#TheEMptyChair

[maljean89]

Oh man, I'm a crying mess over here. Here I was listening to a Hollywood Reporter roundtable with songwriters from 2016 and Sting starts talking about the song "The Empty Chair" he wrote for a documentary about a photojournalist Isis held in captivity and then killed very publicly. He starts talking about how he told the filmmakers he couldn't write a song about the film because it was too emotional and too intense. After seeing the film he went home thinking about it, went home to Thanksgiving dinner with his family and thought, what would it be like to lose a member of my family to captivity? What would we do to unify ourselves? They could leave a chair open at the table. "The Empty Chair" became the metaphor that helped him write the song.

This just goes to show the power of music and how the art of it can mean one thing to one person, and something totally different to another. So my mom LOVED Sting, so I'm already thinking about her as I hear this song for the first time. But then I start really picking apart the lyrics and I'm suddenly crying because it feels like it was written about her and her fight with cancer.  

He literally sings about being in a prison cell like this man would have been and I think about how having terminal cancer must have felt like being in a prison — both in your mind but also literally living out your days in the hospital or the nursing home. His lyric "there's a shaft of light where I count my days" makes me sob thinking of how her days were numbered and she knew it every single second of every single day. 

But then the tears really start to flow when he sings "Some days I'm strong, some days I'm weak. On days when I'm broken I can barely speak.” I can’t even begin to explain how sad it is to watch your mother, your caretaker in life, stare listlessly through you in a medicated stupor. Or how she stopped returning my texts in the week or so leading up to her death because she had gotten terrible news from a check up. Or how the weekend before she died I went to visit her and we just sat in silence for a couple hours. Some days she was boisterous and great. Other days, the weight of her impending death clung to her so much so that it seemed like she was gone already.

I chuckle a little when he sings “I was always late for every meal, you’ll swear,” because she/we literally were always late to family gatherings even though we arguably lived the closest. But the tears start to fall again as I think about how it feels like a piece is missing from our family now. Family gatherings are missing her laughter. My wingman is gone. She’s the first big death in this generation’s Retka clan and it weighs on every holiday like a sad veil.

As a family we tend to scatter around the house for those big holiday meals, so we don’t really occupy one table where we’d physically leave a chair open for her. But that metaphoric empty chair is definitely always there. I know I’ll be thinking about her at Easter this year, as I do at every family gathering. Sometimes I can’t bring myself to go to family gatherings because I miss her too much and I see her in every family member. In my aunt Kathy who looks so much like her, in my Grandpa’s hands and eyes, in every room of my grandparent’s house where she once sat or stood or hugged someone goodbye. 

It never gets easier missing you, Mama. 

[eventsinitaly]

Ровно посередине между озером Комо и Римом лежит сказочная Тоскана. Сейчас мы разъединены, как и многие из нас. Я на севере, Дарио на юге. Пусть пока мысленно мы встретимся там, на земле зеленых холмов виноградников; там, где был написан " Декамерон "📖, как никогда актуальный сейчас, в той Тоскане, так нежно любимой нашими молодоженами👰🤵🏼. Это райский уголок, идеальный для уединения с любимыми людьми. Особенно сейчас, когда быть вместе с тем, кто дорог, для многих стало недосягаемо🤒👩‍⚕️, а родные объятия преобрели должную ценность🤗. Пару дней назад Стинг🎸 поделился как ему не хватает его дома в Тоскане🏡, его близких и друзей; как опыт, которые пережили итальянцы сейчас переживает целый мир🌍; и что мы должны оставить место в нашем сердце для того,кто нам дорог, чтобы по окончании этой истории не отпускать их никогда❤. Мы мысленно обнимаем вас всех, и оставляем для вас " пустой стул". 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗😘😘😘😘😘 P.s. insta не дает всех от��етить, кого обнимаем.:) влезли первые 20😊 #свадьбавиталии #свадьбавтоскане #всебудетхорошо #стинг #тоскана #коронавирусвиталии #коронавирус #сидитедома #организациясвадьбывиталии @eventsinitaly #theemptychair (presso Toscana, Italia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hvWorDIs0/?igshid=sl8kup2snuog

[grouplife]

[lharvey250]

THE EMPTY CHAIR: Murder in the Caribbean Penny Goetjen

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️

Publisher: Secret Harbor Press Publication Date November 15, 2016

SUMMARY Olivia Benning travels to the Virgin Islands to settle affairs after receiving news that her mother has died in a boating an accident. Upon arrival she meets a handsome guy who comes to the rescue when her ride fails to show. Olivia soon discovers that the police have no record of her mother’s death or even an accident. Olivia desperately needs the truth even if she has to find it herself.

