Gina Harris's Blog, page 157

Band Review: The Gyro

The Gyro is a four piece funk band based in London.
You can hear other influences as well. "Heart and Soul" reminds me of old standards, but jazzier and livelier. Still, more typical tracks for the band would probably be "Bottle" or "Make Me Smile".
These lyrics often point to a life full of trouble and disappointment, but the with Siobhan Hesketh's sweet voice, accompanied by the groove set by Dario, Ben, and Derek Lewis, the songs don't generally feel down.
There is a sense of maturity and professionalism. The band has done a good job of creating a web presence, with music on all of the usual sites, and is keeping live dates scheduled. This includes the promise of a 4 track EP to be released at their next appearance, Vault Festival on February 26th in London.
The Gyro band should be poised to do well.
http://www.thegyromusic.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/naked-n-xposed/id977692141
https://www.facebook.com/thegyro
https://soundcloud.com/thegyro
https://www.youtube.com/user/GyromusicTV
https://www.reverbnation.com/thegyro
https://thegyro.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/gyromusic

Enforced stillness

Once a year I go to the ophthalmologist for a diabetic eye exam. For her to see what she needs to see, she dilates my pupils.
There is some physical discomfort with the drops, but the real issue is that lights seem too bright and I can't focus that well.
The worse problem with this ever was that I once got on the wrong bus. Peering at the sign told me that it was the 20, which is what I needed, but what I had not realized was that at that stop (St. Vincent's) the bus does a loop, so both the Eastbound and Westbound bus come by the same stop. I suddenly found myself heading into Portland and had to get off and cross a busy street while my vision was impaired. Now I am careful to check for the destination.
The worst of it doesn't last for very long, but print stays hard for a bit longer after that. I am typing now, and I can read it, but it's still not quite in focus and I want to close my eyes some more.
As most of what I do for work and play involves books or print on the computer, this has an impact. My next most favorite thing to do is going for a walk outside, and it seems a little bright out there.
That turns today into kind of a rest day. I lay down for a while. I put on some music and listen to it only, without also reading or typing. I close my eyes and bury my face in cat's fur.
It's really not for that long, and breaks can be good.

In praise of Galavant

"Galavant" has wrapped up its second season, and is probably over as a series. There is an opening left for a third season if they are lucky enough to get one, but no unbearable cliffhangers like at the end of the first season. (And thank you for that!)
That was no easy task. It was possible to be equally fond of Gareth's relationship with King Richard and Madalena, but happy resolutions for both seemed impossible. What did end up happening felt plausible and satisfying. Yes, that is how it would play out, and again some room was left.
There were a lot of things that were done right, including an affection for minor characters that meant that they could grow into not-so-minor and even favorite characters. The Jester could easily have been abandoned early on, but instead he kept around, and kept relevant, until it was reasonable that he would sing the recap leading into the finale. Not only did it make sense, he did a great job.
It makes sense to have that much respect for the characters given the talent of the cast that they found. I don't know which came first; maybe it built on itself. We need a good cast, this cast is phenomenal, we need to do more with them.
The series also did a great job of balancing the serious with the silly, and they did that by a healthy grounding in reality. Yes, an army of the undead is a fantasy element, but once you accept that happening, then trying to lead them would probably go a lot like they showed.
But I really need to talk about the music.
Okay, you expect Alan Menken to deliver, but delivering three songs per episode and two episodes per week is challenging for the time element alone, and time is a factor in a different way as well. With the amount of plot that needs to be covered, along with the desire to include fun bits that may not advance the plot but they do enrich the overall experience, the songs need to do a lot of work.
Some of that comes from bringing in the familiar. That was something I noticed more this season. In an episode when you have a fight between giants and dwarfs, the rumble feel is added to with a number reminiscent of "Cool" from West Side Story (as well as one that sounded a lot like "Officer Krupke").
I think the best illustration is the scene that takes part in The Enchanted Forest.
First we learn that we are near the Enchanted Forest, ruled over by an evil queen, and people go in and never come out. The first thing that does is reference "Once Upon a Time" - the show for which "Galavant" acts as a mid-season replacement. It references and then differentiates as we see a sign that shows us that The Enchanted Forest is a pub. Then we see that this pub has an all-male clientele, and we find that people do come out, though our two heroes are briefly trapped until a beautifully silly solution presents itself and some answers.
In between, though, we get the musical number "Off With His Shirt". Besides being fun, it enhances the scene in two ways. The title reminds of us "Off with his head!" putting us well within the realm of dangerous queens in storybook lands. Simultaneously, the disco beat reminds us of "It's Raining Men", putting us well within the realm of this type of pub.
It works brilliantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBN7FB7PsGE
I'll miss you "Galavant". I hope to see the faces you made familiar in many other shows.

