The David Bowie tribute at the Orpheum on Oct. 5 was amazing! I got caught up in a bizarre flow of energy that led me to spend the two days before the show recreating David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust look, complete with the Kansai Yamamoto rabbit romper! I had so much fun that night, with a great view of the concert from the second row. The VSO and a five-piece rock band were faithful to Bowie’s music, with innovation in the arrangements, and the audience vibe held appreciation, love, and enjoyment of this chance to remember and celebrate Bowie’s life and music.
The orchestra is doing exactly what I tell them! lolAt the interval
During the interval I received a million compliments on my hair, make-up, and outfit, and lots of people took their photo with me. I thought I should make the most of it all, and was waiting for the right opportunity.
As I mentioned, the VSO was joined by a Windborne Music rock band for this Bowie tribute. The singer, Tony Vincent, gave a lead-up to each song. In between songs he began talking about Bowie’s fashion sense and innovative style, and I thought this is my moment. (I had a feeling I knew which song was coming!) So I strutted back and forth like I was on a fashion runway along the “catwalk” in front of the stage during the song Fashion. Turn to the left, turn to the right!
And then the band invited me up to conduct the VSO for Golden Years! What a rush! I went up onstage and was up there for the whole song. The drummer cued me on how to do the final crescendo at the end of the song. They were all so nice to me on stage. It was an unbelievable night—so much love, celebration, sadness, remembrance.
After the show, many people thanked me for bringing a beloved memory-image of David into the air of the event, and said it was the icing of the cake. It was truly magical for us all.
This is me on stage at the Orpheum, with the VSO and the rock band, actually conducting, dancing, and making a fool of myself! This was one of the best nights of my life. I still can’t believe it really happened! (P.S. The lead cellist is gorgeous!)
I’ve been rocking the Ziggy Stardust mullet since the devastating news of David Bowie’s sad death in January. I will be running the New York Marathon on Nov. 6 in Ziggy Stardust costume, in memory of Bowie and to raise money for Harlem United. If you can help this fantastic cause with a small donation, please visit my donor page.
With Judith and another serious Bowie fanNathanael, a hunky dory Bowie fan sitting near me and rockin’ his own Bowie tribute look. And here you see a close-up of Siobhan Uy at MAC Granville’s great make-up work.With Michael at Threads Fashion Alterations – he turned a dress into the rabbit romper in less than 24 hours. Amazing work!Check out the detail in this fabric. It’s not woodland creatures like the original romper, but I think it’s unbelievably representative of the original outfit.
This is so exciting! I will be running in the New York Marathon on November 6, 2016 to raise money for Harlem United. My goal is to raise $3,000 for this fantastic organization that helps Harlem community members by providing access to health care, resources, and education about AIDS and HIV. They provide quality HIV prevention, housing, and care services in a safe and nurturing environment to unite Harlem’s diverse communities and address the needs of all people living with and threatened by HIV/AIDS.
I’m asking all my friends, family, and colleagues to help support the amazing work that Harlem United does, and cheer me on in my dream of running the New York Marathon.
If you can help, please visit my donor page. You can sponsor me by:
Mile ($26 for the 26.2 miles of the marathon)
Kilometre ($42 for the 42 kilometres of the race)
Meal ($100 to buy a group lunch for LGBT youth at risk for contracting HIV)
Visit my donor page often for photos and updates on my race training progress.
I’ve been wanting to run in the New York Marathon for 20 years, since I first began running in 1996. It’s the largest marathon in the world (yikes!) and goes through all five boroughs of New York City. This will be my first full marathon, though I’ve run ten half marathons. I’m thrilled to finally run this race and to raise money for Harlem United. This is a celebration of my new life in New York and I am putting down roots by contributing to the well-being of my community there.
I have some very exciting news! My US visa application as an alien of extraordinary ability has been approved! This is a wonderful privilege, and many people helped me by writing letters on my behalf for the application. Thank you all!
