Matsya Siosal

Sharanam

priyanka — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

With the release of Sharanam Sharon Gannon adds another dimension to her body of work as a yogi, inspirational figure, and advocate of compassionate lifestyles. I have encountered Gannon’s philosophy and teachings in YouTube videos, web and magazine articles, on her website, and in a documentary on raw foods, and have always found myself appreciative of the contribution she makes towards a more peaceful and spiritually grounded world. This musical dimension, unfortunately, fell flat for this eager listener.

Being a frequent listener of sacred mantras set to modern beats, I fully expected to adore Sharanam. The cover artwork was done in sepia tones and portrays a tree-hugging Gannon looking very fairytale goth, with long black hair and ground-sweeping lacy white dress. My hopes for edgy renditions of mantras "Lokah Samastah," "Hare Krishna," and "Om Shantih" were further raised. Yet three of the eight tracks are different mixes of "Lokah Samastah," and even the upbeat version, for which I had the highest hopes, didn’t quite transcend the tranquilizing New Age tempo and high-pitched breathy vocal quality that has earned the genre a somewhat marginalized status among contemporary music.

The first rendition of "Lokah Samastah" begins with a compelling intro: spare, electronic, heartbeat-style percussion overlays Gannon’s voice heartfully calling out. I felt some tingles of excitement and anticipation here. Background vocals (belonging to David Life, Gannon’s partner and Jivamukti co-founder) are introduced along with keyboard-generated effects, which are referred to in the liner notes as "High Techo Sound"). The entire mantra "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhav Antu" (which roughly translates to “may all beings be happy and free”) is repeated by both vocalists as an upbeat drum track is added in. The nearly seven-minute track totally loses me after the five-minute mark when the mix dissolves into a very slow duet. My interest is lost not for poor composition or performance, but slow, dreamy songs, especially with slow dreamy vocals, have never been my thing.

I wish I could say it got better for me from here. Track two, "Guruji," is a mix of keyboard, drum tracks, and the swirling sounds of a theremin. The more than fourteen-minute soprano rendition of "Hare Krishna" was also a deal-breaker for my ears. Never once was I inspired to dance, nor did I feel elevated to a higher spiritual plane, relaxed into a meditative state, or carried away in musical appreciation.

The healing and peaceful intention that Gannon evidently puts forth with Sharanam, and the meaning behind the lyrics used in each song, are powerful, beautiful, and positive. Mantras are said to open the heart and mind and to exert both healing and enlightening powers. Unfortunately for this seeker of peace, love, and awareness, the aesthetic of Sharanam turned me off so that the meaning behind the songs was lost.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, November 5th 2010

No Surrender

barbara — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

By Ai

W.W. Norton & Company

No Surrender is poet Ai’s posthumous collection and indeed bears the imprint of a full life lived. Written in Ai’s characteristic poetic monologue, each poem is a story that inhabits the liminal space between the more expository world of prose and the oft cryptic and somewhat mystical realm of the lyrical. While the stories told in the poems themselves may or may not be autobiographical, themes common to the poet’s own background and experience figure prominently throughout this twenty-one poem collection: luck, alcoholism, Catholicism, relationships, motherhood and miscarriage, race, and ethnicity.

No Surrender looks back at the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and tales of these past times seamlessly share the pages with the days of QVC and chemotherapy. Marriage is usually portrayed as a means of escape or survival. As I read, unexpected gender and ethnic roles raised questions on perception, projection, and the power of memories resurrected.

In the poem “Womanhood” a woman called Michael, named after her father who was “neither angel, nor saint” but a “lousy bastard underneath the smiles,” reflects on the tragedies of her life which are at once quotidian and monumental. This reflection is refreshingly without the stormy veils of blame and resentment. Turning the tables again on who is customarily thought of as the oppressed, in “The Hunt” an Irish man’s mounting conflict over the Scottish slave girls owned by his Choctaw wife comes to a head in scene of complex domestic violence.

Each multi-page poem is composed of fairly short lines written with a skilled economy of words leading them to read like a beautifully spoken story, although a few of the poems read like dreams with non-linear sequence and rough or entirely absent transition. In some of the longer poems repetition, alliteration or rhyme is used effectively in a section or two and then drops off, which left me feeling like I had transitioned into a different poem than the one I had begun reading. Please note my review comes from reading the advance uncorrected proofs.

