Issue 28 • June 2020 • Facebook.com/TalkArts
IT’S ALL ABOUT
ARTS
June 2020 In This Issue • Mary Newell DePalma – illustrating how to be a consummate artist by Janice Williams • Classics of The Horror Film by Tim Casey • Book Review by Gail Spilsbury - Eleonora and Joseph: Passion, Tragedy, and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment by author Julieta Almeida Rodrigues • Cooking in Boston by Jenn Sherr
PRIDE MONTH
• Lockdown Art Share with Wendi Gray • OUTSIDE THE MIDDLE by Curt Naihersey • Poetry Compiled by Curt Naihersey: BRAVADO by Curt Naihersey and If You Wish by Johnny Faherty • June To Do by Tess McColgan • Local Music Scene by Perry Persoff • Pictorial Splendor by Curt Naihersey • Afterland by Edward Morneau Part Six: The Cure for Hypnosis
More • Centre Cuts Salon and Spa, Roslindale • Happy Pride Month Art by Jen Hemenway
Support local artists and buy from them whenever you can! It’s All About Arts Magazine June 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
Mary Newell DePalma – illustrating how to be a consummate artist By Janice Williams
I have been in awe of Mary Newell DePalma’s art talents for many years. I feel privileged to know her and delight in telling others about her accomplishments. A former Roslindale resident now living in West Roxbury, Depalma was born in Pittsburgh, PA. What a surprise when interviewing DePalma for this article, to be let into a fascinating artful world that DePalma has traversed as only a dedicated artist could do. She is much more than an illustrator. When asked what she has done in her career, she replied: “Many things! An artist needs to be nimble and versatile and have several streams of income to make it work.” I totally agree. When she was in high school, she knitted sweaters for a local designer, made signs for local shops and addressed invitations in calligraphy, a skill she had studied since middle school. She attended Rochester Institute of Technology in NY (She has a BFA in Medical Illustration) and started her career in Chicago with a job illustrating greeting cards at a small card company. Her next career stop: “Every day I rode the “L” into the Chicago Loop; climbed the stairs of an old office building and time traveled back to the 1890’s—to work as an apprentice engrosser. I sat at an antique wooden desk, ground my own stick ink, and wrote names on certificates and diplomas all day long. The certificates themselves were hand-written and illustrated and then sent to a printer to print, but the names were hand-written on each. I loved it! Those with more experience were making testimonials for retiring bank presidents and such—testimonials were like medieval illuminated manuscripts with borders, illustrated initial caps, and gold leaf.” DePalmas’s husband was transferred to Boston and upon landing in New England she continued her myriad of interesting jobs. According to DePalma: “At first I illustrated pharmaceutical sales training manuals and product directions for a catheter company, (while also working part-time as a sign language interpreter). Nearly all of my work was black and white for the first 10 years: step-by-step directions for a craft magazine, houses for a real estate directory, and some newspaper, small magazine, and ad agency work. My clients included the Saint Anthony Messenger Press, The Christian Science Monitor, and MA Audubon’s Sanctuary Magazine. I illustrated a meat cookbook for Houghton-Mifflin--they had such a teeny-tiny budget that everyone else turned them down. Oddly enough, I was able to re-sell those illustrations many times to cooking magazines, (continued) It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Mary Newell DePalma – illustrating how to be a consummate artist by Janice Williams (continued) and newspaper food sections, so it was worth it in the end.” Later DePalma was able to branch into illustrating textbooks, and eventually into writing and illustrating children’s picture books. She is well known for her picture books - my favorite is A Grand Old Tree, which incorporates tissue-paper collage and watercolor illustrations with miscellaneous fibers. Bow-Wow Wiggle-Waggle, Estelle Takes a Bath, The Perfect Gift, Two Little Birds, The Nutcracker Doll and The Squeaky Door are a few of the others. DePalma began visiting schools to talk to students about being an author/illustrator while illustrating and writing children’s books. It is discouraging to hear from DePalma that many author/illustrators derive the bulk of their income from school visits. During this time, DePalma became a Museum Teacher at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, leading student tours featuring “Visual Thinking Strategies,” a technique for looking at art that also develops viewer’s observation and critical thinking skills. She taught a college course on Children’s Book Illustration for several semesters at the New England School of Art and Design, part of Suffolk University. When her children were in college and she was looking for a steady job with health insurance, she took an entry level, full-time job at The Gardner Museum. There her calligraphy re-surfaced when she had the opportunity to address the invitations to the museum’s gala. Some unique art experiences that DePalma was willing to divulge: “I’ve personalized an oar, been an artist-in-residence for a pre-school (Corning Children’s Center), incorporated a hygrometer in an artist’s book, used a large orange exercise ball as a prop while storytelling at the Boston Book Fair, helped sew a reproduction wall hanging for the Gardner Museum that has 40,000 sequins on it, sewed hooks and eyes on costumes at the Boston Ballet Costume shop; knitted many pussyhats and marched in Washington DC twice (and wrote a book about it that has currently been rejected 34 times, but she persists); and made three Welcome Blankets for immigrants.” A full and lengthy list of accomplishments, publications and awards is available on DePalma’s web site but here are some of her awards: Children’s Book selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2004, for Now It Is Winter by Eileen Spinelli; Best Children’s Book selection, New York Public Library, 2004, and Children’s Choice selection, International Reading Association (IRA), 2005, both for My Chair by Betsy James; Best Children’s Book selection, Washington Post Book World, 2006, for (continued) It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Mary Newell DePalma – illustrating how to be a consummate artist by Janice Williams (continued) The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read MacDonald; IRA/Children’s Book Council Choice selection, 2006, for A Grand Old Tree; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Medal, 2010, for The Perfect Gift; Best Children’s Book selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2013, review of Bow-Wow Wiggle-Waggle. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, today DePalma has a full time day job which gives her more freedom to continue her art journey. She is working on artist’s books and commemorative gifts; experimenting with texture and dimension—things she says cannot be done very easily with children’s books. Recently she made a miniature marionette theatre that lights up. She also started a commission that involves scherenschnitte (papercutting). DePalma ended our conversation with: “I’m currently working on face masks for friends and family and I’ll make some available in my Little Free Library. I do know how to amuse myself.” Rock on Mary Newell DePalma. Contact and More Info: www.marynewelldepalma.com https://www.instagram.com/marynewelldepalma mary@marynewelldepalma.com
It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Classics Of The Horror Film by Tim Casey
was purely evil), and it was tough watching Fritz (most think his name is Igor) teasing/torturing the Frankenstein monster with a lit torch; he was being punished for no reason, and we can all relate to that.
