December 2020 Issue by It's All About Arts

Issue 34 • December 2020 • Facebook.com/TalkArts

IT’S ALL ABOUT

ARTS

BNN MEDIA

December 2020 In This Issue • Thank You by Janice Williams • Local Media is Relevant Media by Janice Williams • Jane Hudson by Curt Naihersey • RGB Project by Chris Roberts • Pictorial Splendor: Kerry Maxwell, Stephen Levin, Ruby Viens and Joan Proudman compiled by Curt Naihersey • Poetry by Stephen Levin, Michael Ball and Johnny Flaherty compiled by Curt Naihersey • Tess’s December To Do’s by Tess McColgan • “DES” IS BILL-DING A BETTER TOMORROW! By Curt Naihersey • Local Music Review by Perry Persoff • Afterland by Edward Morneau Part Twelve: Cosmic Dust Soul Ghosts

It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

IT’S ALL ABOUT ARTS www.itsallaboutarts.com facebook.com/TalkArts ROSLINDALE ARTS ALLIANCE www.roslindalearts.org facebook.com/Roslindale-Arts-Alliance-129685993761701 ART STUDIO 99 www.artstudio99.com facebook.com/Art-Studio-99-145566388819141 Twitter @artstudio99 Instagram - janice_art_studio_99 Published by It’s All About Arts by Janice Williams, Editor Copyright 2020 - All Rights Reserved Glenn Williams - 617-543-7443 glennsmusic.williams@gmail.com Janice Williams - 617-710-3811 janice@artfulgift.com TO ADVERTISE - REQUEST OUR MEDIA KIT ALL ADVERTISING REVENUE GOES TO THE IT’S ALL ABOUT ARTS YOUTH ART SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. MORE

“Life is about doing things that matter first, not last.” Richie Norto This is the LAST issue for It’s All About Arts Magazine. The magazine has offered amazing insights into local arts and culture for three years. The magazine grew from a need to provide a continuum after the ending of twenty years of It’s All About Arts TV show on local community access. While social media has provided the ability for local arts to become more visible, generally the media never drills down far enough to give these unsung creative heroes a platform and proper acknowledgement. We hope that It’s All About Arts provided some valuable exposure and brightened everyone’s world. I want to give a shout put to all my readers and supporters.Special thanks to my contributors with Mr. Curt Naihersey being my knight in shining armor. Curt, with his insatiable thirst for local art, found amazing artists to profile and show in depth in the magazine. Along with being a musician/ songwriter and married to artist Donna Tessari, Curt attends local open studios, local exhibits and gallery shows. His home is testament to his dedicated support for local artists by having every available wall space adorned with art he has purchased (and even gratefully mine). He also has provided a wonderful array of poetry each month. Thanks, Curt, for your amazing talent and your generosity of spirit. Other regular contributors or supporters I want to thank are: Tess McColgan, Edward Morneau, Perry Persoff, Mary Ellen Gambon, Tim Casey, Suzanne Schultz of Canvas Fine Arts, Stephen Levin, Gail Spilsbury, Robert Spilsbury, Linda R. Cuccurullo, Kelly Anne, Chris Roberts, Ruth LaGue, Linda Burnett, Realtor, MIT Endicott House, Donahue Real Estate Co., Jay Coy and Centre Cuts Salon and Spa. I am off to do some creative projects that I have put on the back burner for too long. Please continue to support local artists in any way that you can: hang their work in your business and home; buy their work and like and share their work on social media. Local arts and culture is so important for the health of our communities and ourselves as it gives us a look into alternative worlds, some beautiful, some dark but always enlightening and entertaining. You will be able to access all issues It’s All About Arts Magzine at https://issuu.com/artstudio99. Please follow my art and adventures at http://www.artstudio99.com. Thank You, Janice Williams It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

Local Media is Relevant Media by Janice Williams

Have something to say and want to share with your community? Want to know what is going on in your neighborhood? Want to know what your neighbors and city government are thinking and doing? Want to share your nonprofit organization’s vision or resources to the community at large? Want to share local music or art to your community? Are you a proponent of Free Speech? Check out Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN Media). BNN Media is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) broadcasting service in Boston, MA. According to Glenn Williams, General Manager of BNN Media, “Boston Neighborhood Network is the most direct path people have to communicate directly to their communities. PEG Access stations are the one unedited avenues everyone has to practice the inalienable right of free speech. Though we work very hard at producing a professional visual and audio product, our main mission is that the public has their freedoms respected”. Boston resident members have access to two television studios, digital field production and editing equipment, a multimedia lab, and a mobile production truck, as well as hands-on media training classes*. BNN Media also operates WBCA-LP 102.9FM radio. The facility (BNN Charles J. Beard II Media Center) is located in Egleston Square. All television programs are streamed live and there is an extensive catalog of videos on demand. Along with community produced programming of all genres, BNN Media has a regular news (BNN News) program and a community documentary program called “Around Town”. These programs feature individuals, organizations and government presenting the community with resources and/or news about issues, events and more. Each week during the fall and winter school sports seasons, “Game of the Week” covers City of Boston football and boys and girls basketball games, with play-by-play commentary and field and courtside analysis, giving parents, friends, and college recruiters an opportunity to see the games. BNN Media has also has an active art gallery featuring local artists. Deb Shariff is a long time BNN Media Producer, an author, a filmmaker and an educator. She started the Boston Screenwriters’ Group (meetup.com/The-Boston-Screenwriters-Group) over ten years ago which now boasts over 1,200 members. She is a professor at Massasoit Community College and Boston University. She is the CEO of DL Shariff Productions (dlshariffproductions.com). Here is what she has to say about her experience at BNN Media: How long have you been affiliated with BNN Media? The early 80’s; as long as BNN was conceived I was one of the first producers What made you become a member and producer at BNN Media? I have always been interested in the media and worked at Channel 5 in the 70’s. It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

Local Media is Relevant Media by Janice Williams

Since at Channel 5 I was an administrator but hung around with some of the producers and thought that it was an awesome job, so when I had the opportunity to produce and host my own TV show it was like going to heaven! What is the name and nature of your program? For 30 years, all of my BNN TV shows have always been about social justice, politics and education. My current TV/Radio show is “Urban Empowerment Today.” How have you personally benefited from BNN Media? I used my reel from BNN TV and sent to the admissions department at BU’s Graduate Film School. I was admitted with a full tuition scholarship! Producing TV and Radio shows at BNN also gave me a voice and the community. What do you see as the benefits of BNN Media to the overall community? Having a community voice these days is powerful and with the community radio/TV show information is shared that normally is not shared on main street media. What advice would you give to a Boston resident who is considering becoming a member and producer? To go for it, if you have a message to disseminate to the community or would like to share your skills or talent with the community, then it is definitely worth it. BNN Media like all other businesses has been challenged due to the Coronavirus. Since March, BNN Media has limited access inside their building. The staff though have been working diligently to provide members and the community with a variety of options including training on remote productions. BNN Media has also partnered with Boston Public Schools to provide teaching/educational resources during remote learning. For years they have had a program called ExtraHelp, a “Live Call-In” hotline television series providing help to Boston students. Elementary, middle and high school students can watch the show and call or email ExtraHelp teachers to receive help with their homework, help clarify a problem they may be having in a particular subject or prepare for MCAS and SAT tests. BNN Media has also partnered with local doctors, hospitals and the City of Boston Public Health Department to do public service announcements about resources for coping with the Coronavirus. A Little History Since 1983 BNN Media has been managed by the nonprofit, Boston Community Access and Programming Foundation, Inc. (BCAPF). At that time Mayor Kevin White issued a RFP that incorporated the concept of a nonprofit “access and programming” corporation. The Mayor awarded a 15-year license to build and operate a cable system to Cablevision of Boston, which agreed to provide an annual franchise fee in support of public, educational and government access to this new technology. BCAPF’s founding document was crafted by Attorney It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

