Both nights of Diana Ross’s Central Park performances were impressive, but in different ways: the first night was triumphant from the beginning, a confirmation of a singular woman’s great success; and as the storm approached and spread, her response—calm, informative, soothing, sensuous, dancing—was a demonstration of her assurance and strength as a woman and performer.
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The Invented Beauty of Wise Elders: composers and musicians Cecil Taylor and Pauline Oliveros featured in Solo – Duo – Poetry
When Taylor and composer and teacher Pauline Oliveros perform together it does seem as if he has met his match in this white-haired, stout, tough-looking lady (she has a black belt in karate), as Pauline Oliveros plays an elegant and expensive large black accordion (usually her instrument is specially prepared).
The Corrupt and Corrective Uses of Power: Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman
The motion picture All the President’s Men is almost foreign for its intimate view of power: it represents the kind of palace intrigue one imagines in old European capitals among kings and queens and their minions. It is a great reminder of what evil can happen here.
Mistakes Made While Owning the World: J. C. Chandor’s film Margin Call about the American financial crisis, starring Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, and Jeremy Irons
What can the company do to save itself? Does it sell its toxic assets to others? Will it ever be trusted again? Who will take the blame for the losing strategy that led to this moment? Who should have anticipated this? What will be the effect on other companies, and on the larger society? How will the lives of those in this particular office be changed? The film is a compelling and a surprising pleasure.
A review of All Those Things We Never Said by Marc Levy
Part sci-fi, part magical realism, and all suspension of disbelief, Levy then pulls the reader into a globetrotting journey with Julia and her father, Anthony–or what’s left of him. The android looks exactly like Julia’s father, and she cannot resist asking a few questions along the way.
Interview Amy Friedman on Shame, the Power of Memoir, and Inner Truths
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Amy is a longtime teacher, author, journalist, and editor, with writings ranging from fairy tales to bittersweet memoir. She shares her thoughts on shame, the power of fear and truth, and the transformative freedom of “speaking one’s truths aloud.”
A review of Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories That Kept Us Small, edited by Amy Ferris and Hollye Dexter
Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories that Kept Us Small is a powerful nonfiction anthology by 27 professional women who share their real stories (and use their real names) to inspire others to become unafraid of the shadows that haunt their lives, and to shed the feelings that promise them they will never be good enough for the kind of life they want or ought to have.
A review of Love And Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
Buzo doesn’t offer a short and sweet, neatly packaged ending, but as the reader learns more about these characters, that type of conclusion wouldn’t fit their situation. Amelia also gains some valuable insight into her family life along the way, as well, and realizes that perhaps things aren’t quite as grim as she’d thought.
Interview with Christina Hamlett
The author of Media Magnetism provides us with an excerpt, talks about her new book and how it came together, about ‘buzz’ and how to get it, the pitfalls of social media, the value of a PR person, her two dozen experts, her new projects and lots more.
A review of Joyful Strains: Making Australia Home, edited by Kent MacCarter and Ali Lemer
Most of the writers included have become, as Val Colic-Peisker puts it, reasonably domesticated. The displacement and bullying is mainly in the past, but the sense of self and how the settled adult relates to the life left behind, is something that continues to transform.