In a February 1944 column, Washington clearly displayed her advocacy for African American civil rights not only inside the entertainment industry but outside of it as well. When MGM was slated to do a film on the controversial book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Washington was skeptical about whether the studio could address and portray slavery with the seriousness and sensitivity that it deserved. Washington retired from her acting career following her marriage to Lawrence Brown, a trombonist in Ellington's orchestra, in July 1933. However, her retirement lasted less than a year when she appeared with Paul Robeson in Emperor Jones later that year. Washington divorced Brown in 1948 and married Hugh Anthony Bell, a Connecticut dentist, in 1952. After her marriage to Bell, she retired permanently from show business. She died of pneumonia following a stroke in Stamford, Connecticut on June 28, 1994.

Next, I’ll cover another early pioneer of Black cinema: Pisces Canada Lee.

STATS

birthdate: December 23, 1903*

*note*: due to the absence of a birth time, this analysis will be even more speculative

major planets:

Sun: Capricorn

Moon: Aquarius

Rising: unknown

Mercury: Scorpio

Venus: Libra

Mars: Scorpio

Midheaven: unknown

Jupiter: Libra

Saturn: Sagittarius

Uranus: Scorpio

Neptune: Gemini

Pluto: Gemini

Overall personality snapshot: For someone who was so friendly and up-front, she was a remarkably private, self-contained and independent soul. Indeed, she might have asked herself whether she was a conventional ‘square’, masquerading in the clothes of a rebel, or a world-shaking reformer who loved to dress the elegant high-society part. One of her challenges in life was to figure out how she could reconcile her desire to rewrite the rules with her strong belief in the rule of law. When she brought these contradictory sides together, she was self-disciplined, self-motivated and a great forward-planner with good business sense, administrative skills and a detached, ethical purpose to all her activities. Her clear-headed, logical approach to any enterprise she undertook, along with her willingness to learn from her mistakes, inspired confidence and respect in friends and colleagues. She was objective and capable of confronting problems and difficulties head on, which made her a powerful ally and a formidable opponent. There was a stylish dignity and grace about her approach which, coupled with her insightful wit, made her a respected authority in her field and amongst her friends.

Both ambitious and modest, she could to get to the top of whatever mountain has caught her idealistic imagination, but never at the expense of her humanitarian ideals. Whilst she was deeply egalitarian in temperament, she knew to use her power effectively, and she thought to herself ‘someone’s got to do it’ – ‘it’ being managing things successfully from the top. Having scaled the heights, however, she could be self-effacing about her achievements. She had a strong sense of duty and moral obligation towards her fellow human beings. She wanted to make the world a better place, and was likely to have fairly clear ideas as to how this could be achieved. Her intelligence and independent mind-set did not, however, suffer fools gladly, and she resented having to work at things which curbed her beliefs and freedom of expression in any way. But she was prepared to work hard with consistent dedication for her ideals. To this end, she could be drawn to those skills and professions that made a practical difference to the world, be they in the sphere of politics, economics, academia, or in the humanities such as literature, history, psychology and counseling. In the creative arts, once she overcame her reticence about contacting and expressing her insights and emotions, she could be a profoundly poetic soul, encapsulating the essence of people and ideas in clear, elegant words, painting, dance or music.

She followed her instincts and beliefs with great dedication, but few people really knew what she was up to until after her demise. This is because she liked to keep her motivations a secret. More than likely was too brash, foul-speaking, critical and sharp-tongued at times. She knew how to make people feel at ease and instinctively knew how to resolve conflict. She was easy-going, frank and optimistic. She was quite sociable and expected other people to behave well at all times. She was eager for close personal relationships, so she tended to have a wide circle of friends. Self-indulgence could have been a problem for her, as could laziness and conceit in relationships. She was to be impatient with superficial details, preferring large-scale situations, and she disliked being tied down by obligations over which she had little control. It was often difficult for her to maintain her self-confidence and optimism, and she was easily discouraged. However, she was very intelligent. She tended to feel that there was no problem that cannot be resolved, as long as she was sufficiently informed. She could be quite cynical and fearless in his speech, but she could also be tactless. Although she was popular, periods of seclusion were necessary for her.

She always tried to make sure that she was acting for the noblest of motives, and she may have had a tendency to moralize at times. However, she had a contradictory side to her nature in that whilst she accepted challenges that stretched her, she also liked to stick with the tried and true. This made her attitudes seem erratic at times. She was part of a generation that was more honest about subjects such as death, sex and the spiritual continuity of life. As such, she wasn’t afraid to ask questions, because she wasn’t afraid of the answers she might receive. As a member of this generation, she tended to have an all or nothing personality with powerful emotions seething just below the surface. As a member of the Gemini Neptune generation, her restless mind pushed her to explore new intellectual fields. She loved communication and the occult and was likely also fascinated by metaphysical phenomena and astrology. As a Gemini Plutonian, she was mentally restless and willing to examine and change old doctrines, ideas and ways of thinking. As a member of this generation, she showed an enormous amount of mental vitality, originality and perception. Traditional customs and taboos were examined and rejected for newer and more original ways of doing things. As opportunities with education expanded, she questioned more and learned more. As a member of this generation, having more than one occupation at a time would not have been unusual to her.

Love/sex life: She was the Scorpio Martian lover least likely to acknowledge the dark side of her sexual nature. Since she was generally affable and kind, a gentle lover with a sweet approach and a courtly manner, she refused to believe that anyone could be hurt in her pursuit of pleasure but, the fact is, that they could be and often were. It’s not that she ever intended to do damage. It’s just that her emotional needs were so intense and her sexuality so overwhelming that she often ended up taking from her partners much more than they ever thought about giving. On the positive side, she was also the Scorpio Martian lover who was easiest to love. She spent less time brooding over the seriousness of sex and more time celebrating the joys of love than most lovers of this type and she was more inclined to see a relationship as a partnership rather than a power struggle. Still, she was not immune to the dark fascination with sex and the obsessive tendencies typical of this group. Her obsessions had a way of slipping up on her or of creating mischief in the background, behind her pleasant smile and lovable manner.

minor asteroids and points:

North Node: Libra

Lilith: Aquarius

Her North Node in Libra dictated dictated that she needed to move away from a tendency to see the world only in terms of herself, and develop a more outward-looking view. She needed to take other people’s needs and desires into consideration to a greater degree. Her Lilith in Aquarius ensured that she was at turns, a maverick self-creation of pure raw awesome, making others around them up their game and prickly and/or reset from being more true to their real selves. Or she could be alien to herself, straddling the line between eccentric genius or truly crazy.

elemental dominance:

air

earth

She was communicative, quick and mentally agile, and she liked to stir things up. She was likely a havoc-seeker on some level. She was oriented more toward thinking than feeling. She carried information and the seeds of ideas. Out of balance, she lived in her head and could be insensitive to the feelings of others. But at her best, she helped others form connections in all spheres of their daily lives. She was a practical, reliable woman and could provide structure and protection. She was oriented toward practical experience and thought in terms of doing rather than thinking, feeling, or imagining. Could be materialistic, unimaginative, and resistant to change. But at her best, she provided the practical resources, analysis, and leadership to make dreams come true.

modality dominance:

fixed

She liked the challenge of managing existing routines with ever more efficiency, rather than starting new enterprises or finding new ways of doing things. She likely had trouble delegating duties and had a very hard time seeing other points of view; she tried to implement the human need to create stability and order in the wake of change, ultimately, she failed.

planet dominants:

Uranus

Neptune

Saturn

She was unique and protected her individuality. She had disruptions appear in her life that brought unpleasant and unexpected surprises and she immersed herself in areas of her life in which these disruptions occurred. Change galvanized her. She was inventive, creative, and original. She was of a contemplative nature, particularly receptive to ambiances, places, and people. She gladly cultivated the art of letting go, and allowed the natural unfolding of events to construct her world. She followed her inspirations, for better or for worse. She believed in the fact that lessons in life were sometimes harsh, and structure and foundation was a great issue in her life, and she had to be taught through experience what she needed in order to grow. She paid attention to limitations she had and had to learn the rules of the game in this physical reality. She tended to have a practical, prudent outlook. She also likely held rigid beliefs.

sign dominants:

Aquarius

Capricorn

Sagittarius

She was an original thinker, often eccentric, who prized individuality and freedom above all else. Her compassion, while genuine, rose from the intellect rather than the heart. She was hard to figure out because she was so often a paradox. She was patient but impatient; a nonconformist who conformed when it suited her; rebellious but peace-loving; stubborn and yet compliant when she wanted to be. She chafed at the restrictions placed upon her by society and sought to follow her own path. She was a serious-minded person who often seemed aloof and tightly in control of her emotions and her personal domain. Even as a youngster, there was a mature air about her, as if she was born with a profound core that few outsiders ever see. She was easily impressed by outward signs of success, but was interested less in money than in the power that money represents. She was a true worker—industrious, efficient, and disciplined. Her innate common sense gave her the ability to plan ahead and to work out practical ways of approaching goals. More often than not, she succeeded at whatever she set out to do. She possessed a quiet dignity that was unmistakable. She loved her freedom and chafed at any restrictions. She sought the truth, expressed it as she saw it—and didn’t care if anyone else agreed with her. She saw the large picture of any issue and couldn’t be bothered with the mundane details. She was always outspoken and likely couldn’t understand why other people weren’t as candid. After all, what was there to hide?