From the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website, this is the requirement for the EB-1 employment-based immigration category:
“You must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim. Your achievements must be recognized in your field through extensive documentation. No offer of employment is required.
“You must meet 3 of 10 criteria* below, or provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal).”
With the Olympics just on, this makes my application success all the more special. It’s like I have won the Olympic Gold Medal for technical writing!
And the letters you all provided helped me to establish most of the criteria in the list of 10:
You must meet 3 out of the 10 listed criteria below to prove extraordinary ability in your field:
Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence – Yes
Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members – Yes
Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media – Yes
Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel – Yes
Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field – Yes
Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media – Yes
Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases (this is true – I had my first art exhibit at Havana last summer – but I didn’t submit evidence for this category)
Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations – Yes
Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field – Yes
Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts (I provided equivalent evidence of the success of my book – a Canadian best-seller with over 40,000 copies sold – the number of sales for a quadruple-gold record!)
This achievement fills me with joy. The work of the first 50 years of my life has resulted in a wonderful foundation for the next 50 years! During the process of preparing the materials for the visa, I had the opportunity to reflect on everything I’ve done so far, to connect with many people I’ve worked with along the way, and to really appreciate the many opportunities I’ve enjoyed, to contribute my abilities to the world in many different capacities. It was almost like going on a vision quest, except that it involved consuming reams of paper and dozens of ink cartridges! 🙂
First submission (450 pages, 8 pounds!):
Second submission (350 pages, 5 pounds):
Thank you again, to everyone who has helped. It’s been wonderful connecting with you again, and I couldn’t have done this without you. Words can’t express my deep appreciation.
Howdy, parnder! I was in Calgary during the week of the world-famous Calgary Stampede this year, and I thought it would be fun to show you a genuine cow-town house:
This is really all I’ve got to say, except that it was real fun to go to work in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat!
CP6 Productions is a premier HD video production company in Vancouver specializing in art and music videos.
My inspiration for video production was born in Manhattan. In Washington Square Park, to be exact. When I took my first video I wanted to capture the sounds of competing musicians in the park, especially the completely unexpected piano player. I took out my iPhone 5s, and CP6 Productions was born. (See Washington Square Jazz.)
VIFF
I am very excited to be submitting my work to VIFF 2016. This is a new realm of artistic direction for me. For many years I have been inspired by the films of VIFF. I’ve loved movies since I was a little girl, and used to read the accounting production credits back when I was an accountant in the late 80s. I dreamed of having my name on the big screen even then, but had no idea that one day I would be creating my own films.
CP6 Productions
CP6 is a reference to Counter-Phobic Six, one of the nine positions in the Enneagram system of understanding human psychology and spirituality. The Counter-Phobic Six leaps in where others fear to tread. I’ve been skydiving, fasted alone in the desert for four days and nights, and lived alone in the wilderness for six years. I wear my CP6 badge with pride, and I am now sharing the In Joke with you. Making movies always requires taking a leap into the unknown. And like other dangerous ventures, it’s a helluva lot of fun!
Videos
These are the initial raw materials of the work I will be submitting to VIFF.
I took this photo series to capture the invitation and mystery of rosy golden sunset glow. The golden light infuses everyday domesticity with the mystique of a heavenly garden in Persia, inviting you to enter into a world of serenity.
Those of you who’ve seen my first Shadow Play will recognize the star player. There’s a new star on the scene, too, and he’s very surprising.
When I come back to Vancouver after time in New York I go into comparison mode for a while, looking to see whether the things I love in New York are here too. And I am always delighted when I find out this is true. There are just as many blue-haired people on the streets of Vancouver, only they walk slower!
This series has a sculptural example I found in Vancouver that reminds me of fantastical structures I’ve seen in New York.
I am excited to share Another New York Love Affair #25 with you:
I took this footage of the “Sterling Cooper” building in my final week in New York, at the end of March. At the time I was midway through watching Mad Men on Netflix, and in love with the cast of characters. Also in love with New York, and the beautiful strangeness of Madison Avenue. Enjoy!
