Storytelling

It might be the occasion I disagreed the most with Len Goodman. It's certainly the only time I've seen the sweet tempered, patient & normally laughing Keo Motsepe angry. And boy was he angry.

It shouldn't be a secret that I adore a dancing show.  My love for #DWTS fades with every year that it's more a commercial for ABC and so I'm more invested in #Strictly for sure.  But there's tons of talented dancers, particularly from before it just became a cycle of pulling troop from #SYTYCD (some of them are wonderful but it doesn't provide variety). He's one of the "Burn The Floor" recruits and I tend to be fans of them.

For most of the years he's been on, Keo gets the partners that will go out in round 1. He gets a pounding in the press but it's not his fault.  He's a good trainer and choreographer. He's gotten the older contestants and sometimes ones who don't want to be there. But in his 4th cycle as a pro, Season 22, he got Jodie Sweetin.  They were great together.  She was a better dancer than the judges gave her credit for & the judges dance with the two of them & Nyle & Peta is a real highlight of the show.  
It was a tough season, as the football players always get votes and Wanya Morris was really good. And Ginger Zee, being an ABC employee, went longer than Jodie or Kim Fields, although skill wise they were pretty equal.  Jodie was the strongest for sure.

I was worried on switch up week.  Keo is well taller than Kim Fields and they were assigned a Viennese Waltz so the height can matter with frame. But they were given the perfect song- "These Arms Of Mine" by Otis Redding.  And in a shock of creativity, they didn't just slap a bridesmaid's dress on & make them spin around in circles.
It was a real genuine story, set in early 60's, so true to the era of the music. A sparse apartment and a portable record player.  It's perfect.
And it's a beautiful dance - romantic but also sexy as hell and their connection is lovely.
If you think about that time - they maybe would have to dance at home because they couldn't get in clubs. Or had maybe been somewhere like the Checkerboard in Chicago or Webster Hall in NYC and wanted to keep dancing at home.
It evokes Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis for me - the costumes and even a bit of resemblance.  

  I've watched it once or twice a year since then. I still love it. And I still don't get the scores. Len hated it. Hated it. Maks gave Keo a really hard time about the height difference, which I thought was dealt with beautifully. Their frame is spot on.  Extension is perfect and graceful.  It's a solid 9 and honestly I'd maybe give it a 10 because it was so different from any other Viennese waltz we've seen. It was groundbreaking.  
and they got 6's and 8's.  I can't even watch Len's criticism. I know he's a pro & whatever. I think the concept just eluded him.  That part of American history isn't something he'd be invested in.  Aware of for sure, but not invested in the way others could be.

A friend asked me yesterday "What qualifications do you need to be a storyteller?"   I guess my only answer would be inspiration and desire.  Quite of lot of my opinions about that dance are just the story it evoked for me. But that's what makes it so great in my head. I felt like that was a real couple with a story to tell. That dance was just a slice of life of people I wanted to know more about. I'm eternally grateful to Keo for creating it & the two of them for dancing.
It's a lovely piece of business and I hope they know how much it meant to some folk.
Art can be storytelling on so many levels. What a dance or a painting or a song makes you feel and the connection that's personal to you? That's the greatness of it. 


Again, a lovely bit of dancing and more. Give it a watch.


"These Arms Of Mine" 

London

It was a book, naturally, that made me fall in love with London.  "Black Hearts In Battersea" by Joan Aiken.  I was maybe 9?
I mean, I knew England existed by then. Of course. But that was the turning point. It'll always be one of my favorites. I still own a couple copies. If I see it used, I pick it up. So I can pass it on to a friend if I need to.
They paint pictures, those stories.  They form an idea in your head of what places look like. & you k now your imagination won't have proper geography or what you think a word might mean. I was befuddled by 'waistcoat' for years (we'd call that a vest here).
But if my head I see bridges and rivers and old warehouses turned to pubs and buskers and street markets and stray animals and schemers.  And some of that isn't too far off.

