Do you ever think of showers as like a new beginning? 20-year-old Leeds-based songwriter Amber Strawbridge asks on the opening track of her new EP, Sometimes I Forget Youre Human Too. The project, out today via Clue Records, indeed marks a kind of new beginning for the dream-pop artist, who was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria and started making songs on GarageBand while literally bored at her grandmothers place. After releasing a series of singles on SoundCloud as well as Isolation Tape, in her words a kind of random release that nevertheless allowed her to further explore her sound, her latest finds her refining her approach with help from producer Alex Greaves while retaining the lo-fi, bedroom pop charm of her early productions. Nowhere is this more evident than on opener Showers, which conjures the kind of soaring hook youd expect from any of the big names in shoegazey alt-rock, while the title track swirls in a melodic haze and Skin cuts through the messiness of human relationships. With the addition of live drums and gauzy layers of guitars towering above her, it sounds like watching someone beginning to open up to the immensity of the world around them as they reflect on things either lost or forgotten, but no longer completely out of view.

We caught up with Amber Strawbridge aka Bored at My Grandmas House for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and talk to them about their music.

How are you? How has your day been so far?

Ive not done much today. I went for a walk, that was fun. Im at my parents house at the minute because of lockdown.

I just noticed what does the poster behind you say?

It says, Animals are my friends and I dont eat my friends. Its by Bernard Shaw, whos a really great writer.

Are you interested in veganism and animal rights?

Yeah, I mean, Im vegan, so.

Me too actually, which is why that caught my eye. This isnt how these interviews normally start!

Yeah, I was raised veggie, so its kind of always been normal to me. And then I went vegan around five years ago.

Thats really cool. And from what I understand, you also grew up in a kind of musical family and around many instruments? Do you have any early memories of being drawn to music?

My parents used to just take me to loads of different little festivals. They were just really weird hippie festivals with like, gypsy jazz, folk music, that kind of stuff. So I was just always surrounded by loads and loads of different types of we went to, like, Austria, and went to festivals there, so I had a really good childhood in that sense. And my dad plays loads of different instruments like piano and violin. I think he just kind of let me do whatever I wanted, like I cant even play piano or violin, but just having them there and just him playing stuff, I think it probably subconsciously affected me.

What types of music were you exposed to at the time, and what did you find yourself gravitating towards?

I feel like when everybodys younger they kind of just listen to whatever their parents are listening to, so like, Pink Floyd, The Police, David Bowie, that kind of stuff, but also just weird folk bands who I dont even know the name of. And I have an older brother, so then I progressed into liking what he liked, and he just liked loads of indie bands. And when I got a bit older, I just found my own niche, I guess, I went more into shoegazey kind of people.

I got my guitar because I saw Ellie [Rowsell] from Wolf Alice with her guitar and I was like, I want that. And then I just taught myself.

What was it that drew you to shoegaze?

Its actually kind of weird, because I was listening to shoegaze before I actually knew what shoegaze was. So I was listening to bands that were probably influenced by like, Slowdive or Jesus and the Mary Chain, like bigger shoegaze people. And then I started to make music and people would come up to me and be like, Oh, I like how youve got that shoegaze sound and I was like, What? What is shoegaze? I didnt even know what it was, and then I started to get more into it.

When did you go from uploading songs on SoundCloud to deciding you were going to make this EP? How did the idea of the project come about?

For this EP, I did the songs in the first lockdown, so all of them were just recorded when I came back home. And I dont know, I think it was just like, Id been at uni for so many months and at uni its just very fast-paced and like everyones constantly doing stuff and then when I came home, it was kind of a calmness that I could get in touch with my thoughts and everything, and I just wrote a lot.

Its interesting that you mention that, because Im curious about the title of the EP, Sometimes I Forget Youre Human Too. Youve said thats about the realization that not everyone has got it together all the time. Where did that realization come from?

I think I started writing that song at uni, because it was kind of around a time when everyone was just I think for me, Im always like, Oh, I should be doing more work or like, I should be doing better, like Im quite self-critical. And I cant put my finger on it, but just one day I was like, everybody has their own kind of faults or demons that theyre dealing with or whatever. I think it was kind of good for me to know, because the songs kind of me reassuring myself that its okay if youre not 100% amazing all the time. Because, you know, everybody else isnt.

Do you feel that relates at all to being a perfectionist? Is that something that informs how you approach music?

Its weird, because with songs I dont really like to go back to them. I do them as a whole product and then I find it difficult to go back I have a kind of flow of thoughts so I find it difficult to then get back to the same headspace that I was in when I was writing it. So I guess that would be not perfectionism, but I just think in day-to-day life Im quite a perfectionist. I just like to achieve things. [laughs] Im just like, Oh, I cant watch TV because I should be doing this, which is more productive, that kind of thing.

To change the subject a little bit, throughout the EP, I noticed there are a lot of references to water, from Showers to Summer, where you sing about hanging by the lakes, and of course the closing track, Safer at Sea. And I know you grew up in a coastal town as well.

Yeah, thats where Im at.

Was there any particular reason you found yourself returning to that kind of imagery?

You know what, Ive never thought about that, so thats a good point. It wasnt a conscious decision, maybe subconsciously. Maybe its just a safe space or what Im used to, maybe, or have always been surrounded by. I live by the coast, and then I also like 10 minutes out of the Lake District. And I guess in a way, because I came home from uni which is like a city, which is the opposite of my hometown, coming back from somewhere thats busy and just big lights and all that kind of stuff to, like, nature, maybe I was just reconnecting with that. But it wasnt deliberate.

