#the same individualism that is celebrated in the myths of Country music

[novelistparty]

there's a lot about modern country aesthetics that are weird to me.

was watching a guitar technique video and it struck me that the style of the current Fender corporation is "totally decontextualized Country"

this is the Country Minimalism fast-fashion denim, beige couch, a blank gray wall trying to look like concrete, an amp that's literally a blank black box, worn boots that have never touched a pasture

[natesoctt]

Taylor Swift No Makeup: Embracing Natural Beauty

Taylor Swift, an artist known for her music and captivating performances, is equally recognized for her ever-evolving style. However, beyond the glitz and glamor, there exists a side of Swift that resonates deeply with fans: her natural beauty, especially when she appears without makeup. This article delves into Taylor Swift no makeup moments, exploring her relationship with makeup, the cultural implications of these appearances, and what they reveal about self-acceptance and beauty standards in today’s society.

The Evolution of Taylor Swift's Image

From her early days as a country music prodigy to her current status as a pop icon, Swift's image has undergone significant transformations. Her style has shifted dramatically, reflecting both her artistic evolution and personal growth. Initially characterized by a youthful, girl-next-door aesthetic, Swift gradually embraced a more polished, glamorous look as her career progressed. However, amid this evolution, she has also shown a willingness to shed the layers of makeup and embrace her natural self.

Early Days: The Makeup and the Myth

In her early career, Swift often appeared in public with a full face of makeup, embodying the idealized image of a country star. This polished look was typical of many celebrities at the time, reinforcing the notion that success in the entertainment industry required a certain aesthetic. Swift's early music videos and red carpet appearances highlighted her classic beauty, often featuring perfectly styled hair and makeup that accentuated her features.

However, as she gained fame, Swift also began to challenge these beauty norms. Her music, which often reflected personal experiences and emotions, mirrored a growing desire for authenticity. This shift was not only evident in her songs but also in her public appearances, where she began to occasionally embrace a more natural look.

The Power of Going Makeup-Free

One of the most impactful moments in Swift’s relationship with makeup came when she shared photos of herself without makeup on social media. These candid moments showcased her bare-faced beauty, sparking conversations about the pressures of beauty standards and the importance of authenticity in a heavily curated world.

Breaking Down Beauty Standards

Swift’s no makeup moments challenge the conventional beauty standards perpetuated by the media and the entertainment industry. In a world where celebrities often present an idealized version of themselves, Swift’s willingness to show her true self serves as a reminder that everyone has imperfections. By going makeup-free, she highlights the fact that beauty is not solely about appearances but also about confidence and self-acceptance.

The Influence of Social Media

Social media has revolutionized the way we perceive beauty. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok often showcase edited and filtered images that can create unrealistic expectations for everyday individuals. Swift's decision to share her no makeup looks acts as a counter-narrative, promoting a more inclusive understanding of beauty. Her candidness resonates with many fans, encouraging them to embrace their own natural features.

The Impact on Fans and Society

Swift’s no makeup moments extend beyond personal choice; they have a broader impact on her fanbase and society at large. By openly embracing her natural beauty, she fosters a culture of acceptance that encourages her fans to do the same.

Role Model for Self-Acceptance

As a public figure, Swift serves as a role model for self-acceptance and authenticity. In interviews, she has spoken candidly about her struggles with body image and the pressure to conform to societal beauty standards. By showcasing her no makeup looks, she sends a powerful message to her fans: it’s okay to be yourself, imperfections and all. This encouragement is especially vital for young individuals grappling with self-esteem issues in a society that often equates beauty with worth.

Conversations About Mental Health

Moreover, Swift’s no makeup moments contribute to broader conversations about mental health. The pressure to look perfect can take a toll on one’s mental well-being, leading to anxiety and depression. By openly discussing her own experiences and sharing unfiltered images, Swift helps destigmatize these issues, creating a safe space for fans to share their struggles and seek support.

The Cultural Context of No Makeup

Swift’s no makeup moments can also be contextualized within a larger cultural movement toward authenticity and natural beauty. The rise of the “no makeup” trend is not limited to Swift; many celebrities have begun to embrace their natural looks, promoting a shift away from heavily edited images.

The "No Makeup" Movement

This movement celebrates authenticity and self-expression, challenging the traditional notions of beauty that have dominated the entertainment industry for decades. Celebrities like Alicia Keys and Demi Lovato have also been vocal advocates for embracing natural beauty, sparking a trend that encourages individuals to feel comfortable in their skin.

Influence on Beauty Products and Trends

The embrace of no makeup has also influenced beauty products and marketing strategies. Brands are increasingly promoting natural looks, creating makeup that enhances rather than masks features. This shift reflects a growing demand for products that empower individuals to feel confident without heavy application.

Personal Growth and Empowerment

For Swift, going without makeup symbolizes personal growth and empowerment. It represents her journey toward self-acceptance, where she recognizes her worth beyond physical appearances. In interviews, she often emphasizes the importance of self-love and the need to embrace one’s individuality.

Music as a Reflection of Self-Acceptance

Swift's music also plays a crucial role in this narrative. Songs like "Shake It Off" and "The Man" speak to themes of resilience and self-acceptance. By incorporating these messages into her art, she reinforces the idea that beauty and worth come from within.

Balancing Image and Authenticity

While Swift has embraced her natural beauty, she still navigates the complexities of being a public figure. The balance between maintaining a polished image and embracing authenticity is a tightrope many celebrities walk. Swift's ability to navigate this balance allows her to remain relatable to her fans while still excelling in her career.

Conclusion: The Legacy of Taylor Swift's No Makeup Moments

Taylor Swift’s no makeup moments are more than just personal choices; they are statements that resonate with her fans and society at large. By embracing her natural beauty, Swift challenges traditional beauty standards and fosters a culture of self-acceptance and authenticity. In a world where perfection is often idolized, her willingness to show vulnerability serves as a reminder that true beauty lies in embracing oneself.

As Swift continues to evolve as an artist and a person, her no makeup moments will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact. They inspire fans to look beyond superficial appearances and to celebrate the beauty that comes from within. In doing so, Swift not only enhances her legacy as a musician but also as a role model advocating for authenticity in a world that often prioritizes the contrary.

[whenfatecollides]

You know, it’s kinda crazy, but Dreamcatcher are a group that prove that love and support (and, consequently, hard work and persistence) are the real things that move people forward. I don’t mean just love and support from fans, but from their families and the people they work with.

Their story as individuals, and as a group, is honestly really fascinating, and even if we don’t have all the details, there’s enough to make us wonder if there isn’t a force in this world that brings certain people together. For example, Yoohyeon getting accepted into MBK, going there and leaving the next day to never go back – and her mom supporting her decision of not going back to that company (thank god) – then participating in a dance competition where she met Sua, where they both got scouted by HappyFace, to later debuting in the same group (minx) together and becoming roommates. It’s also worth noting that Sua has been working for this since 2012. Then minx’ (Jiu, Sua, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, Dami) whole journey, having only 2 comebacks (including their debut and one of them being a remake of a dalshabet song) in 2 years, with a concept that truthfully wasn’t fit for their age, and having to deal with all the doubt and uncertainty that came from that unsuccessful debut. It was a really rough start for them to go through as teenagers, but the difference between them and most (if not all) unsuccessful groups is that they were in a company who actually, genuinely, believed in them, and who subsequently made them believe in each other (and themselves) as well.

And if there’s something they took from that time, I’m certain that is that they learnt that they could truly count on each other. An example of this is Jiu (in 2016) openly talking to them about how uncertain she feels about being a good leader to them, to which the rest of the members assure her that she is and that she doesn’t have to carry that burden by herself. Which could’ve made the addition of Handong and Gahyeon extremely conflicting since they didn’t go through the same experiences.

But it’s not like Handong didn’t have her own share of struggles, moving to a foreign country on her own at 19 to pursue her own dreams, being rejected by other companies, until finally auditioning for HappyFace and getting in. All the while dealing with all these changes in her life while being away from her own family.

And Gahyeon, who we know went through other companies, one of them being FNC, until she took part in an open audition and got scouted by HappyFace. It really makes you wonder if it wasn’t all just meant to be.

Handong and Gahyeon could’ve easily felt like outcasts, once the decision to reform and re-debut minx with the addition of two members was made, since neither of them had trained for as long, and since they didn’t share that bit of important history with them. We know well that some groups just don’t click with each other and make sure to make it restrictively business, but it’s quite obvious that all 7 members made the decision to be as supportive as they could be towards one another.

This is seen in the fact that Jiu has said from their debut (as Dreamcatcher) that she never has a hard time as the leader because everyone is really attentive and responsible - which is a huge growth from how burdened she used to feel during minx- it’s seen in how openly they talk about how weird they felt towards each other at first, how some of them found each other cold, and how awkward they felt towards each other in the beginning - and how they look back and laugh about it now – and it’s specially seen in how they don’t hide that from time to time they have arguments, that they give each other time and space to process, and never get other members involved in their own issues with whoever they argued with.

I feel that this conscious decision to be supportive through each other’s struggles, but most importantly through each other’s successes, has really been something that was definitive in making Dreamcatcher what it is today.

Especially when this group debuted with both a concept and sound that aren’t popular in Korea and are quite the opposite of what is expected of female groups. But HappyFace (thankfully) saw the potential and took it slow and steady, because even if they had to take small steps at first, they always made sure to support them and give them the opportunities they could to help them grow.

And I feel that up until this year there was always a certain doubt at the back of their minds, considering that in 2017 they jokingly mentioned that the company would open a restaurant if things didn’t work out, but 2020 has been an undoubtful jump in their careers, despite everything.

It’s been incredible to see Dreamcatcher set a new standard for girl groups in the past 3 years, from having a conscious gender neutral discography, to choreographies that are made to truly highlight their dancing and singing skills, to having a (horror) concept without sexual innuendos. Not to mention their constant choice over the years to normalize same sex attraction, through their covers, by accepting marriage proposals from other women and joking about how many girlfriends and wives they have, etc, and their constant choice to uplift other women.

And in their music, there is a constant message of love and support as well, that that’s what we should seek and give, instead of filling ourselves up with things that only leave us with hate. And you can tell that Dreamcatcher are really doing what they can to leave a good mark on the world, that they want to really give back all the love and support they receive.

Love can come in so many forms and it can be so easy to overlook it sometimes but it’s been really amazing to see how much Dreamcatcher have grown and flourished from all the love and support they’ve received over the years. How being surrounded by people who love, cherish, and support them has given them the chance to be the kind, funny, and warm hearted people that they are.

And if this past year has proved anything is that Dreamcatcher won’t forget each other along the way, that they’ll always be there to lift each other up and celebrate each other’s successes, as well as being each other’s comfort through the tough times. They’ve really found something in each other that makes you wonder if fate isn’t a little bit more than a myth.

In the end, taking away everything superficial, love, support, and faith in them is really what is at their core and foundation as a group, and all I hope is that down the line more people will find out about them and get to know about their story and perhaps feel a little bit at peace for finding so much love in one place

[daughter-of-melpomene]

MY ETERNALS ORIGINAL CHARACTER, HELIOS

BASIC INFORMATION ---

FULL NAME: Helios (alias: Henry Brightman).

OTHER NAMES: H, Heli, Sunshine, Sunny Man, sweetheart, honey.

NAME MEANING:

Helios - of Greek origin, meaning sun.

ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces.

BIRTHPLACE: "Olympia" (formerly believed to be his home).

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Chicago, Illinois, USA.

NATIONALITY: Various countries and planets throughout time.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, ancient Greek, Akkadian, French, Spanish, Hindi, German, Russian, various forms of sign language, Mandarin (not fluently), various alien languages (not fluently/forgotten).

GENDER IDENTITY: Cisgender man.

PREFERRED PRONOUNS: He/him.

ORIENTATION: Panromantic, pansexual.

OCCUPATION: Eternal, freelance artist (formerly), sign language translator (formerly), newspaper comic artist (formerly), meteorologist (formerly), art museum curator.

FACECLAIM: Leslie Odom Jr.

PERSONALITY ---

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Ravenclaw - "the eagle".

"Students in Ravenclaw are noted for their individuality and acceptance of people and things that others would consider weird, as well as their outstanding intelligence. They can also be quirky and possess unusual intellectual interests. While others may be inclined to shun and ridicule such people, Ravenclaws generally accept and celebrate these eccentrics. Though they are often called stuck up, that is not the case."

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE: INFJ - "the advocate".

"Many Advocates see helping others as their mission in life, and they’re always looking for ways to step in and speak up for what is right. People with this personality type also aspire to fix society’s deeper problems, in the hope that unfairness and hardship can become things of the past. At times, however, Advocates may focus so intently on their ideals that they don’t take adequate care of themselves – a pattern that can lead to stress and burnout."

ENNEAGRAM: Type Two - "the helper".

"Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are well-meaning and driven to be close to others, but can slip into doing things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems with possessiveness and with acknowledging their own needs. Unselfish and altruistic, they have unconditional love for others."

ZODIAC: Pisces - "the fish".

"Pisces people are known for being emotionally sensitive, gracious, and emotionally aware. Pisces characters are regarded for being among the most sympathetic of the zodiac signs, and they will go to great lengths to ensure the happiness of those around them. They're also creative and imaginative."

ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good.

"A Neutral Good character typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A Neutral Good character has no problems with cooperating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a Lawful Good character would."

LOVE LANGUAGE: Physical touch (giving and receiving).

SKILLS: Heliokinesis, lumokinesis, invisibility due to manipulation of light, Eternal physiology, drawing, painting, sculpture, knowledge of meteorology, knowledge of art history, singing, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dancing, baking.

LIKES: The feeling of finishing a piece of art, rainy days, good music, dancing, listening to the radio while baking, spending time with his family, helping people, unprovoked compliments, holding hands with Kingo, cooking with Gilgamesh, watching Kingo's movies, teaching people about art.

DISLIKES: Know-it-alls, any kind of discrimination, conflict, extreme cold, violence, criticism, the myths the Greeks told about him, large bodies of water, heights.

FEARS/PHOBIAS: Conflict, the people he loves being in pain, death, snakes, large dogs, losing his powers, being hated by his family, Kingo not loving him back, blood.

BACKSTORY ---

While Helios was actually created by the Celestial Arishem and visited many planets over the course of his long existence, he believed that he was born and raised on the planet of Olympia, and that coming to Earth marked his first mission as a servant of the Celestials. Like his fellow Eternal Sersi, Helios took an instant liking to the inhabitants of Earth, believing that, though they were rather primitive when the Eternals arrived, that they were naturally creative and had great potential.

Over the centuries, Helios grew to love humans more and more, as he used his artistic skills to help many civilizations become more creative, and utilized his powers of manipulating light and the sun's energy to give them good weather. Eventually, the ancient Greeks even named their sun god after him, which he never liked; he believed he had been sent to Earth merely to help the humans, not to be worshipped by them. He was very glad when the Greeks discovered a new sun god, Apollo, and began to worship him instead. (This was something Kingo could never understand, since the other Eternal loved the spotlight).

Helios and Kingo had always had a bit of a quiet flirtation going on (which was so obvious that the other Eternals started a secret betting pool on when they would finally get together), and soon after arriving in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan to wipe out the last wave of Deviants, the two finally confessed their feelings and shared a long-overdue kiss. (This actually did not win any of the other Eternals any money, because none of their guesses were correct.)

However, almost immediately after the kiss, everything fell apart for this family of Eternals. Thena suffered from her first episode of Mahd Wy'ry and attacked the group, which resulted in Helios suffering a serious wound to the shoulder while trying to protect Makkari. This resulted in Thena and Gilgamesh agreeing to separate from the rest of the Eternals, and also Druig splitting from the group due to his weariness of all the violence committed by humans. After Ajak recommended that the Eternals go their separate ways, Kingo approached Helios and questioned him about whether he wanted to go off together. Unfortunately, Helios had just seemingly lost three of the people he loved most in the world, and was terrified of having to be there if he lost Kingo. As such, he lied, telling Kingo that he didn't want to go anywhere with him and that it was best if they went their separate ways - a choice that Helios would later look back on as the worst of his life.

After leaving the Aztec capital, Helios made his way to England, but moved around from place to place for the next several centuries, nursing his heartbreak over leaving Kingo. Though he entered into many romantic relationships over the years, none of them compared to the man he had left behind in Tenochtitlan, and they didn't last. He also held many different jobs over the centuries, but eventually settled in Chicago and took a job at an art museum, becoming a well-known man in his city and giving much of his time to relief efforts after the Blip was reversed.

Though he made it a point to visit all of his fellow Eternals much over the years - except for Kingo; though he watched the other man's movies, seeing him in person would have been too painful - Helios was incredibly surprised when Sersi, Sprite, and Ikaris dropped by his apartment with no warning. But his fellow Eternals brought dire tidings: the Deviants had somehow come back, and it was time to get the band back together.

