Sasha Soren

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Arte Six: March 2004
All the arts. All the time.
[Art – Music – Dance – Film – Books – Travel – Life]
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Arte Six is the official newsletter of SashaSoren.com.
Read online: http://www.sashasoren.com/newsletter.htm
Subscribe: artesix@sashasoren.com

NB: Use info listed at your own risk. Arte Six gives no warranty to completeness, accuracy, or fitness for any purpose, ie. use your head, like yo’ mama said.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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LIVES
Fiona Robyn, poet

ART
NYC/"Ophelia's Garden"
Berlin/Hartmut Böhm – themes of infinity
NYC/Performance art: “Iceland”, “131”, and strip poker with penguins
San Francisco/Performance art: “Thieves in the Temple”
LA/”Toy World”
San Francisco/“Bang the Machine: Computer Gaming Art and Artifacts”
Long Beach, Calif./”A Woman’s Touch” at MoLAA
Paris/Kilometer Zero
NYC/"5 Minute Break"

MUSIC
Reviews: Bird York, Ondine Darcyl, A., Larkin McLean
Festivals/San Francisco: “Other Minds 10”

DANCE
NYC: BodyVox, Armitage Gone!
NYC: Double program: “Acre”, “The Rite of Spring”
NYC/ “Flow”
NYC/”Alegria”

FILM/SCREENWRITING:
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
NYC/Festival: “Rendez-Vous 2004”

BOOKS/WRITERS:
NYC/KGB Bar: “Broken Angels”
Writers Bloc series: Novelist Caren Lissner on “The Hard Road” [Pt.2]

TRAVEL
Mexico/El Día de los Muertos

LIFE
Banished! “Can we legitimately claim to be a superpower if we need to be reminded to put a stamp on an envelope?”

SCI/TECH:
UK/US/Australia: Café Scientifique

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LIVES (interviews and profiles)
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Lives: Fiona Robyn, poet
“Creation”
by Fiona Robyn

My poems are usually 'born' when I notice something unusual that strikes me for some reason. This could be anything from the feeling of snow compacting under my feet, to a leaf falling on my head, to noticing a girl on a train.

I'll write a rough first draft of what I've seen/heard/noticed, and then I just keep re-writing it and re-writing so it gets closer and closer to the way I want to say it. I read aloud a lot and listen to the sound of the words, and will change words or the order of the words if they don't seem 'right'.

A lot of poems seem to get born when I'm traveling for some reason -- trains are best.

I write things down as if I was speaking them to someone for the first time, describing what I've seen or what I'm thinking. I put line-breaks in when there's a pause in what I'm saying.

Certain phrases stick out as sounding 'right', you say them over and over and they get better, and these are the ones that stay in.

It's hard to explain how I know if they sound 'right' or 'wrong'; it's instinctive, I suppose,
or something to do with how exactly I've managed to express myself.

But of course it's about the sound and the rhythm of the words as well as their meaning.

I'm very minimalist so I’m constantly taking material out - it's a struggle for me to keep the poem at all sometimes -- I like to strip them down and strip them down so that no one word is unnecessary.

I also attend a regular small group where we workshop our poems to help shine them up. It's useful to hear how other people react to what you've written - sometimes something that is clear to you is confusing to 'fresh' readers, and has to be changed. Sometimes they will suggest a different word or a different form.

The hard bit is knowing when to agree with them and when to stick to your guns.

Eccentricity:
I have to write on white A5 with a black fountain pen, but that's not that weird...maybe I should develop some quirks!

Writer’s Block:
Sometimes it is very hard to write anything at all - not only is there no urge, but when you force yourself to write it all seems terrible.

But if you want to be a writer you have to push past this - ask yourself what you need to continue - to look after yourself better? More space? If it's a priority, you'll carry on writing, and maybe you have to get the rubbish out first to get to the good stuff.

I'm not sure why this is - one of those mysteries... but I know that certain things help: giving myself space, going on a walk or travelling on a train, writing in a journal, looking after myself better.

Loving it:
Nick Drake's music is gorgeous, as is Norah Jones.

I love Raymond Carver's poetry and short stories, he speaks so plainly but says things that are so profound. I don't know if you can even ask what it'd be like if he used complex language instead, as there's something about HIM in the language he uses - it wouldn't be him any more if he used different language. And it's his voice I'm listening to.

For artists, I love Annora Spence – there’s something a bit sinister about her paintings.

A lot of the art I like is tinged with sadness, or has something dark in it. I don't think sadness is truer than joy, I think it's something about a sadness in me that recognizes the sadness in others.

Da, Comrade
If I could live anywhere in the world for one month, I’d choose Russia - it's always fascinated me and I don't know why. I used to write to a Russian girl in Russian when I was younger, but can pretty much only remember the Cyrillic alphabet now.

Saddest movie I’ve ever seen: “Magnolia”
Funniest movie I’ve ever seen: “Withnail and I”

Downtime reading: http://abbie.blogspot.com/

The Writer’s Mystique:
The biggest myth about being creative is that you can only create when the mood strikes you. Discipline is important. I book my times to write into my diary as if they were appointments and when the time comes I sit down and start.

I also try to shut down my email so I'm not distracted, but I'm not always successful
with this. I try to finish all the 'little' jobs in the house the day before too so I've got no excuses not to work. Once I've started I get involved and it's easier to carry on.

I'm not just a writer, I'm also a coach and a therapist. Being a coach and therapist allows me to hear things from people that they've often never told anyone before - this is a great privilege. I learn from my clients constantly.

Coming up:
I'm putting a collection together this year and will also be completing my first novel, “Thaw”.

The novel started after the main character from the book just 'turned up' in my journal writing.

I started thinking about her, what kind of person she was, what kind of life she'd had, and it all grew from that. The novel is about how hard life is -- but it's also about hope.

Interesting fact that nobody knows about me yet:
I grew up in Malaysia. My dad worked out there for five years in the oil industry - it was lovely and hot, and I got to mix with people from all around the world, which was great.

“Butter” (excerpt)

In the corner of one field is a house, and I wonder
how it is to be woken by a yellow slap
day after day as unexpected as snow

The story behind the poem: This poem demanded to be written when I drove past a series of fields. I saw a house in the corner of one of the fields and I couldn't get over the violence of the color and what it would be like to live in that house. So this poem came pretty much ready-made -- it was just a matter of playing around with the language and form until I was happy.
- Fiona Robyn
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Bio: Fiona Robyn is a poet, coach and therapist working in Reading, England.
She is currently interested in creativity, balance, existential phenomenology, and slowing down. She is previously published in “Zuzu's Petals”, “Comrades”, “Mentress Moon”, “Conspire” and in various other poetry magazines.

