tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15601998104439521102024-03-18T06:03:57.805+00:00Fergie & FifeGypsies, Geography, Poetry & Scotlandlittlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.comBlogger1276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-65582554616426861082018-10-19T19:42:00.002+01:002019-10-09T21:06:50.968+01:00Hey. Yes, this site is still a thing. Kinda. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--jU1S4xhbCg/W8odZfF4frI/AAAAAAAAQUU/ET4nwvOIojUC2-QHieQQRhy3h8SU7hiJQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_0378.JPG" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--jU1S4xhbCg/W8odZfF4frI/AAAAAAAAQUU/ET4nwvOIojUC2-QHieQQRhy3h8SU7hiJQCK4BGAYYCw/s640/IMG_0378.JPG" width="640" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-size: large;">T</span></b>hree years you say? Yeah. It's been that long. There are reasons. And there are reasons I'm back. Some fun, some practical. I'll admit that a huge portion of why I'm immediately back today, right now, is because the time it takes me to post this will save me enormous amounts of time answering people who write to Steven and me about sheet music.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>SHEET MUSIC CAN NOW BE PURCHASED at <a href="http://www.ryannferguson.com/">WWW.RYANNFERGUSON.COM</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't know if I'm going to keep this space here or roll it over into a new website I'm very ambivalent about making. TBD on that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't live in Scotland anymore and my work keeps me in LA more than I'd like. But I have done some fun stuff I haven't written about on here, but have written about, or would like to write about more. So maybe I'll do that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I did get married. (A lot fo people got married. I'll post about that too.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I married a Scot, so... I know what you're thinking... it's what I'm thinking too. That door is open again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the longer Donald Trump remains the president, the more I think about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But then Brexit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So... ???</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Like anyone's 3 years, a lot happened in my last three years. Really tent pole stuff that fully swung the pendulum from the very worst (Trump, rapists on the Supreme Court, deaths) to the very very best. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wrote a lot more TV shows</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I pitched them with Autumn to crazy cool places like HBO and NBC and here there and everywhere</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We got an agent we were really excited about!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It turns out he sucked and actively undermined us for jobs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(He was also quite patronizing and told us we wouldn't get a job because we were white and no one was allowed to get on the ladder in Hollywood anymore if you were white, even if we were women.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wrote (or finally finished, really) a new musical with Steven. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I finished my novel and got a cool new agent for that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My husband and I went through an expensive and invasive visa process. I'll write more about this. Hey immigration hound Repubs out there: if you think it's "too easy" to immigrate to the US, YOU'RE WRONG. Legally, illegally, it's all very difficult. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The implication from my Repub family members is, "Well Jon's okay because he's my husband, or because he's Scottish..." aka he's white and not from one of those "shithole" countries their president always talks about. Newsflash: THAT'S RACIST.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My favorite artist/musician in the world killed himself. He did exactly what he described doing in one of his songs. It was heartbreaking and I'm still more upset about it than it feels prudent to be, but there you have it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most of the time, I really don't feel like talking to people. Anyone. But then, something about all this does make me want to talk about it. At least here. In this way. How I used to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For now, Hello again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Am I here? Of course I am, yes.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>All I need is your hand to pull me out again.</i></span>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-26135839879411760492015-09-09T19:53:00.000+01:002015-09-09T19:53:14.807+01:00I Am Actually Good - Christine & The Queens Bring French Pop to You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KfrETw56Gzc/VfB-CzRdqhI/AAAAAAAAPt4/T2_Z3K6chkc/s1600/le-grand-soir-pour-christine-and-queens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KfrETw56Gzc/VfB-CzRdqhI/AAAAAAAAPt4/T2_Z3K6chkc/s640/le-grand-soir-pour-christine-and-queens.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>O</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ne of the best French things to take from my trip, I actually picked up in a fab flat in Chelsea. Ever on the pulse of things, <a href="http://www.dunvegancastle.com/content/default.asp" target="_blank">Hugh & Fred</a> hooked me up with this little gem burning up the French art landscape. <a href="http://www.christineandthequeens.com/catq_language/" target="_blank">Christine and The Queens</a> are giving us infectious French pop with a little early-stage Michael Jackson style in a mix of <span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22px;">performance, art videos, drawings and photography</span>.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The video for Christine or Tilted, the English version, is one of the coolest videos I've seen in ages. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh! Would that I could pull of Christine's (real name </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.479999542236328px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Héloïse)</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span>tomboy look! Good god, I love a loafer! Perhaps I should dig mine out of whatever abyss they've made their way to. Or, perhaps instead, I shall just practice her dance moves and jam out in my new prius with a seven year old. It's kid-approved!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More from my trip that isn't music soon. I promise. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, check out more of Christine & The Queens <a href="https://play.spotify.com/artist/04vj3iPUiVh5melWr0w3xT?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rs40yxHjTxQ" width="640"></iframe>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-10284669539907448382015-07-18T18:41:00.000+01:002015-07-18T18:41:06.161+01:00You had best believe that you cannot build what I don't need<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zS3btluAuE0/VaqN-aorlbI/AAAAAAAAPrQ/eLtH_yAxDdM/s1600/every-open-eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zS3btluAuE0/VaqN-aorlbI/AAAAAAAAPrQ/eLtH_yAxDdM/s640/every-open-eye.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">R</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">are thunderstorms in LA are ushering me to Britain today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My itinerary-- a year in the making-- has me feeling a bit shot out of a cannon, but is entirely my own doing. I haven't been back to Scotland since the day I got on the bus in that last wind down to the end. I had that taste of London on the way back from Africa, and I'll admit I still associate the place with the only thing in my life I've ever felt like I failed at. I cried on the circle in. I have felt and still feel a rough letting go of that place and the life I saw for myself there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It becomes more complicated the more entrenched I get in my LA life; the more I love it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I cross over anniversaries and milestones, unremarked upon, the more I am having to redefine myself against the hardline definitions I had of myself earlier in my life. I can say to myself now--- you've been away from New York as long as you were ever there. Why do you still consider yourself a New Yorker? You don't really miss it, you only miss Europe. But LA... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I still feel torn about my intent. My intent to live as one or many of the incarnations of myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm scared of falling out of my life here by being gone so long. I'm scared of missing an opportunity that I've painstakingly built a foundation for here. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm scared it's still not enough time to be in any of the places I'm going to settle into the rhythm. Scared it's not enough time to catch back that magic of my life there. I'm scared that the way I was there will be at odds with the way I am now and I won't be able to reconcile them. I'm scared my practice will fall off and I won't chant because of time, and mindset, and my friends' hard disbelief in Buddhism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But <a href="http://www.chvrch.es/" target="_blank">CHVRCHES</a> has got my back. Giving us all a new song to sing me to Scotland. And a new album this September 25 -- <i><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/every-open-eye-special-edition/id1017404291?app=itunes" target="_blank">Every Open Eye</a></i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And I'm going to give it my best go to report to whatever readers are left here. I can't guarantee I'll be able to. I can't guarantee I'll have anything or anything worthwhile to say. But if I do, I'll be here. Hope to see you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Onward. To the East and to the North. To London, Edinburgh, Bamff, Skye, Uist, Geneva, Provence, Lugano and everywhere in between, to Dublin, to Clare and back again. </span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-3968327788564851482015-02-02T08:06:00.001+00:002015-02-02T08:49:31.468+00:00Monkey Sanctuary - Excerpt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-3jIV8G6TU/VM8qYdkKZpI/AAAAAAAAPj0/WagOP4d1opA/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-3jIV8G6TU/VM8qYdkKZpI/AAAAAAAAPj0/WagOP4d1opA/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hy hello. Nice to see you again. Nice to have something I wanted to put here. There is much to tell, actually, but now isn't the right time. Right now, I am thinking about the one year anniversary of my very interesting </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">sojourn to Ghana. A year ago right now, I was just settling into my second full day. None of what I'm about to tell you had happened yet. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've been working on this "short" story for a year. Even in the Accra airport, I began to write this down in notebooks, along with the almost overwhelming amount of emotional and physical information I had taken in over the two weeks. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't share everything with you here. But I did want to give you a little taste. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just for context, here's the blurb:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e89113d7-4979-ce14-d1da-ad6f40a5475c"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somewhere between rekindling a trans-atlantic romance and calling it quits for good, a couple tries a new locale on holiday in Ghana’s Cape Coast. At an isolated nature reserve, an eccentric Dutch couple reveals more than anyone bargained for about our biological evolution when we choose to stay together.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here is the text! A nice non-emotional, yet meatier middle chunk of </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">MONKEY SANCTUARY. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Forty-five minutes later</i>, they were still in the car on the way to the monkey reserve that was “right up the road.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey had underestimated how big Ghana was. Almost everything they said was "close" ended up being an hour drive at least. Maybe it was all the extra police stops you had to make. Every few miles, the police in navy and light blue camo (She couldn’t quite see the point in that particular camo) would pull over every car and inspect. Gordon would warn her each time to hide any electronics. (“They’ll take it. They’ll find a reason to take it.”)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or maybe everything took so long because-- with the exception of the George W. Bush Expressway, ironically enough, both “The Best Road in All of Africa,” but also simply the best road in all of Africa-- the roads were all</span><i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">so bad</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In LA, the roads always failed at the edges. In Ghana, every road seemed to have huge, craggy chunks pulled up in the middle that had to be sharply swerved around—a kind of alien asphalt phlegm that Ghana kept trying to cough up. The center literally would not hold.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We’re here,” said Toufiq. “I think.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most other African preserves Casey had seen were still eerily American. She’d leafed through glossy, thick-papered booklets in the old days of Gordon and Casey, in his flat in Holloway Road, after he’d return from Tanzania or Kenya. Playgrounds for rich voyeurs, or Disneyland-esque in their desire to sell patrons concessions and souvenirs. But Mrs. Doolittle’s Monkey & Wildlife Preserve looked more like a bombed out settlement compound. The post-apocalyptic efforts to rebuild human community.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There were several crumbling cinderblock barracks with no roofs off to one side. Plants had come along to reclaim the area. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There were no other cars and no one was around.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One sign said VERBOTEN. Another sign had glued actual digital cameras and cell phones with big red slashes through them warning that photography was prohibited.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Surely not the most economical way to express that rule,” Gordon said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Maybe they were actually confiscated from rebel tourists and placed here as a warning to those who dare go against the rule of law—like the heads on the spikes of London bridge.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I wonder if it’s closed,” Gordon said, to neither Casey nor Toufiq in particular.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then a hunched over teenager ambled towards them, batting trash on the ground with a stick he carried.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Alo. I am Barnaby. Welcome to Kakum Monkey Sanctuary. I will guide you.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Hold on,” said Gordon. “What’s the entrance fee?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Forty cedis each.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What about my guide?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Toufiq showed the boy his makeshift “tour guide badge.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Twenty.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon went for his wallet, but the teenager stopped him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Later. You give to Mr. Denis. At the end.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As they made their way up the hill to the official start of the tour, another car pulled up with additional tourists. Casey immediately heard the harsh nasal of her own American accent in its worst form: the teenage girl. There were several of them. A plump blonde girl, in clothes that were much too tight; a sensible-seeming Asian girl; a brunette with frizzy hair and ill-fitting glasses; and an elderly Australian man with one of the worst cases of Diabetes legs Casey had ever seen. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey kept turning around to partake in their strange, reluctant crew. None of them seemed to be in charge. Not one of them gave any indication that they wanted to be there. The chubby one kept whining with all the vocal fry of a Kardashian. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Eeeeeew, I don’t even like monkeys,” she said more than once. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No one in her party commented on her protests, but Gordon couldn’t let the moment go unremarked upon. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Bit of a whinger. Unfortunately, she sounds like one of your lot, there Case.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Today, like many days while I’m abroad, dear Gordon, I am ashamed of my countrymen.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Teen. Agers,” said Toufiq shaking his head. “They’re terrible people everywhere you go.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barnaby did not appear offended by the comment. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Toufiq had never left Ghana, but he seemed to have an authority worth taking seriously. It helped that she agreed to begin with... and that he often used that authority to stick up for her. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The guards from Kakum National Park were there, just as they’d promised. They were joined by a sunburnt, red-eyed blonde man in his forties who she guessed was Denis. All four men lounged in deck chairs that leaned against a colorful, but crumbling corrugated steel and concrete shack and they were already several large bottles of Star beer into their afternoon. Gordon nodded to the guard who’d suggested this place.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I bet he gets a kickback from each head he sends this way,” Gordon leaned in close.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OjJ8AuZa7oY/VM8qYxCm0nI/AAAAAAAAPkM/t_1MAL7wmu8/s1600/DSC_0267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OjJ8AuZa7oY/VM8qYxCm0nI/AAAAAAAAPkM/t_1MAL7wmu8/s1600/DSC_0267.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A woman like a frayed knot emerged from the shack. There was no way this was not Alliette. She looked disoriented and she scratched what was left of her baby bird feather hair like she might find something in it. She had the gaunt, leathery arms of a smoker-- nicotine legs-- Casey had always called them, and the paunchy tummy of a drinker. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aliette waved to the group and shooed them up the hill. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Go and then come have some beers with us! Tell us all your stories!” she called to them. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barnaby lead them up the start of the next hill before stopping. The motley gang of teenagers and their beleaguerred old man had decided to go for it after all. The chubby blonde wore flip flops along with her sausage-casing style workout clothing, which didn’t seem to Casey at all like a good idea. Maybe a monkey would bite off one of her toes. That would really put Gordon in a better mood. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They all set off up, slip-sliding up the first hill until they came to a deep pit of crocodiles. Gordon declined to, but Casey pet one, on the head where she thought he’d have a hard time getting at her to bite. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Well, aren’t you brave. You’ll be eaten. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“That will be five cedis,” said Barnaby once she was done petting the rough skin. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Gordon, why didn’t you tell me it cost money? I assumed it would be part of the ticket.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I told you you’d be eaten alive, didn’t I? It’s good for you to learn things for yourself, Brave Girl.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the top of another ridge, the monkey cages spread out in long rows. It reminded Casey of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sad </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">concentration camps in Holocaust movies-- with long, skinny, spindly fingers poking out from cages and the cries somewhere between human and animal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barnaby gathered himself with a look of dire consequence. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Now, I must say something very important, so you must all listen to me. It is imperative that you take no pictures of these monkeys. They are only teenagers.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon seemed annoyed. “What purpose does that serve? Why aren’t we allowed to take photos? There’s no flash to startle them. It’s broad daylight.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“There are no photos allowed because due to the high tech of cameras in this modern day, you might make a commercial calendar of our monkeys and sell. That would limit the sales of our own calendars. So it’s not allowed. Very serious.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon, Toufiq and Casey all looked at each other in shared mockery of the silly rule. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey thought back to her brief 32 hours in Rome, just before she’d left the UK. They desperately pleaded with the tourists in the Vatican to refrain from photographing the Sistine Chapel. And she’d been prepared to honor that, even though iphone photos with the flash off clearly had no effect on anything. But the instant she stepped in, literally everyone was snapping away. And not just sans flash. It was full on rebellion. Flashes going off everywhere. It was almost blinding. Not one guard flinched. Eventually, Casey had caved to the dam break of decorum and came home with her own pictures of the Sistine. It made her sad for the times she lived in, but she did it. She kept her flash off though. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now, in Africa, with no priceless art on the line, just the scorn of an off-kilter African boy, she waited until Barnaby rounded corners for the next attraction and snapped picture after picture. She loved they way the monkeys mugged for the camera. They were so expressive. She loved the shadows of the cage rungs reminding her that this both really was and really was not Africa. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As they walked along the rows of snake and monkey cages, Barnaby explained a bit about each one. But Casey had a hard time focusing on anything other than what she could only guess was a disaster waiting to happen. Barnaby still had his stick and he clanged in along each cage’s bars. Sometimes it seemed out of boredom, and other times, for the very purpose of agitating the animals. He raked it along the cage of the black mamba and hissed at it, like a little child psychopath-- the star of The Bad Seed 2: SubSahara. The mamba hissed right back.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“So, where are you from, Barnaby?” Gordon asked. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I am from the North. Small village.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey already knew about the North’s character from Toufiq’s stories of wilderness, Muslim prevalence, and what remained of tribal conflicts. Toufiq joined the conversation now, asking Barnaby some questions in Dagbane, but never revealing the answers. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What brought you to Kakum?” Gordon continued.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“All my family was killed.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon and Casey shared a look. She was sure there was a lot to unravel about that story, but was afraid to ask. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I’m terribly sorry to hear that, Barnaby,” said Gordon. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The kid shrugged. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Denis and Alliette took me in.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Toufiq leaned into Casey. “That boy would murder us in our sleep if he got the chance.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She wondered what Barnaby and Toufiq had said in their brief exchange. Toufiq nodded again as if to emphasize. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the last of the monkey cages, they came up on one with bright blue testicles. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“This is Ofufu,” said Barnaby, rattling the cage. “Wake up!” he shouted, even though the monkey was awake and alert, smiling at them lewdly like a human in a porn. Ofufu knew. He knew what he had going on and he was proud of it. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Just... NUCULAR,” beamed Gordon. His voice went up an octave he was so pleased with this monkey. “I just can’t believe that’s natural.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I bet she </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gets a brush out here and paints them. She must!”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Something about tourism always seemed to physically transform Gordon into his least cool self. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes, he could take her breath away he was so dashing. The way his hair swept so softly and effortlessly. The way he looked in a kilt. He was the kind of man who was always turning up at parties in Edinburgh with a bottle of amazing champagne. No matter the occasion-- great Champagne. That was the character detail she always chose to use when describing him. It was so much more evocative that just dashing...or just posh.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But in a polo shirt and cargo pants, a camera slung over his neck, all 6 feet four inches of him got bent with a backwards gravity towards gawky teenage-dom. His gait and his posture changed. He slouched from the weight and force of his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">amazing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> camera.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His humor, needless to say, especially reverted to that of a fifteen year old boy. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The blue balls joke went on, but grew tedious for Casey. She wandered away from everyone. Everyone had become a much smaller group. All but the shrewd Asian girl had fallen off somewhere along the hill. She was thankful for the peace. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here on the crest of the preserve was part canteen, part abandoned fine dining experiment. A stripped and gutted stainless steel kitchen hut stood in front of beautiful natural wood dining tables-- just slices of tree trunks, glazed and pristine even, with tree trunk stumps as stools. Each of these tables (that some Danish Modern fanatic in LA would have paid thousands for) had an elegant gold “Reserved” sign. Casey’s heart wanted to break.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Reserved for what?</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Without much ceremony, the tour was over. Barnaby disappeared without Casey even noticing. Gordon and Toufiq had started down the hill again. Only the Asian girl lingered at the top with her. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What a waste,” the girl said, gesturing towards the restaurant, before heading away herself. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Casey finally reached the bottom, Alliette and Denis were both working their charm on Gordon and Toufiq, trying to get them to sit a while and drink. Toufiq, bashful, explained that he did not drink because of his faith. Gordon was adept at declining invitations, like all British aristos and Alliette, for her part, barely noticed the brush off and pressed on. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Tell me, young man, what do you think of our country?”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“YOUR country?” Gordon, incredulous again.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Lived here for fifteen years. Came on holiday from Eindhoven and decided never to leave. It’s much more livable here than people give it credit for, you know.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I do know. I live here.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh well, then. Where do you live?”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“In Accra. In the Cantonments.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh, Jesus Christ, I hate Accra!The dust! The people! Ah well, but I assume you have something to do with government.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I do, I suppose.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I need room to build my own life,” she said, gesturing all around. “I had so many, and still have so many plans for this place. I wanted to do some lovely guest cottages-- that’s what you see at the very bottom of the hill when you first arrive. But of course the termites put a stop to that.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey listened, confused. She wasn’t aware that termites had any interest in concrete. She wished that Gordon hadn’t spoken for them both when he turned down the beer. She wouldn’t have minded getting drunk at the moment. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“But my real jewel will be the restaurant. Maybe you saw the start of it at the top. I always wanted a real authentic gourmet Dutch cuisine restaurant here. I am not a great cook, but I miss Dutch food. I would get a chef from home and everyone on Cape Coast would come. We were nearly there, but then we ran out of money. We heard about this guy here,” she said gesturing to the monkey perched on her shoulder. “This is Ebi. He’s just a teenager, so he’s not the best behaved, but we paid a fortune for him.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“He is worth every penny,” yelled Denis, emerging from their shack. “You should pet him. You all should.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon declined again. But Casey had been looking forward to this. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You’re very brave, Casey,” Gordon said to her again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Gordon, stop calling her brave like brave is an insult.” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Toufiq shook his head and held Casey’s belongings for her while she climbed into the garden area with trees and monkeys in collars with cords that kept them anchored to the trees. Little metal leashes. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The one she pet seemed very calm and had soft fur. He climbed into her lap and let Casey pet the crown of his little head, like a kitten. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With all the circus around her, Casey only now noticed that such domestic animals roamed here too. But Mrs. Doolittle’s was a place where normal household pets were relegated to nearly inhuman neglect. The forlorn dog, asleep in the shade against the shed-- sickly and practicing some zen form of patience while insects buzzed near his nose and crusty half-shut eyes. Forsaken for his ordinariness. At least there was only one of him. Like seemingly everywhere in Ghana, Mrs. Doolittle’s had no less than fifteen mangey orange cats, each with their own sad deformity. Some had shredded ears, some missing eyes, or just that smell of near death that cats seemed to get. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0Xwj-ONnYw/VM8qY3UdrPI/AAAAAAAAPkE/9r-72iha2XU/s1600/DSC_0265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0Xwj-ONnYw/VM8qY3UdrPI/AAAAAAAAPkE/9r-72iha2XU/s1600/DSC_0265.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey had always really liked little marmalade cats. Identified with them in some way. But these looked like scraps of paper that’d been hastily torn. An idea you jotted down in a bar. Not something you keep. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alliette seemed to sense Casey’s dismay. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“All my life, I want an orange male cat. But they keep bringing me these females! That’s why there’s so many.