Toy Wars

Okay, I got a kick out of this.  I can definitely relate to the imagination.

Pull Box: Assigned Male at Birth

Assigned Male at Birth

A comic series I stumbled upon that details "The Incredible Adventures of Stephie (who happens to be trans)." Have been overall enjoying so far. Any recommendations of other things to check out? I always get excited about finding new independent works by artists to read and show support for in different ways. 

Music Monday

At April's First Friday, a local art and music celebration held once a month, I decided to sit in on a performance by the local Bach Parlay. They are a subset of members of the city orchestra, and their performance was entertaining, engaging, and educational. They provided information on the history of their instruments (the parlay uses period instruments with gut strings) and the music they performed. Here they are performing with countertenor Reginald Mobley.

Pull Box - Dykes to Watch Out for

Dykes to Watch Out for is a strip I discovered a few years after reading a graphic novel by the artist, Alison Bechdel, called Fun Home. I can not recommend Fun Home enough. Also, Bechdel recently was selected for a MacArthur grant, so I feel that only further justifies my gushing over her.  Also, responsible for is known as the Bechdel test, coined from one of her DTWOF comics, a convenient way to evaluate the role of women in films as a whole.

Music Monday

So, found out about this album that features classic rock music rearranged and featuring cellist Maya Beiser. The album is called Uncovered, and this is one of my favorite tracks from it. I am actually quite kindly taking a break from cleaning to do this blog post on it. Have been using some of the songs as background for my cleaning work. But doing this post while it is still fresh in my mind is more important than cleaning up the wreck from weeks of not feeling up to cleaning. I have my priorities and know what matters, and what matters is gushing about this album.

Pull Box - The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal

Okay, I feel like I am always late to some things, but that's fine, because in the case of comics it just means I get to binge read them, sometimes after the series is already complete, and I don't have to wallow in impatience and worry over what happens next. Such is the case with TJ and Amal. Don't know what the publishing schedule was, but if it wasn't all at once then waiting for the next installment would have had me up the walls. Fortunately, I found out about it way late and read it all in one or two sittings. The story is beautifully rendered and finds the beauty in some of the most common of human interactions. There is intrigue, and there are secrets and even hints of danger, but overall the story is about two men connecting and bringing out the best in each other and themselves. Weaver's drawings are vivid and detailed, and excellent at both portraying subtlety of expression as well as the awe-inspiring beauty and vastness of nature. Here's a summary:

" In the span of a single day, Amal calls off his arranged marriage, comes out to his conservative parents, promptly gets disowned, goes on a bender... and wakes up the next morning to find TJ, a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen. 

TJ claims that the two have made a drunken pact to drive all the way from Berkeley to Providence. As it happens, Amal promised his sister he'd be there for her graduation from Brown University. And TJ, well... TJ has his own reasons. 

The agreement is simple: Amal does the driving; TJ pays the way - but a 3500 mile journey leaves plenty of time for things to get complicated. - http://tjandamal.com/about.html"

Music Monday

So, I've mentioned before how sometimes I become obsessed with one particular song and will listen to it again and again and again for days or even weeks? Well, this is another such song. I just absolutely adore it. And of course , my imagination is in full force for this one. Except, instead of imaging a video for it, I imagine a bunch of people elaborately dancing to it in costumes that are meant to invoke bird imagery. Like there's a group of people as parrots, bluejays, hawks, etc. And they aren't actual costumes, just elaborate outfits and headgear meant to allude to birds. And we're at a huge ballroom as part of a several days long festival which includes not only dancing but also fights, fencing as well as hand-to-hand, and other feats of strength and athleticism. There's a great deal of intrigue as our particular subculture may be gearing up to become involved with warring factions in the outside world and we must navigate what our vows and beliefs mean and how those should factor into any decisions we might make moving forward. But for the time being, we dance, even with those among us we disagree with with, especially because refusing a dance is seen as a grave insult.