February 23, 2015 by suzannesmom
On the other hand, your living room could be a perfectly good performance venue. In fact, the Guardian calls your living room the “hottest new arts venue.”
The newspaper’s Darryn King writes, “On a recent Friday night in Manhattan, around 20 people and one terrier gathered in the living room of an Upper East Side apartment to listen to a string quartet perform Beethoven, Ravel and Tchaikovsky.
“The guests sampled cheese and wine – several had brought bottles to share – and asked strangers: ‘Is this your first time?’ …
“There are similar events to this performance, organised by Boston-based chamber music concert community Groupmuse, happening in New York, San Francisco and four other cities every week: intimate shows taking place in living rooms of all shapes, sizes and levels of cleanliness, a paradoxically homely and exciting alternative to traditional theatres, concert venues and comedy clubs.
“And it isn’t limited to classical music. Thanks to a range of organisations putting on events in the home, there’s a good chance that, if you were so inclined, you could enjoy standup comedy, live theatre and rock gigs in the comfort of someone else’s residence tonight. Welcome to the latest and greatest nontraditional venue invigorating the city’s live performance scene: the humble living room.
“A lot of folks seek out live music to feel like they are actively contributing to and sharing in something larger than themselves – not just standing by, observing the experience,” says Groupmuse founder Sam Bodkin. “Living rooms are just the best way to do that.”…
“The New Place Players, a troupe of Shakespearean performers-for-hire, have also been busy immersing audiences. The group has staged their productions of Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in homes all over the city, while also putting on regular supper-and-show performances in the sumptuous living room of the historic Casa Duse residence in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
“The productions are a harmonious blend of music, lighting, theatre, food and drink, amounting to a communal atmosphere that harks back to the experience of catching a theatre performance in Elizabethan times.” More here.
Photo: Groupmuse
A Groupmuse gig. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Midsummer Night’s Dream, boston, brooklyn, Casa Duse, chamber music, darryn king, groupmuse, new place players, Park Slope, performance, postaday, sam bodkin, Shakespearean, theatre, twelfth night, venue | Leave a Comment »
February 22, 2015 by suzannesmom
Looking for an affordable venue for your chamber music group, your living-room theatrical production, your poetry group’s public readings? Need a performance space with a cat to give your book promotion that certain je ne sais quoi?
Nidhi Subbaraman has a nice piece at the Boston Globe‘s betaboston site on a tool that can help you find the perfect space.
“Gregorian Oriental Rugs opens at 10 a.m. every weekday, and with wood floors and high ceilings, this converted paper mill in Newton is an airy showroom for antique Turkish flat-weaves, Ikats from India, and countless other intricate, handmade imports from the Far East and Middle East. Some evenings, however, the expensive carpets and rugs are folded, stacked, and put aside, and the store is transformed into an intimate performance venue for local artists. …
“Most people hear about this unusual event space from friends. But to reach community art groups, Gregorian recently listed his venue on SpaceFinder Mass, a kind of Airbnb for the performance world that came to Massachusetts in January. The service connects artists hunting for budget performance or rehearsal space with unusual, informal, and affordable venues.
“ ‘We talk about SpaceFinder being a discovery tool,’ said Lisa Niedermeyer, its program director. Venues can share their calendar for availability, and artists can search by square footage, rates, and timing. The website also handles payments for the bookings.
“Started in New York three years ago, SpaceFinder was developed by Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit group that supports artists. SpaceFinder lists more than 6,600 spaces in 11 cities in the United States, plus Toronto, where you can rent a pirate ship. In Philadelphia, artists can rent a mosaic sculpture garden. …
“SpaceFinder was launched in Massachusetts in partnership with the Arts and Business Council of Boston, and more than 200 venues in the state are listed, most of which are themselves in the arts business — small museums and theaters, for example, dance studios and art galleries.