Read her latest article about poetry at:
http:// www.chicklit.co.uk (under ‘literary chicks’).
More about Fiona: http://www.coachingforwriters.co.uk, http://www.achieve-balance.co.uk

Fiona recommends:

http://www.poetry-portal.com
A directory of worldwide poetry online.

http://www.poetrymagic.co.uk
A resource center for the theory and craft of writing poetry.

http://www.orangelabyrinth.co.uk
Created by novelist Kate Mosse, this is a great place to get lost in.

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ART (events and news – includes performance art)
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ART/NYC
“Ophelia’s Garden”
Through April 3rd
Beautiful, original art, by Joséphine Sacabo. Sacabo lives and works mostly in New Orleans, where she has been strongly influenced by the rich, mysterious ambiance of that city and its surroundings. She uses poetry as the genesis of her work and it is poets she lists as her most important influences, among them Rilke, Baudelaire, Pedro-Salinas, Vencente Huidotaro and Juan Rulfo.

The suite of new images featured in the exhibition, "Ophelia's Garden," was inspired by a verse from Mallarmé's prose poem "Nanoumé":

"Doubtless she made of this crystal surface an inner mirror to protect herself from the brilliant indiscretion of the afternoons."

Using a wide landscape-format camera, Josephine began to explore the watery landscapes and bayous in and near New Orleans, capturing reflections on the surfaces and the moving currents and submerged trees and plants below. The images are dreamlike and ambiguous, highly symbolic and impressionist.

Sacabo’s work evolved into a series of portraits, destined to become “Ophelia’s Garden”.
"Ophelia's Garden" is a suite of 40 images -- each one masterful and spellbinding on its own, yet intertwined with every other image.

About this artist: Sacabo’s prior works include "Lost Paradise" and "Nocturnes”. The works of Joséphine Sacabo are featured in two books, "Joséphine Sacabo: une femme habitée" (Paris: Marval, 1991), and "Pedro Paroma, poems by Juan Rulfo" which Joséphine illustrated (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002). Since 1976 she has had more than 15
solo exhibitions, in Paris, London, Brussels, Buenos Aires and Madrid.

Find it: John Stevenson Gallery
338 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
Get info: (212) 352 0070
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Art/Online/Berlin-Brooklyn
Hartmut Böhm
Ongoing
MINUS SPACE (www.minusspace.com) is mounting a spotlight exhibition of artist Hartmut Böhm.

Based in Berlin, Germany, Böhm is a first generation concrete, op, and kinetic artist who has worked in a variety of media during his more than 40 year career. Most recently, he has focused his inquiry on large-scale steel floor and wall installations.

Since the early 1970s, Böhm's work has exclusively dealt with the theme of infinity, which begins in the starkly physical elements of his installations and is completed in the mind of the viewer.

He explains, "the eye of the viewer should look for and find connections and references over the empty locations -- not only comprehend my principals of construction, but rather move freely in the work."

He continues stating "my titles reference my concept of the infinite...they describe the regular advances toward the infinite as a geometric occurrence, though also as something that separates the visible from the invisible...I know about the high philosophical, metaphysical concept of the infinite from artists in the Christian Middle Ages, Caspar David Friedrich, Kasimir Malevich, through Barnett Newman or Roman Opalka...I would like the concept of infinity in my work to be removed from utopia...the fascination for me lies in the simultaneous logical combining of the visible and invisible elements and their derived principal separation from that same logic."
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Artist bio: Hartmut Böhm was born in Kassel, Germany in 1938. He studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Kassel from 1958-1962 under Arnold Bode, founder of Documenta.

In 1964, his work was included in the landmark exhibition of op and kinetic art, "Nouvelle Tendance: Propositions visuelles du mouvement international," at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France.

Since that time, Böhm has mounted more than 40 solo exhibitions of his work at museums and galleries throughout Europe. His work is included in nearly 50 public collections worldwide.

Gallery: MINUS SPACE is an online curatorial and critical project. MINUS SPACE's physical gallery will open in Brooklyn, NY, in 2004.

MINUS SPACE presents the best reductive, concept-based art, including work in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, video, new media, performance art, architecture, and design.

Reductive, concept-based work is characterized by its use of plainspoken materials, monochromatic or limited color, geometry and pattern, repetition and seriality, precise craftsmanship, and intellectual rigor.

Contact: Matthew Deleget and Rossana Martínez, Curators
MINUS SPACE: the domain for reductive + concept-based art
[w] www.minusspace.com
[e] delegetmartinez@msn.com

Visual: "Repeticion" (2003)
Steel, 200 x 189 x 15.6 cms; Collection of the artist; Photo by Ginevra Godin
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ART/NYC
"Iceland"
P.S. 122 Performance Space
March 3-6, 7:30pm
March 7, 5pm
In "Iceland", Obie award-winning writer/performer Roger Guenveur Smith takes us volcano-hopping in the tropics, through the icy Arctic, then back home to Brooklyn to confront man-made disasters.

Smith uses his unique style of fluid movement and poetic language to tell a hypnotic story of lovers and love gone awry. What to expect: "A meditation on exile, the cataclysmic terror of nature, and the no-less-catastrophic terror of man."
Find it: P.S. 122 Performance Space
150 1st Avenue at East 9th Street
Tix: $20
Get info: 212-477-5288
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ART/NYC
“Cold Comfort”
P.S. 122 Performance Space
March 11 - 14
Thursday-Saturday 7:30 pm.
Sunday at 5 p.m.
Karen Sherman’s “Cold Comfort” is a dance/performance piece set in Antarctica.
“Cold Comfort” finds solace in the ache of a country song, the longing for a fresh tomato and strip poker with penguins.
Find it: P.S. 122 Performance Space
150 1st Avenue at East 9th Street
Tix: $15
Get info: 212-477-5288
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ART/NYC
“131”
P.S. 122 Performance Space
March 18 – 28
Thursday-Saturday 7:30 pm.
Sundays at 5 p.m.
“Elevator Repair Service” choreographer Katherine Profeta’s “131” delves into Beethoven’s Opus 131 -- his oddest, and arguably best, string quartet.
Takes on the composer's deafness; the obsessive, nasty letters he wrote to his
dissolute nephew while also writing 131; and the profound mysteries of the
videogame “Dance Dance Revolution”.
Find it: P.S. 122 Performance Space
150 1st Avenue at East 9th Street
Tix: $15
Get info: 212-477-5288
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ART/San Francisco
“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop”
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
March 7, 7:30p.m.
Slam poet Aya de León delivers her full-length hip hop theater solo show. Get ready for a scathingly funny, feminist take on hip hop culture. Aya embodies colorful hip hop characters on her personal journey from teenage fan to center stage, from victim to visionary.

