Something that one of my online yoga teachers (yep, we’re going back there) said is that there is a moment to be still in any posture our lives bring about, but that stillness is never really completely still: our muscles make small adjustments as do our minds in those moments. Though we are to bring our minds back into focus in the times it wanders off, the wandering in and of itself is not a bad thing. In fact, we should acknowledge those thoughts before dismissing them. We should allow ourselves to be as we are until the changes that we are making daily take hold and bring us into our new existence. The past two years has been quite the learning experience here at SMOG….I know what you’re thinking - we’ve only really been around for a year and a half. Yes to the public eye, we’ve only been up and running since last January; but, behind the scenes, we have been hard at work since long before then. There have been ups and downs, but what I think has been most important is knowing how to “fail upwards.” If something doesn’t work, evolve. That is exactly what we are doing with this September Issue. We are learning what works - what you TasteMakers respond to...and how to better serve that purpose. So this is our Second Coming so to speak or our version of Deja-Vu - I do hope to expand beyond the working definition. While you have Already Seen us, we want to bring new things into your periphery and hope that you will return the favor. Welcome to our new Ode to the Second City and the world of art as we see it. We hope you’ll enjoy our opening collage of people, places, and things that we have happened upon during our exploration - including a lovely singer I met on the #62 - Vivian Garcia (aka, The Fly Mariposa), an old college friend and fabulous guitarist, Larry Brown Jr. we got to see at the house of Blues performing with Elissa, street art and the like. After which follow our travel man in #STEVKOAGOGO to Seville and Malaga; and get the Highlights with resident makeup artist, The Mahogany Dahlia. In the Chi, pitchers aren’t the only ones throwing Curve Balls...just ask Robin! To top it all off, we were granted an interview with the lovely Candice Capps-Tate owner and designer of Henry Charles. She’s quite inspiring as are are all of you TasteMakers! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Nic Nichole Dominique Slaughter Editor in Chief
My Shopping List Robin Ann Jones As you know now, I have type 2 diabetes, and it has not been easy. Although diabetes has a lot to do with genetics, I can also preserve my quality of life by watching what I eat and getting regular exercise. The hard part is changing habits that I’ve had for most of my life. I have never been a heavy eater. I have moments when I should probably cook food instead of ordering. I will have coffee for breakfast, chips for lunch and pizza for dinner. I was so busy counting calories that I didn’t pay attention to the sugar or sodium I was consuming. I thought because I didn’t eat a lot, I would be okay. The biggest misconception about diabetes is that it’s a fat person’s disease. We don’t watch what we eat and we let ourselves go. I spent most of my college career playing sports and I spent high school in sports. During the off-season, I played volleyball and soccer . I worked a job that required movement and some sort of agility for over a decade. I was relatively active; more so in my early and mid-20’s than I was in my 30’s. My father died from complications of diabetes and I am sure my mom had hypertension and was pre-diabetic. It was almost inevitable that I would end up with diabetes. I have aunts and uncles who are diabetic. Some of them are thin and active while others are not. My
point is that, this not something that was caused by me eating too many pizzas, however, I can better manage it by managing how many pizzas I have. I always keep the Doctor’s words in my head like a mantra. “No one ever dies from diabetes; they die from complications of it. If I were ever to have a disease I would want to be diabetic because we can control how much of our life it affects.” I can control how it impacts my life now and 20 years from now. I will fully admit I find it very difficult to change my entire life. Being Diabetic does not require an Atkins diet here or there. It’s a complete lifestyle change. You have to change your mindset and look at all foods differently. I was never a big red meat eater and don’t eat pork. Chicken and fish are my go tos. I love vegetables and fruits. My personal issue was being a grazer - I had to learn to take the time to make actual meals and make them as healthy as I could. I always cook in olive oil and fried food happens once a year when my bestie makes me fried chicken. I bake chicken and the slow cooker has become my absolute best friend. I can throw in some chicken, vegetables, seasoning and let it cook. It helps me with meal prepping for the days I don’t want to cook. Instead of ordering, I have the food I made previously. Getting rid of salt, however, was a little bit of a struggle. I never put a lot of salt on my food, but as a diabetic with high blood pressure, I have to watch all sodium levels. Salt and sugar are my worst enemy. I wanted to take my diagnosis seriously. I don’t want to die young if I could help it and I want to keep all my limbs. So, I scoured the internet for a diabetic grocery list. I have an idea of the types of foods I should avoid and the ones I should have, but even the foods that I think I could have turn out to be bad for me. Because I have to watch sodium intake as well, there are things that I just cannot have. I found a ton of grocery lists, all over the internet but settled on a list from Lovetoknow.com. Annette McDermott, a certified Nutrition and Health specialist wrote the list as a guide for those with diabetes. I love the way it breaks things down into sections and is very detailed in each section of what you should eat. A lot of the food like chicken, vegetables and fruits I always have a lot of. Others like club soda and bouillon, I have to stay away from because of my blood pressure. For anyone looking for a basic place to start, I recommend this list. It is good. I don’t eat everything on the list and I watch the carbs and sodium intake. This is a long journey but changing a lifestyle now will do wonders in the future. If I really think about it, I’m not actually changing anything really. I’m just revisiting and revising. If I feel good on the inside, it will most certainly show on the outside. I’m just becoming who I’m meant to be. For Annette’s article and grocery list, Click Here.
