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Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
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12:10 pm - Phoenix lays an egg
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Dear Boston Phoenix editors,
I was excited to read the "Trail of Tunes" feature about outdoor music festivals in the Phoenix Summer Guide (June 12-18 issue.) After all, when a headline references the Trail of Tears, you know it's going to rock! What says summer fun like the forced exodus that led to the death of at least 4,000 Cherokees? Just the thought of all that misery and injustice makes me want to grab the picnic hamper and head to Connecticut for some smooth jazz. Hey, I thought of some other notable events in American history that, with a bit of imagination, may inspire other kicky Phoenix headlines: Japanese internment camps; the Stonewall riots; lynch mobs; Jim Crow; Tailhook. You're welcome!
No love,
petra_quince
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 25th, 2009
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2:57 am - why bigots fear marriage
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It's very late at night and I got caught up in an editorial ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dpolicar linked to about gay marriage. As Dave said, it leaves you gobsmacked. I just wrote what is pretty much a line-by-line rebuttal because that is how intensely wrong it is. Please be advised that there will be much cursing.( Read more... )
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, May 24th, 2009
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4:19 pm - Grey Quinces Book Purge! Fifty free books if you want 'em.
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Today I watched Grey Gardens, the new one with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. It was quite moving and the performances were superb. The Beales women were intensely, wonderfully weird and I loved them. I very much want to see the documentary. There's plenty more to say about the movie, but it'll keep. One urgent, uncomfortable feeling the thing inspired in me was the desire to clean my fucking room. I'm committed to squashing my hoarding habit and tendencies toward squalor. Jackie O ain't gonna show up and make it go away. Ok, I don't think I would necessarily get to the raccoon-harboring stage, (although I do love me some raccoons!,) but it was a reminder not to live in my stuff like a fort. What stuff do I hoard the worst? Books and clothes. Clothes, I'm working on gradually, but the books are happening now. I'm keeping the books I love, the ones I know I will want to read again, and the ones I have not read that I convinced myself I will read some day. (That's most of my books. I'm still keeping hundreds.) The rest are getting the boot. Want anything, let me know in the comments and we'll arrange a meeting. Seriously, take whatever you want. Want to take the lot, unload 'em online and make a bundle? Knock yourself out. Anything unclaimed by the end of day Tuesday is getting a free stuff post on craigslist and the remainder of that hauled to goodwill.
Ok, I lied. There are 48. ( Read more... )
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
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8:51 pm - listening rooms
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So, hi, internet. I'm out of practice with this journal thing. There's been a lot of unpleasantness over the past few months, but seriously, I don't feel like covering it. Let's stick to the Arts and Entertainment column today. I'm just going to natter on about an awesome day I had last week, and some awesome shows. There will be gratuitous band promotion. Aren't you glad you didn't purge me off your friendslist? You were thinking about it, right? Sure I haven't posted in months. But that's deceptive. I could post any time. I could be posting ( right now! )
So here's the big squee: Molly and Jaggery are going to be playing a show together tomorrow! It's called "From the Inside Out" (Thursday 4/23, 7:30) And "together" does not just mean they are sharing the venue, this is a collaborative show, meaning my oldest and newest favorite local bands will be mooshing together in various configurations for an evening that promises to be totally glorious. It's at the Lilypad (1353 Central St. in Inman, right by 1369) which is a good venue for this kind of thing - it's an intimate, warm, artsy little postage stamp of a place and you get to sit down. Also they start on time.
More on why ( you should drop everything and go to the Lilypad tomorrow: )
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, December 7th, 2008
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12:34 pm - this is the first and last time this year I'm going to be delighted by it
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| Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
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6:14 am - overflowing
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Thank you. Thank you to the campaign volunteers. Thank you to those of you who got on the phones; knocked on doors; got on a bus to New Hampshire to do something. Thank you to those who donated money to the campaign. Thank you to those of you who talked to your friends, coworkers and family. Thank you for those who wrote thoughfully. Thank you to poll workers. Thank you ms_ntropy for getting up before dawn to work her shift at election warden, ward, bringing homemade signs and self-purchased candy and stickers. Thank you for voting. Thank you to those who got up early to stand in line for hours to vote. Thank you to those who voted even though you're disenchanted with politics, even though you don't think it will make a difference. It will. Thank you to everyone and anyone who had a hand in electing Barack Obama the next president of the United States of America. Yes.
