#Tunde creations

[bewitchingkitchen]

TUNDE'S SPRING COOKIE PLATTER

Another amazing design by Tunde from @tundescreations. She revamped her website to include all tutorials and links to posts, so pay her a visit (click here) and consider joining her Cookie Club Academy to challenge yourself with cookie decorating. On her site, if you go to Classes, Online Pre-Recorded, you can get some lessons to buy individually, independent of the Cookie Club. Have fun…

[roomselfcontain2]

How to organise a single room for rent click here brand new virgin pop ceiling modern cheap Selfcontain grab this house now because of the price serious working on the apartment in progress but you can pay and wait a little while located at Nta road before ozuoba in portharcourt city rivers state Nigeria.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), and My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

Today I will be writing about

The Way He Looks (2014) dir. Daniel Ribeiro

(image descriptions in alt text)

[Available on Amazon, Run Time- 1:36, Language: Portuguese]

Summary: Leonardo is a blind teenager searching for independence. His everyday life, the relationship with his best friend, Giovana, and the way he sees the world change completely with the arrival of Gabriel. 

Cast Ghilherme Lobo as Leonardo, a blind teenager Fabio Audi as Gabriel, Leonardo’s love interest Tess Amorim as Giovana, Leonardo’s best friend

__

I will tell you right now that I was so excited when I saw this on Ben’s list of films. I remember watching the 15 minute short I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone that was made in 2011, with the same premise and actors. The popularity of that short resulted in the creation of a feature length film that aired in 2014. I have not seen this movie probably since 2014, but I remember that I deeply deeply loved both the short and the feature film. 

So though there are a metric fuck ton of movies on this list, and it would honestly be smarter overall of me to skip over the films I have already seen. There is no way in hell that I will be doing that for this film. I would like to experience the nostalgia, thank you very much. 

As a note, while I am slowly starting to embrace “disabled” as an identity for myself, I do not have Leo’s disability, and would be curious to hear if anyone who is legally blind has seen this film and what their thoughts on the portrayal of blindness in it is. Obviously you do not have to do that. So with the acknowledgement that the actor who plays Leonardo is not blind in real life, I think it is time to talk about this film!

I love that you can tell immediately this is going to be a gay film because it opens with a pool scene, and as we should all know by now, the pools are for the gays. I think this film does an incredible job of setting up Leonardo’s blindness for the audience both in the way that she does not properly disguise her smile at the joking suggestion that Leo and her kiss because she knows Leo can’t see her reactions as well as in the very casual way Leo continues to talk to Giovanna after she has dipped underneath the water again because he cannot see where she went.

I like that much of Leonardo’s character really revolves around straining against the barriers his parents have placed around him, and being a normal teenager. It is very important to me in pieces that include disability that the disabled person is portrayed as close to a normal person as they can be. Leonardo doesn’t communicate with his parents when he decides to stay out late, he sneaks out of his house, he has a crush on a boy he isn’t quite sure likes him back. Walt Junior in Breaking Bad gets in fights with his parents and gets mad at his mom because she takes away the fancy car Walt bought him. Heart in Moonlight Chicken sneaks out, and wants to learn how to drive a moped, and work a job.

It is possible to show where someone’s limitations are and the adaptations that exist as a result of them, while ensuring that you are not doing what Leo’s mother is often doing and infantilizing her teenage son because she is worried about his safety (which is like, also just a Mom thing so I’ve heard). 

Something that I have noticed in a few of the romance plots that involve disabled characters (since this entire syllabus is a build up to watching BLs I will use The Way He Looks and Moonlight Chicken as my comparison points here) is that the disabled character is often treated with kid gloves by the people who have known them the longest, and that a new character comes in that is generally unfamiliar with their disability, can forget they have it, and generally treats the disabled character with far more normalcy than the rest of their friends and family. 

And that trend exists in both The Way He Looks and in Moonlight Chicken. In Moonlight Chicken, Li Ming meets Heart, doesn’t understand that he is Deaf initially, but then does start learning sign language, but even as he learns sign language sometimes he will catch himself starting to speak without signing, forgetting that Heart can’t hear him, and then he will stop mid-sentence and correct his behavior. In The Way He Looks, Gabriel frequently makes comments or suggests activities that rely on sight and remind Leonardo and the audience that Gabriel forgets about Leo’s disability. I like this in the way that Leo is trying to show the people in his life that he can be independent, and they are having a difficult time adjusting to that reality. His parents worry for his safety and Giovanna wants to believe that Leo needs to rely on her and her help because she has a crush on him and wants to keep him close. 

And while I am not blind, and I do not interact frequently with blind people in person, I will say that one of my favorite moments in this film is when Gabriel walks Leo home by himself for the first time, and forgets to tell Leo about possible hazards on the sidewalk. This continues to affirm that while there are positives to Gabriel forgetting Leo’s disability in terms of allowing Leo to have more freedom and to get new experiences, like going to the movies, that Gabriel isn’t perfect and that for all the independence Leo wants, there are going to be things that he will want or need help with that people have to be prepared to enact. I love this moment too for the fact that Gabriel apologies, Leo says “it’s alright, you’ll warn me next time” and still allows Gabriel to keep their arms linked while also pulling out his cane so that he can have a safer and more secure understanding of the sidewalk in front of him and identify any potential hazards himself. And I love even more that he continues to use his cane for days or weeks after he stumbles over a tripping hazard until Gabriel tells him he can put the cane away (an indication that he feels comfortable with his role in helping Leo navigate without having to be explicit about it).