Why Spain? While I speak conversational Spanish and can proficiently lisp all my C's, S's, and Z's to match the diction of Spaniards, Spain was never at the top of my bucket list. Even after a surprise and enjoyable reroute to Barcelona last year, I kind of left it at that. This summer, though, I had multiple friends bring up this certain city: Málaga. Having never have heard of it, I later investigated online. It looked great on my computer screen, as most things do (like my friends' lives on instagram). Tinkering with the idea further, I played with my favorite toy, the search engine aggregator Skiplagged.com; inserting the city's name in the 'From" or "to" categories with wild abandon. Oh F***. I refreshed my page to a deal that seems to have been waiting for me all along. A trip from Amsterdam to the Costa del Sol. Later, arriving in Malaga, my knowledge of the Muslim influence in Spain came rushing back in memories of the Stravinsky ballet "Petrushka". The ballet's antagonist, the Moor, was my first breath of Spanish Middle Eastern air. Moors, the Muslim people of the Iberian peninsula, spread Islam throughout all but Northern Spain around the 6th century of the Common Era, as I discovered in The Great Courses Plus with my Art of Charm Subscription. Below, the Arabic architectural influence is blatantly obvious in the colorful, glazed tiles, winding arabesque filigree, and slender towers,which seem too similar to the minarets of mosques, from which the muezzin calls Muslims to prayer 5 times each day.
A rare summer treat: an empty row! Joke’s on me, I can never sleep on a plane.
Málaga: the birthplace of Picasso. Despite being from Chicago, this bullfighter piece outside the arena may be my favorite of his works.
The Muslim fortress in Málaga.
La Casa de Guardia: serving local wine from barrels since 1840.
Plaza de España In Seville:Built for the world's fair Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. If you're ever going to have your breath taken by a park, this is this one.
Garden courtyard of Alcazaba, through the eye of an Arabic influenced archway. More Muslim culture than I had known permeated itself in Europe via Spain. Spanish words for rice (arroz) and sugar (azúcar) are of Arabic origin, including the region which is called Andalucía, from the Al-Andalus. The guitar as we know it today is also descended from the Oud of the Middle East The people of the three Abrahamic religions (Christians, Jews, and Muslims) lived peacefully, for the most part, under Spanish Muslim rule by paying a tax.
"You've seen one, you've seen them all," I think when I visit a cathedral. And then I saw Seville's Catedral de Santa María de la Sede…
For more of my travels and #dancerslife, follow me on Instagram @jmstevko (aka #stevkoagogo) Until next time, TasteMakers…
Hello Beauties!! It’s your resident MUA, The Mahogany Dahlia for this fall’s Beauty Obsession. Summer is coming to an end, and If you’re like me then the end of summer means the end of your summer glow. Like how will we get cuffed during cuffing season if our popping-ass tan isn’t here to help make us look like a freshly glazed honey bun? Well have no fear The Dahlia has got you covered with this fall’s beauty obsession: a list of my all-time 5 favorite HIGHLIGHTERS & BODY SHIMMERS.
No. 5: Naked Illuminated Shimmer in Lit by Urban Decay I reach for this when I want a nice soft glow more so when I’m going for the “natural” look. This is great for those who are just starting out and don’t want an overpowering glow.
No. 4: Peach Nectar Illuminator by Anastasia Beverly Hills Packed with champagne wishes and caviar dreams peach
nectar is the comfort food of highlighter. Its warm tones of peach, gold, and swirled with frost like finish give off a fresh face healthy glow.