From babies that escaped certain death to white slaves and brown masters to a male rape survivor, No Surrender reads like true history, telling what really happens in people’s lives beyond others’ perception of who they should be and the stories they can claim as their own. The stories told in No Surrender are inclusive of the authentic experience of individuals regardless of the collectively understood story of the social, cultural, or genetic groups to which they may belong. Somewhat like the genre-spanning poetic form Ai used to tell these stories, their truth comes from shining light on the thresholds and boundaries erected by preset expectation and seeing beyond.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, October 9th 2010

Origami Pyramid Bag

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:11:00 +0000

By Silvermint

It’s a hot July evening and I’m feeling like a wilted flower. Fashion has always been a great pick-me-up and I’m looking forward to sporting Silvermint’s strawberry Origami Pyramid Bag with a simple black sundress to a friend’s party.

The bag attracted me with its unique design, convenient wristlet style, and high quality, interestingly-textured fabric and materials. The vintage button accents in soft pink and grey give it a girly but sophisticated charm and the grey origami-style animal characters printed on the off-white fabric also elevate it to a conversation piece. When I mentally put together my outfit I saw the bag as an artsy, yet practical and intriguing accessory, perfect for holding onto the few essential items I’d need while at the party. Yet as I stand before the mirror the little 6.7 x 5.9 inch pyramid looks funny hanging from my wrist: like a starched handkerchief or an old-fashioned nurses hat.

While the bag didn’t make it to the party, it has occupied a prominent place on my desk, awaiting the writing of this review. Given that my home office is also the living room, I’ve been gazing upon this finely constructed bag with a mixture of delight, curiosity and appraisal daily for the past two weeks. Each time I look at it I think I really love this little pouch!

Silvermint has an interesting story on how she moved from the world of online gaming to the world of handmade crafting. She began to study how real things are actually made vs. the world of “clicking on an icon with the mouse and Poof! a mechanical chicken has been created.” She gets bonus points for her support of ACRES (Animal Concerns Research & Education Society) and a waste-free philosophy, which leads to greater creativity with materials and design. Her Etsy store is stocked with other cute and adorably unique little clutches and pouches as well as graphic-printed tote bags.

I’ve tried the Origami Pyramid Bag on a few times since the night of the party but I doubt I’ll frequently wear it as a purse. I am sure it will find a welcome home storing small treasures or perhaps protecting a snag-prone item in a drawer or suitcase. The cotton webbing strap is detachable so it can hang from a peg and it also stands on its own (especially if the packing folds are ironed out) so it would also make a cute storage container on a shelf or other visible location.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, August 18th 2010

So Much Things to Say: 100 Calabash Poets

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:01:00 +0000

Edited by Kwame Dawes, Colin Channer

Akashic Books

Each May for the past ten years, poets from all over the globe converge in Jamaica for the Calabash International Literary Festival. So Much Things to Say: 100 Calabash Poets brings together the work of poets known and unknown who have read at the Festival or are Calabash Writer’s Workshop Fellows. The 100 poems in this vibrant anthology are organized into sections by length, and inspired by the editors’ intention that the book be enjoyed in a flexible manner, I took great pleasure in sampling poems at random and finding breathtaking imagery, emotional tone, meaning, and joy in each piece.

The voices of the colonized, the war-torn, the oppressed, and the hopeful shine in this collection of poems that are political, visceral, inspired, sorrowful, courageous, and essentially, beautifully human. In Li-Young Lee’s “The Children’s Hour,” Lee captures all of the above. With armed soldiers at the door, an elder narrator advises the children in shape-shifting ("Sister, quick. Change into a penny.") and gives forbearance to survive the assault:

Don’t listen when they promise sugar. _ _Don’t come out until evening, _ _or when you hear our mother weeping to herself.

“10 Haiku” by Sonia Sanchez is a prime example of the fluid, timeless, earthy rhythm of many of the Calabash poems:

as you drummed your hands kept reaching for God

One of the longer poems, Tim Seibles' “The Last Poem About Race” is a departure from the more organic imagery and tackles the complexity of being mixed race personally, in relationship, and as a society:

I never want to think being American is impossible, but the truth is

some silly mothafuckas still fly Confederate flags and maybe it’s all _ _too much for any one man.