“In addition to Gregorian, other outliers include a fitness club in Dorchester and a winery in Southampton. …
“To connect with active art communities in far-flung corners of the state, Fractured Atlas reached out to Seth Lepore, an independent artist in Easthampton, to spread the word about the service among artists and to enlist venues.
“ ‘Space is a huge issue here in Western Massachusetts,’ said Lepore, who helped connect SpaceFinder with local studios.” More here.
Photo: Jessica Renaldi/Globe staff
Gregorian Oriental Rugs on a regular work day.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airbnb, alternative, artist, Arts and Business Council of Boston, bookings, easthampton, fractured atlas, gregorian oriental rugs, lisa Niedermeyer, Newton New Philharmonia Orchestra, nidhi subbaraman, nonprofit, payments, performance space, postaday, seth lepore, space, spacefinder, venue | Leave a Comment »
February 21, 2015 by suzannesmom
While we’re on the subject, here are two more poetry events scheduled for spring.
Nancy writes, “Some of your readers may also be interested in the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, in Salem, May 1 – 3. Marge Piercy and Richard Blanco will be among the many well-known poets reading.”
She also notes that if you are near Providence in March, you may want to attend the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition for high school students. The statewide competition will be held at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, with 15 students from schools across Rhode Island reciting poems (by such people as Shakespeare, Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, etc.) in hopes of qualifying for nationals. Info here.
Another inspiring poetry competition for youth is the one depicted by the movie Louder than a Bomb, in which students compose their own poems and perform them. My husband and I were impressed by what the creative opportunity and the discipline did for some at-risk kids. You can get the movie from Netflix, which describes it thus: “Capturing the combined creative spirit of more than 600 Chicago-area teenagers who are participating in what’s billed as the world’s largest youth poetry slam, this documentary highlights the joy of language and the power of collaboration.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged block island, louder than a bomb, Marge Piercy, massachusetts, Massachusetts Poetry Festival, poem, poet, poetry, poetry out Loud, poetry slam, postaday, providence, rhode island, Richard Blanco, risd, salem, workshop, youth | Leave a Comment »
February 20, 2015 by suzannesmom
I have mentioned the Block Island Poetry Project in past years, and I wanted to let you know that I just got the scoop on this year’s theme.
Nancy writes, “The Block Island Poetry Project weekend will be April 16-19 and will focus on Poetry of the Wild, a project of Ana Flores, who visited just a few days ago to show us examples of what she’s been doing around the country for the last twelve years. … I’m in the process of developing my Poetry of the Wild poetry box project for the school.”
The Poetry of the Wild website explains, “Poetry of the Wild invites the public out for a walk to see their world anew through the keenly felt perspectives of poets and artists. Using a unique presentation of ‘poetry boxes’ that combine art and poetry, the project serves as a catalyst for exploring our towns and considering how place informs mindfulness. The public becomes engaged by finding the boxes which are sited as a network on mapped trails, reading the poems, and responding in the public journals contained in each.
“The sculptor Ana Flores created Poetry of the Wild in 2003 while she was the first artist in residence for the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association in Southern Rhode Island. Her mission was to use the arts to foster public awareness and stewardship of the land and waterways protected by the Association. That first project had a dozen boxes created by students from area schools, members of the environmental group and other artists. The public response was overwhelming during its three month tenure. It turned out that many people roaming the trails were poetic– but they had had no place to express themselves. Journals were replaced three times and the trails leading to boxes also became less littered.”
For more about Ana’s work, see earthinform.com. And for more about the Block Island Poetry Project (founded by 2008-2013 Rhode Island poet laureate Lisa Starr), click here.
Ana Flores
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ana flores, block island, earthinform, ecology, environment, journal, land, map, poem, poetry, poetry boxes, poetry of the wild, poetry project, postaday, sculptor, stewardship, trail, waterways, Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association | Leave a Comment »
February 19, 2015 by suzannesmom
Sometimes it just takes one person to be a catalyst. Internationally known jazz musician Danilo Pérez is a catalyst for a growing jazz scene in his native Panama. He has a special focus on getting young people excited about jazz and giving them a chance to become musicians.