Artist bio: Aya de León was raised in Berkeley by her artist/activist mom Anna de León. In 2000, she quit her day job to freelance, and got involved in slam poetry, winning a spot on the San Francisco slam team, and became a regular performer at the Justice League in San Francisco. That same year, she was selected for representation by Speak Out, a national not-for-profit organization that promotes spoken word artists. In 2003 she released her first spoken word CD, "Aya de León: Live at La Peña."

Find it: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater: 700 Howard St. @ 3rd
Get info: (415)934.8134, (415) 978-ARTS
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ART/LA
“Toy World”
Through March 13
Artist John Klima draws upon gaming and the possibilities of manipulating data to explore new territory in media art.

Although there’s an obvious connection between gaming and interactive digital art, the parameters of this connection are rarely subjected to serious aesthetic investigation.

Klima’s work blurs distinctions between the simulated/concrete referencing themes in politics, science and popular culture.

In his Los Angeles debut, Klima exhibits a series of 'toys' or games that depart from traditional methods commonly practiced in new media.

Responding to the wars in the Middle East, Klima created "The Great Game", a 3-D game like interface depicting U.S. Army troop movement and Air Force sortie data.

This collected information from the Department of Defense depicts real time munitions, aircraft, targets and troop movements.

Represented on a monitor mounted to a coin operated kiddy ride, "The Great Game" questions the surreal remote control aspect of this 'bloodless' warfare.

In “Earth”, Klima authors a software program that creates a three-dimensional global landscape from satellite cloud and topography imagery. Originally shown at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, “Earth’s” visualization of raw satellite data allows viewers to travel through 3-D representations of the earth’s coasts, weather patterns and terrains.

“Terrain” Machine also allows viewers to cruise along various terrains. In this interactive work, the result of a 2002 grant from the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Klima constructed a dynamic display surface for representing three-dimensional imagery in a physical space. Raw data projects onto a three-dimensional screen that physically contorts and shifts to show actual shapes and forms of various terrains.

The viewer also has a role to play because of a Klima invention, an analogue circuit that is triggered by light. A matrix of light sensors receives a data stream from the projector. The viewer can manipulate this light stream, affecting the visualization of the physical surface itself.

Klima will also exhibit “Conversation Engine”, a hyper-narrative via Nintendo Gameboy that takes place on a toy railroad track.

BIO: Digital artist John Klima has exhibited at Eyebeam, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, PS.1 and The Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Find it: bank
400 S. Main St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Gallery Hours: TUES. – SAT. 11am -5pm
Get info: (213) 621.2354
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ART/San Francisxo
Through April 4th, 2004
"Bang the Machine: Computer Gaming Art and Artifacts"

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents an interactive multimedia exhibition that explores the synergy between computer game culture and contemporary art.

The primary exhibition, entitled "Game Scenes", showcases the work of international artists whose works are heavily influenced by computer games and associated technology.

Highlights:

Katherine Isbister and Rainey Straus recreate the look of "The Sims Online" environment in the physical space of the YBCA complex. Visitors will be able to sit in the galleries and access the game online, thereby occupying the virtual and physical space of the location simultaneously.

Fur present their interactive "Painstation" console, whose software is based on the early videogame, "Pong". Players use their right hands to control a bat on screen, and must keep their left hand on the console's "pain execution unit" to avoid ending the game. If a player's bat misses a ball, his/her left hand suffers the consequences through the application of heat, electric shocks or a quick whipping.

In yet another take on ‘what is reality’, Jon Haddock presents his "Screenshots" series. Each visual stages a socio-political event(such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.) swapped with fictionalized events (such as the picnic scene from "The Sound of Music").

C-level presents "Waco Resurrection", the first chapter of "Endgames", a new 3D multiplayer computer game series based on alternative utopias and apocalyptic moments. In “Waco Resurrection”, each player enters the game as a David Koresh (wearing a real-life Koresh mask) and must defend the Branch Davidian compound against "internal intrigue, skeptical civilians, rival Koresh and the inexorable advance of government agents."

Italian artist Mauro Ceolin presents a series of portraits of videogame designers who have created the most inventive and original titles, and portraits of electronic musicians who sample old computer game music in their dance mixes.

Artist Brody Condon presents "600 Polygon John Carmack", a 5-foot tall sculpture of legendary programmer John Carmack. The sculpture is not a portrait of Carmack, but a portrait of the low polygon game avatar of him that he developed for this game,”Quake III”.

Digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar, who have collaborated with artists such as Merce Cunningham and Bill T. Jones, create a room-sized installation entitled “Arrival”.

Paul Johnson and Korean-based artist Sunny Kim present “Budaechigae”, a collaborative videogame project (Budaechigae or "army soup" is a spicy dish popularized during the famine conditions of the 1950–53 Korean War). In this game, Kim and Johnson create individual videogame characters or avatars which function as self portraits. Although both artists have designed the appearance, role and behavior of their respective avatars in advance, the relationship between them will evolve over the course of the exhibition.

The Game Scenes exhibition will also include a machinima movie series, curated by Galen Davis and Henry Lowood.

Machinima are made and best viewed with the same software that is used to produce and play 3-D action games, usually "first-person shooters" like “Quake” and “Unreal”.

Just as software developers use game engines to produce the sophisticated graphics, lighting and camera views in their games, machinima makers take advantage of this sophisticated software as a found technology that can be applied to making animated movies.

Game Commons, an exhibition “plug-in" developed by the online floating work-space, Kingdom of Piracy (), will accompany the exhibition.

Game Commons comprises three new artworks that are realized online, along with site-specific gallery installations, curated links and an open communication platform on the website. It celebrates game culture as an open sphere of exchange, interplay and re-appropriation.

was launched at Ars Electronica 2002 and keeps re-inventing itself in different arenas and on different platforms. is co-curated by Shu Lea Cheang, Armin Medosch and Yukiko Shikata.

“Bang the Machine: Computer Gaming Art and Artifacts” is produced in partnership with the “How They Got Game Project” of the Stanford Humanities Laboratory.

Find it: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Theater
700 Howard Street at Third.
San Francisco, CA 94103-3138
Metro: MUNI/BART to Powell or Montgomery St.
Get info: (415) 978-ARTS Visual: CEOLIN, Mauro.
Shinji Mikami, 2003.
Flash Drawing.
317x430 pixel 6KB.
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ART/California/Sculpture
MoLAA Exhibition
“A Woman’s Touch”
Through May 30, 2004
The Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) presents the sculptures of Margarita Checa (Peru), Isabel de Obaldía (Panama), Susana Espinosa (Puerto Rico) and Patricia Waisburd “Peschel” (Mexico).

“A Woman’s Touch” illustrates the diversity of Latin American sculpture from a uniquely female perspective, exploring how artists portray the human figure through the mastery of diverse media such as wood (Margarita Checa), glass (Isabel de Obaldia), clay (Susana Espinosa) and paper (Peschel).

