Willow in November

Wren

Just found an old tape of a young wren greeting the day outside my bedroom.

The Last Televangelist

The Church of Stop Shopping series,
The Last Televangelist
begins on Thanksgiving Day

THURSDAY THANKSGIVING NOV 27 2P M
SATURDAY NOV 29 8:30AM, 7:30PM
SUN NOV 30 2:30PM
THURS DEC 4 6PM FRI DEC 5 2:30AM 2PM

The series will be available each week on the Dish Network's FSTV Channel 9415
CALL YOUR LOCAL ACCESS CHANNEL AND ASK THEM TO DOWNLINK FROM THE DISH NETWORK'S FREE SPEECH TV CHANNEL.
IF YOUR ACCESS CENTER SHOWS DEMOCRACY NOW, THEY CAN DOWNLINK THE LAST TELEVANGELIST-- IT'S THE SAME SATELLITE CHANNEL.

Reverend Billy on Fox:

The Girl with Mondrian Fingernails

Riding on the 2 train in Manhattan, saw this girl with amazing nails.

A Concert of Georgian Polyphony

Concert Part I

Concert and Feast Part II
Program Notes by Ezra Halleck: Living in their small country bordered on the west by the Black Sea and in the north and south
by the Caucasus Mountains, the Georgians are one of the world's ancient peoples. Their culture virtually revolves around music. Georgian polyphonic folk song is one of the most remarkable musical forms in the world, counting Igor Stravinsky among its admirers.

Although Georgia has recently been in the news due to its strategic importance to the world's two largest military powers, few people are acquainted with its distinct culture. The Georgian language is related to no other in the world and has its own unique alphabet. The Georgians have managed to preserve their extraordinary ancient vocal tradition, which is believed to predate Christianity. There has been a growing appreciation of Georgian singing in the West and several groups sing this music regionally.

This benefit performance is an opportunity to hear some of these regional Georgian singing groups. On the program are The Kartuli Ensemble, a choir from the Mid-Hudson Valley and 3 trios: The Other Georgia (Boston), Dzmoba (Philadelphia) and Brevalo (Williamstown, MA). Rounding out the program are soloist Aurelia Shrenker and two choirs from Princeton University:
Dedebi (a women's group) and Gaumarjos (a men's group).

Tomas in Chicago

Tomas Young, subject of the film, Body of War, is now at the Chicago Rehabilitation Center, which is the best place for rehab in the world. I recently stopped by and took this picture. He keeps busy with his Chicago friends, and his vast reading and DVD library. Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, producer/directors of the film are regular visitors.

Animation Experiment with Mary Frank

Yma Sumac Died

I went to Antioch College in 1957. I had gone to high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the Girls Preparatory School. Coming from Tennessee, I was quite in awe of my sophisticated classmates who came from LA, Chicago and especially New York. One of the distinguishing features of the urbanites was their broad multicultural tastes in everything from food to 33 1/3 records. The most exotic LP record that several of them had was recordings of Yma Sumac, the "Peruvian Songbird", a woman renown for her wide range-- from high pitched lyricism to low rumble bass tones. I was enchanted and longed for an Yma Sumac record of my own. I never got one. Nowadays I could have made a copy on an ipod or a dub of a CD. Alas, in those days there was no way to DIY, so I was limited to checking out the somewhat scratched copy that the Antioch library held. As the needle descended to the uneven grooves of the plastic disk, I was transported to an exotic world-- one that hadn't been available in Chattanooga!

I just found out that she died. I had no idea she was still alive! RIP Yma, who could make magic in four octaves.