At the NY Times, Melena Ryzik writes, “Even in jazz, which has a long tradition of mentorship, Mr. Pérez, 49, has emerged as a singular figure. Nearly 30 years after he left his native Panama to study jazz composition at Berklee [College of Music in Boston], he has made promoting musicianship in Panama — using music as a springboard, cultural unifier and teaching tool — his life’s work.
“In 2005, a year after he started [a] jazz festival with his family, he created the Danilo Pérez Foundation, a nonprofit center for music education and outreach; the festival, which draws as many as 30,000 people over its six-day run each January, provides money for the foundation. The club, which opened last February at the new American Trade Hotel, a luxe outpost of the Ace Hotel chain, is, in his view, the last piece of the puzzle.”
Read more.
Photo: Jennifer Shanley
Danilo Pérez (right) directs the Berklee Global Jazz Institute inaugural class.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ace hotel, american trade hotel, berklee, danilo perez, education, Festival, foundation, jazz, jennifer shanley, melena ryzik, mentor, music, nonnprofit, panama, postaday | Leave a Comment »
February 18, 2015 by suzannesmom
A New York Times blog called “Well” recently had a post on the value of a walk at lunch.
Gretchen Reynolds wrote, “A new study finds that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly — and immediately — buoy people’s moods and ability to handle stress at work.
“It is not news, of course, that walking is healthy and that people who walk or otherwise exercise regularly tend to be more calm, alert and happy than people who are inactive. But many past studies of the effects of walking and other exercise on mood have focused on somewhat long-term, gradual outcomes, looking at how weeks or months of exercise change people emotionally.”
For a new study “published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports … researchers at the University of Birmingham and other universities began by recruiting sedentary office workers at the university.
“A common problem with studies of the effect of exercise on mood, [researcher Cecilie] Thogersen-Ntoumani said, is that they rely on recall. People are asked to remember hours or days after the fact how exercise made them feel.” So participants were given a special app to record how they felt in the moment.
“On the afternoons after a lunchtime stroll, walkers said they felt considerably more enthusiastic, less tense, and generally more relaxed and able to cope than on afternoons when they hadn’t walked and even compared with their own moods from a morning before a walk.” More here.
Makes perfect sense to me. But until we get rid of some of our ice, my own lunchtime walks are indoors in South Station — under the disconcerting fish eye of the suspicious security guard.
Photo: Getty Images
I love the cobblestones here. But where I am at lunchtime may not get down to cobblestones for many, many weeks.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged emotion, gretchen reynolds, health, mood, postaday, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, Thogersen-Ntoumani, university of birmingham, walking | 2 Comments »
February 17, 2015 by suzannesmom
The New York Times Science section had a cute piece in January about surprising friendships among different species of animals. Perhaps you saw it.
Erica Goode reported, “Videos of unlikely animal pairs romping or snuggling have become so common that they are piquing the interest of some scientists, who say they invite more systematic study. Among other things, researchers say, the alliances could add to an understanding of how species communicate, what propels certain animals to connect across species lines and the degree to which some animals can adopt the behaviors of other species.
” ‘There’s no question that studying these relationships can give you some insight into the factors that go into normal relationships,’ said Gordon Burghardt, a professor in the departments of psychology and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, who added that one video he liked to show students was of a small and persistent tortoise tussling over a ball with a Jack Russell terrier. …
“Until recently, any suggestion that interspecies relationships might be based simply on companionship would probably have been met with derision, dismissed as Pixar-like anthropomorphism. That has changed as research has gradually eroded some boundaries between homo sapiens and other animals. Other species, it turns out, share abilities once considered exclusive to humans, including some emotions, tool use, counting, certain aspects of language and even a moral sense. …
“Barbara J. King, an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary, said that she hoped researchers would begin to collect examples of cross-species interactions to build a database that would merit scientific scrutiny. ‘I think we’re not even at the point of being able to extract patterns because the database is so small,’ she said, adding that the topic could also benefit from a rigorous definition of what constitutes a ‘friendship’ between members of different species.” More here.
