Gina Harris's Blog, page 82
February 8, 2019
Band Review: Stephanie Mills
Despite the length of her career, I really only became aware of Stephanie Mills fairly recently, when she played Aunt Em in the live televised version of The Wiz.
At the time there were raves about her voice that caught my attention, though I was still thinking of her primarily in relation to Broadway. Having dug in a bit deeper, now I know that her career goes far beyond that. It includes a Grammy for a song that I did know, "Never Knew Love Like This Before".
It has been somewhat interesting to think about why so much was unfamiliar - the age at which you start paying attention to artists, the fact that most of our Broadway shows were on 8-tracks and did not last long, and (always) who got play on MTV. A more encouraging lesson is that music has great depths that you can explore in multiple directions over and over again.
For this period of listening, I believe my favorite album was 1989's Home. Not only does it feature the title track - Mills' signature song - but it also has "Love Hasn't Been Easy On Me". The latter does not seem to rank among her hits, but it struck a chord with me.
Because the other great thing about music is how it can touch you, and how that can be timeless.
https://www.facebook.com/Stephanie-Mills-144723545586719/
https://www.wlatalent.com/stephanie-mills/?rq=mills
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/stephanie-mills/42543
https://twitter.com/PrettyMill1
At the time there were raves about her voice that caught my attention, though I was still thinking of her primarily in relation to Broadway. Having dug in a bit deeper, now I know that her career goes far beyond that. It includes a Grammy for a song that I did know, "Never Knew Love Like This Before".
It has been somewhat interesting to think about why so much was unfamiliar - the age at which you start paying attention to artists, the fact that most of our Broadway shows were on 8-tracks and did not last long, and (always) who got play on MTV. A more encouraging lesson is that music has great depths that you can explore in multiple directions over and over again.
For this period of listening, I believe my favorite album was 1989's Home. Not only does it feature the title track - Mills' signature song - but it also has "Love Hasn't Been Easy On Me". The latter does not seem to rank among her hits, but it struck a chord with me.
Because the other great thing about music is how it can touch you, and how that can be timeless.
https://www.facebook.com/Stephanie-Mills-144723545586719/
https://www.wlatalent.com/stephanie-mills/?rq=mills
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/stephanie-mills/42543
https://twitter.com/PrettyMill1
February 7, 2019
Band Review: Dubzy
I was followed by Dubzy in November.
It looks like lately he has been focusing more on acting and fashion than music, but the music is what I have been listening to.
Beats are all right, though it is often the accents that draw me in, like a chime or what sounds like a concertina. There is nice funk on "Just Friends", though I believe my favorite track was "Malice". Good use is made of collaboration.
One interesting thing from the bio is that the new focus is partly an attempt to self-distance from some bad elements in his past. In that case, it could be interesting to see what happens after a pause and a change in direction.
https://www.dubzy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DubzySnazz/
https://soundcloud.com/dubzysnazz
https://twitter.com/DubzySnazz
It looks like lately he has been focusing more on acting and fashion than music, but the music is what I have been listening to.
Beats are all right, though it is often the accents that draw me in, like a chime or what sounds like a concertina. There is nice funk on "Just Friends", though I believe my favorite track was "Malice". Good use is made of collaboration.
One interesting thing from the bio is that the new focus is partly an attempt to self-distance from some bad elements in his past. In that case, it could be interesting to see what happens after a pause and a change in direction.
https://www.dubzy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DubzySnazz/
https://soundcloud.com/dubzysnazz
https://twitter.com/DubzySnazz
February 6, 2019
Organizing and tidying up
Almost a month ago I wrote about anxiety over changing to the new computer system:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/picking-pictures.html
I have actually done it now. There were a lot of false starts.
I uploaded files to Dropbox. I transferred the same files to a USB drive. I kept remembering other things that I had not thought about previously, like looking in the Downloads folder after checking both Documents folders. I suddenly remembered Bookmarks. Then I remembered that I should probably clear all of those documents and empty trash, just in case. Eventually there were no more false starts: I switched over and sent off a lot of e-waste.
The dead hard drive with all of my lost files is waiting in a sealed bag until I can afford a recovery attempt. I kept a few spare charging cables. I replaced the printer cable with a newer one after discovering that I had three printer cables, then let the other two go. I have accumulated so many extra cables over the years that it made sense to clear some out. As part of that, I accidentally discarded the power cable for the laptop I am keeping. That felt like a really boneheaded move for someone being so neurotically careful.
I have used one cable wrapper to protect the most prominent cables against cat chewing. It looks like they are willing to go behind and around things for good chewing, so I will probably deploy some more.
Overall it has gone okay, and that is reassuring.
I know that some of my paranoia about loss is not related to computers, and I am working on that.
