Σύνθημα μας η επισφάλεια

Η σημερινή κατάσταση επισφάλειας θυματοποιεί πρώτα από όλα τους ευάλωτους πληθυσμούς. Ενώ οι κυβερνήσεις ακόμα έχουν το θράσος να επικαλούνται τον ανθρωπισμό και την κοινωνική πρόνοια, στην πράξη όλα αυτά θυσιάζονται στο βωμό του κέρδους ή του σημερινού χρέους.  Θα ήθελα πολύ να πω ότι αυτό είναι ένα κλισέ ωστόσο η πραγματικότητα με διαψεύδει.  Το 2010 κλείνει η σχολή τυφλών στην Θεσσαλονίκη. Σήμερα, το εργαστήρι ειδικής αγωγής Μαργαρίτα,* το οποίο και απασχολεί 100 εφήβους και ενήλικες με ειδικές ανάγκες, κινδυνεύει να κλείσει μιας και το κράτος (Νομαρχία, ασφαλιστικά ταμεία) έχει αφήσει τους 30 εργαζομένους απλήρωτους για πάνω από 6 μήνες. Σε επιστολή που απέστειλε προς τον υπουργό Υγείας το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο του Μαργαρίτα γίνεται γνωστό ότι όχι μόνο είναι αμφίβολη η καταβολή των καθυστερημένων ποσών αλλά και ότι το ποσό της τακτικής επιχορήγησης θα περικοπεί περαιτέρω.

Ζώντας με το ένα πόδι στο εξωτερικό και το άλλο πόδι στην Ελλάδα βλέπω ότι η μείωση κοινωνικής πρόνοιας δυστυχώς δεν είναι μόνο ελληνικό φαινόμενο (αν και στην Ελλάδα οι συνθήκες ήταν πάντα πολύ κατώτερες). Στις πρόσφατες διαδηλώσεις στο Λονδίνο μητέρες και κοινωνικοί λειτουργοί κατέβηκαν στους δρόμους με πλακατ ζωγραφισμένα από παιδιά που ανέγραφαν συνθήματα όπως: 'Joe is angry'. Ο Τζο είναι θυμωμένος που του κόβουνε την κοινωνική απασχόληση του μιας που δεν είναι παραγωγικό μέλος αυτής της κοινωνίας και δεν μπορεί να ξεπληρώσει κανένα χρέος.

"Ο Γιώργος είναι θυμωμένος" γιατί μπορεί από δω και πέρα να μένει στο σπίτι γιατί η κοινωνία στην οποία ζει δεν μπορεί να του προσφέρει αυτό που άλλοι θεωρούν δεδομένο. Δυνατότητες για κοινωνικοποίηση, κατάρτιση και κάποια αξιοπρέπεια.

* Το ΕΕΑ Μαργαρίτα ιδρύθηκε το 1979 από ιδιωτική πρωτοβουλεία μητέρας ατόμου με ειδικές ανάγκες και προσφέρει κατάρτιση σε παιδιά με νοητική στέρηση. 

Parallel Cities/Parallel spaces/Parallel Stories

'Although everyone knows that the dramaturgy of capitalism has created its theatre in the shopping arcades, a theatre in which everybody plays nobody ought to notice that they are the subject of the production.'

Rimini Protokoll's Stefan Kaegi in collaboration with a number of international artists on a project across cities, spaces and languages.

Buenos Aires, Berlin, Warsaw, Zurich. 

Hotels, rooftops, libraries, shopping malls, courts

http://www.ciudadesparalelas.com

Trisha Brown's Walking on the Wall

Barbican, March 2011

                                           New York, 1970s


I so much want to try this.

The remains of the day

(Don't) Tell her

Double Bill

Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza by Caryl Churchill
Duration: 8 minutes
Place: Israel
Admission: Free (but with collection of funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians)

The Stone by Marius von Mayenburg
Duration: 1 hour
Place: Dresden (1935-1993)
Theme: 20 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall

A chilling combination that negotiates ideas about home, ownership, war, death, national identity, family ties, truth, enclosure, separation.