Looking for why

I had mentioned a breakthrough that was pretty devastating a while back. I am comfortable with the issue itself now, but sharing the details feels a little tricky because those involve other people, and it's very current. Still, I'm going to try.
It relates to my church callings. I was recently called to junior nursery. If you don't know, that means that during the class portion of church (Sunday school, etc,) I am watching over the 18 - 24 month old children.
My family was greatly offended on my behalf, because they feel it's a waste of my abilities. I don't feel that's right in general, because all callings are important and you learn a lot from doing different things. This is my first calling in the primary (children's) organization ever. Spending so much time in the singles ward, which did not have a primary, sort of ensured that.
In my family's defense, there are still people who remember me as the best Gospel Doctrine teacher ever, though that's been about twelve years. As Emergency Preparedness coordinator I put out a very popular newsletter, stayed organized with the response plan, and kept track of people constantly moving in and out. They think of me as having skills that not everyone has, but those skills may not be the ones currently needed.
When we came into our current ward I was called as librarian. At least one person said she has always wanted that job because you don't have to do any work for it. I believe she meant preparation during the week, which is true. She is also kind of dumb. but I also know other people who have done it and really liked it. I grew to like it too, though at first it was frustrating because I needed to be there at exactly the same times that I would normally use for hunting down some visiting teachees who would talk if approached in person, but never responded to phone or e-mail messages. Once the route was changed that became a lot less stressful.
One thing that made that calling important to me was that I realized early on that it threw me into contact with someone that it was important to have contact with, and we have become good friends. When I got the nursery calling, I felt like there was a similar situation, putting me into contact with a person I needed to spend some time with. Having the attitude that any calling is beneath you still feels terribly wrong anyway, so of course I accepted it.
I felt like there would be benefits for me too. I like young children, and I don't get to spend a lot of time with them. No one really enjoys a screaming tantrum, but a child who just needs to be held a little bit while they whimper because they are feeling the separation from parents - that's in my wheelhouse.
At the same time, there was this creeping question of why everything that happens to me has to be for the sake of someone else. After my family protested and I told them that I thought there was a good reason for the call, one of my sisters asked that same question, and I admitted to wondering that myself.
It was weighing on me. I knew that these things that seemed to be more for others helped me too, so that was worth something, but there was this nagging feeling, wondering why my life couldn't be about me. It felt very unfair, and then the answer came: that's the only way I do it.
If something was just for me, I didn't prioritize it. It bothered me feeling like God prioritized other people over me. Realizing I set it up that way was something else.
I've made peace with that too. That gaps in my self-worth and how they play out in the rest of my life are exactly what I was working on when the calling happened. I'm not sure that I have made great progress yet - actually a train of thought from Saturday could be a pretty good argument that I haven't - but awareness is a good starting place.
There are other things about nursery that have felt hard, and yet they are getting worked out.
We use sippy cups that need to be washed every week. I was handed them for the first two weeks, but it was assumed I would just run them through the dishwasher. We don't have a dishwasher. For part of the time we take the kids to the gym. There's not a clock there. "Do you have your phone with you?"  I don't currently have a phone. We give them snacks that periodically need to be purchased. I can turn in receipts for reimbursement, but that takes weeks and I have been broke.
All of those have been working out. One person found out I didn't have a dishwasher and she has been taking the cups. I have some extra money right now where needing to buy snacks was not a problem. There might be a watch around here I can wear. It was just amazing how quickly the reminders came that I do not have things that are apparently so normal to have that no one even asks if you do. You'd expect the big reminder to be that I have never had a husband and children. I guess that's old news.
So that's where I'm at for now. It's okay. It wasn't what I expected, exactly., but it usually isn't.