To get to Safer at Sea specifically, which stands out to me lyrically. It feels like quite a vulnerable moment on the record. Do you remember what was going through your mind while writing that song?

I think what it was was, I started writing it during lockdown and there was just lots of things happening. There was something to do with the refugee crisis and like, one of the MPs said something really just horrible. And I was just so angry about it, and I think the line safer at sea its kind of like theres these people who are like, Were gonna travel across the sea to try and come to a safe space, and then theyve been met with horrible bigotry and it just contradicts what theyre hoping for. So the sea in the middle is like the safe space when theres not that, and none of society. And then I just kind of thought, maybe everyones safer at sea, like theres no racism, sexism, anything, its just peaceful. And then in the verses, I was kind of expressing how I feel a bit distant from society sometimes.

Could you talk more about that feeling?

I think its when things like that happen, like when I hear somebody say something that I just do not understand at all, I just dont understand how people like that can exist. And then because you live in a bubble, like I live with people who are on the same wavelength and we all have kind of similar opinions, I think its easy to get trapped in the thought that everyone thinks like you, whereas if you watch the news you can easily see that not everythings the same.

Thats interesting, it sounds like you feel strongly about injustice in general, and maybe that relates back to veganism as well?

Yeah, definitely. During the time I was writing, it was the comment about the refugees that really pissed me off, but the thing as a whole is like, you know, if everybody was vegan, if everybody wasnt racist or xenophobic, it would just be a better place. And obviously, thats not what it is at the minute, so the sea is kind of a better place. I think thats what I meant at the time.

I know you recently put together a band do you have any plans that youre excited about in the coming months or anything that youre working on currently?

Well, my band is just going to be my live band, so Im still gonna do everything myself and record it all myself. But I really, really wanna do gigs, thats my main thing. Ive got a catalog of songs now that are ready, so hopefully that will happen soon.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Bored at My Grandmas Houses Sometimes I Forget Youre Human Too EP is out now via Clue Records.

Read the original here:
Artist Spotlight: Bored at My Grandmas House - Our Culture - Our Culture Mag

George Bernard Shaw is one of the most celebrated writers to emerge from Ireland and is the only person to have won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize in Literature.

The only man in the world to have won a Nobel Prize for Literature (Pygmalion) and an Oscar (for the screenplay of Pygmalion), George Bernard Shaw was a rare wit, journalist, author, and iconic Irishman,born on July 26, in 1856.He died on November 2, 1950, at the age of 94 while he was working on his next play.

His lifes work includes over 60 plays, as well as highly esteemed works of journalism, essays, novels, and short stories. He was also co-founder of the London School of Economics. His works engaged on many social issues including education, marriage, religion, government, healthcare, and class privilege.

George Bernard Shaw, pictured here circa 1920 (Getty Images)

Shaw was born on Synge Street, in Dublins city center on July 26, 1856, to George Carr Shaw, an unsuccessful grain merchant, and Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw, ne Gurly, a singer. He attended Wesley College, a Methodist grammar school, before being transferred to Dublin's Central Model School. He ended his formal education at the Dublin English Scientific and Commercial Day School.

At 16, Shaws mother followed her voice teacher to London, Shaw's two sisters going with her. He remained in Dublin and worked as a clerk in a real estate office.

In 1876 he joined his mother in London. His mothers partner George Vandeleur Lee provided him with a pound a week affording him to visit public libraries and the British Museum reading room where he studied earnestly and began writing novels. His literary earnings remained negligible until 1885 when he became self-supporting as a critic of the arts.

In 1884 he joined the Fabian Society, turning his attention to politics. The societys goal was the transformation of England through a more vibrant political and intellectual base.

A year after he joined he began to get some writing work in the form of book reviews and art, music, and theater criticism.

George Bernard Shaw, circa 1946 (Getty Images)

In 1895, he was brought aboard the Saturday Review as its theater critic. It was at this point that Shaw began writing plays.

His first plays were published in volumes titled "Plays Unpleasant" (containing Widowers' Houses, The Philanderer and Mrs. Warren's Profession) and "Plays Pleasant" (which had Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny and You Never Can Tell).

They were filled with his signature wit along with a healthy dose of social criticism.

Around the period he wrote, Caesar and Cleopatra (1898) his works came into their own.

In 1903, Shaw wrote Man and Superman, whose third act, "Don Juan in Hell," achieved a status larger than the play itself and is often staged as a separate play entirely. While Shaw would write plays for the next 50 years, the plays written in the 20 years after Man and Superman became foundational plays in his oeuvre. Works such as Major Barbara (1905), The Doctor's Dilemma (1906), Androcles and the Lion (1912) and Saint Joan (1923) established Shaw as a front line and popular dramatist of his day.

In 1912 came his most famous play, Pygmalion, which won him a Nobel Prize and eventually an Oscar. Amazingly, Shaw turned down the opportunity to be a Member of Parliament and all other honors or prizes.

Looking for Irish book recommendations or to meet with others who share your love for Irish literature? Join IrishCentrals Book Club on Facebook and enjoy our book-loving community.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

A happy family is but an earlier heaven.

Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.

There is no sincerer love than the love of food.

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.

If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance.

Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.

George Bernard Shaw, pictured here in 1925 (Getty Images)

What's your favorite piece of work from George Bernard Shaw? Let us know in the comments!

*Originally published in October 2014.