4
Don't tell her who they are
Tell her something
Tell her they are Bedouin, they travel about
Tell her about camels in the desert and dates
Tell her they live in tents
Tell her this wasn't their home
Don't tell her home, not home, tell her they're going away
Don't tell her they don't like her
Tell her to be careful
Don't tell her who used to live in this house
No but don't tell her her great grandfather used to live in this house [...]
Don't tell her they said it was a land without people
Don't tell her I wouldn't have come if I'd known
Tell her maybe we can share
Don't tell her that. (SJC, for free download www.casarotto.co.uk/page/sjc )

The play has caused a heated debate and uporoar from members of the Jewish community as well as reviewers and common people. Many found it anti-semitic and one-dimensional and fiercely attacked the Royal Court, Churchill and critics who positively commented on the play. One can just visit the Guardian blog to get an idea of some of the comments circulating.

Churchill explains the urge to write the play as such: 'It came out of feeling strongly about what's happening in Gaza - it's a way of helping the people there. Israel has done lots of terrible things in the past, but what happened in Gaza seemed particularly extreme.'

The Royal Court has responded to the attacks: 'While Seven Jewish Children is undoubtedly critical of the policies of the State of Israel, there is no suggestion that this should be read as a criticism of Jewish people. It is possible to criticize the actions of Israel without being anti-Semitic. In keeping with its philosophy, the Royal Court presents a multiplicity of viewpoints.'

Although this is not exactly accurate, one cannot deny the atrocities committed by Israel fairly recently. Casting the spell of anti-semiticism nowadays is quite banal and I think we should move beyond these binaries because they never did any good. During the recent war I was (as everybody else) outraged to say the least with both Israel and the West for being incapable to act; no one can erase these war crimes not even the Jews who actually live in Israel and are not commenting from afar. On the other hand, I am still equally upset by the discourse and practices of Hamas that are doing quite the same. Yet, I find Christopher Hart's (The Sunday Times) argument equally preposterous as the one he tries to argue against; he attempts to prove that Hamas is less accurate in their bombings rather than the Israeli's: '[the Israelis] despite having directly caused the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians in Gaza recently, does not deliberately target queues of people at bus stops [Like Hamas]. [...] The enormously complex reasons for such horrors are not considered here.' So is it a matter of how you kill and not the fact that you kill Mr Hart?

Although I would have been furious if anyone staged a play that made claims that Turkey did not actually commit crimes against Greek and Armenian minorities during the 20th century, I am equally upset by propagandistic and nationalist disources circulating in Greece that want to build and extent this hate against them. But the point is to accept and not to forget history. And I am also skeptical of the fact that nobody dares to touch muslim issues but it is easier perhaps to attack Jews.

However, let us not forget the most political play of the last years, My Name is Rachel Corrie drawn from the personal diaries of the American activist who was killed by an Israeli buldoze and the resistance to stage it in the United States.

Libel or not, Seven Jewish Children certainly triggers debate and needs to be assessed with regards to the emphasis on the young generation of children who will learn to hate and be afraid.

Robert Fisk: 'Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask'
The Independent 7 January 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much-we-will-ask-1230046.html

Brilliant article by Robert Fisk published on Wednesday in The Independent. Fisk articulates the outrage many of us feel about the current situation in the Gaza Strip and reminds us that Israel is making its own 'contribution' to the war on terror that reinforces the binary West/East christianity/Islam. This article was written after the Israelis bombarded a UN school. Still today, Israel refuses to back out while over 700 Palestinians are already dead. As Rosi Braidotti argues in Nomadic Subjects 'transformations or change are not possible, unless the vicious circle of dialectical violence is completely broken'.

Here are some extracts from Fisk's article

'Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead – almost all civilians, most of them children and women – in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?'

'What is amazing is that so many Western leaders, so many presidents and prime ministers and, I fear, so many editors and journalists, bought the old lie; that Israelis take such great care to avoid civilian casualties. "Israel makes every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties," yet another Israeli ambassador said only hours before the Gaza massacre.'