One of the more atmospheric sets of "Dracula" (1930)
I have no idea what first attracted me to old horror films, but I vividly remember the week during which I first saw them: October 25th 29th, 1965 (I looked it up on the web). A local TV station was airing some Universal horror films at 4 in the afternoon, right after I got home from the first grade. Monday was "Frankenstein" (1931), but I missed it! All the kids told me about it the next day, and on Tuesday I rushed home to watch "The Wolfman" (1941). "The Mummy" (1932) followed on Wednesday; "The Werewolf of London" (1935) gave me the heebie jeebies on Thursday, and I was confused by "Dracula" (1931) on Friday - I didn't know what a "vampire" was, there were no fangs and no blood, and it just looked like kissing could kill something I probably agreed with at the age of seven. It didn't matter - I was hooked for life. The next year, they did it again, instead airing "Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman" (1943) on Wednesday and moving "The Mummy" to Thursday, leaving out "The Werewolf Of London", which immediately made it an elusive film for me, one that I was willing to stay up until 2am on a Friday night to catch on TV. The fact that I still remember all this attests to the quality of these films. The horror was pervasive but subtle, and the stories were mythic. Most of these monsters were tragic figures (except for Dracula, who by definition It s All About Arts Magazine une 2020
Fritz (Dwight Frye) tortures the monster (Boris Karloff) in "Frankenstein" (1931)
When my future wife found out that I liked watching old horror films, she was, for the first time, a bit leery of our relationship. Of course, what came to her mind were slasher films in which the blood of nubile young women campers was splattered on the cabin walls by some power-tool wielding maniac. I can't remember which classic horror film from the thirties we watched first, but she was surprised by how much she enjoyed it; she was also surprised that there was no gore or blood in it. Years have since passed, and she could now probably recite all of the dialog from "Dracula" (1930) verbatim, even using the inflections of the actors. The production of these films was usually superb, involving emigres from the German film industry - technicians and directors who had produced absolute masterpieces of cinema in the 1920s but fled for safety as the Nazis came to power. With the release of "Dracula" in 1930, horror films became financial lifeboats for studios struggling through the Great Depression. People may have been hungry, but they would still pay to see a movie - and they'd line up for hours to see a new horror film to take
their minds off of the horrors that they were living with.
The classic "Dracula" - Bela Lugosi
"Dracula" itself was a watershed in film history. It was the first American film to deal with the supernatural as genuine; this guy really was a living corpse who could change into a bat or wolf and would exist forever. He wasn't explained away in the denouement of the film as in all other mystery films up until this time; he was the real thing - an undead vampire. And he was turning others into vampires as well, while sapping the life blood of the country. It resonated amongst the increasingly desperate populace - not to get too political, but it was a small leap from a vampire to a wealthy financier during the Depression. And at least the horror was banished at the end of each film; they must have wished that their own plight could have been resolved so easily and quickly. Carl Laemelle, Jr. had wanted to film "Dracula" badly, but his father, Carl Sr., who had founded Universal Studios sixteen years before, thought the whole idea grisly and distasteful. Still, he had handed the entire studio over to his 21-year-old son for his birthday (!), and Junior seemed enthusiastic about the project, so he stayed out of the way, and the studio turned a profit for the first time in years. From then on, Junior had free reign to do whatever he wished, and the Universal Classic Horror dynasty was born.
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The other studios took notice and started producing horror films as well. Paramount gave us "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1932), "The Island Of Dr. Moreau" (1933), and "Murders In The Zoo" (1933). Warner Bros - First National, home of the gangster film, produced two gritty technicolor horror classics, "Doctor X" (1932) and "Mystery Of The Wax Museum" (1933). RKO had been preparing "King Kong" for five years before it was released in 1933, along with their superb version of "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), filmed with the same crew on the same sets to generate some quick cash so that they could finish "Kong". MGM gave us "The Mask Of Fu Manchu" (1932), somewhat hesitantly, then unleashed "Freaks" (1932), which got them in so much trouble they wished they had never opened a movie studio.
Frederic March won a Best Actor Academy Award for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1932)
Lionel Atwill, unmasked by Fay Wray in the technicolor "Mystery Of The Wax Museum" (1933)
And then the backlash came, not only towards horror films, but any film with flawed characters who failed to live up to "decent christian standards" under extreme circumstances - in other words, the same type of people who made up most of the audience at the time. The Production Code, though in effect for the previous six years, was given enforcement powers in 1934. The studios played cat-and-mouse with them for a year or two, but by 1937, the horror film was officially dead after Great Britain banned them completely; since the advent of sound, the only major foreign market amenable to American films due to the language barrier was Great Britain; without that market, the films could not possibly be profitable.
3 am crowds at the Regina in 1938
Universal, now a large corporation no longer owned by the Laemelles, knew money when they smelled it, and quickly ramped up their production of horror films. Though producing only one 1940s classic monster, "The Wolfman" (1941), these films were not up to the mythic Germanic standards of the 1930-1936 films.
The last of the Golden Age Universal Horror films: "Dracula's Daughter" (1936), with Gloria Holden eyeing Marguerite Churchill
But then, in 1938, two supernatural monsters snuck back into the psyche of American theatergoers, not by invading and destroying a city with lots of CG-created special effects, but by being invited into the community by a humble theatre owner who was desperate for customers. Emil Umann of the Regina Theatre in Beverly Hills got ahold of prints of both "Frankenstein" (1931) and "Dracula" (1930), and promised to show them around the clock. Even at 3 am, there was a line for tickets. This went on for weeks and made the struggling theatre owner very happy.
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"Man Made Monster" (1941); Lon Chaney (standing) get sicker and sicker as Lionel Atwill (left) slowly addicts him to electricity
Nevertheless, quite a few of them turned out to be excellent in their own right. Worth mentioning is Lon Chaney Jr.'s first horror film, "Man Made Monster" (1941), co-starring Lionel Atwill. Scientist Atwill secretly wants to know how much electricity it would take to turn a man into a souless killing machine (don't we all want to know that?), and Lon is his likeable Joe-sixpack test subject, unbeknownst to the rest of
the household. The experiments eventually make Lon dependent on them, and he looks and acts like a tired drug addict - everyone wonders what's wrong with him; meanwhile, Atwill is intentionally making him an addict for the sake of "science". How icky is that? (And at the time, people had been hearing rumours that the Nazis were conducting "experiments" on people...) The forties also produced the classic Val Lewton horror films. RKO, after the financial fiasco of "Citizen Kane", needed to raise cash on the cheap, and Lewton was assigned to the horror cash-cow. He'd be given a lurid name for a horror film, a small budget, and a quick shooting schedule, but no script; if the movie made a profit, he'd be left alone to do it again. His nine atmospheric horror film noirs included "Cat People" (1941), "Isle Of The Dead" (1945)", and "I Walked With A Zombie" (1943) believe it or not, an absolutely beautiful and atmospheric retelling of "Jane Eyre".