Excerpt from:
The life and greatest quotes of George Bernard Shaw, Nobel Prize and Oscar winner - IrishCentral

The UNC Greensboro School of Theatre is pleased to present Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw, for on-demand streaming Mar. 18-20. The story follows the strength and resistance of Joan of Arc and her determination to help France with the word of God. She challenged the cowardice and lack of imagination of the establishment and, against all odds, was canonized as a Saint--but not before being burned at the stake as a religious heretic. Joans story still speaks truth to the world of today as women continue to be treated skeptically when voicing their truths to the powerful men of both church and state.

Director John Gulley hopes that the challenging and funny play will resonate with audiences at UNCG and beyond. While George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan is set in 15th century France, it's surprisingly-and distressingly-relevant to today's world. Gulley said. It's a profoundly moving story about a young woman challenging the establishment: the government, the church, the military. It's a powerful story of a young woman challenging the sexism and misogyny of her day. Lest audiences expect a heavy drama, Gulley reminds us that Shaw, one of the greatest English dramatists in history, was not without his sense of humor: As with all of Shaw's plays, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Shaw makes his message more palatable with a good dose of humor. St. Joan has plenty of laughs in itand even moments of pure farce.

Publicity photos for Spring 21 procession of Saint Joan.

Saint Joan will be performed and filmed with social distancing. Tickets will be available for online streaming March 18-20.

Tickets for on-demand streaming are available online at http://www.uncgtheatre.com, by phone (336.334.4392), or in-person at the UNCG Theatre Box Office located at 406 Tate Street., Greensboro, NC 27412. The hours for operation at the UNCG Theatre Box Office are Monday-Friday 1:00-5:00 pm.

About the UNC Greensboro School of Theatre

The UNC Greensboro School of Theatre educates and trains students as professional artists in a wide range of theatrical specialties. Our programs include technical production, design, theatre education, performance, theatre for youth, and directing. Our rigorous BA, BFA, and MFA programs produce exemplary theatre artists with the applicable knowledge, skills, and vision to work professionally in the performing arts. With the help of the National Theatre Honors Fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega, students are furthering their experiences for service inside and outside our community. The School of Theatre is committed to creating and nurturing a diverse, engaged, and artistically well-balanced body of future professionals, performers, and teachers. Our mission is to strengthen our students goals, enhance their talents, lead them towards success and help them to turn passion into purpose on and off the stage.

Publicity photos for Spring 21 procession of Saint Joan.

About UNC Greensboro

UNC Greensboro, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is one of fifty doctoral institutions recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for both higher research activity and community engagement. Founded in 1891 and one of the original three UNC system institutions, UNC Greensboro isone ofthe most diverse universities in the state with 20,000+students and 2,800+faculty and staff members representing 90+ nationalities. With 17 Division I athletic teams, 85 undergraduate degrees in over 125 areas of study, in addition to 74 masters and 32 doctoral programs, UNC Greensboro is consistently recognized nationally among the top universities for academic excellence and value, with noted strengths in visual and performing arts, health and wellness, nursing, education and more. For additional information, please visituncg.eduand follow UNCG onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.

Find us on Twitter: @UNCGTheatre

Facebook: @UNCGTheatre

Instagram: @UNCGTheatre & @UNCGmt

YouTube: @UNCGTheatre

Bios and Headshots: http://www.UNCGTheatre.com

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Saint Joan: Speaking Truth to Power | Music | yesweekly.com - Yes! Weekly

Ron Cole | Fosters Daily Democrat

Happy February to yall. Looks like Mother Nature decided to remind us what winter is like in Dover.

Speaking of Dover, it is time once again to see what it was like around here almost 400 years ago. On Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., Dover400 will be hosting a webinar by Paul and Denise Pouliot as they present "Dover In the 17th Century: Abenaki Life and History from an Indigenous Perspective." Theyll be discussing the myths, misconceptions and much more of an acculturated and assimilated indigenous people telling, among other things, what relationships were like during colonial encroachment and violence which had a major impact on colonial Dover. You can register for this amazing insight into what happened to life back then atdover400.org.

Lots of things bouncing around the area, so lets get to it:

Remember the old saying those who can, do; those who cant, teach? It is a stupid line written in the early 1900sby George Bernard Shaw for his play "Man and Superman."

The implication being that people teach because they cant function in their chosen occupation. This ignores that fact that most of our high achievers also happen to be teachers. Einstein, Robert Frost, J.K. Rowling are a few (think of a couple of your favorites).

Here are a couple names of local note that you have been affected by and will be honored and recognized hearing more of in the near future: Joanne Houston and Cheryl Richardson. They have been teaching for many years at Spaulding High School. Much of their good work has been related to music: marching bands, chorale groups, many many musicals and much more. If youve ever attended a play at Spaulding, the famous Dover High School Band Show or performances by the Seacoast mixed high school choral groups, You have stood up and given a standing ovation to one of their inspired works. Joanne and Cheryl are retiring this year and hundreds and hundreds of Rochester residents are making plans for some pretty impressive stuff honoring them. And this tell just a part of two awesome human beings. Yeah … for teachers! Wait till you hear some of the comments … Ill keep you posted.

Heres a unique guy hes Hilltop City through and through. Dana Hilliard is a graduate of Somersworth High School, both Plymouth State University and Keene State College. Five times served as state rep (for Somersworth, of course), city councilor, more than 22 years in education, 10 as principal of Somersworth Middle School. Now he gets to use that experience in his new position as director of school district operations. He always said it would take a lot to get him away from the middle school building and now he has all the buildings. Oh did I mention ... hes the mayor, too. Darn those educators. I guess some of them are OK. LOL.

