"Pagans" was directed by Iqbal Ahmed (https://www.iqbalahmed.com). It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.
It's been a very difficult 17 days since losing my mother. I just felt compelled to post this late, since this Supermoon will occur in just a couple of hours as far as seeing it in the night sky. This will be the last Supermoon of this year. It's also known a a Full Mead Moon, an equally energetic name with meaning. Also a Full Rose Moon and a Full Hot Moon.
This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!
Syndicated radio host and extraterrestrial expert George Noory speaks to Newsmax about the Senate report which is set to be released in the coming days, and what the nation could possibly learn about life outside of Earth. - via Rob Schmitt Tonight, weeknights at 10PM ET on Newsmax
George Noory recently appeared on Newsmax's Rob Schmitt Tonight talking about the Senate report on UFOs which is set to be released in the coming days, and what the nation could possibly learn about life outside of Earth.
Dozens of individuals wishing to celebrate the summer solstice at Stonehenge stormed the ancient monument in defiance of the site's caretakers, who had closed the iconic location to visitors to help thwart the spread of the coronavirus. For the second year in a row, the annual June celebration had been cancelled by World Heritage, the organization that oversees the historic location, because of concerns regarding the pandemic. However, around 100 to 200 people apparently would not be denied as, shortly before 5 AM on Monday morning, revelers reportedly began arriving at the outskirts of the famed standing stones on the Salisbury Plain in England.
A small metal fence surrounding the site was no match for the throngs of people, who quickly scrambled over the barrier to find a place within the monolith for the forthcoming sunrise. The subsequent gathering had something of a circus-like atmosphere as costume-clad individuals played drums and a 'Standing with Stonehenge' banner was unfurled. The chaotic scene proved to be too much for World Heritage as they actually wound up cutting their livestream of the solstice just minutes before it occurred. Disappointed viewers around the world who had hoped to see the sunrise at Stonehenge were, instead, treated to a pre-recorded video of the monument and, by the time the feed resumed, the big moment had sadly passed.
As for the people who stormed Stonehenge, they were met by cadre of police officers who did their best to disperse the group and, presumably, protect the monument from any ne'er-do-wells. Fortunately such miscreants seemed to be few and far between as, to their credit, the unauthorized visitors to the site were largely peaceful individuals simply celebrating the solstice and so officers mostly just milled around the area keeping an eye on things. That said, cops did arrest one particularly jubilant woman for public intoxication, which is a rather remarkable feat on her part considering that the incident unfolded at five o'clock in the morning.
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The Red Tree House
Vincent van Gogh
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You can almost feel the warmth if you imagine maybe when you were a child, walking along a path behind some fencing amid an open prairie.
Once upon a time I was but a kid After other things In the games hid
Once upon a time I was but a teen To me the life Seemed ever green
Once upon a time I was in my youth Each opportunity was Of the heights booth
Once upon a time Was a man young Songs of romance Were by me sung
Of teen and youth Now gone are days Each age has beauty My heart now says
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So often people have said over the ages: "There wasn't enough time." I think that's true, but also we just wish there could be more time. Somewhere I heard, I don't remember where, that "if life was fair, mother's would last forever." Only two months ago, there she was sitting out on that deck behind her home, beyond the six-foot fence along the steep hillside, which is directly connected to the northern Santa Cruz Mountains. There was a little heat wave here, it was probably about 75 degrees, still, sunny, no clouds, a perfect morning. She was sipping a small glass of Lamarca wine and speaking to me. She was healthy in mind and body, although a serious health issue had arisen recently, but more of a long-term problem. That was her final day in the sun, literally and figuratively speaking, and now she's gone from this world... at least for this incarnation. She didn't suffer for long. Many languish for years in her state of the past weeks. She is free, but I will especially miss all of the laughs we had together.
She was indeed young and beautiful once, growing up in the rural Midwest, relatively poor but happy. Of course, being my mother, we are part of the same "soul group family." Although apparently roles change from life to life, I wish she could be my mother many, many times again. I couldn't have asked for a better mom. Now I have lost my mother Janet, my older sister Katherine, and my fiance Rachel. I guess they make something of a perfect spiritual trifecta for me. I wish they all could be here still, but this was what fate gave me. Maybe next time it will go better, happier, and a lot longer. In that instance, I would also have my father as well, and there would have been children and all the rest of it in this daydream. It could have gone very differently for us.