In his sparkling introduction, Kwame Dawes most perfectly and poetically sums up the spirit of the Calabash Festival: “At once you are in a timeless place in which the spoken word represents an incantatory ritual that creates and affirms community... Imagine stories dropping like seeds into the ground and growing rapidly and wildly all around you.”

Fortunately for those for whom an annual sojourn to Jamaica isn’t necessarily possible, that enchantment is immediately accessible in this collection. Indeed the story of the festival and of this anthology coming together in just one month is a testament to the magic that is spun at Calabash each year, and I prize my Advance Uncorrected Proof of So Much Things to Say like a collector’s item.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, July 13th 2010

Shoulder Season

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Ange Mlinko

Coffee House Press

I’ve often wondered how much it really matters if the reader “gets” what the poet means in some of the more cryptic or shall we say intricately wrought poetry out there, or can a poem itself act as an agent of transformation, imparting unique meaning to both the poet and the reader?

This question popped its head up as I read Shoulder Season by poet Ange Mlinko. I hadn’t heard of this author of two other award-winning collections of poetry prior to this review assignment and had no expectations other than those the title inspired—would this be a series of bucolic or naturalist poems? Or perhaps a deeper metaphor was being referenced, something about transition and possibility? I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Customarily I read poetry collections cover to cover like a magazine—I’m interested in the credits and the colophon, and I look upon the table of contents like a sort of summary poem for the collection. Shoulder Season's table of contents had me instantly intrigued with titles like “The Eros of Nothing,” “Gallimaufry,” “X’D the Go Go,” “Sycorax,” and “Rocamadour.”

There’s a meditative quality to Mlinko’s poetry; it’s an invitation to slow down and let the edges blur a little bit. Many of the poems in Shoulder Season read like dream sequences. In “Rocamadour” this is especially so:

O because one is never là-bas for long, holding an infant is like going to Paris.

...And there I was in the Latin Quarter, cathedrals propped like viola de gambas. “Tariq, do you hear the peacock?”

The poems are intricate and subtle in their meaning, musical with a finely orchestrated cadence and the occasional rhyme. There’s humor and immensely imaginative imagery and metaphor throughout. For example in “Win-Win”:

If an orchidophage’s tastebud mangnified resembles an orchid So my buds indubitably mimic pricking ice cream cones.

To most fully appreciate, these poems take time to absorb. I found myself returning to read the collection in the dark, quiet hours of the day, eager to let go of the more conventional orderliness of my mind and sink into the world poetic. With each reading I was drawn into a clever and inspired perception, into a world perhaps defined by poetry like this, poetry whose greatest merit may be in its ability to touch poet and reader uniquely, but with equivalent power.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, July 10th 2010

Saints & Cannibals

admin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Christine Hamm

Plain View Press

If I were to list my favorite poets, the count would be long and span a modest range of styles, but several rise clearly to the top. These poets—Sharon Olds, Carolyn Forché, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lorde, to name a few—in no way shy away from subject matter women are traditionally taught to suppress or deny: the shocking, shadowy, and infinitely juicy reality of our lives. These poets instead dive face first into the truth—especially when it hurts—and in doing so shed light on the beauty to be found glimmering quietly in the fertile mud of actual experience.

Christine Hamm is one such poet and needless to say, my list of favorites has grown after having (repeatedly) read Saints & Cannibals, Hamm’s second full-length collection. According to the poet’s website, “this book follows the story of three generations of women in America” and is told from the point of view of “historical and mythical saints and cannibals, including the Donner party, Hansel and Gretel, and a whole host of medieval female saints.”

Among the historical and mythical are more contemporary voices, all of whose stories are told in clean, vibrant free-verse. Fertility, corn, straw, cats, horses, and other animals figure prominently in the landscape of this collection. After reading each poem I was compelled to set the book down and let the precise and novel imagery sink in.

Beginning with “Up From the Root Cellar”: “Ruby plucks up a tomato, jams it against her teeth, tasting snow and rust” before shaking out her skirt, rinsing her hands and going to assist her mother as she “sprawls in the furrows... stockings dark with a wet rush” in labor with yet another baby. Ruby is dutiful but seems defined more by her internal experience than by her station or obligation in life.

Another character, whose story is told throughout the collection, is Claire, who in the poem “The Family Practice” doesn’t want to disappoint and so undergoes dentistry without Novocain. Yet “Claire was turning thirteen the way milk turns, becomes thicker, more complicated, fragrant;” will she continue to submit to what is expected of her?