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They who? And surely there must be a male involved somewhere...</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“They’re... cute...” Casey said. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Do you want to take one home? Here is this one. Or...this one? Take as many as you like.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right. US Customs was sure to want the next African outbreak to come from a diseased marmalade kitten from the dirges of Ghanaian monkey reserves. A super deadly strain of something resulting from a mix of cat dander and monkey venom. It sounded like a script she’d been pitched once. Or a film she’d already seen. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Would you like to see the rest?” Asked Denis. “Let me show you our home.” For once, Gordon was brave enough to join them.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Inside looked like a Depression era farmhouse. A dirty apron sink harbored a scattering of used dishes. Gaps in the wooden plank walls allowed beams of sunlight to stream in. A checkered table cloth gave cover to a small wobbly table. An old Smaug refrigerator hummed. It smelled like layers and layers of old beer. Like a pub in Texas Casey had once bartended when she was twenty-one. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Past the sectioned off kitchen, the walls of floor to ceiling cages began, mingled with floor to ceiling shelving units of curiosities and crap, like an old movie prop locker. They snaked through the shelves, looking at the food for the animals, stray pieces of hardware, and their Mrs. Doolittle merchandise (Postcards! Calendars! Warped and sun-bleached. “Thank God we won’t be cutting into their business,” Gordon whispered in her ear.) </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Miss, Make sure you watch those sunglasses on your head.” Berg here will snatch them off you faster than you can imagine. And you will not get them back.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Casey stashed the glasses in the front pocket of her satchel. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You have to expect a certain amount of loss when you spend as much time with them as we do. They are our babies and they’re not really fully grown-- they are just teenagers-- so they can’t be held responsible for their actions.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Toufiq caught Casey’s eye and mouthed “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teen. Agers</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes, I have family trinkets that have been missing for years. We don’t keep anything around here we’re not prepared to lose. Nothing is safe.”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Md7NA-2nqSg/VM8qZwreEZI/AAAAAAAAPkQ/dYlMUAOIu74/s1600/DSC_0291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Md7NA-2nqSg/VM8qZwreEZI/AAAAAAAAPkQ/dYlMUAOIu74/s1600/DSC_0291.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Where do you sleep?” Casey asked. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Just there.” He pointed to a cantilevered mat and pillows in the corner she hadn’t noticed before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Where do these guys sleep?” </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Berg here, and Ebi sleep in the bed with us. They’re quite loving.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes,” said Gordon, eyeing a missing chunk of Denis’s ear, “Looks that way.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Oh I have all kinds of injuries from these guys over the years. Here, on my hand.” He pointed to the missing section of skin connecting the base of the thumb to the index finger. “And this finger here has no tip anymore. My ear, of course, though that was ages ago. And this guy over here ruined the tattoo I got on my twenty-first birthday. Just took a bite right out of it.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From outside, they heard Alliette scream. </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Denis, Denis, come help m--”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and then a thud.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All four of them rushed out the door into the yard, where Aliette was stumbling around in the dirt near the trees with a can of beer in her hands. Ebi was noisy and jumped from Alliette’s shoulders up the branches. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“He knocked my head--”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ebi jumped back down to Alliette’s shoulder and lunged for her beer. As Alliette was flailing around, she tripped a little on the slack from Ebi’s metal cable leash, which made it even easier for Ebi to go straight for Alliette’s face. In a way, she both fell and was pushed. But the sound of her sad little balding skull hitting the tree was chilling. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For a minute, she looked dazed like she might drop to the ground, where Ebi was smugly enjoying his beer. But then she just called out.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Denis, I think Ebi gave me a concussion. Please get me a new beer. Glass bottle so no one can take it.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The guards were passed out drunk in their chairs, impervious to the drama. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Denis returned with a fresh beer from the fridge and Aliette plopped down in a chair as if nothing had happened. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Don’t you think you should see a doctor? Or at least avoid alcohol with that head injury?” Gordon said.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Denis took a long drag from his cigarette and passed the pack over to his wife. His long, talon index finger curled over it and he slurped the smoke in like she’d seen villains do in the movies. There was something sexual in it-- the way a child molester is sexual. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Happens all the time.” Denis said. “Nothing to alarm yourself over.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His bloodshot eyes floated skywards, letting go of the whole thing.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aliette propped her spindly, leathery legs up on a planter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We don’t know that I have a head injury. Could be nothing. Sometimes it’s a concussion, sometimes it’s not.”</span></span><br />
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<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-53707625463599652672014-08-11T20:03:00.000+01:002014-08-11T20:07:56.700+01:00Frank<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">E</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">very now and again, something is so weird and delightful, I feel like it was put on Earth just especially for us to know we are loved and everything's going to be ok. Even if, like the new movie, <i><a href="http://www.magpictures.com/frank/">Frank</a></i>, it features probably the best working actor today, Michael Fassbender, and I'm not married to him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even though I'm not married to Fassy, <i>Frank</i> is still a sign of hope. And we can all bask in his perfection, even minus that big blush-worthy grin, and with the addition of a huge papier-mache/fiberglass head. I've never really noticed what a physical actor he is before. Or how goofy. Even in interviews. But he is. The head changes the focus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The head's not the only bonus though. We also get the man who could soothe the world with his reassuring gaze, Domhnall Gleeson, and the always awesome Maggie Gyllenhaal (I'm watching her in <i><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z78nq">The Honourable Woman</a></i> right now as well!) Even bigger bonus: movie's about a band. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't want to make this all about actors, though. At the end of the day, <i>Frank</i> is the kind of tone piece that rarely comes around. One I look forward to always. Cult-y within an inch of its life, but its very niche-ness justifies its existence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not normally excited about films. But this one gives me a little hope that there's still a reason to keep making them and not just switch over completely to television.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Frank, inspired by musician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sievey">Chris Sievey</a>, and directed by Lenny Abrahamson, opens in select markets Aug 16th and nationwide Aug 29th.</span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-67650630413947706532014-08-06T22:00:00.001+01:002014-08-06T22:00:34.554+01:00Los Angeles, Be Kind <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">cott Hutchison lives in LA now. Did you know that? Why does this feel so important? Maybe because I actually think he's the wittiest person alive. Or because, like me, he feels in a kind of limbo between isolated, overcast coastlines and sunny hills. Somewhere between Hollywood and Hollyrood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His new project, Owl John-- which he says he hopes will appeal to people "<a href="http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/interview-owl-john-scott-hutchison-2014">who hate Frightened Rabbit</a>"-- is my favorite album of the year. Of course, I don't hate FR. I would love any project of Scott's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The last month or so has been testing the seams of the life I've sewn together here. They were always loose stitches and I wasn't sure the center would hold a few of those days. I have asked Los Angeles to be kind. And the world in general. I've felt sad about a lot, in a way I haven't done in a while. As you may have noticed, I haven't been writing much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily for me (and for you) Scott has been writing for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Get <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/owl-john/id894580657">Owl John</a>. It's out now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PS- Scott, now that you're here, let's be friends. For realz.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Such a villainous grace</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Oh I don't know what you've done to your face</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Some nights I can't figure out quite where your heart is</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Oh Los Angeles, be kind</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">No more trouble or red lights</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">I can learn to love you in good time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Oh Los Angeles, be kind</span></span><br />
