Bandcamp Sale – Neutral Zone Donations
“Secluded Vibrance”
West Virginia’s forsaken coke
ovens, a painter’s acid palette,
reddened the rocks of Douglas Falls.
Listen to the water whisper a story
waiting in secluded vibrancy.
That green pool of tears knows
the taste of our progress better
than we do, as those falls crash
stained rock, again and again,
a spectacular, grotesque end.
February 1-2, 2017
Photo credits: Adam and Christine of Virginiatrailguide.com, used with permission.
- Congress votes to end rule stopping coal mining debris from being dumped in streams http://ti.me/2l0B1M5
- More about Douglas Falls: Virginiatrailguide.com
- A hiking map through Black Canyon Trails: here
- The phrase “secluded vibrance” comes from photographer Matthew Kocin’s photo here.
Fred Korematsu Day – Tiny Desk Contest
January 30 is Fred Korematsu Day.
We recognize his protest of the Japanese Internment Camps as an American citizen, and his work in social justice throughout his life.
My Tiny Desk Contest submission is a song for him, “California Cries (May 30, 1942 – San Leandro).”
You can read lyrics here on Genius.
More about Korematsu here: http://www.korematsuinstitute.org/
Annotated Lyrics: A World That’s Bigger
For those who like the stories of the songs, I annotated the lyrics to A World That’s Bigger on Genius.
In an interview last week, music journalist Annie Reuters asked me about the literary allusions and motifs hiding within the lyrics of new record. (Former students probably just shuddered as they remembered Dialectical Journals for my class.)
Here’s a cheat sheet:
https://genius.com/artists/Mike-vial
(For the record,
1.) I don’t buy vinyl, but I do own above average headphones, so I think I can still relate.
2.) I’ve read Fever Pitch once, but I don’t know if it counts. I bought the novel and Dave saw it in my classroom, and I pretended I had finished it to sound cool; but then I actually did read it, but I skipped a lot of the soccer scenes, and I watched the movie, instead. It was about a girl, right?)