There are lots of wonderful little details in Ghilherme’s performance, and even in the props and sets. More than once in the movie, someone will touch Leonardo, kiss him on the cheek, etc and he will very subtly jerk back, caught off guard by not being able to see the action coming. You can see his walking cane sticking out of the side pocket of his backpack. At home, Leo is frequently in the dark, which is double fun because lots of gay shit happens in the dark, and because it is yet another subtle reminder that Leo is totally blind. He has no use for lights.

I like that Leo’s friends and teachers don’t just let abuse happen to him, and will interject if they see classmates act out of line, but I also appreciate that Leo does not really seem that bothered or impacted by the bullying he faces. We never see him breakdown about it, we never really see him lose his spark. He never appears to be worried about what people will do or say to him. His biggest hang up for about half the film is the fact that his best friend is mad at  him and won’t talk to him, and that he wants to study abroad. That is primarily what he worries about. Yet he isn’t one of the stoic sufferers either, we get to see those little moments of self consciousness, when he says he can’t dance, when he waits to go in to the showers until everyone else has left because it’s awkward, etc. 

I love that there is not suffering in this film, even as there are direct and indirect references to ableism and homophobia. Leo’s bullies make comments about how being friends with Gabriel have turned Leo more masculine, they make comments about Gabriel and Leo being in a relationship just because they are linking arms to Gabriel can guide him, Gabriel kisses Leo and then runs away immediately afterwards. Leo’s bullies wave their fingers an inch in front of Leo’s face close enough where he feels something is maybe off but can’t tell what it would be, they make comments about the machine he uses to take notes, they try to get him to kiss a dog during the spin the bottle game. And for all that these moments of cruelty exist, the bullies are literally silenced at the end and the main bully is made to look like a fool with the acknowledgement of Gabriel and Leonardo’s relationship. All of the bully’s friends start laughing at him, when Leo stops and takes Gabriel’s hand. Giovana is upset that Leo has a crush on Gabriel, not because he is gay, but because she had a crush on Leo and is realizing that she has no chance with him. 

Considering this is a movie in the race, disability, and class section I do kind of wish that we could have gotten a bit further into the intersection of disability and queerness here, two oppressed and marginalized identities.  But ultimately, it is not that kind of film and that is totally okay. 

By, For, About 

Again, I do not know for certain the sexuality of the people who are involved in the storytelling elements of this show, but I think I am leaning towards By and About queer people. Because being queer is not the central aspect of this story to me, rather the mounting desire for independence and general high school friend drama is far more prominent of a theme in this film, I do not think it is for queer people. 

It is wonderful, and there are many moments in it that do not let you forget these characters are queer. Leo masturbates wearing Gabriel’s hoodie, Gabriel sees Leo naked in the shower and gets a boner, etc. But for me this story is about possibility, independence, friendship, and love rather than The Queer Experience™. 

Favorite Moment 

I am torn between two. The first being the movie theater scene and the second being the eclipse scene. Ultimately they have similar vibes which is why it’s hard for me to choose.

In the movie theater scene, Gabriel has just prior learned that he and Leo both wanted to procrastinate on their history project, and Gabriel suggests they go see a movie, forgetting Leo can’t see. But Leo agrees to go, and we get this really beautiful moment of Leo getting a chance to lean in close to Gabriel (ah the intricate rituals to touch the skin of other men) and to ask him to narrate what is going on. I love it because it shows us this gentle way of Leo helping Gabriel to adapt the theater experience, and the fact that they are whispering back and forth to one another feels like they are telling secrets, even as Gabriel is simply telling Leo what he is seeing on screen. I love too the aftermath of that movie trip being that Giovana is upset that she wasn’t invited, and though we don’t get much more than a line from Leo akin to “we never go to the movies” that line itself speaks volumes, at least to me, about the boxes that Leo’s loved ones have put him in. Leo is blind, so why would he ever go to the movies? He can’t see what’s on screen. Yet because Gabriel at that point in the film often forgets that Leo is blind, Leo is able to experience something new and to find a way to guide Gabriel so that they can both enjoy the experience.

Similarly, Leo is invited by Gabriel to go and watch the lunar eclipse, before Gabriel once again realizes that Leo cannot see it. But Leo still agrees, and we get another beautiful moment where Gabriel tries to explain what an eclipse is and what it looks like to Leo. We get this tender moment where Gabriel has an excuse to gently touch Leo’s cheek as he asks “You know how your face is warmed by sunlight?” at the beginning of his explanation (ah, the intricate rituals that allow men to touch the skin of other men). I love that Gabriel and Leo are once again able to share a moment, once again in the dark, and this time Gabriel does not have to be guided towards narrating the view as much as Leo asks a single question and Gabriel tries multiple ways of discussion the concept until he sees what explanation clicks in Leo’s head. 

Favorite Quote

“Leo, if you had ever stolen a kiss from someone, how would you give it back?”