Otherwise, there is more space now, and I am working on organizing that space. It hasn't gone completely as planned.
There is a goal to reduce clutter. Part of that is making everything easy to find, especially things I want to be working on. Materials I want nearby are my mission journals, because I want to get back to transcribing them; my Spanish materials, because I want to up my tutoring game (it turns out the confidence-destroying teacher was better at transmitting knowledge that this current teacher); materials from the study I participated in (because I want to review in retrospect and re-evaluate); and it seemed reasonable to keep my bass books out because I am going to start practicing that sucker some day.
That may all be overly ambitious, but I do understand the value of proximity and ease of access. I want to get some of my art materials out too.
I feel like I should have made more progress by now, but I felt that way about the new computer for a long time. It arrived on Black Friday. From what my sister said I was only expecting a monitor, so I needed to make more of a mental shift, but still, I could have gotten switched over in December, probably, if I'd tried harder.
We are in line for Marie Kondo's book at the library. I was so thrilled that my sisters showed interest in a manga! They don't actually know it's a manga, but that's okay. Anyway, I have been seeing a lot of discussion on the book, and I think my goals generally work for me. If she has some tips to ease the path, I will take them.
I suspect, though, that a lot of my progress will relate more to the reading on death and grief that I am doing. Even if you suspect your anxiety about losing the cable is not really about the cable, the feeling is still there.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/picking-pictures.html
I have actually done it now. There were a lot of false starts.
I uploaded files to Dropbox. I transferred the same files to a USB drive. I kept remembering other things that I had not thought about previously, like looking in the Downloads folder after checking both Documents folders. I suddenly remembered Bookmarks. Then I remembered that I should probably clear all of those documents and empty trash, just in case. Eventually there were no more false starts: I switched over and sent off a lot of e-waste.
The dead hard drive with all of my lost files is waiting in a sealed bag until I can afford a recovery attempt. I kept a few spare charging cables. I replaced the printer cable with a newer one after discovering that I had three printer cables, then let the other two go. I have accumulated so many extra cables over the years that it made sense to clear some out. As part of that, I accidentally discarded the power cable for the laptop I am keeping. That felt like a really boneheaded move for someone being so neurotically careful.
I have used one cable wrapper to protect the most prominent cables against cat chewing. It looks like they are willing to go behind and around things for good chewing, so I will probably deploy some more.
Overall it has gone okay, and that is reassuring.
I know that some of my paranoia about loss is not related to computers, and I am working on that.
Otherwise, there is more space now, and I am working on organizing that space. It hasn't gone completely as planned.
There is a goal to reduce clutter. Part of that is making everything easy to find, especially things I want to be working on. Materials I want nearby are my mission journals, because I want to get back to transcribing them; my Spanish materials, because I want to up my tutoring game (it turns out the confidence-destroying teacher was better at transmitting knowledge that this current teacher); materials from the study I participated in (because I want to review in retrospect and re-evaluate); and it seemed reasonable to keep my bass books out because I am going to start practicing that sucker some day.
That may all be overly ambitious, but I do understand the value of proximity and ease of access. I want to get some of my art materials out too.
I feel like I should have made more progress by now, but I felt that way about the new computer for a long time. It arrived on Black Friday. From what my sister said I was only expecting a monitor, so I needed to make more of a mental shift, but still, I could have gotten switched over in December, probably, if I'd tried harder.
We are in line for Marie Kondo's book at the library. I was so thrilled that my sisters showed interest in a manga! They don't actually know it's a manga, but that's okay. Anyway, I have been seeing a lot of discussion on the book, and I think my goals generally work for me. If she has some tips to ease the path, I will take them.
I suspect, though, that a lot of my progress will relate more to the reading on death and grief that I am doing. Even if you suspect your anxiety about losing the cable is not really about the cable, the feeling is still there.
February 5, 2019
Garden reading list 2018
This is a good example of mission creep, again.
Two years ago I wrote about going through several books on plants and gardening.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-gardening-reading-list.html
That was a pretty expansive list, but in the process I found four more that I wanted to read. I started reading those in October:
The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler
The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook by Jennifer Bartley
The Berry Grower's Companion by Barbara Bowling
Fruit Trees in Small Spaces: Abundant Harvests From Your Own Backyard by Colby Eierman
I learned the most from Eierman. Bowling's book was the least practical for home use, as she primarily focuses on larger scale agriculture. The other two focus a lot on aesthetics, and they are not necessarily wrong for that, but I am most interested in practical information.
Unsurprisingly, I found two more books that I wanted to read, but that it was only two seemed like a good sign. However, sometimes things intersect in interesting ways.
As I started my Native American Heritage reading, I read Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians.