Read more about her under the cut.

Fredi Washington was a pioneering African-American actress whose fair skin and green eyes often were impediments to her showing her extraordinary acting skills. Her talent was often overlooked because of people's obsession with her race and color. In the few films in which she acted her enormous talent as an actress couldn't be hidden. Her first film performance was with Duke Ellington in a musical short, Black and Tan Fantasy (1929), as a dancer. In Hollywood she was urged to "pass" for fully white by studio heads, who said they would make her a bigger star than Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Constance Bennett and Greta Garbo. Fredi refused. Her best-known role was as the original Peola, in the controversial film Imitation of Life (1934). She appeared with Paul Robeson in The Emperor Jones (1933) and in a few other films with her skin darkened. Her best work was on the stage, notably in "Mamba's Daughters" with Ethel Waters. Fredi never made it to the top like her contemporaries Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker and Nina Mae McKinney because she didn't look "black" enough. But Fredi had what it took, as is more than evident in the few films that she did do. Her best work was as an activist. She was the head of the Negro Actors Guild, helping black performers get a fair chance in the entertainment industry. Hopefully, people who discover her work today will see her beauty and talent shine through and look beyond her skin color, unlike most people of her time. (x)

#capricorn #fredi washington #scandalous stars #star analyses #long ass post #astrology #mine

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lovelylogans · 4 years

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Ooooh, pretty please random facts that is the makeshift family of Virgil, Roman, Isadora and Janus? (Also is Virgil permitted to call her Isadora or is it still Ms Prince?)

it’s more like virgil, roman, isadora, janus, and patton, too, but as patton is the only one without a kid in the mix (and the one who takes on the kids when both parents are busy) it does tend to be virgil, roman, isadora, and janus a lot of the time. some facts about this weird little family of theirs:

yes, virgil is permitted to call her isadora; they are the most terrifying set of friends in sideshire, which janus uses to his advantage and roman is hilariously unaware of

día de muertos, dessalines day, haitian flag day, and other holidays that are celebrated in mexico and haiti are Big Days! for all of them; virgil, being the only white person, had a bit of a learning curve at first but does wholeheartedly celebrate with everyone

(patton prepares the food! roman helps make traditional mexican foods like sugar skulls and janus helps make traditional haitian foods like gateau l’orange.)

roman and janus are probably two of the most nutritionally-minded children that sideshire ever did see; they know a lot about food and virgil and isadora take Great Strides to ensure that their relationship with food is healthy

richard once suggested isadora and virgil date when he met isadora briefly while picking up virgil to see a show that roman was performing in and virgil laughed for about five minutes straight; he repeated this to roman like it was the funniest thing he ever heard, and roman had a similar reaction

janus once called virgil “dad” at age like seven and literally went to hide under roman’s bed for about an hour because Sentimentality, Ew,

roman, however, has no such compunctions about calling isadora “mom”

both roman and janus are lactose intolerant; neither isadora or virgil are, but they always carry around lactaid because the kids forget

roman, isadora, and janus all adore spicy food; virgil Suffers

isadora, janus, and virgil all are on “team brontë novels suck” ; roman Suffers

virgil, janus, and roman all have some level of enthusiasm for telenovelas, whether out of genuine enjoyment or guilty pleasure; isadora Suffers

isadora, roman, and virgil all enjoy listening to mainstream classical music; janus Suffers

(janus mostly suffers because he hears it on repeat every day make it sTOPPPP it’s like half the reason he goes to virgil’s to hang out, because he’s sick and tired of hearing the music from swan lake OVER and OVER and OVER from the studio)

the “you got the kid?” “yes, he’s here helping with the children’s class. do you have mine?” “yeah, he got another tingle book today. dinner at patton’s?” “certainly. meet at seven?” phone call happens like twice a week

#wyliwf asks #iwfwyl asks #Anonymous #ask #my post #text

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thekillerssluts · 5 years

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For Arcade Fire and Preservation Hall, Kanaval Ball is a Carnival party with a purpose

Growing up in Houston, future Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler wasn’t impressed by his admittedly erroneous concept of Carnival.

“It never occurred to me to go to Mardi Gras,” Butler recalled recently. “It was never on my list of things I had to do in my life. In Houston, you think it’s more a spring break-y vibe, where people come to do Jell-O shots. Bourbon Street was more the picture you’d have of it.”

After he and Régine Chassagne, his bandmate and wife, moved to New Orleans in 2014, they discovered that the spiritual and cultural roots of Carnival run deep, just as they do in Haiti, Chassagne’s ancestral home.

They wanted to be involved. So in 2018, they partnered with Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall to found Krewe du Kanaval, a blend of New Orleans and Haitian Carnival traditions.

Kanaval is both celebratory and philanthropic. The celebratory aspect will dominate Friday’s Kanaval Costume Ball at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts.

The theater will be transformed into an immersive experience of sights, sounds and dancing. Butler and Chassagne’s genre-splicing indie-rock band, Arcade Fire, is this year’s headliner, performing for the first time since the conclusion of the “Everything Now” tour in 2018.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is also on the bill, along with Haitian acts Michael Brun, Jillionaire of Major Lazer, Lakou Mizik and Pierre Kwenders.

The Kanaval ball is open to the public. Costumes, the more festive and colorful the better, are “strongly encouraged.” Show time is 8 p.m. Both general admission and reserved seat tickets are available, priced at $85 to $120.

Kanaval’s 2020 king and queen, respectively, are master Congolese drummer and dancer Titos Sompa and rapper, chef and Loyola University instructor Mia “Mia X” Young.

Last year, Krewe du Kanaval hosted a mini-festival in Armstrong Park. There is no such public festival this year. Instead, krewe members will march in the musically themed Krewe of Freret parade on Saturday afternoon along the traditional Uptown route.

A mutual predisposition for parading forged the alliance between Arcade Fire and Preservation Hall that led to Kanaval.

Members of the two bands first crossed paths during a parade on the grounds of the Coachella festival in southern California several years ago. After Butler and Chassagne bought a house Uptown, they befriended Jaffe, who became their New Orleans guide.

In 2016, they teamed up for the David Bowie memorial march that attracted thousands of onlookers and shut down swaths of the French Quarter. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band opened shows for Arcade Fire on the “Everything Now” arena tour, parading through audiences to a boxing ring-like stage.

New Orleans’ similarities to Haiti, including a shared affinity for parading, appealed to Butler and Chassagne.

“When we started coming to New Orleans, we saw the connections to Haiti are so numerous and deep,” Butler said. “That’s part of what drew us.”

The frequent boil water advisories and power outages in New Orleans also reminded them of Haiti. Butler joked that “we call New Orleans ‘Haiti with Whole Foods.’”

They in turn introduced Preservation Hall to Haiti, where the musicians found kindred spirits and distant cousins.

“The amazing thing is how familiar Haiti felt to every band member,” Jaffe said. “Several members of our band had an emotional reaction to being there.”

That Butler and Chassagne are not from New Orleans but have become outspoken advocates for the city’s music and culture reminds Jaffe of his parents, Allan and Sandra Jaffe, the founders of Preservation Hall.

“My parents weren’t from New Orleans – they were from Pennsylvania,” Jaffe said. “The perspective and appreciation they had was a reason Preservation Hall got started. They had a perception that insiders and residents don’t always have. We don’t always appreciate things that are so amazing, because they are our normal.”

Krewe du Kanaval is a non-profit. Proceeds from membership dues and the ball benefit KANPE, a foundation Chassagne co-founded that helps poor, rural families and communities in Haiti’s Central Plateau region with health, education, agricultural, entrepreneurial and infrastructure initiatives, and the Preservation Hall Foundation’s mission to protect, preserve and perpetuate traditional New Orleans jazz and culture.

Thus, Kanaval is a party “with a spirit and purpose,” Chassagne said. “It’s not a party that you take from, but a party that you give to.”

In New Orleans, “that’s not unusual, the idea of celebrating and it having a purpose,” Jaffe said. “That was something that Win and Régine and I spoke about a lot when we started Kanaval. How this had to capture that spirit of New Orleans, that connection to faith and spirituality and celebration and purpose.”

They discerned a spiritual component from the outset. The night Butler, Chassagne and Jaffe decided to launch Kanaval, they drove past Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar on Tchoupitoulas Street. A feeling came over Butler that they should stop and go in.

Inside, they encountered musician Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, whose Mardi Gras morning ramble through Treme and the 7th Ward is a 200-year-old tradition.

“He’s at the center of the preservation of Creole culture, one of the deepest people I’ve ever met,” Butler said of Barnes. “I’m not a hippy-dippy person at all – my dad is a scientist – but what can I can say about that?"

Kanaval is only in its third year. Butler, Chassagne and Jaffe hope it grows and attracts broad community support. Anyone who can’t afford to join the krewe can still be involved as a volunteer.