A funny thought entered my mind at just the right time the other day. I was thinking about how impressive it is firefighters are heroic for the jobs they do. They get called out in all weather and to do anything that needs to be done - last week for days with the temp dropping to zero w/wind and then a noreaster on top of that .... it must have been brutal. Lo and behold, one of Facebooks members made a bit of an off the cuff remark that firefighters are not heroes, but well paid employees of the city doing their job. That set the locals off with a vast number of folks disagreeing.

My view:

Now Im 80 years old - when growing up Gloucester had a large number of very old wooden summer hotels that had outlived their value and many (some suspiciously) burned to the ground in horrific conflagrations which I watched on the sidelines (for my parents were big fans of big fires and since I was an only child I went with them). I learned first-hand how dangerous these jobs were. Things are different in the 21st century, but one thing hasnt changed …heat, exhaustion, burns, physical and mental stress and toxic hazards are all part of the job. There are many jobs that one can take and sit in an office every day. Ive covered many fires and many accidents these guys and gals sure arent doing it for the money. One other thing Ive learned: Every firefighter certainly doesnt do it for the money, they do it because they care.

What do you think folks? Let me know. Who are your heroes?

Be kind and empathetic, please

Ron Cole can be reached at mrdoverdoins@gmail.com.

Read the original:
Dover Doins: Heroes all around in our community - Foster's Daily Democrat

Yes, AA Milne, Im looking at you. For much of my childhood, I wondered at the stupid name you gave that donkey. Photograph: Getty Images

My recent comments on rhoticity the rolling of Rs after vowels, as practised in Ireland and most of the US but not in posher parts of England brought a plea from reader Pat McLaughlin about something that really annoys him. Its the habit, widespread even in this country, of writing er to suggest the hesitation in speech that we actually pronounced eh.

I can accept it from the pen of an English, Welsh, or ANZ person, since they would pronounce er as ehh, he says. But an Irish person pronounces er as err [] This is not the way anyone expresses hesitation here. Pat adds: You may be shocked to learn that I have even come across this aberration in The Irish Times Quelle horreur!

Well, no, Im not shocked. I suspect I have myself perpetrated this outrage on occasion, so used am I to seeing it in print elsewhere. But I take the point. It must be another vestige of what I call Flat-r imperialism the assumption by non-rhotic writers and speakers that everyone else in the world thinks as they do.

Yes, AA Milne, Im looking at you. For much of my childhood, I wondered at the stupid name you gave that donkey, until one day it finally dawned that where you live, Eeyore is the sound donkeys make. Where I grew up, they always said Heehaw (yes, even the Protestant donkeys pronounced their haitches).

Anyway, the er/eh issue reminds me of two stories involving Oscar Wilde, one annoying, the other puzzling. The annoying one is a supposed witticism he cracked once at the expense of his fellow Dubliner George Bernard Shaw when they were both making names in London.

Shaw was thinking of starting a journal as a vehicle for his many strong opinions and planned to call it Shaws Magazine, for added self-promotion. Shaw! Shaw! Shaw! he said, thumping the table. Whereupon Wilde asked: Yes, but how would you spell it?

Now perhaps the pun there was on Pshaw!, an old-fashioned expression of impatience, which would make the joke tolerable. But I fear Wilde was instead thinking of Sure (something GBS was about everything, especially himself), which in non-rhotic speech approximates to Shaw, although that would be a verbal atrocity of this side of the Irish Sea.

My suspicions on this are supported by a news story from Australia another Flat-R stronghold a few years ago, about two sporting brothers named Shaw. The headline read: To be Shaw, to be Shaw. Ouch. But whatever about Wilde, thats not how GBS spoke. We have no recordings of the formers voice anywhere, but we have plenty of Shaws, in which he never left an r unrolled. His monologues are rhotic masterpieces.

The other Wilde story concerns an article he wrote in 1887, called The American Invasion. It was a satire on Americans in England and included this (about how US women modified their voices to infiltrate society): Some of them have been known to acquire a fashionable drawl in two Seasons; and after they have been presented to Royalty they roll their rs as vigorously as a young equerry or an old lady-in-waiting.

This implies not only that 1880s Americans did not roll their Rs before coming to England (possible if they were from, say, Massachusetts), but that they did so on arrival in imitation of the local aristocracy. Can this be true? Can R-rolling have been the prestige accent in London society as recently as then, before becoming the opposite? If only we had recordings from the period.

There was a debate on Twitter this week about how Edward Carson, the Dublin-born hero of Unionism, spoke. His voice seems not to be preserved anywhere. All we have are the assurances of historians that he retained a strong Dublin accent all his life, and even exaggerated it in London courts (including the one where he prosecuted Wilde), so that: Theyd think he was a Dublin eejit and then hed make mincemeat of them.

Whether Carson rolled his Rs or not, however, his followers do. Ulster may say no, but it never says Ulstah. Rhotic speech is such a unifying factor in modern Ireland, north and south, its a wonder the DUP havent come out against it yet.

A bigger social divide here, arguably, concerns the pronunciation of vowels before the r. As Ross OCarroll-Kelly demonstrates, corrs are a thing you drive in Dublin, whereas elsewhere theyre good-looking singers from Dundalk.

Still, if Phil Coulters rugby anthem were to be adopted for political use in a future United Ireland, he could do worse that add another verse: Ireland, Ireland/In peacetime or in wars/Shoulder to shoulder/We always roll our Rs.