Stylistically, each artist approaches the human figure differently; Margarita Checa and Peschel express themselves in an expressionist-realist style, Susana Espinosa is influenced by Surrealism and Isabel de Obaldia uses simple forms, closer to a minimalist view of the human figure.

Find it: 628 Alamitos Avenue and 7th Street
Get info: (562) 437-1689

Visual:
“Salome”, (2000)
43x11x14cms.
Margarita Checa

Artist bio(s):

Margarita Checa (b. 1950 in Lima, Peru)
Checa began her studies at the School of Arts of the Catholic University in Peru and later worked in the prestigious Christina Galvez Atelier under the direction of Leslie Lee. She has had major solo exhibitions in Latin America and the United States. The organic nature of the wood she uses helps her capture the strong sensual and melancholic undertone of her sculptures. Her figures are reminiscent of indigenous peoples and the ancient tradition of mummification. Checa’s Peruvian heritage and acquaintance with pre-Columbian artifacts of death rituals contribute to the expressiveness of her work.

Isabel de Obaldía
(b. 1957 in USA of Panamanian parents; resides in Panama)
De Obaldía studied architecture at the University of Panama and drawing at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris before receiving a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has worked in a variety of techniques such as film, graphic design, and painting, but she turned to glass in the late 1980s. Although small in size, her glass sculptures give a sense of solemnity and monumentality. Though outlines of her figures are simple, her quasi-abstract geometric images evoke the authority suggested by early Greek or pre-Columbian sculpture.

Susana Espinosa (b. 1933 in Argentina; resides in Puerto Rico)
Espinosa obtained her B.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts in Argentina. She has resided in Puerto Rico since 1968 where she co-founded Casa Candina, an institution that functioned as a school, workshop and ceramics gallery. Espinosa’s work is characterized by her free form of figuration in which hybrid creatures emerge from the clay. In her work, reality and imagination are metamorphosed, giving life to form. She uses distortion and surprise to create a presence that is difficult to define.

Peschel
(b.1956 in Monterrey, Mexico; resides in San Diego, California)
Patricia Waisburd or “Peschel” studied dentistry but simultaneously began to develop her passion for the arts. Peschel is one of the most promising emerging artists in Mexico today. She has exhibited her work in Mexico, France, Israel and the United States. Peschel focuses on paper sculptures created out of recycled paper using techniques and materials borrowed from dentistry. Her work, which began as an ecologically-conscious quest, developed into a play between the materials she uses and our perception of the work. A prevalent theme in Peschel’s work is home life and domesticity. The final result is an intimate exploration of the domestic milieu through the human form.

About: The Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) in Long Beach, California was founded by Dr. Robert Gumbiner in November 1996. It is the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features contemporary Latin American art.

Find it: 628 Alamitos Avenue and 7th Street
Get info: (562) 437-1689
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ART/Paris
March 7, 5pm
Kilometer Zero event

Celebrate the Year of the Monkey with HAPPENING! Another season of craze, contemplation and recreation brought to fruition by Tiens bon à tes rêves, Van Gogh’s Ear, and the Kilometer Zero Project. Art, performance, haiku, video, lecture (conférence), installations, open-mic (scène ouverte) et bar à cocktail.
Find it: 7, Boulevard des Capucines
Métro: Opéra
Get info: 01.42.65.21.39
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NYC/"5 Minute Break"
In Kristin Lucas’s video installation "5 Minute Break" (2001), a slacker version of the popular video game and film character Lara Croft negotiates an urban underground maze of empty stairwells, faded graffiti, hulking machinery, and discarded trash on her five-minute break. So, you'll be like, a real slacker watching a virtual slacker...slack off! Uhm. Yeah. Like reality TV, only shorter.

Visual: Kristin Lucas. Scene from 5 Minute Break. 2001. Two-channel video installation. 4:35 min

[NB: We’d like to cover more art events. If you’re in touch with artists or gallery directors who’d be interested in being mentioned in upcoming
issues, tell them to get in touch: “Arte Six” c/o artesix@sashasoren.com]

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MUSIC (reviews, features, events, info)
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MUSIC/San Francisco
“Other Minds Festival 10”
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
March 4-6
Composer Panels: 7pm
Concerts: 8pm
Redefining music – “Other Minds” is San Francisco's most eclectic, edgy new music festival. Innovative composers and performers take you to the brilliant (lunatic) fringes of contemporary music.

Aquarians should attend immediately; you will be among friends.

This year, “Other Minds 10” gathers participants from Canada, Armenia, Germany, China, Japan, Poland, Italy, South Korea, and the U.S., for three days of extraordinary, odd, often brilliant and flat-out wild music events.

What’s on this year: Armenian folk strains, driving jazz inspired by Jimi Hendrix, concerto for wind band and quarter-tone flute from the European new wave, multimedia opera with classical Indian vocals mixed live in soft chorus, cello electronica and surround-sound "acousmatics".

At Yerba Buena:
Amelia Cuni performs the U.S. premiere of her multimedia phenomenon “Ashtayama-Song of Hours”, a stunning combination of Cuni's dhrupad singing, Werner Durand's live electronic mixing, and Uli Sigg's video/light project.

Composer/sound designer Mark Grey and cellist Joan Jeanrenaud present “Sands of Time” for cello, with live electronic processing.

Dreamy “acousmatic” soundscapes from Francis Dhomont.

Avant-garde accordionist Stefan Hussong performs Dream, with dance accompaniment by stilt choreographer Pamela Wunderlich.

At Audium:
Composer Stanley Shaff weaves sonic sensations into a total sensory experience at “Audium”, his "Theatre of Sound-Sculpted Space" at 1616 Bush St. (@ Franklin).
The show takes place in total darkness. Bring a flashlight.
Show starts 4p.m. Get info: (415) 771-1616.

Find it: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater: 700 Howard St. @ 3rd
Get info: (415)934.8134, (415) 978-ARTS
Buy a flashlight: Try Amazon.com

PS: We’re only joking about the flashlight. If you bring one anyway and get thrown out, it’s not on us.

Visual:
Scene from “Ashtayama”
Credit: Amelia Cuni & Werner Durand
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MUSIC/Reviews
[Reviews courtesy of: CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com]

Music...To Have Sex To
Self-explanatory, though I'm sure everyone has their own definition. Ours is somewhere between Barry White, Sade, and the Girl from Ipanema. Sensual and sexy. Get your groove on.

LARKIN MCLEAN: Larkin McLean
Smoky, sexy jazz to drink pina coladas to- taking you away to an intimate nightclub on a tropical island. Seductive vocals backed up by some of the band members of Brazzaville make you...not want to go home alone.

BIRD YORK: The Velvet Hour
Low voiced female vocals atop slow vibey groove. Sophisticated, sultry lyrics. Sensual and moody.

