Poetry Tuesday: Pablo Neruda - Ode to the Book

I have picked up my Neruda autobiography titled "Memoirs" again.  I read the first chapters and blogged about it last August and haven't gotten back to it since the summer!   Sad to say my "to read" pile of books is a very high stack!  I am hoping to have more time in the coming months to get back to the soul enriching pleasures of reading and music for some part of each week. Maybe even whilst soaking in my nice whirlpool bath!  One of the real treats in my new abode is having 2 bathrooms - the main bath which is semi-ensuite to the guest room/den which is equipped with a jaccuzi tub and the other ensuite to my bedroom which has a walk in glass enclosed shower.  Heaven!

It is appropriate that I mark my return to bookish ways and reading Neruda's Memoirs that I share with you his poem Ode to the Book.  It is good to be reminded that life is not lived in a book and life begins when you close your book and go out and experience what is around you.  Some things in life need to be experienced first hand as he points out in the line, " I learned about life from life itself"...  Neruda had such a way with words  - lines such as 

The whole of night
clings to its shores, by dawn
it wakes up singing
as if it had excited a guitar

express emotion with such imaginative phrases.  I can feel the joy of the dawn in his words.  Reading his Ode to the Book makes me feel happy
  
I will enjoy reading another chapter or two of his Memoirs before life calls me to close the book and go play - or probably more correctly - go to work.

Ode to the Book

by Pablo Neruda

When I close a book
I open life.
I hear
faltering cries
among harbours.
Copper ignots
slide down sand-pits
to Tocopilla.
Night time.
Among the islands
our ocean
throbs with fish,
touches the feet, the thighs,
the chalk ribs
of my country.
The whole of night
clings to its shores, by dawn
it wakes up singing
as if it had excited a guitar.

The ocean's surge is calling.
The wind
calls me
and Rodriguez calls,
and Jose Antonio--
I got a telegram
from the "Mine" Union
and the one I love
(whose name I won't let out)
expects me in Bucalemu.

No book has been able
to wrap me in paper,
to fill me up
with typography,
with heavenly imprints
or was ever able
to bind my eyes,
I come out of books to people orchards
with the hoarse family of my song,
to work the burning metals
or to eat smoked beef
by mountain firesides.
I love adventurous
books,
books of forest or snow,
depth or sky
but hate
the spider book
in which thought
has laid poisonous wires
to trap the juvenile
and circling fly.
Book, let me go.
I won't go clothed
in volumes,
I don't come out
of collected works,
my poems
have not eaten poems--
they devour
exciting happenings,
feed on rough weather,
and dig their food
out of earth and men.
I'm on my way
with dust in my shoes
free of mythology:
send books back to their shelves,
I'm going down into the streets.
I learned about life
from life itself,
love I learned in a single kiss
and could teach no one anything
except that I have lived
with something in common among men,
when fighting with them,
when saying all their say in my song.

Translated by Nathaniel Tarn

Until its Time to Go and some Poetry

There has been a bit more Elvis music getting air play this week given that it was Elvis's birthday.  Browsing the net, I found that there is all sorts of stuff happening at Graceland at the Annual Evis Birthday Party, if you are a real Elvis devotee and want to make the trek.  I think I will wait for my annual dose of Elvis at the annual Collingwood Elvis Festival this summer.

The song "Until Its time to go" caught my ear and I recalled that a young Buffy Sainte-Marie had originally composed and recorded it in the 60s.  It is a very pretty and romantic song.  The lyrics resonate for me.





According to Wiki: "Until It's Time for You to Go" is a song from the 1965 album Many a Mile by Canadian First Nations singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. It was never released by her as a single, but was a UK Top 20 hit for British group The Four Pennies in 1965, and for Elvis Presley in 1972,[1] and a US Hot 100 single for Neil Diamond in 1970.


The lyrics concern an ordinary man and woman who love each other, but cannot stay together because they come from different worlds. The singer asks her (or his) lover: "Don't ask why/Don't ask how/Don't ask forever/Love me now." According to Sainte-Marie, the song "popped into my head while I was falling in love with someone I knew couldn't stay with me.