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<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-58194264196067967052014-07-08T12:54:00.000+01:002014-07-09T00:55:57.863+01:00It's Not Too Late Tuesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uPcbJingKwI/U7x-WF2VY6I/AAAAAAAAPOo/aXeVzgfu6O0/s1600/RTS_HavilandStillwell_063014_11x17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uPcbJingKwI/U7x-WF2VY6I/AAAAAAAAPOo/aXeVzgfu6O0/s1600/RTS_HavilandStillwell_063014_11x17.jpg" height="640" width="416" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Y</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ou're in luck. You still have time to get your tickets to Haviland Stillwell's SPARK album release show tonight at Rockwell Table & Stage (Bonus: Harbor Party is after!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was lucky enough to sit in on the band rehearsal Sunday evening and everyone was really just picking up what she was puttin' down. Even songs they had never run before sounded great and everyone looked like they were having so so much fun. I know I was. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There will be rapping, there will be ascendence, there will be rock fists. There will even be Ashley Reed having the time of her effing life on the cajon. She's got cajones, ladies and gents!</span><br />
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Check out Haviland and these fine musicians TONIGHT at 8PM<br />
1714 Vermont Ave<br />
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Anthony Starble, keys+vocals<br />
Ashley Reed, vocals+cajon<br />
Tim Young, guitar<br />
Tim moose, bass<br />
Greg Sadler, drums<br />
Jack of Co. Z - fierce flows<br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-23798880286436164542014-07-03T19:02:00.001+01:002014-07-03T19:07:08.342+01:00Get on the Boat with Harbor Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8I617_yrjOQ/U7WU7TkEjoI/AAAAAAAAPOA/BBpru8WZGNs/s1600/87457_27ba48300de129a263d6081d30b803e8_cfac93fe40e12a4532d58d5cd383057c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8I617_yrjOQ/U7WU7TkEjoI/AAAAAAAAPOA/BBpru8WZGNs/s1600/87457_27ba48300de129a263d6081d30b803e8_cfac93fe40e12a4532d58d5cd383057c.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">S</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>o you’re out on your Yacht again and you’re decked out in your anchor print scarf, boat shoes and khaki shorts. All your friends are there and it’s a beautiful day but there’s something missing. Where’s the music? What soundtrack will get this party started? Enter Harbor Party: the band committed to bringing the party from the mainland to the ocean. They play all the songs you want to listen to on your Yacht - The Doobies, the Eagles, Michael McDonald, Loggins and Messina, Hall and Oates. If it’s yacht worthy, they’ll play it. And they’ll play it good.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No exaggerations, the highlight of my week, every week, is Tuesday nights at 10PM at Rockwell Table & Stage where my friends put on the let-loosest, good time with Harbor Party, a yacht rock extravaganza. Talk about Throw Back Thursday!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're a long time reader of this blog, you may recognize the captain of the yacht rock movement, <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/search?q=landon+beard">Mr. Landon Beard</a>. We've worked together on every show I've ever done and hung out all over the world. Love the dude. You may also remember some late night drunken Michael McDonald impersonations on instagram. Basically, he's a natural at the smooth sailing jams defined as yacht rock. </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sXGtZiy9mnk/U7WZ34DhmoI/AAAAAAAAPOM/s9UKwtcot4o/s1600/www-499283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sXGtZiy9mnk/U7WZ34DhmoI/AAAAAAAAPOM/s9UKwtcot4o/s1600/www-499283.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sXGtZiy9mnk/U7WZ34DhmoI/AAAAAAAAPOM/s9UKwtcot4o/s1600/www-499283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #303030; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Yacht Rock: Another name for the adult-contemporary musical movement in the late 1970's and the early 1980's. It was defined mostly by its smooth sound. Popular Yacht Rockers include: Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan. — </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yacht%20rock" style="border: 0px; color: #007fa6; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Urban Dictionary definition</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's such a good time, the thing is catching on. In just three weeks, they've gotten featured on <a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/06/30/38135/la-band-harbor-party-pays-tribute-to-yacht-rock/">California public radio</a> and increased their following from about 10 the first night to a solid 70-100 people. At 10 PM on a TUESDAY. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://rockwell-la.inticketing.com/">Get on the boat with me.</a> I promise you, it is not possible to have more fun on a Tuesday night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://rockwell-la.inticketing.com/">Get $5 tix online</a> or show up at the door!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(While you're at it, <a href="http://rockwell-la.inticketing.com/">snag yourself some tix to our other Rockwell events</a>-- Haviland! Comedy Night! Jagged Little Pill!)</span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-22045361297771157232014-06-30T12:17:00.000+01:002014-07-01T00:18:04.267+01:00Palm Springs Wedding - Kade & James Teaser Pic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kj9DJKk3ZJ8/U7Hv19A2w0I/AAAAAAAAPNs/g7LlU4lrMNQ/s1600/10351969_10154275562510207_1936577378725091206_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kj9DJKk3ZJ8/U7Hv19A2w0I/AAAAAAAAPNs/g7LlU4lrMNQ/s1600/10351969_10154275562510207_1936577378725091206_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Cortney Wilson</td></tr>
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<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-49292464805414401932014-06-25T13:44:00.000+01:002014-06-26T03:01:00.290+01:00500 Years of Female Portraits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkG4ktNC3es/U6ts69h8jAI/AAAAAAAAPNU/M7QqqxPP7pY/s1600/e3_3_1_3a_flemish_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkG4ktNC3es/U6ts69h8jAI/AAAAAAAAPNU/M7QqqxPP7pY/s1600/e3_3_1_3a_flemish_art.jpg" height="640" width="564" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">uring my nearly two year long quest for the perfect painting for my bedroom wall, I really really wanted to find a powerful female. Every time I was nearly there, something wasn't quite right. So, I ended up with <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/2014/06/raeburns-skating-minister.html">The Skating Minister</a>, which I love in every way except that it's not a powerful female (say, dressed in flowing tartan and on a horse) but is instead a whimsical in body, dour in face man. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even though I didn't get my chick portrait, I can (and so can you) experience 500 years of female portraits in 3 minutes thanks to this lovely vid. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even though it's all white ladies, (it is only Western Art) it's nice to think of all the diversity in beauty of women over the centuries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Which is your favorite? I like the Sir Joshua Reynolds paintings-- esp. Jane Countess of Harrington, Vignee-Le Brun's self portrait and especially the Rubens painting-- A Lady In Waiting for Infanta Isabella. For the full list of portraits featured <a href="http://www.maysstuff.com/womenid.htm">check out here</a>. </span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-50534477065288243102014-06-24T12:47:00.000+01:002014-06-25T01:07:47.757+01:00The Bess-t.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1mxHHv8xi0/U6oNvig27AI/AAAAAAAAPNE/Jr8yFY69lRo/s1600/queen-elizabeth-game-of-thrones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1mxHHv8xi0/U6oNvig27AI/AAAAAAAAPNE/Jr8yFY69lRo/s1600/queen-elizabeth-game-of-thrones.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-27048409313664064702014-06-23T18:31:00.000+01:002014-06-23T18:31:38.397+01:00Lattes With Latte<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uuJsZXaHP0Y/U6hepYA8y4I/AAAAAAAAPMo/0L10qyAuUc0/s1600/unnamed-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uuJsZXaHP0Y/U6hepYA8y4I/AAAAAAAAPMo/0L10qyAuUc0/s1600/unnamed-1.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">n Saturday, McC and I did what seemed only right to do: We took the best Latte in America to get "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/dining/the-best-iced-latte-in-america.html?emc=eta1&_r=3">The Best Latte in America</a>." (according to the New York Times.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a glorious day in Larchmont Village-- even though much of Hollywood was blocked off due to a parade, a high school graduation, palm tree pruning, and perhaps the Daytime Emmy's preshow. It was unclear. But when we finally made it to the adorable strand of shops, Latte was out in full force, making friends with every man, woman and child and cute-ing up the place royally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He met his shaved pom twin, and like all doppelgangers, it was full hate coming from both sides (but mostly the other guy, because, let's face it, Latte is pretty secure in his cuteness.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We decided we would have this almond-macadamia nut milk iced-latte no matter how much it cost. And we took bets on just how much we were going to throw down. When we walked in, my eye immediately went to a $13 beverage. "Thirteen dollars," I said out loud to McC. "That's gotta be it. I bet you that's it." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily, that was a 5 shot extravaganza and the latte we desired only ran us six bucks each. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, the drinks came in ball jars. And various other products ranged in price from expensive to very expensive, including a small ceramic tumbler that said go get em tiger and cost $43.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, but was it the best latte in America, you want to know? I don't know because, while I have had many lattes in both America and abroad, I haven't had them all. But I'd say it was worth six bucks. And Latte thought so too. The first thing he did was try to steal a sip of McC's.</span><br />