That is just what it sounds like. Anthropologist Gilbert Wilson interviewed Buffalo Bird Woman extensively about the growing practices of her, her family, and her people. That covered the planting and harvesting, but also storage. I know it would have meant more to me if I had done more gardening, but there is still a lot to think about.
Sometimes you hear about Three Sisters gardening, with corn, beans, and squash. All of those plants were important for the Hidatsa, but they planted in rows, not mounds. Sunflowers were an important crop as well. Some people are starting to talk about four sisters, but if it's a different planting method, does it make sense to try and fit it onto the other paradigm?
As I was reading more gardening stuff, it felt like I should go ahead and grab those other two books that had come up. As it is, the Edible City Resource Manual by Richard Britz is pretty hard to find, but I am currently reading Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg.
Much of this rabbit hole does come from knowing lawns are bad but having a hard time finding a good alternative. I have gained a lot of ideas from this, but execution is still difficult.
And, direction is kind of changing too. Future knowledge will probably come more from talking to other people, watching videos, and building on things that don't work well when I try them. (Or that do work well; I'm not completely pessimistic.)
However, if we look at the greater reading list, of all the books I would like to someday read, I do have a lot of books by the Salatins on there, which could end up being read together in two years or so. Their farm was featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, but I have known about them for a long time since a Smithsonian article, which was also where I first heard of mound farming and the three sisters.
It all connects.
Two years ago I wrote about going through several books on plants and gardening.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-gardening-reading-list.html
That was a pretty expansive list, but in the process I found four more that I wanted to read. I started reading those in October:
The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler
The Kitchen Gardener's Handbook by Jennifer Bartley
The Berry Grower's Companion by Barbara Bowling
Fruit Trees in Small Spaces: Abundant Harvests From Your Own Backyard by Colby Eierman
I learned the most from Eierman. Bowling's book was the least practical for home use, as she primarily focuses on larger scale agriculture. The other two focus a lot on aesthetics, and they are not necessarily wrong for that, but I am most interested in practical information.
Unsurprisingly, I found two more books that I wanted to read, but that it was only two seemed like a good sign. However, sometimes things intersect in interesting ways.
As I started my Native American Heritage reading, I read Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians.
That is just what it sounds like. Anthropologist Gilbert Wilson interviewed Buffalo Bird Woman extensively about the growing practices of her, her family, and her people. That covered the planting and harvesting, but also storage. I know it would have meant more to me if I had done more gardening, but there is still a lot to think about.
Sometimes you hear about Three Sisters gardening, with corn, beans, and squash. All of those plants were important for the Hidatsa, but they planted in rows, not mounds. Sunflowers were an important crop as well. Some people are starting to talk about four sisters, but if it's a different planting method, does it make sense to try and fit it onto the other paradigm?
As I was reading more gardening stuff, it felt like I should go ahead and grab those other two books that had come up. As it is, the Edible City Resource Manual by Richard Britz is pretty hard to find, but I am currently reading Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg.
Much of this rabbit hole does come from knowing lawns are bad but having a hard time finding a good alternative. I have gained a lot of ideas from this, but execution is still difficult.
And, direction is kind of changing too. Future knowledge will probably come more from talking to other people, watching videos, and building on things that don't work well when I try them. (Or that do work well; I'm not completely pessimistic.)
However, if we look at the greater reading list, of all the books I would like to someday read, I do have a lot of books by the Salatins on there, which could end up being read together in two years or so. Their farm was featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, but I have known about them for a long time since a Smithsonian article, which was also where I first heard of mound farming and the three sisters.
It all connects.
February 4, 2019
2019 Music Goals - Phase 1 completed
You may remember that I set forth some musical goals for 2019 about a month ago:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-my-year-for-music.html
Reviewing what I call my "new emo" bands was not the first goal mentioned, but I decided it would be the first one to do.
At some point it may be great to go over how Twitter has sent me down different paths, and each project has led to the next, but that has been partially documented. The relevant part for today is that around the same time that I started studying emo and seeing the passion that fans had for it, I was finding many younger friends who had that same kind of passion for other bands, though I wasn't really sure how they were musically. Some of them might have been called emo, but most of them did not sound much like the various stages of emo that I have listened to. However, now I know what they all sound like.
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/07/going-emo.html
I will write some notes on that, but I want to take a moment to be glad that it went so quickly. It helped that so many of my January reviews were for live shows, and for bands with small catalogs. Some of the musicians I am reviewing in February have huge catalogs. I will not start the next phase - bands from the Nothing Feels Good book that I want to get back to - until March.
In March I am also going to start giving these bands a song of the day. I don't think there are any of them that I dislike so much that I can't, though one comes close.
