A time for shout outs

For some time, I've been using this blog space to toot my own horn, whenever I've had a story published or a pressing thought. But right now my life and my work are in a period of transition, so there's not much to report. At the same time, friends of mine are behind some incredible creative and provocative work. So I thought I'd take a moment to brag about them for a change.

My husband Alan Rapp (via Chronicle Books) and Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG have put together an afternoon of talks on landscape and architecture that should prove to be esoteric and engaging.

As Geoff writes on his blog:

I'm excited, honored, flattered, stoked, etc., even slightly stunned, to announce that BLDGBLOG and Chronicle Books have teamed up to host an afternoon of talks about landscape and architecture at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, from 2:30-5:00pm on Saturday, April 7th.

The line-up ... includes John Bela & Matthew Passmore, of Rebar; Erik Davis, author of The Visionary State; Lisa Iwamoto, of both IwamotoScott Architecture and UC-Berkeley; myself, against all better judgement and in contrast to last time; and Walter Murch, three-time Oscar winner and co-author, with Michael Ondaatje, of the excellent and highly recommended book, The Conversations.

[LINK]

Our friends Scott Andreae and Karen Lee, of Ilo Design, have just returned from Sri Lanka, where they documented the lives and tools of traditional fisherfolk. They've posted a beautiful video, "Malu Malu," capturing this way of life on their Web site.

This video is the amalgamation of footage shot over a period of four months from October 2006 to February 2007.

“malu malu” is the cry of the fish sellers as they ride through the villages selling the fresh catch from crates off the backs of their bicycles and scooters.

[LINK]

A couple years ago at the Yoga Loft, where I spend an astonishing amount of my free time standing on my head, I ran into an old friend, whom I hadn't seen since high school. She's Dr. Selby Wynn Schwartz of UC Berkeley these days, and she's just published what an academic paper on drag ballet.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a drag ballet company formed in New York in 1974, currently perform the pinkest, most tulle-and-toe-shoe of classical ballets to international acclaim. The company's unique double heritage - derived in part from Charles Ludlam's edgy gay performance tactics, and in part from channeling the spirit of iconic Russian prima ballerinas - has sparked a highly conscious, very camp version of self-performed identity. On their nearly constant worldwide tours, the Ballets Trockadero continue to be preservationists of historic ballets as well as revolutionary advocates of diversity in dance.

Damn it's fun to be an an academic.
[LINK]

How does Lisa Hazen do it? In the past year she moved across country, with a very young son, launched her own Web design business, and has become an in-demand Mommy Blogger extraordinaire. Already a published author, she's working on a book/organizer for busy moms. One of her latest work projects struck me as especially fascinating and challenging. She created the Web site for the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Go Lisa!
[LINK]