Follow this link:
To er is human Frank McNally on the scourge of rhotic imperialism - The Irish Times

Sweetheart candy hearts are seen on the shelf at the To The Moon Marketplace on January 29, 2019, in Wilton Manors, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Listen to tales of love and heartbreak. Learn to cook vegan coconut flan. Watch stories of love and friendship at the Reel Love Film Fest. Listen to a panel discussion about the Black women of rock and roll. Kick back at a screening of Minari, the story of a Korean American family that moves to an Arkansas farm. Bite into a half-off pizza deal on National Pizza Day (Tuesday, Feb. 9).

February StorySLAM: Love HurtsThe Moth returns with tales of love and heartbreak. If you have a story to share, prepare a five-minute version for a chance to be featured. The night is hosted by Angelica Lindsey-Ali from the Phoenix StorySLAM community.COST: $10; MORE INFO

Elijah Cummings' MemoirALOUD at the Central Library presents a program that centers around the late congressman's memoir, We're Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy. His widow, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, will be joined in by James Dale, the book's coauthor.COST: FREE - $33.99; MORE INFO

Cooking with LACMAJocelyn Ramirez of Todo Verde, a plant-based Mexican food company, holds a live cook-along of vegan coconut flan inspired by Frida Kahlo's painting "Weeping Coconuts (Cocos gimientes)!" The ingredients are listed on LACMA's website. The program starts with an introduction by LACMA educator Vivian Lin who discusses Kahlo's work and others who have portrayed her. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Suspiria: Drive-In Dine-Out Mess Hall at FLIGHT1705 Flight Way, TustinThe Frida Cinema teams up with the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival for a pop-up screening of Dario Argento's 1977 horror flick. When the young dancer Suzy (Jessica Harper) attends a prestigious ballet school in Germany, she finds that it holds a dark secret. Bring your own food or purchase from one of the Mess Hall's restaurants before the film.COST: $25 per car; MORE INFO

Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and RollIn her book Black Diamond Queens, Maureen Mahon documents the history of Black women in rock from the 1950s to the 1980s. She's joined for a panel discussion by Daphne Brooks of Yale University,Gayle Wald of George Washington University and visual artist Nikita Gale. They'll also discuss the history of performance as it impacts the California African American Museum's exhibition, Nikita Gale: PRIVATE DANCER. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Heartbeat Opera: Breathing Free The indie opera company's latest work, Breathing Free, is a filmed song cycle dedicated to the celebration of Black artistic voices. It builds on Heartbeat's collaboration with 100 incarcerated singers in six prison choirs. Live opening remarks, a post-screening panel discussion and an audience Q&A will accompany each presentation. This is the work's West Coast Premiere and is presented online by The Broad Stage. COST: $10 - $75 (pay what you can); MORE INFO

Reel Love Film FestJust in time for Valentine's Day, this virtual film fest focuses on new love stories, from romance to family and friendship. Opening the festival is the punk-rock misfit love story Dinner in America. Several diverse short and feature films round out the schedule. Complementary programming includes podcasts, live storytelling and open mics. These include Alie Stewart's Never Sent, featuring participants reading from past letters, emails and texts they didn't send.COST: $10 - $85; MORE INFO

Major Rewrite Theatre Forty presents a Zoom reading of a new comedy by Michael Halperin. Based on true events, several film stars Charles Laughton, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Glynis Johns, Eli Wallach, Burgess Meredith gather in Boston in 1956 for George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara. Between their egos, personal crises and pressure from the House Un-American Activities Committee, they reach a boiling point when Herman Wouk, brought in to edit the play, throws everyone off-balance. COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Welcome to Your FantasySpotify's latest true crime podcast premieres this week and it focuses on the story of the male "exotic dancers" of Chippendales in the 1980s. Beyond the g-strings and oiled pecs, host and historian Natalia Petrzela uncovers a story of greed, corruption and murder in eight episodes. The podcast follows how two men an immigrant from India and a children's TV producer from New Jersey transformed a seedy L.A. nightclub into a global phenomenon.COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

California LiteJulie Rico has curated an online art show for the nomadic New York-based gallery Arcade Project Curatorial. The exhibition brings together 26 multicultural artists living in California to present their interpretations of light and life under the California sky.COST: FREE; MORE INFO

MinariWE Drive-Ins302 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica The new drive-in space (in the Sears parking lot) opens this week with a screening of last year's Sundance darling about a Korean American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American dream. COST: Tickets start at $30; MORE INFO

Stars of JazzThe UCLA Film & Television Archive presents a screening of two newly preserved episodes, with improved audio, from the Stars of Jazz, a television series that ran from 1956 to 1958 on KABC. Hosted by musician and actor Bobby Troup (the songwriter of "Route 66"), it showcased the jazz music and musicians at a time when few Black artists were seen on TV. Historian James A. Harrod, author of the book Stars of Jazz: A Complete History of the Innovative Television Series, 1956-1958, joins TV archivist Mark Quigley for a post-screening conversation.COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Boys State Virtual Live Q&AThis Apple original film follows the annual immersive program in which 1,000 Texas high school seniors gather for a mock exercise in building their own state government. Even at this age, the film shows that differing personalities and politics don't often mix. Join filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss as well as student Steve Garza for a live, post-screening Q&A.COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