We also find Joan of Arc working at the Gap, Oliver with his “urchin shirt/ rusty shoes, hat full/ of night and spiders,” and a suburban angel “with wings made of safety pins/ used tampons and bottlecaps.”

I found Saints & Cannibals to be deeply feminist as it speaks with an authentic and unapologetic honesty, telling stories that have the power to provoke an embrace of and ultimately sovereignty in our own experience.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, June 26th 2010

Erotic Poems

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Edited by George James Firmage

W.W. Norton

Love, sex, and springtime are fundamental themes in E.E. Cummings’ lifetime body of work, and in Erotic Poems, editor George James Firmage brings together pieces by Cummings’ that are especially sexual, exalting of fertility, and written in a voice that is at once fresh and wise, evocative of the dumb yet utterly precise instinct to procreate.

These poems, and the line drawings (also by Cummings), were selected from the poet’s original manuscripts and are diverse in their eroticism, tone, and form. Representing a spectrum of sexual desire, thought, and impulse, the poems range from humorous to romantic, graphic to tender. Some are raw, even violent, while others are philosophical, and still others are playful but intelligent. My favorites led me to laugh, delighted by both the humor and the poetic genius in the verse, or else moved me to a deep sentimental ache at the beauty and tragedy of love and the existential anguish in its inevitable loss.

A particularly evocative poem entitled "ix." has a dark shadowy edge evoking the violence of both desire and of life itself, as well as a melancholy awareness of eventual extinguishment of life. It begins:

nearer:breath of my breath:take not thy tingling
limbs from me:make my pain their crazy meal

Then climaxes with:

flower of madness on gritted lips
and on sprawled eyes squirming with light insane
chisel the killing flame that dizzily grips.

And finally concludes:

thirstily. Dead stars stink. dawn. inane,
the poetic carcass of a girl.

This is not your run-of-the-mill erotica! From the sound of the words themselves to the use of unconventional syntax and spacing, the poems in this collection wind up to a climax after following a cadence that varies in texture, from rocky to sinuous.

Perhaps my favorite poem, because it hit me so squarely in the heart, is "vii." After the lovers have made love and:

all the houses terribly tighten
upon your coming:
and they are glad
as you fill the streets of my city with children.

Resting now, the lovers embrace, and it is Cummings' description of the melding of their bodies and hearts that, for me, so poignantly captures the sense of oneness between them:

you are a keen mountain and an eager island whose
lively slopes are based always in the me which is shrugging,which is
under you and around you and forever: i am the hugging sea.

The line drawings are themselves poetic, expressive, and emotional. Their style is reminiscent of Egon Schiele, Chagall, Picasso, and the deco illustrative style of the 1920s. (Interestingly, Cummings worked as a portrait artist for Vanity Fair magazine from 1924 to 1927.) The drawings are a great complement to the poems, as each holds large and complex movement, lovers' limbs and torsos twisting and twining around one another, floating in passion.

The book itself has been beautifully and simply executed; when I took Erotic Poems out of its mailing envelope, I had the sense of receiving a valentine. Its white cover is sparely punctuated by rose and black text and a shadowy crease evocative of the furrow at the center of an open book, or the entry point in clean white sheets ready to be mussed. The fashion in which the poems are headed—with non-sequential Roman and Arabic numerals—didn’t make much sense to me, but that wasn’t really a problem. There were poems that seemed to continue into one another and a few that could work as a triptych. While this may not necessarily be intentional on the part of the poet or the editor, it is indicative of the streaming and deeply subliminal nature of Cummings’ poetry and this collection in particular, which reveals the interior erotic landscape of both body and mind.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, April 29th 2010

I Have a Song for You

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Bucket Siler

I am so excited to be reviewing a zine this month! My love of little magazines and homegrown self-publishing began as soon as my level of dexterity allowed for scissors, paste, and a stapler to be wielded with semi-precision. This love of writing, crafting, and publishing blossomed into a passionate obsession during my first year of college, when I edited the school literary journal and stayed up all night making chapbooks. So it was with especial glee that I received Bucket Siler’s second zine, I Have a Song for You.

