Put some thought into it
Greetings,
Here’s what I found interesting this past week.
1
Writing stuff is my thing. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated mainly to fountain pens, which I collect. If I could, I would collect more, but for space and budgetary issues, like writing desks. Behold the elaborate writing desks of 18th century aristocrats.
2
In 2020, when he turned 68, Kevin Kelly shared “68 pithy bits of unsolicited advice”. This year, for his 69th birthday, shared 99 additional bits of unsolicited advice such as “work to become, not to acquire” or one that shouldn’t need to be said but, with the world we live in today, it probably should be, which is “Advice like these are not laws. They are like hats. If one doesn’t fit, try another.”
3
I grew up in the liner notes era. Spent many an hour reading through the sleeve of a record, cassette, CD, etc about who wrote what, was involved in what, is friends with who, etc. In the digital era, the website WhoSampled.com is where I have spent a lot of my time, especially when I was on radio. One of the most sampled drumbeats is Clyde Stubblefield’s drumming from James Brown’s Funky Drummer. Sadly, he passed away without enjoying the fruits of his work. There is a documentary in the works. I hope it gets made.
4
Having worked in the media, I know how easy it is to ‘manipulate’ perceptions through text, images, what you include and what you leave out. There is something about the Black Panther Party that I always connected with. A little ironic that is a mainstream American media company that’s now sharing the truth about some of their activities. Listed as ‘overlooked’, even I, as a small town boy growing up some years after the Black Panthers had been beaten down, knew about the programmes they had.
5
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is going to be felt for many years to come. Covid’s stealthy factor: moral injury explores the reality that “the physical safety and mental wellbeing of photographers working on the front line have traditionally fallen by the wayside. But what about less noticeable harm?”
6
As accompaniment to Zizipho Poswa’s solo exhibition, iLobola, is a short film presented by Southern Guild and produced in collaboration with BMW South Africa. Creative direction was by fashion designer Rich Mnisi and 'iLobola', both exhibition and film, “pays homage to the spiritual offering at the heart of the ancient African custom of lobola, or bride-wealth: the cow.”
7
There was a time when I randomly did a search for covers of Michael Jackson songs and came across this one by Quadron. And became an instant fan of the group but, more especially, Coco O’s voice. Coco O has a new album - It’s A Process - out which, so far, I am loving.
That’s it for this week. You like and are not subscribed? Please subscribe.
You like, are subscribed and know someone who would also like? Please share.
Easy
Kojo