Creaky Toes

9 de junio

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:36:03 -0400

Playlist:

Los 4 Crickets- “Vete a pasear”
Golden Ring- “Shekar Dar Kohestan”
Los Shakes- “El amuleto”
OnDER Bali- “Karni Buyuk Koca Dunya”
Asaase Ase- “Ohiani Sua Efir”
Willie and the Way Out West Rhythm Section- “Fly Down”
Bettye Swann- “Angel of the Morning”
Buell Kazee- “The Wagoner’s Lad”
Rodolfo- “Que no quede huella”
Rising Sun- “Do What You’re Doin’”

2 de junio

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 11:51:14 -0400

2 de junio:

Playlist:

Los Salvajes del Ritmo- “St. John’s Guaguanco”
Soweto Mzansi Music- “Vhavenda (Revolution Rmx)”
Midnight Express- “Danger Zone”
Son of P.M.- “James Bond Theme”
Omar Souleyman- “Alshikhani”
Sin Sisamouth- “Waiting to Dance with You”
Joyce Bennett- “New Boy”
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott- “Honey, Where You Been So Long?”
Slimane Azem- “Thamourthiou Azizen”

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/14/how-to-think-more-about-sex-alain-de-botton/

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 11:19:41 -0400

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/14/how-to-think-more-about-sex-alain-de-botton/:

“The pleasure we derive from sex is also bound up with our recognizing, and giving a distinctive seal of approval to, those ingredients of a good life whose presence we have detected in another person. The more closely we analyze what we consider ‘sexy,’ the more clearly we will understand that eroticism is the feeling of excitement we experience at finding another human being who shares our values and our sense of the meaning of existence.” -Alain de Botton

It seems superficial to chalk up sexual attraction to the recognition of shared values regarding what constitutes a “good life.” Nonetheless, there is feeling of excitement felt when we finally, out of “all those kinds of people,” find someone who has “a face with a view” (to quote Talking Heads) of something that you secretly (or not-so-secretly) desire for yourself independently and within a relationship in the future. “Existence” is such a broad expanse of time, space, and possibilities that when you come across someone who seems to interpret it in a similar way, you can’t help but feel that spark of (self-)recognition.

Botton goes on to describe sexual excitement as “an ecstasy we feel at encountering someone who may be able to put to rest certain of our greatest fears, and with whom we may hope to build a shared life based upon common values.” Said fears derive from anxieties as to whether or not we will find that person who shares our view of the world (or extends it) and whether or not those desires in themselves are sufficiently legitimate to be shared by other people. After overcoming fears and insuring a stable, common ground, then construction can begin.

"You have, which is a rare thing, that ability and the responsibility to listen to the dissent in..."

Thu, 30 May 2013 22:19:25 -0400

“You have, which is a rare thing, that ability and the responsibility to listen to the dissent in yourself, to at least give it the floor, because it is the key — not only to consciousness, but to real growth. To accept duality is to earn identity. And identity is something that you are constantly earning. It is not just who you are. It is a process that you must be active in… This contradiction, and this tension … it never goes away. And if you think that achieving something, if you think that solving something, if you think a career or a relationship will quiet that voice, it will not. If you think that happiness means total peace, you will never be happy. Peace comes from the acceptance of the part of you that can never be at peace. It will always be in conflict. If you accept that, everything gets a lot better.”

- Joss Whedon, 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Speech (via Brain Pickings)

What are the ramifications of making one’s own, internal “dissent” tangible, audible, visible even? From Whedon’s perspective, allowing space for this dual (and dueling) entity contributes to the “earning” of one’s identity, which is constantly evolving. By suggesting that identity is something to be “constantly ear[ned],” Whedon externalizes the concept and presents it as a prize to be coveted, albeit at a distance. Similarly, he suggests that only by removing, by ceding “the floor” to one’s “dissent” can one really grow and thus put themselves on the path to attaining (and then possibly losing once more) one’s identity. Dissent and identity are externalized elements with which one must struggle, contemplate, and, even (thinking positively) play constantly.