This collection of six stories, three letters, and one piece of “miscellany” is beautifully made with delicate thread binding that should be handled with care. Each cover is Gocco handprinted (Gocco is a home screen printing device) and bears a sweet, cheerful, hand-painted balloon in one of varying primary colors. Other whimsical, comic-style object illustrations are sprinkled throughout the zine (in black and white) and made me think of the comfort that can be found in ordinary things, like public school-style chairs, a pair of dice, cup of black coffee, or a swing set.

Known to be the first page many browsers flip to when deciding whether or not to purchase a magazine, the final page is one usually dedicated to bold and compelling content. In this case, the final page of I Have a Song for You is the single item of “miscellany”: a collage of quotes that are funny, imaginative, sad, and kind of crazy. It’s the perfect window into the flavor of this zine and Bucket Siler’s writing.

The opening story, “The Sun Shines Forever,” has a teacher who risks her job to connect with a troubled student because it seems the teacher may need that connection to the limitless possibilities youth can dream. In a story about a marshmallow creature who becomes the “secret friend” of the protagonist, the marshmallow could be a metaphor for a tender, lonely heart, or it could be that the character is crazy, or maybe little marshmallow creatures really might come in and out your window someday, when you need them most.

Of her own stories Bucket says her “one-shot zines” are a mix of “some nonfiction, some fiction, some magicalness.” Until reading this description of her work I couldn’t quite put my finger on the quality Bucket calls “magicalness,” but yes that’s it! While there are strong threads of loneliness and confusion throughout the collection, I also picked up on a voice that held hopefulness and youth. Bucket Siler has songs for the lonely, the lost, those most in need of something to believe in.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, April 10th 2010

Arc and Hue

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Tara Betts

Willow Books

It is deeply satisfying to encounter poetry like Tara Betts’. The widely published poet, author, and Rutgers University creative writing professor bears witness to the true grit of life, including poverty and appearance-based assumptions and experiences that categorize one as other, even among an already marginalized population. These experiences, and the enduring human spirit, are what give color and shape to each life, and it is this thematic material that Betts portrays in her debut collection, Arc & Hue.

Rich in vivid images and musicality, this collection is an authentic portal into the very pulse of life. With the use of repetitive forms like sestina and canzone and the smooth lyrical flow of her free verse, Betts’ poems are imbued with hope, strength, and beauty amid trauma, violence, and the isolation of otherness.

From the weight of death and violence to the vibrancy of moments both ordinary and momentous (lynching, hair care, Hurricane Katrina, lovemaking, pestilence in the slums), each poem is consistently resonant and haunting. Betts can be humorous and playful with form, yet still communicate something substantial, as she demonstrates in “A Survey on Enjoying Verse” and “Neruda’s Email to Slam Poets.” The anxiety and desire of an urban pulse throbs in the strong, sensual language of “Block Party Speculation” and the grief of domestic violence and miscarriage are washed with the power of loving someone new when the narrator stands in the shower with both loss and renewal in “When I First Listened to Billie.”

Arc & Hue crossing my path further fuels my hope that one can indeed maintain awareness of and connection to the world beyond ourselves through the work of poets and artists. A visit to the writer’s blog clued me in to her extensive publishing history—from erotica to live theater to an upcoming young adult novel and a second collection of poetry. Betts is also active in literacy and girls’ empowerment projects, and she has performed her work around the world.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, March 27th 2010

Destroying Mara Forever: Buddhist Ethics Essays in Honor of Damien Keown

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:59:00 +0000

By John Powers, Charles S. Prebish

Snow Lion

Destroying Mara Forever is by no means a leisurely read. Reading this collection of rigorously researched essays, I found myself personally engaged with the questions raised by these great scholars and I am grateful to have had such rich food for thought. The collection honors the work of Damien Keown, now retired Professor of Buddhist Ethics at London’s Goldsmith College. Keown’s body of work has significantly shaped the field of Buddhist studies and has greatly advanced its progress into the twenty-first century.

Applying traditional Buddhist ethical principles and the arguments found in myriad texts both ancient and contemporary, the essays explore issues central to our lives today. Contributor Ian Harris states that “[traditional Buddhism] is incapable, without modification, of responding to the present environmental crisis” and as I think this collection superbly demonstrates it is not just the environmental crisis that traditional Buddhism must evolve to address, but most of today’s pressing issues. In this volume, Buddhism is called upon to take a stance on contemporary issues like capital punishment, the environment, valuation of physical appearance, consumerism, technology, and war.

