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That’s similar to the way I feel about Christine Lavin. No, I’ve never met her, though I did see her perform once at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in upstate New York, but what I am attracted to is her work. Her friends call her Chris, but until the day I do meet her and she say’s it’s okay, I’ll call her Christine.
My first memory of her, as I recall, was a song on a compilation, which contains her contribution, “Mysterious Woman.” Using a seductive tone, she playfully posits a desire to be perceived as “mysterious,” by having everyone wonder what she’s thinking about: “Existentialism? Nihilism? Wrong…I am thinking about defrosting my refrigerator.” This playful intelligence runs through so many of her songs, covering politics (with a great, strong left leaning), science (including microbiology and astronomy, I kid you not), as well as the softer (“Jack and Wanda”), frustrating (“Attainable Love”), amusing (“Good Thing He Can’t Read My Mind”), and devastating (“The Kind of Love You Never Recover From”) side of romance. 
Why do I bring up all this before even discussing the book? Well, Christine tends to write her life into song, constantly updating, and this book is a song in its own right. There is often verbiage in a Lavin concert (check out her superb live DVD, Girl, Uninterrupted), and she writes as she talks, from the heart, with a little bit of candor, a helping of humor, and even some schmaltz.
There are two expressions that are common with Christine: when agitation and confusion comes from without, it’s “Wah?” (hence the subtitle of the book), and when the angst and uncertainty comes from within, it’s “What was I thinking,” which is title of, not coincidentally, one of her better known songs. The title of this book, of course, is also a song title (though her “I Don’t Make This Stuff Up, I Just Make it Rhyme” would have worked as well).
This autobiography, her first, comes after 20 solo releases, 9 compilation collections, and a few books, such as a cookbook and one geared towards children about her song “Amoeba Hop” (thought I was kidding about the whole biology thing, hunh?). But it is more than a standard autobio. Yes, she tells her life story of growing up near West Point and hanging out with the New York Jets (including Joe Namath) as a child, working as a waitress in a folk club in Saratoga, NY, moving to New York City, and getting a boost by being taught by the legendary Dave van Ronk (who also gave Bobby Zimmerman lessons on his way to Dylan-hood). 
Christine’s songs are stories based in fact, told poetically and yet completely assessable, and that is how she writes this book. It is not only her life story, covering her music, career, and obsessions (such as knitting and Dame Edna, which she goes into great detail), but on some level it’s also a how-to for the folk music business. Always the abovementioned den mother, Christine doles out bon mot advice throughout the book (e.g., never promote an act you have to apologize for), always giving credit to whomever gave that advice to her. 
There are moments in the book that tear at the reader, such as discussing the fallout of 9/11, including how it may have contributed to the death of van Ronk, and her describing in grim (and yet amusing) detail about a few times when she didn’t quite please the audience. 
One can hardly call this autobiography a dishy “tell-all,” if you’re into salacious readings, as she avoids detailing her love life, and in most cases when she does discuss someone who has had a negative effect on her life (such as a promoter), she usually leaves the person unnamed; although she gives quite a nice dig at ex-punkers/New Wavers, the Washington Squares, which I found particularly amusing because I’ve hung out with two of them, have been in the third’s apartment, and am a fan of their output. I was holding my sides laughing through those passages.
But in her modestly, she also doesn’t go into great detail about how admired she is by others. For example, she excludes the story of how a bunch of folkers got together and secretly recorded a 2-part tribute album of her material called Big League Babe, and then presented it to her for her birthday, on stage at the Bottom Line during one of her showcases.
Part of the reason she is so admired in the biz is because she goes out of her way to promote other musicians. She casually drops names in the book, not as in “look who I’ve worked with,” but more “you should check out…” including the likes of Richard Shindell (search out his “Are You Happy Now”), fellow Van Ronk student David Massengill (whose releases I’ve reviewed), and so many others. Always on the search for new people, Christine is genuinely happy to get a community going, which she explains in the book how it is done so the reader can do the same.
This autobiography is an easy and fun read, and it is easy to recommended it to anyone who loves stories of the beginning of one’s career, road stories (including a large focus on Canada and Australia), a somewhat how-to, and as a source of new music worth listening to by other artists. 
c > S P A C E collective 4823 Penn Ave Pittsburgh 15224 Garfield www.cspacecollective.com A combination of local Pittsburgh artists and designers. The Collective showcases work by new and emerging artists and also focuses on Pittsburgh designers working on fine craft, furniture, décor, jewelry and wearables, and lifestyle accessories. Open every first Friday of each month (Unblurred) from 7-10pm, or by appointment. Contact us to make an appointment at: cspacecollective(at)gmail.com.