There is no doubt that The King adds a special something to the song.    I could listen to it every day.

(words & music by Buffy Sainte-Marie)
You're not a dream,
You're not an angel,
You're a woman,
I'm not a king,
I'm just a man,
Take my hand,
We'll make a space,
In this life that we planned,
And here we'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Yes, we're diff'rent, worlds apart,
We're not the same,
We laughed and played,
At the start, like in a game,
You could have stayed,
Outside my heart,
But in you came,
And here you'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Don't ask why,
Don't ask how,
Don't ask forever,
Love me, love me,
Love me, love me now.

This love of mine,
Had no beginning,
It has no end,
I was an oak,
Now I'm a willow,
Now I can bend,
And tho' I'll never,
In my life see you again,
And still I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Don't ask why,
Don't ask how,
Don't ask forever,
Love me, love me,
Love me, love me now.

This love of mine,
Had no beginning,
It has no end,
I was an oak,
Now I'm a willow,
And I can bend,
And tho' I'll never,
In my life see you again,
Here I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go,
Yes I'll stay,
Until it's time for you to go.

Greetings 2011

The scene this morning looking out my window - a light dusting of snow covers the ground and is in the air.

I woke up this morning feeling very happy.  No reason particularly except that I am starting fresh - a new year so maybe I am leaving last year's challenges behind,  a new condo to settle into which pleases me a lot and more importantly, I am settling back into a familiar and comforting routine. This week was back to work and getting back into the groove.  Busy yes, but also comforting.  The world moves on.

I woke this morning to the sounds of Molly Johnson's voice on CBC Radio 2 Morning Show and Elvis singing his song "Are you lonely tonight".  This is my Saturday morning routine at its best.  A lazy few hours in bed with a coffee listening to music and writing a blog.

Molly reminds me that it is Elvis' 76th Birthday today!   I love the lyrics to that song and hearing Elvis singing reminded me of some good times with the people and places that I think of when I hear Elvis and particularly that song.  It also reminded me that I have blogged about "Are You Lonesome Tonight" - in my last year's "Happy Birthday Elvis" blog.

This is my first blog of 2011 and I hope the start of a more regular routine of blogging as I get back to basics.  A lot has happened in this last year and I do have cause to be grateful and happy.

I hosted a family Thanksgiving Dinner this year, just before my Father fell ill.

• I managed through a critical period in my Dad's terminal illness.   It might be that we have him with us for maybe only  another year or two, but whatever happens at least he didn't die last November, as we feared.  He is responding to the treatments and although they leave him feeling ill and tired we have faith that he is going to manage for a while.

My Dad will be 80 on January 26th

• I have acquired a new role "Parent to my Parents" - another challenge which I am managing.  I had not realized how much my Mom's memory was failing and how much they both needed me until Dad fell ill.   Sadly, both parents need me to help them deal with organizing life's little things, however that has given me an opportunity to spend more time with them and get to know them much better. 

I get my sense of humour from my Mom

• We had not been particularly close over the years - partly because they have gone south from Oct through April every year for at least the last 25 years and partly because our lives and interests are so vastly different. It is good that I have this opportunity to give back to them what they gave to me in my growing up years.

Christmas Dinner 2010

• My youngest daughter, Tegan has reached the turning point I had been waiting for and I am so proud to say is on track now to start University next fall. I am holding my breath to see what wonderful things she gets up to.  Good thing that she will be going to University here in the city so she can still keep close with her long time BF who is a very nice young man. 

Tegan and Lilly (aka Laura)

• My son Eric has returned to us from Phoenix AZ and I have been so happy to get some quality time with him and so glad to see that he has made his life transition without too much difficulty.  It is funny how each of my children has inherited a different piece of me.  Eric has inherited my writer's bent (as well as my soft heart) and has now gotten involved with producing a syndicated blog and podcast called Comma Error (billed as Toronto's geekiest blog and podcast). He is one of the co-hosts and a contributor.  The blog is mainly gaming reviews and as they put it, geekish things.  I was so pleased when Eric left a message on my Facebook that he had booked two  tickets to go see Alejandra Ribera (who I have blogged about many times) at Hugh's Room on Feb 5th - "and they are awesome seats!".  I get choked up when I think of the closeness he and I have been able to recapture in this last year.