Photo: Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary by way of Africa Geographic.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Africa Geographic, animals, barbara king, bear, college of william and mary, communicate, ecology, erica goode, evolutionary biology, friend, friendship, Gordon Burghardt, interspecies, lion, Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary, postaday, psychology, science, tiger, University of Tennessee | Leave a Comment »
February 16, 2015 by suzannesmom
The BBC, having fun at our expense, has been measuring our snow depth in height of dogs. More recently, having passed what it calls “six dogs,” it is adding athletes as a unit of measure. See several illustrations here.
The unconventional measurement should work for Bostonians, who have been accustomed since 1958 to measuring the length of a bridge over the Charles River in Smoots. (Oliver Smoot was an MIT student pledging to a fraternity.)
For a more realistic picture, see below. The first shot, from Sandra Kelly, is of New Shoreham, RI. It’s windy on the island, and snow usually blows right off. But it seems to be sticking this time. A poet out there tells me it’s “wild, white, and windy.” I can hear the wind whistling in that. I hope she writes a poem.
The icicles and front walk are from Massachusetts.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bbc, block island, dogs, measurement, new shoreham, smoot, snow | 2 Comments »
February 15, 2015 by suzannesmom
I learned about a sustainable, low-maintenance type of gardening from an article by Matthew Wilson in the Financial Times.
“Forest gardening is an ancient system with modern relevance,” he writes, “based on planting fruit, herbs and vegetables in distinct layer.
“This March marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Robert Adrian de Jauralde Hart, a man who quietly, and without outside recognition for much of his life, created a garden that was at once cutting edge but also rooted in ancient traditions and techniques. Hart was a pioneer in temperate forest gardening, and spent 40 years creating and tending to his eighth of an acre plot in Wenlock Edge, Shropshire.
“Hart had initially set out to make a traditional smallholding, with orderly beds of vegetables, a small orchard and assorted livestock. His aim was to provide healthy, health-giving food for him and his brother Lacon, who was born with severe learning difficulties and for whom Hart was the primary carer. Realising that the combined challenges of the smallholding and his responsibilities towards his brother were beyond him, he observed a planting of herbs and perennial vegetables in one corner of the smallholding that seemed to thrive in spite of a lack of intervention. Taking these observations further, Hart gradually converted the entire orchard into a forest garden, establishing one of the first prototypes for temperate climates.
“The principles of forest gardening are as ancient as the notion of cultivating plants for food. It is an agroforestry system, [composed] of planted layers with large trees at the apex and small, ground-covering herbs at the base. The spiritual descendants of ancient forest gardens can still be found across the world, in the ‘home gardens’ of Kerala, Zambia, and Nepal.” Read about how it works here.
Sometimes when you don’t have time to do things “right,” you discover shortcuts that work as well or better. Like boiling the corn cobs and the spaghetti together in the same pot.
Photo: Danita Delimont/Alamy
Avocado “family orchard” in Mexico
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agroforestry, Danita Delimont, Financial Times, forest gardening, hart, layers, low maintenance, Matthew Wilson, postaday, Robert Adrian de Jauralde Hart, shropshire, sustainable, wenlock edge | Leave a Comment »
February 14, 2015 by suzannesmom
I followed the consummate eclectic blogger Andrew Sullivan from 2004 until a couple weeks ago, when he closed up shop. I can’t begin to say what a loss it is, but at least he decided to leave up all his previous posts. I had planned to link to this one some time ago. It’s a good example of the kind of story I probably would have missed but for Andrew and his team.