Novelist and TV personality Brad Meltzer--known for his knowledge of ancient codes, the occult, legends, and folklore--when asked about "the end of the world" within religions, legends, and folklore... started out by saying that when his mother passed away, it was "the end of the world for him," or felt like it. During my nightly exercising during these difficult last weeks, I saw the cherry blossoms blooming in the area. Even in the dim light I could make out the pink coloring, emerging in a thick pink mass on the trees. I remember from the film 'The Last Samurai', two scenes about cherry blossoms; in particular, "the perfect cherry blossom." One of her best friends was Japanese.
At the end of the film, the Emperor asked Captain Algren in regards to Katsumoto: "How did he die?" Algren responded: "I will tell you have he lived." The Emperor also said during that scene: "We cannot forget who we are, or where we came from." In the bylaws of profession sports, there's what they call a "franchise player," where a team can declare a player or two to be off-limits to be signed and taken away from the team. Life and fate, of course, offer no such thing. Perhaps it was still dark out when she passed, in an unpleasant building of strangers; however the light from the gentle spirits of her family on the other side swooped down to claim their own.
During this challenging time in my life, being largely busy during the days, I find myself walking for about an hour and 20 minutes in an old industrial park at night. Sometimes it's late, and beyond the lights along those very wide outer streets, I can see the absolute blackness of the mountains and sky... probably appearing more so due to the mild glare of these lights on my eyes. These street lamps are maybe about thirty yards apart, but illuminate the streets fairly well. If they suddenly shut off, the area would be in near blackness with just a few lights emanating from the mostly very old one-story industrial structures; constructed from a time when materials would be brought in by train, as up until about fifteen years ago there were train tracks zig-zagging through the area. There's still the old tunnel which connected the these tracks to the rail line which is still over there and operational. Somehow these streets have a dated look to them, despite being well-maintained. However, there's a certain ominous look to that outer blackness from my current perspective.
Probably due to certain health problems in recent years, my mother has unexpectedly been befallen by something called 'rapidly progressive dementia'. Two months ago during a small heat wave here, she was sipping on a little glass of Lamarca wine on her deck along the hillside behind her home. She was fine at that point. In just weeks, she regressed mentally, and I kept thinking it was temporary. The condition moved so quickly that she was unable to take care of herself, and she just kept regressing, to the point of not always remembering me. It took about seven weeks from her sitting in the sun contently, and talking on that deck, to being taken to a assisted living facility. Yes, that quickly!
Strictly by chance, while walking those streets and listening to YouTube audio on my iPod, I have listened to just whatever the order of programs I downloaded onto it. There are 85 of them I racall; some long and some short. The past couple of weeks I was listening to many hours of old episodes of the 'Opie & Anthony' radio program, most of them with Joe Rogan. As I walked along the empty streets, although there is always at least some activity going on, I didn't think of them as ten or fifteen years old programs, but I somehow imagined them as current. I visualized the traffic or work days in NYC, Chicago, LA, or anywhere else where the popular radio program was aired, as I listened to the wild humorous conversations, filled with unexpected dialogue and opinions. It helped me get my mind off of things, and I even laughed some.
However, again strictly by the chance of how these programs were ordered, I began listening to the audiobook of the 1971 novel 'The Exorcist' by the late author William Peter Blatty, a Maronite Catholic from NYC. The book is very similar to the film, except it goes deeply into the internal psychological struggle of the protagonist Damien Karras, a young Greek-American Jesuit Priest. Despite being extremely open-minded and considering all remotely rational explanations, he struggled to comprehend the evil he was involved in. I don't even know exactly how far into the book I am now, but the early heated confrontations between the very learned Jesuit Priest and the ancient Sumerian demon Pazuzu have already occurred. Must of the book has revolved around the progression of the deep psychological struggle of the main protagonist.
