CULTURE Archivi - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

REBEL REBEL

Jan 7, 2023 | CULTURE, CULTURE, MUSIC, MUSIC, ROCK, ROCK

Rebel Rebel is the picture disc I received as a gift from Elisa Mirko and Diego.

Elisa had already given me the Oh bej oh bej pictures as a gift.

Mirko had already given me the logo as a gift.

They both love David Bowie, as I do and as a large large percentage of humanity does, I think.

These days mark two dates, of which I like to remember more the first: his birthday.

David Bowie made history, and I won’t add “of music” because The White Duke is forever art, genius, style and communication that never stopped obliterating barriers.

Some have referred to Rebel Rebel as the anthem of glam, but I believe its unmistakable riff has the power to immediately captivate anyone who listen to it.

The Riff

Dsus2 E

e|———–0——–(0)——————|

B|——(3)—–3–2—0-0—–2–0——–|

G|——(2)————1-1———–1—–|

D|——-0————(2)—2———–2–|

A|—————————————–|

E|–(3)————————————|

Polly also agrees.

Instead, this is the version at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, London, on July 13, 1985.

Yes, I know, I always take you back to the 1980s, Rebel Rebel however is part of the 1974 album Diamond Dogs and at that time I was still unaware of it.

The image on the picture disc is part of the cover of Diamond Dogs signed by Guy Peellaert on the MoMA website the full version censored by RCA.

The album is steeped in references to George Orwell’s 1984.

Paradoxically, if you will, to look through the lens, I point you to this exhibition at the State Archives in Turin.

America Dreams Rights show David Bowie on the U.S. tour promoting Diamond Dogs through Steve Shapiro’s shots.

It is very sad to think that almost fifty years have passed and yet we have not made much progress in terms of rights, or even in terms of dreams.

May be we are not Rebels enough, aren’t we?

COFFEE KISS

Nov 26, 2022 | CULTURE

Coffee kiss 咖啡之吻 is the “nickname” of Johnson Tsang’s artwork as the author himself explains on his blog.

Some people called this work Coffee Kiss 咖啡之吻. I do think it is a great suggestion!

I think so too, and speaking of suggestions, thanks to whoever pointed me to Coffee Kiss: Chito a.k.a. @cala.mistro, if you still don’t know his drawings do it now because they are brilliant!

But if Coffee Kiss is just the nickname, what is the original title of the artwork?

Yuanyang II

Yuanyang is a species of water birds literally known as Mandarin duck. Because “Yuanyang” always appears in pairs, it is adopted as a symbol of conjugal love in Chinese, as Johnson Tsang explains.

Yuanyang II was displayed at Hong Kong International Airport with the following motivation:
with Hong Kong’s historical background, local culture embraces Chinese traditions as well as impacts from the West. In fact, inclusion has long been the major characteristic of local culture. Yet, Hong Kong people are no copycats. We infuse the external impacts with our own creativities. Yuanyang, a local drink which mixes milk tea and coffee, reflects Hong Kong’s unique fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. I hope to represent Hong Kong culture’s organic vitality in the West Kowloon Cultural District with this sculpture.
Johnson Tsang Cheung Shing 2012

Surely the organic vitality of Hong Kong is well represented, but at this point a further question arises: Yuanyang “local drink”?!

Yet weren’t we talking about ducks?

Actually, the name Yuanyang has many facets: as we mentioned, it is the Chinese name for mandarin ducks, which historically were believed to mate for life.

The popular association of yuanyang with romance arose during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

In his Changan poem: poetry written in an antiquated form, the seventh-century poet Lu Zhaolin wrote that lovers “wished to be mandarin ducks more so than immortals.”

However, the Aix galericulata during the breeding season stay in couple often for many seasons, but not forever, after all, you know, times change…

Yuanyang are also the beautiful rice terraces beyond the clouds, perfectly described by Si parte dopo il caffè.

In Mandarin, yuanyang is then used when eating hotpot: “Yuanyang Pot “a double-tasting pot in which you can enjoy both spicy and non-spicy soup, divided into two parts. And the name relates precisely to the two halves joined, as in an inseparable pair.

Finally, to close the circle and return to Coffee Kiss, in Hong Kong yuanyang is a beverage: milk and coffee tea also known as Yuan Yang Cha 鸳鸯 in Mandarin, Yin Yang, Yun Yueng, Yin Yong, Yin Yeung or Yuenyueng tea 鴛鴦 commonly used among young people.

There are many transliterations, but the common denominator is unique and corresponds to a very popular drink and refers to how coffee and milk tea are a perfect match!

What do you think?

Coffee Informer explains the recipe, who wants to try it?

EVIDENCE

Oct 29, 2022 | A COFFEE WITH, CULTURE

Evidence means the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

Evidence is an audiovisual montage that crosses the work of Arthur Rimbaud, Antonin Artaud and René Daumal in their journeys to new horizons.

Stimulated by these metaphysical journeys, the music and sound composition of Perfect Vision is the starting point for this new multidisciplinary exhibition, collectively designed by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith for the Centre Pompidou.

Have you ever visited the Centre Pompidou?

According to this video, tourists don’t know about it …

Undoubtedly a nice way to promote yourself, anyway I guess if I agree.

I’ve been there every time I’ve been lucky enough to visit Paris, and I find it hard to believe that tourists ignore it.

Of course the gimmick of the QR code embedded is rather ingenious, or is it?