Until then, I am finally going through my Stevie Wonder tribute.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/02/band-review-stevie-wonder.html
After I reviewed him, there were so many good songs (talk about your large catalogs!) that I knew I wanted to do something special, but I wasn't sure what. I decided the perfect thing would be to have him play from Martin Luther King Day through to the beginning of Black History Month, but I couldn't make it work last year, and I still would have had to trim too many songs. He is playing through Valentine's Day, and I have some requests from people and it is meaningful and good.
For the rest of the month, I started thinking of all of these classic songs by other Black men, so I am going for that. I wondered if I should worry about not representing any women, but there was that time I was doing only Black women and girls, and it went from February 1st through July 23rd, so I think it will be okay. I will keep listening and reviewing, and it will all work out.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/07/musical-black-girls.html
Mainly, finishing one of the goals up so early makes me optimistic about finishing all of the other goals. Of course I can do it. I mean, I already made it through the Nothing Feels Good bands (the first time) and the Stereogum comments on the Greatest Guitar Songs; I have shown my ability to get through things!
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/08/greatest-guitar-songs-trouble-with.html
Without further ado, here are my thoughts on listening to these bands.
One thing to remember is that sometimes the true size of the following gets clouded. I think I only had one Twitter mutual who was really into Lana Del Rey, but I believe she retweeted many people.
Technically, I probably should have included Demi Lovato, because I am connected to many of her fans. However, I had listened to her before in connection with the pop princesses listening, so that felt like enough.
I did not fall in love with any songs or bands, but I was impressed at the variety. I was a little afraid they would all be screamo, and that wasn't the case.
I swear there was someone else like Ed Sheeran, but I can't remember him now.
My favorites were probably Avenged Sevenfold, Black Veil Brides, and Falling in Reverse. I don't know that I like them enough to do full reviews of them. If I do, I will decide that after their daily song.
After listening to both Sleeping With Sirens and Bring Me the Horizon, I think I better understand the spirit of Oli Sykes' criticism of Kellin Quinn, but that doesn't make it right.
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/08/and-dialogue-begins-with-kellin-quinn.html
After listening to Blood on the Dance Floor, I totally get why Morgan was always making fun of them. She was not wrong. Still, I am pretty sure I will give them one song of the day.
Then there is the complicated band, Lostprophets.
They disbanded when their lead singer turned out to be a pedophile. I don't think I will do a song of theirs, but the rest of the band reformed as No Devotion, whom I have reviewed and given them a song, and I can do that again:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/01/band-review-no-devotion.html
The thing I want to say about that now is that when the other band members were asked about the abuse, they said they had no idea (which I believe) but that he was horrible to work with. A lot of things have come out about abusers since then, maybe more in film and television than music, but a lot of people who abuse in illegal ways tend to be horrible in legal ways as well. We accept it - often excusing it on account of "genius" - and we need to stop that.
No Devotion sounds great. Great movies can be made without Weinstein or Tarantino or Spacey. Just keep on going down the list, we don't need abusers, on any level.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-my-year-for-music.html
Reviewing what I call my "new emo" bands was not the first goal mentioned, but I decided it would be the first one to do.
At some point it may be great to go over how Twitter has sent me down different paths, and each project has led to the next, but that has been partially documented. The relevant part for today is that around the same time that I started studying emo and seeing the passion that fans had for it, I was finding many younger friends who had that same kind of passion for other bands, though I wasn't really sure how they were musically. Some of them might have been called emo, but most of them did not sound much like the various stages of emo that I have listened to. However, now I know what they all sound like.
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/07/going-emo.html
I will write some notes on that, but I want to take a moment to be glad that it went so quickly. It helped that so many of my January reviews were for live shows, and for bands with small catalogs. Some of the musicians I am reviewing in February have huge catalogs. I will not start the next phase - bands from the Nothing Feels Good book that I want to get back to - until March.
In March I am also going to start giving these bands a song of the day. I don't think there are any of them that I dislike so much that I can't, though one comes close.
Until then, I am finally going through my Stevie Wonder tribute.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/02/band-review-stevie-wonder.html
After I reviewed him, there were so many good songs (talk about your large catalogs!) that I knew I wanted to do something special, but I wasn't sure what. I decided the perfect thing would be to have him play from Martin Luther King Day through to the beginning of Black History Month, but I couldn't make it work last year, and I still would have had to trim too many songs. He is playing through Valentine's Day, and I have some requests from people and it is meaningful and good.
For the rest of the month, I started thinking of all of these classic songs by other Black men, so I am going for that. I wondered if I should worry about not representing any women, but there was that time I was doing only Black women and girls, and it went from February 1st through July 23rd, so I think it will be okay. I will keep listening and reviewing, and it will all work out.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/07/musical-black-girls.html
Mainly, finishing one of the goals up so early makes me optimistic about finishing all of the other goals. Of course I can do it. I mean, I already made it through the Nothing Feels Good bands (the first time) and the Stereogum comments on the Greatest Guitar Songs; I have shown my ability to get through things!