This Album Saved My BreakupKCRW holds an anti-Valentine's Day event for the sad, the single or those in a sentimental mood. KCRW DJs Anne Litt, Novena Carmel, Anthony Valadez, Chris Douridas, Travis Holcombe and Jeremy Sole celebrate our love/hate relationship with the Hallmark holiday as they chat about the albums that got people through their breakups. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Mr. Wash & Ikechukwu OnyewuenyiThe Hammer Museum presents a conversation between Fulton Leroy Washington (aka MR. WASH) and Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi focusing on Mr. Wash's painting practice. He creates portraits of public figures and individuals that he met while wrongfully incarcerated for more than two decades. You can see Mr. Wash's works at both the Hammer and The Huntington. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Art Past Present with Meleko MokgosiThe Wende Museum's online series continues with a Zoom conversation with Meleko Mokgosi, an artist and assistant professor at Yale University. His work includes large-scale paintings that explore themes of colonialism, democracy, nationalism and life in Southern Africa. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

The HeadThe international thriller The Head premiered last week in the U.S. on HBO Max. The six-episode survival saga is set in an Antarctic research station where the winter team must remain for six months, until spring. When the relief crew arrives, they find most of the winter team either dead or missing. It's up to Johan Berg (Alexander Willaume) to find his missing wife and uncover the killer. Yes, it's bleak but it's intriguing. Produced in Spain, it is in English, Danish, Swedish and Spanish. Watch on HBO Max.

Who doesn't miss going out to eat or stopping by a bar for a drink? Here are a few options from restaurants and bars as we work our way back toward normal.

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Fabulous Online And IRL Events This Week: Feb. 8 - 11 - LAist

An image of Christ in the Aya Sofya, Istanbul. Getty Images

The English writer Richard Ingrams will be remembered by Irish readers as the author of the foreword to The Ulick OConnor Diaries: 1970-1981. Among his many other publications is a book called Authors Take Sides, an anthology of the reflections of well-known writers on Jesus Christ some positive, some negative. George Bernard Shaw, for example, was not overly impressed: It is quite clear from the Gospel narrative that Jesus connived at his own death in the belief that he would rise again . . . History has not confirmed his belief.

Conan Doyle thought differently: But the wonderful thing is that by devious paths we have got back to Christianity once more and that the Christ figure appears more beautiful and understandable as ever, He has ceased to be a miracle. He has become our friend and brother.

What is interesting about the book is the common acceptance of the goodness of the man Jesus, his life and his teaching. This probably represents the view of many today who relate easily to this down-to-earth man who the Bible tells us went about doing good; they admire him as such but may not be too sure about anything beyond that.

St Paul, who is remembered for his dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus, began writing his epistles about 20 years after the death of Jesus and, it is worth saying, before the earliest gospel. In these letters he very often uses the name/title Christ rather than Jesus. It is as if for him Jesus died and Christ rose; a way of saying that there is much more to the Jesus story than we might think; that what was revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who is also the Christ is not confined to first-century Palestine but is of universal and timeless significance.

His letter to the Colossians which provides tomorrows epistle reading implies that our Jesus is too small; that the one we are comfortable with as Jesus of Nazareth is in fact the Cosmic Christ:

He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers all things have been created through him and for him.

In other words, he is not a denominational or cultural Christ, not a Christ domesticated by any church; nor is he defined by what humans say about him or want him to be; he is God in action.

Tomorrows Gospel reading makes the same point: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

It is difficult to express the Jesus/Christ relationship in simple language, but could it be otherwise?

We are grappling with profound mystery beyond words and beyond human understanding.

Brother Roger of the Taiz community acknowledged the difficulty: Together with the whole people of God, from all over the world, you are invited to live a life exceeding all your hopes. On your own, how could you ever experience the radiance of Gods presence? God is too dazzling to be looked upon. He is a God who blinds our sight. It is Christ who channels this consuming fire and allows God to shine through without dazzling us. Christ is present, close to each one of us, whether we know him or not. He is so bound up with us that he lives within us, even when we are unaware of him. He is there in secret, a fire burning in his heart, a light in the darkness. But Christ is also someone other than yourself. He is alive; he stands beyond, ahead of you. Here is his secret: he loved you first. That is the meaning of your life: to be loved forever, loved to all eternity , . .

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Thinking Anew A universal and timeless significance - The Irish Times

John Heilpern.

The NY Observers drama critic, a Brit, brought an outsiders inquisitiveness to the American theatre, as well as principled grouchiness.

John Heilpern, longtime theatre critic for theNew York Observerand author ofJohn Osborne: The Many Lives of the Angry Young ManandConference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa, died on Jan. 7. He was 78.

I didnt know John Heilpern well, and I spent very little time with himtwo facts that I regret very deeply now that he is gone. I saw John mainly at the theatre, where we would often find ourselves seated near one another at press performances. Our conversations consisted mainly of a few words of greeting before a show, and an occasional bit of chat at intermission.

This was rare for me: I am something of a hermit by nature, and I was never wholly comfortable with the New York critical fraternitys old-time habit of clustering together and muttering comments on the piece under review that evening. In my lumpish and socially reclusive manner, I tended to adhere more to the rubric that Bernard Shaw once laid down: A critics hand should be against every man, and every mans hand against his.

With John things were different. Socially forthright and articulate in a way that I was not, he came from the British journalistic tradition, in which collegiality does not exclude or gloss over disagreements about ideas. As a result, his social conversation at press performances was very different from the superficial sociability and gossip that too often pass for conversation among some of New Yorks more cynical daily and weekly reviewers.

In the first place, being from a different country, where theatre practice and theatres place in the larger culture are very differentdecades of transatlantic interchange have not made New York and London all that much like each otherhe had questions about the how and the why of New York theatre, and particularly of Broadway. What drove people to put on a given play, and what drove audiences to like it, were subjects of fascination to him.