Despite positioning identity as something to be earned, however, Whedon rejects the notion that material achievements (job, relationship) can either compensate for this internal-external triumph or mute it. In the value system presented here, the real victory, internal and external, comes from accepting not only “the part of you that can never be at peace” (emphasis mine), but also the fact that, within such a construct, you can never be at peace. You can live symbiotically with your dissent, feeding off of and into it, so that the two entities (and here I am reminded of various moments of Whitman’s Song of Myself) can continue down the same path, which itself ends with their mutual harmony, regardless of external players.

That sort of harmony, in my experience, has always been a sort of silence. Said “quiet” is not necessarily “total peace,” but rather mutual recognition- of yourself and of your dissent- and the work to be done to pair the two pieces together, somehow. Those muted moments (apologies for the alliteration) are truly wonderful and, in some way, calming. The knowledge and acceptance of the presence of these external-internal, combative-pacifist elements that constantly define, challenge, and redefine who you are render you not only more conscious of yourself (as an internally and externally driven entity) but also more conscious of your position in a world that similarly struggles with such dichotomies.

27 de mayo

Mon, 27 May 2013 20:41:42 -0400

27 de mayo:

Playlist:

1942- “Pyar Hua Chupke Se”
Conjunto Oliveira Muge- “Piange Con Me”
Los Roller- “Un consejo”
Musi-O-Tunya- “Jekete Yamankowa Pt. 1”
Houghas Sorowonko- “Enuanom Adofo”
E.T. Mensah- “Daavi Loloto”
Diana Ross and the Supremes- “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”
Lata Mangeshkar- “Chalte Chalte”
Astrud Gilberto- “Amor Em Paz (Once I Loved)”

19 de mayo

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:18:30 -0400

19 de mayo:

Playlist:

Hailu Mergia and the Walias- “Musical Silt”
War- “All Day Music”
Syl Johnson- “Different Strokes”
Soul Swingers- “Brighter Tomorrow”
Adikwa Depala- “Matete Paris”
Henry Mancini- “Lujon”
The English Beat- “Save It For Later”
The Silvertones- “Up Tight”
Los Spitfires- “Ven Cerca”
Oumou Sangaré- “Diaraby Nene (Shivers of Passion)”

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:32:14 -0400

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

- Proust

Note the difference in tone between the two gerunds Proust uses: “seeking” versus “having,” an active searching versus a pre-existing possession. “Discovery” in this context derives from maintaining “new eyes,” which themselves should endow the viewer with an active, engaging way of seeing but whose condition (of being possessed) implies a certain, constant passivity. Maintaining the “new” implies a constant engagement with the visual landscape and a concerted effort to avoid falling into a sort of optical apathy. Nonetheless, such maintenance, itself a regular activity, is contrasted with the more active “seeking” of “new landscapes.”

In seeking such landscapes, however, we fail to allow ourselves the opportunity to use our “new eyes” and discover anew the worlds that surround us. A “real voyage of discovery” involves holding tight to what we have and what we hold to be true, real, and pertinent, and exploring them once more. New visual information only seeks to distract us from true discovery. “Seeking,” therefore, while active, promotes a passive, superficial approach to discovery and to reality that only “having,” maintaining, and appreciating “new eyes” can mitigate.

"We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans — because we..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 13:23:21 -0400

“We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans — because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That’s why we paint, that’s why we dare to love someone- because we have the impulse to explain who we are. Not just how tall we are, or thin… but who we are internally… perhaps even spiritually. There’s something, which impels us to show our inner-souls. The more courageous we are, the more we succeed in explaining what we know.”