There have been exceptions over the years, and recently such excellent films as "The Witch" (2015) and "A Quiet Place" (2019) have given hope that subtle horror films may see a resurgence, but for most fans, the thirties were the Golden Era and will never be bested. These films have such lasting power that, if you ask a kid to speak like Dracula, he'll mimic Bela Lugosi. If you ask him do draw Frankenstein, it'll look like the Boris Karloff monster. That's pretty impressive for a pair of ninety-year-old blackand-white movies.
The Witch (2015)
Val Lewton's beautiful and atmospheric "I Walked With A Zombie" (1943)
The early fifties saw the rise of the science-fiction film, and horror films were put on the back burner. When horror returned with the Hammer films and the low-budget indie films of the late fifties and early sixties, standards had been relaxed, and these newer films flaunted sex, violence and gore - and the beautiful gothic black-and-white art direction was long gone. The films made money, and many of them do have their virtues, but something was lost when it was decided than anything goes, and the more you show, the better. It s All About Arts Magazine une 2020
If you've gotten this far in the article, you must be a fan of these films! We've been watching them online in a series that I curate called "Classics Of The Horror Film"; the films are chosen because they appeared in the excellent film book "Classics Of The Horror Film" by William K. Everson, a well-loved and dedicated film historian of the twentieth century. Each film is accompanied by an Everson article, as well as a cartoon, a short, and a trailer. It's a lot of fun, and it passes "pandemic time" nicely. To get on the email list so you'll know what film is currently being shown, send me an email at timcasey@lowbudgetrecords.com asking to be included. Otherwise, go out and buy these films on DVD and Blu Ray, both of which will look much better on your high-definition TV than the online versions. Enjoy! - Tim Casey
A Portuguese Novelist Who Writes in English Portuguese author Julieta Almeida Rodrigues wrote her new historical novel Eleonora and Joseph: Passion, Tragedy, and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment in English. Gail Spilsbury interviews Rodrigues on the years it took to research and write the book—on both sides of the Atlantic. GS: Given that your previous books of short fiction are contemporary, what inspired you to write a historical novel, and how was that process different for you? J : I feel I had to get a few things out of the way, so to speak, before I was able to write a novel. I needed to write my short stories about Soviet Russia, a period in history we will never see again. I left the Soviet Union in 1986 with my ex-husband, a diplomat, after nearly three years in the country. Afterward, in Lisbon, where I’m from, I almost threw out the nine hundred pages of notes I had jotted down while there. In retrospective, I’m very happy I didn’t do that. These Russian stories, titled On the Way to Red Square (2006), are both personal and societal. I have a doctorate in both sociology and education from Columbia University, and I always look at reality from the viewpoint of sociology. A few years after my Russian stories, I wanted to better understand Portugal, the country where I was born, raised, and primarily educated. Catholic countries tend to be hypocritical, and I wanted to leave behind a testimony of that hypocrisy. This led to my second volume of stories, The Rogue and Other Portuguese Stories (2014). Ideas are like cherries in a bowl, and before I finished writing the Portuguese stories, I was reading Peter Gray’s The Enlightenment: An Interpretation. I kept thinking: Gee, this is powerful. Gray’s book convinced me that the Enlightenment was the most fascinating period in human history. I felt inspired to write something with that period as the backdrop. Thus, my new book, Eleanora and Joseph, gave me the opportunity to learn something that truly enthralled me. The decision was the easy part. The work that lay ahead was immense. I wanted to address a period that fascinated me, but of which I knew very little. So, I read for years. The reading brought me to the American Founding Fathers and the French Revolution. In 2013, I attended a conference at the Chawton House Library in the United Kingdom, titled Women’s Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century, which included a focus group on female biography as a feminist praxis. By then I had already chosen the two protagonists for my novel, prominent Portuguese figures in the Southern European Enlightenment—Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel and Abbé Joseph Correia da Serra. A lot is known about the Northern European Enlightenment but less about its southern side. At the conference, I spoke about Eleonora and her contribution to the revolutionary newspaper Il Monitore Napoletano. As a result, I was invited to be a visiting scholar at the New School in New York, not just once, but twice. (continued)
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A Portuguese Novelist Who Writes in English (continued) My time in New York was invaluable, for I was able to explore my character Correia’s long-term friendship with Thomas efferson. The prolific correspondence between the two men has been published, and Jefferson became my third main character. I also joined a group of writers who belonged to the Historical Novel Society, and soon after we began opening our meetings to professionals helpful to our goals—literary agents, editors, publishers, copyright attorneys, and so forth. In New York, during the academic year, I found a stimulating environment where I could write without pause. In the summers, I went home to Portugal and continued working. In many ways, I feel a traitor to my calling, the short story, for it has always been my preferred literary genre. It is, for me, the filet mignon of literature; there is nothing like a Chekhov or a lannery O’Connor story. However, undertaking the novel, I felt curious to explore my mind in another way—leap into the adventure of something bigger, larger than how I had expressed myself up until then. GS: Why did you write the book (and your short stories) in English? J : I started writing in English when I was a PhD student at Columbia. I already knew the language from my schooling in Portugal. Later, I married an American diplomat and we spoke English at home. At our postings in foreign countries, we attended many diplomatic events, and I got to meet people from those cultures and learn about their country—an amazing opportunity, and also an opening up of my own interior world. Generally, I was living in an English-speaking environment, and English became the language with which I felt most comfortable. e also had a son, whose first language was English. It would have been impossible for me to do the writing I’ve done the past decades had I remained in Lisbon. I was a university professor there, after my PhD and before my marriage. I enjoyed teaching and the dialogues with students, but the career is demanding and leaves little outside time for one’s imagination. One of the things I love about writing full-time is the freedom of my working day. The mind needs that space for the creativity that goes into writing books. One of the reasons writing in English has been so much fun for me, is the possibility of reinventing myself an idea at the core of efferson’s “American Society,” albeit more difficult to achieve today than before. For someone who writes in a non-native language, an excellent editor is a requisite. Such an editor understands, at a profound level, what the writer means when, perhaps, a word choice or a phrase isn’t how the native speaker would express it. Such an editor is also a translator—a translator of intention. We will see what the future brings. I am toying with the thought of writing my next project in Portuguese. I have an idea for a book that again deals with the Enlightenment—a particular historical event in Portugal that has been told many times over, but in a misleading way. I would like to set the record straight, and sometimes fiction does that better than history. Think of arbara Chase- iboud’s novel, Sally Hemings. She revealed for the first time, before the DNA proof, that Sally Hemings was Thomas Jefferson’s mistress and most probably the mother of some of his children. In her afterword to the book, in the anniversary edition, we read how those in charge of a person’s legacy—in Chase-Riboud’s case Jefferson’s—try to damage your reputation if you dare to contradict the established historical record. If I write this new book, I’d like to use Agatha Christie’s approach in Murder on the Orient Express. I want to use several voices recounting the same historical event. This technique will leave only one possible conclusion: the established truth is highly questionable. As a consequence, the current historical record will, most certainly, be revised once and for all. (continued)
