Thursday, November 14, 2013

J'ai de la chance.

"I went to Paris a couple of times..."

Alyssandra Nighswonger sings a French classic at Gatsby Books to celebrate The Bastille no.2.  She was so very Spoken Word Paris, if you ask me.





Watch the video here: "Oh, Champs Elysées !"



I must admit, I never much paid attention to the lyrics of this song, until now.  I don't think I really even liked it until this... I still don't like that particular avenue any more than before, but the sentiment is sweet and true enough.  Paris is a city of strangers and chance encounters.

And apparently, so is Long Beach!  Thank you, Alyssandra Nighswonger, for coming out to Gatsby Books and sharing your amazing self like this.  Nice to meet you <3 p="">







Friday, April 19, 2013

Vlogosophy

Hassle-free Home Movies and Video Archival

Amateurs have been filming since always, but never before has video archival been so prevalent and accessible, and never before have our time and attention been in such high demand.
Born and raised on a Panasonic point-n-shoot, my service is for anyone who wants to capture and share the moments and movement of life without having to spend an eternity in front of the computer, and without having to pay the high price of “professional” videography.

Video Scrapbook Sample:
Birthday Afternoon in Balboa Beach, CA


No occasion is too small.
Baby showers, family get-togethers and reunions,
day-in-the-life montage, travel... 
Try a video scrapbook of your family photo shoot!
Or in addition to, throughout the year.

Perfect for birthday parties, parties of all kinds, actually. We love to party! 
If you want to remember it, I can film and edit it.
(No weddings.  Sorry.)


For easy sharing with friends and loved ones, videos can be posted on line
and/or purchased on DVD as the ultimate personalized gift. 


Filming:
  • $50 session fee, up to two hours
  • In a hurry?  Scrapbooks can be filmed in less than 30 minutes!
  • $20 each additional hour (plus travel expenses if beyond 30 miles from Long Beach, CA.)
Note: The actual number of minutes filmed will vary depending on the event and the intended purpose of the footage.



Archival
  • Video Scrapbooks on DVD: $150 up to 4 minutes (you provide the music)
  • Additional DVDs: $10 each
  • Custom soundtracks: $100 and up
  • On-line sharing: free on YouTube, with your permission...
  • Raw video clips on CD: $25
"A Valentine for You" from Paris


Got footage but no time to review and edit? 
We can do that.  Contact us at Vlogosophy at gmail dot com.


*Are you a poet, musician or some other kind of performer?  Let's collaborate!
See previously featured artists here:  Vlogosophy on YouTube





Wednesday, March 13, 2013

What I Did This Week/end... Sorta.


People watching in Amsterdam and Paris... 
Recollected in tranquility with Ellyn Maybe and her band.  
An honor and a pleasure.





Sunday, March 10, 2013

Uncle Roy

My Uncle Roy was a sweet and humble man, handsome and healthy. He worked hard, and he was there for me at certain dark times in my life. Not RIGHT there, but softly there. Strong and handy, he had a knack for tents and tools and four-wheel drives on the beach or in the desert. He liked pecan sandies and Fritos dipped in peanut butter, beers in the garage, vodka in the armchair watching football, and other dangerous stuff like body surfing.  I didn't know him all that well, not like his wife and sons did, not like my dad did. To my dad, my uncle was a little brother. And all the red beans and rice in the world couldn't save him. Fuck you, cancer.

   


 …and the end of day is aquarium colored 
—Colette “Le Miroir”* 
 for emily 

 We believe we will live forever until 
 we can’t believe it again. 
—Cecilia Woloch 
 “Stars in the Mouth of the Wolf” 


Fortunately, breathing under water
is easier, now that I admit to the drowning.

Even in this blue-green half-light, the cancer
stinks up the room—floats—covered in the white
sheets of nostalgia.  The quiet is blinding.

Someone’s nephew is someplace else now, and we
are here remembering—fast cars from another world,

racing.  The quiet is not as blinding as it is heavy,
heavy as a Hemi at the bottom of a
fish tank.  The old blowfish is alive and well,

just not here, in this restaurant, in this desert
where fish are a tourist attraction.  The brothers

will argue over who gets to pay the bill and be
thankful to be able.  They like the blowfish story.
Don’t talk about the liver, the poisonous ovaries,

the sleeping pills of denial.  Such tales keep me
up at night.  All this sand is just tumbled rocks

slowly releasing their fossils into the currents. 
Motor homes whir out of town, comforting
their passengers with the promise of blue-green

landscapes, but there cannot be enough water,
not anywhere in the world, to console this caravan.


*In this short story, an older, and presumably wiser Colette has
a conversation with her fictional double, Claudine, about youth and aging.


Previously published in Tears in the Fence, No. 55, summer 2012