October Events and News!

Hi All,
Fall is here (FINALLY)! And along with the cooler weather, we have some pretty cool events coming up:

Tonight is Brent's opening for "Tidal" in its final form. If you saw the preliminary draft at Monkeytown last year or at the SPINEsalon last month, you're in for a real treat. He's added sound by the incomparable Alan Sondheim and some stunning visual effects. You can catch it in all of its very large and loud glory at Greenpoint Gallery as part of the BIG GUNS! group show, and all weekend as part of Greenpoint Open Studios. The opening is tonight though and the party lasts 'till 2AM! We will only be there opening night because...
(more info)
http://asset3.flavorpill.com/brooklyn/events/2010/10/1/greenpoint-open-studios
http://greenpointopenstudios.org/

SPINE will be visiting our friends at EMPAC for Filament 2010, where we plan to see about 2010 shows, and come back with a full report and pics, and then...
(more info)
http://filament.empac.rpi.edu/

Off to Providence for the Firstworks Festival where we will be screening a fully remastered and re-edited Reframed --part of the Pixilerations program on October 5th.
(more info)
http://www.first-works.org/firstworks-pages/firstworks-festival-2010-01.php
http://www.spineart.com/reframed.html

After we take a moment to catch our collective breath, we will be announcing the new SPINE and Vietnam Fund collaboration, Lotus and Lightning on October 24th at the annual Vietnam Fund Fundraiser. Please save the date, for there will be much gorgeous art, yummy nibbles, and equally yummy wine. A slew of info will be headed your way after our art excursions, including project website, trailer, and ways you can support this project and the children who will benefit from it.
(more info)
http://www.vietnamemifund.org/

Hope to see you soon!
Cory

Ummmmmm...

I was working on a long overdue project (do I have any other kind?) with Allen where he tells stories on the streets of Brooklyn, when I had an idea. Of course this new idea HAD to take precedence. The way the edit of the story itself shaped up made me think about using everything I had cut out, a negative image of the story using just the footage pre and post talking.

Well, I put it together and here it is. A reverse image of a story:

Impromptu Gathering!

You are invited to join us at the SPINE house this Sunday the 5th for the unveiling and discussion of video work, film, photography and works in progress from exciting new and established artists. There will be wining, grilling, music and dining. Feel free to bring something special to throw on the grill, or the projector, or something special to drink.
We will be answering the door around 4PM and we will stop answering the door on Monday. Drop by if you're in the 'hood. Email for directions: kristen.spine@gmail.com

Artists Featured:
Brent Felker http://spineart.com/who.html#
Edwina White http://www.edwinawhite.com/
Alexis Raskin http://www.collectiveye.com/about.html
Oliver Lyons http://www.collectiveye.com/videos/d1review1.html
Cory Nakasue http://spineart.com/who.html#

In other news:
I'd like to plug the Dancenow/NYC Festival which starts next week and runs September 8-11. This festival is a true heralding of the New York City fall dance season. This year 40 of NYC's most innovative choreographers are taking the Dancenow Challenge to "say more with less." Cory Nakasue will be sitting on the panel this year and help decide on one choreographer who's going to win some amazing opportunities to create and share more work. More details: http://www.dancenownyc.org/index.php

That's all folks! Enjoy these last gasps of summer...*gasp*

Dusting Off Old Skills

Brent does all the fabulous video editing for SPINE. He is our Computer Guru, helping with all things creative and technical. I did a small amount of video editing at Cal Arts. I really enjoyed it, getting to exercise my choreographic muscle on frames instead of bodies. I thought I might try my hand at it again in the hope that maybe in the future I could alleviate Brent from some of his creative, but probably not technical, responsibilities.

This is just a little something for fun and practice. My first stop motion experiment:

(Thank you, Brent, for helping me play.)

Summer/Fall Events--Save the Dates!