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A Portuguese Novelist Who Writes in English (continued) GS: What was the best part of writing Eleanora and Joseph for you? And the worst? JR: The best part of writing the book, as any writer will tell you, is the writing itself. The freedom the process gives you, and living in the imagined realm. My first moments of writing a new book are moments of elation. After this initial period, much of writing is a process of rewriting, which requires a lot of patience. The most difficult part of writing this book was integrating the story with the history. I had an original idea, a plot, characters, and settings both in Europe and America. But the history was always taking precedence over the story. I needed to figure out how to tell the story in view of all the research I had done. One day, during a discussion of my book in my New York writing group, one of my colleagues said he had counted more than twelve historical figures in one single chapter. We all had a good laugh, myself included. It took me a while to figure out the process, which was to tell the story with the history as the background. My next historical novel is going to be much easier to write. GS: You also came up with great literary devices for this particular tale—one of them reminded me of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and how discovering a relic from someone’s past (Hester’s red letter) led to uncovering the story. During the five or six years you worked on the book, did anything change for you, such as your stroke of genius inventing Pimentel’s memoir, which turns up in Jefferson’s library, igniting the story? JR: A lot changed for me. Writing gave me a great deal of self-knowledge. How else to describe this? You write, ultimately, to get to know your characters, and along the way, through them, you learn about yourself in myriad ways. There are also interesting surprises that come up. My novel is at the intersection of narrative, memoir, and biography. By the time I finished writing the book, the figure I enjoyed most was Thomas Jefferson, his complexities and genius. He was flawed, like any human being, but he was also a remarkable man. His Declaration of Independence shaped America, and the world, in a way that only a few people in history have done. I loved the aspect of his character that masters his own silences. He strikes me as a man full of contradictions—someone called him a sphinx—with a brilliant, visionary mind. All along, I also knew that Pimentel had been a remarkable woman. She’s a sad character, but stands as an example of the best virtues the eighteenth century cultivated. As we read her memoir—the fictional memoir I created for her—we see how she was true to herself, to her principles, and to her revolutionary ideas. Whether or not she was a feminist is not the issue in this book. Feminism is a twentieth-century concept, and she lived two centuries before that. Surprisingly, I didn’t like Correia da Serra as much as I had anticipated. This was somewhat disappointing, because he is revered in Portuguese-American circles. He was not only a distinguished botanist, but also a close friend of Jefferson. Not many Portuguese can claim such an illustrious friendship across the Atlantic Ocean. As I went along in my research, I found Correia’s character so devious and deceitful that, at times, I was embarrassed for him. Being Portuguese, I knew where he was coming from, but that didn’t excuse him. He was also a priest, and this might have had a bearing on my interpretation of his life. As for my literary devices—the discovery of Pimentel’s memoir that gives rise to alternating chapters for the two protagonists in their own voices—it was the writing itself, not the research, that decided this approach. The material I had collected needed to be there, but in the background, not the foreground. I struggled with this issue, but eventually realized that alternating the chapters between Pimentel and Correia was the way I could best present the plot. A book, a good book, is a (continued) It’s All About Arts June 2020
A Portuguese Novelist Who Writes in English (continued) coherent whole, and I needed to find a way to have a present and a past in this historical novel. Thus, the double narrative served the plot’s purpose. Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel is telling her story in the form of a memoir at the end of her life. She’s in prison, facing probable execution, and decides to reflect on what turned her into a revolutionary. She had to go back in time in order to do this, starting with the memory of attending the funeral of Correia’s mother in Naples. This encounter establishes the first link between the characters and their separate narratives. I then had to find a way to contrast her life with Correia’s. In my story, the dialogues between Correia and Thomas Jefferson embody the present time. Here, my question was: What happens to Correia da Serra with the passage of time? He becomes more conservative, so I had to find a way to show this. I chose his dialogues with Jefferson, as they discuss Pimentel together, to elucidate this point. As Correia and Jefferson always meet in Monticello, I used Correia’s views on slavery and his position as the ambassador from the Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil to monitor his intellectual development. The fun part of the book was to have several events told from either Pimentel or Correia’s point of view. It is just like our own lives—few people have the same recollection of an event. I loved writing those scenes from different viewpoints. It was like examining a life that had been lived twice. This is why I say that writing is all about self-knowledge. You use characters to debate the ideas that are in your mind. The challenge is to make the debates real, plausible. If you succeed, the book will be a success. I tried to stick to the history as closely as I found it. But this is, somehow, a detail, and the reason I chose not to include a bibliography in the novel. The best history, as much as the best literature, uses the imagination. Just think of a history book like Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama. It is much more then a collection of facts and historical events. It’s an interpretation that, even if faulty, clarifies reality. GS: At what age did you start writing stories, and who have been your mentors along the way—living or through literature? J : I wish I could tell you I started constructing stories in my mind at the age of five! No, it wasn’t this way. I lived a life, and then I started writing. I loved reading as a child, and my father had a great library that I devoured. But I never envisioned becoming a writer, until the day I sat at my desk and filled pages. I like to use a computer, and the way I can move around a line, a sentence, or a paragraph. They say “cancer is a turning point.” In my early forties, I had cancer, as well as a small son. I didn’t want to die, and I knew that I needed to contemplate what I wanted to do next in order to build a good life. I had wanted to find something new and engaging that fulfilled me. And I realized that my two greatest needs were easily achieved and equally precious: one was silence and the other was having solitude. Virginia Wolf, of course, knew all about this. I found friends with similar interests to mine. These friends had authenticity, cultivated the truths that escape most human beings, and had the courage to think outside of the box. riting is a lonely road and a most treasured road! It fulfills the soul. For more information about Eleonora and Joseph: Passion, Tragedy, and Revolution in the Age of Enlightenment visit the author’s website, julietaalmeidarodriguesauthor.com, or New Academia Publishing, http://www.newacademia.com.