I'll take the book with me. I might even stay in Battersea if I can find a spot. For sure I'll get a picture on an obliging bridge.  And raise a pint to Joan.  And to Simon & Sophie & Dido & all those painters & students & fighters & even the royals & the tales she told.
Because she created a world I've been in love with for 40 years. And I know it's not real. But I think I'll see a glimpse of it.

I wish....

just a bit of twitter stream of consciousness.


There are days when it takes everything I have not to load up the car & drive west. I mean, the car might not make it across the Mississippi & I for sure don't have enough gas money to get my heart home but the road is calling. This is absolutely one of those days. But what I'll do instead is load the dishwasher & try to finish some holiday shopping & miss my Grandma a ton & try to keep the plants alive & try to offer some kindness, even if it gets ignored. I will pay the water bill & the electric bill & the phone bill & make a pot of soup so I can eat at work. and bake a treat for Ian & the sweet ladies working under the steel every day. I will listen to some funnies & maybe watch something sad & wish I knew... ..which box #LoveActually was in so I could listen to the commentary. And I will post a #short 47 hours too late & beat myself up about how I'm coping with stress and how I'll manage to find a place to sleep in England. And how I'll pay the rent when I'm not working for a month. And be excited about meeting so many of the lovely folk I know from here. And getting to visit Dan's pub. and see Marek play softball. And talk to Sean about writing. And to Sian & Tiff about comedy. and to Lucy & Phill about music and comedy. and maybe get to pat Buddy on the head. and hug Emma in person for being my hero. Yesterday was the birthday of one of the best humans I know. I told him I'd be away from him for a few weeks & it's been a few years. I'd give anything to have bought him a beer. I can't wait for the day I get to return and catch up. I have so many good people in my life here & I do not regret the time I've got to have with the kids but I miss him terribly. I'm not where I'm supposed to be. But I will just keep working hard until I can be. Tomorrow and the next day and the next I will walk about 10 miles & try to be as kind & useful as possible. Some of these are good things and some not so nice. That's life, right? But....it's not an 'enjoy being an adult day' for sure.

Cheater

Challenge:
10 days, 10 movies that impacted me
No title, no description, just an image.

That was the challenge I got via Candace. That's the kind of fun I loved on FB when I first joined - lists, movie conversations, music arguments.  It still happens, but more rarely.
I enjoyed it.
I noticed other people went more for their 10 favorite and that's not the task at hand. I really tried to pick 10 that changed the way I look at films or the world or myself.
I left off a few like Best Years Of Our Lives, L.A. Confidential, Princess Bride because I've talked before on FB about their place in my life.
I went with #short films one day because it didn't say I couldn't so I had to pick the first recommendation of #shortfilmsunday by dear Chris Croucher and one of Marek Larwood's, as I love his work & he's been a huge supporter.

I planned to pick one film I hated or walked out of because that's an impact. It takes a lot for that. But with Nic Roeg passing, I went with Walkabout on that day instead.
So there it is. Lots of Aussies. Some memories of great trips to a theatre.
That's one of the best things about film - the memory of how you saw it.

Thanks for sharing

...my painter friend...

i wrote this back in 2013 when Lou Reed passed but posted on FB & not here so I'm updating.

 was never lucky enough to see Lou Reed live so the story that is in my brain is a late Sunday night at the Corktown in November - maybe 5 years ago? HMA award wknd. following the Frank Venom tribute. that Tom Wilson highjacked the stage & schooled the house band for a bit & finally broke into Sweet Jane. which was fantastic. & about 1/2 thru Tim Gibbons hit the stage with what started as a full-ish bottle of beer & danced his arse off in that way exhausted people do when they hear a song that is part of them.
The first 2 people I thought of were them & Karl Knack who I for sure has given me greater appreciated for Lou. I still crack out New York on a Saturday morning & let it soak in along with the coffee.
I can't make you feel what I feel. My ears are plugged from a cold & everything sounds like I'm listening from under water. including this news.
It doesn't seem real there's a world without Lou Reed in it making music.
Do something really truly brave this week if you really want to honour him.
I will.