No. 3: The Blush Palette Vol. II by Juvia’s Place Juvia debuted two blush palettes during the summer of course I have both but I find myself reaching for the Blush II palette more than anything. So how could a blush palette make my highlighter list you ask? One word SOLA,
ugh be still my little gen X heart. They added the color of the summer as a blush/highlighter in this six color palette ROSE GOLD. It’s not to pink & not too much gold it is literally the perfect shade. As an added bonus this palette makes a gorgeous neutral eye look with a pop of color.
No. 2: The Alchemist Palette by Kat Von D This tiny palette really packs a punch the Alchemist palette originally debut last fall. At the time I wasn’t so sure if I wanted it or not the color scheme didn’t thrill me to be honest. This bad boy is número dos on my list for a reason I decided to pick it up on my trip to IMATS NYC this year (you can check out my IMATS HAUL on my channel Click Here ) and was blown away by the color pay off. Like everyone I’ve gotten more into the colored highlighters but there weren’t any that appealed to me (and I know what you’re thinking JS has a whole slew of colored highlighters but as a brown skin chic y’all already know why that isn’t an option). My most fave of this quad has to be the Amethyst the overall tone is a light purple with undertones of royal blue and pink.
No 1: Mineralize Skin Finish in Gold Deposit by MAC Gold Deposit is my HOLY GRAIL of highlighters. When I want to be seen (which is all the time, lol) I’m reaching for this oldie but goodie. It has tones of copper and gold that make for the perfect glow in any season. This puppy literally goes EVERYWHERE I go, because you never know when you might have to serve glazed honey bun realness.
This Summer has been quite the experience with SMOG. We’ve begun picking up steam and as such were invited to The Makeup Show here in Chicago. I walked in not really knowing what to expect and feel like I walked out a bit smarter from sitting in some of the classes and definitely more inspired creatively. One of the first booths that I happened upon was Henry Charles. Little did I know, the founder, Candice Capps-Tate was the one educating me about the line. The bags are fabulous. Definitely on my fall wish list! My personal favorite is the pink bag that states, “Perfect is Boring.” Truthfully that’s what sealed the deal for me. Instantaneously fascinated and wanting to learn more about the woman behind that bag. The best part about that, is she’s just as fabulous and kind as that statement led me to believe she would be. With a bit of buzz coming from influencers and makeup lines we all love and a bag that is currently patent pending, Candice is definitely worthy of the TasteMaker moniker. Though we were unable to meet up, she so graciously answered some of my questions. We hope you are as inspired as we are!
How long ago did you begin working on Henry Charles?
[I] Started conceptualizing in 2014, but the real work began in the beginning of 2015 What did it look like in it’s inception as compared to now? (Tell us a bit about your journey)
The brainstorming process was a lot of fun. It involved a lot fine detailing such as sourcing fabrics from around the world and constructing mock up bags out of post it notes and sketching out functionality. I would study for hours the complexity of what I
hated about current makeup bags on the market and what I wanted to do differently. It would plague me if I couldn’t solve a problem…until some nights I would just wake up with the answer! Now we have full-fledged patent pending designs that big brands such as Tarte have reposted and big collabs in the works, and sometimes I really can’t believe this is all happening. Where do you see Henry Charles in the next 3-5 years?
I’d like us to penetrate the market deeper with more major retailers, do more pop-ups, and collabs with exciting influencers. I’d like to integrate more partnerships with makeup and skincare brands that we believe in and feel align with our brand. Would you like to expand beyond make-up bags, and if so what other items would you like to carry?
Yes. Absolutely. I started my tenure as a handbag designer and that’s actually the reason why I segued into cosmetic bags and built such a passion for it. I’d like to own the beauty accessories market including home organizational goods for beauty and travel. I’d also like a share at the pro-accessories market for makeup artists. Oh! and my pipeline dream is to get into formulation and actually create a beauty line. Call me crazy, but this girl’s got big dreams.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but your products are 100% vegan?
Yes, they are! We don’t use leather and we use only the highest quality polyurethanes (vegan leather) and avoid PVC whenever possible. We also use the highest testing standards for critical substances…so not only are our bags cruelty free, but they’re also non-toxic, which is huge. A lot of people don’t realize most cosmetic bags are highly toxic, which contain chemicals that secrete onto your brushes and makeup..and then eventually onto your face! Yikes. We even do a higher testing standard than Prop 65. It’s very important to us. Where are the bags made?