“Our goal is long-term,” Butler said. “The more people that can come and take this over…the goal is for us to put our energy into it and have it take on a life of its own.”

Meanwhile, Chassagne said, “we can be a megaphone.”

Especially at the Kanaval Ball. For all the diverse talents of its members, many of whom are Canadian, can Arcade Fire play a credible “Mardi Gras Mambo”?

“We can play anything,” Chassagne said without hesitation.

Jaffe concurs: “They are the best cover band that I’ve ever seen. When they played with Boy George (of ‘80s band Culture Club) in London, my mind was blown. It sounded like karaoke, like Boy George was singing over the record.”

Between Arcade Fire, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the various Haitian acts, the Kanaval Ball is likely to generate an energy all its own.

“You know how difficult it is to describe a second-line to someone not from New Orleans – you’ve got to have the experience,” Jaffe said. “That’s sort of Kanaval.

“You have to put your fate in the hands of the universe. It’s going to be alright. It’s going to be amazing.”

#Arcade Fire #interview #regine chassagne #Win Butler

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Don Shirley

Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence Records during the 1950s and 1960s, experimenting with jazz with a classical influence. He wrote organ symphonies, piano concerti, a cello concerto, three string quartets, a one-act opera, works for organ, piano and violin, a symphonic tone poem based on the 1939 novel Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, and a set of "Variations" on the 1858 opera Orpheus in the Underworld.

Born in Pensacola, Florida, Shirley was a promising young student of classical piano. Although he did not achieve recognition in his early career playing traditional classical music, he found success with his blending of various musical traditions.

During the 1960s, Shirley went on a number of concert tours, some in Deep South states. For a time, he hired New York nightclub bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga as his driver and bodyguard. Their story was dramatized in the 2018 film Green Book.

Biography

Early life

Donald Walbridge Shirley was born on January 29, 1927, in Pensacola, Florida, to Jamaican immigrants, Stella Gertrude (1903–1936), a teacher, and Edwin S. Shirley (1885–1982), an Episcopal priest.

Shirley started to learn piano when he was two years old. He briefly enrolled at Virginia State University and Prairie View College, then studied with Conrad Bernier and Thaddeus Jones at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received his bachelor's degree in music in 1953.

Known as "Dr. Shirley," he had two honorary doctorates.

His birthplace was sometimes incorrectly given as Kingston, Jamaica, because his label advertised him as being Jamaican-born. According to some sources, Shirley traveled to the Soviet Union to study piano and music theory at the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. According to his nephew, Edwin, his record label falsely claimed that he studied music in Europe to "make him acceptable in areas where a Black man from a Black school wouldn’t have got any recognition at all."

Career: 1945–1953

In 1945, at the age of 18, Shirley performed the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A year later, Shirley performed one of his compositions with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1949, he received an invitation from the Haitian government to play at the Exposition Internationale du Bi-Centenaire de Port-au-Prince, followed by a request from President Estimé and Archbishop Joseph-Marie Le Gouaze for a repeat performance the next week.

Shirley was married to Jean C. Hill in Cook County, Illinois on December 23, 1952, but they later divorced.

Discouraged by the lack of opportunities for classical black musicians, Shirley abandoned the piano as a career for a time. He studied psychology at the University of Chicago and began work in Chicago as a psychologist. There he returned to music. He was given a grant to study the relationship between music and juvenile crime, which had broken out in the postwar era of the early 1950s. Playing in a small club, he experimented with sound to determine how the audience responded. The audience was unaware of his experiments and that students had been planted to gauge their reactions.

Career: 1954–2013

At Arthur Fiedler's invitation, Shirley appeared with the Boston Pops in Chicago in June 1954. In 1955, he performed with the NBC Symphony at the premiere of Ellington's Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall. He also appeared on TV on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Shirley recorded many albums for Cadence Records, experimenting with jazz with a classical influence. In 1961, his single "Water Boy" reached No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks. He performed in New York City at Basin Street East, where Duke Ellington heard him and they started a friendship.

During the 1960s, Shirley went on a number of concert tours, some in Southern states, believing that he could change some minds with his performances. For his initial tour, in 1962, he hired New York nightclub bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga as his driver and bodyguard. Their story is dramatized in the 2018 film Green Book, the name of a travel guide for black motorists in the segregated United States. In the fictionalized account, despite some early friction with their differing personalities, the two became good friends. This has been questioned by Don's brother Maurice Shirley, who said, "My brother never considered Tony to be his 'friend'; he was an employee, his chauffeur (who resented wearing a uniform and cap). This is why context and nuance are so important. The fact that a successful, well-to-do Black artist would employ domestics that did not look like him, should not be lost in translation."

However, in a January 2019 interview with Variety, Tony's son Nick Vallelonga explained that: "They were together a year and a half and they did remain friends". He also explained that Shirley, before his death, asked him not to speak to anyone else while writing the story. He went on to explain: "Don Shirley himself told me not to speak to anyone. And he only wanted certain parts of his life. He only allowed me to tell what happened on the trip. Since [the family] were not on the trip—this is right out of his mouth—he said, 'No one else was there but your father and I. We've told you.' And he approved what I put in and didn't put in. So obviously, to say I didn't contact them, that was hard for me because I didn't want to betray what I promised him."

The film controversially depicts Shirley as estranged from his family and alienated from other African Americans. Shirley's surviving family members disputed this, stating that he was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, attended the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march, and had many friends among other African American artists and leaders. He had three brothers, and according to his family kept in contact with them. Author David Hajdu, who met and befriended Shirley in the 1990s through composer Luther Henderson, wrote: "the man I knew was considerably different from the character Ali portrayed with meticulous elegance [in Green Book]. [Shirley was] cerebral but disarmingly earthy, mercurial, self-protective, and intolerant of imperfections in all things, particularly music, he was as complex and uncategorizable as his sui generis music."

In late 1968, Shirley performed the Tchaikovsky concerto with the Detroit Symphony. He also worked with the Chicago Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. He wrote symphonies for the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. He played as soloist with the orchestra at Milan's La Scala opera house in a program dedicated to George Gershwin's music. Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky, who was a contemporary of Shirley's, said of him, "His virtuosity is worthy of Gods."

Death

Shirley died of heart disease on April 6, 2013, at the age of 86.

Discography

Tonal Expressions (Cadence, 1955)

Orpheus in the Underworld (Cadence, 1956)

Piano Perspectives (Cadence, 1956)

Don Shirley Duo (Cadence, 1956)

Don Shirley with Two Basses (Cadence, 1957)

Improvisations (Cadence, 1957)

Don Shirley (Audio Fidelity, 1959)

Don Shirley Solos (Cadence, 1959)

Don Shirley Plays Love Songs (Cadence, 1960)

Don Shirley Plays Gershwin (Cadence, 1960)

Don Shirley Plays Standards (Cadence, 1960)

Don Shirley Plays Birdland Lullabies (Cadence, 1960)

Don Shirley Plays Showtunes (Cadence, 1960)

Don Shirley Trio (Cadence, 1961)

Piano Arrangements of Spirituals (Cadence, 1962)

Pianist Extraordinary (Cadence, 1962)

Piano Spirituals (1962)

Don Shirley Presents Martha Flowers (1962)

Drown in My Own Tears (Cadence, 1962)

Water Boy (Columbia, 1965)

The Gospel According to Don Shirley (Columbia, 1969)

Don Shirley in Concert (Columbia, 1969)

The Don Shirley Point of View (Atlantic, 1972)

Home with Donald Shirley (2001)

Don Shirley's Best (Cadence, 2010)

#01/29 #04/06

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sexypinkon · 4 years

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~Sexypink~ Natusha Croes - To sing, speak and move on behalf of an ecological engagement. I am a plethora of beings creating a sense of belonging through a chain reaction of performative interventions, honouring one location at the time, unraveling a state of deep listening, heightened bodily awareness. Directed currently at the island of my origin. Aruba, the multiculturalism that it breeds, the heritage, a multiple state of identity, and how a gentler, much soothing relationship can come to be. Primarily communicated through the audio-visual forum of live art, video and film.

REDJI (Reginald Sénatus), born in 1994, grew up in a district of downtown Port-au-Prince (Haiti), near the artists and cabinetmakers of the Grand-Rue. In 2010, he joined Atis Rezistans, a community of artists specializing in salvage sculpture. Since 2011, Redji has participated in several editions of the Ghetto Biennale de Port-au-Prince. In the 2017 edition, he presented an installation entitled "Cartography of Port-Au-Prince" and took stock of the socio-economic difficulties of the population. He won the first prize of the biennial, and also that of 2019 with a new artistic installation entitled "Walls and Doors of Vertières".