A bar brawl, a break-in, and her mother’s Caribbean bungalow ransacked. Can things get any worse at picturesque Magen’s Bay? Olivia search takes a sinister turn when a charming man claiming to be her mother’s lover is shot and she’s the prime suspect.

Entangled in the same dark web of crime that may have ensnared her mother, Olivia is low on cash, high on mistrust, yet must rely on the ruggedly handsome stranger who seems to surface when she’s most in need of saving, but is he her rescuer turned lover or her deadly foe?

REVIEW THE EMPTY CHAIR is like riding on a roller coaster. The story has up and downs, and twists and turns, it’s fast and then it’s over, way to soon. An adrenaline pumping, heart pounding ride. Once you start it, it’s hard to put down. And you really don’t want it to be over.

The descriptive setting in the St Thomas, Virgin Islands was picturesque and idylic. Who wouldn’t want to go there! I felt as if I was riding in the blue jeep right next to Olivia, so afraid of going over the side of those narrow mountain roads. I would love to be able to sit in Olivia mom’s turquoise adirondack chair at Serenity Villa and absorb the stunning views of the bay and the ocean and feel the sultry heat from the August sun.

Olivia, a five foot two, blond dynamo has a knack for finding trouble. Or rather trouble seems to follow her from the minute she leaves the Cyril E. King airport. In the first forty-eight hours there’s a bar fight, a missing car, a strange fax and a visit to the police department that knows nothing about her mom’s disappearance and she is rescued by the handsome Colton not once, but twice!. The blue-eyed Colton seems to be everywhere just when Olivia needs him. He might be some kind of knight in shining armor, and don’t we all need one of those!

Thanks to Secret Harbor Press and Net Galley for providing a copy of THE EMPTY CHAIR in exchange for an honest review.

[dondidonde]

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#sting #57thand9th #57and9 #hammersteinballroom #57thand9thtour #theemptychair #stinglive 3/14/17 #thejamesfoleystory #jimthejamesfoleystory #jralph (at Manhattan Center Events - Hammerstein Ballroom & Grand Ballroom)

[commentsfromthepeanutgallery1]

This Thanksgiving, I have a challenge for you all. It's simple, smell the roses when you sit down for dinner and be thankful. When you're with your family and friends, enjoy their time and company because you never know who might not make it to the table next year. #CFTPG #Thanksgiving #TheEmptyChair #LoneWolf #RIPJAK #SmellTheRoses #LiveForTheNow https://www.instagram.com/p/BqchWvogzMe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bva7xnf3n4r7

[iloveplantsandthings]

#theemptychair (at Lewis Residence)

[rodriquerussell]

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#OscarVibes °•○●☆Tweet ME: "rodrussell1" 😉 My Guess For: ● #BESTPicture #lalaland ● #BESTActor #denzelwashington ● #BESTActress #emmastone ● #BESTForeignLanguageFilm - #landofmine ● #BESTAnimatedFeaturFilm - #zootopia ● #BESTSupportingActor - #MahershalaAli #Moonlight ● #BESTSupportingActress - #ViolaDavis #Fences ●BESTDocumentaryFeature - LifeAnimated RogerRossWilliams JulieGoldman ●BESTDirector #melgibson #hacksawridge ●BESTOriginalMusicScore -LaLaLand JustinHurwitz ●BESTOriginalScreenplay -ManchesterbytheSea KennethLonergan ●BESTOriginalSong -TheEmptyChair #Sting JRalph ●BESTWritingAdaptedScreenplay -Fences #AugustWilson ●BESTCinematography -LinusSandgren LaLaLand ●BESTCostumeDesign -MaryZophres La La Land ●BestAnimatedShortFilm -BorrowedTime -LouHamouLhadj AndrewCoats ●BestVisualEffects - #RogueOneAStarWarsStory ●BestLiveActionShortFilm -SilentNights ●BestFilmEditing - #TomCross LaLaLand ●BestDocumentaryShortSubject -JoesViolin -KahaneCooperman RaphaelaNeihausen #actor #actress #l4l #f4l #likes4likes #peace #love

[mikrofwno]

Ο Sting στο Ηρώδειο 22 & 23 Ιουνίου 2018 !

New Post has been published on https://mikrofwno.gr/2017/12/o-sting-sto-irodeio-22-23-iouniou-2018/

Ο Sting στο Ηρώδειο 22 & 23 Ιουνίου 2018 !