RELATIONSHIPS ---

FAMILY: Arishem (creator), Sersi (sister figure), Thena (sister figure), Phastos (brother figure).

FRIENDS: Gilgamesh (best friend), Sersi (best friend), Makkari (best friend), Sprite (friend), Thena (friend), Druig (friend).

ACQUAINTANCES: Ajak (acquaintance), Ikaris (acquaintance), Dane Whitman (acquaintance), Karun (acquaintance).

ROMANTIC INTERESTS: Alexander Hamilton (former crush), Ella Fitzgerald (brief fling), Billie Holliday (brief fling), Marilyn Munroe (brief fling), Marlon Brando (brief fling), Richard Pryor (brief fling), Kingo (current romantic interest, boyfriend).

TRIVIA ---

When it's raining or he wakes up from a bad dream, Helios still feels phantom pain in the shoulder where Thena wounded him.

Sprite loves to tease Helios by referring to him as "illustrious sun god". He hates it, and will often create a brief, blinding flash in retaliation.

Helios knows all the dances from all of Kingo's movies. He's watched them so much, he memorized all the steps without even meaning to.

There is a painting hanging in the museum where Helios works, officially "donated by an anonymous artist," which he painted.

PLAYLIST ---

i. "sunbeam smile" by the good listeners.

ii. "let it be" by the beatles.

iii. "dog days are over" by florence + the machine.

iv. "love wins" by carrie underwood.

v. "time in a bottle" by jim croce.

[inklingshadows]

Do Asian Parents Actually Care About Their Children?

The negative stereotypes about Asian lifestyle - or more specifically, Asian parenting - never failed to amaze me. I have lived in the West, interacted with so many people abroad and while not everyone are racist and xenophobic towards Asians, most of them had all sorts of myths made up in mind about Asian lives. I spent so many countless exhausting hours explaining to them how these stereotypes are so deceptive (which, by the way, is literally true about every single culture) and even then their brains would not concede. Which brings the question: how rooted are these beliefs in non-Asian (and even Asian) people? It literally prompted me to write this post where I want to break the stereotypical beliefs and explain them:

Asian parents care more about family reputation than their children. 

True that Asian culture is family orientated. True that we prioritize our family duties more than we do independence and individualism. But you need to understand that this goes both ways. Most children also feel the same way the parents do. You also need to understand being family orientated does not mean we as children are submissively obedient to our elders’ desires. Being family oriented means growing up in a household always full of cousins as playmates, aunts and uncles bringing over food, celebrating meals for no reason apart from the fact everyone is together, gossiping about family drama here and there. Having a cousin come over rather than a friend to help you with your breakup dramas, your parents and other close relatives the first people to call for a place to stay or loans/gifts for money if you fell into crisis, rather than hotels and banks. Being family orientated means finding pleasure in making your family members happy rather than your childhood superhero ambitions. I chose to study architecture because my grandpa dreamed that I would be designing houses and bridges in the poor villages one day. I came back from abroad even though I had a cool and high pay because my father was dead and my mother would be all alone in the country. I study and get good grades simply because I wanna make my parents proud. As Asian children, we do these not because our parents force us to, but because we actually feel like this. And we do feel amazing when parents go around gushing on to their friends about how proud they are of us, see her? See the girl with the engineer of the year award? That’s my daughter! My son came back to the country just for me, because I wished he would be near and helping the country grow.

So the individualistic and independent Westerners look at the Asian kids doing what their parents want, and they immediately assume that the parents have oppressed us into leading this life. The truth is, we do it because we want to. And in case the kids don’t, in case they don’t study what their parents had dreamed them of doing so….ah well. Parents may be disappointed but they would rarely oppress their children into choosing their majors. They may seriously interfere and try to convince their children if they were choosing a major that did not have a high-paying job and chance at success and leading a comfortable life, such as music. Even then, this is because they care very hard about their children. Not because of honour at all.

Asian parents are never satisfied with the achievements of their children.

This is very untrue. On the contrary, they are more satisfied with your achievements. It’s just that they rarely tell you that to your face. They would give you flat tones of “Good job” and then criticise and tell you how you can do better. It’s because they believe that you can still thrive harder and do better. They never want you to stop trying. So while you keep working more on bettering your math scores or your literature subject, your parents go gush about how good you are at this and that to their relatives and friends.

But they do appreciate you and tell you they are proud of your achievements. It’s just they make those moments count. When you feel low and need to boost your confidence, they will tell you how much faith they have in you. The fact that these moments are so rare makes them more special.

Asian parents are very controlling and oppressive.

By Western standards, it does seem that Asian parents are very controlling about their children’s influences and movements. But you also need to understand that life in the West is usually very secure, less poor and you can rely on the government to protect your human rights and laws. For most of the Asian territory, this is, or was not for a long time, true. Staying in community is the way to survive here. Asian parents know this face and they want to shield their children from the harshness of life they have faced. This is why they appear very protective and controlling. But children are not oppressed. Given a certain age, definitely children have a say in their lives and they are allowed much freedom as they grow older.

Asian culture is just as flawed as any culture.  It’s got its great points, as well as severe drawbacks. They can be too overprotective to the point they shelter their children and make them unprepared for real life. They can be stoic and rigid so they don’t have intimacy with children. But they also raise their children amidst a lot of laughter and family reunions. They teach their kids to be sensible and practical about life. Yes, there are extreme parents who oppress their children and only care about family reputation and force them into marriages with business partners and make them choose careers they are not enthusiastic about. But it’s not like abusive parents don’t exist in the West either. It’s not easy to understand a culture that you are not part of. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the people and view the world as they do, to understand their actions. Learn not to judge a book by its cover. If you cannot afford to read it, try not to judge it at all.

- From the shadows. 

[sunkissedarcher]

TITLES & EPITHETS OF APOLLO

Over thousands of years, the deity known as Apollo has gained many different names he’s been called by, possibly due to the fact that not only was he one of the most important and complex/diverse of the Olympians, but also one of the individuals with the most domains attributed to him.

~ Roles ~

In Greco-Roman mythology, Apollo appears sometime after the Bronze Age; there is no surviving information of him prior to that; it’s sometimes believed that Artemis was originally depicted as a single goddess separate from him and he was later made her brother. Some claim there’s evidence to suggest that she evolved from/is identified with Britomartis who, to the Minoans, was the “Mistress of Animals” and in her earliest depictions was accompanied by the “Master of Animals”, a male god who had a hunting bow as his attribute, who may or may not have been a companion or her lover (very early versions of Artemis did not refer to her as a virgin; she was said to have had lovers and possibly even children). Apollo is the only major Greek god whose primary name remained the same when the Romans re-imagined them in their image after the rise of the Roman Empire.

Although Apollo’s origins are not certain, it is known that he was not worshiped at Delphi before the 8th century. It is believed that he came either from somewhere north of Greece or from Asia. One of his most common epithets is Lykeios, and Homer's lliad connects him with Lycia. In that epic he is an enemy of the Greeks, but other than his support for Troy there and a few other notable instances, Apollo was usually characterized as being impartial in politics. All the Greeks appeared to worship and respect him. There are also many oracles of Apollo in Asia Minor. But his Asian origin remains unproved. How and why he became a prophetic god in Greece is not known, but he is so from the earliest records.

In Roman religion. Apollo was introduced early into Italy, partly through Etruria and partly through the Greek settlements in Magna Graecia, but he was never properly identified with a Roman god. He was first introduced as a god of healing, but soon became prominent as a god of oracles and prophecy. In Virgil he figures in both these characters, but especially as the giver of oracles; the Cumaean Sibyl was his priestess; Sibyl, at the time, being a name simply meaning ‘prophetess’ and used as a generic term for oracles. In Virgil's Eclogues, Apollo appears also as the patron of poetry and music. The oldest temple to him in Rome was erected in 432 BC. His cult was further developed by the emperor Augustus, who took him as his special patron and erected to him a great temple on the Palatinc.

Apollo is in most sources recognized as the Greek god of archery (of which he and Artemis are both credited as inventing in some myths), light, hunting, music, poetry, dancing, prophecies and oracles, truth, order, medicine/healing and plagues/diseases, purification, civilization, knowledge and learning, as well as education (particularly in the arts) and science. Apollo was also known for his capacity to help guide children through growth and became known as the protector of the young who presided over the education, health and protection of children/youths, most often with prepubescent/adolescent boys, while his sister fulfilled the same role for young girls.

First and foremost, Apollo was seen as an Oracular god who ruled over prophecy and knowledge of the future, and as the god of light. After he was already established as an Olympic deity, Apollo’s domain was either merged with or he outright replaced the Titan of the Sun, Helios, which is where his title as the “sun god” began and possibly when the epithet Helius was given to him (around 3rd or 5th century BC, depending on the source). Around this time he started being depicted as driving the “solar chariot”, which was Helios’ main attribute. He is seen also as the god of warding off negativity and misfortune; various epithets refer to him as an “averter of evil,” and this is possibly due to his role in the protection of crops, as well as the god of plagues and diseases, he is sometimes referred to as Apollo Parnopius or the Parnopion (”God of Locusts”) for driving locusts away; or causing them as locusts are often associated with disease and calamity. Delphic Apollo was known as the patron of seafarers, foreigners, and the protector of fugitives and refugees (my speculation is this is related to his mother seeking ‘refuge’ on Delos from Hera’s wrath while pregnant when nowhere else would accept her), and numerous epithets elude to the many roles he played in Ancient Greek pantheism.

An important pastoral deity, Apollo was also the patron of herdsmen (shepherds, goatherds, cowherds) and is depicted as a minor god of agricultural protection over these herds, flocks and crops, which numerous stories refer to, and field plowing (see the times he was made mortal and tended to fields and crops on behalf of King Admentus, or the story of a baby Hermes stealing his sacred cattle). Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were some of his primary duties, as well as encouraging the founding of new towns and establishment of civil constitution. He is associated with dominion over colonists. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city. As the god of Mousike (art of Muses), Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry. He is the inventor of string-music, and the frequent companion of the Muses, functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations. The lyre is a common attribute of Apollo.

As stated above Apollo was not originally viewed as a Sun God, nor was his sister the Moon Goddess, those roles belonged to the Titans Helios and Selene respectively, but eventually they began being viewed as synonymous and their origins conflated, to the point the Titans were phased out and replaced with the twin archers, sometimes seen as their godly counterparts or successors after the overthrowing of the Titans, when in reality Helios and Selene were some of the few deities who did not side with Cronus in the Titanomachy. It should be noted that for many deities, they hold minor or secondary roles in other fields than their primary; Poseidon is the ‘god’ of the sea, Oceanus was the ‘titan’ of the sea yet Apollo and many other gods are still seen as protectors of sea voyagers, and while Hera is the goddess of marriage, family, fertility, etc. her mother Rhea was the titan of female fertility and motherhood, and Hymenaeus (sometimes depicted as a son of Apollo, or in one bizarre circumstance as his lover) was a god of marriage ceremonies, inspiring feasts and song. Just like multiple Ancient Greek and Roman cities had more than one patron/protector god, so can one field of worship have more than one deity that represents it.

Apollo in some cases was not just seen as the Greek god of male youth, but of male beauty as well; he was stated to be the most characteristically ‘Greek’ of all the gods ironically enough given his unclear origins, and was often used as the perfect embodiment of a Kouros - a beautiful but athletic youth depicted as long-haired and beardless (Ancient Greek boys would grow their hair long until reaching adulthood; thus Apollo’s depiction as both beardless and long-haired pictures him as a youthful god, perhaps just on the cusp of adulthood). As a Kouros, Apollo embodied youthful but mature male beauty and moral excellence, which combined with his association to the beneficial aspects of civilization (healing, music, education, city-building, flock tending, sun/sunlight and prophecy, archery (but not war or hunting) and youth) may have been one of the biggest factors in how much the Greeks cherished him and how many monuments, epithets, and areas of duty were assigned to him.

~ Greco-Roman & Celtic Epithets ~

Sun & Light

Aegletes: “Light of the Sun”, or “the Radiant God”

Phoebus: Apollo’s chief epithet was Phoebus (literally “Bright” or "Shining"). It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light. This also connects him with his maternal grandmother, the Titan Phoebe, the female variant of the name which is also applied to his twin sister Artemis.

Helius: Literally “Sun” - possibly becoming attributed to him when he took on the role previously fulfilled by Helios.

Lukêgenês: “Born of Light”

Lyceus: “Light” - The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated with Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia and who was identified with the wolf.

Phanaeus: “Giving or bringing light”

Sol: Latin for “Sun”

Thermius: “Warm”

Wolf

Lycegenes: Literally “Born Of a wolf” or “Born of Lycia”

Lyceius: Similar to or synonymous with ‘Lyceus’; a surname of Apollo with an uncertain meaning. Possibly from the word ‘Lukos’, which would give it the meaning “The Wolf-Slayer”, others from “Luke”, which would give it the meaning “The Giver of Light.” Or it could mean someone from the country of Lycia. Surviving passages indicate it could be any of the three.

Lycoctonus: “Wolf” and “To Kill”

Origin/Birth

Cynthius/Kynthius: Literally “Cynthian/Kynthian”; Apollo’s birthplace was atop Mount Cynthos (or Mount Kynthus) on the floating island of Delos; his sister has a similar name attributed to her.

Cynthogenes: “Born of Cynthus”

Delius: “Delian/of Delos”, someone born on Delos; the name Delia is applied similarly to his sister.

Didymaeus: “Twin”, a name attributed to he and Artemis together.

Epaktios: “God of the Coast”

Epibatêrios: “Leader of Sailors”

Latôios: “Son of Leto”

Pythios “Of Python”

Sauroktonos: “Lizard Slayer”, likely a reference to his killing of the monster Python.

Tityoktónos: “Slayer of the Giant Tityos”. Tityos was a giant in Greek mythology and the son of Elara and Zeus. Still scorned by the affair of her husband with Leto, she sent the giant to rape Leto and he was subsequently slain by the protective Apollo and Artemis. As punishment after death, he was laid out in Tartarus where two vultures would torture him by feeding on his liver, which grew back every night. This is similar to the punishment of Prometheus.

Places/Worship

Acraephius: Literally “Acraephian”, from the Boeotian town of Acraephia, reputedly founded by his son Acraepheus.

Actiacus: “Actian”, after Actium, one of his primary places of worship, a town in Ancient Acarnania.

Delphinius: “Delphic”, after Delphi, the location of the Oracle of Delphi, but also relating to dolphins. One Minoan origin story describes Apollo transforming into a dolphin and intercepting a pirate ship of Cretans, turning back into himself, and convincing the pirates to become his priests, and carrying them back to Delphi with him (possibly in dolphin form).

Epactaeus: “God worshiped on the coast” in Samos.

Erythibios: “Of the Mildew”. An epithet bestowed on a temple dedicated to him by the Rhodians.

Hebdomagetês: “The 7th of Every Month”

Hecatombæus: “Sacrifice of 100″

Hyacinthia: “Hyacinth”. A festival celebrated at Amyclae by the Spartans in honor of Apollo Actius, and in honor of the death of his young lover Prince Hyacinthus/Hyakinthos, who in some variants of the story was a Spartan Prince.

Leucadius/Leucadios/Leucates/Leukates: “From the Leucas”. A surname of Apollo deriving from Leucas (now known as Lefkada). From λευκός (leukos) meaning “White” as well as “Bright, Clear, Brilliant”. Also the name of Leukadios, the son of Icarius and Polycaste, who according to myth, was also said to be the eponym of the island.

Pythius: From the region around Delphi, related to Python who was slain by Apollo. For this reason, his priests are often known as the Pythian priests.

Semne: “Holy/Revered”

Smintheus: “Sminthian”, or “Of the town of Sminthos,” near the Troad town of Hamaxitus.

Spodios: “Sacred Altar Ash”

Thymbraios: “Of Thymbra.” A surname of Apollo, likely a localization, from Thymbra, which was a city near Troy that worshiped the god Apollo Thymbraios. It was in this altar that Troilus (son of Apollo or King Priam, depending on the myth) fled for sanctuary, possibly, and was beheaded on the altar omphalos by Achilles, incurring the wrath of Apollo.

Pastoral Duties/Agriculture

Arótrios: “Blesser of Farmers/Shepherds”

Meliae: “Of the Ash Tree,” Meliads were ash tree Nymphs, and the ones who nursed a young Zeus when Rhea saved him from being devoured by Cronus. This name is significant due to a grove that was sacred to Apollo in Colophon in Ionia. He also had a Nymph consort by the name of Melia, by whom he fathered the prophet and hero Tenerus.

