This post comes live from Córdoba, España. While staying with friends in this city in Andalucia, I met Blanca, a woman who lives in the apartment where I’m staying. We spoke briefly about our lives and she told me that she’d like to return to her home in Ecuador next year. As I gear up for making moves in music in Madrid next year I’ll be writing songs about human interactions that have occurred throughout these last few years. Peace and gracias for reading!
Blanca sits eyes deep and explains/How in her youth she spent her Italian days/ Among eclectic groups in parks as they’d play/ Music from Paraguay to Bombay/
Now she knows she’ll go home/ Back to su pais/ Work is increasingly slow as she wears down her knees/ Looking after the senora whose only a few years older/ But affords her to come arond to cook and brew Folgers/
Is is the wrinkle/ Or the twinkle in her eye/ Or her slow step that represents knowledge of a whole life/ Search for the fountain of youth/ Empty handed you’ll arrive/ But lend a ear to those who’ve lived and find timeless advice/
While we mindlessly drive on/ Autopilot through careers/ pay for diversion costs rise every year/ Your life is meaningless if that’s how you want it to appear/ If you were given a choice you were given power the hour is here/
Flash back to Blanca as she flashes back to Milano/ leans back on the couch that props her up a touch of sorrow/ but only that much because she always makes it to tomorrow/
Blanca sits eyes deep and explains/ How in her youth she spent her italian days/ Among ecletic groups in parks as they’d play/ Music from Paraguay to Bombay/
The Snapshots from the Collective series works to create a space for Reflection and Response through photography. ANYone who wants to contribute ANY photos to this project can email us submissions at the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com. One photo will be posted each week, and photos will only be used for the purposes of this series. Thank you and we look forward to building and expanding the Collective!!! -P & V
Grub n. 1) Food that may be eaten at any time, and appropriately so. 2) A savory morsel always too quickly consumed and never lasting quite long enough. –v. 1) To digg on a meal in a savage or vicious way without the sacrifice of table manners.
WORD of the Day: Grub
A Sure Staple
The Sandwich. A building block to satisfy any man’s deserving hunger.
To begin Cut the bun, roll, or bread. Next apply the spread; honey mustard my choice of late. Break down the lettuce and do what it do. Thin cut a portion of onion and put that on over the lettuce. Slice tomato and toss it onto the greenery, [Fact- Tomato is a fruit. Particularly, the ovary of a flowering plant. Yumm. Grandma’s Wisdom claims it good for the prostate as well. Go figure.] sprinkle it with pepper and salt. We’re building here now! Follow that up by grabbing desired amount of choice meat, preferably fresh and deli sliced, layer that onto the ‘mato. Now here comes the fun, quickly cook an egg over med-to-hard and crown the beast! Aww Sookie Sookie now. Furthermore put on some good cheese and don’t be modest about it, slap on a Steve Urkel grip. Be it manageable, make the cheese deli cut or at least off a block, ya-mean. Don the whole thing with the other piece of bread and there it is, simple and plain.
Now that all the composition is complete throw some Kettle chips on the side and grab a frosty Budweiser and there you have it. Take a step back to appreciate the dish in all its beauty and in the immortal words of Hamilton ‘Ham’ Porter, “Then you Stuff”.
the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.
Thursday, August 30 @ 10:30pm: Acorriente(Music, Chamamé/Jazz)
Location: Alma Bar, Ávalos 460, Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina
20 pesos
Friday, August 31 @ 3:30am: Dani Massaro (DJ Set)
Location: Caño Santa Ana, Plaza del Caño Santa Ana, 24006 León, España
FREE
September 2012
Friday, September 7 @ 3:30am: Dani Massaro (DJ Set)
Location: Caño Santa Ana, Plaza del Caño Santa Ana, 24006 León, España
FREE
Friday, September 14 @ 3:30am: Dani Massaro (DJ Set)
Location: Caño Santa Ana, Plaza del Caño Santa Ana, 24006 León, España
FREE
Friday, September 21 @ 3:30am: Dani Massaro (DJ Set)
Location: Caño Santa Ana, Plaza del Caño Santa Ana, 24006 León, España
FREE
Friday, September 28 @ 3:30am: Dani Massaro (DJ Set)
Location: Caño Santa Ana, Plaza del Caño Santa Ana, 24006 León, España
FREE
October 2012
Thursday, October 4 @ 7:00pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Friday, October 5 @ 9:30pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Saturday, October 6 @ 7:00pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Tuesday, October 9 @ 9:30pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Wednesday, October 10 @ 7:00pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Thursday, October 11 @ 9:30pm: Megan Branch(Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Friday, October 12 @ 7:00pm: Megan Branch (Theater, Actor)
CLEAN by Edwin Sanchez, directed by Christie Clark
Location: The New School for Drama, 151 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
FREE
Reflection and Response.
Events from the Collective is a calendar of upcoming events from the LIFESTYLE collective’s international community. Events can be submitted at anytime to the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com or @LIFESTYLE_RR and will be added to the calendar as they roll in.
This past Friday, August 31 was the (official) ONE YEAR mark for the LIFESTYLE: Reflection and Response! From Archival posts twice a week, to the Feature Series, to Throwback December, to Snapshots from the Collective, to Talk of the Town, to the Patchwork project, to The Porch Swing, to Events from the Collective, to the Artist Of The Week Twitter-series, to Original Mondays, to the production of Shake This Maze Editions I and II, to Reflection and Response: The Zine, Volume I, its been a powerful experience working with the Collective to create this space. The foundation has been built. Thank you all for the support and participation throughout this past year. We’re excited to move forward into Year 2!
