World
Thionne Ballago Seck R.I.P.
Thionne Seck—perhaps the purist vocal talent in an extraordinary cohort of male Senegalese singers that includes Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal, Omar Pene and Ismael Lo—died on March 14th.
Boston Massacre Energy (in Russia)
The kicker…
Addio Alle Armi
Bruce Jackson wrote this reflection on an Italian cultural festival, lessons of Attica and a perfect night in Piacenza a few years ago, but it’s still on time.
Christmas and the Multiplication of Light
Fr. Rick Frechette is a medical doctor and Catholic priest who has been working in Haiti for a more than a generation. He wrote the following epistle to his family and supporters last Sunday, December 20th, the day before the Winter Solstice.
Papi Don’t Preach: Pedro Lemebel’s Anti-Macho Metaphysics of Love
Pedro Lemebel, queer artist and radical provocateur, was acknowledged to be an “essential figure of Chile” in his own country when he died in 2015. His work and life–“more than a writer; he was a free man” (per Wikipedia!)–are now becoming better known in El Norte. A documentary film, Lemebel, came out last year and Lemebel’s book Loco afán: crónicas de sidario (Crazy Desire: chronicles of the AIDS ward) has just been translated into English. What follows is a swatch from that report on gay life and death in a Latin American city of night.
On Verra Ca: Balla Sidibe R.I.P. & Orchestra Baobab’s Legacy
Balla Sidibe—one of the original front men of the legendary afro-pop band Orchestra Baobab—has gone to see what’s coming for all of us. You can watch the late Sidibe sing lead (and dance) here as Baobab does a charming version of a song that dates back to the 70s, “On Verra Ca.” 2020 is the 50th anniversary year of the band’s founding.
This next song is another Baobab classic. It’s the track that got me on board their train to heaven.
Homage to Spanish Anarchism
Stephen Schwartz, co-author of Spanish Marxism versus Soviet Communism: A History of the P.O.U.M. in the Spanish Civil War, has linked a number of his associates to the film below (which is available on Youtube). Your editor, in turn, passed the link on to another distinguished author of a recent book on the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild, who was wowed: “Amazing. I’ve seen lots of still photos from this time—which must have been in the first month or two after the beginning of Franco’s coup—but didn’t know there was film.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVv6ampdPeY
Morbid Symptons (Anti-Semitism & Amity Road)
Who else is going to love someone like you that’s marked for death
Lessons from the 3rd Sunday of Easter, and the 17th Sunday of Coronavirus
I was as frozen as a deer in a headlight when she called me a killer.
Inequality & Two Cheers for Capitalism
In these days of pandemic isolation, as the world reels from one gut punch to the next, the future looks anything but rosy. While the monied float on their yachts and in their two million dollar isolation rentals in the Hampton’s, the rest of us live in fear and anxiety.
Coronavirus in China: Challenges to Authority
Li Wenliang
“In this world there are no heroes descended from heaven, there are only ordinary people who come forward.”
During the lockdown in China prompted by Coronavirus, folk musical and ritual activities have been on hold—but some brave local performers have been reflecting the outbreak in online songs criticizing the Party’s handling of the crisis.[1]
Act Locally: Wisdom on Pandemics
This piece was posted at the UC Santa Cruz website. Author Dan Simon reported on his conversation with Laurie Garrett—expert on epidemics (and a UC Santa Cruz alumna).
Monkey Time (2020)
Hundreds of hungry monkeys swarm across Thai street as 'rival gangs' fight over food after tourists who normally feed them stay away because of coronavirus https://t.co/lQZ0sOzwDF pic.twitter.com/8TgrCTBrQ8
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 12, 2020
Click link above for longer version of this video and/or Read More to see it on bigger screen.
Herzog Imagines the Plague
H/T Ty Geltmaker. Click on Read More for bigger screen.