Sandra Alland's blog-like entity

My Blog Lives Here Now

http://apps.blissfultimes.ca/Blog/

xox

September 1 - Athens Boys Choir/Team Gina/Star Pupils

Thanks to Y and T for this... my new anthem. "Fagette" by Athens Boys Choir, a lovely fagette from Athens, Georgia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayyPzuHGNU

Also fun are Team Gina. This is "Butch Femme" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfQ_ptzFv7M

And today's theme is Old Dogs, New Tricks. Education is a wonderful thing. People who really suck at something can get really good. Really, really good. They can become The Best Ever. That's my pep talk so all you folks will Go Back To School, whatever that means to you. It *is* September after all...

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August 31 - Absinthe/Buster Keaton/Simone de Beauvoir/Adios Zoom/Tektonik Dance!

Apparently, absinthe can make you fall off your chair, but prevents you from dropping your smoke...

A lovely night of Buster Keaton, and that other movie We Shall Not Mention. Except to quote Gimli: "Certainty of death, small chance of success...what are we waiting for?". Thanks V.

In other news, I read Simone de Beauvoir's Une mort très douce... what's that in English? A Very Soft Death. It's a memoir about the month she spent in the hospital when her mother was dying of cancer but didn't know it (everyone told her the operation was for a harmless growth). A fascinating and gutwrenching account of dying, and the philosophy and ethics around it.

In still other news, Canada's budget airline Zoom went bankrupt the day after I was planning to book my ticket for a visit home. Luckily, I got distracted by pretty things and forgot to do it. But it was still depressing, because how on earth will poor folks fly over the pond? Well, if you want to spend three extra hours doing so, there's always the ever-dependable Dutch. Thanks to N for pointing me in the direction of KLM.

I'm reading twice in Canadialand... November 3 at the launch of Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's new novel, and November 5 somewhere lovely TBA.

And finally, before I buckle down and get some work done. You. Must. Watch. This. It's all the rage in the streets and garages of Paris. It's ridiculous. But it's fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bytf3gZMFkY
If you like it, watch some of the video responses or search Tektonik Dance. I especially love the home videos. Thanks to D for the introduction to such high art!

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August 29 - Stuff (wherein the Poet poorly discusses her feelings about Trauma, and also Josephine Baker/Zebda/Catherine Tate)

So, yeah, life is disappointing. Forget it. In here, life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful...

I just saw a weird scene out my window. A Clear Channel van. A very drunk/drugged woman dragged inside by two guys, then let out a few minutes later. I'm not sure what happened. I have the license plate number. Who can I call who gives a shit?

In other news, Josephine Baker is brilliant, I bought a CD of her music in Paris and have been drooling ever since. Here's a youtube video of her... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHWXrOdgf8&feature=related

Also brilliant are Zebda, an Arabic North African French reggae/hip-hop-esque band from Toulouse. If you speak French here's their website: http://www.zebda.fr/openpopup.html

And if you're looking for a laugh check out Catherine Tate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooWIoSwEsZo This is called "Our John's a Gay Man Now." Thanks to D for it.

Gawd knows we all need a laugh...

In still other news, I thought I'd mention that trauma is something I've been thinking a whole lot about. Please take a second to read about it, even though it's a wiki definition. It would mean a lot to me.

I don't like to get too personal out here in cyberspace, but yeah, trauma. A few months ago, someone very dear to me was violently attacked by a racist homophobe and a system that protects him, and I was there too...and trauma has been the word of the day ever since. Don't worry, I'm okay. She'll be okay. But yeah, trauma is an interesting beast. I hope it never jumps your fence.

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August 25 - Au Revoir Paris

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August 24 (more) - Riot Cops & Waiting for Tamil Food

Well, we caught the tail end of a protest for illegal immigrants' rights. Then we waited a long time for some good Tamil food...

See pics here.

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August 24 - Mon Dieu, this goat's cheese! + Other Amazing Food/Cherished Dead Poets and Singers/Paris Graffiti

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August 23 - Back in Time to Edinburgh/ Paris at Night

Okay, so it stopped raining in Paris!

Here are some pics from the summer's festivities in Edinburgh: Ronan Sheehan's reading at Armchair Books, as well as Valliard, Luke Sheehan, Jim Ferguson and moi at Edinburgh College of Art. And a few shots of TePOOKA, okay mostly Hula Girl, cause, well, cause.

Scroll down if you are only interested in French things...

Click here for more Paris at Night

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August 22 - Later, more Paris

It's still raining. But ah, le camembert... ah, le fromage et le vin... Thanks to D and H for all the yummy food!

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August 22 - Gay Paris

It's been raining for 15 hours. Beckett is feeling rather soggy. But Edith Piaf is singing, so who can complain...