Dear Friends,

Hope you are having a fabulous summer! Just thought we’d let you know about some new developments with SPINE. Here’s what we’re up to for the rest of the summer into fall. Save the dates! Hope to see you at any/all of these:

EVENTS

AUGUST 6^th

Cory Nakasue in conversation with Aynsely Vandenbrouke at Mount Tremper Arts’ Food for the Arts Friday nights. The two share critical writings and a sneak peek at their research and development of new work. New media writer, Alan Sondheim is scheduled to perform as well.

http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=BAR27

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/arts/dance/16dancefests.html

http://hudson-valley.chronogram.com/issue/2010/7/Arts%20&%20Culture/The-Avant-Garde-Invades-Mount-Tremper

SEPTEMBER 8^th-11^th

Don’t miss four nights of dance choreographed by NYC’s freshest talent alongside established veterans. This year the DanceNOW/NYC Festival is issuing a challenge to NYC choreographers to create a new work or present a repertory work of seven minutes or less, that offers a concise, clear, and complete artistic statement. The artist that best meets the DanceNOW Challenge will be awarded a week-long residency at Silo at Kirkland Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, along with a $1,000 residency stipend, and a paid teaching opportunity at DeSales University. Cory Nakasue will be there on the selection panel.

http://www.dancenownyc.org/the-festival.php

OCTOBER 6^th

Reframed directed by Brent Felker, will be screened at the First Works Festival in Providence, RI as part of the new media platform, Pixilerations. More details TBA.

http://www.first-works.org/

Trailer:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SPINE/190554590096?v=app_2392950137&ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=185719264002

OCTOBER 23^rd

SPINE, in conjunction with The Vietnam Fund for Education, Music, & Infrastructure is producing a documentary about a living musical and cultural legend of Vietnam; a look through the eyes of Nguyen Ngoc Khánh and his experience of coming to the States to share his music with western artists. All proceeds from this film will go to The Vietnam Fund. Brent Felker will be directing this film and Cory Nakasue is producing. There will be a Vietnam Fund fundraiser on October 23^rd along with an official announcement and celebration of this new documentary venture. More details TBA

http://www.vietnamemifund.org/

NOVEMBER 9^th

Cory Nakasue and Aynsley Vandenbroucke share a work in progress at The Chocolate Factory’s THROW series. More info. TBA

http://www.chocolatefactorytheater.org/home.html

Please fan us on Facebook for impromptu invites to gatherings, readings and showings at the SPINE house. Enjoy the rest of this hot hot summer.

EVERYONE NEEDS A MASSAGE

Massage Therapy is not to be confused with a hot fudge sundae. Massage should not be considered some sort of treat, nor a luxury, only to be received when you feel you deserve it.

EVERYONE needs a massage just as much as they need exercise and a healthy diet. It should be included in a health regime to assist in a well balanced, fulfilling, and happy lifestyle. It's like when you take your car in for maintenance. To ensure it is running efficiently you have to clean the pipes, change the filters, change the oil, and periodically get it smog checked, but don't forget to get it detailed every once and awhile.

The confusion with massage is that people think they are 'indulging' instead of 'healing'. The massage I practice, Thai Yoga Massage, like so many eastern medicines or practices, offers a balancing of the body's energy. Balance is obtainable when treating the whole body, not just one ailment. Bringing the body into a balanced state will allow healing, including more restful sleep, better digestion, ease of anxiety, soothing of bodies aches and pains, and opening of the heart and relaxing the mind.

Of course there is always the question of money. Massage tends to be expensive. One hour of massage may cost you one hundred dollars. This tends to make massage a practice geared to the wealthy. But I believe EVERYONE should get a massage, whether it be Thai Yoga Massage, Deep tissue, or Shiatsu. This is why I offer Thai Yoga Massage by donation, PAY WHAT YOU CAN. I have suggested $65 in the past, but I am truly offering PAY WHAT YOU CAN. Come, get a massage, and drop something in the donation jar at the end of the session based on what you can afford. I am encouraging this with the hope that people who have never had massage before will give it a try, and people who would like to get a massage on a more regular basis can.

I am in the intermediate portion of my studies, and have been learning many new postures and new approaches including lifestyle and nutrition studies. I am excited to share it with you. Please contact me to set up an appointment. We have a lovely air-conditioned studio in Brooklyn. You can find more information about me and my partner, Cory, who is an amazing certified Pilates and yoga teacher at our website, Body Intelligence.