This was rare in my experience; far too many of our critics are interested in the profitability of a production, and not in the motives behind its success. John put his questions gruffly but succinctly, never with hostility to the play at hand (though he made no bones about his displeasure when he felt put off or let down by the work), but with the honest puzzlement of a serious traveler striving to grasp the customs of an arcane foreign world.

I remember on one occasion, at the intermission of a very long and incident-crammed play with a large cast, finding myself in a corner of the lobby with him, while he begged me, in a tone of almost anthropological curiosity, to explain how such a play could have the acclaim this one was audibly receiving. Disliking the work every bit as much as he did, I remember trying to explain to him, rather lamely, that Americans had become habituated to soap opera; when that clearly wouldnt wash, I recall going on, still more lamely, to say something about the national fondness for all-you-can-eat restaurants. The expression that crossed Johns face made clear what he thought of my comparison.

His intellectual curiosity, always attempting to evolve answers to the puzzling questions America posed, gave his reviews in the New York Observer a special cachet for me. They were not like any other critics reviews. They gave an Englishmans viewpoint of American workand certainly not a typically English viewpoint, either, for Johns personality, both in person and on the page, was distinctive. Though sociable and gregarious by instinct, he was also something of a groucha temperament that comes naturally to theatre critics, who have to sit through much that is second- or third-rate while waiting and longing for the first-rate work with the astonishing streak of brilliance that will make the whole procedure of nightly theatregoing seem worthwhile. John was not a snarky negativist but an honest and fair-minded grouch, who kept his patience until some event came along that made him lose it. (I am trying very hard here not to mention the name of the TV star whose solo performance on Broadway drove John to a comparison with the drunken party behavior of an elderly relative.)

In his reviews, John had no hesitation about finding some gem of goodness in even the unhappiest theatrical mishap. But he was watchful for, and unyielding about, any attempt to palm off the shoddy on unsuspecting audiences. Most particularly, he was infuriated by facile attempts to shock. When he felt he had ethical justifications to wax grouchy, he did not hold back. It was not always easy to agree with him in such cases, and on one or two occasions I found myself openly arguing with him over the matter, but I always came away admiring the absolute forthrightness of his moral stance.

Even when disagreeing, I found this aspect of Johns writing particularly admirable. With rare exceptions, I had largely given up expecting my colleagues to think beyond easy platitudes, politically or morally. John would seize on a plays politics and, if he saw fit, slam them down violently. On one of these occasions, he paid me a most startling compliment. At least, I think it was a compliment. John and I had both attended the revival of a well-known play that I had found thoroughly repellent. Because the playwright and his work were valued in many quarters, some close to home for me, I had tried to convey an objective view of the plays substance while expressing what I thought was a thoroughly negative view of it.

Imagine my surprise when Johns review, in the next weeks Observer, quoted a phrase from my low estimate of the work, while adding that I viewed the play far more generously than he did. I was dumbfounded. But I had only been negative about the playwilling to give its theatrical strategies some credit while condemning its overall outlook. John, having seized on the latter and belabored the playwright for it, had been ferocious. So I suppose in that sense I was taking a more generous view of the work than he was, though I doubt that it seemed so to the unfortunate playwright.

Among my minor regrets is that I never asked John about the origin of his email address. Some misinformed person, on some occasion or other, must have addressed him, or perhaps introduced him, as John Hatpin, and Johns sardonic sense of humor, perhaps seasoned with a touch of defiant bravado, led him to select hatpin as his email address. I sometimes addressed him in emails, joshingly, as Dr. Hatpin, but I never asked him where the joke originated.

Now I wish I knew, for I miss both the sardonic humor and the bravado, along with the fervent passion for principle, that lay behind them. I respected John most, I see now, because he was a believer. The theatre for him was something more than a diversion; it was a cultural expression that invited and challenged thought. He had no patience with those who would cheapen it or use it as a vehicle for glib ironies. Sometimes, when I think I am being too easy on such transgressors, I regret not being more like him.

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AMERICAN THEATRE | The Sardonic, Curious, Unyielding John Heilpern - American Theatre

I spent a great percentage of my working life inside of a courtroom trying cases from dog bites to murder. Medical malpractice to child custody. Land disputes to will contests. I was not the usual lawyer of the times who did corporate work, drew wills, closed real estate transactions, and went home. While I did practice in some of these areas, trying cases in front of learned judges or not-so-learned juries was a totally different life experience.

When you are in the middle of a trial, you dont quit at 5 p.m. You work late into the evening preparing for the next day. Trials start at 10 a.m. and run to 4:30 in many cases. You have no time during the day to prepare. You are battling a competent opponent the entire time. You have to think on your feet. Even though much is now available to both sides through pretrial discovery, there is always a change in the presentation. A witness changes his or her testimony a bit from what was expected. Motions that were not really expected are made from the opponent. Rulings by the judge may also change your immediate direction.

In other words, you have to be alert, creative, and flexible. None of these creates calmness. And these trial days may go on for a while. My longest was 18 days from start to finish with only Saturdays and Sundays off. You go to bed each night and rethink the events of the day. Too often you curse yourself for a reaction or the lack of a reaction to something that was said or introduced. It is a constant rethink.

Second-guessing is not uncommon in many peoples lives. What should I have said? Or why didnt I think of that then? We trial lawyers do this rethink to ourselves all the time. I am sure some of the professional witnesses do the same. I am sure police officers testifying in a trial go home that night kicking themselves that they could have responded better. In criticizing an opponents argument, one might use one of the following to illustrate its inapplicability or a wrong conclusion.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. This from Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

To fend off an attack on your argument, perhaps a form of comparison to this:

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of a complete fool.