Band Review: Fefe Dobson

Fefe Dobson is one of the names I encountered when I was working on the #BlackGirlsRock play list, and one where I knew I wanted to go back.
This Canadian singer and songwriter is generally classified as pop or rock, and that's fair, but what keeps bringing me back is the strong punk influence.
I notice it most on "I Want You" and "Stupid Little Love Song" - songs from two different albums released seven years apart - but it pops up in other tracks regularly, not as a phase but as a part of her core. It feels like she must have been influenced by the Riot grrrl bands in the '90s, even if her own output is more mainstream.
The pop aspects are real. "Legacy" was not only on a "Degrassi" soundtrack, but is also remarkably catchy and has a fun video.
The most apt comparison may be Pink, whose fans should check Fefe Dobson out. She can be in your face, but not at the expense of the musical quality.
Good listening all around.
https://www.facebook.com/fefedobson/
http://www.amazon.com/Fefe-Dobson/e/B00197K7A6/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FefeDobsonVEVO
https://twitter.com/fefeDPersonal

Band Review: Scott Barkan

I originally intended to review Scott Barkan right after Blinking Underdogs. I didn't have another Star Wars-themed band for the week, but I am aware of Scott Barkan because he had some art done for him by Portland comic book artist Benjamin Dewey. (You can easily spot Dewey's work at http://scottbarkan.bandcamp.com/.) I felt like this at least tangentially connected Barkan to Star Wars via the broader world of geekery.
Then I went on hiatus.
I might have waited longer and at least posted the review, except there was a part of me that felt like I still hadn't gotten the music right, and it made me hesitant to write about it. Keeping at it, I have been listening to him as both Scott Barkan and Barky for just over a month.
I think it is that the different albums pull me in different directions.
Solo/Acoustic/Live and Trio/Electric/Live are both good times. They capture the feeling of a live show and make you want to be in that audience. As much as I like them, I keep going back to Flightless Bird from 2014.
First off, I have to give the title track credit for making me think more than I ever have about what it means to be a flightless bird. At first I rebelled against the harshness of the lyrics, and then I had to admit that they made sense. Some of the other tracks work toward finding one's place and accepting it, but this song faces it in the most direct way.
"Flightless Bird" did some work in pulling me in, but the song that won me over completely was "Crank Radio". Mostly spoken, there is a guitar accompaniment that reminds me of Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk", striking chords along the spine and weakening resistance. As the speaker and his companion deal with a power outage, there is the practical prose of solving issues like no dinner and melting ice cream that also describes a comfort and satisfaction. Any of the inconvenience of lost power feels generously compensated for.
Although another song, "Gone Away" sits between "Crank Radio" and "They're Playing Our Song", my head puts them together, in a natural correlation.
There is a tweet from November that Barkan retweeted. Along with a picture of him playing, "It's @scottbarkan singing songs about murder and dying and self loathing and psychological trauma." (from @nerdsherpa)
Barkan does cover heavy themes in serious, and even dark ways, but that's not all he knows. There is fun and comfort and delight as well.
http://www.scottbarkanmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/scottbarkanmusic/
http://scottbarkan.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/scottbarkan