~Sexypink~ Maria Govan - From the island of New Providence, In the Bahamas, Maria, a self taught filmmaker, with an early passion for film, began her journey working in production at the young age of sixteen. She worked a time in Los Angeles and then returned home where she spent a decade making small, local, guerilla style documentaries. This lay the foundation for her craft. Govan then scripted her first narrative feature "Rain," which she directed and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 and licensed to Showtime networks. In 2012 she moved to Trinidad and in 2015 wrote and directed her second narrative feature "Play the Devil" which received a significant grant from Creative TT. "Play the Devil" was selected for Ventana Sur in Argentina and Premiera Miradada in IFF Panama, and premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2016. In 2018, Govan was hired to direct her first episode of television on the show Queen Sugar, which is produced by Ava Duvernay and Oprah Winfrey. She is currently in development of several television and film projects and continues to seek writing and directing opportunities both in the region and beyond.

~Sexypink~ ~Sexypink~ Daphné Menard completed his studies in theatre in July 2015 in Haiti. Practicing contemporary dance, music, theater and writing, he founded “Sol Scène Association, ” an initiative interested in transdisciplinary research with the body as the raw material. He created in November 2016, "Omayra, the choir of the abyss," a play that questions the power of this world, rendered so weak in front of certain situations. Since October 2018, he has implemented the Transdo art creation laboratory between Haitian and Dominican artists. He organised a cross-disciplinary play in March 2020 in Santo Domingo questioning the concept of memory on the island. Photo credit: Valérie Baeriswyl

#Sexypink/Natusha Croes #Sexypink/Catapult Stay at home residency #Aruba #REDJI #Reginald Senatus #Haitian #Maria Govan #Bahamas #Daphne Menard

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arecomicsevengood · 4 years

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More Quarantine Movies

Going to put up this log of what I’ve seen now, as some of the stuff I liked the most is leaving The Criterion Channel at the end of the month. I really don’t know if anyone gets anything out of these posts, these are mostly synopses and they’re maybe spoiler-heavy. Let me give you the gist of it now: Otto Preminger’s a really good filmmaker whose movies are really interesting, Jean Arthur’s a great actress who enlivens everything and is also in a bunch of good-to-great movies. Also, I didn’t write about it but I rewatched Death Race 2000, that movie rules, feels relevant to today’s politics, and is leaving Criterion Channel at the end of the month.

The Pawnbroker (1964) dir. Sidney Lumet

Based on novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, whose The Tenants Of Moonbloom was reprinted by NYRB Classics with a Dave Eggers intro. Also some of the earliest nudity in a mainstream American film. About the misanthropy of a holocaust survivor, living in New York City, and interacting with black people who vaguely feel like racist caricatures, in part because it’s a movie about a misanthrope told from his perspective. A ton of movies about race from this era feel dated, this feels legitimately edgy, which is a term that gets thrown around somewhat ironically now or viewed as a pejorative, like something trying to offend, this does feel like a genuine attempt to be honest and push things forward (I really was not expecting that nudity) but also doesn’t feel totally successful, definitely not particularly enjoyable.

Shockproof (1949) dir. Douglas Sirk

I haven’t seen Sirk’s later melodramas, this one intrigued me in part because the screenplay was written by Samuel Fuller, and it’s sort of a pulpy noir thing. A woman, fresh out of jail, ends up living with her parole officer who is trying to keep her on the straight and narrow and away from her criminal ex, but they end up falling in love. There’s a thing where the male lead’s younger brother talks about how the lady is beautiful that I sort of wish wasn’t in there, feels creepy to me. There’s a bit of a shift in the narrative with the third act, where the lovers end up on the run, the once-upstanding man now a criminal on account of love, but they are having the endurance of their love tested by circumstance, is one of those things where a story which felt somewhat unique over the course of its telling shifts into something more recognizable.

…And The Pursuit Of Happiness (1986) dir Louis Malle

I have watched most of Louis Malle’s feature films at this point, I believe, and had a vague curiosity about what his documentaries were like. This one, made shortly after he’d moved to the U.S. and married Candice Bergen (something that comes up in Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens, in that some prostitutes read aloud from a fashion magazine that discusses it) he made a film talking to various recent immigrants. He covers a lot of ground, covering people working as doctors, large communities living in housing projects and causing racial tension with black neighbors (who both resent the smell of the food they cook but also suspect they don’t know their rights as the property developers plan to evict everyone and have the projects demolished). By and large everyone spoke to believes in the notion of the American dream of working hard to get ahead. Malle also speaks to anti-immigration think tank people and border patrols. Nothing too surprising but a lot of ground gets covered in a short amount of time. If I didn’t learn anything I at least admired that it felt non-didactic. Anything with more of a point of view or an argument would probably be disingenuous were it to present itself as enlightening.

The Baron Of Arizona (1950) dir. Samuel Fuller

Based on a true story, although with fictionalized elements, about a dude (played by Vincent Price) who becomes a master forger to falsify land grants and claim the entire state of Arizona as his own. Not a great movie, though that’s an interesting story. I bet I could guess what elements were made up for the sake of making a movie out of it, it has this tension of being interesting and unbelievable (although unbelievable by way of rote moviemaking formula), but also the story takes place over an extended period of time and so has some of the structureless feeling of a biopic.

House On Haunted Hill (1959) dir. William Castle

I’m going to confuse this with The Haunting Of Hill House for my entire life, that’s just the way it is. This stars Vincent Price, who’s always great, doing the famous premise where a group of people meet up to spend the night at a haunted house to win money. Vincent Price has a contentious relationship with his wife, who’s openly contemptuous of him and wants his money. There’s a moment where everyone at the house party is given a gun, each in a coffin. There’s a few “twists” all sort of being of the “there was a rational, non-ghost reason for everything” although any of them individually sort of strain the limits of credulity as something that works as a hoax. Vincent Price is basically not the villain, so much as his wife is, although he’s such a ham that loves being creepy that this again strains credibility in that the conclusion of the movie plays against the style with which the previous action has been presented. An enjoyable viewing experience.

My Name Is Julia Ross (1945) dir. Joseph Lewis

This one’s about a woman, looking for work, who falls into a scheme that kidnaps her and puts her up in a mansion, where she’s kept drugged and basically is told to assume the identity of a woman who was killed. I found this one pretty nerve-wracking, as it’s pretty nightmarish, basically about psychological torture. I found this one under Criterion Channel’s Columbia Noir collection, but before these films were considered noir, they were thought of as melodramas, but it’s also sort of a horror film about being gaslighted. There’s a part where they remove a stairwell and try to trick her into falling down? What’s funny is that one of the things that sort of separates this from horror is how quickly it resolves, whereas later work would I think give the audience the satisfaction of seeing the villain be punished in some way, the ending that just goes “then everything worked out alright” ends up making the structure feel more like the whole movie’s reason for being is just to see the protagonist suffer.

God Told Me To (1976) dir. Larry Cohen

Did I write about this already? I watched that a few months ago. Pretty wild basis in seventies grit about people going crazy, committing murders, then goes to a weird/confusing place involving some sort of holy entity in human form, the police procedural aspect butting up against this strangeness which doesn’t feel entirely thought through, and is in fact sort of incoherent, makes for a movie that is, in fact, still pretty good and worth watching although a bit tedious by the end.

Zombi Child (2019) dir. Bertrand Bonello

This I guess just came out in America this year, to the extent that anything came out this year, in theaters, it coming to streaming is basically its release. The zombies in this are of the old-school voodoo sense, taken seriously as a system of belief juxtaposed against French colonialism, as a Haitian teen feels at odds with her circle of friends, flashbacks to Haiti occur. When you watch a bunch of older movies new movies just seem to be not as good. Bonello’s not a bad filmmaker though, he’s able to capture a sort of sensual aspect of particular moments and moods, just not in a way where they then coalesce into a narrative of shifting emotion.

Anatomy Of A Murder (1959) dir. Otto Preminger

This movie is close to three hours long. It has a Law And Order procedural quality, taking up much of its second half with a courtroom drama, where Jimmy Stewart does a proto-Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer routine. He’s protecting a man accused of murdering the woman who raped his wife. The subject was surely shocking for its time. It becomes pretty clear, extremely quickly that the husband is an abusive piece of shit, but the main thrust of the narrative is still tasked with following the lawyer trying to get him off. Lee Remick, from Experiment In Terror plays the beautiful and doomed wife, who flirts with Jimmy Stewart. Some of these interactions feel weird from a modern perspective, because Stewart’s reaction is like “Yes, you’re a beautiful woman and any red-blooded American male would enjoy looking at you, but it is my duty as a lawyer to paternalistically insist you cover up!” Preminger is sort of known for pushing the envelope, and this one has a lot more talking about sperm and Lee Remick’s vagina than you’d expect. One of the things that’s meant to be a “quirky character detail” is that Jimmy Stewart is into jazz- The score, by Duke Ellington, is great, but there’s also a pretty corny cameo by Duke Ellington where Jimmy Stewart sits in with him, a second pair of hands on the piano. Still, I guess it’s better that he physically appears in the movie than there just being a scene where it implies Duke’s music is played by Jimmy Stewart, as the music is way too good to just be a lawyer’s quirky hobby. George C Scott, from Hardcore, plays the legal expert on the other side. After being pretty long, there is this sort of abrupt, (although well-foreshadowed) downbeat ending, where the jealous and abusive husband flees town to avoid paying his lawyer and to go somewhere quiet he can beat his wife to death, but said ending is played for this “you can’t win them all I guess, shame about the lower classes” quality from Stewart, who is dead broke all movie but seems like he just enjoyed being able to do work for once, even if it’s for a total shitbag. Good movie! Feels thorny and interesting.

Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) dir. Otto Preminger

This is even better. Great Saul Bass credits sequence too. A psychological thriller where the disappearance of a child gives way to the police not being able to confirm the child is real, and doubting the mother’s sanity, becoming pretty nightmarish, dreamy, and exhilarating by turns. Gets to a place of “huh, I wonder what is going on” and then when that finally resolves there’s a pretty extended sequence of silent escaping/hiding, which is, one of those things that films do really well and is super-satisfying. It plays out amidst this background filled with interesting supporting characters, who all, for the first half of the movie, feel like moving parts in this somewhat inscrutable narrative machine.

The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) dir. Otto Preminger

This one I don’t like. Stars Frank Sinatra, who I find annoying, as a recovering heroin addict who relapses again. While I normally like the sort of scenery-chewing supporting cast that shows up in Preminger things, I really didn’t Sinatra’s nerdy best friend, or his wife with Munchausen’s syndrome. While with the other Preminger movies there’s this feeling of a slow reveal of what the plot is with this one I feel like as soon as you know that Sinatra is out of rehab (which you learn pretty quickly) you can guess the movie will be about how he relapses and then tries to get sober for real.

The Human Factor (1979) dir. Otto Preminger

Preminger’s final movie, based on a Graham Greene novel, featuring Iman making her film debut. Movie is mostly about intelligence agencies seeking out the mole in their mist, with intentions to kill whoever it is once they’re certain. It stars Richard Attenborough, as the source of the leaks. Halfway through the story becomes interspersed with flashbacks about Attenborough and Iman’s romance upon meeting in Africa. Continues the habit of ending on a moment that maybe feels like it should be expanded upon or made more resonant.

Bonjour Tristesse (1958) dir. Otto Preminger

This stars Jean Seberg as a teenager being raised by a single father, David Niven, who’s kind of a cad/ladies man who’s very permissive with his daughter, who seems likely to grow up rich and spoiled and find another rich man to take care of her. Deborah Kerr plays the woman who Niven ends up falling in love for real with, and the conflict is then between this woman taking on a maternal role and a daughter who is resentful of this. Deborah Kerr is in Black Narcissus, a movie I love, and here she comes off as smart, the voice of reason. Seberg destroys her father’s relationship by taking advantage of his sort of innate desire to flirt and be liked by women, driving Kerr to commit suicide, and the whole film is then told in flashback by Jean Seberg a year later, as she flirts with boys but has a great sadness and emotional distance about her, which is both inherited and self-inflicted. I’m partly just writing these plot summaries as my way of remembering what these movies are about, but this one is nice because I get to account for complicated characters who are both pretty eminently understandable. I keep getting hung up on the fact that movies today now have a much dumber idea of what a female character is. Maybe it’s something as basic as the fact that, as people read less, it’s rarer for literary novels to be adapted? As I talk in terms of “less good roles for women nowadays,” which is a cliche, it’s obvious enough that bad roles for men follow, as everyone is only as good or interesting as who they’re playing off of.

It’s also funny to think, in this era of “comic book movies,” that very few artists can make a character come to life with body language and facial expression the way an actor can. “Literary” cartoonists like Dan Clowes or Tomine play into the mask quality drawing creates, generating inscrutability as part of their effect. Many of the biggest names in “noir” comics are removed from the melodrama elements of actor’s performance in favor of an aesthetic based on paperback covers, which makes for something far less lively. Meanwhile, Blutch is an amazing artist who would probably do a great job telling lively character studies in a genre form, but he’s way more preoccupied with these Godard-style interrogations of film’s cultural meaning.

Separate Tables (1958) dir. Delbert Mann

From the same year as Bonjour Tristesse, and also featuring David Niven and Deborah Kerr. Deborah Kerr’s good in this- while she is sort of uptight in a maternal way in Bonjour Tristesse, here she’s sort of crippled by repression her mother imposes on her. It’s a totally different character, but she remains defined by various manifestations of repressed energy; I would say she’s most known for playing a nun in Black Narcissus. She’s again opposite Niven in a sort of romantic context, though Niven’s character is meant to be a neurotic freak and he’s not really convincing in that capacity. I couldn’t really work out what the deal is with Niven’s character, he gets arrested in a theater, seemingly because he takes his dick out to show women? Or that’s how I interpreted what was being discussed, but he’s mostly defended by everyone except this lady you’re supposed to hate for how domineering and judgmental she is so maybe it’s something less bad. I honestly couldn’t figure it out because it seemed like the thing I was guessing they couldn’t talk about. This movie also features Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth as a couple that broke up once before and are reuniting now. This movie is pretty dull in a way I didn’t know whether to attribute to it being British or it being based on a play, as it feels extremely both.

Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1964) dir. Bryan Forbes

This one’s British too, and features the quality I recognize from British television, where the stars are not attractive, which always feels surprising. This one’s got a pretty great title, and a great premise. This woman, a professional psychic, convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can comfort the parents and get publicity. The cinematography’s great. I got pretty nervous watching this, I think I am feeling more sensitive to movies as of late, way more willing to find things upsetting and nerve-wracking than usual. I can partly attribute this to the feeling of taking something in from a different cultural context, that leaves me unsure what to expect, but it’s also true that nowadays I sort of constantly have this feeling of “I don’t know how bad things are going to get” about the world in general, and it makes sense that I would apply that to films.

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) dir. Howard Hawks

Jean Arthur’s amazing in this - saw her the first time in The Devil And Miss Jones and then there’s this whole Criterion Channel featurette video running through what her whole deal is: This vulnerability/innocence crossed with an attempted toughness that really is very charming. Here she plays an entertainer just stopping briefly in town who gets hit on by some pilots, and develops feelings of impossible love for a man (played by Cary Grant) whose insistent toughness and refusal to show fear (despite having a dangerous job, of a pilot, that makes everyone who cares about him fall to pieces with nervousness). It’s this very universal type of entertainment, where there’s all these special effects shots of planes flying and a drama of men being men that’s nonetheless anchored by this love story, carried by the fact that Jean Arthur is very real and complex. She’s also a legit comedic actress, which I think makes her feel richer and more watchable than someone without a sense of humor would be. Rita Hayworth plays Grant’s ex, a woman who couldn’t take his daredevil ways but is now married to another pilot who has to do dangerous flights essentially to make up for an act of cowardice that got someone else killed. She’s got her own charisma obviously (and Cary Grant’s equally solid, in this sort of old-Hollywood glamor way) but Jean Arthur feels very alive in a way that carries the movie.

The Talk Of The Town (1942) dir. George Stevens

This one also stars Jean Arthur opposite Cary Grant, but it’s less interesting, partly because of a domestic setting and some stale-seeming comedy. Cary Grant plays Lionel Dilg, (great name!) who breaks out of prison and hides out in Jean Arthur’s attic, with a hobbled ankle, while a preeminent legal scholar moves in. There’s a love triangle between the three of them, and a friendship between the escapee and the scholar. Grant’s been unfairly framed for arson for political reasons by his boss for pointing out the factory where he works is a death trap. The people of the town are easily turned against this sort of leftist agitator by a last and biased judge. Insanely enough, there’s a movie called “The Whole Town’s Talking” also starring Jean Arthur but it has no relation to this one.

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) dir. Stephen Roberts

Upon realizing that many of these Jean Arthur movies were leaving the Criterion Channel at the end of the month, I started taking more in. This is a murder mystery, with screwball comedy accents, and again I’d say it’s really good, although the “comedy” premise wherein a woman sort of plows through the life of a man with no real respect for personal boundaries is the sort of thing that works in a movie even though it seems totally nightmarish when looked at from a certain angle. She writes mysteries, he’s a doctor, people are getting murdered. He is played by William Powell, from The Thin Man movies, which maybe these resemble. I guess the bickering couple that solves mysteries is a trope but it’s one that I don’t think has had any currency in popular culture since Moonlighting, which was in my lifetime but before I would have had any awareness of it. (I would probably enjoy it up until the point where I got bored of the formula.) I thought this was great and would make a good double feature with L’Assassin Habite au 21.

History Is Made At Night, 1937, dir. Frank Borzage

This has Jean Arthur in it too, but the reason I became aware of it was Matt Zoller Seitz tweeting about it. Partly this is because the description on the Criterion site is so bare-bones it barely seems like anything, but it turns out this is because the plot is completely insane and has a ton of twists and to talk about them very quickly veers into spoiler territory. It is, in brief, a love story. The first totally insane in it is the handsome male lead does the “drawing a ventriloquist puppet on his hand” thing and the woman’s totally on board. An element that doesn’t spoil the plot, but does seem somewhat incongruent with the tone, is there’s a French chef character for a comic relief. It’s really good. I’m pointing out the lightest element but the story’s villain is believably sociopathic.