ONDINE DARCYL: Ondine Darcyl
Brazilian-influenced intimate jazz. One of the sexiest albums you'll ever own.

DORIS SPEARS: The Duchess
Doris Spears smooth rich voice expresses gentle compassion as well as a sultry earthiness.

A.: atonik
A hard-edged, groovy, friendly, soulful and often pretty electronic record from deep down in the San Francisco underground -- ears and body will respond accordingly.

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DANCE (events, news, opps)
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NYC/BodyVox
Beyond poetry in motion, BodyVox is freewheeling imagination unbound. The progressive dance company stuns audiences with breathtaking physicality,
striking imagery and quirky wit and whimsical body commentary. Charismatic, award-winning Artistic Directors Jamey Hampton, once of Pilobolus,
and Ashley Roland continue their creative odyssey.
Repertory: Twins, Moto Perpetuo, Reverie, Beat, X-Axis, Dormez Vous
Find it: The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street
March 9 - 14, 2004
Tickets: http://www.telecharge.com
Tel: 212-242-0800
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NYC/Armitage Gone!
March 2 - 7, 2004
Armitage Gone! is back with a provocative evening-length world premiere, “The Five Boroughs of Dance”. Using multilingual New York as a creative point of departure, this high velocity work deftly fuses languages of music and movement - ballet, Kung Fu, yoga, improv and Vogueing.
An eclectic cast ranging from trained ballet dancers to self-taught virtuosos from the South Bronx, brings this vision of unity, beauty and self-discovery to life, with music of Bela Bartok, Elena Kats-Chernin, Annie Gosfield to Charles Ives.
Find it: The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street
Tuesday thru Friday at 8 p.m.
Saturday at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sunday at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: http://www.telecharge.com
Tel: 212-242-0800
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NYC/Double program: ”Acre”, “The Rite of Spring”
March 24, 25
7pm
“Acre”: Brian Brooks Moving Company takes on the color green in “Acre”, a multi-media work exploring the full spectrum of this grassy hue. A kinetic fantasia, “Acre” features recorded and animated footage by Sarah Browder projected into the fabric-laden sculpted stage. Through physical play, the audience is immersed into a world of jade, kelly, olive, lime, sage and mint. Composer John Stone has created an original score for “Acre” highlighting Brooks’ deceptively simple focus on complex evolutionary themes: from the stages of man to mechanical locomotion, from a droplet of water rippling through a pond to the concept of flight.

“The Rite of Spring”: Glitter, sweat, wild abstractions of sex flowers, death metal, floral insects on eight-foot stilts, lust, fear, violence and freedom are all a part of Julie Atlas Muz’s new work. “The Rite of Spring” features live music from Chicago’s “Butcher Shop Quartet”; they transpose Stravinsky’s orchestral masterpiece to two guitars, a bass and drums.
Find it: Dance Theater Workshop (DTW)
219 West 19th Street
Tickets: (212) 924-0077
Get info: (212) 691-6500
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DANCE/NYC
“Flow”
Class/Workshop
March 3
6:30pm
If you're fed up with yoga and bored with boxing, try Flow. Bliss out with this sexy, tranced-out, visually hypnotic dance experience.

Flow is the only 'club flagging' master class workshop in NYC. Popular with professional dancers, so call ahead to grab a spot.
Find it: Ripley-Grier Studios
520 8th Ave., @ W. 36th St. (16th floor)
Get info: (212) 643-9985
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DANCE/NYC
“Alegria”
Preview
March 8, 5pm
Circus performers run amok on the metro: sneak preview of the Cirque du Soleil performance of “Alegria”.
Two stunning acts from “Alegria” will be performed to launch their upcoming New York engagement: Russian Bars and Handbalancing on Canes.
Find it: Vanderbuilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal

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FILM/SCREENWRITING (news, events, opps)
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Film/Festivals
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
March 5, 12, 17, 26
Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with distinctive human rights themes.

Through the eyes of committed and courageous filmmakers, they showcase the heroic stories of activists and survivors from all over the world.

The works help to put a human face on threats to individual freedom and dignity, and celebrate the power of the human spirit and intellect to prevail. The Festival seeks to empower everyone with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a very real difference.
Find it: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater: 700 Howard St. @ 3rd
Get info: (415)934.8134, (415) 978-ARTS

Visual:
“Pinochet's Children”
by Paula Rodríguez
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Film/Festivals/NYC
Rendez-Vous 2004
March 12 to 21
Annual film festival for Francophiles.

This year: Anne Fontaine (“Dry Cleaning”) offers a taut, unsettling exploration of jealousy with “Nathalie”.

Guillaume Nicloux redefines the contemporary crime thriller with “Hanging Offense”.

Philippe Le Guay shows “The Cost of Living”. Noémie Lvovsky (“Life Doesn't Scare Me”) screens a new kind of musical, in “Feelings”.

This year’s festival features two ‘new director’ debuts: Gilles Marchand's “Who Killed Bambi ?” and Siegrid Alnoy's “She’s One of Us”, both of which received their world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

All of the directors whose films are included in the festival are scheduled to be present for brief Q&A presentations.

Highlights:

March 12, 14:
“Nathalie”
Director Anne Fontaine uses three of France's greatest actors - Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant and Gérard Depardieu - to tell an unsettling story about trust and jealousy.

Anne Fontaine makes films in which her characters stand precariously on an emotional high wire - without any nets to cushion their inevitable falls.

Other: This film was a selection of the 2003 Toronto Film Festival.

March 13, 16:
“A Sight For Sore Eyes / Inquiétudes”
A chance meeting bring Elise and Bruno together; each tries to help the other create an ideal world in which their traumatic early lives can be forgotten - but how high a price are they willing to pay for that fantasy to be made real?

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Ruth Rendell, whose work has already been adapted for the screen by Pedro Almodóvar (“Live Flesh”) and Claude Chabrol (“La Céremonie”).

March 13, 16 :
“Hanging Offense / Cette Femme-Là”
Michèle Varin is a police captain working in Fontainebleau. A relatively peaceful place, but an unsolved murder there years ago continues to haunt her. Without warning, circumstances of the murder come back to her, even taking over her dreams; she begins to feel that she herself is linked to the murder in some terrifying, indefinable way.

An actor and director known for her work in comedy, Josiane Balasko here gives an astonishing performance; capturing both the tough, no-nonsense professionalism of her character and the paranoia and mounting terror that she may be losing her mind.

Other: Nominated for the César for Best Actress, Josiane Balasko.

March 14, March 15:
“She's One Of Us / Elle Est Des Nôtres”
Siegrid Alnoy's debut feature is the story of Christine, a perfectly average, perfectly normal woman. Yet there is always something slightly off about Christine: she arrives in the middle of a conversation, starts off for one location and winds up elsewhere.

The world and Christine's perception of it grow increasingly apart, until in one explosive moment all the tension and fury that's been building up inside streams out.

