Sitting in the Park

IMAGES!!!



There is so much I love about this photograph, courtesy of Joel Sternfeld. Obviously the first thing that strikes the viewer is the mundane working class urban landscape disrupted by clusters of pink and white balloons protruding over a fence. The next thing one notices while looking at this image is the ominous storm clouds over head, beautiful purples, pinks, blues, grays, and whites washing together into a bright yellow break in the overcast far off the horizon, only noticeable in the upper right hand corner. Finally, after taking all the visual clues in, one appreciates, I hope, the concert of geometries exhibited in the side boards of the houses, lines of the streets, angles of the chain link fence modified with siding for privacy, the peaks of the roofs, the grid of the crosswalk...ect. The overall visual metaphor being celebrate life when you can no matter what the surrounding circumstances may be; something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

MUSIC!!!

So this dude who I know from my WHPK days at the University of Chicago has an amazing radio show that showcases rare and obscure Chicago (regional) soul. It's called Sitting in the Park- here are his podcast thingies, listen to some of his shows on the internetz if you get the chance and if you are lucky enough to live in a part of Chicago where you can actually listen to it live, tune in to 88.5 fm on Sunday nights from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. Good, good stuff.

Wolff of the Steppes

PLAYS!!!

So I just recently saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff at the Steppenwolf Theatre (not to brag or anything, but I took my dear mother there as a Christmas present, no big deal). And, I would highly recommend it to all my Chicago folks, I know, that ticket is a spicy meatball, but the play is two and half hours long, so you are getting quite a bang for your buck, so to speak. The play is very important in the grand scheme of American Theater for pushing the censorship envelope with it's profanity, sexual themes, and dark psychological complexity (it won the Pulitzer for Theater in 1963, only to have it taken immediately back for indecency). I will spare you all the plot summery, because really there is not that much of a linear story line, just a serial progression of uncomfortable situations. Just imagine a play about people at their worst, when insecurity and a general sense of dissatisfaction with life leads them to say and do things to purposely upset those around them in one way or another. Funny, funny games. If you are not in Chicago, check out the movie staring Elizabeth Taylor and George Segal.



MUSIC!!!

I know, i know, everyone has been waiting with baited breath for number 9 on my list of the top ten albums of 2010. Well here you go: Nothing Fits, by Detroit's Tyvek. Tyvek really stepped their games up for the sophomore effort. Making the seamless natural progression from low-fi garage rock to middle-fi garage rock. The vocals are more passionate (angry) and you can actually hear melodies and harmonies here and there; the guitar riffs are much more distinct and sharp, and the percussive rhythms are much more stable and driving. The band somehow manages to maintain their distinctive sound while making all of these not so subtle changes.

Nothing Fits - Tyvek

WILD CARD WEEKEND.

Well, I'm half way through my wild card weekend...and so far all of these football games have been super duper exciting. and on top of all of that the bulls beat the celtics last night, i basically feel like marshawn lynch jumping in the end zone backwards, after his 76 yard run, cupping my balls and all. On top of all of that, I'm switching back to days from nights at the hospital. I mean, I feel waaaaaay to good not to be blogging, how could I keep this sense of well being all to myself? You can't contain it...

MUSIC!!!

So I'm gonna upload, or at least post my top ten favorite albums, depending on whether or not I get lazy. So look forward to my number one in 6 years! *SPOILER ALERT* Kanye fucking West is not on my goddamn list! I mean, is there some subliminal messaging on his record that makes music critics automatically nominate him their number one? I don't fucking get it! It does mater what the god damn genre is, it could be indie country gangster or classical avant garde r & b...number one! (deep breaths).

#10


Best Coast - Crazy for You




I'm not really sure what's not to like about Best Coast. 50s surf rock melodies + low fi indie rock musical accompaniment = recipe for success. The record itself is like 30 minute glimpse into the female mind in love. You get the guilty pleasure of reading your crush's diary with out the guilt or the reading. With simple choruses like, "I promise I won't be such a brat, If I promise you anything, I promise you that. I miss you, miss you, miss you..." and verses like "everything I said last night might have been crazy, but i want you to know I meant it, I meant it, oh baby." Plus anyone that names their cat snacks, and features them prominently on their album cover can't be bad, right?

IMAGES!!!

So I stumbled across this rad little series of documentary featurettes on prominent contemporary photographers on one of my Internet escapades. They are done by KQED, San Fransisco's p.b.s and this one is prolly my favorite so far-



It' on Henry Wessel, who's work I have always enjoyed, never having the faintest idea of what a kook he really is. This dude has shoot for the past 50 years with the exact same camera, using the exact same film. He makes proofs and then waits at least a year to examine them to decide if there is anything he wants to print. Anyway, this video is neat because it's show's him actually shooting, and he is fast, proofing, and printing. Also, its packed to the gills with amazing quotes. "I don't go out to photograph, I just photograph". Anyway, check the video, and check out some of his picture on line if you get the chance.

Back on the Bloggy Horse

Yo, Dudes, I got a new computer and am ready to hit the reset button on my blogging game, and start all over, with best of intentions, of course. So a lot has changed since I last got at you. I'm back in Chicago, I've reunited with a lot of folks and met some really interesting new people, read tons of books, taken some neat photographs, seen lots of great art exhibits, eaten some really tasty food, and have be turned on to some really rad music.

MUSIC!!!

James Carr - You Got My Mind Messed Up (1966 Gold Wax)




So this record is one of my favorite recent acquisitions. If you are out of the vinyl game, you should know we are now living in a re-issue bonanza (sorry crate diggers), and this gem could be yours for a little as 8 dollars and 99 cents cash money. Anyway, for any of you unfamiliar with James Carr, he is basically the only other deep soul musician that can fuck with Otis Redding in terms of raw and passionate vocals. Unfortunately, James Carr's musical career was cut short after two great albums by manic depression. Sad, sad stories about him wandering off and getting lost on tour or freezing on stage secondary to anti-depressant overdose. Every track on this piece is a jammy jam, with stand outs including: Pouring Water On a Drowning Man, These Ain't Raindrops In My Eyes, and of course the often imitated never replicated, Dark End Of The Street. This particular upload features some really great tracks not featured on the original record and alternative recordings to boot. Everyone, I think, relies on certain albums to get them through break-ups, this one is mine. So download it, listen to it, and feel sorry for me!!!

Bonus Video of an older James Carr preforming with some very tripped out dudes:




PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

Edward Burtynsky is a Photographer that documents the relationship between nature and industry, presenting his viewers with vividly beautiful representations of man's parasitical connection with the earth. I really like him because his works are both ascetically rewarding and punishing at the same time. Oil spill, why are your color patterns so attractive to my sensibilities!? Quarry, why are your geometrical formations so pleasing to look at!? And so on and so forth...I know conservatism and industrial regulation are played out topics. But it's nice seeing a dude take out a worn out topic, man's self destructive nature, and make it fresh, relevant, and new. I've linked up his section on China, because, China is also a hot topic, and because there are some very informative essays attached, but really check out all of his stuff out, because he has an awesome web site and the large format photographs are pretty!
Side note: Ed's web evil designers have foiled my attempts to directly link y'all to the China section with their evil technology, you will have to navigate there all by yourself, good luck.

Edward Burtynsky