'What happened was not just shameful. It was a disgrace. Would war crime be too strong a description? For that is what we would call this atrocity if it had been committed by Hamas. So a war crime, I'm afraid, it was. After covering so many mass murders by the armies of the Middle East – by Syrian troops, by Iraqi troops, by Iranian troops, by Israeli troops – I suppose cynicism should be my reaction. But Israel claims it is fighting our war against "international terror". The Israelis claim they are fighting in Gaza for us, for our Western ideals, for our security, for our safety, by our standards. And so we are also complicit in the savagery now being visited upon Gaza.'

Vive la Resistance

http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_17/12/2008_260563

Where does violence end? Part I

Ελεύθερος Τύπος 9/12/2008
http://www.e-tipos.com/newsitem?id=65016

A New Era has Begun

Theatre Notes: some trace of her

Traces of Dostoevsky's The Idiot, Emily Dickinson's poetry, of life and death, of theatre and cinema, of stillness and movement, of artificiality and physicality.
Traces of me trying to remember, to forget, to experience, to absorb.


I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.

Emily Dickinson circa 1861






http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/sometrace

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cultureshow/videos/2008/07/s5_e9_mitchell/index.shtml

Theatre Notes: Lipsynch

Voice falters/ can't speak/when silence is physically present/what if live voice becomes mediated/meaningless language carries meaning/shut the windows to listen/ethereal music/
the noise on the street/to observe what nobody else sees/the mother/the child/the ghost/the father/

How do voice, speech and language interact with each other? How does the stage communicate ideas to its audience? Lipsynch(ronising), Robert Lepage's latest collaboration with Ex Machina, is a 9-hour, multinational journey into the mysteries of human voice (natural or artificial, live or mediated) and its effect on human beings. 9 stories, 9 interconnected trajectories of the human voice unravel, narrate, shout, cry, laugh, haunt, from London to the Canary Islands, from Quebec to London, from Nicaragua to Hamburg. Unforgettable experience.

The Bιg Blue (Όταν το διδακτορικό σου φαίνεται μια αιωνιότητα)

Αυτό το ρητό 'τα αγαθά κόποις κτώνται' δεν μας ενημέρωσε αν κτώνται και μετά παραισθήσεων...
Εδώ και μερικές μέρες αναρωτιέμαι αν τελικά πριν 3 εβδομάδες όντως βουτούσα σε αυτά τα νερά... Μωρέ μπας και το φαντάστηκα τελικά;

While we are mere spectators to the war that erupted against all odds on the first day of the Olympic games (in ancient Greece they ceased fire while the Games were taking place) no one can take a clear stance as to what is really going on up there. Are the Russians really retreating or just claiming so? Are they trying to overthrow Saakashvili? Certainly the political costs are many more than what meets the eye. But the bottomline is more bombings that claim to "punish the aggressors", more innocent victims and more refugees.
Today's Independent represents the climate provoked by rallies and protests around the world against Russian tactics.

New Discoveries

"The name Phoebe Killdeer suggests an action hero to rival Lara Croft and on stage she is that and much more than a member of Nouvelle Vague" one critic wrote for the superb Australian Paris-based chanteuse who recently released her first solo album "Weather's Coming". And it is quite true. Phoebe is a brilliant performer on stage (in the theatrical sense), constantly reaching out to her live audience making you feel you are there and contributing to the show. Even when the gig is taking place on small stage in the courtyard of the French Institute in London as part of the annual Fete de la Musique festival held in the streets of South Kensington in plein daylight, she makes a real difference. This is a voice to watch and enjoy both physically and mentally.