Local Media is Relevant Media by Janice Williams

Charles J. Beard and others. Its mission is to connect, inform and empower those who live, work and study in Boston through distinct and diverse community media programming, education and services. For more info visit website at http://www.bnnmedia.org. Why use support Community Access First and foremost by using and supporting community access media you are helping to preserve free speech and equity in access to media. Most community access organizations run on shoestring budgets and meager staffing and they can barely stay afloat. Now their most abundant source of income is being threatened. The FCC is proposing to redefine what a franchise fee is - and it will radically reduce the level of monetary support available to run PEG access channels across the United States. You can help by petitioning the members of Congress representing you and asking them to oppose the FCC changes. See more here: https://www.petition2congress.com/ctas/stop-fcc-from-defunding-peg-channels. Consider becoming a member (active or non-active) of your local community access organization and get on the mailing list. Side Bar There are community access media organizations all over the world. Massachusetts alone has over 200 organizations. To find out more visit Mass Access at www.massaccess.org or Alliance for Community Access at www.allcommunitymedia.org and the New England chapter at acm-ne.org. *Temporary restrictions in place due to Coronavirus. Please call for specifics of available services. 617-708-3200.

BNN's call numbers have changed! The Community TV channel is now Xfinity channel 23 | RCN channel 83 | Fios channel 2160. The News and information channel is now Xfinity channel 9 |RCN channel 15 | Fios channels 2161.

LISTEN UP! Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community Radio is now at BNN

Programming currently features a mix of local news and talk programming with a range of topics, from education and technology to multi-language programming, local music and sports. Every day Monday through Friday at 1:00 PM Get involved. Call 617-708-3200 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

JANE HUDSON

- by Curt Naihersey

Earlier this year I was captivated by the whimsical “space invaders-vs-corona virus” cartoon art of Jeff Hudson. In the article, I mentioned his equally talented wife and now I return to tout her prodigious talent. Jane Hudson has been an artist her entire life: as actor and musician, poet, performance artist, video artist, rock musician and painter. She taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for thirty two years. Check the web for more info on Jeff and Jane Hudson, the band known for being “synth-rock pioneers.”

Jane has always loved painting, and during the late 70's - early 80's created large scale acrylic and plaster paintings, and later a series of figurative gouaches. As life intervened, she stopped painting to pursue other interests (also the lack of a studio had an effect). But she still had the talent and ability to exhibit in local, national, and even international galleries during the past four decades.

After intermittent years, she began again, with gouaches and acrylics, feeling her way into new imagery. Her masters were Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Klee, Sonia Delaunay, early European modernism. At the same time she always had an interest in esoteric spiritual material and ideas and practiced the Tarot as a reflective system.

Jane then made the decision to create a series of pieces based on the 22 Major

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Arcana, the persistent archetypes of human experience. These images sit in parallel with the minor arcana, the four suits of fifty-two cards. She then chose to avoid presenting a 'deck' of images, but a sequence of events culminating in personal evolution. Each painting has a word or two attached about its referential meaning, which hopefully piques your interest in the work, and in the arena from which it comes. As she moves on from the Tarot series, she continues exploring motifs from nature in a space that accommodates a more complex relationship between abstraction (geometry) and the phenomena of organic patterns.

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For further info, contact: <janehudsonpaintings.com> *********************

1. One of your artistic mentors, af Klint, suggested a spiritual, automatic approach to painting, which you have followed. Can you elaborate on this direction to “paint the unseen”? I had a moment of revelation about two years ago after having re-read Mme. Helena Blavatsky’s ‘Secret Doctrine.’ This work, a very esoteric project, had received a renewed interest during the 60’s when I first read it. It offered a consolidation of ancient practices, religious doctrine and current scientific advances, a cosmological picture of the consequences of

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Consciousness. This work inspired artists Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee,and many other early 20th Century modernist artists to bring issues of expanded consciousness, and energies beyond the physical realm as depicted through Abstraction. >> My experience of these ideas came as a burst of light, of radiance within. My paintings from that moment have been dedicated to this vision.

artists as parents, I learned early the demands and aspirations of artists, so its no wonder that I have continued through many media to find expression for that personal vision in practice.

2. Who & what do you look towards for inspiration and influence? My influences are many. I study ancient alchemical documents and practices, I look to those afore-mentioned artists of the early 20th C. for formal guidance. I look for meaning in the clarity of geometry as well as the symbolism of the Tarot and the like. I look to Nature for its indomitable spirit as well as its nuanced complexity. I see the inherent connection among all beings. I listen to podcasts about the nature of Consciousness, about Presence, always seeking to find a balance between the palpable universe and its resonant energies.

3. As you break free from actual representation of images, what is the direction you seek? Representation has never been an aspiration of mine. I was not trained in Art School (majored in Art History/English, U.Penn) but taught Video among other things at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts for thirty-two years! So, I was exposed to a variety of techniques, styles, aesthetic and conceptual choices, technological innovations, and the marvelous process that artists pursue. Minimalism was a big deal in the 70’s and on some level the influence of its visual discipline really affected me. You can see this in the specificity of my drawing. Having had

4. Is there a core discipline you follow to present this sense of abstraction? Discipline! The glory of this present moment, the Pandemic, my age, and living in the country has given me the luxury of concentrating on my art as never before. After all, I am married, have worked since I was 15, taught for a total of forty-three years, and also produced a body of work in Video, Photography, Rock and Roll, and painting that I am proud of. >> That said, my present MO is to immerse myself in Presence allowing for an intuitive choice, a decision based in precision as well as symbolic resonance. I look at the Platonic Solids, the building blocks of reality, taking from their history in a translation that

“The Sun (tarot series)”

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speaks to my feeling about the piece. Of course, color is paramount, and those choices come as I work. There is also the question of drawing, free-handing in the surround. This may be forms from Nature or simply mark-making. I would also add that the key for me is working every day.

“Wheel of Fortune”

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5. As I look at your current art, it demands a peaceful, meditative resolve, very much like mandalas. How integrated was this choice in your shapes & designs? I do not choose to make mandalas although many of my pieces have that feel, circular, centered in the frame. It is not my intention to elicit specific responses for my viewer, but to offer a moment of reflection. I propose a task, something in oneself to invest in, the possibility of moving beyond our personal as well as cultural traumas. Let the mind be open to possibility beyond our ego constructions. This is a hard-won

freedom. It’s all about integrating the work as art and the work as soul that moves me.