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<a href="http://ggetla.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">go get em tiger</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">230 N. Larchmont Blvd.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ODs4T8lrfM/U6hjLfk0GPI/AAAAAAAAPM0/Zamajx4iTBA/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ODs4T8lrfM/U6hjLfk0GPI/AAAAAAAAPM0/Zamajx4iTBA/s1600/unnamed.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-59117097404870795842014-06-21T14:53:00.000+01:002014-06-22T02:54:58.902+01:00Saturday Solstice Song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ytz3dQRksI8/U6Y3J0R6KQI/AAAAAAAAPMU/nGfSE8rTIHo/s1600/1398600_181357052060822_1561858625_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ytz3dQRksI8/U6Y3J0R6KQI/AAAAAAAAPMU/nGfSE8rTIHo/s1600/1398600_181357052060822_1561858625_o.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>H</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">appy Summer Solstice! It's the longest day of the year! And boy does it already feel like it! I spent so much time in traffic. And then in a semi-confrontation with a crazy nicotine addict who reminded me of my mom in a neighborhood Walgreens. But that's okay. I had lots of adventures with Latte and I plan on reporting them to you tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a jam for you while you swish yourself up for a summer solstice evening out on the town. (I hope.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.seinabosey.com/">Seinabo Sey</a> - "Hard Time." </span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-3736864517491928752014-06-20T17:28:00.000+01:002014-06-20T17:28:10.667+01:00Painted Lady Friday Links<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2ALP9eOmlI/U6Re0uffcwI/AAAAAAAAPME/gdsvYzcAH64/s1600/painted-ladies-sold_wide-d43ba5f1031db7c419bb52d760745bfd045fd8e5-s40-c85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2ALP9eOmlI/U6Re0uffcwI/AAAAAAAAPME/gdsvYzcAH64/s1600/painted-ladies-sold_wide-d43ba5f1031db7c419bb52d760745bfd045fd8e5-s40-c85.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>W</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hat a long week. I'm real glad it's Friday. In two weeks, Iona will be here! In the meantime, I'm just really trying to get my ducks in a row across all facets. I'm tempted to mix a lot of metaphors here. Streamline spinning plates. Break some eggs to make omelets. What's that? Just give us the links? Okay, sounds good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- One of San Fran's <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/13/321689163/a-san-francisco-painted-lady-sells-for-900k-under-asking-price">Painted Ladies sells for 900k under asking price</a>. Where was I?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/jillian-bell-interview">Pal & fellow Vegas native Jillian Bell</a> is having an utterly deserved amazing year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://splitsider.com/2014/06/breaking-down-silicon-valleys-flawed-characters-and-promising-season-debut/">I love Silicon Valley</a>. That is all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Molly Ringwald singing a jazz version of "Don't You Forget About Me" to me was definitely a high point for any 80s kid. See her again <a href="http://rockwell-la.inticketing.com/events/410398/molly-ringwald/">July 1</a> and <a href="http://rockwell-la.inticketing.com/events/410399/molly-ringwald/">July 15</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://laist.com/2014/06/19/behold_the_one-minute_parking_sign.php">One MINUTE parking</a> in LA. A new LA parking low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Yes, he's a felon. But once he's out of prison, he <a href="http://abc7chicago.com/society/facebook-users-swoon-over-mans-mugshot/124961/">should definitely be a model.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Anyone tried this <a href="https://aloha.com/shop/dga-free-trial-welcome?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=display&utm_term=Diets+-+general&utm_content=538dede102d49&utm_campaign=admixt#.">ALOHA</a> stuff??</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Lots of mixed feelings about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/business/media/chipotle-experiments-with-disposable-literature.html?_r=1">Chipotle's "disposable" literature</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/05/15/chipotle_cultivating_thought_cups_cormac_mccarthy_s_rejected_contribution.html">Cormac McCarthy's REJECTED Chipotle cup</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://video.wcny.org/video/2365246223/">George Saunders on kindness</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Everyone who ever did forensics with me in High School knows, I love me some "Say My Name." (Upon looking at the video again, I'm noticing Bey's 'stache.) Now, The Awl asks, "<a href="http://www.theawl.com/2014/06/the-original-say-my-name">Is this the original 'Say My Name'</a>?" Well, it doesn't have what I love about the song, but fair enough. Dark child nah nah.</span>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-30583841862847520462014-06-19T19:10:00.000+01:002014-06-19T19:10:26.094+01:00"The Dreamiest of Scenes" - Sylvan Esso<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pwvA-_ETsaI/U6CfHLARe7I/AAAAAAAAPLI/DLHLbSpuo-4/s1600/sylvan-esso-2014-tune-yards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pwvA-_ETsaI/U6CfHLARe7I/AAAAAAAAPLI/DLHLbSpuo-4/s1600/sylvan-esso-2014-tune-yards.jpg" height="382" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">R</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ecently, <a href="http://havilandstillwell.com/">Haviland</a> took me to see Tune-yards (sorry, I won't do all that wacky styling of their name) at my favorite theatre in LA, The Fonda. Opening was a North Carolina duo whose album had only been released a few weeks beforehand. By the end of their 45 minute set, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SylvanEsso">Sylvan Esso</a>, had become one of my new favorite bands. I went home and bought that album immediately. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Electronic duos can have some trouble when it comes to creating a visually interesting presence on stage, but Nick and Amelia were having so much fun with each other, they succeeded in ways a lot of electronic groups don't. Maybe that's because they both have pretty extensive performance backgrounds in non-electronic music. Amelia was an accapela folk singer in a group called Mountain Man-- and that vocal background brings a nice rich folksy texture to Sylvan Esso stuff. Nick, meanwhile, was the bass player in another <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/2012/02/music-for-saturday-walk-hope-you-know.html">band I love, Megafaun</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The past fews weeks have been a crazy flurry of rushing from place to place, but I'm glad I've had this soundtrack to keep me happy. Favorites include "Coffee" (below), "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzy3RTxVmmw">HSKT</a>" "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/sylvanesso/play-it-right-1">Play It Right</a>" and especially "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7yWBxBUQPU">Could I Be</a>."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had originally planned this post for last week, then Monday, then Tuesday, then yesterday. I was grouchy for being so busy, but now I'm glad I held off until today so I could also link you to this great <a href="http://www.npr.org/event/music/323553363/sylvan-esso-live-in-concert?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20140619">NPR full concert from Washington, DC</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They're getting nearly universal praise and I can see why. <a href="http://blog.sylvanesso.com/">Sylvan Esso</a>, you are officially my flavor of June--- and perhaps a lot, lot longer. </span><br />
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-87719850151084441502014-06-14T19:03:00.000+01:002014-06-14T19:03:02.017+01:00Game of Thrones in Edinburgh, New Orleans, Downton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6FWFYXOXXIs/U5yLdOjbBGI/AAAAAAAAPK4/feiS9DCkqC8/s1600/downton-abbey-game-of-thrones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6FWFYXOXXIs/U5yLdOjbBGI/AAAAAAAAPK4/feiS9DCkqC8/s1600/downton-abbey-game-of-thrones.jpg" height="326" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">W</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hile <i>Game of Thrones</i> Season 4 is wrapping up tomorrow, it doesn't mean we can't keep the memes, riffs, and variations on the theme song going all summer long. Just enough to land us safely in <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2013/09/13/game-of-thronesdownton-abbey/"><i>Downton </i>Season</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's the theme played by killer New Orleans band, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swampdonkeyjass">Swamp Donkeys</a>. Spoiler Alert: It's amazing. I also appreciated Vanity Fair for giving me the mental image of Tyrion Lannister passed out covered in beads at Mardi Gras. Kudos on that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next up, for the Scotland lovers out there aka The North, here's a title sequence featuring the beautiful topography of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWUE7LJwAmw&feature=youtu.be">Edinburgh </a>instead of Westeros. Calton Hill for the win! House Blair & House Grant Hollar!</span></div>
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-50450356590939582932014-06-13T19:24:00.000+01:002014-06-13T19:25:08.172+01:00Bring Me Your Mugs Friday Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygkSg_my34U/U5s1XE2COhI/AAAAAAAAPKg/JzQwZaVZQNU/s1600/stvincent-mugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ygkSg_my34U/U5s1XE2COhI/AAAAAAAAPKg/JzQwZaVZQNU/s1600/stvincent-mugs.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">he word Mugs will always make me think of one of my childhood best friends, Margaret "Mugs" Gillespie. I gave her that nickname. Not 100% sure why, but it really seemed to suit her, and she is still often called that today. It's a great nickname, which is a great art. Enough tangential thinking though. I bring up Mugs because in a great coup of psychological marketing (at least for people like me) Intelligentsia has thought to give St Vincent her own coffee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's 22 dollars. I definitely still bought it. (<a href="http://vimeo.com/1311725">Jesus Saves. I Spend</a>.) It's delicious and bright... (Orange marmalade, brown sugar, lime zest....) because Annie Clark is a goddess who is incapable of making a misstep. The title is a reference to her song "<a href="http://youtu.be/A5ZM1a2zhkw">Bring Me Your Loves</a>." Which I and the good people of Intelligentsia clearly do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They also sell her album on vinyl there. If I didn't already own the record (on vinyl) I'd have bought that too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More with the links though! And happy Friday!