This entire script is wonderful, but there is absolutely no better line than this one. This is one of the last lines of the film, and Gabriel asks it after he has finished casually providing information about his crush until Leonardo picks up on the fact that Gabriel is talking about him. 

Score 

10/10.

God, truly, I feel like maybe I’m too lenient on these films, because I don’t think I’ve scored anything below a 9 yet. But it’s not my fault that I am thoroughly enjoying my time.

[stellanslashgeode]

I have been thinking about the Sorcerer's of Tund. Basically exiled Sith priesthood dating back thousands of years who intermix, science and ontology and magic, believe all is one in the force and that the force unites all dualities and multiplicity in its infinity. They also have a special emphasis on shapeshfiting, deceit and illusions. I find them really interesting as basically space Hindu sages or Sufi mystics.

I have been thinking about the sorcerers of tund and their monism, their mastery of Illusion and the idea of the dark side as bound to the living force and what that would look like taken to it's logical limit and an idea struck me.

All of the world is of the force, the force had shaped it and the force will consume it;

The force in shaping the world divided itself and the world into two, the Realm of Spirit, the house of the soul, and the Realm of Flesh, the house of the body.

The living force is the energy of the soul, the power representing the eternal balance between creation and destruction that flows from the soul into the world and also flows from the world to fill the soul. All energy or force that is used to shape the world by the Realm of Flesh is incomplete without the living force to flow into or out of what is created or destroyed.

Therefore the Realm of Spirit while overlooked by many is equally needed to complete the Realm of Flesh. If one desires completion, the realization of the ideal perfect, the retaliation of potential that lies within them and the connection they hold to the force, yet is bound by the desires and bonds to the Realm of Flesh, be they mortal or god, they will never succeed. For in that bond to the Realm of Flesh the Realm of Spirit is forgotten and without the two in harmony one could never be complete. The role of the mind is to acknowledge and perceive the Realm of Flesh, yet also not allow one to be bound wholly to it, thus allowing them to perceive the force and thus understand and realize the part of themselves that lies in the Realm of Spirit. The Tund Sages would be beings who have essentially achieved permanent oneness with the force and have essentially been granted godlike power at the cost of abandoning all personal desire, I could see the Bendu being a good example of what they are like.

This is the key to true oneness with the force in the eyes of the Tund. Those Tund who achieve it become godlike sorcerers and sages capable of moving planets and healing armies. However due to the Tunds emphasis on Illusions this power manifests in a very particular way. Unlike normal illusions which could be considered "a falsehood impersonating the genuine article" these sages possess the power to create "existences identical and indiscernible to the genuine article" as they are existences whose flesh and spirit matches the nature and power of that which they imitate. A sage can do outrageous deeds such as creating illusionary weapons, creating exact copies of other people, creating illusionary landscapes, and even cover himself in an illusion, as to conceal his own presence rendering him unable to be seen or heard, and only faintly felt through the mind.

This is what I consider the very pinnacle of Force Illusions. Essentially you reach the point where the illusion is so utterly lifelike and realistic that the universe no longer registers the existence of difference between the illusion and an actual physical object meaning these illusions can hurt you and even kill you.

How does this sound as an example of the true esoteric nature of the force?

I'm so glad they brought the Sorcerors of Thund out from the EU, they're a true example of the weirdness that can coexist with more grounded stuff like Andor. It sounds like you know a lot more about them! I just encountered them in The Battle of Jedha audiobook where one of them plays a minor role, though they're much more prominent in the Phase II High Republic comics from what I understand.

There's a lot more to be fleshed out with the Force, mainly because we mostly see it through the prism of the Jedi and they have their own orthodoxies on what should and shouldn't be done. And the Sith which flips a lot of those orthodoxies on its head and guard their weird stuff like Sith Alchemy pretty jealously.

I do know a lot about the Mirialans, though, and their unique take on Jedi philosophy. They care much more about the Cosmic Force and hence take things like visions and fate and choices very seriously. I think of them as a little more mystic than mainline Jedi. They believe your choices shape your destiny and take that so seriously they tattoo their faces and bodies to commemorate those choices. The Cosmic Force doesn't get as much attention as the Living Force, and I think that's a shame. It's far more mysterious.

So yes, the Jedi have only been around 25,000 years or so. I'm sure back in the olden times, back before Hyperspace lanes were charted, there were dudes tossing planets around and doing all sorts of miraculous stuff that Jedi wouldn't even date to imagine. And there's a place for that.

I'm writing a fic about Nightsisters at the moment so I'm enjoying thinking outside my usual bubble.

[andyjwaldron]

ANDY WROTE ABOUT GOOD ALBUMS FOR HIS JOB

End-of-year list season is a big stinkin' deal over at Rough Trade. Listening back to the previous twelve months' worth of releases not only became a clear delineation of time passing (especially during the pandemic that kept us asking, "Oh, wait, what month is it again?") but it was also great for Andy when he worked there, as staff were asked to write about a few albums that really stuck with them.

Plus, it's always refreshing for a record store employee to provide a solicited opinion, rather than the usual unsolicited comment while ringing you up.