Secrets (1933) dir Frank Borzage

Not nearly as cool or good. While History Is Made At Night feels like a cohesive story that’s just pretty crazy, this one feels divided into acts that have nothing in common with each other. First act is romance, between a rich man’s daughter and his banker. They run away together. I’m basically unsure of when this movie takes place timewise, the rich lady is wearing massive layered gowns I know would’ve been out of fashion by 1933. The second act is a western where they make a home together and have to fight off bandits! But the action is shot in a a pretty disinterested manner. Third act, I’m pretty on edge and bored, but the banker is now the governor of California and is having an affair with another woman, and they’re at a party together, and then the ending feels epilogue style as they’re both old as hell and they have fully-grown children and they’re talking about how they’re taking their leave of the kids to discuss their secrets. Female lead is Mary Pickford in her final film role. I guess this is a remake of a silent film, which was itself based on a play. Yeah this movie sucks basically.

Bitter Moon (1992) dir. Roman Polanski

Sure, I’ll watch a sex criminal’s erotic thriller that’s way too long. Hugh Grant is a married guy on a boat who has a French dude talk about all the sex he and his wife have because he knows Hugh Grant wants to fuck his hot wife. Said wife is played by Emmanuelle Seigner, Roman Polanski’s actual wife since 1989. This is a bad movie by pretty much any metric. It kinda feels like the social function of erotic thrillers is not to be a more socially-acceptable form of pornography, but rather to be pervy enough to remind the audience why you shouldn’t talk about sex publicly and have that be your whole thing. The French, of course, misunderstand this.

The Burglar (1957) dir. Paul Wendkos

Another noir, written by David Goodis. This one is a little formulaic, in terms of what you think of crime movies as being “about.” A burglar, who learned the trade from his adopted father, works with that man’s daughter to commit heists. His gang doesn’t like her. Once the two of them are separated, a corrupt cop seeking to steal a burgled necklace for himself tries to pursue a relationship with her as a means to an end, while a woman allied with him works on the burglar. A drive to New Jersey gets stopped by cops, violence quickly escalates to make the situation more dire. Members of the gang die. Not a bad movie but by no means essential.

My Brother’s Wedding (1983) dir. Charles Burnett

Criterion Channel removed the paywall for a bunch of Black-made independent films, this is one of them, Burnett’s follow-up to Killer Of Sheep. Seemingly starring non-professional actors, it’s about the conflict a guy feels as his brother is planning to get married to a rich woman he resents, and the loyalty he feels to a guy who just got out of prison who everybody hates. The main character is a good dude who wants to help out this pretty dangerous friend the best he can. The film captures his pride and resentment.

Dial M For Murder (1954) dir. Alfred Hitchcock

A few iconic-seeming shots of Grace Kelly in the role of a Hitchcock blonde, i.e. her standing at a phone while someone looms behind her about to choke her, and later standing traumatized. Suffers a bit from clearly being based on a play, with a ton of dialogue, particularly in the second act. The first act is able to provide this very particular type of satisfaction, where someone outlines a “perfect crime” in dialogue and then we see it play out and it falls apart and happens completely differently. It’s funny the criminal gives themselves away due to mistaking one key for another, because this sort of structure really does feel like a key fitting into a lock, things perfectly designed for one another, parceled out at the right time.

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namelessandfamous · 5 years

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The 2010s

THE 2010s

Ahh, the 2010s. The decade that I became a full fledged adult in. I experienced the highs, the lows, the mids, the joy, the pain, the riches, the squalor and everything in between. I lived in five different states, five different cities. I traveled the nation multiple times around. I jumped jobs, locations, identities like any fledgling twentysomething that possess the gravitas to explore.

Outside of my being, the world experienced a lot. We experienced two terms of Obama only to enter the Trump era during the final three years of the decade. We lost many a legend—Prince being the one that hit me hardest—and gained a few more. Activism reached a visibility not seen since the 1960s—from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter. Mass murders became a regular occurrence as overall crime rose all across the nation. Global warming made for both Los Angeles and New York to share similar temperatures in December despite being on the opposite side of the seaboard.

And, musically …

Things shifted so much that they remained the same. Record sales reached a record low yet the record industry began to rebound with the rise of streaming. An entire century’s worth of music is only nanoseconds away for a small monthly fee. The decade saw the rise (and sometimes fall) of dubstep, “alternative R&B”, cloud rap, mumble rap, trap beats (which punctuated almost a majority of popular songs regardless of genres throughout the past ten years), etc. Adele sold the most records than anyone else despite pop getting more and more EDM-influenced by the minute, Drake was easily the most popular rapper as rap became increasingly non-rap in its sound, R&B continued to thrive outside of the mainstream, rock increasingly became a genre of the past and well, everything else remained the same.

Yet, in my headphones, these ten albums provided the aural narration for various times and places and mental explorations and live experiences throughout this past decade. While I listened to hundreds of albums—and liked just as many—these ten stood out the most to me even if my individual interest in a few has dissipated beyond the time that they spoke to me the most. These ten albums remind me that despite the roller coasters of emotions, thoughts, experiences and mindsets I’ve experienced these past ten years, the 2010s was a good decade, overall. Here are my 10 of the ‘10s:

1. D’ANGELO, Black Messiah (RCA, 2014)

Arriving on the scene when the nation was in tatters after the rash of police brutality targeting black men around the country (which was never a rare occurrence, mind you, but that’s another screed for another day ….) and the Black Lives Matter movement was in full bloom in the mainstream media, D’Angelo re-appeared some 14 years after his last album, the landmark Voodoo. This re-appearance feel right on time even if it was almost a decade and a half late in an increasingly ADHD world. That it spoke to a nation’s frustration as well as its joy despite such an extended wait was almost miraculous and made claim to it’s title claim. Even more miraculous is just how much the music resonates as much as D’s storied past. A D’Angelo album is almost as mythic as the man but like any myth, neither fails to be magical. So magical that Messiah resulted in many album-long reactions by artists that spanned various genres and commercial statuses.

2. KAYTRANADA, 99.9% (XL, 2016)

Released just months before the end of the Obama administration, 99.9%, the full length debut by Montreal maestro Kaytranada treated the pre-election tension in the air—then placing Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton as contenders to replace the nation’s first black president—like the perfect atmosphere for a party. A decidedly Pan-African dance party, at that. Kaytranda, born Louis Celestin, is an obvious student of black music that spans decades, genres and continents. The son of Haitian immigrants, Kay knows the power of rhythm like any Caribbean expat does. This rhythm powers an one hour long song cycle that never lets up despite many variations in groove and voice (Kay gives the floor to a multitude of vocalists which include everyone from Anderson .Paak and Phonte to Syd of The Internet and Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagona to rappers Goldlink and Vic Mensa to even 2000s British pop/R&B superstar Craig David). The sheer joy here—peaking with the late-album, Gal Costa-powered “Lite Spots”—is palpable and it’s groove unstoppable. And it will surely remain so for many years to come.

3. INC., No World (4AD, 2013)

The Brothers Aged—Daniel and Andrew-- created a quixotic, otherworldly mood piece in their debut No World. The juxtaposition between D’Angelo and especially Maxwell’s largely carnal “neo soul” velvet and the post-punk atmosphere that colored many a classic on the label that released the album made for an intriguing listen. What stands out most about No World is its subtlety. This is a work that requires several listens before it entirely sinks in. And when it sinks in, it completely submerges.

4. JESSIE WARE, Devotion (PMR, 2012)

A merger of soignée “diva” vocals, distinctively British tastefulness, dance music rhythms and commitment to low-key R&B of decades past made Devotion a promising prospect even before its spring 2012 release. Jessie Ware had already built a name for herself via cameos on records by fellow forward thinking Brits SBTRKT, The Joker and Sampha but on Devotion that name became emboldened and placed in caps. A set that’s gossamer (the precise Aaliyah channeling on its opening title track; the lush and almost folksy closer “Something Inside”), earnest (the single “Wildest Moments”), funky (“Sweet Talk”, the Little Dragon-esque “110%”) and stately (the single “Running” which piqued my interest in the first place from its blatant nods to Sade’s “Cherry Pie” and so much sophisti-pop of the same era and origin). Devotion turned out to be such a masterwork that its author has yet to match its range and breadth with a couple more follow-ups that were increasingly pop-orientated and plainer in sound. Regardless of Ware’s musical trajectory, Devotion still stands as one of the best debuts that the 2010s birthed.