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/08/greatest-guitar-songs-trouble-with.html
Without further ado, here are my thoughts on listening to these bands.
One thing to remember is that sometimes the true size of the following gets clouded. I think I only had one Twitter mutual who was really into Lana Del Rey, but I believe she retweeted many people.
Technically, I probably should have included Demi Lovato, because I am connected to many of her fans. However, I had listened to her before in connection with the pop princesses listening, so that felt like enough.
I did not fall in love with any songs or bands, but I was impressed at the variety. I was a little afraid they would all be screamo, and that wasn't the case.
I swear there was someone else like Ed Sheeran, but I can't remember him now.
My favorites were probably Avenged Sevenfold, Black Veil Brides, and Falling in Reverse. I don't know that I like them enough to do full reviews of them. If I do, I will decide that after their daily song.
After listening to both Sleeping With Sirens and Bring Me the Horizon, I think I better understand the spirit of Oli Sykes' criticism of Kellin Quinn, but that doesn't make it right.
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/08/and-dialogue-begins-with-kellin-quinn.html
After listening to Blood on the Dance Floor, I totally get why Morgan was always making fun of them. She was not wrong. Still, I am pretty sure I will give them one song of the day.
Then there is the complicated band, Lostprophets.
They disbanded when their lead singer turned out to be a pedophile. I don't think I will do a song of theirs, but the rest of the band reformed as No Devotion, whom I have reviewed and given them a song, and I can do that again:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/01/band-review-no-devotion.html
The thing I want to say about that now is that when the other band members were asked about the abuse, they said they had no idea (which I believe) but that he was horrible to work with. A lot of things have come out about abusers since then, maybe more in film and television than music, but a lot of people who abuse in illegal ways tend to be horrible in legal ways as well. We accept it - often excusing it on account of "genius" - and we need to stop that.
No Devotion sounds great. Great movies can be made without Weinstein or Tarantino or Spacey. Just keep on going down the list, we don't need abusers, on any level.
February 1, 2019
Band Review: Jussie Smollett
In addition to focusing on Black artists in February, I am reviewing Jussie Smollett because of the attack. That is partly my way of showing support, but also I had previously thought of him as an actor. Having since learned that he co-wrote two of the songs on Empire and that he released an album - Sum of My Music - last spring, the least I could do was check that out.
I like the album a lot. It opens with "Insecurities", a very personal song that many should be able to relate to. My favorite is the third track, "Hurt People", which is really beautiful. What I especially appreciate about that arrangement, with "Catch Your Eye" in between, is that they all feel really different and cover a broad range. It is a very strong opening.
Later songs reflect more of an R&B feeling, with some techno elements. It would be easy to expect Empire to have an influence on his music, but Smollett's performing history goes back much further than Empire. Sum of My Music is very much about being himself.
https://wtop.com/music/2018/03/jussie-smollett-finds-his-voice-and-builds-his-own-empire/
That being said, there might be some John Lee Hooker and Marvin Gaye influence too, but as undertones, rather than the overall sound.
http://jussiesmollettmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jussiesmollett/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4mLR80wPrMB4p1Hay_Gv3A
https://twitter.com/JussieSmollett
I like the album a lot. It opens with "Insecurities", a very personal song that many should be able to relate to. My favorite is the third track, "Hurt People", which is really beautiful. What I especially appreciate about that arrangement, with "Catch Your Eye" in between, is that they all feel really different and cover a broad range. It is a very strong opening.
Later songs reflect more of an R&B feeling, with some techno elements. It would be easy to expect Empire to have an influence on his music, but Smollett's performing history goes back much further than Empire. Sum of My Music is very much about being himself.
https://wtop.com/music/2018/03/jussie-smollett-finds-his-voice-and-builds-his-own-empire/
That being said, there might be some John Lee Hooker and Marvin Gaye influence too, but as undertones, rather than the overall sound.
http://jussiesmollettmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jussiesmollett/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4mLR80wPrMB4p1Hay_Gv3A
https://twitter.com/JussieSmollett
January 31, 2019
Band Review: DaQuashia
I am reviewing DaQuashia because her sister recommended her. I am not sure now how I saw it, but sisterly support warms my heart, and I am always looking for new music.
Of the available songs, I do think they sound a little overproduced, which seems pretty common with newer artists. Vocally I don't think she needs it.
There are some interesting texture choices - especially on "Change Up" - which I believe comes from the experimental mixing. It does have a value. Balancing the emotion and the achievement can take some time, but has great possibilities.