Παρασκευή 22 & Σάββατο 23 Ιουνίου ο Sting θα εμφανιστεί στο Ηρώδειο σε δυο εμφανίσεις που θα γραφτούν στην ιστορία! Στον μοναδικής ομορφιάς και ακουστικής χώρο του Ηρωδείου ο παγκοσμίου φήμης καλλιτέχνης θα προσφέρει στο ελληνικό κοινό δυο βραδιές που όσοι τυχεροί παρευρεθούν θα θυμούνται για καιρό!

Συνθέτης, τραγουδιστής-στιχουργός, ηθοποιός, συγγραφέας και ακτιβιστής, ο Sting γεννήθηκε στο Newcastle της Αγγλίας, πριν μετακομίσει στο Λονδίνο το 1977 και δημιουργήσει τους ThePolice με τους Stewart Copeland και Andy Summers. Η μπάντα κυκλοφόρησε πέντε στούντιο άλμπουμς, κέρδισε έξι βραβεία  Grammy και δύο βραβεία Brits και συμπεριλήφθηκε στοTheRockandRollHallofFameτο 2003.

Όντας ένας από τους πιο ιδιαίτερους σόλο καλλιτέχνες, ο Sting έχει κερδίσει επιπλέον 10 βραβείαGrammy, δύοBrits, έναGoldenGlobe, έναEmmy, τέσσερις υποψηφιότητες γιαOscar(συμπεριλαμβανομένης και της υποψηφιότητας του 2017 για το “TheEmptyChair” από τοJIM: THEJAMESFOLEYSTORY), μια υποψηφιότηταTONY, το βραβείο CenturyAwardτουBillboardMagazine’sκαι το βραβείο PersonoftheYearτουMusiCares το 2004. Μέλος τουSongwriters Hall of Fame,έχει κερδίσει τα βραβεία Kennedy Center Honors, The American Music Award of Merit και πιο πρόσφατα,το The Polar Music Prize.

Το τελευταίο του άλμπουμ, 57th& 9th, κυκλοφόρησε το Νοέμβριοτου 2016, το οποίο ακολούθησε κι  η αναγνωρισμένη από τους κριτικούς περιοδεία 57th& 9thWorldTour, η οποία πρόσφατα έληξε και αποτελούνταν από 115 συναυλίες στη Βόρεια Αμερική, Ασία, Λατινική Αμερική και Ευρώπη.Αφού χαρακτηρίστηκε ως “ένα σόου μοναδικής εμπειρίας” ( από TheVancouverGlobe&Mail), το Sting: LiveAtTheOlympiaParis είναι τώρα διαθέσιμο σε DVD και αποτυπώνει τη ροκ περιοδεία του μουσικού,στο γνωστό συναυλιακό χώρο τον Απρίλιο του 2017.

Κατά τη διάρκεια της ένδοξης καριέρας του, οSting έχει πουλήσει κοντά στα 100 εκατομμύρια άλμπουμ από τη συνολική δουλειά του με τουςThePolice,αλλά και ως σόλο καλλιτέχνης.

O αγαπημένος του ελληνικού κοινού Sting θα εμφανιστεί στο Ωδείο Ηρώδου Αττικού στο πλαίσιο του Φεστιβάλ Αθηνών και Επιδαύρου.

Παρασκευή 22 Ιουνίου 2018

Σάββατο 23 Ιουνίου 2018

2 βραδιές γεμάτες μουσική, 2 βραδιές που θα θυμόμαστε για καιρό

Προπώληση εισιτηρίων:

www.tickethouse.gr

Η προπώληση θα ξεκινήσει το δεύτερο δεκαπενθήμερο του Ιανουαρίου 2018!

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για την προπώληση των εισιτηρίων θα ανακοινωθούν σύντομα

www.sting.com || www.didimusic.gr|| greekfestival.gr/gr

[carloravaioli]

Prima di dormire #theemptychair #darkroom (presso Atelier Carlo Ravaioli Cervia)

[musingsfromindia-blog]

Battling Demon Armies: An Unfortunate But Necessary Plunge.

*This post contains stories about murder and abuse and might be triggering for people, so read gently or not at all.

Above: The Goddesses Durga and Kali battling the demon, Shimbhu, and his demon armies. Durga (known also as Shakti and Devi) is the divine feminine, the mother, the source of power and life force. Kali, is the destroyer of evil, the goddess of destruction and rebirth. Of change, and of fury.    