Her band The Short Straws is formed by Cedric Le Roux (guitar), Raphael Seguinier (drums) and Alex King (bass).

http://www.myspace.com/phoebekilldeer

For a minute there, I lost myself

Radiohead 25/06/08 @ Victoria Park, London
I have to admit I have an issue with Radiohead. I was never one of their biggest fan, maybe because after OK Computer everybody became mad about them which kind of appalled me. When I saw them first time in 2000 in Athens I was not at all thrilled but probably it was not their fault but my own bad mood on that day. Last Thursday I experienced something much different; I was overwhelmed by a mixture of contradictory feelings. On the one hand, I felt bored and very but very pissed off at a bunch of twats who were in front of me and who had already seen the gig the previous night so all they did was to take pictures and videos of each other, talking loudly and generally annoying people.... I also caught the supporting act (Bat for Lashes) right at the end which was a pity but from what I could tell the singer sounded somewhat between PJ and Bjork which I think is a terrific combination!
On the other hand, once the sun set well down, the lights came on and I moved a little to the left, I began to feel a communion with the people surrounding me. I think what contributed to that was that the crowd unanimously began to sing when they played The Bends and then My Iron Lung and Karma Police and Paranoid Android. In the end I must admit that, yes, for a minute (or more than that) there I lost myself....

Gig Tip: It is a fact that attending gigs should be preceded by a sort of ritual, meaning, a "preparation" that consists in listening to all the albums in advance and think of which songs you look forward to listen to etc. Unfortunately, few of us have the luxury to perform this ritual due to time constraints, however I strongly recommend it so that you enjoy gigs to the fullest, or as a very good friend of mine would argue, in a phenomenological way. In retrospect, I wish I had prepared myself more so that I could ignore any external distractions....

Set List
1. Reckoner
2. 15 Step
3. There There
4. All I Need
5. Lucky 6. Nude
7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
8. Myxomatosis
9. National Anthem
10. Faust Arp
11. No Surprises
12. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13. Optimistic
14. Videotape
15. Everything In Its Right Place
16. Idioteque
17. Bodysnatchers
Encore
18. House of Cards
19. The Bends
20. Bangers and Mash
21. My Iron Lung
22. Karma Police
Encore
23. Go Slowly
24. 2+2=5
25. Paranoid Android

For some youtube videos that manage to encapsulate the expriential quality of the particular concert go to http://www.andyvortex.com/2008/06/radiohead-victoria-park-review-setlist/

Vantage Point

It is beyond doubt that Deus have reached the vantage point of their career as their eponymous latest album claims. From 1996 (when I first heard the magnificent For the Roses which made me an ardent fan) until now, they have never ceased to positively surprise me. They have never made a mediocre album; on the contrary they have found a poised style combining experimental, jazz, indie and more mainstream sounds (I am not really elaborating on this since I am not a music critic nor will I ever want to be) that make them unique and recognizable. Vantage Point works along the same lines urging me to either dance or cry depending on the song mood (but really urging me not just teasing me to do so).

Personal highlights

Eternal Woman
Architect

Slow

Favourite Game

Αποχαιρετισμοί

Throughout almost 4 years living abroad, I have met so many people from different cultures and backgrounds I cannot even begin to count. I have said goodbye so many times that in the end, I thought I got used to it feeling proud of myself that I manage to refrain from sentimentalisms and such. However, there is a moment when you realise that your feelings cannot be repressed for long. It is always painful to experience the absence of people who really matter to you. This post is dedicated to my 4-year Drama companion who I know is going to be much happier where she is travelling to at the moment which makes me happy too. Nevertheless, I cannot deny that I feel that something very dear is missing. It is just hard to get used to things.

A (Belated) Irish Anniversaire

As highlighted last year, spending your birthday travelling is a great experience! This time I was luckier weatherwise. Here is my Irish travelogue (did not go that far though, next time we should visit the West and wilder coast).

Dublin bridge, reminscent of Lulu on the Bridge

Taking the dart and going to the seaside (Bray).

Visiting the Guinness factory and experiencing the process of its making

Seeing Dublin from Guinness factory tower. Observing the odd way seagulls fly.

Where the Streets Have No Name. Discovering new places in the Irish coast and mainland that remind you of your own country, deciding to cross bridges that apparently lead you to the same place, and at the same time listening to U2 really loud.

La Verité, c'est quoi?