In the post, we are directed to a Wired story about a series of Fabrice Fouillet photographs featuring giant statues. Zachary Slobig wrote, “Enormous statues have been erected around the globe for centuries, omnipresent memorials to historical figures and events. Fabrice Fouillet’s series Colosses—a collection of photographs of the world’s most imposing monuments—makes these familiar sights downright strange through a simple shift in perspective. It’s not the size and scale that interests him, but their place in the surrounding landscape. The result can be dizzying and disorienting. …
“ ‘It was important to me to extract the monument from its formal touristic and religious surroundings,’ said Fouillet. ‘It is not about a description of monumental symbol but more to observe how and where it takes place.’ ”
The Andrew Sullivan post, Face of the Day, is still available here. Photographer Fouillet’s website is here.
Image: Fabrice Fouillet
Grand Byakue. Takazaki, Japan
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged andrew sullivan, colasses, fabrice fouillet, giant head, Grand Byakue. Takazaki, japan, photography, postaday, wired, zachary slobig | 2 Comments »
February 13, 2015 by suzannesmom
A husband and wife who run a restaurant in Norfolk, Mass., have opened their hearts to worthy causes, offering to assist through sales of a Brazilian dough boy.
Bella English writes at the Boston Globe, ” ‘We know the stresses of running a restaurant,” says Jennifer [Lima], 37. ‘But we promised each other we would also use it to do some good.’ …
“They donate bread weekly to the Wrentham Food Pantry. Their first Easter brunch, they donated much of the sales to the local fire department. They’re constantly giving gift cards to this or that raffle.
“When a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, struggling to work while raising her son and undergoing treatment, they donated a percentage of their earnings to Project Princess, which a friend organized on the woman’s behalf.
“And when the family of a young Marine just back from Afghanistan wanted to book a welcome home party, the Limas told them no problem. In late December, a peak holiday time, they closed the restaurant and donated the entire party. They hung signs and strung red, white, and blue lights around the bar.
“ ‘Who else closes on a busy Saturday night?’ asks Lauren Eliopoulos, the Marine’s sister. ‘They would not take anything in return. It touched my entire family.’ …
“Rolling in the Dough, [is] the couple’s latest endeavor. Their ‘Doughboy,’ take my word for it, is the best piece of fried dough you’ll ever eat. … The box notes that 100 percent of the proceeds from Doughboy sales will go to a person, family, or cause in need. ‘Do you know a deserving cause? E-mail lima@novatosgrill.com.’ ”
Read more here.
Photo: Bella English
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alex lima, bella english, charity, dough boy, Doughboy, generous, giving, jennifer lima, Lauren Eliopoulos, novatos, postaday, restaurant, rolling in dough, wrentham food pantry | 4 Comments »
February 12, 2015 by suzannesmom
Photo: AP Images/Associated Press
You can’t make these things up.
Jenni Ryall writes at Mashable, “Australia’s oldest man has spent a lot of his days knitting sweaters for little penguins. Alfred ‘Alfie’ Date spoke to 9 Stories about how his inability to say ‘no’ to favours got him into making the miniature animal clothes.
“The jerseys were requested from Victoria’s Phillip Island Penguin Foundation in 2013, to assist the survival of little penguins after an oil spill. Little penguins are a species of penguin only found in southern Australia and New Zealand, with a lone colony of 32,000 remaining on Phillip Island.
“The 109-year-old, who lives in a retirement home on the New South Wales Central Coast, was asked by two nurses to help make the sweaters, as they had heard he was an experienced knitter. It was a request he could not refuse. Using heavy wool provided by the nurses, Alfie put his 80 years of knitting skills to good use and got to work. …
“When oiled penguins arrive at the foundation, they are given a jacket to wear so that they don’t consume the toxins or preen their feathers. In 2001, 438 penguins were affected in an oil spill at Phillip Island and by using the knitted outfits, 96% of the penguins were rehabilitated at the clinic, according to the foundation’s website.”
More at Mashable, here.
Photo: PINP/AAT Kings/Spotlight/Rex Feat
Penguin sweaters worn by stuffed toys at Phillip Island.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 109, 9 stories, alfie, alfred, australlian, date, jenni ryall, knit sweater, oil, penguin, phillip island, postaday, Victoria's Phillip Island Penguin Foundation | 3 Comments »
February 11, 2015 by suzannesmom
The Red Line was telling people not to take the Red Line but to go North Station and walk. So I did.