The novel would be a bit tedious if not for me having such brisk and long walks trying to get my mind of off things. In this instance, it's actually relaxing for the most part. Still however, the ominous nature of the peril which has befallen my mother, and the ominous darkness of the terrain there (under the circumstances), makes the experience somewhat eerie as well. The streets being so empty and dark at that time--outside of an occasional truck, car, or loud noise from one of the distant loading docks--I sometimes see something dark move, or a light flash, that's mostly just a trick of light and shadow as I move along the streets. I do sometimes see a coyote or raccoon moving in the distance. In my current state of mind however, listening to the malignant Pazuzu speak--both deeply intellectually and with great malice--while walking in that location, is a legitimate reason to border on certain hallucinations. For the most part, the novel is relaxing, but this is not an experience that I would have expected or planned.
If there is any conflation between the novel and my mother's current misfortune, it's with me only. I mean, I could attach metaphors to it, I just choose not to except for the character of myself perhaps. So one could say that there's an eerie parallel in that way. Of course, the pandemic adds yet another ominous dimension to the current state of things here. Yesterday at 10:45 AM I arrived at the entrance of the barely par care facility, which officially opens at 11 AM. Usually there's a certain protocol for just entering, however the glass door was just wide open as the weather was probably close to 70 degrees at that point. I just walked in and made my way to her second story room. Being that the structure was once a sanitarium, the path up or down are not stairways but long ramps. It was very quiet, with only an occasional sound of activity.
As I got to the room, the door was open wide, my mother was on the bed, undressed on her stomach, half asleep, and largely unresponsive. Maybe she was to be bathed soon, I don't know. There were random visitors in the hallways as she just lay there with the door open. Even beyond that, some of the care workers are male, and they probably wouldn't even understand her if she could speak. That she would be in this situation, I know to her, would have been unfathomable only a short time ago. However, her body may be alive, but she's basically gone now, cared for by strangers who never knew her. A victim of a sudden horrific condition. Gone is any real communication, thought, or interests, and certainly none of the good energy and sense of humor that I remember so well; just a shell of her former self. Mentally, at least she isn't aware of her degradation as a person. At one point she looked up at me, and as her blue eyes focused slightly, I wanted to believe that she recognized me. She did speak to me on the previous visit a little, holding my hand, and asking if I would be back to visit her... and waving goodbye. That may have been, for all practical reasoning, her final goodbye.
As I listened to the audiobook yesterday evening, mentioned somewhat prominently was a text entitled 'The Roman Ritual', a very old writing which over the centuries has had many volumes added to it. "The Roman Ritual (Latin: Rituale Romanum) is one of the official ritual works of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services which may be performed by a priest or deacon which are not contained within either the 'Missale Romanum' or the 'Breviarium Romanum'. The book also contains some of the rites which are contained in only one of these books for convenience." Apparently unusual rites such as exorcisms are only a part of these volumes. Curiously, the Milanese Rite of our culture from Lombardia has a similar ritual. The Ambrosian Rite has its own ritual (Rituale Ambrosianum, published by Giacomo Agnelli at the Archiepiscopal Press, Milan). Again, any parallels between our situation here and lets just say the audiobook is just with me and my own mental state; however, this is indeed my own real life horror. I suppose her death would be easier to accept.
I noticed last night a "Moon-Mars-Venus trifecta" in the sky. The moon had the slight appearance of a half-moon at about 75% fullness. Close over to its left side was Venus, and up aways over to it's right side was Mars... from my perspective. Perhaps the Moon was my mother, Venus was my late sister Katherine, and I was Mars; as the Moon and Venus were so close together in the sky. When my mother finally passes away in body, she will be reborn again in spirit, such as when she was the little girl with red-brown hair walking though the horse pastures back in Gogebic County. Her name, Janet, originates from "Little Joan" (also Jane or Jeanne) in Scottish, with the Italian equivalent being Gianetta... meaning "God is Gracious." There is always a plan..
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain." -- Rev 21:4
Elysium or the Elysian Fields is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life.