Eric and I celebrate our birthdays at the Brazilian BBQ Copa Cabana

• My daughter Lilly had a health crisis this year which was cause for concern, but we are confident that it is behind us and all will be just fine.  I am so happy that she is happily planning to  move in with her young man, MYB  (note that this is not my abbreviation but how she refers to him in print).   I wonder if he is going to be the one who manages to keep her heart. I hope so. 

• My youngest son Ryan continues to take deep gulps of life with his long time girlfriend.  As much as I am impatient for him to take a more serious view about cultivating the habits which will allow him to enjoy financial independence, I celebrate his joie de vivre.  

Ryan and Brooke

• Jeff continues to do well in his career and has allowed me to enjoy vicariously  his travels (this year Africa) which has also fuelled my desire to begin my own travels.  He too has inherited my writer's bent and is part of the consortium of authors producing The Scotch Blog.  It has garnered a following sufficient that they were given press passes to Whiskey Live this last fall.  The lads even have distillers inviting them to scotch tastings and sending them bottles of single malt under promotion in hopes that Scotch Blog will feature it.   Jeff has also moved forward this year in area of romance and has now a sweet  young thing for company who has my seal of approval.  I remind myself that I have always liked the girls (and now women) that Jeff brought home.  Jeff continues to make things move in the right direction for himself by himself.  He for sure has inherited my independence.

Erica and Jeff

• I landed a fabulous new contract that is allowing me to grow career wise and also earn more money.  My new boss was wonderfully understanding with the time off work I needed when my Dad was hospitalized.  The job is just the right amount of challenge for me - on the edge of too much challenge, mentally tiring and exercising my brain a lot but this is  a good thing no doubt. 

No more sunrise views from Battery Park

• I have sold my Battery Park condo, moved into my new Liberty Towers condo and also bought another in the to be built Liberty Place Condo Building by 2016.  I am very happy in my new digs and look forward to feathering my nest over the year to come.
 

No more sunset views reflecting from my east view either :(

My new view looking directly west into the sunset

 

• My retirement fund gained 20% in value last year and is now providing me dividends of 9% per annum and well on its way to generating sufficient income to finance some extended travel in a year or two.  Financially, things are just where they need to be.

• I bought my dream car, a 2007 VW EOS hard top convertible.  I LOVE MY CAR!

• My Collingwood Shangri-La is continuing to bring me solace and serve well to recharge my soul.  I have been able to rent it during ski season to the same family for the third year running and so owning it is not so draining on finances.  I bought a kayak and now enjoy jaunts out into Georgian Bay while I get a bit of exercise.  I am also developing a great circle of friends up there and was able to go on a Manitoulin Island camping weekend to the  Pow Wow with a GF.

Kayaking on Georgian Bay

• I went from being in love to remembering love, as I have been pretty much a singlet for the whole year.  That behind me, I have renewed faith that my Prince Charming will come by and swoop me up onto his horse.  If not, I have planned lots of adventures for the coming year and have plenty of friends to keep me busy.  I am setting myself up for some extensive travel on my own - maybe Prince Charming is waiting for me in a foreign country.

In the time it has taken me to write this blog it has become quite snowy.  Suits my mood today. Let it Snow!

I will close with a quote from Elvis which will explain why one of my resolutions for the coming year is to find more time to get out to my Liberty Bistro Tues/Wed evenings.  If anything, they were the other casualty of my busy fall (aside from my blogs) and I am sad to say I can't remember the last time I had a night of music at the bistro.  That has got to change!

Happy 2011 New Year to my friends in the Blogsphere - Hope it is a great year for all of us!

“When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times...I learned very early in life that: ‘Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend - without a song.' So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.”
-From his acceptance speech for the 1970 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award. Given at a ceremony on January 16, 1971. (Elvis quotes from copyrighted material with lines from the song “Without a Song”.)

After a bit of a Hiatus...