Between Porter Square, Cambridge, and North Station, Boston, the young conductor sat down near me. I said, “How’s it been going for you?”
He said it’s OK, but he doesn’t like it when passengers start screaming at him like it’s all his fault. He said one day the train had to stop because snow was packed around a switch, and a passenger was angry with him. He got out in the snow, came back with snow up to his chest, and said, “I cleared the switch.”
He wishes passengers could take the same two-month class he took before he started. They would be amazed about all the rules and regulations. Our route passes through three track jurisdictions (I think he said three, maybe more.) At each one, the engineer has to ask permission to pass, and he has to write down the interaction in a book. Sometimes he asks the conductor to come help.
The conductor pointed out a light low down in the snow-covered track. Someone had dug it out. He told me that if the engineer can’t see a track light, he is obliged to treat it as malfunctioning and just stop.
I asked how long the conductor had worked for the system. He said he started New Year’s Eve. It’s been a real trial by ice. But he says he thinks it will get better and he actually likes it. I told him most passengers don’t blame the conductor for snow or aging train equipment.
The walk to work took longer than it should as the sidewalks were not equally clear. Charles Schwab did a lovely job with its sidewalk. Fidelity not so much. I’m thinking of switching my account.
Railroad track near my home.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boston, commuter rail, conductor, mbta, north station, passenger, porter square, postaday, red line, snow, switch, track, train | 8 Comments »
February 10, 2015 by suzannesmom
Public transit in Greater Boston didn’t run today as MBTA staff tried to dig out tracks, switches, and signals. We were told to work at home for the 5th time in two weeks. I went for a walk at lunch. Where sidewalks were plowed, the snow was often piled shoulder high on either side. I like walking in recently plowed snow because boots have more traction. The texture is like pie dough that’s a little too dry. Once the snow gets packed down, it makes for slippery walking. In the town, where merchants went bananas with salt, the sidewalk and crosswalks were unpleasantly soupy.
The first photo is from today. It’s Concord Academy. The others were taken in the past week and include a tree on Congress Street in Boston, a snowbank that the plow cut through as if slicing cake, snowy fire escapes near the TD Garden, a view of the Boston Seaport District from a roof garden, and my ice lantern (still going after more than a week of evening lighting).
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boston, concord academy, ice lantern, new england, photo, photographs, postaday, seaport, snow, winter | 4 Comments »
February 9, 2015 by suzannesmom
People do come up with some pretty far-out ideas.
Aisha Gani writes at the Guardian about one recent idea — to put a public swimming pool in the Thames River.
“An online crowd-funding campaign to build a £10m open-air swimming pool in the middle of the river Thames in central London is to launch [this] month. Initial designs for the Thames Baths, which is to open next year on the Victoria Embankment if planning permission is granted, feature a 25-metre by 10-metre main pool, filtration system and pool-side decking.
Chris Romer-Lee, 42, an architect from Studio Octopi said the group was looking for sponsorship and wanted Londoners to get behind the scheme. The London swimming-pool designs have received high-profile backers, such as The Outdoor Swimming Society and award-winning British artist Tracey Emin, who is to feature in the promotional video.”
Romer-Lee says, “There’s something very wild and liberating being in open water. I don’t get this so much swimming inside indoor pools where it’s hot and smelly. The decked areas are open to anyone who wants to come along, so you don’t have to come along just to swim.”
The #backthebaths campaign can be found at Kickstarter. More here.
Photograph: Picture Plane Ltd/Thames Baths Project
Artist’s impression of the proposed Thames Baths project.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aisha gani, Chris Romer-Lee, Outdoor Swimming Society, Picture Plane Ltd/Thames Baths Project, postaday, river, studio octopi, swimming pool, thames, Tracey Emin, Victoria Embankment | Leave a Comment »
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