6. How much time do you spend working on your art? How do you perceive inspiration & creativity? As I’ve said, I show up every day. Sometimes it’s just sitting on the couch with my drawing pad and seeing what shows up. Other times, I’ll work for three to four hours, but after that my back gives out!! Of course I have a life with my husband Jeff, also an artist of many talents (we really understand that about each other. It’s kept us together for almost 50 years). We play guitar together, we walk the dog, we watch TV, we take a toke or two, we cook and take drives. I have some Zoom relationships and a couple of friends locally I can see in person with mask outdoors. >> As to inspiration and creativity, I’d say to each their own! My teaching was all about guiding the young artists toward their own vision. Discovering what you want, what you can do, how to grow, how to peel away all the dross of other people’s ideas, and see what mode of expression suits you best. Things come along at different times, so be open to change if it lets you grow.

7. How do you like living in Western Massachusetts? Why did you urbanites leave the city? We’re really enjoying being in the Berkshires. When we first came in 2005 we started living in a converted Mill building (Eclipse Mill) along with 50 other artists in North Adams. Mass MoCA and a very modestly priced loft drew us away from Boston for a fresh start. After all, I had lived in Boston since 1967! North Adams was having a slight boomlet with new artists coming in. We had to furnish the loft, went to thrift stores and auctions, and began to

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9. As seminal adherents to "synthrock", do you & Jeff have any plans to produce more music? Jeff is writing music on computer with some guitar, and he and I are playing guitar to backing tracks. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m getting better at solos. Jeffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a drummer so his riffs are very percussive and blues based. Mine tend to be more melodic and not so fixed on the pentatonics. No plans to release anything. Maybe.

â?¤ď¸?đ&#x;&#x2122;? Jane

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Double Gyreâ&#x20AC;?

2020

sell antiques. We ended up having a shop at Mass MoCA for 8 years where we got to know everyone!!! After that we finally got to retire for real! We now live in a little house in Williamstown on the edge of Vermont.

8. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next or is it always now? Of course itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always now, Curt! So no projections except to say how I hope our country can recover from the trauma of the last five years. So much damage has been done, but seeing the joy and sense of pride in response to the Biden/Harris win was so encouraging. I am old, so my impact on the world has diminished, appropriately. I am thinking of otherworldly things. But I give as much artistic and psychic energy to the cause of freedom as I can.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Hermit (tarot series)â&#x20AC;?

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“The Empress”

“Temperance”

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“Fohat I & II”

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2019

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2019

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RGB Project with Artist Chris Roberts In so many ways, it’s a miracle that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was with us as long as she was. She fought the toughest of cancers and rarely missed work. The recent documentary, RBG, really showed me what a remarkable woman she was, how she paved the way for women, equality, and the rule of law. I watched it several times after it was released and she was a shero to me and so many others. We wanted her to be immortal, but it wasn’t possible. With the news of her death on Friday September 19th, it hit me hard that she was gone. A loss for our country, the Supreme Court, and ordinary people like me. The next morning, I went to my studio, hoping to tap into creativity to soothe the palpable loss. I wanted to incorporate two quotes into a piece around her initials, title, and name. The quotes were 1. What she wished for (“fervently”) about being replaced after our 46th President was in office and 2. A quote from Sarah Grimke about seeking no favor for her sex, but wishing men would remove their feet from the necks of women. It was very meaningful to me to have realized I live in the very same Hyde Park, where Sarah and her sister, Angelina, were residents and passionate abolitionists. It all came together while I focused on a layout design and an alphabet that seemed suitable. I chose to work in concentric rectangles with a style by Ben Shahn. The curly cues and bulky letter combinations were ideal for laying the words down and overall, have a lacey quality, so apropos for RBG and her classic legal neck pieces. On my first attempt, I unknowingly misspelled Ginsburg with an “erg” which was gently pointed out to me from a Facebook friend. So back to square one, but with a layout well established and a chance to tweak things a bit as in any do over. The solitude of the morning with no interruptions allowed me to have a completed piece after a few hours. On the first one, I had more color for the letters, but didn’t care for the pooling of ink at the bottoms of letters, so I opted to change to black with a splash of green color for her often photographed emerald colored earrings! I used the first one as a template for the next version and took careful measures to both spell correctly and not smear the ink as I turned a corner and worked over the area just completed. All of this concentration started with quiet music playing, but when that stopped, I had simple peace and quiet. It seemed fitting to reflect on RBG and immerse myself in this goal. What I didn’t expect was the next wave. Once I posted the image, I heard enthusiastic comments encouraging me to make prints, have it copyrighted, make cards, t shirts, etc. I began to make a list of the friends and friends of friends who wanted copies. I made a run into the printing business in Cambridge and ordered 150 prints. We chose a cover stock that was a good weight, a light cream and cut them down to fit right into a standard 11 X 14 frame. Anne, of Classic Graphx, Central Square, has been my go-to printer for about a dozen years. I like supporting a woman owned It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

RGB Project by Chris Roberts business and her staff is talented and responsive. I started out selling prints for $15 for the first and $12 for additional prints. But many were to be mailed so I needed to acquire solid mailers and protective paper to wrap them in before the mailer. Well, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t long before I was seeking a smaller second batch. I discovered early on that each parcel was about $5 to mail so I decided to add the shipping to customers. They are now $20 for 1 and 15 for additional prints with the assurance to buyers that a portion of proceeds would go to a cause. Between those runs, I organized a spreadsheet that was ever growing. I determined if I would need to mail or could deliver. And then began the encounters. Local friends, Facebook friends, high school classmates. I wore my RBG t shirt and mask and set out to deliver where possible. One time it was at a fast food restaurant on Rt 93 in NH, a church in Brookline, and out to Carlisle to see a friend whom I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen since her wife died. People chose to gift them to other friends and I have gotten positive feedback and compliments. I mailed to people in California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, British Columbia, and Florida. Others sent cards with checks, writing the kindest notes, and my daughter set up a Venmo account for me to be a modern business person! The connections have been moving and memorable. As the sales and revenue grew, I knew I wanted to donate a portion of the proceeds to a cause that would make Ruth Bader Ginsburg proud. A donation to Planned Parenthood was made for $900 but in short time, I had enough to send $100 more to have it be a total of $1000. Then I got a mailing about matched donations, so I contacted PP and they refunded the 900 so I could donate the thousand and have it be the equivalent of $2000. I am very proud and pleased that this art has taken on a momentum of its own. All costs of now three printings totaling 310 have been paid for, the mailers, the postage, protective paper, as well, and some money has come in as a profit to me. Proceeds are still ongoing. Some folks on the first mailing have yet to pay, but will in time. And I chose to gift about 10 prints to friends or even strangers. One is a barista at Starbucks who complimented me on my shirt for RBG and I had no cash for a tip. Instead I gifted her a print and dropped it off a couple days later. Another to a friend who will help me make note-cards and possibly t shirts. The post office recognizes me with my flat mailers now! And this year, Thanksgiving was solitary for me with the Covid social restrictions so I used that day to deliver local orders and package up more going now to North Carolina and Alaska! No matter what, I give thanks for the gift of art and the gift of an amazing woman to our country.