I can finally see my head will be above water soon to resume my blogging. Perhaps after Christmas but for sure by the New Year I will be back into the swing of things with twice or more blogs churning out each week. I owe a long blog to recount the goings on in my life over the past few months, but that won't be coming just yet. Suffice to say that things are improving and I now have sufficient time in my day to look forward to a few things and as the weeks go by I will have time to get back to the things I love to do.  Not to say that there haven't been days filled with music and friends - I have managed to get out to a few concerts with friends and everyone has been so supportive during the difficult times I have been having.

The nicest part of what has been going on in my life is that I have possession of my new condo and I move there on December 23rd.  Not that moving is nice - it is not - but it is just difficult and maybe a wee bit stressful but not emotionally draining.    

Of course, the view isn't as nice as the one I have now, but those who have been following my blog know that the view is going to disappear with the construction of the condo between my currently occupied condo and the lake.  The good news is that my new place will still have a wee bit of lake view and also a view to the north west - and I will see summer sunsets.

This view from my bedroom window, to the south-west,  will remain after the new condo rises to my west.

This view due southwill be the best part of the view by this time next year.  Sadly, I lose my Toronto Island airport and beach view.

Out of this pit will rise 3 new Condos - King West Condos

This artist's rendering is from the opposite direction from the photo above.  My building faces the first one on the left, so you can see there is still a chance that I might get a view to the north west.

My current building is on the right. Guess what!  I bought another condo which will be built by 2016 and will be in the triangular area in the middle of the picture!  It will have a south unencumbered view of the lake from the 30th floor!  Hurrah!

The builder's vision for my new to be built condo.  The Liberty Place by CanAlfa is in the Centre of the Liberty Village development area and therefore the slogan is "The Centre of the Scene".  It will be 32 stories high.

Looking at my old condo from my new condo balcony.

This is my new Condo - as seen from my old condo.  It is still under construction even as they move us in!

I was listening to music today as I was packing boxes. I have grown quite the record collection in the past few years and I had my favourite 100 on shuffle on my iPhone and it was plugged into my home speaker setup. I had to stop and sit and listen to the buttery smooth sound of Melody Gardot as she sang "Undercover Lover".   I was swept away with the sultry sound.

Melody Gardot is an American jazz singer, writer and musician who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  I have blogged about her in an earlier blog and featured her song "Les étoiles".   She has a fascinating story - as she suffered serious injury to both brain and spine in her  late teens when she was hit by a car while riding her bicycle.  Music became a therapy for her brain to learn new neural pathways.  Check out the wiki link for more details.






Lover Undercover lyrics
Songwriters: Gardot, Melody;

I don't need anything more than I got
I'll make it simple when others may not

Whenever you need some company
Some love of a different kind
Come to your lover, undercover
And let me ease your mind

Whenever your heart beats heavy
And worry has got you down
Come to your lover, undercover
And I will turn your mood around


Why you wanna leave
When it's so easy just to stay?
Lying wrapped up in my arms
Until the break of day
Undercover

Why you wanna leave
When it's so easy just to stay?
Lying wrapped up in my arms
Until the break of day
So

Whenever you need a soft touch
Know my demands are small
Make me a lover, undercover
Or don't ever love me at all


This blog was changed on Dec 12, 2010 to add the Artist's Rendering for both new buildings included after photo #3.   Sorry, was in a rush last night to get it out and get on my way to our Condo Building's Christmas Party.

Where have all my blogs gone? Elderly Parents Need Care and Remembrance Day

I am feeling quite sad in not having written in this blog for over a month.   I truly enjoy writing and have a treasure trove of half written blogs in various states but I have had to put my blogging aside a bit.   My apologies to those of you who visit me here regularly for not posting a note of explanation before now or at least an "ETA" when I might resume blogging.

There are a number of reasons I have not been able to write - a job which is leaving me mentally exhausted for one but aside from that I now have a family obligation which is/will take a lot of my time.    In this last month I have come to the realization that I need to parent my parents in a very active way.  Worst of all, it has taken my Dad falling ill to realize how vulnerable they both are and how much my parents, with slow and ageing mental faculties,  need me to take charge.