"Listen to the rhythm. Don't be scared"

25 years.
I was already a bit of an Aussie film fan by then. "Breaker Morant". "Man From Snowy River" and heaps more to follow in the ensuing years.
I'm pretty sure it's one of the only films I ever saw at the theatre in Suttons Bay, MI. During the Suncoast years, when we were up in Traverse City. 
The cineplex in the mall there was pretty good & we went to the State on Front St a bit.
But we had a great Disney rep & these were prime Miramax years. She would offer us loads of screeners & was great about making sure we knew about films like this.
I played it a ton at work. What a pleasure to have something this quirky & interesting that was 'mall friendly'.
A kid named Mike worked at the Nascar kiosk in front of our store. I think he was as obsessed as I was. He was a good kid. We got to be friendly with him. He went back & got his GED & eventually we were able to hire him. After I left, he was moving up into management. 
Even thought those stores are all gone, I hope it gave him a good start & chance to be something more than mall dude in TC.
I just remember how much he loved this film. I don't think he'd known anything like this could exist.
I love it for many reasons and still love seeing the cast pop up in stuff.
But it's for sure one of my fonder memories of that time.
If you're one of my British pals, it's on the BBC iplayer. if you're elsewhere, seek it out. This, "Muriel's Wedding" & "Adv. of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" were a helluva back to back (to back) set for the venerable Bill Hunter there. It's worth a look for that alone.
Traverse City seems like a different life time, but this still feels like a fresh discovery to me.
Thanks for the memory. Handy that Christopher just brought me that U&I Lounge glass. I can have a Michigan beer while I watch.


AACTA Strictly Ballroom 25 years 

Suffragette City

When I was a kid, the big splurge for our family was to pay $30 for a yearly membership to the proper library.
Willard in Battle Creek. There was a tiny village library in our hometown of Athens but my mom read her way through that pretty quickly so on our weekly grocery shopping trip to the big city, we'd spend hours (literally) stocking up on books.

I loved anything that was a series so there were more - the "Little House" books,  the Betsy-Tacy adventures, Beany Malone & her family. I never felt much deprived of women authors. And I read my brother's selections of Greek mythology & Encyclopedia Brown along with my own choices. Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew.

We belonged to tons of books clubs also and mom didn't see the reason to deprive us of non-fiction so there was plenty of history around also.

I wish I could recall the name of the series of biographies* the library kept.  I mean,  they had 100's of reference books, even in the kids room but there was a special series. And they were all about women in history. Molly Pitcher. Clara Barton. Amelia Earhart. I devoured them all. I liked the Louisa May Alcott one better than her actual novels.  Our deck of 'Authors' assured I already knew who Ralph Waldo Emerson was & I found the idea of her family life fascinating.
For sure, the knowledge of Julia Ward Howe's life as writer, abolitionist, & suffragette had a profound effect on my world outlook. I was never astonished at the thought of human rights because I knew how hard the vote, and other rights, for women & minorities had been fought for.
I like to think I appreciated those opportunities back then, in my small way. I certainly took advantage of access to books and knowledge.  It helped having a mom who encouraged reading & never told me what to chose (other than shoving Daddy Long-Legs at me on a regular basis)

And I certainly am more aware now that the bright young girl who we saw start as a clerk & watched work her way up through the ranks while starting her own family had a strong impact on my access to women writers & these kids of books.

I've meandered but seeing Jon Batiste sharing his knowledge of Ms. Howe's iconic tune and it's history in his own life brought back those memories. Scrounging the shelves for books that gave stories behind the stories.

It's an amazing listen.
"Battle Hymn of the Republic"



*this is possibly that series. the subtitles ring a bell