DaQuashia's music focuses more on setting a mood than on dance beats, at least for now.
https://soundcloud.com/DaQuashia
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/whats-going-on-single/1387898386
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAf0BqI0sZI1s4QYzGe_4Sg
https://twitter.com/DaQuashiaS
Of the available songs, I do think they sound a little overproduced, which seems pretty common with newer artists. Vocally I don't think she needs it.
There are some interesting texture choices - especially on "Change Up" - which I believe comes from the experimental mixing. It does have a value. Balancing the emotion and the achievement can take some time, but has great possibilities.
DaQuashia's music focuses more on setting a mood than on dance beats, at least for now.
https://soundcloud.com/DaQuashia
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/whats-going-on-single/1387898386
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAf0BqI0sZI1s4QYzGe_4Sg
https://twitter.com/DaQuashiaS
January 30, 2019
Hispanic Heritage Month 2018 odds and ends
I don't know if any of these would need a full blog post. Maybe "needs" is an exaggeration for anything I write. (I am still feeling pretty subdued.)
Anyway, I have three thoughts left:
First, in Searching for Sugarman, Sixto Rodriguez was a huge hit in South Africa (though royalties didn't make their way back to him), but did not do well in the United States. One factor that seemed to hurt sales here is that his name led people to expect "Mexican" music, and they weren't interested in that. It's not mariachi music or son or tejano or anything like that; Rodriguez sounds most like Bob Dylan, except with a better voice. If he had used a different name, who knows?
It is fascinating to me that it was South Africa that embraced him. They were not a country free from racial stereotypes or prejudice. The people drawn to his music apparently were often against the government, so probably against Apartheid, and I think there is an interesting story there, but still, it was different prejudices. A name that sounded Mexican would not mean the same things on the other side of the world.
Next up, in reading many books about Cuba, mostly by people from Cuba, there was a lot about Columbus. That was mainly about the beauty of Cuba and his instant recognition of how beautiful the island was. Often there was also mention about how that was not great for the original inhabitants of the island, often mentioning the Taino by name.
It is interesting to me that the richer people get, the more insistent they are that there were no Taino left; they were all eradicated.
There was some serious genocide, that's for sure, but there are still Taino people. Often they are not only Taino, having African and Spanish blood mixed in as well. If they are in Cuba, there are also reasonable chances of Jewish and Chinese ancestry, I have learned now. It was just fascinating how much some people refuse to entertain it. Is it guilt? They are acknowledging the past, but it is erasure in the present. The worst one had already lost any possessions he had in Cuba, so he shouldn't have been worried about reparations. Mainly it strikes me as an oddity now. I am in the middle of Native American Heritage Month 2018 reading, and I might have more thoughts as I finish that.
Finally, the next thought is from The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream by Steve Wilson. He followed the players of Woodburn's soccer team in their last season before the leagues were revamped.
While the soccer team was highly skilled, with almost all of the players having Mexican heritage, the rest of the teams and the school size and other factors were likely to result in Woodburn playing in lower leagues. For the soccer team that would mean it would be easier to dominate their league, but harder to draw recruiters and scholarships.
There were many frustrating things about education and accessibility and racism, but my biggest takeaway is that no one should have to need it so much. It's a ridiculous thing that access to a college education should depend not just on being really good at a sport, but being good at the right sport, and being seen by the right person who is interested and has something to offer. Yes, we are doing everything possible to slash at the advantages that a college education brings, but that is not part of an overall positive flow.
There are really a lot of ways in which we need to do better.
Anyway, I have three thoughts left:
First, in Searching for Sugarman, Sixto Rodriguez was a huge hit in South Africa (though royalties didn't make their way back to him), but did not do well in the United States. One factor that seemed to hurt sales here is that his name led people to expect "Mexican" music, and they weren't interested in that. It's not mariachi music or son or tejano or anything like that; Rodriguez sounds most like Bob Dylan, except with a better voice. If he had used a different name, who knows?
It is fascinating to me that it was South Africa that embraced him. They were not a country free from racial stereotypes or prejudice. The people drawn to his music apparently were often against the government, so probably against Apartheid, and I think there is an interesting story there, but still, it was different prejudices. A name that sounded Mexican would not mean the same things on the other side of the world.
Next up, in reading many books about Cuba, mostly by people from Cuba, there was a lot about Columbus. That was mainly about the beauty of Cuba and his instant recognition of how beautiful the island was. Often there was also mention about how that was not great for the original inhabitants of the island, often mentioning the Taino by name.
It is interesting to me that the richer people get, the more insistent they are that there were no Taino left; they were all eradicated.