Native American Heritage Month 2015

I finished while I was on blogging hiatus, and that actually led me to add a book that I had nearly given up on.
That was only one way in which the reading did not go according to plan. I had initially selected a list where I was sure the library had them all, and I was wrong. Then I was scrambling to find any book that I could. If you notice that my Amazon wish list suddenly has several titles with Native American themes, they are all books that the library system does not currently have. If you would like to give me some, I won't really need them until November, but I don't turn down books.
In the process of searching I found that I could get a free electronic copy of the book that I nearly gave up on. Having it downloaded is one reason I was able to decide to stick with it. Anyway, I read in roughly reverse historical order, and I will review them in the reverse of that, starting with the last one read.
The Myth of Hiawatha and other oral legends, mythologic and allegoric, of the North American Indians, by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1856.
I wanted to know more about the historical Hiawatha, and looking in a folklore book to start didn't bother me, but the foreword was so condescending that I was getting really angry with the book. I decided it would probably get better once it got into the actual stories, which was fairly true, but then he conflated Manbozho (a trickster character, but not Coyote) with Hiawatha, apparently copying someone else's error, and the condescension crept out in other places.
Learning later that, after his half-Ojibwa wife Jane Johnston died, Schoolcraft married a woman who wrote pro-slavery fiction and became estranged from his children with Jane, well, it made a lot of sense. Cannot recommend.
Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America's Road to Empire through Indian Territory, by Paul VanDevelder, 2009.
This was pretty good. It gives the legal history of the policies that ended up being used in Indian treaties, which sometimes is very dry, and the history of specific treaties and land grabs. There are heartbreaking stories, with one especially literal one, when a man who worked tirelessly for his tribe at heavy personal cost was killed when "his heart just unzipped" (those were his son's words), but there is also a glimmer of hope. There are times when judges say "no", and law is upheld.
One of the most interesting things I learned in this book is that the Louisiana Purchase was for waterway rights and rights to make treaties with the Indians, not for the land itself. That's kind of important. The other point it really brought home is that whenever anyone talks a lot about states' rights and federal overreach, they want to do something horrible. They seem to have enough authority on their own for anything that isn't grossly wrong.
Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII, by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila, 2011.
This was a great book. There is an easy flow to the reading, it gives the settings well, and you learn a lot. It totally makes sense to read it for Native American history, but WWII history buffs should love it. I have already blogged about this book a couple of times. Links are at the bottom to avoid redundancy, but I want to make the point that there was a lot of food for thought here.
Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement, by Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes, 2004.
This was also pretty good. Some of that is in comparing it to Russell Means' autobiography, Where White Men Fear to Tread, because there is so much more clarity here. That may be partly due to this book being much shorter, but also Banks does a better job of providing context and keeping things moving along. There is the big picture of AIM, but also trivia that is interesting, like Marlon Brando's support and the role Banks played in trying to get Patty Hearst released.
That makes two really good books and one pretty good book available through the library system, and one kind of horrible one with information that could surely be found elsewhere and better, but at least I didn't have to pay for it or worry about getting it back on time.
And also lots of thoughts. Some of them here:
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/12/convergence.html
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/12/history-repeating.html

It's Black History Month again

I haven't started my reading yet, as I am finishing up some reading related to dementia, but I have books on the way.
I am writing now because of a question that was asked on Twitter for recommendations on a Black History Month reading list. That is a question I take seriously. I did end up making a few recommendations.
Most of them came from the lists I had assembled for previous months. I can think of books that would be good that I read for different reasons, or before I started doing this. Still, I believe that doing this every year has made a difference for me.
I also noticed a trend in which books felt most important to me.
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, Douglas A BlackmonAt the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance - A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power, Danielle L, McGuireBefore the Mayflower: A History of Black America (2007 edition), Lerone Bennett Jr.
Mainly it's that they are things that are not commonly known.
Blackmon's book is important for everyone who thinks that slavery has been over since 1865, and so there are no excuses for the families who haven't caught up financially since then. There are other factors in that, which Ta-Nehisi Coates covers in "The Case for Reparations", which could also be excellent reading for this month:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
On this particular continuation of slavery there is an article by the author that I have seen being passed around as well. I haven't read it yet, but it would be a good introduction, and then the book is still there if you want to read more:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/souths-shocking-hidden-history-thousands-blacks-forced-slavery-until-ww2
When people object to the existence of a separate history month (often disingenuously), saying it should be taught and integrated all year long, Bennett has the book for you. He not only goes over what was going on with black Americans, from colonial days on, but also the impact on all of society, which was important. You understand the United States better after reading it.
All of that is important, but one of the most important things is that it shows people doing things who are often forgotten. We read about black abolitionists and journalists before we even think of abolition happening. So often we only remember what the white people did, and what was done in a certain period; that's an incomplete picture with gaping holes.
That is a huge part of why McGuire's book is so important. It is much easier to remember the male faces of the Civil Rights Movement, but so much of the organizing and research came from women, and it was going on before it started being televised.
When we erase the work of any group - whether intentional or not - it can perpetuate the notion that only some people can contribute. If enough people accept that it becomes easy for the marginalized individuals to believe it's true. Don't believe it.
Even with Harriet Tubman, whom we remember as a black woman, we frequently forget that she had disabilities: first seizures and sleeping disorders from a head injury, and then arm and shoulder problems from an attack by the conductor and passengers on a train. Her first injury happened because she was a slave, and her second because she was black. There are reminders in knowing that, but also in seeing how much she accomplished anyway.
I could recommend other books too, but those might be the most important ones for right now.
And, since I was thinking about it, here's the full list since I've been doing this.
2010Time On The Cross, Robert William Fogel and Stanley EngermanThe Slave Community, John W BlassingameBeloved, Toni MorrisonI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
2011Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggles of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, Tony MartinThe Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex HaleyRalph Bunche: An American Life, Brian UrquhartAnd the Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy
2012The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca SklootBad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, James H JonesKing Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam HothschildAnatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong, Raymond BonnerThe Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, Wes MooreBlack Like Me, John Griffin Howard
2013Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus: A Daughter's Civil Rights Journey, Ana Maria SpagnaMirror to America, John Hope FranklinSelected Poems of Langston HughesSlavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, Douglas A BlackmonFor colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf, Ntozake ShangeThe American Experience: The Abolitionists (video)The House I Live In (video)
2014The Quest of the Silver Fleece, W. E. B. Du BoisBlack Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves, Art T BurtonStrange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas, Jane Mayer and Jill AbramsonTo Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells, Linda O McMurrayCountee Cullen: Collected Poems, Major Jackson editorThe Harlem Hellfighters, Max Brooks and Caanan WhiteSpies of Mississippi, directed by Dawn Porter (video)Black Indians: An American Story, directed by Chip Richie (video)
2015At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance - A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power, Danielle L, McGuireTheir Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale HurstonBlack Panther: The Complete Collection, Christopher Priest and othersThe Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton, 1965-2010, Lucille CliftonBreaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory, Gregory R NokesBefore the Mayflower: A History of Black America (2007 edition), Lerone Bennett Jr.