To Purchase a Print: $20 for first, $15 for each additional copy. Mailing is available for $5. Contact: Chrisrdh@yahoo.com

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Kerry Maxwell

I'm influenced by the abstract-expressionist painters of the 1940s-1950s, animation, video games, comic books, pulp magazine covers, opera set design (particularly the work of David Hockney), classical music, and film. I work in Photoshop using a tablet, and try to capture some aspects of physical media, but haven't yet figured out how to get my digital artwork to smell like oil paint. I usually start with an either an "automatic" drawing done with the tablet, a photograph or screen-grab from a film or video game, and then develop/mutate that basic material, layering it and adding color (if I started with black and white). The processes I use are somewhere between algorithms and spells. contact: <klewismax@gmail.com>

Sometimes eyeballs just spontaneously appear in my artwork, but the eyeballs you see in this piece belong to the actress Anne Massey, from the Michael Powell film “Peeping Tom”. The title is also a reference to that film.

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Legions of Chromium - ©2017 One of my favorite pigments is chromium oxide, which produces a lovely range of greens, including the green paint you see on many bridges, as well as the paint color Viridian. This is an ode to that pigment.

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bandes dessinées de l'avenir (hommage à jean giraud) - ©2016 I am obsessed with an effect in 2D video games of the so-called 16-bit era (late 80s - late 90s) called parallax scrolling, where several layers of artwork (which in this period was generally hand drawn pixel art) scroll across the screen at slightly different rates, producing an illusion of depth. I combined that obsession with a love for the artist Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) as inspiration for this piece, the title roughly translating to "Future Comics”. ______________________________________________________________________!

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Stephen Levin

Throughout our existence, Mr. Levin has provided us with wonderful stories and poetry. Guess what, he’s also an illustrator - here ya go!

ABSTRACTIONS

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Ruby Viens

The very talented daughter of local musician Linda Viens and ace photographer Wayne Valdez, displaying magical whimsy and potent caricature.

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“Welcome to Avalon”

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…and finally, the wonderful Joan

“Silent Witness”

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Proudman

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“Ladder of Light (a happy death)”

2020

Not a very cheery subject but....I felt like contemplating what a good death would feel like. So I imagined myself at the summit of my life, old and worn out...... but at peace. And one additional task left: to climb up the ladder of Light. I slowly climb it and dissolve into Love.

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Contact: < joanproudmanart.com>

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AN ATTRACTION TO ABSTRACTION The attraction of abstraction Is not division or subtraction. Attraction is a fraction  Of a physical interaction, A primal interpretation To an artful inspiration And ultimate creation The final presentation  Has sensation not cessation It thrives at the intersection Of the real and reflection What it is, is not the question. What is your revelation?  Is the attraction of abstraction Now for consideration  And the end of dissertation. Though it seems a culmination, An idea of preservation Presumes some derivations Upon inspection and dissection, Dialogue and introspection, An attraction to Abstraction - Stephen Levin __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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! INDENTATIONS I do not see or even believe in ghosts My mattress does. Time came to flip the mattress — top to bottom, then front to back. Sure, the imprint she left is not she, not to see or feel. Yet the years of nights I sensed when, how and where she shifted, flopped and played made the mattress a meadow with trails. She was here recently among the scents and grooves. And here, then there. Brushing a hand over the ticking maps the indents of buttocks and of scapulae and of elbows. The repositioned mattress pushes up new supports but does not disappear her.

TIME TO GO I perched for years waiting waiting for you to say I love you back to me, just once (or hourly). You did at last. When I asked with a coy smile Did I ever tell you I love you. Then simply said, “I love you.” You at last stunned me with “I love you.” …for the very first time. I could die here and now quite happily.

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! HAIKUS A roll of the dice the scales of fortuity - I’ve got no complaints.

! Made right decisions then, too, made wrong decisions - bribed the scorekeeper.

! ! ASK NO MORE THAN IN THE RACE Pushing your boulder up the hill tests your wherewithal and your will slinking back down when it slips away tests your faith in another day dragging your cross through crowded streets brings on that “high” of which no one speaks the big surreal only you can see every lying face etched in your memory ask no more than in the race coming in last ain’t no disgrace when you get to show some maverick moves while singing straight from your heartbreak shoes good deeds done for who knows who pays you back with a dream come true as you drink your fill from the poet’s gourd and ride a ripple to the farthest shores

! - Johnny Flaherty

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ess’s December To-Do List

Keep up the good work! Wear a Face Covering in Public Spaces It is imperative that we all wear face coverings around others, wash our hands, practice physical social distancing and very importantly - get tested for COVID19 if you don’t feel well. (image from City of Boston)

Roslindale Squares Episode 2 on Zoom - Tuesday, December 1st at 7:00pm

Roslindale Squares is back by popular demand! Join us onZoom for a hilarious and entertaining event full of Rozzie trivia, local celebrities, and guest resident appearances. Tickets are on a sliding scale and are available up until the event on December 1st at 7:00pm. Get your ticket here: https://www.cszboston.com/calendar-of-events#id=roslindale-squares Learn more about the event at roslindale.net/roslindale-squares. All proceeds from this event benefit RVMS programs. It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

essâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s December To-Do List

Shop Small All Season Long Did you know 67 cents of every dollar that you spend locally goes back into your community? In 2020, more than ever before, small businesses need your support. Show your loyalty and support your local shops, salons, and restaurants during this holiday season.restaurants.

SHOP ROSLINDALE and WIN

If you live or shop in Roslindale, take part in our Roslindale Village Holiday To-Do List contest running from November 1st to December 31st 2020. Check off three boxes of each color, then send proofs of purchase (or posts when applicable) to manager@roslindale.net by December 31st to be entered to win a gift card to the Roslindale Village business of your choice! Find contest details here: roslindale.net/2020/11/10/2020-holiday-season-to-do-list/ Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

ess’s December To-Do List

Holidays in Roslindale This holiday season we are unable to celebrate at large community events for safety reasons, but Roslindale Village Main Street has worked to find unique ways to bring people together in spirit without being physically close. RVMS partnered with Mandee Made to add window art to eight storefronts around the Square, a program sponsored by Boston Main Streets Foundation and The Cooperative Bank. RVMS has also set up ornament-making workshops at Create: Art in Community. Workshops are happening at several time slots on December 5th and 6th. Learn more about the Holidays in Roslindale here: roslindale.net/annual-programs/holidays-in-roslindale/

Tess McColgan has been working for Roslindale Village Main Street as their Program Manager since April 2018. In this role, she plans community events, uses marketing to promote local businesses, and supports the projects of volunteer-led committees. Coming from a large family full of artists & musicians, she’s always had an enthusiasm for local art, and in October 2018, Tess started as Glenn William’s co-host for the It’s All About Arts TV show until its final episode in June 2019. In her free time, she continues to seek out local art, learns new crafts, explores museums, practices yoga & gets out in nature as often as possible. Photo: Bruce Spero Photography at brucespero.smugmug.com

It’s All About Arts Magazine December 2020

“DES” IS BILL-DING A BETTER TOMORROW!