5. KENDRICK LAMAR, Good Kid mAAd City (Aftermath/Interscope, 2012)/ To Pimp a Butterfly (Aftermath/Interscope, 2015)

Kendrick Lamar. The rapper that almost tracked my entry into adulthood and became one of the biggest rap stars in the world by decades end. In a way, Kendrick almost seemed like a kindred spirit. He and I are both young black men from coastal city-suburbs, born the same year (almost exactly six months apart, in fact), introverted, always exploring even if we don’t like what we find. While Section .80 introduced me into me—and many, many others—into the fantastical world of Mr. Duckworth, it was his 2012 major label debut Good Kid mAAd City that showed the world his actual palate. An incredibly well-curated and extremely accessible release, Good Kid tells the story of really, Lamar’s public persona: a good kid in a mAAd city escapes the turmoil around him—narrowly—when he finds a higher power. In his case, that higher power that provided peace of mind was music. If Good Kid showed the world who mainstream rap’s next auteur was, To Pimp a Butterfly showed us all just how much he was capable of. Arguably, the rap album of the decade, Butterfly was a work of extreme vision. It’s 79 minutes packed with rage, depression, remembrance, questioning, soul and resolve all stoked by Lamar’s new found widespread adulation—sparked by his recent rap fame—and his realization of where his black skin placed him in society. Butterfly’s adventurous yet vaunted sprawl could characterize itself as a wild theater of the mind of one of the last gifted pop-rappers we’ve seen. It could also stand as the Magnus opus that is hard to follow up. Lamar’s subsequent work achieved even more commercial success than Good Kid and Butterfly—both of which debuted at the top of the US pop charts and earned platinum status in a climate where such an award had become extremely rare—as well as continued critical adoration but failed to compel as much as its predecessors. This rather swift creative peak wasn’t relegated to Lamar, however, but also applied to many others that emerged as exciting young forces in music—Drake, J. Cole, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Big K.R.I.T. , Miguel, Toro y Moi, etc.—at the dawn of the decades but seemed creatively tapped just a few short later despite wildly increased commercial profiles. Still, both Good Kid and Butterfly’s mark on the game is permanent.

6. TORO Y MOI, Anything in Return (Carpark, 2013)

Chazwick Bundwick began as an insanely talented hipster recording warm yet self conscious “chillwave” under the name Toro y Moi during the beginning of the decade. Then Anything in Return, his third album, was released and Bundwick was no lomger a cutesy indie poster boy but a distinct artist in his own right. A swooning, often sensual set of midtempo grooves with hooks that stick like gum, Anything in Return is millennial angst with a sweet aftertaste. Inspired by a failed relationship, While Bundwick’s melancholy is audible, the music’s sexy optimistic is what makes it so hard to shake. Toro’s following releases were all less interesting than the last even if at least a couple tried to follow Anything’s template. Yet, the bar set by Anything may have proven hard for Toro to reach even if the bar for its sheer enjoyment will likely never too high.

7. SOLANGE, A Seat at the Table (Columbia, 2016)

On the night of November 8, 2016, I stood downstairs of a LA Fitness in the San Fernando Valley, California and watched with several others on the television screens above as Donald Trump was in a landslide of a lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton as the 45th President of the United States of America. Amongst all of us that stood there, there was a multitude of emotions and reactions. Mine was one of sheer rage, if not astonishment. Prior to this night, I had been living in Glendale, a predominately Armenian-American enclave to the east of Hollywood. The lack of fellow black faces was assuaged by three aural black girl manifestos—Jamila Woods’ debut Heavn, Esperanza Spalding’s Emily D+Evolution and most strikingly, Solange’s third release A Seat the Table. Yet, on this night that the country was beginning a steep decline that it couldn’t retract for another quarter-decade, A Seat the Table acted as an elixir yet again. An album of mood—mainly rage and frustration—that was dictated by tone—delicate, airy, proudly feminine and definitely defined by its culture-Black with a capital AND bolded B, Seat played a feminine yang to the aforementioned Black Messiah (the album that undoubtedly inspired its creation) and Butterfly’s more masculine yin. It was the album that summed up a collective mood of a people even if it was markedly personal. The political has always been personal and vice versa and Solange knew this. A huge turning point for both Ms. Knowles’ career—it launched her as a must-hear artist spanning genres and scenes instead of being just you-know-who’s little sister that also sung—and really, many other artists in its wake.

8. THE INTERNET, Ego Death (Columbia, 2015)

The Internet began as a likeable but painfully tentative—and youthful-- answer to the “future soul” of LA of the past decade heralded by the likes of trailblazers like J*Davey, Sa-Ra Creative Partners and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Members of the Odd Future collective, The Internet brought a sense of sophistication to the otherwise “bratty”, then under-25 crew. On each follow-up, The Internet grew away from Odd Future’s “shock” image and into their own as a legit force in modern live band soul. By the time of Ego Death, The Internet were no longer just a legit force but now arguably one of the best bands of their generation. Ego Death is a magnus opus and easily the best album to ever come out of the Odd Future camp (only Channel Orange can match it but it can be argued if Ocean was ever an actual member of the crew). Sleek, sexy, clever, thoughtful and distinctively LA (dizzy, balmy, calm), Ego Death is the sound of a band not only finding its wings but soaring. Syd’s supple soprano is fully realized now whereas it was still in development a couple albums ever before. Now fleshed out into a five-member band, the grooves are all vivid—the bass warm and sometimes rumbling, the guitar prickly, the keys always sweet—and the songs—which were just loose groove sketches before—all fully formed. Ego Death’s peaks with the dreamy “Girl”, co-produced with Kaytranada, and proved to be a career highlight for both acts (and made for my personal favorite song of the decade). Yet, despite “Girl”’’s awestruckness, Ego Death never falters. And even if ego dies, its appeal will not.

9. THE WEEKND, House of Balloons (self released, 2011)

I still remember listening to “What You Need” on some music blog back in late 2010 in my college dorm. It’s sinewy sexed up R&B groove and lyrical promises to “knock your boot off” were nothing new but it’s approach was. There was something alien about it and sinister. Very sinister. It was almost like hearing the aural equivalent of a Jodeci video directed by David Lynch. It was sensual but dark. Little was known about the artist that recorded “Need” when I first started to listening to the song. All we were given was the name The Weeknd and a blurry gray picture of an obscured face. Soon enough, “What You Need” was given a home via release entitled House of Balloons which was self released and available for free download. And The Weeknd was given a face via an Ethiopian-Canadian singer from Toronto named Abel Tesfaye. And both House of Balloons and The Weekend were given a distinct aesthetic; an aesthetic that would inform and influence popular music for the entire decade.

Listening to House of Balloons nearly a decade later is an interesting experience. Back in the days when I downloaded Balloons on its day of release, it’s sound was incredibly fresh. The noirish, downtempo grooves, Tesfaye’s slightly off-key falsetto, naked references to Oxycontin, drugged out debauchery, empty sex and fatal heartbreak, indie rock samples and unrelenting vibe-over-song structure was all so, well, new. It didn’t take long for The Weeknd to be labeled as the vanguard of something called “Alternative R&B” alongside LA-based auteurs Frank Ocean and Miguel.

Yet, nearly a decade later, Balloons sounds almost like parody. Tesfaye’s vocals seem almost amateur-ish. The lyrics can feel almost like bad fan-fiction. Its low-slung, vibey atmospheres almost generic. Yet, this reappraisal just speaks to just how massive Balloons’ influence was on mainstream R&B and hip hop. What was new in 2011 had become commonplace a decade later. In other words, House of Balloons set the template for what followed on the charts (alongside the entire oeuvre of another fellow Toronto native who went from teen TV star to the rap superstar of the decade). Even if its follow-ups—released months apart—were stronger and more realized. Even if a sanitized and often altered version of these songs were re-released upon The Weeknd signing to a major label conglomerate within a year of his first three efforts’ self releases and packaged as Trilogy (the alterations were largely due to sample clearance issues). Even if The Weeknd became a shell of himself artistically after Balloons—and its two follow-ups Thursday and Echoes of Silence, respectively--while becoming one of the biggest male pop stars in the world by the middle of the decade. Despite whatever occurred in its aftermath, House of Balloons will always remain a document in time of when the new became the standard. And Abel Tesfaye was an exciting force in music, regardless of how brief.

10. KHRUANGBIN, Como Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans, 2018)

By 2018, I finally caught up with the world and entered into the world of streamimg after having my umpteenth iPod Classic clash. Tired of spending $340 every 1.5 to 2 years because of glitch Apple software, I reluctantly decided to let my android become my new source of sound. I signed up for a premium membership on Spotify (no plug!) for $9.99 and pressed play. One feature on Spotify that I grew to anticipate was the Discover Weekly playlist which collected thirty songs that almogriths decided I’d like based on listening history. I was both startled and delighted by how accurate the selections were. While I was already familiar with a large percentage of the songs compiled, I made several wonderful discoveries. The one that stands out amongst the rest is a lazy but endless little funk groove called “Evan Finds the Third Room”. There was something very “exotic” about “Evan” yet familiar. It evoked a lot of things—early ‘80s Lower East Side NYC post-punk, early ‘70s garage funk, Jamaican dub—but sounded like nothing specific. And that is the magic of Como Todo El Mundo, Khruangbin’s--a Texan trio comprised of bassist Laura Lee, guitarist Mark Speer and drummer Donald Johnson—sophomore album. It is music that conjures up a slew of vibes that you’ve heard before but nothing in particular. In other words, it like nothing that you’ve heard before. For instance, the closer (and standout) “Friday Morning” sounds vaguely like what Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” would sound like if it were on a hell of an acid trip. That the trio created such a wonderful psychedelic musical carpet ride that remains funky and irresistible throughout its duration with few words is even incredible. With Como, there is no need for any psychedelic substance your body when the music here already bends your mind and soothes your spirits so vividly.