The country may not immediately transition into an episode of the West Wing. Some truly heartbreaking battles were lost over ballot initiatives in certain states last night. But there'e reason to believe now that denying people their rights can and will be successfully challenged. It's not over.
I'm letting out a breath I've been holding for eight years. Thank you.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
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6:45 pm - songs in the key of pissing me off
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Most days at work, we listen to WERS, the Emerson College radio station. I like the station just fine, especially compared to the nonstop commercialfest, DJ-blathering, same-songs-every-20-minutes tripe to be found on most frequencies. Every once in a while, however, even the "independent minds" at Emerson will latch onto a song and play into the ground. And sometimes, that song will drive me up the wall, across the ceiling, and back again. The latest tune to do that to me is a painful little blister called "skinny love" by Bon Iver. I'm going to go through it line by line, so we can all suffer. You can thank me later. Of course, if you want the full flavor, you'll have to listen to it yourself, but I don't recommend that. Not without heroin.
( Read more... )
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, December 31st, 2007
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6:45 pm - on a lighter note- books!
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Back in January, I resolved to write about every book I read this year. I didn't, for the most part. Instead, I kept a list. So I decided to play catch-up and write a bit about each title. I'm working mostly from memory here and the few notes I did take, so forgive me for the suck. It's not a very long list and a bunch are graphic novels. Not counting books read for class. Click for writeups complete with spoilers. In order:(
Wodehouse: A Life by Robert McCrum -
Book of Lost Books by Stuart Kelly -
Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes -
Vile Bodies by Waugh -
Madame Bovary by Flaubert -
Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 Edited by Dave Eggars -
Making Love to the Minor Poets of Chicago by James A. Conrad -
Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner -
Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware -
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud -
Villette by Charlotte Bronte -
Goodbye, Tsugumi by Banana Yamamoto -
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford -
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald -
Spillway by Djuna Barnes -
Ghost World by Daniel Clowes -
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter -
Stuck Rubber Baby by Daniel Clowes -
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons -
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon -
(+Escapist comics #s 1-8 - Various) -
Heart, You Bully, You Punk by Leah Hagar Cohen (reread) -
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk -
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones -
Encyclopedia of the Dead by Danilo Kis -
The Marriage Feast by Par Lagerkvist -
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon DeFoe -
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists by Gideon DeFoe -
Arabian Nights by Edited by Jack Zipes -
The Game by Neil Strauss (on a dare. don't ask.) -
The Omnivore's Dilemna by Michael Pollan -
Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski -
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl -
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls -
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton -
Now You Can Go by Vendela Vida -
The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones -
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones (reread) -
Summer by Edith Wharton -
missing title(s) here -
Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark -
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (reread) -
3 Jeeves novels (How right You are Jeeves; Stiff upper Lip, Jeeves; Jeeves and the Tie that Binds by P.G. Wodehouse -
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris -
Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul (half-finished as of this writing. Need to go out on something classy, non?) -
Interspersed reading here and there: selections from The Book of Monsters and Collected stories of Eudora Welty, both gifts from <lj user= )
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 11th, 2007
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11:49 pm
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| Sunday, April 1st, 2007
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10:53 pm - the joke's on me
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So the truth is, I took a totally non-supernatural picture of a white tarp-like thing hanging from a tree...
( Read more... )
current mood: contrite; silly
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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12:34 pm - freaked out
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I'm in a bright sunny room, but I'm scared to move. I took some photos last night and just uploaded them. One of them was a closeup of a chain link fence. Or so I thought.
Is that what i think it is?
And then it gets worse.