After a few weeks of frustrating Emergency Room and Family Doctor visits my Dad was finally admitted last Tuesday to hospital.  When admitted, he was suffering from renal insufficiency, his red blood count was half of what it should have been, symptoms of the hypercalcemia was causing him to be confused and extremely weak and tired and the removal of calcium from his bones had caused them to be brittle and with at least one compression fracture.  The Multiple Myeloma - a type of blood cancer -  had also resulted in bone lesions and terrible bone pain.   I am wondering if he will make it to see his 80th birthday in January.

He had gone to his family doctor in the summer complaining of this bone pain in his ribs and through inexplicable lack of follow up/confusion about the symptoms and potential diagnosis, his Myeloma went undiagnosed for months - in a disease which will kill most people within 6 months to a  year if not treated.   I hadn't realized that I needed to take charge of my Dad's health issues and that in the absence of an assertive/clear thinking patient, diseases can be left undiagnosed and untreated.


Not sure if I will be able to write much in the next while.   Dad's prognosis is not good, as his cancer is in Stage III and so he is a very sick man.   My Mom, who is also not in the best of health and as clear thinking as she once was, needs to be chauffeured to hospital to visit Dad as well as hovered over (but from a distance). We are a stoic lot and so it is not so much a time of high drama, but more of resignation and sadness.

The good news is that they can treat this cancer to give Dad a bit more time.  We are not sure as yet how long he has but for sure it won't be more than a couple of years and it may be as little as a few months.   The doctor said we will have to wait and see how Dad responds to treatment.  The chemotherapy itself is not without risk.  For a while, I will be pretty busy figuring out how to deal with my new role as parent of my parents.   Over the longer term, there will need to be plans to be made regarding my mother - I am not sure how long she will be able to cope on her own.

My Mom has a saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".  For sure I am not the one who is dying and working through the challenge of one's parent's mortality is something most of us are confronted with at some point in our lives.   It is sad, but it is the natural order of things.   I am just glad I am here to help my folks when they need it and to lend my Dad some strength when he needs it.

So, between work and family, I will be pretty busy until I get better organized and things settle down into a bit of routine and so I will probably not be able to write much in this blog for a while. 

Remembrance Day and Optimism during Times of Sadness

I wanted to end this blog with something both timely and uplifting.   Last Thursday was Remembrance Day.  I sat in silence for 2 minutes  at 11:00 and spent time listening to stories and remembrances of the Second World War which were featured in the media.  I was reminded me of a letter I read from a site called  "Letters of Note" last year at this time.  The letter was written by a soldier who was being sent off to the Pacific Front to fight the Japanese in 1942.  He was writing it to his 2 year old daughter to explain the situation in the event he never made it back.

Remembrance day this year caused me to think about the losses experienced families of our military and in particular of the children who did not/will not be able to see their father/mother grow old because they did not come home from War.  I am so glad I have had my father for all these years and for a little while yet, God willing.  My sadness is nothing when compared to the soldiers who even today leave their young children and set off for war - perhaps to their early and untimely death.

The letter is heart wrenching.  The full text of the letter deserves a read.    I would like to share with you the part of the letter which provided for me a bit of solace.  If you are facing a difficult time too, perhaps reading it might help you as well.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/11/thousands-of-other-daddies-went-too.html

 

... Life too, Anne, is like the weather. Some days are so lovely, the happenings of those days so enchanting, you never can forget them. Some are so unhappy, you wish they never happened but, alas, they must for your life, your Mother’s, mine, everyone’s is so mixed up with joy and sadness that you never have one or the other for long. One replaces the other with a speed that is amazing.

 ...

But rain my little darling does not last for ever.
Through the blackest clouds a little piece of blue appears. The wind blows, and soon the clouds go. So too will peace come and then we can be all happy again.

I have to thank my friend Kathleen for finding the "Letters of Note" web site - it is a site where I have spent many hours wandering, utterly amazed at what the editor has found and posted.   Letters of Note is an attempt to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos. Scans/photos are included if possible. It is updated every weekday with a new gem.  The Editor is Shaun Usher.