Especially when I think that we visited Paris following complimentary hotel maps with all the Metro lines … yes, it was just that couple of years and technological eras ago … 🙂

Incidentally, “chatting” through the comments with Olivia, I was just remembering our attempts to ask for coffee by repeating serré over and over again in the vain hope of drinking it as short as possible …

Also pictured is Patti Smith, portrayed by Annie Leibovitz, having coffee at Café de Flore, in Paris.

Patti said in an interview that Evidence is about travel.

Smiling, I think of the Pompidou Center’s gadgets: inspired by the classic souvenirs commonly considered as a “proof” of travel to be carried as a souvenir to display at home, or as a thought for friends and acquaintances.

So what is the proof, that is, the gadget you purchased during one of your trips that you particularly cherish?

NO UNESCO HERITAGE

Mar 31, 2022 | CULTURE, WHO CARES

No UNESCO heritage for espresso: the application was rejected. Passed. Not allowed. What is the most correct wording?

It is certainly more kind to say that the candidacy The Italian Espresso Coffee between culture, ritual, sociality and literature in the emblematic communities from Venice to Naples was not admitted by the committee by the Council Director of the Italian National Commission for Unesco, who preferred the Opera.

Of course we all agree that the art of opera is worth it.

But the coffee just “wasn’t there?” Pity.

However, it remains a heritage for us.

At this point our thoughts turn to the sensational rejections.

The first that comes to mind is the famous Meryl Streep audition for King Kong.

Here she tells us directly, but above all divinely I would say

Or we can quote Fazi Editore and the interview with Elido Fazi: Gore Vidal pointed out Dan Brown to me. His book got there six months before it was released in America. We read it absent-mindedly and didn’t do anything about it.

In other words, we can say that “reading absent-mindedly” harms.

Whenever I think of underestimates I am reminded of Shirey MacLaine and the recurring sentence in The Last Word movie “The Kinks are the most underrated band ever.”

In fact, many were surprised by the choice of David Gilmour who in a 2003 BBC interview indicated Waterloo Sunset as the first of the songs he would choose a desert island.

Do you want to tell me some anecdotes too?

Or maybe you also have a personal experience, of rejection or even better of revenge?

Indeed, more than revenge, I’d like to talk about rebirth

Being born is not enough. It is to be reborn that we are born. Everyday. Pablo Neruda

What do you say?

KEEP CALM WE HAVE HEART

Mar 25, 2022 | CULTURE, MUSIC, WHO CARES

Keep calm we have heart is the title of a solo exhibition at the municipality of San Severo by the artist Gianni Pitta.

San Severo is a place that has impressed me reading Giovanni Rinaldi‘s books, in which certainly the heart is not lacking.

In this case, however, it is about the heart understood in an artistic sense, I quote verbatim: Keep calm we have heart, wants to re-propose the central theme of the heart as a symbol, but also as a language, as a thought whose purpose is mainly to be of hope, of love and not only an amplifier of torment, a consequence of this human malaise.

We undoubtedly need a lot of heart and hope, particularly in this period.

And I found myself thinking about the times when I happened to draw a heart: my hearts were always imperfect, asymmetrical, sometimes just unbalanced.

Yet perhaps they were truer, like this: crooked and squashed.

And if we also try to write heart in a different way, we get for example heArt which is a social platform dedicated to art, born in 2021 with the intention of giving visibility and sharing to artists. .

Did you already know it?

Remaining in the artistic field, HOW MANY times could we quote heart?

What is the first heart that comes to your mind?

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON EXPLAINED BY STUDENTS

Mar 18, 2022 | CULTURE

PCTO or Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation.

Writing an article on the meaning of the expression “Keep Calm and Carry On” is the PCTO project assigned to the students of the 5R class of the “Manfredo Fanti” Liceo Scientifico of Carpi Modena’s area.

This project is part of the Focus History initiative: Focus Academy, aimed at involving young people in the various stages of preparation of the magazine through webinars that the purpose of promoting not only scientific or historical dissemination, as in this case, but also the various phases before issue.

I would like to clarify that the class was divided into two groups and that the second group also worked on a very interesting topic: the story of Crazy Horse.

My compliments go to all the students.

It goes without saying that I was struck by the subject of these works, so I contacted the Headmaster Professor Alda Barbi to know the origin, but the assignment came directly from the editorial staff of Focus History.

The Focus press office was equally kind but we can perhaps think that there is no specific reason.

And I would say that this is precisely the beauty: there is always a good reason to say “keep calm” don’t you think?

All this made me think back to the glorious days of school, when we still called these activities simply “research.”

Is there a research that has particularly impressed you? What memories do you have of school?

The first research carried out in elementary school often comes to my mind for two reasons.

The first concerns the precise memory I have of my mother as she searches for newspapers so that I can find the images to cut out.

Yes: it was a cardboard billboard with glued cutouts.

If we think about what can be done with images now it really seems prehistoric.

The second reason is the topic chosen by the teacher Virginia, whom I admire and still respect today: foreign words that have come into common use.

Today they are no longer counted: now our language is made up of constant and continuous contamination.

But in search of foreign words I somehow got tied up, and I never stopped trying to learn them.

Who knows if even for some of the students of the Fanti high school this work will mark a turning point, or will represent the first of a long series of steps in the journey of life.

CARRY ON!

Keep calm, and carry on …