The relativity and subjectivity of truth is definitely not a new concept; since the downfall of the grand-narratives and humanist thought, truth and reason seem to remain hidden (caché) in the sea of subjectivity giving way to a multiplicity of interpretations. Yet, in film or theatre there are many who get irritated by the lack of narratives which offer a resolution and thus, satisfaction to the reader/spectator. In case I have not mentioned this before, I am particularly intrigued by well-crafted unresolved stories that express their own aesthetic point of view and refuse to abide by the logic of singurality of truth, simply because there is never one truth but many. This is one of the main reasons why I enjoy Haneke's films so much.

Caché, Code Inconnu, The Pianist all explore the maladies of the human psyche and the position of the individual in their social milieu. They open up different interpretations that allow the reader to choose what to believe instead of prescribing the story's outcome or morale like most mainstream (American) cinema does. The last scene in Caché or the narrative in Code Inconnu encapsulate this point and make a case for multiple verités, celles du spectateur.

Turtles

One of my most favourite animals (it just is, don't ask why). If you try really hard you can hear one of them singing to the other:
"You got a thing about you I just can't live without you I really want you, Elenore, near me Your looks intoxicate me Even though your folks hate me There's no one like you, Elenore, really..."

The Turtles, Elenore

There is an intertextuality/pun there but I can spare you the details...

Lazarus appeared in Hammersmith Apollo

7th of May 2008, Hammersmith Apollo
Barry Adamson/Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

It has been a while since I last went to a gig and was really sad when leaving (obviously because I think, "that was it, when am I going to the see them live again??"). Last Thursday night, I felt that really strongly and for a damn good reason. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (no Blixa of course) performed their latest album Dig! Lazarus Dig! as well as many songs of the past live at Hammersmith Apollo.
Despite the new ominous moustache-bearing look, I still adore Nick Cave and his music. It was in 1998 when I actually saw him live in Athens while I am trying to forget the year (was it 2001 or 2003??) when a terrible thunderstorm made it impossible for him to perform and left us in the rain just hoping we would see him the next day.....

In 2008, Nick Cave does not feel older a bit, his performance on stage is absolutely breathtaking while he still maintains his communication with the audience. Dig! Lazarus, strongly reverberates the good old days of Murder Ballads and even before that (a sign evident in Abattoir Blues as well). In a nutshell, on Thursday he proved my enthusiasm and long-term devotion right.

Highlights: Stagger Lee (especially the cock-sucking imitation)
Nick instructing us how to sing along "O Mamma" in The Lyre of Orpheus.
The incident with the weird sound that scared Nick but entertained Sclavunos and Wydler who indulged in pretending to shoot each other.
Papa Won't Leave You Henry!!!
Warren Ellis' (Grinderman) arm strokes while playing several chord instruments
The 2 encores!


In case you are wondering we missed Barry Adamson's performance (why performing at 7.30 in a closed space in the beginnging of May??)

Set
Night of the Lotus Eaters
Dig! Lazarus Dig!
Tupelo
Today's Lesson
Lie Down Here (And be my girl)
Deanna
I let love In
Red Right Hand
Jesus of the Moon
We Call upon the Author to Explain
The Ship Song
Papa won't leave you Henry
Midnight Man
More News from Nowhere
Get Ready for Love
Stagger Lee
The Lyre of Orpheus
Into my Arms
Wanted Man (written by Dylan for Johnny Cash)

(I am sure I am not forgetting too many songs, only a couple maybe)

Photo by Purplecatster

2000+8 Μουσικολογίες

Λοιπόν δεν ξέρω αν το καταλάβατε, αλλά το 2008 είναι η χρονιά των επανεμφανίσεων... Ο μουσικός οργασμός που έχει κατακλύσει τη μουσική βιομηχανία τελευταία είναι απίστευτος! Μετρώ:

1) Radiohead, In Rainbows (εντάξει εδώ κλέβω λίγο αλλά δεν μετρώ την ψηφιακή εκδοχή)
2) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig! Lazarus Dig!
3) Portishead, 3rd
4) Deus, Vantage Point
5) REM, Accelerate
6) The Chap, Mega Breakfast
7) Massive Attack, tba

Last minute addition

8) Spiritualised, Songs in A & E

Αναρωτιέμαι ποιός να έχει σειρά...