Noumios: “Leader of Shepherds” or “Of the Pastures”

Nymphegetes: “Nymph” and “Leader”, for his role as a protector of shepherds and pastoral life, as Nymphs were regarded as minor female deities and personifications of nature.

Spærmeios: “Presiding Over Seed”

Patron Of The Young

Kouros: Apollo was sometimes referred to as the ideal image of a Kouros (a beautiful and athletic, beardless male youth). This name brings to mind the name of the female equivalent, “Kore”, which means young unmarried girl (maiden/virgin), and was also a name of Persephone. Kouros/Kore is also the name of a type of freestanding statue in Ancient Greek art of a young unwed male/female. In this, Apollo and Persephone can possibly be considered counterparts as archetypal Greek images of eternal youths.

Kourotróphos: “Nurturer of Children”. A name that was given in Ancient Greece to gods and goddesses whose properties included their ability to protect young people. Numerous gods are referred to by this epithet, including, but not limited to, Athena, Apollo, Hermes, Hecate, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Eileithyia.

Vulturius: “Of Vultures”. A surname and epithet given to Apollo after he saved a shepherd boy from death in a large, deep cave, by the means of vultures. To thank him, the boy built Apollo a temple under the name Vulturius.

Healing/Disease

Acesius: “Healing”. Acesius was the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis, where he had a temple in the agora.

Acestor: “Healer”

Akesios: “Of Healing” Culicarius: “Of Midges” or “Averter of Flies/Gnats”

Iatrus: “Physician”

Loimios: “Savior from Plague” Medicus: “Physician” in Latin. A temple was dedicated to Apollo Medicus in Rome, probably next to the temple of Bellona.

Oulios: “Of Sound Health”

Paean: “Physician, Healer” Parnopius: “Expeller of Locusts.” Locusts were a sign of plague and disease; this was a surname of Apollo under which he had a statue on the acropolis of Athens.

Sosianus: “Healer of Madness”

Viodóhtis: “Giver of Life”

Founder & Protector

Agêtôr: “Leader of Men”

Agônios: “Helper in Contests”

Agyieus: “Protector of the Streets”. A surname of Apollo, describing his role in protecting roads, streets, public places and homes.

Aktios: “Of the Foreshore”, possibly relating to Apollo’s status as patron and protector of sailors/seafarers (a duty he shared minimally with the chief sea god, Poseidon).

Alaios: “Wanderer”, perhaps a reference to his role as the founder of cities, or the patron of fugitives. Also the name of one of his temples, founded by the hero Philoctetes.

Alexicacus: Literally “Averter of Calamity”. A surname given by the Greeks to several deities; to Apollo, who was worshiped under this name by the Athenians, because he was believed to have stopped the plague which raged at Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War.

Apotropaeus: “To Avert”

Archegetes: “Founder”. A surname of Apollo, under which he was worshiped at several places, such as Naxos in Sicily, and at Megara. The name either references Apollo as the leader and protector of colonies, or as the founder of towns in general.

Averruncus: “To Avert”

Boêdromios: “Rescuer”

Clarius: “Allotted lot”. A surname of Apollo, derived from his celebrated temple at Clarios in Asia Minor, which had been founded by Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, who, after the conquest of her native city of Thebes, was made over to the Delphic god, and was then sent into the country, where subsequently Colophon was built by the Ionians.

Embasius “Blesser of Those Embarking”

Epicurius: “To Aid”

Genetor: Literally “Ancestor”

Horios “Of Boundaries/Borders”

Kataibatês: “Glad Return”

Phuzios: “Protector of Fugitives”

Prostatêrios: “Protector Of Houses”

Soter: “Savior”

Theoxenios: “God of Strangers”/”Foreign God”, as the patron of strangers, foreigners and refugees.

Thyræus: “Of the Gate/Entrance”

Zosterius: “Savior”/”Encircling the World”

Appearance

Akersekomês: “Beautiful Hair”/”Uncut Hair”

Chrysokomes: “Golden Haired”

Comaeus: “Flowing Hair”

Daphnaios: “Bay Laurel”

Daphnephorios: “Bearing Laurel”

Dicerus: “Two Horned”

Karneios: “Horned”

Kýdimos Kouros: “Famous Youth”

Prophecy & Truth

Coelispex: From the Latin coelum, meaning “Sky”, and specere, “To Look At”.

Iatromantis: From the Greek words for “Physician” and “Prophet”, referring to his role as a god of both healing and prophecy.

Khrismohdós: “Chanting Prophecies”

Klêdônes: “Omen in Words and Sounds”

Leschenorius: “Converser”

Loxias: From λέγειν, “To say”, historically associated with λοξός, “Ambiguous”, or “Vague Prophecy”.

Manticus: “Prophetic”

Moiragetês: “Leader of the Fates”

Manticus: Literally “Prophetic”

Panderkes Omma: “All Seeing Eye”

Proopsios: “Foreseeing”

Thearios: “Of the Oracle”

Music & The Arts

Khrysolýris: “Of the Golden Lyre”

Kitharohdós: “Player of the Kithára”

Kýrios Orkhísæohs: “Lord of Dance”

Musagetes/Musegetes: “Leader”

Mousarkhos: “Leader of the Muses.” The same as above; Apollo was considered the leader of the Muses’ choir.

Tælǽstohr: “Sacred Teacher”

Archery/Hunting

Agraios: “Of the Wild”

Agréfs: “Hunter”

Aphetor/Aphetorus: “To Let Loose”

Arcitenens: Literally “Bow-Carrying”

Argyrotoxus: “Bearer of the Silver Bow”

Efpharǽtris : “Possessing a Beautiful Quiver”

Efrypharetres: “With Wide Quiver”

Hecaërgus: “Far-shooting”

Hecebolus: “He Who Attains His Aim”

Hekatos: “Shooter From Afar”/”Distant Deadly Archer”

Ismenius: Literally “Of Ismenus”; after Ismenus, the son of Amphion and Niobe, whom he struck down with an arrow after Niobe’s insult of his mother, Leto.

Khrysótoxos: “With Bow of Gold”

Toxovǽlæmnos: “Of Bow and Arrows”

Others

Aglaotimus: “Splendidly Honored”

Agnós: “Holy”

Amazonius: Pausanias at the Description of Greece wrote that near Pyrrhichus there was a sanctuary of Apollo, called Amazonius, with image of the god said to have been dedicated by the Amazons.

Anaphaios: “He Made Appear.” A surname of Apollo, after the island in the Cretan sea, Anáphi, which he was said to have made appear, from the light of an arrow, to the Agronauts as shelter from a storm.

Ánax: “King”

Asphetorus: “To Let Loose”

Cerdous: “Gainful”

Chrusaôr: “He Who Wields the Golden Sword”

Dekatêphoros “Bringer of Tithes”

Eleleus: “War Cry”

Enolmus “Of the Seat”

Enthryptos: “Of the Enthyrptos Cake”

Erasmius: “Beloved”

Genetor: “Ancestor”

Intonsus: “Uncut/Unshaved”

Isodetês: “He Who Equally Binds”

Kharopiós: “Bringer of Joy”

Korynthos: “Of the (Sacred) Corynthos Cake”

Kourídios: “Suitable Partner”

Kozmoplókos: “Holder of the World”

Mælioukhos Turannæ: “Ruling With Sweetness”

Mákar: “Blessed”

Marmarinos: “Of Marble”

Myricaeus: “Bearing Broom”

Napaeus: “Of Groves”

Naeominios: “New Moon”

Olviodotis: “Bestower of Bliss”

Pangkratis: “All Powerful”

Pantothalis: “Making Everything Bloom”

Patróös: “Father”

Philísios: “Friendly”

Prophítis: “Speaker for a God”

Psykhodotír: “Giver of the Soul”

Saligena: “Rising From the Sea”

Spelaites: “Of Grottos”

Thorates: “Engendering”

Celtic Epithets/Cult Titles

Apollo Atepomarus: “The Great Horseman” or “Possessing a Great Horse”. Apollo was worshiped at Mauvières. Horses were, in the Celtic world, closely linked to the sun.

Apollo Belenus: “Bright” or “Brilliant”. This epithet was given to Apollo in parts of Gaul, Northern Italy, and Nocrium (a part of what is now Austria). Apollo Belenus was a healing and sun god.

Apollo Cunomaglus: “Hound Lord”. The title given to Apollo at a shrine in Nettleton Shrub, Wiltshire. May have been a god of healing. Cunomaglus himself may originally have been an independent healing god.

Apollo Grannus: Grannus was a healing spring god, later equated with Apollo.

Apollo Maponus: A god known from inscriptions in Britain. This may be a local fusion of Apollo and Maponus.

Apollo Moritasgus: “Masses of the Sea Water”. An epithet for Apollo at Alesia, where he was worshiped as god of healing and, possibly, of physicians.

Apollo Vindonnus: “Clear Light”. From a temple at Essarois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine in present-day Burgundy. He was a god of healing, especially of the eyes.

Apollo Virotutis: Possibly “Benefactor of Mankind”. He was worshiped, among other places, at Fins d’Annecy (Haute-Savoie) and at Jublains (Maine-et-Loire).

( Sources: X X X X X X )

[theyreoutofthewoods]

Haylor: fact, fiction, or folklore?

I’ve accepted 99% of what we see in the entertainment industry is PR so I just eat it up for entertainment but always stay skeptical about what’s going on in real life. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from a lot of my friends working in the entertainment industry and/or PR professionally, it’s that most of what we see from celebrities is highly filtered PR.

At this point I just take celebrity stories like narratives or myths they tell. It’s part fact, part fiction making it more like folklore. I can enjoy it and know it’s sort of fake since they’re storytellers and most famous people play up a public persona that isn’t necessarily their real personality (like anyone does at work or on social media). Good examples of this would be Harry’s public persona during 1D as a womanizer (which we know isn’t really true). Another example would be when Taylor had her fake country accent during debut (which we know she grew up in Pennsylvania).

I was thinking about PR and relationships, and the most recent example with Olivia Rodrigo drivers license. With Olivia, it was too scripted to be totally believable in my opinion, like with the back and forth between Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Basset, and Sabrina Carpenter. There’s probably big kernels of truth in their story but they’re exaggerated and played up to boost all of their careers and personas. Olivia: the “good” girl who is a brilliant songwriter (I’m sure she truly is) who got her heart broken a la Taylor Swift or Lorde. Joshua: the heartbreaker/bad boy. Sabrina: the “bad” girl who sort of “stole” Joshua away from Olivia. They all dropped songs from their side of the story. But songs aren’t quick to make or release, they take tons of planning. So ultimately they’re all playing up characters in the drama so that we associate these traits with them, it’s what good PR and public personas are built on. The problem was it looked a bit too staged. Those events might really have happened! But it was all too convenient that they stirred up the drama THAT quickly, post after post.

I’ve really been thinking about it with Haylor lately too. There are countless theories that I won’t get into about the motivations for Harry and Taylor dating for PR, but the main theme underlying all of these theories is that them dating would further both of their careers. Fans of one would become fans of the other. People would pay attention to two of music’s biggest young stars dating.

Taylor needed a bad boy muse to write about to bring her into pop super stardom (because she was in transition from country music) and to promote her new pop album, which would go on to become one of the most famous pop albums of all time. Harry had an image to further that he was a womanizer who dated slightly older women. As a couple, it was a symbiotic relationship. And we see that in Taylor’s music TO THIS DAY that she’s still writing references to their story (see: coney island, happiness, and the cardigan music video). Maybe it’s because they had an epic and toxic love story? a tale as old as time. Or maybe it’s because she’s a superb storyteller? Maybe it’s both!

Harry said it best in the very transparent song Perfect when he sang “if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about, baby I’m perfect.” Between his songs for One Direction and his first solo album, and hers on 1989 and beyond (and others they both wrote for other artists) playing up both of them as these characters, it’s a masterfully crafted story. Thrilling, emotional, and incredibly well designed.

I mean it’s 2021, 8 years after their alleged first big breakup in 2013 and we’re still talking about it and they’re still creating a narrative between themselves. Harry dropped Fine Line on Taylor’s 30th birthday. Taylor dropped folklore on the 10th anniversary of One Direction. They both had iconic Vogue and Rolling Stone covers drop on the same day. They both had surprises on the same night (his for iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2020 and hers for the announcement of her surprise album, Evermore). They’re now two of the most popular artists on the planet, and are both nominated and performing at the 2021 Grammys. They’re still tied to each other through their PR and I don’t think that’s a coincidence at all. I don’t think they’re secretly in a relationship, probably not even friends. She’s happily in a long term relationship and he seems fulfilled doing his own thing. To our knowledge they don’t even talk anymore, but maybe their PR teams do?

Obviously I love Harry and Taylor individually and loved them as a couple. Whether or not it was a PR stunt completely or a real relationship, or something in between, or both at different points (which is what I actually believe), they both made an incredible narrative that we’re still enjoying to this day and indirectly boosting the others’ success, so I think it’s been an effective strategy from a PR standpoint. I mean coney island and happiness had lines directly referencing Out of the Woods, so she’s still writing that story.

Even if it’s mostly fiction, it’s incredible storytelling no matter if it happened for real or not. They’re entertainers and artists, and I think they’ve done a great job at that. So if it was all PR, I don’t feel like my love for them is threatened at all. If it was real, all the more to love. If it was just a tall tale, it kept us enthralled with the drama and art that came out of it and continues to to this day, as they were one of the most iconic pop culture couples of the 2010s. Because like Taylor said, they’ll never go out of Style.

[ucflibrary]

Poetry is the expression of human experience.

It is the               voice                         when finding ourselves                         past and future identities.

Poems are a universal noise bringing truth from silence on our lived experiences in               race,                       gender,                                    sexuality,                                                    ethnicity,                                                                   religion,                                                                                 health,                                                                                            and family.

These verses, in whichever form they take, are the hopes,                         dreams,                                      rage,                                              and tears that move our lives.

UCF Libraries is proud to raise up other voices as part of the largest literary celebration in the world.

We have gathered suggestions to feature 16 books of poetry that are currently in the UCF collection. These works represent the wide range of favorite poets for our faculty and staff. To compliment the works featured on the 2021 list, an additional 200 poetry books grace the shelves of our Featured Display next to the Research & Information Desk on the main floor of the John C. Hitt Library.

Click on the Keep reading link to see the full list of titles and descriptions.