My attraction to Buddhist philosophy is largely due to the principle of compassion at the heart of Buddha’s teachings, and it was with great interest that I turned to "Buddhist Perspectives on Crime and Punishment." In this essay, author Peter Harvey examines the history of torture and the death penalty in Buddhist societies and what early Buddhist texts have to say on this controversial matter.

In this and other essays, debate arises from the finer points of translation and in many cases, from individual scholars applying interpretation to more elusive words. For instance: did the renowned Indian Buddhist emperor Aśoka apply the death penalty? Some translations indicate he may have tolerated it, though there is also evidence that he was the “first [known] ruler in history recorded to have abolished the death penalty.”

Careful and critical examination of the multiple sides of an issue is consistent throughout this collection. Some fundamental precepts become obsolete as argued in one of the most thought-provoking essays, "In Search of a Green Dharma: Philosophical Issues in Buddhist Environmental Ethics." Christopher Ives examines the arguments of the great Buddhist thinkers, from Keown to Gary Snyder on topics including interdependence, responsibility, identification with nature, intrinsic value, equality, animal rights, and the sacredness of nature as they relate to the current environmental crisis.

We see how examining contemporary environmental issues through a lens of traditional Buddhist doctrine can quickly create absolutes and even hold the wrong parties responsible. For example the doctrine of pratītya-samutpāda "conveys that nothing has a soul or unchanging essence" and therefore we are all interdependent parts of a single greater self. Zen teacher Joan Halifax calls this the greater "ecological self". To follow this line of thinking, Ian Harris says "then the black rhino depends on the hydrogen bomb, the rainforest on the waste dump."

The essays collected in Destroying Mara Forever do not shy away from questioning the relevance of foundational doctrine to answer today's greatest ethical dilemmas, and do so in pointed and respectful debate that leads one to continue that questioning and apply it to other issues.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, February 7th 2010

Elizabeth Gilbert (01/25/2010)

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:18:00 +0000

Bagdad Theater

Portland, Oregon

I fell in love with Elizabeth Gilbert’s smart, poetic, humorous and utterly authentic voice while reading Eat, Pray, Love. In the four years since its release, I re-read the book whenever I need to be reminded that awakening and wisdom are rewards that await on the other side of suffering, if I can be true to myself and follow my heart.

I arrived at Portland’s Bagdad Theater to see young women buzzing with urgency and excitement swarming the ticket counter. The historic theater lobby with rich mosaic ceilings, stone columns, and lacy iron lanterns was packed with people holding wine, beer, and copies of Gilbert’s new book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage (unfortunately my comp ticket didn’t include a copy of the book). Squeezing through the crowd, my friend and I were too late for seats on the main floor, but found comfy velvet armchairs and a good view in the balcony.

For twenty minutes Gilbert read from Committed and told the story of herself, “a bird who could dive,” and her lover Felipé, “a fish who could fly,” and their healing love which began in Bali while Gilbert was on the last leg of her Eat, Pray, Love journey. Deeply wounded by their first marriages, both had sworn never to marry again, but after a long time of Felipé flying in and out of the U.S. on ninety-day visas, Homeland Security decided enough was enough. “Like a stern, old-fashioned father” the U.S. government presented them with the options of separation or marriage, and so this unlikely bird/fish duo “had been netted.”

Following the reading Gilbert gracefully responded to questions, and the gushing of fans, for about forty minutes. Several of the questions belied assumptions commonly held about life after marriage, such as the notion of “settling down” and the expectation that Gilbert would somehow do, or be, less. Gilbert’s take was refreshing and conveys the quiet confidence of a woman who remains true to herself. Pets and a garden speak of her ties to a home-base, whereas her relationship (married or otherwise) exists in a realm that cannot be limited by walls and a roof, or even laws and social convention.

When asked about taking her husband’s name, Gilbert replied that to do so never occurred to her, and further, that the issue is a red herring that detracts from the more essential feminist issues surrounding marriage, including intimacy, privacy, and equal rights. Gilbert is a smooth and relaxed speaker, and she discussed her pre-nup, love life, affluence, and legal entanglements with candor. She also dispensed advice to aspiring writers on the virtue of discipline and the importance of following one’s curiosity.