Here are some blurbs Andy wrote for Rough Trade about LPs from SASAMI, Bartees Strange, Little Hag, Mitski, and Illuminati Hotties:

SASAMI - Squeeze

In the same way one realizes working retail can seem like you're creating sand mandalas (i.e., organizing LPs in the morning), knowing full well how ephemeral they can be (finding Sheryl Crow in the Metal section at night), the turbulent start to the 2020s has proven that, despite the best efforts to make sense, everything is messy now. I've held onto SASAMI's Squeeze in the same way we grasp for something steady when the boat starts swaying.

In a little over a half hour, hard truths are thrown down (the systematic aggression detailed in "Skin a Rat") and then processed ("I tried to understand," "Don’t wanna agonize, just say it") and met with earned affirmations ("I want you to know you're not alone…you can always call me home"). The guitars that accompany these sentiments shred, strum, and surround the listener – almost swallowing us whole. By the time "Not a Love Song" arrives, the waves of distortion become still enough to see ourselves in the reflection.

Writer Michelle Hyun Kim put it best: In "[bringing] seemingly disparate elements together, finding slippery ways to be both/and, neither/nor, between/outside in all categories," SASAMI meets a messy world with messy creation – gleefully collapsing genre with artists who know a thing or two about frustrating binaries (Patti Harrison, No Home, Rin Kim, Vagabon, Mitski, Andrew Thomas Huang). Squeeze recognizes those who've worked hard on themselves and the world around them and gets drinks with them afterward to celebrate: a beautiful, beautiful sight. (x)

Bartees Strange - Farm to Table

Building on the promise of his first album, Live Forever, our On the Rise artist Bartees Strange carries a fiery ambition throughout his next chapter, Farm to Table. It lights up the dance floor on "Wretched" and "Cosigns" and powers the fanfare of my personal song of the year, "Heavy Heart." It becomes a campfire that warms the quieter second half, carrying the heartbreaking ode to Gianna Floyd ("Hold the Line") to the closing, cyclical singalong, "Hennessy."

It's been exciting watching artists of my generation make work reflective of our fickle upbringing; the way we've watched genre break down, earnestness break through, and connection rise above all other priorities. And while Farm to Table may seem like a 4AD fever dream (from the belt and croon of TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe to the inertia of The National's most anthemic moments), make no mistake: Strange's first LP with the storied label marks a young, bold new moment in capital I capital R Indie Rock™ – one whose flame won't go out anytime soon. (x)

Little Hag - Leash

Take a heaping spoonful of Liz Phair's down-to-earth humor, a touch of Elvis Costello's cutting attitude, and a splash of Jeff Buckley's killer vibrato, and you get Little Hag's Leash, one of the most exciting releases to come from Bar-None Records in recent memory. Avery Mandeville, the NJ-based songwriter behind Little Hag, may be one of the legendary indie label's newest signees, but she's been honing her unique knack for catchy and sardonic tales of her self-described "absurd and profane occurrences of being a woman" for the better part of the past decade. Her lyrics deliver the anthemic quality from other accomplished musicians who have emerged from the Garden State. However, the power that drives them is less "We gotta get outta here!" and more "I'm stuck here… now what?" While their other digital-exclusive releases that came out in the past year (Whatever Happened to Avery Jane? and Breakfast) are worth adding to your playlists, Leash, their first album full of new material for Bar-None, is next level for Little Hag. Stories bearing weighty text messages ("The Whole World," "Cherry," "Red"), dangerous and disappointing men ("My Last Name," "Get Real!"), and self-defense weaponry ("Brass Knuckle Keychain") are conveyed with an urgency matched by a skilled rhythm section that rips. Sure, these eleven tracks are told by a singular voice, but the universality of both the shit that they’ve gone through and how she's powered through all of it makes a vital promise for anyone who listens: crank this up, and you'll feel less lonely. (x)

Mitski - Laurel Hell

The new wave nods of Mitski's Laurel Hell come in spades; not just in its production (where uptempo numbers like "Should've Been Me" navigate the liveliness of ABC and moodier tracks like "Working for the Knife" find kinship with Peter Gabriel's self-titled era) but also the paranoia and devotion beneath the sheen (the album starts with "Let's step carefully into the dark / Once we're in, I'll remember my way around" and nearly ends with "I'm standing in the dark / Looking up into our room / Where you'll be waiting for me").

In meeting acrobatic arrangements with clear lyricism across five records, the 32-year-old songwriter has proven to be one of her generations' strongest craftspeople. The difference now on her sixth is how a wide-eyed weariness emerges in a familiar fashion to the era Mitski references, how the push-and-pull between partners can stand in for the heart and mind… or the artist and the consumer: "I give it up to you / I surrender." (x)

Illuminati Hotties - Let Me Do One More

At times in-your-face like an unexpected conversation from a hilarious stranger at a dive bar, while at other times contemplative, standing beside you and huddling for heat during a smoke break, Let Me Do One More was the perfect buddy to have during a year of bumpy restarts. My favorite albums have historically become teaching moments, usually by artists getting by despite constraints both internal and external, and this album finds the endlessly-talented Sarah Tudzin doing her best in trying relationships with the personal ("Growth") and political ("Threatening Each Other re: Capitalism"). These songs truly helped me find warmth through the uneven sway of 2021. (x)

***

You can go back home by clicking here.