This one isn’t easy to write, but it’s time for me to write it. I have jotted only one note in my journal since coming here--a little reminder: Actually see what is, not just what you want to see.

I look back at some of the early posts in this blog and sigh. Mainly because, all this time, I’ve painted a very specific picture; a picture that I wanted others to see, and one that I want to believe. It’s really pretty! And, it isn’t untrue but, unfortunately, it isn’t the whole truth.  

I skirted around the dark, murky, uncomfortable stuff because... I didn’t want to acknowledge it (if you refuse to see something, it doesn’t exist, right?). I also didn’t want to make anyone the icky feeling I get when I actually address some of the stories I’ve heard and things I have seen. But change doesn’t come from painting only a beautiful, rose-tinted picture. It comes from painting the whole picture--dark, light, clear and messy--as honestly and authentically as possible.

I’m not sure if this is just part of growing up but I feel like I can no longer look at the world with eyes like sauce-pans, soaking up only the sunny side of life. The more I experience this world, the harder it gets to look the other way. Moreover, there is another, deeper part of me that doesn’t want to shy away from the uncomfortable stuff anymore. The stuff that makes me so angry I want to flip stone tables and rupture mountains again and again and again.

So, this post is for that part of me. The Shakti in me, I suppose.  

Here goes!

I am angry when I see children so skinny that their skin looks and feels like ash and bones. I am angry knowing that when I give them my spare change, it will most likely be taken from them by adults trying to turn a profit by exploiting their poverty. I am angry when I stop breathing and try to make myself invisible as I walk past groups of rowdy men. I am angry when I think about the fact that the male/female ratio in Rajasthan is 6 to 4 because a daughter’s dowry is too expensive here for poor families, so they just abort or murder their baby girls--because it’s too much a hassle. I am tired of seeing women shrink, everywhere. I am tired of hearing stories about abuse over and over and over again. 

Last week, I asked my friend about our beloved little rickshaw driver, Aveet*.

“Oh...” she said seriously. “He’s probably dead.”

She then told me this story… (*I’ve changed some of the names of the people involved out of respect).

Our friend, Kavya, was the top Kalbelia dancer of her tribe. Not only that, she was the protege of a world renowned Rajasthani folk troupe here. Kavya was the softest, most graceful dancer I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. She could bend herself over backwards and pick up rings with her eyes, her arms and body turned to snakes when she danced, and when she put on her full white Kalbelia regalia, it was like a deity entered the room. She mesmerized everyone around her. She was one of the first people I met when I came to Udaipur. 

One night, about a year ago, she was on her way to a performance when a deranged member of her tribe stabbed her to death in plain sight. 

I had heard this version of the story. It’s what prompted Joel and Raj to start Fighting for Change--a program which teaches free martial-arts self defense courses for women of every age and caste (the program Gandhi’s grandson endorsed). 

Kavya’s death sparked a huge shift in the people of Udaipur, but here’s the part of the story I hadn’t heard...

There were about twelve people who saw Kavya’s murder. Aveet was among them. He had driven her in his rickshaw and when the stabbing took place, he ran away. He hasn’t been seen since and people have speculated that he was murdered too, to keep the silence. Also, hold on a minute... Twelve people witnessed a young girl being stabbed to death and no one did anything to stop it? Not only that... You would assume that a man who stabs a woman in plain sight in the center of a city (with twelve+ witnesses at hand) would be condemned to at least some kind of imprisonment or punishment or something, right?

Nope! The dude walked. His lawyer paid off and/or threatened all the witnesses, and Kavya’s murderer walked. [Correction: since this post was written, the murderer has been put in jail, although there is not yet a verdict on what his long-term sentence will be.]  

These two little goddesses used to run through the streets of Udaipur snapping pictures like this with unassuming tourists. I took this photo in 2012, and have used it on many occasions, to demonstrate my magical, vibrant, happy travels in India. I have since learned that they were child prostitutes, and the money they collected went to their traffickers. Neither has been seen in years.  

Every day, I see and hear more stories like this about systemic violence--against women, against children, against people who are poor or unaware of how deeply unjust the world is. 

If it sounds like I’m just painting an unpleasant image of India here, check yourself, buddy. There is nothing worse than seeing and hearing something inconvenient or uncomfortable and blaming it on someone else, or somewhere else. The moment we start distancing or separating ourselves from others--that is the moment our humanity dies. We all know this. 