A Nail the Evening Hangs On by Monica Sok In her debut collection, Monica Sok uses poetry to reshape a family’s memory about the Khmer Rouge regime―memory that is both real and imagined―according to a child of refugees. Driven by myth-making and fables, the poems examine the inheritance of the genocide and the profound struggles of searing grief and PTSD. Though the landscape of Cambodia is always present, it is the liminal space, the in-betweenness of diaspora, in which younger generations must reconcile their history and create new rituals. Sok seeks to reclaim the Cambodian narrative with tenderness and an imagination that moves towards wholeness and possibility. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisition and Collection Services

 Buzzing Hemisphere = Rumor Hemisferico by Urayoan Noel In this expansive collection, we hear the noise of cities such as New York, San Juan, and São Paulo abuzz with flickering bodies and the rush of vernaculars as untranslatable as the murmur in the Spanish rumor. Oscillating between baroque textuality and vernacular performance, Noel’s bilingual poems experiment with eccentric self-translation, often blurring the line between original and translation as a way to question language hierarchies and allow for translingual experiences. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Collected Poems in English by Joseph Brodsky One of the greatest and grandest advocates of the literary vocation, Joseph Brodsky truly lived his life as a poet, and for it earned eighteen months in an Arctic labor camp, expulsion from his native country, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Such were one man's wages. Here, collected for the first time, are all the poems he published in English, from his earliest collaborations with Derek Walcott, Richard Wilbur, Howard Moss, and Anthony Hecht to the moving farewell poems he wrote near the end of his life. Suggested by Tatyana Leonova, Acquisition and Collection Services

 Crush by Richard Siken This work, selected as the 2004 winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize, is a powerful collection of poems driven by obsession and love. Siken writes with ferocity, and his reader hurtles unstoppably with him. His poetry is confessional, gay, savage, and charged with violent eroticism. In the world of American poetry, Siken's voice is striking. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

 Different Hours by Stephen Dunn The mysteries of Eros and Thanatos, the stubborn endurance of mind and body in the face of diminishment--these are the undercurrents of Stephen Dunn's eleventh volume. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

 Honeyfish by Lauren K. Alleyne The collection begins and ends with poems that memorialize and mourn the deaths of African Americans who have died at police hands, though to call them poems of protest would simplify their exploration of what life means in relation to death. It is a collection whose architecture works to make each poem, beautiful in their singular grace, add up to much more than the sum of their individual parts. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 How We Became Human: new and selected poems by Joy Harjo This collection gathers poems from throughout Joy Harjo's twenty-eight-year career, beginning in 1973 in the age marked by the takeover at Wounded Knee and the rejuvenation of indigenous cultures in the world through poetry and music. This work explores its title question in poems of sustaining grace. Suggested by Megan Haught, Student Learning & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 Legacy: women poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes For centuries, accomplished women--of all races--have fallen out of the historical records. The same is true for gifted, prolific, women poets of the Harlem Renaissance who are little known, especially as compared to their male counterparts. In this poetry collection, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses "The Golden Shovel" poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of these groundbreaking women-and to introduce readers to their work. Suggested by Megan Haught, Student Learning & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 New Poets of Native Nations edited by Heid E. Erdrich Erdrich gathers poets of diverse ages, styles, languages, and tribal affiliations to present the extraordinary range and power of new Native poetry. These selected twenty-one poets whose first books were published after the year 2000 highlight the exciting works coming up after Joy Harjo and Sherman Alexie. Collected here are poems of great breadth―long narratives, political outcries, experimental works, and traditional lyrics―and the result is an essential anthology of some of the best poets writing now. Suggested by Dawn Tripp, Research & Information Services

 Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil With inquisitive flair, Aimee Nezhukumatathil creates a thorough registry of the earth’s wonderful and terrible magic. In her fourth collection of poetry, she studies forms of love as diverse and abundant as the ocean itself. She brings to life a father penguin, a C-section scar, and the Niagara Falls with a powerful force of reverence for life and living things. With an encyclopedic range of subjects and unmatched sincerity, it speaks to each reader as a cooperative part of the earth, an extraordinary neighborhood to which we all belong. Suggested by Christina Wray, Student Learning & Engagement

 Owed by Joshua Bennett Bennett's new collection is a book with celebration at its center. Its primary concern is how we might mend the relationship between ourselves and the people, spaces, and objects we have been taught to think of as insignificant, as fundamentally unworthy of study, reflection, attention, or care. Spanning the spectrum of genre and form--from elegy and ode to origin myth--these poems elaborate an aesthetics of repair. What's more, they ask that we turn to the songs and sites of the historically denigrated so that we might uncover a new way of being in the world together, one wherein we can truthfully reckon with the brutality of the past and thus imagine the possibilities of our shared, unpredictable present, anew. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisition and Collection Services

 Phantom Noise by Brian Turner Brian Turner deftly illuminates existence as both easily extinguishable and ultimately enduring. These prophetic, osmotic poems wage a daily battle for normalcy, seeking structure in the quotidian while grappling with the absence of forgetting. Suggested by Katy Miller, Student Learning & Engagement

 Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz This is an anthem of desire against erasure. Natalie Diaz’s brilliant second collection demands that every body carried in its pages―bodies of language, land, rivers, suffering brothers, enemies, and lovers―be touched and held as beloveds. Through these poems, the wounds inflicted by America onto an indigenous people are allowed to bloom pleasure and tenderness. In this new lyrical landscape, the bodies of indigenous, Latinx, black, and brown women are simultaneously the body politic and the body ecstatic. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisition and Collection Services

 The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes edited by Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel Here, for the first time, are all the poems that Langston Hughes published during his lifetime, arranged in the general order in which he wrote them. Lyrical and pungent, passionate and polemical, the result is a treasure of a book, the essential collection of a poet whose words have entered our common language. Suggested by Susan MacDuffee, Acquisition and Collection Services

The Heart Aroused: poetry and the preservation of soul in corporate America by David Whyte David Whyte brings his unique perspective as poet and consultant to the workplace, showing readers how fulfilling work can be when they face their fears and follow their dreams. Going beneath the surface concerns about products and profits, organization and order, Whyte addresses the needs of the heart and soul, and the fears and desires that many workers keep hidden. At a time when corporations are calling on employees for more creativity, dedication, and adaptability, and workers are trying desperately to balance home and work, this revised edition is the essential guide to reinvigorating the soul. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

 The Secret Powers of Naming by Sara Littlecrow-Russell Sara Littlecrow-Russell’s style emerges from the ancient and sacred tradition of storytelling, where legends were told not just to entertain, but to teach and, if necessary, to discipline. The power of the storyteller is the power of naming, to establish a relationship, a connection, and a sense of meaning. A name is both a bequest and a burden. Each of the poems in this collection is, in essence, a naming ritual. Sharply, energetically, and always provocatively, these poems name uncomfortable moments, complex emotions, and sudden, often wryly humorous realizations. Suggested by Megan Haught, Student Learning & Engagement/Research & Information Services

[awesomelizziethewriter-blog]

Essay on Folklore and Mysticism in some of Yeats works

In this essay I will address the way Yeats uses folklore and mysticism in his many works such as plays and poems. In order to do this essay the following books were used : “Folklore and W.B.Yeats:the function of folklore elements in three early plays" by Birgit Bramsback , “Yeats , Philosophy and the Occult” by Matthew Gigson and Neil Mann , and “Music and the Irish Literary Imagination” by Harry White.

Folklore represents the beliefs , legends and customs of common people and the main idea of it is tradition , which is something that is handed from one person to another by memory or written record. Irish legends can be divided into several categories such as cattle-raids , battles , and adventures , but later Irish tales started to be divided into cycles. There are four main cycles : The first one is the Mythological Cycle, which describes the origins of Irish deities, the second one is called the Ulster Cycle (the most famous story in this cycle is the “Tain bo Cuailnge”),the third cycle is called the Fenian Cycle in honor of the hero Finn MacCumhall , the fourth and final cycle is called the Historical Cycle. Yeats often used the first three cycles and never used the last one. Folklore can be divided in three categories : traditional tales , traditional popular belief , and folk poetry. The first category provides us with themes , motifs and symbols. The second category has largely to do with the concept of the Otherworld. The third category sets the tone of the scenes , intensifies emotions and conflicts and also provides us the theme of rebirth and transformation. Yeats devoted most of his time in uniting poetry with magic , and he was responsible for the Celtic revival and worked for the preservation of folklore and its communication to a larger number of people , and the use of it in creative writing. He dreamed that folklore would function as “living organism in a country's literature” and he often mentioned that irish culture had a rich Celtic tradition at its disposal and that irish poets should use these stories and pass them on to listeners all over the world.

To Yeats the word folk meant all the majority of illiterate people of the irish country side and he believed that folklore should be used to “vitalize” literature. One example of this is his poem entitled “By the Roadside” , in which Yeats describes his going one night to “a wide place on the Kiltartan road to listen to some irish songs” where he heard traditional irish songs and saw folk dancing performed. According to him , a poet should listen to storytellers and have access to symbols and stories in Folk imagination which is why he edited many collections of stories such as “Fairy and Folk tales of the Irish Peasantry”.

According to Birgit Bramsbäck , “Yeats drew folklore from two main sources : from his personal work and from material previously adapted or treated in a literary way”. In one of his plays entitled “The Land of Heart's desire” we can find the story of a newly married bride who is taken away to fairyland. In Ireland there are countless tales and legends about meetings between faeries and mortals. In “Irish Fairy and Folk Tales” there are many stories about fairies and humans being taken by them.

There are many types of fairies in the Irish fairy lore with different abilities and characteristics. These include leprechauns, banshees, changelings and many others. The origin of Irish fairies can be dated back to the ancient Celtic beliefs of pagan Gods and supernatural beings. The poem “The Host of the Air” is about the story of a married woman named Bridget who was “tempted away” by fairy pipers. This story takes place near the Heart Lake. Fairy music plays a major part in the play previously mentioned and many beliefs among the Irish country ended up “woven into the play”. The main difference between the tales and his play is that the character named Mary does not see herself as a victim, but as a specifically selected individual whose destiny lies in the Otherworld ( in Yeats early works he was always turning his imagination to the Otherworld and the belief that the veil between the two worlds is very thin). Mary fears and longs for the Otherworld and in her loneliness she thinks and talks about the faeries. The wind in this poem symbolizes the fairy world and Mary longs to be as free as the wind and to be united with the faeries. Yeats presents us with several theories about who the faeries are , and the suggestion that perhaps they are human souls foreshadows Yeats belief in the “Plastic power of the soul”. According to Birgit Bramsbäck, “ Mary's soul is in contact with this invisible world of faeries whose song strikes a familiar note in her soul” and there is very short step between the human world and the fairy world.

In this play Yeats also uses fire symbolism , as the fairy child has the power to change the primroses into flames and they become enchanted “like Nature herself” and the fairy uses them to have power over Mary. We can see that Mary feels divided between these elemental powers and her husband whom she loves ( Yeats uses folk beliefs in the depiction between Mary and her husband and he also uses it to enhance the conflict between the visible world and the invisible one).

In the play , the fairy is symbol of beauty and love ,and the Otherworld is everywhere as Mary hears the fairy's voice in the wind. We can see that this play is full of fairy songs and Mary is clearly drawn to this dream world whose call she keeps hearing in the wind ( in Ireland there has always been a very strong belief in fairy music because people thought that it allured many innocents to fairyland). Yeats was clearly influence by many Irish legends and myths when he wrote the play“The Shadowy Waters” , as there are few elements of black magic and oral lure ( in his drafts he had included more of these elements than he included in the published version). We can see that the mythological tale of “The dream of Oengus” underlies this play because they both share the same theme : a woman that appears to the hero in a dream. In this play there is also the bird symbolism which is present in many other plays and poems by Yeats. According to Birgit Bramsbäk , in “The Shadowy Waters”, “the Otherworld is located at sea and the voyage undertaken by Forgael is a quest for this land and the immortal love to be enjoyed there.” The natural elements in this play such as the sea and the storm are vital symbols because there is a clear association of the storm with the Ever-living. The Otherworld vision relates to love , desire and a hope for immortality. Brigit Bramsbäck also states that “ in this play there is a symbolic use of the combination of wind , spirit , desire and hope but “the vague desires and hopes” are changed into a strong desire to experience love in “immortal fashion”. In this play Yeats portrays the so called visible world as being in constant conflict with the “ideal world” to which specifically selected individuals are drawn. In “The Countess Cathleen” , Yeats tells us the story of Countess Cathleen who is a known figure of Irish legends. According to the legend, when a famine striked Ireland , Satan sent demons to buy the souls of the starving Irish but Cathleen ended up selling her estates and possessions in order to buy the people food and keep them from selling their souls. But in the end Satan defeats her and she chooses to sacrifice herself for the poor people. According to Bramsbäck “The Countess' legendary donation of her worldly possessions takes on an otherworldly aspect in this poem because it suggests that Cathleen, in giving over her body, lets go of her heavy burden. She dances lightly and wisely in the heavens, celebrating her sacrifice and her role in the grand order of the universe.” In this play the countess is meant to represent martyrdom.As we can see there are quite a number of folkloric symbols , legends and ancient tales and myths portrayed in these plays. In the poem entitled “A Fairy Song” , Yeats was inspired by the story of Diarmuid and Gráinne. We can consider this poem to be about the origin of myths. As I have previously mentioned , it is believed that faeries inhabit the mythical world and because of that they are immortal. The cromlech can symbolize 2 things : a portal to the realm of the Faeries , and a monument that immortalizes the lives of Diarmuid and Grania. Therefore we can say that the cromlech is a symbol of transition because in the poem the fairies say that Diarmuid and Grania are “ new from the world” , which means that they have entered the fairy world.

The poem entitled “The Song of Wandering Aengus” is about the life the main character called Aengus who according to the legend belonged to a mythical people who conquered Ireland after having defeated the native tribes of the Fir Bolg. Aengus was considered to be the god of love and youth. In this poem Yeats tells the story of how Aengus fell in love with a girl he had seen in a dream and spent years searching for her , which can be seen as the lifelong search for a soulmate. In the poem entitled “Who Goes With Fergus” , Fergus “represents the archetype of the mystical poet who gives up pursuit of the worldly to seek the spiritual realms.” In this poem Yeats is asking people to pursue the mystic which in this poem is symbolized by the woods , the stars and the sea. The poem “The Rose Upon the Rood of Time” is about the nationalist vision of Ireland symbolized by the rose in this poem. It is believed that the rose also symbolizes Maud Gonne , who was a female revolutionary. In this poem , Yeats promises to sing about some ancient figures , namely druids, who were considered to be very important figures in Ireland.He also promises to sing of “Cuchulain, the hound of Culain”,the hero of Irish myth cycles.

In the poem “Byzantium” , Yeats describes the realm of spirits in which we can see that the world of spirits is a dark place because the speaker does not know who or what he is looking at. In conclusion , Yeats deeply believed in the interaction between folklore and literature and explored the living traditions as well as the tales of many generations before and used numerous symbols such as faeries , animals and natural elements to create an arcane world of magic , and it was his deep interest in spiritualism, Irish myths and legends, and his celebration of Irish culture that we are able to see in many of his works. Yeats exploration of the esoteric helped him to get access to this primary field of consciousness and imagination. According to Yeats “the borders of our mind are always shifting, and many minds can flow into one another and create or reveal, a single energy ,and our memories are part of one great memory, the memory of Nature herself and this great mind and great memory can be evoked by symbols.”

Bibliography:

“Folklore and W.B.Yeats:the function of folklore elements in three early plays" by Birgit Bramsback.

“Yeats , Philosophy and the Occult” by Matthew Gigson and Neil Mann.

“Music and the Irish Literary Imagination” by Harry White.

“W.B. Yeats and the music of poetry” by Harry White.

“By the roadside” by Yeats

“The Land of Heart's desire” by Yeats

“The Host of the Air” by Yeats

“The Shadowy Waters” by Yeats

“The Countess Cathleen” by Yeats

“A Fairy Song” by Yeats

“The Song of Wandering Aengus” by Yeats

“Who Goes With Fergus” by Yeats

“The Rose Upon the Rood of Time” by Yeats

[thesimplyluxuriouslife]

254: 26 Ways to Ensure Happy Singledom at Any Stage of Our Life's Journey

"Across the world, despite all prejudices and beliefs against it, singlehood is the growing trend." —Elyakim Kislev , author of Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living

It is highly beneficial to understand the construction of our beliefs regarding singledom, so that after discarding the myths and acknowledging the realities, we can "freely choose whatever lifestyle fits [us] best".

With the life expectancy in most developed countries rising to just under 80 years, it is a statistical probability that all of us will be living single or solo at some point in our lives whether by choice or circumstances, and consequently, knowing how to enjoy being single is a skill that would be most beneficial to acquire.

Depending upon our innate temperaments, which is different than our personalities, each of us is more predisposed to be comfortable or prefer more or less social engagement. And depending upon what we most enjoy doing in our careers and in our free time, we will be more or less inclined to seek out companionship for long or short durations.

Elyakim Kislev's new book, which was released in February, includes extensive research and an abundance of studies that demonstrate the reality of our modern world that no matter what you prefer, will enable each of us to live more consciously and thus more fully, as well as support others in our lives who choose to live in a manner we may not prefer or choose.

The first powerful finding that spoke to me was the acknowledgement of an unspoken truth regarding marriage (these studies involves a large majority of the industrialized world, not just the United States) - why do people step more easily into marriage even with modernizations of the world we live in today.

Studies have actually proven that the 51% of individuals entering into marriage acknowledge that it is "a fear of aging alone or dying without anyone at our bedside that drives us into marriage".

"Marriage may not be such a good way to escape loneliness in old age. Not only do married people feel lonely in surprisingly high numbers, but also long-term singles are often better equipped to deal with loneliness later in life".

Yes, that does then mean 49% of people did not report this as a reason, but that alone should give us pause, especially when we know that the divorce rate is nearly as proportionate and the percentage of a second divorce is higher still. While each couple's situation is uniquely alone, to not address this fear is to place an undeserved burden on individual we are marrying. In fact, studies have proven, when we do address this fear, as those who have never married do, earlier in our lives, the individual is more likely to make the best decision for themselves and thus improve their overall happiness no matter what the decision may be.

Many TSLL readers/listeners know I am single and have been for the majority of my life. Don't worry, this is not a post/episode advocating for being single if you are either already in a happy marriage, happy relationship or wish to be coupled. Rather today's posting will hopefully broaden our understanding of the realities of societal norms, motivations, pressures, expectations, unconscious biases and realities so that whatever your life's journey is and will be, it is one made with a clear mind that has discarded the myths and is then able to make the best decisions for you and the life you wish to lead. True contentment, in other words, is the goal of today's posting.

26 Ways to Ensure Happy Singledom

~Each of these points are discussed in detail in the audio version of this podcast episode. I encourage you to tune in for further clarification of each point or pick up the book Happy Singlehood from which each of these points were inspired.

1.Assess honestly your self-perception of how you define loneliness and where that definition was constucted.

2. Build and continually nurture a strong social well-being

Having a strong social well-being helps eradicate or reduce social loneliness and emotional loneliness as you will have people in your life in which you feel close to and may turn to (emotional), as well as have both intimate and peripheral acquaintances that give you a sense of belonging (social).

