ByGD
Before I had kids, I thought I would be a homeschooling mom. Then I met my oldest extra-extroverted daughter and knew it was out of the question. Now, thanks to COVID-19, I am (along with tens of thousands of other parents) homeschooling for the foreseeable future. Here’s what we did on our first day.
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ByGD
My taste in music is broad and eclectic. I have very few prescriptive standards. But I’m not quite jaded. It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then I hear something that totally confuses me. It’s usually the kind of stuff that sends other people screaming in the opposite direction (remember Ween’s “Push th’Little Daisies”?) but I like that WTF feeling.
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The discovery that inspired this post, Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace) has way too much going on, and most of it is abrasive. So why is the overall effect so calm and meditative? I’d try to summarize what Fire-Toolz is up to, but it’s already been done better than I could by Bandcamp Daily.
an unholy combination of extreme metal, experimental noise, pop, and vaporwave…
combine New Age tranquility (complete with bird calls) with distorted spoken word, bombastic guitar solos ripped out of a racing game for the Sega Dreamcast, and paint-stripping shrieks. ..
Bandcamp Daily https://daily.bandcamp.com/2019/09/12/fire-toolz-field-whispers-into-the-crystal-palace-review/#more-108834
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The TV show Twin Peaks ran during the years I didn’t own a TV, so even though it seems like it would be right up my alley, I missed it. By all accounts, it was the kind of show to make you say, “WTF?”
So there’s a band in Portland (of course) inspired by the show. They are called Laura Palmer’s DEATH PARADE, which is apparently a reference to the show. And their music sounds like it belongs on the Twin Peaks soundtrack (which I have heard – that music was everywhere back in the day). I don’t really get it. But I like it.
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A dancing violinist is absurd for reasons that are obvious reasons if you’ve ever once drawn a bow across strings and tried to make it sound good. But the absurd captures attention. Dancer/violinist/cosplayer Lindsey Stirling has built a career on elaborate YouTube videos in which she dances and plays violin, usually at the same time. As a fan of both ballet and violin music, I remember when she first started to get attention.
Then, I did an article on Jennifer Thomas and discovered a whole world of classical YouTubers. But Stirling is the original.
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At first, Fishslaughter sounds like a typical heavy metal band name: animal + death word. But on closer inspection, they’re dead serious about the name, which references the impact of pollution and overfishing on the oceans. The bio “true aquatic black metal” is not a reference to Metalocalypse.
Ecological destruction is a fitting topic for a genre that deals in pain and rage. And environmental awareness is not enough to make you say, “WTF?” But add unusual instrumentation – in this case, an octave mandolin (what’s an octave mandolin?) – and you get some seriously weird shit.
Fishslaughter put their money where their mouth is. They have a newer album out, but all proceeds from their August, 2019 release Morfar go to Ocean Conservancy. In fact, if you provide evidence of a direct donation to the Conservancy, they’ll send you the album for free.
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ByGD
It was a miracle I made it to see Charlie Parker’s Yardbird at Seattle Opera at all. First of all, black operas are rarely performed by major opera companies. I didn’t have advance tickets, and on opening weekend I was home sick with a flu-like virus. I got mixed up the next weekend and showed up on the day that there wasn’t a matinee (big oof). But I finally made it for the very last performance of the run – only a few days before all big arts performances were shut down due to the pandemic. So was it worth all that effort?
Yes and no.
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For the most part, I was impressed (or maybe overwhelmed is a better word) by how much money there was in Qingdao. Everything seemed shiny and clean and either new or delightfully vintage.
But on one charming little street I saw this nest of wires. It reminded me of the power poles in India. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but when I was there 20 years ago, it was common for entire villages to steal electricity by climbing the power poles and connecting wires unofficially.
I don’t know if that’s what’s happening here or if there’s another, less dangerous explanation. For the most part, I try to avoid the sort of value judgements inherent in phrases like “developed nations” and even “rich societies.” There’s enough wrong with my culture that I’m in no position to throw stones (or snide comments) at the way people do things elsewhere.
But I’m glad that scary-looking nests of wire are not part of my everyday life.
ByGD
When we traveled to Qingdao, China in 2007 to meet our daughter, we stayed in the Crowne Plaza. I’m not really a hotel person – most of my travel has involved youth hostels – so I had never heard of the place before. It was comfortable and fancy but hardly registered at the time because we had big emotional stuff going on.
The only thing about it that really stuck in my mind was the tagline on all the stationery and swag:
Crowne Plaza – a place to meet
When I went back with my daughter in 2015 to visit and explore, I chose a much more quirky and historical hotel as our base of operations. But one day, as we wandered around the city, we stumbled on a family historical site – the Crowne Plaza Hotel we stayed in on the trip when we met our daughter.