One Man Band Bike of the St. Ann's Parade

I'll catch up with my Beijing posts soon.  But for now a little snapshot of New Orleans.  The week leading up to Mardi Gras includes numerous parades, and on Mardi Gras day several parades weave through the city.  The St. Ann's Parade includes hundreds of artists and musicians in handmade costumes who march from the Marigny / Bywater neighborhoods into the French Quarter. We watched for a bit, then joined them near the end and came across this man.

He played haunting music on his bike/instrument, constructed of found metal objects, including the colander he wears on his head.  As he rode past bubbles floated down from the balconies and people danced by in their bizarre costumes.  I love this city.  Here is a link to the video or you can scroll down to watch.

Temple of Heaven (7): Music in the Temple Gardens (VIDEO)

Beyond the beauty of the historic architecture, the gardens on the grounds of the temple are beautifully landscaped, and in the open areas musician gather to play and sing traditional Chinese music. 

Below is a video of a man playing a traditional Chinese instrument as people gather and (try) to sing along.  Here is the YouTube link.

Here is a group of men who have gathered at the gates of the temple to sing.  Here is the YouTube link.

One of the beautiful old trees in the temple gardens.

Cambio es Bueno

Change is good.  Well, its inevitable, anyway.  So, as my sister says, find a way to "get ok with it".  

A few years ago when I was living in Bucktown I would pass this building near the train station.  Every week or so someone would change the art, just a graffiti style poster series pasted to the wall.  The messages were frequently simple but touching and always evocative.  I love how this one conveys that sentiment between hope and mourning.  Its also a very pertinent image for change.

It seems no good change comes without struggle, like a difficult birth, and at the end you're left wondering if the positive feelings you have are from reaching a higher ground or just relief and exhaustion.  I guess the trouble is that you never know what you are dealing with until its long over and you can look back on it with perspective.  

I'm thankful right now for all the positive things in my life the forward motion and I'm using that energy for strength to face all the question marks in my head.

Here are some thoughts on change:

"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses." - Carl Jung

"Imagine a scenario in which you could live your life with equanimity if the situation in question never changed and then meditate on how you may help evolve it into something new." - Paraphrased from a newspaper horoscope

 

Possibly one of the most touching songs ever sung: "A Change is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke

Goodnight :) 

Starry, Starry Night...

I opted for my starry-eye look for Step Up For Autism: Benefit for Autism Speaks.

Each performer in the line-up donated their performance to help raise money for this important cause.  Additionally 100% of the proceeds were donated to the cause.  The entire event was planned, managed and emceed by Kate "Sebastian Las Vegas" Versage, who also performed in the line-up, which was filled with some familiar faces in the Chicago scene including Zander Mander, Mid-Tangent Productions, Yuri Lane and Angelique Munro.

More to come ...

Onstage at The Shady Lady

Miss Midori, onstage at The Shady Lady in Chicago
 
Thanks, Dion, for bringing me back for the opening of The Shady Lady in Chicago.

See the full story below...

"They can't take that away from me..."

Miss Midori singing on stage at Olive, 1998? 99?

Its been a minute, but I had a chance to get back onstage for a song on Thursday for the opening of Dion's new club, The Shady Lady.

Its a small venue with an even smaller stage, and I sang over a recorded track rather than with live accompaniment, but it was good times :)

Back in the day I led the house band, performing every Saturday night at one of Dion's old clubs (the now defunct) Olive, a jazz club in Chicago.  I Dj'd there during the week and booked talent for the venue during the day. With my band, "Miss Midori & The Jazz Inquisition", we recorded a CD at Chicago's Southport Records, a label known for its jazz and blues artists. I played venues around the Midwest, opened for some of my favorite bands at the time such as Indigo Swing and Southern Culture on The Skids and sang on stages as far afield as Paris, France at Le Caveau de la Huchette. Eventually though, I moved on, pulled up roots, left Chicago, traveled the country and tried my hand at being an grown-up.  I'm not sure its going to stick, but I'll keep you posted ;)

In the struggle between my private and public personas (and I do mean plural personas), I wonder whether performance is something I want or need in my ongoing future.  There is something wonderful about allowing yourself to become someone different through performance.  Its a freedom few people get to experience.  Either way, whatever happens, I'm just going to enjoy it.

*Side note: This is one of the "Dresses with Stories".  It was a vintage red velvet dress (which I still have, btw).  It ripped up the side seam while playing a show on the road (it might have been in Milwaukee or Detroit) and I had to tape it up from the inside with silver duct tape.  Works pretty good if you don't plan on sweating or breathing much ;)

"You Know Me": "Reality Killed The Video Star" vs. "Video Killed The Radio Star"

Perhaps its just my ongoing obsession with rabbits and their seeming symbolic proliferance in my life right now (seriously, what does that mean?), but I love this new Robbie Williams video, "You Know Me" from his new album "Reality Killed The Video Star".

It is a beautiful song, but would I be as drawn to it if he weren't dressed as the March Hare... maybe not.  Either way the video is gorgeous and evocative.  I love how it combines the fantasy of Robbie Williams imagining himself as the rabbit and then the rabbit imagining himself as a playboy surrounded by Vargas-esque "bunnies".

 

Also amusing is the topical reference to this generation's level of media evolution wherein reality programming (including things like YouTube), which have put the camera, the subject and the audience all in the hands of the masses, may potentially make former music formats obsolete.

Therefore, if "Video Killed The Radio Star" in the '80's,  then reality may kill the video star now? Not completely... yet.  However, the growing popularity of reality based programming, including YouTube, have significantly decreased advertising and therefore revenue to formats such as radio, making production budgets smaller as corporations turn more attention lower budget vehicles such as Reality and YouTube.  Time marches on, March Hare.

"You Know Me", Robbie Williams, Reality Killed the Video Star"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDb9fpSj34k

"Video Killed The Radio Star", The Buggles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtHEmVjVw8

"Wake Up" by Sliimy (my birthday song 2009)

"Wake Up" by Sliimy

This reminds me so much of friends of mine in high school. I also love how the video is so DIY.

YouTube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHl_ck3u5E