- by Curt Naihersey William “Des” Desmond is one of Boston’s savviest and most concerned musical entrepreneurs. Aside his wife, Katherine, they have contributed mightily to the local scene. He is also a major progressive musician of several disciplines: the bellowing art-rock bluster of the Bentmen, the delicate ambient filigree of Orphans of the Storm, and doting father of two electropop whiz-kids, Casey and Mary Lee Desmond. He has also deftly provided a much-needed service to many many many local bands with his safe, accessible, and affordable Sound Museum practice spaces in Boston, Brighton, and New Bedford. I’m

! certain that puts him atop and distant from other scurrilous uncaring landlords. Within that negotiation, he also created The Magic Room, a small intimate showcase performance space, available for private album-release parties and other concerts. Equipped with a superlative sound system, it was a smashing success. I have performed there, attended shows, and enthusiastically support his current building efforts to revive its ideal in the newly developed Norwood Space Center (83 Morse St., Norwood). During these past pandemic months, he and his crew have been in there working assiduously to create

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a new haven for music worshippers. As I see it, building a better tomorrow!! I can’t wait to partake...safely and consciously. We spoke recently about his efforts: 1. Please tell us a bit of your background. I grew up on the South Shore, in the little town of Duxbury. My mother forced my sister and I to take piano lessons….I was a dropout at that, but my sister went on to be quite a good player. There was always music around the house and my mother thought it would be good for our heads. She favored a lot of British Isles music, but my dad was a businessman and just didn’t listen unless it was a song like “Winchester Cathedral”. Back then, living there felt like the end of the world and I just couldn’t wait to get out. I fell in love with music as a teenager. I used to run posters around town for bands - Duke and the Drivers, James Montgomery, or John Lincoln Wright. They used to play a lot down that way, in Hull at The Surf - in fact, my girlfriend’s dad at the time co-owned The Surf, so I used to go to all of the shows there. I was young and loving live music, so I became a deejay at WZBC [Boston College]. Over the years, I’ve come to like so much varied music - from heavy metal, pub rock, progressive, fusion, blues, or acid-rock. It’s been great fun.!

gate) - that’s a pretty high standard. Now, he’s got a duo called the Don & Bunk Show, which played at the old Magic Room in Boston. In their dressing room, being a gracious host, I offered wine, weed, or some other weirdness I assumed was part of their atmosphere. They said “NO THANKS! Zappa would never allow us to play ‘clouded’ at a concert and it’s stuck with us. We don’t do anything.” THAT took me by surprise. >> Another time, David Thomas, the former vocalist for Pere Ubu [influential art-punk band] came to The Magic Room, playing solo spoken-word with a squeeze box hooked into foot pedals. Unlike clear-headed Don and Bunk, before the show he was pounding back the whiskey. On stage, he thoroughly misjudged stepping on a pedal and almost careened through the backdrop…like the rug was pulled right out from under him. Still doing that modern dance!

2. You’ve been inside the local music scene for so many years, will you share some cool secretive stories? I’m very good friends with Don Preston, who played keyboards for Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention back in the Sixties. If you think about their early records - unique, groundbreaking psychedelia (which I loved right out of the

3. In your own musical adventures, how did you choose which direction to take? Especially with the renowned

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Bentmen’s famous stage productions and its bevy of fans. Tell us about that legacy. Bentmen is now over thirty-five years old. It started as a joke with my high school friend “Woody” Trentholm. We bought some synths with primitive sequencers, and a Dr. Rhythm, plugged into a cassette recorder, and started writing songs. We even do some of those original songs today. At the time, I had another band called The Replicant Rubbers, which used costuming as part of our courageous creativity. Both ideas came together and Bentmen played our first show at Chet’s Last Call. All of our friends came - we made $450!! which was a lot of money in those days and especially at Chet’s. Then we had a sax player for a while, but we needed solid musicians and the first person to sign on was guitarist Jeff Friedman, a Berklee professor, who brought along trumpeter Scott Getchell (both in Sons of Sappho), followed by bassist Matt Gruenberg. They were attracted to the music and helped arrange the material. We always would seek overthe-top talented musicians as the membership grew. Different other people came and went, but over the years the reaction kept getting bigger and bigger, so soon we were playing bigger rooms like The Rat, Mama Kin, Axis, Spit, and The Paradise. We would try so many different approaches - once, even pyrotechnics. We would only play once or twice a year, making each show an event, keeping the audience magic strong. >> I also want to mention Orphans of the Storm, my ambient music project created with the Persian santoor and hammered dulcimer, which has been featured on numerous documentary soundtracks, most recently for a documentary about author Neil Gaiman.!

4. With bands unable to work and make money, or even congregate in practice rooms, this has undoubtedly cut into your income. How have you survived this economic nightmare?

I n B o s t o n , w e ’ r e s u r v i v i n g . We ’ r e constantly cleaning, installed hand sanitizers, have a supply of masks if some folks forget - we HAVE to do that. Not too many bands are showing up, because under guidelines we’re only allowed to have a certain number of people in the building (the size of a supermarket), or else the simple fact that groups have different rehearsal schedules. Right now, it’s a perfect storage unit for all their equipment. Unfortunately, our New Bedford location is

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is slow, but keeping its head just above the Covid waters.

5. You have that passion for creating ideal spaces. Not knowing the length of the virus restrictions, do you feel this Magic Room construction could be perceived as a possible pipedream? !

Yes and no! People are biting at the bit and will come back in force once we get a vaccine - but we have to make sure about safety. There will be a period of paranoia, so folks have to feel comfortable to have an interaction with people. With a great PA system, lights, a living room setting, The Magic Room is getting ready for concerts, private shows, and more. To keep us in the game, my daughters, Casey and Mary Lee, have begun to do outdoor shows in the

courtyard at the Space Center with plenty of audience spacing. Their first show was a sell out !! They plan more after the winter months. I believe it’s going to be a complete success. The old room held ninety people - this one fits one hundred sixty. That means more viability for more unique acts - now you have the potential for ticket sales. We hope to draw more celebrities, especially with the David Bieber Archives next door. We support many local bands and we’re starting to do live streams or private video shoots. I hope we can hang on because I’m paying rent on a building I can’t open. I’m putting a lot of love and time into this.

6. What is the future of music?? What can we look forward to??

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I’m hoping and praying it goes back to the way it was…see a live show and don’t worry about being sick. I’m hoping it can be a bit freer - more independent - and not worry about controlling corporate online giants turning live shows into another money game. The Magic Room will continue with that open spirit, but remember it’s still a business. I have to pay my staff. I need licensing. I need revenue. My daughter Casey, who’s the general manager, hopes to bring in a electronicapop edge; Mary Lee and Katherine will be putting on some shows; we may have some comedy. A quality evening in a loving atmosphere. It’s a family affair. Keep your fingers crossed. Stay safe, conscious, healthy, and caring!

