.. and back again

i've said that dc would be the last place i'd live before leaving the country. that statement remains true. i was in dc a few weeks ago (took fung to see scw @ wsc, raged with mundy, etc) and the short version of the story is that i haven't really felt right since arriving in new orleans and was amased at how quickly i got my head right while in dc. my creative process+productivity has slowed to a crawl while in nola and i'm left wondering how much i might have accomplished had i never left. i'ma not rush back because my isolation in new orleans is giving me plenty time to self-evaluate and there are still things to learned from that process. in that sense i've accomplished so much. + my creative output has improved last couple weeks which helps deter the worry. i'm just clearer+calmer in dc. i'ma eventually figure a permanent way back to dc and be outta the country thereafter. ... 'less i can get myself outta the country first. (added 7:09p, next day) talk soon. ps. i'm writing again... for the first time in well over a year. hurray.

art+letters

some time ago sweet trini introduced me to a website called art+letters which archives wonderful articles that stimulate my mind regularly like this short article updating us about the link between creativity to psychosis. what follows is a multimedia mashup of art, letters and the psychos creating it. things that have excited or impressed me over the last while. links galore. i first+foremost gotta bigup wsc's production of tennessee williams' small craft warnings. the redesign of the clarkstreet lobby into monk's place was great. feeling like an old patron of the bar as i watched the story unfold around me, realising that while these fellow patron's had come in+out of each others lives from time to time, they were all pretty much alone in the world; like single vessels passing in a thick fog... and i reflected on my own life. the direction of jay hardee and performances by talents like christopher henley, mundy spears+kari ginsburg were incredible. after meeting, kari granted me the great pleasure of designing her new ink which we already know i like a lot. from my last stomping ground to the current, i seem to not be the only 1 to have recently made the trek. creator of the wire, david simon has started production of treme filming here in new orleans and picked up by hbo. i ran into comedian, steve zahn a few month ago in the quarter and come to find out he's the lead in simon's post-katrina look at the famous mid-city neighbourhood of treme; known for being home to the musicians. the wire spoke so bluntly of inner-city society for 5years and i will definitely be interested to see what treme has to say of new orleans and society now. next is nola artist, craig tracy. i came across his paintedalive gallery in the quarter some time ago down on royal. if you're someone who recognises the human form as an art form as i do, you'll love the way the brush strokes work with the lines of the body. unfortunately some of my favourite works of his aren't in his online gallery. favourite works = beautiful colourful thick curvy women. the last nola related art was introduced to me via a video of artists from around the world singing+playing their own rendition of stand by me. 1 of these artists was grandpa elliott, a local street musician who i had the pleasure of joining in singing sitting on the dock of the bay just weeks ago after speaking with the man a while. it was a great couple of soulful minutes for me, regardless my abilities as a singer. anyway, after very brief research i found out that this video is the first episode of many like videos for a movement called playing for change which was created by marc johnson with the purpose of unifying every creed+race through the power of music. it all started with stand by me 4years ago and the latest (7th) episode, war, no more trouble (below) was just released and may be my new favourite. as said, the movement stars artists from across the world, past+present, including house favourites bob+manu. my 1critique would be that this particular cause absolutely must have current caribbean artists involved and has none as of yet. however, i must commend the editors on their work. while the video editing is good, the audio editing is incredible and deserves it's own praise. in another musical update. dj dangermouse, who has his hand in more projects than i had realised, is fighting with emi records about the release of his new album dark night of the soul. as a result he has decided to include a blank cd-r with each copy in spite of emi. mouse's new album will also include a 100+ page book of album inspired photos by david lynch (writer+producer of films like lost highway+ muholland dr) if+when it is ever released. dangermouse colaborates with dj sparklehorse on this album along with many other artists and you can currently hear it in it's entirity right now on npr's website. give it a listen for free while you can. i also gotta mention yahzarah aka purple saint james and yusuf islam aka cat stevens. yahzarah is a rising r+b singer outta nyc who is fine+talented. i'll be looking forward to an opportunity to see her perform. yusuf has just released roadsinger, his 1st album in 33years. i love cat's music and can't wait to hear what yusuf learned while converting to and studying islam. lastly, this commercial for honda is an amasing rube goldberg-esque display of physics. no cgi was used and it apparently took 606takes to catch. cool shit. ... and with all this pop culture popping up in this post, i oughta mention chuck klosterman's sex, drugs and cocoa puffs. great book. my own art sooncome. talk soon.

mauritius

i was watching a documentary about mauritius the other day and by the end added it to my list of places to visit. if you don't know mauritius is a group of small islands about 900km east of madagascar. the country of nearly 1.3million people is made up of african, indian, creole, french and chinese cultures practicing predominantly hindi, roman catholicism and muslim. citizens speak either english, french, hindi or mauritius creole and there is no designated official language. children typically learn in both english+french and public education+transportation are free. all of this is to say that mauritius is an extremely diverse country, and celebrates that diversity instead of mashing us all up into the same culture. in the states we've become nothing more than a culture of consumers; sheep. we are simply a part of the herd, here to help drive the machine and push the economy. they will take our wool time after time and when once we get too old we'll be killed or abandoned to make way for the new lamb. we've been sheared of our individuality and left with no stories, no history, no memories of who we are, what we believe and where we came from. there was a great quote in the documentary i was able to find later to share with you that speaks beautifully of the way mauritius embraces diversity. a cardinal from mauritius, monsignor bargeau is quoted as saying "we should consider each group, racial or cultural as a fruit: an apple, a pear, a mango. we want to make mauritius not a marmalade, where we mix up everything and grind everything and end up with one marmalade with one taste. but we would like to have a fruit salad, where in a fruit salad each one retains its individual flavour and taste." talk soon.