The Elysian Fields were, according to Homer, located on the western edge of the Earth by the stream of Okeanos. In the time of the Greek poet Hesiod, Elysium would also be known as the "Fortunate Isles", or the "Isles (or Islands) of the Blessed", located in the western ocean at the end of the earth. The Isles of the Blessed would be reduced to a single island by the Theban poet Pindar, describing it as having shady parks, with residents indulging in athletic and musical pastimes.
The ruler of Elysium varies from author to author: Pindar and Hesiod name Cronus as the ruler,[9] while the poet Homer in the Odyssey describes fair-haired Rhadamanthus dwelling there. "The Isle of the Blessed" is also featured in the 2nd Century comedic novel "True Story" by Lucian of Samosata.
Classical literature
In Homer's Odyssey, Elysium is described as a paradise:
"...to the Elysian plain...where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor heavy storm, nor ever rain, but ever does Ocean send up blasts of the shrill-blowing West Wind that they may give cooling to men." -- Homer, Odyssey (4.560–565)
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"Fratres! (fraternal brothers) Three weeks from now I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line. Stay with me. If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled; for you are in Elysium, and you're already dead!"
-- Maximus Decimus Meridius, 'Gladiator'
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'Gladiator' & 'The Last Samurai'
Recently on the Paramount channel I believe, on a few evenings there was a double-feature of these two films. One of the things that occurred to me about 'Gladiator'--a film with so many profound quotes--was the demoting of Maximus from a general who issued epic quotes such as "Strength and Honor" and "Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity" in support of what he believed in: The Roman Empire.... to a slave forced to fight and risk death or maiming for the mere entertainment of others; Maximus after throwing the sword at the elites in the luxury box: "Are you not entertained!?"
Proximo's somewhat less-than-awe-inspiring quote to rally his gladiators during training put an exclamation point on that demotion: "Ultimately, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how but, what we can decide is how we meet that end, in order that we are remembered, as men." Maximus' later quote in Rome's Colosseum was almost like a belated response to Proximo. Maximus: "Marcus Aurelius had a dream that was Rome, Proximo. This is not it! This is not it!" Just like the Samurai, Maximus was not afraid of death nearly as much as dishonor. The heroic ethic is long gone from this world, replaced by capitalism, communism, materialism, attention seeking, pleasure seeking, greed, self-worship, self-interest, rootless universalism, and baseless overt sex and violence.
Katsumoto: "The way of the Samurai is not necessary anymore"
Nathan Algren "Necessary? What could be more necessary?"
Most often the 21st of June is considered the first day of summer. The celebration occurs between June 19th to the 23rd.
'Sing the Song of the Apple Tree'
Come lay beneath my leafy boughs
At this verdant time
When nature is so lush and bright
Flourishing in her prime
The land is warming rapidly
And summer is on its way
There is a magic in the air
The shimmering touch of fay!
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Planets Visible
Morning: Jupiter & Saturn
Evening: Venus from mid-month & Mars
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The time to celebrate the Life Force, fertility and creative energy in all its manifestations. It is the time of the maximum expansionist energy of the waxing years before the Sun reaches fullness at the Summer Solstice. Celebrate natural growth and fertility by the wearing of the green, reverencing well and springs, staying up all night to jump the fires and to welcome the dawn.
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Blood Red Supermoon
A Full Flower Moon will occur on the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 26... or in other words: "Tuesday night" the 25th. It will be just as full the next evening.
Lunar Eclipse
This Supermoon will occur in the AM hours and will max out at 4:18 AM pacific time. So this is will be a Full Blood Red Flower Supermoon!
There was an Eta Aquarids Meteor shower on the 6th and 7th, but if you focus on one area on a clear evening you can always see them.
DARK SIDE OF FOOTBALL explores the tension between America’s undying love of the game, and its ability to corrupt and damage those who live and die for it.
DARK SIDE OF FOOTBALL premieres May 13 on VICE TV.
This should be interesting. It premieres tomorrow evening; Thursday, May 13 on Vice (271 on DirecTV).
New episodes of 'Dark Side of the Ring' premiered on Thursday, May 6. 'A Haunting' is now airing new episodes on Tuesday evenings on the Travel Channel.
