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culture
Degas, The Dancing Triangle
To commemorate the centennial of Degas’s death (1917), many books were published and shows were held. In London, The National Gallery show “Drawn in Colour” was organised in conjunction with it and with the marvellous opportunity to include works from the Burrell collection. I visited together with Dr. Penny Florence (Slade) and as we both come from a different background, our conversation in front of the paintings spurred new insights and encouraged me to write about Degas’s work, the way I see it.
Estate Sale
And so I often find myself wandering through a hollow house alone, as he adventures to the tool sheds in the far corner of a backyard. I sift through the trinkets, the decorated knives, commemorative postcards, and wonder – who held these before me? I find a binder full to bursting with buttons of all types and sizes and colors. What hands carefully sewed each into place?
Greece: There and Back on the Magic Bus. Part 1
Lesson learned. When dealing with the Island Greeks, they’re lovely people, but they’ll take you to the cleaners given half a chance. This deflated our egos for a few nanoseconds. We saw a family out back refilling plastic water bottles from a well. If the silly tourists want bottled water, we’ll sell them bottled water. This was the Greek idea of keeping the tourists happy.
Sightings of an English Band in Poland, 1993
I mean, even the first time round, who the actual fuck was Alice? And who cared about living next door to her? I’m not very good at either listening to or remembering pop lyrics, but even without knowing any of the rest of them, I understood that it was a song about the girl next door. But rock stars didn’t want the girl next door, did they? They got on planes and travelled, got off, collected all that gear, got into vans and disappeared up the road, in search of more glamorous girls.
The Soothsayer’s Gift
In an hour, I will go across the street to Subway for a six-inch vegetarian sandwich. I’ve heard the buns are made from the same chemicals as yoga mats. However, this could be an urban legend. I’m hungry and inclined to take chances with my health. Also, I’m an optimist. There is no way a pessimist could be out on this highway.
Back to the Football #3 Sants vs Hospitalet
Since the last entry, the boys of UE Sants have gone through something of a revelatory experience. What I mean by this is that they have won, twice in fact, including a comeback 4-3 victory against the adorably monikered Poble Mafumet, a performance reminiscent of the 2005 Champion’s League Final, or so said some throaty drunk bloke.
Back to the Football with Laurence Rivers #1 UE Sants vs Terrassa FC
Summer’s over and like it or loath it, football is back. Green and white hoops are the colours of debatable success, conjuring up images of Sporting Lisbon, Real Betis, Celtic, maybe even Yeovil Town and as UE Sants graced the packed ‘Energia’ stadium, clad in the virescent and wan kits that defined last year’s halcyon days in Spain’s fifth tear ‘Primera Catalana’.
My Travels with Christianity
God doesn’t mind if we lie, as long as our lies glorify Him. Women need to be quiet in church and cede control of their minds and bodies to men, who always know best. God is sad when we say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.
Nobody’s Prerogative
No one ever plans to end up as a dancer on Bourbon Street. It’s an employment choice born of pure desperation. I worked at a unisex joint called Sweet Mama’s. After only two weeks on the job, I despised every minute of my interminable shifts. I lurched around the club in stilettos like an awkward stork, as songs like “Strokin’” and “My Prerogative” pounded in the background.
The Sunday Historian
For ten hours on a few Sundays I had the chance to sit and talk with Louis Tindle Dees. I normally found him enthralled in a thick book about Winston Churchill, watching the latest news, or working an intricate puzzle with pieces too numerous for me to even attempt at age 29. He had just turned 92 years old.
A Kind of Vertigo
Viewing Renaissance art can be numbing. Let’s be honest, it can be boring. To some, it might even seem irrelevant. We’ve all taken some art history classes and/or sat through tiresome exams where we’ve crammed so many dates and names and mediums into our heads we’ve vomited oil on canvas for eight months straight.
My Son is Homeless
My son is a 42 year old homeless man who lives on the streets of West Oakland. This is not only our story, most homeless people that you see have a family somewhere.
Cultural appropriation
Jeff Nazzaro talks culture on the LA subway system on his daily commute to and from work.
Millennial Writing Life
I’m a millennial, a writer and I have dyspraxia. My history of being socially isolated by my peers has made me stronger and wiser.
Too High Too Far Too Soon
An excerpt from Simon Mason’s “Too High Too Far Too Soon”, a revelatory rock ‘n’ roll memoir of a life of drugs, Britpop and spiralling drug addiction.
An Interview with Scottish Cult Hero Jesse Rae
Talking Soup caught up with the ‘godfather of Scots-Funk’ turned politician, Jesse Rae after the 2015 UK general election.
Reporting from the Freddie Gray Protest in Oakland
Writer and activist, Joseph Meehan, reports from the front line of the Freddie Gray Jr. protests in Oakland, CA.
Slimehouse
Living in Limehouse, East London has its up and downs. A witty account by Limehouse resident and author Sean Preston.
The Papoose
The London Underground is my safe haven. Many people hate it; but for me, there is no other place that could give me the same, dependable experience.
A Day at the Races: Part II
The second and final part of Joseph Meehan’s account of dollar day betting at Golden Gate Fields racing track.
A Day at the Races: Part I
‘Dollar Days’ in Golden Gate Fields, California. Lured by the cheap prices I decided it was time to delve into the culturally transcendent world of gambling.
A Thousand Signatures
I’ve always wanted to get married and live a gay American dream; a queer version of my parents marriage which is still going on strong.
Visions of Albion
Visions of Albion, a short film by ‘EYE’ follows a group of Chinese tourists across Britain, showing what defines Britishness in the eyes of tourists.