Back from hiatus

It feels right to come back now.
I did not get everything done that I would have liked to while I was out, but things did get caught up at the day job, and that is a big relief. Even when the length of time you spend at work is the same, some time takes a lot more out of you.
I am not finished with the one hundred pages of self-examination that I am referring to as "Everything Else", though some good progress has been made. I really meant to be finished with that.
I have told these stories before, but it's been a while. Everything Else has a counterpart, "Everything", that I felt similarly moved to work on once upon a time. When I finished it I had a dream that became my first screenplay. When I finished the very long fan fiction writing, I had a dream that became what initially looked like just my seventh screenplay, except I hadn't written a new feature length screenplay for a while at that point, and now we know it was the foundation for a series of novels.
Based on that, I have been hoping that finishing Everything Else would send me forward again, and this time it would be to the project that would sell. I'm eager for that. However, even without finishing, I have had another dream that's sticking with me.
I do love having something I am excited to work on. Currently, that's actually four things that I am excited about.
The next two books are going to have to wait. I had sort of wanted to get Lisa out by Valentine's Day, but I am not really positioned as a romance writer now, so that's not a huge lost opportunity.  Nonetheless, for that series it will be the first one based in Portland instead of Eugene (there are a couple of OHSU students in it), and I am looking forward to working on it.
I never get the Family Blood books out at their corresponding times. Set from October 31st through November 3rd, Family Blood came out in mid-December. Covering November 3rd through the day after Thanksgiving, Family Ghosts went out on March 31st. And set in June, Family Reunion was published on November 18th. Therefore, with the next installment happening over spring break, it seems very unlikely that it could come out in March, no matter how perfect that might be. (But it will go back to Spruce Cove, and introduce a multi-novel arc that will take us to other countries.)
That's okay. Right now I have one feature screenplay to write, and one television pilot. Doing that means working out characters and fictional communities. For one setting up the rules of magic for this particular setting, but I am also looking at the workings of colleges, and the habits of suburban fathers and rock stars, plus maintaining the daily blogging again and remaining civic-minded.
When I started the daily blogging initially, it was intended to meet a need in terms of covering all of the things I wanted to write about, but it was also to see that I could do it. That was important to see, but this time it was important to see that it is okay to take a break. I'm glad I did it. Nothing broke because of it.
I am going to be really busy for the next couple of months, but I am feeling energized again, and it's a nice change.

On hiatus

I have known for a while that as I am trying to accomplish so many different things, I might find I need to take a break from blogging, and I think I am there. It might have made more sense to do it earlier, but I do wait too long to give myself a break. That's one of the things I'm trying to change.

I don't anticipate it going much longer than a week, but we'll see.