SPINE LIVE!

May 13,15, & 19 at 8pm SPINE will be performing Stupid (an excerpt) as part of The Comedy In Dance Festival at Triskelion Arts in Williamsburg. A one-woman performance showcasing the physical comedy stylings of Kristen Revier. Self-Flagellation in all of its masochistic glory.

The Comedy in Dance Festival May 12-16 & 19-23, 2010. 8pm A new annual performance series featuring over 20 curated works, including Abby Bender Schmantze Theatre's full-length premiere Geegahdongpeoria

The festival runs for a full ten days and includes work with a comic bent by: Phil Lanzetta/Vantage, The LeRoy Sisters, Amy Larimer, alexanDance Performance, cakeface, The Donovan Ensemble, Rhea Daniels, SPINE, Alisa Fendley Dance, Janessa Olsen/equal and opposite, Two-Hander, New Extreme Dance Explosions Awesomes, Billy Schultz, Cirque This, Jacobs Campbell Dance, EmmaGrace Skove-Epes, Leanne Schmidt and Company, Ashley Meeder Movement Project,, Adrian Jevicki/Movementpants Dance.

Inspired by the medieval dancing plagues, Schmantze Theatre's Geegahdongpeoria, included in the festival on on May 13-15, & 20-23, follows a landmark day-in-the-life of a fictitious people compelled to dance. This performance conjures up one of humanity’s lost tribes…lost with good reason. This tiny nation of likeable human dodo birds swaggers blithely through fable and folk dance, while tromping over atavistic technologies and cornball Satan-worship. Geegahdongpeoria is performed by Abby Bender, Jonathan Ciccarelli, Sara K. Edwards, Katie Federowicz, Rebecca Frank, Charles Gushue, Sarah Lannon, Lyz Merida, Reshma Patel, Brandon Polanco, Natasha Ross, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey and Charmian Wells. Story and choreography by Abby Bender and co. Script by Jeremy Wilson. Songs and video by Derek Breen, Jeremy Wilson, and Rebecca Frank

Visit Triskelion Arts for a detailed festival schedule. Tickets: $15 general admission/$12 students Reservations strongly recommended: info@triskelionarts.org or 718-599-3577

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Sustainability of Dance Writing: A report and a couple of opinions

Relevance and Sustainability

By Cory Nakasue

Dance/NYC’s Town Hall: Solutions for Sustainable Dance Writing

April 12th, 2010 at Joyce SoHo

This town hall was moderated by Marc Kirschner, General Manager, TenduTV. The panel included: Tonya Plank (Swan Lake Samba Girl), Robert Johnson (Newark Star-Ledger & Dance Critics Association), Jaki Levy (Arrow Root Media), Elizabeth Barry (Gendance, EB & Associates) and Brian McCormick (bmacmedia.net, The New School, Bessies Committee).


Few stones were left unturned in this discussion about the sustainability of dance writing, journalism, and criticism. Unfortunately that is because we have had this talk before, and a new discussion needs to be broached; instead of talking sustainability maybe we should be talking about relevance. Who cares about dance?

We have all heard the horrific figures cited again and again, such as the number of full-time dance writers in the country (1), how the inches and pages relating to dance are dwindling from arts news sections and other publications, and how the blogosphere has turned into a murky free-for-all in terms of dance content. The problem doesn’t reside in the world of publishing (although the future of publishing in general is uncertain), marketing, or quality control (though, once there is an audience for dance writing, this issue should be on table.) The problem resides in audience development, the huge cultural shift from live art, and demand—the problem resides in the dance “ecosystem” (a buzz-word of the evening, along with “branding”).

Robert Johnson provided one of the most compelling arguments of the evening stating that the increasing suburbanization of America has created a population that cannot relate to urban culture. And, right now, suburban America is the largest consumer of information on the web and print media; a population whose dance appetites are sated by TV shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars.” They are simply not interested in reading reviews of modern dance companies, much less an intellectual discourse of a post-modern aesthetic…for example. It has become irrelevant for most of the country. One writer in the audience who previously worked for a major publication claimed she was asked by editors to “dumb down” pieces of writing because a large part of their circulation wouldn’t understand it. It seems that dance has positioned itself in an elitist ghetto.

