The Green Lady of Brooklyn (New York Times)
A lovely written portrait of the kind of eccentric characters one totally associates with New York. Elizabeth Sweetheart is 74, an artist, and has been wearing and living life in bright lime green. There are many funny quotes in this, but I thought one particular fact said a lot about this artist's drive and passion: "In 1964, she hitch-hiked [from Nova Scotia] to New York City to establish herself as an artist". Inspiring.
One does not 'live' at Xanadu (blog)
Talking of artists making their way to New York - my friend Helene moved there earlier this Autumn and her blog - in French - is pure joy to read. Full of references (from random music to sweets to Girls), and games of languages, it always makes me happy. I friggin' hope she gets to stay in the big apple so she can keep writing her adventures, and hopefully become her own Elizabeth Sweetheart.
Sacred Harp singing
I didn't know this type of choral singing existed until last Sunday, when a new friend came for dinner and started talking about it. It sounds like gregorian chants meet folk tunes meets bulgarian-style voices- listen here - and originated in the American South. It's a cappella only, with the different voice groups facing one another, making for a more communal feel. The music notation is also different to what we know, with each note differentiated by a shape. It gets more complicated: I hope to be able to share more when I go to my first Sacred Harp gathering later this month.
Fringe! Film Festival
The Fringe film festival was on last week at a number of venues across east London. I went to three screenings (a nice if a bit static feature documentary about LGBTQ people living in Rio's favelas, and two sets of short films). My highlights were Elin Overgaard's Stockholm Daybreak, the sweet animation Heavenly Peace, and Quito, about an adolescent finding himself, featuring great performances.
Rome
I had never been and of course I fell in love.
Koda: Staying
Winter is here.
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