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Tattoo'd text on Canello Alvarez's shoulder
The famous boxer had a tat put on his left shoulder in the form of a block of text:
“Destiny is not a matter
of chance It's a matter of choice Life is hard but never give up Keep
on fighting & always believe in yourself to achieve your Dreams.”
Yes, post one thousand. Many of the posts for the past few years have 25, 12, or 6 items within one posting. The total number of views is currently 451,942. The chief purpose of the blog is to cater to people of Camunian, Tri-Valley Brescian, Valtellinese, Valchiavenese, Alpine Bergamasque, Swiss Italian, or just in general: Lombard ancestry. The second purpose if to cater to anyone interested in the ancient folk traditions of Europe, or anywhere in the world, and to revive them in some form. The third purpose is to explore some other themes of culture.. often those overlooked, the natural world and universe, mysteries and folklore, or the light and dark occult.
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"Once more into the fray..."
A couple of evenings ago I again got to hiking late, and I had about a 45 minute hike ahead of me. It was twilight already, and so I knew that I would be in complete darkness during the last 22 minutes of the hike through a wooded area. I still had about 22 minutes to walk through the grassy foothills first. At this point I heard a group of coyotes having what I call "a rally." This is when they gather and howl at twilight, but never did I hear this in this particular area; it was always far off in the distance.
These rallies are not to be confused with individual howls or many scattered howls when they hear the sound of a police car or ambulance coming from a nearby urban area. This is when they get together for some type of "shape up" to get ready and get excited to go out and hunt and forge that night. Most importantly for me was that these howls were emanating from a particular area which I had to transgress on my way back. There was no way to avoid it. When in a wild area, a human becomes part of the food chain in a way. The same dangers that raccoons, skunks, rabbits, etc. face out there in the dark, in this case coyotes, the human theoretically faces in the darkness.
When out there alone, you really are alone! It gets so dark and desolate; your cries for help would not be heard by anyone. I think there's a built in fear of the dark and wild from our ancestral memory of the dangers of the night for hundreds of thousands of years... perhaps millions of years. Although coyote or even mountain lions attacks are rare.. they're always possible. Also, rabid animals of many types are always a danger. The darkness truly does change everything. A 19 year old Canadian folk singer named Taylor Mitchell was killed by coywolves when hiking alone in a very remote wilderness in Ontario in 2009. I'm not suggesting that this area was anything as remote as that one, or that these coyotes are the danger that coywolves are, but officially at least she was reported to have been killed by "a pack of coyotes." Well, there are small groups of five or six coyotes out there; there's some reason for concern.
As I finally reached the mouth of the wooded area that I dreaded 22 minutes prior when I heard the group howling rally from this very location, I tried to think of it as a challenge. How many times in life can we challenge nature when nature has the advantage? I didn't ask for this, but often that's how challenges occur. As I got closer and closer to the dark entrance, I was forced to think of ways I could fight if I had to. I had my flashlight, whose batteries were starting to dim a bit after months of use. The mouth of the woods was at least visually a clearly black opening amid the large trees, a foreboding sight considering what I had heard earlier, and even the reports from last year of a mountain lion in the area, or how about a possible rattlesnake, or even the danger presented by a deranged person. People like Dennis Rader the BTK killer are out in the world.
As is always the case, as I entered the blackness I became part of the blackness. In theory, I was also a competitor in the dark. My eyes adjusted a bit, and I could then see the various vague shapes of the trail, trees, and the sky. There was an 8 minute walk through the darkest part before the trail would morph into the last 15 minutes of trail which was less ominous... a slightly wider trail with more sky, more light, a road in the distance. Did the coyotes move as a pack? Did they break up into smaller groups? Did they go solo? Every so often I heard some small animal make a noise, which was alarming. It's amazing to consider that had it been an hour or two earlier, this would just be a pleasant walk.
I moved the flashlight from side to side slowly, occasionally shining it far ahead along the trail, and once in awhile looking in back of me. I made it back to the street without incident. The threat level probably wasn't too high. People do camp in much more remote areas, in tents, with bears about, all the time. On the other hand, coyotes in southern California have known to drag children into the brush, never to be seen again. Its happened. There's a young woman who I encounter up there at times. She's kind've tall, and basically the coytoes probably wouldn't bother with an adult human. We're a mystery to them. However, it's often a matter of scale. They might think otherwise with a child. Our place on the food chain is an awkward one. We're supposed to be on top, yet can be taken down very quickly by wolves, rattlesnakes, bees, poison oak, etc.