Toronto's Nuit Blanche

Last night the streets of Toronto was alive with thousands of people who were taking in the Nuit Blanche experience. Depending on your outlook and temperament, you might describe it as a night of avante garde art, or a all night party or even an all night circus. I think my friend Michael Golland, Liberty Village's official Artist in Residence, was right on when he remarked that it was Art turned into Social Commentary.  We were discussing the Fragments & Sightings project at Lamport Stadium. Certainly, past year's Nuit Blanche has stretched the boundaries of the art experience and this year was no exception.    This  I provided a bit of introduction to Nuit Blanche in my last week's blog, so I won't go into here.

I must confess my Nuit Blanche night was not an all night event for me - I tooted around for just a few hours before I retreated to warmer quarters chilled to the bone.  I present below some photos from the installations I was able to catch before I weakened. It is the first Saturday of the month, which was my cue to be at the Liberty Bistro to catch XOTEKA and Laura Fernandez Latin Jazz band.  
Things were hopping at the Liberty.  I enjoyed a nightcap there and listened to the some great music before I strolled home amongst the night's revellers not long after midnight.

I did not get to the downtown area that had some projects I really would have liked to have seen, such as Daniel Lanois' "Later That Night At The Drive-In" at  the Toronto City Hall,  the film "Up Up and Around" at the Ryerson University Kerr Hall Quad, and the stuff at Dundas Square.  I had such an awful time last year navigating the crowds downtown that I decided not to venture there.  As  an introduction to my question Art or Not, I submit a clear example, in my opinion of "Not Art", something new this year - the Nuit Market - a fully functioning night "flea market", set up for one night on Victoria Street.  Not sure what a market - day or night - has to do with art, but I didn't get there either.

Zone C - Liberty Village Nuit Blanche Projects

In previous years, Liberty Village was the hub of Zone C.  Not so this year.  Most of the events in Zone C were along the length of Queen Street West, save for a half dozen down in my neighbourhood.  In my opinion was a good thing - I really don't need to stroll cheek to jowl with hundreds of others as I did in previous years.  Somehow wandering alone in a thick crowd is not as much fun as it is when you are in the company of friends.  Truth be known, wandering thick crowds with/without friends is not most folks cup of tea.  While there were still lots of folks strolling the dark streets looking for "ART", it was not the wall to wall people zoo it was last year.  Leaving my condo and heading west along Liberty Street, the first Nuit Blanche event I came across was a strolling performer with the need to have audience participants set fire to small objects hidden inside the closed box she held in front of her.

I observed what seemed to be a small paper replica of a table being ritually incinerated and then moved on - wondering what the point of this was supposed to be? Was it supposed to make me think or feel any certain way? Perhaps if I had a bit of pyromania in my psyche. Consulting the program guide, apparently I arrived at the burning part of the performance. It seems that participants would be asked to "eat, burn, smash or otherwise destroy small objects made of chocolate, paper or ice". I still wonder what the performer (and conceiver I presume) of this event, Lalie Douglas of Montreal, had meant for us to take away from the "performance".  Were we supposed to enjoy or to be dismayed at the destruction of the small items?   I continued to Lambert Stadium cursing my bad luck not to have arrived at the right time to eat the chocolate and mentally counting "art = 0, not art = 1".

I did not have to walk too much further when I came upon the Flux and Fire exhibit. This was the concept of Christine Irving & Site3.  It was billed as a "large-scale interactive fire experience that captures the idea that art can be made anywhere, temporary and articulated in flames."  I approached the area to watch the puffs of fire burst out of the gas jets.  In the centre of the ring of gas jets there was a platform.  For 5 minutes at a time pairs of individuals were accompanied to and hoisted up onto the platform and allowed to orchestrate the puffs of fire by waving their hands.  The puffs of fire somehow were controlled by the movements of the folks on the platform rendering each performance of fire puffs unique.  As I contemplated the interesting shapes of the fire and the movements of the various pairs "on stage", I decided that the score was now "Art=1, Not Art=1".

The further down the Lambert Stadium parking lot I spied what looked like a jungle gym climbing apparatus. There was Indian music playing to accompany the Goddesses & Gargoyles Group Exhibition of the Hercini Arts Collective. Titled "Night at the Indies", it featured an acrobatic dance troupe made up as various Goddesses & Gargoyles hanging out in what in your imagination you could think of as a cage.