Η μοίρα του υποψήφιου διδάκτορα

Η αλεπού κόβει βόλτες στο δάσος και βλέπει το λαγό να γράφει στο laptop κάτω από ένα δεντράκι. -Καλημέρα λαγέ. -Καλημέρα αλεπού. -Τι γράφεις λαγέ; -Το διδακτορικό μου (γέλια η αλεπού ακατάσχετα) -Και τι θέμα έχεις; -Πως ο λαγός τρώει την αλεπού. -Με δουλεύεις, γίνονται αυτά τα πράγματα; -Έλα να σου δείξω. Πράγματι, προχωρούν προς μια κοντινή σπηλιά, μπαίνουν μέσα, ακούγονταιθόρυβοι πανικού και μετά ησυχία. Στο τέλος βγαίνει μόνος του ο λαγός,κάθεται και συνεχίζει το γράψιμο. Περνάει αργότερα η ύαινα, τα ίδια:- Καλημέρα λαγέ. -Καλημέρα ύαινα. -Τι γράφεις λαγέ; -Το διδακτορικό μου.(γέλια η ύαινα αυτή τη φορά ακατάσχετα) -Και τι θέμα έχεις; -Πως ο λαγός τρώει την ύαινα. -Με δουλεύεις, γίνονται αυτά τα πράγματα, θα σε κάνω μια μπουκιά; -Έλα να σου δείξω. Ξανά το ίδιο σκηνικό, μπαίνουν στη σπηλιά και μετά από το σχετικόσαματά και τη νεκρική σιγή (σταματήστε επιτέλους τα τύμπανα) βγαίνει ολαγός cool όπως πάντα. Περνάει τέλος και ο λύκος.- Καλημέρα λαγέ.- Καλημέρα λύκε . -Τι γράφεις λαγέ; -Το διδακτορικό μου.(γέλια ο λύκος μέχρι δακρύων)- Και τι θέμα έχεις; -Πως ο λαγός τρώει το λύκο. -Με δουλεύεις, πρέπει να στο κόψουν το διδακτορικό;- Έλα να σου δείξω.Πλησιάζουν στη μυστήρια σπηλιά και όπως μπαίνουν στο σκοτάδιανατριχιάζει ο λύκος που βλέπει βήματα ζώων να μπαίνουν και να μηβγαίνουν και κόκαλα σκορπισμένα παντού. Εκεί που κοντεύει νακατουρηθεί επάνω του βλέπει στο βάθος το λιοντάρι να κάθεται. -Τι είναι αυτά που μου κάνεις ρε λαγέ, είπαμε πως ο λαγός τρώει τολύκο, όχι το λιοντάρι τρώει το λύκο, που με έφερες; -Δεν κατάλαβες: το λιοντάρι επιβλέπει το διδακτορικό μου. Εγώ δουλεύωκαι αυτός τρώει.

(αυτό το ανέκδοτο το έλαβα μέσω μέιλ, δεν είναι δικό μου και δεν αφορά στη δική μου θέση ως υποψήφιας διδάκτορος, ωστόσο εάν έκανα τη διατριβή μου στην Ελλάδα σίγουρα θα ταυτιζόμουνα.......)

Blog Game

Jason's invitation was an excellent motivation for me to write on my blog after such a loong time....

So basically the book that is closer to me or at the top of my pile is Gender Trouble by Judith Butler which you can also see on your left. The cover of the book is in Swedish as somebody informed me and it says something like "gender is burning".