Doug Adams in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

But when all the commotion is over, one might remember this:

Do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.

William Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew.

Those are my favorite quotes from the practice of law. Certainly they need to be reworded to meet a situation, but they have a core value. Over the years, harsh words have been exchanged between counsels, but there are limits that should be observed.

Years ago, I was trying a very cantankerous trial against the late Lennie Sacks, a most worthy advocate and opponent. All of a sudden, he tried to introduce something that was totally inadmissible. I objected but was also incensed. With that, Lennie came over to my table and asked if I would stipulate to an exhibit. I responded F- You, Lenny. He never said another word, finished with his witness, and the day was over. On the way out of court he looked at me and said, Denny, we are friends. You should not say f- you to a friend. You could say up your ss, or stick it where the sun dont shine, but not the f word. We are friends.

I was duly embarrassed, but had to laugh at the humor of his alternative suggestions. So I said to him, OK, up yours, and can I buy you a drink? We had that drink, and I had something to think about. That word disappeared from my vocabulary when used in any aggressive way. I had just used it against an attorney that I truly liked and respected. I wish I had said something instead, like after that cheap trick you just pulled, would anyone but an idiot agree to stipulate to anything?

But I didnt. So I decided that I would work on some retorts that could sting but not damage. Maybe I could have used Yogi Berras phrase, It aint over til its over, Lennie. So we should work on a list of comebacks that are firm but gentle and yet accomplish the purpose.

I must confess that a couple of weeks ago, I submitted an article in which I had famous retorts, one in particular about George Bernard Shaw. Shaw had an intense dislike of Winston Churchill and proved it by sending him a note. I have enclosed two tickets to the first night of my new play. Bring a friend, if you have one.

One of my readers later responded with an email about my article disclosing various classic putdowns and informed me that there was a second part to the Shaw/Churchill note. Apparently Mr. Churchill responded to Mr. Shaw, I cant make it for the opening night, but could come the second night if the play is still running. Not too bad, Mr. Churchill.

As I contemplate my retirement, especially in these times of the pandemic, I sometimes think that I miss those days of mental combat. I know I sleep better now, and I have more time to do things that I had thought about, but there is a gap some days for mental gymnastics and butting heads with very bright lawyers.

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Dennis Marek: I wish I had thought of that - Kankakee Daily Journal

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume button also turns to the left, once famously said Jerry M. Wright. We have just celebrated a rather significant birthday, a landmark, in the Thomas household. Yes, my wife is slowly and surely catching me up but I doubt she ever will.

To be honest I have got to the stage when I have to think twice when people ask me how old I am. Thats probably another sign of aging.

Just last week I was writing an article about the popularity of pop stars on social media. As I was reading the data it struck me that I hadnt heard of anyone on the list. I had no idea of what they sung or even what they looked like, and yet they were the major music influencers of today.

I am finding that one major advantage of aging is that I just dont give a damn anymore. I have trouble enough remembering pop stars from the 80s there is no room left in my brain for anymore. And not to mention the influencers, YouTubers, Tik Tok stars and reality TV show contestants.

This creation of a perfect online persona for social media, using the right filter and saying politically correct things, is unfortunately something that passed my generation by.

And dont get my started on fashion! There was a time, granted that was a long time ago, when Id spend half my salary in the clothes shop. Now Im just really looking for something that doesnt hurt me when I sit down. I went from haute couture to haute comfort.

When I was younger, I wasted so much time obsessing over matters I couldnt control. Not anymore! Remember those days when youd spend all Friday planning your weekend so as not to waste a minute, when it was all about seeing and being seen. Whilst I still enjoying a good night out if I am at home and in bed by 9 I dont care.

You get to a certain age when you finally realise whats significant and what quite frankly is the fluff of life, and believe me there is a s**t load of fluff. Your brain sorts things as a) important (which is usually around 10 percent) and b) delete.

And well all get old. No amount of Botox, cosmetic surgery or tablets will keep us young. The river of life only flows in one direction, and however many dams you put in the way the water will always find a way to flow. Of course you can still have fun, probably more, and grow old ungracefully. Which I fully intend to do!

Age is not how old you are, but how many years of fun youve had. And Im planning lots more fun. As the great George Bernard Shaw once wrote You dont stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing. The same man who wrote Those who seek paradise on earth should come to see Dubrovnik. So Im going to follow his advice to the letter and keep laughing in paradise on earth.

Of course, in my mind, I still have the body and fitness I did when I was in my twenties. Sadly, though, my body has a tendency to disagree with me if I push it too hard. And my mirror isnt on my side either, which is why Ive started to ignore it. Keeping my mind young, dusting off those grey cells, is becoming more important.

They say if you want to keep your mind young then mix with young people, which could be why so many professors marry their students. They are looking for the elixir of eternal youth. The English would say that you know youre getting old when policemen look older than you. To be honest I gave up with policeman a long time ago, now Im looking at the chief of police as a comparison.

And my Croatian adventure has seen me transform, in what seems to be a heartbeat, from being a ti to a vi. I used to jump in and correct people when they would say kako ste no, please, call me ti. But now I just think in my head Oh f**k it, who cares.

I recently was given a book entitled Are You Turning Into Your Dad. My first thought was, if someone told me I was turning into my dad that would be the highest compliment I could ever receive. And as I flicked the pages I realised that I had turned into my dad a long time ago.

And Ill leave you with a quote from the book from the one and only Ingrid Bergman Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better! Amen to that!

Read moreEnglishman in Dubrovnikwell, if you really want to

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Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better - The Dubrovnik Times