Another audience member commented on the insular nature of dance as a contributing factor and the short runs that most companies have in theaters, thus turning an already ephemeral art form into an art form that almost doesn’t even happen. Who will pay for writing about a non-event?

Moderator Mark Kirshner was teased throughout the evening for his capitalist take on the issue, but his pragmatism on the simple economics of supply and demand also put the responsibility back on the dance world to figure out how to grow its audience, or in this case consumers. Perhaps one of the funniest moments of the evening was when panelist Elizabeth Barry was trying to sell the legendary (and very vocal) Elizabeth Zimmer on branding herself, at one point exclaiming, “Old people are cool!” Herein lay the frisson of the evening; watching young marketers and web gurus try to consult with intellectuals and artists, especially those of another generation.

Bottom line: If there is no more dance writing, there will be no more dance. If we can turn this conversation into one about building audiences who are hungry for dance content, and making the art form more relevant to our culture, our writers will be compensated. I made not one peep during this town hall meeting, so, “peep.”

WE NEED YOU...

SPINE has been accepted into Triskellion's Dance Comedy Festival. We are looking for some performers for the event. The piece we are performing is four minutes. It will be performed three times throughout the festival. It should be a fun time.

We are looking for:

girl: a little dancing, and lots of laughing and flirtatious running
boy 1: have articulate long arm and hand
boy 2: a little acting and play with yo-yo
boy 3: a little acting, mostly sit and read newspaper

Rehearsals: two a week until the show

Performances (all at 8pm):

Thursday, May 13
Saturday, May 15
Wednesday, May 19

Tech:

Tuesday, May 11 at 9pm

Description of piece:
Convenience Girl, is a piece based on a video SPINE (http://spineart.com/) created last year (link to rough draft below). The premise: Girl is stuck in a hula hoop while being controlled/seduced by an arm that hands her things sometimes lovingly and sometimes violently (the arm's body is hidden by a white board), simultaneously being seduced by a boy that is dancing with a yo-yo in the background always out of reach, while a girl dances by freely, flirting and whispering in yo-yo boy's ear, and a man watches in chair in the far background. The piece exemplifies our enjoyments of and our struggles with the insidious nature of convenience.

Link to rough draft: click here

Let us know if you are interested (email: kristen.spine@gmail.com), or if know anyone who would be please pass information along to those people.

Paaaaiiint oooooon meeeeeee...(paint on me)....taaaake meeee hoooomee....

I felt the A-ha reference was apropos to this very slick group of work by Alexa Meade. I don't want to paraphrase too much, but I really enjoy and appreciate this kind of art. At first glance, I assumed it was paintings photoshopped into real life situations, but it's real people painted on to appear as if they're in a painting. I've said it before, I'm not art student, but I know neat when I see it.

Check it out.

Here are a couple highlights.



This is the kind of art that makes me more interested in art. It makes me want to see more by Meade and see what else she can come up with. It also helps me to want to stop seeing the box.

Lecture as Art

Last Wednesday evening I attended Deborah Hay's 'A Lecture on the Performance of Beauty' at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union. While my expectations were of a lecture on Beauty, it turned out to be a Performance Art piece in disguise. 'Beauty' is a solo piece Deborah Hay created for herself in 2002, and performed at least twice, once in Helsinki and once in London. The piece is based on 'Oh Beautiful...'. The 'lecture' begins as she speaks into a microphone in front of an easel displaying a doodle on white paper. Next to her are two large projector screens. I continue to think this is a 'lecture' while she explains her political motivations, the rehearsal process, the choreographic process, and explains that the doodle behind her is a blueprint of the piece, 'Beauty'. While she continues to speak the two video monitors begin. One shows the Helsinki performance of 'Beauty' with Hay performing in a post apocalyptic costume (punk/biker outfit with soda cans taped to each hand). The other screen shows the London performance of 'Beauty' with Hay performing in her new 'more appropriate costume' as she called it (naked, the idea conceived in a hot donated rehearsal space where she took off her clothes to cool down instead of turning on the air conditioner to save the space money). Hay, the one present, begins dramatically to read the text off a sheet of paper. As I watch her, the screens, and the doodle together I realize I am watching a composed live performance. I am not watching a lecture. The three Hays dancing together, the two on the screens and the one present, creating the union of all the incarnations of 'Beauty'. Once I got home I researched the piece a little more. I came to find out she had all the text for the lecture on her website written out somewhat like a play with character action notes and everything.