After their plane crashes in Alaska, seven oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
Stars: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo
Add me on instagram: zabed123 Movie: The Grey
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"Simply beautiful!!" -- OTRO
"One of the best and most emotionally powerful ending of all time with a depressing and haunting soundtrack. This ending is overlooked by too many ignorant and heartless people just looking for a f*****g wolf fighting. Highly underrated movie, one of Neeson's best." -- The Comedian
"Its not about wolves at all. Its about life.." -- Stan
"One of the most powerful and inspiring movies ever. Great acting by Liam Neeson as always. And this end scene is just amazingly good, right into the feels. And those people who think that the wolves in this movie represented real wolves and this movie was about just some men fighting against wolves are wrong. The wolves are just a metaphor for your worst fears and biggest problems in your life, which keep attacking and stalking you throughout your life and you either give up and die or face your fears and fight till the end." -- Racing Red
"I don't think people should look at this as a realistic depiction on wolfs and nature in general. It's moreover a poetic view on what life is about. Even though you know what the end result of your life would be, you still have the opportunity to fight for your life as long as you have it.
"The movie also proclaims that in many cases you don't fight for yourself only but also for the people around you. At the start of the movie is Liam Neeson's character suicidal because he doesn't think there's anything important to live for anymore. But after the crash he has this group of survivors to take care of and thus having obligations to keep himself alive for the sake of the others. One of the big drivers to keep yourself alive is your importance for others. If you don't feel important to others you don't feel obliged to live." -- Stefan
'Hoarders' is one of the original popular reality programs, and is currently airing new episodes on Monday evening on A&E. The polar opposite of a hoarder is a minimalist. The great majority of people lay somewhere in between both extremes. Naturally I believe that minimalism is best, but easier said than done. I think many people entertain a subconscious fantasy that one day there will be a personal or family museum somewhere, and that they must save everything for that day which will never come. The best you can do is have a home where we can feature some items, art, etc. for viewing. I admit I have a daydream about having a bar and/or eatery where I could feature unusual items of interest to me. Actually a couple of years ago I saw a property for about $300,000 which included a bar and some apartments in a location which I would like to perhaps live someday. Realistically, this daydream isn't likely to happen. Even if I purchased that property and tried to run the bar, I probably would use a different theme if any. In other words, I would do myself a favor by eventually doing away with things that are not of great importance to me... including some obscure items which may be mildly interesting to me. Like everyone else, I have some items of sentimental value which I would not part with. It isn't good to have too many of those types of things.
I never understood housewarming parties! Other people decorating your house for you? Your sports fanatic friend gives you a sports related item, your Buddhist friend gives you a Buddhist related item, your animal lover friend gives you an animal related item, and everyone takes a turn giving you an item and at the end of the day where's the room for the things that you cherish! It's so easy to hoard. Even if you take out some items for a project, suddenly you find that there is stuff everywhere; you had just condensed them for storage. The old question: do you control your stuff, or does your stuff control you? We can become a slave to the things meant to serve us. In my extremist minimalist philosophy, I believe that when people first enter a home they may want to buy, it looks beautiful all empty! Usually it's all downhill from there. For just one example, I have two full boxes of paperwork that I have to go through; much of it is just from mail. Having art and items around us which defines us is perfect, but it gets out've hand quickly. Even when people put things into storage rooms, they often don't come back. Subconsciously they really wish they could just "start over" again.
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"He always used to tell me that waking up each morning and seeing the sun was a miracle to him."
'Clarity' written and performed by Taylor Mitchell from the album 'For Your Consideration' (released March 2009 by Back Road Tavern Productions, producer Michael Johnston)
The Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell was a rising star in the folk music scene with a unique soulful sound and a maturity way beyond her years. Having just released her debut album 'For Your Consideration' Taylor Mitchell was nominated for Young Performer of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2009.