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Chinook Salmon Kiki Taron Kinney
Jennifer Sherr, Administrator “I am a professional artist and have an art studio in the South End. Cooking has always been a strong passion of mine. I am also Co-chair of the United South End Artists Group which is an organization that supports artists living and working in the South End. Community has always been important to me and I consider cooking another outlet for my art. In August 2017, I started Cooking in Boston on Facebook and invited people to join. This page is where cooks can post their photos, recipes and anything food related. We ask questions and create a body of avid food lovers. The group now has over 800 members and still growing. Anyone is welcome to join. It is my goal to bring joy through my art work and I share that same inspiration and goal with cooking. My mother is also a wonderful cook and a Moderator of the page She took cooking classes when we were children and encouraged us try new foods and be creative in the kitchen. When I see group members collaborating and sharing ideas, it brings me great satisfaction. During this difficult time, Cooking in oston has brought many people together. It’s been a welcome diversion and source of comfort for oston food lovers and our many members throughout New England”, Join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/599868760400821 It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Carrot Soup Michael Carleo Tonight’s Salad Linda Sherr
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and Stir Fry Jennifer Sherr
Mini Pies Janice Williams It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Chocolate Croissants Barbara Poole
Lockdown Art Share with Wendi Gray
“Went back over to my buddy’s house to capture the Japanese cherry tree with some oil paint on this sunny but very windy afternoon”. April 11, 2020 Roslindale artist Wendi Gray is usually out and about the neighborhood every day painting community scenes. During the covid-19 pandemic, she has had to stay really close to home. While she misses being out in the community at large, she has found multiple creative ways to keep painting and sharing. Gray has found plenty of spaces and scenes within her distancing world. She has painted her kitchen happenings (she has been experimenting and baking with sour dough starter), her husband as he works (he is also an artist and master mechanic), her yard and the yard of her neighbor (lots of spring flowers). Gray then posts these wonderful and inspiring paintings on her social media for all to enjoy. And because she is a true community person, she has been giving free online drawing classes at Roslindale’s Create in Community Art Center (temporarily closed due to pandemic but offering an array of great online art activities for all ages).
It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
“I hung out with my tomato plants and herbs again on this sunny Saturday in Boston”. May 16, 2020
“Here is a figure study with oils of my husband sitting in our backyard doing some computer work”. May 11, 2020
Lockdown Art Share with Wendi Gray “Backyard Plein air painting with some Golden Open acrylics in my watercolor sketchbook and enjoying the blue sky in Boston”, April 7, 2020
“I went out to the backyard to paint a pastel and found my neighbor @leo_mancini_hresko already painting the backyard. I decided that he was much more interesting to paint than my shed once again”. March 16, 2020 Follow Artist Wendi Gray! https://www.facebook.com/wendi.gray.5 https://www.instagram.com/graywendi/ https://www.createartincommunity.com/
“Today’s lockdown art is a tribute to the local potters and shops I have purchased pieces from”. March 28, 2020
It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
cultural and psychological situations. Completely self produced by the band, the record has since been oft-cited as a groundbreaking and pivotal LP of the postpunk era, who’s original copies are now heavily coveted by collectors. Completing the early discography is Special World, released in 1984. In 1985 the band stopped performing and recording. In 1986, Jeff started to direct music videos and Jane produced video art. Both began teaching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which continued for the next decade.
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OUTSIDE THE MIDDLE
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by Curt Naihersey
Jeff & Jane Hudson are a husband/wife duo from Boston who got their start in the art-punk band The Rentals in 1977. When the group broke up in 1980, Jeff & Jane relocated to Manhattan and quickly signed with No-Wave label Lust/Unlust. Their first single No Clubs was released in late 1980 and showcased a lo-fi avant-garde allsynthesizer band. The World Trade EP came next in 1981, expanding their brand of post-nuclear electronic pop. Their vocal qualities were distinct: Jeff quivery and drug-addled while Jane more detached and icy. The duo reached their pinnacle with 1982's seminal Flesh, perhaps one of the biggest achievements in the entire United States “synth” movement of the 80s. The music was electro-pop employing early Roland synths and the TR-808 drum machine. Jeff’s lyrics flirted with technology and politics, while Jane wrote about
In 1995, J & J reformed, performed for a couple of years, and recorded again, Zeta Brew. The new music was more guitarbased and psychedelic. Jeff’s project for 1998 was GIGANTOR, a trip-hop techno 3D-video multimedia show. This show was performed at The Bank in New York and the Middle East in Cambridge. In 2002 the band completed the Burn album where they covered some of their classic hits such as “Los Alamos” and “Pound Pound”. Melding analog drum machines, dreary synth lines, detached vocal delivery from both Jeff and Jane, a killer DIY ethos, and tight, artful sonic arrangements, the duo successfully blurred the line between pure synth-pop and more guitar-driven postpunk, while retaining a playfulness seldom seen in the realm of arty, dark synth music.
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After living for a short while in Jamaica Plain, the couple relocated full-time to the Berkshires in 2005, settling down in North Adams. During the past several years, Jeff and Jane sporadically kept performing in Massachusetts and recording material for various labels, including Electric Voice Records. They also opened some retail art venues in their new locale and have been involved with programs at Mass MOCA.
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And then, a new song appeared this Spring - “Kill the Bug”. Another dose of impacting synth-pop minimalism for the current pandemic!
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But this story expands with the return of Jeff’s prodigious artistic talents. For the past three months he has been producing a weekly cartoon series involving spaceships and their battle with the alien bug. I have collected over fifty of his mesmerizing whimsical iPad sketches. I offered to interview him, but recovering from a severe bout of Lyme disease, his strength has been compromised so he’d prefer to let his art do the talking. So, check out these visions and listen up!
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For further info: http://www.officialjeffandjane.com
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NOW AVAILABLE Thank you Edward Morneau
Volume 1 Soft Cover Book March 2018--February 2019 158 pages: $25.00 +S/H/Tax
https://www.amazon.com/Its-All-About-Arts-Annual/dp/B0848WD1H2 It’s All About Arts Magazine March 2020
Volume 2 Soft Cover Book March 2019--February 2020 236 pages, $35.00 + S/H/Tax
https://www.amazon.com/Its-All-About-Arts-Annual/dp/B084Z3PC28
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BRAVADO [Hold on! Hold on! Life is just a place we arrived at upside down. - Tim Elsenburg]
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There it is again Louder than before Can we make it out Above the hum of distraction Everything is still Quiet but for the echoes Speaking of some distant Future aftershock. Speak to me! Speak to me!
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Someone found a name For hearts that share that beat When all those chants and clamors Leave only threats for making good Tears rattle down and tension screams Twists itself to sleep Turns into invincible dreams Flicker out…..slowly… Was it you? Was it you?
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Whispers slip out of the void Back into the wild wind There it is again Louder than before The shrill of bravado No answers - no excuse It is there at the beginning It is there in the end Speak to me. It is you. Speak to me. It is us.
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There it is again The map of mercy Put away when everything is alright A plot to build shelter Cradle the dying lights The wind whispers mutiny The earth hisses no mercy ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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! Show the trail of memory
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There it is again Spooked by that wind Hidden in the trees Waiting in the tall grass Unfolded to the sky Lost in the deadly daily weave.
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Run headlong Forward into uncertainty Stumble upon The shadows of tenacity Close those eyes Pressed down by the gravity The canopy of faith Patient to our brevity Don’t pretend Fast forward to the end Louder than before There it is again.
