AboutTime

vajohna:

Marina Abramović and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt their relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. At her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing it and this is what happened.

How her face lights up when she looks up to see him sitting there. How she reaches out to him. How she hesitates when taking her hands off the table. How she crumbles when he gets up and walks away.

CRAIGSLIST JOE Heart warming! Glimpses into the lives of an array of people along the way and their corners of the world. I imagine there was a sense of security and emboldening for both Joe and the Craigslisters due to the presence of the camera. Still, words and actions of the participants aside- camera-influenced, or not- their home environments offered their own silent views of truth.

I SING OF A MAIDEN | PATRICK HADLEY, KINGS COLLEGE CHOIR, CAMBRIDGE I’ve been all awash in Christmas choral music as of late. The most recent listen was I Sing of a Maiden by this fellow Patrick Hadley. In introducing the work, the radio announcer mentioned that in the time of telegrams, many minced words in order to save on money, as they were charged by the verbage. Still, Hadley was known for the inclusion of additional phrases such as “I say”. Some may have found it wasteful. I find it charming. Allows a bit of character and personality to shine through, I say.

I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS | GAYLE PEEVEY Not much can be said about the weeble-wobble rhythm section in the background, but other than that, hooray for hippos and smackeroos!

I’m all about the nonfiction and how-to’s, so when reading along with others, I like to get lost in the strangeness of fiction. The latest book club read had me ready for the romantical and relatable, though for all that the main duo endured, it seemed to fall short of the emotional resonance I signed up for, though perhaps purposefully so in an attempt by the author to offer a little privacy of sorts for her grandparents, as it’s their very story she chose to impart to the reader. She shared the events and happenings of their lives, the gist, just none of the heart of it. Managed to take away two bits, at least, one being…

Watching Frozen Planet, the Autumn episode currently. I always enjoy this particular narrator’s voice. Though, what I really wish I were up to is the Banff Mountain Film Festival. I’ve gone several times in years past, and each time come away with a renewed sense of adventure and awe for the planet and its residents. It’s featured in the city of Olympia among others- no complaints here- I welcome a view of the Capitol building most any time- but this year I wanted to catch it in North Bend, a town made famous by Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Thought to look it up too late this time around! Getting by with the fine sight of the Brünnich’s Guillemots up among the cliffs. And all the marvelous snow, that light!

One day Bean and I were driving along, me at the wheel, while she read to me from Mental Floss- smart design, enriching content! Shared nerdly bits of delicious knowledge as she tends to do. She then asks me, “What color are clouds?”

I reply, “That depends, they’re many colors,” going on to explain that so many of the colors depend on this, that and the other, and that even simple “white” clouds are shaded and shadowed in such a way as to contain elements of grey and yellow, and reflections of blue.

She looks at me, waits a beat, and says, “Good, you passed, yer a real artist,” explaining that the article she’d just read suggested that the average poyson would call em “good ol white”, while an autist should proclaim them most anything but.

IDLEWILD I so anticipated this movie when it arrived in theatres, but felt it fell short on delivery. Still, there were some fun bits, including the wall of clocks and Paula Patton, whom I felt sure was the loveliest creature on the planet whilst watching. Tick-tock, tick-tick-tock. Trying to make it all count.