5 Cool Things

1.

Photographer Richard Tuschman | Hopper Meditations

Brilliant idea. New York based photographer Richard Tuschman has staged Edward Hopper’s emotionally charged melodramas as photographs. The sets you see (built by Tuschman) are tiny — they’re sized just about right for Smithers (Tuschman’s cat) to fit into. Models are then photographed against a gray seamless background and the images are fully realized in Photoshop. Extraordinary, no?

From a Slate Magazine piece: “If it doesn’t take me a long time, it’s really not worthwhile,” Tuschman said, laughing about his process. “These pictures are almost mundane in a way. They’re really quiet and have a sort of psychological overtone to them and that was really appealing to me.” Read the story in Slate.

_____

Song for Sunday | Solitude, Duke Ellington

_____

2. Fretboard literature | Lou Reed 

Rolling Stone did a “20 essential Lou Reed tracks” in their October 27th issue. Check it out here >>. Fresh Air did a piece too — with Reed’s publicist Bill Bently. It’s a great listen.  That’s over here >>

Even more interesting are these liner notes on the Velvet Underground’s connections to the world of poetry. Here’s an excerpt from, “I’ll be Your Mirror” by Andrew Epstein at the Poetry Foundation website:

In fact, the Velvet Underground can be seen as one of the more unusual fruits of the broad movement known as the “New American Poetry,” named after the title of the epochal anthology edited by Donald Allen in 1960 which brought together under one banner the various avant-garde poetic communities of the 1950s, especially the Beats, the New York School, and the Black Mountain poets. This movement—and in particular, the New York School of poetry—played a surprisingly large role in the emergence of Velvet Underground, one of the most daring, original, and influential rock bands in history, and in the shape of Lou Reed’s career. {You should read this, it’s great.)

Here’s the big hit, Take a Walk on the Wild Side:

Holly came from Miami F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side,
Said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.

Candy came from out on the island,
In the backroom she was everybody’s darling,
But she never lost her head
Even when she was giving head
She sayes, hey baby, take a walk on the wild side
Said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls go,

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New York City is the place where they said:
Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
I said hey Joe, take a walk on the wild side

Sugar Plum Fairy came and hit the streets
Lookin’ for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the Apollo
You should have seen him go, go, go
They said, hey Sugar, take a walk on the wild side
I said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side, alright, huh

Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would have helped that bash
She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
I said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side
And the colored girls say

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

 _____

3.  In praise of the writer’s collective | 26  is 10

 This band of (mostly UK based) writers (the logo above is linked) just celebrated its 10th birthday and a mighty cheer was heard from London to Seattle. Here’s why 26 is so cool.

 Reflections by John Simmons, a founder at 26.

In the last year or two we’ve been active across the UK. Starting in London with the V&A, 26 Treasures spread to the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Wales and the Ulster Museum. We invented a new literary form, the sestude (62 words exactly, ‘26 in reflection’) and 26 writers produced sestudes about objects in each of those museums. Our list of more than a hundred writers included Alexander McCall Smith, Gillian Clarke, Andrew Motion, Michael Longley and Paul Muldoon. Last week, the book 26 Treasures (seen below) won the British Book Design and Production award in the Literature category – congratulations as well to designer Sam Gray and publishers Unbound.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

METIER

Every writer is obliged to create his own language, as every violinist is obliged to create his own “tone” ….I don’t mean to say I like original writers who write badly. I prefer—and perhaps it’s a weakness—those who write well. But they begin to write well only on condition that they’re original, that they create their own language. The only way to defend language is to attack it.

– Marcel Proust

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

4. Yes to selfie | OED international word of the year 

The Australians have given the world “selfie” and the rumor has it that the human who first tossed that fish on deck was drunk. Here’s OED on the momentous occasion.

Selfie can actually be traced back to 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum.  The word gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph. Its linguistic productivity is already evident in the creation of numerous related spin-off terms showcasing particular parts of the body like helfie (a picture of one’s hair) and belfie (a picture of one’s posterior); a particular activity – welfie(workout selfie) and drelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie andbookshelfie.

_____

5. I want a girl who reads | Roundhouse London

SO cool. This is a project out of a creative cauldron in London called Roundhouse. Here’s a bit of their story.

From modest Victorian beginnings – beginning life in 1846 as a steam-engine repair shed – to legendary cultural venue, the Roundhouse has an enviable heritage. The Grade II* listed building is now home to a bold and exciting programme of live music, theatre, dance, circus, installations and new media. Visit Roundhouse here >>