I have seen artists do this before: turn formal conventional speaking events into Art. The Artist can use the formal lecture as a vehicle of performance, and do what they do best, in Hay's case, a live dance performance. I guess you could say that all lectures are a sort of performance, but when the lecture becomes Art it extends the boundaries of a formal lecture. It creates an elusive piece of work that is composed and meant to be interpreted by the audience members.

The 'performance' ends, and we are brought back to the formal lecture with a Q and A session. In which the audience acts as they usually do in a lecture hall, although I think Hay is still performing. The last question was asked slowly, awkwardly and with a self-aware dramatic pause by a gentleman in the back row who I couldn't see. He asked Hay what she thought Dance had to do with it all. Like, why do we dance, but he asked it like he was asking what is the meaning of life. Hay stood there for awhile. To be fair it was a loaded question, but Hay replied humbly, 'All the major lessons I have learned about life I have learned through my body while dancing'. (she repeated this twice). I think Hay may interpret her whole life as a dance.

A Matter of Good Taste

This is a great clip from Ira Glass (I first saw it on a 'Craft' newsletter, but I guess it is all over the place, Brent had already seen it, and Cory actually said he may have stole this thought from another writer, although I couldn't figure out who). His thought is on how we become artists, and that one of the reasons we do is because we believe ourselves to have good taste. Explaining that when we start making work we are the first people to stop ourselves when we think the work is not up to our 'good taste' standards. He goes on to say the only way we will successfully achieve these standards is if we practice making work, lots and lots and LOTS, even if it is bad work.



I am thinking, 'Don't I know this already', but yes, I must relearn. As Doris Humphrey said, 'They can't all be masterpieces' (I think she said that). I am trying to practice this in all parts of my life in conversation, in cooking, in love and TOTALLY in writing on this blog. I don't write anything half of the time because I think the post has to be as good as the things I really like to read (and so I stop). But the truth is, it is good practice (and hopefully I don't bore you all in the meantime).

Good taste should be an aid not a hindrance, not the lock on the door, but the key that opens it.

So when I start putting boxes on people's heads in my new piece, a questionable choice I admit (Cory is already wary), I have to evaluate the decision, but not throw it out entirely because it's not the 'perfect' decision', especially when no other decisions are coming. Try it. Figure it out. And in the end I may realize it was a bad decision, but I won't know until I try. Maybe it will give me insight into something else.

Life and Art

Balancing Life and Art is a messy frustrating thing. It is like I'm riding in a car in the front passenger seat trying to talk to Life, the driver, and talk to Art, the passenger in the back seat, at the same time. It makes me car sick. I am struggling to find time and inspiration to work on new artistic projects. This proving difficult at the moment while I'm feeling somewhat beaten down by my the commitment to my day job (server - only server - at Dirt Candy. It is like a 9-5 office job but with much more physical activity, although I do have a masochistic love for it). To keep my body inspired I try to take dance class twice a week. Then my artistic brain tries to get a groove on in the quiet hours of the night, whilst battling not to veg out on Facebook (sadly, sometimes trying to keep up with my own SPINE mates Cory, Brent and Allen via status updates because we are all so busy). Then enters the administrative seductions of grants and fund raising (actually more like research hell). Oh, and did I mention a love life. Let's just squeeze that in like putting a box on a shelf when it is a millimeter too big. UGH. Balancing, Juggling, Dropping. I am trying not to spend too much time preciously picking up the pieces. Just trying to get on with it (after I take some 'ginger trips' for my car sickness).