Whitney Pastorek (Entertainment Weekly) on the songs of Taylor Mitchell: "They're the work of an old soul, a girl whose voice is still finding its strength but whose musical character was already fully formed — her songs are wistful, traditional country-folk, certainly worthy of the classic mature beyond her years chestnut."
Michael Johnston, close friend of Taylor Mitchell and producer of her debut album 'For Your Consideration': "[She was] a brilliant, bold and beautiful light that people were naturally drawn to. She was so young and talented. Her big dreams were a perfect match with her big, kind heart. She was always positive to be around, and people jumped at the chance to work with her. They saw in her the rarest of the gifts: an ability to sing, not only from the heart, but in a way that transcended her age and experience and became something universal."
Lisa Weitz, Taylor Mitchell's manager: "Taylor was just the most generous and open-hearted person, a big soul. You felt that generosity of spirit and a big heart. Taylor was a seeker and a sojourner, a teller of tales. She had such a gift for storytelling and songwriting. She could capture images, places and people so masterfully. She was seasoned beyond her years."
"You should live your life the way you think you're supposed to live it, and not listen to the naysayers, and do what you think you're meant to do." -- Taylor Mitchel 1990-2009
Incontri Tra/Montani means "Meetings Between/Mountains," and to the best of my knowledge was formed to provide a political voice to communities in the eastern Alps of Lombardy, Trentino, and also to other Alpine communities who are often overlooked. I think it's comparable to rural Upper Michigan building an "embassy" near the capitol in Lansing to provide a voice for the detached region. ITM turned 30 last year. I believe that province of Sondrio, the Brescian Tri-Valley, and the Bergamo Alps encompasses a strong cultural milieu as well. Naturally we would like to express solidarity with them.
Incontri Tra/Montani was born in 1990 from a chance meeting between cultural associations of Valle Camonica and Val Trompia. From the observation of a lack of communication between the valleys and from the reading of the great difficulties in which the mountain communities finds itself (exodus, destructive interventions, youth unemployment, etc.), the idea arose of an annual conference that would begin to create a network of non-institutional relations between groups operating in the Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and French Alps with the aim of promoting mutual knowledge, collaboration, exchange of analysis and possible proposals.
In the term Tra/Montani there is a double meaning: 1) The need for dialogue and the consciousness of the sunset of a civilization that was at the center of the pre-industrial economy since all medieval "machines" needed the energy produced by the fall of water.
The study and reflection meetings on issues of common interest in Alpine resorts have been organized regularly since 1990 and touch on topics of various kinds and locations that are always different.
The ITM to which the Valle Camonica, the Giudicarie Valleys, the Val di Sole, Valtellina, Val Seriana, Val Cavallina, Carnia, and Val Verzasca adhere to permanently, has no official seat, nor a statute. It is a self-managed, spontaneous, and free thinking.
Membership of the ITM Group is open to all associations, study centres and cultural groups in the Alps.
The following all collaborated in the realization of the ITM:
• Associazione Comitato Organizzatore Festa di Trate - Gaverina Terme (Bergamo) • Associazione IVS Inventario delle Vie di Comunicazione Storiche (Milano) • Centro Studi e Ricerche Archivio Bergamasco (Bergamo) • Centro Studi Etnografici Val Imagna S. Omobono Imagna (Bergamo) • Centro Studi Judicaria – Tione (Trento) • Centro Studi Val di Sole – Malè (Trento) • Centro Studi Valchiavennaschi Chiavenna (Sondrio) • Circolo Culturale Baradello Clusone (Bergamo) • Circolo Culturale Ghislandi Cividate Camuno (Brescia) • Comune di Montereale Valcellina Montereale Valcellina (Pordenone) • Cooperativa Arca Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia) • Cooperativa Il Chiese - Storo (Trento) • Fondazione Progetto Poschiavo Poschiavo (Svizzera) • Fondazione Val Verzasca Canton Ticino (Svizzera) • L’Arcilettore, Circolo di Sondrio (Sondrio) • Museo Etnografico S. Caterina Valfurva (Sondrio) • Museo Etnografico Tiranese - Tirano (Sondrio) • Pro Vita Alpina - Längenfeld (Austria)