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THE LOCAL MUSIC CORNER - Perry Persoff As we look back and wonder what the future might bring, a couple of solo journeys are continuing through the end of this year and into the next: Something inside dobro/pedal steel/lap steel guitar wizard Michael Bean continues to push him into creating solo. A veteran on the scene playing with many bands over the years, he has got the Jones to do his own thing. He has spent much of the year experimenting, trying out various sounds. To whet our musical whistle, he will be recording a pedal steel version of the Vince Guaraldi classic - just in time for the holidays - “Christmas Time.” Are you as curious as I am about this? Here’s where you'll find it when he releases it: www.MichaelBeanMusic.com. Keep checking it as the big day approaches. After nine years as the bass player for the former Girls Guns & Glory (Ward Hayden & The Outliers since 2018), Paul Dilley has gone solo. Actually, he left the band in January of this year. And when you look into Paul’s background, there’s a lot more to him in musical terms. He plays gobs of instruments. Come to think of it, he put out a couple of demo’s/singles in 2017 or 2018 where he goes all Stevie WonderMcCartney-McKeown. That is, he plays all the instruments. I am in awe of that kind of talent. Heck, I’m in awe of people who can create melodies. Er…I can air drum a beat on the tops of my legs, does that count for anything?

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Paul’s former mate in Ward Hayden & The Outliers, guitar-slinger Cody Nilson,

recorded a couple of tracks with Quincy’s Jesse Ahern late in the summer. The songs are called “Honor Is All We Know” and “Better Days.” No, those don’t sound like timely titles at all (wink-wink; yes Virginia I am being sarcastic). Curious? You can find them at www.jesseahern.com/ music. >> For now, Jesse is in the studio working on a new album with Brian Charles, Chris Anzalone, and Jim Haggerty. Yes, the Jim Haggerty who started the Boston-Cambridge Area Coronavirus Musicians Relief Fund back in March. Remember what we were thinking in March, that we might have to put up with wearing masks and social isolation for maybe as long as six months to knock out this virus? Now it’s been nine months and we don’t know where the finish line is. Accordingly, Jesse says that he has been keeping busy recording and “trying to keep a few working musicians in the rotation.” Honor may be all we know; each other is all we have. Nice to see the music community working to keep itself going. ========================= Danielle Miraglia has released a new album. Bright Shining Stars is an acoustic venture that is largely solo. Viola player Laurence Scudder (who is part of Danielle’s band The Glory Junkies), guitarist Peter Parcek (who has toured with Danielle, and himself released a new album this past summer), and harmonica player Richard Rosenblatt do join in on selected tracks. The album is mostly covers along acoustic blues lines, including a Janis Joplin song Danielle has been knockin’ crowds out with live for years. Danielle also re-works her “Famous For Nothing” from the 2015 Glory Junky album. Bright Shining Stars was produced by Dave Westner. It’s on Vizztone Records,

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the label co-founded by harmonica player Richard Rosenblatt and guitarist “Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin, who counts eight years with Muddy Waters’ band among his credits. Speaking of notable feathers in one’s cap, Bright Shining Stars is Danielle’s first album to chart - it debuted at #15 on the Billboard Blues Chart! Congratulations! (not that chart position determines the quality of the music). But it’s nice to have. Thanks for continuing to make music during this bizarre time, Danielle. ========================= In a year that has seen so many musicians struggle to find a place to create, record, and keep up their playing chops (let alone make a living - oh right, that thing), drummer/producer Marco Giovino has been busy, busy, busy. He has produced, worked on, or played on new releases by Peter Parcek (Mississippi Suitcase), Darrell Scott (Ashwood), Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars (soundtrack for a documentary), and The Mystix (Can’t Change It). He’s even working on three new singles from that Mystix session to be released later. And there is more. Two singles by Allanah Myles, the new Chuck McDermott album, 38 Degrees, which may be released by the time you read this. A new album pairing Susan Cattaneo with Paul Hansen (of the Grownup Noise) calling themselves Honest Mechanik, and there is producer Crit Harmon’s new solo album, Full Denim Jacket. Since all that’s not enough, Marco and Viktor Krauss are talking about recording an instrumental album. If you don’t recognize Viktor Krauss, you probably know his work. Check the liner notes for albums by Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Buddy Miller, Joan Baez, Rodney

Crowell. Even Alison Krauss…who just happens to be Viktor’s sister. ========================= In many ways, we look at life and certainly this year through the lens of “before and after March 15th.” Not long before last March, Jazz/Blues/Soul/Gospel musician Kemp Harris from Cambridge did a show at The Bird studios in San Francisco. As if 2020 hasn’t already become notable, this show was performed on Leap Day - Feb 29, 2020. Kemp and his drummer Jim Lucchese worked with musicians they had never met before their one rehearsal for the show. Kemp Harris Live at The Bird SF is the live document of this concert. It will be released on Jan 18, 2021. But preorders are being taken now. www.KempHarris.band for more info. >> Kemp recently summed up this past year in terms of heading into Thanksgiving, and I think it works equally well for all the winter holidays: "…to all the joy we've lost, and to all the joy we've found…" ========================= Finally, we get to the hard part of this month’s column: A year ago after seeing my first Lamplighter Sessions show, Matt Smith of Club Passim assured me that yes, I am a part of the Boston local music scene. I always need that re-assurance because I see myself simply as someone who likes music and likes to spread the word about the bands he likes. I don’t forget that I’m an emigré to Boston - and the heritage that is Boston Radio - so what Matt said means a lot to me. I will take Matt’s word for it, for anyone who wants to put me in the context of pro-active local music backers on Boston Radio.

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We lost one on Sunday November 8th. As of this writing, it is still a mystery. But by whatever cause, we lost Jeff Breeze of WMBR Radio’s live local music show Pipeline (Tuesdays from 8-10pm). Jeff had done the show for seventeen years, carrying on from Pipeline vet Bob DuBrow in 2003. Jeff was only 47. On a personal level, I know Jeff from a weekly pick-up softball group (or as it was this year, our ‘Masked Batting Practice’ group). He was a regular in our group for about the last ten years or so. I feel very fortunate that I was not close with Jeff because his sudden passing would be far too painful to deal with otherwise (just losing someone from this extended family of many years is jarring enough). But little things start to come back to me…like earlier in the summer, Jeff asking me who I’m listening to. I felt surprised and flattered that he wanted my opinion. I thought for a minute or two before answering with a couple of local artists who’d been generous enough to send me a preview song. I think a few nights later I sent Jeff an e-mail as more bands with new releases I liked filled my head. It was also cool to hear Jeff do a segment on Pipeline with Mike & Ruthy of The Mammals. I’d interviewed the Mammals on WUMB not too long before that (and they are favorites of mine). >> So to borrow from Kemp Harris in the previous item, “to all the joy we’ve lost and to all the joy we’ve found” in this year, I thank you Jeff Breeze for what you did for the Boston music scene. I thank you for enhancing my life in my twin passions of music and softball. >> I also extend a hand and a heart to the staff at WMBR. Jeff was the third veteran host they lost within a week. Captain Al (Frank Shefton) and Bob Roffi, ages 71 and 72 respectively, passed away on November 2nd according to various websites. Seeing

a picture of Jeff swinging four bats at the softball field on WMBR’s Facebook page stopped me in my tracks. Like recreational softball groups, radio staffs are often extended families. I can imagine what WMBR staffers are going through. Although I’d rather not. >> To the families of those three hosts, their radio cohorts, and their listeners, I can only say think of the good memories. Think of the ways these people enhanced your lives. And hug those memories and thoughts. That’s the way to keep Captain Al, Bob Roffi, and Jeff Breeze with you.

