Aug 31 : "Red Wine" - Amina Zaydan

... from the war zone ...

I picked up this book from the new "Critic's Choice" section of the Independence Library (CLICK HERE). That new section is yet another reason why this branch is my favorite.

And I'm writing this prematurely, not having finished reading the book. But there's talk of more war in this week's news as our country and as the world are debating whether to move militarily against Syria. So I figured that now is the time to mention this story, as it gives a very personal account of what it's like to live in a society ravaged by war and state brutality.

The story is "Red Wine" by Egyptian author, Amina Zaydan. While the story is considered "fiction", its intensity leads me to feel it has to be largely autobiographical. The format of the story is a first person account by its main character, Suzie Mohamad Galal, as she tells the story of her life.

Right now I'm still in the first part of the book where she's recounting the events of her childhood, growing up in Egypt. The effects of war seem all the more tragic and devastating as we experience the tumult and upheaval through the eyes of a child.

The book is at once beautiful as well as jolting. Ms. Zaydan weaves a fascinating imagery, which, along with the forcefulness of the content, make me pause every few paragraphs. At the rate I'm going, I don't know if I'll ever reach the end.

"War" can be seen from several different standpoints in Ms. Zaydan's writing, not only as the war of military combat and state brutality, but also as the conflicts between genders and generations.

There's an enormous amount to experience, think about, and feel in Ms. Zaydan's writing, and most poignantly the effects of war on a family living right in a perpetual war zone.

The English edition of "Red Wine" was published in 2010 by The American University in Cairo Press. Here are their comments on "Red Wine" (CLICK HERE).

Aug 23 : "Fear On the Radio" - Veronica (New York)

When I stopped by Pianos a couple weeks ago after work, a band that stood out was "Veronica". I'm still listening to their music and have good memories of the show.

I listened to samples of various bands at various venues before I picked what day and where to go out. I liked the music on Veronica's page, but liked them even more live. Stylistically the live instrumentals were much more dark and dirty than the web music, and, what intrigued me specially was that the dark and dirty instrumentals were there even when the lyrics were, well, less dark and dirty. I felt engaged with the band's performance every minute.

Veronica is two brothers, Dominican musicians Eric and Omar Rodriguez who now live and play in New York, but with their roots originally in Santo Domingo. As a little bit of background, Omar says ::: "We've been rehearsing for a while from about the summer of 2010 ... Started gigging around 2011 ... Had two different bass players before settling as a duo .... The original band was intended to be a 3 piece but as we became better at sequencing and sampling realized we could make more progress as a duo and either sequence or sampling all the other parts .... Our sound is originally inspired on 80's post punk and synth pop ... I mainly write the songs but Eric is beginning to write too .... His song will enter our live set in the near future."

Here is a sample of their music. This song is titled "Fear On the Radio", and is from 2011 :::

"Veronica Popsonic" is going to be doing a show TONIGHT at The Flat (308 Hooper Street) in Brooklyn. The band hopes to come out with a 6-song EP next month!

To visit Veronica on Facebook, here is the click ::: Veronica (CLICK HERE)

Aug 07 : "I'm So Excited" - Pedro Almodovar

Imagine getting stuck on a flight where they announce that there's a mechanical problem, and you might not survive. Then imagine that this airline is so bad that events like this are routine and the the crew quickly moves into contingency mode that maybe they know a little too well. So fellow passengers won't complain, all the people in coach are drugged so they sleep as long as possible. And the crew tries to calm the first class passengers by putting on a show. Again, it evidently happens so frequently that they have a repertoire with a regular lineup of songs ready at hand.

This is the scenario of Pedro Almodovar's sensational new comedy, "I'm So Excited", now playing at Landmark Theaters, including Ritz East in Philly and Sunshine Cinema in New York.

Almodovar is at the top of his game, with all his over-the-top characters and situations. Among the passengers traveling with you on the flight (to mention a few) are a hit man, a professional sex worker, and a psychic traveling to Mexico City to solve a homicide. ... It turns out that none of the phones based at the seats are operational, so passengers can only use one public phone located at the front of the cabin. And, of course, this phone has faulty / crossed wiring, where the conversations are linked into the public address system. ... Some of the funniest scenes in the film are the supposedly "private" conversations that people have over the phone and the reactions of everyone else on the flight as they listen in.

But wait! Then you find out you can't land any place because the nearest airport has been shut down as a boondoggle and the developer is on the lam due to a fraud conviction (Hint: He's also on the plane), and nobody else really wants this plane to land at their airports either.

Steve and I are huge Almodovar fans, so we were happy to hear that his new film was coming to town. I rate this at least a quadruple haha.lol, and I recommend everybody go see this. (It's in Spanish with English subtitles). But see it on the big screen where lots of other people will be laughing along with you. It's high in sexual humor and WAY over the top.

Here is a an excerpt from an interview with Pedro Almodovar. It's on the Landmark site, where you can also find links to show times in your area. Almodovar Interview / Landmark Theaters showtimes

Aug 03 : "Fetal Misgivings" - Ten Kens (Toronto)

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released

Still didn't get out to any shows this week either. But in the meantime another whazzup is the new album "Namesake" by Toronto band Ten Kens. There are 14 tracks. Here is "Fetal Misgivings" :::

I've only known about Ten Kens for a short time. Was intending to see them when they came to the states last Fall, but that particular show was cancelled by a nor'easter.

To visit Ten Kens' Banccamp page, here is the click ::: Ten Kens (CLICK HERE)

It's been weeks since I've been to any shows. Hope to get back to hearing live music this coming week!