[oneofusnet]

Screener Squad: Strange Planet STRANGE PLANET SERIES REVIEW In the archives of the ancient past of 2019, the ones and zeros driving the super information highway would often be implemented to spread joy on the daily. Images and captions would would work in unison to create what the inhabitants of Earth would call a webcomic. Nathan W. Pyle, the life giver of the comic known as Strange Planet has been given the honour by Apple TV Plus to adapt his creation with the assistance of Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty) and a vast assortment of voice actor comedians such as Tunde Adebimpe, Demi Adejuyigbe,… Read More »Screener Squad: Strange Planet read more on One of Us

[hkbfinn]

18 years ago, as a writer & performer, I stepped further into my creativity with a brand new collection of songs.

I went further than I have ever been before with my compositions, performance & collaborations.

I made funk tinged with jazz & recited poetry over melodies from Africa that pre dated much of the modern world.

So 18 years after it’s original creation, I have re-released my (remastered) Acoustic Afro Hip Hop album.

It features the wondrous talents of Eska Mtungwazi, Sona Jobarteh, Robert Mitchell, Tunde Jegede & more all sonically tweaked from the original 2” tape recordings to a new refined version.

It’s out now from your favourite digital store. So click the link below to listen.

Good music exists...❁

Created by HKB FiNN

https://hkbfinn.hearnow.com

[laresearchette]

Monday, September 27, 2021 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: THE GOOD DOCTOR (Global) 10:00pm VOICES MAGNIFIED: YOUTH DIGITAL CRISES (A&E Canada) 10:00pm CHOCOLATE MELTDOWN: HERSHEY’S AFTER DARK (Food Network Canada) 10:00pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME/CRAVE/NETFLIX CANADA/CBC GEM:

CBC GEM FAMILY FEUD CANADA

NETFLIX CANADA JUDY

NHL PRE-SEASON HOCKEY (TSN2/TSN4) 7:00pm: Maple Leafs vs. Habs

FAMILY FEUD CANADA (CBC) 7:30pm (SEASON PREMERE): Chiiii-cken!

BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA (CTV) 7:30pm/8:30pm (SEASON PREMIERE): After Bob and Abishola land in Lagos, they rush to rescue Dele from his dad's place; Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde explore their old stomping grounds and realize things have changed since their last visit to Nigeria. In Episode Two, with a traditional Nigerian wedding approaching, the Wheelers are formally introduced to Abishola's family; Bob tries to demonstrate his serious intentions of marrying Abishola; Abishola tries to keep the peace between her mother and Auntie Olu.

MURDOCH MYSTERIES (CBC) 8:00pm:  To save his former lover and son, Murdoch makes a risky deal with a Black henchman.

JANN (CTV) 8:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE):  After months without a manager, Jann realizes she needs to take control of both her life and career, and decides to hire a personal assistant; she sits in on her sister's nanny interviews to poach the best assistant for herself.

THE BIG BAKE (Food Network Canada) 8:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Three professional baking teams have five hours to design, bake, and decorate a cake creation in gigantic proportions based on a theme.

MARY MAKES IT EASY (CTV Life) 8:00pm: Mary gives a quick crash course in French cuisine.

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 8:15pm: Eagles vs. Cowboys

UP THE DISH (CTV Life) 8:30pm: Four chefs try their hands at both sweet and savory lasagna.

VICTORIA (CBC)  9:00pm: Victoria realises she is pregnant again, and her equilibrium is threatened by Albert's friendship.

MLS SOCCER (TSN2) 10:00pm: Colorado vs. Toronto FC

HIGHWAY THRU HELL (Discovery Canada) 10:00pm: Jamie and Brandon respond to a semi sucked into a muddy ditch; a familiar face eyes a legendary tow company; Reliable's 50-ton wrecker takes on a tricky recovery; an upside-down camper and star-studded vintage pickup test a newly-formed team.

[shakespearesglobeblog]

Music Instrument Design for Edward II. 

Our wonderfully talented Director of Music, Bill Barclay has built some unique instruments for our production of Edward II. In this blog he tells us about these instruments and the three different worlds of sound he has created for the production.

Christopher Marlowe’s dark history of Edward II still reverberates loudly today both in its powerfully modern assertion that love is love, and in the incompatibility between vulnerability and the corridors of power. To help tell the story of these contrasts that ripple through time, I’ve built two new musical instruments that provide natural reverberation in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which has a warm yet dry acoustic. These devices play alongside a raft of ethnic and period instruments to create three contrasting palates of sound.

The first world of sound: war, rebellion, dissidents, and political pressure

The first sound world describes the sounds of war, rebellion, dissidents, and political pressure. This is achieved through the creation of a steel cello, which is an instrument I first encountered in Boston built by musician Matt Samolis, also known by his stage name Uncle Shoe. I was infatuated with his creations and had used them in theatre before, but this is this instrument’s debut in the United Kingdom. With Matt’s guidance I’ve constructed a new kind of steel cello bespoke to the Sam Wanamaker. 