There were 4 shrines set up with offerings to the 4 Goddesses and Gargoyles climbing in the cage. I liked Night at the Indies. It was right out there as far as performance art, but very interesting and well executed. OK "Art=2, Not Art=1".

In each of the previous years I attended Nuit Blanche there were quite a few uncurated events which just appeared on the street hosted by some unofficial effort. I guess anyone with an idea and motivation can do something on the street during the Nuit Blanche night, but that doesn't make it art. The next event was not listed in the guide, but there seemed to have been some money put into the project to acquire at least a tent and organization enough to arrange that the two dozen or so participants each (or mostly) wore white clothes and were equipped with something useful to a mobile musical group project.

 There was one lad who was carrying a sign "Nit Wit Marching Band". There was a motley crew of what I presumed to be University Students, kitted out in a way to be able to play their assortment of odd musical instruments as they marched around.  Given the tent set up, I wondered if much marching would be done except maybe in a circle around the tent. They were belting out Neil Young's tune "Helpless Helpless". I smiled as I wandered into Lamport Stadium to see the next exhibit. "Art=2, Not Art=2".

The next exhibit was very sobering and thought provoking. Titled "Fragments & Sightings" Allan Kosmajac, Diane Misaljevic,and Julie Steward trigger some major reflection on the social condition. The exhibit was well conceived and executed. Placed carefully on the playing field and aligned on a grid were several hundreds of small display boxes.

Each box was numbered and contained some personal fragment of a story that bears witness to an attrocity experienced by an individual caught in one of humanity's shameful historical events. As I walked the length and width of the field and examined the items, making personal the stories of the many shameful events in modern history I felt great sadness. "Art=3, Not Art=2"

In the Liberty Village Park, just outside my condo in view from my balcony, the project "The Exquisite Cropse LIVE" was set up by Alex Heidbuechel and Brian Durocher.  This was an interactive Video exhibit was set up to project live video bits of the audience participants onto a large screen set up against the old Chapel Heritage Building.  The program explained that the installation explores What makes you who you are? by proposing that each of us is a product of those around us.  An interesting thought as I watched my head get attached to someone else's bit projected up on the wall.  OK borderline.  "Art=3.5, Not Art=2.5"

The last set of exhibits were unmistakably Art. I was so delighted with the various photo-based displays mounted on the side of 10 shipping containers in and around Liberty Village, that I will leave that to a separate blog in order to do it justice. As an added note - this is part of a larger Art Event which runs from Oct 6-10th in Liberty Village - the Flash Forward Festival 2010. Stay tuned for my personal account of the 5 day event next weekend. If you are interested in photography you might want to plan to attend. Aside from the displays there are many free/lower cost workshops and panel discussions as well as gallery tours of this public space exhibit located throughout Liberty Village. You can get more information on the Flash Forward Festival here.

There were 3 separate installations situated within Liberty Village
"Art 6.5, Not Art=2.5"

What is Art?

According to About.com:

Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole gamut of emotions in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express ourselves. For some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. You could say "Art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded humans."

About.com says a lot more about what art is - you can go there for a read to get the full discourse on that question.  That said, one could argue that if it is an official Nuit Blanche event then by definition it is a Contemporary Art project .  After all Nuit Blanche  is promoted as an all night contemporary -and curated - Art event.  I don't mean to argue with the Curators of Nuit Blanche, but there is art and there is ART.  In my mind, art must at least have some creatively and cleverly conceived content, a message capable to be taken away and evoke some emotion.  I need to be able to like or dislike it and there needs to be some point to the thing - even if just social commentary.

What do you think?  If  you were curating Nuit Blanche where would you draw the line between art and silliness?


Go to my Picasa Album to see all my pics.