~Listen to Episode #92 - Elements of a Strong Social Well-Being - for further discussion on the construction.

3. Conduct a life review: Self-reflect and find peace with your journey thus far

"Happy older singles [have] the ability to look back and gain control over the circumstances that led to being single".

4. Celebrate and exercise the ability to make your own decisions

5. Revel in your solitude - produce your own "show" so to speak

6. Take responsibility for your own contentment

~View a long list of archived posts and episodes on cultivating true contentment or pick up my 2nd book - Living The Simply Luxurious Life

7. Distinguish between the myths regarding marriage and singlehood and reality

Myth versus reality:

"Young people fear being physically vulnerable in old age more than elders [actually] do".

"Fifty-seven percent of the eighteen-to-sixty-four-year old population anticipate memory loss in old age, while only 25 percent of those aged sixty-five and above actually experience it. Furthermore, while 42 percent expect serious illness in old age, only 21 percent of those aged sixty-five and above experience the same."

"While an expectation of loneliness arises among 29 percent of young people, only 17 percent experience loneliness in old age."

8. Foresee and prepare for potential emergencies

In other words, financial planning - engage with it early, often and regularly, craft a living will, construct your own "family" - .

9. Engage with your community for resources, connection and engagement

10. Learn how to socially engage as a singleton in a manner that makes you feel safe and fulfilled

11. Refrain from seeing marriage as a form of "self-validation".

In other words, seek validation from within, as society's values are limiting, dynamic and generalized.

~A post you might enjoy on this topic: First, Seek Self-Approval

12. Use your time being single as a time for self-growth and development - find the road to your truest self

~A post you might enjoy on this topic: Why Not . . . Live Alone for a While?

13. Maintain and strengthen your overall health - physical and mental

~An episode you might enjoy on this topic: The Six Pillars of Good Health, episode #212

14. If you are a pet person, welcome a pet into your life.

15. Confront the fears that are causing you to assume marriage is the answer to assuage them before you get married for the wrong reasons.

16. Simply be aware of the social stigmas, discrimination and pressures placed on singles.

Doing so will enable you to confront and effectively deal with situations when they arise in a productive way to potentially bring more awareness to the realities and discrimination that exists.

17. Have a positive self-image and self-perception of your life as someone who is single

Present yourself to the world, whether at work or in your personal life as the confident and happy person that you are - some who happens to be single - knowing that is not all that defines you. Gradually, images change when we put a face to the reality.

18. Build your self-confidence

Find work and hobbies in which you feel valued and accomplished - this could be in your career, in your hobbies or in your social network. Be willing to try new things, and as you see that you can learn, change, improve and grow, you begin to realize you hold more power to cultivate the life you love than you may have realized - thus your confidence grows.

~An episode you might enjoy on the topic: Confidence: How to Gain It & Why It's Invaluable, episode #5

19. Consciously avoid the social pressure and discrimination

In other words, your attention gives validation. And if you choose not speak up, what is said or done is deemed as acceptable. Whether it is the conversations you listen to or engage in, the people you spend time with, the films you pay to see, the music you listen to, etc., your time, money and attention are powerful - give it consciously.

20. Speak up and confront discrimination when it occurs

Often people aren't even aware of their bias regarding marriage being the "best" option. Construct a parallel question to those who ask "Why are you still single?" or "I'm still keeping an eye out for you." There are some great ones in the book. Make sure to keep the comment or question equal to what was received so that the speaker can see the error of their words and assumptions.

21. Seek a career or a calling that gives you purpose, in which you feel you are contributing something of value to the world.

22. Find a balance with work and leisure

23. Let your curiosities guide you to seek out educational opportunities for growth

24. Strengthen your three pillars of good health - physical, mental and financial

25. Acknowledge and cultivate manageable household responsibilites

26. Recognize that choosing and embracing being single is not out of weakness or selfishness, but of strength and awareness to connect often more consciously.

"As singles, we know more than anybody else that true independence is actually interdependence."

We liberate ourselves when we recognize there are many different ways to live well in our modern world. And even for those who do not fully or will never accept that there is more than one traditional way to live contentedly and contribute to society positively, as well as giving ourselves the opportunity to be self-actualized, when we model the reality rather than the myth, we encourage others to explore and reach their full potential as well. A more content world is a peaceful world.

If anyone is so fortunate to find a partner to enjoy life with should they wish to and be able to reach their fullest potential without feeling they are limited, confined or lonely in something they "should" be doing, what a magnificent awesome union. Losing such a person, no matter what our age would be heartbreaking, but we can only control and strengthen ourselves, and when we strengthen the muscle of self-reflection, acknowlegement of fears rather than a suppression, we set ourselves free to live well throughout the entirity of our life's journey.

The responsibility each of us has is to not place upon someone else's shoulders that which we are capable of doing ourselves. When we take on this responsibility of cultivating our own happiness and contentment, we will see more clearly what path we truly wish to travel, we will strengthen all of our relationships as we recognize we are interconnected in large and small ways, and we will give ourselves a deep breath of relief and excitement for the next step in our journey forward.

~SIMILAR POSTS/EPISODES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

~Why Not . . . Be A Confident Single Woman?

~Single or Married: 20 Things To Do

~The Truths & Myths of the Independent, Single Woman, episode #94

Petit Plaisir:

~Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Curry

Tune in to the latest episode of The Simple Sophisticate podcast

[loudlytransparenttrash]

Any thoughts on Childish Gambino's "This is America"?

Judging it just as a song, without the video, it’s terrible. Watching its mediocracy get gushed over kind of reminds me of the Obama portraits or those who gave Black Panther a standing ovation before it even started. This willingness to effusively praise anything black artists do dramatically drops the standards of excellence. But art and music is subjective and people can like whatever they want so I won’t go on bashing the song. It’s the video after all that everyone is talking about. To be fair, it’s pretty cool.

The reaction though has been less about it being a song and more about it being some groundbreaking, genius political statement. Every person seems to have formed a different interpretation of the video, but the one that most appear settled on is that it supposedly highlights America’s blindness to the atrocities being committed against blacks - especially by cops and big racist America. 

I certainly hope that’s not the message Donald Glover intended as all this does is feed into the overwhelming cycle of misinformation and suppression of facts surrounding the perpetrators and victims of crime. 

In 2016, 19 unarmed blacks were shot by police officers. In the same year, 70 police officers were killed by shooting, stabbing, strangulation and beating. We know almost half of the perpetrators in police murders are black, despite being 13 percent of the population. Police officers are at greater risk from blacks than unarmed blacks are from the police, so do we call this a black war against the police? 

What’s more interesting is black officers in the New York Police Department were found to be 3.3 times more likely than white officers to use their gun at shooting scenes. Another study of the Philadelphia Police Department found that black and Hispanic officers were more likely than white officers to shoot unarmed blacks under the mistaken belief that those individuals were armed. Black police officers weren’t only more likely to shoot black suspects but also unarmed whites as well. The most expansive investigation in the nation’s history to rein in alleged unconstitutional behavior of its officers comes from Detroit Police Department - where two-thirds of its force is black. 

Blacks murdered a thousand more people than any other race in 2013 and in prior years it was much greater, despite making up 13 percent of America. The murder rate among blacks is about as bad as some of the most violent third-world nations. No other racial or ethnic group comes close. Note that for 20 to 24-year-olds, the murder rate among blacks (109.4/100,000) is 17 times higher than the rate for whites (6.4/100,000). Among 15 to 19-year-olds, it is over 20 times higher. The average for all ages is 13 times higher.

Also, black-on-white crime is substantially greater than the reverse despite the claims of oppression and victimization. Black-on-white murder is more than double the rate of white-on-black murder (409 to 189). The same results were found for 2012, 2011, 2010 and prior years. In the other categories of violent crime - rape, robbery and aggravated assault - blacks consistently are largely responsible (40 percent of violent crime at 13 percent of the population) 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. 

The music video clearly emphasizes America’s gun problem, and it does hint at the Charleston shooting which goes along with the leftist fabrication that the greatest threat to Americans is white guys with guns. While you guys know I’m against guns, the notion that white guys are the perpetrators of gun violence is one hell of a lie. But that doesn’t stop headlines such as “White Men with Guns Are America’s Biggest Terrorists” and “We Have a White People Problem” from entering the mainstream. While journalists, celebrities and activists delight in attacking white male gun owners as fearful and racist, the reality of gun crime in the United States is no different to the color of crime in general - non-white.

In New York City, despite being only about 22 percent of the city’s population, blacks made up a staggering 67.5 percent of shooting arrests in 2016. Hispanics also exceeded their population share, accounting for 29.2 percent of arrests. Despite being almost a third of the city’s population, the figures for whites was 2.3 percent. Blacks also made up 52.4 percent of murders and non-negligent manslaughter. Hispanics accounted for 35.9 percent of arrests for these crimes while whites accounted for less than seven percent of the share.

In Philadelphia, 84 percent of murders are committed with firearms. Blacks make up 44 percent of the population and were responsible for 81.9 percent of the murder in 2015. Whites are 35 percent of the population and committed 17.1 percent of the murders, a number which also included Hispanics. In Milwaukee, the black population is 40 percent, yet blacks accounted for 79 percent of murders in 2016. Whites make up 37 percent of the population yet were responsible for 10 percent. For non-fatal shootings, 88 percent of the perpetrators were black. 

In Pittsburgh, just 26 percent of the population is black yet they accounted for a incredible 90.6 percent of the homicides in 2016, which 86.2 percent of the killings were done with a firearm. In Los Angeles, blacks are just 8 percent of the population yet committed 40 percent of the murder in 2017 and 72 percent of murders were by guns. Whites carried out 6 percent while being 30 percent of the Los Angeles population. In New Orleans, blacks make up 60 percent of the population and made up 90 percent of those arrested for murder, which 78 percent used a firearm and blacks also carried out 86 percent of non-lethal shootings. 

In Chicago, statistics were called racist for consistently showing the large majority of perpetrators of murder were black so the Chicago Police Department put an end to their annual crime reports in 2011. According to the 2011 report, blacks committed 70.5 percent of the murders, Hispanics 24.3 percent and whites whites 3.5 percent. Chicago is 32 percent black, 32 percent white and 28 percent Hispanic. Blacks and Hispanics also accounted for 96 percent of weapons violation arrests.

And yet, we are told that it’s a racist conspiracy that black people are in prison and it’s white people who are the violent, deadly ones that all minorities have to live in fear of. Grade school kids, especially in inner city neighborhoods are subjected to anti-white racist indoctrination. Students from Booker T. Washington Middle School in Baltimore attended an event titled “Re-Claim, Re-Pair, Re-Form, Re-Produce - REPARATIONS Now!” at Morgan State University. Louis Farrakhan was the keynote speaker. He called whites crackers and told the young audience: “As long as they kill us and go to Wendy’s and have a burger and go to sleep, they’ll keep killing us. But when we die and they die, then soon we’re going to sit at a table and talk about it! We’re tired! We want some of this earth or we’ll tear this goddamn country up!” 

So to get back to the music video, if it’s about America’s violent gun culture, then sure, it’s a conversation we all need to have. But if it’s a creative way to reinforce the narrative that blacks are the victims of white men with guns, as so many are adamant it is, then it proves that there’s no medium left untouched by gaslighting idiots and completely fabricated, race-baiting, dividing myths. Young black Americans are already taught by their parents, teachers, media, celebrities and politicians that the greatest threat to them are both cops and white people, having that lie reinforced to them through mainstream music is a disaster. The last thing they need is another dose of angst and victimization. 

In all, I don’t enjoy the song, the video is cool and I do like Donald Glover, but the messages in the song are so open to interpretation it’s hard to say if they are constructive or destructive. I guess you gotta appreciate it for that. 

[back-and-totheleft]

The Doors and JFK at 30

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, few American filmmakers were as restless as Oliver Stone. He fired off seven movies from 1986 to 1991, each one a shotgun blast of confrontational ideas and virtuosic style. “Platoon” won four Oscars. “Wall Street” summed up an era of excess.

Stone was particularly busy in 1991. He started the year with “The Doors,” a psychedelic rise-and-fall biopic about the rocker Jim Morrison, played by Val Kilmer. He ended the year with “JFK,” a kaleidoscopic portrait of the hunt for truth in the wake of a national tragedy.

Thirty years later, “JFK” and “The Doors” remain fascinating artistic artifacts, brimming with the brash confidence of a director on a hot streak. They also X-ray some of the cultural fault lines that continue to divide the United States three decades later.

“JFK,” a three-hour epic featuring a stacked ensemble cast, both reflected and anticipated a country in thrall to conspiracy theories. “The Doors” dramatized the agony and ecstasy of the counterculture, revealing why the sex-and-drugs scene was seen as equal parts alluring and revolting.

The films parallel each other in striking ways. Stone, a veteran of the Vietnam War, was then Hollywood’s boldest chronicler of the 1960s, and both of his 1991 projects represent attempts to reckon with that decade’s knotty legacies. They blurred fact and fabrication, memory and myth.

In the eyes of many observers at the time, neither film was an unqualified success. “The Doors” drew mixed reviews and flailed at the box-office. “JFK” performed well on both fronts, but some historians and commentators assailed its fast-and-loose relationship with the factual record.

But in many respects, facts were beside the point.

‘Speculations’ and ‘nightmares’

In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that President John F. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald and that Oswald had acted alone. Stone was far less convinced, and “JFK” was intended as his “counter-myth.”

Kevin Costner, nearing the apex of his star power and industry clout, stars as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who investigated the events surrounding Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

Garrison’s crusade takes the viewer on a dizzying tour of midcentury American paranoia. He eyes a sprawling cast of potential culprits: the CIA, the Mafia, Cuban freedom fighters, the military-industrial complex — the shadowy men behind what Stone calls our “untold history.”

“The movie was misunderstood as advancing one particular conspiracy theory, when in fact it was exploring several,” said Matt Zoller Seitz, a veteran film critic and the author of a 2016 book about Stone’s career. “It gave the conspiracy mindset a bigger and more prestigious platform, and I think without ‘JFK’ you don’t get ‘The X-Files,’ for example.”

“JFK” is the near opposite of a by-the-books historical docudrama. The film is a lurid panorama of half-truths and speculation. Stone’s approach alienated some op-ed writers and commentators, who criticized the director months before the movie even premiered.

The columnist George Will huffed that Stone was “a man of technical skill, scant education and negligible conscience.” Walter Cronkite, the CBS newscaster who broke the news of Kennedy’s killing to the nation, reportedly decried the “mishmash of fabrications and paranoid fantasies.”

The film critic Roger Ebert offered up what might be the most salient interpretation, though, writing in a 2002 retrospective: “I have no opinion on the factual accuracy of ... ‘JFK.’ I don’t think that’s the point. This is not a film about the facts of the assassination, but about the feelings.”

“I have no doubt Cronkite was correct, from his point of view. But I am a film critic and my assignment is different than his. He wants facts. I want moods, tones, fears, imaginings, whims, speculations, nightmares,” Ebert wrote.

It is here where “JFK” still reverberates in the addled, deeply fractured America of 2021 — not as a literal account of events but as a collage of issues that still tug at the national fabric, justifiably or not: distrust of government, skepticism of institutions, conspiracy theories, rabbit holes.

“I look at ‘JFK’ now and I see Covid denialists who make it seem as if the virus was created by scientists out of ‘The X-Files,’ the same ones who are going to inject us with DNA from bees, or whatever,” Seitz said. “I think there was a genie that was let out of the bottle with that movie.”

“It is a deranged film when you stand back from it,” Seitz said with a laugh.

Nevertheless, many people around the world still doubt the official narrative of the Warren Commission report and hope more information comes to light.

Jay O. Sanders, a character actor who played Lou Ivon, one of the investigators on Garrison’s team, said in an interview earlier this year that, to this day, strangers still approach him on the street and ask him who he believes killed Kennedy.

“The moment we explored in the film was one of the most important moments to countless people in this country," Sanders said. "It was a loss of innocence. It was a loss of hope."

‘Doors’ to self-destruction

Stone is said to have been intoxicated by The Doors ever since he first heard their music while serving in Vietnam. “The Doors,” a hallucinatory and borderline campy biopic about the dark poet of Nixon-era rock-and-roll, was the director’s acid-kissed homage.

“The Doors” charts Morrison’s rise and vertiginous descent into alcoholism, drug abuse, live-concert antics, cruelty and general R-rated debauchery. It is a frequently unflattering character study — and one that was razzed for exaggerating the musician’s behavior.

“In a way, it feels like the movie Jim Morrison would’ve hallucinated as he was dying,” Seitz said. “There’s a lot of deliberately disorienting touches ... that make you feel like you’re on drugs.”

