Last week, Studio 360 revisited a lively conversation with Marlon James – his novel The Book of Night Women is just out in paperback. All the main characters in the novel are women, and they’re rendered vibrantly.
But it seems he didn’t always have that talent. In the interview, James tells Kurt that after he finished his very first novel, a teacher told him he had real potential as a writer… but that he didn’t have a clue how to flesh out believable women characters. His assignment: read Toni Morrison, especially Sula.
To my mind–and James’s–Morrison is a master at creating beautiful, imperfect characters. I love, too, that she didn’t start writing seriously until she was about 35. She went on to be the first African- American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Here she talks about her late start, and what inspired her to write her first novel, The Bluest Eye.
Fans of the Fox series “Glee” are known for their passion and enthusiasm. Some “gleeks” are so dedicated to the show and its elaborately staged musical numbers that they perform their own versions of songs from the show and post them on YouTube. Now perhaps the unlikeliest of performers has joined their ranks.
Retired sumo wrestler Akebono has lent his talents to two recent Japanese commercials promoting “Glee” on Fox Japan, where it premiers this Sunday, February 7. The sumo champion (born in America as Chad Rowan) became a celebrity in the 1990s when he rose to the ultimate rank of yokozuna. And judging by the lithe movements he displays as he belts out Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” he’s still plenty light on his feet…
One American export to Japan introduces another — and Fox Japan must be hoping that “Glee” is as successful in living rooms as Akebono was in the arena…
Julie Powell — the author and Julie of Julie & Julia — cooked 524 recipes in 365 days. That’s small potatoes compared to Brooklyn’s Cathy Erway, a twenty-something-year-old hipster who ate nothing from restaurants, take-out spots, or street-stands from September 2006 through September 2008. (The project began in an effort to save money, but it turned into a deeper exploration and appreciation of food.) Erway kept a blog of her culinary experiences, which is about to be released as a book, February 18: The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove.
I started following reading Erway’s blog senior year of college, as I faced losing campus cafeteria food. While she’s generally a fantastic cook, it was her honesty about kitchen misadventures that kept me hooked — like The Scotch Bonnet Black Beans Disaster of 2008. Her blog posts, with titles like “Reason For Not Eating Out #39: Because the Hair In My Food Is Always Mine,” is more than a string of recipes and pretty pictures; they show a coming-of-age through food.
Inspired by her book, I experimented with baking pita bread. I added some sourdough starter to the basic recipe (from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) for flavor. Then I let the dough rise for two hours, separated it into eight pieces, and rolled out each into a circle with a rolling pin. After just a few minutes in the oven, they puffed up and began to resemble little air-filled whoopie cushions. Slightly charred but still very delicious whoopie cushions.
So, my reason for not eating out #1: Because even the mistakes are tasty.
The sequel to Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street is set to be released this spring, and Michael Douglas is back as the deliciously unctuous Gordon Gekko.
My favorite part of the trailer (posted below) is when a prison guard, returning Gekko’s possessions after he’s served a 20-year sentence, slides his mobile phone back to him. The brick-sized hulk of plastic is as unrecognizable to us as 1987’s fat and flourishing economy. Gekko is about to re-enter a world where the iconic Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers are no more. Even Tavern on the Green, where the big climactic scene in the original movie takes place, shut its doors January 1 (with plans to reopen under new management next month).
A few months ago, Studio 360 talked to some of the screenwriters responsible for bringing Gekko into the 21st century:
How close did they come to getting it right? I’m looking forward to seeing the film and finding out.
“Big Fan” follows a guy who lives to watch the New York Giants and then bloviate on sports-talk radio. But it’s not a football movie — it’s a fascinating exploration of fandom: what we get from worshipping public figures and what happens when we glimpse their feet of clay.
Last week the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened its exhibition on “The Drawings of Bronzino,” showcasing the work of a man who may just be the best painter nobody cares about.
Agnolo Bronzino was one of the leading painters and poets of sixteenth-century Italy. But during this time Italian art and culture were dominated by the Mannerist school — and Mannerism is unquestionably the Jan Brady of European Art. It’s not as naturally beautiful, or let’s face it, well-proportioned as its older sister Marcia “Renaissance” Brady. And it’s also not as direct or emotional as its younger sister Cindy “Baroque” Brady. Stuck in between these two celebrated periods, it languishes in obscurity…an overlooked middle child.
Detail from Parmigianino's "Diane and Acteon."
But there are reasons to celebrate Mannerist artists like Bronzino. Mannerism is more playful, fanciful, and really more inventive, than Renaissance art. Some time in the mid-sixteenth century, artists in Italy grew weary of constantly focusing on faithful, proportioned reproductions of nature. And so they started to play around a bit. They showcased their skills by distorting nature… maybe by elongating an arm or a neck… maybe by cramming in so much detail into a painting that the eye could hardly take it all in.
Bronzino's "Head of a Smiling Young Woman."
Long relegated to Jan status, Mannerism is making a comeback. The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahlsays creative culture is full of Mannerists today, concerned with “art about art, and style for style’s sake.” Schjeldahl even finds similarities between Bronzino’s poetry and the satire of “The Daily Show,” in how both take “glee in the absurdities of inescapable conditions” and force “despairing cynicism to a pitch of wholesome revelry.”
The Da Vincis, the Donatellos…they’ve had their day. It’s time to give Jan Brady her due!
Colombia has a very wide range of musical styles, reflecting the country’s strong regional cultures and diverse roots – African, indigenous, and European. It’s similar to Brazil, and that shows in the music. But I think many of us are more conscious of the richness of Brazilian music. Here are some listening suggestions for Colombians artists and styles mentioned in my story this week.