Black Dog and Rock meets Blue Grass

A pal of mine recently reminded me of a musical pairing that I have been meaning to check into for a while.  I heard one of the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss duets some time ago and for some reason did not follow up on it then, although I recall liking the sound a lot.  When my friend Kathleen posted one of the songs from the Album last week on Facebook a light bulb went off in my brain and I went to You Tube to hear more and was hooked.   As I was pulling together the material for this blog, I ended up ordering their album, Raising Sand, from iTunes.  I have now listened to it off and on all week and am even more impressed than I was upon first listen.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant 1974

Of course, Robert Plant is one of rock's charismatic rock-and-roll front men, vocalist and lyricist in the band Led Zeppelin.  He has also led a pretty successful solo career since the death of band member John Bonham and the band's break up in 1980.    Wiki talks of this Legend's influence on Metal Rock:

Robert Plant is one of the most significant singers in rock music and has influenced the style of many of his contemporaries, including Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson, Sammy Hagar and later rock vocalists such as Jeff Buckley who imitated his performing style extensively. Freddie Mercury of Queen also was influenced by Plant. Encyclopedia Britannica notes "Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive palette of blues singers such as Howlin' WolfMuddy Waters, [Robert] Plant created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and emotional excess".  Plant received the Knebworth Silver Clef Award in 1990.

Unless you are into bluegrass or country Music, you might not know of Alison Krauss. Wiki says:

Alison Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. ...
She has released eleven albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and helped renew interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the Cold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the 2004 Academy Awards. During her career she has won 26 Grammy Awards, making her the most awarded female artist (and the third most awarded artist overall) in Grammy history.

So what is England's famous vocalist and legendary hard rocker doing with America's clear voiced angelic soprano Alison Krauss?  They have put out as fine a blend of rock--bluegrass-country -- Adult Alternative as you could imagine.

One great example of this wonderful collaboration and complementary vocal styling is the famous Led Zeppelin song Black Dog.  I remember wasting away many Saturday nights in my teen years listening to this song.  The song instantly transplants me back to 1971.   In 2004 the song was ranked #294 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Have a listen.  Isn't this vintage Led Zeppelin?  What were you doing in 1971 when this song was on the Hit Parade?

^{Black Dog - Led Zeppelin - Vintage 1971!}

Black dog
by Led Zeppelin


Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move,
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.
Ah, ah, child, way you shake that thing,
Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting.
Hey, hey, baby, when you walk that way,
Watch your honey drip, can't keep away.

I gotta walk, can't stand still,
Got a flamin' heart, can't get my fill,
Eyes that shine burning red,
Dreams of you all through my head.

Hey baby, oh baby, pretty baby,
Tell me would you do me now.
Hey baby, oh baby, pretty baby,
Move me while you groove me now

Take too long b'fore I found out
What people mean by down and out.
Spent my money, took my car,
Started tellin' her friend she' goin' be a star.
I don't know, but I've been told
A Big legged woman ain't got no soul

All I ask for, All I pray,
Steady lonely woman gonna come my way.
Need a woman gonna hold my hand
tell me no lies, make me a happy man.

Rock meets Bluegrass-Country

Now have a listen to the Plant-Krauss version.  What do you think?




Raising Sand is an interesting album.  The two vocalists harmonize wonderfully and their different musical background brings the best of both worlds to the album, but what about the musical selections on the album?    The album's producer, T-Bone Burnett is credited with giving the album its unique musical style.

There are no Led Zeppelin tunes on the album.  Plant and Krauss began an extended tour of the US and Europe in April 2008, playing music from Raising Sand and other American roots music as well as reworked Led Zeppelin tunes. It is from one of these concerts the Black Dog video was recorded.



According to Wiki:

Raising Sand is a collaboration album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Rounder Records.
The album was met with critical acclaim, earning an averaged score of 87 from compiled reviews on Metacritic. This album was #24 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. On February 8, 2009, the album won all five awards for which it was nominated at the 51st Grammy Awards: Album of the Year; Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album; Record of the Year (for "Please Read the Letter"); Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Rich Woman"); and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for "Killing the Blues"). Raising Sand was the second of three country albums to win Album of the Year, after Dixie Chicks's Taking the Long Way and followed by Taylor Swift's Fearless.

The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the UK.

In December 2009, Rhapsody ranked the album #2 on its "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" list. The online music service also called it one of their favorite cover albums of all time.

The following Video featuring Please Read the Letter is from the album Raising Sand. It is a wonderful example of how well their voices harmonize.