The film climaxes with a raucous concert in Miami. Kilmer’s Morrison antagonizes the audience, clashes with police officers and appears to expose himself onstage. He bellows what amounts to a personal manifesto and philosophical mission statement: “No limits! No laws!”

The movie is freewheeling but nonetheless adheres to the standard rock god biopic conventions, the stuff of the John C. Reilly parody flick “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” It also functions as a sociopolitical Rorschach test.

You might be gripped by Stone’s reverential vision of Morrison (who died in 1971 at 27) as a counterculture prophet who urged his adoring fans to stop being “slaves” to the starchy American establishment.

But then again, you might see “The Doors” as a cautionary tale — wittingly or otherwise — about the excesses of the peace-and-love years, with Kilmer’s version of Morrison as a Dionysian narcissist who symbolized the destructiveness of heedless social rebellion.

Oliver Gruner, an academic at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., explored these contradictions in his 2016 monograph “Screening the Sixties: Hollywood Cinema and the Politics of Memory,” a look at how the American film industry has dramatized the decade.

“Here was a film that on the one hand celebrates an individual associated with hippie lifestyles, but on the other seems vehemently skeptical of the counterculture,” Gruner wrote.

America in 2021 is still conflicted on what to make of that frenzied decade. “The Doors” is not a film about politics, yet the chaos at its core might help us understand why the norm-smashing spirit of the ‘60s split the country and riled soon-to-be-ascendant social conservatives.

In a mixed review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin offered this crisp description of Stone’s larger-than-life subject: “Nowhere did the best and worst of the '60s collide as messily as they did in Jim Morrison.”

But in the course of 141 minutes, she wrote, Stone is not entirely “successful in offering any final assessment of either the ‘60s or his hero than in bringing both back with strange and spectacular power.” The same might be said of “JFK,” a movie of urgent questions without clear-cut answers.

But maybe that was by design.

It has been said that America never got over the ‘60s. Stone seemed to intuit as much. How can you conclude a story that never really ended?

-Daniel Arkin, ‘JFK’ and ‘The Doors’ at 30: Why Oliver Stone’s portraits of the '60s still resonate," NBC News, Oct 2 2021 [x]

[i-am-very-very-tired]

With the impending release of his fifth studio album — the first since the four-time platinum, Grammy-nominated 2016 Views — Drake has many questions surrounding him. Can he again move a million units in a week? Can he prove all the doubters wrong after two years of ghostwriting allegations? Can he top “Hotline Bling” or “One Dance”? Can More Life overtake Take Care as Drake’s undoubted classic album?

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But also, can he, like so many artists in 2016 — Beyoncé (Lemonade), Solange (A Seat at the Table), Rihanna (Anti), Kanye West (The Life of Pablo), Young Thug (Jeffery) — take risks on his new album, exposing a deeper version of himself? Drake and his legion of fans — and his seemingly equal number of detractors — are waiting with bated breath for March 18 to see what the 6 God has been cooking up. But before we can call the new project “classic” or “trash,” before we spend the next few weeks debating the best and worst tracks, here’s the most important question that Drake has to answer: Can he stop attempting to control women?

Over the past eight years, Drake’s built up a reputation as being the compassionate and less threatening (read: soft) rapper who appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, cuddles up with professional athletes, and gets tattoos of Aaliyah. He’s played the role of Nice Guy by constantly smiling, and apparently wearing his heart on his sleeve. This appeals to the sensitivities of the women in his fan base. But, as is often the case with these so-called nice guys, Drake plays the charmer — he’ll call you beautiful, open doors for you and send you smiley-face emojis — but the minute he has sex with you, or you move on to someone else, he turns into Michael Ealy in The Perfect Guy.

Drake’s corniness, outward kindness and lack of sexual aggression has been misinterpreted as an overarching respect for women. He’s even been referred to as a feminist. But Drake is as much a feminist as Rachel Dolezal is a black woman. His entire catalog is steeped in respectability politics, accepting women so far as their body count goes.

Those songs pale in comparison to “Shot For Me,” “Marvin’s Room” and “Practice.” They are Drake at his worst.

While he’s constantly praised Nicki Minaj over the years, Drake belittled the Grammy-nominated artist during his beef with her former boyfriend, Meek Mill — Is that a world tour or your girl’s tour? — implying that it’s emasculating for a man to receive second billing to his significant other.

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As with stars of rock and country music, almost every successful rapper today, from Jay Z to Future to Chance the Rapper, has at some point performed lyrics that objectify or exploit women. J.Cole’s music has taken on more social justice elements over the years (Drake has spoken out for black causes as well). But Cole, in a 2013 song, called women “b—–s” —I got smart, I got rich, and I got b—–s still/And they all look like my eyebrows: thick as hell — and patriarchally dismisses female sexuality on 2014’s “No Role Modelz”:

My only regret was too young for Lisa Bonet, my only regret was too young for Nia Long/Now all I’m left with is hoes from reality shows, hand her a script the b—h probably couldn’t read along

Even so-called progressive rappers fall into this trap, namely the androgynous Young Thug and the genderfluid Young M.A.

Sometime between Drake’s early rise and his third mixtape being converted into 2009’s So Far Gone, the rapper known for singing about his romantic feelings and the pressure of newfound fame — with a flow that made every 16 bars sound like the hottest verse ever — became his own worst enemy. Drake, known for hits like 2009’s “Best I Ever Had” and 2010’s “Find Your Love,” became synonymous with quote-heavy memes on social media, and fake Twitter accounts such as @drakkardnoir pumped out fake deep quote after fake deep quote.

But the rapper’s verses about loving and being proud of college-educated, independent women — Sound so smart like you graduated college/Like you went to Yale but you probably went to Howard — paved the way for hypermasculine diatribes against the sexual agency of seemingly any woman he’s ever encountered. Through an examination of Drake’s four studio albums, plus mixtapes, collaborative projects and guest features, it is clear that the man who made music for folks who couldn’t get over their exes was himself struggling with the basic concept of “moving on.”

While So Far Gone doesn’t count as a studio album — it was his final mixtape before signing with Universal Republic — it gave listeners a sneak peek into the troublesome lyrics Drake would release in subsequent years. On the soothing track “Houstatlantavegas,” he raps about “saving” an exotic dancer from a strip club:

You go get f—– up and we just show up at your rescue/Carry you inside, get you some water and undress you.

I give you my all and the next morning you’ll forget who or why, or how, or when/Tonight is prolly ’bout to happen all over again.

Thank Me Later, Drake’s 2010 debut studio album, features the rapper slut-shaming women for having previous sexual partners. From “Karaoke” (I hope that you don’t get known for nothing crazy/Cause no man ever wants to hear those stories ’bout his lady) to “Miss Me” (Work somethin’, twerk something, basis/She just tryna make it so she’s right here getting naked. I don’t judge her, I don’t judge her/But I could never love her) to “Thank Me Now” (Alohas to women with no ties to men/That I know well, that way there are no lies), Drake positions women with previous sexual experience as undesirable. On the Rihanna-assisted “Take Care,” he seems to open up to the idea of women having sexual agency, relenting I’ve asked about you and they told me things/But my mind didn’t change and I still feel the same.

Thank Me Later was also at times a celebration of independent women – appreciating women’s “book smarts and street smarts” on “Shut it Down” and “Fancy” — but set the foundation for 2011’s Take Care, which was, at that point, the peak of Drake’s overt misogyny and objectification of women. On Take Care, which won Drake a Grammy for best rap album — he continues his focus on sex workers with “Lord Knows”:

To all these women that think like men with the same intentions

Talking strippers and models that try to gain attention.

Even a couple porn stars that I’m ashamed to mention.

“Under Ground Kings” (Sometimes I need that romance, sometimes I need that pole dance/Sometimes I need that stripper that’s gon’ tell me that she don’t dance) even creates a binary of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. While Drake has an infatuation with exotic dancers, he also makes it clear that admiration only goes as far as sex. “Trust Issues,” which Drake said he made for “fun” and thus didn’t include on the album, has Drake playing into the thoroughly debunked myth that women can’t want sex as much as men, rapping And it’s probably why I’m scared to put the time in/Women want to f— like they’re me and I’m them.

Those songs, though, pale in comparison to “Shot For Me,” “Marvin’s Room” and “Practice.” They are Drake at his worst, going beyond the behaviors of the paternalistic and disapproving ex. He goes from telling a woman she’s drinking away the pain she feels due to leaving him on “Shot For Me” — Yeah, I’m the reason why you always getting faded — to cursing out another for finding happiness with a new lover on “Marvin’s Room” (F— that n—-a that you love so bad).

Despite admitting that he’s a flawed individual in the latter song, in the former he tells the woman that he “made” her and calls her a “b—-.” This then leads to Drake’s most confusing and disturbing song to date, “Practice.” While acknowledging that women can have sex — the song is about a woman having multiple partners — Drake then spins it to his advantage: All those other men were practice, they were practice/Yeah, for me, for me, for me, for me. He senses “pain and regret” in the woman from her past, and then reluctantly accepts the fact that she has casual sex. He tops the song off with an uncomfortable, familial request: You can even call me daddy, give you someone to look up to.

But, Drake can still change. His lyrics paint the picture of a man who is constantly questioning himself.

It’s 2016’s “Hotline Bling” that ignited the re-examination of Drake’s entire catalog. The song is the rapper’s second-best-selling single of all time (behind fellow Views track “One Dance”), and won him two Grammys at last month’s award show. Not to mention, the visuals for the song will go down in music history as one of the most memorable music videos of all time.

But while the chorus is equal parts infectious and mesmerizing, Drake sneaks in two verses and a bridge full of “reductive stereotypes” and body-policing lyrics about an old fling. Whether about said woman “wearing less and goin’ out more” or “going places where you don’t belong,” Drake makes it apparent that he’s offended that she has the audacity to move on with her life. By the end of the song, Drake’s become so desperate that he’s even concerned that the woman is “bendin’ over backwards for someone else.” Textbook narcissism.

His guest appearances have been a mixed bag as well. On rapper The Game’s 2011 track “Good Girls Go Bad,” Drake raps Who’s still getting tested?/Where’s all the women that still remember who they slept with? and a year later added to 2 Chainz’s “No Lie”:

She could have a Grammy, I still treat her a– like a nominee

Just need to know what that p—- like

So one time is fine with me.

Over the past couple of years, Drake has put out two mixtapes, a solo effort If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and What A Time To Be Alive with Future. His male chauvinism can be found on tracks “Legend,” “Energy” and “Madonna” and repeatedly calls a woman “ungrateful” for living her life without him on “Diamonds Dancing.” As writer Tahirah Hairston pointed out, Drake has also had questionable lyrics on “Wu-Tang Forever,” “Own It,” “Furthest Thing,” “I’m The Plug” and even notable feminist Beyoncé’s “Mine.”

Back in October, Drake released three tracks from his upcoming More Life album — “Fake Love,” “Sneakin’,” and “Two Birds, One Stone.” Looking solely at those tracks, it appears Drake has let up a little on his control, instead rapping about success, fake friends and his long list of haters. Even his appearance on labelmate Nicki Minaj’s diss to Remy Ma, “No Frauds,” he steers clear of trying to preserve women’s sanctity.

For nearly a decade now, Drake has wrapped up his alarming lyrics inside catchy, Instagram-caption-worthy choruses and tunes. The “light-skinned Keith Sweat” gets away with this because he carefully crafted a “nice guy” persona that deflects the criticism that, say, a 21 Savage, Kodak Black or the Migos would receive.

For many men, Drake’s attitudes reflect their own attitudes and desires, which in turn reflect a patriarchal society that views women as sexual objects meant to be gazed at. For women, they’ve had to deal with sexism in the arts since the beginning of time, so choosing to not enjoy an artist because of his views on sexuality would mean giving up on music all together. And at the end of the day, Drake is just that good at his job, unquestionably the most influential and popular musician in the business right now.

But Drake can still change. His lyrics paint the picture of a man who is constantly questioning himself, consistently trying to become a better person, whatever that entails. From So Far Gone to More Life — age 22 to 30 — he’s learned all the lessons life can teach, from whom to trust to what forms of happiness money and fame can buy. But it seems he’s yet to learn that women aren’t sexual objects. They’re human beings. If the only women of the world were all exactly like the women he seems to respect — his mother or Rihanna or Aaliyah or Serena Williams — we’d call him Aubrey the Riveter. But, they aren’t the only women who deserve his respect.

He knows that. But it begs the question: Does he care?

Martenzie is a writer for The Undefeated. His favorite cinematic moment is when Django said "Y'all want to see somethin?"

[juniperpublishers-fashion-b-blog]

Fashion and Death Ethnographic Explorations on Ubiquitous Styles - Juniper Publishers

Abstract

My anthropological glance will focus one a fashion shows in Rio de Janeiro and a “passista” carioca in the carnival 2011; a Karl Lagerfeld’s fetish design (body-corpse); a bizarre mannequin I met in Belem (Brazil). I’ll try to demonstrate the deep connection between living body and death corpse in a meta-fetishist perspective and - by the meta-morphic dialogue written by Giacomo Leopardi - on fashion and death (Figure 1).

Fashion Rio

The model is stationary, as a doll-like, in the sense of “dollifyng” her body: an empty gaze directed towards nothing, both arms inert by her side, her legs in a hopelessly waiting. The trained eroptic (8) eye targets her without hesitation, not so much the bikini, but what is tattooed just above her pubis: a vida não é assim, nunca, para nem para sempre (‘life is not like this, never and even less for ever’). A philosophical statement presented by fashion as a reflective affirmation of itself. A meta-communication of the profound meaning of ‘what’ is actually fashion. Rio’s designer is a philosopher as much as Zaha Hadid. Philosopher in both, the show composition and the public / pubic text tattooed for the observer’s sexualized eyes. From this ‘eroptic’ dimension, I offer two reflections based on dialogues with two poets-essayists, Horace and Leopardi [1].

Horace

The Roman poet known for his proposition on time that, in the unsurpassed simplicity of the Latin language, offers an oblique perspective through which time can be observed. Indeed, a time that is not only Kronos, as the Greek masters taught, but also Kairos: a nonlinear time, less mathematic and relentless time in its orderly flow, but also casual, random, sudden as his god. Indeed, Kairos’ hair is just in front, placed forward whilst his back is bald. When he presents himself, a unique, unrepeatable, irregular opportunity faces the subject and, if missed, taking it back will be impossible as his hair is just in front of his head. Carpe diem ... this famous ‘carpe’ refers to Kairos’ hair, passing quickly, before our undecided eyes. For this uncertain reason, life is not what the “usual” pubis seems to offer: Eros’ pleasure is ephemeral and it does not exist forever in this carnal temporality. So, the carioca designer is a kind of philosopher who addresses every glance from the model body to the bikini style and finally to her tattoo. My emotive reflection about the style is crossing through the three contiguous but not identical panoramas. And the last one, the tattoo, is offered as a novel (or a myth) that threatens the model’s beauty: in every moment, the doll-like body may become a skeleton, a pile of dismembered bones without any connection. In my fantasy, this reflexive fashion designer updates the famous sentence of Horace in an original composition: he reinvents and accentuates the seduction of the unrepeatable and unstoppable caducity [2].

Leopardi

The poet of Recanati was also an essayist. In his “Operette Morali”, Leopardi plays a philosophical dialogue between Fashion and Death, with a capital D because both are living beings. Fashion is what defies Death: she says they are sisters, claiming a deep consanguineous affinity between them; she explains to the hasty Death that they are both daughters of transience.

Fashion: I am Fashion, your sister.

Death: My sister?

Fashion: Yes, don’t you remember that were both born from transience?

Death: What I remember is that memory is my capital enemy.

She, the Fashion herself, cannot tolerate the life of a present dress, that’s why she imagines how to eliminate it with the next trend. The fashion, better saying, Fashion, as a person without the article, cannot stand what is alive and present. She-Fashion looks at the impeccable design of a transience dress that is quiet obsolete when it is worn even for the first time: in the wrinkles of cloth, folds of flesh have already traced what makes it old, oldfashioned not in the sense of antiquate but in the sense of a recent one. Only the revival of vintage retains the buried items (hidden in attics, drawers and warehouses) and makes it rise again with a sense of chic. This Leopardi’s affinity between Fashion and Death sparks reflections and phantasmagoria. Buying new clothes is not just a quirk of the consumption more or less encouraged by news agencies or advertising: it is a challenge to feel alive, to become life, to challenge through the new style the heaviness of the older one. What was just worn, is already assimilated as dead. There is something of theology in Fashion that challenges eternity with its creatures. One talks about Fashion creation, but in effect, they seem more like creatures: a concept, as some may remember, that challenges the only possible creativity, at least according to Christianity - the divine one... A Fashion show has something about agrarian archaic rituals that, at the end of winter, not only celebrated but favoured (‘caused’) spring’s arrival and with it the rebirth of the floral nature, frozen by wintry season.