By our proud factories in the Guangzhou region of China. All our suppliers pass factory audits and are socially compliant. Not only do we check for this information up front, but we have worked with these suppliers for many years and also visit them more than bi-annually for inspections and quality control meetings. Eventually we’d like to explore other regions of Asia for manufacturing as well as USA and Mexico. But we have to figure out how to do that without sacrificing quality nor raising our prices to our customers. Value is key. Also, many people do not realize almost every part of our bags are handmade. A lot of attention to detail goes into these bags that are created by very skilled artisans and these artisans are extremely hard to find.
You mention on your site the influence your grandfather had on you...what other sources of inspiration/influencers do you look to daily?
I like to focus on the beauty brands that I love to see what they’re doing…ie: Glossier, Sunday Riley, Tatcha, Bite Beauty, etc. Where can Henry Charles bags be purchased?
Online at Henrycharles.com, Bluefly.com, select boutiques, Salons, and pop ups. We also do a lot of the industry beauty shows such as The Makeup Show, Indie Beauty Expo and Beautycon. And Who is the person you see carrying them?
Our girl is very trendy and chic- not overly cheesed out or girlie with the overdone makeup looks that we see a lot of today. She’s the quirky cool girl..think of her as an older Coachella girl who also loves beauty. If she were a retailer, she’d be Sephora meets Anthropologie. She really cares about quality and doesn’t mind investing in a nice bag to carry her nice products that she’s carefully curated so she can show it off to friends at brunch or let it sit pretty in her bathroom. Oh, and our bags are for men too! A lot of the bags in the Blue Moon collection tend to be crowd pleasers with men. Which bag do you currently carry?
LOL…all of them! It’s my job to test them, so I might not be the best person to ask..haha☺ But I can say that if you only had to buy one bag from us- it definitely has to be our patent-pending Large Deluxe Cosmetic. It’s by far our #1 seller and it will organize EVERYTHING including full size palettes (think Urban Decay Naked) and Pro Size brushes. Most makeup bags do not fit these size products. It’s so funny, when I created the line was worried about the price of the Large Deluxe. I mean, obviously I see the value and know the craftsmanship it takes to produce this item. But I’m learning that if people are going to invest- they want a super tricked out back that organizes everything. Good thing I have a bunch more patent-pending designs down the pipeline!
And what 2-3 products do you carry in it daily?
I love to travel with a gazillion of my fave products. I get away with doing this by using free samples (ala Sephora promo codes) to use as travel size items…so everything is really tiny. I don’t travel with full size anything- not even a hair brush. So whether it’s my favorite face cream from Tatcha, or my Dr. Jart Ceramidin serum, or my Hourglass mascaras and Dior primer…everything is mini sized. I shove it all in there so I have options on the road☺. But our bags totally fit full size products and were designed for them. I just choose to shove more in like a true product junkie. Lastly, what advice would you give to other female entrepreneurs?
Learn to sacrifice. There’s the saying you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at once. I truly believe that. There are going to be times in your life when you have to grind and suffer, but it’s for the greater good of what lies ahead. When things don’t work out as planned or on schedule, make small adjustments to get back on track. Learn to stop comparing yourself to your past self or only living in the future. Work vigorously and track your time to ensure it’s productive. You can only do so much in 24 hours so make it good. Try to delegate as much as possible and get some free help from friends and family. You can have it all, but you might have to puts some major things on hold in
order to pursue your dream. Make it happen and be relentless. The word “No” is the biggest fuel to the flame. Prove them wrong.