Pr0n

Dear Time Warner Cable,

I would like to point out that the 1.67 GB of hidden camera masturbation videos (Best Of!) I am currently downloading are for an artistic project. Due to an unforeseen prudishness in the people around me, perhaps exacerbated by a subconscious eagerness that pervades my asking, I have been unable to procure the services of non-sketchy, relatively disease free models. Having heard the internet may be home to certain purveyors of such wares(z), I ventured forth on a hunting expedition. Nearly .31 seconds later I was rewarded with my quarry, the aforementioned 1.67 GB of hidden camera masturbation videos (Best Of!). Once fully captured to my hard drive, these potentially erotic/disgusting bits of moving-picture will form the basis for my next opus for which you will be fully credited.

Thank you for your time and God Bless,
Brent

Dance on video!

Some great dance on video at this vimeo account.

Mostly stuff from Flying Mammoth. A lot of recordings of live pieces (what you would generally call archival), but what makes them special, aside from some kick-ass choreography, is the editing. It really shows in the Flying Mammoth choreography reel (sorry embedding disabled).

A bunch of clips from stage/gallery shows, but the editing makes them sing.

3 Minute Romeo and Juliet

Check out Shakespeare as it should have been meant to be seen (should have meant to be seen?). Original work created by Brent Felker and Paul Coffey.

Top 10 Dishes of the Decade *

10. Green Curry with Tofu at Lily Thai in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I love green curry, and this is my favorite.

9. Fresh guacamole, plantains, black beans and flour tortillas at Dos Caminos in Midtown
Not necessarily a 'dish', but i believe this is a perfect combination of components for a taco. I used to work at Dos Caminos. A reward for a 'job well done' was any dish on the menu. I always chose this.

8. Pancakes with strawberry butter at Le Barricou in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
This is more like dessert than breakfast. Two thick cake-like pancakes with plenty of strawberry butter, real maple syrup and fresh fruit. Possibly the best pancakes I have ever had.

7. Watermelon Salad at Back Forty in the East Village
A seasonal salad with tomato, feta and dill. It is so simple, but the combination is oh so amazing.

6. Burger at DuMont in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Tasty burger always cooked exactly to your order with cheese, yummy bun, pickles, dijon mustard and ketchup (heaped on thick tomato slice and bibb lettuce). It is totally falling apart when two thirds done. Just confirming there was plenty of juicy happiness.

5. Bhuna with lamb at Brick Lane in the East Village
Sweet, spicy and fresh curry with lamb meatballs.

4. Duck with sherry reduction, Restaurante Kirkilla in Enea, Zarautz, Spain
In a little mom and pop restaurant in Basque Country, 'mom' served me a fillet of duck perfectly cooked set over a plentiful drizzle of sherry reduction served with magical fresh baked rolls crispy outside doughy inside, useful to wipe up every bit of sauce.

3. Carrot Risotto Dirt Candy in the East Village (pictured above)
Okay, so I work here, but this is no brown nose to my boss, Amanda Cohen (chef and owner), I believe this is a frickin' fantastic dish. Creamy sweet carrot risotto, savory carrot ribbons (fried bits of goodness), carrot dumplings, a little parmesan, and thyme (can't do without). Unfortunately this dish lives on the island of retired dishes. I heart Dirt Candy!**

2. Patacones/Tostones Maracuchos at El Cocotero in Chelsea
Crispy green plantain crostini with black beans, sweet plantains, salty cheese and flank steak. The dreamiest sandwich ever - in close competition with a banana, fluff, peanut butter and M&M sandwich from the Peanut Butter Shop in the Quincy Market in Boston I had when I was ten.

1. North African Paella at Black Betty (Closed - R.I.P) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Couscous with mussels, chicken, salmon and merguez in an amazing spicy Moroccan red sauce (I have never had anything like it, and sadly I won't ever again).