For this celebratory occasion, we’d also like to send shout-outs to the following Collective members for their memorable “first” contributions in getting the LIFESTYLE project off the ground last year:
Pablo Rojas, the LIFESTYLE’s first WordPress comment
Grant Bristow, the LIFESTYLE’s first Facebook “like”
Megan Branch, the LIFESTYLE’s first Twitter mention
Samuel Bostick, the LIFESTYLE’s first Twitter boost
Yesterday I moved back to Madrid. August in León was a great break from the grind in Madrid and a different Spanish reality. In León I took a few pictures and this post represents that. The following pictures include things I would see on the streets, including the León Cathedral. Without further adieu I present The León Gallery:
Contours V: Layers. A blind contour “cross-section” of the city, looking at how the outlines of plants, streets, cars, street lamps, and buildings interact.
To kick off a three-part “Voices From León” miniseries within our ongoing Feature series, we are proud and excited to present Los Platillos Volantes. Los Platillos represent a leading rock group in the Leon music scene and have participated in festivals and concerts throughout Spain, such as Purple Weekend. Los Platillos is a powerful combo that features Sam on drums, Miguel on bass, Dani on lead guitar, and J on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Channeling the energy and aesthetic of rock music from the 1960’s, the band’s original hybrid of blues, rock, garage, and psychedelic make them a favorite in the current modern Spanish classic rock scene. In our interview with J we learn about the experience of playing current music informed by the past in León, España. Check the dialogue and footage of the group performing at the 2012 La Mar de Ruido festival in Avilés, Spain.
Para empezar con algunos puntos básicas, de dónde vienes? Dónde estás?
Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?
J: Venimos de León ( España ) y estamos en León. Tenemos el local de ensayo y estudio en un pequeño pueblo a unos 20 kilómetros de la ciudad. Solemos tocar cerca de aquí: León y provincia, Asturias, Cantabria, aunque a veces vamos un poco mas lejos como Bilbao, Madrid. Siempre intentamos ir un poco más lejos, ir abriendo fronteras, ya me entiendes.
J: We are from León, Spain and we are still in this city. Our practice space and recording studio is in a small town 20 km from the center. Most of our shows are nearby: León and it;s surrounding area, Asturias, Cantabria, though sometime we travel further to Bilbao or Madrid. We always aim to go further and cross new frontiers, if you know what I mean.
Que quiere decir “reflexión,” y “respuesta,” para vosotros?
What does Reflection and Response mean to you?
J: Reflexión es lo que piensas que vas a hacer y respuesta es lo que realmente haces, es decir: tienes una idea y la maduras en tu cabeza (reflexión), luego la pones en práctica (respuesta), si todo va bien la respuesta es igual a la reflexión, aunque hay veces que entre la reflexión y la respuesta se te quedan cosas por el camino.
J: Reflection is what one considers doing and response is what one does: an idea grows and matures in the head (reflection), which is then put into practice (response), and if all goes well the the response is the same as the reflection, though sometimes things get lost between reflection and response.
Cómo se mete Los Platillos Volantes en esta definición?
How does Los Platillos Volantes fit in with that definition?
J: Los platillos volantes vamos pensando cosas y haciéndolas, eso si poco a poco, sin prisa pero sin pausa. Una canción, una versión, una grabación, tocar aquí o allá…
J: In The Platillos Volantes we are constantly considering ideas and carrying them out, slowly and without rushing but also without pause. An original song, a cover, recording, performing here and there…
Que más están haciendo actualmente? Que proyectos estás pensando trabajar próximamente?
What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?
J:Nuestro proyecto constante es hacer conciertos, tocar en vivo, para eso tenemos un grupo ¿ no? Aparte hemos terminado de grabar un EP de 4 canciones en vinilo que estamos mezclando con dos temas propios y dos versiones que próximamente saldrá a la luz, también tenemos un proyecto ” aunque ahora está un poco parado ” de tocar con Gabi, cantante de ” Los Salvajes ” grupo por excelencia del rock español de la década de los 60.
J: The Platillos main project is performing and playing live and for that reason we have a band, right? We are in the process of mixing an EP of 4 songs on vinyl that consists of two original songs and two covers. We also have been working with Gabi, singer of “Los Salvajes,” a leading Spanish rock group from the 1960’s.
Quien o que les inspira?
Who or what inspires you all?
J: En general nos inspiran las bandas americanas, británicas… de los 60 de blues, rhythm and blues, psicodelia, garaje…pero mas en concreto las bandas españolas de esa década.
J: American and British bands are a big inspiration. Especially those that play blues, rhythm and blues, psychedelic, garage…Additionally Spanish bands from the same time period.
Hay algo más que quieren que sepa el Collectivo?
Is there anything else you would like the Collective to know?
J: Si, queremos que todo el mundo escuche nuestra música y ya sabes que el mejor medio es la red de redes, por lo tanto aquí te dejo un par de webs.
J:A ti por supuesto y a tu compañero que está contigo en todo esto, también a toda la gente que viene a nuestros conciertos y disfruta de ellos. Un saludo y suerte con el blog.
J: Shout out to you and your partner that works with you on all this and all the people that come to enjoy our shows. Un saludo and good luck with the blog.
The Snapshots From the Collective series works to create a space for Reflection and Response through photography. ANYone who wants to contribute ANY photos to this project can email us submissions at the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com. One photo will be posted each week, and photos will only be used for the purposes of this series. Thank you and we look forward to building and expanding the Collective!!! -P & V
the LIFESTYLE 