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Meanwhile, stay healthy, stay safe, be smart, and make people around you laugh a little when you can. Let’s get through this time and get back to hanging out with each other and supporting musicians at live music events.

And thank you Janice for IT’S ALL ABOUT ARTS. Keep the faith, all. Happy-aspossible holidays.

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Afterland by Edward Morneau Part Twelve: Cosmic Dust Soul Ghosts From Part 11: My soul is following me. How do I set it free? Zorwell was lost in thought and he fell to his knees. The darkness box stalled, whirring and sputtering—the looking glass with its army of cranes vanishing. The Baileys fell out of the old holograph—writhing on the floor, shifting from 2D to 3D. When Bob helped Zorwell to his feet, the Sala Regia door burst open, both quickly stepped back, their mouths agape: “Hey!” It was Elgin Fast, holding up the treasure he sought. “I’ve got your phone. I’ve got your goddamned cell phone, you hick. I now own Afterland!” Then he ran back out of the Cappella Paolina.

utraged, the App Master ran after Elgin, who, because of his boots and their superfluous straps, was not fleet of foot.

“Don’t bother, Zorwell. The Switzers will catch him within minutes.” Bob was certain of this, but also had ulterior motives. He coveted the phone. The Vatican would reward him handsomely for its theft. Zorwell stopped, knowing that Fast could never figure out the password. Also, the Vatican attorney would be the last person he’d want to retrieve his phone. What Fast couldn’t do, the Pope’s cadre of hackers could. From this point on, wherever Bob went, he would follow. “I will go fetch your phone in a minute,” offered Bob, smiling the smile of a man who was wondering who possessed his soul before he besmirched it. Was admitting this part of animae?—he asked no one. Zorwell saw the Baileys writhing on the floor, ironing and cauliflowering their mortal coils back to respectable 3D forms. He found the remote to the darkness box and shut it down. Mollie was the first to stand up. “If I understand you and your husband, there are not enough souls to go around. Is that the long and short of it?” “Yes,” replied Mollie. “In a matter of speaking.” Fenton stood, ironed his last wrinkle, and nodded. “And if you are not aliens, how did…Who are…? Hmm, I don’t even know what to ask.” “It’s simple, lad,” offered Fenton. “Afterland is a digital portal. In its digital infancy, The Voyager fed on the ‘breast milk' of the 1’s and 0’s you were sending out into the universe—those numbers eologically It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

accessing pure energy, growing exponentially more powerful, becoming a digital monolith of sorts. What was it to do with all that energy you sent? First, it pooped out Afterland—your business; soon after, the Soul Retrieval System emerged—our business. It was very practical: The Voyager needed a quick way to return from its mission and give humanity the good and bad news of …well, I’ll ask Mollie to explain. She has a softer touch regarding infinity, etcetera. Mollie?” Mollie stood up, fully ironed out and cauliflowered. “Afterland became part of the portal that accommodates pure energy—the stuff of stardust. It is a way for us to organize and keep tabs on the energy that you are, where it goes, and how it recycles.” She looked at Zorwell, almost lovingly. “Young man, you use it to comfort those whose souls are gone—very nice. But some of those very old souls caught up to human history and waxed and waned in their enthusiasm for human destiny. So they checked out its more recent past and took a closer look at the 20th Century—the wars, the genocides, slavery, oppression everywhere—and they held their breath. Then they took a walk through Hiroshima. That was it for them. They decided they did not want to remain pure energy. They wanted, instead, to dissipate back into the cosmic dust of all things. In short, they wanted nothing to do with the future.” Bob shrugged his shoulders, again, not believing any of it, and made his way to go fetch Elgin Fast before the Switzers got him, thinking to himself—all because of a few nuclear bombs? “Where do you think you’re going, buster?” Zorwell ran to block his way, but odd bursts of light flashed from the darkness box and they both stopped. “That idiot!” screamed the App Master. “Fast is trying to login to Afterland!” Images rapidly come in and out like barely discernible slam cuts in a bad action film. “He’s going to destroy everything!” For a second…but only a second, Zorwell imagined he had the power to destroy the universe, and, human nature being what it is, he sort of thought—not a bad day’s work. But then the darkness box adjusted its algorithms and the images were clear—Detroit, The Mansion, The Entity. “That bootstrap salesman could not open your app, Zorwell, I can assure you,” said Fenton. “Your cell phone, the darkness box, and Voyager are all talking to each other.” “How is that possible?” asked the App Master. “It took many years, but the thousands of satellites the nations of Earth have sent into orbit are digital messengers, many of them redundant. Voyager awoke when the surplus digital information sought a place to go—a home, a destiny, if you will—and therefore hitched a ride on a radio wave to the Oort Cloud and then to Voyager, which has since drafted from the digital wake enough surplus information and energy to learn how to talk back. Afterland is the portal through which Voyager communicates, and its medium is visual—pure cinema.” Fenton seemed relieved to finally spill the beans on this part of the Cosmos. “Some of that makes sense, but how does the soul figure into this?” Bob was on a need-to-know-basis with that question, as he was on the business end of cultivating and protecting souls for the Vatican. Mollie was growing impatient with the counselor. “The Soul Retrieval System is simply a plug-in that sees the cosmic dust and where it goes. It is an eological detector, like a Geiger Counter. The darkness box consists of the SRS plug-in, Voyager, and Afterland. Watch.” Mollie pressed ‘refresh’ on the box. From a cosmic distance, the peculiar cinematic style of the darkness box panned across souls in retreat, zooming out from the Voyager cradled in the Oort Cloud, to those souls who remained in Afterland, then, It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