10 That Almost Made the 10 of the ‘10s:

Frank Ocean, Channel Orange (Def Jam, 2012)

Jose James, Blackmagic (Brownswood, 2010)

Erykah Badu, New Amerykah: Return of the Anhk (Universal Motown, 2010)

JMSN, JMSN (White Room, 2014)

Dam-Funk, Invite the Light (Stones Thow, 2015)

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Pinata (Madlib Invasion, 2014)

Little Dragon, Ritual Union (Peacefrog, 2011) OR Nabuma Rubberband (Loma Vista, 2014)

Flying Lotus, Until the Quiet Comes (Warp, 2012)

Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio (Blue Note, 2012)

YG, My Krazy Life (Def Jam, 2014)

#2010s #d'angelo #kaytranada #inc #jessie ware #kendrick lamar #toro y moi #solange #the internet #the weeknd #khrunagbin

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ladyherenya · 5 years

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Books read in April

Holidays are an ideal time to find oneself with a pile of library books to read. The downside to having gone away with a pile of books is having too many books to write about afterwards.

I also reviewed the short stories I listened to: “Intro to Prom” and “Semiramis” by Genevieve Valentine, “The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard and “When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller.

Favourite cover: Stand in the Sky!

Reread: Once again, didn’t get to the book I’d planned to reread.

Still reading: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee.

Next up: Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYa Anthology. A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein. Maybe Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

Pride by Ibi Zoboi (narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo): Seventeen year old Zuri Benitez is proud of her family, her Haitian-Dominican heritage and the community of her Brooklyn neighbourhood. She’s unimpressed by changes like gentrification or the wealthy Darcy family moving in across the street. This contemporary YA remix twists the events of P&P fit Zuri’s context, allowing the story explore cultural identity, class and dealing with change, and for Zuri’s relationship with Darius makes sense for 21st century teenagers. It’s a cute teen romance but most powerful as a love-letter to Zuri’s hood. The audiobook brought it to life even more vividly.

Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow: Achingly beautiful. It kept making me tear up because while it’s only sometimes sad -- while this is a hopeful and joyous story -- it captures twelve year old Aisulu’s emotions so intensely. When her older brother is taken to hospital, Aisulu is left behind with their herds and relatives and throws herself into raising an eaglet. A fascinating insight into nomadic Kazakhs living in Mongolia and into the challenges and the rewards of eagle-hunting. I love the prose, sense of place and characters; I love Aisulu’s relationships and the way this is her story -- her journey.

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser: Caro has grown up on the river with her father, a wherryman and a smuggler. She’s offered her first job in exchange for her father’s freedom -- to deliver a crate, unopened, to Valonikos. But when she opens the crate, its occupant has other ideas about their destination. This YA fantasy shines the strongest in the skills and knowledge Caro has about sailing and about river life. I enjoyed the rest, but some things happened a bit too quickly for me to feel invested.

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: I wasn’t very enthusiastic about Unearthed but this sequel was a lot of fun to read. High-stakes and satisfying. There’s escaping and travelling across Europe incognito and trying to save the world. And it got to build upon what had previously been established, so there’s more nuance and it all felt more believable. After reading these authors’ other books, I was confident that everything would turn out okay. I’d have liked the ending more if the authors had surprised me and there had been a higher cost -- but this is a YA novel and teenage-me certainly wouldn’t have wanted that.

Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein (narrated by Kelly Marie Tran): I didn’t find The Last Jedi very satisfying but I’m a fan of Elizabeth Wein, so I listened to this story about a mission that Rose, her sister Paige and the rest of Cobalt Squadron are involved with. Knowing that the Tico sisters survive lessened the tension somewhat, but I liked getting to know them better. (I also know that Wein is capable of writing more complex and harrowing stories but that’s not what this one is aiming for.) The audiobook includes Star Wars music and sound effects. I’d love to see music and sound effects used in more audiobooks.

A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro: Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are attending an Oxford summer program before they start university. Charlotte is asked to investigate a mystery involving the drama society. It’s a quieter mystery than the preceding ones but I am not going to complain about that. I’m happy to read about mysteries at Oxford! Towards the end Charlotte makes a decision which I thought needed to be foreshadowed better and then the epilogue rushed over some things, and I wasn’t totally satisfied. I also found Charlotte’s references to things like “fall”, even though she’s living back in the UK, jarring. Minor-ish quibbles?

The True Queen by Zen Cho: The companion to Sorcerer to the Crown. This took a while to hook me, but once the story got underway, I enjoyed guessing where it was all headed. It is a delightfully diverse Regency fantasy, with some satisfying twists. If I have any quibbles, it’s that I wanted a better resolution for something -- and maybe also just more of the ending? I don’t quite know... I didn’t spend much time analysing my reaction and it was now over half a dozen books ago.

Scorch Dragons by Amie Kaufman: In the sequel to Ice Wolves, 12 year old Anders and his twin sister find themselves on different sides of the conflict between wolves and dragons, but they work together with their friends to prevent a second war. The riddle-solving and questing for a hidden objects reminded me of Deltora Quest, which I enjoyed when I was Anders’ age. A very satisfying sort of adventure.

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Reading): In the sequel to The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and Justine Frankenstein set off for Europe to rescue Lucinda Van Helsing at the request of Mary’s former governess, Mina Murray, and receive help and hospitality from people like Irene Adler and Carmilla. I particularly enjoyed the Athena Club’s interjections and digressions in the narrative, and interactions with each other. They make a great team. Kate Reading does a great job with all the voices and accents, which made the story all the more engaging. Even at 1.5 speed (due to 20+ hours of audiobook to get through!) it was easy to keep track of who was speaking.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: I liked it! It’s engaging, intriguing and doing some surprisingly-similar things to Ancillary Justice (which I loved), such as: a first-person narrator who neither human nor omnipotent but has greater awareness and abilities; an interesting use of pronouns -- Eolo’s actions are described in the second-person; and a story about the past eventually collides with the story about the present. I completely missed that this is ALSO themes and variations on Hamlet. That might explain why I found the ending incredibly satisfying for the first-person narrator but I was expecting something more from -- for? -- Eolo.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: I borrowed this because it has a delightful map by Kathleen Jennings, it’s a finalist for the Lodestar Award, and I liked the last book I read by Black. It’s an interesting exploration of what it means to love terrible things, with a clear-sighted awareness of their flaws, but I spent most of the story thinking “I hate faeries” and wishing Jude could escape them. Then the plot did its thing, and I had to admit that this is a successful piece of storytelling, if still not quite my thing.

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker: Parker’s fourth romance about actors from the West End -- in which Freddy accepts the role of Lydia Bennet in The Austen Playbook, a televised, audience-interactive murder mystery theatre production -- is a lot of fun. Having an interesting setting and plot outside of the romance definitely enhances my enjoyment of the story. This had Jane Austen and Harry Potter references, rehearsal tensions, important family relationships, a mystery involving a (fictional) play, banter, and a lively actress and a grumpy theatre critic who are honest with each other.

The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta: This is about Jimmy Hailler (from Saving Francesca), now in his mid 20s. But it is equally about Rosie, who meets Jimmy in a Queensland town during a flood, Rosie’s stepmother Martha and the house built by Seb, Rosie’s late-father. It’s a powerfully moving story about grief, friendship and finding family. It’s shorter than Marchetta’s more-recent novels and I finished it feeling oddly disappointed, like it needed to be longer. Then I reread the book the following day, and reconsidered. I’d like more, certainly, but it is a satisfying story as it is.

From Clarkesworld Magazine, narrated by Kate Baker:

“Intro to Prom” by Genevieve Valentine (Issue 133): About four teenagers for whom prom is like a game they play, a way to pass the time. It is intriguing but bleak.

“Semiramis” by Genevieve Valentine (Issue 57): This is Valentine-ishly bleak and yet satisfyingly so?

The worst thing about being a sleeper embedded somewhere long-term was that inevitably, eventually, you started to care. The worst thing about being embedded long-term as an administrator at the Svalbard Seed Vault was that when you inevitably started to care, you started to care about things like proper political geo-temperate arrangement of seeds, and there was just no one else in their right mind who was going to care about that with you.

“The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard (Issue 124): Set in the same universe as The Tea Master and the Detective. It is intriguing but sad, and I wonder if I’d appreciate it more if I read more of de Bodard’s stories and understood the context better.

“When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller (Issue 145): This has been nominated for the Hugo for Best Novelette and I can see why! It’s a hopeful story about survival, questioning what society teaches and finding a way to a better future. There’s also an AI with feelings.

Once, I might have felt out of place, an unwelcome disturbance. But I had left my fear of ghosts behind like an old skin a long time ago, and what I had found instead was the unforeseen, and sometimes pure beauty.

#Herenya reviews books #Melina Marchetta #Erin Bow #Elizabeth Wein #Lucy Parker #Amie Kaufman #Meagan Spooner #Ibi Zoboi #Sarah Tolcser #Brittany Cavallaro #Zen Cho #Theodora Goss #Ann Leckie #Holly Black #Genevieve Valentine #Aliette de Bodard #Simone Heller #Pride and Prejudice #Charlotte Holmes

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