Alnoy employs a deliberately jagged style to the film, with sound at times slightly mismatching the image or characters suddenly appearing in odd places somewhat inexplicably.

In one extraordinary touch, Christine is interrogated by two policemen who both ask the same questions simultaneously - leading us to wonder whether Christine's experience of the world is uncomfortably close to the truth.

Other: This film was a selection of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight.

March 14, 19, March 21:
“Chouchou”
“Chouchou” begins as the title character arrives in Paris and tries to pass himself off as a Chilean exile fleeing the dictatorship.

Hoping to link up with a nephew already living in Paris, Chouchou tracks him down and finds him - only now he's Vanessa, performing nightly at the Cabaret "Apocalypse."

A good-natured, sharply observed comedy that delights in pointing out the contradictions, misperceptions and hypocrisies of daily life.

March 16, 17:
“Who Killed Bambi ? / Qui A Tué Bambi?”
Gilles Marchand makes an impressive debut as a director with this haunting thriller. Isabelle is a nurse in the surgical unit of a large hospital. Leaving work one evening, she has an accident and is treated by a hospital doctor.

As she learns more about the doctor, she begins to suspect that he might be involved in something disturbing. Trusting her intuition, she begins her investigation into the hidden corners of this particular hospital world.

As the film progresses, more and more is also revealed about Isabelle herself, challenging us to alter our own perceptions of her even as some of her suspicions and fears seemingly prove correct.

Other: Caméra d'Or winner at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and a selection of 2003 Toronto Film Festival. Nominated for the César for Best Promising Actress, Sophie Quinton.

March 17, 18:
“Time Of The Wolf / Le Temps Du Loup”
Michael Haneke's film takes place in the wake of an unspecified catastrophe - we never know the nature or scale of the event, only that something has happened.

From there, Haneke does something that no other filmmaker has ever attempted - he shows us, in precise detail, a possible future in which everything but the logic of survival is beside the point.

How do people who've been thrown together by circumstance live under the same roof? How do you keep a light source going in pitch darkness when all you have are a lighter and a stack of hay? How do you behave when you meet the man who killed your husband?

March 18, 19:
“The Cost Of Living / Le Coût De La Vie”
“The Cost of Living” is a film about money - who has it, how they want to spend it, how they plan to keep it - or get rid of it.

Director Philippe Le Guay weaves together five stories all happening over a few days in Lyon. An industrialist decides to sell off his factories, even though it will put a community out of work; a young heiress wants to be sure she's loved for herself and not her money; a skinflint devises ever stranger ways to avoid paying bills.

Other: A selection of the 2003 Montreal Film Festival. Nominated for the César for Best Supporting Actress, Géraldine Pailhas.

March 18, 20, 21:
“Feelings / Les Sentiments”
"Noémie Lvovsky's new film is arresting, charming and brash, unafraid to try new things…she introduces a Greek chorus…As in Greek theater, this chorus provides a commentary on the action in which the mortals are engaged; its detached, third-person perspective adds a fascinating dimension to a time-honored plot of amorous intrigue and betrayal. The events unfold so that two and two make four - but not necessarily in the original configuration."
- Piers Handling/Toronto International Film Festival

Other: A selection of the 2003 Venice Film Festival and the 2003 Toronto Film Festival.
Winner of the Prix Louis Delluc. Nominated for Césars for Best Actor, Jean-Pierre Bacri and for Best Actress, Nathalie Baye and Isabelle Carré.

March 20, 21:
“Twentynine Palms”
David is a relaxed, nonchalant American, while his traveling companion Katia is prone to sudden bouts of depression and erratic behavior. Neither speaks the other's language - David speaks English and Katia speaks only French - so they communicate through sexual encounters, thus managing to transcend the dysfunction that becomes a regular part of their daily exchanges. The film is steeped in the primal: whimpers, groans, cries, and panting abound throughout the soundtrack; sand, rock, highway, sky and water dominate the visuals. These elements make Dumont's emotional exploration of sex, the couple's relationship, language and communication all the more complex and suggestive."
- Piers Handling/Toronto International Film Festival

Other: A selection of 2003 Venice Film Festival and the 2003 Toronto Film Festival.

Find it: The Walter Reade Theater
West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.
Metro: 1/9 to 66th St.
Tickets: $10
Get info/screening times: (212) 496-3809
Get info about Q&A schedule: (212) 875-5600

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BOOKS/WRITERS (features, news, tips, reviews)
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BOOKS/WRITERS:
NYC/KGB Bar
Reading
March 17
7pm
Richard Morgan, “Broken Angels”
Andy Duncan, “Beluthahatchie and Other Stories”
The Fantastic Fiction series, curated by Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant, runs the third Wednesday of every month at 7pm at KGB. Come early.
85 East 4th Street (just off 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Contact: (212) 505 3360
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BOOKS/WRITERS:
NYC/”The Paris Review” party
Reading
March 8
An evening of drinks, literature, and...more drinks, as Michael Chabon and Yiyun Li read from their prizewinning works.

Michael Chabon won the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction for his novella "The Final Solution". Previous winners of the prize include Philip Roth, David Foster Wallace, and A.S. Byatt (“Possession”, “Angels & Insects”).

“The Paris Review” has awarded the first Plimpton Prize to Yiyun Li for her short story, "Immortality”.
Find it: The Paula Cooper Gallery, 521 West 21st St.
Booze: Open bar.
Get info: (212) 879-1375
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BOOKS/WRITERS:
NYC/KGB Bar
“But what do you call a place that’s almost impossible to find without special knowledge or a guide, a place with a history of left wing radicalism, which I intended to establish as a legitimate counter-culture venue? KGB seemed my obvious choice.”
- Founder Denis Woychuk
85 East 4th Street (just off 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
All readings run from 7 to 9 p.m. and admission is always FREE!
Contact: (212) 505 3360
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Books/Writers
Writers Bloc series

The Hard Road: Getting published [Part Two]
by Caren Lissner

Novelist Caren Lissner wraps up her one-on-one talk about what worked for her.

[Missed part one? Read it in the February 2004 issue of “Arte Six”. Otherwise, carry on for more advice from a popular lit chick.]

4. Find an agent
Find and agent who doesn’t charge a reading fee (more on that below). A good place to start is “Literary Marketplace” or one of the “Writers' Digest” guides.

They'll tell you which genres each agent represents. Then, call their office to make sure the agent is still working there and will look at new writers.

If they aren't, ask who IS looking at new work. That might actually be a better bet because you might get a name of someone new and hungry who wants to make it by developing new talent.

New agents get ahead by discovering people, and they might have more time to spend on you than an established agent. You can even try that to begin with - call a respected agency and get the name of whoever's looking at new writers.