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Speaking of coffee, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/dining/the-best-iced-latte-in-america.html?emc=eta1&_r=1">apparently the best latte in America is in my neighborhood</a>. I shall report back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://thecreativefacesproject.com/post/88296005274/name-andrew-keenan-bolger-age-29-place-of">Andrew Keenan-Bolger as a hobo clown</a>. How are you so wonderful always? Also, how are you 29 already, sweet pal?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/mariakonnikova/2014/05/why-do-people-persist-in-believing-things-that-just-arent-true.html?utm_source=tny&utm_campaign=generalsocial&utm_medium=facebook&mbid=social_facebook">People who don't want to be right</a> (factually.) Boy am I NOT one of these people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/fox-cancels-i-wanna-marry-harry.html">Fox Cancels "I Wanna Marry Harry."</a> Maybe there is hope for America.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Guys, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh?ref=discover_rec">donate to Reading Rainbow</a>. Because books are good and I don't want us to be so stupid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.frenchbydesignblog.com/2014/06/visit-retreat-home-in-portugal.html">Portugal</a>. Yum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- This isn't what I'd do with <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/uk/scotland/edinburgh/67744/36-Hours-in...-Edinburgh.html">36 hours in Edinburgh</a>, but I support any activities there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- The <a href="http://laist.com/2014/06/13/photos_a_sweet_honey_moon.php#photo-1">honey moon and Friday the 13th</a>.</span>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-85996157539627528122014-06-12T20:03:00.002+01:002014-06-13T04:31:37.148+01:00Raeburn's Skating Minister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YHs4mJTOoIM/U5n3aaxfXrI/AAAAAAAAPJw/idaBHNrRF1M/s1600/The_Skating_Minister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YHs4mJTOoIM/U5n3aaxfXrI/AAAAAAAAPJw/idaBHNrRF1M/s1600/The_Skating_Minister.jpg" height="640" width="528" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">oday is brought to you by classic Scottish painting, The Skating Minister, by Sir Henry Raeburn. I just bought an oil on canvas replica for my room. It's always been one of my favorites and I've been coveting an affordable, high quality replica for some time now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love the mix of the dreary and bright, buttoned up and playful. It's a pretty good example of the great Scottish paradox and why I love that place so much. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was actually quite obscure until 1949, and since then it's become an icon of Scottish art for absolutely good reason. There's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skating-Minister-Story-Behind-Painting/dp/190166385X">even a book written about the painting</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Henry Raeburn is one of Scotland's most beloved painters. In person, at the <a href="http://www.nationalgalleries.org/">National Gallery</a> in Edinburgh, it is so rich and texturous. It's full title is The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch. Walker was a minister in the Church of Scotland who lived during the height of Scotland's enlightenment period-- one of the most influential periods of human history. (In case you don't want to take my word for it, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Scots-Invented-Modern-World/dp/0609809997">I highly recommend this book</a>.) If I could have lived in any other era, I think it would be Scotland during the enlightenment. Oh, the ideas!</span>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-78233719818752734542014-06-10T14:43:00.000+01:002014-06-12T20:04:24.230+01:00Tom Rachman - The Rise & Fall of Great Powers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GQJpJhPkWJg/U5n5rwQ0M2I/AAAAAAAAPJ4/egt0AVKmUw8/s1600/1795548_700058073350362_1444967763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GQJpJhPkWJg/U5n5rwQ0M2I/AAAAAAAAPJ4/egt0AVKmUw8/s1600/1795548_700058073350362_1444967763_n.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">H</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ere's this book I've been dying waiting to read. <i><a href="http://www.tomrachman.com/">The Rise & Fall of Great Powers</a></i> came out today. I read <i>The Imperfectionists</i> while in that limbo waiting to go to Scotland and just felt warm and fuzzy and real. I've since heard Tom Rachman is an asshole, but I still think he's hot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apparently, even though this new book is weightier, he's still hot (<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-the-rise-and-fall-of-great-powers-by-tom-rachman/2014/06/10/bc96aeb4-ecea-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html">according to the Washington Post</a>) his "impish wit." And there's Wales. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For this and more summer reading, <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/8-books-you-need-to-read-this-june.html?mid=facebook_vulture">check this out</a>. </span><br />
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<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-8246714830527512442014-06-06T20:25:00.000+01:002014-06-06T20:25:10.973+01:00Feast or Famine Friday Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3A4NfNgI3V8/U5IT63BPd-I/AAAAAAAAPI8/ThfjyFjNIv4/s1600/tumblr_n2fy3nCq271qzooxpo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3A4NfNgI3V8/U5IT63BPd-I/AAAAAAAAPI8/ThfjyFjNIv4/s1600/tumblr_n2fy3nCq271qzooxpo1_500.jpg" height="636" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>W</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ith me, work is always feast or famine. I seem to always be starving and bored or prepping a gourmet meal on a runaway train. That's how I feel right now. So much going on! That's some strange universal law, right? Is there anyone who has solved for this?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In any case, have a great weekend! Stay cool like my man, Redford. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Links! Links! Links!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- I'd rather see "<a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/50-cent-remade-maleficent-into-malefiftycent.html?mid=facebook_vulture">Malefiftycent"</a> than "Maleficent"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- I look forward to watching <a href="http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/06/darren-aronofsky-to-develop-hbo-series-based-on-ma.html">Darren Aronofsky's HBO adaptation of Margaret Atwood</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Thinking about <a href="http://ohjoy.blogs.com/my_weblog/2014/06/what-i-did-in-london-part-2.html">London still actually makes me physically hurt inside</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Spain's <a href="http://honestlywtf.com/cool-hunting/magnolia-antic/">Magnolia Antic</a> is lovely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- A good example of <a href="http://filmmakermagazine.com/videos/#.U4lDhJT2ouh">why you need a good gaffer</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- I've spent a lot of time with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/interpretive-dance-inspired-by-toddler_n_2465004.html">interpretive dancers</a> and I can't tell you, I've always had a hunch this was their inner inspiration. </span>littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-22959534466557458832014-06-05T22:23:00.000+01:002014-06-05T22:23:32.870+01:00Long Lost Honeymoon Photos from the Glorious Summer of '39<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7eYqpjDlXQ/U5DZXkoLrhI/AAAAAAAAPIU/25MdwklQK4Y/s1600/2014-05-15-PackingTheCar_LincolnshireWolds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7eYqpjDlXQ/U5DZXkoLrhI/AAAAAAAAPIU/25MdwklQK4Y/s1600/2014-05-15-PackingTheCar_LincolnshireWolds.jpg" height="418" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">he Summer of 1939 is noted in the United Kingdom as one of the most beautiful and warm in modern history. It's called the Glorious '39 and it always seemed especially sweet considering it was the last honey-filled days before Fall would the beginning of devastating war for the next six years. Much of Europe, and England, would be leveled during World War II. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But before anyone knew the devastation to come, there was a summer of bliss. And this honeymoon of a young British couple through Lincolnshire, Durham, Norfolk and Yorkshire in August. The photos of Denys and Margaret Gardiner were thought to be lost until they were recently discovered by their grandson in an attic when Margaret died. They photos were taken by the couple's cousin, Eldred, who was an accomplished photographer. These color slides are a true rarity, preserving an England that was soon to disappear in many ways. On September 1, Hitler invaded Poland. </span><br />
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For more info, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/15/wwii-honeymoon-_n_5332409.html">check out the original article</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GRJl-4LHZdI/U5DZUJ8t6_I/AAAAAAAAPIE/VRCC1xhLfcA/s1600/2014-05-15-Shernborne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GRJl-4LHZdI/U5DZUJ8t6_I/AAAAAAAAPIE/VRCC1xhLfcA/s1600/2014-05-15-Shernborne.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FL73KRnH-Pc/U5DZVS1qPII/AAAAAAAAPIM/PfIzlxHuRiA/s1600/2014-05-15-SunsetCar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FL73KRnH-Pc/U5DZVS1qPII/AAAAAAAAPIM/PfIzlxHuRiA/s1600/2014-05-15-SunsetCar.jpg" height="418" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ENr63_S_qqw/U5DZbQArzHI/AAAAAAAAPIc/xMMmyXAAmXQ/s1600/2014-05-15-Wolsingham_CountyDurham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ENr63_S_qqw/U5DZbQArzHI/AAAAAAAAPIc/xMMmyXAAmXQ/s1600/2014-05-15-Wolsingham_CountyDurham.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-90060775014117107432014-06-04T18:52:00.000+01:002014-06-04T18:52:47.729+01:00Smize, You're on Perez Hamilton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JnAx1aW5PSE/U49aNWCzgtI/AAAAAAAAPHw/s2kwfPmtB-o/s1600/tumblr_me3vkennoL1r34zi2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JnAx1aW5PSE/U49aNWCzgtI/AAAAAAAAPHw/s2kwfPmtB-o/s1600/tumblr_me3vkennoL1r34zi2.png" height="634" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">f there's anything I love more than historical satire, it's historical satire mixed with modern gossip! Obvi. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, how I love <a href="http://perezhamilton.com/">Perez Hamilton</a>, the nerdelightful spoof of Perez Hilton for Federalist times. Why am I such a sucker for these mashups? Remember <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/2011/09/jane-austens-fight-club.html">Jane Austen's Fight Club</a>? <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/2013/03/downton-zombey.html">Downton Abbey with zombies</a>? It's like I have a tapeworm for this kind of stuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Someone get me some help. Or some company. Join me in my silly amusement. Wanna watch a costume drama? </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T2bS_iV0vLw/U49YXfyVTdI/AAAAAAAAPHo/3ahfWZSIRw0/s1600/tumblr_inline_mu2u5pclla1r34zi2+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T2bS_iV0vLw/U49YXfyVTdI/AAAAAAAAPHo/3ahfWZSIRw0/s1600/tumblr_inline_mu2u5pclla1r34zi2+copy.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-5346602895936331442014-06-03T17:35:00.000+01:002014-06-03T17:47:41.601+01:00In Cold Blood - Be My Friend, Morgan Kibby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lI7Xd8Z0I1E/U434RuedYRI/AAAAAAAAPHU/qIwBQD7FBlU/s1600/morgankibby-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lI7Xd8Z0I1E/U434RuedYRI/AAAAAAAAPHU/qIwBQD7FBlU/s1600/morgankibby-300x300.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">organ Kibby makes me want to dye my hair dark and stop wearing a bra. Let my curves out or down, whichever way they want to go. Be freckled. Be soft. Be diaphanous. Keep my sailor's tongue. Live Morgan Kibby (or <a href="http://whiteseamusic.com/">White Sea</a>, as the show is actually billed) was one of the most genuinely surprising, thrilling evenings of music a jaded artist (or anyone else for that matter) could have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She was the anchor in an evening I call the best accidental free concert ever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You see, the lovely Miss Vinessa Shaw and I are big fans of <a href="http://mosessumney.com/">Moses Sumney</a> (more on that later). He was having a month-long residency of free concerts and Vinny and I had been trying to organize a time to go. Then, after 24 hours of driving down the coast of California with the mega-duo of Brian Kearney and Gretchen Schrafft (more on Big Sur and an Irishman's first dip in the Pacific soon) I felt like 1. I need to MOVE-- sway in a room with strangers and have nothing to do with my clutch or my car-- even with wide open spaces, with the idea of the Ocean. (Whoops! White Sea!) and 2. I'd love something free to do with my fellow poor-artist friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus, we all ended up at the "Moses Sumney Concert," where White Sea was his guest. And it was the best concert I've ever been to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not really sure I've ever seen a more exhilarating live performer than Morgan Kibby. It has all the drama and height of a <a href="http://fergieinfife.blogspot.com/2012/10/florence-machine-hollywood-bowl.html">Florence + The Machine Show</a>, but with way more prowess, vocal precision and scale emanating from a much smaller operation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But then, this isn't Morgan Kibby's first rodeo. She formerly front LA Band, <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/The+Romanovs">The Romanovs </a>(<a href="https://www.facebook.com/nicholasandalexandra">good name, ya'll!</a>) IMO is the element that makes M83 the shit. She fucking wrote <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX3k_QDnzHE&feature=kp">Midnight City</a></i>. If I wrote that song, I'd retire. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But nope! That's not really an option for Morgan because of that set of pipes. You guys, in the room, that night, we all just looked at each other in awe. I am open to the awe of amazing singers. I am so often so humbled by the voices I get to hear and write for in my line of work. But I am spoiled by those voices and thus rarely floored by someone's ability. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been waiting for White Sea's first full album, <i>In Cold Blood</i> since that night. I wish I could tell you it lives up to the live concert, but it doesn't and in fact, it can't. That's not even the point. But it is wonderful, it is lyrically bold, it is my jam, and you should get it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In closing, Morgan Kibby, be my friend. If you get a call from <a href="http://www.alt987fm.com/onair/kade-18799/">Kade</a>'s cell phone, it's just me and I've stolen his phone so I can talk to you. Don't freak out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">White Sea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In Cold Blood</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">New album out now via Crush Music/SONGS on <a href="http://smarturl.it/incoldblood">iTunes for $7.99</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"> or </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">listen to it on <a href="http://bit.ly/1khTeQS">Spotify</a></span></span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/20998805&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL_DT5XIpY2MdMeHWc5u3dv6AE9ZbReDi3" width="640"></iframe>
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Not my favorite song on the album, but the video is gorge.</div>
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littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-70883399714071137502014-06-02T21:23:00.002+01:002014-06-02T21:23:19.362+01:00Whoops I Missed The Weekend Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sKPEvHd-gho/U4zcftQyO-I/AAAAAAAAPGk/nnPwo7oJ5f8/s1600/tumblr_n04m44Yo0H1re78pno1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sKPEvHd-gho/U4zcftQyO-I/AAAAAAAAPGk/nnPwo7oJ5f8/s1600/tumblr_n04m44Yo0H1re78pno1_500.gif" height="344" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">orry guys. Been real swamped. And also really buried in anger and articles about Elliot Rodger. I'm gonna spare you from any of those links. And while I was doing all that, it Juned all over the place. Oye. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- I really appreciate that <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/christianzamora/most-important-celebrity-bulges-of-all-time">the scale was presented in Jon Hamms</a>. Also, Fassbender. Just happening here. What's good for the goose, objectifiers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- This <a href="http://www.accesshollywood.com/healthy-hollywood-karine-plantadits-healthy-habits_article_94825#X6bwlQLH1R97quU6.01">fantastic lady</a> featured on access hollywood</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.theawl.com/2014/05/for-sale-the-private-letters-of-david-foster-wallace">Selling DFW's private correspondence</a>... ooooh, all my issues!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- The <a href="http://www.today.com/entertainment/wonder-years-cast-has-photo-filled-reunion-2D79730861">Wonder Years Reunion</a>! (!!!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- These <a href="http://www.wendydavistexas.com/landing/w140529ol/?subsource=CKF-WD-AB-A03-FB-FBLP.D-FKW.OCPM-NA-NPR-FE-25.39-C02.T01.D01.P03">"Abortion Barbie" attack ads</a> against Wendy Davis are DISGUSTING.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Oh, Maya. You will be missed. I love these <a href="http://www.comedyhype.com/social-comedy/comedy-moment-dave-chappelle-explained-maya-angelou-left-chappelle-show/">moments of you and Dave Chappelle</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- A <a href="http://www.upforgallery.com/blog/2014/5/12/irony-v-humor">co-worker of mine from a previous life in children's television</a>. Avoid that irony, Jordan Rathus!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2014/05/vivian-maier-and-the-problem-of-difficult-women.html">Vivian Maier and Difficult Women</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://www.theawl.com/2014/06/why-john-waters-stopped-making-movies">Why John Waters stopped making movies</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- I'll be using <a href="http://ohjoy.blogs.com/my_weblog/2014/06/the-pippit-app.html">pippit</a> from now on. You should try too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- And here's your dreamy, musical meditation for Monday. A Sunny Day in Glasgow. Just sit with that. Anyone who's ever experienced the rare beauty that is a sunny day in Scotland can tell you, there's nothing like it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/137260370&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></span></div>
littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1560199810443952110.post-62648980636104740812014-05-29T18:10:00.000+01:002014-05-29T18:10:22.411+01:00#spark #muse #etc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8zJpAT0m6SU/U4dlQ31tl1I/AAAAAAAAPGQ/r3KWkIcQ2BM/s1600/10172800_10152453948260120_3420447197966392294_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8zJpAT0m6SU/U4dlQ31tl1I/AAAAAAAAPGQ/r3KWkIcQ2BM/s1600/10172800_10152453948260120_3420447197966392294_n.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Y</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">esterday, I was moonlighting as a music video art director for uber-pal, <a href="http://havilandstillwell.com/">Haviland</a> on her upcoming single "Muse." In case you missed it, she released a fierce/catchy/inspired dance album called <i><a href="http://www.havilandstillwell.com/#!music/citr">Spark</a></i> a lil bit ago. I'm a privileged bitch, so it's been on my ipod for about a year now (at least pieces of it) but now it's available on itunes and whatnot. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the video, she wanted to keep it simple and easy to do. Just the idea of a modern muse. We used water (because we had it) and lights and Hav's natural je ne sais quoi. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Haviland had been raving about the photographer who did her most recent set of headshots, <a href="http://www.helloelliot.com/">Elliot London</a>, and I was excited a finally got to meet him on this shoot. I quickly learned he's just my kind of creative dude: casual, innovative, and creative as hell. Just jimmy-rig it until it works. That's my motto. And the stuff he got was SO beautiful! Doesn't Hav look so preeeeety? I can't wait to see how it turns out!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't really tell you how proud I am of her for this album and all the work she put into it. She's a mover!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Get <i>Muse</i> on her <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/spark/id854073191" style="font-family: inherit;">album here!</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgozc5mOP2A"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bonus Vid! </span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">**Disclaimer: Boss the Chihuahua isn't actually in the video. His fee was too high. So he just supervised. </span></i></div>
littlewowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00997689711201195434noreply@blogger.com0