finally, to the people in attendance in Detroit, who were entirely transfixed by The Materialization. The Entity was complete, but it revealed itself in brief cosmic flashes amidst swirling electric ghost dust—each countenance a trans-configuration as bewildering as the one preceding it. All the lonely people, Mollie thought. It’s an eological event,” a stunned Bob remarked, now choking on his metaphysical doubt. “So beautiful.” Cosmic Dust Soul Ghosts notwithstanding, Zorwell could not identify any feature on The Entity’s face that suggested race, nation, or temperament. But he was disturbed by something else. “Why are the people not reacting in awe or supplication? Haven’t they been waiting for this moment for centuries?” “They are asleep. They are in a state of neend.” answered Fenton “What does neend mean?” asked Zorwell. “It’s Hindu for ‘mass somnolence,’” added Mollie. “Their souls are asleep, in stasis; they are waiting. Old souls are gathered to become new souls or to replace those souls forsaken. Some are desperate to atone and begin again, but they are afraid.” The darkness box zoomed closer and picked out a number of waiting souls and their human counterparts. There was an assortment of innocents and villains from history, including one he recognized—a Kennedy assassin—all gathered in an eological state of anticipation for deliverance and guidance. “Then, In Between. Now.” Mollie chanted. Mollie continued to chant as The Entity continued her slow descent from the all-too familiar crucifix, which splintered into small origami cranes, flying about and circling above the heads of the multitudes who remained in a state of neend. And all the orb and cube sentinels that had fallen from Afterland to protect her and keep the throngs of the world’s pilgrims at arm’s length collected together—forming structures with geometries that were welcoming. Within the cube architecture there were orbital rooms that nested together as living structures. This part of Detroit was rebuilding itself, as if Cosmic Dust Soul Ghosts were the engineers of these new places for souls to dwell. Zorwell snapped out of his own neend, but his heart sank. This was, after all, cinema, and Zorwell knew that most of it was a hoax. How it was accomplished and how his own app was bound to its hip, he didn’t know. But there was a soul-crushing truth to this hoax, no matter how it was engineered. Maybe his Afterland is the meeting place of lost souls who don’t want to be found. Perhaps The Materialization is the blending together of all the remaining souls in Purgatory yearning to be liberated. He couldn’t guess. But he was certain about one thing: The obliteration of the soul by virtue of its absence will leave humanity wandering as ciphers, empty vessels of flesh and bones with no chance for any of the wondrous gifts humanity’s ancestors cultivated and its descendants deserve in their quest for salvation through another chance at life. The Switzers brought back Fast, who handed Zorwell’s phone to him without apology. The Vatican guards tied his hands with his bootstraps. And they all stood there with the App Master—the Baileys, Bob the Vatican Attorney, Elgin Fast, and the two Switzers—watching this film unfold with its effects and its promise of wisdom. He would not and could not shatter the illusion. It was now fixed. The very consciousness of the 20th Century mind was recalibrated and born again from the celluloid representations of reality that began innocently with Louis Daguerre, Louis Le Prince, Thomas Edison, and the Lumieres—pioneers of the It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

moving image, the spectral ghost. They and their progeny inoculated the world with a sustained suspension of disbelief, hoping to shed light on angels and uncover shadowy demons that stalked human nature. Elgin did not succeed in opening up Afterland, which confirmed Zorwell’s suspicions about the entire spectacle. But he was curious as to how the darkness box could proceed without his app being engaged. Part of the eology professed by the Baileys had some merit, in the digital sense of its algorithms existing and its random energy scattering in search of meaning. And there was the possibility of artificial intelligence becoming self-aware to the point where it could achieve empathy. Zorwell logged in and set his Virtual Reality glasses to broadcast. Sure enough, the darkness box grabbed Afterland and slowly revealed what was going on in this cosmic digital purgatory. It projected an enormous hologram coming into focus and formation. It was a planet with a single moon—its dark side with a partial fiery corona indicating a planet burning. The solar illumination of the surface revealed a planet covered in various waters, with former land masses now too small to be significant. “What is this? asked Zorwell Bob walked through the hologram and returned. “It is on fire; it’s drowning; it’s a dying planet. It is Earth seen not many years from now.” Zorwell fell back: “It’s the Earth in Purgatory!” “Water is Life.” Mollie went over to the darkness box and turned up the sound. “Each of you will hear something different from what the other hears. Not just here, in this room, but in Detroit, where all those pilgrims gathered before The Entity will hear the sounds of The Voyager’s recording of souls moving through time—a second Golden Record: an answer to the first.” As soon as she said that, dark matter and comic ghost dust gathered to form a galactic facial countenance, with Earth in repair dripping from its eyes like tears. It filled the Cappella Paolina and it filled the heavens above each curve of sky surrounding the world.

nd for all ages, for all ears, in all languages, for those present, for those hiding in fear, with no hesitation to the beat of any doubt, she spoke for all souls adrift, clear as a song in an echo undiminished through time—

Planet adapted from a painting by Donna Tessari. Used by Permission.

We come to you as peace in puzzles, We are riddles writ meek in dust We mourn through time unfinished Moving by persecution through rust A celestial purity of the heart Inherited grace through a chain of souls Nothing we share may pull us apart To which we do impart sacrifice The soul of a sparrow soars with Art.

It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

n the dim light of the Cappella Paolina, a peace had settled upon the history in this room. The presence of Michelangelo was felt, and though he was not present, the proof of his essence inveighed against the very dust of time. Zorwell was first to wake, then Bob, then Elgin. There was no evidence that the Bailey’s, the Switzers, the Voyager, and the darkness box had ever been here, yet the memory that they were here was a shared one. But for one artfully folded origami crane perched upon the ornate header above the Sala Regia door, the relics of The Tesseract were nowhere to be found. “Do you think any of that was real?” asked the Vatican attorney, looking about for a briefcase that he hadn’t carried for some time. “It was real to me. While you’ll had me hogtied, I saw the whole thing,” offered Elgin Fast, who fidgeted with his bootstraps as if he were still tied up.

Zorwell was busy with his phone and seemed pleased. “I can’t log into Afterland.” There’s not even an icon for it.” He stared at Fast. “Hey! Bootstrap Boy! Did you fiddle with my phone?” “Sorry to say I didn’t. The Switzers were on me like a falling piano. But I wish I smashed it. Look at the mess you created.” Zorwell and Bob looked around. “What a mess?” they both offered. “Why don’t you go back to the factory, Fast, before I have the Switzers drop another piano on you.” demanded the Vatican attorney. “With pleasure.” Fast pulled up his boots, straightened out his receding hairline, and left in a huff.” “That was quite the huff,” Zorwell remarked, still fiddling with his phone. “You were expecting a hug? I’m thankful it was just a huff.” Bob had found his briefcase under the altar below Michelangelo’s Crucifixion of St. Peter, donned his Fedora, and approached Zorwell with an outstretched hand. “Well, my young hayseed friend, your services are no longer needed. You are back to being the son of pickle farmers. I don’t really know what to say.” Zorwell was deep in thought; Bob shifted his feet, ready to leave. “Do you think all of this was intended to make us some kind of new disciples? Apostles of Peace? Acolytes for Ecology?” The former App master looked past the Vatican attorney. He could see the upside down head of St. Peter looking over Bob’s shoulder. “I do not think we are worthy. Earth is in Purgatory. It has taken Afterland. We burned it down, it died, and now it is healing. I saw her crying. Mollie is right—‘Water is Life!’” “Perhaps you are right.” They shook hands. “What will you do when you return to the farm?”

It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

A thought surfaced in the transom of Zorwell’s cranial cyber wiring. He smiled. “I will nap and begin working on new app I’ve been tossing around in my head: Beforeland. Afterland & Collages Copyright 2019 by Edward Morneau

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Available from amazon.com Thank you to everyone who took a shot at reading this experimental, serialized, illustrated novel. It was a lot of fun to write and was often as bewildering to me as it was to some of you. The paperback version has some corrections and slight revisions, as well as giving more space to the collages and increasing the font size. It also has a poem called “Alien” by poet-in-exile, Robert Doubt, which has nothing to do with the story. This will make for a wonderful holiday gift. I’d especially like to thank Janice Williams for encouraging me to do this serialization and for her generosity towards so many artists that have made It’s All About Arts the online arts collaboration it is. In its original form, Afterland was much different than what it became and I’m very happy that it got away from me. For other information about the author and his work, please go to www.cranialheap.com It's All About Arts Magazine December 2020

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