Two honorable mentions:
1. Fiorentina Pizza at Pizza Express in London
Spinach, grana padano, free range egg, garlic oil and olives
2. Salmon Cakes at Wagamama in London
Super yummy with sweet sauce and heaping salad

*eaten in restaurants more like the last three years than decade, due to my bad memory and the fact I spent most of the first half of the decade in London and the suburbs of Southern California.
**two other awesome dishes from Dirt Candy that nearly made the list, Mixed Green Salad with avocado, almonds, grilled cheese croutons and grapefruit pops, and Golden Beet Pappardelle with goat cheese yogurt sauce, beet pesto, beet honey, and a rainbow of roasted beets.

My Favorite Album of 2009: Grace/Wastelands by Peter Doherty

It may not be “the best” album, but these lists are subjective, like the way we listen to music. But, I can tell you that this year, Pete Doherty's first solo effort fit the mood, the tone and the spirit of my 2009. A hopeful breath of fresh air that tastes of a little longing on the exhale.

Pete Doherty has been marinating in 50 years of British pop…and heroin, alcohol, cocaine…yeah yeah yeah, I know. Just thought I’d get drug jokes out of the way before I go on. And, I do feel that the druggie-bad-boy issue needs to be addressed because of the stunning foil it provides for the innocence of this album. Doherty comes off as blushing troubadour from a simpler time—sent to the past to dry out, and now emerges gentler and wiser. Whether he constructed the songs on this album to conjure the history of British pop or not (I think not), the work is soaked in it. There is such a distinct sense of place—but not time. However, the nostalgia that courses through every track makes you yearn for everything past, before, and gone.

Stylistically, this album is all over the map; a couple of ragtime ditties, a torch song here, a folk song there, and some straight up alternative, indie, pop tunes. The magic of this album lies in the threads that hold them all together. I think these threads are the Beatles, Oasis (during the 5 minutes they didn’t suck), and The Smiths (mostly Johnny Marr). Doherty somehow manages to balance some fucking lovely Beatle-esque melodies (circa 1968), effortless pop-hooks, with some excellent punk guitar work—nice and jangley and oh so English.

The result is an album to smoke lots of cigarettes to while basking in the memory of your last encounter with Him or Her; and imagining running down the streets of London with them as you make fun of strangers and try on funny hats at the flea market, then go home and make love with a gentle rain falling outside…and lots, lots more cigarettes.

Happy Holidays from SPINE!

Dear Friends,

We just want to wish you Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year! We are so grateful for your support, encouragement and patronage during this, our first official year as a company in New York City.

For those of you who didn't know, SPINE was based in London, England for 4 years, Los Angeles for 4 years, and we disbanded for a year during 2007-2008. Our regrouping started with a film commission and things took off from there. This year we premiered a new film at the Berkshire Fringe, exhibited a photo project at 3rd Ward, produced a live music and video event at Monkey Town, and produced a new work written by Allen Norvick, our newest member, which was presented at Speakeasy Stories this fall. Slated for 2010 are a web comedy series, 2 new films, a video exhibit, and an adaptation of a play. Our website has been updated, and we have a blog and a Facebook fanpage so you can keep up with it all.

Minus our year long hiatus, the core group of SPINE has been working together for 10 years. To mark our anniversary we're posting some "best of the decade" lists to our blog; a little thing we like to do at the SPINE house during family dinners that often result in drunken after-dinner brawls. Feel free to chime in and share some of your picks.

In what has become a yearly tradition, we used the holidays as an excuse to do an impromptu photo shoot based around a theme. As you can see, this year we chose "Domestic Bliss". Click the photos to embiggen. Thanks to Alvaro Gonzales, photographer extraordinaire.

We leave you with 2 pieces of rehearsal footage in their very nascent stages; The first, a video story-board for Kristen's new piece, and the very beginning of movement ideas for a duet Cory is working on. Become a Facebook Fan or follow our blog to check the progress of, and give commentary on, our newest works.

Take care,

Allen, Brent, Cory & Kristen

Top Ten Moments in The Comic Book World of the Decade (Special Foil Cover Edition)

What with the end of the decade coming up, I felt it appropriate to have my own Top 10 list. Something that fits my particular...idiom. So, I present to you, my Top Ten (pun intended for those of you that are familiar with Alan Moore) Moments in Comics for the Zeroes.*

10. The 52 Civil Infinite Crisis of the Secret Invasion of Ambush Bug's Butt - Crossovers aren't a new phenomenon in the mainstream comic world. They've been around since The Secret Wars or Crisis on Infinite Earths. What really stands out about the crossovers of the 00s are the FREQUENCY. And the quickly dwindling gap between the next one. It seemed like Secret Invasion picked up almost immediately where Civil War left off. And can we come up with some new words for crossovers that aren't secret, crisis or infinite?

