"Swim Free (2019)," Montana BLACK spray paint on concrete panel, and "Swim Free (2021)," pole puppet made out of two plastic bowls, red duct tape, wire, cardboard, Montana BLACK spray paint, electrical tape, and aluminum extension pole.
—
My mother died on July 10, 2017.
Each
7/10 since 2017, I make art in the form of an octopus, to remember and honor her.
A couple of days before she died, I painted a small red octopus on the
Bremerton Art Walls (where the old Maple Leaf Tavern once stood). In
2018, I painted a larger octopus on the Bremerton Art Walls. In 2019, I
painted another octopus on the Walls, but as a limited edition series of four,
with the other three painted onto concrete panels, which are in the gardens
or flower beds of family members. In 2020, partly due to COVID, the
octopus "came off the wall" and became a small linoleum block print for
family and friends.
For 2021, Ann the Octopus returned to the Bremerton
Art Walls, as part of the second (of four) Bridging Bremerton walks, in
the form of a pole puppet. I even had an opportunity to share briefly
with those gathered about Ann and commemorating my mother Sandy's life
and our connections to the Walls. It was a fun and fascinating walk,
filled with Bremerton history as part of the walk, but also for myself
and my wife, as we reminisced about our own personal and family
histories of times, places, and events in Bremerton.
New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning.
—
It's post-punk art-rock. It's likely my album of the year for 2021. (The album to knock it off it's perch would have to be perfect.) This is an absolutely stunning piece of art. The whole really is greater than the sum of its parts, and that is saying something because each individual track shines so bright.
—
SIDE A
Track 1 > "Scratchcard Lanyard"
Out of the gate, it's a post-punk kick to the head; a concert to which we are all invited. "It's a Tokyo bouncy ball, it's an Oslo bouncy ball, it's a Rio de Janeiro bouncy ball..." Get your lighter and/or cell phone flash light in the air. This track sets the tone and let's us know it's going to be a wild and welcome ride!
Track 2 > "Unsmart Lady"
A garbled noise intro leads into a more perfect marriage of lyrics/vocal delivery and instrumentation. Driving bass and drums meets jangly guitar and surreal spoken word.
Track 3 > "Strong Feelings"
Get the club dancing with this track! Keep the vibe going. Warm, welcoming instrumentation meets slightly obtuse lyrics, yet it all absolutely works. And every so often the main melody is punctuated by "nostalgic"/"lightly melancholy" guitar noodling. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Track 4 > "Leafy"
A companion piece to "Strong Feelings?" Perhaps. Almost the same feeling as the prior track, except there is almost a weird Muzak-meets-Hippy energy about it.
Track 5 > "Her Hippo"
This track leans into the melancholy a bit more. Some shoe gazing is definitely going on here. And when I really pay attention there is some bending of the guitar strings going on (or whammy bar or pedal manipulation or all of the above), which is why I love this album. These little details pop up and ask to be noticed and then fade into the background once more.
—
The reason I purchased the album was because of these five tracks, as well as "Viking Hair" and "Magic of Meghan" from their first two EPs. I had heard these tracks as part of various live performances I found online—KEXP, BBC, and the like. Side A provided some familiarity and worked really well together, almost as though an EP in its own right.
So then it was onto Side B, having heard none of the tracks prior to buying the album.
—
SIDE B
Track 6 > "New Long Leg"
There's a "singing quality" to Florence's voice here that is definitely a bit distinct/different from the spoken word delivery songs of Side A. "Doo doo doo doo." And a brightness to the music. An almost "Asian leaning" at times in the structure of the song and the sound of the guitar.
Track 7 > "John Wick"
This reminds me a bit of early 1980s post-punk. Joy Division. (Or perhaps Portishead's version of Joy Division? Anyway, I like it a lot.) There is a beautiful section in the middle of the song where the drums and guitar drop out, leaving only a light bass line and vocals. Then it all builds again. I'm thinking this track must be dabbling in minor chords. (But what do I know?)
Track 8 > "More Big Birds"
Mellow, slow, almost plodding (but not quite). Another "Asian feeling" track. Florence's "near scatting" is very welcome. Beautiful.
Track 9 > "A. L. C."
This is a brooding "noir-ish" number. Almost on the verge of not fitting in with the rest of the album. Except that is exactly why it works! Plus it is the perfect lead-in for...
Track 10 > "Every Day Carry"
The slow-build jam. The stoned-out-of-your-mind space jam. The whirling dervish psychedelic jam. THEN everything shifts into catastrophic-disaster-of-the-spaceship alarm meets baby pterodactyl screams—all interpreted through whale song. THEN we are back in the build, not where we left off, but rather at the point where the "build" would have been if it had been going on behind the "alarm break" the whole time. And THEN it simply ends. Brilliant, brilliant track! My favorite of the album.
—
In the same way that Darkstar's Civic Jams haunted me in 2020 (and still does), Dry Cleaning's New Long Leg is doing the same for 2021. The two albums may be different musically, but they share a mood and lyrics that are best engaged as the fragments and snippets that one can decipher and/or comprehend. I appreciate the ability of both bands to navigate the chaos and turmoil of the current age, push back against it with some of their own quirky take on the same, transform it again, and yet ultimately leave enough that is familiar that we do find something recognizable and inviting—whether that would be on the dance floor (or in one's own bedroom) or next to the stage of the club (or in one's own living room).
