Poetry

So my buddy Jeanette is a wonderful songwriter, previously in the band No Ma'am and soon to be in a new one I'm sure. She likes to talk about why philosophy is interesting, but sometimes it's better to have a philosophy of your own instead of someone named Nietzshce or Plato. Or maybe I like to make her talk about that. I dunno.

Little did I know she also aspires to be a poetry/short story writer. Here's one of her poems:

SHIELDED
There are places in this world that are safe and free
As real as it gets right around the corner, it lets you feel.
Gives you the opportunity.
Other places are dangerous and guarded, dead as the sea
with the smash of glass
they force you to feel what’s really real.

There are people in this world who are open and giving.
Light pours out and warms everyone that surrounds,
even those with cold dark souls.
Black sea souls that want to bring you down,
cut you down to their size.

Teaching you Buddah Sahfa lessons,
learning from unexpected situations.
There are no insignificant people,
unless everyone is insignificant.
Everything is meaningful,
unless everything is meaningless.
Are there any wholly useless encounters?

Photos - Female Trouble

All of you wanna-be cobra snakes, take note. Real photographers actually have more talent than it takes to flash lights in the face of socialites. One of my many real photographer friends (and former roommate, Jefferson St. represent) is named Ali Burgis. She wrapped up her senior thesis for The School of Visual Arts in New York earlier this year and can, from time to time, be found riding around in a spaceship listening to Four None Blondes.

Here's what she has to say on her thesis called "Female Trouble:

"This is a series of photographs that were taken based on a lie. I decided to play a prank. The stories are a ruse, unfolding my subjects in a false view. You wouldn’t know the difference would you? A photograph would never lie, right? I started collaborating with people, asking questions regarding how they would want to be looked at or portrayed as someone else. Essentially, I am creating a false scenario and telling you, the viewer, that it is genuine. That moment, the one that excites me most, is watching the reaction I receive after I tell you what these strong females do. This is more about listening and hearing, not seeing. I never reveal much information about my subjects. The viewer tends to make up their own mind about my photographs, and in return I get curious analytical reactions about these women and the lives they lead."

Reel Good Things

Heavy Metal In Baghdad (2007)
Directed by Eddy Moretti & Suroosh Avli



This documentary is based on the only (?) metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda. A year or so before this they were bright, young musicians with a huge following. Now they, and their country, are torn apart by war. I'm not sure if I'd actually listen to their record, but to see how their lives have changed is sometimes heartbreaking. And the film shows how hard musicians who really love to play will work to continue performing music, no matter what. This offers an outsiders perspective on the war in Iraq. Hint: it’s worse than we thought.
Review by Kelly K.O.