9. ZOMBIES. LOTS AND LOTS OF ZOMBIES - This isn't JUST the mainstream comic world, but as often happens, as the more mainstream pop culture bleeds into specifically comic culture, there starts to be some symbiosis (ie Elvis' fascination with Captain Marvel Jr. and CM3's, which is a dumb name, later obsession with The King). Zombies seem to have exploded onto pop culture again (Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Bong of the Dead, etc) and with that, of course, zombie comics.

8. The Rebirth of the Silver Age - With such titles as Earth X and Kingdom Come, comes an obvious harkening back to the childhood of our now employed comic book artists and writers. There isn't much to say about this, other than "fanboys all grown up and got the power and want to turn their fanfiction into profit."

7. Lavaroid - This is nothing but a blatant plug for Kevin Conn's comic, Lavaroid. Suck it, weenies.

6. The Coincidal Coincindental Rebirth of Winter Soldier and Red Robin - With the rebirth/return/marketing tactic of Jason Todd and James "Bucky" Barnes, comes the retirement of the terms "Bucky Dead" and "Jason Todd Dead". This is actually more monumental than it seems, in my opinion. Bucky and Jason Todd were the standard for death. If you were Bucky dead, you were DEAD. That's how it worked. Now that we've returned BOTH of these characters, we've essentially said, "All bets are off." Death has lost it's weight and intensity in both Big Boys. Which leads me to number 5.

5. The Death of Captain America (again) - The reason this is on the list at all isn't because I think it had a monumental impact on the comic book world, but because it didn't. Life moved on. Captain America was shot, people were sad, they moved on. The number one comment heard was, "He'll be back." This doesn't happen in the real world. People don't die and the public doesn't say, "Oh, he'll be back with Thriller 2." Except on Easter. Take that as you will. The Death of Superman was a much bigger deal (and handled better), because you thought there was an actual chance Superman was being replaced.

4. Women in Refrigerators - This was another top 10 that should have been higher. What this was is a list of all of the female characters in the mainstream comic world (mostly) that had been killed, depowered or dehumanized. It originated from a scene in a Green Lantern comic where Green Lantern's girlfriend gets killed and stuffed into a refrigerator to make him angry. Point being, that females in comic books are, more often than not, used as punching bags to give the male heroes something to save. The list is pretty extensive. The issue is, most fanboys KNOW of the site, but it's used almost as a joke. I'm not going to start a rant about how the lack of impact its had is a perfect example of its purpose, but it's true.

3. Acceptance of Comics into Mainstream Society - This wasn't so much an EVENT that happened in this decade, as it was a result that happened in this decade. There has always been an overall awareness of comic books in popular society, but it's not as much of a social stigma to read comics in general as it was even 15 years ago. This is the result of a few factors, some being a result of each other, like the surge of comic book movies, comic book cartoons, and the wearing of Underoos by hot chicks.

2. The Erasing "Reboot" of Spiderman's Marriage - I find this a VERY important event in the mainstream comic book world. It was a blatant use of editorial power, that was (in my opinion) just a reflection of Joe Quesada's fear of growing up. Spiderman/Peter Parker's entire marriage to Mary Jane was (sloppily) erased to rewind Spiderman back to his carefree teenager days of crimefightin' and going to night clubs. It made me stop caring about Spiderman stories.

1. The Damn Interwebs - With the popularization and wild-fire spread of forum boards, social networking sites and mind-melting slashfiction, the internet has actually affected what is being created. The internet is not just an information site, it had become an extended form of our reality. In some cases, it has replaced our reality. To not call this the most significant change in the way comics are seen, created and bitched about would be false.

*this is entirely based on my opinions and observations. If you disagree, why don't you start a flamewar about it?