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August 20 - Victorian Fair photos

Ah, the train. Almost in London already...

I forget what day this was, but here are the TePOOKA folks and SR Gents having fun in the Meadows....

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August 18 - Ouchouchouchouchouch and A Million Things in a Week (Ryan Knighton/SR Gents/Louis Barabbas/Raise Your Hem/TePOOKA/Lucia y el Sexo/Cairngorms/ Tragically Flawed Books)

Oh dear me. The fibro the fibro. I guess sleeping everywhere but in my own bed doesn't help. (That's not quite as bad as it sounds...)

Finally our Festival guests have departed. We shall miss them. And yet, we shall not miss having No Room.

I have too many things to recount before I run off to sleep on Samuel Beckett's grave for a week. And too many bloody pictures... but I will give it a shot.

First of all, you must read Ryan Knighton's memoir, Cockeyed. It's about his childhood in suburban Canada, leaving home, his romantic relationships, living in South Korea, and the death of his bipolar brother. And dealing with the fact that he has retinitis pigmentosa (RP), "a congenital disease marked by a progressive pathology of night-blindness, tunnel vision and eventually total blindness." I am seriously hung over and have no imagination, so this is what Don McKellar had to say about it:

"This is what it's like to grow up, screw up your job, crash Dad's car, pick up the wrong chick at a punk bar, and strain your love life to the limit. But this time, there's a good excuse -- you can't see. No seriously, dude. You're blind."

But yes, it's really fucking funny. And sometimes brutal. It's always the people who make you laugh that make you cry the hardest too...
Knighton has a great wee website, go here:
www.ryanknighton.com

Okay next up. I've seen a bunch of fantastic musicians over the past while. They are SR Gents (our guests), Louis Barabbas and the Black Velvet Band, and Raise Your Hem. They have a similar vibe between them - I dunno, a bit cabaret, a bit klezmer, sometimes a bit creepy, always a lot passionate. And a dedication to playing their instruments really damn well. Also all three groups have wonderful singers. And the Gents are French. Kinda. Which always counts for something...

If you're in Edinburgh, Louis Barabbas is still playing at the Hill Street Theatre, which is a nice space by the way. Their show also has some fine monologues between songs. And Raise Your Hem are at The Forest this Wednesday. Sadly I will not be.

SR Gents at Edinburgh Books

Louis Barabbas at The Hill Street Theatre

Raise Your Hem at TePOOKA

Raise Your Hem were guests at TePooka. TePOOKA are these mad circus-y folk who put on a pretty damn good show for the Festival. I am in love with Hula Hoop Girl. She can hula like no one's mother. There was also some great storytelling, and trapeze.

What else? I saw the film Lucia y el Sexo. It's Magnificent.

I went to the Cairngorms. Those are mountains in the highlands. It was also Fantastic. Except for the part when I was walking along a beautiful trail in the woods and suddenly came across a hideous clearcut. I guess humans will really just never Get It.

And last but most definitely not least, Valliard launched his first chapbook, and that of Luke Sheehan, with his new press, Tragically Flawed Books. We read together, along with the magnificent Jim Ferguson. Good times. Jim was great as usual, and Valliard is utterly gripping. I could listen for hours.The books are gorgeous, too, inside and out. Buy them, they're cheap.

A. Valliard

More pics coming next week, of summer madness, and of me and Sammy B hanging in the graveyard...

Phew.

Okay, over and out, as my dear friend Razovsky says. xoxo

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August 11 - I'm reading. Cuz that's what I do.

Saturday 16 Aug 2008, 16:00
Evolution Cafe, Evolution House (on West Port), Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF
Cost : free!

The last hour of The Four-Hour Festival, featuring Jim Ferguson, M Valliard, Luke Sheehan and others. The building is the one on West Port in between Armchair Books (72-74 West Port) and Edinburgh Books (145-147 West Port.) It’s made almost entirely of glass and it's on the corner.

In other news, I'm ignoring The Festival very very well. I guess I'm finally From Here. Or something...

Also have I told you lately how much I hate fibromyalgia? Or how much I love my mother?

Happy birthday to all my beautiful Leos -- V, G, Y, R. Gawd there's enough of you to form a zoo. But I hate zoos. And all forms of animal-taming. Be free, crazy lions, be free!

xo

August 1 -

Dearest A in London --
You are The Best.
Today is August, August!
I have taken your advice
and decided to go fishing.
I know that wasn't your advice
but I don't want other people
to know your advice.
It was for me.
And when something is for you,
you have to hold it tight
to your chest.
But also I like fish.
I won't catch any,
I promise,
I only have my bare hands.
But I am going fishing.
Kisses,
S