My feminist collective usually has a film showing every other month. The films chosen are relevant, hard-hitting and more often than not there are tears in the audience. If you live in London and are interested in coming, drop me a line.
A couple of months ago we partnered up with Act Up London (the Aids activist group) for a showing of 120 bpm. It was a especially poignant to get a run down on Act Up London’s campaigns and actions in the recent years before seeing the film.
It’s as if this book was written just for me as it manages to combine three of my favourite things: bicycles, sic-fi and feminism. I practically squealed as I unwrapped it. Most on the nose birthday present ever! And what’s more, isn’t that one of the most gorgeous book covers you have ever seen?
Biketopia is the fourth volume of the Bikes in Space series of feminist science-fiction about cycling. How awesome is that? There are more books like this out there! A couple of months ago I came across another title from the same series: Pedal Zombies. Cycling, feminism and zombies! If you want to check out any of these books, or any of th other awesome titles they have, just visit Microcosm Publishing’s website.
I had missed their much acclaimed Faerie Queen two years ago, but had managed to see their exceptional King Arthur last year (the staging modernised to comment on the whole Brexit debacle). I was not going to pass up this year’s Dido and Aeneas.
I am not very knowledgeable about classical music and hardly go to any classical concerts. But I do like the opera; its the whole spectacle of the thing. Music and song and play. Also I am quite keen on Purcell. Early indoctrination by my father? The particular whimsical baroque elements to his music that make it quite different from the more famous classical music that followed? The rarity of hearing a harpsichord in an orchestral setting nowadays?
This December, the weekend before Christmas, I made a flying 24 hour visit to Berlin. Berlin has so much to see that in that short period of time, one can only get a little taster. So I curated my own visit by making a small selection of sights to see, rather than trying in vain to do everything. I mainly concentrated on the 20th century, which means WWII and Cold War memorials.
As someone who studied architecture in the turn of the century and took not a few classes in Deconstructivism (or Decon), I had to visit two of the works I had read and been taught so much about, from two of the biggest names in Decon.
“On Friday, September 21, Zak Kostopoulos, an activist of the LGBTIQ+ movement, HIV positive, antifascist and drag queen (Zackie Oh), was brutally assassinated in the centre of Athens in public view. The murder was instigated by “outraged citizens” with the tolerance and complicity of officers of the Greek Police. It was followed by an unprecedented operation of covering up the murder, misinforming the public, and incriminating the victim. The murder of Zak was an act of barbarism and growing fascism. We demand justice. We will fight until those who are guilty of Zak’s murder are punished. We will fight against fascism and “normality”. Our lives matter.”
Statement from the Justice for Zak/Zackie facebook page
Several weeks ago Zak Kostopoulos was killed at midday in central Athens. In an apparent cover-up, local news first reported the event as a drug addict attempting to rob a jewellery store with a knife and ending up dying due to an unfortunate series of events. Zak, however, was not a ‘junkie’, as they labelled him, but a much loved gay and human rights activist. Vocally HIV-positive, a drag queen and a performer, Zac was an active member of the Greek queer community. His many loving friends and the Greek LGBTQI community quickly fought the mainstream media’s attempts to brush aside his death and smear his name. Contrary to those first reports, the event looks like a murder, or as many are calling it, a “lynching”.
I love myself some good YA fiction. I am a big sci-fi and fantasy fan and a lot of YA provides exactly that in an easy to read and fresh way. Its good as a simple read when you don’t feel like a complex or heavy read.
I read the books rather fast, so I don’t remember much of the details, and am not very clear where book two ends and book three begins.
I have seen a lot of good concerts this year, and this was definitely one of them! I like myself some good atmospheric ambient and prog. And I love visiting the Union Chapel – it’s both lovely and convenient.
I know Tangerine Dream is a 70s group, and that their leader has died, but I was too young to have had the chance to see them in their heyday. And this year I have been busy ticking artists off my bucket list.
A couple of years ago I joined a book club to try and make myself read less stuff online and more real books. It was sci-fi and fantasy bookclub, as that’s my favourite type of fiction. I didn’t last long, because despite loving it, I became overwhelmed with work and life.
The first book I read with my club was Fevre Dream by George R.R.Martin, and I was decidedly underwhelmed. Especially considering what a big name author George R.R.Martin is.
I watched Lady Bird a while back. It was very much hyped and talked up by the critics, which is often a bad thing. As that often means you go in with far too high expectations and end up being disappointed. I know a couple of friends said they had expected more of this film.
I liked it, and was not disappointed. It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t ground-breaking. And as a teenager in the 90s, I have seen quite a few similar coming of age stories in my time. However its been a long time since the last film of this kind about a teenage girl came out. And that is the thing for me, there still are not enough films about girls. And there never can be such a thing as too many films about girls and women.
2018 turned out to be the year of the opera for me, as I booked to see four operas, far more than I usually see. Coraline is a brand new opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage, who I learnt is a hot contemporary british opera composer. I don’t often see operas by living composers (Philip Glass being an obvious exception), but I was intrigued.
pandora pavlides 