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| | SUMMER OPEN-HOUSE PARTY 4pm to midnight $5 at the door in the galleries ---EXHIBITIONS!! Prints from the Aukland Print Studio Print Portfolio from Poznan Poland Works by Brazillian artist Jose Ruffino plus-AIR summer print raffle!! one of a kind inkjet prints on the presses & in the shop ---PRINTING !! we’re printing layers and layers and layers and layers of ink on paper and whatever other surfaces we can find. ---PERFORMANCES! in the kitchen & on the grill --- FOOD!! grilling all afternoon -- working up veggies, hamburgers, hot dogs (vegetarian friendly versions available) for everyone from 5 - 9pm. --- DRINK!! water, soda, lemonade = liquid summer plus varieties of Pittsburgh's East End Brewing Company on tap! ---YOUR SUPPORT!! As Artists Image Resource continues into its 14th year of operation, there is a need to strengthen our support from individual contributions. As an incentive, our long time supporter Intellectual Property Services has generously agreed to match individual contributions received through this effort up to $10,000. Your donation to Artists Image Resource through a contribution of any size will have twice the impact if you can do it before June 30, 2010. Please give what you can to help support our efforts. Your support goes directly to impact the following programs ---Our Resident Artists projects that provide open-ended support to three to five internationally recognized artists each year ---Our Open Studio access program that provides public walk-in access to the shop and equipment every Tuesday and Thursday evening ---Our Open Study program that provides a dynamic learning environment for 20 to 24 aspiring artists and students each year ---Our Open House exhibitions and events that provide broad community access to all of the programs and projects at Artists Image Resource
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In Stereo at Zombo Gallery on June 4! from Kris Boban on Vimeo.
The SIMRES (Icelandic Association of Artists residency) in Reykjavik only accepts 10 foreigners at a time, so I am flattered and excited about being accepted into the program.
Skagaströnd is an amazing seaside fishing village with a population of only 520 people. I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to spend a month there creating new work.
Having 60 days to work on new creative projects, without the constant distractions of running my small video production company (reading/sending a bazillion emails a day, researching jobs, begging people to hire me to make a video for them for like half of what everyone else charges, recutting the same *$^%&$ video for the 10th time because the client has no idea what they want, et cetera et cetera et cetera) would be unfathomably wondrous. (Well, OK, I actually really like my job mostly, but I still really want to go to Iceland to make new work and take 2 months away from the normal jobs.
While there, I'm hoping to shoot a short documentary on the Country Days festival. Skagaströnd is a very small fishing village, north of the Arctic Circle. It is famous throughout Iceland for being the home of Hallbjörn Helgason, “The Icelandic Cowboy” and “Country King", who pretty much single-handedly introduced American country music to Iceland. Every August they have a huge festival, with live music and other festivities.
You can see a good example of the kind of film I'm looking to produce here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ambulantic...
I am also planning on making a short experimental narrative. For reference please see my 2006 short:
I am like cities
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587167/
And I'm going to take some photos. W.H. Auden described the light in Iceland by saying it was "the most magical light of anywhere on earth." The summer days have as many as 18 hours of sunlight, resulting in spectacular opportunities for creating images.
Project location: ReykjavÃk
The exhibits and performances may change the way we view art and technology, and help us to better realize the unlimited potential of each. Plus, they offer us some downright good times that are sure to benefit everyone’s Festival experience. Ranging from digital puppetry to interactive sculptures and robots, video installations, and an interactive exhibit requiring text messages from viewers. Following are a few glimpses into what you will see on the visual arts side; we’ll cover performances in another post.
David Edwards’ 14′ tall sculpture made from 80% recycled aluminum takes the shape of a potted sunflower. Its wind-powered spinning petals transform wind into energy using a micro wind turbine. In addition, there are flexible solar panels that collect energy for programmable LED lighting. This exhibit and others can be seen at Point State Park.
Boxee Beta from boxee on Vimeo.
"Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country."
"Born in Hopedale, Massachusetts, Draper attended the National Academy of Design and the Cope Art School in Massachusetts and also studied in France and Spain. Commissioned early in 1942, he created a series of paintings during his coverage of the Aleutians, Bougainville and the Marianas campaigns, many of which later appeared in color reproductions in the National Geographic Magazine. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his meritorious work as a combat artist in the Aleutians and under enemy attack in the South Pacific.
After returning to civilian life, William F. Draper earned an international reputation as a portraitist. His subjects have included John F. Kennedy (1962), the Shah of Iran (1967), James Michener (1979) and Richard M. Nixon (1981), as well as numerous other political, social, and corporate leaders. His work is included in the collections of a number of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum and the National Portrait Gallery."
Hauls from Hong Kong.
One of the classic scents that I used to love. And I'm so happy that mom found one in HK's airport! :p
MY FIRST- EVER ARMANI COSMETIC! I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS! :)
Souvenir tee from HK. :)
A 150php aeropostale overrun. I need this for my dance rehearsals. :)
Apocalypto DVD. I need to watch this for a current play.
Part of my daily dose. Ever since I've started my lifestyle change, Women's health has been part of my daily reads. :)
