Category: Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the World

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the WorldLeave a comment

Saturday Morning Cartoons with Eros and Thanatos

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

by Wanda Waterman The Voice, Volume 22 Issue 44 2014-11-07 Film: Eight Animazing Short Stories “Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn.” – B.R. Hayden These international animated shorts, winners of the first ever AniMazing Spotlight competition, have some common elements. There’s no dialogue in any of them, for one thing, which makes them watchable in any country, and the themes are universal. The films were judged for uniqueness, quality of narrative, character, animation, ingenuity, sound, and, yes, the message. The judges are from all over the world and come from very different … Continue reading Saturday Morning Cartoons with Eros and Thanatos

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Big Men, Big Planes, and Big Dreams of Plenty

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

by Wanda Waterman Voice Magazine, Volume 22 Issue 43 2014-10-31 Film: Cargo Cult Director: Bastien Dubois “The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.” – John Berger “Avarice is fear sheathed in gold.” – Paul Eldridge This animated short film is set during World War II, and touches on how a native of Papua New Guinea might view the spectacular plenty of the Americans and the Japanese as it … Continue reading Big Men, Big Planes, and Big Dreams of Plenty

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the World, MaghrebLeave a comment

The Famished Roots of Violent Extremism

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

by Wanda Waterman The Voice, Volume 22 Issue 41 2014-10-17 Film: Horses of God Director: Nabil Ayouch Writer: Jamal Belmahi, based on the book by Mahi Binebine “I was very interested in violence itself because I believe violence has a source. It has a reason why; it doesn’t come from the sky. I was interested in the genesis of violence.” – Nabil Ayouch “The name that can be named is not the eternal name.” – The Tao Te Ching On the 16th of May, 2003, 12 suicide bombers set off explosions in five different locations in Casablanca, Morocco—locations chosen for … Continue reading The Famished Roots of Violent Extremism

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The Sound of a Soul Unfolding in the Chambers of Longing

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

by Wanda Waterman The Voice, Volume 22 Issue 41 2014-10-17 Album: Popular Problems Artist: Leonard Cohen “I saw some people starving There was murder, there was rape Their villages were burning They were trying to escape I couldn’t meet their glances I was staring at my shoes It was acid, it was tragic It was almost like the blues” – Leonard Cohen, “Almost Like the Blues” It’s refreshing to find humour in a Leonard Cohen album right from the clever title, not just because his songs have long been couched in a kind of nihilist twilight but also because, contrary … Continue reading The Sound of a Soul Unfolding in the Chambers of Longing

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the World, JazzLeave a comment

Something More Beautiful and Human Than the Dominant Madness

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

The Mindful Bard: The Signal by Wanda Waterman The Voice Magazine, Volume 22 Issue 40 2014-10-10 Album: The Signal Artist: Elizabeth Shepherd “I believe in God, as mother. She’s good to me and keeps me going. I’m aware of how dysfunctional and unjust our world is, and I feel the need to use my musical platform to try to bring some joy—something more beautiful and human than the dominant madness.” – Elizabeth Shepherd in an interview with Wanda Waterman, June 2013 I first heard of singer, pianist, and composer, Elizabeth Shepherd from her publicist just before her appearance at the … Continue reading Something More Beautiful and Human Than the Dominant Madness