A different technique, and one used by some successful young writers I know, is looking through novels that you liked or that are the same genre as yours and contacting the agents for those books. You can find the agent's name in the author's acknowledgments.

Be resourceful. And be careful: Don't blindly send your work to people you wouldn't actually want to represent you. Even if you're the one at a disadvantage, that could change some day. You might as well be happy with what's happening with your book, or not do it at all.

And for god's sake, DON'T PAY AN AGENT TO READ YOUR BOOK. That's not how it works. An agent who takes your book does it for free as an investment. He does it because he loves the book and/or thinks it will get published. That's how he'll make his money. If an agent makes you pay him a large sum of money, then he's not so confident that your project will sell and probably won't be out there hustling for it.

Since the odds of a book selling are so low, in order for someone to pitch it and overcome all those obstacles for you, they have to REALLY love it. They can't just think it's semi-okay. And then, they have to find an editor who REALLY loves it who will tell his or her publishing company why she or he REALLY loves it and why readers will REALLY love it.

You wouldn't marry someone you only sorta like just as a reward for their pursuing you, would you? You have to love them enough to get through the obstacles of life.

It's all about commitment. Publishing companies are not charities to subsidize you because you spent so many years on your book. (I know - I wish!) If they buy your book, they're committing to spending a year or more editing it with you, and to spending a lot of money to publish it, and they need to recoup some of their investment, either in money, in reputation, or both. That's why those initial obstacles are there.

Not everyone to whom you send your book will love it. One writer I know started off by sending a few chapters to a handful of agents, and only one agent was interested. She sold his book and it became a hit. That doesn't mean that all of the agents who rejected it had bad taste. They just had different taste.

5. Put together a neat package
In your package, include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a response, and state whether or not you need the book back.

Truthfully, most people, if they're really interested in seeing your book right away, will get on the phone and call you, or they'll e-mail you (don't forget to include your e-mail address). They're not going to send you a letter.

However, send the SASE anyway, because some editors or agents might not be ready to meet you but might have some feedback and suggestions. Free feedback is very valuable! I got a lot of it while I was submitting novels, and it proved useful in revising. And again, those people became contacts for later submissions.

6. Don't get discouraged.
Tastes are different. How many times have you picked up a best-seller - a book that obviously many people loved - and you didn't understand what the fuss was about?
It's possible that lots of people will love your book someday, but the few you sent it to just didn't like it for some reason. So listen to their suggestions, but don't give up right in the beginning.

By the way, for screenplays, the process is different. It's hard to get producers to look at your script. They don't want to get sued for allegedly stealing your idea. So if you have a script and no contacts, it's best to send to agents or to enter contests.

You can get a list of agents willing to look at query letters from the “Writers' Guild of America” in NY or LA. When you send to film agents, most just want a letter first.

Include a one or two-page summary of the script. Then they may request the screenplay. As for contests, you'll probably have to pay $10 to $50 to enter. That's the breaks.

But your script will get read.

A lot of people ask how I got my first book published. The short version is that I sent out the first 50 pages to six agents.

One gave me two pages of good suggestions even though he wasn't ready to represent it, one wanted to meet me, one person gave it to someone at yet a different agency who he thought might like it, the others were not as interested.

I took the first person's advice regarding revisions and kept working on the book. Eventually, a chain of contacts that emerged from one of the other people led to an agent.

As I was meeting various people, I also was constantly revising the book, so the people who saw it in the end got to read a much, much better version than the ones in the beginning. That's just how it goes sometimes.

I'm open to any questions about this process at readings, by the way.

It feels a lot better when I write now. I'm not completely in the wilderness any more.
But it's also making my writing process a lot longer because I don't want to rush my next project out. I'm revising and revising. I love writing and publishing, but it's damn slow.

Bio: Caren Lissner is the author of “Carrie Pilby” (Red Dress Ink, June 2003) and “Starting from Square Two” (Red Dress Ink, March 2004).

Official site: http://www.carenlissner.com

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TRAVEL (events worldwide, features, scenes)
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Travel: Mexico
Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos
by Marvin Perton [http://www.mexonline.com/daydead.htm ]

Every year, on November 1st (All Saints Day) and 2nd (All Souls Day), something unique takes place in many areas of Mexico: Day of the Dead festivities.

While it's strange for most of us to accept the fact that "death" and "festivities" can go hand-in-hand, for most Mexicans, the two are intricately entwined. This all stems from the ancient indigenous peoples of Mexico (Purepecha, Nahua, Totonac and Otomí) who believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit with their living relatives - to eat, drink and be merry.

Just like they did when they were living.

Tempered somewhat by the arrival of the Spaniards in the 15th century, current practice calls for the deceased children (little angels) to be remembered on the previous day (November 1st, All Saints Day) with toys and colorful balloons adorning their graves. And the next day, All Souls Day, adults who have died are honored with displays of the departed's favorite food and drinks, as well as ornamental and personal belongings.

Flowers, particularly the zempasúchil (an Indian word for a special type of marigold) and candles, which are placed on the graves, are supposed to guide the spirits home to their
loved ones.

Other symbols include the elaborately-decorated pan de muerto (a rich coffee cake decorated with meringues made to look like bones), skull-shaped candies and sweets, marizpan death figures and papier maché skeletons and skulls. (the Nahua speaking peoples of pre-columbian Mexico saw the skull as a symbol of life - not death.)

Today, these macabre symbols and other similar items fill the shops and candy stalls by mid October. During this time, homes are often decorated in the same manner as the graves.

This may all seem morbid and somewhat ghoulish to those who are not part of that culture. But, for Mexicans who believe in the life/death/rebirth continuum, it's all very natural. this is not to say that they treat death lightly. They don't. It's just that they recognize it, mock it, even defy it. Death is part of life and, as such, it's representative of the Mexican spirit and tradition which says: "Don't take anything lying down - even death!

First the graves and altars are prepared by the entire family, whose members bring the departed's favorite food and drink. Candles are lit, the ancient incense copal is burned, prayers and chants for the dead are intoned and then drinks and food are consumed in a party/picnic-like atmosphere.

At 6:00 pm, the bells begin to ring (every 30 seconds), summoning the dead. They ring throughout the night. At sunrise, the ringing stops and those relatives who have kept the night-long vigil, go home.

The most vivid and moving Day of the Dead celebrations take place on ths island of Janitzio in Lago de Pátzcuaro. Here, at the crack of dawn (on November 1st) the Purepechan Indians get the festivities going with a ceremonial duck hunt.

At midnight, the cooked duck and other zesty edibles are brought to the cemetery in the flickering light of thousands of candles. Those visitors who come are in for an awesome spectacle as the women pray and the men chant throughout the chilly night.