This is how it works: several large deep ride cymbals and metal rods are bolted to a large stainless steel resonating sheet, which amplifies the metal objects as they are bowed and struck. The instrument is capable of a wide range of sounds which are almost entirely below the frequencies of consonants in speech, making words intelligible over a rash of haunting textures. Amazingly, the instrument often sounds synthesised – digital, even – metallic, industrial, dark, and yet shimmering. Matt and I used to play it for sound meditations in long beautiful drone concerts, and yet it can also distort to provide an incredible lexicon of theatrical punctuation. The whole band takes a turn on it, but it is chiefly played by Music Director Rob Millett, and it is played throughout the production.

The steel cello is complemented by a bass drum, field drum, and Sarah Homer’s contra alto clarinet – a rare instrument lower than the bass clarinet which gurgles at the low end of the hearing spectrum under the steel cello’s reverberant strokes.

The second world of sound: love

The second sound world was meant to contrast with the first as much as possible in order to depict the love between Edward and Gaveston as incompatible with its oppressive cultural antipathy to homosexuality.  For this world we lean on Tunde Jegede’s kora – the West African harp, chiefly from the griot storytelling tradition of Mali.(A griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician).

The kora melds with a swarmandal, a Hindu harp the characteristic buzzing from its sympathetic strings. To fill out this pan-ethnic texture, we use a hammered dulcimer and a bass dulcimer, instruments that are from all over the world, though perhaps most prominent in music from the Middle East. These three harp-like instruments from around the world emphasise the beauty, the universalism, and perhaps the exotic presence that define love so unabashedly in this play. The textures these strings make with each other seems to chime perfectly with the candlelight, and lend an extraordinary atmosphere to the Playhouse.

The third world of sound: the church

The third sound world is of the church. Here the tubular bells, accordion (mimicking an organ), cello, and contra alto clarinet form a league of ominously low, yet sinuously melodic instruments that collect like vines around the ankles of the play’s characters – powerful yet beautiful. Also in this world is the singers, who at various moments intone the Latin prayers of the Requiem Mass, as if the death of Edward I (Longshanks, Edward II’s father), still looms over the cracked glass of our protagonist’s troubled reign.

The second original instrument is the spring machine. Two long helical springs are attached to the theatre’s back wall, and connect directly to the heads of two frame drums bolted to the face of the music gallery. When the springs are rubbed and struck, we discovered that the sounds that pour out of the drums are unearthly, unsettling, and hard to mentally place. For weeks I had been seeking sounds for the play’s horrible final scenes that were truly original – sounds that could only mean this peculiar horror. We tried attaching a double bass to the springs, and had 4 springs start on each string, going into four drums. The sound was amazing but I could still hear the double bass, and the sound was too familiar.

When we took the bass away and hung the springs to a hook instead, it focused the sound much more on the strange sounds of the springs themselves, which we then tightened to amplify the signal. This revealed the coups de grace: when the drum heads are struck with a mallet in a heartbeat pattern, the heartbeat flows to the back wall and out the drums again, creating an analogue looping system. The intention is to recreate the sound of hearing your own heartbeat thudding in your ears, as you imagine the worst. The secondary intention is to allow the truly horrible parts of the story be truly horrible, by preparing our subconscious with unsettling sounds that have no preconceived identity. We don’t want you to be listening to the ‘music’ here – we want the sounds to unsettle the psychological anticipation of Edward’s grisly demise.

Once the act occur, there is no need, or room, for any more music in its final pages. The stage stays mostly in darkness, the characters have their comeuppance, and silence seems the only appropriate ending. We are still processing the horror, and the tragedy, and after two hours of steady building to this moment, it feels right to go out with these solo odd springs.

Other instruments used in the show include the tagleharpa, a medieval bowed three-string harp made for the Globe by a Russian instrument maker in Karelia. This undergirds the ancient character of Old Spencer and provides a bit of the dark ages as an important colour for the older generation of this world. Paul Johnson also plays several ethnic flutes:

Kaval -  a Bulgarian wooden flute

Tambin -  the national instrument of the West African Fula

Bansuri -  a common North Indian flute

Bombard -  a loud double-reed member of the shawm family used to play Breton music

Portuguese and English bagpipes

Occasionally Paul plays the bagpipes against Sarah Homer’s soprano saxophone – an entirely modern instrument but ones whose timbre, when mixed with the pipes, creates the sensation of two fanfaring trumpets.

Finally, the Nyatiti, the lyre from Kenya, makes a few important solo appearances. This instrument means ‘daughter-in-law’, and it is the female counterpart to the maleness of the West African kora. The two harps provide contrasting emotional colours – the kora in act 1 when love is free, and the Nyatiti in the second half when it is not.

The ambitious nature of this score is testament to the dozens of shows played at the Globe by these four incredible musicians; indeed, the score has been composed for their unique multi-instrumentalism. There is no other person in London who could double on kora and cello than Tunde Jegede, nor any other player than Music Director Rob Millett who plays the dulcimer at an expert level, yet can learn how to work magic from something so new as a steel cello. Paul Johnson and Sarah Homer each in turn provide similarly original contributions that speak to their true uniqueness as players.

The overarching goal here was for the Globe to do what it does best – be inventive, embrace the parameters of acoustic music, and lean heavily on the unique experience of its core artists. I remain a student of period music at the Globe, but only in service of bringing period sounds together with improvisation, new instruments, living composers, and surprising orchestrations.

In collaborating in this way, we attempt to fabricate an entirely unique sound world that can only define the world of this play, here, right now.

