Cloud Tectonics

In the very near future, I will be posting pictures and video of the various concerts I went to this year and perhaps I will shut up about them once and for all so that I will not have the same conversation with 60 different people. They start to avoid you at some point. The bands that I will rant about. Regenerator, Chloe Day, Alla', Star, AVP, Attrition, I:Scintilla, I probably missed some, but all will have some coverage.....meanwhile, this play "Cloud Tectonics" that will be performing in Peter Jones Gallery, 1806 W Cuyler. $10 to $15. This is an amazing play. I read it years ago and it is just a beautiful magical story. I dare say that it reeks of magical realism but that comes with the territory when you're a latino playwright. The writer's name is Jose Rivera. I will post more a bit later....
Kaspar-Zig

Last Tuesday...Star, The Lavellas, Arch Visceral Parlor

Hi, I guess this is my very first real entry into my blog and all. Here it is. I was really looking forward to this shoegazer-goth concert, mostly to see AVP which I'm friends with, I am happy to say. Sorry, Gail and John for arriving too late for your performance. Still, I was happy to see you all there to see the same performances I saw.
The Lavellas are a male vocal band that had me dancing as well as a few others. This is significant for me because the male voice normally does not hold my attention, but this band had me and many goths around me dancing, and as I was moving I knew I would leave the venue with everything that this band produced, as well as a size M shirt.....I'm normally an XL but hey how often do you get to talk to a band that you like? Take whatever size is available. I'll take that size M and I will love it. I can say this, for the time that they performed I was not thinking of who was playing next. My concentration was on enjoying them playing. Afterwards I had a nice talk with the lead singer. They performed this past Saturday as well. I could not go to that because of work.

Star, was the main act. There was something written on them in I think "New City" a free local newspaper with an lean towards music. I liked what I read and so I bought the CD before hearing them sing. It pays off so well when you buy it on blind faith first and love it later. Star is a fuzzy, loud shoegazer act with a female voice that's local. Lead singer Shannon, dressed in casual dark colors seemed relaxed enough to sip from what looked like a really cheap south-side beer, Blue Ribbon, I think, as she sang. I fucking loved it. She has the kind of stage presence that's relaxed, casual, unassuming but still commanding. Kind of like a really cool open mic poetry performance. I had to talk to Ms Shannon after her performance. She deserves a big audience, a big passionate, subcultural audience. As does the Lavellas, and AVP.
I feel everytime I have a good time during a Tuesday night concert is like I took it away from weekenders. It's like I took something straight out of their mouths. A good Tuesday is better than a regular Saturday for me, in part because Tuesday is my regular weekend, and so when a concert lands squarely in my weekend, it feels like it was customized for me. As I get more and more into the routine of posting for this blog of mine, (thanks Erin!) I will ad more post more pictures and video for the bands that I have seen and heard.
Kaspar-Zig

Goth Traveler Debut

I am pleased to present to you the final report from the 2007 Humanitarian Health Conference hosted by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Dartmouth Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts this past September. This document contains the consensus statements and recommendations, developed over three days by over 100 humanitarian practitioners, on four key issues that impact humanitarian response. The report presents concrete, actionable next steps for more effective interventions that we hope will assist your organization in its programming activities.

The Humanitarian Health Conference is a unique forum that brings together a cross-section of the humanitarian health sector community: NGO leaders, field technicians, donor agencies, academic researchers, and policymakers. The outcomes of this event, presented here, reflect an unprecedented collaborative effort across organizations and among institutional agendas to professionalize the field of humanitarian response in a new era of accountability.