Other candle-lit ceremonies take place in the nearby towns of Tzintzuntzan (the ancient capital of the Purepechan people), Jaráuaro and Erongarícuaro. If you're thinking of witnessing this annual spectacle next year, it's best to make reservations right now since available hotels do fill up quickly.

Most of the nation celebrates El Día de los Muertos, but here's a list of Mexican cities and villages which are particularly well-known for their observance of the celebrations:

Oaxaca [http://www.mexonline.com/oaxaca.htm]
The city of Oaxaca is located in a valley between the Sierra Oaxaqueña mountains in the west and the Sierra Madre del Sur in the east. The climate is ideal.

Balmy days and cool nights provide the atmosphere for one of Oaxaca´s most popular activities, sitting in the Zócalo, sipping a cappuccino and watching the world stroll by.

Many archeological sites, including the famous Monte Albán, are only a short taxi or bus ride away and there are numerous Indian villages in which Zapotec and Mixtec are still spoken and the colorful markets display handcrafted folk art.

Patzcuaro [http://www.mexonline.com/patzcuaro.htm]Patzcuaro (PAHTZ-kwah-roh) is a small colonial gem in the state of Michoacan, a land of immense natural beauty. Michoacan's countryside is a vast expanse of rolling hills, deep lakes, winding rivers and green valleys.

Volcanic activity and the state's latitude position helps create a setting not unlike Hawaii. Rich soil supports lush jungle-like vegetation, with spectacular mountain landscapes.

The state has few large cities, but rather is a quilt of small villages and towns that have changed little since the early 1800's . Its pace is leisurely, its people friendly, and its Spanish colonial and indigenous heritage rich.

Also: Huejutla (State of Hidalgo), Chiapa de Corzo (Chiapas), Jesús María (Nayarit), Míxquic (Federal District) and even Tecate (Baja California).
##
Bio: Marvin H. Perton [http://www.mexonline.com/perton.htm] is a contributing editor to “Mexico Online”. He has worked as the director of PR for Princess, Krystal and Camino Real hotels, and has covered numerous topical issues about Mexico, as a freelance writer.

He is a member of the Mexico Writers Alliance and was the recipient of the coveted “Pluma de Plata” (in 1993), the highest award of the Mexican government to a foreign journalist. He holds an MBA degree, and a bachelor's degree in marketing and journalism.

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LIFE (stranger than fiction/life, the universe and everything…)
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LIFE/BANISHED WORDS
Oi! Get that metrosexual out of my bathtub

Hardly looking ‘metrosexual’, a ‘shocked and awed’, rumpled-around-the-edges LSSU Word Banishment selection committee emerged from its spider hole with their annual ‘List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness’.

This year’s winners for words we never want to hear again:

METROSEXUAL - An urban male who pays too much attention to his appearance.

Bob Forrest of Tempe, Arizona, says it "sounds like someone who only has sex on the subway."

PUNKED - As in bamboozled, duped, flimflammed, hornswoggled. An old noun given new life as a verb because of the television show. Kill it before it grows.

PLACE STAMP HERE - Dennis K. McDermott of Oneida, New York, says, "It appears on 99% of the return envelopes provided by creditors with monthly billings. It's especially annoying when enclosed in a rectangle drawn in the upper right corner. What if you miss? And then they inform you that the post office will not deliver without postage. Can we legitimately claim to be a superpower if we need to be reminded to put a stamp on an envelope?"

Eric Hooper of South Lyon, Michigan, agrees: "If I'm too stupid to figure out where to put the stamp, then paying the phone bill is probably the least of my worries."

COMPANION ANIMALS - "They're called PETS."
- Nick Leach, Bloomington, Indiana.

HAND-CRAFTED LATTE – (See also: Metrosexual).

LOL and other abbreviated 'e-mail speak,' including the symbol '@' when used in advertising and elsewhere
- Alex G. of Warsaw, Poland, says, "It's everywhere on the net! OMG! u r chattin to sum1 then...lol this and lol that...get it away!"

BLING or BLING-BLING or any of its variations - Received many nominations from across the United States. We know. We sent them in. No, not really.

EMBEDDED JOURNALIST - Nominations for this phrase came from just about everywhere. "The next time I hear it used by the media, I'm going to embed my foot in the TV." - Ellen Brown, San Diego.

IN HARM'S WAY - "Who is Harm, and why would you want to get in his way?" - Thomas Watts, Sumter, South Carolina.

SHOTS RANG OUT - "I'm tired of hearing this phrase on the news. Shots don't 'ring' unless you are standing too close to the muzzle, and in that case you don't need the reporter telling you about it." - Michael Kinney, Rockville, Maryland.

CAPTURED ALIVE - "The news keeps stating that Saddam Hussein was 'captured alive.' Well, what other way are you going to be captured? Maybe 'found dead' or 'discovered dead', but never 'captured dead.'"
- Bill Lodholz, Davis, California.
##
About: Lake Superior State University is Michigan's smallest public university. They’ve got a lot of time on their hands.

LSSU has been compiling the list since 1976, and accepts nominations for the Word Banishment list throughout the year.
The Complaint Department: http://www.lssu.edu/banished

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SCI/TECH (news and views)
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SCI/TECH
Café Scientifique

Based on the Café Philosophique movement started in France in 1992 by the philosopher Marc Sautet who wanted a place in which ordinary people could discuss topics in philosophy, Café Scientifique is an informal discussion forum giving like-minded people the opportunity to gather in bars and cafés all over the world to discuss the great topics in science.

Instead of one person lecturing others, Café Scientifique is designed to promote group discussion. The evening is usually lead by an invited speaker who talks briefly and off-the-cuff, then the topic is thrown open to debate over a few beers or coffees.

Some people see the evenings as a way of meeting new people and making friends, as networking events in which they can make new contacts, and some as part of the dating scene for scientists.

Bring your pocket calculator. I’ll show you my theoretical equations, if you show me yours...
Find out more: Café Scientifique [http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/cafescientifique/signup.jsp]

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UPCOMING: “Arte Six”/April 2004: Capoeiristas take NYC with DanceBrazil, music revs on “Illusion’s Carnival” and “Record X”, “Avant-Garde-Arama Gets Hitched” at P.S. 122, trekking Antarctica, life as a stunt pilot and the kick-off of the “Agent Q/A” series in Books/Writers.
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DISTRIBUTION: To encourage the free exchange of information, “Arte Six” contents are free use with the following courtesy conditions:

Kindly include the line “courtesy of Arte Six” as well as the URL (http://www.sashasoren.com/newsletter.htm) when reprinting material, so they can come back and find us. And give us more news to tell you about;)

And, of course, fully source any third-party content.
They passed it on so we could pass it on. So pass it on. But give them creds where due. Karma first, baby.
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SEND TIPS: artesix@sashasoren.com.
Please include “Arte Six” and category (art, music, dance, film, writing, travel, etc.) in subject header, and the following info in text body:

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