Edward II is in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse until 20 April. 

Musical instrument photography by Hannah Yates  Edward II production photography by Marc Brenner 

[akinbotundejoseph]

#Strives to Earnest Expectation of Creation,prudent Treasure's of prayer's to strengthen praise's of sacrifice,Breach not ordinances of Holiness to Escaped promising Rain that Never fall,But truncates future Bliss.Let's your all speak Greatness of sonship"AKINBO TUNDE JOSEPH"!!! https://www.instagram.com/p/CgUF3iiIxZ6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bewitchingkitchen]

I'VE GOT THE BLUES

Tunde’s Glamorous Blue Cookies, that is… Originally she made them in green, I decided to change a bit and make a different color, but keeping the designs unchanged. Tunde’s creations are always full of details and often rely on fine lines to shine, so there is no way to sugar-coat the pill, they can be challenging. Some of my lines don’t fall smoothly, the curved shapes end up with some slightly…

[dozenhost]

APC Chieftain Oladunjoye Hails Abiodun As Ogun Clocks 46 – Predicts Brighter Future

APC Chieftain Oladunjoye Hails Abiodun As Ogun Clocks 46 – Predicts Brighter Future

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Tunde Oladunjoye, has felicitated with Governor Dapo Abiodun and the people of the state on the 46th anniversary of the creation of the gateway state. Oladunjoye, who is the Board Chairman of Ogun State Television (OGTV) described the state as “one of the most endowed, if not the most endowed state in Nigeria in terms of human…

[indefianceofthecreator]

Storytelling as Creation

Naomi Alderman’s The Power is framed by a series of letters passed between a man named Neil and his mentor, Naomi. Neil is the writer of the story that forms the ‘book-within-the-book’ -- this story is, as Neil reveals in his very first letter, an uncovered history that calls into question the matriarchal society he and Naomi are living within. He asserts that, contrary to their society’s historical and religious texts, there was once a world that (like our own) was dominated by a patriarchy until women discovered their powers. In writing this book, Neil calls into question the validity of his society’s accepted history -- a history that supports, above all else, the inherent superiority of women. This ‘history,’ as Neil writes, has apparently been actively asserted through -- among other things -- physical destruction of artifacts, among them, “statues and carvings, so many obliterated marking stones,” that contradict the accepted story of history (377). He goes on to remark, “if they hadn’t been destroyed, imagine how many male soldiers there’d be… The way we think about our past informs what we think is possible today” (377). As Neil says, our view of society and its structures and limitations is based on our history, the story of what came before us; the power to tell this story is the power to dictate those structures and limitations.

Over the course of the novel, Alderman explores this idea through the stories of several different characters. As Tunde, a journalist, covers his first protests, he recognizes the inherent power of controlling the narrative, “You do what you like, he thinks to himself, but I’m the one who’s going to turn it into something. I’ll be the one to tell the story” (60). By telling the story, Tunde comes to actually feel ownership over the events he covers, they become “his war, his revolution, his history” (61). He knows that, as a journalist, the record of history is his to create, and that gives him immense power. When, later in the novel, he is presumed dead and a woman journalist publishes his work under her name, he loses that power -- he is no longer the storyteller.

Allie, also known as Mother Eve, does similarly when she begins teaching her new religion, in which women are created above men. When she and Roxy first teach this religion to the other girls at the convent, they find “Scripture that works for them, rewriting the bits that don’t” (115). In doing so, they create a story and a framework for spiritual belief that works for their ends. In response to questions about Jesus’s teachings, Mother Eve declares, “‘So I teach a new thing. This power has been given to us to lay straight our crooked thinking’” (89). By manipulating the religious stories that form people’s ideas of purpose, meaning, and existence, Mother Eve is able to manipulate people’s thoughts. Ultimately, in The Power, Alderman makes clear the power inherent in controlling the story, and how -- beyond the power of inflicting physical harm -- it can manipulate the very foundations of what we believe to be true.

- Helen, after I finished the book :)

[tundenny]

A lot of people might be wondering about this brand name called Tundenny like what is the meaning of it, truly, Tundenny is a brand name and also known as a nickname created by the owner who is known as Sulaimon Babatunde, Tundenny is not just a brand or nickname, it is known in Yoruba Language as Tunde Nii meanwhile this meaning in English Language is known as it is Tunde/It is me. According to the creation of this so called name Tundenny if you really look deep into it you can always see that part of Sulaimon Babatunde name is included to it, this part of his name is Tunde while the nny is added to it to become a brand name, this nny was forge out from Yoruba Language which the English meaning is Me, this same Tundenny also associates with Sulaimon Babatunde organization name which is known as Tundenny Graphic Suite, Sulaimon Babatunde wanted to be sure that his own Brand Name and Organization name are almost merge together so that whenever people make research the both entity will automatically Boost out in Google Search Result. (at Lagos State) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHle8N0pKKr/?igshid=3l43y4ty858a

[goldmynetv]