There was some serious genocide, that's for sure, but there are still Taino people. Often they are not only Taino, having African and Spanish blood mixed in as well. If they are in Cuba, there are also reasonable chances of Jewish and Chinese ancestry, I have learned now. It was just fascinating how much some people refuse to entertain it. Is it guilt? They are acknowledging the past, but it is erasure in the present. The worst one had already lost any possessions he had in Cuba, so he shouldn't have been worried about reparations. Mainly it strikes me as an oddity now. I am in the middle of Native American Heritage Month 2018 reading, and I might have more thoughts as I finish that.
Finally, the next thought is from The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream by Steve Wilson. He followed the players of Woodburn's soccer team in their last season before the leagues were revamped.
While the soccer team was highly skilled, with almost all of the players having Mexican heritage, the rest of the teams and the school size and other factors were likely to result in Woodburn playing in lower leagues. For the soccer team that would mean it would be easier to dominate their league, but harder to draw recruiters and scholarships.
There were many frustrating things about education and accessibility and racism, but my biggest takeaway is that no one should have to need it so much. It's a ridiculous thing that access to a college education should depend not just on being really good at a sport, but being good at the right sport, and being seen by the right person who is interested and has something to offer. Yes, we are doing everything possible to slash at the advantages that a college education brings, but that is not part of an overall positive flow.
There are really a lot of ways in which we need to do better.
January 29, 2019
Aching
I was trying to finish my writing about my Hispanic Heritage Month reading this week, but other things are pressing on me. I think I will write about that tonight, and just throw all remnants from that month into tomorrow's post.
Most of my sadness seems to be centering around Chicago.
A big part is the attack against Jussie Smollett. Homophobia and racism and a reminder that there are MAGA supporters even in big cities - which I knew. I mean, we have been aware of the growing incidences of both, but it caught me off guard anyway.
There is also the Polar Vortex.
It's been a few years since we went to Chicago. We liked it a lot, but I remember noticing people who were clearly homeless but not panhandling, which led me to believe that they were not allowed to.
We had just had our first authentic Chicago pizza at Giordano's and were walking back. There were three of us, and the pizza was cut into eight slices. We each had two, and we had the two remaining slices in a box. I remember seeing a man on the sidewalk. I was going to ask Maria to give the pizza to him, but she did it on her own. He had such kind eyes.
If you are in a heated home, and can afford warm clothing and shelter, I am sure there is still inconvenience with this kind of severe weather, but it's survivable. There are others for whom survival is literally a question.
I keep thinking about that man, who honestly could already be dead. It's silly to focus on him; we saw other homeless people and I know that there are many we didn't see. It's just that it puts a human face on it for me.
The milder weather in Portland doesn't make homelessness here a picnic, but our weather is off too. That is global warming. I don't expect Trump to understand that any better than he understands anything else, or to care, but that doesn't make it less depressing.
Ultimately, all of that together is weighing on me tonight, and I cannot write about anything else until I write about that.
I know other people are thinking about it too. I know there are warming shelters set up. I know of at least one individual who has gone around checking in on vulnerable people today. But structurally there is so much suffering so some people can be rich, and it is supported by bigotry, and it all keeps circling around and around. Tonight it feels overwhelming.
And I have still done normal things today, like posted a selfie and a song. My big contribution to Jussie Smollett will be reviewing his music this week, because I don't know what else I have to offer. In general, I think that continuing to do those things is an important part of emotional survival, and of keeping me connected. I stick with it, but there are times when it feels worse, and I wonder how much worse things will get.
My physical survival is not threatened tonight. For other people it is. And I am upset about that and needed to get it out.
Most of my sadness seems to be centering around Chicago.
A big part is the attack against Jussie Smollett. Homophobia and racism and a reminder that there are MAGA supporters even in big cities - which I knew. I mean, we have been aware of the growing incidences of both, but it caught me off guard anyway.
There is also the Polar Vortex.
It's been a few years since we went to Chicago. We liked it a lot, but I remember noticing people who were clearly homeless but not panhandling, which led me to believe that they were not allowed to.
We had just had our first authentic Chicago pizza at Giordano's and were walking back. There were three of us, and the pizza was cut into eight slices. We each had two, and we had the two remaining slices in a box. I remember seeing a man on the sidewalk. I was going to ask Maria to give the pizza to him, but she did it on her own. He had such kind eyes.
If you are in a heated home, and can afford warm clothing and shelter, I am sure there is still inconvenience with this kind of severe weather, but it's survivable. There are others for whom survival is literally a question.
I keep thinking about that man, who honestly could already be dead. It's silly to focus on him; we saw other homeless people and I know that there are many we didn't see. It's just that it puts a human face on it for me.
The milder weather in Portland doesn't make homelessness here a picnic, but our weather is off too. That is global warming. I don't expect Trump to understand that any better than he understands anything else, or to care, but that doesn't make it less depressing.