Despite several cell phones going off, a writer’s “dump on” (I think she meant to say “pitch to”) Gilbert, and the feeling that I might be at an opening for Sex and the City rather than a book reading, I walked away feeling touched and inspired by Gilbert’s creative essence and self-possession.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, January 27th 2010

Garbage Dreams: Raised in the Trash Trade

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Directed by Mai Iskander

Iskander Films

At seventy-nine minutes long, Garbage Dreams is New York-based producer, director, and cinematographer Mai Iskander’s directorial debut. Before viewing the film I had never heard of the Zaballeen nor did I know that Cairo, one of the world’s most historic cities, once at the very pinnacle of human history, has no municipal waste disposal system to handle the trash of its eighteen million residents. Garbage Dreams provides an important window into one of the world's invisible and endangered communities who slog, dangerously unprotected, through the detritus of the upper classes and barely earn a living wage.

The Zaballeen are a primarily "Coptic Christian community of impoverished peasants from rural Egypt” whose work is collecting the trash of Cairo residents. They earn a small amount for the collection service and also for recycling (a minimum of eighty percent of) what they collect. Garbage Dreams follows several members of the Zaballeen community, and we see them working, playing, hanging out at home, and organizing to save the vocation that has sustained them for generations. An influx of foreign companies is not only taking their customers but also attracting some of their labor force.

Among the individuals documented is seventeen-year-old Adham, who expresses an existential resignation mixed with practical and spiritual acceptance of his destiny. He says, “each one gets what is written,” and demonstrates pride in his community, but is not immune to being embarrassed by his social class, which he refers to as the “Nothing Class." We also see into the life of eighteen-year-old Nabil, who has been contentedly “working in trash” since the age of seven, and Community Social Worker Laila, who walks among the garbage villages administering tetanus shots and providing education about the very serious health risks involved in the Zaballeen profession. Laila also acts as counselor, community organizer, and activist, urging the Zaballeen to prevail over the foreign companies.

Osama is perhaps the most poignant person documented in Garbage Dreams. He is restless and seems to need much more out of life than his current circumstances allow. At just sixteen years old, Osama has worked more jobs than most middle-aged Americans. After years of “looking for the job that suits [him] best,” he finds his destiny in garbage.

Although their focus on recycling is not motivated by environmentalism, I noticed strong anti-waste principles driving the Zaballeen, perhaps mostly because they see the cash to be made in a jumble of discards. When visiting the UK and observing operations at an English sanitation company, Adham is appalled at the sheer wastefulness of not recycling even the smallest scraps possible; not only are outside companies taking their livelihood, they are spitting on their principles to boot.

Garbage Dreams has won a slew of film festival awards, including several Best Documentary, World Cinema Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography awards. I would add to that Most Excellent Soundtrack and recommend checking out the film’s website and clicking on "How to Help" for information on screenings, distribution, and how to help the Zaballeen.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, December 17th 2009

The Ravenous Audience

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:01:00 +0000

By Kate Durbin

Akashic Books

I’ve always thought that at its best, art in some way disturbs us: out of complacency, ignorance, or innocence that has become a liability. The Ravenous Audience by Kate Durbin is a deliciously disturbing collection of poems that delivers a sensory-emotional feast ripe with smells, sounds, and flavors of the sacred and the profane. I was enchanted by the visual and visceral quality of the collection and was thoroughly engaged by Durbin’s command of language.

The book is divided into four Scenes (sections), and many of the poems are inspired by the works of other artists, including films, paintings, photographs, and sculptures. One section contains a thirty-page poem originally published as a chapbook. The poems vary greatly in form and include orderly stanzaed quatrains and couplets among other, less obviously ordered free verse. Deliberate spacing and line structure provide emphasis and cadence, while some poems span several pages, making effective use of white space and the pause as the reader turns the page.

One of my favorite poems in the collection is "36 Fillette." Taking its title from Catherine Breillat’s 1988 film, the poem's lines are taken from the film's dialogue. As the page-long poem progresses, repetition increases, lines lose their punctuation and merge, and by its end the poem has picked up such speed that I was completely drawn into the cyclone of experience it creates.

The Ravenous Audience also brings to life several mythic and iconic women of the early twentieth century (Amelia Earhart, Clara Bow, and Marilyn Monroe), and Durbin gives a fresh voice to these women of troubled lives and tragic destinies. Exhaustive research informs an imagined interview with Marilyn, a listing of the worldly possessions she left behind, and a final-days journal of the wrecked, stranded, and menstruating Amelia Earhart.