[From Left: Buttress and Snatch (Bespoke) Lingerie, Poppy Pour Over, Patek Phillippe Nautilus Watch]
[From Top Left: The Underground Railroad, Underground Airlines, Six Seasons, Handbook for the Recently Deceased, Tartine All Day, Crate and Barrel Gia Sofa]
[From Top Left: Pigma Micron Pens, Liberty of London for Anthropology Tea Cup and Mugs, Deep House Yoga, Go Pro HERO5 with Three Way Mount, Philips VoiceTracer]
[From Top Left: Cabeau Evolution Travel Pillow, Converse Chuck II Low Top, Hoodied Batgirl Hoodie, Swiss Gear 5815 Laptop Backpack, Givenchy Antigona Satchel, Gucci Marmont Loafer]
I hope you guys are enjoying our new site design and magazine. We have worked long and hard to make this a great experience for you! Of course, I could not let our first issue with Issuu pass without our favorite little Sex in the Second City storytimes. So sit back, relax and let me tell you about a guy named Manuel… Manuel was one of those mistakes that you never want to admit to because you constantly ask yourself, “What the f*** was I thinking.” Manuel is my coyote ugly. Believe me, I have made some dubious and questionable choices in men, but he tops the charts. If seeing him again meant a long satisfying life from cold horrible death or hypothermia, I would rather take my chances and freeze to death; but I digress. We did not date very long because he was easily influenced by his socially inept friends, and he wanted to cheat. I find the cheating part most amusing, but we will get to the why later. He was one of those “slide into my DM’s” kind of bad romance. I initially turned him down because he appeared to be a few fries short of a happy meal but said yes because we became Facebook friends and it looked like he had his life together. He was going to DePaul, majoring in what I’m not sure. For all intents and purposes, I could deal with his lack of sex appeal. He was cute in a What’s Eating Gilbert Grape kind of way, and I’ve always had a soft spot for strays. When it came time to meet, he asked me to meet him at the Longhorn Steakhouse. Flashing lights should have deployed in my head just by the choice of the restaurant, but curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction did NOT bring me back to life. We started dating. He adored me and I was bored. He was good company. I had just ended a relationship that I was working really hard to get over and he was a distraction. I knew he was not someone I could spend the rest of my life with and that was okay. One of my besties told me that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone knew. We wouldn’t last more than a year or two but it didn’t matter if I was only intending to get my groove back. This was just sex and I figured he was such a pleaser, how bad could it really be? Give me a second while I go curl up in a corner and cry for a moment. He came over one night and I decided that we were going to get it in. We went out a few times before we actually had sex. I remember going to the store and getting a new body splash, a cute pair of lacey panties and some Aloe Vera Nair. I spent an hour in the shower making sure every inch was as smooth as butter. I spritz perfume everywhere,
got out my sexiest nightie, lit some candles, sat back and let nature do the rest. Not to toot my own horn, but I looked damned good. I was a snack I was waiting for him to enjoy every inch. Have you ever had one of those out of body moments, where your soul actually leaves your body and hovers over you? That’s what happened to me. I could feel my soul leave my body and hovering over the bed. I was afraid to look at myself because I knew if I did, there would be no coming back from the words that would spew out of my mouth. Manuel decided that he was going to take control. He laid me down and started from my feet. He trailed kisses all over my body. I remember closing my eyes and saying to myself, “Self, you better enjoy every moment of this! Also, don’t forget to thank my bestie because she was so right.” Toni, remind me to “thank you” later. (Insert sarcasm here) He began to take off his clothes and I knew it wouldn’t be long. He removed his pants and went to work; just not in my vagina. You absolutely read that right. He was huffing and puffing and blew the house down so hard that he actually drooled on me. He had sweat beads on the side of his face and he was moving like he was drilling another tunnel for El Chapo. The whole thing lasted about 4 minutes, 6 if you include the time he paused to talk “dirty” to me, which didn’t really seem all that sexy when it sounds like your partner is fighting for oxygen. Needless to say, he was done within minutes. He rolls over, lays down and says “Damn girl, you felt so good.” Now, under normal circumstances, this might be an actual compliment except for the fact, that intercourse did not take place, at least not the kind that involves insertion. What he did was f*** my inner thigh something fierce. Yeah, let that sink in. Manny the 4-minute drooler made extensive love to my thigh and he thought it was the most amazing thing he ever felt. If it’s any consolation, I shaved and used a mixture of baby oil and baby magic, so I could possibly see where maybe he got confused. Although, unless he’s used to having intercourse with extremely large vaginal openings, I still don’t fully understand what exactly he thought he was doing. To find the underlying cause of this and why he was so happy with the job he thought he did but didn’t actually do, I decided to do a little investigating. I usually have a little inspection before the foreplay, but the lights were off and he was so eager to get started that I figured I would explore later. As he lay there, I sat up, removed the condom, looked at his penis and then it all began to make since. His penis was crooked. Like REALLY crooked. I had never seen a penis that literally folded over. As soon as he got an erection, it curved almost to the point where it looked painful. Not all men are created equal so I try to be understanding and not judge. I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and I know that it was nature’s way of being an asshole for giving him a folding penis. The problem is that you can’t be an idiot, an asshole and conceited when your penis looks like Captain Hook’s hook….and you’re having sex with thighs. Somewhere you have to realize that you should probably be a little nicer of a human being. I also think he has developed some sort of dissociative disorder because he never really seemed to grasp the concept that he was a few inches away from being able to have sex with himself. As we lay there and I thought the night couldn’t get any more bizarre, he tells
me, “We could never not use condoms because I would get you pregnant almost immediately.” I. Beg. Your. F******. Pardon??
