Engineer's Daughter

inspiration 02.26.21

A few virtual things that made me happy this week:

• Mariam Rezaei talk about creative practice in lockdown
• Dan Horne Band and Mapache stream from Big Sur
• Dead Meadow concert from The Pillars of God
• Bang on a Can live online marathon
• Women in Conservation panel
• That Other Flora: The Seaweed and Kelp of the Pacific Coast talk
• Parasang Remote improvisation with Elliot Galvin + Razieh Kooshki + Laura Jurd
• NightSchool: California Grizzlies
• Tachycardie plays Batterie Fragile

input january 2020

Art

Lisa Reihana: in Pursuit of Venus [infected] at the de Young

Chanell Stone: Natura Negra at MoAD

Negative Capabilities at Bass & Reiner

Leilah Babirye: Gwe Is Ye Nze, Lekka Mbele Nze (You Are Not Me, Let Me Be Me) at Rebecca Camacho Presents

 

Books

A King Alone - Jean Giono

Solar Bones - Mike McCormack

Agathe; or, The Forgotten Sister - Robert Musil

Rock, Paper, Scissors: And Other Stories - Maxim Osipov

Black No More - George Schuyler

 

Hikes

Stream View Trail/Red Tail Hawk Trail/Grey Fox Trail at Bishop Ranch Regional Open Space

 

Movies

Water Lilies - Céline Sciamma

Hail Satan? - Penny Lane

Tomboy - Céline Sciamma

Girlhood - Céline Sciamma

The Juniper Tree - Nietzchka Keene

Dumbo - Tim Burton

Who's That Knocking at My Door - Martin Scorsese

Smithereens - Susan Seidelman

Desperately Seeking Susan - Susan Seidelman

Cookie - Susan Seidelman

Long Shot - Jonathan Levine

 

Music

Charles Amirkhanian at the David Brower Center

Jennifer Koh/Vijay Iyer/Tyshawn Sorey at the Herbst

 

Talks

Lily Sloane – A Shelter for the Psyche & tamara suarez porras – eclipsis, or a line of totality: the solar eclipses of 1979, 2017, and 2024 at the Prelinger Library

 

Theater

Noura at MTC

How to Transcend a Happy Marriage at Custom Made

 

Travel

Death Valley

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. If you haven't already read Jan Morris's "travel" book Hav boy are you in for a mind-bending treat, and I also highly recommend Conundrum, her account of her transition, originally published in 1974(!).
2. Taro Hattori worked with a whole host of collaborators for his current show at Kala, Exinclusivity - Space of Inclusion, creating an immersive experience in the gallery that makes (literal) space for stories of migration.
3. Meanwhile Creative Growth also has a spectacular show in its gallery right now, Meeting Places: Mangkaja and Creative Growth, that juxtaposes Creative Growth artists with Aboriginal artists from Western Australia. Their upcoming Holiday Studio Sale is always a must-shop as well.
4. OMCA is running a series of community conversations as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, and the first one on Saturday afternoon featured inspiring thoughts from local heroes musician/activist/filmmaker Boots Riley, animator Rosana Sullivan, and CAAMFest's Stephen Gong. Related: Sullivan's short film "Kitbull" is one of the best animated works I've ever seen, and I'm not just saying that because it features a black cat.
5. Christian Petzold creates a world unfamiliar and at the same time way too familiar in Transit, a film based a 1942 novel by Anna Seghers but set in present-day France. Also: read Seghers's extraordinary novel The Seventh Cross, which captures how terrifying it must have been to live in Nazi Germany.
6. Oakland's own CTRL+SHFT Collective once again shows the work that needs to be seen in their current group exhibition Black and brown bodies will forever dream & exist, featuring art by Sequoya Akosua Lee, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Samantha Maria Xochitl Espinoza and Malaya Tuyay.
7. After another week of "planned" Bay Area blackouts it was restorative to visit Headlands on Sunday afternoon for the close of the 2019 season, and to see beautiful work by Anna Fitch & Banker White and Kelly Akashi. Already looking forward to 2020.
8. Ana Lily Amanpour's stylish 2014 debut film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was shot in black-and-white in Bakersfield but all of the characters speak Persian, including the titular character who also happens to be a chador-wearing skateboard-riding vampire. Absolutely perfect for the end of spooky season.
9. Happiness on a cold SF night is a hot pizza pie from Square Pie Guys in SOMA. Save some room for the monkey bread for dessert too.

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. While not as assured as Stoner (and featuring a truly unsympathetic protagonist) John Williams's first novel Nothing but the Night is an excellent example at how deftly Williams was able to write about the human psyche.
2. I spent four glorious nights at SFJAZZ last weekend reveling in music by a wide variety of artists there to celebrate ECM's 50th anniversary: Tigran Hamasyan, Wadada Leo Smith, Avishai Cohen, Vijay Iyer, and Egberto Gismonti. Here's to another 50 years of amazing music!
3. Trust me when I say The Mustang is infinitely less cheesy than the trailer would imply and is in fact an incredibly beautiful film by French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre with important things to say about incarceration and restorative justice and the human-animal bond. I cried a lot and then immediately donated to an inmate wild horse program. Also: prison abolition now.
4. I can't believe it took me this long to see Julie Taymor's Frida but what a great film, especially considering the circumstances Taymor and Salma Hayek were faced with while making it. The Mexico City locations! The Brothers Quay animations! Tina Modotti! Baby Diego Luna! Frida's art!
5. Tove Jansson dancing with her cat.

the week that was

Not a busy week for me as I mostly stayed home with sweet Stella the ConeCat. She's healing nicely after her surgery last week to remove a tumor from her ear, and all my fingers and toes are crossed that it does not reoccur. Even in hermit mode I found some things I thought worthy of note:

1. Sebastián Lelio's Gloria Bell is a "cover version" of his earlier movie Gloria, and it's a wonderful vehicle to showcase Julianne Moore's many talents. It also artfully and accurately evokes the experiences of a single woman of a certain age.
2. As I was already in animal-caretaker mode this week I also re-watched Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, a film that continues to reveal secrets to me after multiple viewings. The dedication to Lou Reed at the very end gets me every single time.
3. If you're strolling along Market Street in San Francisco keep an eye out for my friend Jessalyn Aaland's Class Set posters (newly installed this week by the SF Arts Commission), part of her ongoing project that combines inspiring words and art from a whole host of amazing artists.
4. The new Town Popup is a beautiful storefront on International Boulevard that provides space for a rotating roster of chefs and small businesses. Last night I swung by to try the Helladilla by current resident Man vs Fries (fellow vegetarians: you can order almost everything on their menu without meat) and it was the stuff stoner dreams are made out of.
5. I'll be DJing my last shift of the summer on KALX this Sunday, otherwise you would find me at Drake's Beach in Point Reyes at their annual Sand Sculpture Contest.
6. And have you checked out the 1619 Project yet?

yentz

Mission 17, San Francisco.  January 6, 2006.

hegira

Shawn HibmaCronan, Fort Mason.  June 1, 2016.

orotund

Patricia Fernández, Headlands.  October 7, 2015.

comminute

Oakland.  May 15, 2015.

marmorean

Berkeley Art Museum.  December 21, 2014.