Girls Gone Wild: BERGEN?

Hello!
As you can see below I have posted several pictures, however, due to my limited blogging skills I was having some trouble putting captions underneath to indicate what exactly is going on which is sometimes not so clear. I may go back and try to figure out the formatting, but for now I will just say that Em came to visit me and we did a lot! We went to several museums including the science museum which is where the silliest pictures were taken(i.e ball floating in my hand, and me jumping a rope courtesy of a very cute robot), saw Danish bohemians perform with puppets, hung out with penguins,went up a mountain on a small train, posed with large gnomes, and ate a lot of bread and cheese. Many games of scrabble were played and on my side mostly lost. It was a good time.

The museums were pretty rad. Saw some modern art, old viking ships, learned about Antarctica expeditions, Darwin´s five year excursion to the Galapagos Islands and beyond(apparently he left from a Norwegian port and one of the turtle specimens taken c.1830 just died in 2006!) and Norway´s vast fishing and shipping industry. I have to give Em credit in that she did an excellent job finding fun things to do.

The current exhibit at the modern art museum was interesting. It was entirely Norwegian artists from the 1980s. A lot of video performance art, and large textural paintings but there were many mediums used. I for one do not have much knowledge about art but this is one of the better exhibits I have seen here in terms of variety and experimentation.

Overall it was a really great week.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/15/vancouver_community_activist_am_johal_condemns

Project?

Thinking about doing this...

Open Call for Submissions: OTHER TONGUES: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out

Co-editors Adebe D.A. and Andrea Thompson are seeking submissions for an anthology of writing by and about mixed-race women of Black/white heritage, intended for publication in Fall 2010.

The purpose of this anthology is to explore the question of how Black/white mixed-race women in North America identify in the 21st Century. The anthology will also serve as a place to learn about the social experiences, attitudes, and feelings of others, and what racial identity has come to mean today. We are inviting previously unpublished submissions that engage, document, and/or explore the experiences of being mixed-race, by placing interraciality as the center, rather than periphery, of analysis.

Please send one (1) submission of up to 2500 words of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, or spoken word as a SINGLE attachment to othertonguesanthology@gmail.com
Black and white images and artwork should be 300 dpi and sent as attachments in jpg. of tiff. format. Artwork and photography limited to three (3) per applicant.

Please include your contact information, including your name, address, phone number, e-mail, title(s) of work submitted, type of submission, and a short artist bio (50 words max) in the body of the email, with your name and the type of submission in the subject line (e.g. “Jazmine – Poetry Submission”). All submissions are due April 15, 2010. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

If you prefer that your contribution remain anonymous, please include this preference at the top of your submission. All personal information you provide will be kept strictly confidential.

If you have any questions about this project, please contact the Editors, Adebe DeRango-Adem and Andrea Thompson, at othertonguesanthology@gmail.com

For more information: http://www.adebe.wordpress.com, http://www.andreathompson.ca or visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=276479812662

We look forward to reviewing your submission!

Private Lives

I decided to make my blog private after realizing that there were certain people following my activity on Google that made me a little wary of having a public blog about my life. I never put anything too personal on it but I am cautious. Hope it isn't too much trouble to see it for those of you who have been invited.

Nordfjordeid

Here I am in a small town called Nordfjoreid (pronounced: nor-fyor-ide) It's best to sing when you say the name.
The population is 5000 people and it takes about 5 hours of driving and two ferries to get here from Bergen. I hear it has a nice art gallery and jewelry store so I am hoping to check those out tomorrow.

A funny thing about this town is that last year they opened a huge opera house, which is strange considering the small population. It's cool though because people are bussed in from other small towns near by to see the performances. There are apparently some very passionate opera lovers here that requested funding from the state to build the Operahuset. From what I can see it seems to be a very good thing for the community. The high school students participate in the chorus and creating of sets and costumes and it brings new people to the area. If people don't recognize you they ask if you are with the opera and are very excited when you say yes :)

I am playing with a group called Opera NordFjord and we are performing Verdi's Requiem all this weekend. It calls for orchestra, choir and four soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). When the conductor introduced the soloists, he informed us that the tenor was named Iceland's "Sexiest Man of the Year". You can tell he knows it too. It's a real honor to be in the presence of such a celebrity :)

My favorite thing that has happened so far is on the first day of rehearsal, when it was just orchestra rehearsing alone, the conductor sang every single aria along with us, full out and in the right range. It's hard to describe what it was like...something between a castrato (a man who was castrated in order to preserve his soprano singing voice before he went through puberty)* and Dame Edna if that's any clue.
In case you aren't familiar with Dame Edna here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV6Q4Q9u1pU


*This was a practice that discontinued in the 19th century

Sending out an SOS

I am attempting to plan a benefit concert to raise money for the disaster in Haiti. Haiti probably could use more doctors and hospitals but doctors and hospitals I do not have. What I do have is access to a bunch of super comfortable middle class people who have all of their basic needs to taken care of by the government.
I am trying to get people together on a committee so we can get the ball rolling. I have written the head master of the school to see if he has any advice as well.
Does anyone reading this have any advice?