I am aiming for 100 over the next three years. I’ve got to get back to New York to do it, though!
Yesterday was the first day of spring, and it snowed in New York. I went for a run as glorious flakes skirled and floated through the air, stage-lit by the lights along the Hudson River walk. It’s a nice hour-long run from my place in the village along the Hudson to the Financial District Ferry Terminal and back.
I passed tennis players on my way to the ferry terminal, enjoying the gentle snowfall, and caught a glimpse of One World, nestled between the legs of two other high rises.
New Yorkers still call this the World Trade Center.
On the way back, I could see the Empire State Building in the distance, over 70 blocks away (the lit tower in the center of the photo). I love seeing these two landmarks as I go about the city. They are orientation touchstones, helping people find their way, much like a striking tree or cliff formation would have guided our ancestors.
I made this video for David, a dear teacher and friend who lived on E. 4th St in his Bohemian days. He lives in California, recently turned 80, and will probably never see this street again. Different friends who lived there tell me it was a dynamic, exciting place in the 50s and 60s. And I think it’s still creative & dynamic, human, real. Sit back and groove…
Alphabet City
The Wikipedia history of Alphabet City (a term mayor Ed Koch used in a New York Times article he published in 1984) indicates this was a dangerous part of New York until crime rates dropped in the late 90s and early oughts. I wanted to show my friend how the street he grew up on has changed. That there is love, hope, and people helping each other. He became a spiritual teacher and showed me tremendous kindness on my journey. He helped me experiment, find myself, and mature. I was thrilled to discover the value of teaching expressed in the street art of this block of E. 4th St, between Ave. A and Ave. B. As harsh as it was when he lived here, I think there must be a channel of the ultimate goodness of reality and human nature that rises out of the old salt marshes, up through the earth and concrete, and into the souls of the street’s inhabitants.
Louis Abolafia
Another dear friend, Allan, also a teacher, moved to this block from Long Island in the 60s, the minute he turned 18. That’s why I focused on #217, so he could see how his seedy apartment looks now. He told me about artist-nudist-humanist-activist Louis Abolafia’s presidential campaign in 1967-1968. My friend had just moved to E. 4th St., and Abolafia’s headquarters were in the same street. This street was in the heart of the Lower East Side drug culture in the 60s. Sadly Abolafia died of a drug overdose in California in 1995.
Allan said “I remember Louis Abolafia very well, used to pass his storefront campaign headquarters all the time. I can feel an affectionate warmth for that time and place, and for that young soul wondering, ‘which way from here?’ Everything was alive with possibility, in the neighborhood and the culture, on the streets and in the air. I’m lucky to have lived there and then. It was still slum when I got there, as it was when David grew up. People were just beginning to call it the East Village. But I think that sounded pretentious to many of us who lived there. It was just the Lower East Side, as it had always been.”
Dorian Gray Pub
I am a writer, and I wondered about the pub in this block called Dorian Gray, with the Canadian flag included among the string of flags out front. (David taught a group in Vancouver, BC, for 15 years, and I thought this Canadian flag was a nice reminder of our group and those years.) I wondered if it was some young hipster who didn’t know a thing about Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, first released in a periodical in 1890. A little research revealed that Oscar Wilde’s great-grandnephew opened this pub, and it is a literary hangout. As you will see, Jason Darling is purported to play there on Wednesday nights!
I put a few historical clippings about themes from this block at the end of the video. You can press the Pause button to read them, if you like.
The Blizzard of 2016
I invite you to take some time to sink into the groove and drink in the details of this diverse—alternately rough and polished—creative, expressive street. People might say New York has been gentrified beyond recognition, but I think this block of E. 4th St. shows that it is still a home, a place for children to grow up, a place where people stand on the street together and enjoy each other’s company, and a place for discovery through graffiti, art, theatre, religion, law, psychic consultation, and liquor! And, on special days like this one, a place to chuck a few snowballs.