Aterciopelados are that very special combination of a creative and original yet extremely popular group. The band has become political and social advocates. The title song on Río, the most recent cd, refers to the very polluted Bogotá River; the band has promoted a clean water referendum. (But there’s also a lightness to Aterciopelados’ lyrics – as singer Andrea Echeverri points out, “río” is also a form of the verb for “to smile.”) “Canción Protesta” – Protest Song – was reworked for an Amnesty International-UN project as “The Price of Silence,” with new multilingual lyrics. Here’s the video, recorded at the UN General Assembly hall. Note that Andrea is very pregnant with her second child!
Here are more listening and general links for Colombian artists:
Bomba Estéreo mixes cumbia rhythms with lots of sampling and mixing – and also a serious rock attitude. They’re part of a very creative stable of artists recording for the indie label Polen, in Bogotá. Nacional Records has picked up the most recent cd, Blow Up, to break the band in North America. [video]
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Carlos Vives is the former soap opera sweetheart who was inspired by a role he played to explore the roots of Colombia’s accordion-driven vallenato music, and in so doing so really raised urban audience’s awareness and respect for the music.
First he made a cd, Clasicos de la Provincia, covering traditional vallenato classics. With the help of producer Ivan Benavides, he followed up with a more contemporary take on vallenato, Tierra de Olvido. The title cut was a huge hit, and he’s made several more hybrid records. [video, video]
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Ivan Benavides also led Bloque, a band that didn’t make it into the final version of our story as things got whittled down. But Bloque is a critic’s choice as probably the first Colombian band of its generation to organically mix rock and roots.
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Benavides and British DJ Richard Blair are Sidestepper, maybe the first group to effectively blend electronica with any Latin music.
Sidestepper has been enormously influential on younger artists in Colombia including Bomba Estéreo, and has influenced the popular cumbia DJ scene in Buenos Aires, known as Zizek. [video]
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Pernett is a talented young Polen label artist originally from Barranquilla. Like Bomba Estéreo, they mix cumbia and the African-inflected champeta with modern beats. [video]
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Sol Okarina is a fine young artist whose lovely cd Sumergible, also on Polen, blends champeta and other styles with indie pop. [video]
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Choc Quib Town is a highly acclaimed Afro-Colombian band that’s a little more rap-oriented, but also blending traditional styles and rhythms into their music. Orowas nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009 and is being released in the US in February. [video]
Another stream of musical hybridism in Colombian music blends jazz and traditional music. This collection from the (sadly defunct) Chonta records is an excellent starting point for further explorations in new Colombian music.
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Finally, here are a few good cds for exploring more traditional and old-school Colombian music:
Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto: This group is carrying the torch for the most traditional form of cumbia, played on the long-tubed vertical gaita flutes with percussion. A good example is their cd, Un Fuego de Sangre Pura.
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And I’ve only scratched the surface here! If you’d like further recommendations, or have questions, thoughts, corrections, or suggestions – post a comment below. Or you can also contact me directly.
Valentine’s Day is just two weeks away – and we’re hoping that 2010 can be the year of the new-and-improved Valentine. We’re thrilled that so many talented folks have submitted their ideas to “Be My Valentine: A Studio 360 Design Challenge.”
And doesn’t a competition merit a celebrity judge? One who is familiar with the trials and triumphs of modern love?
We’re pleased to announce that best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame, will review your entries and decide which Valentine makeover she [hearts] most. We’ve wrangled her for judging duties while on tour for her new book: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. She’ll pick her fave listener design and tell us what it’s like to have Julia Roberts act out her life story. (The movie version of E,P,L comes out in August.)
It’s Friday night, and I’m sweating on the dance floor. Am I at some chic nightclub? Not exactly. Instead of a techno beat, the sounds of fiddles, guitars, recorder, dulcimer, and banjo hang in the air.
Okay, I confess: I love Contra dancing. It’s a rowdy mix of square and line dancing. The constant swapping of partners means you get to meet everyone. The swinging reminds me of the controlled (and uncontrolled) spinning I did as a kid. And nothing else can put a spring in your step like a good jig.
And recently, I’ve upped the ante, getting into English Country Dance — think Netherfield Ball in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Back then, everyone knew the steps to each dance by just hearing the names of the songs or the first few bars of music. These days, a caller gives you instructions as you’re dancing.
In Austen’s time, these dances reinforced rigid hierarchical structure. The top couple was usually the most prominent and richest in the town, and a woman had to wait demurely for a gentleman to ask her to the dance floor. Today, not only do women ask women and men to dance, women can freely dance the male roles. The modern Lizzie Bennet never has to sit one out.
If you’re in New York, Country Dance New York hosts an American Contra Dance this Saturday at 8 pm and an English Country Dance on Tuesday at 7 pm. And maybe I’ll see you on the dance floor!
Last week, singer-songwriter Zee Avi brought her ukulele by the studio. From what we’ve been hearing from listeners, she has a bunch of new fans since the broadcast – including me.
Hearing her play the uke took me back. I can picture the one we had lying around our house and I remember how my school-age fingers found those fat strings much friendlier than the sharp metal ones on the guitar. It’s cool to hear Zee Avi making grown-up music on that instrument.
I recently discovered some other musicians who make cool, grown-up music on a “kid” instrument too. Their choice: the recorder. Remember the recorder? That whistling torture device employed by children nationwide.
I never really got anywhere with mine. But I was thrilled to find Tim Eriksen playing “Carol of the Birds.” Like Zee Avi, he does something special with the instrument + YouTube. In his case, it’s playing all four parts of the piece of music and using a split screen to form his one-man quartet. Neato!
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