( Read more... )
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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11:46 am - a weekend
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Friday night I went to see Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 with aphorisic. Joanna Kunin opened and she had a soulful ethereal sound and sang songs with childlike songs, like poems written by second graders, but it a good way. The sound at TT's unfortunately sucked. Bass coming up through the floor was literally palpabale and frequently as loud as she was, but she soldiered on. We were close enough to see the sweat on Robyn's upper lip and the words on the set list on the floor. The songs were weird and wonderful and textured and really loud. I had to get earplugs and was therefore away from the stage when they played "television," which kind of kills me. Robyn has a fey, jumpy presence. He was really fun to watch, as was the drummer, whose face looked really detached but whose body seemed totally engaged in playing. I'm very glad I went, but next time, I'm bringing earplugs. I know lordfeepness and bismuthobsidian were there, but alas, we didn't see them.
Last night, Arms and The Man. Whenever I watch a T@F show that I had no part of, I feel like I missed out but also grateful that I got to see it with fresh eyes. I have never cared for Shaw, but this play was provoking in a good way and funny as hell. Congratulations to director desireearmfeldt, actors dpolicar and heliopsis, set designer lillibet, producer muffyjo, sound maven audioboy, and dashing run crew gilana. Yay also to new blood. The cast was 90% new faces and they were fantastic. Speaking of new faces, the undisputed offstage hit of the night was lillibet's little sprout, Alice. Oh the tiny fingers. So cute.
One funny thing that happened while watching Arms is that during scene 3, I had an odd feeling of suddenly recognizing lines and knowing what would came next. I realized I had once upon a time learned Louka's speech about what she would do if she were queen as a monologue.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 26th, 2007
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8:15 pm
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| Sunday, January 7th, 2007
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11:17 pm
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Several of the people on my f-list kept track of all the books they read last year. I think it's such a wonderful practice that I'm going to give it a try. My plan is list each book as I read it and if moved, quote or make a few quick notes about what was most striking. I'll begin with the first book I finished in 2007, Wodehouse, a life, by Robert McCrum. ( Read more... )
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
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1:30 pm - the camera is obscura
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So I want to buy a digital camera, but I'm having trouble deciding. If you have a digital camera, I'd appreciate your advice!
( What I'm looking for ) Cameras I've been looking into are the Canon Powershot S410 and the olympus Stylus 410. Every camera I see has mixed reviews. Do you have either of these cameras, or something different? How's your camera standing up?
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, October 15th, 2006
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11:21 am - quote of the night
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Jack, backstage during TMG: "Our next production should be Equus, with an all dog cast. It would be a dog and pony show."
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 12th, 2006
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8:43 pm - the play!
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Reserve your tickets now for Theatre @ First's
Fall show! Bring your friends, family and neighbors!
We are bringing "The Margaret Ghost" back to life!
Written by Carol Braverman
Directed by Elizabeth Hunter
This original play has humor, romance, history,
feminism, and transcendentalists! See the
adventures of Margaret Fuller, an amazing 19th
Century woman, born in Cambridge, who interacted
with Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson
and Horace Greeley, as she blazes a path for herself
and all women, from Boston to NYC to Italy in the
1840's.
PERFORMANCES
Opening night Friday October 13 at 8 pm
Saturday, October 14 at 8 pm
Sunday Oct 15 @ 3 pm (matinee)
Thursday, Friday, Saturday Oct 19, 20 & 21 at 8 pm
TICKETS
Tickets are still just $10 for adults
and $7 for students and seniors.
Discounts are available for groups of ten or more.
RESERVE YOUR TICKETS TODAY!
Call us toll-free on 877-557-5936
Or use our handy online form at
http://www.TheatreAtFirst.org
All performances at:
First Congregational Church of Somerville
89 College Ave--just 4 blocks from the Davis T!
Our performance space is fully accessible.
If you'd like to see the show for free, please
volunteer to usher, greet, sell tickets or candy by
emailing Beckie Hunter bex77 at comcast dot net
This announcement copied directly from Beckie. Beckie also wrote my program bio. She's funny. Thanks Beckie!
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, September 11th, 2006
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12:07 am - writing filter
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I'm starting a filter for creative writing. Filtered stuff will most likely consist of poetry drafts and prose that I deem too florid for general consumption. Criticism welcome but not expected. Please comment if you'd like to be on it.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 29th, 2006
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11:18 am
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| Monday, July 3rd, 2006
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6:04 pm - double feature - Eun-ha Paek and Julie Taymor
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