But we still do it. “Othering” is easy, especially when issues are not right in front of our face. I think maybe that’s what makes India so remarkable: Everything is in sight, always. You can’t forget. But know that awful stories like these ones are happening everywhere, and they have been for a very, very long time. (Currently, an estimated 15,000 people are trafficked in the US, every year alone. To mention ONE of the issues at hand.) Here in India, it’s just out in the open, juxtaposed by so much vibrancy and beauty that sometimes you can just overlook all the dark stuff. I did it for years. 

The issue with looking at the full picture, of course, is that the world suddenly becomes very complicated. It becomes hard to just say that what I am doing is good, or bad, or useful. I hem and haw daily over the value of what I am doing here in India. I eat three giant meals a day and am being waited on by servants (I literally have a servant. I haven’t done a dish,  washed my clothes, or cooked a meal in weeks). 

All the feel-good, productive, fulfilling social justice work I do is marred by the discomfort of my inherent agency and unintended status in this world. The truth is that I am just as scared and uncomfortable about my privilege as is anyone who has the luxury of being concerned about privilege. At the same time, I feel more fierce, sensitive and defensive of my role as a woman here than I ever have before.   

I guess that’s kind of the point: I am furious at all the systems in place--globally and socially--that make this world so goddamn unfair.

I’m not ranting aimlessly here. The intention here is to get people thinking about this stuff too. The good news is that I am not alone here, at all. So many people are speaking up about injustice, abuse, and violence. It’s actually kind of amazing. So, I’m just adding my voice to the mix. More fuel for the fire! 

Even if these words are just words right now, they are part of the conversation that needs to be happening everywhere. The conversation that paints the whole picture, not just the pretty one. The conversation that says “Let’s rupture mountains and face those demon armies, grow twelves arms, stick out our tongues, and expel the parts of ourselves which have been taught to shrink in the face of discomfort.”

It’s okay to read this gently. Perhaps, just start with an openness to actually see what is, not just what you want to see. And then... not shy away from how those things make you feel. And then, little by little--like dipping your toes into the water--you can add your voice to the conversation too (if you haven’t already), and soon, enough people will be talking that those big scary demon armies won’t look so scary and the plunge might actually feel kinda good. 

[confessionfilm]

“Canon Law has a core theme of avoiding scandal,” Rosenberg said. “So when the church faces scandal, it will take steps that it feels are appropriate based on its own teachings to avoid notoriety and attention. It’s part of an understood history, culturally speaking.”

[jmjafrx]

Believe survivors. #TheEmptyChair #2015

[wijsprekenvooronszelf]

Boehjah, Bill. Boejah!

Een krantenkop vandaag 31/12/2015.. Eindelijk: Cosby wordt vervolgd. Het is schandalig dat er zoveel slachtoffers zich hebben moeten uitspreken vooraleer ze serieus werden genomen, vooraleer de wereld zich begon te roeren. Het is schandalig dat er zoveel onder de mat werd geschoven en dat zo lang. Het is schandalig dat hij tientallen jaren z'n gang kon gaan. Het is een schande dat de eerste klacht dateert uit de jaren stillekes. Het is schandalig. Maar, vandaag zijn we toch vooral blij dat dit heilige huisje is gesneuveld. Meer van dit in het nieuwe jaar! She said, no one listened. Some said but were muffled. More spoke up and demanded to be heard. Sneeuwballen en hun effecten! Samen sterk!

[stoprapeeducate]

My face upon discovering that Bill Cosby wrote a book about fatherhood. 😫 The horror! He is not a good father figure and to his adoring fans who still don't think he is a rapist: he was playing a good-hearted character on TV. That does NOT mean he is an actual good person. 🌻 About 50 women have spoken and given the fact that the majority of survivors don't report, I think it's safe to assume he did this to at least 100 women, if not more. P.S. I tweeted that last remark and got blocked from Bill Cosby's Twitter. That still won't stop me from telling it like it is. He is a manipulating predator and he deserves the harshest punishment possible for serial rapists. 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷 #StopRapeEducate #billcosby #billcosbyisarapist #rapeculture #hollywood #actor #victimblaming #heforshe #yesallwomen #theemptychair #itsonus #sexualassault #sexualabuse #parenting #feminism #feminist #humanrights #predator #peaceandlove #books #badadvice #kids #children #realtalk

[thedustyrebel]

35 Bill Cosby Accusers

FLOOD continues to keep attention on the growing number of women who have come forward with sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby. Here Fat Albert—a beloved character created by Cosby in 1972—holds the very powerful New York Magazine​ cover story which collected accounts from 35 women.

More photos: Flood, Street Art, Political Street Art