- Maya Angelou

The notion that each of us has a compulsion to “explain ourselves” to those around us, to convert our experiences into words, into writing, into speech, and into ways by which we can establish connections with others suggests that translation is a fundamental part of the human experience. Angelou’s argument that writing is akin to walking, talking, and other physical activities- that it is something that can be done, and therefore is done almost automatically, or even unconsciously- highlights the way in which the translation of human thought into written word is a fundamental, kinetic aspect of human existence. Writing in this context is something that is done because it is both a readily available option and something that is active, something that involves exploring new realms (physical and otherwise) and pushing ourselves physically (and mentally/psychologically) to see the world in a new way.

Manifesting the internal externally also (more literally) involves its being put into words, images, movements, and even objects to be observed and processed by others. We move among psychological, personal, emotional, physical, and sensory languages in order to articulate ourselves to ourselves and to those around us. Looking at writing and self-expression more generally in this way, we begin to view both processes not only as active undertakings but also as a means by which we can process our own experiences in various dialects. This “impulse” to translate, to create from our amorphous experiences something tangible, digestible, and understandable, allows us to not only “explain who we are” to others, but also to see ourselves for who we are as reflected back to us via such processes of translation. We “show our inner-souls” in order to share our experiences with others and in order to see them fully. We are in a state of constant internal and external translation, playing with different languages in order to understand ourselves more fully and share such realizations with those around us.

The “more courageous” we are in translating our experiences to ourselves and to those we love and know, the more we “succeed in explaining what we know” and the more we realize how little we do know. The different languages that we navigate on a daily basis (literal and metaphorical) allow us to learn more about ourselves and our surroundings. Depending on our willingness to see and embrace these distinct modes of expression, we become more or less able to not only explain what we know, but also to understand better what it is we do know, what we hold to be true, and what remains to be explored.

5 de mayo

Sun, 05 May 2013 12:08:33 -0400

5 de mayo:

Playlist:

Sunny and the Sunliners- “Get Down”
James “Big Sambo” Young and the House- “Barkin’ Up the Wrong Tree”
Willie Hightower- “Walk a Mile in My Shoes”
Jorge Ben- “Take it Easy, My Brother Charles”
Los Tanidores- “Cerrado por balance”
Los Fabulosos Cinco- “Te quiero ver”
Los Espias- “Lo que tú me puedes dar”
Los Pasos- “La moto”
Los Espectros- “El vuelo del Moscardón”
The Four Mints- “Row My Boat”

12 de abril

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:48:06 -0400

12 de abril:

Playlist:

John Wesley- “Love is Such a Funny Thing”
Frankie and Robert- “Sweet Thing”
Larry and the Larks- “Tell Me”
Tony Galla and Rising Sons- “In Love”
Theola Kilgore- “The Love of My Man”
The Birdies- “The Hucklebuck ‘65”
The Beas- “International Girl”
Unknown Philly Group- “The Show is Over”
Rita Chao- “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy”
Rikki Ililonga- “The Hole”

1 de abril

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:46:31 -0400

1 de abril:

Playlist:

Grupa 220- “Osmijeh”
Los Superiores- “Descarga Superior”
Los Brito- “Cuando Llego a Mi Casa”
Onyina- “Onva to Woabase”
Udi Hrant- “Cifte Telli”
Mukesh- “Kentah Hai Joker”
Abdurashid Nadirev- “Sanam”

24 de marzo

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:27:50 -0400

24 de marzo:

Playlist:

Dyanmic Tints and Pieces of Peace- “Rosemarie”
Miss Faye Marshall- “Chain Reaction”
Sharon Tandy- “Hold On”
Los Profetas- “La gran escapada”
Los Destellos- “Cumbia del japonés”
Mustafa Ozkent- “Zeytinyagli”
Yaadon Ki Baaraat- “Chura Liya”
Bruce Green, Tweedie Gibson, and Clifton Green- “Up in the Heaven Shouting”

11 de marzo

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:26:56 -0400

11 de marzo:

Eula Cooper- “Let Our Love Grow Higher”
Monica- “I Don’t Know Nothing Else to Tell You but I Love You”
Betty Bibbs- “Pounds of Soul”
Bettye Swann- “Don’t Let It Happen to Us”
Tracey Dey- “Teenage Cleopatra”
Los Brincos- “Érase una vez”
Los Renos- “Pequeño salvaje”
Steele Beauttah- “Africa”
Smith Vinson- “Hallucinations”
Pan Ron- “Why Follow Me”

3 de marzo

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 09:12:35 -0500

3 de marzo:

Playlist:

Rising Sun- “Do What You’re Doin’”
Elizabeth Cotton- “Ball the Jack”
Ann Byers- “Your Love is a Wonderful Thing”
Calvin Frazier- “I Been Down in the Circle Before”
Commander-in-Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his Nigerian Sound Makers- “Onyebu Chi”
Co-Real Artists- “What About You (in the World Today)”
Pan Ron- “Hippie Men”
Crni Biser- “Nisam Vise Taj”
Los 007- “Mi Segunda Lágrima”

24 de febrero

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:33:13 -0500

24 de febrero:

Playlist:

Los Agaros- “Hago mal en quererte”
Meas Samon- “Unknown”
Los Salvajes- “Dinamita”
Los Destellos- “Guajira Sicodélica”
Los Blue Caps- “Cuando te miro”
Soledad Miranda- “La verdad”
Tonga Tribe- “Ndalama Ndi Satana”
Wganda Kenya- “Elyoyo”
Julia Dewitt- “If You Want Your Man”
Marion Black- “Come On and Gettit”

17 de febrero

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:47:24 -0500

17 de febrero:

Playlist:

The Jaybees- “Do You Think I’m in Love”
Jeanette- “Por qué te vas?”
The Loved Ones- “Instant Night”
Shakayik- “A B C D”
Los Bichos- “Veo todo de negro”
Biseri- “Set My Soul”
Sabaithong Powpuri- “Seangkhuan Jak Sao Nong Khai”
Group Takhala Ha- “Dokhtar e Darya”
Nia Safi and Imani Ngoma Group- “Kibati”

10 de febrero

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:16:49 -0500

10 de febrero:

Playlist:

Pam Kellum- “What You See You Can’t Get”
Buttons- “Birds in My Tree”
Mohammed Issa Matona- “Msumeno”
Joker- “Dividi Jane”
Els Dracs- “Un Bon Amic És Excelent”
The Rebels- “Indian Rebels”
Pietro Attilla and the Warlocks- “Goodbye”
Albert Band- “Ella Tiene el Cabello Rubio”
Shonen Knife- “People Traps”

2 de febrero

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:38:31 -0500

2 de febrero:

Playlist:

Purple Sun- “Doomsday”
Ofo the Black Company- “Allah Wakbarr”
Ros Sereysothea- “What Girl is Better Than Me”
Sin Sisamouth- “Seem Like I Know That Face”
Siluete- “Tvoj Rodendan”
Os Bongos- “Pachanga Maria”
ET Mensah- “Abele”
Yabancilar- “Agit”
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou- “Minsato Le, Mi Dayihome”

23 de enero

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:19:21 -0500

23 de enero:

Playlist:

Joann Courcy- “I Got the Power”
Le Tigre- “Keep on Livin’”
Lijadu Sisters- “Orere Elejigbo”
Los Huracanes- “Good Golly Miss Molly”
Apollis- “What it Is (Part 1)”
James “Big Sambo” Young and the House Wreckers- “Barkin’ Up the Wrong Tree”
Vum Vum- “Xe Xe Xe Kangrima”
Edward Hamilton and the Arabians- “Baby Don’t You Weep”

explore-blog: Dancing lessons from James Brown! From the...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:26:20 -0500

explore-blog:

Dancing lessons from James Brown! From the Boogaloo to the Funky Chicken, by way of the Camel Walk.

(↬ Open Culture)

There are no words.