I asked The Child: "Do you want to watch a couple of sci-fi films?" I was surprised that The Child was all in.
—
We watched a short film, Akai, directed by Michael Sparks, to kick things off.
For our feature, we watched Oxygen, directed by Alexandre Ada. While it dabbled in some classic sci-fi scenarios and tropes, the way that it presented and developed them was intriguing and well-done and fresh. I felt my blood pressure rising along with the character portrayed by Mélanie Laurent, who did an absolutely wonderful job of acting.
Homemade ramen bowl and 21st Amendment Brewery Brew Free! or Die Blood Orange IPA.
Ramen bowl = ramen + chicken + stir-fry sauce + cabbage + carrots + red pepper + pickled ginger + boiled egg. Then you add the citrus flavors of the blood orange IPA and it pushes this into a whole new level of heavenly street food. The bonus is that it is so simple to make. Most of the time is acting as sous chef and cutting up vegetables and meat.
Welcome to Hell!
Three consecutive days of high temperatures above 100ºF.
—
We left the house because it was getting too hot. We went
to an air conditioned building to eat dinner and let the dogs (and us)
cool off.
This is what we arrived home to. 97.6°F is the main
floor temperature record! (In. The. House.) It made it to 105° outdoors (record). Our
"cool" basement topped out at 83° (record).
In 2020, I washed my
hands more than the rest of my entire life combined. In 2021, I guess
I'm trying to sweat more than I ever have. Apocalyptic goals!
We didn't camp during 2020. (Thank you, COVID!)
We didn't see most of our family in person during 2020. (Thank you, COVID!)
So we decided to go camping. And then some family was added. Then a bit more family was added. (Take that, COVID!) So we made up for what we missed in 2020.
—
We ended up at Sawmill Flat Campground, on the Naches River, near Naches, Washington.
No internet connection. No social media. No news. I didn't even bring a book with me. It was a simple weekend of eating and conversation and sitting around and sleeping in a tent and eating and campfire and herding and/or holding dogs and hiking and eating.
And while Western Washington was inundated with rain, we saw a bit of drizzle, but even that didn't bother us because our campsites were beneath canopies of Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine.
—
It was nice to break routine. Then it was good to reestablish it again. That shower after three days of dirt and sweat and campfire smoke and sleeping alongside stinky dogs was amazing!
"That month the southern white rhino and a species of pangolin had gone extinct. Wildfires in five countries meant animals were crawling to the side of roads to beg people speeding by for water. People were poisoning vultures and shooting bats out of the sky, scared of pandemics. To care more meant putting a bullet in your brain. So, like many, I had learned to care less. Silvina called it 'the fatal adaptation.'"
—page 37, Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer.
---
This novel is the latest wild ride from Jeff VanderMeer, and quite the ride it is!
We meet Jane Smith, who is an unpleasant character. She is soon swept up into a narrative that is not entirely of her own making and begins with her being handed an envelope that leads her to a taxidermied hummingbird that may or may not be extinct.
The story is equal parts eco-thriller, science fiction, and weird fiction. As Jane gets sucked deeper and deeper into the mystery surrounding the aforementioned hummingbird and its companion salamander, we get sucked in alongside her.
---
For those familiar with other novels by VanderMeer—especially Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance, Borne, and Dead Astronauts—there are plenty of "Easter eggs" hidden within. Some are nods to or echoes of characters or settings in prior novels, while others feel like variants or alternative universe versions. (Welcome to the VanderVerse!)
Here are some of the Easter eggs that caught my attention
---
As with other VanderMeer novels, I'm going to have to read this again (and soon). The material is so rich and chewy and rewarding. Plus, a second reading really helps me to see details I missed the first time around.
Catspaw by Matthew Sweet.
—
Is it too soon to call album of the year? Perhaps. But this will definitely be in the top three, easily.
When Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend was released in 1991, I listened to it non-stop for weeks. Even once other albums captured my attention, I would find myself humming tunes from it. Thirty years later, it is still an album that I play on a frequent basis.
Now I have another album with which to do the same!
Catspaw was recorded prior to the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, but it feels as though it was meant for right now. Matthew Sweet played all of the instruments except for the drums. For the first time, he is playing lead guitar on one of his albums and it sounds like he's enjoying himself. In fact, on the lyric sheet, on each song, at some point, there is the same word: solo.
In addition to the wonderful guitars, Sweet has recorded harmonies to accompany his melody lines, and it absolutely beautiful. In fact, it's how one really knows they are listening to a Matthew Sweet album.
My favorite tracks are the instantly hummable "At a Loss" and "Parade of Lights." The latter has guitar that almost sings like another voice, as though it is harmonizing with the various Matthews.
—
This is the rare album that I bought without having heard any of the tracks prior. And it is worth every penny I paid for it, since each track carries its weight as an individual and as part of the whole.
Brilliant!