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- Curt Naihersey ********************************************
IF YOU WISH If you wish to make a fool of yourself there’s no finer cause than a woman If you wish to make a hero of yourself there’s no finer cause than a child If you wish to make a poet of yourself there’s no finer form than a sonnet, telling everyman’s story in just fourteen lines including a beginning, a middle, and a riddle to make an ordinary life mysterious or a remarkable one accidental If you wish to make a failure of yourself try changing the world If you wish to make peace with yourself give all of the above a go - Johnny Flaherty
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TESS'S TO DO LIST FOR JUNE 2020 #SupportLocalSafely Now, more than ever, your local small businesses need your support and patronage. Below are some suggestions from Main Street America on ways you can support local businesses safely and from home.
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Practice Social Distancing & Wear a Face Covering As we begin trekking towards a “new normal” in Boston and throughout Massachusetts, following safety precautions, like wearing a face covering and physically distancing in public, are imperative to continue making progress with decreasing cases of COVID-19. It’s important to maintain the progress we’ve made -- which is now helping businesses re-open in phases.
(Images created by the City of Boston) It's All About Arts Magazine June 2020
Food Resources & Farmers Markets Meal sites for children & adults around the City of Boston can be found on the City’s website: https://www.boston.gov/departments/food-access/map-covid19-food-resources If you or someone you know in need of meal assistance is a senior, they may qualify for the State’s Nutrition Program for Seniors which provides delivered meals. Learn more here: https://www.mass.gov/nutrition-program-for-seniors Additionally, farmers markets are deemed essential in MA to provide local communities access to healthy food and produce. Most farmers markets are set up to accept SNAP/ HIP benefits for eligible customers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, each market has specific guidelines to ensure the safety of shoppers. At Roslindale Village Main Street, our Farmers Market Committee, Board, and Staff have reformatted the market to a “Grab-and-Go” style. Encouraging shoppers to pre-order from vendors before the market, limiting the number of people allowed inside the market area, and requiring face masks are examples of some of the guidelines for the RVMS Grab-andGo Farmers Market.
You can learn more & read FAQs by visiting our website: https://roslindale.net/rvms-farmers-market/ 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 cred: Bruce Spero Photography brucespero.smugmug.com
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JUNE 2020 Gay Pride Month
Artist: Jen Hemenway On Facebook at 55407 Komix rootsup@hotmail.com
It’s All About Arts Magazine June 2020
THE LOCAL MUSIC CORNER by Perry Persoff This month’s observations: Despite remaining in a situation that puts livelihoods in a real winch for both releasing and touring music, new music is still coming through: due to impacts of the fight against the Corona virus, more projects are rising up to benefit struggling musicians. Also, a release from a Boston artist we were about to lose late last year… who has decided he is better off staying here. ******************** Bob Bradshaw, Paul Chase, Greg Klyma, Andy Santospago, and Dave Westner have collaborated on a new single (produced by Mr. Westner) called “In The Dark.” On my first listen, I imagined Chris Cornell’s band Soundgarden playing, with production assistance from David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd). Not the menace, but the dark and moody. So yes, it is a different sound for what you would expect from these players. >> Greg Klyma released the song and his description of how it came together is very 21st century: He saw a video of Andy playing a guitar riff to some bass from Paul. Greg came up with a guitar chord progression which Paul added bass to, which was sent to Andy. Andy shared it with Bob Bradshaw, who wrote some lyrics and then sang them into his iPhone. The electronic highway carried all this to Dave Westner. And so on. >> You can find the song on Greg Klyma’s Bandcamp page. This track is being released as a fundraiser for the BostonCambridge Musicians Relief Fund (started by Boston musician Jim Haggerty, who you’ve probably seen back up many area bands in the clubs over the years).
******************** Paul Hansen of The Grownup Noise has a healthy attitude about the difficulty of doing music in the days of the Corona Virus fight. He writes, “Screw it! New Grownup Noise album out June 5 .” You may remember the Grownup Noise from about eight years ago as an eight piece band/orchestra, very eclectic sort of artrock/baroque. >> At a certain point, band members started families, moved away, etc. Paul has carried on in various configurations under the Grownup Noise banner during the years. For the new album, it is himself and drummer Max Weinstein. As a candid creative artist, Paul says it is a “new sound, very different. Had to do it.” I am officially intrigued. th
******************** Rare is the occasion when I find a song video that adds to or contributes to my interest in it. Ironically, Christian McNeill’s new single “Carousels” has lyrics that paint beautiful pictures. They are good enough to not need a video. Yet the central image in the video collaborates so nicely with those words and rhythms - it’s a good match. I look forward to more information about a full album. But for now, this song is an encouraging start. Oh, what’s the B-side of this single (to use a lovely antiquated term from the pre-CD 20th century)? It’s called “Boston Sunrise.” I can’t wait to hear it on headphones while watching the sunrise in, say, Rockport (MA). >> Glad you are still here, Mr. M. ******************** A Boston music institution over the last 25 years (“it’s good to be lauded,” he once told
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me), Tim Gearan has some new music. There is “It’s Not The End of the World.” described on his website as “a song about emotional cowardice.” Maybe the first words from the character in the song give us added insight: “I will not ask for directions and I’ll tell you why. I’m happy right here in the dark where it’s safe and it’s dry.” Hmm, I think we’re in for some revelations later in the lyrics. The track is very catchy. >> It looks like Tim has another new song, “While The World Goes By.” This one’s got a breezier feel. And in these days of trying to stay at home as much as possible, the song gives me a vibe of a nice day out at the fair. And when it’s in your mind, you don’t have to wear a face covering or stay apart from anyone. So let’s hear it for songs and stories that we can live vicariously through! >> You can find both songs at TimGearanMusic.com. ******************** Even in times like these, it seems Chandler Travis cannot sit still. He has just released 14 songs from his days with Steve Shook (aka Travis & Shook, aka Travis Shook & the Club Wow). Called Memoirs of An Opening Act, most of the songs are live, 40 years old, and previously unreleased in any form. Travis & Shook were a duo back in 1968. They played and toured constantly. Among the variety of artists they opened for was the legendary comedian George Carlin, who according to Chandler, kept them “touring and overpaid for ten years or so.” >> Check out Chandler Travis’ website for more releases than you can shake-a-stick at. For the time being, he is releasing songs from his archives every month. ********************
Cold Chocolate - the band lead by singer/ guitarist Ethan Robbins and percussionist Ariel Bernstein - have a new album out on June 26 . Down The Line is their third full length release. Robbins and Bernstein are very excited about a newer wrinkle to their sound. This collection of tunes has more electric instrumentation than what they are mostly known for. According to Bernstein, as evolving musicians, it is where they are now. So they are very excited about the new record. >> Can’t wait to investigate it for yourself? The title track is available online. Check their website, ColdChocolateMusic.com >> And if you are a fan of artistic drawings, you will also find the album art appealing. It is worth noting the artist: Erin Lobb Mason. th
******************** Another band promising a slightly new direction in their sound is Love Love, the multi-piece band lead by Chris Toppin and her husband Jefferson Reardon. Love Love expect to have their new album out by mid-June. According to Jefferson, it will have “a little more psychedelia, a little dash of R&B…” I definitely hear a little Marvin Gaye meets 1969 Miles Davis in the track called “How Lonely Can I Be With You?” The band do sound like they are enjoying reaching a little outside their zone, but Love Love’s comfort zone has been expanding everyway in their live shows. And whatever they do, if Jefferson & Chris’ harmonies are a part of it, I’m on board. >> What is easy to forget about Love Love is that Jefferson Reardon and Chris Toppin also have a production company called Witchwood Music Productions. And Witchwood has bands of its own. Jefferson promises releases this month and throughout the summer from some of their artists. More information can be found
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along the information-superhighway (no Masshole drivers to worry about on that road).