Focusing on the shock factor of much of the thematic material in The Ravenous Audience would be to overlook how well this collection reflects the overall experience of being a woman and boldly embracing the messiness of corporeal life. The raw descriptions of bodily juices, incest, transgressive sex, and violent objectification punctuate a collection of poems that bears unflinching witness and plays with and annihilates boundaries. The carnality and grossness of life are not ignored, but included simply as part of the whole.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, December 16th 2009

BooBoo Unisex Wrist Bracelet, Woven

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:48:00 +0000

By Truth

The story behind a company and its products really makes or breaks my decision to purchase. Yes, aesthetics are a key determining factor, but my criteria goes beyond this alone. I want to know the who, what, where, when, and how behind it so that my money supports my values. Truth, as it turns out, is a company with a great product and a great story.

I’d heard a bit about this Canadian company, but didn’t know what they were all about, so I was especially excited to review Truth’s Woven Wrist BooBoo. Given the unisex cuff style and my extra-dinky wrists, I hoped I’d be getting the S versus the other size, L. Indeed I got the S woven style Booboo in the “brown/pink” combo and instantly loved the contrast between the serious snaps set in a pewter-colored faux leather and the soft baby pink, raspberry pink, and ivory threads tightly woven with burgundy, brown and taupe threads.

I like that it’s not woven into a perfect checkerboard-like basket weave. It’s totally cute, but has an edge. Browsing their website I could see a range of tastes going through their wares, from preppy to punk. The materials are all vegan and their line includes several style of wrist cuffs, belts, bamboo fabric t-shirts, and clean, simple necklaces.

The story behind Truth is especially interesting. When owner and designer Renia Pruchnicki started the company in 2001, she was used to working with technical fabrics as an outerwear clothing designer and naturally gravitated toward a “technical” faux leather fabric. Truth's "leather looking" belts became very popular within the vegan community and their website reads: “When I started this company, I was not a vegetarian and was not even thinking of pursuing anything along those lines in terms of a market. But the path that I took opened my eyes to many things and over the years and my diet slowly became mostly vegetarian.”

As an activist-minded consumer it’s heartening to find such a great example of the power consumer demand has to actually change the marketplace. In this instance not only did demand directly influence the company’s products, the personal values of the company owner were also affected. And for this I love wearing my stylish, comfy, cruelty-free Woven Wrist BooBoo even more!

Written by: Matsya Siosal, November 2nd 2009

The 2010 Lonely Planet Calendar

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:39:00 +0000

By Lonely Planet

There’s something about getting a new calendar that brings out my inner geek, the part of me that revels in stationery supplies and finds the smell of pencils and paper somewhat intoxicating. As a student, the beginning of fall—my favorite season—was always exciting not just for the crisp sunny days and technicolored leaves. I was equally thrilled to have fresh, new school supplies, and to this day, I get a charge when replenishing my office supplies or choosing a new journal. I also carefully select an agenda book and a wall calendar each year. Usually I wait until they go on sale in January, but the The 2010 Lonely Planet Calendar was a nice, early treat.

The wall calendar is a bit larger than average (11 3/4” by 13” when closed), and each day has a large square with plenty of space to jot down birthdays and appointments. Holidays from around the world are unobtrusively pre-printed in a subtle grey ink. Each month is a visit to countries in all corners of the globe—from The Bahamas to Sweden to Indonesia. Vibrant photographs and a brief overview of each destination give armchair travelers a taste of local culture, flora, fauna, traditions, and landscapes.

My favorite month in this calendar is February when we visit Iran. I’m partial to the country's aesthetics—the intricate mosaics, minarets, and domed architecture—all of which are featured in brilliant color. I looked to my birth month (December) with special anticipation. In December 2010 we visit Malawi; highlights of the page are breathtaking photos of Nyika National Park and a canoe that appears to be carved from a single tree.

Lonely Planet was started in the 1970s by a young couple who wanted to show others how to travel the globe on the cheap while having authentic experiences in the places visited. Today Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, London, and Oakland with over 500 staff members and 300 authors. Tony and Maureen, the young couple who started it all, are still actively involved in the organization and their empowering approach to travel ("All you've got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!") is still the company’s guiding motto.

Written by: Matsya Siosal, September 28th 2009