Happy Thanksgiving!

Found this via Gawker....

William S. Burroughs "Thanksgiving Prayer"

Little Things

1) So in a recent post I wrote about "the picture at the top of my blog" and that picture has obviously changed. For references sake, above is that previous photo. My new photo is of a work by the amazing John Baldessari, who I somehow missed during my art historical education, though I luckily caught a whole bunch of his works at the LA County Museum when I visited over the summer. He's amazing, check him out!


2) Today I was killing time at work, perusing the least intellectual parts of the New York Times, when I stumbled upon this  :

Of Color | Stylish Gifts

By SIMONE S. OLIVER

Somali fashion, do-it-yourself henna kits, children's books that draw inspiration from the lives of Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor: it's not hard to find gifts created for and by people of color this holiday season.

Does anyone else find this a little absurd? 

3) In a recent episode of The Daily Show, Jon did a short piece (that got pretty stupid at the end, but I forgive him, as always) on Will Phillips , a ten-year-old boy who refuses to stand up for the pledge of allegiance as a protest against gay inequality. I can't decide which part is more ridiculous, when his father cracks up at the word "gaywad" or the newscasters question, "what is a gaywad?" Even better: this kid is amazingly intelligent and already a dissenter! He's more articulate than many people my own age. LOVE

4) Today I donated $50 to help feed a family for Thanksgiving. I know that not many people have money to spare right now, but if you can, you should donate too! Seems like a nice program . 

CULTURE!

I had a grand weekend.

Friday was Broken Embraces

(http://www.chilternfilmsociety.org.uk/uploads/images/09-10-images/Broken%20Embraces%20still%202.jpg)

the new Almodovar film. Beauty was the dominating factor of this movie for me. How is Penelope Cruz so astoundingly gorgeous? And Almodovar is 100% the auteur: there were so many exquisite shots (like the perfect framing of the opening exercise sequence and the soon-to-be-infamous hands on screen moment) and SO MUCH RED. I was highly entertained but still, much of it felt a little cheap. A friend suggested he was making fun of his own melodrama and he does reference one of his own earlier films, "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." I hope this is true, because otherwise so much of it seemed all too easy, and Almodovar does not cop-out.

Sunday was jam packed. First:

(http://www.dgdesignnetwork.com.au/dgdn/wp-content/gallery/briefing-room/09october/TB_CorpseBride.jpg)

Tim Burton exhibition at MoMA! It was opening day, so super crowded, so it's a great sign that I was still in such a good mood when I left- it's that good. I was wondering what exactly would make up an exhibition on the filmmaker, and was pleasantly surprised to find all of his models and costumes PLUS: short films (some of which, I was told, can be seen on the MoMA website - can't check because the internet at W blows), sculptures, cartoons, and even a picture book he sent to Disney while still in high school! So basically, he's always been amazing.

The exhibition really brings to light just how talented this crazy person really is. Throughout the exhibition people were exclaiming about all of his work that they had forgotten about, from Batman Returns to Mars Attacks! Which is my personal favorite- I can't BELIEVE I forgot this amazing work of art existed. Aliens + Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox?! Yes please! (Note: I just looked at IMDB only to discover that both Natalie Portman and FUCKING PAM GRIER were also in this. MUST WATCH).

Also, throughout my tour, I kept hearing the word creepy. I think that's an undeniable fact about him, and its so awesome that his weirdness is so well-loved.

 I mean, this is how he and Helena Bonham Carter showed up to his MoMA tribute:

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1228838/Helena-Bonham-Carter-goes-Gothic-princess-joins-Johnny-Depp-Tim-Burton-tribute.html)

Perfect. 

Which reminds me: I only saw Sweeney Todd once. Good thing I'm going home for Thanksgiving so I can make a marathon out of this. Also, thank god this is open til April because I'm definitely going back.

Another great thing: the catalogue is only $20! That's so rare. Also, is that the British spelling?

Anyways. My sister is visiting so naturally, I went to see some theater (Sunday was a big day).

(http://mediaspot.broadway.com/uploads/thumbnails/uploads/let-me-down-easy_jpg_606x10000_q85.jpg)

I was excited to see "Let Me Down Easy" starring Anna Deavere Smith, having just filled my "college arts education requirement" by writing a paper about her late '90s work "Fires in the Mirror." In case you don't know, Smith is a performance artist who conducts interviews and then performs each character herself, weaving together a story that is partly confessional, partly satire, and wholly about her ridiculous ability to inhabit absolutely anyone. "Let Me Down Easy" focuses on health care, and she interviews family members, patients, politicians, even Lance Armstrong. It was amazing, funny, and beautiful. After writing my paper I was a little bit skeptical, having seen her work only through the slightly-crappy made-for-tv version of "Fires in the Mirror," which I found slightly offensive in her outlandish renderings of its characters (in that case, the Jewish and Black communities of Crown Heights). Here, I thought she was brilliant. It's too bad it closes in January, or I would want to see it again.

Later that evening (I know, I know) I caught Devendra Banhart, Part One.

(http://stardustandsequins.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/handinair1.jpg)

I had bought tickets to see him play at NYC's Town Hall a few months ago only to discover that he's also playing at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Town Hall is seated and formal while Music Hall is a regular club, so since I have a great deal of love for this man/I'm pretty sure I'll get two different experiences, I'm going two nights in a row. I'm also really spoiled, and  have given him a really large amount of his money (especially since I was inclined to buy a hard copy of his new album, "What Will We Be"- I'm so glad I spent the $17.99 or whatever, because it comes with some beautiful artwork). 

Anyhow, last nights show: beautiful, naturally. I had seen him once before, at this years Coachella, and that show was downright exultant, with everyone exhausted and sunsoaked and dirty but dancing and drinking and smoking and laughing wildly. He passed around a bottle of Patrón, and my memory of it consists of lots of colors and body parts and beaming, as it should be.

Last night was seated and more subdued, but it felt pretty much the same internally. Even after all of this time of going to shows, I still find it an incredible experience to go to a concert and hear, right in front of you, usually in a more honest and beautiful way, those songs you have been listening to for however long, months, years maybe. It struck me too that I started listening to Devendra because I knew of him as this folksy singer, so I would put him on while I fell asleep. Half the time I would end up staying up too late just to listen, and he still is one of those artists I have spent a great deal of time with alone, someone I listen to intimately, in my room in the dark or during breaks from the day. How crazy to see him up there, sometimes just him and his guitar and all those hundreds of people sitting there quietly.

I was hoping, since it was going to be a seated, more passive venue, that he would play one of my favorite songs in the world, one of the most beautiful, "This is the Way" off of Rejoicing in the Hands. He didn't, and I'm assuming he won't play it in a club tonight, since there will be much more of a party vibe. Fingers crossed though.

Here is a video and here is the song

The entire thing is 100% made by the last  two lines:

"Well I know I know/we had a choice/we chose rejoice" sigh.

A Sense of Place

 Here is a piece I wrote for class that still needs some tweaking. Our assignment was to write an essay about a place, and though I like parts of this I think I felt pressured to find a theme that still doesn't quite fit.

Check it!