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Contact @ www.witchwoodmusic.com. ******************** That’s all for now. Thanks for supporting our many talented local musicians. I’d normally finish by saying something like, “see you out at the clubs or a summer venue soon.” But aaah… How about “keep your eyes on the websites/social media of your favorite artists and venues.” Hang in there, stay safe/sane/smart and whenever possible, humorous.
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photos: Perry Persoff
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- this month: little sketches that could‌
Wakana Yokota Irie
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[Wakana is originally from Japan who came to study & practice art here in Boston for many years. She and her family now live in California, where she is an active illustrator for magazines and comic books.]
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[Having often walked down these streets before, Tara continues to sketch houses & streets. Anybody home?]
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Afterland by Edward Morneau Part Six: The Cure for Hypnosis
From Part Five: “Bob looked closely and had to squint to frame the object with compressed clarity. He jerked backwards, shook his head, stood straight, then lifted his hand to his forehead. “It’s a cross.” “That’s right. A cruci3ix.” “Jesus!”
But it wasn’t Jesus. The personi3ication materializing on the cruci3ix was of no familiar historical representation, art or otherwise, of any Messiah, or any holy visage from existing faiths or remnant pagan beliefs. “I thought so at 3irst, counselor. I don’t know what it is, but I have my suspicions.” Zorwell knew more than he let on, but his justi3ied fear of the Vatican overreacting and shutting down Afterland was of greater concern than what Bob saw or didn’t see. The Vatican attorney was not convinced either way and would not stay to debate the issue. He knew this was not a ‘Jesus’ or any deliverer of such. What he did know was that it was a woman on that cross materializing just as The Entity was slowly taking shape before it. The Vatican would need to know this as soon as possible. “I must go, Zorwell. I’m still at a loss as to why you think any of this is so funny. I’ll have little else to report other than that you remain insane.”
“It pays the rent, counselor.” “Hmmm. For now, my friend; for now.”
“We’ll see. You saw what I saw, and you know that it’s the worst thing your bosses could imagine.” Bob stopped abruptly, stiffened and turned. His body language was theatrical, almost threatening. “My good friend—you may be a wizard when it comes to the the one’s and zeroes, but you know little about the ways of heaven and earth.” “No doubt, counselor. But as I have seen no evidence of heaven, and the world as it is has left me in doubt, I do know that the place we’ve both seen is a little more than what you think you know.” “Is that a riddle?” Bob was half-interested.
“Well, yes it is. Isn’t faith itself a riddle?”
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“You want to be philosophical? Suppose you are right. Let me riddle you in the form of a question: If whatever is on that cross is a woman, what use is Man?” “Hmmm… Big question. Is that’s what’s bothering you? The possibility that the Holy Trinity may be A Holy Quadrology—the Father, the Son, the Daughter, and the Holy Ghost? That the entire patriarchal edi3ice of religion will fall, like that abandoned building, if the deliverer is female? Is the symmetry too much for the Holy See? And you and your Vatican priests want to hold up that edi3ice? Very Samson of you. Looks like the gig is up for we brothers and this gender hypnosis is over?” “Something like that. Time will tell.” Bob looked at his watch. “Don’t show this video to anyone else…or else!”
“Or else? That’s not something you’d ever hear in Afterland, counselor.”
Bob gave Zorwell that special Old Testament stare… and he was gone, leaving the app master to prepare for the return of Professor Fenton Bailey, who did not exist. Zorwell was not used to guessing nor entertaining riddles. But later that day… “Professor Bailey, before you visit your wife, may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“I have it on good authority that you do not exist. Is that true?” Bailey did not so much as blink at the question. He decided to take off his hat and coat—maybe he was preparing for a more informal visit to Afterland. “You’ll have to be more speci3ic, young man. I am here, therefore I am, and because I am, I do exist.” Sheesh! thought Zorwell. God, Moses, Popeye, Iago —so many I am what I am’s. Greatest non-answer of all time; just more beatings around the bush. “Of course, but not as Professor Fenton Bailey. You are no such person, I’m sorry to say.” “Why are you sorry? That you know more about me than I know? Please! I know the power and paranoia that course through this church and all its manifest intrigue. Its history is long and it’s one of protecting and assuring that it remains in history forever. So…what did you 3ind out, other than I don’t exist?”
“You and your wife have something to do with what’s happening in Detroit.”
“What’s happening in Detroit?’
“Please don’t toy with me. The Manifestation—The Entity…?”
Bailey smiled. “Ooooo…! I can see the Hollywood italics around those words.” His smile straightened. “Let me ask you something, my young friend. What makes you think we have something to do with this Manifestation, this Entity?”
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“First of all, you were keen to revisit Afterland. No previous visitor expressed this desire before you. One visit seems to satisfy, whether it gives the visitor comfort or not. Second, according to you, your wife, Mollie, begged you not to return. If you really love her, you’d honor her wishes—you know, like the oath you honor in your vows—in sickness and in health? That oath should extend to in life and in death, shouldn’t it? After all, one of the great realizations about destiny is that there is none but what precedes it. Her death shines a path forward for your life, yes?”
“Pretty New Agey for a punk like you, young man. I mourn her. It’s that simple.”
“You mourn for yourself, and that is hardly that simple. You mourn her loss as it points out some deeper search for yourself.” “I suppose. If this is true, why do you say I don’t exist? Why search for something that’s not there? More importantly, why do you think my wife and I have something to do with what’s happening in Detroit?” “Oh, I think you exist, but according to the Vatican, you don’t. Not that I really care, but let me show you something that may answer the greater question.” Zorwell opens his cell phone and accesses the Afterland app and the footage of Bailey’s last visit. “What do you see, and don’t be coy?” Bailey knew this was all super3luous and that Zorwell discovered what he, himself, had discovered. “Do you 3ilm all of your client’s visits?” “Only recently. But let me show you something that you didn’t see. I kept my cell phone camera running after you left the app, as I was greatly touched by Mollie’s expression of sorrow and regret, and her warning for you not to return. Hers was a reverence to destiny that intrigued me.” Before Mollie had disappeared into the spectral mist from where she materialized, she sobbed and repeated to herself a short poem, over and over:
I am no one I am not here I have no name I have no home Millions walk by.
