MF: July 2011

29 July 2011

the beat of the street

27 July 2011

"be patient" is very good advice

I was working at my workbench yesterday and had Disney's Alice in Wonderland on in the background.

As a child, it was one of my favorites... and we really did have every Disney film.

Watching it now, I can see why. Visually and artistically, it is beautiful, even ahead of its time.

25 July 2011

brass animals

24 July 2011

finds

23 July 2011

Lost and Found: The Wiz

Most know "The Wiz" as that musical film from the late 70's in which features Michael Jackson and Diana Ross (brilliant!). Michael Jackson plays that dancing scarecrow, and Diana Ross, a crazy good Dorothy. And you may perhaps recall that ridiculously catchy tune "Ease On Down the Road." Regardless, I have always been a fan of the music, especially after taking part in the musical my freshman year of high school.

Sure the film was epic, but what people might not remember was the fact that the film was also a musical on Broadway. Though the majority of the songs in the play are also featured in the film, there are a few songs which differ. The one that stands out the most is definitely the song of the Scarecrow. In the film, Michael Jackson sings "You Can't Win," where as in the musical, the role of the character sings "I Was Born On the Day Before Yesterday."

The thing is, I love both songs... but if I'd have to pick one as a favorite, I'd actually have to go with the song in the musical! I am a huge fan of Broadway, and especially when songs go missing from my life and resurface in some capacity. Here are some of my favorites.

1. I Was Born On The Day Before Yesterday - The Wiz

2. Soon As I get Home - The Wiz

3. Elaborate Lives - Aida (Elton John and Tim Rice)

4. I Know the Truth - Aida (Elton John and Tim Rice)

5. Unusual Way - Nine (Maury Yeston)

6. A Call From the Vatican - Nine ( Maury Yeston)

7. If I Didn't Believe In You - The Last 5 Years (Jason Robert Brown)

8. Waiting For Life - Once On This Island

9. On the Steps of the Palace - Into the Woods (Steven Sondheim)

22 July 2011

july

the street is steaming but we're gonna dance

ya ya - lee dorsey

alimony - frankie ford
the joint's really jumpin' - jimmy evans
come on, let's go - ritchie valens
south street - the orlons
do you want to dance - bobby freeman
la bamba - ritchie valens
ding dong ding - the diamonds
tears on my pillow - little anthony & the imerials

19 July 2011

west virginia

new york has been draining

so my dad and I took a 9 hour road trip down to west virginia

perspective, adventure, and some root-tracing

highlights of the trip included:

carving my initials next to chrissy's, my dad's, and my dad's mom
(who I never met)
on what the family calls "the big rocks"

the laughter and fun while playing basketball with my
second cousins
(who I had just met that day!)

tracing my genealogy to 1754

the sky

and exploring old houses

house exploring

What the waters wants is hurricanes
And sailboats to ride on its back
What the water wants is sun kiss
And land to run into and back

I have a fish stone burning my elbow
Reminding me to know that I'm glad
That I have a bottle filled with my own teeth
They fell out like a tear in the bag

And I have a sister somewhere in Detroit
She has black hair and small hands
And I have a kettle drum
I'll hit the earth with you

And I will crochet you a hat
And I have a red kite
I'll put you right in it
I'll show you the sky

18 July 2011

popsicles on a new york city day

// sea cruise - frankie ford // locking up my heart - the marvelettes // the wah watusi - the orlons // don't hang up - the orlons // wow wow wee - the angels // I love you - the volumes // hit the road jack - ray charles // way over there - the miracles

13 July 2011

cults - go outside

Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on Vimeo.

pretty interesting music video, quite gutsy.

directed by Isaiah Seret

director's statement from the boing boing website:

To tell the story of Cults' hauntingly beautiful track, "Go Outside", I was inspired to bring the band inside the world of Jim Jones' famous religious cult, Peoples Temple, and the eventual tragedy in Jonestown. Fortunately, when exploring the feasibility of this video I became acquainted with Fielding M. McGehee III, an expert on Peoples Temple history and the primary researcher for the Jonestown Archive. It is thanks to him and his encouragement that I was able to take on this project and through his support gained access to over two and half hours of home videos showing Peoples Temple in Jonestown. For this music video we didn't want to put a spin on the footage or the peoples lives—instead we wanted to re-tell and humanize their story. In order to achieve this we used a combination of stock footage, visual effects and other tricks to embed the band into the historical footage. This was achieved through my collaboration with my visual effects supervisor Bill Gillman and my cinematographer Matthew Lloyd. Lastly, I am moved to say when we completed the video we were able to preview it for some of the survivors of the Jonestown Massacre, who expressed their appreciation of our focus on the lives of the People's Temple members as opposed to exploiting the graphic images of the final tragedy.

In History and Memory,
Isaiah

11 July 2011

down in the jungles lived a maid
of royal blood though dusky shade

a marked impression once she made
upon a zulu
from matabooloo
and every morning, he would be
down underneath a bamboo tree
awaitin' there his love to see
and then to her he'd sing
(to her he'd sing)
if you like-a me
like i like-a you
and we like-a both the same
i like-a say this very day
i like-a change your name
'cause i love-a you
and love-a you true
and if you-a love-a me
one live as two
two live as one
under the bamboo tree