P.S. Another luminary lived in this block, in a fifth-floor walk-up. Hint: Like a Virgin! Ooh, touched for the very first time… She moved here in about 1978—it was her second New York apartment after moving from Detroit with $35 in her pocket—and she lived in this apartment for a few years before her music career began to take off and she moved to a loft on Broome St. Her song Ray of Light, “And I feel, like I just got home…” feels like an expression of spiritual ecstasy to me, flying through the stars, faster than a ray of light. “Waiting for a time when earth shall be as one.” On E. 4th St., I think it’s like that. Each One Teach One.
Production and Editing Notes
I shot the material for this video during an afternoon a few days after a January snowfall (the blizzard of 2016, during which the mayor closed down the city of Manhattan to wait it out).
This piece is an experiment with moving from stillness into motion and back again. I wanted to linger on some shots to give a longing heart time to drink in every detail of the bricks and paint and tiles and people. Then move more quickly with others to bring dynamism and a hunger for more time. The moving clips bring the immediacy of being there, enhanced by the focus on the sounds of the street.
I used an ancient iPhone 5S! Corel PaintShop Pro Photo for the photo editing. Camtasia Studio to put the video together, with QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player as support for planning the music.
Music Notes
I opened with Richard Hell and the Voidoid’s Blank Generation—a classic that kicked off the punk music wave, influencing Britain’s Sex Pistols and many others. Richard lives in the East Village. I think these lyrics are brilliant, and point to the mysteries of birth, life, and death—something my friend taught me about.
The next two segments had to be Lou Reed. I played around with different alternatives, but for me, Lou Reed’s music epitomizes the East Village, and it had to be him. Looking at these buildings, thinking about his painful life and the poignancy, despair, hope, and joy he wrung out of it through his musical genius, pulls on my heart to soar in that same way.
The closing credit music is Jason Darling playing at the Dorian Gray pub. The sound of breaking glass, a happy crowd, a local musician, and a song about California seemed like a perfect closing for David. Thanks to Tadhg Ennis for posting this recording on YouTube.
Here is an alternative version, with Lou Reed’s Heroin as the only music. Let me know which one you like better!
The David Bowie tribute at the Orpheum on Oct. 5 was amazing! I got caught up in a bizarre flow of energy that led me to spend the two days before the show recreating David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust look, complete with the Kansai Yamamoto rabbit romper! I had so much fun that night, with a great view of the concert from the second row. The VSO and a five-piece rock band were faithful to Bowie’s music, with innovation in the arrangements, and the audience vibe held appreciation, love, and enjoyment of this chance to remember and celebrate Bowie’s life and music.
As I mentioned, the VSO was joined by a Windborne Music rock band for this Bowie tribute. The singer, Tony Vincent, gave a lead-up to each song. In between songs he began talking about Bowie’s fashion sense and innovative style, and I thought this is my moment. (I had a feeling I knew which song was coming!) So I strutted back and forth like I was on a fashion runway along the “catwalk” in front of the stage during the song Fashion. Turn to the left, turn to the right!
And then the band invited me up to conduct the VSO for Golden Years! What a rush! I went up onstage and was up there for the whole song. The drummer cued me on how to do the final crescendo at the end of the song. They were all so nice to me on stage. It was an unbelievable night—so much love, celebration, sadness, remembrance.
After the show, many people thanked me for bringing a beloved memory-image of David into the air of the event, and said it was the icing of the cake. It was truly magical for us all.
This is me on stage at the Orpheum, with the VSO and the rock band, actually conducting, dancing, and making a fool of myself! This was one of the best nights of my life. I still can’t believe it really happened! (P.S. The lead cellist is gorgeous!)
I’ve been rocking the Ziggy Stardust mullet since the devastating news of David Bowie’s sad death in January. I will be running the New York Marathon on Nov. 6 in Ziggy Stardust costume, in memory of Bowie and to raise money for Harlem United. If you can help this fantastic cause with a small donation, please visit my donor page.