Professor Bailey froze, his reaction to Mollie’s words was a genu3lection to her sorrow—simple gestures of simultaneous recognition and confusion. A tear formed in one eye and dropped through his own time and space to form an intersection of his own destiny. The Greeks called it anagnorisis —a recognition before reversal. “She is preparing us.” He wiped his eye and faced Zorwell: “So, now you know.” “Hmmm…I’m not sure I know anything, Professor. Please explain.” “Before I do that, let me ask you: Have you shown this footage to anyone else? And don’t lie.”
“I have nothing to hide. Yes, I showed it to the Vatican attorney a little earlier today. I also showed him the cell phone video of Detroit. I didn’t, however, show him Mollie chanting her poem.” “What did he say when he saw that the orbs falling through Afterland were invigorating and protecting the apparition—this Materialization of an Entity, as you call it.” Zorwell laughs. “Those aren’t my terms. It’s, as you said earlier, a manufactured spectacle, which always seeks higher, more dramatic nomenclature. Anyway, he seemed unimpressed until he saw the cruci3ix.”
“What did he say?” Bailey seemed to be coaxing Zorwell towards a greater point.
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“He thought that the spectacle of a woman on the cruci3ix was a 3lagrancy the church would not tolerate. His reaction suggested that the whole thing is staged.”
“Flagrant is the foul upon those who deserves it least.”
“I suppose, whatever. But he seemed more playful than serious about the consequences of God returning as a woman. I’m not at all religious; I’m just voicing the logical epilogue to centuries of anticipation. I’m not sure he believes any of it, but he does work for the interests of the church and its history and narratives. To me he was playful, but I suspect he’s much more sinister in his misogyny. “I’m sure he’s a heathen in sheep’s clothing. Playful misogyny settles into the marrow of a serious man whose heart least deserves the woman with whom he wants to play, for it is no act.”
“You’d have to explain that last part, Professor.”
Bailey collected his coat and scarf and appeared to be 3inished with business.
“Are you leaving, Professor? So soon? I thought you wanted to see your wife again.”
Bailey handed Zorwell a check. “I have no need to visit again now. I didn’t think things were moving along this fast, but…well, here we are.” Zorwell pushed the check back into Bailey’s hand. “You can keep it. No charge. But tell me— Here. We. Are? Where? You said, She’s preparing us. For what?” With his coat on and scarf adjusted, Bailey reconsidered his steps and turned back. “I’m not sure you would understand, but you may be the one we are looking for.” “I’ve heard that before, but will never understand that invitation, especially since I’m so easy to 3ind these days.” “Engage me, Mr. Zorwell; let me continue as a sage. Collectively speaking, what is humankind ’s greatest fear— a fear above all other fears?” “I dunno. I can think of quite a few: death, poverty, mass annihilation, insigni3icance, public speaking, endless torment and suffering…I dunno.” “Public speaking?” Bailey laughed. “I knew you were the right man for the job.”
“Public speaking is humankind’s greatest fear?”
“You wish. No, I’m afraid it’s none of those, which are all good, solid fears, by the way.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Yes. Humility is your greatest fear. It’s your greatest deception.”
Zorwell was more taken back by Bailey’s not using our greatest fear, subtracting himself from anything to do with this side of humility. Hmmm. How deceiving is that? “Humility? Really? Seriously? Humility is a virtue. We embrace virtues, not fear them.”
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“One would think, but the opposite is true. From the slightest indifference to one microscopic cell of dead skin 3laking and falling off of your body, joining the dust of the universe, to the deist belief systems that have ruled over your imaginations for eons—you have feared to humble yourself to the lessons of change.” “Hmmm. That’s not all that profound, Professor. Change is dif3icult for most. The body restores as it decays…until it doesn't. One god replaces another…until it doesn’t. The spirit of change eludes many.” Until it doesn’t…Bailey knew at that moment, with those words, that this young man was indeed the Harvester of Souls needed for the eternal echoes of Afterland. “Yes, spirit is the answer, and not the ghostly apparitions of spirit that distracts and ordains what is holy or isn’t. “
“You lost me.”
“True spirit bridges time and place; it is the spirit that enables the ordinary person to navigate time and space. The best belief systems steeped in reconciliation last the longest, and, to our end, are the most useful, but seem to always fail at true redemption. Something always sours at the moment of what you call ‘deliverance’. It is your manifest fear of humility that corrupts the chance of redemption. We’ve studied you for eons and it’s always the same.” Zorwell listened, but had to rub his eyes. It was Fenton Bailey’s face. It was, or seemed to be, changing as he spoke. He saw geometric patterns carving away at his cheekbones and chin, and colors emerging from his skin, similar to how a photograph develops through the chemical 3ixer. In partial focus, he saw the cubes and orbs dancing in Afterland on Bailey’s face. Bailey continued: "You exhaust yourself with sin and war and collapse into desperation and mistake this desperation for a serviceable humility that will allow you to rise above your sins, but, alas, only in order to repeat the cycle again and again until nothing remains. In short, the cycle has to eventually end before nothing remains. No deliverance, no truth unto itself. Nothing. In short, you threaten everything.” It took some time to recover from what he saw, but he could not recover from what he heard without denigrating what he simply could not accept or understand. “Professor, really? I’ve heard this kind of ponti3icating nonsense before without the bene3it of a pontiff espousing these kinds of vague epiphanies. I’m just a young dude with a computer, a cellphone, and a popular app trying to get by like most of us. My spirit extends to simply making ends meet and giving my clients a chance to make peace with the dead. That’s my truth; that’s where I stand. The professor turned sharply, smiled, then reached into his overcoat and pulled out three red orbs and started juggling them with one hand. “You stand in time; your Aftlerland is but a stopwatch. But you know that, or not. Opposites demand humility. The juggler must let go.” Suddenly, the orbs remain in perpetual motion independent of his hand. “Just as the truth needs the lie, myth needs reality, love needs hate, and so on. The greatest of all enemies is having none. Having the humility to see both bears its own fruit. Our greatest fear regarding It s All About Arts Magazine une 2020
humility is having too much of it—like this Resurrection in Detroit; or not enough, which is the subjugation of the other—the CruciMixion. Simultaneous resurrection and cruci3ixion; redemption and condemnation together. Deliverance or End Times— choose your abstraction.” “Deliverance. Always. It’s in our nature to be delivered. Afterland is the postal system of the soul." Bailey laughed. “Listen. ’Tis true. The Deliverer is real, but without a name. It is ourselves elsewhere. We ourselves elsewhere is the Afterland. You will never understand this, or what you think you can understand, until you meet us halfway, until you engage the humility that will deliver your soul to the truth. Zorwell felt he was under a spell, fully hypnotized by the orbs before him. He muttered: “Who are you?” To be continued… Afterland & Collages Copyright 2019 Edward Morneau
It s All About Arts Magazine une 2020