Tag Archives: USA

Thrilling and Subversive Street Art: 2025 Edition

I suppose you all know by now that I have strong political views. Mostly I keep these to myself but really I had to share this. Although my political views are far from radical. They involve advocating for a government that is elected by the people, working for the people and not for wealthy billionaires.Continue reading “Thrilling and Subversive Street Art: 2025 Edition”

Comforting Thought: James Baldwin on why art is important

If you can examine and face your life, you can discover the terms with which you are connected to other lives, and they can discover them too – the terms with which they are connected to other people. This has happened to every one of us, I’m sure. You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discovered that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevski. This is a very great liberation for the suffering person, who always thinks that they are alone. This is why art is important. ~ James Baldwin

Underground Resistance: Detroit Techno as a Personal Revolution

Underground Resistance subverted the racist stereotype of the “black trouble-maker” and turned it on its head. Through their provocative, uplifting and joyful techno, Underground Resistance gave young black people with a different way of being and living: an empowering, positive, uplifting and autonomous way of seeing oneself in the world. This is perfectly expressed in their classic techno track “Transition” In my humble opinion, if you don’t like Underground Resistance you don’t have a heartbeat.

Comforting Thought: Mitákuye Oyás

“The phase Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ comes from the Lakota language and was part of the language of resistance used in the Standing Rock demonstration. Translated to English it roughly means ‘All my relations.’ “During prayers and meetings at Standing Rock, the Lakota people used this phrase when they wanted to speak or when they finished speaking.Continue reading “Comforting Thought: Mitákuye Oyás”

Film Review: Blinded by the Light

Director Gurinder Chadha who is known for the film Bend It Like Beckham, has created another feel-good film.  Blinded by Light is about a Pakistani British teenager Javed who learns how to cope with the ecstacy and heartbreak of life   through the music of Bruce Springsteen. Set in a working class suburb of London inContinue reading “Film Review: Blinded by the Light”

Wallace Stevens – Somnambulisma

On an old shore, the vulgar ocean rolls Noiselessly, noiselessly, resembling a thin bird, That thinks of settling, yet never settles, on a nest. The wings keep spreading and yet are never wings. The claws keep scratching on the shale, the shallow shale, The sounding shallow, until by water washed away. The generations of theContinue reading “Wallace Stevens – Somnambulisma”

Exotic Ads of the Past: Golden Eyes and Her Hero Bill Over There

During the World War I era, modern young women in America were seeking new roles of equality and opportunity in education and work. American illustrator and writer Nell Brinkley was iconic for her representations during the period. She redefined femininity, fashion and trends in many ways in era before mass media – when print wasContinue reading “Exotic Ads of the Past: Golden Eyes and Her Hero Bill Over There”

Ambient Album Review #2: ‘The Disintegration Loops’ by William Basinski

American avante-garde composer William Basinski created The Disintegration Loops by a serendipitous and heart-wrenching series of events in his life and in the history of the world. This led to one of the great classics of the ambient and avante-garde genre – a four album opus called The Disintegration Loops. Basinski recorded some loops fromContinue reading “Ambient Album Review #2: ‘The Disintegration Loops’ by William Basinski”