Ultimately, all of that together is weighing on me tonight, and I cannot write about anything else until I write about that.
I know other people are thinking about it too. I know there are warming shelters set up. I know of at least one individual who has gone around checking in on vulnerable people today. But structurally there is so much suffering so some people can be rich, and it is supported by bigotry, and it all keeps circling around and around. Tonight it feels overwhelming.
And I have still done normal things today, like posted a selfie and a song. My big contribution to Jussie Smollett will be reviewing his music this week, because I don't know what else I have to offer. In general, I think that continuing to do those things is an important part of emotional survival, and of keeping me connected. I stick with it, but there are times when it feels worse, and I wonder how much worse things will get.
My physical survival is not threatened tonight. For other people it is. And I am upset about that and needed to get it out.
January 28, 2019
Focus on Margarita Engle
In a way, most of the mission creep of my National Hispanic Heritage Month 2018 goes back to Margarita Engle.
The School Library Journal article that gave me the reading list (assuming we are not blaming the We Need Diverse Books spreadsheet that gave me the article) focused on Engle, and the changes she has seen in her regular visits back to Cuba.
https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=viva-cuba-focus-on
The recommended books included five by her. For grades 1-5 they recommended The Wild Book and Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, as well as Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music. Then under Memoir and Poetry they recommended Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir and The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba.
That was already quite a bit, I thought, but then when I went back to the article to check my progress, I noticed that there were two other books mentioned when they were giving her background: Newberry Honor winner The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle and The Poet Slave of Cuba:A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano.
Maybe I should blame Sean Qualls; The Poet Slave of Cuba was already on my reading list after I had liked some of his work and decided that I wanted to check out more.
When I keep going like that, a compulsive need for completion might be a factor. (This is one reason I now shun collectibles.) However, I really liked Engle's work.
Most of the book I read were told in verse. It was not rhymed verse, and it was strongly narrative, so it was not really like reading poetry, but it was more impressionistic than reading a novel.
(Because I read Drum Dream Girl for something else, I am thinking more of the other books.)
Enchanted Air is her own story, but the others are historical. There are often personal connections. The Wild Book is based on Engle's grandmother's struggle with dyslexia, and other books cover events to which her family was connected even if the main characters in the books are not related.
Most of the books switch the point of view, so you gain insight into multiple characters, coming from multiple countries of origin and social rungs. They cover the history of slavery, feminism, and war in Cuba, and they do it in a way that creates a feeling and sense of it. Notes at the end often give directions for more research if it is desired.
Putting them together I have to appreciate the rich tapestry that is Cuban history. The US point of view tends to focus on Castro, even considering our involvement in other events.
Also, I appreciate Engle's voice. It ultimately ends up being one of decency, hope, and growing courage. I would not hesitate to read any of her other works.
The School Library Journal article that gave me the reading list (assuming we are not blaming the We Need Diverse Books spreadsheet that gave me the article) focused on Engle, and the changes she has seen in her regular visits back to Cuba.
https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=viva-cuba-focus-on
The recommended books included five by her. For grades 1-5 they recommended The Wild Book and Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, as well as Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music. Then under Memoir and Poetry they recommended Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir and The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba.
That was already quite a bit, I thought, but then when I went back to the article to check my progress, I noticed that there were two other books mentioned when they were giving her background: Newberry Honor winner The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle and The Poet Slave of Cuba:A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano.
Maybe I should blame Sean Qualls; The Poet Slave of Cuba was already on my reading list after I had liked some of his work and decided that I wanted to check out more.
When I keep going like that, a compulsive need for completion might be a factor. (This is one reason I now shun collectibles.) However, I really liked Engle's work.
Most of the book I read were told in verse. It was not rhymed verse, and it was strongly narrative, so it was not really like reading poetry, but it was more impressionistic than reading a novel.
(Because I read Drum Dream Girl for something else, I am thinking more of the other books.)
Enchanted Air is her own story, but the others are historical. There are often personal connections. The Wild Book is based on Engle's grandmother's struggle with dyslexia, and other books cover events to which her family was connected even if the main characters in the books are not related.
Most of the books switch the point of view, so you gain insight into multiple characters, coming from multiple countries of origin and social rungs. They cover the history of slavery, feminism, and war in Cuba, and they do it in a way that creates a feeling and sense of it. Notes at the end often give directions for more research if it is desired.
Putting them together I have to appreciate the rich tapestry that is Cuban history. The US point of view tends to focus on Castro, even considering our involvement in other events.
Also, I appreciate Engle's voice. It ultimately ends up being one of decency, hope, and growing courage. I would not hesitate to read any of her other works.
