It's a grey day here in Antwerp. Grey in so many ways, and so a splash of colour didn't seem out of order here on the blog.
I'm reading an exquisite essay by Rebecca Solnit - The Far North of Experience, In Praise of Darkness (and Light), cooking the first of two pavlovas, and I'm back on everyday school-runs for 2 weeks as of today.
My photography exhibition is coming together and I have some workshops to plan. There's a Passenger concert to attend soon too.
Wishing you a lovely weekend
Liking the music embedded here tonight. New music for me.
The Belgian bloke and I have spent the entire day moving our desks and creating a new office space. Yes he has a swollen tendon in his shoulder, one that no longer moves through the bone without pain but he was careful, and I was helpful ... or tried to be.
I love our new space. I haven't moved much but he did and the result is quite drastic ... to us.
Photographs to follow in the days ahead, if I work out how to capture it all.
Tonight I'm listening to Rupa and the April Fishes as I work. Sharing their song titled Neruda here.
... with an Erica Jong twist.
I found this beautiful image out walking, early one morning, at Cooks Beach, in the Coromandel, New Zealand.
Listening to favourite song, favourite singer, as I load this.
It opens with a torrential downpour in the recorded version. I think I love the sound of that rain, more than anything.
"In the landscape of New Zealand music, one genre stands out: music by Maori artists, which is a solid cornerstone, and within itself powerfully diverse. One of the most distinctive, articulate and significant Maori voices is Moana Maniapoto who - first with Moana and the Moahunters and latterly as Moana & the Tribe - has taken her often politically conscious music to festivals across the world." (Graham Reid)
She has consistently pushed the boundaries of Maori music in both her recordings and live performances, fusing taonga puoro, haka, chants with soul, reggae and classical "to produce her own blend of traditional and contemporary styles without compromising either." (NZ Herald, 2003).
A tribute to people power written by Moana Maniapoto & Paddy Free.
You can read more over on the website.
I first heard Luciano play at Stefano's Antica Hostaria Pacetti. He was performing with his wife, Donatella. Together they are Susto e Soranzio.
They have become friends. Friends who were kind enough to invite Helen and I into their beautiful home on the hill one evening, friends who generously share their world with us.
I took the following photograph during an aperitivo performance at Stefano's restaurant one evening ...