I say that our nature and common custom is to continually renew the world”, Fashion explains. This generative cult is what makes Fashion and Death sisters: both make life reborn because both cut off what is alive; Leopardi clearly expressed the reason for this decisive act: “As if I were not immortal”, Fashion proudly replies when Death threats to fetch her; and then Death, intrigued by this bold statement, questions more information to her unexpected sister. And Fashion’s answer is brilliant [3].

Well, although it is not good manners to speak plainly, and though in France nobody speaks so as to be heard, yet, since we are sisters and need not stand on ceremony with each other, I’ll speak as you wish. I say, then, that the tendency and operation common to us both is to be continually renewing the world. But whereas you have from the beginning aimed your efforts directly against the bodily constitutions and the lives of men, I am content to limit my operations to such things as their beards, their hair, their clothing, their furniture, their dwellings, and the like. Nevertheless, it is a fact that I have not failed at times to play men certain tricks not altogether unworthy to be compared to your own work; as, for example, boring men’s ears, or lips, or noses, and lacerating them with the trinkets which I place therein; or scorching their bodies with hot irons, which I persuade them to apply to their persons by way of improving their beauty. Then again, I sometimes squeeze the heads of their children with ligatures and other appliances, rendering it obligatory that all the inhabitants of a country should have heads of the same shape, as I have ere now accomplished in America and Asia. I also cripple mankind with shoes too small for their feet, and stifle their respiration, and make their eyes nearly start out of their heads with tightly laced corsets, and many more follies of this kind. In short, I contrive to persuade the more ambitious of mortals daily to endure countless inconveniences, sometimes torture and mutilation, aye, and even death itself, for the love they bear toward me. I say nothing of the headaches, and colds, and catarrhs, and fevers of all sorts, quotidian, tertian, and quartan, which men contract through their worship of me, inasmuch as they are willing to shiver with cold or stifle with heat at my command, adopting the most preposterous kinds of clothing to please me, and perpetrating a thousand follies in my name, regardless of the consequences to themselves.

In short, all the previous practices and also the current ones (from tattooing to piercing, from the brand of fire and cranial or bone deformation) are anticipated and offered to Death’s listening, and to all of us, who - still alive - are listening this Leopardi’s lesson. At the beginning of XIX century (1824), for the poet fashionquestion is much more complex than contemporary common sense or simplistic sociology have been imagined: fashion as as conspicuous consumption, manipulated homologation or a caprice to be ‘up-to-date’. Fashion emerging in the Western culture is not a simply dressing up, she first affirms herself globally, then is reworked locally and finally she presents glocal fragments, in which styles of different cultures are coexisting in a body assemblage made of fabrics, stitching, accessories, makeup, folds that the designer draws and each subject adapts or reworks to his/her own figure. Fashion incorporates the anxiety of changing an identity as one, a fixed and packaged identity, an ambivalent anxiety that characterizes a currently cultural dynamics toward continuous inventions under the sign of extreme diversities. Presenting Fashion as a whole is almost impossible: she has a multiverse that does not coincide with cool designers, pret-a-porter productions, discounts department stores, fake imitations, outlets with delayed brands, immortal vintage, individual recycling and etc. Fashion is immortal and metamorphic. Her destiny is to delete or to melt all that is solid because its immanent fate is mutation - where life pulses. She is immortal and polytheistic: there is no fashion god, but a brotherhood and competitive different deities who, each in their specificities, marks the future as philosophers were used to imagine few decades ago. If now philosophers are silent and rethinking only about their past history, with no desire or ability to interpret nor to change the present, it is because philosophy migrated to visual artists or street artists, fashion or sound designers. Zaha Hadid, Pan Sonic, Gaetano Pesce or Cindy Sherman emanate philosophy with their liberationist speeches, dissonant architectures, compulsive music, eccentric design, and mutant photos. They use a different alphabet from the one based on words: sensorial concepts that can conquer each person and anticipate what will be an innovative way of thinking about public/private body’s aesthetics. This dichotomy is perhaps even questioned by a few daring designers. Some of these, Armani, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen are to be placed on the same level of Zaha Hadid. They have their own philosophy [4].

So, in addition to the words written above the pubis, what does the model, or Fashion, says? The words are ambiguous and can be read in a traditional, almost obvious sense, and then in a more complex one. “Life based on the desire for sex, insolently shown in this catwalk, not only will never be forever like this, ever, but even now it is not so. In fact, what I show is the bright object of desire, a mix of bikini and vagina, but none will ever be yours, not now or never. So, please surrender, you male and female spectators to a vision at a distance that represses you to the same extent that excites. This object of desire is not to be given to you, not in the past, much less in your future. And then I, my own self, will never be like this to you nor to anybody else, even if I wear or show it. Never. That’s why I assimilated myself to an amorphous doll, a half-living thing and a half death body. My seductive bodycorpse is dedicated to Madame Death, my inspiring aunt, because I know that, even incorporating at least for now a carnal Fashion, soon I will be rotting flesh and my caducity will be the triumph of my relentless sister. I am only a temporary appearance. I am here to affirm The Triumph of Fashion and Death. Buying a piece of fashion is booking death in advance. I said ...”.

And that is what whispers the model, a caducous still life, a sublime beauty that is undoing the triumphant exposition of her body and writing in front of immobile spectators. Following my synchretic and fetish perspective, I find a “caducity” affinity with a Samuel Cirnansck’s fashion show in Rio de Janeiro. Some models parade with their body covered with very traditional veils and fabrics. One of these stops with her hands on her hips as if challenging the viewers, showing bizarre fingers ringed with black cylinders that anticipate her menacing nails just as black. Has long been that accessories are no longer marginal, but they became as essential as the rest of the performance. At large, everything is an essential accessory in a catwalk. But here, a special accessory emerges: the mordaça de ferro (scold’s bride). What impressed me most is to see that this parade takes place in Rio, probably near the church Nossa Senhora do Rosario dedicated to the Escrava Anastasia‘s (‘Slave Anastasia’) cult: every models wear a mordaça as an accessory, without expressing a single tribute nor even mentioning the tragic and symbolic story concerning the whole Afro-Brazilian movement or the Anastasia’s liberationist role against slavery. Perhaps such a bizarre staging needs an interpretation. Of course, the key is the culture of fetishism that relentlessly expands in the different genres of contemporary sexualized communication. What was once a torture instrument, the gag, became now an accessory. This instrument owes its invention to the need of taming animals making them thus docile. Domesticated, in fact. The Western culture transferred this instrument from animals to human beings, especially heretics, a few centuries or perhaps a millennium later. These heretics were considered by the Catholic Inquisition not worth using the ultimate expression of humanity: the language (Figure 2).

Language is what differs animals from humans; hence, an heretic is not a human, being diminished to an animal state, having to be tamed and subordinated to a dominant ‘specific’ power that removes the right of the word whilst waiting for the final punishment. Giordano Bruno, philosopher and humanist, was burned alive in Campo de’ Fiori in Rome with a muzzle on. In the same period – around XVI century - another phenomenon changes Western political and cultural geography: the conquest (or the so called “descobrimento”) of America with its consequent imperative of imported slaves, whilst the native populations preferred to die than to work in such conditions. In this way, the rebel slaves coming from Africa have their mouth gagged, to show publicly that any slave was an animal, that s/he had to work in a domesticated way, eventually copulate and eat to survive. Toni Morrison - the great African-American writer - recreates in her novel Beloved what a person with a piece of iron in his teeth for 12-15 hours a day would feel. A madness withheld and violated by the capillaries of one’s reddened eyes, from the slow drool clotted on one’s lips, the heavy breathing and an explosive and diverted anger.

He wants me to ask him about what it is like for him – about how offended the tongue is, held down by iron, how the need to spit is so deep you cry for it. She already knew about it, had seen it time after time in the place before Sweet Home. Men, boys, little girls, women. The wildness that shot up into the eye the moment the lips were yanked back. Days after it was taken out, goose fat was rubbed on the corners of the mouth but nothing to soothe the tongue or take the wildness out of the eye” (Morrison, 2004). And then, what does it means a fashion parade with this accessory inside the model mouth, in a country that last abolished slavery and in a city where Anastasia is venerated as a saint? (Figure 3).

The symbolic power of the slaver or heretic iron bit is decaying, it evaporates into a simple code through a de-symbolized process, an exciting sign is ambiguously parading between political amnesia and liberationist pleasure. A kind of s/m performance offers an apparent feminine submission playing with symbols and signs as gadget to be offered as a dark desire to the audience that may imagine some quiet private games. So, this model, as a Fashion’s amnestic body, fractures the historical link with the slavery past, cancels the force of the oppressive symbols, displays a seductive excess that dominates by showing herself as submissive ruling woman. And it is precisely this apparent submission that proclaims, in contrast, the triumph of fetishism. I’m sure that the visual proliferation of fetish current meanings expresses the subtle connection between Fashion and Death (Canevacci, 2015). In Leopardi determinant dialogue, visual fetishism is the missing link that manifests the deep sisterhood between these two restless Ladies through the impudent mordaça de ferro. Perhaps, Anastasia will not be scandalized by this tampering, maybe she perceives that - through the symbolic emptying of what was her instrument of torture - justice is finally served. Perhaps now Anastasia can finally smile and show those magnificent white teeth and her carnal lips that made very jealous the wife of the slave master, a wife in turn slave of a jealousy based on her classist privilege (Figure 4).

Karl Lagerfeld is a famous fashion designer. The obvious decision to add him to a research project on syncretism comes from this photo and a more general hypothesis: new visual fetishisms have in cultural syncretisms one of the potential applications in the field between the unstable and mutant zone of fashion and art. Visual fetishisms and cultural syncretisms develop the potentialiality of wandering arts. These are the ones oscillating among different genres and with the tendency to suppress boundaries. Lagerfeld designs clothes for humans; designers dress things, objects and goods. Coca-Cola has in its body, that is, in the body of the bottle and in its written vintage, its brand and style, perhaps even its taste. Coca-Cola’s feminine design form has been long discussed. Why is a sophisticated and dandy stylist as Lagerfeld entrusted to create the new look of the brand?

The first reflexion is simple: the body of the bottle is a bodycorpse, meaning that it transits between a living body and a dead corpse. This tendency of visual fetishisms distorts and amplifies the traditional analysis on the “nature” of fetish objects. Accordingly, this ambiguous drinkable body is always in need for new clothing and has to find temporary solutions between tradition and innovation. Examples are indeed endless on this subject. The interesting point here is that most classic products of mass culture do intersect an equally classic elite’s designer. The super fetish Karl. The mentioned dissolution of boundaries between genres is a gray area (or a brilliant one) where oscillating syncretism flows. To achieve a fit-for-purpose result, syncretisms hybridizes with fetishisms [5].

Whilst observing the picture with some sort of careful obsession, a few obvious points came up: the bottles are actually two, perhaps a male and a female version. Both are Coca Cola Light written with the traditional font but with different colour, so conscious and faithful consumers can even compute the calories swallowed from a glass of a coke. Above the drinkable brand, there is the designer brand: KARL in bold letters and LAGERFELD in thin ones. Below, the year of production is shown, like a vintage wine: 2011 - 1/3; 2/3. Looking with more attention, it is possible to discover on one side a black silhouette observing the result. Widening the perspective on methodological fetishism, my glance understands that the bottles are three: he, Lagerfeld, is the third bottle, a good between the goods, his value added is the fetish art he manages in order to incorporate himself into the two bottles. His dark identity transits between the polka dot and the sinusoidal striped dress on the bottles. It is well-known that Lagerfeld always dresses in the same way. Paradoxically, his diversified styles occurs whilst he wears always the same dress. A man in black with an eternal dandy collar, sacred accessories, impenetrable glasses as much as his face-mask is. Clearly, Karl Lagerfeld is also the hyphen ‘-‘ where syncretic fetishisms flows. He is the body-corpse creator. He objectifies himself as the third bottle, as much as he enlivens the other two with their glamorous clothes. The Coca-Cola bottles come to life and can be dressed like any human being, only because he assimilates himself to a living commodities. Observing a little bit closer, and even better, being a little bit naughty, one may notice that his body rests on one foot, in this way his silhouette creates a slight curve that accompanies both bottles’ sensual curve (the sexiest coke hips). Finally, Lagerfeld’s crossed arms assimilate even more him to the two ‘persons’ on his side. Everybody lack of arms.

These three beings are perhaps trans-gender. The final result of this fetishism/syncretism crossing reaches the sex-game: visual goods, with their hyper-sexed design that spreads and mixes organic and inorganic, nature and culture, mass consumption and elite’s art, are alive because they transit between identities, styles and beings (Figure 5). Belém is a city on the source of the Amazon River. As all of Brazil, Belém is changing fast, the co-presence of different codes is even more enlarged than the ‘normal’. The city’s markets are an excess of colours and flavours, as its craftsmanship and, off the coast, the large island of Marajó where traces of pottery and other products of great beauty were left by a refined ancient culture. Whilst casually visiting a popular market on a large, beautiful and messy square, I was drawn to a mannequin. Clearly, this was a mannequin of Chinese origin, as nearly all popular ones everywhere, not only in Brazil. I believe the production of these beings have really invaded the world. Yet, here I am, blocked by astonishment looking at her. I reckon it is a spontaneous work of art in which, once again, the ‘objective’ fetishism built into each mannequin is crossed and augmented by some sort of Sino-Brazilian syncretism. Colour is the first thing: a well-defined orange I have never ever seen on any another mannequin or person for the matter, Chinese or Brazilian. A mutant being for sure, I reckon. Then, a missing arm, the left one, leaving an emptiness that looks like a round eye-mouth hollow yawning its surroundings [6].

The most disturbing ‘thing’ is her head: clearly detached, perhaps lacking internal support, like the cervical one, properly connecting it to the torso. Right there in the usual spot, slightly tilted though, looking like a guillotined head that has been put back into place simply to enhance the show. A baldhead with such a smooth skull looking like no wig would remain seated there. Finally, the eyes: the mannequin’s eyes and even the eyebrows expressed infinite sadness, something I have never seen in other mannequins, usually displaying a dull face, rather expressionless. Here, however, the pain is obvious, something terrible must have happened to this mannequin; of course, the arm is missing; the head, detached; all hair is long gone; but it is not only that. Mannequins are used to such misfortunes. This one, however, must have suffered a recent experience that printed in her physiognomy a sense of anguish, anxiety, perhaps even horror due an encounter or even a terrible fate. Eyebrows and lips are bent down, its eyes troubled and plain sad.

Go to

Dismembered Body

Maybe this mannequin feels it might be a work of art, living art, jetting globally around galleries and museums; perhaps it feels its destiny, created by an artist or artisan, is unique. Maybe it is not like the other mannequins, always a bit vulgar and yet, ever so identical. This one is unique. It is the only one expressing these unusual colours and a dismembered body. Certainly, the mannequin cannot exactly recall how it happens to land there, in that beautiful square, but surely, not worthy of her status. Her memory is confused. Clearly, a princess she is. Her extreme nobility is expressed by her behaviour, which continues to be dignifying even in such disastrous and inadequate situation.

I understand very well what disturbs her more than anything: it is the bra she wears. Really ugly, she knows, the mannequin feels it. How is that possible that her person is forced to expose herself with such an … awful object. Yes, the bra is handmade, but is not gracious, it is too wide, with three strings attaching behind. Who would buy a similar object? And how long was she forced to wear that cover, thankfully other garments cover her bottoms, also not appropriate but eventually bearable. No, not the bra, though. If the mannequin had both arms and a less stiff neck, she might have been able to take it off and proudly show her beautiful orange breasts. But she cannot. And her dismay increases, becoming rather uncontrollable, reaching out and making even me worried. would have loved to buy that orange woman-mannequin. I thought about it for a long time whilst going around her in circles. Truth is, this was an encounter with a well-lived work of art, one that has travelled and suffered, that resists despite or because of her semiabandoned condition. She should really be displayed again, as in her recent past, in a wandering art gallery.

Her beauty is vague. Vague is the only appropriate adjective to her bodily condition. The madam of that outdoor stall, seen in the background, was an elegant woman, mastering her movements, organizer of her goods. What kept me from asking her about the price of the orange mannequin, was the idea of travelling by plane with her. I was embarrassed with the idea of having she sat next to me, whilst departing to São Paulo and the other travellers giggling. I was an incompetent or a coward. I abandoned setting she free from her current fate, saddened as the expression on her face, only because of my timid hypocrisy. And the mannequin, so shiny and sweaty, dismembered and erected, so sad and resolute, royal, would lie abandoned who knows where. She is a spontaneous work of art, mixing and exposing all the syncretic fetishism of its body-corpse. A mannequin, travelled from different continents and cultures, incorporating the ambiguous desire of a being that is still alive even in most disastrous situations. For me, it / she is more attractive and desirable than the other three hyper-fetish human bottles previously observed. She is alive and vague.