There it goes, page 123, line 5:

"The significant difference between Foucault's position in the first volume of History of Sexuality and in his introduction to Herculine Barbin is already to be found as an unresolved tension within the History of Sexuality itself (he refers there to 'bucolic' and 'innocent' pleasures of intergenerational sexual exchange that exixt prior to the imposition of various regulative strategies [31]). On the one hand, Foucault wants to argue that there is no sex in itself which is not produced by complex interactions of disourse and power, and yet there does seem to be a multiplicity of pleasures in itself which is notthe effect of any specific discourse/power exchange" (Gender Trouble, Routledge, 1990)

I think that is enough for today. I believe that this is also an indication why I have not been around lately so now you know why! (And for those who know me well enough, it is no surprise that this book is sitting on the top of my pile. Shall I call it coincidence or intertextaulity??)

I also invite Dr Gonzo, Andromeda and Pixie to play along if they want!! Log on to Jason's blog for details!! http://www.littleargonauts.blogspot.com/

Patiently Waiting for

It is funny how our lives have become a succesion of deadlines and how we try to keep ourselves motivated by looking forward to specific dates we have marked as important in our personal diaries. Fragments in time that we patiently anticipate and hope to fill our lives with joy, like young children wish Christmas was here. That is the meaning of life after all isn't it?

December 15: Flight to Athens

March 1: U.N.K.L.E at Brixton Academy

June 25: Radiohead, Victoria Park.

and many more to come....

And then, you start thinking I do not want time to go by so quickly, I do not want to look forward and just feel my life slipping, I just want to find myslef again.

What are you patiently waiting for?

White Chalk

Polly Jean Harvey's latest album White Chalk, is a superb amalgam of atmospheric music, poignant lyrics and minimalist aesthetics. Personal highlights White Chalk and Silence. Simply aetherial.

Control

Out of control, she's lost control, the title of the biopic on Ian Curtis' life brings to mind many allusions to Curtis' songs and life and thus, is more than relevant. Based on the book Touching from a Distance, written by his widow Deborah Curtis, the film attempts to shed light to the enigmatic and inscrutable personality of Ian Curtis the frontman of Joy Division who took his life in May 1980 (ironically, some days before I was born). Control's director, Anton Corbijn (who knew Curtis back then and had taken pictures of him and the band; he is also the creator of the Atmosphere video) succeeds in imbuing the film with an atmospheric quality. In a way, it gives a feeling of touching Curtis from a distance, using black and white colours and highlighting the turmoil and isolation that epilepsy, depression and personal problems caused him. Performances are excellent and I have to add the casting needs credit too. As far as I know, the songs were performed by the actors themselves which makes the film even more original.
Personally, whenever I listen to Atmosphere I cry. This time there was a more concrete reason for doing so.

Blog Action Day

Outside my window I have a view of a bosque; I know that the leaves are soon to turn red, brown, and fall to the earth. I often see rabbits, dear and loads of squirrels playing around and eating and I feel like I am on the little house on the Prairie or Alice in Wonderland. I am thinking about back home when I used to live in a forest area which burned down in 1995 and 1998 and since then it has never been the same. I am thinking about what happened to Greece this summer, (and certainly not exclusively Greece, or this particular summer) and words fail me. The list of the reasons why the environment should be protected is really long; on the top of mine rest RESPECT, QUALITY OF LIFE and EQUILIBRIUM.

http://www.blogactionday.com/
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Edinburgh specimens

At least this time Scotland was really generous... The weather was brilliant and the place is full of parks and greenery!

Catching the sun under the unfinished Parthenon...

Andy Warhol exhibition

Yes, it is real!

Tons of feathers, man!

I don't wanna be buried in a pet (dog) cemetary...

Sonic Youth @ Roundhouse, Camden

More than 30 years ago the legendary Roundhouse hosted Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. In 2007, Sonic Youth performed their album Daydream Nation (unabridged) providing a 20-year cross-over reaching their newest album Rather Ripped.
Last time I saw them live @ Rodon club, Athens, in 2000, they had just released A Thousand Leaves, one of my old-time favourites and the inspiration of my blog's name (Wildflowersoul).
Since then, it seems that time stopped. Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore may all be in their 50s, however, watching them perform felt like I were in my 60s. Still resourceful and replete with energy (Kim danced and twirled) they made the audience refusing to let them go.

Photo taken from http://flickr.com/photos/plain/