Senator Osinowo Did Not Inflict Hon Tunde Braimoh With Covid-19- Family Insists The family and political associates of the late Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the Senate, Senator Sikiru Adebayo Osinowo, have debunked comments credited to a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly on the cause of the death of Hon Olatunde Braimoh. Honourable Hakeem Sokunle, Chairman of the House Committee on Health, had told the media that the late Braimoh died as a result of complications resulting from Covid-19 because he had contacts with the Late Senator Osinowo. But reacting through the Media Office of the late Senator, family members and associates described the statement as reckless saying linking the death of the lawmamer to their patriach is uncalled for. “We are mortals and everybody has his or her appointed time. For our father and brother, their time has come, we can’t query Almighty Allah. So it’s shocking to say the late Braimoh contracted Covid-19 from our dear father,” the statement said. According to the statement from Osinowo’s Media Office, many family members and associates have closer contact with the late Senator in his last moments and have no symptoms of the disease. “Allah is the Creator of every being on earth and He takes the life of His creations anytime He wishes to do so. It is His wish that Senator Osinowo should die on Monday, 15 June, 2020 and it is equally His wish that Hon Braimoh should die on Friday, 7 July, 2020. We cannot question Him,” the statement concluded. https://www.instagram.com/p/CCd4leBl08o/?igshid=yhh1d6mitaei

[sinceileftyoublog]

Moses Sumney Album Review: grae

(Jagjaguwar)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“Am I vital / If my heart is idle? / Am I doomed?” Moses Sumney famously sang on his stunning 2017 debut Aromanticism, an album that saw him developing his acceptance of being alone. grae, his two-part 2nd full-length, and his first since officially moving from L.A. to the Appalachian Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, doubles down on themes of heartbreak, but instead of being sure in his seclusion, he embraces the unknown. The album teeters between interludes of platitudes about isolation and ruminations on failed human connection, and maximally arranged clutches of uncertainty. “When my mind’s clouded and filled with doubt / That’s when I feel the most alive,” Sumney coos over horns and piano on slinky soul song “Cut Me”; it’s an effective mantra for the album.

Beyond the simple cliche of containing multitudes, on the first half of grae, Sumney’s interested in the complexities of contemporary masculinity and the necessity to control your own narrative, especially as a Black person. The Jill Scott-featuring and -sampling “jill/jack” redefines traditionally masculine characteristics of a puffed chest and straight back as not masculine, but masculine and feminine, strong, not aggressive. “Virile” similarly conquers themes of toxic masculinity through instrumentation that bolsters Nubya Garcia’s fluttering flutes and Brandee Younger’s harp, enough to overtake Thundercat’s bass and Ian Chang’s drums. 

Beyond gender, though, Sumney sings for, as Taye Selasi puts it on “also also also and and and”, not just “my right to be multiple” but “the recognition of my multiplicity.” That he provides the space for other black voices--instrumental and spoken or sung--to do the same, is what makes grae exceptional. On the chugging “boxes”, Ayesha K. Faines says, “The most significant thing that any person can do / But especially black women and men / Is to think about who gave them their definitions / And rewrite those definitions for themselves.” Sumney’s done as such for the better part of a half decade through his viscerally sensitive singing and words, and his all-encompassing inclusion of others beyond mere careful curation offers a slew of essential contemporaries across genres. Brandon Coleman, Jamire Williams, and Shahzad Ismaily form a makeshift jazz band on “Gagarin”. “Neither/Nor” forms around gorgeous circular picked kora from Tunde Jegede, as Sumney further embraces the nature of life: “I am planted on the shore knowing / The ashen tide may or may not rise,” he sings.

Yet, on the comparatively stark second half of grae, Sumney returns to many of the relationship insecurities of Aromanticism. He eventually comes out even stronger, but the road there is painful. Spring-boarding off of first half closer “Polly”, a heartbreaking song about being with a polyamorous person when you’re monogamous, is the devastating “Two Dogs”. Sumney describes, at first with dry humor (“I had two dogs / In the summer of 2004 / One was boot black / The other whiter than a health food store”) and later with brutal detail (“Medicine clogged their stomachs ‘til they overpoured”) the death of two beloved creatures, only for someone to force him to relive the trauma so as to gauge Sumney’s level of emotional intelligence. “When you ask me in a worried fret, ‘Have you ever at least loved a pet?’” they charge at the taciturn loner. At first, he responds with self-protection. On “Bystanders”, he sings, “What’s the use of confessing the truth to an executioner in a booth about the dueling forces in you?” empowering the judgement of the other person. And on “Me in 20 Years”, over glimmering and clattering typically woozy synths from Oneohtrix Point Never, he declares, “Will love let me down again? Oh no, no, it won’t get in.” 

Unlike on Aromanticism, though, Sumney eventually comes full circle, open to love of another and the self. It comes first with reflection. Backed seemingly only by keyboard arpeggios from James Blake, on “Lucky Me”, he sings, “Just because you didn’t love me / The way I thought I should be loved / Doesn’t mean I wasn’t wanted / Or I wasn’t something to be proud of,” and healthily confesses to not being over someone. (“I still feel you when I go to sleep and when I awake.”) The ultimate revelation, though, comes on “before you go”, delivered again not by Sumney. Michaela Cole, Ezra Miller, and Selasi state, “A lot of creation stories begin with separation.” Over two albums, Sumney has melded and separated, pulled back and pushed forward alike, ultimately finding effective omniscience in simply letting it be.

græ by Moses Sumney