Every year, Swedes celebrate a national holiday called “Midsummer.” The roots of the festival go back to the 6th century A.D. Originally held to usher in the season of fertility, Midsummer also honors the summer solstice. The traditions began in the southern areas of Sweden and then gradually spread to the rest of the country. People […]
Not Just Reindeer: Sweden’s Midsummer Festival Read More »
The most common question when I mention Nan Desu Kan is always, “Oh, what is that?” I often laugh inside at the joke most don’t get. As with so much in the Japanese language, double, triple, and quadruple meanings can create true wordplay often impossible in the Romantic and Germanic languages. In Japanese, the phrase
Nan Desu Kan–What Is It? Read More »
Despite facing intense adversity in its early stages, the Sydney Mardi Gras festival has become the largest annual event held in Sydney, Australia that celebrates the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual) community. The celebration is an explosion of color, creativity, and, most importantly, acceptance. The party lasts for three weeks and people from around the
The Sydney Mardi Gras: A Riot of Beautiful Energy Read More »
To Lindsay Hand, art is “a meditation, a necessity as an action for me to create, a growing process, a presence. It’s a beautiful thing, to just step in and be, but it also can require things that need to be said. That’s speaking from my own art and my process. Viewing other people’s art
I stood in Lindsay Hand’s downtown art studio, feeling the creaks of the wooden floor beneath my feet and hearing the large building, filled with several art studios and offices, breathe and shift slightly around me. I held a coffee I’d just purchased from the Starbucks down the street and smiled at Lindsay. Her short
Mystery and Motherhood: An Interview with Lindsay Hand Read More »
The general characteristics of some professions never seem to change much. Still, the specifics can mutate as dramatically as a werewolf under a full moon. Take the music industry. A recent study by BearShare shows that for every $1,000 earned, a musician takes home a paltry $23.40 in pocket change. All sorts of people take a cut of a musician’s performance in this
The Rules of Engagement for Professional Musicians Read More »