I think I laughed so hard and so long that I might have peed a little which would have been the most action my vagina received from him that night. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or punch him. Was he so obtuse that he had no idea that he had sex with my leg? I knew then that we were never going to be anything more than a story to tell my girlfriends. What made it worse was his attitude. Eventually that night would pass and we would go on for a little bit longer with me finding every excuse not to want to have sex. He was even bad with using his hands (think S.O.S pad) and after he drooled on me, I was okay with no oral activity. I got carpal tunnel from trying to extend his penis to make it useful for oral sex so there was nothing really left to do. When our “platonic” relationship had run its course and I called it quits, he became angry. He was mad and indignant. How could a fat b**** like me break up with him? Ladies, don’t you just love how some boys (they aren’t real men) go for the most obvious insult? Seriously, that was his comeback. I was fat when you met me and when you were having the best sex of your life. If there is ever a time to NOT take birth control, it was then. I have never been less worried about anything in my life. I tried to be polite at first and not say anything. The insults would have been too easy for me. I took his verbal attacks because I knew that no matter what he said, he would always be crooked, drool boy Manny. There was no insult in the world that would change that. I blocked his number and tried to move on with my life, which wasn’t very hard. He would eventually send me messages via Facebook and call multiple times over Facebook. He went so far as to send me a picture of his penis. I knew then that he must have lost oxygen in the birth canal during his delivery. How could you visibly stand in a mirror, NAKED, and take a picture with a penis that was flirting with your a**hole? Truth be told, he didn’t really need me, he could almost satisfy himself. He is the reason everything I do over social media is meticulous and private. He found me on multiple apps and still hasn’t figured out that I would rather lick a horse’s testicle than be with him again. I want to think that I could have worked with the crookedness, but like I said, something’s got to give. If you’re going to be a jerk, make sure you have something to back it up with. That’s the trouble with the curve, a guy has no choice but to change his attitude when his penis looks like a crescent moon.
“Behold. I am weary of my wisdom, like the bee that has gathered too much honey; I need hands outstretched to take it” (1). The descent from the mount that Zarathustra made his home for ten years in search of deeper truths and learning the meaning of life has begun as the first open intervals are played in the perfectly tuned orchestra that patiently awaits their conductor’s dive into this philosophically charged tone poem. As within the book, the piece begins with Sunrise. Though our prophet is weary, the sun has risen and set each day of his tenure
on the mount. He speaks to it as though a friend or student of what the Sun has to teach him. It is not until the third repetition of this opening fanfare that we see the vastness of the earth and nature represented with a C major chord. As conductor Marin Alsop (a pupil of Leonard Bernstein) has named it, “the universal/human chord” calling it primal due to it having no flats or sharps (2). In a way it represents the vastness of possibility which may be why - even if you don’t recognize the title as Op 30 Also Sprach Zarathustra, you have inevitably heard this piece. You may know it as the opening theme to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Richard Strauss
Friedrich Nietzsche
Truthfully, I never really connected with the film. I have viewed scenes from it, but have never been able to watch it from beginning to end because, to me, it feels incredibly droll! However, Kubrick made a brilliant choice in changing the score of the film in the final weeks leading up to its theatrical release. Changing isn’t entirely correct...Kubrick used music he expected to be temporary during the editing process as he had
commissioned film composer Alex North to score the film. To his dying day, North believed that the film worked better with his score (3). Call me biased, but I don’t think his music had the same effect. Though it was thoroughly composed, it did not give a sense of wonder that the “Dawn of Man” really required. Clearly Kubrick agreed.
Locating themes in Nietzsche’s work and hearing the piece by Richard Strauss (composed in 1896), Kubrick brilliantly matched the connection between these two Masterpieces and used what he knew was best in the circumstance...creating what is definitely considered a Modern Masterpiece. As promised in the first installment of Culture of Classics, I would like to help educate us all in some of the arts we may have forgotten. While in this piece, we briefly touched on Strauss’ Op 30: Also Sprach Zarathustra, the rest of this month will be dedicated to other works of Richard Strauss helping to get past the obvious and have deeper understanding of the composer and some of his lesser known works. I would encourage you not only to read this, but listen objectively and form your own opinions about this piece (as well as his others). Currently, Spotify has quite a few recordings of the tone poem, but I find this RECORDING on YouTube to be the best as the composer is conducting his own work in the way he intended it to be heard.