My final cut on fashion: Madame Fashion is and even more will be ubiquitous, syncretic, plyphonic, meta-fetishit and metamorphic

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For 27 years now, Présence Autochtone (Montreal First Peoples Festival) has been championing the lives and culture of the indigenous people of Canada and further afield, at its annual festival in the Quebec Province city. What was originally a somewhat niche film festival, has grown into a much larger event encompassing all of the arts. Films are still very much at its core, with offerings from across the globe showing in cinemas and other venues around the city. Documentaries make up a large part of the feature film programme, as there are still many issues to be investigated and tackled, but the fictional films also address them, and often in a more palatable way. And some films cross into both genres, such as Kuun metsän Kaisa, which mixed fairytales, animation, archive footage and social history of the Skolt Sami people of Lapland. The film went on to win the festival’s best film and best documentary awards.

What was particularly encouraging to see was not only the number of short films showing, but also how the quality has also grown with the quantity. This can primarily be attributed to the ongoing work that Wapikoni Mobile is doing, taking filmmaking and other media skills to the First Nations communities. They work almost exclusively with the youth, many of whom are disillusioned and unsure of their identities and future. Through filmmaking, they are able to explore the conundrum between tradition and today’s digital, social-media driven world. The project is uncovering a lot of talented young storytellers, who would otherwise have trouble expressing themselves.

The amalgamation of heritage and modernity was perfectly displayed in the art exhibition From Smoke to Cyber Signals at Espace Culturel Ashukan. Artist Carmen Hathaway has combined digital and 3D art with ideas from traditional stories and myths, which are then printed onto canvas. Some of the images are very finally detailed and look like they are created with brush and paint or airbrushes.

This fusion of traditional and contemporary cultures was also extended to the food that was on offer in Place des Festivals, which is very much the public face of the festival, with its giant teepee dominating the square in the downtown entertainment quarter. Usually when one talks about fusion food, one thinks of traditional food that has been spoilt by Westerners that think they can improve on dishes that have been perfected over centuries and millennia (I’m specifically thinking of Indian and Middle Eastern/North African food, where the combination of ingredients and spices take on health-giving properties). However, in this case, indigenous chef George Lesner has taken a different approach.

“I want to define what indigenous food is. I do not think it solely consists of ingredients and recipes from pre-colonial contact. That was such a long time ago, and what has happened to our land, people, culture and relations have changed our diets and needs dramatically over the years. What we cooked 600 years ago to survive was completely different to what we cooked when our meat was taken away by colonisers, and rotten flour was given to us instead. With my food, I want to represent our peoples’ struggles, and innovations we were forced to go through. I want to showcase that we are a contemporary peoples, as well as make a statement that we may have had our land taken away. Colonisers may have taken many of our lives but our resilient spirit is still here, and our resistance is not going anywhere.”

As such, he has created dishes that use local ingredients and are prepared with influences of French cuisine, that appeal to the sophisticated palettes of the Quebecois.

Another area where cultural fusion works particularly well is music. It is a universal language that spans the limitations of geography, heritage and time. Ignoring the most pretentious of musical snobs and purists, for most people born post WW2, rock music is what they were raised on. Along with blues and jazz, it is possibly the greatest contribution to modern culture the US has made.

Our voices, and drums, are our most primordial means of communication, and listening to the Buffalo Hat Singers, you can feel that right to the core of your being. For me, if music doesn’t have live drumming it is lacking its heart and soul. Of course, a great voice accompanied by a solo guitar also works.

Music has become a vital and integral part of the festival, and through the free concerts in Place des Festivals, it is now the most popular part. The fact that Présence Autochtone coincides with Osheaga, now Canada’s biggest music festival, happening a short Metro ride away, hasn’t dampened enthusiasm. If Osheaga is Glastonbury, then this is WOMAD. The “world music” aspect was further highlighted this year through the festival’s collaboration with Vive 375, a year-long celebration of Montreal’s 375th anniversary.

Présence Autochtone is not only a celebration of the aboriginal heritage of Canada and the Americas, but the indigenous people around the world that have suffered at the hands of European Christians and imperialists. The festival’s annual parade and presentation has always celebrated the city’s diverse cultures, which make it the vibrant place it is, which is especially evident during the balmy summer months.

Thursday evening saw Silla + Rise performing a fascinating mix of Inuit throat singing combined with electronic beats. Some of the songs were freeform, like hip-hop or even jazz scatting. A rather fascinating and unique sound.

Like the previously mentioned Wapikoni, Musique Nomade is an initiative for indigenous musicians to record, promote and distribute their music. The music available is as diverse as the nations it comes from, and with a multitude of influences. This was perfectly displayed at Nikamotan MTL, a showcase of Musique Nomade artists that featured individual performances and duets, embracing styles from blues to hip-hop to country to reggae.

This musical cross-pollination continued on the Saturday evening with Nova Stella, which incorporated a panoply of musicians and spoken-word artists from across the city’s émigré communities. As with the previous night’s Nikamotan MTL, there were duets from unlikely pairings of diverse performers. Rap and hip-hop were fairly predominant, but the highlights were Congolese singer Pierre Kwenders, who mixes rumba with electronic beats and a riveting stage presence; Shauit, a regular at the festival, performed original reggae songs in his native Innu tongue; and Nomadic Massive, an international collective of musicians whose upbeat mix of primarily hip-hop and soul, proved to be a crowd-pleasing finale to the evening.

The importance of first nation people’s contribution to contemporary music was further underlined in the closing night film Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World. The film’s title comes from the classic instrumental by Link Wray, who was a native American. Released in 1958 it was a groundbreaking guitar tune that predates the current garage and surf rock by 50 years, and was a major influence on the world’s great rock guitarists such as Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. Despite this, Wray’s heritage was unknown or hidden from the general public.

As I previously said, contemporary (20th century) American music, which encompasses jazz, blues, folk and rock, is arguably the nation’s greatest contribution to world culture, and for the most part is attributed to African-Americans, but this film reveals that the First Nations’ people played a far more influential role than is generally known. Part of this is due to the fact that the Indians were even more marginalised and persecuted than the blacks, and their story suppressed (in much the same way as the genocide of Roma/Sinti in Nazi Germany is). The film investigates the cross-pollination of Afro-American and First Nations’ people, both physically and culturally. Jimi Hendrix is undoubtedly one of the most famous sons. The film also looks at other influential artists such as blues singer Charley Patton, jazz singer Mildred Bailey, the aforementioned rock guitarists Link Wray, protest folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie (who became a victim of a CIA/FBI witch hunt), The Band’s Robbie Robertson, as well as the tragic story of prodigious guitarist Jesse Ed Davies. The film also interviews many luminaries from the music world who all attest to the important contributions and influence of these musicians, and the music of the indigenous people in general.

This is a brilliant, eye-opening documentary that adds a vital chapter to the origins of modern music, and served as fitting coda to the festival that had been celebrating the universality of music, as well as highlighting, through its film programming, the ongoing struggles, and triumphs, of aboriginal people throughout North America and the rest of the world.

Should you ever find yourself in Montreal in the summer months, possibly to take in the plethora of high-profile festivals, take time out to explore the offerings of Présence Autochtone, with its free music concerts and thought-provoking films.

Présence Autochtone For 27 years now, Présence Autochtone (Montreal First Peoples Festival) has been championing the lives and culture of the indigenous people of Canada and further afield, at its annual festival in the Quebec Province city.

[augusthyoj988-blog]

No Time? No Money? No Problem! How You Can Get Tribute Singers With A Zero-dollar Budget

There are a couple of things. Then search for another one if it refuses to play songs that you would like. So if you'd like your cellphone to work with a number of bands, you must have multi band phones.

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The Intermediate Guide To Hire A Band

The tune was an effort. In reality, his tunes market steadily all around the globe. The song is intended to celebrate individuals diferences. You also will need to be certain that the band plays music that you desire.

The planning which went to the entire plot was a good deal of years. The music company may be a hard and barbarous spot for artists. It's very glamorous to have a singing occupation, and they're able to provide high pay that is why they are wanted by numerous singers.

Browse through our whole inventory of concert tickets that are soda , simply discover the event. We have got tickets in almost any tier to be certain that you get to do if you are on the lookout for a more casual event! Events won't be refunded. Describe why you feel a specific event or event will stay important to you.

You know, once the show was great. The charismatic series is certain to have you singing together with a few of the very best Bee Gees hits and dancing. If you're searching for a wonderful tribute series it will be discovered by you in the city of Vegas. Simply take a peek at you left the series in the initial site. Near the Michael The show was a one it was along with the performances were rather cool! Seeing a series is a part of the Vegas experience. You must look at what you've made if you're generating that display or TV Shows that have flopped.

Tickets for the five rows incorporate a souvenir colour booklet. Your tickets weren't valid for entry. Tickets for a series and dinner is an excellent way and there are a great deal of shows.

There are individuals who can not live without entertainment. It can be quite soothing to the body and mind. Apart from the aforementioned, it can also be used for educational purposes. One of the most usual things for individuals is their amusement.

Fortunately, there are plenty of strategies . It is not confined to dance and tune numbers. It can be seen as a business enterprise. A method to receive entertainment would be to pay a visit to the library and locate a movie or a book.

The Ultimate Guide To Wedding Singers

You have got to supply information and your organization logo Since the corporation will design number of things that range from signage to invitations and other materials. Obviously, not every business can be this avant-garde within their promotions. There are.

You are able to use music either at your backyard or your home. If you're among the lucky people who want to learn more and grow deeper into your favourite type of music we're likely to get to have a route. The fundamentals want to be strong As it's a complicated kind of music in which a guitarist should play scales and chords. Together with a lot of practice, you may be playing some songs that is smoothjazz and fast.

Dont have a site that raises red flags if a ring doesn't have sound and video samples to their site or worse. You wish to amuse your visitors although Obviously you are going to want to have a band that may play a number of your songs and artists. A group we listen to is a very small portion of this but a good thing can be indicated by it. you may decide to initiate a fashion ring rings are also rather popular! Any expert wedding band that is great ought to have a website with video and sound.

Music might never be considered by you at the manner after you have been subjected to this Ukes' depraved musicology. The penalties can be a lot worse, if you exchange songs either in individual or online. It's going to go and I want to think the music I write is timeless, so I want to believe I could release it anytime. You don't want to be advised that you can just play music until 6 pm as soon as the band has been paid their deposit by you.

PERFECT TIMING It may be challenging working out once you are considering getting the ring to begin and the period of time you want them to play for. A previous factor for our tribute band is the character of the material. There are numerous more tribute bands than there used to be so make sure that your tribute group is the one which gets remembered for putting on an superb show out there competing for the specific same crowd. Look through the local gig listings and odds are you will find as singers and many tribute bands because there are acts.

10 Things Most People Don't Know About Wedding Singers

Your recording artist probably employs a singing sound near their speaking voice. So music is still one. The songs of d'Agostino downloaded from internet retailers or can be bought on his site.

In the event the performer has lots of info they'd like you to talk with the audience, either memorize it or have a bit of paper out on stage along with you. Memories that will endure a lifetime are created by the live performance. Such performances take the nature of the event to a different degree.

For growing out your hair the process depends upon your intended length. Can you share the methods technology is currently shifting the experience of visiting the health care provider. The principal focus at this time is currently getting a couple songs up to rate.

Unique portions of your hair will grow out at rates. If your hair is long enough, then you are likely to be in a place to hold up this in a variety of ways. Cleaning your hair gets significant. Based on how quickly your hair dries up, you might be shampooing and conditioning your hair. As a hair that you don't wash daily!

Lots of folks cut their own hair as soon as they get to the awkward phase. Your hair will get in the way and could wind up in your food! Growing hair that is long isn't for everybody.

Tribute acts have turned into a genre all their own. They are not always welcomed with the first acts they're patterned after. The tribute act was conducted all over the country and features 2 sets of Cole hits.

Every band have their own stipulations that customers must comply to appreciate their expert services. A previous thing for our tribute band is the character of their promotional material. Tribute bands begin more badly, they will need to be able to play musical instruments to start with. Tribute band are quite popular among residents due to their concerts. If you are searching for the perfect Beatles Tribute Band for a Wedding in Liverpool, have a look at our catalog to discover the best choice for your event.

The instant that you know what sort of music you want in your wedding, then you're all set to have a band. It's documented that those songs can be extremely rewarding for the ceremony which could explain their reluctance. It's not the music which makes the group one of the Beatles tribute acts in vegas. The band may be a tribute act in the place where they play music in the group that is favorite. The majority of the instances, the band might not be the option. Using a website or a media site characterises the music group that is ideal.

In several ways, the genre has changed to a joke. Jazz isn't dead. This music became a sort of treatment in the center of experience. In other that are posting this audio and case such as mine, it's not for monetary gain or material. Everyone has that favourite song. This extraordinary album needs to be categorized and also a myth needs to be dispelled.

What Not To Do In The Tribute Acts Industry

There's no clearer singer, as an instance. Although many session painters just work it's very important they can get the work done well without sight see and the should rehearse. Singers find sorts of singing tasks to allow them to make a money. There are still artists which are recording their previous age and individuals that are young and upcoming. If you meet with people that are geniuses and they're normal and really nice, it's so inspiring.

The competition is strong. It's an effort at attempting to mimic the manner music of various genres, to their listeners, are being introduced moreover jazz. It's very glamorous to have a singing occupation, and they're able to provide high pay that's why they are wanted by so many singers. A house is a lot more than a home. If you're looking for a night out, heating up the dance floor at one of several clubs is a choice. The disposition is gloomy by way of this track along with the following.

When you return following your marriage it becomes memories you are able to laugh for several decades! It is important to enquire from individuals people who have organised weddings. You may want to be certain everybody is happy and entertained at your wedding day. At the specific same moment, there are few which are well-known for playing weddings. Organizing a wedding on a little budget can be a really daunting job to do on the engaged couple's part.

You don't wish to go if it has to do with obtaining the wedding decoration ripped off. You might need to be certain you're interviewing the wedding singer initially to make confident you're getting precisely what you purchase. Wedding singers deliver sound systems and excellent high quality backing tracks so the outcome is extremely professional and a band won't be missed.

Wedding is the most unique day in the life of boy and a woman that are very likely to begin a new life together. At length, always schedule a interview with the individual you believe you want at your wedding. You may have a wedding that is stunning without having to spend a lot on the pricey stuff.

By the book's close you are going to be enjoying with some terrific songs. Finally, you might want some distinctive tunes about love to supply the background music if you're celebrating Valentines Day at home. It's a fact if it is written nicely that a song that is wonderful won't ever locate old. Father daughter wedding songs are more significant than you may imagine. You might locate the list if you would like to choose music for an approaching wedding.

The concert will happen before the Pasadena Civic Auditorium about the plaza.

It is not simple to categorize the things that they do as a tribute'. Among the distinctive and original tribute indicates that has survived the test of time.

An individual can receive a group of premium tickets. Maybe the tickets to listen to the true artist are too costly. A souvenir color booklet is incorporated by tickets for the five rows.

No one under 18 decades old is allowed. Perhaps the easiest way to celebrate Christmas Day or a event that is various is to produce dinner reservations at a quiet restaurant. Walk-ups day of show could be accessible. If you find yourself with a distinctive romantic evening planned with the person who you love, don't neglect to take pictures! All you need to do is be sure on the afternoon of this event, you have got security and great crew which is able to make your stage light up like never before and maintain everybody who comes safe. Any moment you are feeling lonely, despair anger or bitterness, all you need to do is think. You can be sure that you aren't likely to have a minute's peace till you have taken your children to observe the movie.

10 Best Mobile Apps For Hire A Band

Have them play with the types of songs you're contemplating to observe how it feels if you're likely to employ a ring and learn whether or not it matches your motif. You can want to use a ring that plays music, so as to heat the atmosphere up. A ring with Pilipino design may be a superior option.

Should you would like to understand how to advertise your band and raise your probability of acquiring a record deal ( quickly and cheaply), here are a couple of do-it-yourself ideas which will help get you started. A High School Dance Band that will be a little more costly although it is possible to choose to employ a band. You want to use a ring or chamber orchestra.

There are a couple things prior to employing a band to keep in mind. If it refuses to play with tunes that you want then search for a different one. According to what the rings offer, you may discover the rings are the better value.

If you decide to employ a ring be certain they understand how to play your songs that are chosen. You may need to employ a band that specializes in that type of music. Most rings are ready to accommodate requests.